#also i made this a few days ago and forgot to post it-

[casa-dei-corvei]

Your OC in a Modern AU

Tagged by the lovely @rooks-dagger! 💜 Sancha's not as exciting as Ember I fear, but this was a lot of fun! 💜

Rules: Share what your OC's life would be like in a Modern AU. This could include their job, hobbies, style, overall vibe, etc. Feel free to include photos and explain your choices, then tag some friends to play along!

Almost forgot to tag people so I'm gonna (no pressure) tag: @pixiedurango, @cute-ellyna, @rook-de-rivas, @suntamer, @crushedv3lv3t, @basedonconjecture & @rooks-dagger 💜

Sancha Favero of House de Riva

Dancer, Assistant Instructor, "Babysitter"

Puting everything under the cut because yapped a lot 😆

Dancer

Sancha an her brother have been members of House de Riva since they were children. When the House of Crows (the artists collective their dance house is a part of) decided to start hosting more artistic endeavors in the "Historic Heart" of Treviso, their House and a few others opened secondary campuses in the area. Sancha, Arlo and a few veterans and new bloods from the House were brought over to the new campus.

It's not so bad, being in Treviso. She gets to meet new people, other dancers, artists, the proprietress of a local fashion house that even the Dellamorte family gets their costumes from. Hell, she even got to meet a foreign author and opened up talks about having some of his works adapted to stage performances. She gets much more opportunities to perform and gets to interact with a wider audience.

It's just a shame Treviso still doesn't feel like home.

Assistant Instructor (/personal assistant)

While the Treviso location has a good amount of their dancers and instructors, Viago didn't bring all of them along. Obviously Salle is still the home of House de Riva and most instructors still remain there. While not a full instructor, Sancha's been part of the House for so long that she knows what Viago tends to want from his dancers (even if he's terrible at communicating it sometimes). She also gets to help out with the others troupes, they usual perform together anyway, and it's always interesting to get a glimpse of how the other instructors run their houses.

Also, even though they don't perform much and tend to just finance performances and art installations nowadays, she gets to work closely with the Dellamorte family. (Well, mostly Viago works closely with them and she's just there with him taking notes and asking questions). She already knew Illario through her brother, they've even performed together sometimes, but working with Lucanis is fun and interesting. The mysterious Lucanis Dellamorte, even though he's from Treviso, seems just as lost as she is most days. But he lets her sit with him when they run into each other at the coffee shop and he really seems to like her ideas and her company. Plus, his dog loves her, even if he's a menace to everyone including Lucanis, and it's just...nice.

Babysitter

Not that she actually gets paid to do it or anything. When not actively practicing or helping with instructing, Sancha helps watch over the children of the dancers and the younger fledglings themselves. Lots of pretend, snacks, singing and stories.

When not watching them, she's more often than not roped into helping her brother watch his boyfriend's daughter whenever Illario's busy with work. Which is fine by her, Hillaria's a sweet girl who loves when she gets to hang out with her Tio Arlo & Tia Sanchina.

I know Crows = mob/ crime family is the usual go to for modern aus, but a while ago I saw art for a figure skating au and I thought, what if I did that but dancers? And proceed to have some ideas and made some living Dellamorte cousins and had a great sad time because I love them so much but they can't be alive in the DATV but they're great </3 and yeah. XD Plus all the headcanon posts I've seen around recently about the Crows and dancing really made me feel better about going w/ my original idea.

And fun fact, Sancha's surname is Favero because that's actually her birth name from before she was given to the Crows! (as mentioned it in an OC tag game I did a while back <3)

[sapphire-heart-tippy]

I ascended into another dimension and made this-

[theswedishpajas]

I've been very busy with a game and might've stumbled into a favorite guy, as you might know from the "hear me out" tag game

[awerzo]

he's right behind me isn't he

[stardial]

hi i made another one of my friends ocs spin :) labyrinth belongs to @anethiawoods

[renirae]

FABLEHAVEN MOVIE IS REAL??? oh my god that is my FAVOURITE book series. please god I hope it ends up being good <3

(I'm keeping my expectations very low of course lmao, I've been burned wayyy too many times by bad movie adaptations. but honestly I'll just be happy if it brings more people into reading the book series!!

other than one or two things (*cough cough the horrific disaster of Brackendra cough cough*) it's such a SEVERELY underrated series and one of the only childhood favourites of mine that has actually held up enough that I enjoy rereading it to this day!!!) (also hands-down the best inclusion of indigenous peoples into worldbuilding that I've ever seen, which is really cool!!)

[we-are-not-afraid-92]

anyone else out there who can’t stop thinking about orlok in the sunlight and going kind of feral because oh my god he looks so beautiful but also he’s about to die horribly ;_;

[miciiq]

Got Aventurine in 60 pulls!

He’s so auxhuehuche I’m so happy I have him now

[kazzsk2]

Extra doodle i did earlier

[tothelasthoursofmylife]

Character Profiles: Cloudia’s paternal extended family (and Florentin)

Index: Aurèle, Jacques, Arnaud, Anaïs, Gérard, the Marquis, Anselme, Sylviane, Amélie, Firmin, Florentin, Horace, Quincy, Abigail (Percival's siblings)

(All character ages are as of the latest chapter, or when they died. All information as of the latest chapter too.)

Navigation: Main and extras | Cloudia's grandparents and maternal extended family | Cloudia's paternal extended family (and Florentin) | Other servants and employees | Antagonists | Scotland Yard and misc.

Name: Aurèle Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: May 20, 1829

Age: 19

Physical description: dark brown hair, brown eyes; he resembles his grandfather the most out of all grandchildren

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: grey, blue

Favourite Flower: lavender

Favourite Dessert: chocolate cake, pain d’épices

What is in his bag? knife, handkerchief, bandage, sharpening stone, another softer handkerchief for glasses, another knife, comb, more knives

Random fact(s):

His favourite dish is quiche Lorraine.

Because his uncle took rather long to get married and have children, Aurèle was regarded as his eventual successor and educated as such. This was only phased out when Gérard was born. (All Beauchene/Dupont children receive excellent, special education nonetheless.) If Aurèle had remained his uncle’s heir, he would have taken the Dupont surname upon succeeding him.

Aurèle was relieved when Gérard was born because he always thought he was unfit to become the Marquis one day. (He also worries about his little cousin in that regard.)

Background info: He was originally named Gervais before I accidentally named the original Clockmaker character that too. I then changed his name to Aurèle, but Gervais the Clockmaker ended up getting replaced by Florentin.

First appearance: The Countess, Travelling (Chapter 21)

----

Name: Jacques Beauchene

Nickname(s): Jacky

Birthday: February 12, 1835

Age: 13

Physical description: brown hair, brown eyes, glasses

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: green

Favourite Flower: very difficult to choose!

Favourite Dessert: cakes with fruits, particularly strawberry cake

What is in his bag? book, notebook, pencil, glasses case, handkerchief, a secondary notebook, a little telescope, compass

Random fact(s):

He used to be a bit afraid of ghosts when he was little. Now, he does not believe in anything paranormal or supernatural.

He wants to be a researcher and author for wildlife and nature. Although his parents assured him it was fine to pursue this goal, Jacques still feels odd not to help with/take part in the “family business” at all in the future.

He’s a bit embarrassed that he still occasionally requires a night light.

Background info: None.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Arnaud Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: October 15, 1839

Age: 8

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: red, blue

Favourite Flower: marguerite, purple hyacinth

Favourite Dessert: soufflé

What is in his bag? marbles, card game, notebook, pencil, small toy train, hair ribbons, handkerchief, tissues, small whetstone

Random fact(s):

Because he has always been so quiet and unintentionally blends in with the wallpaper, Jacques used to believe in ghosts for a while.

Arnaud hears and sees quite a lot but prefers to keep his discoveries and observations to himself.

He’s set to become Gérard’s right-hand man when he becomes the Marquis.

Background info: None.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Anaïs Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: September 21, 1840

Age: 7

Physical description: red-brown hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: red, purple

Favourite Flower: iris, anemone

Favourite Dessert: everything with pomegranate

What is in her bag? handkerchief, small faerie doll; she has the habit of not carrying around a lot (i.a. because she sometimes loses things)

Random fact(s):

She liked faeries before her near-fatal fever.

While she likes faerie stories the best, she is very enthusiastic about myths and legends in general. She is particularly interested in Celtic (because of the faeries) and Greek mythology; her favourite Greek myth is that of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Background info: She was originally named Amable and is now named after Anaïs from The Amazing World of Gumball. (She gets a bit of her personality from her too!)

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Gérard Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: March 22, 1845

Age: 3

Physical description: light brown hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Favourite Colour: blue, yellow

Favourite Flower: the colourful ones

Favourite Dessert: chocolate cake

What is in his bag? too small to carry a bag, but keeps a stuffed toy close by and his pockets are filled with all sorts of things

Random fact(s): By 1889, no one calls him by his given name anymore as he has become the new Marquis.

Background info:

He was originally meant to be five, not three years old.

Gérard was originally set to become the Aristocrat of Evil with the scarred eye before I changed my mind.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: ??? Dupont

Nickname(s): The Marquis

Birthday: 1762

Age: 86

Physical description: grey, formerly brown hair, green eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: The Marquis

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s):

He had a very happy and loving marriage with his wife Séphora. (She had red hair which her son and granddaughter inherited.) She passed away in 1840.

He tried his hand at clockmaking too which frustrated Florentin because the Marquis was not good at it, and Florentin feared for his workshop and utensils. (The Marquis wasn’t being serious and only wanted to annoy Florentin; he was actually bad at watchmaking though.)

He grew up without any cousins. Because of this and the fact that he is a decade older than his sister and only lived with her for about ten years, the Marquis was a bit lonely in his childhood and youth. He’s rather happy that his grandchildren are so close-knit and get along well (most of the time).

Background info:

The Dupont family’s title was meant to be longer “The Marquis of […],” but I decided to scrap it because it was a very dumb reference to something. There was also meant to be a title for the heir which was cut as well.

I decided on his given name early on. It’s a funny one.

First appearance: The Countess, Mystery (Chapter 22)

----

Name: Anselme Dupont

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1800

Age: 48

Physical description: red-brown hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): He was quite the lady-killer for a long time and already marked off as an “eternal bachelor” until he met his wife ten years ago.

Background info: He was originally named André. I changed his name because that was the name of one of my driving instructors, and I did not like driving lessons. (I did not end up getting my license.)

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Sylviane Dupont (née Lavoie)

Nickname(s): Sylvi

Birthday: 1805

Age: 43

Physical description: blonde hair, blue eyes

Affiliation: Dupont family

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): She was tragically widowed twice before she met Anselme. (One fiancé also died before they got married.) Men began avoiding her after her second husband’s accidental death, believing she was a black widow. (In reality, she really was just that unlucky.) Sylviane had made peace with never marrying again or having children until she encountered Anselme.

Background info: She was originally named Renée. I changed her name because I didn’t like it and because I wanted to have as few names with accents as possible.

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Amélie Beauchene (née Dupont)

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1802

Age: 46

Physical description: brown hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: Baronne

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): She’s secretly a little nature nerd as well for which her brother used to tease her (and still does sometimes to this day). It was very refreshing to her when she met Firmin, and he treated her the same as everyone else.

Background info: Her name was always “Amelie,” but it was initially spelled differently and weirdly as a silly nod to her father’s given name. Because I didn’t know how the odd spelling would affect the name’s pronunciation, I settled on the more normal “Amélie.”

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Firmin Beauchene

Nickname(s): None

Birthday: 1798

Age: 50

Physical description: black hair, light brown eyes, glasses

Affiliation: Beauchene family; Dupont family

Occupation: Baron

Base of Operations: Château de Dupont; Château de Charbonneau (temporarily)

Random fact(s): When Amélie expressed her wish to marry him, her entire family was unsupportive because they thought they were an odd match and that Firmin would not fit into the family. The Marquis was the only one who approved him; the others eventually warmed up to him.

Background info: Like with the Marquis, he had a “full” title early on until I decided to leave it out. It was “Baron de Lorraine-Lillebonne,” and I got it from a random title generator.

First appearance: The Countess, Malady - Part 4 (Chapter 23)

----

Name: Florentin Chastain

Nickname(s): The Clockmaker

Birthday: September 9, around 1400

Age: 400+ (about 30 physically)

Physical description: short brown hair, phosphorescent chartreuse eyes, tall and lean; occasionally wears tinted glasses but dislikes them

Affiliation: Grim Reaper Dispatch (former); the Marquis (sort of begrudgingly)

Occupation: Grim Reaper (deserted); Clockmaker

Base of Operations: Grim Reaper Dispatch (former); his workshop in the woods

Favourite Colour: everything except green

Favourite Flower: doesn’t care

Favourite Dessert: angel wings, beignet

What is in his bag? various tools, some loose gears, a glasses case, a small pocket knife, very old Ohropax (he wished he had taken more)

Random fact(s):

He deserted at some point during the witch trials (they were poorly documented in France; very few executions were officially confirmed, but many, many more are presumed). It was a bleak time all over Europe (that the witch trials overlapped with constant recurrences of the plague did not help), and it made him realise the endlessness and pointlessness of his job.

Florentin became a clockmaker not long after deserting. He also became a matchmaker when he (by chance) introduced the Marquis to his wife.

He went on many adventures with the Marquis and although he would never admit it, he enjoyed some of them at least.

Background info:

The bare bones of his character come from a scrapped one-shot about Cloudia and Undertaker, with Undertaker being a very odd “clockmaker” living in the woods, and Cloudia the person who delivers his “goods.” Because I had difficulties writing it, it was eventually replaced by my one-shot “Warming” (which I wrote for a Christmas event). As I still liked the idea, I added a clockmaker Grim Reaper to WotQ (though the situation and details differ from the original one-shot idea).

The original WotQ Clockmaker character Gervais was very, very different to Florentin. I decided to replace him with Florentin because while Gervais did have ties to Grim Reapers, the story ultimately required a different kind of character – a deserted Grim Reaper. (I still like Gervais though.)

First appearance: The Countess, Clockmaker - Part 2 (Chapter 24)

----

Name: Horace Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Hoho (only his sister called him that)

Birthday: 1761

Age: 24 (at time of death; 1785)

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Weston College (former)

Occupation: Lord of Phantomhive; Prefect of Sapphire Owl (former)

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Random fact(s):

The eldest of Octavius and Florence Phantomhive’s four children. He was “the perfect heir and son” in every way. Unfortunately, he and his twin died in a carriage “accident,” and he never succeeded his father as Earl and Watchdog.

Horace and his twin were rather aloof, keeping away from their younger siblings, so he was, despite his other qualities not a “perfect brother.” When Percival became family head, he found some interesting things his brothers had hidden away in the manor.

His middle name was “Greyson” which, just like Percival’s middle name, was never used by his parents. Horace occasionally used it as a fake surname.

Background info: I’m very for “all Phantomhives’ names contain a ‘c’” but then went and completely failed with Percival’s siblings because his original name was Horatio. However, I just noticed that I’ve never stated his name in WotQ so far although he was briefly mentioned, so I’m very quickly and sneakily fixing his name.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

----

Name: Quincy Phantomhive

Nickname(s): Q, Queeny (only his sister called him that)

Birthday: 1761

Age: 24 (at time of death; 1785)

Physical description: black hair, green-blue eyes

Affiliation: Phantomhive family; Weston College (former)

Occupation: None

Base of Operations: Phantomhive Manor; Phantomhive townhouse

Random fact(s):

As he was younger than Horace by a few minutes, he was the spare. He never minded it much though because he liked being “in the shadows.” He and his twin were very close and secretive.

His middle name was “Farran” which, again, was never used by his parents. He and his siblings were united in their confusion at least.

While Horace could be a bit stuck-up, Quincy was only a bit more relaxed. He was not much of a jokester but could at least crack some jokes every once in a while.

Background info:

His original name was Joseph which I just changed to adhere to my own little naming rules. I decided to rename him “Quincy” so that he and his brother could be theme-named after the poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus).

He was originally four years younger than Horace before I decided to make them twins.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

----

Name: Abigail Stafford (née Phantomhive)

Nickname(s): Abby

Birthday: 1770

Age: 29 (at time of death; 1799)

Physical description: light brown (on the verge of dark blonde) hair, grey eyes

Affiliation: Stafford family; Phantomhive family

Occupation: Baroness; Lady of Phantomhive (former)

Base of Operations: Stafford Manor; Stafford townhouse; Phantomhive Manor (former); Phantomhive townhouse (former)

Random fact(s):

She always appreciated the fact that she looked very different from her black-haired (blue)-green-eyed brothers and that her grey eyes were “all hers.”

The jokester of her sibling group, much to the annoyance of her brothers (especially Percival to whom she was the closest).

Abigail married in her early twenties but did not immediately want children. In the end, she never had any because she died in a terrible incident related to Watchdog work. (It shook up Genevieve and Percival a lot, and they didn’t speak (much) of Abigail afterwards.)

Like her brothers, she had an “unused” middle name: Delora.

Background info:

Unfortunately for me, I did mention her before by name, so I cannot sneakily change it to something that contains a “c.” At any rate, I did like the fact a bit that I messed up the (original) names of Percival’s siblings because they all died before him. Only the one sibling whose name always had a “c” in it became the successor and reached his thirties (and even his fifties!). A little accidental “curse” on my side.

Her husband’s given name is “Abraham” in my notes. I do have some name overlaps (Theodore Clifford and Theodore Sycamore, for example), so I’m a little undecided whether to change his name or not. But then, it does not really matter because he has no bearing on anything whatsoever.

First appearance: Mentioned only (First: The Lady, First Training; Chapter 10)

[girlwiththegreenhat]

seeing that someone I follow was also at anime Midwest makes me wonder if we passed at some point at the con? how many people I follow on Tumblr have I passed in person but didn't know? If you were win cosplay I may have even taken a picture with you? Small world huh?

small world! :V i was not in the cosplay contest as a cosplayer, but my brother was and you can spot him from a mile away (HE WAS IN THE CONTEST AND WON BEST PROP AND I WILL CONTINUE TO SHOVE IT IN EVERYONES FACE HEEHEE)

(... if you saw a scrungy looking lilith clawthorne guiding him around like a blind puppy because he can't see for Shit with this thing on, dat me :3)

[thebuttsmcgee]

so. um. 👉👈

hi guysies.

Ig I should just say like. Hi

I haven't been posting here as much cause. Idk. Might be depression? I keep thinking its cause I've been so busy, which also wouldn't be not untrue, but these past, like, 3 weeks I think so far? I've had some free time but I haven't cause. I dunno, then again, I haven't been doing too much in general? I gues, besides very mandatory things, hell I've even been lacking in my regular skyrim hours of playing.

That, and as said, I get super melancholic when I remember just how sad and bittersweet it is that t0h is. Actually legit over. The show and experience, that is.

Oh all that and also becuz my headphones broke! Fuck! That's like number 2 in my bare necessities for when I post, do almost anything really! It's seriously been painful this past month going without headphones holy shit. Dude I've been scratching at the bit for some relief for headphones, I NEED music legitimately. Even right now, as I'm typing this on my phone, my music is on low levels.

But yerp. Its been. Rough. Really rough. I really do appreciate yall, everyone of yall. Have a sweet week everyone, ✌️!

[remxedmoon]

your friends don’t know what to do.

so!! i redrew every single enemy in the game. in the span of like 9 days (excluding the king i made him right after the last update). that’s abbbout 79* drawings total, with only 3 custom ones for once!! i’m so normal. as always, these are free to use with credit!! go nuts!! spritesheets are included <3

got some notes under the cut, along with As Many Enemies As I Could Fit without making this post obnoxiously long. and i failed. i had to swap between the app and browser several times and i still couldn’t fit every drawing. open this post at your own risk (silly).

okay so first of all. what’s with the asterisk. well. I Drew A Lot More Than 79 Assets Actually. they’re getting posted separately, because this post is ABSURDLY long. you can find most of them in the miscellaneous folder, but for a bit of clarity, i added the teleport map and a bunch of ui elements that reference sprites from the icon sheet. and also the game over and loop back animations but i haven’t finished the spritesheets for those because they’re a pain in the ass so they’re not in the drive yet

if you missed my complaining a few days ago, a few enemies might look a bit crunchy in the actual game? specifically, calamité and désespoir were drawn at the wrong size, because their images in the files do not match the spritesheets! i avoided the issue with most of the other enemies, those two just blindsided me. sorry about that!

^sadnesses having inconsistent designs was actually a running theme with these. détresse rock has an unused design in the files (which i managed to catch before having to redo it thankfully), anxiété has extra spikes that don’t appear on the spritesheet (sorry i was too lazy to fix that one), even the version of the friend rescue in the files doesn’t match any of the frames in the spritesheet. hfjfhfj. sorry about the quality issues.

tangentially related to that, massive thank you to @riggedbones for grabbing the individual frames for the animations for me!! they made my life so much easier. vs friends would’ve been so annoying…

speaking of the animations! hi can you tell i’m not an animator. these were my first time doing Anything animation related since, like, middle school. super sorry for the Jank in some of these! the friend rescue looked way better when i drew it 💔💔.

bourdon’s hands also might act a bit odd, my apologies. the sizing ingame is SUPER inconsistent (why is one of the hands SMALLER than the other????). once i’m able to actually test the mod, i’ll try to fix it wauaua.

the 3 custom sprites are for the triplets! i ended up making two versions for each, one that follows the ingame art, and one with my personal designs for them. i like my own designs for them, but they’re a lot easier to tell apart? so if you want to use the ones that fit the gimmick better, they’re also in the drive 👍

this update. was originally going to have way more custom art. i’ve actually got an act 6 siffrin enemy asset in my art program! but school started and i decided it’d be better to just get the normal stuff done. so the mod can actually come out in a reasonable timeframe. promise that’ll all come out Later! sorry about the wait 😓😓😓

also adding this because i almost forgot: no i don’t know if these are compatible with sasasaap. i don’t have the game still and it’s not my main priority atm, apologies!

okay! that was a lot! and there’s a ton of art down here! thank you for reading all this, i’ll be back with the game over animations and teleport map pretty soon! like. within the weekend. enjoy!!!

[k0mmari]

SYSTEM! SHEN YUAN PT.3

Too tired to do my obligations, but too stressed out to sleep, so here we find ourselves again.

This, once again, got horribly long- so long, in fact, I think this is the longest post in this 'trilogy'-, so I apologize in advance (╥ᆺ╥;) I also apologize for the lack of doodles, but dont worry! Im preparing a special one for later <33

After that night where SY offered Binghe an umbrella, things have certainly… changed. Unlike before, where SY spent most of his time mapping away at the ridiculously complex castle hallways and carefully marking away which times it was most likely for SY to be able to get close to Xin Mo, alongside doing his ‘servant’ duties of gathering dirty laundry and cleaning a room here and there, his routine had been suddenly adjusted; now, while he still needed to do everything he was doing before, his servant duties consisted of accompanying the chosen Wife Of The Day.

Or, well, that’s how one of the higher ranking staff had put it, that he was to attend to whatever wife Lord Luo decided to entertain for the day, but honestly, SY was starting to suspect that that had been a convoluted way for Binghe to have SY around whenever he wanted, which…. Was frankly quite worrying! To have the golden protagonist keep his eyes glued on his back almost every second they were in the same room, which - if SY looked back- usually led to Binghe looking away in a (bad) attempt to pretend he wasn’t glaring daggers at SY was more than enough for SY to think the Emperor was probably plotting his demise.

What else could it be? Specially with the way Binghe’s hand seemed to always be lightly tugging at the tassel on his hair every time SY caught him looking, he suspects Binghe had caught onto SY not actually being a servant, and instead that weird guy he saw before he fell into hell that one time. What if Binghe thought SY was somehow involved into the Abyss Incident?? Lord Luo, please have mercy on this servant!

Though, maybe the strangest part of it all, was that sometimes Binghe and SY would just… talk. Usually when the Wife Of The Day was doing something else (e.g. playing music for her husband, or practicing archery, or doing anything that didn’t involve LBH 100% at her side), Binghe would just start musing out loud about the strangest things. It started with questions that were all fair to ask, like ‘How come this servant is a human in the demon realm’, or ‘How come this servant has such short hair’ (SY bullshitted something about being a former slave) but eventually it shifted to questions that were a bit more… random. Or, well, not even questions, musings that Binghe muttered out loud but clearly wanted SY’s input.

It started with minimal things, like Binghe wondering about some type of monster he wanted to fight but he forgot how to do it without damaging the fur too much, which, after a minute of silence and a not-so-subtle look at SY, led to SY nerding out and saying not only the monsters weakness, but what could be done with every important part of the body. Though, the day after that SY realized how strange it was that Binghe was wondering that out loud, since he only fought that monster well into his time as an Emperor, and he swore he remembered one of the wives gushing about her new bracelet that was made from the rare bones of that creature just a few days ago…

Anyways, it continued with questions of similar nature: musings on how to kill a monster Binghe would have no problem killing, to what he should eat for dinner, to what gift should he get for Wife Of The Day. Of course, SY answered all the ‘questions’, and sometimes they even made it to having an actual conversation! Sure, it was a little stilted, SY could not figure out for the life of him why the great Lord Luo was interacting with a random servant, but one day it all finally clicked to him. Binghe had been in the middle of ‘musing’ about hair oils(??), when SY couldn’t help but interrupt him:

“Ah…. Apologies if this lowly servant is overstepping, My Lord, but does My Lord just want someone to talk to?”

A few emotions flashed through Binghe's face quickly enough for SY to not be able to decifer any of them, but eventually landing on a sheepish smile. "This Lord has been found out."

Oh, how cute! And how sad! SY had noticed when SQH was just showing him his shitty story how sad that LBH, even after getting the world to bow at his feet, never really had friendships. Sure, he still had all the love he could want, but sometimes people need friends to talk to, not lovers!

While he knew that he shouldn't interact with characters in world overlooked by the System unless they were transmigrators, SY couldn't help but feel that the situation was dire enough that LBH would turn to a no-name servant in this time of desperation. And it would be a great opportunity to study Xin Mo more closely as well! If SY showed LBH the wonders of friendship, maybe he could pass by his supervisor that he only had to do what was necessary for this world to not implode on itself.

Besides, who could even say no to such a handsome man such as LBH? Is as the old saying goes: what the protagonist wants, he shall have.

*

SY's friendship plan has been going great! After figuring out Binghe's intentions, it seems all of the protagonists reservations flew out the window, and SY was now responsible for being Binghe's personal retainer. Not that that meant too much, since Binghe liked to bend the rules to his liking, and some tasks that should be SY's responsability sometimes were pushed to another servant or Binghe himself made them (which, ???)

Mostly, SY stood at Binghe's side, served tea, was used so Binghe could bounce ideas off of someone, and tended to finer details. All of that very much manageable, if not for the weird mood swings LBH would have sometimes. Yuan, as he has told Binghe was his name after being too scared of the repercutions of using 'Shen', was to accompany him all the time, but sometimes not all the time, or else LBH would get moody; Yuan was to listen to LBH's ideas and plans, and should always comment back or else Binghe would feel neglected, but not too much or else, as LBH had put it, could 'bring back bad memories'; Yuan was to tend to LBH's night routine, even as far as to brush his hair, and if he refused LBH (again) get all moody, but he couldn't brush too much, and he had to do at least one braid but NEVER touch the old, frizzy braid that still had that damn tassle-

Honestly, it was a careful game of balance, which reminded SY more often than not of a child that got mad when their older sibling didn't quite understand the redundant rules they made for a make-believe. Any other person would get fed up, and probably scared of Binghe's constant mood swings, but SY had him all figured out, and his resilience proved to be useful time and time again, since most of the time after his sour mood passed, Binghe would come crawling back with the most pitiful face ever, and what was SY to do? As LBH's friend, it was his duty to hug him and pat his head! (And no one could judge him for that, since if he didn't pat Binghe's head, his mood would plummet all over again.)

Though... SY did feel kind of bad. He wouldn't be able to stay with Binghe forever, and would even need to potentially steal his all-powerful sword for a little bit so everything wouldn't get corrupted. Honestly, the only thing keeping SY from worrying about being labled as a traitor and potentially getting killed was that he would just go back to the System's office and go on with his life.

*

LBH, eventually, caught onto SY's plan on leaving - really, it was only a matter of time. After that fateful encounter with that other SQQ, LBH had found himself in rather pitiful state, questioning everything he knew until that moment and wondering why he couldn't achieve that happiness, and desperately trying to search for a SQQ of his own. He had contemplated going back to that first world, but what would it even matter? Even if he took SQQ by force, his heart would still be with that other LBH, and Binghe couldn't bear the thought that he wouldn't be everything in SQQ's world, as he had become for LBH.

Specially after Meng Mo had one day interupted his carefully crafted dream of an idelic world and pointed out some curious memories he'd almost forgotten about. That day, when back in his childhood, when he'd been beaten up by a buch of older kids and hallucinated a man in strange clothes before passing out and waking up protected from the rain. Or when he thought he'd lost his jade pendant forever, only to magically appear in the cabin later.

Or the strange man in the Immortal Alliance Conference.

After SQQ- SJ , that good-for-nothing scum- pushed him to the Abyss, he tried his best to never think about that day again, too scared by how weak he'd been, pleading to man that would sell his soul for one more night at that brothel of his if he could, but now... Now that he could mold his dreamscape any way he wanted, he could look back with a clear mind, which eventually led to the conclusion: It must have been the same person. The same strangely dressed man that helped him in his childhood somehow appeared at the Immortal Alliance again, and even had left provisions right next to where Binghe had fallen.

He'd convinced himself, after many, many years of wishing for a miracle, that he's simply imagined the man, one last thread to keep himself from going insane, but after meeting the other SQQ...

And then Yuan came in. A new servant that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

It took some observation, and a lot preparing himself to face dissapointment that maybe he was just projecting, putting the image of someone else onto a random man, but that day, when LBH was wondering if he was just wasting time, that that beautiful dream of having his version of SQQ would not happen any time in this world, that maybe he really should just go look at other worlds; after all, if it happened once, it had to happen again, right? Not that it mattered in the end, since while he spireled, much to Xin Mo's pleasure, an umbrella was put over his head, and all his doubts had washed away.

Yuan had to be his version of SQQ, it had to be. And after all his effort of getting close to him, after going so far to keep Yuan at his side, even if he still battled with that his perception of SJ and the other SQQ sometimes overlapping with Yuan's image, even if he still wasn't ready to let go of that one braid, he was becoming more and more sure in his assumption that his SQQ had come to him. Everything was going as planned, and LBH was in track to finally begin to properly court him, and yet-

He was sure Yuan wanted to leave. He wasn't sure why, not how he would do that, maybe just dissapear like he had all those years ago and either only appear again 5, 10, 100 years in the future or go back to wherever he came from in the first place. But LBH knew Yuan wanted to leave, that he needed to complete whatever mission he had (after LBH managed to pry that out of his dreams, which where another source of confusion, with how absurdly difficult they were to even get a grasp of), and that, under any circumstances, he could let Yuan escape his sight.

Not again. Never again.

Binghe had become even stickier in the last few weeks. Not that SY minded, it was very cute to see such a different side from the cool, badass Lord Luo, but SY was running out of time. Since Binghe became stickier, his mood swings had worsened even more, now not wanting SY to be anywhere that Binghe wasn't, and Xin Mo seemed to be thriving off of whatever was making Binghe extra protective, though it was becoming a genuine problem now, since Binghe suddenly refused to see any of his wive's to deal with the Xin Mo problem, and he seemed to be on the verge of qi deviation at all times.

In fact, the only reason Binghe hadn't already qi deviated was because SY was abusing his Personal System and chipping away at the qi deviation in Binghe's night routine, since it was the only time where he was physically very close to Binghe and could spend long periods of time manually coding away at the System screen without it looking suspicious.

But, as if that wasn't enough of a problem, since Xin Mo was having the time of it's life recently, the virus clinging to the sword was also getting stronger, leaving even more residuals all along the castle and bordering on infecting Binghe himself.

His Scissors where thankfully, repaired, and his sweet, sweet manager was even kind enough to send him some extra energy supplies, but at the rate the virus was spreading, he was worrying that he would have to deal with the source as soon as possible or else it would become to strong to deal with it in a non-destructive way.

He... Didn't want to leave Binghe just yet, specially since he wanted SY's attention more than ever recently, but...

No, he needed to do this; their time together was never supposed to be eternal anyways, and if he let the virus spread, he would only be putting LBH's life in danger, and he couldn't continue living with himself after that. He decided he would fix the virus at night, while Binghe slept, and by the next morning he would be gone - he would have, after all, just enough energy to go back to the office.

He just hoped Binghe would be able to forgive him later.

When night came, and SY got to doing the usual night preparations, it just felt like an extra needle being stabbed in his heart when, while brushing Binghe's hair, Binghe looks back uncharacteristicly anxious, and asks if SY can undo the braid and remake it. SY does, and if Binghe notices SY takes extra long to pamper him that night, he says nothing.

When SY is sure Binghe is asleep, he sneaks out of his room and heads to back to Binghe's. Yeah, maybe he stalls a bit with snipping off every piece of the residual virus he came across, but one could argue he was just being extra thorough with his job.

The excuse, unfortunately, didn't last long and eventually he found himself in front of Binghe's room, staring at the door as if he was about to be sentenced to death. After a few minutes of reminding himself that he needed to do this, he took a deep breath and slowly opened the doors. Binghe usually slept with the sword perched right beside his bed, so SY would probably have to use the System and put Binghe in an extra deep sleep if he wanted to make sure the other didn't wake-

The moment he places a foot inside, though, he realizes something is wrong; the room is empty, Binghe is not asleep in his bed and Xin Mo is not besides the bed. Oh, oh no, had Binghe-

"A-Yuan." Binghe says, and SY nearly jumps as he turns around. There LBH stands in the middle of the hallway, not even in his sleeping robes, with a hand clutched tightly on Xin Mo's handle. His eyes are watery but no tears spill.

SY tries to speak but finds he doesn't even know what to say, he can't even try to deny that he's up to something, since his gigantic Scissors are just out an about. Still, he tries to make Binghe understand, say that he needs to do this, and after this Binghe won't have to worry about anything anymore. Though it barely seems like Binghe is listening, and eventually just cuts in when SY starts to say anything in his panic.

"This is what A-Yuan wants, right?" He asks, extending one arm and presenting the glitched out Xin Mo. SY doesn't even have the chance to find an excuse, as Binghe immediately continues. "Than take it."

"Wh- Huh?" "Take it."

He's so shocked he almost drops his Scissors. What does he mean 'take it'??? Binghe has to know everything that's at stake here! He doesn't even know what SY wants to do with it! He tries to say that, how Binghe shouldn't just hand the sword to anyone like that, but a sudden burst of energy set his priorities straight. Shit- The virus! It's growing by the second, at this point SY will have to cut Xin Mo-

"...Binghe, I-" "I don't care what A-Yuan wants with Xin Mo! Take it, use it, break it if you want, I don't care! But if A-Yuan takes it, than he will have to stay." "Binghe, that's not..." "Why not?! That's your goal, right? Do whatever it is that you want to do with Xin Mo? Than here you go, A-Yuan can do it, but I won't let you leave me again."

SY can't even mask when his eyes dart towards the tassle on Binghe's new braid. Binghe just clenched his jaw, but it feels like confirmation enough.

He adjusts his grip on the Scissors, and, as he has nothing else to hide, dispels the System's illusion, his simple clothes glitching out to reveal the System's uniform. Binghe's eyes fill even more with tears, but none fall."

"I... I'll have to go back, Binghe." "No." "Binghe, listen to me, I-" "No. No! A-Yuan will get Xin Mo, and then he will stay." "I-" "You will stay! I can't-" Binghe can't even finish his sentence before he has to choke out a sob.

The virus starts warping the air around it, and slowly crawling up Binghe's arm. SY's decision has practically been made for him. He lifts the Scissors. Binghe pushes Xin Mo forward.

"...I'll come back." "A-Yuan-" "I'll come back, Binghe." One single tear falls and his arm jerks, not knowing if he trusts SY's words or not. He still his arm as the Scissor blades encircle Xin Mo.

"A-Yuan..." "I'll come back, I promise." "..." "I promise."

"......Okay."

Shen Yuan cuts Xin Mo.

[ghost-y-toast-y]

Yes the neon cat thingies are 100% necessary in my Joehills design

RAHHHH GIVE ME YOUR JOE DESIGNS!!!! I NEED TO DRAW ALL THE JOES

[foreverromanticising]

so hot!

part one! inspired by so hot you’re hurting my feelings by caroline polachek! 2.3k words - next part

best friends to lovers with stevie bc i am a sucker for best friends to lovers trope<3 all fluffy and sweet, post upside down and vecna

(also my graphics r SOOO ugly pls disregard im so bad at them)

There was no denying the fact that Steve Harrington was an attractive guy; you had watched the revolving door of girls fawn after him in high school and his success rate that followed along with pursuing each and every one of them in whatever way he pleased- and, fuck, you had eyes of your own. You weren’t blind to his looks nor his charms, both of which seemingly found him ever so naturally, as though it was simply second nature to flirt with every girl that walked through the door’s of Family Video.

You had watched it from afar for years as Steve only grew into himself, broader and more assured, maybe less confident than he was cocky. His hair was filled with much less effort than it used to be, and you noticed the lacking of bottles of hairspray in his bedroom whenever you visited his home. He no longer fit into the same Hawkins High gym t-shirts you used to steal from him whenever you forgot your own, his limbs having grown longer and his shoulders stretched out more than when you knew his seventeen year old self.

He looked more like himself; more mature but still soft around the edges, gooey to the touch. 

You felt as though you couldn’t be blamed for finding him so attractive, it was punishment almost. His cologne lingered throughout your home whenever he left, a taunting reminder of how you acted around him. Nothing had changed between you, not really, just the simple realisation that you were awfully attracted to someone you called your best friend.

It never happened overnight, this revelation, rather it invaded your life in a painfully slow way. Trickling, teasing, until it flooded over you all at once and suddenly you couldn’t stand too close to Steve without becoming a sputtering mess, covered in a red blush. Internally, you prayed he wouldn’t notice your sudden awkwardness, the inability to hold his eye contact in the same way you used to, but you were sure it was as clear as day for you used to revel in his touch, arms open to any hug he would offer but now you shied away, rejecting whenever he would hold his hand out for you to take.

You were certain you had hid your newly unearthed feelings pretty well, being able to flag off your behaviours as being unwell or maybe just a little shaken for battling creatures from the upside down wasn’t exactly your most regular Tuesday. But Robin wasn’t blind or stupid, in fact, she was acutely aware of how you giggled that little bit louder every time Steve told a dumb joke when only a few months ago you would’ve joined her in making fun of him. 

She watched the words tumble awkwardly and unsure out of your mouth when Steve asked if you wanted to spend his lunch break with him in the diner around the corner from Family Video. Usually, you were eager to grab what had become a staple in your diet whenever you were with Steve - a horribly greasy stack of pancakes that Steve insisted he could make better but never turned down the opportunity to share with you. 

“I mean- yeah, if you wanna but if you don’t then, then that’s totally fine! It’s up to you, like, I’ll do whatever- absolutely whatever.” You took a deep breath after your sentence had gotten away from you for you knew it made no sense, inwardly cringing at the nonsense you had just spewed out. 

“So, yeah?” Steve simply laughed in response, trying to mask his own confusion but never make you feel bad for it all at once.

“Why don’t you bring lunch back for all of us, Steve? It’s quiet enough.” Robin flitted her eyes between you and Steve, a quiet understanding of what was unravelling in front of her. She wouldn’t let this go unquestioned as a million questions started brewing inside her and she knew she had one opportunity to ask you what was going on before you would leave the store, claiming you were distracting the pair from their work when the reality was that they had little to no customers.

He left without a word, only scrunched eyebrows and slightly more confused than he had been all of five minutes ago when he had suggested lunch. You watched him walk to the car you had found your own comfort in, the faint woodsy smell that was built into his seats. The car keys swung around his finger, the cherry keyring you had tied on a stark contrast to the boy’s tan skin as he fidgeted with the keys - and if you squinted enough, you could see the small bunny rabbit plushie hanging from his rear view mirror.

Doses of yourself littered throughout his car, his home, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Your attention had been so caught up in Steve you hardly noticed Robin, groaning as you couldn’t hear a word she was saying to you. 

“Jesus, you’re, like, totally blinded by him,” She rolled her eyes when you finally whipped your head around to look at her again. “It’s disgusting.”

“I’m, I’m not- what’d you mean blinded?” Your - newly developed - bad habit of stumbling over your words had come to bay again. 

“Blinded by love, shit, I just watched you eye fuck him walking to his car.” Robin ran her hands over her face, trying to shake the ideas she had placed into her own mind once she saw the look in your eyes.

“I wasn’t eye fucking him!” The words came out short and fast, flustered by the accusation that you would ever look at Steve in any way that wasn’t as your best friend.

“Well, I don’t think I wanna see what you actually look like when you do eye fuck someone ‘cause that was dreadful,” She recoiled further in utter disgust. “Full of puppy love or somethin’, god, you’re so obvious.”

“I’m not obvious about anything! I was only looking at him.” You were running out of defences for Robin wasn’t stupid, she didn’t even ask how you felt - she simply knew just from watching you for a few moments.

“You can’t hold a conversation with him anymore, what happened?” Robin had noticed bits and pieces of your behaviour changing over the past few months, simply waiting for the right moment to piece it all together.

“I dunno, Rob, nothing? Everything?” You shook your head, unable to give her an answer because  it truly wasn’t as simple as that. “We got back and everything’s been fine, and it feels like - for once - we can relax and I just looked at Steve properly, and fuck, he’s hot now? We’ve been so busy with the upside down shit I never stopped and, like, looked at him, y’know?”

There had been years of your life that were spent fighting demodogs, and Vecna, and everything that came along with the upside down. You had done it all beside Steve, but now that the upside down was no longer a worry in anyone’s life had you finally noticed Steve for more than the seventeen year old boy you had grown up with. 

“He is hot, huh?” Robin grinned at your confession, pleased to finally hear you say it. “You’re hot too, babe, there’s nothing stopping you from going for it.”

“No, I can’t, there’s nothing to go for here- not with Steve, he’s Steve.” You rolled your eyes at Robin’s suggestion, at the sheer absurdity of it.

“Yeah, he’s Steve and you’re you and you know he loves you,” She couldn’t understand why you were shying away from this idea, it seemed obvious to her that it would make sense. “He nearly died for you, those bats weren’t pretty, I’m almost certain he’d like to wine and dine you too.”

“He fought the bats for all of us, don’t be dim.” You waved her off, hearing the crunch of gravel under tires and spinning to see Steve’s car pull back into the parking lot. You were ready to put a swift stop to the conversation with Robin upon seeing his appearance for there was no way you would risk him hearing what you were speaking about.

“Keep being negative, babe, but I know Steve probably thinks you’re hot too,” She rounded the counter, ready to swing the door open and welcome Steve back into the store as he crossed the parking lot. “Total fucking smoke-show, losing his mind with you in that dress most likely.”

“Who’s losing their mind?” Steve questioned as he stepped inside the store, having only heard half of a conversation between you two but choosing to insert himself anyway. 

“Just a customer, totally swooning over your friend here.” Robin grinned from ear to ear, almost less subtle than you were. 

“Yeah, what’s he like?” Steve dug through the bag of takeout as he placed the dishes around him, looking for the plastic container he knew to be yours. “That’s yours, sweetheart, extra hashbrowns and all.” He handed it over to you before turning to Robin with her dish. 

It was times like these that Steve and Robin were grateful that Family Video was quiet enough they could stand behind the counter with their lunch to keep chatting without the threat of customers lingering around them.

“He was funny, and hot, and sweet,” Robin played into her own deception, trying to gauge how far she could take it before you stopped her but you sat atop of the counter and watched it unravel, quiet. “I mean, she should totally go for it, right?”

“If he was nice enough, I suppose,” Steve spoke through a bite of waffle, shrugging his shoulders. “But you don’t wanna just jump the gun over a nice customer, you’ll hardly know the guy.”

“I don’t think I’m gonna do anything about it, Stevie,” You shook your head trying to ease out of the conversation. “He’s just nice to look at.”

“Go for it if you wanna, yeah, I mean- nothing to lose, really.” An uneasy feeling washed through Steve, settling in his stomach and suddenly he was no longer interested in his waffles, setting them down on the counter beside your legs. He ignored it as best as he could, pinning it on the hot weather and the lack of AC in Family Video making him feel nauseous.

“There’s always my dignity.” You hummed, knowing yourself and Steve were having two entirely different conversations so he couldn’t really understand.

“Hm, I’ve seen you dance on my dining table,” Steve rested his hand on your thigh, comfortable as he spoke and seemingly like second nature to him, but you could feel the heat beginning to rise across your cheeks. “I think that’s long gone.”

You stayed quiet after that, too focused on the weight of Steve’s hand on your bare thigh, far bigger than what you ever remembered his hands to be and almost too close to the hem of your dress. Luckily, the conversation flowed between Steve and Robin that he hardly noticed the shift in your demeanour. But Robin did, sending an almost sneaky wink your way. 

“You hear me, babe?” Robin brought you out of your own mind once again, bringing you back down to earth as your eyes had been fixated on Steve’s hand; the freckles that littered his skin and how delicate his touch was against your skin. 

“Sorry, what?” You shook your head and brought yourself out of the thoughts that plagued your mind, trying to remind yourself not to get too caught up in them.

“We’re gonna pick a couple movies, stay at Steve’s tonight- we’ve both got tomorrow off so it’d be a shame to waste it,” She explained the previous conversation as brief as she could, a sweet smile on her face as she spoke. “Pick one out, and we’ll grab some more for the kids.”

“So, like, everyone?” You hopped off the counter, dress swishing around your thighs as you felt the cool air hit your skin, suddenly missing the pressure of Steve’s touch against you.

“Yeah, it’s summer so why not?” Steve watched as you wandered over to the rom-coms, knowing you were going to head over to that section before you had moved.

“Sounds fun,” Your fingertips skimmed over the rack of films, though you already knew what film you wanted. “I’m gonna have to head home, get something to change into.” 

“Could just stay in that, ’s plenty pretty,” Steve smiled as he let his eyes drag up and down your dress, a teasing lilt to be found in his voice as he watched your bashful face, waving off his compliment. “Sixteen Candles, hm? Real original.”

“It’s a classic, and everyone likes it.” You slid the film across the countertop, fingers brushing against Steve’s as he placed it underneath his cash register so he could ensure it was yours for the night.

“No, you like it and none of us wanna argue with you.” Steve corrected you for he truly had no desire to watch Sixteen Candles for what felt like the twentieth time with you, but he would never deny you of your favourite film.

“That’s the way it should be.” You grabbed your bad and headed towards the door, knowing it was probably for the best to leave Steve and Robin to their work.

“You’ll stay the night, then, yeah?” Steve called out one last time before you left the store.

“‘Course.” He really didn’t have to ask to know if you were staying for if he ever asked, you were there to answer in any way he wanted.