#also i realized i have made a huge mistake with the colors in this piece

[coloriza]

sasori week 2023 // truth / trapped //

[auburnitzy]

if you’re up for requests, do you think we could have some hcs for Redson, MK, and Wukong noticing a ring on their crushes left hand and being bummed cuz they think their chance is gone, but turns out it’s just a gift from a family member they wear out of habit, so now they’re just thinking about how good they look with a ring?

please, and thank you 🙏🏽

WHOSE RING IS THAT?

CHARACTERS - RED SON + MK + SUN WUKONG (SEPERATE)

DISCLAIMER - FLUFF AND A LITTLE BIT OF ANGST IN MK'S PART

IDEA - WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU WEAR THE RING GIVEN TO YOU BY YOUR COUSIN?

WORDS - 2000+

AUTHOR'S NOTES: "I have no idea how to write Wukong. His personality is a mystery to me, but I hope I wrote him decently!"

"Also, I altered the ask a bit! Hope you don't mind!"

• RED SON •

- At first, Red Son would mistake it for one of the many jewelries he's gifted you in an attempt to impress you. He's given you so many that you have a huge collection full of shiny trinkets that he either stole or bought with his own money.

- The jewelry he mostly gives you is consisted of gold and red gems that match the color of his hair, not to mention that his scent lingers on said jewelry - just so demons would know that you were under the protection of the infamous Red Son. So he gets smug whenever you wear one, because to him, it sends a message that someone already had their eyes on you.

- So when he notices you wearing a ring clearly made of silver among the golden bands on your fingers, he's feeling three emotions - surprised, amused, and infuriated.

- Surprised, because he finds that you had another suitor. Amused, because it was only a miniscule piece of cheap silver compared to the expensive gold that he had been giving you. Infuriated, because who even dared to give you a ring?

- He'll sneakily glance and give the ring a burning glare whenever you're not looking while he internally thinks of many different ways to burn your other suitor to a crisp.

- This doesn't go unnoticed though. You'd catch the crimsonette with a sour face when he thinks you're not looking.

- You, who's worried and concerned, have to eventually confront him because he's acting like he has a personal vendetta against the ring that your cousin gave you.

- He's not gonna tell you that truth that easily. This is Red Son! Not only is he fiery-tempered, he's also stubborn.

- But when you finally catch him, corner him into a place where he can't dodge your question nor escape, he'll eventually give in and tell you.

- He'll feel his face burn up at the close contact, and the fact that he has to tell you the truth on why he's been glaring holes at the silver ring on your hand, before mustering up the courage and telling you how he's been trying to woo you with gifts, and that he can't stand seeing that ring on your hand because it's infuriating him.

- "You and that!- That ring!" he huffs, pointing at the jewelry around your finger. "I've been trying to court you with many jewelries, yet you choose to wear such a frugal item on your hand! Is gold not to your liking?! I will give you as much silver as you want to prove myself better than your other suitor!"

- And then it clicks on your head. Red Son likes you and he's been courting you without you knowing!

- The both of you will just stand there for a moment, with Red Son's eyes darted away from you, his arms crossed while you repeated his words in your head. The idea of Red Son being jealous over a ring a family member gave you causes you to snort before full on laughing.

- He'll get confused at your sudden burst of laughter, until you explain that the gift wasn't from a suitor, it was an early Christmas present from your cousin, that you were only wearing it to add variety.

- While you continue to laugh, Red Son's hair will burst into flames, a furious blush painted on his face as he realizes that he had been envious for nothing.

- If you remind him of this in the future, he'll vehemently deny that it happened.

• MK / QI XIAOTIAN •

- MK hasn't gifted you any jewelry as he can't afford it. He's not as rich as Red Son or Mei - but that doesn't stop him from giving you gifts.

- Like Red Son, he's been trying to impress you for a while now. He'll show you the cool moves he learned during his training with the Monkey King, all the epic stuff he did during his battle with the Demon Bull King, anything that comes to his mind just to see a smile painted on your face. You don't know it, but the rest of the gang knows that MK is smitten for you.

- If he gets a bonus from Pigsy, or an extra tip from a customer, he'll either spend it on flowers or chocolate to give to you (and because you're dense, you misunderstand his actions, taking it as a gesture of friendship.)

- But if he notices a band of gold on one of your fingers one day, he'll mistake it for an engagement ring and will choose to avoid and distance himself from you from now on. No more gifts, no more boasting about his abilities, just short greetings and awkward smiles while he walks past you.

- In his mind, you already had someone, and he doesn't need to overstep your boundaries or have his feelings be hurt, no matter how much his heart yearns for you.

- Of course, this doesn't go unnoticed by you, but since he didn't want to be anywhere near your vicinity, you decided to give him some space.

- MK's friends will notice MK being bummed out and unusually quiet. Pigsy will find that MK's been doing more orders than usual (sometimes even getting the orders wrong), Sun Wukong will take note of MK's head being in the clouds and his movements being sloppy and sluggish during training, and Mei's invites to go to the Anti-Gravity Arcade on weekends will be turned down in favor of staying in his apartment alone.

- It gets to the point that Pigsy has to lessen his workload and for the Monkey King to tone down the difficulty of his training just so MK can keep up.

- Mei will launch an investigation with Red Son begrudgingly tagging along (truthfully, he misses fighting with the brunette as its one of the few ways to let off some steam, but the latter's not even showing up, claiming to be busy.)

- They eventually find out that the last person he talked to before his mood plummeted was you, so they'll give your house a visit and will ask you questions about what happened between the two of you.

- The interrogation inquiry goes smoothly. You didn't do anything wrong, and that's what stumped them.

- ... Until they notice the ring on your finger.

- It leads them to bombard you with questions, all asking about your "partner", and who gifted you the ring, and why you didn't tell this to anyone, and even more questions relating to your "engagement".

- You on the other hand, are confused. What in the heavens were they talking about? What engagement?

- When they pointed towards the ring on your finger, it all pieces together for you, before you proceeded to vigorously shake your head.

- You explain to them that it was a gift from a family member, that there was no engagement, and that you thought it would compliment your appearance.

- Mei and Red Son both blink at you, before giving a short glance to one another as they realized the reason why MK had been so bummed out this week.

- The both of them will eventually leave your abode and make their way to the apartment above Pigsy's Noodles.

- With Red Son by her side, Mei knocks on the door.

- There's no answer at first, but after some time, MK will answer with a "yes?", but will refuse to open the door.

- Mei will call for him to come out, but again, MK will refuse to open the door. Red Son, sighing, will grab Mei's shoulder and step forward, deciding to take matters into his hands.

- "Your friend isn't engaged, Noodle Boy." Red Son rolled his eyes. "It was a gift from a family member. Your pitiful episode is getting on my nerves, so cease your moping or I'll have to burn this door down."

- Then it all goes silent, and Red Son actually considers burning the door down, before the sound of something shuffling followed by hasty footsteps was heard from behind the door.

- MK finally opens the door with a surprised look on his face. His hair was messy, his iconic jacket and bandana absent from his form. "What?"

- "I didn't stutter, did I?" Red Son rose a brow as he crossed his arms.

- Both Red Son and Mei could see the light rekindling in his eyes, before MK gives them a hug, grateful.

- The next day, MK will show up at your door, flowers and chocolates in hand as he prepares to finally tell you what he feels. He's gotten a glimpse into what could happen if he lets you slip away, so he's gonna make sure that it won't actually happen.

• SUN WUKONG •

- Jewelry is one of the many things Sun Wukong gifts you in an attempt to court you. ...Aside from fruits and maybe merchandise of himself.

- The man is aware that he's popular, not to mention he's literally the Great Sage Equal to Heaven - he's bound to be overconfident and smug about himself.

- He can't differentiate the difference between his and others gifts by sight alone, as he tends to forget what he's given you- but he can differenciate them by their scent.

- Like Red Son, his scent lingers on the gifts given to you. It's to ward off weaker demons away from you and to tell them that you're under his protection (it may or may not have backfired once, with you getting kidnapped by one of his many enemies to get under his skin.)

- So when he detects a different scent lingering on you, he's both curious and surprised.

- He'll eventually pin the scent down to the ring on your finger and figures out that he didn't give that to you.

- It didn't belong to humans, nor any powerful demons, but it did belong to a weaker demon.

- He went through all that effort of placing his scent on you just for a demon a thousand times weaker than him to try and scent you as well?

- He realizes that he had a "rival". Was he not being forward enough for you? Or were you just really, really dense? Just what did this guy have that he doesn't?

- He'll ask you about it, and if you answer him clearly and truthfully, that it was only given to you by a family member, it'll ease his nerves and tell you that it got him worried for a second. He trusts you that much.

- But if you decide to be vague about it, telling him that it was only given to you by someone close and that it didn't matter, he'll be suspicious.

- If he sees your family member come over and interact with you, he'll actually end up watching in one of his many forms, be it a bird, a bug, or any kind of creature that can blend into the surroundings.

- Is it just you, or does that butterfly closely resemble MK's mentor? Hmm, maybe that's just your imagination!

- He'll take mental notes of your companion to try and find a way to one-up them. He's competitive, especially when it comes to you.

- When the family member eventually leaves, he'll eventually pop out and greet you, acting like he just recently came.

- "Oh hi, Wukong! A surprise to see you here, but a welcome one."

- He'll greet you back, before glancing towards the back of your cousin, the latter's figure becoming smaller and smaller in the distance, before asking you how your day was.

- "It was good!" you answered, and his posture visibly shrinks from how happy you looked today. "My cousin decided to drop by today and swap something. Apparently, he gave me the wrong gift! The one that was supposed to be for his partner."

- "... Your cousin?"

- "Yeah!"

- Sun Wukong blinks, processing what you just said, before his tail begins to swish left and right while his expression visibly brightens up.

- He's relieved and internally celebrates at the fact that it was only a huge misunderstanding, before shaking his head as he walks closer to you, taking your hand and encasing it with his calloused ones.

- When you ask him what he's doing, he'll give you a toothy smile.

- Since his attempts to woo you by giving you gifts doesn't work, he decides to be more straightforward this time.

- "[Name], will you be mine?"

Don't follow me for content like this. I rarely post stuff like this as it's mostly OC x Canon.

[smoshyourheadin]

spencer agnew enemies to lovers one bed trope

The Start Of Something

pairing: spencer agnew x f!reader

a/n: GUYS IM SO SORRY I KEEP POSTING SO SLOW I HAVE NO MOTIVATION MY BAD THIS IS LIKE RLLY BAD AND RUSHED LMAO I DONT LIKE IT i have better stuff otw i promise (also anon ily for this!!) requests are open <3

working at smosh is pretty great. you’ve been working there about two years now as a producer on smosh games, and you’ve made some darn good videos. the people are amazing, it’s so fun working with literal comedians all day. damien is so kind, shayne is so smart, courtney is so witty, ian is so… morbid? either way, everyone there is family to you. the one thing you don’t like however? spencer.

it all started during your first big project at smosh. you and spencer were both assigned to lead a new series of board af. excited to prove yourself, you put in countless hours to make sure everything was perfect. however, spencer, being spencer, dismissed your detailed plans, opting instead for a spontaneous approach, leading the episodes to be messy, and all around bad quality.

every day at the office is a battlefield. Spencer’s snide comments about your meticulousness clash with your jabs about his unpredictability.

“nice color-coded schedule you got there,” spencer says with a smirk as he passes your desk. “did you plan your bathroom breaks too?”

you roll your eyes, not missing a beat. “at least i won’t forget to show up to work on time, unlike some people.”

he scoffs and walks away, and you smirk to yourself because of how annoyed he gets.

you grew up in a structured environment, where planning and precision were key to success. your parents, both engineers, drilled into you the importance of preparation and hard work. spencer, on the other hand, thrived in chaos. raised in a floridian household with artists for parents, he learned to ‘embrace’ spontaneity and creativity, when in reality he’s just a lazy piece of shit, and this fundamental difference in your upbringings is your reasoning for the friction.

the entire smosh crew is buzzing with excitement for the upcoming vid con. however, ian and anthony made a slight mistake: not enough rooms. as luck would have it, you’ve been assigned to share a room with spencer, and, of course, there’s only one bed.

“great,” you mutter, staring at the single bed. “this is just perfect.”

spencer shrugs. “we’re adults. we can handle this. or are you upset this’ ruined your plans?”

you shove him off, tongue in cheek, and put your bags down.

“yeah, well, i guess we’ll just have to make do,” you reply, mustering a half-hearted smile as you unpack.

that night, as you both lie awkwardly side by side, you can’t help but talk. the conversation starts stilted but gradually, you begin to share your perspectives. you explain how his disregard for plans made you feel undervalued. spencer admits he never realized how much effort you put into your work and how his actions might have come across.

after that night, some subtle changes begin to occur between you both. one day, you catch spencer glancing your way with what seems like concern when you’re stressed. you find yourself defending his unconventional methods when others criticize him.

one day, you witness spencer dealing with a personal crisis - a call from his dad that leaves him visibly shaken. as you’re the only person who saw him, you offer him a shoulder to lean on. that day, you see a side of him that’s vulnerable and human, softening your attitude further, almost affectionate toward him.

as you start getting along better, both of you struggle with your growing feelings. you’re plagued by internal conflict, denying what’s becoming increasingly obvious. spencer starts bringing you coffee in the mornings, and you find yourself lingering in conversations with him to try and stay in his company.

a crisis at smosh forces you both to confront your true feelings. a huge chunk of footage from shayne’s turn on tntl is accidentally deleted, and the blame game begins. in the heat of the argument, spencer snaps, “why do you hate me so much?”

the words hang in the air, and you both freeze. finally, you confess, “i don’t hate you. i don’t think i ever hated you. i think i was just scared that my efforts would never be enough.”

spencer steps closer, his eyes softening. “i didn’t realize. i thought you just… hated me.”

you break. hot tears sting your face, and you bring your hoodie sleeves to your eyes to prevent your mascara from running. he wraps you in a hug, and you sob into his shoulder.

in the end, you and spencer are inseparable. the crew notices the change, teasing you both about your newfound closeness, especially angela who you used to complain to about him. you’re all lovey dovey now, finding joy in each other’s company and embracing the weird balance you bring to each other’s lives.

[moongothic]

Do you ever start a project, thinking it'd be a fun thing to make, only to realize halfway through you hate and have literally no use for it and then get stuck unsure what the fuck you should do with it

Yeah

This is my Bag of Regrets

Okay so around March of 2023 I made my first-ever crochet bag out of the leftover yarn I had from my Blanket of Darkness. I loved how that bag turned out, but even then I realized I could've done a better job had I lined the bag, which I should've done really early into the project.

So.

I ended up with a bunch of this super thin cotton yarn, in a few colors. We're not gonna talk about how I got the yarn, I just ended up with it. And I did not know what to do with it, because the pink and the dark maroon-y color just are not my colors, at all. I do not like them what-so-ever. And so like, I had to figure out something to do with the yarn, didn't wanna waste it. And for some god damn reason I thought I could practise making more crochet bags using this yarn.

Like in theory, this was a fine idea.

But I don't even like pink, what the fuck am I going do with this god damn thing now.

But I was a fucking idiot and did not think about that fact until I was like 80% done with it

Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to try doing a checkerboard pattern on the tiny crochet bag. This was a huge mistake. I don't know what the fuck it was about it, but I had the worst time of my life trying to make sure the squares were even, with the same amount of rows and that the corners met at the right spots- like sometimes I made the right amount of rows but the corners didn't meet at all and sometimes I did the wrong amount of rows but the corners did meet. It was a fucking nightmare to crochet. I had a horrible time. Making the front and back panels took me months and I had to restart it so many times just to get it right. It was bad, I hated it man

Also, by the way. I don't mind working with thin yarn at all, but because this was a thin COTTON yarn, I just. The yarn has no stretch, it is hard. Working with it made me feel like I was going to cut off my left finger as the yarn was rubbing against it as I was crocheting.

The bottom piece of the bag was done in that dark purple-maroon-y color with... I can't even remember what stitch I did, it was something Alt Knots has a video tutorial for on their YouTube though

But, I made the three crochet panels

Then I cut out the piece of fabric I would hand-sew the crochet pieces onto. I have a ton of this red-brown fabric that I have no idea wha to do with, and I figured it would work fine for this (since you're not supposed to see this fabric anyways) so I cut the pieces from it

Pinned the pieces down and then I just sewed the pieces onto the fabric. I decided to use sewing thread so it'd blend into the crochet better (being a fine thread and all), using white for the checker board pieces and a dark red/maroon-y color for the bottom piece

Forgot to take a photo of the bottom piece but it's fine, you get the idea

Then I cut out the lining fabric. I didn't really have any fabric that would actually match the checker board crochet at all, and I didn't want to buy anything so I chose to use this black fabric (with itty bitty roses) for lining

Cut the pieces and pinned them down facing each other

I think I originally wanted to do the sewing by hand for a cleaner look but I wasn't happy with it, so after I did my innitial hand-stitching I went over it with a sewing machine, getting as close to the crochet but without sewing over it. And after checking it was okay, I cut the excess fabric and did some clean up to help keep the fabric from fraying.

Folded the pieces inside out and they were looking decent!

Now yes, I did still have to hand-sew one side shut for each piece, but it wasn't a big deal, though sadly because I had to make sure the handsewing wasn't visible on the outside of the bag, this was going to be a visible flaw on the lining anyways

You can see what I mean on the top edge of the bigger piece (with the white thread)

In hindsight I probably could've sewn the edge shut with a mattress stitch or something instead of going through all the fabric, but alas, I was stupid and didn't not realize this at the time

Sidenote I took like 5 month break from this project after finishing the front and back piece but before I did the bottom piece. Because yeah, this was around when I realized I hated what I was making and that I had no idea what the fuck I was gonna do with it once it was done. And I just could not get myself to even look at it, for months. And it HAUNTED me, made me feel bad about not having completed it every dang day. But yeah, finally in March I got back to it after finishing my last crochet blanket. Because I wanted to start another project but I did not want to start anything before finishing this fucking thing so yeah.

(Oh yeah I also I grabbed some metal accessories from my mom's stash that I attached to the bottom piece, so the bag can have a widdle handle)

With the pieces all done, it was finally time to sew them together. And this I was going to do by hand sewing them with a mattress stitch. I started by just attaching the smaller piece to the bottom, making sure it was centered right, and carefully sewed it together, starting from the middle and making my way up the sides, one at a time.

I did very specifically do sewing on the red-brown fabric

And it was looking good, according to plan!

Did the bigger piece the same way, and then all I had to do...

...Was clean up, by mattress stitching the crochet pieces together. Chose to use white because I figured I'd rather have small amounts of white peeking through on the bottom piece than have the dark red/purple on the front pieces. Though thankfully the white yarn isn't even that noticable, it sinked into the stitches quite nicely

With that done, I did this one final little touch-up. On checker crochet pieces you could kind of see my starting row, as the row had quite large holes in it. And I wasn't a huge fan of how it looked, so I just took some of the white yarn and wove it into the loops to fill it out

One final thing I did but didn't bother documenting was the strap. I did considder crocheting it, and even started it, but I did not like the stitch I was trying to use for it, and at this point I was so fucking done with the project I couldn't be bothered. I had some white cotton ribbon with nothing to do with it, so I decided to just grab some of that to make a lil strap. It's... not great, it's just that the ribbon is quite thin so it FEELS really flimsy. But I had reached the "I don't give a fuck anymore" stage and so. Yeah whatever

My shitty little bag of regrets is done. Yay.

I probably could've done something to clean the edges of the bag better because you can see the red-brown fabric peeking through, but... Like I can't think of what I could do to fix that, and again, I'm at the point where I don't have the energy to even try anymore

It's done, and that's what matters

Probably throwing it in the trash because what else am I gonna do with it

(Final note; I did have left-over yarn from this, but I used that yarn to make tiny mesh fruit/grocery bags. Ones I will actually use! Yay)

[melliotwrites]

10 tips for musical theater writing!

We've been getting asks about musical theater writing and thought it might be helpful to share some things we've learned from our writing process that've made our lives easier. DISCLAIMER: we are by no means experts in writing musicals! These are just things that've worked for us!

(Some great resources we'd recommend are Finishing The Hat and Look, I Made A Hat by Stephen Sondheim for good jumping-off books by an amazing lyricist, or websites like https://www.musicals101.com/write.htm (they have a good explanation of song forms here: https://www.musicals101.com/score.htm that cover the basics of musical forms, etc.) To chat with people more experienced than us, we'd recommend visiting https://www.reddit.com/r/musicalwriting/)

Here are our tips:

Collaborate! In professional musical theater, there are three writing roles: lyricist, who writes the words for the songs, bookwriter, who writes the words in the scenes, and composer, who writes the music for the piece. People can be any combination of the three- for example, Mel is a lyricist/bookwriter but Elliot is a composer/lyricist/bookwriter. You can also take on different roles on different projects! You don't have to choose which one you are Right Now, but writing a show is a lot easier if you have one or more collaborators. One of the most common mistakes I see in aspiring musical theater is trying to do too many at once -- people who are awesome composers but mediocre lyricists, or people who are great lyricists but their music is all over the place -- which can kill interest in a project before it even begins. Theatre will always be a collaborative art form, so try to find people you can create your best work with!

Choose a topic you have something important to say about. Something you feel like nobody else has said before, or something you think you personally can say in a new way. Our writing process for both TAOPP and Adamandi was to begin with some big ideas - for TAOPP, we talked about the transformative experience of falling in love, and for Adamandi, we talked about the ways that dark academia idealizes an unhealthy independence, and doesn't often include queer students or students of color. Focus more on complex questions than statements ("How does an Ivy League school help and harm its marginalized students?" vs "Racism is bad.") We choose a set of characters that allows us to have an interesting group of perspectives on that central idea.

Outline! Once we know who is in it, we write a rough outline of the show, deciding where scenes and songs are, though this outline often changes throughout the process (for example, at this stage in the Adamandi process, we knew how Act I would end, but initially Litany of the Martyrs was in the middle of Act I instead of Act II). Outlining is especially important for musicals, because you want it to be as solid as possible before you start writing. It sucks when shifting around the plot or cutting characters means scrapping great songs you've written too soon.

Know why you want this to be a musical! Why not a book or a screenplay or a concert or song cycle? What is it about the musical form that makes you excited to tell the story through it, and how will live theater help you tell this story? In a musical, the songs should move the story forward, help characters reach realizations and show new depths of character, etc. Musical songs should start at a point A and end at a very different point B. If you take out all the songs you've got planned in your show, are there huge holes in the plot or does everything still make sense? If everything still makes sense, maybe you don't want to write a musical.

Find a songwriting process that works for you! We tend to write lyrics-first, so Mel will write all the words to a song for Elliot to "set", or compose a tune for. After Elliot has a melody, he finds chords for the melody and builds the accompaniment from there. Another way you can write (especially if you are a composer more versed in instrumental music) is to start music first -- finding a fun melody or a fun chord progression and then building the rest from there. Songwriting is like filling in a puzzle. Elliot goes through many iterations of melodies and chords before settling on a melody he likes. When he finds a good melody, he'll record a little voice memo of it but revisit it later to see if it still holds up before building upon it. It's okay if something stumps you a little! Songwriting is usually a collaborative process; we edit each others' lyrics and talk about musical moments and the tone/feel of a song. We make sure we're on the same page with Mel reading out the lyrics of a song before Elliot sets it, so Elliot gets a sense of where Mel's rhythmic instincts for the song lie. Don't let your roles define what you're allowed to have an opinion in- the ideal collaboration incorporates both people's expertise in the form overall instead of being a neat delineation of roles.

WATCH, READ, & LISTEN TO LOTS OF THINGS (especially musicals!) Make fun little movie nights out of it! You can learn a lot about what you want to create by seeing what's out there! Find things you enjoyed in shows you disliked, or things you disliked in shows you liked, and think about why. (Tip: Don't just watch musicals that have been made into movies: go to local theaters, watch proshots, get a sense for what staging can do to a story. Watch two different productions of the same show! Consume things written for the same medium you will be writing in.) This will also help you learn about song forms, musical structures that work, etc.!

Similarly, use a shared musical vocabulary as inspiration! If you're a composer and don't know where to start, discuss the vibe of the song you are about to write with your lyricists (genre, similar songs, etc.) Find a playlist with similar songs -- doo-wop songs, swing music from the '30s, or the discographies of artists you like -- and just listen to them for a while. Try to pick apart things that the songs have in common, or things you like from certain songs -- is it a certain song structure? Is it three-part vocal harmonies? Is it a certain combination of instruments? There are also lots of great resources on YouTube/online about what characterizes certain kinds of music. What are common chord progressions in the genre? Is there a rhythm or time signature that characterizes the genre (as is often the case with dances, like tangos or waltzes etc.)? Then try out what you liked from the research and play around with it!

Make it understandable! A musical isn't a novel or an album -- typically, the audience watching it can't reread a page or replay the song. They're watching and listening live, and you have to make sure they understand all the information! When it comes to songwriting, make sure you are setting your lyrics in a comprehensible way. Try reading out your lyrics before setting them at all, so you note where you naturally emphasize words (e.g., we pronounce the word MU-sical, not mu-SIC-al or musi-CAL). Once you have this for reference, recreate this natural rhythm to the best of your ability in your melody! It will help people understand your lyrics better. You want folks to understand as many words as possible on the first listen! (E.g., if someone's singing really quickly and then sing the word musical as mu-SIC-al, people very well might easily mistake it for another set of words entirely, 'cause their brains are not used to the word being said like that!) Similarly, you want to watch out for the amount of syllables you're putting in each line. If two lines sound similar melodically but one has a couple extra syllables in there, chances are it's gonna get squashed rhythmically and become word mush. Fixing this means revisiting your lyrics and cutting some/rephrasing them, which is a natural part of the process!

Finish it! Whatever else you have to do to get to the end of it, it's so important to have a complete project to see how your storytelling works and where it can be improved. A great thing about writing musicals is how often they can be revised -- you'll get feedback, or grow as a writer, and end up wanting to revamp it, which is fine! Look at the difference between Broadway shows and productions of the same shows before Broadway. Or you'll move onto a different project with the skills you acquired from this one -- either way, you have a show's worth of experience under your belt. :)

Be open to criticism, but form your own opinions based on many audience reactions, not just one person's critique. Have readings of your show for your friends, or host a talkback after your performances!

[astramachina]

✨Did you know (probably not since I refuse to talk about it)✨ that The Architect/formerly The Atramentuos Originator is actually a predecessor/prototype for The Singularity Project?

The history is LONG, and after cannibalizing some vital elements of the fic I decided that yeah, both things are different enough that the fanfic itself can go back up and stay up this time.

If you squint you'll realize the whole "hyper-genius goes to Antarctica, experiences the Horrors, finds something godlike in the ice that enlightens him even further, ???, profit" is a narrative both stories have in common. But there's some very key differences!

↓↓ If you also wish to be enlightened on the mystery that is TSP ↓↓

IDK if this counts as a "WIP Intro" because it's not strictly about TSP but I wanna go a bit into detail about the writing journey for both pieces.

I wrote Originator/Architect back in 2020 following, and I kid you not, a string of scarily coherent nightmares that made me feel like the protagonist of a Lovecraftian tale. Maybe it was thanks to the beginning of the pandemic and the world itself feeling like it was ending, but either way, out of my teaching job and in less than stellar living accommodations (and before starting therapy), I did the one thing I could do: write about it.

I have a long history of writing extreme AUs with the self-imposed parameters of "keep these characters as in-character as humanly possible", which is what I set out to do with this fic. As a consequence, Originator did not get much attention. The stobotnik fandom was YOUNG, just a couple of weeks old, and Sonic doesn't particularly lend itself to horror, so it made sense. That also meant that I was devastated that such a rich piece of somewhat original work was withering away in obscurity. I poured hours of work to the point of manic insanity into this fic hardly anyone was reading, which made me fly off the handle.

The last straw was my newfound fandom BFF refusing to read any more of it because it scared her. It was then that I realized "this is good, but it feels like too much", so I yoinked it off AO3 with the intention of turning it into a 100% original piece of fiction. But see my previous point about keeping characters as in-character as possible. That threw a huge wrench into that idea, because both these characters were 1:1 reskins of Stone and Robotnik.

That did not stop me from embellishing the universe. New characters popped in, Stone and Bot got new names, I wrote one-off short stories (one of which nearly got traditionally published), and even plotted entire stories with these new characters. None of it went anywhere. SOMETHING was missing, and I wasn't sure what. The story eventually faded from memory as I went on to work on various original novels, learning from Originator's mistake.

Fast-forward to November 2023 when, out of nowhere, I got struck with a "vibe". Not a scene, not a theme, not a trope, nothing even remotely coherent, just a vibe I couldn't even put into words. I spent weeks trying to synthesize a feeling into colors and sounds, into something tangible enough to be written down. There's a 10 page document of senseless words that go nowhere. Half written sentences. A surplus of the color orange. "Smoke. Viewing room. Burning rubber on the run. Neon. Worms? The ground is upturned by something," etc.

By January of 2024 I had a bit more a heading. "70s, mad scientists, the unknown forced to become known, the loneliness of godhood", but it was STILL fighting me. I didn't want to write a book because it felt like something that could not be contained in prose. Which was a huge problem for me because the only kind of writing I've ever done has been prose (I'm excluding theater here because I've only been playwriting for about two years). And so the story continued to writhe and rot in my brain because I still could not understand what it wanted from me.

It was sometime in February, maybe March, that I was watching a video essay on Midwest Angelica, and the narrator made this forceful remark on how there's no excuse for anyone to not embark to create something like it.

"Blender is free. Video editing programs are free. YouTube tutorials are free."

This ruined my life by cracking my brain wide open.

All of a sudden, things began to slot into place. "I can absolutely make a webseries if I want to. Literally nobody's stopping me. How hard can it be?" (THE ANSWER IS VERY. BLENDER'S LEARNING CURVE IS STEEP. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON DAVINCI RESOLVE. BUT ALSO I HAVE TO FILM????)

New project finally unlocked, but that also meant unlocking a lot of skills I have 0 knowledge of. Even looking down the gauntlet, the story continued to evolve. "What if I make it into an ARG" and "what if it launches off a video game demo".

The plans were BIG, the stakes were even BIGGER, and I'm just one guy who just got a pc powerful enough to get the ball rolling. So.... time to get to work, right?

WRONG.

There was still no story. I had characters, yeah, some themes, some scenes, but what was the meat of it? And then it came to me.

"Hey, remember Originator? Remember what we did with BotnEmil and StoJules? We should revisit that. While we're at it, we should revisit some older OCs from a long abandoned 2017 WIP."

And then I did. All of this to say that if you do ever embark on the journey that is The Singularity Project (official title still pending) whenever it releases, then you will have a leg up by knowing that Originator/Architect can be considered a "modern day retelling" of TSP's earliest story line.

How so?

Dr. Emil Krasner embarks with the Shackleton Expedition of 1914, a journey that ensures his assistant, Mr. Jules Al-Jurjani, returns with ice samples carrying an unknown specimen.

You see where I'm going with this? What little I thematically cannibalized of the original version of Originator is so minuscule and drastically different that I just. Decided to slap that bad boy back up.

Now, I'm obviously not going to tell you how this ties into what I've already shared of TSP. You guys know about Mike, Cy, and Verne. And this is, technically, an ARG, so the puzzle is half the fun.

Which also makes interacting with writeblr more than a little difficult because how the fuck do I share 1) without spoiling stuff and 2) stuff that's not in prose format???

Anyway, if you read all of this, may the universe give you a nice treat today. I'm gonna go do some video editing.

[agents-shared-space]

(This happens around a year and a half after Octo Expansion)

Caroline put the finishing touches on her makeup. She wanted, no, needed to look her best for tonight. For tonight was the night she was finally going to confess her feelings to Samuel. Her heart raced in anticipation and nervousness as she ensured it’d all been applied correctly. Thanks to being partially sanitized, it was extremely tricky to find the right eyeliner, blush, lipstick, etc. It took her and Marina days, going through countless brands and colors before they found out what worked. She asked Marina for help, but kept it secret as to why she wanted it.

“Alright, Caroline, you can do this.” She took several deep, calming breaths. “You’ve worked up the courage for this, you’re finally going to tell Samuel how you feel about him.”

It was almost a year ago when she realized the feelings she had for him. She loved how dependable he was, how he was capable of taking charge when need be, and how caring he was when he needed to be. It also didn’t hurt that he was the only one who could beat her in one-on-one combat. (Ceph, bless his heart, tried, but she had him tapping out almost as soon as they started.) Overall, Samuel was an amazing person in her eyes.

Caroline was thrown out of her thoughts when her phone alerted her to a text. Checking it, she saw that Callie said she had a huge announcement to tell everyone and wanted to tell them in person.

‘Probably wants to announce she and Marie are going on tour again.’ She thought when she realized something. ‘Wait! Samuel’ll be there. I can tell him once she’s made her announcement!”

Before leaving her apartment, Caroline grabbed the pièce de résistance, her Golden Toothpick. After equipping it, she left her apartment and made her way to the secret kettle. The walk there wasn’t too long. It was a nice and warm evening; the wind blew just a bit. She used this time to calm her nerves even more. She couldn’t afford any mistakes. She wanted tonight to go perfectly; she needed it to.

_____

Arriving at the lookout, she saw that Marie, Callie, and Samuel were already there, as was Marina and Pearl. She waved hi to everyone. Marina gave her a huge hug and whispered in her ear.

“You look beautiful. What’s the occasion?”

“I’m finally going to confess to Samuel how I feel.” She whispered back. “Hopefully he accepts.”

“O-oh. Is that s-so.” Marina’s tone suddenly sounded nervous. Caroline figured Marina was just feeling a bit worried for her. Before Caroline could respond, they heard Ceph behind them.

“Hey, sorry I’m a bit late. Classes ran a bit long.”

“That’s alright Ceph,” Callie said. “But now that you’re here, everyone can sit down.”

Marina and Caroline split and went to find seats. The one that Caroline got was sitting across from Samuel. She smiled and imagined where their first date would be, should he accept her of course. She did notice him slightly looking at Callie with a faint smile, and a pit started forming in her stomach. She shook her head. She was just imagining things, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

“Now that everyone’s here, Samuel and I have an announcement to make.” Samuel got up and stood beside Callie. She watched as he placed his hand in Callie’s, interlocking their fingers.

‘Oh no! Please! Please! Please! Don’t let it be that. Anything but that.’ Her mind raced as her heart beat fast and hard. ‘No. Please don’t let my one chance be taken from me.’

“Callie and I have been dating for several months, and we’ve finally decided to tell you all about us.” The two of them kissed for a few seconds with huge smiles. The world muted around Caroline as she felt her heart shatter into millions of pieces. Here she was, dressed up all nice, ready to pour her heart out to Samuel. Only for it to be crushed, like it’d been shot point-blank with an E-Liter.

Everyone else was clapping and congratulating the two of them. Caroline, however, was fighting back tears. She felt as if her world was ending. The boy she had daydreamed about for almost a year, the one she imagined an entire future with, was already with another woman. She needed to leave before the tears actually fell and she had to explain why she was crying.

Caroline got up and took her phone out of her pocket, putting it to her ear to make it seem like she was taking a call. Making her way towards the kettle, she ripped the Golden Toothpick out her tentacles, not caring that a chunk of her tentacles was taken with it. She dropped it at her feet and kicked it away.

“Caroline! Wait!” She heard Marina behind her. She ignored the idol and entered the Kettle.

_____

The view from the NILS Statue was amazing. From where she sat, she could see the entire city, and the setting sun reflected on the water was spectacular. Here, she was free to cry her heart out. Her tears, shirt, and the ground below were stained with her tears, mixed with sanitized Ink. She took too long; she missed her chance. If she’d worked up the courage months ago, then she would be the one with Samuel and not Callie.

“DAMNIT! DAMNIT! DAMNIT!” She yelled out, smashing a fist into the statue. A new wave of tears started falling. Caroline felt arms circling her, pulling her into a hug.

“Caroline. I’m so sorry.” Came Marina’s soothing voice.

“I’m sorry too. I’m sorry that I even thought I had a chance.” All the pain and hurt that she was feeling was bleeding into her voice. “My heart shattered when they made the announcement. It was shattered before I even had a chance. Do you even know what that feels like?”

“I do. It was a little bit after Pearl and I had started Off the Hook. Our manager was talking about collaborating with another up-and-coming group, publicity and whatnot. Well, when we went and met with them. Their drummer was the first one to come up and talk with me. The others were just a bit indifferent. Well over the course of several days, while our managers were talking details, I got to know him. He was the second one to treat me like an individual, Pearl of course being the first. Well when I went to go ask him if he and I could date, I saw him and their lead singer making out. I was devastated, I don’t think they knew I was there.” Marina stopped and made sure that Caroline was still listening, she got her answer with Caroline patting her side a few times. “I ran out the studio, tears running down my face. I ran to the only place I could think of, Mount Nantai. I stayed there for hours by myself under some rocks when Pearl found me. She convinced me to return to the studio so we could work on our stuff. That was several years ago, and just recently we’ve started doing collabs again.”

“I… I didn’t know that.” Caroline mumbled out. At the very least she knew that there was someone else who felt the same pain she was feeling.

“Yeah, and I learned something important,” Marina said, placing a hand on Caroline’s head and rubbing it. “The pain will eventually fade. It might take a long time, but it’ll eventually fade.”

[curseofaphrodite]

the love club

regulus black x fem!gryffindor!reader

summary: in which he realizes just how grateful he is for having a best friend. alternate title - Fuck Friends I Have A Crush On You. | written for @cryonme's celebration!

"Love your sweater," you said, smiling a bit too much, as if you had just said an inside joke.

Regulus beamed, sitting beside you without a second thought. Slytherins weren't usually seen at the Gryffindor table, but Christmas was a good excuse as any, right?

"Almost didn't recognize you but merry Christmas, little brother," Sirius yelled, hugging him sideways. "Looking less like the Bloody Baron each day, huh? You're blending in well."

"Especially in that sweater,' Remus added, reaching for the mashed potatoes. Regulus frowned, looking at his clothes again.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked, offended.

"No I didn't say- well, you're wearing Gryffindor colors."

Regulus paled when you burst out laughing. The glares his housemates have been giving him from across the hallway suddenly made sense to him. He started fumbling with his words.

"You- you said gold was your favorite color!" he said defensively, hugging himself as if that would shield his idiotic mistake.

"I was just seeing if you'd fall for it," you shrugged, cutting yourself a piece of cake. "No one's favorite color could be gold. Oh stop the glare, you look wonderful."

"Aw, you picked out this because you thought it was Y/N's favorite color?" Marlene asked teasingly from the other side of the table. Regulus wanted to throw a fork at her.

"It was an honest mistake," you spoke up on his behalf. "Reg's terrible at fashion, you know that."

Sirius squinted his eyes suspiciously. Out of everyone at that table, his brother was the only one with a proper sense of shopping. Regulus shrank under his questioning eyes.

Shit, shit, shit.

He hoped Sirius wouldn't ask anything. It's not like he could say - hey I love shopping but pretends to be bad so I could spend more time with my best friend. Yes, I know I don't need any excuse to talk to her but I'm still new to human affections. I don't want to be distant and if that means I have to wear ugly sweaters or nod at her questionable choices, I'll do that gladly. With a forced smile.

Sirius muttered something like interesting under his breath, but he didn't go on, which Regulus was grateful about.

But his brother wasn't the kind to let things go that easily. He cornered Regulus as soon as everyone went outside to see the snow.

-

"Have you seen Reg?" you asked Lily, who shook her head apologetically.

"I saw him with Pads a while ago. They looked very much deep in thought," James said.

You groaned. "Do you reckon they're fighting again?"

"Nah, they're far past all that," James waved it off. "Maybe he's telling him he's an animagus."

"HE'S AN ANIMAGUS?"

"Oh, you didn't know that," he laughed nervously. "Uhm, if you see a huge dog in our room, just act surprised. Lils, my love, wanna sneak off to Hogsmeade?"

"Still no on the date," Lily said, rolling her eyes. She went her way and James followed with a pout, leaving you in the snow to be a one-person search party for Regulus Arcturus Black.

-

"There you are!" you said sharply, stopping Sirius on his path. "Where the hell is your brother?"

"He uhm- he's, I don't think I'm supposed to tell you that," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"What did you do?" you sighed. "If you buried him somewhere, there's still time to dig him out—"

"Merlin I was near the pond," Regulus said, walking up to you from behind. "Though I'm glad to know you have little to no reaction if I do get murdered."

"As if he would ever kill someone and get his clothes dirty," you scoffed. Sirius shrugged.

"Fair point. See ya," Regulus started to walk away but you chased after him with no hesitation.

"Where are you going?" you asked, careful not to step on branches and roots. "I'd jump off a cliff for you but sometimes I fear I may also be the one pushing you. Can you PLEASE talk?"

"Just needed some quiet time."

"You're sure you're not just ignoring me? Because you were perfectly fine earlier."

"Not everything about me is you," he stopped, a little meaner than he intended to. You were used to his occasional outbursts so you stood your ground.

"What did Sirius tell you?" you asked casually.

If he was taken back, he didn't show it. "We were just catching up on everything we missed. Birthdays, quidditch matches, dates. I always knew he had a thing for Remus but he actually asked him out? I didn't think he had the courage."

I certainly don't, he thought, smiling sadly. You mistook his stares for nostalgia. He mistook yours for pity.

"Then he asked me if I ever fancied someone," he continued, shrugging. "I said I was alone too much of my life for anything of that sort."

"Really? Cause I thought you were the kind of guy to easily fall in love."

"I wouldn't even know what love feels like," he lied swiftly. "Would you?"

"I only had crushes," you pointed out.

"Hmm, how do crushes feel like?"

"Well, you can’t stop thinking about them, you feel strange when they’re around, and then you want to— why are you looking at me like that?"

His eyes had completely melted, and the slight twinkle in them looked as if someone stole the stars just for him. He shooked his head slightly, disagreeing with what you said.

"You make it sound like a fever," he laughed. "It's nothing like that. You feel calm, happy, and safe. You feel like yourself with them, and they make you want to love yourself. It's wonderful, not chaotic."

"For someone who's never felt love, you know a lot about it."

This is it. Just say it. Just say it.

"Actually, I- sort of. Uhm, you're-duck."

"What?"

A smack at the back of your head made you lose balance. You landed on your back as clumsily as you could and watched as Sirius roared with laughter. You saw him reaching for another snowball already.

"Oh hell no," you stood up and ran away, hiding behind a tree just in time. Sirius started attacking Regulus instead.

"MY JACKET!" Reg yelled, angrily scooping up a heap of snow. Without even forming it into a ball, he dumped them on his brother's head.

"YES FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT—" James had appeared out of nowhere, but his words were cut off as you used your wand to make another snowball hit him square in the face.

"Cheating," he mumbled inaudibly, half-buried in snow.

You laughed and walked back to the scene, removing yourself from the tree's protection. Regulus smiled mischievously.

"No!" you yelled, running away. He chased you without hesitation.

[queenoftheworldisdead]

Could you maybe write something with dark dark Steve who has a huge size kink and crying kink and loves to humiliate?

School Days

Note: sorry it took so long. been kinda down. also hope i did OK with humiliation.

Summary: Co-worker makes you feel uncomfortable.

Warning: 18+Only, short reader, size kink, crying kink, humiliation kink, non consent, forced fingering and cock warming i think

Dark Coach Steve x Short Teacher Reader

📚

You had always had a love of teaching. Growing up your friends would always groan when it was your turn to pick what to play, because you always chose to play school.

You knew exactly what you wanted to do when you got to college. You wanted to shape young minds. It was fascinating watching them grow and learn right before your very eyes.

Shelby elementary hired you two years after you received all of your certificates. Replacing their beloved Mrs.Pepper Potts after she moved out of town with her husband.

You taught first graders. You preferred teaching the lower grades. The higher grades were a bit difficult. Competing for attention when most of the students where dealing with raging hormones proved an exhausting endeavor. Your short stature became a reoccurring issue too. During your student teacher days you realized the taller they got the more they seemed to not take you seriously.

At least working with the lower grades you were less likely to be confused as a student. You had lost track of how many times you were stopped in the hall by a colleague. With the lower grades you towered over your class and commanded respect with little effort.

📚

You felt exhausted. Your first parent teacher meeting was over. It was endearing and encouraging that so many parents had so many concerns about the development of their little ones. But their critiques on your credentials didn't fail to strike a nerve, an issue new teachers faced all the time. You smiled through it as you normally did. Letting them have their back handed remarks as you answered and waited out the clock.

When it was all over you needed a drink. You cleared up the mess they left for you, a preview of what to expect from their spawn.

When everything was in its place you tackled the blackboard. Taking out your stool you stood on tip toes erasing. You had the bright idea of outlining your curriculum on the board for all the parents to view. It was hard getting it all on the massive board, but with your step stool you got as high as you could go.

"Hey! Whoa you know that's dangerous." A voice rushed to your side as your stool tilted.

"Are you OK little one?" he asked helping you down.

God he's tall. You barely came eye to eye with his chest. You tensed in his arms and when he realized his mistake he released you.

"Oh sorry" he rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed. "I'm Steve Rogers." He reached out a hand for you to shake. You took it and introduced yourself. His firm grip swallowed your hand, when he squeezed you held in the hurt from the pressure.

Steve's presence was intimidating despite the smile he wore. When he released your hand, you took as step back, but he stepped forward.

He is just a close talker. Don't over analyze.

"Sorry again with your clothes I just assumed you were..." He motioned at your clothing.

Taking inspiration from Ms Frizz, your favorite animated teacher, you always wore colorful puffy skirts that depicted various things related to education or fairy tails. The look kept the attention of the youngsters, but it certainly didn't look childish.

"It's OK, but I am afraid you are a bit late for the meeting."

Spinning away you move to the other side of your desk to give yourself more space. "If you wouldn't mind filling in your information, encase of emergencies or special needs. I know you probably filled it out for the front office, but I like to have my own copy." You explained as you handed him a pen and the piece of construction paper with the other parents info.

He took it and filled it out. "I just erased the curriculum, but I can email you a copy."

"Did you also used to teach at Camdien?" Steve inquired, bending over your desk as he wrote. While you waited you packed up your belongings.

"Um yes I was a student teacher there. Did you have a child there too?"

"I coached there actually. Well was." He rose and approached you. Slipping your purse straps on your shoulder, you tried to remember if you seen his face before. You didn't recognize it. As striking as he was you doubted you would forget it.

But the athletic department lived in a world separate from the teachers. Their multiple championships brought in funding that went to their brand new athletic facility. The highly coveted building allowed them to live above the peasant class of the faculty. You had even heard a nonsensical rumor that they even had a Starbucks and onsite masseuse.

When he handed it back you reached out, but Steve pulled the paper just out of reach. Hovering it over your head like a bully playing keep away. You huff and frown after two attempts. You were not a child and would not be treated as such. Pursing your lips you made a move to leave. You would just go through the admin office to get the information.

"Aw don't pout, but I must say you do look adorable when you do." He smiled down at you as he blocked your retreat. His wholesome grin did not match the darkness in his eyes. There was a disconnect somewhere. You felt like a mouse before a lion. Were the other teachers like this? You were so eager to get started working you did little research in the school that so swiftly hired you. "Here you go."

Snatching the paper away you say, "thank you." It sounded slightly annoyed, but you did your best to choke down the edge.

Unhooking the lip of your bag you placed it with the others as his shadow clouded you. Ignoring it you side step him.

"Yeah I remember. I used to see you at Camdien." Steve recalled, blocking you once more. You stopped just short of bumping into him as you closed your bag. "Cute little thing, roaming the halls." Steve informed you, stepping closer once more, making you take a step back. The alarm bells blared in your head at that comment.

"Boy wasn't I relieved I wasn't crossing the line with all the thoughts I had." He chuckled as your back hit the chalkboard. You had to strain your neck to look him in the eye this close.

The principal was making his rounds soon. He wouldn't try anything right?

"Mr. Rogers-"

"Coach" he interrupted. He didn't touch you but that fact gave you very little relief. You felt your nails dig into your palm as you gripped the thin strap of your bag. Your arm the only barrier between you two. "Just call me Coach."

"Rogers!" Your saving grace, Principal Barnes, exclaimed from the door. Steve's body blocked you from James. "There you are. Nice to see your getting to know your colleagues."

"Yeah, just sharing stories from Camdien" Steve stepped aside to greet Principal James. His hand landed on the top of your head, messing your hair as he patted you playfully like a dog. You swallowed the discomfort as he moved to talk to James. You gathered the rest of your things as they focused their attention on each other.

"Oh yeah I forgot you both came from their."

You took that opportunity to make your exit. Walking fast mumbling a 'goodnight,' you bolted toward the door. They replied back, but you ignored it, allowing their chatter to fade the further down the hall you got.

📚

The first week of school was hectic. Lost students, late students, little accidents here and there, it ran the gambit. But nothing worried you more than P.E. period.

Steve was listed as your classes gym teacher and made the drop-off a chore. It surprised you how increasingly inappropriate he was becoming. Always stretching out your name flirtatiously in front of the children causing them to taunt you with 'OOO's, and pepper you with questions about the nonexistent relationship until you departed.

They stayed in line as you approached the double doors that led to the gymnasium. He was there, dressed in his sweat pants, gym shirt and the whistle dangled from his lips.

As you ushered them inside he caught site of you as he wrangled another group and smirked. It was unnerving especially when your students egged him on by making kissy noises loudly when they noticed him too. On one occasion he sent a note with one of your students asking you out. You ignored it.

You should've reported him you know, but what would they say 'Oh he was just being friendly' or any number of things to justify his behavior. You'd been in enough situations to know without evidence that met their standards nothing would happen.

📚

In the teachers lounge Steve made his presence known. You stared at your custom coffee mug as it sat high on the edge of the third shelf. You had half a mind to take and break his, as it taunted you from the first. You were growing more and more tired of his antics. This wasn't the first time and you knew it wouldn't be the last.

Two arms planted themselves on either side of you as something rested on your head.

It was him you knew it. Who else would it be?

"Need some help little one?" He hummed.

"God damn it Steve get off me" you barked You elbowed him, but the mountain of a man didn't budge.

"No need to be nasty."

You felt him push you into the counter, crushing you against it as he reached for your cup on the high shelf.

"Here you go" he said placing it daintily in front of you.

Calm down don't blow your lid he is doing this to fuck with you.

"Shouldn't you be watching my class?" You asked as you waited for him to move out of your way.

"Student teacher got me covered. You remember what that's like? Give them the work while we teachers kick back and relax."

He backed away allowing you to get the coffee, but stayed glued to your side. You ignored him, pulling out your phone and flopped on the couch, waiting for gym time to end.

Steve of course sat next to you crowding you into the corner. He boldly placed a hand on your thigh, you brushed it off, cursing at him to 'go away'. If you got up he would only follow so you crossed your legs and leaned into the arm of the couch. Don't let him get to you.

Steve stretched out his arm on the back of the couch. Even sitting next to you he towered over you. His arm wrapped around your shoulder, pulling you in snugly. Your head resting against his tone chest. "God your so adorable."

"Steve!" you almost shriek at him as his other hand slyly crept under your skirt. "Jesus Christ what the hell is wrong with you."

You try to stand suddenly, but get jerked back down. Landing in the same awkward situation as before.

"Fuck you let me go" you hissed at him. He only chuckled as you tried to stop his hand from advancing up your skirt again. You became panicked the further he got.

Clamping your thighs tightly together as he wedged between your crossed legs. Your eyes shifted to the door before you, the couch sat across from the only entrance. If anyone came in they surely would be under the wrong assumptions.

His arm refused to budge as you attempted to pry him away. Steve was nothing but muscle, struggling was getting you no where, each shift pressed him hard against your sensitive area.

📚

"You know I've been nothing, but nice to you" Steve sounded disappointed.

"Stop please" you sounded panicked and desperate. Your nails dug into his arm as you tried to fight back an ache that taunted you as he teased.

"But you always give me attitude." He stated casually.

You slapped him. The sound loud in the empty room. Your eyes blurred with tears of frustration. Your hit did nothing, only leaving his cheek red, but from the smile on his face he liked it.

"And violent too. Hope you don't act that way around your class" he tsked while poking hard at the growing wet spot. You felt your spine curve and breath become heavier, your toes curled in your shoes as he increased his friction.

"Oh look at you. You like that don't you" he teased rubbing circles after noticing the tension in your legs relax. You cocked back to slap him again, but stopped when you felt his other hand at the back of your neck. It squeezed softly, but it was a warning nonetheless. You felt defeated. Not only was Steve bigger than you, he was stronger. Tears of frustration finally fell as you lowered your hand and let him do as he pleased.

"God your even cuter when you cry." He preened. "Tell you what. Since we don't have that much time....Kiss me and I will stop." You bristled as you felt him peel your panties to the side.

He didn't wait for your reply. Steve crashed his lips on to yours without warning. You flinched expecting pain, but it was soft. It was so tender that with anyone else they would given and close their eyes, accept it, but you couldn't.

"Stop..Steve.. Please" You panted over his lips, pushing at his chest as his fingers pushed into you. He didn't stop, the kiss only embolden him to go further. You whimpered and moaned as he took from you.

"Give me your panties" he asked pulling away from you, but his fingers still curled inside. "You promised you'd stop" you remind him, wiping away tears.

He wasn't going to relent, you could tell by the determination in his eyes. You felt exposed and embarrassed. Anyone could walk in at any moment and he knew it. He would probably get a slap on the wrist while you would need to find employment else where to escape the shame.

"I promise this time" he said lowly. "No tricks."

Swallowing your pride you lifted in your seat, he moved just enough to let the fabric pass. Rolling them down your knees quickly you hand them over. His hands slipped from you as you pass it. He held them up to the light and examined the wetness he created. Wiping away tears, you stood and bolted toward the door, but stopped when Steve whistled loudly.

"I think you forgot something."

You turned to find him pointing at your discarded mug.

"If you leave it, I leave this in it", he waved your shame in the air.

"Don't forget to wash it....don't want it to leave a stain" he ordered from the couch. You walked back on edge. Snatching the mug from the other side of the table. You rushed to the sink and rinsed your cup. More tears fell as you felt the wetness between your legs. The mirror mounted above the sink allowed you to examine yourself. Your mascara bled a bit and lipstick smeared, but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a dab of a napkin.

You swore to never step foot in the lounge ever again. If you needed to eat you would do it in your car or at your desk. This was supposed to be a magical time for you, but with Steve it had turned into a nightmare.

You sniffed as you blinked away the tears, forcing yourself to stop crying. Gym time was almost over and you needed to pull yourself together and collect your class.

"You know how often I wonder about you" Steve said rising from the couch, you watched him carefully from the mirror. You fumbled your mug, the water splashing back at you.

"Steve you promised" you said meekly, utterly defeated. He stared at you through the mirror, you felt his eyes watch your discomfort as you picked up the cup.

"What would the parents think if they knew their kids teacher walks around the class with no panties on" he tutted. You hung your head low and noticed your panties balled up in his hand as he rested it on the counter.

"I also wonder" He said pressing you into the sink. You felt his resolve through his sweat pants. "Do you fit?"

Fit?

Then it became clear. You felt his cock against your backside. You tried frantically to flea, but Steve caught you by the neck.

"I'm willing to bet you can't even fit half of me inside" he whispered in your ear as he bent you over the sink, crushing. "If I'm wrong I will let you go." Your eyes rounded as he hauled up your skirt. You whimpered as the cool air of the staff room tickled your exposed rear.

Steve was really going to fuck you in the staff room. These walls were paper thin and he knew it. Your head swirled in panic as you pleaded with him to stop. He only chuckled and shimmied down his sweat pants as you swatted back at him.

He angled and aligned himself as you sobbed. The tip slipped through your wet thighs, finding the target of its need.

You choked down a guttural moan as he breathed out 'good girl'. He watched your face as every inch stretched through your insides.

"Its is too much" you gasped out, trembling from the pressure, dancing on your tip toes as you adjusted around him.

"Its all inside" he praised the accomplishment. Forcing you to look at the mirror. "You fit me so good...see."

The mirror reflected your assault to your horror. "All cute holding me inside, taking everything I got" he said while stretching you.

Shooting pains radiated from your core as sharp breaths escaped you.

"Look at you" he taunted "coming apart just for me.... "

You heard the door to the room open and close quickly as you panted wildly. Steve didn't pull out, unabashed, letting whomever take in his pale ass as he continued to stuff you.

You didn't know who saw you, you only hoped his massive body hid you and your shame.

📚

[thesunshinebunny]

Can I ask for the dorm leaders reacting to their S / O asking them to join them in the shower for the first time???

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, oooookkkk, I can see what you did there dear anon.

In my great humble imagination, I'd like to take a dip in the huge bathtub that Kalim surely has in Scarabia. Let me dream, I like to relax in big bathtubs with foam, bubbles, music and incense. Before we begin, I warn you that all characters are +18.

Let’s goooooooooooooo

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Riddle

Oh dear, you don't know what you just did.

It was a decent proposal to be honest, you just wanted to spend a quality moment with our Queen, but I think the smoke got into his head.

"Riddle, I'm going to take a shower, would you like to join me?"

Puff red as a tomato and about to explode.

You stared at him in disbelief, until you realized your words. Maybe Riddle wasn't ready for that big step.

You entered the bathroom alone, but not before asking for forgiveness.

Now you left Riddle alone with his thoughts, that's much worse.

Your intention was to take a short shower, but with the event that had just occurred, you were eating your head as the water ran down your body.

The longer it took you to get out, the more your anxiety ate you up inside. You would have panicked if you hadn't heard the door open and close almost inaudibly.

Riddle stepped into the shower, standing behind you and circling your waist.

"Please don't turn around, it's still too embarrassing for me, but I can't help but feel calm right now"

Neither of you spoke or moved the rest of the time you stayed in the shower, even forgetting to wash properly. But that 'mistake' was the beginning of multiple long shared showers.

Leona

The lazy lion here wasn’t in his plans to get into the water, much less shower. If you had asked getting into the lounge’s pool, maybe he would have considered it.

He just lay on his bed, about to fall asleep, not caring about your figure in the middle of the room. He didn't care that you were getting irritated every second.

"I don't have the need to bathe, go alone"

He heard you leave and thought he was going to sleep peacefully before you get out of the shower… until an impact on his head dislodged him.

You had thrown dirt all over his hair, spreading over his chest and the bed.

“Now you have a reason to shower. You're dirty"

I recommend you to run to the shower, because the look Leona gave you… I highly doubt that you will make it out alive.

Arriving at the threshold, Leona grabbed you by the legs, placing you on his shoulder and getting under the faucet.

This fucker turned on the shower without letting you remove your clothes first, ending up drenched.

"Ah, my mistake, I think you're a little wet. Let me take off your clothes"

The malicious smirk on his face didn’t give you confidence, and didn’t disappear even when you were both naked under the water.

“You have courage to fill me and my bed with dirt, did you want to take a shower? Now you are going to clean me"

Ah… worth it?

Azul

Did he hear you well? Do you want to take a shower with him?

Oh dear sea witch, help him, he is about to have a neurism.

Azul wasn’t against your proposal itself, he was very concerned about his physique.

And what if you don't like what you see? would you are disappointed? And if it disgusts you to look at him naked or semi naked?

Thousands of questions ran through his head, making it impossible for him to give you an answer. If you looked closely, you might even see smoke coming out of his ears from the gears in his head moving; even tears were threatening to leak out of his eyes.

You placed your hands on both sides of his face, "Come with me"

You guided him into the bathroom, placing him under the shower head. You let go of your octopus and turned on the hot water before he could say anything.

Both were burned by the touch of the hot water, even Azul wanted to get out of there, but you stopped him by wrapping your arms around him.

The warmth of your arms on his torso made his heart skip a beat. He never thought he was going to be able to have this kind of intimacy with you, and I'm not talking about nudity.

It was literally like being in the rain in the middle of the courtyard, but in solitude inside Azul's room ... rather in his bathroom ... with clothes that were beginning to cling to the body.

"Do you feel better? Do you think you're ready to take off your clothes and really give us a hot shower?"

Azul never said a yes so fast in his life.

Kalim

A shower? A simple shower? What is that? Kalim only knows how to take big baths in tubs that could be the size of a house.

Either way he said yes, don’t be alarmed.

Wasting no time, he led you to the bathroom in his room, which you could swear was the same dimensions as the bedroom, apart from being very resplendent.

Kalim was very respectful at all times, he gave you your time to undress, he wasn’t invasive and he turned around when you asked him and thus enter the water.

Our sun here took the trouble to decorate the bathtub when you weren't looking, now the whole place was decorated with incense and scented candles from the Land of Hot Sands.

Even if you walked carefully, you might come across a few gold coins on the marble floor of the tub.

All very beautiful, but I think I would be very overwhelmed with such extravagance. And that is also your case, it’s better to tell Kalim directly.

Like before, don't worry, Kalim would understand your feelings a 1000% and if closing your eyes for the entire bath time makes you feel better, then Kalim would be willing to snuggle you on his chest and wash your head himself.

He ’s a gentleman, what can I say.

But, if you feel comfortable with all that, then I advise you to start a bubble war. Who said bathing with your partner has to be serious?

"Take care of your bubble ammunition, you wouldn't want to be left with nothing and for me to tickle you"

You made a mess in the whole bathroom, be careful when you leave, there is soap and water everywhere.

Vil

Oh no no no, dear, no dear.

One does not shower with Vil, one BATHES with Vil.

Like Kalim, Vil takes his bath quite seriously. He needs to follow his skin routine very meticulously and for that he needs oils, essences and… other things that my poor ass couldn't buy all the time, even if I wanted to.

His bathtub is not as gigantic as Kalim's, but it is much larger than average.

If for any reason you are embarrassed to bathe naked, don't panic. Vil has exclusively for you a bathrobe that you can use in the water, and one for him too obviously.

Prepare for a full-body massage session. The oils are not for decoration, they are to soften the skin and Vil would give the best massages of your life, you cannot argue with me

By the way, you also wash your hair with an equally expensive shampoo. There is no middle ground here: either you take a simple shower in your bedroom, or you go big with Vil.

That reminds me, the moment you take the first bath with this Queen of beauty, you have just signed a contract (not one of Azul's) in which it stipulates that from now on, every day you will bathe with it, end of discussion.

Vil may at first have been a bit ecstatic to the idea of ​​you giving him massages with his special oil and washing his hair; he has a very meticulous routine that he adheres to to the letter and your inexperienced fingers would not do enough magic.

Buuut, nothing like a good class in the middle of the bathtub to give good results.

In summary, taking a bath with Vil is like having a full day at the Spa, completely free ... well, almost free 😉

Idia

Idia.exe stopped working.

Jokes aside, Idia stopped reacting for a few seconds, he didn't even remember to breathe.

I can't tell if Idia is one of that kind of weeb that doesn't bathe, I want to believe that he does, please make me believe that he does, I implore you

Taking a shower with Idia can be a bit… embarrassing, mostly on his part. He isn’t used to so much human contact and that you ask him for such a proposal, is to get out of his comfort zone.

Nor could I tell if, when in contact with water, Idia's hair would evaporate, like the scene in Hercules blowing Hades’s head XD.

If so, it would be a lot of fun to watch, but you would have to reassure him because he would surely be much more embarrassed.

If that's not the case, maybe he would be around as long as the intimacy last with red hair, someone at some point mentioned Idia with red hair and now I can't help but imagine it

Many caresses from your part, hugging his torso from behind. Like Riddle, he would surely not be prepared to look at you for the first time or for you to see him.

Trie to calm the waters by asking him about his new inventions.

Also avoids telling Ortho all this bamboleo. He is too pure for this type of situation, let's not fill his head with indecent images of his brother.

Malleus

What a peculiar proposal, but it will be honored without a doubt.

He may have asked Lilia for instructions to abide by your proposal as well as possible… and Big Bear Mama Lilia may have asked him thousands of questions about it, perhaps embarrassing him a bit, but we will never know.

I have a slight suspicion that Malleus has a very rococo-style bathroom, in dark colors, but not necessarily black and green, do you understand?

Did you know those old tubs, from the Marie Antoinette years? Well, Malleus has one. He also has a shower, but to be honest, I see Malleus as a passionate lover, so the shower wouldn’t be in the game.

But, if you feel uncomfortable with the bathtub because it seems too much or you can’t step in (because, let's face it, hardly a person enters in that marble piece of furniture) then Malleus has no problem using the shower.

Whatever your decision is, the moment will be magical, and I mean it very seriously.

Our dragon daddy here would invoke any kind of magic to make the evening more enjoyable, like the little lights that fly around when Malleus is about to appear or disappear.

I recommend you don’t go around telling your intentions of take a shower with Malleus, we know that a certain lemon green hair is hanging around the corridors and he wouldn’t hesitate to listen to a conversation that has his young master as it’s center.

An uncomfortable moment if Sebek enter the bathroom screaming as always, demanding an explanation as to why a simple human is bathing with his young master.

[ac3id]

The Artist and His Majesty| 18+

𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝒿𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓎 0 / 5 | fantasy au. 

chapter i , chapter ii

pairings: yandere! emperor! shigaraki x female! reader.

warnings: [series] dubcon, exhibitionism, size difference, degradation, masturbation, bondage, reader is also kind of delusional, death, violence (not on reader). (there are more but i can’t think right now.]

↪ for chapter 0: none !!

summary: you come to the big city in hopes of starting your career as an artist but things take a shocking turn when you’re recruited as the court painter for the royal palace.

↪ for chapter 0: a strange man approaches you, offering to buy your painting to which you oblige. little do you know that it kicks of a series of unfortunate events ending with you being trapped in shigaraki tomura’s clutches forever.

wordcount. 

a/n: finally !! i started this series. high-key inspired by these two dresses in my wardrobe and @ana-list‘s this  drawing ! seriously it’s literally everything. also thank you once again for proof reading this @the-grimm-writer ! 

taglist: @shigaraki-is-my-master, @deathmemeiverse, @n4dhii, @bat-eclecticwolfbouquet-love, @mstssister, @nereida19, @prince-zukohere [dm to be added/ removed.]

“That’s a beautiful painting,” a rough, scruffy voice calls out, jerking you away from your daydreams. Your grip around the color canvas resting in your arms tightens as you glance behind your shoulder to see a well-built man standing right behind you. He’s tall and a lot older than you, he has short grey hair which falls right before his eyebrows along beautiful, matching grey eyes. A cigar hangs lazily from his lips as he occasionally huffs on it, blowing clouds of smoke out his mouth. He’s dressed in expensive robes, a choice of style only people better off could afford. You can’t help exachaning a covetous glance between his expensive suit and your sloppy, knee-length, light green dress. “Thank you.” you murmur shoving him an appreciative look, hoping he’d leave you alone. When you come to the city to complete your studies in art, you mother, father, family and friends had warned you about men like these. Rich, snobby men who liked to lure in young, naive girls. Whispering praises of how they are the most unique on the planet so they pull their guard down form them to take advantage of the helpless beings. 

“Can I take a better look? It’s the Emperor, is it not? Your painting. ” You hesitate before turning back to him. Not a lot of people had seen the King to be. He lived humbly in his castle, trying his best to not indulge in the affairs of the common people. “ Yes,” you hold up the slightly small canvas (courtesy of you being broke the entire week and not being able to save up to buy a bigger canvas). To even get an idea of Shigaraki Tomura, you had to go through many people. Not a lot of people had seen his face, he had always kept it hidden under a mask. No one knew why he did so but the many conspiracy throes suggested it was something to do with his personal grief.

 You had heard many stories about him. Some made him look like a spoiled brat with a demeaning, ignorant personality who didn’t care for others and as the rumors said: self destructive habits which lead him to tear the skin of his own neck down whenever he got anxious or frustrated. 

Others portrayed him as a strong, confident man and a reliable leader who cared for his comrades. You did not know which one of the two personas brought him your attention but you couldn’t complain. Tomura had caught you under a spell, and despite never meeting him (and knowing full well you never would), you were still ready to sacrifice your life for him. He was your King even before he had taken his crown, to you he looked like a shining bright light ready to enlighten you. To you, he was a god. And as years passed by, he grew from a caterpillar into a cocoon which was ready to burst open as a butterfly into the beautiful, mysterious world. And it was happening today, Prince Tomura Shigaraki’s Coronation ceremony. After the passing of All For One, it was his turn to take the crown and fulfill his duty as the ruler of the nation

 The entire city was busy, bustling with people. Families, friends and everyone in between gathered around the huge castle walls as they waited for the ceremony to begin. They waited patiently, filled with excitement and joy as they waited to catch a glimpse of the new great King. You were among them. You had come down to the centre of the city with your friends, waiting alongside many to catch a glimpse of the new ruler. The painting which nestled in your hand was something you were hoping to sell today, to a shop or anyone who wants to have it. It was a beautiful painting which had taken you several days to complete, and dare you say it, you were quite proud of it. From all the things you had heard about Tomura, you had managed to sketch him decently. Long white, wavy hair reaching till his shoulder, skin white as snow. He sat proudly on his throne wearing a cape with his vermillion eyes peering through your soul. His face was scarcely detailed as you did not have much idea about it but he still looked ethereal. With little scars running both his eyes and a comparatively larger one on his right. Chapped lips with even more scars running over them wildly, he was not conventionally attractive. No one would call him a pretty boy yet there was something more, something alluring which attracted  you to him. His beauty was rare, not in the grasp of many but if it was grasped and held close to the heart, it was hard to let go off. And you found him attractive, very attractive. 

The man took a good look at your painting, examining it carefully and for a second you really thought he had seen the mysterious Prince. “It’s quite similar to him,” he sends you a friendly grin and you notice a tooth from his front missing, leaving an uncomfortable gap. “Have you seen him before?” he asked and you shake your head, no. He gives you an amused expression, “I must say, you are very talented, miss…?” you complete your name with a nervous smile. “And you are?” you ask. 

You realised that you were getting a little too comfortable with the stranger and it could be a really bad decision but you can’t help but give him the benefit of the doubt as he behaves like a gentleman you can find yourself to trust. “Kagero Okuta but I like to go by Giran,” he says with a lop-sided grin. Giran, you’ve heard the name before but cannot recall where and how. It sounds so familiar but you just can’t grasp it, he looked wealthy so you assumed he was a Noble and that made you even more curious as to why he was speaking to you.

 “What are you planning to do with that painting?” he asks, diving a closer look and admiring its features. “I must say, you’ve got it quite accurate but,” you stiffen, your hands growing cold as your heartbeat picks up. You realized your painting must have some complications, drawing a man you had never seen before purely out of your interpretation was a hard and a bold task to do. But to have someone who had actually seen the King for himself pinpoint your mistakes sent a rush of anxiety through your veins.

 “He’s not that bony.” He completes and you gulp nervously, looking down at your painting in disappointment. Your eyes are filled with disappointment,  all of the time and effort you spent making the piece all for it go in vain just because you missed a small detail. Giran notices your remorse and speaks up, “But that’s quite alright. He looked just like that until a while ago,” he hadn’t meant to offend or hurt you. He still believed your painting was the most beautiful thing he had seen all day.

 “What do you mean?” you ponder, giving him a perplexed look. He leans  in closer to you as if to tell a secret, “let’s say the King has been working out behind closed doors.” you blink in confusion. It was a strange thing to say, exactly how well did this man know the Emperor? Who was it that you were talking? 

“Who are you?” you can’t help but question, bewildered by such a character. Giran says nothing. He just stares at you with his lips curled into a snappy smirk, holding his cigar between his lips. He was not going to tell you anything. Without wasting time, he quickly changes the topic. “What are you going to do with that painting?” he repeats, his voice growing impatient.

 “I am planning to sell it,” you feel a bit taken back. The friendly aura which had Giran had now disappeared for a reason you could not conclude. “Sell it? To whom?” the intruding nature of his tone starts to make you uncomfortable, there’s nothing more you want to do other than get far away from him. Yet you still find yourself answering him, “To anyone who wants it.” he hums at your response, his eyes holding a mocking glint. “Wouldn’t you like to give it to the Emperor himself?” you frown, was he mocking you? 

“That’s well...impossible.” you reply, stretching your neck awkwardly. “To you, maybe.” 

You stop yourself from rolling your eyes, this man was really testing your patience. A part of you tells you to ignore him and walk away but as he reaches into his coat and pulls out a bag of coins worth much more than you could ever earn in a month, he has you hooked yet again. 

“Hey, let me buy that painting, would yer’?” 

.

..

..

“What is the problem now?” Giran takes a seat around the round table. It was late after the Coronation ceremony and the Royal palace was already facing problems. Giran was disappointed but definitely not surprised. After all, he was their personal problem solver and broker. “It’s not that big of a deal.” A curt and hard reply cut him off.

 “It actually is, Shigaraki Tomura.” a voice speaks, coming from a man dressed in a black suit with a long, flowy robe covering his entire body. He stands taller than the other two men in the as his head is replaced with a wisp of smoke. He was none other than the trusted and talented magician of the Royal family. With eccentric features and an ability to wield strange magic, nobody knew where he came from. There were many rumors about him; that he was once a normal, handsome man cursed by a witch that turned him into a hideous monster or he simply was a ghost. “What is it, Kurogiri?” Giran rephrases his question, directing it to the other man. “We need a new painter,-” 

“Servant.” Shigaraki corrected. He stood in front of the giant windows glancing over his city as his men talked about hiring a new painter for the castle. He couldn’t care less about such tedious tasks, he had his focus set on greater things like expanding his territory, taking back stolen land. 

“What happened to Mr. Kyo?” Giran asked, Shigaraki rolled his eyes at the mention of the name and clicked his tongue, “His Majesty eliminated him.” Giran stops himself from laughing out loud. He was certain once Shigaraki would take over the throne incidents like so would double the instant. But he was expecting it to happen so soon. “And why was that?” 

“He was breathing too loud, like you are right now.” 

A cold silence broke over the room as Giran counted his breath. Kurogiri looked nervously at Shigaraki who still had his back turned to them. The longer the pause grew, the dreadful the atmosphere became. Shigaraki’s threat strung the air loud and clear and Giran was afraid to speak again. “What we are asking for is that-,” Kurogiri started in a calm, slow tone easing the tension in the room. “-we need a new court painter. Do you have any names?” 

The murderous sent in the air magically disappeared as a grin stretched across Giran’s face. 

“Aren’t you in luck?” He says, running a hand through his hair before taking a puff out of his cigar. “Does that mean you know someone?” Kurogiri questioned. Giran hummed, “You see, I met this beautiful painter today. She’s extremely talented and I know for a fact she will love working for the castle.” 

“What’s the name?” growing impatient, Shigaraki asks. “Oh, it was,” Giran pauses for a moment to recall. 

“Ah yes, Y/N L/N.” 

[imagine-being-straight]

A Message to the TOH Fandom

I’m tired.

I feel like everyone in the fandom can agree that the TOH fandom overall has white favoritism. If you actively deny that we have a problem with white favoritism or are offended that I said this, look at yourself and other people who have been talking about this issue. Really look at yourself and ask why you are offended by what I said. Now back to the TOH fandom’s problem with white favoritism. It’s a huge problem and I don’t think people have realized how bad it’s gotten.

Luz and Amity

Do both of them have amazing content created about them? Yes, but if you look a bit closer to the contents of their contents you’ll see a clear disparity between the two. Luz is more likely to be in Lumity art (which itself isn't a problem), but the problem lies in that she is only there for Amity. Is there still content with her alone and highlighting her character? Of course there is, but for every content that exists for Luz solely, there are at least two others for Amity. Don’t get me wrong I love Amity as much as the next person, but she still is a side character. The Owl House focuses on Eda, King, and Luz mainly. They are the main characters.

When I first joined the TOH fandom, I noticed a lot of Amity focused content. A lot more so than I expected since she is a side character. I understand that a factor in her popularity is her crush on Luz and we’re all really excited for confirmed gay characters, but it doesn’t explain how popular she is. She appears in roughly half of season one’s episodes (I know she technically appears in 11 episodes, but some of her appearances are so minor you can easily forget they happened) compared to Luz being in all 18 episodes. Yes Luz isn’t always the focus of these episodes, but she still changes and develops as a character through most of them.

The reason I’m bringing all of this up is that Amity is white and Luz is a POC. Characters of color in the past have been overlooked and underappreciated in the past, not just in this fandom, but it still happens a lot here. Whether it’s conscious or not, we all have been affected by white favoritism and it is our responsibility to recognize it and change. The Owl House brings more than just gay representation: it brings an Afro-Latina Bisexual protaganist with two major side characters, Willow and Gus, being a mixed Asian-Black character and a Black character. You still think I’m full of shit saying there’s white favoritism in the TOH fandom? Well I’m just getting started here.

Willow, Gus, and Boscha

Boscha herself is an interesting character and I think people see a lot of potential for her character, but the problem is that she overshadows a lot of other characters who are much more important and relevant. Willow is a good example of someone who has been constantly overshadowed by Boscha. Most content I see of Willow is usually Boschlow content (I’m not approving or condemning Boschlow here, this is me just stating some facts) and it’s so unfair to Willow as a character. Willow is more than just Luz’s friend or a quiet girl and more people need to realize that. If you can analyze Boscha’s character in the three episodes she is in, you can do the same thing to Willow, who has been in 14 episodes (three more than Amity). There is no excuse for the lack of Willow content and the abundance of Boscha content.

The same thing can be applied to Gus. Sure he doesn’t get very much screen time, but it is still loads more than Boscha. I have seen barely any content about Gus and the few times I do, he is usually with a group and not alone. No one talks about him and I cannot express how underrated he truly is. If you want some funny content with him, play around with his interest in humans and how he has totally misinterpreted things we know as facts. If you want Gus angst, then write about how young he is and how he could be feeling inadequate despite being smart enough to skip two grades. Amity is seen by the fandom as a whole as being extremely smart, but the fact that Gus skipped two grades, a feat Amity has not done herself, truly showcases how smart Gus really is. It’s not that hard to make Gus content and everyone is just sleeping on him.

The fandom loves to attach itself to Boscha, who may I remind you is white. Willow and Gus, who have way more plot relevance and screen time, are constantly pushed aside for more and more Boscha content. Willow and Gus are beautifully written in the show, but most people overlook it for Boscha, who in the show has been fairly one note so far. If your only argument is that you want to show the background characters some love, then where is the Skara content? Skara has just as much screen time as Boscha, but I’ve seen very little content about her. I guarantee if Boscha was a POC she would have the same level of content as Skara, but since she is white she overshadows literally every other POC supporting character, including those who have had more screen time than her. Don’t even get me started on the Detention Track kids and Emira/Viney. This post is already long enough and I don’t need to make it any longer.

Camilia and Alador/Odelia Blight

Right here is the clearest example of the white favoritism of the TOH fandom. Alador and Odalia Blight have gotten so much content about them and we still haven’t seen their faces. You can easily find so much analysis on them and how their parenting must affect the Blight siblings. You can find so much content about them and we know literally nothing about them other than the fact that they’re abusive. I know Alador is set up to be less abusive than Odalia, but it doesn’t change the fact that he is still abusive to his kids. Whether he approved what was going on or not doesn’t matter because he was still complacent with what was happening.

Now let’s look at Camilia and all her content- oh wait there is basically none for her. All the Camilia content is basically nothing other than CamilEda content (again I’m not trying to bash or approve CamilEda, I’m just trying to state some facts). Camilia did make a mistake in setting Luz to the camp, but that does not make her a bad mother. People need to remember one bad action does not make a bad person. I think Dana herself said that Luz and Camilia do love each other, but they do have their differences, which makes things hard sometimes. Camilia truly does care about Luz and tries her best to do what‘s best for Luz and more people need to recognize it. There is so much untapped potential with Camilia’s character, like how she will react to Luz not coming home or what she will do to try to get Luz back. What if she sees all of the recordings Luz has made for her? How will she react? These are all things we can make content on, yet I see so many people sleeping on it.

Now when you compare how the fandom treats both Camilia and the Blight parents, there’s a clear bias in favor for the Blight parents. The Blight parents are given more attention and content despite having less actual screen time and being actual pieces of garbage. Camilia is shoved to the side despite there being plenty to analyze about her and her relationship with Luz. Camilia is also a good person, which is clearly different to the Blight parents. It’s never been a matter of which parent/child relationship is better because they’re both written very well, but rather the fact that Camilia gets shoved aside every time we talk about parent/child relationships. I mean when you look at it, Camilia and Luz’s relationship with each other is literally the Blight family’s dynamic, except the opposite. The only difference between the two families is that one has POCs and the other is white. And to no one’s surprise, the white family gets more attention and analysis than the POC’s family.

Statistics

If you’re still not convinced here's some cold hard evidence that white characters are more favored than POC characters. I’m going to be using AO3’s (archiveofourown) data on how many works a character is tagged in.

On AO3 at around 6:35 PM EST Oct 3, 2020, The Owl House had 1921 works. As we can see Luz is number one (as she should), Willow is number three, and Gus is number four. They’re ranked fairly high (which was a surprise to me), but when you look at how many works they’re actually in, the white favoritism becomes clear. Amity is tagged in around 1480 works and Willow and Gus each are in 730 and 610 respectively. Willow and Gus are in half the works Amity is. Somehow Willow appears in half the works Amity does even though Willow appears more than Amity in the show. Boscha also has 360 works with her in it, half of what Gus and Willow’s works despite being a very minor character who has appeared only a few times. What's worse is that Edric and Emira are literally 200 to 60 works away from Willow and Gus respectively. Edric and Emira, two white characters who have appeared in literally three episodes, but are tagged in nearly the same number of works as two main POC-supporting characters. Now maybe you’re like “Oh the Blight siblings are only so popular because of Lumity, this data is skewed” so the next picture is of all the characters with all of the romantic relationship tags excluded.

The data shows that the fandom favors the white characters so drastically that there is no excuse or other explanation for it. Lumity being popular doesn’t explain why Amity is still the third most written-about character, even with the Lumity tag being blocked. Quantity of episode appearances doesn't explain why Willow has less content about her because Willow appears in three more episodes than Amity does. The only explanation is white favoritism because the most popular characters are all white (with the exception of Luz, but that’s because she is the main character). Before you tell me “Oh it's because they’re more interesting or they have more potential” actually look and analyze the POC characters because they’re amazingly well written if you actually sit down and analyze them.

Why Calling Out White Favoritism Matters

Now you may be asking: why should I care? Well you should care because the fandom as a whole is literally favoring white characters over POC characters, which is low key racist. It makes people care less about POC characters and actual people which can lead to some internalized racism if not caught early enough. The Owl House tries very hard to highlight their POC characters and actively ignoring or dismissing them is disrespecting the show itself.

I feel like I should make it clear that I’m not shaming anyone who’s favorite character just happens to be white. What I’m doing here is being critical of whether or not a person likes a character because they are white (whether that decision is conscious or not). There is a clear difference between “Oh X is my favorite character, but I recognize the other characters are good in their own ways.” and “Oh I love X and only X. I will only use the other characters to further X’s character and completely ignore everyone else’s complexity”. Please take some time and think about why you like a character and see if you unconsciously love them because they are white. No one is immune to it and even I had to realize I was unconsciously favoring white characters while writing something The Owl House related.

The sad part about all of this is that it needs to be said that racism is bad. It needs to be said that white favoritism is extremely toxic and we should make sure we don’t actively take part or be complacent in it. I know for a fact that other POC have seen this white favoritism, but are too numb to say anything about this because they feel like their voices won’t change anything. The few people who have spoken out haven't been listened too. The fact that I had to step up and make this just to try to get people to listen and I might not even make a difference is so sad to me. The fact that I’m young makes me not numb to the white favoritism. The fact that I dealt with, for the first time, racism at the age of 14, which is extremely late for a POC. The fact that the only reason I can be mad about this is because I dealt with racism so late that I have energy to speak out against this and not be numb to this all. I hate that all of this exists and we all let this happen. We all let this problem fester and now it is now our responsibility to get our priorities straight and change. If we let this problem grow and grow, then in a few years this fandom will be a shell of what it once was.

“We can do this together.” -Luz Noceda

[bokettochild]

If you’re still taking requests maybe Legend showing off his outfits from Triforce Heroes (if you consider that one of his games) or just the fierce deity outfit if that’s to much

Good grief! This one really took it away! I liked the prompt so much, and had so many ideas for it, that I think this might have to be a multi-parter (wasn't expecting that).

I touched on three outfits in this one, but I have six more I might do as well. For reference, I included the Kolkiri Clothes, Linebeck's Uniform and the Cozy Parka.

I also realized while writing this that this is the first time I've written from Wind's perspective, which is positively criminal!

I am still taking requests by the way! If you want to see something, shoot it at me!

(Fic below the cut)

It started so normal, Wind never thought it would get so insane.

They were in the Old Man’s Hyrule, too far from the ranch to make it by nightfall but close enough to still be in a relatively safe location. Time had called for them to set up camp and as they were close to a stream, Twilight had called for the additional order of baths.

Watching Twilight drag his protégé into the water was almost worth having to have his head scrubbed by Sky.

Most of them had taken the chance to cool off and mess around once they were clean, and while Warriors attempted to duck Time under the water (a mistake, they soon realized, when the man easily overpowered the captain, who ended up getting dunked instead) and Wild sat in a tree watching their backs (hanging up to dry, Twilight had joked), Wind found that the rest of them were content to swim idly in the water, with only the occasional splash from one or another of them. Usually, there would be more noise, but Twilight was teaching Hyrule to doggie paddle, and they needed calmer waters so as to not scare the Traveler.

He cast his eyes over their group. A red-faced Warriors was coughing and spluttering out insults at a smug looking Time (boy he needed his picto-box), Twilight was gently coaxing Hyrule to the other bank in a manner highly resemblant of a parent urging a baby to walk, Wild was keeping watch, and Sky was relaxing in the shallows.

Where were Four and Legend?

A glance upwards and a signed conversation with Wild later and Wind was making his way upstream a way, around a bend that blocked off most of the noise but that Wild could still see over if needed, to where Four and Legend sat together one the bank.

Or rather, Legend sat, Four was floating in the shallows with a curious expression as he watched the vet- cleaning clothes?

“We’re out here having a good time and you’re doing the laundry? Boring much.” He drawled, drawing the attention of the two heroes.

“I don’t like swimming around others.” Legend scrunched up his nose in disgust, it wiggled, almost cutely. “And my things needed a wash.”

He snorted, turning his questioning gaze to Four.

The smithy shrugged. “It’s quieter over here, and Wars will try and dunk me if he gets the chance.” A heavy sigh escaped the shortest hero. “He really needs to be taken down a notch some days.”

“Some days?” Legend snorted.

Wind just rolled his eyes. So, what if Wars had a bit of an ego and spent a lot of time messing with them? It was just the way the captain expressed himself, Wind would do the same if he could get away with it and had a few inches on the others.

A flash of color in the spring caught his attention, bright pink against the soft blue of the water, and he surged forwards. “What’s that?”

Legend’s hand hit his face as the vet reached out to push him back, effectively pushing the excited child under water, and for a brief moment, Wind could swear he saw a pink skirt drifting just before his face before it disappeared and he was popping up out of the water again with a splash.

“You have pink clothes?” He grinned at the bundle of fabric in the Vet’s hands.

“I have clothes in all colors.” Legend sniffed, batting another piece of fabric at him in a shooing motion.

“Doubt.” Four and Wind deadpanned. “Nobody has that much clothing.”

Legend’s face was drawn, eyes dark with that haunted look that Time sometimes got when looking at the moon. “I do.”

Wind and Four exchanged a look. “Why would you even need so much clothing?”

“Adventure number six.” Legend sighed, returning to his washing.

Another shared glance was exchanged and the two boys swam closer to the older teen. “And you used all of it?” Legend nodded. “All by yourself?”

The vet paused. “I had some...friends, with me.”

“You have friends?” Wind sat up again, who knew the Vet actually got along with people other than Ravio and Zelda?

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, Wind, that’s kinda mean.” Four murmured.

“I don’t mean you don’t have friends,” He huffed bangs from his eyes to look at Legend better, it did nothing, they still drifted into his view and cut off his view of the top of Legend’s hat. “I mean, we’ve never seen them so I didn’t realize you were on good terms with more people than Ravio.”

Legend shrugged. “You probably won’t ever meet them, I... became acquainted with them outside of Hyrule and they’ve never been seen leaving the land where we traveled together.”

“What were their names?” Four asked lazily, eyes trailing after leaves that floated off downstream towards where the others were.

Legend’s snort caught them off guard. “You don’t want to know.”

Now that was interesting, Legend never shied away from giving names to the people he had met in his travels, what was so different about these people? He’d had nothing against telling them Ravio’s name. “Why not?” Curiosity was tickling at his just like his hair was, and it was the only thing keeping him from ducking under again to relieve the itching of slowly-drying hair.

Legend cocked a brow at the two of them. “Their names are worse than ours.”

Now Wind really wanted to know! “What were they?”

Four echoed his question, eyes glinting in the light as he stared over at the vet, who was now beginning to pack away his things again. It took some nagging (something Wind had plenty of experience with) to finally get Legend to answer, but when he did, he didn’t disappoint.

“Red, Blue and Green. A set of nut cases if you ask me.” Legend drawled, not looking at them as he stuffed something glittery and gold in his bag. Four froze, eyes flashing four colors, one after another for a moment before he turned his sharp gaze on the vet.

“Did they call you Vio by any chance?”

Wind stared. “Why would they do that? He already has a name, he wouldn’t need to match, besides, Legend doesn’t even wear purple.”

“His eyes are purple.” Four pointed out, and Wind turned to very pointedly try and see what color Legend’s eyes actually were.

They were purple.

“No, they didn’t call me Vio,” Legend rolled his eyes, pushing Wind out of his face again. “They call me Link, same as any sane person does.”

“We’re sane.” Wind protested.

“Debatable.” The two older heroes deadpanned.

Wind pouted, but let it go, gaze drifting for a moment as he let silence fall over them. Four was staring at Legend in a suspicious manner, eyes blue again, but he didn’t say anything, and the vet didn’t seem keen on saying anything either, instead getting up and walking over to the clothes he had draped across one of the trees. He wasn’t kidding, it looked like a rainbow over there.

“So, if those things belonged to your friends, why do you have them?”

“Only one with a bottomless bag.” Came the clipped reply. “That and I’m the only one who’s likely to need them again.”

“Your friends don’t need clothes?” Four balked.

“No! Of course, they do!” Legend made a face, swatting a hand at Four. “Wild’s the only one who goes around naked, I’ll have you know, and if any of them had done the same they would have been shunned by the whole kingdom.” The vet huffed, voice dropping to a mutter. “What with the fashion laws and all.”

“So, if they already have clothes of their own, what did you need all for this for?” He gestured towards the various garments that Legend was still packing away.

“They’re all enchanted, or otherwise intended for special purposes.” The vet winced. “Hopefully I’ll never need most of them again, but there’s always the chance.”

“Will we ever get to see them?” He watched as Legend stuffed another garment into one of his bags many pockets.

“Hopefully never.” Legend spat.

But when did things ever go Legend’s way?

It was a hat first.

A battle in the forest ended with black blood spattered everywhere, but with Legend and Wild having provided support from the sidelines in the form of arrows flying across the battlefield, injuries were more scarce than normal.

Of course, that could be attributed to the fact that there had only been a few of the black-blooded monsters in the camp they had just destroyed.

As most of them had gathered their weapons and wiped away the blood, Wild had come leaping down from the treetops with Legend following after at a more sedate pace. Wind wondered if that was because of the Vet’s arthritis is because of the huge hat on his head.

“Nice accessories, do some shopping while we were down here fighting?” Wars snarked, huffing a laugh at the vet as Legend’s feet touched the earth again.

Indigo blue snapped at the captain as Legend adjusted the pointed cap. “No time for that when I have you all to keep an eye on.”

Twilight sniggered. “What’s with the hat, Ledge?”

“Yeah!” Wind bounded up to the older hero, eyes wide as he looked at the strange accessory. “Where did you get that?”

“Is that one of the things you got on your last adventure?” Four mused, sparking further excitement in the sailor, if it was, than maybe Legend would actually be willing to tell them more about it!

“Yeah, is it?”

No one addressed the confused stares of the taller heroes as their three shortest members conversed.

“Yeah,” Legend lifted the hat off and brushed at its brim in a clearly fond display; if he even attempted to say anything about hating his adventure again Wind was not going to believe him, not after that smile. “A Kolkiri hat, made to aid archers and help them shoot more arrows. I don’t usually use it, but it helps when you need to take out more than one enemy at once.”

“You could just learn to shoot better.” Wild chuckled, plucking at the hats brim only to have the garment whisked out of reach by a glaring veteran.

“I can shoot well; this just helps me see better because it blocks the freaking sun.”

“Kolkiri you say?” Time mused, stepping forwards to peer at the pointed green cap.

“Sure, you didn’t just steal it off of a witch?” Wars teased.

“No witch could replicate this sort of quality,” And if there wasn’t pride in his voice than Wind would eat his boots. “Not even the finest tailors in all of Hytopia could imitate it, and they’ve tried.” Legend spun the hat in his hands before popping it back on top of his head. “Don’t know the tailor, but what I wouldn’t give to learn their tricks. Kolkiri know what they’re doing, and they do it better than most Hylian craftsmen.”

Time was smirking, and Wind really wanted to know why. “You should see the tunics they can make.”

Legend returned the smirk. “Oh, I have, I own one.”

“As do I,” Their resident old man chuckles. “Although I doubt I could fit in it any longer.”

Wind giggles, trying to imagine Time in the clothes he’s seen on the spirits of the kolkiri, it’s hard, what with how big their leader is.

“Hat might fit you though.” And as the words ring through the air, Legend is already reaching up to pull the brim of his pointed hat over Time’s face. Their leader chuckles, brushing Legend off and adjusting the hat to sit more securely on his head.

Somehow, Time looks more comfortable in the hat than he does in his armor, and even though the two clash terribly, he doesn’t seem to mind, a light smile gracing his features as they set off again.

It’s a few days before Legend brings out another item from his collection of clothes, and when he does, it’s only after the others have drifted off to sleep. Wind would have been sleeping too, but you can only stay awake so long when your mind replays the horrors of the past, and Wind can only watch in silence for so long as giant ocean-monsters attempt to destroy those he loves the most. Tetra’s scream echoes in his own cracking voice as he startles awake.

The stars shine brightly overhead, brighter still as they blur from his tears. Despite what the others might say, or the confident way he tries to convey himself, Bellum frightens him, even now, and everything he had to deal with on that adventure... it weighs heavy on his mind.

A strangles sob escapes him as he sits up to bury his head in his knees, arms wrapped tight around his legs as he tries to shake of the after-effects of the dream.

That’s all it was, after all, just a dream.

Just like the Ocean King, like Lineback, like everything else in that world had been.

It’s just a dream.

“Hey,” Legend’s voice is soft and almost lost in his sobs and the crackling of the fire, but Wind is used to listening for even the softest of sounds in the night; be it due to Aryl having a night-terror –her own dreams aren’t free from their adventure- or someone sneaking around to make trouble. “Sailor, you all good?”

It’s clear he’s not, and he knows that, so Legend really has no business asking, but at the very least he isn’t being told to stop being a baby. “’m okay.” His own voice betrays him and Wind wants to sigh in irritation. Usually, he’d pout and groan at the way his voice cracks, but right now he doesn’t have the emotional or mental strength to do anything about it.

There’s shifting from across the camp, and even though his head is still pressed against his raised knees, he sees a flicker of golden pink in the firelight as Legend crouches down before him.

Thank Hylia the vet doesn’t sit back on his ankles, Wind doesn’t want to know if he’s not wearing shorts under that skirt of his.

“None of that now, what’s eating you?” It’s a weird term, especially coming from Legend, who’s usually so clipped and professional in his speech, and Wind can’t help but huff out a short laugh.

“Nothing,” His hand dashes across his eyes, wiping the tears away, only to have more of them prick at the corners. “Go back to watch, I’m fine.”

“And Twilight is a dog person.” Legend drawls. “Look, if you have an emotional moment or whatever, you’ll be tired as shit when we have to leave in the morning. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel keen on dealing with another Sky.” It’s rough and gruff, but in a way that reminds him of Lineback rather than make him upset.

“I’m fine, just...” He dwells on his next words for a moment. He’s not scared, not really. It’s just the aftershock of a too-real dream about another too-real dream. He’s not really sad either, even if the island is gone now, he’s just... “I’m drained.” He whispers, scrubbing his eyes. “I miss everything back at home but,” He pauses, wondering briefly if Legend could even understand what he’s trying to express. “I guess I miss the things that aren’t there too.”

“Like what?” He doesn’t look up, but he knows the exact expression on Legend’s face; brow raised and mouth pulled into a thoughtful frown.

“Places... people. It’s all just dreams but..” He fiddles with the end of his blanket. “I miss the warmth of them I guess, miss the sea and the islands, even the fake ones, they were so... comforting.” He chuckles, surprising himself with the bitterness that tinges his own voice. “Even if I did spend so much of that time trying not to get killed.”

“Warmth, huh?” Legend hums. There’s a brief pause, one Wind almost takes for Legend rolling his eyes and deciding to leave him to his thoughts, but then there’s a brief rustling and something warm and thick settles over his shoulders as Legend sits at his side. “It’s no pirate uniform, but it still smells like the sea, if that helps at all.”

Wind wants to tease Legend for the sentimentality and love in the action, but when he turns to look at the Vet, his gaze falls instead on the royal blue coat that has been draped around his shoulders.

Too-long sleeves fall to fold at his waist while the rest of the long coat trails and puddles around him, rich, warm fabric blocking out the night chill. It’s a lovely coat, but it’s painfully familiar, and Wind finds himself running his fingers over the stitching and inspecting every detail with a precision that he only ever shows to his swordsmanship and sailing.

His eyes don’t fool him either, the coat is an exact copy of Lineback’s own.

“Where... where did you get this?”

“Like it?” The vet chuckles softly. “Hytopian tailors. It’s a sea-coat, made to aid traveling sailor’s in searching for treasure. Don't ask me how it works though,” A ringed hand waves lazily overhead. “I could never make sense of it all. What matters is that it’s warm, not even the ocean can chill you in that thing, and trust me,” Buck teeth and small canines shouldn’t look so chilling, but Legend’s smile is just that. “It’s tried.”

Wind decides not to push it. There’s no way Legend could know about Lineback, not with the gaps of time and timelines between them. So, instead, he nestles down into the coat, one which bears the promised scent of the sea, with just a hint of smoke and rum to it, and lets his mind drift off again while Legend hums something under his breath.

The vet doesn’t realize he’s humming any less than he realizes Wind is slumping into him, but by the time he does recognize it, Wind is out cold, his head pressed against Legend’s shoulder, the coat still draped over him as he snores softly. Legend doesn’t push down the warmth in his chest as he smiles down at the golden curls, no one will see him anyway. Gnarled fingers decked out with countless rings card through sun-bleached curls as a lilting melody pierces the silence around them, no one will hear it anyway.

In the days to come, Legend allows Wind to don the heavy sea-coat from that night. Warriors makes a comment about poor coordination between fabrics, and while Legend doesn’t seem to disagree, both of the older heroes seem of the opinion that it's for the best he holds onto it, what with the cold and all.

The last switch landed them in the mountains, and while the Hyrule they are in has not yet been confirmed, everyone knows one thing for sure: it’s cold. Wind buries his face in the raised collar of the heavy sea-coat, which, despite being in Legend’s bag for so long and the vet refusing to smoke or sail, much less swig rum, the coat smells of all three, and Wind buries a smile at the thought that maybe Legend didn’t get it new like he’d let on.

It does a good job of keeping him warm though.

He wishes he could say the same for Four.

The poor smithy refuses to be carried, but as snow whips around them as they trek through the knee-high snow, the diminutive smith is left chattering and shivering in their wake.

It really shouldn’t be a surprise that Legend has something to help with that.

Yes, the vet still isn’t wearing pants, but he doesn’t seem too poorly off, no matter how badly the others shiver. He and Wild only share a look and scoff when Warriors asks through chattering teeth how the two of them aren’t freezing.

“You should see the mountains in my Hyrule.” Wild chuckles brightly.

“Done this before, cold is cold, you get used to it.” Legend grins, swinging his fire-rod.

“N-not all of us c-can s-st-stand the c-c-cold.” Four chatters grumpily, sounding startlingly close to the minish he’s shown Wind in the past. “Jer-jerks.”

The concern on the faces of the taller heroes is obvious, but with Twilight’s teeth chattering nearly madly (the rancher's nose is somehow frozen) and Time wrapped as tight as possible in one of Wild’s extra cloaks, it’s clear most of the others don’t have warm things to spare.

They were separated in landing in this world, and even when they had all been pulling themselves together again it had become clear that there was nothing of Wild’s that could even fit the smithy, and not even the blue scarf that trails over his shoulders seems to be doing much good against the freezing winds.

“Hang on a sec.” legend huffs, already turning to rustle through his bag. The coat he pulls out is ridiculously plushy, and in a soft shade of violet that makes Four chuckle past his chattering teeth. The chattering doesn’t last for much longer though, not when shoves the garment over Four’s head like Wind has done to his sister so many times with the sweaters Granny has knit them. The smithy’s blond hair is mused beyond recognition, chunky and flying every which way as he pushes his face out of the plush, but the healthy flush to his cheeks assures the rest of them that he won’t be freezing any time soon.

“I- Oh...” Whatever Four was about to say cuts off as he looks down at himself. The coat is long, but not too long. Where Wild’s shirts would drown the smithy, a coat made for Legend only brushes against the smithy’s ankles.

Legend smirks. “It prevents slipping too.”

“Why aren’t you wearing it then?” Hyrule questions, the Traveler’s cheeks are rosy in the cold, but borrowed clothes from Wild, while also too big, seem to be keeping him warmer.

Legend winces. “It’s a pain to get off.”

“And inconvenience is enough reason to freeze?”

“Do I look cold to you, captain?” Legend snarks, turning an expectant look on Warriors. “Because I certainly don’t feel it.”

“Stop rubbing it in.” The captain huffs, unfortunately too big to borrow from the others, and now highly irritable from the cold. His scarf is still on Four, and if what Legend says is right about the coat, Wars won’t be getting it back for a while, leaving the poor captain to shiver as he clings to another fire-rod.

Four seems comfy enough anyway.

[sunmoonandeddie]

have you seen baby?

pairing: bucky barnes x reader x natasha romanoff

word count: 3,196

summary: You and your two lovers haven’t gotten to spend much time together.  Also, sex pollen.

warnings: Bad words.  Filthy, filthy smut.  Sex pollen.

a/n:  Thank you so much to @cake-writes for this commission!  I loved writing it and I really hope you enjoy it!

It’s late.  

Well.  Relatively late.  Nearing three in the afternoon, and Natasha hadn’t seen you.  Of course, that barred that morning when she woke up to your pretty face still sleeping beside her.  Unfortunately, Bucky was on a mission, otherwise she’d get to see his equally as pretty face on your other side.  It was disappointing.  There was just something so sweet about waking up to the two loves of her life.

But now, it was almost three, and you hadn’t even emerged from your lab for lunch.

Which is why she headed down two floors to the huge lab that you, Tony, and Bruce shared.  You kind of played as an inbetween for the both of them, wanting to know it all and then some.  It was precious.

But it also meant that you had a bad habit of getting lost in your work and not emerging for hours or sometimes days.  You had been getting better about it, if only because Bucky and Natasha were always on your ass about it.

Which is only because they love you.  So much.  Like.  So so much.

“Have you seen Baby?” Natasha asked Sam, who was wandering through the kitchen after his workout.

He had a protein shake in his hand, sweat dripping from his brow.  “No, can’t say I have.  And you know you can call her by her name when it comes to other people, right?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a look.  “Her name is Baby.”

“To you.”

“To Bucky and me,” she retorted.  “And besides, she doesn’t even respond to her name when it’s coming from us anymore.”  A small smile crept up on her lips.  “It’s adorable.”  But she was on a mission.  She had a little box that came in with the mail that’s a present just for you.

And sometimes Bucky, depending on how he was feeling.

But Natasha didn’t like being touched.  She liked to give, but never to receive.  Her therapist said it had to do with the various traumas that she’d taken on while growing up in the Red Room.  Her body had never been her own during that time.  She’d been hurt over and over and over again, to the point where someone touching her body in a sexual way sent her into a panic attack.

Bucky was mostly the same way.  He had a hard time with sexual touch, though he’d gotten a lot better about it.

It was just one of those things that Natasha had to deal with.  Not that it was hard.  She loved taking care of you with Bucky’s help.  Their little pillow princess.

You were always the smart girl.  Some could argue that you were smarter than both Bruce Banner and Tony Stark simply because you knew both fields and then some.  You tended to become… obsessed.  You had to know more about everything just for the sake of knowing more.  But with that, your mind was always going a million miles an hour.  Which is why when it came to the bedroom, it was really nice to just be able to let go and not think for a while.  You got to be their dumb little baby girl.  It was always about you when it came to sex.

When it came to who needed cuddles and affection, that was when it was their turn.  You slept in the middle of them, cradled between them like a precious pearl.  You fought off their nightmares for them, their fears.  You made them see that they were more than the weapons they had been crafted into.  You provided relief for each other in different ways.

Before you had come along, Bucky and Natasha’s love had been volatile.  They were missing a piece of the puzzle, even if they hadn’t realized it.

And then their precious little princess had been hired on as a scientist, and their lives were forever changed.  They knew immediately that you were the one for them, their missing piece.

Of course, it had taken a while to get you to understand just what they wanted.  You might be the smartest in the lab, but when it came to relationships…

Which is what brought her to today.  You’d been a little… off lately.  Of course, that could be because her and Bucky had been on back to back missions for the past few months.  There hadn’t been a lot of time for the three of you all together, which was always frustrating.  It was the longest amount of time the three of you hadn’t gotten to all be together since becoming a triad.

And they felt even worse when they both had to leave on missions and leave you all by your lonesome.

Maybe they’d get you a kitten.  You wouldn’t have time for a puppy, but a cat?  You’d love that.  A little lab buddy.  Or maybe they’d get you one of those senior cats with three legs that was deaf in one ear.  Yeah, you’d love that.

But then it would die a lot quicker than a kitten, and they’d have to pick up the pieces because that would destroy you.  But then you’d also be so happy that you got to give the cat a really good few years at the end.

Whatever.  She’d talk to Bucky about it when he got home and they could make a decision.

But the little box.

The elevator down to the lab seemed to take forever, the silence mocking her since Tony absolutely hated elevator music and refused to let it play in the Tower.  But was even more unsettling was the fact that you weren’t in the lab.

“Hey, have you seen Baby?” Natasha asked Tony, who was fiddling with something on his tablet.

“It’s still weird that you call her that to everyone.”

“It’s her name.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Her name is—”

“Baby,” Natasha said, glaring at him.  “Yes, I know.  Have you seen her?”

“You disgust me.”  The man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as his eyes squeezed shut for a moment.  “I think she went down to the spare testing room.  Something about an unknown vapor.”

An unknown vapor?  You hadn’t mentioned that.  Then again, you’d been kinda quiet lately.

She headed down another few floors, bearing the silence as she went through a mental list of things she needed to get done.  It was your birthday soon.  She needed to make sure all three of you could get off, and she’d plan something really special.  You deserved it.

The testing room you’re in has all floor to ceiling windows for walls, but she can’t see you.

“Strange,” she muttered under her breath.  She headed for the doors, and her eyes widened as she saw you through the glass.

You were lying on the ground, sweat dripping from your brow, with your hand in your pants.  From the… rapid way your hand was moving, there was no mistaking what was happening.

But why the hell were you touching yourself right there where anyone could walk by and see you?!  Not that she didn’t like it.  She loved watching you touch yourself and she often ordered you to when she was in a dominating mood.  It was so much fun watching you edge yourself.

No, it was the whole public thing that was confusing her.

You looked up as she started to push the doors open, her eyes widening.  “N-Natasha, no!” You shouted.

But it was too late.  A sickly sweet substance filled her nose, and seconds later, she felt a strange heat creeping up over her.  What the hell was happening?  And why did her skin feel so warm?

“N-Natasha,” you whimpered, rolling on your side.  Your fingers were still rubbing desperately at your clit, trying to find some kind of release.  “Nattie, it hurts.  It hurts.  M-Make it stop.”

And god damn it.  Her precious lover begging her to make whatever it was stop hurting?  She was gonna figure out a way to make it stop hurting.

She crawled towards her, frowning as she saw a broken test tube on the floor.  “What the hell is this?”  She couldn’t read the label on it, the ink smeared.  Tossing it to the side, she finally made it to you.  “W-What hurts, Baby?  What hurts?”

Your glassy eyes were wild as your hips bucked up in the air, a vein on your forehead popping out.  “F-Fuck me.  Fuck me, Nattie, please,” she begged, whining desperately.  “Oh, my god, I need it.  I need it.  Please.”

“H-Here?  Baby, wha—”

“Natasha, please, I am literally beg… begging you.  Please,” you cried, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Well.  It’s a good thing she brought the box with her.  She ripped it open, pulling out the new harness that she ordered with it.  “Okay.  Okay, angel, but you gotta let me get my strap on, okay?”  She asked sweetly as she stripped down.  She didn’t care who saw.  She had to help her baby girl.

Your response of a weak whimper only made her go faster.

She practically ripped off your clothes, a groan tearing its way out of her throat as she spread your legs.  You were so wet it was obscene, your poor little clit swollen.

“Oh, pretty girl,” she cooed as she ran her fingers through your slick folds, slipping two in with ease.  “You didn’t ask permission to touch yourself, sweetheart…  But I think I can let this time slide…”  With her one free hand, she pulled the new dildo out of its packaging, smirking at the whimper that escaped your lips as you saw it.

It was pretty.  Really pretty.  Eight inches, made of that realistic feeling silicone, and a gorgeous opal color.  Her and Bucky ordered it especially with you in mind, since opals are your favorite.

“N-Natasha, please…”  You grinded against her fingers, your pussy clenching as you tried to get more.

“Oh, good girl…  You look so pretty, Baby.”  She used her one hand to attach the dildo to the harness, her eyes flicking back and forth between the heat between your legs and her fumbling fingers as she finally got it secure.  She ran it through your folds, getting it nice and slicked up.

That’s when the doors opened again, the familiar sound of size twelve boots coming towards them.  “What the hell is that smell and why are you two—”  Bucky broke off as he felt the heat.  “Oh, shit.”

Natasha grinned as she looked over at Bucky.  They were both clearly feeling the heat that the mysterious substance had caused, but not nearly as bad as you were.  “I caught our little baby touching herself without permission… out where anyone could walk by and see her.”

The third member of your triad was already working on undoing his belt, tearing it off so quickly that it ripped a few of his belt loops, leaving little holes in his pants.  “Has our baby been a little naughty?” He asked as he stripped down, kicking off his boots.  He grasped your face with his metal hand, the cool digits a welcome reprieve to the heat that had overwhelmed you.  “Princess, have you been a bad girl?  Huh?”  He lightly slapped your cheek, just enough to get you to answer.  “When I ask a question, I expect an answer, sweetheart.”

You nodded, whining as you nuzzled your head against his cool hand, the angle hurting your neck a little since you were still on your back.  “Yes.  Yes, Bucky.  I’ve been so bad, I’m so sorry…”  You looked up at him with glittering eyes, your cheeks tear stained.  “I need you.  Please.”

His blue eyes were soft as he leaned down, stealing a soft kiss from your swollen lips.  “What’s your safeword, Baby?” He asked, his free hand wrapping around his swollen cock.

“Bracelet.”

“And if you can’t talk?” Natasha probed, still sliding her strap through your folds.

Your hand wrapped around Bucky’s wrist, squeezing twice.

“Good girl,” he said, kissing you once more.  His strong hands flipped you over easily, placing you on your hands and knees.

Almost immediately after, Natasha’s hand came down on your ass, causing you to jerk forward.  “You better suck Bucky’s cock, Baby,” she said as a smirk curled up the edges of her lips.  “If you want me to fuck you, you better put that pretty mouth to good use.”

“But—”

“Did she stutter, angel?” Bucky asked as he grabbed her chin, forcing you to look up at him.  “Tasha gave you an order.  Are you going to be a good girl and listen?”  His flesh thumb ran over your plump bottom lip.  “Don’t you wanna be a good girl for us?  Huh?”

Fuck.  Yeah, you did.  You always wanted to be a good girl for your two lovers.

Matching moans fell from Bucky and Natasha’s mouths as your tongue flicked out to slide up his length, circling around the head.  You always gave absolutely filthy head, your eyes watering as you choked around his length.

As you took him all the way, Natasha slid her strap into your wet heat, all the way to the hilt.  You let out a choked moan, your eyes wide as she started to thrust in and out of you.  Her fingers dug into your hips deliciously, the acrylics she kept at a relatively short length leaving little crescent moon indents.  You loved it.  The pain felt so fucking good.

“We should’ve made you wear your butt plug, Baby.”  Bucky’s jaw clenched as he reached to gather some of your slick on his finger, before circling it around your tight hole.  “Could’ve had you waiting for us to fuck you proper while I was on a mission all week…”

Natasha’s hips slammed against yours as she pressed her lips to Bucky’s.  “We don’t use the diamond one enough considering how much we paid for it.”

You pulled off of Bucky’s cock with a pop, glaring at the two of them.  “Is this the time to be talking about how often we use the butt plug?”

“Did I say you could stop sucking my cock?” Bucky growled as he grabbed your face and started throat-fucking you.  “It’s been too long since we put you in your place, angel.  You’re getting mouthy.”

“She’s always been mouthy.”

Tears rolled down your cheeks as Natasha and Bucky’s thrusts sent waves of pleasure through you.  The heat that had consumed your body was faded, and all you could think about was making your doms feel good.

All the background noise that had been in your mind over the past few weeks was gone, drowned out by the praises coming from your lovers.  All the self-doubt that coursed through your mind was gone when they loved you like this.

You choked around Bucky’s cock as you came suddenly, the release coming over you like a wave.

It only seemed to spur them on more as Natasha fucked you that much harder, Bucky’s fingers scratching soothingly against your scalp as he got closer and closer to the edge.  You could always tell when he was close by the way his thrusts got more and more sloppy.

Natasha’s hand reached down and around to rub your clit, the pretty opal dildo sliding in and out of you with ease.  She wished she had her phone if just so she could record the moans falling from you and Bucky’s mouths.

Hell, she’d make it her fucking ringtone.

It wasn’t long before Bucky came with a shout, spilling down your throat.

He groaned, his head falling back as he felt you licking him clean.  He let you finish before pulling out, getting on his knees and kissing you sweetly.

Your eyes were dazed, a little bit of cum you hadn’t swallowed dribbling out of your mouth.  You looked so damn pretty like that.  Dumb from pleasure.

“You gonna cum again for us, Baby?” He asked sweetly, holding your face in his hands.

A nod, your lips starting to move to form words but not quite getting there.  Adorable.

He watched it coming.  Watched as your breath hitched and your eyes rolled back in your head before you let out a cry.  You blacked out as your second orgasm ripped through you, violently like an earthquake.  A force of nature.

“Seriously?  In the lab?!” Tony demanded, glaring at them from the entrance.  “What the hell happened?!”

Bucky and Natasha were very blasé faire about their own nudity, but they didn’t like anyone else seeing you.  The redhead reached for the little test tube that she’d tossed to the side when she’d first gotten there as he covered you up with his leather jacket, cradling your exhausted body to his chest.  He pressed soft kisses to your forehead as he rocked you back and forth.

“I think it was whatever was in this,” Natasha said as she looked at it curiously, trying to make out what the writing on the label was.  “... Sexus… Pollinis?”

Tony grumbled as he walked over and grabbed the tube, looking it over.  “It’s literally Latin for sex pollen.  Which probably means exactly what we think.”

“Is that what the smell in the air was?” Bucky asked.

Natasha nodded.  “I think most of it spilled on her, which is why she was so affected but we weren’t.”

“Okay.  I’ll… clean all this stuff up,” Tony said.  “Get her out of here and in a bed.  Or a bath.”  He shook his head as he started to call for the robots that mopped the floor.  “Animals.”

You came to in your shared room, curled up between them in your giant tub.  “Wha’ happened?”

“Hey, baby girl,” Bucky cooed, his fingers massaging your sore shoulders.  “How do you feel?”

For some reason, you started crying.  It just came over you.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Natasha said, cupping your face and wiping your tears.  “Baby, what’s going on?  Huh?  Talk to us…”

“I-I’ve just been f-feeling so alone a-and this is the first time w-we’ve all been together in two m-months,” you whimpered in a shattered glass voice, barely able to string together a full sentence through your hiccups.  “A-And you’ve been gone s-so often that all I can think is m-maybe I’m j-just here because you’re both d-dominants and needed a s-s-submissive!”

Bucky and Natasha’s faces both fell and they squeezed you that much closer to them.

“Oh, Baby, no,” Natasha said.  Her heart hurt as she realized that that’s why you’ve been so off lately.  “We love you so much.  So, so much.”

“I think it’s time we stopped going on so many missions anyway, Baby,” Bucky added, his fingers tickling up and down your back.  “I’m tired of not being home with my girls.”

“Really?” You asked softly, looking at him like he’d just told you he’d give you the moon.

“Yeah,” Natasha said, bringing your hand to her lips.  She pressed a kiss to your left ring finger as her eyes met Bucky’s, a knowing look on his face.  Maybe soon there’d be a ring on that finger.  “Really, Baby.”

[likeastarstar]

Bright Things- Hoseok

(A/N: A little bit of a longer form of content with my one true love Hoseok to switch things up. Listen to Whisper by Park Ji-Woo while you read for the full effect. Feedback is appreciated.)

masterlist.

It was a big night for you.

Your final thesis project, the collection of art you had been working on the entirety of your senior year in grad school was finally out there for people to see. Hung up in a well lit art studio surrounded by your peers' art felt right- like a shiny red bow on the end of your schooling.

You had no idea what came next, there were a couple options on the table as far as a job went, but you were determined to soak in this moment. Your parents had already visited and gone home for the night, your professors had given their feedback and made their rounds around the exhibition- now all that was left was for you to do the same.

By the time you were back to yours, there was a good number of people admiring your art. One person in particular seemed stuck on what you'd say was your very favorite piece.

Bright, colorful, and loud- the piece had given you the most grief out of all of them. It had a deep meaning, not one you cared to share with others. You were a little notorious for having deceptively psychedelic art. While it seemed bright and sunny to others, the ultimate message was about being lonely.

Which you were; Lonely.

You stood by the man tilting his head to one side, dressed in all black with a long coat thrown over his shoulders. He was pretty incognito, a hat pulled low on his head. He shifted his gaze towards you briefly, turning back towards the large painting, "It's so sad."

"What? The painting?" You laughed, "How? It's as if a rainbow threw up on it."

He hummed, shrugging slightly, "Bright things can be sad, too."

You looked at him closer, admiring the straight bridge of his nose and his slightly wide set eyes. He was handsome, his lips were almost heart shaped as he sent a small smile your way.

"Sorry, I guess that's wrong, huh? I'm not an artist, clearly. I'm a dance major but I have a friend in the sculpture program." He laughed, "I seem to have lost him, though."

That's when it dawned on you that you did indeed know this man- Jung Hoseok. He was a bit notorious around your school for a couple different reasons. You should've known it was him instantly, all anyone ever talked about was how perfect he looked.

"That's okay. I'll keep you company," You said quietly, sending him a small smile, "I've always been curious about you anyway."

"Me? You know me?" He said, caught off guard.

You smirked and shrugged, feeling particularly bold, "I know of you. About the way you dance...among other things. I think there was a story about a very expensive art piece and a pool involved?

It was his turn to smirk, melting slightly where he stood. Talking to him was like dancing in itself, a balancing act with the power between the two of you shifting constantly, "That just happens to be the worst rumor about me out there, great. So if you've heard everything about me, why bother humoring me now? What's there left to be curious about?"

You sighed, looking around the room vaguely, "You looked at a rainbow and called it sad. Call it boredom, maybe I just want to see if the rumors are true, or it might be genuine intrigue. Wanna stick around to find out?"

He looked slightly surprised but nodded eagerly, letting you lead him around your other pieces.

"What do you think about this one?" You asked simply, neglecting to mention that you were the creator.

So the two of you went on that way, exchanging thoughts and comments on art around you. At some point you flittered closer to him and he responded by offering an arm, letting you slip yours through his comfortably. You didn't even tell him your name, nervous that whatever spell you two were under would break.

"Okay, this one is my favorite," He decided, staring at what could only be described as your most erotic piece. You made it after you dumped your ex-boyfriend, using it as an alternative to texting him to hook up one night. The image wasn't really about him, no, it was about you. About your tendency to mistake physical chemistry for intellectual. You had printed your body on a giant canvas, super layering strokes of paint and textured medium to cover the most important parts that would clue anyone into the fact that it's your literal naked form.

"Whoever that is, she's hot." he mumbled, making you stifle a smile.

"Oh, hey! Hoseok, I've been looking for you!"

You raised your eyebrows as the boy who's arm you were borrowing, watching him light up in recognition.

"This is the friend I mentioned, Taehyung this is..." Hoseok smiled, gesturing between you and his friend, "I've just realized I haven't even asked for your name."

You smile and told him, watching his eyes widen dramatically and whirl towards the art piece in front of him, zeroing in on the small plaque next to it with your name printed on it. You laughed, admiring the way all of his thoughts could be read so clearly on his face.

"Wow, you make amazing art," His friend, Taehyung, commented, reaching out a hand for you to shake. You slid yours out from where it was wrapped Hoseok's arm and took it, bowing slightly in thanks. "Unfortunately, we have to get going pretty soon if we're going to meet up with the others, Hoseok."

He looked stuck between you, still reeling from realizing who he had been talking to all night. You felt a little bad, in all honesty. Maybe you should've clued him in sooner.

"Oh, that's alright. Thanks for keeping me company, I'm glad you two enjoyed the art." You said quietly, ready to walk away from the two of them.

You didn't get far, Hoseok catching you by the elbow and standing in front of you with a wide look in his eye, "Wait, what you said earlier, about being curious. I know you probably already have an opinion about me but, I-I'd like to see you again. Can I see you again?"

You smiled easily, wanting to say yes really badly. But you knew him, he didn't date. If he wanted to see you again, he'd have to prove it.

"Ask me out when you know my worst rumor too," You said quickly, taking a couple steps backwards, "You're right by the way- about bright things."

You walked away hoping you hadn't just made a huge mistake, also that he realized that your phone number was on the business cards you had left at the front of the exhibit.

Thankfully, he didn't make you wait too long and called two days later with the first of a long list of potential rumors he'd work his way through to date you.

[morganpdf]

Ok 🖊 for Ellis (don’t think I’ve seen you chat about them much) and obligatory 🖊 for Fig bc you asked about my Fig first :3

not me immediately forgetting to answer this dsvfvds

BUT TY i don't talk about ellis much & i know part of it is because they don't have (or want) a partner so I tend to draw less of them (i'm foolish)!!! BUT in splat timeline ellis is agent 3 in an offshoot universe from the main one juice and i have (wherein flynn, rowan, and jo are 4, 3, and 8 respectively). they live with august (the agent 4 for that timeline) until she moves out to live with her gf, piper (agent 8).

the rest is under the cut bc ouhhhhghghhhgh oc chatter

BUT BASIC STUFF: in every universe, ellis uses they/them (maybe toying around w xe/xir but not sure on that yet) (honestly i think they'd be down for any pnouns that Aren't he/she) (don't even THINK about gendering them) and is aroace. they're also autistic in the "this conversation isn't interesting to me at all so I'm just going to leave" way.

in splat timeline! ellis is the youngest of the agents, despite being. the most longterm member of the splatoon. they're about a year or two younger than august (it used to be more than that but I think this works better), and they meet through the agency. ellis had been living alone in agency-based housing and was assigned august as a roommate and, hates her (lovingly). they have a very sibling relationship and ellis judges every girl august brings home (except for piper BUT to be fair. august didn't bring her home technically. and ellis knew her previously through the events of octo expansion).

SPEAKING of piper. in every timeline ellis LOVES piper. she can bake a mean pan of brownies and she's also autistic so she Gets them and its very (autism creatures shaking hands image). they just sit together quietly on their phones/laptops hashtag parallel play. when they find out august and piper are dating they're very PIPER YOU ARE MAKING A HORRIBLE MISTAKE (i am so happy for both of you) AUGUST IF YOU FUCK THIS UP I'LL KILL YOU. also when august moves out to live with piper they cry but no one sees ok. no one

NOT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP STUFF:

ellis has to be doing something with their hands at all times. they have like 50 different fidget toys littered around the apartment, 30% of which are different color fidget cubes. they don't even like fidget cubes that much but they're all different colors/novelty gimmicks (ie baby yoda, a cat, etc) so it's ok. their favorite fidgets are rubbing smooth stuff and clicking so. clickable pens and smooth stones are their go-to fidgets

in splat timeline they use up a lot of that energy tinkering with their autobombs (they refer to them as their chickens, always in a deadpan) (with how technical they like to be when talking abt them, no one can tell if the chickens thing is a joke) (good luck figuring it out), but in every timeline they do a lot with textiles. their favorite is cross stitching but they also dabble in knitting. all the cross stitching they do is like. rude phrases made to look super live laugh love home sweet home because they think it's funny. they have a very floral "go away" hung on their walls in different scripts in like 3 places

oughhh this is just making me realize i need to draw ellis more...... they're the focus of my piece i did for hero shot zine tho so here's a sneak peak straight from that!!

AND THEN ONTO FIG..... fig (they/them) is @saltylenpai's OC technically so i'm a little rambly about them but they're dating my OC wren (he/him)!!! i have like NO recent art of either of them though so i need to. do that

but fig is super sweet, in love with the world and everything in it. in splatoon timeline, fig is a sanitized octoling in recovery and their love for all of the little things in life comes from relearning how to exist as a person. in human aus they're just. like that

fig's also like. our tallest oc. they have a huge tattoo spanning their chest and arms that's sea themed, uhhhhhhh, they love art and making art and thats how they meet wren actually!! they go to school together!!! wren is a printmaking major who dabbles in pottery and fig is like. i want to do Everything actually. so theres some overlap in classes. fig is also mega autistic (are you sensing a theme with our OCs) ESPECIALLY in the "i don't understand social cues" way and that whole flirting situation was a shitshow bc fig just dropped the "you make me feel a way [romantic but doesnt realise it]" and wren is just a fucking Mess over it bc he's so flustered and gay about it but he's not sure if *he's* reading the situation wrong . they get together thought shhh

fig's also a huge romantic and takes so many candids of wren and paints wren and like. wren is just their muse in a lot of ways its so fuckinf cute. ouhhhhhhh i just love fig a lot. i love fig theyre so cute and sweet and i love them so much i have so many feelings about fig i am not good at words about them theyre just (crying noises) and their relationship with wren is SO (louder crying noises)

here's a fun fact!! fig grew up birdwatching with their mom so when they come around to be like "hey mom this is my boyfriend wren" she's like yeah that tracks for you, always a birdwatcher!!