#but anyway at least i finally drew this! i feel so much better now

[madd-nix]

"I feel you, Johanna! I feel you... I was half convinced I'd waken, Satisfied enough to dream you, Happily I was mistaken, Johanna!"

So, I saw Sweeney Todd on Broadway almost two weeks ago, and this idea hasn't left my mind since. Just the idea of Ingo as Antony singing to Johanna is really sweet, and the song itself is really pretty! Makes you temporarily forget that the musical is about murder and cannibalism, lol!

[krysmcscience]

It’s finally done, guys – five whole pages of Narilamb AU comic AND MORE be upon you! (If you have trouble reading any of the text, view the full-size! These pages are huge!)

Yeesh, this took forever. <:)

There’s probably a ton of inconsistencies and anatomy/perspective wonkeries, but this was mostly just comic practice, so Oh Hekkin Well, Lol <:D

(Yes, I am aware the Gateway’s door isn’t present in the Afterlife, and the actual way in is just a pentagram portal. Yes, I put the door in there anyway because Artistic License, i.e. it felt more impactful for there to be a prison door of sorts to walk through to freedom, rather than just a bland boring portal on the ground. 😠)

anyway, i hate backgrounds so much lmao

Alternate ending and a buttload of bonus art under the cut, followed by goofy AU rambles and headcanon stuff:

I’m calling it the Revival AU. It’s not all that creative a title, and someone else has probably used it already, but I am too lazy to really care, LOL

Alternate ending page, which you will Definitely need to view the full-size for, Whoopsie Daisy:

The alternate ending was actually the first ending I finished things off with, because I had a brief badbrain moment where I forgot the emotional beat I initially wanted the comic to end on, and I tend to write comedy, anyway. I later remembered and drew out the proper ending, but I preserved and finished this one, too, because it still makes me giggle.

They had to go back for the followers off-screen in the AU’s real ending. And by ‘they’ I mean just the Lamb, because they weren’t about to ask three newly freed cats to go back into what used to be their prison. The Lamb DID spend some time watching Narinder and the bois enjoying the outdoors first, though:

In other news, here’s the Lamb and me making fun of my anatomy-drawing ‘skills’:

Meanwhile, if you’re wondering why the Lamb is just a-okay with how things went down vis a vis Their Murder, this bonus comic should answer at least some of your questions:

Ah, yes, also this is how they get engaged outside of the alternate ending. Forgot to mention that bit. XD (I already refuse to believe that Narinder is capable of flirting normally, so why would his initial marriage proposal be any better???)

Oh, and before any of them get a chance to actually head back to the cult grounds, there is one potential problem:

And by ‘problem’ I mean something Narinder intends to ignore for At Minimum a thousand years. Cuz he’s a petty bitch like that. :D

what do you mean i drew the lamb too tall compared to the background? clearly they’re standing on top of baal and aym lmao, why else would you think those two aren’t in this one??? (aym and baal got way too excited about finally being outside, you see, and their silly modes are nothing to sneeze at)

And, speaking of heading back to the cult grounds, I’m sure y’all would love to know how the Lamb’s followers felt about the brand new change in management:

It all went better than expected. <:D Tiny ramble now, feel free to skip down to the next comic.

Before you ask, no, the Lamb does not have any actual powers anymore, other than the immortality Narinder definitely grants them. The Red Crown just thinks it’s funny to suggest otherwise, and Narinder does nothing to discourage this. Also, the Lamb and Narinder aren’t actually married here yet, but, uh. Pretty safe to say that particular ritual directly follows the events of this comic. XD

Given how quickly he mellows out in canon, Narinder probably chills out a lot in this AU once he’s in charge of the cult, too, if only because 1.) He’s finally free, and 2.) He’s equally smitten with and distracted by the Lamb. He’s definitely in charge at least 95% of the time, though, because the Lamb never actually wanted to be a cult leader and, now that their time as a vessel is done, they just want to be a normal(ish) sheep who’s wholly devoted to their hot new divine husband.

Some followers do still have some valid concerns about these two being together, though, which I’m sure at least a few of you might share…

Unfortunately for any such concerns, the Lamb is a bonafide masochist in this AU. :D

They’re also 100% a sub, obviously

Anyone at all: Your relationship is problematic and potentially toxic

The Lamb: fuck yeah it is, it’s so hot~ OuO

Here’s just the last panel, made transparent for whatever nefarious purposes y’all might have for it:

Additional exchange Narinder and the Lamb have at some point, probably after the Lamb does a fatal whoopsie while out on a mission trip or in response to things getting a little too sadistic in the bedroom, ahaha:

Look, there is a very important distinction between life and death, and if you don’t understand that, then you’re probably not worthy of being the God of Death, anyway. (At least, according to Narinder, and ONLY Narinder.)

Last but not least, have these shittens:

~Such creative naming conventions I have utilized, lololol~ :D Anyway, there's a few deets on them in the rambles down below.

The rest is all ramble, so before I get to that, I’ll just say – likes and especially reblogs are very much appreciated!!! :D If you happen to really really REALLY like my stuff, meanwhile, I do have a link in my bio to my ko-fi page, where I’m accepting commissions and donations if you’re especially generous… ÓuÒ

Now, BE FREE IF YOU AIN’T DOWN FOR READING MY GOOFY RAMBLES

First ramble is re: Baal’s question of ‘Did it really work?’, since I didn’t feel like expanding on it in the comic proper, and it’s arguably pretty vague? He doesn’t ask because he doubts Narinder or his capabilities, exactly, but because neither Baal nor Aym have ever actually seen their god at full power before (he’s still technically not at full power here, either). It’s not expressly stated how soon the brothers were brought to Narinder after his imprisonment, but whether it was early on or after a length of time for Shamura to (somewhat) recover from his attack, he must have already been weakened, since I have no doubts that there was a huge battle that accompanied the Bishops working together to trap him. So, between that fight with all four of his siblings, sharing his power with a variety of vessels over time, and being chained immobile for a thousand years, he must have been severely weakened by the time he lent the Red Crown out to the Lamb, which would have only weakened him further.

I like to think this is how the Lamb is able to defeat him if they refuse to be sacrificed, despite how it took all four Bishops working together to subdue and chain Narinder in the first place.

All that aside, the three cats have been trapped in the Afterlife for so long that Baal also wanted verbal reassurance that they are all, indeed, actually able to leave it now – something that I headcanon isn’t possible without a significant amount of power (i.e. the Red Crown’s cooperation with its bearer/vessel).

(On a semi-related note, I don’t headcanon Aym and Baal as twins. I like sweetheart big bro Baal and snarky little goth bro Aym too much to have them be that close in age.)

Ah, teeny thing: If you noticed I switched up the art style for Narinder on the second page, that was intentional. It's sort of a visual indicator that there has been a Big Change for him - that being, how much power he has after sacrificing the Lamb. As for why I changed up his arms in the grass rollin' pic, I don't really subscribe to the notion that his arms are spooky bones because they're horrifically injured (beyond chain-chafing scars, that is), but rather just because he's the Bishop of Death, so he can change how normal-to-spooky they look at will. At some point I might doodle out how I imagine his appearance to range between least to most eldritch... 🤔

Next ramble, regarding Narinder’s feelings towards the Lamb...he was initially too focused on being freed from his imprisonment to form any real attachment to them. They were a tool for his use, first and foremost, but he did notice their intense devotion towards him. It was impossible not to notice, because the Lamb was always very happy to see him, even if it was because they died during a crusade (yet again). He wasn’t originally planning to revive them once he was freed, either, because he saw no real point to it – after all, they were already dead when they first met him, just as any other mortal would be when meeting him in the Afterlife, so death has very little real consequence in his eyes. But, once the chains were off, and it really sank in that he stood to lose the most devoted follower he’s ever had, he decided…why put their soul to rest for good or leave them stuck in the Afterlife when he could just as easily revive them again? And why not reward them for their hard work, anyway? Not only would it cost him nothing by comparison, but the future devotion that could come of it would surely make up for his (bare minimum) effort in reviving them.

He wasn’t expecting to get a full dose of that devotion and a smiling face so soon after killing them, though~ :3c (because the Lamb is a bonafide freak, and not-so-secretly into the fucked up power dynamics going on here, lol)

I should mention here that I am firmly of the belief that any non-god/vessel who crosses through the Gateway and into the Afterlife just straight up dies. So, Aym and Baal? Also straight up dead, from the second Shamura brought them through. Their souls were just never put to rest so that Narinder could have some company – if only according to Shamura. Narinder kept the two around mostly out of bewilderment, because honestly, who are these kittens, and what is Shamura’s game here, anyway??? They never even explained anything, they just tossed these kittens into the Afterlife and LEFT!!! At any rate, Aym and Baal being dead is how I explain why their souls apparently become lost in the void if they’re killed, along with the added complications required to revive the two because of it.

So, with those deets in mind, and given a bit of time, if Narinder hadn’t chosen to revive the Lamb, and also hadn’t chosen to put their soul to rest, they still would have woken up at some point, despite being as straight up dead as Aym and Baal. Who, don’t worry, were also properly revived while Narinder was waiting for the Lamb to wake up. Because I am also firmly of the belief that, first, the dead cannot leave the Afterlife without the use of a ritual/relic (and can't stay in the living world for long regardless), and second, dead followers’ devotion isn’t anywhere near as potent as that of the living, given how much more the living stand to lose.

Final ramble, regarding the Lamb’s feelings towards Narinder, and why they’re so devoted to him…

Well, you don’t spend most of your life on the run with your steadily-dwindling herd, trying to evade the ongoing genocide of your species, without becoming a little fucked up in the head. Maybe a lot fucked up in the head. Life is suffering, so might as well have fun with it, right? Maybe start finding death and pain to be kind of hilarious, even a little bit hot, once everyone you know and love is dead and gone, leaving you all alone? And maybe after that, there’s something comforting in how, despite the cold, cruel uncertainties of life, at least you can always count on the inevitability of death, patiently waiting for you until your very last breath? Who knows. Either way, as soon as the Lamb was killed, and they learned that the literal God of Death was offering them a second chance at life and vengeance via effective immortality, they were 100% ride-or-die-devoted all at once. Turns out death is kinder than life – go figure. (Of course, it helps that Narinder is 100% their type.)

They weren’t put off by Narinder’s thinly-veiled sadism or manipulations, either – they’re not too different in those regards, albeit opting for vastly different methods. It’s a very ‘two sides of the same coin’ sort of deal. In order to stay alive once they were made the last of their kind, the Lamb had no qualms with using others to their advantage, and that did not change once they were revived and expected to run a cult. They didn’t care for the position of authority, though – being a sheep and all, they’re much more of a follower than a leader, and thus greatly appreciated Narinder’s need for control. With how they had to keep on their toes for so long, the Lamb was also pretty good at reading people by the time they died, so they could recognize that a lot of Narinder’s posturing was just that – posturing. Dude’s 95% bluster and only 5% bite. He could obviously be vicious when he wanted or needed to (the Bishops' injuries were clear proof of that), but underneath his outer layer of cruelty was a generous layer of tsundere, and underneath all THAT was a soft squishy middle sibling velcro cat in desperate need of attention and affection.

(Which, for the record, he Did Not feel comfortable getting from Aym and Baal – Narinder still has no idea why the fuck Shamura sent them to him, beyond acting as keepers at best or trying to sabotage his attempts to escape at worst. Which, he thought HE sabotaged in turn, by guiding the kittens into being his devoted disciples instead. He thought he was very clever for it. ‘I outsmarted Shamura!’ he thought, despite that there was never anything there to outsmart. ‘What do you mean, Shamura sent your kittens to me for company?’ he demands of Forneus later. It may or may not lead him to pull Shamura out of Purgatory just so he can shake them and scream about how they should have Fucking Explained that!!!)

But, getting back on track as to why the Lamb was so willing to be sacrificed, I cannot stress this enough – if you pay even a minimal amount of attention to what he’s saying, Narinder is REALLY NOT SUBTLE about his intentions. ‘Death is of little consequence.’ ‘Followers are for you to use to your advantage.’ ‘Sacrifice a follower to absorb more power.’ So, yeah, the Lamb knew exactly what would be expected of them once the other Bishops were dead. They knew Narinder would expect them to die for him one last time. But, after all, death is of little consequence (not to mention hot), so when the time came, they wanted to see him freed, even if it meant oblivion for them in the end.

He’d given them a second life, and the ability to avenge their kin, and they felt indebted to him for that – so, while they were still pretty glum about the possibility that they might not get to see him free of his chains, nothing beyond their devotion and debt to him mattered. They never wanted all the drama and expectations that came with the Red Crown’s power, anyway, so, better for Narinder to have it back so that he could deal with it. What he did with the Lamb afterward would be up to him, and seeing as he was their god, they’d accept his decision gladly.

Were they in love with him by that point? Oh, obsessively so, but only in the devotional sense – romance was nowhere on their mind nor radar. That is, until he unexpectedly revived them again, told them he still needed them, and then offered down his hand to help them up.

The Lamb fell HARD for him in that moment. :3c

And now, a tiny shitten ramble. Lu and Li are twins, because sheep tend to have those a lot, and are conceived not long after the Lamb and Narinder’s marriage ceremony. Lu is the minutes older one, but Li is much more mature. I have put no further thought into these two, other than that they are utter menaces, birthed by the Lamb, cling hard to both their parents but especially Narinder (who spoils them rotten), and they are both genderfluid, using whichever pronouns/names they feel like at any given time. They are also both intersex, same as the Lamb, who was initially infertile up until Something Something Vague Magic, which I have also put no further thought into ¯\_(シ)_/¯

oh, and before anyone tries to suggest i headcanon this AU’s lamb as trending more female due to them giving birth or whatever, no, no, a thousand times no, they might have a vag, but they've also got a dick, and even if it's not as big as they'd like, they still know how to use it

Finally, the very tentative name for the Lamb in this AU is Yazdi, which is really just another name for the Baluchi breed of sheep XD (Not that the Lamb is this specific breed, I just didn’t like any of the other sheep-related names I found, ahaha...)

THAT’S ALL FOR NOW (collapses into an exhausted pile of goopy limbs)

[iwritefandomimagines]

KISS AND TELL — ROBERT CHASE

masterlist

pairing: robert chase x reader

description: after endless mutual pining, you and chase finally hooked up over the weekend. you agreed to keep it a secret while you figured things out, but it doesn’t last long with the team around.

warnings: swearing, possibly a tiny bit ooc while i’m trying to figure out how i write the house characters, nothing else really. just the team teasing you both and a lil kissing in a closet

author’s note: am a sucker for house atm so pleaaase keep house related requests coming 🫶

“Mm,” you hummed against Chase’s lips as you pushed his chest gently away across the front seats of his car, “Taking things slow, huh?”

He smiled guiltily, pulling the keys from the ignition as he pulled away from you and pocketed them, “A little kiss is hardly rushing things after the weekend we’ve had, don’t you think?”

You shook your head, rolling your eyes.

You’d been (badly) concealing feelings for Chase for almost as long as you had been working in close proximity to him.

Everyone else was more than aware of it, but it had taken a drunken dinner to finally ease confessions from you both.

It was supposed to be a friendly dinner to round off a really stressful week.

But a few bottles of wine had stripped away your inhibitions and you’d made it more than clear that hiding your attraction to him had been an almost impossible task.

He’d confirmed his reciprocation with a quick, dazed kiss, and before you knew it you were staying at his house and wouldn’t be leaving until almost 48 hours later when you made a quick stop at home for a change of clothes before work.

Okay — taking things slow had been your idea, but even you knew it wasn’t going to work. Not when you’d felt the way you felt for so long, and especially not after all that had gone down that weekend.

Truth be told you were dizzy with how he made you feel, and as much as you wanted to keep scolding him for the PDA (well, hidden away in his car), the feeling of his lips on yours was one you wouldn’t get sick of.

“I guess you’re right,” you bit your lip, beginning to gather your things to head into the hospital for another long week, “But we have to keep this from them all, at least for now. I’m in no mood for House’s ‘I told you so’s today.”

“Gotcha.”

And so you entered separately, pretending to have arrived conveniently at the same time but not together.

Unbeknownst to you, Foreman had seen you get out of the car — and though he didn’t see you kiss, his suspicions got the better of him anyway.

So when Chase entered House’s office as was customary of a morning of late, Foreman followed close behind with a smug smirk on his face.

“You and Y/N, huh? Finally,” he teased, arms folded over his chest as he watched the panic flush Chase’s features, “I saw her get out of your car with you.”

“I—We— I didn’t think anyone saw us,” he replied, flustered, and House’s head snapped up from the crossword he was busying himself with to join in with the teasing, “You finally made a move, then?”

Chase’s head fell back in dismay.

Not only had he promised you not to tell them, but he was going to have to endure their teasing all fucking day about it.

What he should’ve done was say your car had broken down and he’d offered you a lift. Shit. Why didn’t he just say that?

Now he watched you approach the door to the office with a bright smile on your face and had to deal with knowing that it would soon be wiped away by your stupid friends because of his stupid mistake.

“Good morning, Y/N,” House smiled, and your eyes narrowed at the unusually cheery tone gracing his words, but you matched it anyway, “Morning Greg!”

“Wow, someone woke up on the right side of Chase’s bed this morning,” Foreman snickered, and immediately your eyes snapped to a panic stricken Chase as his eyes flickered between you and Foreman repeatedly.

You drew in a sharp breath, contemplating how best to express your irritation without completely losing your cool.

You weren’t embarrassed by everyone finding out, but you really didn’t want their teasing comments and constant watchful gazes to ruin the early stages of a relationship you’d been pining for for what felt like forever.

“What did you tell them?”

Posing the question to Chase that way meant you weren’t confirming anything, and he seemed to understand your angle as he gulped and scratched his head.

“Nothing— they assumed because Foreman saw you get out of my car that there must be something going on,” he rambled, and you rolled your eyes.

“And, if I recall correctly, your reply was that you didn’t think anyone saw you,” House quipped, “Which is hardly a denial, lovebirds.”

You scoffed, “Can friends not give each other a ride to work without it meaning they’re fucking?”

You saw Chase’s face flush crimson at your choice language, knowing it was far more than that.

“Hold on, nobody said you were just fucking,” House corrected you matter-of-factly, “You two are always staring at each other all gooey-eyed and it’s frankly revolting. But at least you’ve acted on it, finally.”

“You’re not gonna let this go until we admit it, are you?” you sighed, defeated.

Neither House nor Foreman said a word in response to that, instead choosing to silently smirk at you both.

“Fine,” you gave in, sauntering to Chase’s side, “We are seeing how things go. Not that it’s any of your business.”

“I’d argue that it is,” House’s lips were pressed together in a thin line as he paused for a moment, “But at least I’ve made a lot of money out of this.”

You rolled your eyes at him, glancing over at Foreman who was pulling money from his wallet from their apparent bet about how soon you and Chase would cave and admit your feelings.

“You guys are insufferable, you know that?” you huffed, half-joking, “If anything you make me want us to be more in your face about it.”

“Oh please, don’t pretend you want to shove excess PDA in our faces to annoy us,” Cameron laughed, hand on her hip as she smiled at you. She was genuinely happy for you, if not frustrated you hadn’t told her, “We all see the way you look at each other. You’ve wanted to eat each other’s faces since you transferred here, Y/N.”

You scoffed, “God, was it that obvious?”

You looked over at Chase now, and watched him ogle at you with his puppy-dog eyes.

Maybe they were right, maybe it had always been this obvious.

“I’m going to go get us some coffees, alright?” you glanced around the room with piercing eyes, “And when I get back, you are all going to go back to pretending none of what has happened this morning happened.”

“I’ll come with you!” Chase flew back to your side as you left the room, and you heard the team mumbling about you both as he did so.

You nudged his shoulder as you left, “I can’t believe you, Chase!”

“Hey, they didn’t give me a choice,” he pouted, but he was sure all the stress of pissing you off melted away entirely at the sound of your sweet laughter, “But—,”

He tugged you into a storage cupboard just shy of House’s office, “I’m kind of glad they know. I know I still can’t kiss you at work and stuff but, it’s relieving not hiding it from them now.”

“Now? We didn’t even have five minutes of hiding it anyway,” you giggled, enjoying the close proximity to him again, “C’mon, as much as I’d like to hide away in here with you all day, we do have work to do.”

His lips found yours quickly, and your hands tangled in his hair in a moment of weakness as you leaned into the kiss.

“Sorry, had to indulge myself once,” he sing-songed as he pulled away, opening the door and shuffling out, “Back to work, Dr. Y/L/N. Well, back to the coffee run.”

You giggled as you followed him out, checking that nobody was around to see you slip out of a closet together for god’s sake.

Unluckily for you, Wilson rounded the corner towards House’s office just in time to catch you staring doe-eyed at each other as you began to head down to get the team their coffees.

A smirk spread across his face, soon replaced with a scowl as he leaned into House’s office, “You’ll never guess who I just saw together.”

House shrugged, “Sadly, Sherlock Holmes, I can. And I’ll take the 50 bucks you owe me now.”

———

i hope this was okay !!! let me know if you enjoyed please because feedback motivates me massively!

if you have any requests please go ahead, and in the meantime here is my masterlist!

[221beloved]

"Forever?"

(Link to ao3)

“John?” Sherlock asked, sitting in his chair opposite John.

John looked up from his evening lecture.

“Yes?”

“I think I’m getting a sore throat.”

John lowered his magazine and frowned at him.

“You… think?”

“Yes…” Sherlock whined. “It feels funny when I swallow.”

The doctor raised an eyebrow and Sherlock scoffed.

“Not like that.”

“Well, put your scarf on. Have a tea, go to bed early.”

“Noo,” Sherlock drawled. “It won’t help, it won’t go away now. The damage is done, I’ll be sick tomorrow!”

“Come on Sherlock, you don’t even know that,” John tried to soothe him, but the detective wouldn’t change his mind.

“No, it always starts with a sore throat. It’ll get worse over the night and tomorrow I’ll have a cough and a running nose, and the day after I’ll be completely useless.”

He paused, looked at John.

“But I’m never sick, John!”

John chuckled. “What now, Sherlock, you’ll have to decide. Either you’ll be sick by tomorrow or you never get sick. You can’t have both.”

“Almost never…” Sherlock pouted.

“I hate it,” he added a moment later.

John put his magazine on the side table and got up.

“Come on then, let’s get you to bed, maybe it won’t be that bad.”

Sherlock didn’t look convinced, but he took John’s offered hand and followed him into the bedroom, letting John tuck him in properly.

“I’ll come soon, just a minute.”

Sherlock was already half asleep when John slipped under the blanket. He didn’t wake fully, just mumbled something and curled his body around John’s. Well, seeing Sherlock fall asleep so fast convinced John that he really must’ve caught a cold.

And indeed, the next morning John was woken by Sherlock excessively clearing his throat.

“Not,” John mumbled almost reflexively, still half asleep.

“Not good for your voice, just… just cough.”

He yawned and finally got his eyes to open fully. When he turned to his side, he found Sherlock glaring at him, his eyes tired and red-rimmed.

John grimaced.

“Oh love, you got it full on, didn’t you?”

Sherlock didn’t say anything, but he could as well have shouted I told you so!

John leaned in to press a kiss on Sherlock’s forehead. By the look on the other man’s face when he pulled back, his intention to subtly check the temperature had been very much obvious. John shrugged.

“I’ll make tea. I imagine you don’t want breakfast, but it’s important you eat something, just a bit.”

Sherlock just grumbled, so John got up, picked his own bath robe from the door and padded down the hall to make said tea.

The noise of the boiling water must’ve drowned out Sherlock’s footsteps, because suddenly a chin was leaned on John’s shoulder, a body pressed against his back and arms were wrapping around his body.

“I hate being sick,” Sherlock complained.

“Who doesn’t?”

“But it’s terrible! I’m constantly exhausted, I can’t sleep at night but seem to do nothing else all day, my nose is dripping like a broken tap and my throat is driving me mad, John. I don’t have the patience for this!”

John turned in his arms and ran a finger over Sherlock’s cheekbone.

“It will go by. With a bit of luck it’s just a cold. Three or four days, and I’ll be there and spoil you rotten.”

Sherlock looked down, leaning his forehead against John’s collarbone.

“You spoil me rotten every day already,” he mumbled.

“Yes I do,” John laughed and gently pushed Sherlock back a little, then stretched up to kiss his man, but Sherlock drew back.

“I won’t infect you on purpose, John. You’re exposed to my germs as it is, no reason to overdo it.”

John shook his head.

“If I shall get it I will, no matter if we’re kissing or not.”

Sherlock crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“I won’t help that matter. You’re not kissing me.”

“But--”

“You’re a doctor, you should know better.”

“Yes, I know that I’ll most certainly get it anyway, since I’m even sharing the bed with you. Useless to stop kissing me.”

Sherlock just stared at him defiantly.

John sighed heavily.

“Well then, at least go back to bed. I’ll bring you tea and something soft to eat. And some of the honey from the market, good for your throat. Let me spoil you some more.”

Sherlock looked up at that, his eyes softening impossibly.

“Forever?” he asked with a voice that was probably meant to be cheeky, but came out rather… shyly.

“Yes,” John smiled. “Now off.”

Sherlock cast a longing glance at John’s lips but then turned to go back to bed.

John turned back to the tea, shaking his head. Judging by that look this no kissing nonsense would be over sooner than later anyway.

--

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[salty-an-disco]

*thinks about how there's several different versions of Hero who acts a little different depending on which route you take him through–*

*thinks about how the Hero that appears in the middle of the final battle describes himself as being 'all of them'*

*thinks about how all those different Heroes might not have been able to completely integrate themselves into a single individual*

Conclusion: Hero would develop a system (a median system, to be more exact)

Yep. This was the main reason I started drawing different variants for Hero in different chapters and givin' them different names, everyone can go home now /lhj /silly

Anyway, since I already drew all the guys, might as well talk about them in the context of Hero being a system

(note: I've semi-recently found I, myself, am a system, so a lot of this is me processing this stuff and trying to puzzle things out through my blorbo. shout out to Hero for making this discovery a lot easier to digest. that means a lot of what I'm writing here comes from my own experience and perspectives. Also, I'll be calling the different Heroes 'facets', as that represents better what they are to him)

Since they all come from the exact same source (forms through Chapter I), they don't really see themselves as all that separate or different people. The different titles are more nicknames than anything, they're all 'Hero', just– from a slightly different angle and with different roles/priorities. Hero doesn't hear distinct voices in his head like Quiet, he's more like Shifty, in a way, having their feelings and different texture affect his behavior.

Hero is vaguely aware of these different facets, even giving them those titles as a way to organize and understand himself, but doesn't worry too much about it. That's just how he is.

As for the different facets and their role within the system–

– Hero: Host; front-stuck – Technically speaking, his route would be the Stranger one, as that's where he spent the least amount of time in Chapter I and didn't develop any other identity besides 'Hero'. Not necessarily the 'original', and would rather not worry about that lest it triggers another existential crisis, but is definitely the 'main one'. The main face that's always there. Behavior and thought-process can change depending on other facets present.

– Savior: Protector/Persecutor – Formed when his will power was broken and subdued by someone far stronger. Is intent on not letting that happen again. Very headstrong and certain of himself; he has to be, or else their willpower will break again. Mainly appears to help deal with threats much bigger than them. (Fun fact: in warped AU, he and Hero were fused together)

– Champion: Physical Protector – Formed by a desire to fight and persevere against an opponent that can kill you. Very strategy-minded, focused on better ways to get out of a confrontation alive. Will always try to get out of battles with the least amount of injuries to the body possible. Does not like confrontation, but will go through it if it means survival. Appears anytime there's a need to fight and/or survive. Often alongside Savior or Fledgling.

– Liar: Social Protector/Caretaker – Formed when forced to betray someone you previously intended on helping. Despite the title, Liar is very aversed to lying, and despises when others are being dishonest. Why play these weird games that just makes things more difficult? Can't we just be blunt with each other and makes things easier? Appears when the host feels judged or like he's being given an unfair assumption during a social encounter, or later on, when the host is thinkin' back to a certain social situation that didn't go to well. Helps process those leftover feelings and make sure the host is doing well emotionally and socially.

– Fledgling: Protector – Formed when made to feel cornered by a dangerous creature and clawed to death. Similar role to Champion, in theory, though he appears, more broadly, when the host starts feeling cornered in any way. Which doesn't happen solely in physical fights. Very helpful when appearing to deal with a physical threat, not so much when the threat is more emotional or social.

– Dashing: Emotion Holder/Uplifter – Formed from a desire to do nothing but good to someone else. Not as positive and optimistic as his paired voice during The Damsel, but still makes sure the host knows doesn't forget there's always a bright side and some hope to hold on to. Makes sure the host is taking the time to appreciate the things and people he love and that he isn't getting to caught up in worries and anxiety.

– Accomplice: Memory Holder/Cheergiver – Formed when despite your misgivings, you put your trust in someone else. His role is more vague than the others, but is generally there to give support to those outside of the system. Makes the host take a step back and let someone they trust take the reigns, for once.

– Haunted: Caretaker – Formed while spending a good few lifetimes in Nothingness. Not exactly sure what he's supposed to do here, but tries his best to help. Took some pointers from Cold and encourages the host to put feelings aside for now, if only to focus on taking care of the body before diving back into them. The one that knows self-care, and appears when the body desperately needs it.

– Dreamer: Trauma Holder – Formed as you tried to close your eyes and pretend there's no danger just in front of you. This one is Trauma Personified and mainly only appears when the host is triggered. When he appears, it's very difficult for Hero to differentiate reality from delusions, and it feels like he's back in the construct, fighting for his life and sanity.

– Ribbons: ???/Shell – Formed across 4 chapters; as more pieces broke off, very little was left of him. Less of a facet and more a general feeling of Nothingness. That can be useful when the host is feeling too overwhelmed to think. Just kinda makes Hero zone out and shut down when he appears.

Bonus: what it looks like when some of the facets are close to front. Whether or not Hero will shapeshift depends on how long a facet lingers, and how much they're affecting him. Often, he doesn't shapeshift at all despite the many facets that appeared throughout the day

[maxs-deactivated]

Old vinyls.

Pairing: Joel Miller x reader.

Summary: Joel's feelings bloomed even before the outbreak. 20 years, a lot of losses and survival later, he finally finds one of his missing pieces. A Joel Miller one shot.

A/N: bro I have NO IDEA of when I actually wrote this, I just remember it taking me a few days to finish, and I never posted it bc I tought it was bad, but now I reread this and OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS IS WONDERFUL?! Hope you guys like it as much as I did :)

Warnings: hurt/comfort, crying, soft Joel, drinking, swearing, lil bit of angst, happy ending, this thing is long af, it's been a long while since I watched the show/saw anything about the game so it might be a little out of character or just "off" in general, there's not really any mentions of gender for reader so here you go my fellow non binaries :D

Anyways, let's get to the fic.

You knew Joel.

Before the outbreak he was a single father, a very caring and loving one. Being his neighbor meant seeing him every now and then, being that type of colleague you see once in a while and say hi.

At least for the other neighbors.

You, in the other hand, was much more close than that.

To start with the fact that Tommy was your best friend, you two met at high school and became inseparable, so naturally you would know his brother, Joel, and his niece, Sarah. You always lived there, nearby, so it was normal for you to hang out with both brothers whenever you could and even take care of Sarah when Joel would come home late from work. You knew her since she was born and, hell, she was almost part of your family too.

Not that you would admit it out loud though. But you really cared for her, and for her father.

As you grew closer to Tommy, you grew inevitably closer to Joel as well. Since you met him you knew he was a cool guy, respectful but yet playful, not like the guys you met before that only talked about hooking up and making out, no, Joel was gentle and friendly and, when you know him, talkative. It always drew your attention how he looked after Tommy and, later on, Sarah. it was endearing to see.

When Sarah was 12, you moved in the house right next to Joel's, wich was the number one reason you became so close to him.

Oftenly you picked Sarah from school and had her sleep in your house because Joel would come home late, always recieving an apologizing look and a shy smile the morning after when he would come to take her home and, oh! How you loved that smile.

To "pay his debt" (as he liked to say) he'd take you out to some bar or a restaurant whenever Sarah went on a sleepover at a friend's house, and you two always ended up sitting on the corner just sipping on your drinks and talking about life, giving each other advice, sharing life experiences, and above all having a good time. He'd also not drink any alcohol just to drive you home safe, and refuse to listen to any of your protests.

One night you were at a restaurant, on the other side of the city, talking like always and Joel laughed at something you said, genuinely laughed. And that was when you realized you had fell in love with the man, you were always giving him those looks and scarlet cheeks without even noticing, until this night came and changed everything, you were now aware of every little glance, casual touch, any smile and laugh he gives you, you were drunk i this feeling.

But Joel? Oh, he already knew that for so long.

The moment for him was when you came to lunch with him and Sarah at his house, something around a year before. You helped him cook the meal, wich made him notice how much better that dish tasted with your touch to it whether it being just your presence or the ingredients you put, he wasn't quite sure yet.

After you all ate, you sat on the couch and Sarah suggested to put on some music, and right after that start looking through Joel's vinil collection. Let's say she knew what she was doing, first she put on some rock, Gun's and Roses, just in the ambience as you both talked and she washed the dishes. After that she found the vinil Joel had bought only and exclusively because you recommended from a band you really like, you say it reminds you of home, as your father used to play those songs all the time.

He watched as your eyes went wide with a look of excitement when realization washed over you, the melody forcing you to your feet and pulling Sarah. You rocked back and forth, dancing with the teenage girl, as you sang with the most wonderful voice you ever had.

The sparkle in your eyes mixed with Sarah's laughs and the vibe of the song made him realize how much of a wonderful person you are. Always kind to other and wiling to go out of your way to help someone, your charming personality and your unique style, oh! How much he loved that.

Joel not only saw your gorgeous features but also you, the real you. That is scared of thunders, that loves music, that cooks like a chef and have those little quirks and mannerisms he picked up unconsciously, all of that drove him out of his mind and he loved the feeling of loving you, it made him feel alive. Of course seeing how much Sarah likes you too and the way you're so caring towards her just makes it clear: you're the one for him.

Joel's drunk into it since that day. Every time you wave at him from your yard, every time he takes you to these restaurants and bars, when he sees you in his passanger seat, and the fact you just grow more and more admirable to him... It only makes him want you even more, it makes him want to be the one to treat you right after seeing so many partners destroy you. He'd glue pice by piece if needed.

Talking of bars... In one of those times you two went out, you decided to leave the bar you were at and go back to Joel's place. The food at the bar was absurdly expensive and your stomachs were grumbling way too loud for you to just spend the rest of the night there.

Once you got to his house, he made two sandwiches for the both of you and you ate slowly, never losing the topic you were talking about. When you two finished, Joel went to wash the dishes and once again you decided to put on some music.

Looking through his vinils you saw one you also had, a very very old one, dated in the 40's/50's. It started to spin and a few songs into it, it started playing one you really liked: 'Cheek to Cheek - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong'. By that time Joel had already finished, he walked into the living room still wiping his hands with a towel when you started swaying around to the calm yet enthusiastic beat.

Moving your hips, you felt the melody entering your body and giving you the best feeling of peace. For Joel you looked ethereal in such form, unworried and calm.

A tought crossed his mind and he acted on it before the opportunity scaped. Joel approached you behind your back as you still had your eyes shut closed, feeling yourself through the song, he then placed his right hang on your waist testing the waters. First he had to know if you were okay with that, little did he know you were melting inside, unable to come up with something to do or say in that moment, so you just kept going, like nothing was happening.

As you didn't show any sign of discomfort or didn't flinch from his touch, he placed the left hand on the assigned place on your waist like it was supposed to be there for so long. Now becoming more comfortable, he swayed with you and came even closer, with that your hands automatically went to his, guiding them lower to your hips.

It felt like a dream for the both of you, and of course you wouldn't ruin it with any obvious comment, so you just accepted each other's presences and enjoyed it.

By the middle of the song you kept your hands in his as you turned to face him, still dancing lightly.

Joel looked into your beautifully colored irises and saw the contentment, making him bloom a smile of his own. As you also stared at his honey eyes you placed your arms on both sides of his head, lightly and gently wrapping your fingers around the back of his neck.

Ever so slowly you approached each other unconsciously, ending up doing exactly what the music says, dancing cheek to cheek.

In a few moments you pulled back, just to look at him in the eyes again, now you saw the desire and all the unspoken words and your eyes dropped to his mouth, slightly open and awaiting for what comes next. Yet you decided to speak up before things got confusing.

"I, uhm..." You start, looking down "I really like you Joel, and I don't mean just as a friend or in a way to get this situation to increase... I really do like you, and I have for a time now" now you look into his eyes again.

Joel seems surprised, probably much more because you had the courage to say it first than with the actual statemente, he already suspected your feelings. He opened his mouth a few times, looking for the best words to not fuck this up.

Before starting he let out a relieved breath "when I'm with you I feel alive" he let's out "You make my days a little bit brighter and you bring the colors of love back into my life" Joel laughs "gosh, I'm not even good with words but for you I have practiced this speech for so long... Waiting for the day I would be able to call you mine".

His gaze soft yet eager for you, analyzing every reaction of yours, he's been waiting for so long, poor man. While you're still processing what he just said.

"then do it, I've been your's for so long already" you breath out, coming closer again, but thus time your lips finally touch.

After that, what I can say is that your relationship is solid as rock, you love each other so much and absolutely no one can get into it, you are inseparable.

... Well, at least you thought.

A few days before the outbreak it was your father's birthday and you couldn't just not see him like the past two years, you decided to visit him, perfect timing for disaster.

As the snow falls outside the window of your house in Jackson, you remember it all like it was yesterday...

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" - you ask Joel as you hold onto his jacket. He just returns with a chuckle.

"C'mon! There's still time! You go home, pack your's and Sarah's things and I buy you two tickets, what do you think?" - you try again.

"You know I can't just leave everything behind, love. Sarah has school and I'm about to take that project" - Joel plants a kiss to your temple.

You're disappointed but not surprised, you alredy knew he couldn't come with you, but something within told you to push him and Sarah into that bus with you. Maybe it was just the idea of being three weeks away from your boyfriend, but there was still a bad feeling in you that you can't seem to get rid of.

He locks eyes with you, his honey eyes always seemed the things to calm you down don't matter what happened, and he opened his mouth to say something but the words never came out, you decide to talk then.

"I know love, I just... Have a bad feeling, you know?" - you sigh, looking to the ground then back at him.

"I'll miss you a lot" - you confess.

His gaze softens, with his hands wrapped around your face he leans to a kiss, that is interrupted by an announcement on the speakers, saying your bus was waiting.

Joel gives you one last peck on the lips before pulling you into his embrace. The man is not very good with words, you know that, so this is his way of saying 'I'll miss you too'.

When you pull back, his big brown eyes are filled with unshed tears, sight that make your own set water up. Painfully you break free from his grip, slowly walking away as the tears rolled down both of your cheeks.

...

When you first came to Jackson and you saw Tommy again after 20 years, you had talked to him about... Well, over all everything that happened but mostly what happened to Joel.

But Tommy isn't dumb, he knows who you are even after 20 years apart, he knows if he ever tells you where Joel is you would go flying to him in the same instant, but with all those ridlers and infected around he couldn't handle the idea of letting you go, even more after just reuniting with his biggest friend. He won't risk it.

When you two sat and talked, you asked him if he knew where Joel was, but Tommy shrugged, said in a breath that he just didn't talk to him for a long time and, as Joel is, he probably didn't stay in the same place for too long.

He also tol you about Sarah... With a painful voice he told you how he just watched as he lost his niece and his brother on the same night, because Joel just... Wasn't the same anymore, he changed, he did things (but Tommy never told what things)... Joel isn't the same man you met 20 years ago.

"Well, I didn't expect him to be the same" - that's what you told him, gaining a pitiful gaze from your friend.

Tommy feels pity for you, he thinks you're so lost in the world, and that you need for a purpose so bad, you will chase down any opportunity to go back to that old life of yours. You told him it wasn't about it but of couse he never listened, he just wished for you to wake up to reality, wich in his mind was, that you are now safe, in a place you can live the rest of your life in peace.

But it didn't erase your deep sadness.

It's been five months since you came to Jackson, it haven't been half as bad as you tought it would be, actually people here are neighbourly, everyone helps everyone. Gosh, you like this place. But you can't forget how lonely you feel now.

Of course, there's Tommy and his wife, but now you live alone in this enormous house he got you. Such a huge place and nothing to fill it with if not solitude. But the worst part of it is how seeing Tommy again resurfaced the feelings for Joel you so long burried away, as the only way you found of copig with the fact you would never see him again.

The problem is that now there is hope.

And suddently the urge to know more, to find him, hits you. You can find him, you just need the right clues.

You came back to your house, unlocking the door and shutting it behind you, you saw the map spread over the dining table and for a brief moment the possibility of staying and just... Leaving Joel be, crossed your mind. For a moment it doesn't seem so bad after all... If he didn't come to you before, why would he want you now? The person who took people's lives, who learned how to use a gun on their own, who can't sleep at night with the ghosts of the people they killed... You're not yourself anymore, why would he want you back?

But before you could think further into it, a knock behind you brings you back into reality. Turning the knob again to open it, you saw Tommy, in an euphoric state.

"You need to come with me, right now" - The man says with a wide smile across his face.

You're still clueless - "What happened?".

Before answering he pulled our of the door, dragging you by your arm across the street, right to the construction he was helping with.

You see the horses and recognize some of the people standing with them, but there's one little girl, around 13 or 14 years old, you can't record.

Abruptly Tommy stops to turn to you, with tears on his eyes - "someone heard your prayers, my friend".

He then placed a hand on your shoulder, leading you into the crowd of people, as you got further into it, your eyes catch Maria talking to a man, his salt and pepper hair falling over his eyebrows and then you saw it.

His big brown eyes.

Staring into your own.

Your heart drops and your knees turn weak. How are you even still standing?

"Joel?" - you call his name, but he is still unsure if it's a dream or not.

His heart beats loud on his ears with the realization, you are alive.

Tommy lets go of your shoulder and you waste no time in running to Joel, straight to the safety of his arms, safety you longed during 20 years. But yet he stays froze in place, maybe his mind was tricking him? Could it be an hallucination? He's tired and haven't slept in at least three days, he can't just trust his eyes right away.

But it is not necessary.

You finally get to him and he don't hesitate, his hands reaching for both sides of your face as he examinates it. Your gaze never leaving his as well.

Desperate arms pull you into his embrace. He smells like wet grass and wood, not the expensive cologne he used to wear when going out with you, but it isn't a problem. After all you found him, or better saying, he found you.

Joel tuck his fingers around the back of your neck and under your hair as he wishes to get closer to you, if it's possible. And he cries.

You hear his snifles on your ear and feel his tears leaving a wet spot on you jacket.

Joel's not good with words, you know that, but this is him saying "I missed you". This is him telling you about Sarah, Tess and how he lost himself the night of the outbreak, and it doesn't need one word to make you understand. He lost everything. But for what it seems, he just found everything again.

[diapydemon]

Classified: Punk Rock Little

Chapter 3

Read chapter 2 here

Name: Miles Miller

DOB: 06/01/2002

CIN: E25S6832

Citizen Lifestyle Assignment Sorting and Sectioning

(CLASS)

Result: Little

Miles tightened his grip around the letter to the point of almost tearing the parchment. Tears welled in his eyes as all the muscles in his body locked up with tension.

“Is that your CLASS result?” Lindsay looked up from her book across the room, “What does it say?”

“It– it… uhhh”

“What?”

Miles, tears welling in his eyes, had no idea what to say or what to do. He did the only reasonable thing he could think to do. He crumpled up the letter into his fist and bolted into his room, slamming and locking his door behind him.

“Miles,” Lindsay knocked on the door, “Come on out. It's just Dylan and I out here anyway.”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!” Miles shouted from the other side of the door.

“Oh stop being a baby,” Lindsay retorted.

“SHUT UP,” the distress was obvious in his voice.

“Did he…” Dylan stuttered with uncertainty from the hallway, “Is he… you know… a Little?”

“He’s certainly acting like one,” Lindsay rolled her eyes before fishing her phone out of her pocket.

“What are you doing?” Dylan asked.

“Calling Ryley,” Lindsay explained, “Miles is like a brother to me –albeit an annoying brother– but still. I’m not a Caregiver, but maybe Ryley can help him more than we can.”

“Lindsay?” Riley answered, “What’s up? Practice isn’t for a couple hours.”

“I know. Listen Ryley, Miles got his CLASS results back today and…”

“What’d he get?”

“We don’t know,” Lindsay sighed, “Well not officially anyway. He took the results and locked himself in his room, so I think it’s relatively safe to assume…”

“I’ll be right over. I have an Emergency Littles Kit I can bring too.”

“That’d be great. Thanks Ryley.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PRL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miles paced back and forth in his room. He looked at Melvin, his watermelon-penguin stuffie with a vengeance. Melvin, who had been his closest friend for who knows how long, now felt like he had somehow betrayed him.

Miles looked at the haphazard piles of dirty clothes on the floor. His room was a mess. He was a mess.

His clothes! Miles started hyperventilating. The vast majority of his t-shirts had all manners of expletives and inappropriate slogans on them. No way he was getting to keep his old wardrobe.

Miles’s chest started thumping as he continued to hyperventilate. Clothes were the least of his worries. How could he be a rockstar if he was a Little? Hell, that might not even be his biggest concern. What if… what if his friends didn’t want to hangout with him anymore because he wasn’t punk rock enough for them? What if they sent him to an assignment center!?

“Miles?” He heard Ryley’s voice from the other side of the door, “Can you open up the door for me please?”

“N-no,” Miles managed to squeak out.

“Miles,” Ryley sighed like she was about to be forced to do something she didn’t want to do, “I’m going to count to three, alright? When I get to three, that door better be open. Then we're going to sort this all out together, okay?”

Miles didn’t have it in him to respond. Everything was too much. Tears finally fell from his eyes and began rolling down his cheeks.

“One,” Riley started counting.

Miles stood paralyzed with anxiety and fear. Sure, he was more than a little distraught about being a Little, but something about Ryley’s tone scared him in a newly compelling way.

“Two.”

Miles still couldn’t move. To his horror, his face wasn’t the only thing that was wet; he began to feel a wetness slowly spread over his crotch and began to soak his black jeans. Miles felt snot helplessly run down his nose as he ugly cried. MY LIFE IS OVER, he thought.

“Three~,” Ryley drew the last syllable out to give Miles a chance, and Miles wasn’t going to waste that chance.

For whatever reason, the prospect of Ryley’s count ending terrified him into action, and he dashed towards his door, momentarily forgetting about his messy appearance.

He unlocked the door and opened it to see Ryley’s face. She looked genuinely concerned for his well being, and he felt a pang of guilt for worrying her.

“Oh Miles,” Ryley wrapped her arms around him, “Shhh it’s okay. I’m here now. Shhh”

Ryley lovingly stroked his hair as Lindsay wordlessly watched, and Dylan left to give the pair their privacy.

Miles felt his shame and anxiety melt away in Ryley’s embrace. His full on face-flood was now reduced to a string of sniffles.

“Sweetie,” Ryley eyed Miles’s wet pants but neglected to say anything, “How about we run a bath for you and get you all cleaned up? Does that sound good?”

Miles nodded without saying a word. It was all he could manage without breaking down into tears again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PRL~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So you’re a Little,” Ryley used a cup to rinse shampoo out of Miles’s hair, “That’s a big adjustment, but I just wanted to let you know that you don’t have to do it alone. I’ll help you along the way as best I can, I promise.”

“T-thanks,” Miles nodded from within the bathtub. It was strange; he felt the cleanest he had felt in a long time with Ryley washing him, and parts of it were even enjoyable. But he still felt uncertain and scared. In this small moment, he was thankful for Ryley’s presence.

“All clean!” Ryley borderline sang.

“T-thanks.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. You behaved so well for me, and I’m so proud! But there’s one more teensy thing I need your help with, okay?”

Miles didn’t know how to feel about the petnames and gentle praise he was receiving, but he eventually decided that –for at least tonight– he needed Ryley’s comforting presence and decided to let it slide.

“O-okay.”

“Great,” Ryley produced a small kit from the floor next to the bath and opened it to reveal four differently colored candies that were each shaped like lifesavers, “I need you to try each of these candies for me. One should taste the best, and I need to know which one that is. You can spit out the rest.”

Miles reached out into the kit and sampled the candies one by one. The first three ranged from horrible tasting to mediocre, but he didn’t quite enjoy any of them. Then he tried the purple. The purple tasted delicious. Before Miles knew it, he swallowed it.

“The purple one tasted the best,” Miles told Ryley.

“Ok, Thank you little one.”

Miles squinted in annoyance. Ryley really was pushing it with the pet names, but he didn’t want to push her away, so he didn’t say anything.

“R-ryley,” Miles stared at the porcelain floor of the bathtub, “Can I have another purple candy please?”

“Sorry cutie,” Ryley stroked a stray strand of hair behind Miles’s ear, “but I dont have another one. I also don’t think that’s a good idea anyway; those candies were to help us figure some stuff out about your new classification.”

“Oh… so what does liking purple mean?”

“Well for one, that means you're an L-2 Little. And it will help us know what to look for when we go to the Little Supply store tomorrow.”

“Oh…” Miles didn’t quite remember the specifics of what that meant, but he didn’t want to sound stupid in front of Ryley, so he kept his mouth shut. It wasn’t his fault he dropped out of college before they had a refresher on all the intricacies of the CLASS system.

“C’mon,” Ryley began to dry him off with a towel. Under other circumstances, Miles would’ve probably found this situation hot, but there were just too many new emotions to deal with.

“So I was thinking,” Ryley bent down to dry off his legs, “I could get you dressed and then you might want to come over to my place and have a sleepover?”

“A sleepover?”

“Yeah it’ll be fun!” Ryley beamed, “and that way I can keep an eye on you. Just in case.”

“Yeah okay.”

“Great!” Ryley dropped the towel and warped him in a tight hug. Miles hugged back with a tension that suggested that he never wanted to let her go.

“Okay, now I need to get you dressed, and I need you to be mature for me and not freak out, okay?”

Before Miles had the chance to respond, Ryley reached for the box that the candies came from and pulled out a fluffy white square. A diaper, Miles realized in horror.

“Ryley, no! You are NOT putting that on me!”

“Miles. Behave,” there was a certain sternness in Ryley’s voice that Miles wasn’t accustomed to.

“NO!” Miles shouted, “Ryley I can’t think of anything less punk rock than that!”

“Miles,” Ryley sighed, “Remember how you had an accident before bath time?”

“Wha– I didn’t–”

“Don’t.” Ryley’s eyebrows furrowed, “lie to me, Miles.”

“F-fine. But it was a one time thing, okay?”

“I’m sure it was, but it would make me feel better if you let me put this on you. After all, I can definitely think of one thing less punk rock than wearing a diaper: wetting your pants in front of everyone. Again.”

Miles clenched his fists and puffed out his cheeks in frustration. Ryley hated to admit it, but she thought he looked adorable.

“Fine.” Miles begrudgingly accepted, unable to find a flaw in her logic.

Ryley laid him down on top of the outfolded diaper, sprinkled his most sensitive areas with baby powder, and then taped the diaper over him. Miles felt like his fate was sealed with this diaper.

“Ahww you look cute with your thumb in your mouth like that,” Ryley cooed.

Miles quickly yanked his thumb out of his mouth, basically unconscious of it until Ryley commented.

“C’mon,” Ryley giggled, “Let’s go find you some clothes to wear.”

Ryley held Miles’s hand the entire way to his room. It took Ryley a good five minutes to find clothes that were “appropriate”, but she eventually settled on a basic Metallica t-shirt and blue jeans. Of course, Ryley helped Miles get dressed, but Miles was starting to feel too tired to really object to Ryley’s pampering. Turns out ugly crying like a toddler takes a lot out of you.

Ryley grabbed Miles’s hand and led him out into the living room where Lindsay and Dylan were talking.

“Hey Miles,” Dylan smiled at him, “how you feeling buddy?”

“Fine,” Miles grumbled.

“Great!” Lindsay interjected, “Now who’s ready to rock!? It’s almost time for practice.”

“Sorry guys,” Ryley sighed, “But Miles here has had a really big day, so I want to take him home and get him to bed at a reasonable hour.”

“I’m not even tired,” Miles yawned, “I can do this!”

“Miles you just yawned,” Dylan pointed out, “it’s okay if you need to get some rest.”

“Plus it’s already pretty late for you,” Ryley interjected.

“It’s only nine!” Miles whined.

“Miles, you need your sleep.”

“W-wait,” Miles’s head suddenly dropped, “H-how am I going to be a rockstar if I have a bedtime…”

“Ryley!” Miles grabbed desperately at the loose fabric of her blouse as he regarded her with glistening eyes, “I’M NOT GOING TO HAVE A BEDTIME, RIGHT!!?”

Ryley sighed, “I didn’t want to talk about this until tomorrow, but yes sweetie, you will need a bedtime, along with a whole lot of other changes to your lifestyle. But change isn’t always a bad thing Miles, I promise.”

Tears once again began rolling, but this time it was a slower roll.

“How is this not a bad thing?” Miles sniffled, “W-what am I gonna do?”

“Welp,” Lindsay tried to lighten the mood, “You could always make music for Kidz Bop.”

Miles looked up at her with clenched fists and glassy eyes, “Lindsay stop being such a… such a BITCH!!”

“MILES,” Ryley grabbed him by the ear and led him into the corner, “That language is unacceptable young man, do you hear me?”

“B-but Lindsay said–” Miles stammered.

“I know what Lindsay said,” Ryley briefly glared at Lindsay, “but that gives you no right to cuss at her. You will apologize to her, understand?”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

“Good. Now what do you have to say to Lindsay?”

Miles walked over to Lindsay with his eyes glued to the floor the entire time.

“Sorry Lindsay for calling you a–” Miles looked back to see Ryley’s stern face and decided not to repeat his previous mistake, “a bad word.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lindsay says.

“And Lindsay,” Ryley’s ire had found a new target and her voice was prickly, “Don’t you ever –I mean EVER– make fun of Miles again. He’s had a long day, and he especially doesn’t need your antics right now.”

“O-okay,” It was Lindsay’s turn to memorize the carpet.

“Now do you have anything to say to Miles,” Ryley continued her reprimand.

“S-sorry Miles,” Lindsay muttered.

“Don’t worry about it,” Miles parroted.

“Good job guys!” Ryley’s icy tone had completely melted away into a cheery disposition that made Miles feel all warm inside. Miles silently swore he’d get emotional hypothermia from such a rapid change if that even existed…

“Now,” Ryley grabbed Miles’s hand, “We’re going to head home, and I’m going to get this little guy to bed.”

Miles passed out in the car before they even made it to Ryley’s.

[fleouriarts]

remade the height lineup for jamie and co! it's been almost exactly 6 months since i made the original one, and omar and andre didn't even exist when i made it, so i figured it needed an update. also the original was made in one night (vs this being made in a week) and you can TELL

under the cut are individual pics for each of them with some design notes and such. tumblr also likes to crunch big images like this, for full size click here and here

originally finished 9-28-2024

JAMIE: biggest change is that im actually drawing him with a long ass linsang neck. i wanted him to be small so bad before that i forgot the most important linsang trait... this is also why he has gained 2 inches of height LOL

SANTIAGO: santiago got like 25% wider and his horns are more visible. i considered making a second unclothed ref for his look during the summer (all wool shaved except for the head), but i don't draw him like that very much. maybe later

JOHNNY: no changes. johnny is a perfect animal. i just finally have a full ref of her spots (at least from the front)

NULL: i completely changed their head shape to look like an actual siamese cat, and gave them 6 nipples like an actual cat. their original shirt had just a blue scribble (my usual shorthand when i'm drawing from a ref and don't feel like drawing a shirt design) but i decided they deserve an actual shirt design now. i tried a cat skull at first and then i thought to do cartoon fish bones instead and fell in love with it

ARGYLE: argyle's face spots became more pronounced, his mane is bigger, his bigass robe has only yellow stripes now, and i changed the colors on his pants a bit. a character change that comes with this is that he is now a journalism student instead of fashion. he was originally a fashion student so him, jamie, and santiago would all have to interact (since they're all in the arts at their college). however developing argyle more made me think he would care way more about comfort than looking good when it comes to his clothes. also the son of a lawyer and a history professor going into journalism just makes sense to me

OMAR: omar wasn't on the original lineup, but when compared to my first drawing of her, i just made her fatter with a longer neck. and now i have a good ref of his spots! i've also decided they have hyperestrogenism, no clue if it's caused by an underlying syndrome like aexs or not. either way she has gynecomastia and hypogonadism because of it

ANDRE: andre straight up didn't have a color ref before now cus i mostly drew her in my sketchbook. i just forced myself to figure out his markings and give him a "default" outfit (i really liked the one i drew him in here so that's his default now). also i have decided she does not wear wigs anymore she's just a cool bald bitch

overall i think i just got better at drawing furries ^__^ a lot of it comes down to just thinking harder about their anatomy. you may notice that the new drawing has the carnivorans (jamie null argyle and andre) as plantigrade at rest now instead of digitigrade. part of this is because i went and looked at my zootopia artbook to study it and that's how they do it. another part of it is that when you look at plantigrade vs digitigrade legs (unguligrade is here too i guess):

the entirety of the paw on a digitrade animal is homologous to just the toes on a plantigrade one. do you want to stand on your toes all day? does that sound fun to you? HELL NO!!!!!! unguligrade animals stand on their toenails but they're weirdos we don't have to talk about them

anyway enough of my rambling cheers to you if you read this far. if you're an aspiring furry artist you might find it fun to learn some irl animal anatomy to help you w your drawings, like looking at skulls/full skeletons and stuff. or maybe it'll just frustrate you. i'm a biology student so this is enriching for me. have a nice day

[slylock-syl]

Hey Syllll! Long time, no chat! I just wanted to get this off my chest before i go ham trying to figure out what i wanna commission from you soon.

I have been reading Undersource for years now, and i think we've both come a long way since then! God, that feels weird to say, i'm not even old enough to drink yet lmao. But! I am old enough to spend my money responsibly now, which is nuts given that my responsible spending is now aimed at getting art of my blorbos LOL.

You've grown as an artist so much since i first started reading- i think that was around... the pirate arc? Not sure! But i do remember the early days of me having discord, during the EKD server category era. But anyways, i know the way you drew our favorite skeletons was different back then, and it's all gotten so much smoother in that time. You're also (at least seemingly) taking way better care of yourself! You've set boundaries, you've set more time for yourself and not the blog, and you're still happily chugging along, after all these years. Not to mention you're working on this side story now, which i'm fairly certain you've been looking forward to for a while.

How's that sleeping though? Do you still have the sleep cycle of an austalian? Can't say i'm any better, im slowly becoming nocturnal again lol. Some things NEVER change.

Anyways. All this to say: im really proud to have been part of this little community for so long. To see the comic and its artist come so far. Even if im not a diehard fan anymore, im glad i can still take a little time every weekend to realize "OH, U/S shoulda updated!" and run over here. Thanks for giving me a good starting point of community on this god damned hellsite.

(Here's to sleepy 5 am "you're great" asks LMAO)

sjksdhLKSDJFHG THIS IS SUCH A SWEET MESSAGE OMG-

Hi Azzy! :D I'm glad you still like my work even after all this time! Thank you for sticking around! :D

I have been taking better care of myself these days! I'm (only sometimes begrudgingly XD) going on daily walks (Pikmin Bloom is really helping with that, I love Pikmin they're so cute), and made some new friends! When I first started this blog I was convinced I had to constantly/frequently produce content, and I time went on I slowly realized that wasn't really viable, so I slowly trimmed down the workloads for better manageability, I'd say it's helped a lot! Even if it may not look like it sometimes XD

There was a point before I adjusted my work schedule where I figured out that I may have been riding a creative burnout for a long while, as when I looked back it felt like my work had begun to visually stagnate. I think at the time I was cramming working on the comic update across only 3 or 4 days (Wednesday/Thursday to Saturday mornings, sometimes down to the wire), with several hours of just constant work (plus any distractions and 3 daily asks) because I was procrastinating so badly X'D I'm still recovering from the visual stagnation, but I'm definitely trying to experiment where I can! I may not be the best at it but I hope I'm improving at least ksjdghLSDGH My current schedule is MUCH more spaced out and much more manageable, spanning Sunday to Friday and broken down into stages for each day, and Saturdays are my designated day off~

As for the side story, it's one I've had around for quite a while and have been excited to finally show off! There were a few people who were interested in it when it was first teased, though I've no idea if they're still around, if they are I hope they're enjoying the story so far as well! 💜

Oddly enough my sleep schedule is no longer on Cthulhu Standard Time SKSDJGHDLG We had a TON of construction going on in the house the past few months and it was way too awkward to sleep with a bunch of strangers either being in or near my room, as well as making a LOT of noise sjkdhgLKSDJG There was a brief section of time where I'd actually go to bed at a "normal" time and get up at like, 9 or 10 am X'D Though it's slowly sneaking it's way into afternoons to 3 or 4 AM after I feed the kitties, kinda like my old college schedule XD

Thank you again for liking my work and sticking around! I really appreciate it!! :D

I may not be anywhere near whatever my "peak" was a few years ago, but I'm still happy to keep going for those who still come around! 💜

[noxturnals-void]

My Dearest Shadow

Jason Voorhees x GN! Reader

Pt.3

(It might lean fem at times but I’m going to try my best to keep it neutral for everyone!)

Read Pt. 2 here

Read Pt. 1 here

Tw: stalking, anxiety, paranoia, jason being really hard on himself

2,273 words below the cut

Previously in Chapter 2:

He couldn’t move now. He couldn’t turn and walk away, not that he had any desire to. He didn’t want you seeing any more of him than you already had. He was stuck behind this tree. Stuck and too nervous to think of what to do next.

What was he supposed to do…?

—

You guardedly took a few steps closer, creating a slight arch in your steps to try to see beyond the massive tree. "I-" you began. "I know you're there," you called out, the figure shifting further behind the tree once it had caught on to your movement. You should have been unsettled by whoever was still stalking you, but it had been so long. You only wanted to know who it was- why they watched you so adamantly.

"Please," you called again, standing still and scanning the hand and part of a bulky shoulder that you could make out. "I'm not..." What were you supposed to say? That you weren't scared? You were terrified. That you weren't upset? You weren't, but why would you have been? That you weren't a threat? They were more of a threat than you at this point, weren't they? What were you supposed to say? "I'm not sure what you want from me." You admitted slowly. Honestly, part of you wondered if the person was only interested in your cabin- that maybe they were homeless. But that didn't make much sense when it came to how distant yet protective they were of you.

Thick silence swelled into the cool air following your unsure words, and you had the feeling they wouldn't want to talk to you, but you tried again anyway. "I know you've been... watching me for a while now. I know you've helped me before." You confessed and stepped around a few more paces to get a better look at them again as you spoke. "I just don't understand. I just want to understand why. Why are you out here? Why are you..." You finally got far enough around the tree to see most of the figure.

Whatever words were about to come out died in your throat almost immediately at the sight of the literal giant standing as solid as a statue behind the tree trunk. His hulking body had to be at least 6 feet- more likely 6 feet and many inches on top, and he was massive. Massive in the way of being incredibly muscular, towering easily over anything his way.

It was definitely a man; his clothes were enough to give that away. They were smaller fitting than they should have been. His shirt was ripped and frayed at the hem, caked in dirt and some questionably dark stains that almost appeared black in the light of the woods. The shirt drew tight across his chest when he breathed in, noting his covered features beneath. He wore an equally rugged black jacket over it, the material also ripped and stained, taut around the bulk of his arms and shoulders. Below, he wore dark pants littered with small holes and hand-sewn patches while his feet filled out worn-out boots.

Your eyes dragged back up his enormous body and locked onto his face, or rather, the mask covering it. Something in your chest knotted and sank into the pit of your stomach when you saw the man’s head tilt, solidifying that he was real. He was real, and he was standing right there. This person was the one to watch you most of your days for the past year and a half. This stranger was the one who followed you around in this slice of wilderness- he was the one who brought you in from outside when you had fallen asleep those times.

A tremble ran through your body, trying to comprehend everything all at once. The coolness of the breeze reminded you that you were outside—that five minutes ago, you had been spared of this knowledge. Part of you was relieved to have a picture of the person who stalked you constantly, and another part of you was unsure if this was the information you wanted to answer that question with—leaning toward wanting to picture something different in pure ignorance.

It wasn’t that he was unsightly. It wasn’t that he was oddly dressed or enormous. It was just anxiety-inducing. It was hard to wrap your mind around this man, the owner of the eyes that had dutifully followed your every move. Suddenly, having the stranger you’d grown to appreciate watching over you from a distance right before your eyes made you queasy.

You realized then and there you’d grown accustomed to the idea of this stranger. The thought of him. Not the reality of him.

By this time, he had noticed you—turning slightly to face you and looking just as tense as you felt. Obviously, he hadn't intended for you to see him, and he hadn't. He had been lulled by your voice speaking to him—passively listening without considering your footsteps getting closer.

It was the first time you'd ever acknowledged him, and he had been soaking up the one-sided interaction, soothed by how tender and kind you sounded. Your voice trailed to silence, and the paranoia of being seen set into him like a swift punch to the gut. His head turned, and he was completely caught off guard by you standing and gaping at him merely ten feet away. His apprehension had returned instantly, and he found himself frozen under your gaze.

You must have seen him as a monster, he thought, hands twitching by his sides at the idea of you running off terrified. Now, he simply counted. Counting the seconds until your eyes raked over him fully and your brain caught up with the horrifying creature before you and ran back to your haven. The thought drove a stake through his chest.

Maybe you would have called the police, forcing him to flee or perhaps kill again. Maybe you would have barred the entrance to your home and hoped he wouldn't come after you for your flight. His imagination ran in circles, and his mind was molding a more depressive ending to this unplanned encounter. There was no situation that he could imagine this going over smoothly.

You took a few steps back, eyes still glued to his mask in a doe-eyed expression. You were frightened, and if you ran, he wouldn't chase you. That would’ve only scared you worse, and he'd already done so much to protect you. To be there for you, even if he couldn’t be beside you. He stayed perfectly still, observing as you shuddered a small breath and held your arms out with flat hands.

"h-hold on," you tried to speak. Still, it came out as a weak whisper, clearing your throat to try again. "w-wait here... please." You followed up more audibly, anxiety piling into your stomach and hoping to come across as polite as possible- not wanting to get on whatever unstable side this strange man might’ve had. You didn't even know what you were doing, and neither did he. He was confused and nervous.

Why were you telling him to wait? Wait for what?

You skittered to your cottage like a frightened little animal, and for a long minute, he stood and figured he had been right about you running off to your home. He began to turn, prepared to walk away, until his mother interrupted his action with a firm command not to move an inch from where you'd left him. He reluctantly returned to the position he had barely moved from, not seeing the point in waiting if all you would do was hide. But he stood there nonetheless. Waiting.

Meanwhile, you anxiously threw together a peace offering- not exactly sure what you were doing but hoping somehow it would make the giant more pleased with you. You got the feeling from that short interaction he didn't like you, particularly now that you had seen him face to kind-of-face. The last thing you wanted was to upset him- not when he looked so capable of causing you harm.

You grabbed a smaller harvesting woven basket, the closest thing you could find, and packed it full of baked goods you'd made over the past week.

You'd needed a reason to get rid of some of the muffins you'd made too much of earlier this week anyway. Your mind raced with how ridiculous and stupid this was, but it continually looped around to understanding that this was all you could do right now—it was all you could come up with. As dumb as it felt, maybe the gesture would keep the man from being so distant.

It was odd. You didn't specifically want the man to get closer to you or your cabin, but you also didn't want him to hide away as if you could never lay eyes on him. Call it your people-pleasing habit, but you wanted the man to like you. At the very least enough he wouldn’t harm you. He was still human, wasn't he? He still needed food. You had the feeling that even though he looked in decent health, he probably didn't have much in the way of supplies. You couldn't imagine what he had been living off of, though, from the random traps set in parts of the forest you’d come across in the past; it wasn't hard to guess.

He was taken aback when you scurried from your home, your arms holding a little woven basket piled with the treats you'd made earlier that week. He'd watched you bake them all. The muffins, the bread, and the scones. They had smelled and looked amazing, but he never thought he'd taste any of it. Were you genuinely offering your food to him? Was he imagining this?

You slowed as you got nearer. Relief and a fresh wave of anxiety washed over you when you noticed him still standing just behind the tree. He quite literally didn't look like he had moved a muscle since you left. Part of you was glad that he had decided to listen, and another part of you was apprehensive at the idea he hadn't moved.

You cautiously regained the ground you'd lost after being away for a few minutes, taking a deeper breath to calm your nerves as you held out the basket. "I don't know why you've been... shadowing me for so long," you bent at the knees, not taking your eyes off the yellowed hockey mask. You stared at him as if he would decide to pounce at any moment. And he might’ve, you considered. After all, even after all this time and how comfortable you’d gotten with his ceaseless presence, you honestly didn’t know a thing about this strange person living in the woods.

His head tilted, confirming he wasn't a statue again and that he was watching as you gingerly set the basket on a patch of grass. "but… thank you." You finished slowly. Despite your anxiety about not knowing him or why he took an interest in you, you truly were thankful for him watching over you. With all your nervousness being this close to him, he still gave off more of a protective aura than dangerous.

He stiffened, staring at your cautious figure and wondering- puzzling- over why you were thanking him. Were you thanking him for following you? For watching over you? Did you realize he meant you no harm? Did you see that he was just trying to keep you safe? Did you... Did you see him as Jason? Not a monster?

"I-I just," you gulped, stumbling over some twigs as you took a few steps back. "It's just some food..." You realized partway through your words that he probably knew what the food was already since he'd likely watched you make it. "that I made..." you mumbled dumbly, unable to peel your eyes away from him just in case. "I hope you... like them." You awkwardly dismiss yourself from the tense atmosphere and stumble back a few more steps, putting enough distance between you and him that you feel more comfortable turning around to retreat indoors.

He watched as you scampered away again, this time with no intention of returning, he suspected. His head tilted down, and he looked over the basket of baked goods, smelling the sweet and savory aroma the food had given off through the breeze. I’m his head, his mother's voice nagged him to take the basket, telling him it would have been rude to reject such a kind offer from someone who finally treated him well. He had no choice but to agree. He bent over and grabbed the basket, turning and continuing his usual routine with the baked treats in hand.

His heart pounding in his chest and his face much too hot under the mask made it difficult to focus on walking the perimeter of the campgrounds. But he trudged on, unable to get the sight of your lovely face or bewitching eyes out of his mind as he finished his afternoon rounds.

He didn't quite know how he would have returned the basket to you, not wanting to spook you more than he already had. He contemplated leaving it at your door sometime at night so you could find it easily. He glanced over the treats and tilted his head—should he have also given you something in return? He didn’t want to give the basket back empty. It was only polite that he found something suitable to repay your gesture.

What could he possibly give to you?

Tags:

@imhungry675 @bimboshaggy

[demonslayedher]

Will you continue the soft au that you created? (*´∀｀)

I'm very interested in your interpretation plus, you've inspired me to create my own.

Ah yes, this one, the most popular post in my whole blog! It even beat out the Shinobu-Akaza Friendship one which has been going around for a few years. I'm glad it inspired you to make your own, because there can never be too many fix-it AUs. ^_^

Good news! Aside from this goofy follow-up to that piece, I have some older pieces of fanart which are oddly similar! This one (which I really like, except that I look at it now and dismiss it as not good because I drew Mitsuri shorter than Iguro), and this old one (which was not quite the same, since everybody is simply healthy and not beat up).

It's only half as happy, but I also got really attached to this three-part Fate-Swap one. What I did with the survivors in that one also influenced a lot of my thinking on the Softer Time AU.

So with that all out of the way, how about just some new headcanons for the AU in question?

Rengoku: As he was dying, Tanjiro tearfully asked if there was any Breath technique to stop the bleeding. Rengoku smilingly replied "no," but then Tanjiro sniffled and asked, "Can you at least try????"

So he did, and that is how he survived a punch that went straight through his solar plexus. Barely, anyway. Breath technique is amazing!! The Kakushi who soon arrived on the scene are even more amazing!!!! None the less, he has a very difficult recovery.

Oyakata-sama and family: He sure had everybody convinced he perished, huh? Joke's on you, the mansion had a trap door.

Once Muzan was defeated, the curse on his family was finally lifted, so he started making a slow recovery from his illness after that, including slowly regaining his sight little by little. Once he's in better shape, Amane wants to go on a romantic getaway.

Himejima: So that curse on the Ubuyashiki family? Turns out The Mark was likewise only a curse, and it too has been lifted! Losing a leg can't keep this man down, of course, he's just too strong.

Still, he got close enough to death that he got a nice visit from his ghost kids, and when he woke up, sure enough, that Kakushi at his side was Sayo! She aids him in his recovery.

Himejima eventually finds out about Kaigaku from Zenitsu. He is saddened and cries.

Now that he doesn't need to train, Himejima become the Crazy Cat Man. His home is a cat shelter. After a year or so his shipper heart gets antsy and he starts annoying other Hashira to hurry up and have kids.

Sanemi: Hangs out with Oyakata-sama's kids a lot. Is really annoyed with Himejima bugging him to get a girlfriend. Since this is a Softer Time, Sanemi is busy making up for lost time with his brother anyway.

Shinobu: She managed to be swallowed whole by Douma without getting seriously injured in the process. She has burns from being partially digested (an idea I picked up from @sweetreichel) and this was enough for the poison to have the desired effect. As Douma's body starts to melt, Inosuke reaches in and pulls her out, much to her surprise.

Because this is a Softer Time, we're going to say that this Shinobu-Inosuke interaction, and this Shinobu-Inosuke interaction, and especially this Shinobu-Inosuke interaction (or something like it) has occurred.

This is no longer a world in which Inosuke takes to Nezuko like she's a mother figure, noooo. Shinobu is now his mother figure whom he dotes on. Shinobu is slightly weirded out by it, but this is her dashing rescuer, after all, so she soon makes peace with Inosuke's attention and care. She doesn't feel good in her recovery anyway; it's nice to get rides on a trusty steed. All this leverage means she finally convinces him to let her (or rather, Aoi) wash that dang animal head, at least.

So is this a GiyuShino AU? I suppose it has the opportunity to be. If Giyuu indicates any interest in Shinobu, he's going to need Inosuke's approval. And Inosuke gives it easily, because Han-Han-Haori is strong. But if Shinobu shows any indication of having a crush on Giyuu, Himejima is going to squash it the moment he bugs her to hurry up and have kids.

Iguro & Mitsuri: This is pretty much a repeat of the Fate-Swap AU.

Iguro promises to marry her as he thinks they are dying, but she wakes from her coma before he does happily anticipating that he'll keep his promise in this life. It's a bit of a relief that he's probably lost his sight, because the damage to her ear and jaw is pretty ghastly; not to mention her belly was cut pretty deeply. She's accepted with disappointment that she probably would not be able to have children, which is why she has not asked for any details on that (to which question a doctor would respond, "nope, that all looks good." Likewise, being too quick to accept Iguro's blindness means no one has asked about the actual state of his eye injuries, to which a doctor would respond, "Yeah, one of them should still work once the bandages are off.")

Iguro is stunned to find himself still alive and full of tainted blood, and he tries to insist that his promise was under the understanding that they were both dying, which makes Mitsuri upset that he didn't mean it and he doesn't actually want it, which of course is not what he means at all, so he has to fully explain himself.

Mitsuri is understanding but also points out that this is very silly, and that she's not so good of a bride either, so they deserve each other fully, the good and the bad. Iguro is so eased by her words that he feels washed clean, especially for having lost so much blood in ridding the world of demons.

And then, surprise!! He can see her after all! And then, surprise!!! They can have babies after all! Himejima is also as thrilled as they are.

Giyuu: Look at him!! He smiles!!!!!! And he has so many people who talk to him!!!!!!! Which means they're finally going to hold him accountable for acting like he was better than them. Giyuu is flattened with the realization that this is what everyone thought he meant when he said he was "different" from them, and he must explain himself. If there is a hole, he wants to go into it.

But!!! They forgive him?????? They accept him?????????

Well, sure they do, but he can't stop smiling and it's starting to weird everyone out.

Uzui: As usual, he is busy being a family man. He finds it kind of funny to hide from Himejima the fact that one of his wives had a baby. Himejima is really hurt when he finds out and Uzui feels terrible. If there is a hole, he wants to disappear into a puff of smoke in it.

Muichiro: Watch out world, that mouth of his is only going to get worse in his later teen years. He and Kotetsu are going to annoy everybody.

Muichiro hangs out with a lot of different people, since the whole Corp feels like his family. When he's not being treated like Kanamori's adoptive son, he's often goes over for dinner with the Ubuyashiki family, where he winds up hanging out with Sanemi. However, because they are closer in age and have more shared experiences, he is more naturally inclined to form a friendship with Genya.

Muichiro also hangs out at the Rengoku estate, because everybody loves Rengoku, and it's still hard for him to go out much on the days when his old injuries bother him. Again, being closer in age, Muichiro winds up forming more of a friendship with Senjuro, who happens to be Kotetsu's penpal via Tanjiro's introduction. Genya also knows Kotetsu but doesn't really hang out with him until Kotetsu is a little older, and eventually the four of them are a squad. Tanjiro is sort of an honorary member of this unofficial squad, but Muichiro and Kotetsu find themselves bullying Zenitsu and Inosuke a bit.

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project: A New Beginning (X-Men #1-3)

The true beginning of Rogue and Gambit's story really comes with the new and somewhat iconic era of X-Men. X-Men: The Animated Series drew its inspiration from the relaunch designs, and for someone who grew up with this era, it feels nostalgic as well as historic. Rogue looks and sounds like the character I grew up with. Gambit being crucial to the line up and no longer an afterthought feels pivotal. I feel like we've finally arrived.

And while I know this era isn't void of problems -- believe me, I know... I kind of enjoy this early Rogue and Gambit dynamic. It's fun and flirty and has a little bit of an edge to it. And the angst. So. Much. Delicious. Angst.

The funny part is... there really isn't a whole lot of it in these first few issues. Things don't really heat up until issue #4. Not only that, I'm gonna have to bring up Rogneto again... I'm so sorry, guys. Blame Chris Claremont.

Alright, let's dig in...

X-Men #1

Rogue in her now iconic new uniform -- this is going to be a standard for quite awhile. Get ready to see this pose a lot - Jim Lee, and artists after him, really like to do the whole one leg up, one fist out thing. Anyway, despite the fact that I (shockingly) don't like that much yellow on her - she's so pretty. I've always loved this era's hair.

Anyway, you want plot details you say?? This is Chris Claremont's last hurrah on his initial, epic 17 year run with the X-Men. And of course you can expect two things -- space shenanigans and coming full circle with Magneto as the villain. The crux of it is about Magneto possibly being a threat, despite the fact that he wants to be left alone, and of course, the X-Men get sucked into the drama.

X-Men #1

Gambit's redesign - which uses his initial costuming but man does he look so much better. He looks 'cool' in the way that all the X-Men look cool in this era. The dude can pull off the color fuchsia. That isn't easy to do. I do like, however, in color theory that the pinks and purples of Gambit goes well with the greens of Rogue's coloring. But more to the point - Gambit is pretty now, which is what we're all really here for. ;)

Anyway - because this is a relaunch, after our initial Magneto based prologue, we get a (re-)introduction to the entire team in one of my absolute favorite sequences of X-Men comics. The teams will eventually be divided into two groups; the Blue Team -- Cyclops, Beast, Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Psylocke, and Jubilee and the Gold Team -- Storm, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, Forge, and Colossus, but for now, they're one happy family doing a classic danger room sequence as designed by Charles Xavier.

X-Men #1

The whole sequence is really pretty awesome, but it leads to one of my favorite comic book moments -- where Gambit just goes for it and kisses Jean. It's a fake, robot Jean, but it's a bold move. And leads to Cyclops wanting to drop a truck on him. It's such a classic moment and I love it.

X-Men #1

Our first Rogue and Gambit panel happens right after Wolverine wins the whole training sequence (because of course he does). (Also - Claremont can't quite resist and we get a final 'bang, you dead' moment.) Meanwhile, Rogue and Gambit still haven't spoken to each other - but at least they know the other one exists. Progress, right?

X-Men #1

I really need to take a moment and appreciate the fact that most of the time during this era, when Gambit isn't in his uniform, he's running around half naked.

X-Men #1

Ug, alright, let's talk about Magneto again. This whole arc is about Magneto kind of having an existential crisis (which, you know, happens when they need to reset you to villain again). And, unfortunately, we'll get a few of these moments scattered throughout these issues of Rogue trying to talk sense and reason into him due to their 'spark' in the Savage Land. I get that someone should be a reasonable voice -- especially when the rest of the X-Men are attacking the guy before any kind of provocation. But I'm still rolling my eyes that it's Rogue. Notice he calls her 'child' during this? He'll do that throughout. Eesh.

Magneto claims that he has no beef with them and offers them all safe haven on his floating asteroid base -- Asteroid M. And guess who doesn't join him? That's right - Rogue at least has enough sense to stick with the family she knows and cares about over a possible, not really fling. Btw - I hadn't mentioned it back when I was talking about the Savage Land, but there was nothing to suggest Magneto can actually touch her. (I think that might be an Age of Apocalypse thing?)

Also, in case you think any of this sounds familiar - pretty sure X-Men '97 drew heavily from this arc for their Season 1.

X-Men #1

The first time either of them mentions the other one, and it's Gambit being sassy about whether or not Rogue should be a considered a lady. I kind of love it, actually. And love that Beast is like -- oooh, you're playing with fire on that one.

X-Men #2

They're getting more on panel togetherness! Granted it's group shots and they're taking down Magneto, but I'm taking all the scraps!

X-Men #2

Alright, well as much as I'm not a fan of the Rogue/Magneto dynamic, I'm still going to be fair and talk about it. Because it is part of Rogue's development. The key thing here though is that Rogue isn't going to compromise her values and beliefs because she may feel something for Magneto. And this will continue to ring through always through the comics. Of course, how nice of Magneto to swat her away like an annoying fly. Romance for the ages, guys.

X-Men #2

More on panel time! They're really going for all the group shots these days - probably to milk sales. But I mean, Rogue and Gambit look good just standing next to each other, so who am I to complain?

So, back to the plot... Magneto is getting pissy because the world governments are seeing him as a threat. He kidnaps Moira MacTaggart and berates her and blames her for all of his issues (because, you know, she messed with his genetics after he was de-aged, in an attempt to make him /not/ a villain). It was... a whole thing don't worry about it.

Anyway, he has Moira (somehow) brainwash the Blue Team into joining Magneto's side. Because they can't otherwise be convinced. Which, oh my gosh - what's with all the brainwashing lately?? Of course, this means it's Gold Team to the rescue...

X-Men #3

I'm going to try to document every time they're on the same cover. Also, it isn't X-Men unless there's at least an X vs X brawl every other month.

X-Men #3

Another group shot with Magneto in between them?? What can this mean??? Actually, nothing, I think it's just a coincidence. But - I really like the art here.

But.. you guys! YOU GUYS! We get our first real Romy moment in this issue! Granted - they're still brainwashed! But it's another first! Here we go...

X-Men #3

So, they're all hanging out on Asteroid M, taking it easy because - apparently that's what you do when you're a brainwashed Magneto fan. I love that Cyclops is still in his full uniform while Gambit has managed to strip down to his undies. I'm sure we can all tell who is the real fun one of the group.

You know what I like about this exchange, though? Gambit was casually complementing her diving skills and Rogue is the one who decides to get flirty about it. Of course, Gambit's going to push it further - see how far she wants to really go, and that'll cause her to run -- a dynamic that we're going to see a ton of as we go through all of this early stuff.

But for all that Gambit's going to push - it's not completely unwarranted or completely out of nowhere. Yeah, he gets flirty with the ladies on principal. Yeah, he went for kissing (fake robot) Jean unprompted because he thought he could. I won't defend some of the ickier aspects of these comics.

But... I'm fascinated by the idea of - what if she could touch? Would it still be a game to him? Would she have let it continue? Would they just have had a little fling right off the bat? Are her powers what really pushes them to have a deeper relationship than what they might have had? Just all the thoughts I'm throwing out there.

I also like that, that little moment of humor, where she knocks him into the pool, is so genuine it shakes her out of her mind control.

I also like that Gambit's genuine concern for her stops his playfulness.

It's such a tease of some great stuff coming up, and I am here for it.

X-Men #3

And that's really all we get guys. The Gold Team shows up to save the day but not before some X-Men fighting amongst each other. Magneto monologues for a while. Charles tries to get him to see reason. The people of Earth try to nuke Asteroid M and everyone gets outta there while Magneto decides to go down with the proverbial ship.

X-Men #3

This is in the closing moments of the issue - and I'm putting it here because it is Rogue talking about Magneto again -- but kind of seeing reason and how their ideologies do not work. She's trying to get Xavier to see this, and it's funny that Xavier is having a very hard time trying to let his old 'friend' go. Rogue, however, is fine. Maybe there had been a small, romantic spark of being caught up in close quarters in a shared moment. But that was all it was.

There is more to a longer lasting romance than fleeting moments due to circumstances. ;)

The X-Men take off leaving Magneto and his real followers to their fates. Of course... we know that it's never the real end of Magneto. Asteroid M may blow up, but he'll be fine.

However, I'll take a moment say that it's a poetic ending. Chris Claremont closes it out with a sort of goodbye. His tenure on X-Men is now complete, and we've fully stepped into a bright, new era!

X-Men #4 is gonna bring it. Let's do it! ;)

[hiraunia]

With the final chapter of TCWKTM by @crinklytinfoil upcoming I have decided to celebrate with more doodles. YAY!

(Did I say upcoming, I meant release. Apperently I posted this 3 minutes after the last chapter updated)

I don't know why I have decided that Shrike always wears those night vision goggles(?) now but they look cool at least(GOD I LOVE THEM).

I think I've finally gotten a hang of Dani's hairstyle for my design which is a blessing because in order from the easiest to hardest hair texture to draw is Coily>Straight>Locs>Wavy>Braids>Curly with a jump of times 4 from braids to curly(My hubris for giving Cyan short curly hair has and will continue to keep biting me in the ass).

Speaking of Cyan, I've also updated him. He always has eye bags now cause he feels tired now, more so than the start of the fic at least. Since, unless I've missed something, he's still wearing Black's suit I felt I should make it a part of his outfit. One of the issues I was having when I drew him though was that we still call him Cyan but he wasn't wearing cyan anymore which is an issue when I read the story but when I drew him it just felt odd. My solution to that hangup of mine was to keep the suit and belt black’s but give him the gloves and boots so there's at least some cyan still on him since I don't think it was ever stated that Johnny cut those off, there wouldn't be a reason to and they would fit him better than Johnny's anyways. He also isn’t wearing his backpack thing or helmet(not that I ever drew anyone with theirs anyways) since I figured they probably lost it or some shit. In this pic no one is wearing theirs but that’s just because I wanted them to look like they were chilling, Cyan straight up doesn’t have his.

Funnily enough this is the one that took the least amount of time to make, I started it yesterday and finished it like now though I do attribute that to a stroke of sudden inspiration that I was able to draw in my sketchbook so honestly most of the work was the coloring.

Drawing these guys just kinda being silly is so fun it's unfair, especially Purple. This man has done so much bullshit, I should shoot him on sight but the moment I pick up my pen he appears, the motherfucker! A pretty fun aspect of these purple are, as you can see, he's using Grey's skin. While I'm pretty sure in the story he looks the exact same I figured it would be more fun for drawing purposes to mix the two of them together to create some distinction rather than just drawing Grey with a purple suit.

My design for Grey had him as average height but more stout(at least comparatively for my artstyle) while Purple was a little more scrawny and tall which worked well for what I wanted to do. His bangs are center parted when Grey's bangs are gathered in the center. Also I drew their expressions differently, when it's Purple I draw his more bitter/sour, I decided that most of his expressions are squinty and tend to furrow the brows while Grey's are more, I'm not sure how to put it, genuine?

As you can probably tell I really enjoy trying to come up with the character's designs myself but I know when to throw in the towel and admit someone did better than me. I tried to come up with a design for Olive/Finch myself but I just could not come up with one I liked even equally let alone more than @krysmcscience 's design. They really captured their energy well so I’m just using theirs.

Ayy, I drew my take on good old Johnny boy. I think I did a pretty good job making him look older without him becoming a mass of wrinkles.

Drawing Flayer's ship was pretty fun, I've been trying to draw backgrounds and objects more so it was good practice. We obviously don't know what it actually looks like yet other than it is made of flesh and metal so I definitely had to just make shit up. For these bitches sake I hope it's bigger than what I designed because it is going to suck otherwise. Just as I'm typing this I kinda already wanna redesign it though.

I went for something more simple based of the premise that ships are complicated and difficult to make; the whole thing is kinda supposed to look like the flesh is doing a lot of the work to keep it together to compensate for a lack of technical knowledge and skill but just now I remembered that Flayer was the head of the mechanics so she almost certainly has more than enough knowledge and experience to make a good ship on her own even without the flesh. Oh well, I can redesign it when we learn more. I'm keeping its face though, the face was a completely but incredibly happy accident.

Also, I find it interesting that the Imposter’s missions are usually about them destroying biomechanical technology but one of Flayer's named imposter abilities is to use her genetic material to create machinery that fuses artificial and organic material.

Bounus Doodles!

I'm pretty sure these were all drawn sometime before the new year but they were all I had and I didn't want to post one image of doodles so enjoy them now.

While I am still proud of Brown and Devon making out I think my favorite doodle here is Cyan and his judgmental ass face. Why is he staring at Finch like, he is not in any position to but judging like that.

I also borrowed Kry's designs for Red and Umber, I couldn't help myself for Umber, it was just too perfect!

Not sure how I feel about my take on Skeld!White(Finnegan I CANT-). I'm not sure if it's just I'm so used to seeing Kry's design that anything else feels weird or just that I made him too baby faced and princessy. I tend to draw men that are very pretty and feminine so I think I went overboard when I tried my hand since he was usually described similar to how I would normally design a man.

[hunterxreaderoneshots]

Can you do a hunter x nonbinary reader comforting each other with everything going on?

HELL YEAH

We Have Each Other - Hunter x Nonbinary!/GN! Reader

T/W: It's angsty. There is crying and feelings of insecurity.

FOR THE FUTURE SPOILERS!!!!

(Y/N) walked through the portal. They felt as if they could breathe again; they were finally back home. They looked around the terrain they had stepped foot on. There was a small clearing in front of them. They looked back and saw that the portal seemed to be some sort of a gate. Hunter, Amity, Gus, and Willow had all made it through already and stood in the clearing. Camila soon came after (Y/N). 

“Oh, Luz was right behind me-” She said, turning back around and looking at the portal, ”Did she get lost? How do these… portals, work?” She asked, looking into the ever-changing portal. 

“These portals open up a gateway to other realms…” Hunter spoke, coming forwards. “This one was much more stable than the one we used to get into the human realm…” His now brown pupils stared into the portal. Wait… brown?? (Y/N) froze in their thoughts for a moment. Hunter’s eyes had always been a deep magenta, how had they become brown? Their thoughts broke as Hunter spoke again, “It doesn’t make sense; she should have come out by now.” 

Camila stared uneasily into the portal. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait then…” The group stood around impatiently. (Y/N) looked over to Hunter as everyone stood in silence. He was visibly uneasy; they didn’t know if anyone wasn’t uneasy. How could they possibly comfort him after such a tragic loss? (Y/N) sighed and looked away sadly, poor Hunter,,,

After a long wait, Amity finally stepped towards the portal and reached in. Everyone watched anxiously for a sign of Luz. Suddenly, Amity perked up, “Hold on! I think I’ve got her!” She reached in her other arm, then pulled back, revealing Luz’s feet as he tugged her out. Luz then rumbled out of the portal and landed harshly on the ground. (Y/N) sighed with relief seeing Luz had finally made it out.

“Luz!” Amity exclaimed, looking down at her, “You were in there for so long, we thought you got stuck behind!” Amity began to inspect Luz and lifted her chin, “Are you hurt anywhere?” She asked.

Luz smiled at Amity and drew her hand away from her face, “I’m- I’m fine.” She croaked weakly. She stared in thought for a moment, “I saw something- or someone- but, it was probably just in my head…” She muttered. Luz stood up and looked around. “Any sign of… him?” She asked uncomfortably.

“Oh, come on!” Hunter muttered angrily, “It’s not like a swarm of ghosts will inexplicably appear if you say his name!” he exclaimed, then paused for a moment as he raised his hand to his face. He placed his hand over his chin, and remained silent for a moment “... I think…” (Y/N) smiled. After he had been on edge for a while, Luz was now the one on edge. 

“I think a swarm of ghosts would be the least scary threat right now,” (Y/N) said to Hunter, and he looked up to meet their eyes.

He thought for a moment and sighed, “Yeah, I think you’re right.” He looked away, “Anyway, if Belos was here, he’s long gone now,” Hunter muttered again.

Camila lifted her red baseball bat into her hands threateningly. “Well, he better stay out of our way. This mama’s HUNGRY for vengeance!” She exclaimed, glaring into the clearing.

Gus smiled, “Now that is a fight I’d watch!”  

(Y/N) laughed, “Count me in!”

The group began walking through the clearing and (Y/N) kept their eyes on Hunter. He had stayed apart from the rest and simply looked around cautiously. (Y/N) became distracted as they took in their surroundings and looked around. They couldn’t help but feel that they had taken all of the beautiful landscape for granted. 

Suddenly, (Y/N)’s thoughts were broken by the clicking and chirping of a bird. They jumped, scared and confused by the familiar sound. As they located it, they realized it was red. The bird flew away suddenly and disappeared from sight.

Hunter grunted in frustration as he pulled at his hair, “We don’t have time for red grass or… illusions!” He shouted impatiently. He began to march forward angrily, “Belos had a head start- so we should keep MOVING until we find him!” 

(Y/N) sighed sadly and watched as he left. They couldn’t help but feel he was pushing away his pain for Flapjack. He didn’t even pause for a minute he saw the bird. They watched him worriedly and finally kept moving forward. Their thoughts began to trail to the discomfort of the group as a whole. (Y/N) looked up at them for a moment, their familiar yet worried faces stirring a discomfort in their soul.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The group had come to the Owl House only to find it in an abandoned state. There was graffiti and colorful markings covering the walls, but the house was empty, and the windows were broken. Everyone had looked around for a sign of anyone, but there was nothing.

(Y/N) decided to come outside and keep an eye on what was going on. They sat outside the house and looked around, watching Hunter pace anxiously. (Y/N) frowned again and began playing with their hands nervously, unsure of what to do. They had wanted to talk to them, but they hesitated each time they had a chance. 

Suddenly, Hunter snapped around, “Stop!”  (Y/N) jolted back as Hunter demanded angrily, waving his arm at Gus and Willow’s palismen. “STOP FOLLOWING ME!” He bellowed furiously at the small creatures. Hunter ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and motioned with his other hand. “Belos could be anywhere by now and we’re just… SITTING HERE!” 

There was a sudden rustling in the foliage and (Y/N)’s ears perked. Hunter jumped in fright and put his hands in position to summon his staff. He tensed for a moment and (Y/N)’s own heart sank in pain: Flapjack was gone, yet he still had the habit of relying on him. Hunter’s shoulders tensed, and he shook his head wildly as if he could remove his thoughts by doing so. He grunted in frustration and stomped away. (Y/N) sighed again and watched as he paced on. (Y/N) rested their head on their knees and continued watching him.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅…

The group had found Hexside or… whatever it had become. As they were welcomed into the school, they saw what remained of it. The school seemed to have descended into anarchy as several different students had gone off and branched into smaller, equally chaotic groups.

They had met the new leader of the remains of Hexside…Boscha. No one had been thrilled to meet her or her new… assistant. As (Y/N) examined the two, they couldn’t help but sense that something seemed familiar about the small… gremlin. 

After Boscha refused to assist them, they followed Mattholomule, or rather Captain Tholomule, around. Apparently, his last name had been Tholomule the entire time. (Y/N) followed the others around mindlessly, trying to process everything going on.

(Y/N) could feel the tension within the group. Everyone was holding back something, somehow. Everything had happened so quickly yet they pushed through at such a rigorous pace. (Y/N) sighed, hugging themselves as they moved. They couldn’t help but feel that their friends were starting to crack apart: why else would they be in the state they were in? At least Luz has her mom, they thought sadly, wishing everyone could be comforted. 

As they approached Mattholomule’s secret room, (Y/N) looked over at Hunter. He seemed uneasy but stayed quiet, he kept his head low as they all followed Mattholume. 

Gus looked over a corner and ducked as some younger witches sprinted past chaotically. After they disappeared, he pulled back and looked at the group. “Okay,” He said, giving Mattholomule a thumbs up, “Coast is clear.” 

Mattholomule smiled confidently and turned to the wall. He drew a wide circle around it, and then placed both hands over it to complete the spell. Suddenly, it opened up to reveal a secret door with a sign saying KEEP OUT! in red. 

Mattholume led the group around the room, “This is where me and Jerbo have been trying to come up with plans to make Hexside more livable,” He explained. (Y/N) looked around the room in amazement. It was covered with plans and posters everywhere. Despite the awfully big mess, all the papers, posters, and sketches were very well organized.

The group chattered in amazement and uttered new plans, (Y/N) focused their attention on Hunter. He sat had sat in a corner on some wooden crates. They sighed again uneasily, wishing they could comfort him. Just seeing how tense he was hurt (Y/N). They chose to come up with their own plan and stayed near a chalkboard. They shifted uneasily over and over again, their gaze constantly moving from Hunter to the group, and back to Hunter. Everyone needed comfort and reassurance, but they couldn’t help but feel that Hunter needed it most.

Suddenly, they heard the group begin to talk excitedly. As they watched, they quickly realized that Luz had retrieved her memory of the glyph Belos had once used. The excitement stirred a feeling of hope within (Y/N); maybe their friends would be all right after all.

“Finally, we can get moving again,” Hunter muttered, rising and approaching the others. As he made his way towards them, Willow came up to him.

“Before we go,” She began cheerily, “Look what I found.” She handed Hunter a photograph. Hunter’s eyes widened and his expression softened for a moment. He stared intently at the picture: It was a photograph of him and Flapjack after they had won Flyer Derby.

Gus approached the two and stood next to Willow, “We’re all going to miss Flapjack, but we know he loved you most,” he said softly.

“And we just want to let you know,” Willow said, waving her hand dismissively, “We don’t care about who you’re supposed to be, ‘cause you’re one of us now. Never forget that.” Willow smiled at Hunter and watched him eagerly.

Hunter’s eyes began to water and he looked up at the two. (Y/N) felt their heart sink as they watched from afar. It was the same pain he had been carrying since the moment he knew Flapjack was gone. Hunter’s ears pulled back as he fought tears, and looked at the two sadly.

Everyone tensed for a moment. ‘Hunter, are you okay?” Luz asked, standing up. 

Hunter looked at the others, “I…” He looked back at the photo, and paused for a moment “...Don’t know…” He whispered softly.

(Y/N) felt unease take over them as the whole room shifted uncomfortably. Before they knew what was happening, Willow and Gus were out of the room, and Hunter was going after them. 

Oh no, not now… (Y/N) thought to themself. Their group hand finally started to tear. “Hunter!” They called out desperately, trying to catch up. Come back, please… please…

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“Oh, Flapjack,” Hunter whispered, “Everyone’s on edge and I don’t know what to say. I wish you were here…” Hunter curled into a small ball on the ground and hugged himself. (Y/N)’s heart sank again as they watched from the rubble. They sighed, not knowing if they could comfort him. How could they comfort him? Flapjack had been his everything: his palisman, his source of magic, his first friend, his best friend. Flapjack was the mark of Hunter’s turning point, his reason to defy Belos, his reason for everything. Now he was… gone. (Y/N) finally moved forward and caught up to Hunter. As they approached, they noticed there were little vines growing around him.

“Hunter?” (Y/N) called out gently, “He snapped up to look at them. An embarrassed blush ran ablaze across his face. 

“(Y)-(Y/N)!” He exclaimed, surprised and somewhat embarrassed, “I didn’t realize you were here.” He shifted around awkwardly. Hunter looked away from (Y/N), attempting to hide the few tears pricking his eyes. 

“Yeah I- I kinda got lost in some of the rubble…” They said, looking back at the direction they came from. (Y/N) sighed again, “Hunter?” They called his name gently, but he refused to meet their eyes. They sighed, kneeling next to him and finally speaking, hoping they could comfort him. “You’ve been holding back on grieving. I… I know you’re in a lot of pain…”

He tensed, looking at (Y/N) for a split second. Hunter looked away hastily, “I… I know…” He murmured as he hid his face in his arms. He trembled slightly and (Y/N) sat down next to him.

“You know it’s okay to feel like this, right?” They spoke softly to him and he looked up, surprised.

He looked away for a moment and thought, “What do you mean by ‘okay’?” He asked them softly. He thought for a moment, “This feels… horrible…” his voice broke slightly as he spoke, and  (Y/N) wrapped their arm around Hunter gently.

“I mean that it’s okay to have these feelings. I know it’s not a good feeling, and I know it hurts. But sometimes…” They leaned Hunter onto them slowly, “sometimes… we need to hurt to heal.” 

Hunter began sniffling. He trembled, then dug his face hastily into (Y/N), and began to cry. (Y/N) rubbed his back soothingly, hoping their touch would comfort him.

“I-I know…” He finally murmured, tears streaming down his face and onto (Y/N). “I-… I just miss him…” Hunter was barely able to choke out his words. (Y/N) felt him tense again in their arms, “I just miss him so much!” He shook fervently, gasps and heartbroken whimpers escaping his lips. “I wasn’t even with him for long…” He turned his face to look up at (Y/N). His eyes were red and full of tears and pain, he bit his lip trying to control his crying. His brows furrowed upward, almost as if he were pleading for them to take away his pain.

(Y/N) smiled gently at Hunter, “I don’t think any of us get enough time with those we love…”  They soothed. Hunter’s eyes widened for a moment in thought, and he began to blush. 

He hid his face in (Y/N)’s lap again, “Yeah… You’re right.” He started to control his breathing and (Y/N) recognized it: It was Gus’s calm-down method! (Y/N) smiled softly as they ran their fingers through his hair, and Hunter melted into their gentle touch.

“Have you ever felt safe to feel like this?” Hunter curled up tightly for a moment as he thought, remembering every tragic and traumatic moment he had lived.

“No…” He said coldly, “I wasn’t ever safe to show any weakness in the castle or in the Emperor’s Coven.” He continued breathing.

“Oh, Hunter, this isn’t a weakness.” They soothed gently, and Hunter began crying softly again. 

“I-I know…” He whispered gently, “I just never felt safe- except around Flapjack-” His voice broke and he cried in (Y/N)’s lap. “I’ve only ever felt safe around Flapjack and you…” He froze for a moment, “Youuuu guuuuys…?” He looked away, embarrassed, but it was no use. He couldn’t hide from (Y/N), especially when his pointed ears were burning bright red.

(Y/N) smiled to themself as they continued caressing him. He had been so comforted by (Y/N)’s touch that he hadn’t realized it was (Y/N)’s touch. 

Hunter curled up for a moment shyly, but finally accepted where he was. “Thank you, (Y/N)...” He thought for a moment, unsure of whether it was a good moment. “I’m… I’m sorry for… how I’ve treated you and the others while we’ve been here.” He rested his head on (Y/N), “I just… I’m scared of losing someone else I…” He hesitated, “I love…” He murmured softly.

“Hey,” (Y/N) replied softly, “No matter what happens, you’ll always have me, Hunter. I promise.” 

Hunter laughed lightly, and hid into (Y/N), “Thank you…”

He continued breathing, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. He nuzzled (Y/N)’s side nervously again as a thought crossed his mind. “Umm, (Y/N)?” He asked gently. The young male nervously waited for a response, debating on what to say to them next.

“Yeah?” They replied softly, fingers tangled in his hair as they comforted him. 

Hunter turned to look up at them, “You know you’ll always have me too, right?” Hunter asked sympathetically, looking into (Y/N)’s (e/c) eyes. Their breath hitched and they froze for a moment. His words panged their heart and they looked away impulsively, hastily.

(Y/N) felt a sudden knot in their throat and tensed further, attempting to control themselves. They had been so focused on Hunter they hadn’t even dared to take in how they felt. His words caused a flurry of feelings as they accepted everything. They had been so worried about their group falling apart, about Hunter grieving, they hadn’t let themselves feel anything. They had become numb to protect the others, and they had been alone.

“I-...” Hunter sighed, “I noticed how uneasy you’ve been,” he said, speaking gently. “I didn’t know what to do- I don’t know what to do-” he confessed, rising up and kneeling with them. Hunter set his hands on his knees and stared at the ground. 

(Y/N) was staring in the opposite direction, feeling tears well up in their eyes. They had tried so desperately to find a way to hold their group together, they had neglected themselves. They swallowed with difficulty and tried controlling their own breath. The more effort they used, the more control they lost over themself.

“(Y/N)!” Hunter exclaimed as he noticed their tears, feeling his own tears return to his eyes. They cried numbly, completely overwhelmed. They couldn’t feel anything except the moisture of the tears and the tingling in their stiff fingers. Hunter fidgeted frantically, “(Y/N)! P-please don’t cry!” He pleaded desperately, “(Y/N) it’s okay! I-I’m here!” He cried, his shoulders slumping in agony as he watched their tears stream out, feeling his burn against his cheek. 

Hunter reached for them and embraced (Y/N) tightly, pulling them close to him. “(Y-Y/N), please don’t cry…” He begged again, “It’s okay, you have me. I’m… I’m here for you- I’ll always be here for you,” he tried to reassure them. Suddenly, he felt (Y/N)’s arms wrap around him, and he squeezed them in return. They gripped him tightly, their fingers digging into him, as everything they welled up came flooding out. Hunter began to cry again, and in moments the two were sobbing together.

“I-” (Y/N) choked on their words and fought for their breath, unable to speak. “I-I was t-tryig to comfort y-you b-but,” They laughed half-heartedly, “I guess I needed it too…” (Y/N) laughed again between their tears and whimpers. 

Hunter smiled, “I’m starting to think we all needed some reassurance,” He chuckled between his gasps for air. “But…” He started, digging his face into (Y/N)’s neck, “I needed this. Thank you, (Y/N)”

(Y/N) pulled away from Hunter, “Of course, anything for you.” 

Hunter’s ears pulled back in surprise, and a rosy blush grew across his face. He smiled shyly at (Y/N), and he opened his mouth to speak again. “(Y/N), I-”

“AAAH!” The scream echoed through the tunnel, and the two snapped toward its direction. 

“Gus!” They shouted in unison. 

“C’mon!” (Y/N) exclaimed as they rose up, giving Hunter their hand. He took it and rose up quickly. The two witches ran down the tunnel desperately, hoping their friend was all right.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Everyone watched with amazement as String Bean levitate around the others. The other palisman gathered around her and ran to Camila. Hunter smiled from afar, wishing Flapjack could have met her. 

He suddenly felt a light tug on his pinky, and to his right to meet (Y/N)’s eyes. “Huh?” He asked in confusion.

(Y/N) smiled, “Hey, how are you feeling?” They asked softly. 

Hunter began to feel his heartbeat pick up its pace, “I’m feeling better, I just…” His view shifted to the palismen. “I wish Flap could have met her.” He smiled sadly, “I still miss him…” He murmured softly.

(Y/N) took his whole hand in theirs and squeezed it tightly, “Hunter, there’s no rush in grieving. You’ll always miss him- and so will I,” They explained to him. “It’ll hurt less, but we’ll always miss our loved ones.”

His heart skipped a beat, and he turned away shyly. “(Y/N)? Remember what I said? About always being there when you need me?” They nodded and hummed an ‘mhm’. He exhaled nervously. “(Y-Y/N), I-...I really meant it!” He sputtered out quickly. His face began to turn red and a dark blush burned the tip of his ears. “I-I didn’t just say it to make you feel better or- or because it w-was the r-right thing to s-say!” He trembled nervously and stuttered, almost unable to catch his breath.

“What do you mean?” (Y/N) asked gently. Hunter began to feel his heart throbbing in his ears.

Hunter looked into (Y/N)’s eyes. “I mean that I… I want to be with you. I want to be by your side, always!” His grip tightened on their hand and (Y/N) began to blush, feeling their heart race. “(Y/N) I really want to be with you… Maybe… maybe we could give it a try? Once this is all over?” His heart beat so viscously he didn’t know if it would stay in his chest.

(Y/N) looked away shyly and thought for a moment. Hunter held his breath anxiously. They turned back to face him, a bashful smile on their face. “Hunter I would love to. And… I also meant that you’d always have me. It’d… it’d be nice to be with you, always.” Hunter could barely breathe or think straight, or at all. He looked down and saw their intertwined hands.

“R-really?!” He asked in disbelief, and (Y/N) nodded happily. 

“Of course! I’d love to be with you.” 

Hunter bit his lip shyly, “Like… Like Luz and Amity?” He felt his blush darken and burn down to his neck.

(Y/N) laughed lightly and smiled, their own blush burning brightly. “Yeah,” they replied, “Like Luz and Amity.” 

Hunter smiled shyly, “Cool…” He murmured, and (Y/N) smiled. 

(Y/N) leaned to Hunter, closing their eyes, and pecked his cheek lightly. Hunter looked away shyly but smiled to himself. As (Y/N) pulled back, they saw the small tears of joy in Hunter’s eyes and the bashful smile. They smiled at each other shyly, and (Y/N) cupped Hunter’s cheek, bringing his forehead to theirs. 

“Whatever we go through, we’ll go through it together. I promise.” (Y/N) whispered softly to him. Hunter smiled, finally feeling the security and love he always longed for. The two stood together, enjoying their peaceful moment from within the skull, under the stars.

A/N: My grades were coming out this week so I wasn't able to post last week. I hope you like it! I loved the idea and write as much as I could lol. Thank you so much for requesting!

Un-edited I'm dying right now

-Deathlight

[stars-and-inkpots]

Could I request a Zevlor x reader angst? Where the reader or he gets hurt, With comfort and fluff??

This took me so long to figure out how I wanted to go about this, and then I opened up the word doc today and suddenly I ended up with 2k words. Thank you very much for this request because I really loved writing it!! I love Zevlor a lot, he needs more love and I'm happy to help provide more content for him <3 I hope you enjoy!

Time | Zevlor x Reader

There isn't enough time to really understand what you've found together, but you have right now. You may not have much time, and there may always be the threat of losing even more of it, but you'll make most of what you do have. Together.

Pairing: Zevlor/Reader

Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, canon-typical violence, blood and injury, love confessions, first kiss

Ao3 Link: Time

The decision to help the tieflings in the grove was an easy one. It doesn't matter to you that it’s dangerous beyond measure, they need help, and you can’t just abandon them. You need to find Halsin for a chance of getting this tadpole out of your head anyway, so it really is in your best interest to help them. Zevlor, the admittedly attractive appointed leader of the tieflings, was also, perhaps, a deciding factor as well. 

You remember the first night when you got to the grove. 

It had been dark, the sun having set a few hours ago. You heard the commotion up ahead and rushed to help, your companions close behind. You were quick to help deal with them, but one of the goblins’ blades managed to find its mark, slicing across your arm. You remember looking up and seeing Zevlor fighting, all strength and practised grace. He was quite a sight. 

Once the goblins were dealt with and you were inside the gate, Zevlor was with you immediately, thanking you for helping, telling you his name and asking for yours. He offered all of you shelter for the night, promising that you could talk more in the morning. When he caught sight of your arm, he quickly ushered you down to his quarters to help you. 

His hands are gentle when he holds your arm and carefully cuts the fabric of your sleeve from your robes. You sit on the stool in front of him, watching while he picks up the cloth from the table and begins cleaning the wound. Neither of you say anything, you simply watch him. He’s so focused on your arm that it gives you time to look at him. 

You would be lying if you said he wasn’t attractive. He has a sharp jaw, and striking eyes. Tired eyes, you also note. Eyes that have seen so much. His hair is pushed back, and flecked with several grey hairs that may be from either age or stress, or maybe even both. 

Once the gash in your arm is clean, he places his hand over it, barely touching your arm. There's a faint glow, and then a comforting warmth that spreads across your skin. His magic flows through you, the wound steadily closing up, the pain fading away with the glow. 

“There,” he says, and looks up at you finally. You realise you hadn’t stopped staring at him, and you watch his cheeks flush slightly. “How do you feel?” Despite all the confidence he seemed to hold in the fight earlier, he seems almost nervous now. 

“Better,” you say. “Thank you.” 

“It is the least I can do.” 

Both of you realise that he has yet to let go of your arm. 

“You should get some rest,” he says quickly, letting you go and standing up. We’ll talk more in the morning. Thank you for helping us out there tonight.” 

He leads you back to your companions before saying a final goodnight and leaving once more. 

That morning, you had made your decision to help the tieflings. Zevlor was so ready to help you despite not knowing you at all. You wanted to help him too. 

In the days leading up to when you found the camp and began your plan, you and Zevlor had only grown closer. He was easy to talk to, and there was something about him that drew you in. He was passionate about so much, and he cared about everyone so deeply; it was admirable. You found yourself thinking of him more often than you would like to admit. You cared for him more than you thought you should, given how little time it had been since you met him. And yet, you couldn’t seem to stop yourself from wanting to protect him. He was always trying to protect the people around him, and you were determined to be there to protect him too. 

---

Getting into the camp wasn’t easy. You tried to be smart about it. You made your way through the camp slowly. You had Astarion poison the pot of beer, which took care of most of the goblins outside. Inside, it was a matter of quietly dealing with the groups of goblins before they could call reinforcements. Once you found Halsin downstairs, it was a little easier. 

By the time you’ve fully cleared the inside of the camp, you’re exhausted. But it’s not over yet, because you know there are still more outside waiting for you. You take a few extra moments to rest as much as you can before you open the doors. 

---

The trek back to the grove is painful. Everyone is bloody and bruised, but all of them cast nervous glances at you. You had put yourself at the front of the fight because you wanted to protect the others, and it shows now in the way you limp and stumble occasionally. You can bear it, you tell yourself. You are strong. You can bear this. 

Until you can’t. 

Your vision blurs, darkness quickly swallowing the world as you fall forward. Thankfully, Karlach and Halsin are fast enough to stop you from hitting the ground. You can only faintly hear a collection of urgent yells mixed with a few curses. You think you hear someone calling for Shadowheart, and then her voice responds, full of panic and despair. She had already used so much of her magic in the goblin camp, there is nothing more she can give. Distantly, you recognize you’re moving again, but you’re being held in someone’s arms. You try valiantly to stay awake, but it’s a losing battle. The pain is only spreading, and you can feel the hand of sleep clawing at you, dragging you down. You fight it off for as long as you can, but it’s too much. You let sleep claim you. 

---

When Zevlor hears the party return, he anticipates celebration. He expects there to be cheers as they bring news of the goblin’s defeat. Instead, he hears the frantic shouts for a healer. He’s moving before he even realises it. 

Getting to the gate, he sees everyone covered in blood, and a lot of it is their own. Then he sees you, unmoving, in Halsin’s arms. His own heart pounds in his ears and drowns out anything anyone tries to say to him. 

He knows he’s saying something to Halsin, but he isn’t quite aware of it. He’s moving and speaking on instinct. Halsin sets you down, and Zevlor puts his shaking hands over your chest. The magic he has is enough to pull you from the edge of death, but you’ll need more than this. He says something to Halsin, who nods and follows when Zevlor rushes back to his quarters. 

Halsin sets you down gently on one of the bedrolls on the ground. Despite his own injuries, he’s beside Zevlor in an instant, helping put together the things they’ll need to clean and dress the wounds. 

It’s a marvel how Zevlor’s hands aren’t shaking more than they are. All he can think about is how he should have been there with you. He should have offered to come with you, but he stayed behind like a coward. 

Halsin’s hand rests on his shoulder, steady and calming. 

“They’ll be okay,” he assures. 

Zevlor nods. How the druid is able to read him so well he doesn’t know, although, he’s sure he’s not exactly subtle with his worries at the moment. 

In time, you're mostly clean of blood, and the worst of the wounds have been healed as much as they can for now. Tomorrow, when everyone is rested, your injuries can be healed with magic. But for now, you’re safe. 

“Get some rest, Zevlor. We have done all we can,” Halsin says as he stands to leave. 

“I will,” he lies. He can’t think of sleeping when you’re like this. 

Halsin leaves, and Zevlor is left alone with his thoughts while he watches over you. 

---

You awake with a groan, pain already blooming across your chest. You open your eyes, and are met with a strangely familiar, tall ceiling. 

“Stay still,” you hear Zevlor beside you. There's a gentle hand holding your arm. You look up at him. He looks anxious, you notice immediately, and you frown. He should be happy, shouldn’t he? The goblins are gone, he and the others can travel peacefully now. 

“Are you well enough to sit up? You should drink water.” He hasn’t looked at you yet, reaching instead for the waterskin on the table. 

“I can try,” you answer, voice rough. Gods, you think, how long have I been out? 

You try to lean forward, and wince as shocks of pain shoot through your sides. Zevlor puts a hand to your back and lets you lean your weight against him while he sits on the ground beside you. He holds the water skin to your lips, letting you drink as much as you’re able to. The water is surprisingly cold and fresh, and it's a welcome change from tepid springwater you’ve grown accustomed to over the past week. 

“Thank you,” you say after you’re done. “Sorry you’ve ended up taking care of me again.” You’re only half joking. There’s a part of you that genuinely feels bad for inconveniencing him for a second time. He looks even more upset at the notion. 

“You should not be the one apologising. I should be sorry that I was not there with you.” Zevlor sounds distraught. Your confusion only grows. “I should have been there to help,” he adds hopelessly. 

“Zevlor, I assure you, there would have been no difference had you been there; and I don’t mean that as a slight against your skill. It may have helped, yes, but you would have only gotten hurt as well.” There is silence between the two of you for a moment before you add, “and if you went with us,  then who would have been here to help me when we got back?” You smile. When you look up at him, he looks conflicted, but he sighs, and relents that your reasoning is sound. 

“You scared me,” he admits after a while. You realise his arm is now wrapped around you,  hand still resting on your back, comforting and steady. 

“I’m sorry,” you find yourself apologising again. 

In the silence, Zevlor takes your hand tenderly in his own. His fingers smooth across the bandages covering your knuckles. “I know we have not known each other long, and yet…” he trails off. His tired eyes hold something else now; a nervousness that seems impossible for times like these. A nervousness that holds an admission of emotions that feel almost out of place in the midst of the chaos you’ve grown used to. Shy is not the right word for him, you think. He is not young; he is not shy. He knows what this is. It is a hesitance that is born out of the fear of uncertainty. There can be no stability here. This, this uncertainty, isn’t what either of you deserve. You don’t have time. 

You turn over your hand under his, lacing your fingers together. You don’t have much time, but you’ll make the most of what you have. 

“I care about you too, Zevlor,” you answer him. You feel his tail snake around you and wrap around your hip, affectionate and protective. He wants to keep you safe just like you want to keep him safe. 

He looks down at you again, and in the next moment he’s kissing you. It’s a tentative kiss, careful and chaste, full of promise. All of your pain is forgotten for a moment. You brush your hand through his hair. 

“Rest. We have tomorrow,” Zevlor says some time after you part. He’s smiling, an expression he wears well. An expression you don’t want to see him without. 

“Will you stay?” You ask. 

“If you wish me to,” he answers. 

“Always.” 

[ben243s-transformation-stories]

A harmless prank

Ah, you’ve got to love our educational system. School was canceled because of a teachers strike. They claimed they were striking for better pay, or training or some other such nonsense that was supposed to make out lives as students better. Of course, most of the time actually being in school and learning would have been better than sitting around at home goofing off. But it’s all for the kids. Yeah right.

So anyway, I had nothing better to do with my day than hang out with my friends and get into mischief. Everyone should know it’s never a good idea to leave teenagers unattended for long periods, but my parents didn’t have the luxury of taking off every time the teachers decided to go out on strike

I had just spent the morning with my friends, and was feeling kind of amped up and was in the mood to see what kinds of things I could get away with.

The area of town I lived in was fairly quiet and rural. There weren’t really any good places to go, or even a mall to hang out in, so I found myself lying on my bed tossing a ball in the air while i tried to come up with some kind of plan.

I was never one to get into too much trouble, and generally stuck to the rules. Today, though, something must have been in the air because I was especially restless and ready to see how far I could push my luck.

I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I decided to have a little fun online and started searching for interesting websites. I scrolled for nearly half an hour before one finally caught my eye.

I’m not entirely sure what drew me to it, but I landed on my city’s government website. I had never really had cause to browse it before, and I was amazed by how many options it had, and the array of things that you could do totally online. Most would have taken the full day to do in person, but could be completed in minuets on the new site.

I couldn’t help but be amazed as I scrolled through the options. I stared to get a seed of an idea forming in my head. I should pick something and fill out the form and see what I could get to happen. At the very least I would waste some bureaucrats time, At best I could maybe cause some huge scene with the police or fire department. A grin spread across my face.

I browsed the site for a while longer, but nothing really met my requirements for my masterplan to cause havoc. Most of the options were fairly mundane and boring. Nothing worthy of my time. Except………

I clicked on the link for their new online pet registration page. Something felt right. This was the page I had been looking for. I decided to set my plan into action, Granted it wasn’t well thought out, but hey what do you expect from a bored 14 year old boy?

I brought up and read through the forms. Nothing too complicated just basic details. it looked straight forward enough. I started entering my real details in the fields, age, height, weight, etc. I even listing my parents as my owners, and uploaded my recent school photo. Under species I checked canine, and chose yellow lab for breed. I decided to list my name as the nickname my parents used for me “Sammy”.

I looked over the completed form and smiled. No way they would accept it, and at least it would waste some poor bureaucrats time reading and deleting it. Oh boy, I am such a reprobate now.

Satisfied that I had done something awesome, I clicked submit. A few seconds later I got an email confirmation that the form had been received. I waited a while to see if I would get some error notice, but nothing came. Oh well, maybe they have a lot of submissions to go through.

I gave up and decided to boot up my playstation and catch up on my games. Before I knew it it was time for dinner. After a good meal and little conversation with my parents I headed to my room to watch tv. Before I knew it, I was drifting off and decided to head to bed.

I forgot all about the form until about a week later. My mom had grabbed the mail and brought it into the dining room to read. I noticed the envelope for the one she was reading was from the city, but I didn’t think anything of it until she looked over at me.

“Samuel Benjamin Waldorf?!?!?! What have you done?” She asked me. You know you’re in trouble when they use your full name. I gave her a quizzical look, not exactly sure what she was talking about.

She turned to my father and started to read the letter out loud. “Thank you for submitting your registration for your dog “Sammy”. It has been approved and ….” She read on for some time and rattled of a bunch of legal jargon I had no hope of understanding. The bottom line was that I was now fully registered and classified as a dog in their system.

And to make matters worse,The letter said my “owners” had Just 72 hours to get me the required vaccines and license or there would be fines and penalties. My parents spent a number of those 72 hours yelling at me for being stupid, and how could I do something like that, all the typical parental things.

Once they had calmed down, they found a customer service number, and celled. The person they talked to tried to be patient and polite with them, but had to keep telling my parents that all registrations were final. Defeated my parents discussed what they should do next.

Since the deadline was looming, and there didn’t seem to be any way to resolve the issue quickly, they decided that I should comply with the mandate.

My mom called the vet, and explained what had happened. After a fairly awkward conversation, on both sides I’m sure, I had an appointment for an exam and shots in the morning. I always hated going to the real doctor, and this wasn’t anymore appealing to me. I tried to get some rest, but I kept tossing and turning.

I must have fallen asleep for at least a few hours, because my mom came into my room, shaking me to wake me up and make sure I was ready in time for the appointment. I was still half in a daze, but I managed to throw some clothes on and make it to the car.

My mom drove me to the vet hospital, which we hadn’t been to since our last cat passed away a few years ago. We went inside, and mom told me to grab a seat while she checked me it.

Mom talked to the receptionist, pointed at me a few times, and was given a clipboard with a stack of forms to fill out. She brought them over to where I was sitting, and sat in the chair next to me.

It seemed like it took her hours to fill out the forms. Every once in a while she would ask me for some detail or other she needed for the form. While she worked I idly look around the office. It hadn’t changed much from the last time we had been here.

When she was finally done, mom took the forms back to the desk and we were led back to an exam room. I was told to disrobe and sit on the examining table. I looked at my mother, and she gave me that look that every kid knows means “don’t you dare argue- just do it.” So i quickly stripped out of my clothes and sat on the table. I don’t think I’ve ever felt anything as cold as that exam table in my life.

A few minuets later, the vet came in a greeted us. He looked at me as said “this must be Sammy.” The vet spent a few minuets looking over the forms and talking to my mother. it felt a little strange to have my medical history talked about like I wasn’t in the room, but I guess that was standard practice for a Vet. Most of their patients didn’t talk back.

It wasn’t long before he stared the exam. He poked me and prodded me all over. He examined my ears, eyes, and mouth. I tried to keep my privates covered and maintain some modesty, but it was no use. He drew several vials of blood for tests, and even used a rectal thermometer to get a temperature. I never felt so humiliated in all my life.

Remember when I said the table was the coldest thing I’d ever felt? Well it was nothing compared to the stethoscope. He most have kept that thing in a liquid nitrogen freezer. I drew in a sharp breath when he put it on my skin and could barely handle it while he listened to my breathing and heart beat. He even reached down and palpated my testicles.

When he was done, he told my mother everything looked good, and he would let her know when the blood work came back. He, jokingly i hoped, suggested neutering me.

He then proceeded to fill several large syringes full of various vaccines. When he was done, my mother, worrying about me as she always does, asked the vet to include a microchip. I never liked needles and almost fainted at the sight of them.

Luckily the Vet was skilled, and I barely noticed as he plunged each one into my skin and injected the liquid. The vet grabbed the microchip and inserted it under my skin between my shoulder blades.

The Vet filled in all the forms and gave them to his tech, who took them to be entered into the computer. He told my mom we could head up front in a few minuets and his receptionist would have the proof of vaccinations and microchip forms ready for us. She thanked him, and he left so I could get dressed.

When we got to the front, everything was ready for us. My mom paid the bill and received a stack of forms i would need for my license. They event threw in a puppy kit with some food, treats and other essentials for me.

Mom took me back to the car, and had me sit in the back. Something I hadn’t done since i was little. She said it was where dogs belonged.I was still sore and embarrassed by the whole thing, so I didn’t feel like arguing. I hopped into the back seat and just enjoyed the ride home.

Once we got home, I gave my parents the passwords and login I had used on the city website, and they sat down to submit the forms and paperwork to get my license. I will give the site this, it may have its flaws, but it sure made the process easy. It only took them about 15 minuets to get everything entered.

They were even able to print out a temporary confirmation until the official form and tags arrived.

I was now officially licensed and registered as my parents pet dog. I thought the worst of my problems were over. Even if we couldn’t get the registration reversed, what harm could it do? Just renew the license every few years, and i would be good right?

It turns out it could do a lot of harm. What had started out as a joke was having serious consequences. My dad had gotten a call from the school district while I was at the vet. They informed it that since I was no longer classified as a human, I was not eligible to be enrolled in school.

Apparently my registration had spread through the other databases connected to the city system. Now all of my official records, even my birth certificate listed me as a canine. Not only was I licensed and registered as a dog, I was legally classified as one as well.

We sat around the table and had lunch, then my parents sent me to my room while they had a little “talk”. We all know what that means. I was in some serious trouble. I sat in my room trying to overhear what they were saying, but it was no use.

They talked for quite a while before I heard one of them leave. I glanced out my window and saw Mom heading to her car. I wondered where she might be going. I didn’t want to make my Dad angry, so I sat on my bed and watched tv until he called me down.

“Sammy”, he said, “Seems like you have gotten yourself into quite a predicament. Since you seem to want to be a dog, and now thanks to your little prank, you are one legally, your mother and I have decided that your role in the family should shift to that of the family pet.”

I couldn’t believe what i was hearing. Did he actually expect me to live as a dog? Sure I was one. legally, for now anyway. We could have that fixed right? this seemed a little extreme.

I took a look at my father. Every kid knows when it’s not worth arguing because your just going to lose and make things so much worse for yourself. Begrudgingly I gave in and said “OK, if you think thats best.”

Dad looked pleased and said “Good boy. Now lets get you out of those silly clothes” I started removing my clothes slowly, but Dad came over and pulled them off a little roughly. Then my Mom stepped over carrying a few bags. I recognized them from our local pet store. She pulled out a collar and fastened it around my neck. She then attached an Id tag that read “Sammy” with our address and their names as my owners.

My mom produced a dog bed from the bags and placed it in a corner of the living room. She then pulled out a pair of metal dog bowls, showing me that she had engraved my name on them. She took those into the kitchen and told me I would be fed there as long as I was a dog.

She had also purchased a few other things every dog needs, Some toys, and a variety of flavors of food, along with a few other essentials. I could tell they were serious about this and I would be filing the role of family pet for the foreseeable future.

I spent the next few days getting used to walking on all fours, being naked, using the bathroom outside, and being taken for walks. They even used some youtube videos to help them teach me basic tricks.

I wasn’t allowed to see my friends, play video games, or watch tv. I spent a lot of my time outside exploring the back yard and the little wooded area behind it. I was never one to spend a lot of time outside before, but I was oddly fascinated by every little thing I found.

After about a week, I decided that maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. My parents were spending more time with me, and I enjoyed the attention, and much to my surprise I enjoyed being petted. It was certainly better than going to school.

The more time I spent in the role, the more comfortable I became as a dog. I hardly noticed as my thoughts and behaviors started shifting and becoming more dog like. If my parents noticed, they didn’t say anything.

After about a month, I had fully integrated myself into the role of family pet. I was thinking and acting just like another dog most of the time. This role felt so natural to me now and i decided I wanted to remain my parents dog.

One evening I told my parents that they could stop trying to reverse the registration. Little did I know they had given up weeks ago, and had agreed that they were enjoying having me as a dog, and could see how happy it made me. It was settled. I was now permanently the family pet.

My parents packed up all my human belongings and put them into storage, and hey converted my old bedroom into an office. I was kind of sad about that, but I hadn’t been using it. I had been sleeping exclusively on the dog bed in the living room for weeks now.

Over the next few weeks, something amazing happened. I’m not sure how to explain it, but my body started to change. I began to notice my fingernails turning black and getting longer. My fingers started to shorten, and I developed pads on my hands and feet.

I showed my parents what was happening to me, but they didn’t seem concerned in the slightest. They said I was being silly and told me to go play.

The changes made it so much easier for me to walk around on all four. Soon instead of using my knees I was on my hands and feet. Each night I was eager to head to bed so I could see what changes would happen over night.

The next morning I noticed some new changes. I had started to grow in some yellow fuzz over my body, and my ears seemed to be getting longer. My privates changed shape and attached them selves to my stomach in some kind of sheath.

Over the next couple of days, my fur grew in fully to cover my body, and my ears were long enough to flop over, and had moved up a little on my head. Next I noticed a nub of a tail protruding from my spine. My nose also started turning black.

It wasn’t long before I had a full tail that I could swish around when I was happy. I also developed a full muzzle. I caught a glimpse of my self in the mirror, and marveled at how much I looked like a dog. Some of the proportions were wrong, but It was unmistakable. I was becoming the yellow lab I had registered myself as.

One night I tried to sleep but I couldn’t get comfortable. I kept tossing and turning all night, until finally I felt kind of a snap as my ribcage and other bones shifted and made their final changes.

When I awoke in the morning, I made my way to the mirror only to see a fully transformed yellow lab where a human boy had been not that long ago. I stared at my reflection just long enough to watch my eyes fade from blue to brown and the transformation ended.

I was now fully a dog. I was so happy that i raced to find my parents. It wasn’t hard, my new nose was flooding me with all kinds of information. When I walked into the kitchen, my parents stopped what they were doing and looked me up and down. They looked very happy, and said “Good boy, Sammy”

They seemed to think all this was normal, and that I had always been their dog. Hadn’t i though? I was having trouble remembering that i used to be anything other than their pet.

Oh well, it didn’t matter. I was a good boy. I could feel the memories and thoughts of my former life slowly fading away like melting icebergs, but I didn’t care. I knew I was their faithful dog and that was all that was important.

A little later, my former parents attached a leash to my collar and took me for a walk. I loved the explosion of input from my new senses and the feeling of the grass on my feet.

We spent the day playing fetch and going to the dog park. I was loving life. Of course it wasn’t all fun and games. I still had to go to school. Obedience school that is. I was top of the class and learned each new trick quickly.

The other downside is that my former parents decided to neuter me. Oh well. I wasn’t going to be out dating much anyway. And it was for my own good they told me. Sure I believe that one. It wasn’t so bad except for that cone I had to wear. I swear the other dogs were laughing at me.

I never did find out exactly why I transformed, or even why I registered in the first place. Maybe it was the universe trying to fix a mistake. Maybe it was a sinister AI the city has that can somehow manipulate people. Now I’m starting to sound like a conspiracy theory.

Ah well it really doesn’t matter, I am much happier this way than I ever was as a teenage boy, and my parents seem really happy to have me as their pet.