#but i'm starting to think i should get a screen tablet and see how that goes for me

[wakebymoonsleepbysun]

What's this? PAPER? I use it sometimes. Didn't feel like setting up my tablet but I wanted to draw something based a convo artastic-friend and I had. Except it bears no resemblance to that convo.

The jist is that, (following this post) when DJ and the reader were kids, DJ was much smaller. And since spiders don't generate body heat, he liked to be close to the reader. Often either sitting on their head or on their shoulders. (He liked to be close for other reasons but huehuehuehue he doesn't need to admit that yet.)

Anyway. Reader is atop DJ's head in a role-reversal of when they were kids, pontificating that they're really no help in keeping DJ warm these days, and DJ is assuring them that, nono, they do quite well at keeping him warm. (More metaphorical than physical this time but again he doesn't need to admit that yet. ;3 )

And that's the overlong explanation for what is really just a simple picture of y/n on giant spider DJ's head.

[luveline]

Hotch request! Please sir, can I have a Hotch request? I'm trying to follow what you said about comfort but also Hotch being angry. So I get low blood sugars cause of my diabetes and I'd love if you wrote something about them being on a case and BAU!Reader is really busy trying to get stuff done, so she has a bad low blood sugar and sits down but one of the local officers thinks she's slacking off so she tries to keep going and Hotch comes in and defends her, making sure she has everything she needs and doesn't faint. Love you <3

ty for requesting!! hope this is okay <3 fem, 1.3k

“I understand.” You frown, phone pressed to your ear hard. “I totally understand, but it’s really important that I get to talk to her.” 

“She’s on heavy medication,” the nurse replies, unimpressed by your asking, “she wouldn’t be much use anyhow.” 

“I understand, but–”

“Listen, I’m sorry, but we have a lot to do here. I’m sorry we can’t help. Bye.” 

You groan in frustration, bringing your phone from your ear to see the Call Disconnected notification flash across your screen. How are you and the team ever supposed to get answers if nobody wants to help? Your head rushes. You kid yourself into believing it’s annoyance like a hot flash, you’ve been sweaty for ages, but then reality cuts through. What usually makes you sweaty and dizzy?

“Where’s my test kit?” you murmur to yourself. 

The door opens while you’re looking through your bag. 

“Agent,” Officer Debs greets, a stout, sturdy woman with sharp eyes, “any news from Georgetown Psychiatric?” 

You rummage frustratedly through your things. You should know better than to misplace your test kit. Doesn’t matter. You’ll just have to eat something quickly before you get any worse. “Uh, no, nothing they could help me with.” 

“Did you call them?” 

Your eyelids are getting heavier. You sit down on impulse, worried you’re gonna fall if you stay standing. “Yeah, I called them.” You’ve had diabetes for long enough to know what to do, but it’s always harder than it felt the last time when your blood sugar drops. It can be so sudden. 

Realising you might need help, you clear your throat, about to ask Officer Debs if she can get the glucose tablets from your bag. You should’ve grabbed them —your thoughts are starting to thicken like someone’s poured cornflour into your skull. 

“Is now the best time for a break?” Officer Debs asks. 

You focus very hard on bringing your attention into the present. “No, sorry,” you say, standing up. You open your phone and direct to the contacts page, clicking your favourite contact at the very top. 

Don’t know m where test kit is, you text clumsily. Hotch should still be in the precinct. Do u have it ? 

“I hope you’re texting someone about the case,” Officer Debs says sternly. 

You shove your phone into your pocket. “Um,” you say, getting confused now, and not wanting to be shouted at. You grab for the page of phone numbers you’d been making your way through, can’t get your hands to work. “I wasn’t. But I’m getting to it.” 

“We really don’t have time to waste.” 

“I know, but my blood sugar–”

She talks over you. “What’s the point in all our officers working day and night when you FBI agents can’t be bothered to put in the same effort?” Her voice rises. “It’s ridiculous!”

“It’s not ridiculous, we’re trying our best just like you are.”

“Clearly not!” 

“My blood sugar,” you say, more insistently. “Stop shouting at me.” 

The door opens quickly, creaking hard on its hinge. Hotch doesn’t slam it open, he never slams anything, but he doesn’t hesitate either. “I have it, you left it in the car after you tested this morning,” he says, your kit in his hand. He gives Officer Debs a surprised up and down. “Who’s shouting?” he asks, unimpressed. 

You wouldn’t like to be on his bad side. “Hotch, I need a tablet.” 

If he’s shocked at your lethargy, he doesn’t say. He ignores the officer from that point on. “Yes, I think so, too.” 

Hotch is more efficient than you were, grabbing your tube of glucose tablets and shaking one out into his hand. “Can you take it yourself?” 

“You want to chew it for me?” you ask. 

He tips it into your palm. “Very funny.” 

He opens the test kit on the desk and starts to extract the pieces. It’s quite complicated, especially for people unfamiliar with it, but you’re pretty sure Hotch learned how to use it the day he knew you had diabetes. He wipes his hands with an alcohol wipe and presses a test strip into the meter, careful not to touch the end, before wiping your finger with a new wipe, and readying the lancing stick. 

“Gonna stick you, okay?” he asks quietly.

“Mm,” you hum, the glucose tablet like chalk between your teeth. 

He sticks you. Some days it feels more painful than other days, but today it’s like a pinprick in a haze. He squeezes your finger, wipes the first drop of blood with a cotton ball, and dips the test strip into the second bead of blood, careful not to jab your cut. 

In the five seconds it takes for you to get a result on the meter, he kneels down, pressing another cotton ball to your finger to stem the flow of blood. “Good,” he murmurs to you. The meter flashes on the table. “Not so good. Fifty nine, huh? How’d that happen?” 

You shake your head slowly from one side to another. “I’ve no idea.” 

“Okay. Well, that tablet’s not gonna do it, honey. Do you have any gels?” 

“No,” you say apologetically. 

“That’s fine. I’ll get you a drink.” 

Officer Debs clears her throat. You may be foggy, but her awkwardness is palpable. “I’ll get it.”

“It has to be full sugar. Coke, if you can,” Hotch says. She nods in understanding and leaves in record time. Hotch turns back to you, his severity melting away. “She was shouting at you?”

“Tried to tell her about my blood sugar. She told me we’re not here to waste time.” You close your mouth, licking the glucose off of your teeth.

“How did you get so low?” he asks.

“Must have done something wrong this morning. Am I okay?” 

“We’ll see. I think you’ll be alright.” 

“Don’t usually get so dizzy.” 

“When was the last time you were below seventy?” 

“Don’t know,” you mumble. 

Hotch peels the cotton ball from your finger and packs your things away cleanly. “Let’s see how you feel in ten minutes. After your coke. Now… what did the Officer say to you?” 

He’s getting his facts straight. Again, you wouldn’t like to be on his bad side. You relay your conversation, Officer Debs hadn’t even been that bad, just uppity, stuck on her own assumptions rather than willing to listen when you’d needed a hand. Her lack of empathy could’ve really affected you. Low blood sugar is no joke. 

You tell him, savouring in the warmth of his hand on your leg, how uncaring he is to be kneeling in front of you on the precinct floor. He frowns at you long and hard. 

By the time Officer Debs returns, he’s on his feet again. “A word?” he asks her. 

You don’t hear all of what he’s saying through the door as you sip your coke. He doesn’t shout, but he defends you with a heavy gravity. Officer Debs speaks up and he cuts her down, something about understanding, and then a more clear telling off, “I don’t want to hear about Agent L/N’s performance from you again. She’s my agent, and if she needs a break, she’ll take one. It’s none of your concern.” 

“I understand.” 

You feel much peppier when he comes back in, though he appears less so. “You’re nasty,” you say, smiling, happy to be defended, and happier to know you’re not gonna pass out.

He crosses the room. Still frowning, he takes your face into his hands, and he leans down inch by inch, until he’s pressing a soft, soft kiss to your lips. You barely have time to close your eyes before he’s pulling away, thumb pressed into your soft cheek. “Nobody gets to shout at you. Especially over your blood sugar.” 

“It’s usually you telling me off for letting it get low,” you mumble. 

He stands up straight, leaving you wanting for another kiss you won’t get, hands stolen back from your cheeks. “You’re ageing me prematurely. Drink some more coke, please, sweetheart.” 

“What do I get in return?” 

He touches your face briefly, as much of a promise as you’re going to get. 

[valeriele3]

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

𝒮𝑒𝓁𝒻-𝒜𝓌𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝐻𝑜𝓃𝓀𝒶𝒾 𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇 𝑅𝒶𝒾𝓁

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

✎ Sorry for the somewhat rushed ending! ^^;

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

Messages.

Idle chats.

You were answering them like normal. Sometimes even giggling on the messages

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

You log in, check your messages, answer them if there's one, do daily tasks, and maybe farm, then log out. That was your daily routine in HSR.

However, you begin to notice how much more frequent the chats are. After assigning an assignment, you get a new message. 'Oh well. Free jades," you thought.

Every time you beat an enemy, boss, or do anything in the game, you will notice a new message.

'Maybe it was an update? Or a bug?' You brushed it all off and thought nothing of it.

You would answer all of them wholeheartedly; after all, you also noticed that if the character liked what you said, you'd receive more Stellar Jades.

You'd talk about it with your friends, but they'd respond with "I wish", "Oh shut up~ Don't make me hope", and "Hm? Is your game bugged?? Or is mine bugged? I don't get any of those benefits..So unfair."

You try to check the dev logs to see if there was an update regarding the messaging feature, but whenever you try to look at them, your computer freezes.

'No matter, I can just check using my phone.' No luck; it also freezes.

'Maybe my tablet?' Still the same.

Frustrated, you ask one of your friends to look into it. "There's no update or any fixes on it, Y/N. Maybe you should report it; your game might really be bugged."

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

Deciding to report it, you open up Bug Report, but then your screen freezes again.

It then opens up the messages, and you read the following words:

| Hey

| Please don't do it.

| It took such a long time to break the code, you know.

| Hey

| Are you still there?

| Oh

| Right

The messaging bubble pops up.

| You can type now.

"W-What.." You stare at your screen dumbfounded.

Reaching out to your keyboard, hoping it won't work and choices will pop up, you press a random key, and it works

Startled, you immediately plugged out the cables on your computer, causing it to shut down.

You grab your phone and start messaging one of your friends. Before you could hit send, the screen blackened, and then in the next second, it lit up with a notification.

"Hey, we were in the middle of a conversation."

"Why did you suddenly leave?"

Your hand trembles. 'Shit, how..How did it get to my phone too..'

"I know I like reading self-aware au's but I didn't want it to actually be true!" You scream, throwing your phone across the room.

You can hear it dinging with new message after new message.

You decide to leave your room for a bit to calm down.

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

"Ok..Be calm..I'm probably dreaming, right?"

"There's no way this kind of thing will actually happen in real life."

"I need to think about this rationally. I could try to get my phone and computer fixed..Maybe I accidentally got a bug."

"Oh, my tablet too..It probably has the same bug.."

"Then, uhm, should I tell them about this? No, maybe..Agh! This is so frustrating..!"

After going back and forth, you decided to sell your gadgets instead of trying to repair them. Buying new ones is much cheaper than trying to get them fixed.

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

The first month was alright. You also stopped playing HSR just in case something of the sort would happen again.

However, everything changed when you awoke to your notifications going off like crazy.

【Luka】

| Hey! Y/N, wanna come watch my tournament this week?

【Qingque】

| Y/N

| This is urgent. Come to Exalting Sanctum

| Watch me go against this pro. I'm sure with your attendance I'll easily win.

【Robin】

| Y/N, would you like to come watch my concert?

| Don't worry! I made sure that you'd get the best seat.

【Sunday】

| Y/N. Do me a favor and attend Robin's concert, will you?

| If you don't..

| Well, it'll certainly make her sad. As for me, it's best you don't know.

【Arlan】

| Hello, Y/N

| Would you like to accompany me with walking Peppy?

【Blade】

| Come.

【Bailu】

| Y/N!

| I have made a huge discovery!

| Meet me at Aurum Alley!

【M̵̛̼̘̭͎͓̘̘̽̎̃̊̄͋̈́̑̇i̵̡̨̡͎̖̮͉̺̣͂ͅs̴̰͂̉́̅͒̆̄́̄̋̚͜͠͠͝ͅȟ̵͉̹̖͍͎̱̭̳̰̘̀a̵̧̨͔̣̘̮̻̐̆̌̀͑̊̄̄͌͗̓̌͘̕̚】

| C̷̛͇̬̥̼̲̙̠͓̭̺̱̻̟͖̜̾͑͋͊́̀̕͝ä̷̡̨̨̨̡̤̫͔̼̗̫̪̟̰́̏́̾̄͘͝ͅn̸̡̪̱̻̜̻̺͊̍͒̂͗̀̍͐̔͆̆̎̚̕̕ ̷̛̻̟̀̇͐͋̋̌̂͒́͑̏͝y̴̮͆͒̈͒͑͋͆̒̂̓̕͘̚͝͝o̸̩̫̰̤͌̈͝ͅu̷̻̗͉̥̺͕͉͔̠̯͇̭̖̐͜ ̵͖̲̼̥͑͝ḣ̵̟͓̆͌̄̑̂̈́̓̚͘̕͝͝e̷͖̥̜̅͛̂̒͒̕͜a̶̧̫̹͉͆͑̊͊̊̐̐̂̈̉̾͜͝r̶͎̫͛̑͊͌͐̎ ̴̢̢̛͓͉̮͇̞̬̪͔͓̦̾̓̈́̀͐̀̂̀͒͝ͅm̴̤̙͎̽͋̽̇͛́͑͌̃͑̊e̷̦͚̔́̔̀̒͊͂̔̕̚͝.̵͎͓̪̥͍̍̓͂̾̌̂̌̚̚ͅ.̵̨̟͉͕͈̜͎̻̗͓̯̜̜̩̓̈́̓͊̆̓̑͐̈̐̄̀̕?̵̙̠͚̆͊͊̇͌

【Aventurine】

| Why're you ignoring my calls and texts?

| Is the money not enough for you?

【Pela】

| The Tale of the Winterlands original artbook sold out in 1 second again

| But

| I was fast enough to get you a copy too

| Don't worry. I'm messaging the right person this time

【Natasha】

| Y/N, did your cold get better?

✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲✲꘏ ꘏ ꘏✲

You stare at your phone, frozen. Even as you were sitting there staring at it, the messages continued to flood nonstop.

It

Was

Nonstop

Even if it's on silent mode and DND, you can still hear it dinging.

At one point, the messages started appearing in all the social apps that you use.

Hell, it even started appearing in your smart fridge

You deleted and deactivated everything. Throwing away any and all sorts of electronics that could potentially be used for apps.

But you could still hear it.

Even the sound of the doorbell ringing, the kettle whistling, or your telephone ringing makes you panic. 'What if that's them?' You always think

Every creak, every shuffle, and every little sound makes you paranoid.

What if they cross over to Earth? What will you do? You can't run from them. Even if you do, they'll be able to find you easily.

[mewhenimanangel]

the babysitter ʚɞ

pairing: miguel o’hara x reader

synopsis: miguel offered you a job babysitting his daughter, gabrielle. his marriage is going through a rough time and you’re someone he can confide in

wc: 2.2k

warnings!: alcohol, age gap, infidelity, loss of virginity, piv sex, oral sex (f receiving), cowgirl

nia’s ౨ৎ notes: i lovee dilfs so bad

"y/n can you make me ramen, please. i loveeeee the way you make it" gabby came downstairs to ask you. currently, you were lolling around on the couch in the living room watching tv on the big screen. you were babysitting gabrielle o'hara, your neighbors' daughter. you started the job when your mom invited them over for dinner and her dad asked if you were available to watch her for a while, you weren't that busy so you said yes and after that they decided to officially hire you.

her parents were out at the moment, miguel at work. "yeah sure" you smiled, pausing your show and getting up to the kitchen while gabby sat on the couch with her tablet. you reached in the pantry for a pack of noodles, grabbing hot sauce, green onions, and extra seasonings on your way. you waited for the ramen to boil then began adding everything.

"hey you guys okay?" you heard a voice coming from the front room. miguel threw his his keys on the counter and took his shoes off at the door. "daddy!" gabby exclaimed running up to give her dad a hug. "ahh mi cielito, what are you still doing up?" he asked giving her a kiss on the cheek and picking her up into his arms. "oh that's my fault actually she asked to stay up a little longer and she's too cute i couldn't say no" you giggled. he nod his head and smiled before gabby yawned "you ask to stay up and you can't even thug it out?" he laughed. "why don't you go upstairs and brush your teeth and go to bed huh?" he told her.

"okay daddy" she grumbled running up the stairs to go to bed. you'd completely forgot about the noodles you just made "wait i actually just made her some noodles.." you pointed to the kitchen. "oh well, i'm starving" he smiled moving towards the kitchen.

you put some noodles in a bowl for each of you before you sat next to him at the kitchen island. "so how's school going" he asked you, taking a bite. you were a sophomore in university, studying for your degree. "good, it's a little tough but i can manage" you answered him. "you're a good kid, you'll do great i'm sure of it" he smiled. "hope gab wasn't too much trouble today" "no no she was great, she's so adorable i love her." you giggled. "yeah, think she misses her mom" he sighed.

"oh, where is she anyway?" you asked him, as nosy as ever. "she's on some business trip" he answered, mockery laced in his tone. "but between you and me, i think she's seeing someone behind my back." he rolled his eyes. "oh i'm so sorry." you looked at him with a sympathetic expression. "ah it's alright, things've been kind of rocky lately anyway"

he moved his leg ever so slightly, the fabric of his jeans rubbing up against your knee. and he didn't move it, you two sat like that just talking for the next twenty minutes until you checked the time and figured you should head home. "have a good night and thank you as always" he smiled, handing you $200 and sent you on your way.

ʚɞ

you were curled up on the couch, stressing about an assignment you had to finish by the end of the night. "hey." miguel greeted, resting his hands on the chair behind you, leaning over. "oh, hi mr o'hara. i didn't hear you come in, gabby's in bed by the way i'm just trying to finish up this assignment without destroying this laptop." you sighed. he snorted a little at your frustration. "rough day?" he asked you. "yeah, kinda"

"why don't you take a break for a little? have a drink?" he offered, moving to his wine cooler to grab a bottle of champagne and two glasses. "i've had a bit of a rough day too." you weren't one for drinking - you couldn't even do it legally yet, still a year away from that. but you were stressed and you figured a load off couldn't hurt so you got up and went over to join him at the island.

he moved the glass in front of you before finding his seat next to you. "so what were you working on that's got you so tense" he asked taking a sip from his glass. "just some stupid shit from my business class, what about you? why'd you have such a bad day?" you answered. "well, turns out bella has been seeing someone. from work, buddy of mine told me" he sighed.

"oh i'm sorry mr o'hara" you put your hand out on his  arm, face expressing your sorry. "really it's fine" he brushed off "just don't know how she could break us up like that, especially for gabby. probecita bebé" you frowned, feeling bad for him. i mean who could ever cheat on him. he was smart, kind, and really handsome. you studied his features looking at his messy brown hair, the way his 5 o'clock shadow graced his chiseled jaw, his milky brown eyes under his surprisingly long lashes. you looked at the way his t shirt clung to his biceps and the way his jeans rode low on his waist.

"what?" he chuckled at the way your stare lingered on him. "n-nothing" you nervously laughed, downing your glass of champagne. "thanks a lot for all you do for gabby, she loves you a lot. always talking about you and it's never one bad thing" he smiled at you. "think she's gonna need us a little more now with what's coming." "what do you mean?" you quirked an eyebrow. "well m'gonna file for divorce, which'll be hard on her" he poured more champagne into your glasses.

the two of you talked for a bit before you told a joke which got him laughing. he rest his hand on your thigh, the other hitting the table. when the joke was over he didn't take his hand off, he instead inched it higher up your leg. you looked at his hand before looking back up into his lustful gaze. you weren't gonna lie and say you didn't want him but he was a little more than twice your age, he had a kid for god's sake. but your wine clouded your judgement and you allowed him to lean in, attaching his lips to yours.

when you were moving an arm up around his neck your elbow bumped your wine glass off the counter, smashing on the ground. you gasped "i'm so sorry" "don't worry about it" he chuckled kissing you again. this time your hands entangled through his hair deepening the kiss. he picked you up, put his hands under your ass cheeks, kneading his fingers into it as your legs wrapped around his waist.

he moved to the stairs before you broke away "wait mr o'hara what about bella?" you breathed out. he scoffed "please she's not a problem anymore and please miguel is fine" he latched his lips back on yours. you broke away again "what about gabby?" "you said she's asleep right? just gonna have to keep it down" he smirked before kissing you again.

you got to his bedroom and he threw you on top of his comforters, crawling his way on top of you. you held onto his strong shoulders as he pressed kisses down your jaw and neck, sucking on your soft skin. you let out a few groans in his ear before pressing your hands against his chest. "um i-i've never done this before with anyone" you admitted.

he took a moment to look at you before taking your hand into his. "that's okay, i'll take care of you. you do still want to right?" he asked rubbing a thumb over your knuckles. you bit your lips and nod your head "m'gonna need an audible response princess" "yes, i still want you to fuck me"

that was all he needed to hear before he was back on your lips. he pulled you in his lap reached for the bottom of your shirt and tugged it over your head, rising your body to help him. he rubbed his hands up and down your waist before reaching to take your bra off. you moved your arm to cover your breasts "no need to cover up. god you're gorgeous" he whispered pressing a finger to your nipple rubbing in circles over it before pinching it between his fingers. you let out a small moan watching him as he looked up at you with a teasing smile. "so sensitive" he lapped his tongue around your nipple sucking and pulling on it while he played with the other one.

your moans began to fill the room "you're already a mess and i've barely even touched you" he teased, lightly biting your nipple. he moved you off him laying you back onto the pillows. he hooked a finger into the waistband of your sweatpants tugging them off you. he looked at the pool of moisture that stained your pretty pink panties "god baby you're soaking" he chuckled, pulling those off you too. you looked away biting your lip in embarrassment "look at me princess" he pulled your chin back to face him. he got on all fours lifting your leg over his shoulder, pressing kisses down it until he got to your entrance.

he pressed his thumb against your clit causing your body to jump in response. he licked at your entrance while continuing to rub his finger over your clit. he sucked and licked at your pussy like it was his first meal in weeks. a moan ripped out of you before you slapped a hand to your face. he squeezed a hand around each of your thighs, them caving him in as he continued to work on making you cum. your hand shot down to his head, taking a handful of his hair in your grip.

"fuck miguel, i think i'm gonna cum" you moaned out, eyes rolling to the back of your head. "go ahead princess, cum all over my tongue" he spoke against your cunt, the vibrations sending you crazy, his facial hair tickling against you. you reached your climax and miguel lapped it up, taking every last drop in his mouth.

he wrapped you back up in his arms shoving his tongue in your mouth. "it's not fair that i'm naked and you've still got all your clothes on" you frowned reaching for the hem of his shirt. he chuckled, helping you out with the shirt before taking off his jeans and dropping them to the floor. he opened his nightstand and reached for a condom "why don’t you ride me baby, you wanna take some control for your first time?" he asked, pulling his dick out of his boxers. you gulped looking at his length, how was that supposed to fit inside you.

"uh huh" you mumbled. he laid back on the bed, taking your hand and guiding you on top of him. you straddled him before he grabbed his dick and lined himself up with your entrance. “i’ll be gentle princess” he said, moving your hair out of your face. you eased down onto his dick, his inches splitting you apart. “fuck oh my god” you whined. you rode up and down his length leaning forward to place your hands on his chest. he wrapped his hands around your waist holding you and helping you create your pace.

the lewd sounds of your skin slapping together and both of your moans and whimpers filled the room. his dick slipped out before you grabbed it again and put it back inside you. you sunk further down on it, hitting right on your g spot. you threw your head back, a pornographic moan coming from you. “fuck you sound heavenly, feel it too” miguel groaned. “m-miguel i’m gonna cum” you whined biting your lip. “go ahead baby, cum all on this dick” he whimpered. and so you did.

he leaned up to grab you and flipped you over so you were laying on the bed with him on top. he threw your legs over his shoulder so he could really drive into your cunt. he rest his hand on the headboard, leaning down to kiss you, now sloppy and rushed. “fuck, you are tight” he moaned. soon he reached his climax as well, throwing his head back, his pace slowing down.

he got up and threw the condom away, grabbing a rag with warm water on his way back. he cleaned you off and got you a pair of fresh underwear. he cleaned himself off too putting his boxers on before climbing into the bed with you. he put an arm out indicating he wanted you to lay in it, so you did and you rest your head on his chest. “so did i do a good job pleasing you for your first time” he asked, grabbing your hand to hold. you looked up at him and nodded your head “yes, i loved it” you smiled.

he traced things along your bare back until he heard your soft snores and felt your light breathing on his chest. he smiled to himself before he too fell asleep with you wrapped up in his arms.

[deceasedream69]

Museum pt.1

I did it. I finally had the courage to ask her out.

We're going to the museum on Sunday night, it's a date. I can tell she's excited too, I was worried the museum decision was a little... nerd, but I'll guess she'll like it.

We set the time, 6:00 pm, I was going to pick her up but she said she had to do some things before meeting so she'll get there by herself.

It's 6:00 already. My hands are sweating and I can feel this... like, energy flowing through my body, it's making my stomach feel a little heavy, but I'm pretty sure it's excitement.

it's already 6:15 but I'm pretty sure she'll be here anytime, beautiful as always.

After 6:30 I decided to just go home. How could I be so stupid and think that going to a museum was a good idea for a date. I walked inside my apartment, took my shoes off and plopped onto the couch. I was too scared to even call her. I should just wait to see her tomorrow at the office, maybe she had something come up, something so important she couldn't even bother to call.

Y/n's pov

I don't know how long I've been here. I've been punched, spit on, almost drowned and electrocuted. My body felt extremely heavy and sore, my ears and head were killing me and I was cold. I just wanted to go home.

-"hey, princess, ready for another round?"

-"I just want to know why"

-"Is it not obvious yet?"

I just shook my head, slowly, of course.

-"hm, and to think that everyone tells me I look just like my father", he turned around, "or maybe, little miss agent here already forgot about every life she ruined, don't worry, I'll make you remember this day forever", he said pulling me by my hair.

Spencer's pov

I slept very well that night, suprisingly and given the circumstances. I guess crying really makes people tired. I had to put some ice on my eyes to get down the inflammation and redness.

I entered the office, my hands sweating and that feeling in my stomach again. I could do this, tho, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to ask here why she couldn't make it, or why, specially if she lies to my face and I detect it.

The team was already in a meeting when I entered the office, I quickly made my way into the meeting, everyone turning to look at me when I entered. That's when I noticed who was on the screen.

- "I know this might be a tough case for us..." Hotch started.

I sat quickly, I couldn't feel my legs, was this real? Is it my imagination trying to find an excuse for y/n to miss our date last night? Am I having a nightmare?!

- "But we're the ones who'll work the hardest to get to her", Derek said, angry as natural for him.

I wasn't angry, more like confused, sad, angry only at myself for not calling her, trying to reach her or something more than the pathetic "I'll ask her tomorrow" thing I did.

- "it's so sad, I can't even look at the pictures so I didn't put them in the presentation but...' Garcia sniffled... "But you can watch them in your tablets..."

I was too scared to look, although in my case it was a file, but not looking would be too suspicious as well, why wouldn't I look? It's supposed to be my friend, and she needed our help.

With my trembling hands I opened the file slowly, reading the first things, I opened it even more, but no pictures.

- "I couldn't dare to print them either", Garcia said looking at me trying to find the pictures.

The meeting was quick, everyone already assigned to do something different. I haven't looked at the pictures, I'm scared, but I also feel that would be a good way to motivate myself. Regardless, it's a little too late for that now, everyone's busy doing their different tasks, and I should be completing mine, too.

[greatsnakestintin]

Haddock doesn't much like sitting on his phone to watch videos, but Nestor has convinced him to get a tablet, going so far as to teach Haddock how to use it. Nestor had a handful of videos on the tablet for Haddock's viewing pleasure, but Haddock waited until Nestor was on vacation to look them over.

They're a wide variety. He gets lost in the cat videos, chuckling at the antics of humans and cats trying to coexist. The dog videos are kind of funny too, occasionally. However, Nestor hadn't stopped there, oh no. Nestor had a whole playlist called "soothing, watch when trying to sleep".

Haddock, drunk, opens the first one.

If there are words, Haddock barely hears them, mesmerized as he is by the whirling motion of clay, and of slim fingers shaping it. The clay climbs into a tower, then collapses under skillful fingers. Wet palms caress the sides, bowing them outwards, then back inwards. He sees freckles, a light dusting of pale hair, and strong forearms. The video ends with a vase.

Haddock restarts it. He falls asleep watching the clay spin, the hands forming beauty.

When he awakens, Haddock decides he NEEDS to see more. A quick skim through the videos shows no other videos. Haddock refuses to call Nestor and ask for help. After all, how hard can it be to find a video like that?

Haddock has no idea where to even start looking. He opens Google (he's not a complete heathen after all!) and sits there, stymied. He tries "clay pot" and "making", but it brings up too many results, none of which look anything like the hands that had so lovingly crafted the vase.

Haddock tries again and again. He tries every combination he can think of, before giving up and calling Bianca for help.

Bianca, of course, says in distraction, "Well, do you know who made the video? Have you checked your Youtube history? Nestor may have pulled it from- NO DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Bianca hangs up in a hurry.

Youtube history? Laboriously, Haddock opens Youtube and does a scan of the front page. There, on the left hand side, is a menu, and the word 'history'. He scrolls down, past the videos he's rejected. He sees videos in his history not from today!

Haddock scrolls faster, nose practically pressed against the screen. Finally, he spots it, the video from last night. It was made by "Adventure Ceramics". Haddock clicks it and selects the first video he comes across.

Over the next week, Haddock consumes the videos, spanning back 8 years. Sometimes the man making the videos speak, but he never shows his face. Haddock often falls asleep listening to the sound of a pottery wheel turning. He hits 'subscribe' somewhere in the middle.

Nestor comes back right as Haddock finishes catching up with all the videos. "I see you have found something interesting," Nestor says with a smirk. Haddock waves him off absently. "This guy's got some great pottery," Haddock tell Nestor. "I'm thinking of buying one of them. That table in the Green Room is looking a little bare."

Nestor doesn't disagree, simply raises an eyebrow. "Do you need help with the purchase?" Haddock, relieved Nestor asked, thrusts the tablet at him. "Yes. This one!" Nestor scrolls through the details before nodding. It wouldn't look bad in the Green Room, actually, and the table was kind of bare. "Very well Sir," Nestor says, and goes to get the house credit card.

The vase, a beautifully painted item, sits in the Green Room, where Haddock can stare and admire it. It's joined by a second, then a third. His fourth purchase is a small, squat pot with a lid, which Nestor whisks into the kitchen and promptly lines and puts sugar in with a "Should you choose to buy more, I have more items to put into them."

Haddock things he might have an issue when he watches the latest video, where the man isn't playing with a pottery wheel, but is crafting clay into a ship. Haddock tears into the kitchen, waving it. "Nestor! Look!" Nestor gives it a cursory glance and smiles. "Did you wish to leave a comment," Nestor asks. Haddock nods enthusiastically.

And so the comments start. Haddock buys the boat. He tries to keep them coherent, but he's sure he doesn't manage. There is more than one "Blistering Barnacles!" and "Thundering Typhoons!" in his comments. He drinks himself maudlin more than once, wondering why he is like this, but Adventuring Ceramics has taken to giving him a thumbs up. It makes Haddock extremely happy.

Then the comments back start. Little things, like "How is the ship?" or more memorably on a not Haddock made about loving a specific color of blue, "Oh! Yes, I have been trying some mixed colors lately, to see if I can get the layering just right!" Like Haddock knows anything about painting. Their conversations become more in-depth over the next few months. Haddock tells Adventuring Ceramics the name of his ship. Adventuring Ceramics shows he can paint on canvas by painting a wooden ship sailing the seas called "The Last Unicorn". It goes up on Haddock's walls, with a personalized note. It makes Haddock blush as he tucks the note behind the painting.

Adventure Ceramics posts a ceramics video from a different angle for once. Instead of looking down or from the side, it's angled slightly up, revealing a slim frame, and the strong column of a throat framed by a button up with the top two buttons popped.

The youthful voice hums jauntily, another 'new' thing, singing to a radio playing in the background. It makes Haddock's heart beat a little faster, for reasons he doesn't know. "Good job lad," he writes anyways, and enthusiastically states what about the ceramic he likes best. It's a safe topic right? Right???

"Oh, is that all you liked," Adventure Ceramic asks. Haddock hastens to tell him "no no! Your singing is very good!" Haddock breaks out into a sweat as he reads the response. "Oh good! How was the view? Was the new camera angle any good? I wasn't too sure." Haddock hastens to tell the man what he liked best, only slapping his forehead when he admits his appreciation for the sweater under the apron. "Thank you" is the only response.

He drinks to forget.

Adventure Ceramics doesn't post for two weeks, not that Haddock is worried or anything. He has Nestor help him drop Adventure Ceramics a line. Just something he emails to the public email posted on the Youtube channel.

Haddock, with no videos to watch, flips through the news on the TV, feeling a little at a loss. He hopes his friend is okay. He settles on current news.

On the screen, a redhead, reporting live from China, talks animatedly about corruption and a human trafficking ring busted wide open on what appeared to be accident. The voice is soothing. The voice is familiar. The man raises his free hand, gesturing, sporting a horrible burn on the backside.

Haddock watches, trying to place why the voice would be familiar when nothing else about the man is. He wants to put it out of his mind, but it stays.

The next video for Adventure Ceramics goes up with a short apology. "Got caught up in something," says the writing at the start of the video. It's not from the new angle, and there is a tape around one hand, protecting plastic-wrapped gauze. "Got an small injury."

"Small injury my foot," Haddock writes furiously. "I don't know what carpet you're trying to sell, but I know where you got it from." Furious, he sets his tablet down and walks away. He refuses to pick it up for two days.

Nestor reminds him to check his email for an invitation from Bianca to some charity thing she blackmails him into. Something about journalism. Haddock really couldn't care less. He sees a reply email from Adventure Ceramics, but chooses to ignore it. He RSVPs with Bianca.

He goes to the stupid charity gala dressed in a tuxedo he didn't know he owned, that he thinks Nestor created from witchcraft and pain. It fits perfectly, if a little tight, and Nestor forced him to trim his beard. Bianca, naturally, abandons him at the door when she spots her friends. It's fine, he'll prop up a wall and drink.

Somewhere in the midst of the party, he's aware of someone sliding up next to him and handing him a drink. It's water. Spluttering, he looks into familiar blue eyes and a small smirk. "Hullo, Captain," the young man says. He waves with his burned hand. "Fancy seeing you here. My name is Tintin."

Haddock nearly chokes on air. In person, that voice is much, much different than on TV. Obviously he needs new speakers. "Hello Tintin," Haddock says cautiously, and reaches out to shake Tintin's hand. They stand there and talk.

It doesn't occur to Haddock until long after he's sober and the party's over and Tintin is curled up against him that Tintin knew exactly who he was, and what he looked like. "You're not subtle," Tintin says with a yawn. "I looked you up. Saw a picture." Haddock blushes crimson. "Habit of a journalist," Tintin says with a twinkle in his eyes. Haddock pulls a pillow over his head to muffle his groan.

I haven’t looked at my inbox in a very long time, but i saw this and I think it just became my new favourite thing EVER

Give! Me! Pottery Nerds! Tintin! and! Haddock!

this is fantastic, the two of them messaging back and forth and OF COURSE tintin knows who haddock is that kid could out smart Mi6 if he had to Haddock is SO GONE and UGH this is perfect thank you so much for making my day with this!!!!!

[killmongerskeepermain]

Prompt Request: Can you do angst 13 to fluff 11 with shuri? And have a good day sweetheart🥰

Angst #13: “I never meant to hurt you”

Fluff #11: Kissing scars either shortly or long after they’ve healed

The lab. The place where Shuri spends just about 23 hours of her day. The princess. Your soon-to-be wife. Uses the lab to stay busy. To keep her mind occupied. After Namor's attack she proposed as if you were going to slip through her fingers like her family did. You got hurt that day and she hasn't stopped blaming herself. You quickly threw on some clothes before putting your hair in a bun. You walked into the lab which was in utter chaos as one of the scientists was currently getting yelled at by Shuri.

"I asked for one thing! You couldn't even do that right. You're done for the day. Leave." She shouted as the scientist walked out with their head down. 

"Kinda harsh don't you think?" You asked quietly and she scoffed.

"What are you doing here Y/N?" She immediately turned her back focusing on the sequence in front of her.

"I'm just here to check on you. You haven't been to bed in the past 2 weeks." You told her and she waved her hand. "Are you getting any sleep?"

"Yes."

"Well the bag under your eyes say different. You need to rest." 

"I'm fine! I already said that. Now please go find Okoye if you want to talk." She told you trying to get back to her work.

"I want my fiance to not work herself to death. To eat a good meal and get a good night's rest. Not be in this blasted lab all day everyday." You said as she was beginning to upset you. 

"I don't know why you're causing such a fuss, I told you I'm fine now, get out of my lab. That's a command." She commanded and you raised an eyebrow. Now you were fuming. How dare she use her authority on you. Especially when you're just trying to help. 

"This is why I'm making a fuss." You went to grab the paper off the desk and she quickly grabbed your wrist causing you to wince. With everything being forgotten it seems the fact that she holds the strength of the black panther now. 

"Shuri, you're hurting me." You mumbled as pain started to shoot up your arm. 

"I told you to get out Y/N. I do not have time for games." She debunked as the other scientists looked on.

"Princess!" Okoye shouted to grab her attention. Shuri let go of you before turning her back on everyone. You held your wrist before leaving the lab in a hurry ignoring Okoye as she tried to talk to you. "With all due respect princess, I don't see why you would hurt the people trying to help you."

"I don't need a lecture, Okoye. She's fine, I barely grabbed her wrist." She started moving her hands over the touch screen and Okoye sighed.

"Is that you or the panther talking?" She questioned and Shuri froze. How could she forget? She's the Black Panther now. Her strength is unmatched. Shuri dropped her tablet and started to walk out the lab before Okoye stopped her.

"You both need time to cool off. Talk to her later." She said and Shuri's eyes casted to the floor as she thought about the way you winced when she grabbed you. She didn't even realize she squeezed down on your wrists until Okoye spoke up. Her mind was racing and she knew she had to make it up to you. 

You made it to the kitchen area rubbing your wrists before walking over to the fridge. There you pulled a handful of ice out and wrapped it in a towel. Letting out a sigh the coolness made your burning wrist simmer down. A bruise was beginning to form and you made your way up to the room. Shutting the door behind you, you turned on the lamp and just opened a book. Reading should clear your mind a bit. You know she didn't mean too but, your mind was racing. An hour into your read the door to the room opened slowly but you didn't have to look to see who it was.

"Sthandwa?" She called out to you softly but you kept your attention on the page you were reading over and over. She approached you with caution before sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Baby I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't know I was squeezing your wrist. I didn't realize until-"

"It's fine." You said in a flat tone and she shook her head.

"It's not. It's not fine. When I asked you to marry me I promised to protect you. Not hurt you. Which is what I did today. If you want some time apart I- I understand that. But please let me make it better. I never meant to hurt you." Her voice cracked and you set down the book to finally look at her. She had tears in her eyes and you couldn't help but brush them away with your thumb. 

"Okay." You whispered as she reached for your hand. She grabbed your arm and placed a soft kiss over your bandaged wrists.

"Did you ice it already?" 

"Yeah." She kissed the ring on your finger and you gave a small smile as she kissed every inch of the bruise on your wrists. 

"I'll take a break out of the lab. I won't think about any sequences or anything lab related. If that keeps me from hurting you love then that's what I'll do." She said and you ran a hand through her curls.

"The scientists will lose their shit if you're not there." You laughed and she hugged your middle as you leaned into the embrace. 

"I know but they'll live. My girl needs me now."

[untoldsoup]

Hi! I was curious about how you organise work with your comics, including the writing parts :)

Idk if my process is how it's supposed to be done, but I'll share what's been working for me so far!

So for the btb comic, I got it written last year before the 'change' comic was done being drawn. I learned alot about how I wanted to do storytelling with that comic and it influenced how I organized the sequel.

One thing I learned from the 'change' comic is I absolutely loathed drawing the same location too much. Most of that comic is the wedding and by the end of the wedding I was so sick of drawing the wedding scenes (it almost caused me to quit a few times lol).

So when writing the script for the sequel I told myself every chapter would indicate a scene change. This would help me get through drawing a chapter knowing a new scene location would be drawn for the next chapter.

A scene change can be as small as a different room or as big as a new location, as long as *something* changed about the background I would have to draw.

Each chapter is its own word document (well google docs now, i switch over)

I write my stories in movie script format. When researching how to write comics I found the most helpful advice was screenwriting advice. I highly encourage people to watch youtube videos on screenwriting. I also watched a ton of videos aimed at screenwriters that talk about plot, how to write interesting characters, and the three act structure.

I made sure i could answer questions such as "why is my character doing this?" And "what motivates them?" And "how does their wants and desires change throughout the story?" I made sure that each character's motives and personality could answer these questions with a few simple words. I needed to make sure I have a clear understanding of what they wanted.

I go through a TON of edits in my chapters. I even edit alot when I finally start drawing, if I think some dialogue would work better rephrased once I see it next to my art. Editing is huge. Your first draft really is just getting the "dumbest" version down. Once you get over that hurdle, you can mold the script into what you need.

I remove a lot of dialogue during edits. Comics are a visual story telling device, so i try and make sure the words and art work together, and that the words don't feel like they could exist without the art.

There is nothing I hate more than when a comic page is a giant block of text. I find large scary blocks of text uninteresting, So I will often go out of my way to draw more panels if it means breaking up the dialogue.

I also try my best to write realistic dialogue. Would this character say this? Why are they saying this?

If you notice with my stories alot of characters are not direct in how they speak. In real life no one tells you directly "i am mad". They deflect, lash out, say things because they are jealous or hurt ect ect. I wanted to do my best to have my dialogue reflect how each character would realistically handle the pain they are dealt.

When I start drawing, I have the script for the chapter I'm working on open on one computer screen, and my art tablet with my program open on the other. This way as I'm drawing I can easily reference my script.

If I'm drawing an action heavy scene, I will often start paneling out on paper some crude sketches just so I can keep track of where everything should be. It's easy for things to get lost in the action so I try my best to make sure I am aware of where every character is in busy scenes.

These drawings are extremely crude but really really helpful. I don't mind sharing these as they are so abstract they don't really give anything away lol. But they do help me organize.

I use clip Studio to draw and from there start drawing my pages. Each page takes about 2-3 days to finish depending on complexity. I think I get about two pages done a week, more if I have vacation days or something from work.

I have a full time Quality Analyst job, so I'm only able to work on my comic between the hours of midnight and 5am lol. It's why you always see me updating and posting at horrible hours lol.

Anyway I hope that helps? Hopefully I answered your questions!

[chaotic-goodsir]

For day 2 of this Hatchetverse series thing, here's part of the sequel to You Could Call This Luck that I've been trying and failing to finish. Turns out plotting a thing about time travel with multiple POVs and timelines is hard.

To avoid confusion: in this particular timeline, (most of) the events of the musicals didn't happen. Time Bastard did, though, because we all know Ted can't catch a break.

(Also sorry for the long post - I don't usually post fic like this directly to Tumblr, but since this is unfinished I didn't want to put it on Ao3 just yet)

*

Pete Lauter sits at the desk in his science classroom at Hatchetfield High School, trying to finish the last of the week's marking. His eyes are dry from staring at his tablet screen, and the hum of the heating units is starting to get on his nerves. His students' lab reports all blend into one after a while - most of them are clearly written by AI. Getting teenagers to write anything as unexciting as a lab report on their own these days is almost impossible. He's not sure why the school still requires it, but then who is he, a mere teacher, to question the relevance of the national curriculum? Only the guy who sees first-hand how badly it works for his students.

Pete doesn't hate his job, most of the time, but it can get exhausting. This particular evening, he's ready to go home, heat up yesterday's leftovers - maybe make a hot chocolate, why not? - and enjoy the Friday-night peace and quiet. Theo will be out somewhere with his friends, and Steph's away on highly-classified work business. It's the perfect time to finally start that sci-fi novel that's been sitting on his bedside table for weeks. He's craving some decent, interesting writing that isn't the work of a teenager or a robot.

Sounds like a plan, he thinks, saving the report he's been working through and switching the tablet to sleep mode. He'll get the last of the marking done on Sunday night. For now it's future-Pete's problem.

He pulls on his jacket - his favourite, the one with the elbow patches that Steph bought for him last Christmas - and is about to pack the tablet away when the screen blinks into life again.

Ruth Fleming's icon (a photo from her honeymoon in Europe, Ruth and her wife smiling in front of a clear blue sky) flashes onto the screen. It's no surprise that she's still at work - drama club starts in an hour, and she has rehearsals to direct. Pete sighs and taps the icon, hoping she isn't about to ask him to help out again.

'Hey Ruth,' he says. 'I was just about to head home - do you need something?'

Ruth sounds a little out of breath, the way she always does when she's anxious.

'Pete, thank god you're still here. You need to come to the north wing staffroom, now. It's your son.'

Pete freezes. 'Theo?'

'Of course it's Theo. Do you have another son? Look, I don't wanna worry you, but he's hurt. You should come quick.'

'What do you mean, hurt?' Pete asks, panic rising. What is Theo even doing in school, on a Friday night? Something stupid and dangerous, clearly, if he's managed to hurt himself.

Pete swings his backpack onto one shoulder, carrying the tablet in his free hand as he rushes out of the room. He doesn't bother to lock the classroom door.

'How badly? Like, ambulance bad?'

'I don't know. I don't think so. But he's talking crazy.'

He's talking, Pete thinks, okay. He feels bad for thinking it, but he's not 100% convinced this isn't just Theo pulling a prank. He wouldn't put it past his son to do this kind of thing for attention. Theo Lauter is a lot of things, but a well-adjusted teenager doesn't seem to be one of them, no matter what Pete and Steph try.

Ruth knows that, of course, and the worry in her voice is making Pete worry too. She'd see through a typical Theo prank pretty easily. Which means this is probably real.

'I'm on my way.' He tells Ruth. 'I'll be five minutes.'

He hangs up and races down the corridor, cutting through the courtyard to get to the North Wing. The staffroom is upstairs, in the English and Languages corridor. When he gets there, the door is wedged open. Ruth is by the sofa, trying to comfort a teenage boy who looks a lot like his son.

But there's no sign of Theo's trademark denim jacket or band t-shirt. This kid is wearing a white shirt, suspenders, and bowtie, all stained with - Pete realises in horror - a concerning amount of blood. Instead of Theo's ponytail, this kid has his hair down, shoulder length, pinned back to keep it out of his face. And this kid is wearing glasses, with a crack across one lens.

Theo has his mother's eyesight. He's never needed glasses in his life.

Either Theo's pranks have reached a whole new level of elaborate, or this is not Pete's son at all. This kid looks more like-

Well, he looks more like him. Like Pete himself, when he was 25 years younger.

Not for the first time, Pete considers that he really needs to move his family out of Hatchetfield. Only in this messed-up town would something like that even be a possibility.

The kid notices him standing in the doorway, and his eyes go wide behind his cracked glasses. Then he says something that disproves neither the actual-time-travel theory nor the Theo-pulling-a-prank one, but spooks Pete either way.

'...Ted?'

*

Agent Stephanie Lauter is in a highly classified meeting at the PIEP HQ when the smartwatch around her wrist starts to buzz.

She glances at it, annoyed, and sees her husband's icon blinking at her. Pete knows she's busy today. He wouldn't call unless it was something urgent. He's one of the only contacts who can call her through the HQ's high tech digital barrier system.

Maybe it's just an accident. She swipes the icon away. If it's urgent, he'll call back.

She waits for a pause in General Lee's presentation, then raises a hand.

'I'm sorry, sir. My husband is trying to call me - I think it's urgent.'

'Well, you had better take it then,' Lee says, with his characteristic earnestness. No matter the situation, the old General has a way of always seeming that he knows more than anyone else about what's going on. It's a little disconcerting.

He waves towards the door. 'Good luck, Agent Lauter. I hope your family are all safe and well.'

She thanks him, apologises again, and leaves quickly. Outside the meeting room, a security guard in a bulletproof vest watches her pace anxiously up and down the corridor as she returns Pete's call.

'Steph,' he says when he picks up. There's an anxious note in his voice that she does not like the sound of. 'Sorry, I know you're at work. Are you busy right now?'

'It's fine,' she says. 'What's wrong?'

'It's Theo,' Pete says, then pauses. 'Well, no, it's not Theo. At least he says he's not, and I think he's telling the truth. I... I don't really know how to explain this, Steph. It's gonna sound crazy.'

'Breathe, babe,' Steph says, because Pete is talking at about a hundred miles an hour now. 'I work for PIEP. I can cope with crazy.'

'Okay.' Pete says, taking a breath. 'Okay.'

'Is Theo alright?'

'Yeah. At least I hope so. He's at his friends, probably. I'm at school, and there's a kid here that looks like him. Ruth thought it was Theo, and he's covered in blood - not hurt, thank god, just covered in it - so she called me. But it's not. Not Theo, I mean.'

'What? Who is it?'

'I think it's me.'

To anyone else, in any other context, those words wouldn't make sense. Pete is a 41 year old man, and their son is 16. It would be insane to mistake one for the other. Not to mention that Pete is Pete. This kid that's shown up covered in blood can't possibly also be him. One person can't possibly be in two places at once.

But in Hatchetfield, anything is possible. And then, on top of that, there's the Spankoffski Effect.

Steph has often wished she could tell Pete more about the work she does for PIEP. About the data that shows his brother Ted's disappearance, back in 2019, wasn't just an unexplained tragedy but a large-scale temporal incident affecting multiple universes. Pete doesn't even know that there are multiple universes. It would probably break his little nerd heart if he knew she wasn't telling him.

Nor does Pete know about how, the day she told the now-retired General MacNamara that she and Pete were engaged, his congratulations came with a warning:

'By all means, marry a Spankoffski if you wish, Miss Lauter. But a word of advice. I'd strongly suggest you don't take that name, and don't give it to your children.'

When she asked him why, he'd told her that was classified. It wasn't until she graduated from training that she first heard about the Spankoffski Effect, and put two and two together.

In every timeline known to PIEP researchers, something with the power to sever a person from the flow of time itself has an interest in - no, more like an obsession with - Pete's brother, and possibly his entire family.

She's not sure she could tell her husband that part even if she had clearance.

And now Pete's younger self has appeared at the school where he teaches. Steph does not like the sound of that at all.

'You're sure it's not Theo pulling a prank? I wouldn't put it past him.'

'If it is, he deserves an oscar. And this kid has my phone, Steph. From years ago. With my medical alert details, everything. I don't think Theo would go that far.'

Probably not, no, but she wants to be absolutely sure. 'Have you called Theo? Checked where he is?'

'Shit,' Pete says, then catches himself for swearing in front of a student. 'I mean, uh, shoot, no. I should have done that.'

She tries adding Theo to the call they're already on. The line rings out, so she tries again. No answer.

'Steph, if you're calling him, I can't hear it ringing. I don't think this kid has Theo's watch.'

A message appears on Steph's watch screen:

< Fuck off, mom, I'm busy :) >

'Well,' She says, wondering briefly about nature and nurture and whether it's some failure of parenting that turned her son into such a little shit, 'our son just messaged me. Unless he can do that with only his mind, I don't think he's with you.'

'Okay,' Pete says. Then, 'shit.' He doesn't catch himself this time.

Shit is right, Steph thinks. 'Wait there. Keep the kid calm. Stay calm yourself, okay? I'll come to you.'

She doesn't tell him she's planning to bring PIEP agents with her, but he's probably figured that out already.

'Aren't you in DC?'

'Yeah, so you'll have to hold out for a few hours. Anything weird happens - anything else weird - you call me straight away, okay?'

'Okay. Yeah. Love you.'

'Love you too.'

Steph hangs up. She pinches the bridge of her nose with one hand and groans, wondering why she never had the sense to move her family out of Hatchetfield.

Would that have helped, though? If something from the Black and White is after Pete, couldn't it find him anywhere, if it wanted to?

The security guard is staring at her.

'Everything okay, ma'am?'

'Yeah,' she says. 'I'm fine. Just - don't ever marry a Spankoffski, no matter how cute he is.'

The guard blinks, clearly baffled.

'Um... right.'

[cuprohastes]

The Trouble with Pebbles Pt 2

So to set the scene:

Dave the human, actual human of indeterminate ethnic and cultural origin, who has never done anything wrong, or more accurately he's never done anything wrong that anyone cared to find out about has been given a really good rock by a small alien lizard who has an unfortunate speech impediment.

This means exactly what you think it means.

Garfield, Gondy and Rax, Two large and a Medium Atrix are swinging between delight, bewilderment and anxiety. Un-Named male, Garf's little Guy, hasn't woken up form a nap and is at this point, not really a stakeholder.

The Station chiefs, an Atrix called Don't Make Me come Down There AKA Big Ma, and her human counterpart, Chief O'Patel are locked in their office with a half dozen pet rats, some good moss and the emergency biscuit supply trying to figure out how not to get yelled at by Homeworld & Homeworld.

EVA 43 is currently conniving with Humanity's smartest person, which has around 18 different government groups from seven species taking terror shits.

Trashdancer is just having a shitty day because to paraphrase St. Marvin: Here I am with a brain the size of a planet and you want me to Wiki that for you.

Dave The Human is just keeping the plumbing working and singing along to a Human musical, re-written and re-scored for Tsin. It's Squeap!: The Musical.

The Von Neumann Space Squid aren't in this story.

Now: On with the show:

Dave the human is being fired.

"This is not how I thought my day was going to go." he says. He's holding the rock that was given to him my the small Atrix a few hours earlier. He's turning it over in his palm, feeling the smoothness and the roughness.

O'Patel is doing something bizarre with his face an Big Ma is maintining what can only be described as a Poker face. For a species that talks wit chromatophores splayed across their cheeks, muzzle and forehead, Dave can only deduce that he should never play cards with her, or possiby she's under near fatal amounts of sedation.

Slowly Dave starts to realise that O'Patel is trying to tell him something that he doesn't want officially recorded and starts to pay serious attention. Atrix Stare levels of analysis are going on here.

"Unfortuntely [Wink] due to the diplomatic [Eyebrows go up] realities of the situation [Grimace], we are unable to maintain your contract [Slight hunch of hte shoulders, headbob, are you following yet?] as one of the human specialists on this station. "[Pointed eye swivelling at Big Ma].

Dave has now developed telepathy. Let's re-run that with context.

"Oh shit homeworld is being dicks. We have to think fast, and we have to show we dealt with the situation. We have a plan, play along, over to you Big Ma"

"Coincidentally, your job has been allocated to the Atrix." says Big Ma, poking her tablet.

Dave's tablet vibrates and he looks up to see both Station Chiefts making emphatic Answer The Phone motions.

Dave pulls the tablet out, reads the message. He thumb-prints it and sits down hard.

"Oh look at that. Fortunately we were able to..." she says as she smacks a few on-screen buttons and makes Dave the Human vanish. "... find someone who is not only Atrix..." she says pausing.

O'Patel lurches across his desk and thumbprints about 9000 documents that scream across his display, in a performance of button mashing that will never be properly appreciated outside this office.

"... but has exactly the right qualifications. Graak. And... is getting a signing bonus for speedy... application." she says and countersigns about as many documents with the biometrics of her chromatophore pattern.

"Well." says O'Patel. "I'll miss Dave. Good chep, not his fault, good technician, crap taste in music."

"Even so," says Big Ma, "I'm sure you'll be happy to welcome Dave the Atrix, our new technician."

"My life is taking turns for the weird." says Dave and O'Patel slides the biscuits over sympathetically.

A little later on...

Dave the Atrix has a fresh set of work clothes in the Atrix pattern and is sitting on a work table while Dave The Human is working on a helmet with a UV visor.

Dave has a cloth bag lined with a fuzzy blanket, out of which is peeking Dave's little Guy.

The little Guy is a bit traumatised. He kind of assumed that Bad things were happening when Gony, Garf and Rax had ploughed into the common area, dredged the ferns sending kids and Little Guys scattering and then grabbed him specifically and lumbered at tooth rattling speed out of the nice bright Atrix wing of the Station and hauled him through terrifying corridoors.

Dave had been there, the lynchpin of the Little Guy's plan to Get out, and he had said an apologetic Graak, assuming they were both being thrown into space (though rumour has it that humans find this annoying then come back in and bitch about it).

It'd been a bewildering though pleasant surprise when the worst that'd happened was he was stuffed into a weird furry bag, and then Dave had said something about clothes and... now he was here watching the four armed Tsin, who probably ate small Atrix, adding ossicones to a lightweight helmet with a flip up faceplate of some nearly opaque material.

Dave the Atrix on the other hand was watching his friend add an arrangement of knobs to his UV helmet which had a nice buttery yellow visor, that blocked UV.

"Check this out." said Dave The Human. She toggled her tablet and a grid of hexagons on the faceplate rippled up and down in a colourful wave."

"Oh wow." said Dave A. "Does that actually work?"

"Not really." Dave H said regretfully. "There's a lot of research but right now it can approximate a name pattern, and repeat one back if the cameras catch it. Otherwise it uses the standard Atrix Icons, the ones they use as emoji."

"Well better than nothing. Uh, chunky pixels because... "

"Yeah. The Uncanny Valley. CG looks weird."

Dave A nods and looks over into the laundry bag at his Little Guy. "You ok?" he asks again.

The little guy just stares, but there's no ripples of colour and he says "grak."

Dave reaches in and pulls him out, sits him on his lap. "Come on little dude. Lets figure some stuff out. This is my friend, Dave the Human. She's not human but that's what she's called." he says, "And now they call me Dave the Atrix. I'm not an Atrix but I'm going to play one for a while." Dave says.

Every time Dave says Atric, the little guy looks up at Dave's forehead.

"You get used to it. Anyway. Rock accepted. Congrats, you escaped and that's big." he says.

"Grak?"

"Nah I'm not mad. I'd have helped anyway. I think you just startled a lot of people who are now having to answer some questions they needed to hear. So to speak."

"Graak?"

"No. And if anyone tries anything I will get very human about it." Dave says.

"So will I to the best of my abilities." says Dave H. "Hey, the cloth printer is finished..." she says and pulls out a slightly dusty set of clothes. She scrunches them and concertinas them to get the fibres supple and knock out all the cloth dust from the Maker.

Between the two Daves they get the Little guy into a quilted jacket with a hood, and a sarong.

The little guy is initially skeptical because clothes are not very normal for a Tsin of his size but after a minute, he stops feeling so cold and itchily dry and that sitting down on the cloth is a lot more comfortable - and the weird little socks with the silicone dots mean his feet are no longer aching or sliding around, and he starts to come around to maybe there's a use for this.

Then he discovers pockets and his horizons are expanded.

"Graak!!"

"Yeah. Like.. so good." Dave H says. "They're yours. Dave will show you how to wash them."

"You need a name." says Dave A.

"Grak?"

"No not everyone is actually called Dave." he says. "Hang on..."

Dave A motions for the helmet and he and Dave H fuss with it. Dave A puts it on and drops the visor. Now it's being worn, the little guy can more appreciate the dumb friendly expression it seems to have. "Atrix." says Dave A and the hex grid lights up in a pleasing blue and gold pattern that the little guy immediately associates with his new friend.

Dave flips up the visor and pulls the chin peice down. "Oh yeah that really is more comfortable." he tells Dave H and they do some sort of complex hand/claw tap.

"OK. Name time."

They both look at the little guy who up until now has not had an actual name, and has mostly inf act had people try hard not to look at him or refer to him. Hmm. A name like the face patterns he always wanted, but could never have. the tip of his tail starts vibrating.

"Cat." says Dave A. "Cat... Fantastic."

"Really?" says Dave H. "No, let me re-phrase that. Really. hey, Cat, if you don't take the name, can I have it?"

"Grak!" says Cat.

"That's it bud." says Dave H, "That's your name, nobody gets to take it away. If they try, Kick their ass." and proffers a claw. Cat eyes it and tentatively bumps it with a tiny hand.

"So... finally got married. Like... pebble married." says Dave H and Dave A laughs. "I guess. But hey, I'm a modern progressive, non-biological Atrix..."

Cat looks up at everyone's foreheads.

"... But i have been told that I will be in trouble - All the trouble - if I decide to lay an egg."

"Better not do that then." says Dave The Human.

"No promises." says Dave the Atrix and flips down his visor. It's showing cartoon face that from this angle, somehow seems to have a wink for Cat.

[captainx-camino]

Someone commented on an old video recently asking me (genuinely) if one of my speed paints was AI because 1) it was broken up into highlights for TikTok, and 2) I have a very unorthodox sketching process. So, I have decided to show the entire ass backwards way I sketch out the nearly incomprehensible nonsense that my mush brain spits out at me.

To preface, I use Ibis paint x on a cell phone.

I do not have a fancy program like procreate or clip studio, or even a tablet and a lot of how I work has evolved from what I have found works the best for drawing on my tiny, little, shitty phone screen.

That being said....

A speed paint video

To begin, I rarely map faces more than just very basic shapes. (Though, I will admit the structures can get more complex the less comfortable I am with drawing the face.) I usually start with a very basic framework that I implement half from just years of practice in drawing faces and becoming more comfortable with those base shapes, as well as the fact that I'm already aware I will inevitably be over using the liquify pen. Now, I would like to say this is a crutch and I just do it because it's easy, but unfortunately it's actually just because I have fat fingers and a tiny screen (sometimes I can place lines better with my pen but it's still a really small surface to work with) and it's just less of a headache to address the lines with liquify than redoing them a million times or zooming in so close that I lose the rest of the picture.

I will often start with faces because they tend to have the most small details. From there, I will then usually shrink the drawing down and place it about where I think it'll need to be to draw the next part, all while less than strategically erasing the piss poor guidelines I had originally given myself.

SOMETIMES I will save my guides of a second layer in case I might need them later, but that's about as far as I ever plan ahead to be honest...

And we can see that in the next part where after scribbling in a few vague marks for their hair I then IMMEDIATELY regret erasing my head guides and hastily sketch them back in so I can proceed to poorly map out their bodies (most of which I will inevitably be covering up anyway, which I KNEW was going to happen with this one and I cursed myself the entire time). I then fill in where I want all the glorious hair, which fills up the rest of the blank space in the art with fun and interesting shapes and conveys the lore of the AU.

After this, and to take this from a sketch to actual lineart, I will clean up some of the lines on a second layer and keep some of the original sketch features where I like them. This helps me keep the life of the original sketch while also allowing me to clean up the more scratchy lines, which usually produces a pretty nice, clean looking line work.

Should I do a lore drop for my AU next??

Kinda want to...

[wheelin-after-midnight]

30.

What was the last thing you laughed at?

The way Nippy was looking at me while I was talking to her.

How many times have you visited the beach in your lifetime?

Once or twice.

Do you know anyone personally who has committed murder?

No.

Do you use temper glass phone screen protectors?

No.

Have you ever cracked your phone screen badly?

This actually just happened yesterday. I set my tablet down quickly where I thought it would be fine for a second, but it fell face down and now the screen is super cracked. I was looking into potentially getting a new tablet soon anyway, but I didn't really want to have to do it during Christmas season. :(

Would you ever take up pole dancing as a hobby? I would if I were physically capable of doing it, but I'm not.

What is one of your most prized possessions?

Nippy. Any of my Nan's paintings that I have. The jewelry she gave me.

Do you find commercials/ads to be amusing or just annoying?

Often they're both.

Do you enjoy taking late night drives?

I can't drive, but I enjoy late night drives with Brittany. Super fun.

Do you prefer incense, candles, or something else for making your house smell nice?

My Scentsy wax warmer, if anything.

How many pets/children do you have?

One cat. No kids. Want them, can't have them.

Have you ever accidentally stolen something?

Nah.

What was the last thing you needed help with?

Figuring out why half the lights in my apartment stopped working when the breakers were fine and the bulbs had been recently changed and weren't even looking burnt.

What's the most expensive article of clothing you own?

The bridesmaid's dress I wore to my sister's wedding was just under $200.

What's one of your favorite memories from your childhood?

Pa building me a bike I could pedal with my hands and he and Nan surprising me with it. I went into more detail about it a few surveys ago. #27 maybe? Y'all can go back and find it if you feel like reading more about that.

What seems like a cult to you but isn't one?

The way some people go so hard for celebrities that they like and start throwing boundaries out the window, refusing to see them as real, human people with the same emotions as everyone else, deserving of privacy and normalcy.. It's very weird.

What do you do when you start to feel depressed or really down?

I sleep a lot more. Cry a lot. I withdraw even more. Don't eat enough, or at all.

Do you keep your nails manicured?

Hah, no. I can't afford to.

When was the last time you checked your mail?

Not for a bit. I have to have someone go to my box and bring it to me and our postal service was on strike, so.

Do you do positive affirmations daily?

No. I try to remind myself of good things and to be kind to myself, but I have a harder time following through some days.

What time did you wake up this morning?

I first woke up at 10 but then went back to bed.

Do you like lemon with your tea?

When I'm sick.

Do you know anyone with the name Andrew?

An old friend's son, but I don't talk to or hang out with her anymore.

Are you a sensitive person?

Soooooo deeply sensitive.

Do you know any of your neighbors well?

A couple. I've been here over a decade so have had a lot of turnover with who the neighbors on my floor are. A bunch of us used to sit in the hallway and talk and drink during the covid shutdown when everybody was home. They were very kind to me at a very vulnerable time when my Nan had just died. There's still a couple living here from that time. I'm not friends with them, but I'll never forget how they treated me when others who should have been there never even checked on me, pretended my grief wasn't happening, and ignored when I needed them.

Have you ever received a traffic ticket?

No.

Do you enjoy glitter or find it to be a nuisance?

Both. It's pretty, but omg, it's such a mess and gets everywhere.

Would you ever want to be a politician?

I used to think about it. To try to help the disabled population. But no. No matter my intentions when starting out, I don't want the world of politics to end up corrupting me.

Have you ever been into Pokémon? If so, what's your favorite?

No, but I like pikachu. He's cute.

What's your favorite soup?

All the vegetarian ones I made when I ate that way. So good. I love homemade soup.

What color reminds you of the week you've had so far?

Blue-grey.

Chinese or Mexican food? What's your favorite dish?

Mexican. Burritos or burrito bowls.

Have you ever seen a wolf in person?

I don't think so.

Are you currently doing something else besides this survey?

Thinking about how I'm gonna shower and clean Nip's boxes after I'm finished.

Do you get annoyed by repetitive questions?

Occasionally.

What's the fastest you've ever driven?

I can't drive.

Have you ever listened to Tim McGraw?

Absolutely.

What's the last thing you lit on fire?

Nothing.

Do you still watch American Idol?

Just the auditions, if I happen to catch some of them.

What's your favorite things about life?

Not a whole hell of a lot right now. I'm terrified of the upcoming complete upending of everything and I'm having a really hard time with it. My cat, music, my girlfriend, good coffee, and my favourite foods are things that see me keep putting one foot in front of the other as much as possible, though.

What is your favorite emoticon?

🥰😂😘😈🥹😭🤣🫠🤦🏻‍♀️☺️ Are the ones I use the most.

When was the last time you had to replace the batteries in something?

I've used rechargeable batteries for years. Much easier since I can't get to the store on my own. Less waste.

Have you ever seen a street name that was funny or a town name?

Not that I can remember, but every time we go down a street with my given name while driving, my friends look at me and go "we're on your street."

Do you like to watch anime?

No.

Do you ever drink energy drinks?

Only the Starbucks or Starbucks double shot ones, and not very often.

How many surveys have you created?

None.

Do you just enjoy taking them?

Well, yeah.

What type of cell phone do you own? Do you like it?

None. I've a home phone and a tablet.

What's your plans for the rest of the day?

Shower, clean Nip's boxes, feed her again, vacuum, do some dishes, talk to babe, listen to an audiobook, put something on to fall asleep to.

[kirk-goes-to-gallifrey]

I love your art! (I clicked on your art tag and started scrolling.) What is your process for creating a piece? Do you usually look at a single reference photo which you draw from? Do you somehow incorporate photos into your drawings by drawing over them? (I did that once on a tablet.) Or do you use another method? Thanks!

omg hiiiii thanks so much!!!!!!!!

my process is a bit all over the place (I've tried to describe it before with not much success, maybe now I can do a better job hahaha) but yes I always need reference photos, I can't draw anything from my imagination :( sometimes I use more than one picture, but most times I think I use just one photo that I really like and want to reproduce.

when I'm feeling super inspired and I have a lot of free time, I draw from observation only. And then if I get stuck on a particular spot that I feel I can't get right, I overlay the reference picture and make the necessary adjustments. I've been replicating images for such a long time that nowadays I can usually overlay the original over my drawing and 90% of lines match 😅 And when I draw on paper I do the same thing, I place the paper over my screen to check if the lines are where they should be, but always retroactively, first I draw then I check.

I actually started out drawing everything upside down! I learned that technique with another artist (I took a course when I was in high school 15 years ago), cause apparently if you flip your reference upside down, a house stops being a house, eyes stop being eyes, a mouth stops being a mouth, so you can focus on distances between points, lines, areas and proportions only, without thinking "oh a mouth looks like a little cartoon bird on top of a minimalist boat" or whatever, but rather "this shape is about the same size as that one, and is positioned in relation to that other one and that other line..." So that's sort of how I learned to draw/replicate I what I see (if that made any sense). And replicating a photo is much easier than drawing reality cause a picture is already 2D, when I'm drawing something real I have to convert the 3 dimensions to 2 in my head and I often get a headache by the end of the process lmao

Sometimes I don't have the time or energy (it takes a lot of effort from the brain to do the observation thing) and in those cases I do some lines over the reference pic just to get key areas, then I delete the reference layer (of course I keep a copy in another corner of the screen so I can keep looking at it) and paint over the sketched lines till they mostly disappear.

I think painting is the most fun - either in color or b&w - getting the shades to blend and the painting to look realistic is the part that I like most.

I usually paint on photoshop but I recently got a tablet and I've been trying out new software on it. I mostly require a soft brush with opacity varying with pressure. I start out by doing blocks of color and then I blend blend blend.

I often think that my art is not very good (sometimes I question whether it's art in the first place), cause the only thing I'm good at is copying what I see, and because of that I've been trying to play more with colors and textures, trying to make my paintings a bit more different than their reference photos, a bit more "artistic" idk. I wish I could do more stylized stuff. But the realism can be fun too, it relaxes my brain after a whole day of PhDying.

Thank you so much for the ask!!! And for telling me that you like my stuff (ಥ _ ಥ) means a lot <3

[thedawningofthehour]

didn't you say you were making Draxum's house in the sims? Did you ever finish? :(

So I whined about this on my main blog, but I'm having issues with my computer. The power port, and I've noticed this for a while, gets extremely hot whenever I try to run anything more intensive than Powerwash Simulator, and the past few months it's become harder and harder to get it to charge. (I'm not overclocking or anything-I bought this computer for gaming and made sure it had the specs to run shit like my heavily modded Skyrim and Fallout, it should be able to run Sims) I contacted Acer about a repair and they quoted me over eight hundred dollars. The actual computer was about 1200-1300, for comparison. There's other issues with it as well-there's a chip on the screen that's really obvious on a white background, and they advertised that it would support a second hard drive, but it's never recognized the one I bought. The power port is the most grievous though, and power ports on laptops are notoriously hard to repair.

And this computer isn't old. I bought it last spring. Less than a year and a half-and I've barely been gaming on it because I've been writing this, so I spent over a thousand dollars on a turtles fanfiction machine essentially. (there's been other reasons, depression funk caused a complete disinterest in gaming and after so many mass shootings I've started feeling guilty whenever playing games with guns, but writing is mostly what I've been using this expensive gaming PC for) I only had the one-year warranty that came with the computer, but honestly I can't find it in myself to regret that too much because I have never once had a company actually honor a warranty. It's like safety deposits on apartments or insurance claims-they'll do everything they can to weasel out of doing what they're supposed to.

So back to your question-I currently don't trust my computer to run the Sims. Or anything else. And I can afford to buy another gaming PC right now, but it would be financially pretty irresponsible. I returned the tablet I bought to draw with, and I think I'm going to get one of those two-in-one laptop/tablets so I can use it for drawing and writing. Maybe I'll be able to run the Sims 4 on that-it doesn't have to run great, I use it mostly as a building simulator. Kind of sucks though, Crusader Kings 3 came out with another expansion pack and the new Cities Skylines is coming out this fall, plus I've been getting a hankering to play Skyrim again.

But enough about my computer woes, I do think I have some screenshots I could show...

First floor, I apparently took these during the first round of building because I made a lot of changes. The lab is way bigger now, and I have the rest of the house shell done. The blank space in the back right is where I was going to put in the multi-story room where the turtles find the weapons-which is probably the least completed part of the entire house because holy hell the building controls do not want to work with me.

But in the back left you can see Cass and Gale's rooms! :)

I do like how the main hallway turned out. I know it was mostly destroyed on Creation Day, but let's just say Draxum redid it in the same style. The middle picture, that's the little storage room that hides the door to the part of the house where Gale's room is. If you know the Sims you can tell where the secret door is.

And yes, I know the half-walls under the stairs look ridiculous, I've fixed it since then. I couldn't just extend the half-wall all the way back because it would delete the upper staircase, for some reason.

I'm pretty proud of how the living room is turning out. Could be a little bigger, but the symmetry of the bookshelves are just too perfect. (also the curved walls get fussy, FUCK CURVED WALLS) Needs some clutter on the mantle though.

The kitchen no longer looks like this, I moved around a lot of the pictures and added another layer of cabinets, because Draxum probably has like six sets of fine china he's received as gifts throughout the years and refuses to part with. I added more retro-looking décor, because the last time he remodeled this room was in the sixties and I wanted it to look a little old-fashioned. I also imagine he refuses to get an electric stove, saying his mystic wood-burning stove works just fine. I tried to work a pantry in, but it didn't really pan out. (lol) And the more I think about it, he probably has a legit larder somewhere in the basement, since Draxum is from a time before refrigeration and would have grown up storing food in underground cellars. (and he deffo has like several years worth of food stored away, he's pretty much a doomsday prepper)

This is also incidentally the layout of the kitchen at my old house, hence the weird octagon dining area. Except we had windows. With no curtains. In the woods. It was unsettling to cook at night.

Draxum's study is bigger now, and I think I added a fireplace? He absolutely has eight bazillion degrees and awards and he puts them ALL on his wall. He earned that shit, dammit.

His bedroom's nothing to write home about. It's comfortable, not luxurious. There's no electric lights because he prefers candlelight.

Just imagine that white bathroom counter stained with pink splotches from Draxum's hair dye.

I had BARELY done anything with the pool, but as you can see it is indeed a tank. Draxum was planning to keep a mutant or something in there.

I was actually in the process of redoing the entire greenery lol, but I think I did an okay job on 1.0. Not the mason jar lamps though, I'm not sure what I was thinking there.

Some pictures of Lab 1.0. The ooze-vine-thing looks terrible; I straight up haven't even started to recreate it in 2.0. I pushed back Draxum's alchemy area and gave him an actual medical bay in the back, which is where The Table would have been located.

That's mostly Gale's area on the left, I think it still broadly looks this way? I didn't put in stuff like the robotics table because it just looked silly-and besides, we're not actually playing this build. We know Galois only needs two hands and a welder to make a robot.

I will leave you off with a slightly more clutterfied Gale's room! Oh, but also, I GOT PURPLE CC CURTAINS FOR HIM. :D After I took this picture, but just know he has them now. He has no reason to have them because he does not have a window, but I'm happy for him.

[kart0]

update I'm suicidal again tw

I feel empty. It's been around two weeks that my mood has been dropping lately. And it doesn't feel good at all, y'know. I've been worrying about too many things, things that I can't control. And I've been itching to get my hands on alcohol again. For those who don't know, I was an alcoholic, and for a year or so I'd drink every single night and get blackout drunk. I quit, but every now and then I get a little weak and I go back to it. Anyways, what I'm saying is, I can see the patterns and I can now feel that if I don't take care of myself, I'm gonna really feel bad and go suicidal again. Which isn't ideal.

I wanted to draw again but I'm too scared. Social media scares me. I'm too afraid of attention, but also the lack of it terrifies me. What if no one cares ? Am I that forgettable ? Like, does it even matter ? I feel like I've reached my peak. I don't have desire or burning passion to draw anymore. Which is so..sad. I feel like an empty bottle, once full of wonders now a void of numbness.

I shouldn't put so much weight on social media either. And I was good at doing that for some time. I pretended like I didn't care that the numbers were getting lower. But that would discourage me even more, and it's make me post less. And now we're here. I feel stuck, I don't know what to draw, and I don't know who I should draw. I don't know if I WANT to draw. I don't know, I don't know. I look at my old pieces and I feel so hollow. I was drunk and almost at my lowest but I was so fucking good. And now that I'm starting to feel mentally better, I can't do anything. Do you understand how frustrating this feels ?

And it makes me feel so bad. So so so fucking bad. Last year my parents got me a screen tablet for drawing. Do you know how expensive this shit is ? And I've barely used it. I'm such a bad kid. I'm not a good person at all. I'm laughing, cuz I can't even be a proper daughter for them. I had to be all complicated and mentally sick.

And I can hear the tiny voice whispering bad things to me. I'm trying to hard to be level headed and calm, to distract myself from it. But. It tells me to stop. To give up. Why even bother. I'm just . So tired. I feel hopeless. I don't want to keep going. I don't want to feel this pain, and I don't want to keep bothering people. But if I kill myself I will become a bother. I want to disappear. To stop existing and make it all go away.

In the end, I kept thinking, well, at least I still draw. At least I still do something useful. I can pretend I make people happy. But now ? I can't even do that anymore. I can't do anything. I have no purpose. I'm useless.

[lofibeanie]

I have never been an Apple iDevice person but imma be honest, since Procreate put out the statement on anti-AI generated images and stuff, I have been looking into buying an iPad purely so I can start learning how to use Procreate (gdi for only being on iOS)

I have 3 pays until my birthday so HOPEFULLY I will be able to have enough saved to get it as a bday present to myself lol. I also have a con in a couple weeks so. Who knows how that will turn out. Artist Alleys make me wanna spend all of my money...I need to be careful :') I'm going both days so I need to be even more responsible LOL

Still umming and ahhing between the 11" and the 13" iPad Air M2 (I cannot justify the Pro, oof, I ain't made of money), and I definitely want the 256GB one. Obviously need the Apple Pencil too (Pro? Maybe?). Then there's the stuff like the case, need nib protectors too bc I want a paperlike screen protector bc I have a Samsung tablet atm and it's a glossy screen and it kinda sucks for drawing on. My Cintiq is a more matte screen which is SO MUCH NICER to draw on.

I have ideas and I want a portable option so I don't have to just sit at my desk, I can sit anywhere in the house or even bring it when I go out places, etc, etc...also Procreate has some really neat features (I love you CSP but I am not paying for 2 subscriptions) I was trying it out on my sister's iPad and it's pretty nice indeed, I could get used to this. Also the amount of user-made assets and tutorials for Procreate is so cool, I know I can definitely find something that's in the realm of what I'm wanting to do :3

Also I am one of those people who loves customising their devices and it's so much easier to do on an Apple device over an Android. I use a Samsung phone and I do have it to a point where I really like how I've customised it, but my tablet is another story - it's okay but ehhhh, I want it different. Yes I am going to change my icons when I get my iPad, this thing is gonna be so fun when I am done with it. Still thinking about if I should get a clear back folio case so I can stick prints and stuff in the back or if I should just go for a regular folio case, but that's a problem for idk, a few weeks from now.

Oh god my birthday is in just over a month-

Anyway yeah. Hoping to get the iPad and stuff around my birthday but knowing me it'll prooooobably be closer to Christmas but also I hate waiting so we'll see if my impatience is stronger than my impulsively spending on other stuff I don't need - place your bets now /hj