#coloring is based on a blue jay!

[smallerdelusions]

Dinovember Day 16: Deinonychus

guess who read the prompt wrong and drew the wrong dinosaur! it's too late at night to change it now so you get a Deinonychus instead of a Deinocheirus! in my defense i am very tired

[here-i-am-again-god]

I just don't understand why half the characters had to be wearing blue that's all

[ethanscrocs]

Ruby-Eyed Bluejay - by saintverse

#6198D9 #B7D5F9 #A4734B

#CDBE6B #A5A9AC #C70D35

[sorrowgrove]

sójka suika & others

[lightningwaters]

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Rainbow Grasshopper (Dactylotum bicolor)

Habitat & Distribution

Mainly found in prairies and agricultural areas

Local to the Great Plains and southwestern United States

Physical Description

Weight: 0.01 oz (0.28 g) on average

Length: 20 mm to 35 mm (0.8 to 1.4 in)

Both sexes have a black base and brightly colored markings over their head and body; these markings can be red, orange, yellow, green, or blue

The rainbow grasshopper does not have wings, and moves only by hopping

Behaviour

Adults feed on a variety of plants, primarily grasses and young shoots

Though not formally social, they tend to congregate in groups for foraging

Predators include possums, raccoons, shrews, foxes, and bats

Key Advantages

Like other grasshoppers, the rainbow grasshopper has a powerful jump

The bright coloration may warn away potential predators, as they mimic other insects which are poisonous

Photo by Jay Iwasaki

[lericekrispie]

Albatrio redesign! I wanted to make it look like if they were in a show/cartoon, they could stand together in frame and look like a part of a natural set

The two main contrasting colors I tried to use throughout were either red and blue or orange and blue. Both Chip and Jay tone down Gillion's pallete while still being colorful themselves.

Jay has more square shape language, which I feel fits her personality type. I leaned farther into the artificer typing and put my girls hair up in a way that was diff from the old design but was still true to practicality.

Gills design was based off of a lily pad, and I wanted it to becolorful to contrast his old design for story telling, to show how much he has grown in his own skin. I leaned heavy into mermaid core, trying to balance his stockiness with daintiness.

- its been high time since I've redone these designs 🩷🩷🩷 I tried to keep everything visually pleasing not only for them to stand alone but also to work as a group

[xxxnightcorequeenxxxv3]

I've seen 3 other ppl here on Tumblr do a magical Girl AU for the Batfam. I wanna jump on that bandwagon, too.

But I don't wanna copy someone else outright, so I'm still working on the designs. ( I am thinking of going hard light/hologram with adjustable tangibility for the details that would make movements easier, but we still got ruffs and bows. Possibly shoes with transformer heals using the same holo hard light so they can be falts and heals.) But I do know what weapons I wanna give them. (I also am thinking on making like the weapons kinda like in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. So magic tech-like. So we can get the moment where Bruce believes it's Tech when it's the thing he really doesn't like cuz he doesn't get Magic rules. ) However, regarding the story in all the clutter. Dick finds a music box hidden on the manner grounds. (buried? in dusty attic? Somewhere he shouldn't have been going?) It has little robins on it. It Has a false bottom, and out of it drops a bracelet with a peculiar picture charm bracelet with R image with a gem detail. Dick puts it on out of curiosity. Little does he know he is now magical girl cursed. It only comes to a head once he tries to become a hero and says no, in this universe, not letting Dick join him. Dick tries to join anyway by following. Bruce gets in a tight spot and really could use the backup. Dick tries to jump in, but the moment he decides to help, boom, "magical girl." I said it was a curse, so he looks like one, not only clothing-wise but physically, too. (curse only applies when being a hero; think starlights from Sailor Moon) So now Dick is out there pummeling villains with magic flags. (he has yet to unlock alt and lethal modes, got to have power-ups you know) Bruce is thankful for the help, but, it's Bruce. He tries to find out who Dick is; Dick Says, Call me Robin (Dick should be his lucky star. The curse comes with a magic girl veil of obscurity, meaning even if you should know who they are, magic makes you unable to connect the dots.) Here, the cat-and-mouse game starts and continues. Cuz one by one, the kids go snooping and get cursed. Robin recognizes Robin. So when Babs and Dick realize the other is cursed. There was a lot of back-and-forth. Based on the gem color of their costumes, they settled on both being Robins. So Dick has a blue gem on his, so he's Robin Sapphire / Robin "Saf"/ RS. Babs is Robin Jasper/ Robin Jazz / RJ, and her gem is Orange. And going down the line, it's the same story. Jay is Robin Ruby/ Robin Rue/RR. (Red) Tim is Robin Emerald/ Robin Ema/ RE (Green) Stef is Robin Ametyst/ Robin Amy/ RA (Purple) Damien is Robin Diamond/ Robin Dia / RD (White/Clare) Cassandra is Robin Onyx / Robin Nyx / RO (Black) Duke is Robin Topaz/ Robin Arty / RT (Yellow) But I promised weapons for this post, so here they are; vids are to show weapons usage with the performers knowing their craft. Duke – Jumpe rope example;

Tim - Baton example;

Dick - 2 Flags example;

Babs- Hola hoop example;

Stef - Ball example;

Dami - Ribbon example;

Jay – Clubs example;

Cas - Pom Pom example;

[rosemist50]

WOOOO FINALLY STAR IS OUT Spoilers below the cut, obviously, but I think most of the spoilers are from the names...

So to start off, we have the Riverclan triplets in Graysky, Mistpool, and Frostdawn. Graysky and Mistpool are mostly the same, but there are still a few changes. Frostdawn changed completely. I came up with this new design for her ages ago, but I wanted to wait until she got her full name to post it. The waiting took FOREVER. The smaller scar on her neck is from Splashtail's first attack on her, it was initially a much larger wound, however the advanced medical care from the Twolegs made it heal better and therefore left a smaller scar. TNR ear tip, and I'd imagine the flank scar would go away after a while, but I thought I should put it anyway. After them is Whistlebreeze! A duller brown but still brown. I don't know what to call the little tufts of fur under her cheek fur, but I really like them on her <3. Then is newly crowned Icestar! You go girlie I am eagerly awaiting new PMVs and MAPs about you now that you're in the spotlight. I included below where the star would have gone on her old design, I didn't change the design because the star wouldn't fit, I changed it because she needed a new design; I wasn't satisfied with the old one anymore. After is Splashtail. Okay, look - his old design is nice to look at, but there's just too much going on. It's not cohesive, and I was having trouble remembering all the little details. So here's a new one. Gave him little fangs as a trade off for changing it so drastically again. Then is Berryheart, her design didn't really change I just wanted to fix her shapes and make the colors more contrasting. Then is Riverstar, whose design really changed. I think he looks like a blue jay now. And finally a new design for Dark Forest Curlfeather. It's the exact same base design, but now with her visceral death wounds. Oh and the curls/spirals on her body are more squarish in death, just to make them look more dense or matted.

[ross-sluggo]

hi i realized after i started uploading the voices that none of them had actual outfits

so i. fixed that-

more info under the cut

Broken - Based on a hummingbird, tried making him look sort of saintly? Still a wet cat of a voice though

Cheated - Based on a magpie, gave him binding tape because fuck you I can :)

Cold - Based on a common loon, saw a small bit of poetry about a loon ruthlessly defending their young and went "I can do somethin' with that-"

Contrarian - Based on a raven, he's in a perpetual state of ":3" despite having a beak.

Hero - Based on a sparrow, this was the last one I did and my hand was NOT having it

Hunted - Based on a cuckoo, I have 0 notes for this one

Opportunist - Based on a falcon, I also have 0 notes for this one

Paranoid - Based on a budgie, some birthday fanart a friend did locked in their design 100% barring the badge, more on the badge later

Skeptic - Based on a jackdaw, which I had no clue existed until looking up birds for this awhile ago

Smitten - Based on a lovebird, I made him look MAD comfy

Stubborn - Based on a blue jay, probably the most effort I put into any of them because that's my GUY- ignore my broken and cheated fanclub sideblog ignore that ignore that

Oh, the badges have their own thing too

It's all the "crowns" of each princess, all the chapter 2 princesses get the colors from the pokemon color categories because I'm a nerd- did you know orange is not a color category in pokemon? wild!

[cradle-of-darkness]

hey!! I have lots of stuff I made for cfco (this thing!) that I really want to share and also just keep in one spot, so here's kind of a cfco """artbook""". LOTS of rambling about my ocs up ahead!!! you have been warned!!!!

old code foretold co-op art under cut ↓

first up is this little thumbnail of a mock up poster/book cover! this was made while cfco lived only in my imagination, before I actually started to seriously consider making it into something tangible. little did I know that I would eventually repurpose this design into the title art 😈

I realized this design wouldn't work vertically if i was gonna make cfco in google slides so I switched some stuff around and boom!!!! more detailed sketch!!!!!

here's a placeholder background I slapped together and used while testing out how I wanted things to look (textbox design, font, color palette, sprites). if you look closely at the background of jay and raziel's infocards you can see I used this for those since I didn't have the actual backgrounds drawn at that point. there were actually some earlier textbox designs with a little icon that was supposed to show the face of whichever character was speaking to make it more clear, but ended up cutting that since i thought it'd be unnecessary extra work for me

here's a thumbnail for what was supposed to be the final slide! I kinda wished I finished this but honestly I kinda forgot about it 😭 plus there wouldn't be a lot of room for the text in this design. I also think it's a little misleading because it implies evelyn is still In The Walls when she is not. she is elsewhere now. hopefully in therapy

some of the first iterations of jay my stupid clown son who I love oh so dearly. oh god where do I even start with him. well for starters these sketches are from OCTOBER!!!!! of LAST YEAR!!!!!! WILD!!!!!!!! anyway as you can see he's pretty different here. I can't talk about his design without saying that from the very beginning he was designed to be a foil to sylvie and I tried to get that across in just about anywhere I could. at first I just thought the idea of an "anti-sylvie" would be cool, but then that idea quickly evolved into a completely separate character.

I picked his epithet, "sunshine", to contrast "drowsy". I didn't wanna go for the exact opposite word to drowsy like "awake" or "energetic", but it got me thinking about night/day parallels and I figured I could do something with that, which made me land on "sunshine"

jay is a clown who dropped out of school and doesn't want to be taken seriously because he's exhausted from the restrictions his family put on him! meanwhile sylvie is a psychologist who graduated early and wants to be taken seriously because he craves respect and validation (possibly out of a lack of respect from his family). parallels!!! I could honestly go on and on about everything in jay's personality that foils sylvie's but I'll just stick to his design because idk if anyone else wants to hear all that 😭

so yeah uh back to his design. his mask used to cover his eyes! I changed it to cover his mouth since sylvie's glasses cover only his eyes, I thought it'd be more fitting if jay's mask covered whatever sylvie's glasses don't cover

he also had a star motif! I felt like this didn't line up with him being sun themed so I scrapped it

lots of jays!!! they're all squished together on one image because tumblr image limit

because his color palette is based off of an inverted version of sylvie's, I already knew I wanted his main colors to be blue, red/pink, black, and brown/bronze. I messed around with this palette a lot before I got it to look ok. there's some earlier versions of his design where he's more pink than red

his design here differs a little from what I ended up sticking with!!!

- the cuffs of his sleeves and his gloves got their colors switched around

- the clown nose on his mask became an actual separate piece instead of just a flat red spot

- the ruffles on his undershirt. gone

- slightly simplified bangs

- no more blue streaks in hair!!! I actually kinda wish I kept these :(

he was actually supposed to be much more outwardly malicious. like one of these characters who does whatever sounds the most fun at the moment regardless of the consequences or their morals. I thought it'd be cool if instead of the usual little shine I give characters on the side of their eyes, jay had a triangle shape towards the top of his eye that looked like a shine, but then when he gets serious and narrows his eyes, it's no longer visible and it makes his eyes look like there's no light in them

I gave him a subtle X motif because I thought it was like the opposite of a swirl. a swirl curls in on itself while an X sticks out sharply in different directions

near the top of the image is an idea for jay's "phoenix design". his powers aren't shown a lot in cfco, but I like to think that after he's defeated in a fight, he can revive himself for a short period of time... like how a phoenix is reborn 😱😱😱😱 anyway this design was supposed to be what he might look like after reviving. it needs some work but I like his hat

the bottom of this image is sketches for his sprites!!!!

and speaking of his sprites...... here's some quick sketches I made for some of his poses!!!!! I wanted his sprites to mirror the poses of some of sylvie's portraits, but with a contrasting emotion. when sylvie's angry he stands up straight and holds his arm out in an accusatory pose. when jay is happy he jolts up and reaches out his arm in delight. when sylvie is proud of himself he leans forward and gestures towards himself. when jay is nervous he jerks to one side and brings his hand to his collar out of uncertainty. can you tell how much I wanted jay to parallel sylvie

by the way while I'm on the topic I think it's worth mentioning: jay and sylvie are...... kinda maybe sorta oc x canon......... (LOUD BOOING SFX) I wrote them as friends and that's how they'll stay but I really love them together and I like imagining, in a scenario where they're both in better places mentally, they're in a qpr. ok. so what. sue me.

moving on from jay, here's one of raziel's first designs all the way from december of last year!!!! this was around when I started to roughly construct the plot of cfco in my brain. i really like how he looks here but I had to leave behind some elements of this design to prevent it from feeling too cluttered and to make them easier to redraw multiple times for their sprites. the design of their sleeves was actually based on a jacket I saw around this time that I thought looked cool

and finally here's evelyn! the first image is one of my first drawings of her along with an idea for what she would've looked like in the past. then the second is a sketch of her portrait compared to the final one. there's actually a lot I want to say about her and by extension cfco as a whole

in my head, cfco was a lot different. it just existed as little collections of scenes I would imagine that I thought I could string together and form a cohesive story out of. these little scenes started to evolve and become more complex, which made me realize I would not be able to make them into anything in that state.

cfco was going to have a much deeper plot centered around evelyn discovering a secret about how epithets function. this secret would have been a lot for one person to handle and being burdened with this knowledge would have caused her a great deal of stress, so she made a nearly impossible game which would reveal this secret to whoever wins it so that someone else can share this burden. I realized while writing the draft of cfco that at my current writing ability, I wouldn't be able to pull a story like this off, and also that whatever I made this secret would probably end up being not possible in the world of ee as more lore gets revealed, so I switched some stuff around and now it's not about that anymore, but I think a consequence of that was now the plot feels a little rushed and unpolished 😭 oh well

the mark on her chest was also originally a scar from something related to this version of the story. I wanted to keep that part of her design even though it's not a scar in the current version of her character, so it's a birthmark now

I thought the themes of "forbidden knowledge" accompanied by vague religious imagery were cool for the original idea and I had integrated these themes into the characters and story so much by that point that it'd be a waste to turn it back around so I figured I should just keep them in even if it makes less sense

raziel is very angel themed! the straps on the back of their jacket are supposed to look like angel wings. the circles all over their outfit is supposed to give the feeling of halos, or the many eyes of a seraphim. evelyn has a pomegranate shaped necklace and her hair is supposed to be shaped like a pomegranate. her surname even used to be plague-odd, pun on "play god" (which I ended up changing to a similar sounding name). raziel and evelyn also have angel numbers associated with them. raziel's is 111 (intuition) and it's present in his birthday, while evelyn's is 444 (protection) and is present in her age and birthday

that's about it!!! if you read this far thank you so much 🙏 even though it's not very good, I'm glad I made cfco after spending so long being scared to write something and share it online. not to be that guy who wants people to ask him about his ocs but if u wanna know anything else about these guys 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 u can ask 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 I love talking about them (especially jay. if you couldn't already tell he's the favorite child)

by the way here's all of jay and raziel's sprites. the links should hopefully work????

jay

raziel

[master-jarrus]

Some headcanons that are mostly definitely influenced by my pregnancy and birth of my son along with some other people's stories

Lloyd's elf ears folded over and looked puppy doggish (my son's do this. It's so freaking cute I kind of hope he never grows out of it)

Misako had a lot of troubles nursing due to her age and Lloyd was tongue tied (there is a bit of skin that attaches your tongue to the bottom of your mouth. Tongue tied is when it impedes the tongue's movement. It can cause issues with nursing and speech. My son has slight issues with latching because of this and three other factors but we are getting the hang of it)

Wu had to escort Garmadon out of the room when Misako was in labour because he got too agitated over the fact that he couldn't make it better (my husband didn't get sent out until after our son was born. They used the baby to distract him)

Misako had postpartum depression and having Lloyd soothed her greatly but she wouldn't hold him out of anxiety (my mom went through this with me and my youngest sister. I'm very fortunate that the most I have had is feeling off and the occasional intrusive thought that makes me check him for bugs I know aren't there)

Lloyd would eat so much and make himself sick from eating so quickly (my son just downed what I'm guesstimating based off pumping and stuff to be 6 ozs. That's almost a full cup and he's only a week old)

Lloyd had dark hair at birth and got lighter as he grew (we thought my baby sister was going to be a brunette and now she's blonde)

His eyes changed color and were actually brown when he was born but became red. This gave Garmadon severe anxiety. They turned green with his true potential. Misako lamented over the loss of his red eyes. (baby's eyes can change colors my sibling had violet eyes but now she has blue with a little bit of green)

Misako had a lot of miscarriages before Lloyd

Her pregnancy with Lloyd was rough and Garmadon tried to talk her into an abortion out of fear she wouldn't make it. It caused a really bad fight and she cried to which he immediately apologized and admitted he was scared of losing her (my husband never suggested it but he now understands why I'm prochoice and is still considering a vasectomy)

Garmadon hovered over Lloyd and Misako and it got on her nerves. She felt like he didn't believe she was capable of taking of Lloyd and it worsened her depression

Garmadon kept having intrusive thoughts and it made him paranoid about bugs, germs, and people so he hovered over Misako and Lloyd because it was the closest he could do to bubble wrapping them

Misako's mother (who is apparently implied to be alive in at least the first season???? She sent Lloyd candy when he was at Darkly's) kept trying to help but she would just take Lloyd and correct every little thing Misako did with him that she didn't approve of

Lloyd would grab at his dried umbilical cord before it fell out and they were worried he was going to pull it out early (it's supposed to fall out naturally. It's not the end of the world if comes out early you just have to be hyper vigilant for signs of infection since it goes straight to there stomachs)

As a broad thing I don't think circumcision is much of a thing in Ninjago since they probably don't have Judaism considering the First Spinjitzu Master. So I don't think any of the guys are circumcised and I feel like if any of them were to be it would be Jay. Idk he feels the most likely to be Jewish or raised with those kinds of traditions to me

[s0lar-ch3ri]

JRWI ART EXCHANGE!!! @jrwi-art-exchange

FOR @quadrilateral-triangle WE HAVE THE SILLIES AS FAIRIES!! (theres some symbolism in the wing choices and outfit kinds ill get into later)

yapping under the cut and everything:

ryan: i made his wings like a phoenix and kept the wildrat colors, specifically because hes like a character that is changing to keep up a disguise, so many thoughts about that. the thing with the toga and shit is a reference to myth shit, esp cause like selucreh is hercules backwards

emizel: bat wings because vampire, theyre slightly covered in blood to show his violent nature. hes able to be in the sun cause the fae shit mixes with the vampire shit and lets him handle the sun. his fit is like. dragon character shit based. yeag

vyncent: he actually has a basis for his wings! since butterflies mean change and everything, i picked butterfly wings! the specific kind i used was the pavon emperor, i just added stars in there! as for the fit its meant to be somewhat fantasy and everything and yeag

rolan: dragonfly wings!!! was going to do a specific kind of wing but couldnt find a specific drawing and everything but eyag. anyways fantasy outfit with basic color pallette to fit him (he also gets booty shorts <3)

jay: her outfit and everything is a lot more detailed and stuff because shes been a fairy before!! as such magical girl vibe! her wings are a see through sparkly to represent how you can see everything of her and nothing at all, though my other idea was see-through blue feathered wings!! its hard to see but actually she has her jacket around her arms and everything!! i was considering doing a dress for her lmfao

[platedpixels]

Avian lizzie for the fanon swap ? :3

AVIAN LIZZIE!!!! she’s based off a blue jay because i felt it fit her color palette quite well!!

below are the other fanon swaps i did today of which include, a moth big b, a blaze pearl, and a zombie lizzie!!!

also here’s the pictures of them together and the og sketches that made this take so many hours :3!!

i actually had such a fun time doing this oh my gosh please suggest more ^_^!!

[tiramisuucakeee]

3. STRAWBERRY W/ CHOCOLATE

( seasalt , yang jungwon )

as you three made it into jay’s empty home up the hill, you took in the scenery down below, the lush greenery giving way to a sunlit beach. it amazed you how humans lived and interacted, their words often leaving you bewildered despite the familiarity.

you were the first to enter the huge house, your eyes roaming over every design, taking in all small details.

"do you still have some chocolate chip?" jungwon's voice drifted from another room, followed by jay. they left you to explore the place, still processing the trinkets around you.

you hugged yourself, and felt your skin starting to get a little bit dry, you needed water, urgently. and you couldn’t even go back to the ocean or a lake, because as soon as you did, your father would make sure you couldn’t escape from him again.

just as you kept pacing around, jungwon popped his head out from the other room, “hey, you want some ben and jerry’s?” he asked, licking a spoon clean.

you turned to him in confusion, why would he ask you if he wanted other men if you had jungwon right here? the thought of them both getting tired of you wasn’t even possible.

“no, i do not wish to meet other people, jungwon, i thought we were friends,” you replied, glancing down at your hands, watching as your nails shifted to a deep blue. this was something that often happened, mermaid nails or even scales changing color based on their sentiment.

“wait, no, ben and jerry’s are not people- well i mean, they could be but, it’s a brand of ice cream,” he said with a warm smile, approaching you with something in his hand.

you looked at him skeptically and peeked inside the container, seeing what looked like food. “what is ice cream?” you murmured, your gaze shifting back to his face.

“oh, it’s like, hmmm…” he thought, not knowing how he would describe ice cream to someone who had ever tried it, it was hard to do so. “i mean, you could try it? here,” he scooped up a bit of the ice cream with his spoon and offered it to you.

instead of taking the spoon, you leaned forward and took a bite directly from it. he flushed, a hint of red creeping to his ears as you tasted the sweetness.

“that is good,” you nodded, savoring the flavor. but then a sharp pain shot through your head, leaving you dizzy. “jungwon, what did you give me?” you stepped back, clutching your temples.

he noticed your distress immediately. “oh no, you got brain freeze!” he said, urging you to sit on the couch. “it happens to me all the time. it’ll go away quickly,” he reassured you, his concern evident in his eyes.

you breathed out slowly, feeling the pain in your head subside until it was gone. finally, you asked, “how can you like ben and jerry if they give you brain freeze? they don’t seem like very good people…”

jungwon blinked at you, spoon poised in his mouth, and then broke into a wholehearted smile. your innocence about human things was undeniably adorable to his heart. “well, it’s just something you have to deal with if you want to enjoy ice cream, that’s life,” he shrugged, scooping up more and offering it to you again.

“that’s life,” you repeated after him and leaned in, tasting from the same spoon, hoping to avoid another brain freeze.

“but the more you eat ice cream, the more you get used to it and don’t get it,” he added softly. you could only stare at him, wondering what was it that made this person so interesting, there was something about jungwon that made you want to stay near and know more about him.

and then suddenly “i have to stand under water drops that come out of a machine,” you said, hoping he would understand, and it seemed he did.

“you wanna take a shower? i’ll ask jay if he has extra towels, but the bathroom is up the stairs and the first door to the right,” he stood up, but you stopped him.

"you can come with me, i want to show you something really special i can do," you said, your voice laced with excitement as you pursed your lips, hoping he’d be intrigued.

“okay…” jungwon furrowed his brows, and you smiled excitedly, taking his hand and pulling him with you to the destination up the stairs. he couldn’t possibly think what was it that you wanted to show him. seeing a real life mermaid was already incredible by its own.

he expected anything but this.

jungwon sat on the bathroom floor, wide-eyed as he watched you in the bathtub, shimmering scales glistening under the water as you transformed back into your mermaid form, playfully conjuring bubbles with your hands.

“do you like it? a friend told me humans like things like this,” you said, your grin infectious, your tongue peeking out between your teeth in that adorable way that made him take a second look at you.

"tell me about your friends," he said, scooting closer and offering you the half-eaten tub of ice cream, a playful grin on his face. you paused, considering the question. after all, he had helped you when you got caught in his pool after the storm. how could you not trust him?

“well, since i am a mermaid, and also the king’s daughter, i can only befriend royals, if you can call it friendship,” you shrugged, eating some ice cream, “my only friend was an old merman who lived close to the city. he told me all kinds of tales about humans,” you remembered.

you remembered how he had been part of the king's army, often venturing close to shore to keep an eye out for divers.

“wait, you’re a princess? why are you here then?” jungwon almost gasped, not knowing he had been unknowingly walking around with a mermaid princess.

“marriage,” you replied, rolling your eyes as you leaned back against the tub. “my father wanted me to marry this abnormally egoistic seahorse, and i refused, so now i’m here. with you,” you pointed the spoon at him.

“a seahorse? that was your only choice for marriage?” jungwon looked incredibly shocked.

“he was wealthy, and very desirable for other seahorses, but he wasn’t to my liking. who needs a husband when i have three other men in my life, ben, jerry and jungwon,” you sighed dramatically.

“me?” jungwon raised a brow, a smirk forming.

“yes, you, i think we can be friends,” you said, leaning in with curiosity, resting your hands on the edge of the tub. jungwon let out a small laugh, and nodded “okay, we can be friends,” he said.

just then, jay opened the door to the bathroom, taking in the scene, and noticing your mermaid form inside his bathtub, then looked at jungwon, who sat criss crossed on the floor.

“i can’t deal with this right now. you two make sure the bathroom is dry in a couple minutes, you guys have to go with me otherwise the fair,” jay said, and closed the door, trying to ignore the weird scene.

you turned back to jungwon, both of you bursting into laughter at jay’s reaction.

“i heard that!” he scremed from behind the door.

it turns out that jay and his family were roped into working at the summer fair down by the pier. while it might have sounded like a fun way to spend the summer, they were assigned to manage a game stall. and by ‘they’ it meant ‘just jay’.

it was just a simple game stall, where players popped balloons with darts to win prizes based on the color of the balloon. it seemed straightforward enough, but jay absolutely despised being there. the repetitive sound of darts hitting balloons felt more like a chore than a fun summer activity. while kids cheered for their wins and parents took photos, jay found himself wishing he could be anywhere else.

“oh, this is adorable,” you said, admiring one of the prizes that resembled a cute dolphin. its bright colors and big eyes made it hard not to smile. “they are all,” you stepped back.

jungwon turned to look at you, a playful smile lighting up his face. “yeah, it’s very pretty. you can play if you want,” he offered, motioning toward the stall. he could feel jay’s gaze on him, as if he was silently pleading for him to get you away from the game.

your eyes widened, uncertainty swirling within you. the thought of actually winning any cute plush felt as if it was oceans away, but you knew you had to at least try.

“okay, i will,” you said, skipping over to jay with bubbling enthusiasm. there was a rush of excitement as you approached jay, and you could feel jungwon right behind you, his presence strong as he watched your every move.

“i am now going to play this game of yours,” you grinned at jay, and he raised a brow at you, “wait how are you going to pay for-” he said, but then glanced at jungwon, who gave him a look telling him to be quiet and just go with it.

“okay…” jay handed you three darts, knowing you wouldn’t get it on your first try, and went over to uncover the balloons, making you blink at them in surprise. he told you how the game worked, and which prizes you could get with each color, making you get more excited every single second. he then soon got out of the way, and you gulped.

the balloons seemed very intimidating, and you had no clue how to do this, leaving you slightly confused.

“hey, let me help you,” jungwon said, moving to your side. he took your arm softly, lifting it up and positioning it for the throw. with gentle guidance, he took a dart from your hand and placed it between your fingers, mimicking the motion. “this is all you have to do,” he said, looking into your eyes.

but you found yourself captivated by him, forgetting about the darts entirely. his words and focus drew you in, “come on, give it a try,” he encouraged, and you kept staring at him, before turning towards the board of balloons, and throwing it.

the dart flew through the air for barely a second before it dropped to the ground, leaving you with a slight pout. disappointment washed over you as you realized you hadn't even come close. you glanced at jungwon, who was trying to suppress a laugh.

“jungwon, i can’t,” you shook your head, frustrated. it felt like you’d failed at something incredibly important. the thought crept in, would he think you were unable to do something so simple? the worry gnawed at you as you searched his face for reassurance.

jungwon gently took the remaining two darts from your hand, but you didn’t notice as he moved even closer, positioning himself beside you once more. “let’s try again,” he said, his voice steady yet soft, sending a flutter through you. he guided your hand, his fingers brushing against yours, lingering just a moment too long.

“just focus on the target,” he urged, his gaze intense, locking onto yours. you felt a rush of something spread through you, making it hard to concentrate. the conversations around you stoped, slowly leaving his explanation.

taking a deep breath, you threw the dart, feeling his presence beside you amplifying your confidence. at the same time, jungwon released the dart he had secretly held, but you were so caught up in the moment that you didn’t notice.

when the sharp sound of a balloon popping pierced the air, you turned, wide-eyed, believing you had succeeded. “i did it!” you exclaimed, completely unaware that jungwon was the one who had actually hit the mark.

jungwon grinned, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “you totally did it!” he said, throwing his arms around you in celebration. the comfort of his embrace enveloped you just right, and for a moment, everything else washed away. you couldn’t help but smile, feeling the thrill of victory and his infectious enthusiasm.

but as the hug lingered, both of you suddenly realized what you were doing. you pulled away awkwardly, your cheeks flushing. the surroundings felt thick with unspoken feelings, and you exchanged shy glances, unsure of what to say. there was something different in the way you both looked at each other, a shared understanding that was hard to articulate.

after a moment of silence, jungwon cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “uh, let me get your prize,” he said, quickly moving over to the stall. he returned holding a soft red plushy, with a green hat and black freckles. its bright red color popping against the fair’s backdrop. “here you go! it’s perfect for you,” he said, a smile returning to his face.

your heart swelled as you accepted the plushy, its cuteness making you forget the awkward moment. “thank you! it’s adorable,” you said, genuinely happy. jungwon beamed at your reaction, and for a brief moment, the earlier tension felt like a distant memory, replaced by the simple joy of the prize in your hands.

“have you ever tried strawberries?” jungwon asked, seeing you be a bit confused at the plushy.

“no, i believe i have not,” you replied, taken aback by his intense reaction. his eyes widened, disbelief washing over his face as if you’d told him you’ve never seen the sky.

“what? you have to try them!” he exclaimed, his voice laced with contagious eagerness. without waiting for a reply, he grasped your hand, his grip warm and grounding, pulling you toward another stand. the simple act of him holding your hand sent a rush of exhilaration through you, intertwining nervousness with a flutter of something deeper in your stomach.

as you waved goodbye to jay, jungwon called out, “we’ll be back soon!” the words felt charged, and you couldn’t help but smile, your heart racing at the thought of this shared moment.

when you reached the new stand, the rich aroma of chocolate mingled with the fresh sweetness of strawberries, wrapping around you like a comforting embrace. jungwon quickly purchased a box, his focus intense and sincere. “these are the best strawberries with chocolate ever,” he insisted, turning to you with a look that made your heart flutter. there was an earnestness in his gaze that made you feel seen, as if he were sharing a piece of himself with you.

then, without a moment’s hesitation, he gently fed you a strawberry, his fingers brushing your lips ever so slightly. the sweetness burst in your mouth, igniting a wave of delight that coursed through you. “these are incredible, really,” your eyes widened, feeling as if you had missed out on the greatest thing ever almost your whole life.

jungwon’s cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink, and he looked away, a shy smile breaking through the moment. “i knew you’d love them,” he replied, his voice softer now.

as you savored another strawberry, you caught jungwon’s gaze, and everything around you fell away, leaving just the two of you suspended in time. the connection you felt was palpable, resonating in the spaces between your breaths, as if you were both on the edge of something beautifully uncharted. each heartbeat echoed with a realization that this was more than just friendship, it was a budding affection that neither of you fully understood yet, but both of you could feel it blooming in the air around you.

jungwon couldn't seem to look away, his gaze lingering on you as if trying to memorize every detail. you felt a foreign feeling poke your heart and you broke the silence. "are you feeling alright?" you asked, a hint of concern in your voice.

he blinked, suddenly realizing how long he had been staring. "oh, um..." he stammered, searching for an excuse. "you have a bit of chocolate on your lower lip."

without thinking, he reached out, gently wiping it away with his thumb. the light caress of his fingers against your skin sent a jolt through you, leaving you momentarily stunned. his touch was soft and lingering, and you could hardly process what was happening.

he pulled his hand back, almost as if shocked by the intimacy of the moment, and then, without a second thought, he licked his thumb clean. the action was simple, yet the way he did it felt loaded with meaning, a spark of tension hanging in the air between you.

you both stood there, breathless, the world around you fading as you tried to gather your thoughts. jungwon's cheeks flushed again, and he looked away, clearly flustered by the sudden shift. "sorry, i didn't mean to-" he started, but the words fell away, leaving an awkward silence that buzzed with tension.

“you do not have to apologize,” you instantly said, which came out more like a command, “you are my friend, i trust you, and friends take care of each other. is that not what’s important?”

“yes it’s important,” jungwon’s expression softened, and he nodded. “you’re right, we’re just friends.” the words almost unknowingly pained him to say.

glancing up at the sky, you added, “it is beautiful up here.” the sunset painted the horizon in brilliant hues of orange and pink, the colors melting into one another like a watercolor masterpiece. the soft light cast a warm glow over everything, making the moment feel almost magical.

“let’s go to the coast,” he suggested, excitement bubbling in his voice. “we can sit in the sand and watch the sunset together, and you can keep eating the strawberries you liked so much.” he teased.

“strawberry with chocolate,” you repeated his initial words, “i would like that, okay, we can go.” a smile blooming on your face, your heart racing at the thought of being alone with him in such a beautiful setting. even if you were raised to be different from him, and you have never actually been with someone, jungwon felt different, you could say and do anything around him, not feeling as if you were forced to, because you really wanted to be with him every single second.

as you walked side by side, the gentle breeze tousled your hair, and the salty scent of the ocean filled the air. the rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the shore created a calming rhythm, drawing you deeper into the moment. “this is nice,” you remarked, breathing in the fresh air, feeling invigorated and free.

“yeah, it feels peaceful here,” jungwon said, glancing at you, igniting a flutter of excitement in his chest.

when you reached the coast, you sank into the soft, warm sand, the grains molding to your shape like a cozy blanket. “i do not ever want to go back, i could stay here in the sand forever,” you said, gazing out at the horizon where the sun dipped lower, casting golden rays that shimmered across the water’s surface.

“me too,” jungwon replied, settling close beside you. the touch of his shoulder against yours sent a pleasant shiver down your spine, amplifying the connection between you. “the sunset is even better than i remembered.” he sighed, looking straight ahead.

as the sun continued its descent, the sky transformed into a breathtaking canvas of reds, purples, and golds, each moment feeling like a fleeting treasure. the air around you felt heavy, with a sense of closeness that deepened with every passing second.

“i want to thank you for today once again, jungwon. it was very nice walking around that building with shops, and then meeting ben and jerry, and also the game,” you murmured, stealing a glance at him. his profile was illuminated by the fading light, revealing a softness in his features. you couldn’t help but admire the way the sunset reflected in his eyes, making them glow like dreams.

jungwon smiled, his voice warm and sincere. “i am glad you liked it.” he breathed out, closing his eyes. “you’re different, you know, i like just being here with you, i feel as if i don’t have to try, i just am,” his words gave you a sense of peace, thick with meaning, as the last rays of sunlight dipped below the horizon.

TAGS: @jwonistic @garrdenwon @laylasbunbunny @ushitoshiii @nikibleist

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STEX APPRECIATION MONTH DAY 11: ROCKIES

Favorite Actor(s): Rocky 1: Danny John Jules Rocky 2: Jay Le Marrec Rocky 3: Priscilla Osegie (i must confess these choices arent really based on much lol)

Favorite Song/Scenes: They are the best part of Poppa/Momma's blues I love watching them just dance and be silly. And of course I love Right Place Right Time especially when the actors do the choreo really well.

Favorite Costume(s): I think the Japan Tour and early Bochum really had it down they were so crisp. I'm so fond of Broadway's orange Rocky 1 though it's so funny

Favorite Ships/Friendships: I really like Rocky 1 x British Engine but other than that -3-. Platonically I really like them with the rest of the freight and Rusty! I imagine they love pushing Flat Top's buttons lol

Headcanons: There are a million Rockies. All over the world. Every color known to man. If you put too many together they start having dance battles instead of doing their work.

Unpopular Opinion: I like their costumes way better without the shoulder boxes on I'm honestly glad they don't wear them for long LMAO.