#dots connect by themselves. help me

[ccaptain]

IT'S TIME TO PAY THE PRICE. IT'S TIME

Spoilers under the read more related to the plot of the 2.2 H:SR patch:

BIGGEST SIGH EVER. So like. Hoyo, stop making my imaginary H:SR Kaeya fatherless. This is the second game already-

Look at what Gallagher says here:

When I started with his verse, I headcanoned that Enigmata ''beings'' identities were essentially lost in time due to their occupation as History Fictionologists. Just like how history unravels back up again once the fog surrounding it has dissipated, thus nullifying their work, their identities unravel and unfog once exposed, making their existence null and void. Being of the Enigmata means, indeed, being enigmatic, and once you cease to be a mystery, you are essentially yeeted out of Enigmata priviledges.

So for this verse specifically, I'm going to go with the hypotesis that Gallagher's teaching to turn Kaeya into a ''being'' made him essentially unfoggable.

Stay with me here: Gallagher took him as his pupil, and of course he cares abut his strays not vanishing upon being discovered. He used the loophole of turning someone into a ''being'' to further shroud his identity in mystery- both for his sake and his old, destroyed planet's. Fogging ''Kaeya'' also means reorganizing the history of the Great Catastrophe and the end of his homeplanet, thus giving him an already good jump-start for the mission that will accompany him for the entirety of his life.

''Kaeya'' is no longer the lone survivor of a cataclismic disaster that happened when the Aeons set their gazes on their abuse of knowledge. That identity of his has long since died, and his work has been done so excellently that nobody knows of any survivor from said destruction.

Anyone who perceives him as ''Kaeya Alberich'' upon introducing himself, and keeps him in their mind as ''Kaeya'', contributes to further muddle his real identity. His acquaintances perceiving him as ''Kaeya Alberich'' make them unknowing accomplishes in shrouding his real identity in mystery. If we wanna go in a much tender part of this, his friends are keeping him in existance. It's a little heartwarming bit that we deserve.

''Emanator of Enigmata'' is not his real identity either- it's a simple title, and while he does respond to it, by now he's much more complex than that. There's a personality that has grown behind this identity too- there's a will to be kind and help people and to preserve the cosmos as it is, along with every inhabitant of it. ''Kaeya'' has grown his self, thus not making anything react to this title.

''One of Gallagher's strays''. ''An History Fictionologist'', ''a threat'', ''the man with cobalt hair'', ''Kae'', ''A sweetheart of a person, that's what he is'', ''such a kind young man'', and any nickname his friends might give to him are not his identities either, despite being a part of him.

In truth... Gallagher possibly went through many loophopes to make sure that ''Kaeya'' would never cease existing. Once he successfully taught ''Kaeya'' how to be a ''being'', half of the work was already done- for ''beings'' of the Enigmata are in the fogged uncertainty of a lost existence, made of mystery themselves. 

''Kaeya'' being perceived as ''Kaeya Alberich'' goes further from the truth while inching a bit closer to it, but not quite: because Kaeya Alberich was another man entirely with an entirely different mannerism and personality, having long since perished. He acts nothing like the old Kaeya Alberich despite donning his skin, his eyes, his hair. It's a comfortable suit to mask himself in.

You cannot say that, after going through so many hurdles to keep him alive, Gallagher doesn't care about him. There's the emptiness and melancholy that comes from being an entity in a crowd of real people- but this is a thought that disappears once ''Kaeya'' is with friends, the people who made him feel more human, loved, and perceived without it being a dangerous thing.

[anxiously-going]

.

[comicaurora]

So uhh. If you feel like talking about it. As someone who lives in the US, how are you being kind to yourself on this upsetting morning <3

Checked in with my loved ones first and foremost.

It's interesting. The vibe I've been getting from my circle is very different from 2016. Much less… dread and horror at a realignment of the understanding of what can and can't happen here, now, in this place and day and age. More "fuck, guys. again? whatever. enjoy your consequences, maybe you'll manage to learn something this time."

Frustration and anger is not the most positive feeling, or even the most fair one to express, but it is a protective one. It hurts a lot less than most alternatives.

And it's quite a shift. It was earthshattering back then. How could this have been allowed to happen? Why couldn't it be stopped? Why couldn't we stop it? Why couldn't I stop it? Why couldn't everyone see what this meant? Why couldn't I make them understand? Did they really not care? What did that mean about humanity as a whole? Were we so thoughtless? How could anyone be trusted?

It seems… much less earthshattering to see it happen twice. Disappointing, sure. Frustrating. But nowhere near as devastating as the first time I saw it unfold. We already knew it could happen. I've already had time to digest the implications. Now I'm just freshly disappointed.

It also feels less indicative of Crushing Truths Of Reality this time. We've seen shit get bad. We've also seen shit get better from here! We know both outcomes are possible, even inevitable. We know hoping for a better future is always worthwhile. This isn't the apocalypse. It's an unremarkably bad turn of events brought on by unremarkably self-centered well-documented human impulses. It's utterly mundane in its unpleasantness. It doesn't need to be dignified with despair.

A democratic election, no matter the outcome or the side we're on, makes us all acutely aware of how outnumbered we are by people whose worldviews and priorities are demonstrably incomprehensible to us. And the first time you get outnumbered, it's a shock. Defeat is haunting. It didn't matter how badly you wanted it; by the very function of democracy, you do not have the power to override greater numbers. (insert electoral college caveat here)

The second time through, I find myself focusing on a different facet that has dramatically reduced the amount of spiralling I'm doing. I don't expect this to work for everyone, but for me specifically, it helped to crystallize a few thoughts:

You don't have the power to control anyone else. You don't. You can't share your worldview and your revelations with them. You can't make them think or understand anything. You can lay it all out for them, but you can't make them listen, and you can't make it click. A mentor can't make their student learn a lesson; that's why teaching is so complicated and hard. An active choice must be made by the person to enable themselves to understand, and they must put the pieces together in their own mind before it makes sense to them, and the pieces must have been presented in a way that makes sense to them in the first place. Lead a horse to water, can't make them drink.

These elections highlight a disconnect in what different groups of people care about; and no matter how clearly you explain yourself or how passionately you perform, caring cannot be forced on someone. Understanding and connection cannot be forced. You cannot make anything or anyone matter to someone. They have to choose to see how it matters in order to internalize it. If they choose not to, that is not your failing. You couldn't have made them do it by just Explaining Better. They are not your responsibility. They make their own choices. You can't reach inside their head and connect the dots for them.

I'm a storyteller. I make stories and put them out into the world. I hope people get something good out of them, but I have no control over what that something is. I want people to be thoughtful and kind and compassionate and hopeful and see themselves reflected in stranges, no matter their differences. I can craft stories that I hope encourage this. But that is the extent of my ability and the extent of my responsibility. I control no-one's actions but my own, and so while I am not having the best day, I am at least content that I am doing what I can, and I am not shattering myself against impossibilities trying to control the things I can't.

Sometimes, people make decisions that I think are really bad. I can't make that not happen. All I can do is try to make decisions that will result in things I think are good. Today, that means checking in on people, and not assigning too much dramatic narrative weight to an ultimately mundane set of unremarkable bad decisions outside of my control. We'll take life as it comes and help each other out when and how we can. Everything else is out of our hands.

[junityy]

🕸 — stay.

pairing. spider-man!jake x fem!reader genre. fluff, slight angst, slightly suggestive?? wc. 2k warnings. for context, this is the #infamous scene in the amazing spiderman 1 when peter shows up hurt at gwens window!! and yes im including the lizard LMAO and jake is kinda down Bad note. THIS TURNED OUT SO LONG.... and also NOT how i wanted but erm well.. spiderman jake is truly all i can think about so i hope you enjoy!!!

You were just finishing up your chemistry homework when Jake leaned against your window frame outside, and lightly knocked against your window. By now, this had become a routine-like thing, so you didn't even flinch.

The first time he did that, though, you felt slightly creeped out before letting him in regardless - because, after all, you do live on the 21st floor. The second time he did that, you started getting used to it. After all, your boyfriend just so turned out to be Spider-man. It was just something you'd get used to sooner rather than later.

Turning around and telling him, “Come in.”, you could already feel your lips form into a smile like that of a little kid's. Jake does as you said and opens the window, slowly climbing inside while you quickly save your homework document in the meantime.

“So, big guy, what was saving New York like today?” you joke before turning around to look at him. Though, once you see Jake holding onto your armchair for stability, your smile fades as quickly as it appeared and you get up when your eyes scan his body - three major scratches across his chest, along with other small wounds across his face (though these are a given by now). But also- scratches? No, it looks more like someone tried to slice him up with.. you don't even know what. Knives? This big? You can only imagine how he got these.

“Different, for sure.” he replies in a joking manner (even though there is no smile), and you can hear just a tiny bit of the pain he must be in in his voice.

“Jake?” you end up whispering as you walk towards him, and he simply lets himself fall onto your armchair before you sit down beside him.

“Seems that reptiles aren't my biggest fans.” he jokes; now smiling as he lets his head fall back while trying to catch his breath. In the meantime, you can't help but scan his wounds up close and - it's safe to say, someone (or something) possibly did try to slice him up from the looks of it.

“Reptiles?” you repeat, the confusion in your voice being very easy to identify; something Jake had already seen coming though, so that is far from surprising.

Before speaking up to elaborate further, he lifts his head again to look at you up close, then explains; “Remember that thing on the bridge yesterday? The thing that was ‘bigger’ than a human.. Well, turns out it's actually some kind of giant, mutant lizard. And it's living in the sewers, apparently.”

“A what?” raising your eyebrows in shock immediately, you can't help but blink in utter confusion a few times - at least before your eyes find their way back to his chest, and some dots start to connect by themselves. Well, his wounds make a little sense now at least. Still, neither of you could deny that ‘giant mutant lizard’ doesn't sound absolutely insane - so naturally, it takes you a second to process and.. imagine what that fight must've looked like just now.

“You're..” you frown; making eye contact with your boyfriend again after breaking it shortly. Jake on the other hand can't seem to even think about taking his eyes off of you. As per usual. “You're telling me you're fighting.. giant lizards?” you simply add. You're also certain that no matter how you would've worded this, it would sound equally just as crazy.

But, well.. your boyfriend IS Spider-man after all. So really, nothing should probably surprise you anymore. If you had to guess, things would, most likely, only get crazier from here on.

“Yeah. Well, they suck.” Jake scoffs, followed by another smile on his face, but he quickly groans in pain right after; your eyes still fixated on his wounds. It’s not like he'll die of them, so you try telling yourself to stop being so dramatic, but still.. it's a sight you'd rather not get too used to.

You hate seeing him like this. Usually, you're pretty used to seeing him with small or at least smaller wounds by now, but this? This is.. low-key crazy. You keep telling yourself that he is literally Spider-man, and that there's.. kinda no way to avoid getting hurt, yet all you hope for is to see him in one piece every single time. And it seems that the longer he keeps doing what he's doing, the chances of seeing him at all keep getting slimmer. Which is something that truly keeps you up at night, easily causing goosebumps all over your body.

“Hey.” Jake quietly says, simply to bring you back to reality once he notices you're lost in thoughts, and the next thing you feel is his hand on your cheek, softly cupping it.

Once you're actually back, you properly reconnect the eye contact you so love with him again. “What is it?” he questions not too long after, barely whispering while trying to read your expression. You, on the other hand, just remain silent; swallowing, before taking a sharp breath.

“Take this off, I'll take care of it.” pretty much avoiding the question, you point to his suit instead (or at least the upper part of it) - since, every time Jake has come here, you took care of him and his injuries. And today was gonna be no different.

While he makes sure the city is okay, you need to make sure he's okay. And vice versa, Jake has to make sure you're okay, by coming back to you every time like promised. New York could be safe for all he wants - only seeing your face every time makes him feel truly safe and sound.

And so again, he does as you say; moving to sit on the floor while leaning against your bed, he watches you do your little magic in silence. Silence, awe, admiration - it's all the same when it comes to you, really. He doesn't even deserve you, Jake thinks to himself. Like he does everyday.

Your ‘little magic’ though, simply includes disinfecting his wounds first; a process the both of you have gotten used to by now.

Once he's rolled down his suit a little, you begin to carefully pat his chest with the tissue again and again, so careful as if he'd break if you made one wrong move. Which.. seems sort of funny. You're patching up the Spider-man after all.

Jake, in the meantime, can't seem to take his eyes off of you again, so he simply doesn't. Instead, he watches your every move like his life depends on it. The look in your eyes has changed. You've gone quiet. Like, awfully quiet.

“Y/N.” he tries again after just a moment - after you clearly avoided his question the first time. When you look up just the tiniest bit, you're immediately met with his eyes on you already in no time. Oh. His eyes. “What is it?” he repeats, hoping to get you to talk this time.

Looking at him, it takes you a few moments to even form a somewhat coherent thought. Sometimes you wish you could just stop time and stay like this. With him, here. Forever.

Sure, being Spider-man's girlfriend had its perks - like Jake taking you with him to swing around New York together. Surely.. an original experience! But it also meant praying he'd come home to you every time there was trouble in the city.

“I'm just scared for you, is all.” you sigh quietly, tilting your head a tiny bit. For just a moment, silence enters, and it feels like you're falling in love with him all over again. You're just glad he's here.

“You won't lose me.” Jake assures you in the softest tone possible and immediately brings his hand back to your cheek, only to bring your face closer to his. Close enough to place a kiss on your lips, a reassuring one. A kiss that, as you both know, says something words wish they could truly encapsulate. Breaking the kiss for a short, simple “I promise.”, he immediately reconnects your lips again like he'd suffocate if he didn't.

What starts as a lovely, reassuring kiss, quickly seems to turn into something much more intimate when you feel Jake rest his other hand on your waist only to pull you as close as possible; to feel your body right against his.

Spider-man might have impressive healing abilities that are above those of the average person, but Jake felt as if having you near him was already enough healing.

“I love you.” he breathes into the kiss, and quickly tries to catch his breath when you do the same for a second. Your faces still dangerously close, all you seem to be able to get out is a “I love you too.” that sounds very out of breath, like you were the one fighting a giant mutant lizard just before.

Bringing your hand up to rest on the side of his neck, Jake can't help but sigh when he backs off a tiny bit, only so he can get a good look at you. God, you're beautiful he thinks to himself. Basically looking at you the same way he did when he first told you he loved you, he automatically moves the few strands of hair out of your face; tucking them behind your ear, while his eyes simply shine with admiration. But mostly love.

“I just love you, Y/N.” your boyfriend repeats while shaking his head slightly, and sounding completely hopeless as if he just accepted that he is, indeed, hopelessly in love with you. Though, that was more or less the case anyway.. it still is, actually. Watching his eyes go back and forth between your eyes and lips, Jake speaks up again in a low voice, “You won't lose me.”. However this time, it's a promise rather than a reassurance.

Your eyes lighting up with pure love at his words and the look in his eyes, you can't seem to hide the way your lips are forming into another tiny smile - so you decide to just let them speak by placing them on his once again.

It's like your lips were perfectly made for each other, especially when Jake tilts his head a tiny bit more to deepen the kiss - his hand still on your neck, and if it were to go after him, he'd never remove it again. It's like you were perfectly made for each other.

“Jake.” you mumble into the kiss, yet keep it going because his lips feel a little too good moving against yours. Although you don't wanna let go, you (sadly) do end up breaking the kiss - which causes Jake to immediately look at you as you're gathering your thoughts one by one.

“I need to ask you a favour. It'll sound really selfish, though.” you begin quietly, only to receive a promising nod from his side, waiting for you to continue curiously while his eyes go back and forth between your eyes and lips again. Swallowing, you carefully ask, “You know I love that you're Spider-man, but can you just be Jake for tonight and stay?” Yeah, you were right about it sounding kinda selfish. Jesus.

But, like, it's true, and you couldn't really figure out a better way to word it. I mean, obviously you love that he's Spider-man - literally who wouldn't? But it's true that you love Jake Sim more. Even if just a tiny bit, which is why you want, - or need, actually - him with you tonight. Just Jake. Just the two of you.

“It doesn't sound selfish.” is the first thing he says in response, slightly shaking his head for further assurance. You're not only glad about it, but you feel your heartbeat increase rapidly when you see yet another smile form on his face, which (thank god), he doesn't even try to hide as it's getting too big. “Actually,” he lightly scoffs, biting on his lip as you watch him do so (it drives you nuts every time).

“I was hoping you'd say that, princess.” is the last thing he says before pulling you in for a kiss much, much more intimate than the ones before.

taglist @tyunni @geombyu @jaeyunverse @yjwfav @sieuneo @beombisou @neos127

[nastyc2nt]

Hey, I saw you're taking requests so I wanted to know if you could write something with yandere Percy Jackson and fem reader where they're already in a "situationship" or something and reader decides to be a little cheeky and runs away from Percy in random moments when he tries to touch her, without knowing he's really into this shit because it awakes the worst sides of him and he fucks her mercilessly after he catches her?

I don't know if this makes any sense or if you can really make it work, feel free to change anything if think it necessary. Xoxo

(Sorry if I wrote anything wrong, English is not my first language.)

࿐ Playing Games ࿐

╰┈➤ Older!Dark!Yan!Percy Jackson x Fem!Reader

✦ ──────── ᖭི༏ᖫྀ ──���───── ✦

╰┈➤ Warnings: Yandere, 18!Percy, Demi god college dorms, Chasing, Pray kink?, Teasing, Rough Fucking, Chocking, Biting. Tell me if I missed anything.

╰┈➤ Word count: 1.4k

╰┈➤ First requests! So excited, thank you, hope you love it baby!!

It’s all just a fun game you’d play. Turning away from his kisses or the touch he tries to give you, acting as if nothing happened. Harmless fun.

The whole campus knew how Percy felt about you — the gods themselves couldn’t stop the madness that is his love. And yet you guys weren’t a thing, something he wound change in time but he’s fine with keeping it on the “down low” as you like to call. Be it too kissing in his dorm at night while his hands run down your shirt, feeling your soft skin or ass while you sit nice and pretty on his lap. Or, fucking you in the dead of night not caring if the person next door can hear your moans, his voice or the bed hitting the wall.

Today was the second day you’d been playing that game of yours, and much to his dismay he’s been enjoying it more then he’d care to admit. When he got his hands on your warm figure only for you to turn around and run off, using many excuses to play it off. It was so easy for him to catch on, when you did it the third time on the same day he connected the dots. That cheeky smirk on your lips didn’t help your act either.

So Percy spent no time wondering if you were mad at him or didn't love him. That time was filled with wonders of what he'd do when he gets tired of this little game.

“Come here,” he mumbled when he reached out for you, it was so easy to just grab you from behind and rest his hand on your shoulders. But as soon as he spoke your head ducked while stepping out of his reach. You giggled, eyes looking soft but mischievous. Daring darling you are.

You stepped back slowly, “Catch me if you can, might give you a kiss if you ask nicely.” the next step was to run around to try and avoid him. It was primal instinct for Percy that kicked in when you ran off. You needed him to chase you. Catch you and take what he needed — To fuck the brat out of you and show you that you can play your games, but you’re still a puppet on his strings.

Once his hands wrapped around your frame it was over, for the guy you’ve been seeing was a new beast. One that wasn’t going to show you mercy, you’re it’s pray now and can’t fight back. Percy was rough and his eyes were shot that you swore they changed to black with his dark hair looming over his face.

He tore the clothes off, ripping them open just to show you what he was capable of. His hands pinned you against the wall while the other wrapped around the nice neck he’d been marking for weeks. This was new. Yes you had crazy sex in the past but this was different, he wanted to break you.

“I do love a good chase,” his raspy voice was right next to your ears, “wanted to rile me up just so I would show you who you belong to? Yeah, your pussy is answering when your pathetic mouth can’t.” he grins at your expression. All fucked out, mouth wide open from the moans leaving your lips and eyes rolling back from pleasure. You had given up pushing him away minutes ago so your hands gripped on his shirt to hold onto something.

His cock was going too fast for you to take a breath, he was racing with himself to see just how loud and hard it sounded when your bodies met. It started to hurt your breasts with how much they were moving up and down, and your swollen cunt that was get abused by his cock, and clit that was puffy.

His dark eye’s followed each expression you had, how your brows curled up, a scrunch in your nose. Everything was for him. “Such a slut, you know that? That little game was just so you could be used like rag doll?” You screamed when he bottomed out inside you with one hard thrust, hitting so far within you and stayed there for a minute.

He laughed at you. It was pathetic, the tears running down your cheeks was cute but you’re such a cry baby. “Awe, can take my cock girl? You’ve been begging for it but can’t handle it now?” Percy mocked down at your trembling body.

You whined, lips bringing themselves together, and you looked up at him through the soaked eyelashes. “Please— agh~ please, be more gentle.” it was cute that you think you had any authority to beg him right now.

He leaned back, his cock slipping out of you quickly but not as quick as he flipped you around against the wall and wrapped one hand around the front of your torso. “Gentle? We both know that’s not what you want,” his hand rushed down to send a sharp slapping pain to your ass, making you jump in surprise and pain. “you’ve cum about three times now.”

Percy slipped back in and began at the same speed he was before, his balls slapping against your ass, making the cheeks more red as he thrushed against them. You sobbed, going back to pleasure bliss, overestimated once again by his long cock.

“That’s my girl,” he groaned and kissed your neck.

You shook your head violently as his fingers reached down to play with your swollen clit and rubbed you nice and fast. “Percy- Don’t, too sensitive,” you cried again. Sloppy sounds came from your hole that was was being fucked, it was so dirty to hear. Your walls clamped down on him from the growing orgasm building up in your stomach and burning in your core.

“Cum for me, let me feel you pulsing on me again. Be a good girl, cum and then let me fill you up,” he whined finally softer into your neck, his head rested in the crook of your neck. His rhythm started to get messy but never slowed down once— It got rougher. A few seconds later your body gave one last electric shock throughout itself and you released everything you had onto his cock. Your stomach twitched up and down, your pussy tighten as the sticky cum foamed at the base of his cock.

It was now that you had begun to actually sob— Just from being exhausted and overwhelmed. You grip the walls for support and press against it hard to keep yourself up but Percy help with you limp body. “That’s my good girl, thank you baby. Gonna fill you up now,” his voice was back to its soft and gentle tone.

Three thrust, in and out, was all it took before he unload himself into you and pushed it all the way inside you. Filling you up so much it hit your womb and he wondered how to make it stay there afterwards. He panted while you did the same, a few big breaths before hitting your head on the wall to relax.

Percy groaned and stayed inside you, his hands now trailing back up to your waist where bruises formed from his grip on you. “Did so good for me,” he whispered. You hummed and didn’t dare move or anything, probably would fall if you tried to do anything.

“I’ve been trying to stay calm around you for weeks, acting as if we aren’t actually a thing,” he rubbed the painful redness of your ass, his lips kissing your shoulders in affection. “But you’re mine, always have been and always will be. This— This just proves you’re ready to be completely mine.”

His teeth sink into your skin, not as rough as it could have been but it was surprising and painful nonetheless, “I’ll kill for you, make you happy any anyway you want. But you’re never leaving my side, or I’ll just have to put you in your place again.”

He slipped out, his cum and yours mixed while trailing down your thighs, “Just gotta fuck it into your pretty little head, but you don’t mind— Do you baby?”

There was no getting away even if you wanted to. The ends of the earth aren’t even safe from him, no god could save you now. Willing or forced, you’re his girl.

��!Don’t repost my posts on other websites, don’t translate them, theses are for me to publish on my own!!

[marie-m-art]

Good Animated Omens - Behind the Scenes

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the walk cycles I animated of Aziraphale and Crowley (original post here).

I'll reiterate that the character designs are @lookitsstevie's creation! I made builds in Toonboom Harmony based on their designs, and then animated the builds.

Long post under the cut, organized into four parts. Feel free to jump around or just click through the images and gifs to get an idea of the gist. (At least take a look at Part IV, where you'll see a version of Aziraphale without his jacket and a closeup of Crowley's torso!)

Hopefully this is interesting even if you don't know the first thing about animation. It's not a step-by-step-from-scratch tutorial, but it might give animators some ideas to think about when trying this software!

I'm happy to answer questions about what I cover here - comments, DM's, or ask-box questions are all fine by me. If you like any of the new gifs and want to reblog it on its own, I can make new posts for those upon request! (I'd prefer you don't reupload them, but if you do please at least credit me with a tag to my account - thank you!!)

Part I: The interface and some basics

Above is a screencap of the software interface.

In the centre is the Camera window, where all the drawing and animating is done. 

To the left, the Node View. It's a representation of how the pieces and layers that make the characters are grouped and connected to each other, which is what makes a character "build". Every piece in this window is called a node, and there are different types. Light blue "drawing nodes" contain the drawings themselves. Each drawing node usually has a green "peg" attached; the peg is used to move and rotate the drawing piece; you set a pivot point on each peg. Light grey nodes are groups that have more nodes within, and dark blue nodes are added effects (eg masks, the blur for the halo, etc).

Below, the Timeline - it's where keyframes are set and tweened. The red square dots indicate there is a new keyframe on a particular frame; the white dots indicate keyframes are on layers nested somewhere under the topmost visible layer. All the pieces of the characters can be found in the timeline and correspond to the pieces that exist in the Node View (and Camera). Typically you work with a collapsed view of the build layers in the timeline, which allows you to set keyframes on multiple layers at once.

To the right, a few tabs in this window - Tool Properties, Colour Palettes, and, shown on top here, the Library. The library is where you store your builds, so that you can bring in a fresh copy when animating a new scene. This library tab also has the Drawing Substitution window, which shows thumbnails of every drawing contained in a drawing node when that node is selected.

A second of animation is 24 frames long. Finished animation will often have keyframes on every second frame with the tweens removed, to help simulate the look and feel of traditional animation - this is known as animating "on twos", and saved time, money and paper in the old days. If you leave the tweens on, and/or have keyframes on every frame, the animation is "on ones".

My walks are on twos - it's the look I prefer.

When I say "tween" I'm specifically referring to the software feature that will automatically calculate and interpolate the path between two different poses/keys of a peg. An inbetween could be the result of using a tween, a new drawing, or both. On twos, an inbetween will look the same as any other keyframe on the timeline when you're finished - its relevance as a concept is during the process, not the end result.

Quality animation is achieved via a combination of moving/tweening pre-existing drawings using their pegs, and adding new drawings as hand-drawn inbetweens when needed. Toonboom Harmony also has nodes called "deformers": they offer a way to tween the shape of a drawing without needing to redraw inside the drawing node. (Part IV has the explanation for which pieces I used them for, and why.)

Part II: Navigating the builds

This is what their default poses with no animation look like.

Animation using builds is sometimes colloquially referred to as "puppet-style animation" because the way you can connect body parts to each other feels like making and handling a 2D digital puppet: you can connect a hand to a forearm so that they can move as a unit, and you can connect that unit to an upper arm to move the whole arm as a unit, and that arm gets connected to the torso, and so on.

When you want to connect two pieces, like a hand to a forearm, then you create another peg in the Node View and attach the two body parts together under that new peg. The screencaps below show the nodes that make up Aziraphale's and Crowley's entire builds inside their respective groups:

Things got a bit sloppy ... It looks extremely complicated, but once it's set up, you don't have to think about it too much when you're animating!

And I've zoomed in on the nodes that make their arms so you can see how there are pegs on top of pegs (all the green nodes), with wires connecting everything:

As I explained in Part I, new drawings are added and contained within a body part's drawing node (the light blue ones under the green ones), and the Drawing Substitution window is where you can see all the drawings that exist in a particular node. In the timeline, you set keyframes for moving the pegs, and you also choose which frame the new drawings will appear when applicable. You might have a lot of drawings stored in the nodes, but only what you set to appear in the timeline will be visible in the final animation.

You can select a body part in the camera view, and then find the corresponding layer in the Timeline or the Node View by pressing the "o" keyboard shortcut. If you select a body part by clicking on it, and then press the "b" keyboard shortcut, you will jump up to the next peg it's connected to. You can hide and unhide pieces using "d" and "a" respectively.

In the first capture above, I'm showing that the arm pieces can be moved separately or together, and you can see how the pegs in the Node View light up when I select them in the Camera window (hiding them turns them red). In the second capture, I pop down to the timeline to step back and forth between the poses - the light grey row (it appears between the rows of red dots) represents the hand's drawing node in the timeline.

Part III: Summary of animation process

In my head I imagined how their walks would differ from each other - Aziraphale bouncier but with very straight posture and limited arm movement, vs Crowley slinking and swaggering all over.

I also knew that I wanted the animation to look good for both a walking-on-the-spot version, and as a version walking across the screen (both versions are at the top of the post!).

Then I started doing some rough animation.

I set aside my finished builds for the roughs. For each character, I made a few drawing nodes and two pegs; a peg for the up-and-down upper body motion, which I tweened, and a peg for moving them across the screen. The legs and arms are drawing substitutions.

With these extremely rudimentary rough "builds", I worked out - how many frames long the walks would be, - how far the characters would move across the screen each step, - how much the upper bodies would move up and down, and - the key drawings of the legs and feet.

I didn't worry about animating clothing, hair, or Azi's arms in the rough stage. For those elements, the drawings would be spaced really close together and would be easier to figure out with tweens. (Note: this rudimentary setup would be sufficient if you want to clean up and inbetween characters by hand frame-by-frame instead of making full builds; my preference is build animation because the process is more fun for me)

Then I started working with the finished builds, using the roughs as a guide, and established the broadest motions first: the up-and-down motion in the upper bodies (I set a keyframe at the lowest point, a keyframe at the highest point, then tweened between them) and how far they'd travel across the screen. Then the feet were done.

I went back and forth between viewing them walking on the spot and walking across the screen to make sure that both versions worked. I also made sure they crossed the same amount of ground relative to each other.

After those crucial parts, I moved on to animating their arms, hair, torsos, clothing details, and finishing the legs, not necessarily in that order. I simulated twisting/rotating their torsos in 3d space by moving their waistcoats and lapels.

The first gif switches back and forth between versions (imagine a background scrolling by when they walk on the spot). The second gif is an example of bad "footslip" - they're moving at different speeds, and if you pay attention to their feet, Aziraphale appears to slip on ice while Crowley appears to slide forward on skates.

"You go too fast for me, Crowley!"

Part IV: Extras and details

Here is a version of Aziraphale's walk without his jacket, and a closeup of Crowley so you can see his swaying hips better:

One of the cool things about animating with builds is they lend themselves well to small modifications; the jacketless version took all of five minutes to make.

I'd be remiss not to include a close-up of Aziraphale's hair, the real star of the animation :) (Crowley's hair is also animated but I purposefully kept it understated since it's a much different texture.) And a closeup image of Crowley's snake tattoo:

The biggest unit for both of them are their upper bodies, which includes their pelvises. The up-and-down motion is only on one peg instead of on every single piece, which is handy because it means I can hide just that part of the animation when I want to work on the clothing details:

During the process of animation, I am often hiding then unhiding pieces like this so I can see what I'm doing.

Their clothing ended up being a lot of separate pieces, which I kept adding during animation rather than before, as it was hard to predict everything I needed. Their clothing also incorporates cutters (aka masks), and deformers (see explanation in Part I). In the next set of gifs the deformers show up as green outlines with handles and get turned on and off.

Aziraphale's torso functions as a mask for his clothing. The shape of his torso subtly changes via deformer. His lapels and waistcoat have V shapes that are masks/cutters (they cut a V shape out of those pieces); the same pieces that make the cutters also are used for the black lines of those V shapes via a special layering setup. The main shapes of his lapels are animated with deformers, and you can see how far beyond his torso shape they extend when I turn on the deformers in the second gif.

Deformers work best for shapes that change a little bit, and/or slowly. The minor shape changes in his and Crowley's clothes ended up being a great use case for deformers, because they pretty much tweened perfectly.

The reason I didn't use them on Aziraphale's legs was because those shapes change significantly between keys; I predicted I'd have to re-adjust every frame of a tweened deformer, so I drew the inbetweens by hand (halfway through, I realized I probably should have used them after all, but I was in too deep by then; hand drawing was fun though!). Deformers worked well on his bottom jacket:

Crowley's pelvis is layered above and below his thigh pieces and has a deformer. Also take a look at all the drawing substitutions for his hands:

And lastly the deformers on the hair:

Epilogue

I'm hoping the gifs all play at the same speed for everyone as they play for me. Hopefully the demo gifs are at least watchable, if not super clear... (I'll listen to feedback on the presentation of the information, for if I do similar posts in future!) Don't hesitate to ask questions about anything I covered, or about any details you noticed that I didn't elaborate on!

ko-fi.com/marieanimate

I'm shy about mentioning it, but I set up a Ko-fi account in case this post compels anyone to leave a small "tip" (but reblogging and sharing is just as good)!

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[kinardscake]

Chimney discovers a recipe for making Buck do whatever he wants him to do. Only 3 ingredients are needed: a daughter, a pilot and a toy.

He discovers it by accident when Buck and Tommy come over for dinner one day. And it’s a special “I need something and only you can help me” kind of dinner. So they go all out making Buck’s favorite foods hoping that he’d agree to babysit Jee-Yun for a few days while they go away on a shortest, tiniest vacation.

The dinner is over and it’s now or never. Chimney asks Jee-Yun to show Tommy her new toy helicopter while ‘Mommy and Daddy talk to uncle Buck’.

They start off by saying how much Jee-Yun loves him and how great it would be for her to spend so much time with her favorite uncle. And Buck just says “yes”, no hesitation, no questions, not needing them to convince him. That’s when Chimney realizes that Buck didn’t even look at them once, his eyes were fixed on his boyfriend playing with his niece the entire time.

A theory starts forming in his head, because Buck agreed way too easily. Of course, it could be because Buck loves Jee-Yun and his daughter is an angel (most of the time anyway), but his heart tells him it’s not it.

So, Chimney sets out to prove his newfound theory.

At Bobby and Athena’s house he ask Jee-Yun to go up to uncle Buck and Tommy and ask Tommy to give her a piggyback ride. Meanwhile Chimney asks Buck to take over his firehouse quarters’ cleaning duties next shift. Buck agrees.

At the Wilsons’ house Buck agrees to loan Chimney his precious car for a week.

At his house Buck agrees to name his firstborn child Howard.

At the firehouse team and family party Chimney and Maddie once again find themselves asking Buck to babysit Jee-Yun for a couple of days. Buck agrees, looking at them this time, a dreamy look in his eyes. He says he and Tommy love having her around. And they could use the practice.

Maddie jumps up in her seat and asks Buck if he’s thinking about starting a family with Tommy.

Buck shows her his left hand, his ring finger no longer empty. “We already have,” he says, “Asked each other last night.”

Tommy comes over with Jee-Yun on his shoulders, laughing and shrieking “Uncle Tommy” while he tickles her feet.

He sees the stunned expressions on his future in-laws’ faces and Buck twirling his ring, smiling wide.

Tommy laughs, connecting the dots. He sets Jee-Yun down. He grabs Buck’s hand and sits down next to him.

“Maddie and Chim are asking us to babysit Jee-Yun next week,” Buck says happily. “I said sure.”

“Seeing me and her worked like a charm again, huh?” Tommy laughs again while Buck shrugs his shoulders.

Tommy looks at Chimney and Maddie and says, “We’d be happy to,” and adds after a moment, “By the way, Howie. We’re not naming our first child Howard, I’m sorry.”

[reallyromealone]

This isn't a request but I'm brain rotting rn about imagining Emma is once again at a toman meeting with another 'girl' and Draken of course scolds her and is like "Don't go bringing your schoolmates to a gang meeting," but it's actually reader crossdressing and Mikey's new bf

Thank you, bye bye I had to tell somebody and I thought you would like it. 🤧

Title: cross dressing

Fandom: Tokyo revengers

Pairing: Mikey x reader

Warnings: slight au, male reader, cross dressing, fluff

Notes: made some slight alterations for the sake of hahas

🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️

Mikey was slightly annoyed as he heard his younger sister brought someone to a Toman meeting, the girl making friends at university and he often saw her friends when he got home from gang stuff or helping shinichiro with his shop on occasion.

What he wasn't expecting was (name) to be dressed in cute feminine clothes and a mini skirt, tucked flat-- Mikey chuckled silently to himself as he knew (name) probably regretted letting Emma get into drag racing shows. Draken scolded the girl as (name) glanced around and saw Mikey leaned back on his chair with his legs spread, slicked back blond hair showing off his tattoos as he winked before blowing out smoke from his cigarette.

(Name) And Mikey had recently begun dating, the blond initially hesitant when he learned Emma had a male friend and Draken nearly hostile at his girlfriend being so close to the cute boy but they quickly realized that (name) was not interested in Emma or any other girl.

What Draken didn't know was that Mikey immediately went on the hunt, practically popping up anywhere (name) was to flirt with him and eventually begin dating him.

So when the twenty-one year old saw his boyfriends bare thighs swished slightly by stockings and that cute skirt, (name) looked nervous at the look he gave him though... The Toman underlings who stood in position in the back garden of Toman headquarters didn't see the look as their boss being a horny bastard but instead saw it as annoyed.

To be fair, Mikey was incredibly hard to read.

"She can stay but she has to stay out of the way, we aren't responsible if she gets hurt" Draken sighed and kissed Emma's forehead as the blond girl beamed up at the tattooed man "thanks Kenny!" She said sweetly and the giant of a man grumbled but didn't say anything.

(Name) Sat with Emma quietly as they started their meeting, Emma and (name) chatting amongst themselves and working on a project, (name) explaining his half and what he was doing.

They didn't even notice the meeting end until Mikey wandered to them "oi" he said passively as (name) looked up confused and Mikey raised his hand, many members holding their breaths only for Mikey to grip (name)s neck and kiss him softly "what" Baji said confused, he was fully ready to get the cute girls number but seems Mikey got to her first.

"What's with the clothes? They look weird" he asked confused and mitsuya looked up from his laptop, working on business expenses that he will be sending to Koko later "Mikey! Don't tell a girl her clothes look weird! That's rude!"

"But (name) isn't a girl" Mikey said bluntly as he plopped beside (name) and draped himself over the other "I just made (name) wear girl clothes, he owed me a favor" Emma said sweetly "besides he looks cute! Don't judge my fashion Mikey!"

"Wait, she's a dude?" Pah said confused and (name) nodded "yeah "

"Wait why did Mikey kiss you?" Chifuyu was also confused, a group of grown ass men who ran a notorious gang and made illegal millions couldn't figure out was a relationship for the life of them.

"(Name)s my boyfriend" Mikey said bluntly, Draken connecting the dots fast.

That would explain why Mikey went to a specific apartment often.

And based on how he played with (name)s skirt...

He would be going back pretty damn soon.

[ultimate-marysue]

This post inspired me to think about secret identity logistics and I think Cass being so cavalier with her secret identity would actually help. Like, it makes the rest of the family's secret identities better because Cassandra Cain is obviously Blackbat/Batgirl. By contrast they would look even more civilian and if someone is not going to realize their kid is a vigilante is Brucie Wayne.

"But wouldn't they connect the dots to the rest of the family?" Listen, If those were bats they'd simply get out of the kidnappings and hostage situations they get themselves into like Cassandra. The fact that they always need to be saved proves they're, indeed, civilians.

Also, I doubt the math would math unless you knew very specific internal things to connect each vigilante to their civilian identity. Brucie is, for starters, as civilian as can get and thanks to the Mandela effect everyone is convinced that he was caught on camera making out with Batman anyways. So that's a non-starter.

Dick Grayson is trying to be a regular person, so the public would know he exists and comes back to important things but he's mostly out of the public eye. Plus, he's a police officer, why would anyone assume he's in kahoots with his little sister that was adopted after he'd already left Gotham?? And when he came back to Gotham for a while to take care of things for his father, is not like there was a new vigilante. It was still batman and Robin (the Robin was new, but Dick Grayson is an adult so, not likely).

Then we get to the big one: Jason is legally dead. You can't assign him any vigilante because he's mmm super dead. I'm sure there's a true crime podcaster trying to argue that he was the second robin and died doing robin shit, that's why Batman and Bruce broke up. But even if it's compelling, it's also considered in really bad taste. Also, can't be tied to Cassandra because she arrived after his death.

Tim gets a similar reaction to Brucie in the sense that there's no way he is a vigilante. He's the immunocompromised Twink from Forbes "30 under 30". He's literally physically incapable of being a super hero due to both a lack of Muscles and a lack of time. That boy has to run an entire massive money making machine and, for all gothamites know, he may very well be asthmatic as well. Plus, he gets kidnapped like crazy. If he was a hero he would at least now how to avoid being put in those situations. They suspect he's covering for Cass though, since he's smart enough to realize his sister is freaking Batgirl.

This means that even if Cass is Batgirl they can't really trace Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin or Red hood back to the family (not to speak of Batwoman, Catwoman, Huntress, Batgirl a 1 and 2, Oracle or spoiler). So at this point why would you even try to connect the others? Clearly Cass is the exception, not the rule.

Like, sure, Duke did survive the Riddler ruling Gotham and if you put some effort, it wouldn't be impossible to tie him to the We Are Robin movement. But also ...is it because he's black? Is it because he's the only black person from Gotham you know of?? His sister is a vigilante, and he is black, so he must be the black vigilante of course (He would be the one making this comments in social media through his sock puppet accounts and the True Crime/conspiracy communities would be too scared to touch that one with a ten foot pole)

Damian is another one where I think Bruce would do what he can to protect him from the press (partially for his own good and partially because he's the opposite of media trained). Most of the info the tabloids would get is from people tangentially related to him. Like, sure, he does look a bit like the new robin, and his sister is Batgirl. But, unless you're one of the people claiming he's the lovechild of Bruce Wayne and Batman (test tube baby??? Batman trans???) it wouldn't make a lot of sense now, would it?

Like Cass is so fucking weird compared to the rest of her family's civilian identities it makes them look rock solid by comparison.

[lycheeloving]

a concept I've been rotating in my head for a really long time now is an AU where the entire Justice League is yandere... with multiverse stuff, because I'm still me <3

They have some sort of machine in the Watchtower that can be used to contact and monitor other universes and even open portals, they've been in contact with a bunch of other Justice Leagues and help each other out in case of extreme emergencies.

However, they all spend a lot of time at the machine doing things unrelated to what it's supposed to be used for. They each watch a different civilian in a different universe, are basically obsessed with them, you could even say they're stalking them... They all try to do this secretly, as they're aware that this isn't exactly behavior that's seen as normal and healthy (and morally sound). Some of them are more successful at hiding it than others.

I imagine Batman would be the first to connect the dots that they're all obsessed with someone, gather evidence of everyone doing this, call everyone to a meeting and confront them with said evidence, only to then reveal that he's been doing the same thing...

And then he suggests bringing their obsessions here, as this behavior has caused them all to be distracted and get worse at their Justice League business, but if their darlings were here, they would no longer have to worry if they were safe or not! Additionally, as they're all from different universes, nobody would think to accuse the Justice League of this universe to be responsible for the kidnappings, nobody would be able to even connect the dots that the kidnappings are related! Batman tries to make it seem like he's suggesting this because he's worried about their performance, and not because he wants to get his darling closer to him, close enough to finally touch.

Everyone eagerly agrees, of course (after getting over the embarrassment of "Oh shit, Batman saw me stalking someone"). After some preparations, like choosing and remodeling rooms so the objects of their affections will hopefully feel comfortable being kept there (well, as comfortable as possible, considering the circumstances), they all work together to discreetly relocate all of their darlings from their original universes to their new home, the Watchtower in this universe.

Each darling gets their own room (that they share with their yandere, of course), but there's also rooms that are accessible to all of them, like a living room, a kitchen, etc, so they don't have to be alone when their yandere is out on patrol.

Everyone in the League tries to justify it to themselves by repeating how they're helping so many people, they've never asked for anything in return, they deserve this, but subconsciously they're all aware that what they're doing is not ok, they just don't care enough about that to stop. It's too late for that now anyways, their darlings are already here, they can't just return them!

I want to write something about what it's like to be the darling of the different members of the league at some point (and about the darlings escaping], but that might take a while, we'll see. Feel free to suggest Justice League members I should include though, I haven't quite decided about who exactly I want to be involved in this AU (other than the obvious Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. and probably Flash)

I've already written for: Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Superman

date night

[genshingorlsrevengeance]

I would like to request Bronya, Seele, Firefly, Candace, Dehya jealous hc for no reason other than because

(Honkai: Star Rail) Bronya, Seele, and Firefly, getting jealous

Do you really need a reason to see a pouting Firefly? Also will do Dehya and Candace another time, for some reason my brain ain't working.

Bronya knows that she shouldn't feel jealous, but something tugs at her heartstrings whenever she sees S/O's focus away from her.

They had been talking to Serval for quite a long time, making her finger tapping against the desk in a slowly increasing manner.

It distracts her from the paperwork long enough to make the guards notice.

(Guard) "Lady Bronya, is everything alright?"

Her gaze shifts away from S/O as she quickly clears her throat.

(Bronya) "All is well. As you were."

S/O's eyes follow Bronya's voice, noticing that her lips were quivering ever so slightly.

Whenever its just the two of them in the room, S/O brushes their hands against her, Bronya jumping at the sudden sensation.

(S/O) "Bronya? Are you okay?"

Bronya opens her mouth to quickly assure them that it was nothing, instead a sigh leaves her lips, shaking her head.

(Bronya) "This may sound foolish but...Have I been giving you enough attention lately?"

It takes a second for S/O to connect the dots before they smile, squeezing her hand tighter.

(S/O) "Ah, I'm sorry, Serval was just telling me something about her concert and the help she needed."

(Bronya) "I-...I see."

S/O's hand gently shifted upwards to her arm before taking Bronya into a hug, one she melted into almost immediately.

(S/O) "Don't worry, my eyes are always only on you, Bronya."

The compliment warmed her cheeks while she leaned into their embrace.

(Bronya) "And mine are always on you..."

Seele just huffs while S/O speaks to Bronya, crossing her arms and impatiently tapping her foot.

(Seele) "Tch, are we gonna speak to the princess all day, S/O? It's freezing out here."

(Bronya) "Oh, my apologies! I did not intend to keep you two for so long. Have fun on your date-"

(Seele) "Yeah yeah, we will-"

Seele drags S/O off while holding onto their arm, her brows furrowed in clear annoyance.

(S/O) "Seele?-"

Before they could finish their sentence, the realization dawned on S/O.

But knowing better than to phrase it outright lest they get probably punched, S/O instead pecked Seele's cheek to fluster her.

Which worked.

(Seele) "H-Hey, what the-?!"

(S/O) "Where do you wanna go now?"

Sighing, Seele just averts her gaze as the blood starts rushing to her cheeks.

(Seele) "...I-I guess I want to grab something to eat."

Firefly doesn't get jealous all that easily, but when she does it's quite a sight to behold.

Not in the sense that she'd get angry or threatens to crush the person S/O is speaking to with her armor-

No, Firefly's cheek puffs out to one side as she begins to pout, crossing her arms.

Not within eyesight of her S/O, but more to herself with the action being subconsciously made.

Firefly tugs on S/O's arm gently, trying to get their attention while still being polite.

S/O quickly excuses themselves and turns to the pouting Stellaron Hunter before them.

(Firefly) "S/O, are you done talking to her?"

S/O chuckled, giving a soft kiss to her nose and flustering her for just a moment.

(S/O) "You look really cute right now."

Firefly's face slowly starts to heat up as she averts her gaze from meeting theirs.

(Firefly) "T-That isn't going to distract me, y'know!"

[thesirencult]

PAC READING: CHRISTMAS WISHES FROM YOUR FS

PILE 1

Your FS is going through a "10 Of Swords" moment. They have been blinded from the truth. Her light is stronger than any illusion's. You are part of this truth. You and this person share a very special soul bond. Your lives' are parallel to eachother, a thin thread connecting the dots until the moment you meet.

"Keep your map close to your chest darling.

Not many people will understand the journey you are embarking on. I do. I want you to know that I wish that all wishes come true the next year. I'm kinda hopping one of them involves me ; )

I wish you get to heal. I wish the sun is warming up your skin and your eyes are shining with hope. I wish I was there to hold your hand. We could embrace eachother under the sun.

You are my sun.

My Sun. Take the chance and that leap of faith. It will bring you closer to happiness and to me. There are times the most illogical choice and the most risky one leads us to success. The paradox of risk.

I wish you keep the flame in your heart alight and your optimism helps you rise above every single. I wish you find love and guidance within your soul.

Goodbye, for now, my Sun and Merry Christmas <3"

PILE 2

Your person is not happy. They are far away from you but energetically they can feel that you are struggling. Your person is very spiritual and they want you to hold on for a tiny bit longer. They might be older than you. When you meet they will take on the role of a mentor. They see you, the real you and they want to help this diamond form under pressure.

Your FS is very calm, cool and collected. They know what they want. Your message is more heav,y but I know, deep in my heart, that you are telepathetically connected and they constantly send you messages, especially through songs and quotes you stumble upon.

"I wish you could see yourself from my POV. The amazing, beautiful, strong soul that you are. I wish you could look at life through a different prism. I want you to take the reigns and show everyone who you are. I wish you find the strength to own your beauty.

Your energy is mesmerizing. Like a cold night under the full moon and a wolf howling in the background. Hecate.

Choose sovereignty. Choose yourself baby. You're not unlucky. Your time just hasn't come yet.

I want you to push one last time baby. Do it for me. I'm sorry I'm not there to wish you "Happy Christmas".

I wish you manifest your dreams,I wish you dare to invest in your future, in our future without thinking you don't deserve it.

You have more options than you think. Don't make any bad choice you will regret later.

I love you baby. I want you to be healthy and strong."

PILE 3

Your FS is very "hungry" for you. They want you to let them take control. They are more possessive and obsessive than you would expect. They show their emotions through touch and on the bed.

They are daring and won't mind to show that you are theirs to everyone. Your FS knows taht you have big goals and they want you to know that in the future you will achieve all your dreams.

They are pretty succesfull themselves and they want you to get that bag and level up. They love material things and they invest in their future. You would meet in an environment supporting your level up (gym, career day, course, seminar etc.).

"My lovey dovey Sweetheart,

I wish you indulge this season. I wish you let your hair down for a while. When you are mine I will help you calm down. I will take the burdens off of your shoulders and tie your hands. Merry Christmas my lovely baby. I wish this time next year we are together, driving around in our luxury vehicles.

Let me dominate you. Let me take control. I will wrap satin sheets around you and carry you to the bathroom. A bathtub full of rose petals. Champagne for you my love. Sit on my face.

I wish you achieve all your goals. I wish you get your dream car, you bossy little lady. I will hold your hand through everything. I'll be by your side on long nights and I will proudly parade you around and show you off to everyone. I want them to know that the most accomplished person is mine.

You are mine. Mine. Mine.

Always yours, your FS."

[mia-nina-lilly]

The self-brainwashing promoted by the ACoTaR fandom is truly impressive. I’ve talked to people who said they don’t remember the fact that Rhysand entered Feyre’s mind without permission and made her see herself trying on lingerie for him as if that wasn’t a big deal, and I’ve seen people who said they don’t remember that Tamlin wrote a poem for Feyre specifically to help her learn new words more easily – with the intent of assisting her in learning to read in a fun way.

In other words, even though this is canon, the large amount of content produced on social media, especially on TikTok and Instagram, promotes ideas and perceptions so false that they affect people's memories. They read it and intellectually know it, but, I don't know, maybe emotionally, they can't connect the dots because of the massive amount of information that preaches the exact opposite: Rhysand is good and only good, Tamlin is bad and only bad.

Of course, I can't ignore the author's own influence on this, whose writing reinforces this idea as well, despite the fact that, when you observe things from outside the protagonist’s head, you can clearly see how many things are wrong in Feyre’s perspective, how biased she is, and how SJM does nothing to change that. But it's really this self-brainwashing machine that impresses me. Some people seem to be purposefully blinding themselves, making it very difficult to have any kind of minimally decent dialogue about the saga.

[signanothername]

saw your recent post about Nightmare's room for Dream, and it reminded me of a fic, where due to Dream still physically and mentally being 6 in the stone, Nightmare was preparing for what to do now as the 'older brother'

which made me wonder

I'm betting Ink or someone from the Omega Timeline found Dream first when he was freed from the statue

What would've happened had it been Nightmare? When faced with this small six year old who is nothing like he remembers, would Nightmare's true self and corruption be mentally first fighting on what the hell to do?(The mental image of this is a bit comical)

Aw that’s adorable dhhxhxhxh

So funny enough, I kinda already made 2 comics that explored what Nightmare’s reaction will be to a small 6 y/o Dream before, just under completely different circumstances

But here’s the thing, while i have explained before how Nightmare’s corruption works in my eyes, I don’t think I was really clear in my explanations, so I’m taking your ask as an excuse to explain it better >:) (i’ll get back to your main question I promise hdhdhdh i just wanna help you connect some dots when it comes to Nightmare’s behavior)

So something to keep in mind is how Nightmare’s mind isn’t truly strong enough to fight off his corruption/corrupted thoughts from controlling him and guiding his actions, and while Nightmare is in absolute control of his mind, his corruption has shaped it in its own twisted way, that’s why he’s an absolute fucking bitch, that’s why Nightmare can be extremely cruel to those around him

Think of his corruption as a parasite, it feeds off Nightmare’s own pain and in turn it’s what makes Nightmare feel that pain (and his own emotions) magnified times a thousand

So when say a normal person who isn’t corrupted feels anger for example, they would feel that anger through stages from it being a mere mild frustration that turns to anger and then full blown rage (depending on the situation of course), but even then a normal person would be able to control that frustration so it doesn’t escalate to anger and in turn never turns to rage, or even if this person were to immediately jump to rage, then they’ll be able to calm themselves down by venting that anger a bit

Nightmare on the other hand,

A- doesn’t go through those stages for his emotions, he immediately experiences the most intense form of them

and

B- those feelings never go away, they linger and fester inside him like an infestation as it is what his own corruption feeds on

He feels angry? That anger is a full blown rage inside him, he feels sad? That’s crushing depression for him, he feels hate? That hate is nothing but raw loathing for everyone and everything around him, he feels fear? It’s fucking paralyzing to the point Nightmare seeks power so he won’t have to feel afraid, he feels happy? It’s tainted by his now sadistic behavior as Nightmare finds sick satisfaction and glee in hurting those around him

Of course, how he deals with that changes as he grows and learns and adapts, so such emotional intensity/ instability is extremely apparent on him as a newly corrupted 6 y/o who feels all alone and lost in the world while it shapes his personality and who he becomes as an adult with a lot more control over his actions/reactions (corruption + bad experiences that shapes his mind = Mean Girl Bitchmare)

What I’m trying to say is that his corruption contributes to his emotional instability, and that corruption knows what to feed on exactly, it makes it so Nightmare feels dependent on negativity so he won’t have to experience what it’s like to feel powerless again, it feeds on his fear, pain, anger, hatred and it extends to Nightmare’s sadistic cruel actions that in turn brings more negativity, which in turn makes him stronger and by extension the corruption stronger which contributes to magnifying his emotions even more, which leads to more cruelty and so on, it’s a never ending torturous cycle that no one is aware Nightmare’s in.. including Nightmare himself, Nightmare is as much of a victim to his corruption as those poor souls who have to deal with Nightmare cause of it

The corruption magnifies Nightmare’s emotions too much for his mind to even be able to process them let alone regulate them, (and Nightmare already has problems understanding his own emotions to begin with) and in turn that corruption only got to his mind as well

Imagine it this way, Nightmare’s mind is plagued by his now corrupted thoughts, he can’t truly think clearly through the thick suffocating corruption, trauma, and horrifying experience in his first 500 years of corruption, it’s like looking through a broken mirror, the pieces of the mirror are still there, and they still show his reflection, but they’re too distorted and messy to form a clean and clear reflection, Nightmare looks at himself in that mirror, but all he sees is scattered pieces of who he used to be (he can no loger recognize his reflection) and so as Nightmare keeps trying to put the pieces back together, it’s more and more clear that not only do they now show the reflection of he used to be, but also who’d he become, the shattered mirror pieces reflect both his corrupted and passive self in a distorted messy way (that’s who Nightmare is now)

Ok if that’s the case, how come Nightmare has kind moments that contradicts his own corrupted state of being? Cause despite his corruption, he’s still Nightmare, I can never emphasize that enough

Despite the cycle he’s in, despite the state of those shattered pieces of who he used to be, those pieces that has his passive self STILL EXIST alongside his corrupted pieces, Nightmare’s own mind, thoughts, emotions and identity beyond that corruption still linger inside him, even if if in a sort of a limbo state

Ok with that all in mind, what the fuck does that have to do with a 6 y/o Dream? Everything

Just like I showed in the comic before, Nightmare would be too blinded by his own pain and hatred (that’s magnified by his corruption) to actually slow down and realize that Dream is 1- literally still a 6 y/o in mental and physical capacity, and 2- is just as in much pain and with such as much trauma as he is

Nightmare hates Dream with a passion

But the thing is, as I showed in this comic here, apart of Nightmare still deeply cares about Dream, even when Nightmare’s in absolute denial about it, I dare say Nightmare doesn’t even realize how much that lil part of him cares

And that would reflect on how he deals with Dream, Nightmare would be conflicted alright, but his corruption would win first and foremost and as such, he’ll deal with Dream with cruelty (that he later realizes was a mistake)

I will not lie, I’ve yet to decide on what I love to think happened to Dream as a statue, but allow me to say that it’s one of 4 options, I like to believe it’s either

A- Nightmare kept him in Dreamtale beside the corpse of their mother

B- took Dream with him to his own castle where he kept him in a safe space

C- left him in a remote part of the multiverse in an empty universe devoid of life (which later got populated)

D- a combination between A and B and C in a linear timeline (i think option D is my fave so far, but I haven’t made a final decision yet :’D)

That being said, the moment Dream breaks out his stone prison, I believe Dream would be too confused and scared to understand what’s going on, hell, would probably think the Apple incident happened just yesterday, not that 500 years passed (you can imagine Dream’s shock later) only to start frantically searching for Nightmare and when he does find his twin? Nightmare doesn’t look like Nightmare anymore, where’s his golden crown? Where’s his tunic? Why is he so much taller? So many questions, and Nightmare’s not in the mood to answer

Nightmare would definitely be shocked to see Dream out of his prison, a big part of him hates that Dream escaped it, Dream doesn’t deserve to be free, another part of him (the one that cares) is relieved cause turning him to stone was never the plan, and then the more dangerous corrupted part of him is sadistically gleeful, he could finally get a proper payback and to have the golden apple from such a weak, small and helpless child

Dream would start talking about how he wants Nightmare back and you can imagine how pissed Nightmare would be at Dream’s daring audacity to bring up the apple incident

Their first interaction after Dream is finally freed is not at all pleasant (the fact Dream is still a 6 y/o physically and mentally doesn’t deter Nightmare’s cruelty)

Nightmare eventually realizes he should’ve been a lot more merciful on his twin when he first broke out his prison, yet that sadistic gleeful part of him can never be quelled (unbeknownst to Nightmare that the glee he feels at Dream’s misfortune is just his trauma shaped in a twisted manner due to his corruption, he feels like Dream hadn’t suffered like he had, so Nightmare will make Dream suffer himself)

And the rest is (kinda) history :)

[kanmom51]

Smeraldo garden marching band - JM

Song and MV - My thoughts

Very long post ahead. Seeing that @andy-wm wrote such an amazing post already, I am sending whoever hasn't read it to go read and like it.

I agree with @andy-wm's thoughts and am going to use it as a base to mine, jot down a few points I would like to either add or emphasize. I could have reblogged, but I felt there was just too much I wanted to convey and better I do it in a separate post.

So let's get it.

Where where where do I start?

Maybe from the end, seeing that the song does seem to open and closes with the BTS reference.

I do agree the song is not JM singing his love to Army.

I've seen Army trying to twist and turn it around once again making it all about Army, JM telling us things he couldn't tell us before, the truth he couldn't before - that he loves army? Say what? Since when did he not tell Army he loved us? Since when was that a truth that had to be hidden? Nah. It's funny how people are getting the whole connection to the Smeraldo flower, the connection to The truth untold (will talk about that a little more later on), but are not willing to take that one extra step and see or admit what that thing JM telling us is.

There is a reason this song comes after Set me free Pt. 2!!

This is a different JM. One that decided to live his life as himself, flying away free like a butterfly.

And he connects the dots in the MV.

This is about something that was obviously hidden by him until now, something he is telling us now, a secret he is letting us in on, once he told "all the opps" to fuck off.

These lines here:

All the things we couldn't say before And your hidden feelings too I'll tell you everything now (Just for you) Don't you worry anymore Since we’re together now Let's be a little more honest (Let's go)

Clear as day.

This is about hidden feelings (and not necessarily hidden from the person he loves but from us, as we are the audience and it's time to tell us about it). Same btw with the honesty. Not that he hasn't been honest with that person he loves, but it's time to be honest with us, perhaps practice that same honesty that certain person has been trying to practice throughout 2023.

This is JM's time. JM's secret to tell.

So why, oh why the hell would it be about his love for Army and wanting to hold our flaming hands????? Please make it make sense.

Forget the fact that the lyrics are just not it. Nope. He might love army but he definitley doesn't want army, and spare me any reasoning, JM is a big boy and he KNOWS what it means when he says "I want you babe...", and it ain't him wanting Army. Nope. Nah. No way.

On top of that, by now we know that everything JM does is for a reason, and the 12 June in the lyrics is no different. This is about BTS, not Army, and the idea of the bookending, I love love love that one. This exactly:

That means the events happening in the song, happen within the context of Bangtan. Reading between the lines, the person he is singing to/about is within Bangtan.

Ah, and there is this too:

No special course in reading comprehension needed here.

Not a love song to army. If it wasn't clear from the lyrics then it's said here. A song JM wrote for army to help them express their feelings for a loved one when they are having issues doing so themselves (all part of the layering I will talk about later on).

I'll just say here that JM is the king of layering. One song and MV containing messages within messages.

One more thing about that ending frame from JM though.

When the curtains rise and the lights turn on Everyone is in their places Turn up the music I think we’re ready now Let's begin one, two Put your hands up

These lines.

As I was watching the MV for the first time reading those lines, this is what popped straight into mind (and speaking of popping, I will get to that too, that naughty cutie, sexy, lovely man of ours and his not so innocent innuendos - yes, I do think his mind was going there):

When do you feel your heart connected with another member ?

"...when my eyes naturally meet Jimin's and we high five..."

*Side note: not JK telling us his heart is connected with JM basically all the time...

I guess JK is talking about moments like that.

When I saw/heard those lines in JM's song it felt like the one JM was talking to in that moment wasn't all of the members, but that one person standing on that stage with him, that one person that he just said all his "I love you"s to.

Oh, and a little example of nothing being coincidental and fully thought out by JM:

Ok then.

Just as @andy-wm mentioned, JM gives us hints galore throughout the whole MV as to who that individual is he is speaking to, confessing his love to (again, all while also clearly talking to us letting us in on that secret that he was hiding until now).

We have him hinting to what it ain't.

That the person in question is not of the female variety. The potentially romantic moments are only with the male characters. That "yes sir" add-on.

Ooh, I love you babe I'll come closer to you I love you, babe (Yes, sir) Ooh, I want you, babe I wanna hold your hand I want you, babe

This is no mistake. This is not in the live version only. This is part of the actual lyrics. As is.

We have him giving us hints in the staging, the choreo, the set connecting with Serendipity.

The you are me I am you in the MV choreo

And prey tell, who took ownership of that one, eh?

We have the bubbles.

And specifically JM in a bubble.

Wait, what am I seeing there?

JM in a bubble with sunflowers?

Sun-flowers?

I guess we're in the business of recreating moments then.

Not quite enough, right?

So we have JM literally using Golden hour lighting in his MV. All while the sunflowers (you know, those that grow towards the sun, and usually don't tend to open up and flourish as the sun is going down) are blooming.

Oh, and who are they directed towards if not the recipient of JM's confession? You know, the sun part of the sun and moon duo. Get with it people. You should be reciting this off by heart by now.

Oh, @andy-wm you asked and I will reply. You are not crazy AT ALL. I will say it one more time and clearly:

The sunflowers, that represent the sun as in themselves, are blooming facing towards the camera, in the direction of JM's love confession, all while doing so when the sun is actually supposedly setting, it being Golden hour.

And if it's Golden hour we are talking about, how can we forget this?

Just JK telling us JM is the love of his life during Golden Hour .

See full clip here:

And now we have JM doing just the same.

Who would have thought?

So, basically the flowers are blooming facing (because of) the individual that JM is confessing his love to - you know, the sun to his moon.

Same moon that was doing this:

Every night You spin me up high The moon with you in its arms Let me have a taste Give me a good ride (Oh, I'm fallin', I'm fallin', I'm fallin') It's gon' be a good night (Oh, I'm fallin') Forever you and I

And if we are already drawing the lines between SGMB and Like crazy, then how about this perhaps connecting line:

We know how personal Face was to JM. We know that every single song is him through and through. We know Like crazy is about him struggling during the pandemic.

We saw his breakdown during the MOTS ONE live streamed concert.

This was October 2020, around 6 months into the pandemic. The uncertainty. This is their first performance and from there until Muster another 9 months go by. We know from Festa 2022 that the pandemic screwed up all of their plans. the uncertainty, working on and releasing Be and then Butter and PTD everything leading up to the PTD online concert, a year after MOTS ON:E. For those that performing is their life, standing in front of an audience and giving it their all, it's a hard pill to swallow. The unknown, if they will ever get back to perform on stage in front of a live audience, when this is who they are, their essence, it can be unbearable. JM wasn't the only performer to go through this. It's just that he shared this with us.

And JK was there by his side.

And all he wanted was to make it better.

Just like he did during the concert itself.

So yeah, I do believe it's JK referenced in that song.

And Yeah, like everything JM does, this song too, and it's MV, are layered.

And SMF pt. 2 is him breaking free, flying away like a butterfly and moving on to SGMB. Now he can say what he feels out loud for EVERYONE TO HEAR. And he's telling that someone that was worried about him, that one that stood by JM's side and perhaps JM felt like he was trying to save him, that it's ok, there is nothing to worry about anymore. And unlike in Like crazy, where JM doesn't want to be woken up from that dream, and he is fighting that person that wants to save him, at this point he's eager to wake up and live each day a new with that person he loves blossoming by his side.

Same person he wrote the Letter to?

Yep. Same person.

I do believe that they are all one. Same person by his side in Like crazy, giving him a good ride, in his arms, trying to save JM. Same person he wrote his love letter to. And same person he's telling that he loves in SGMB.

And then there are these lines to consider:

All the things we couldn't say before And your hidden feelings too

Is JM confessing to that person, to us and for that person too? Telling us the feelings are mutual. Hidden until now, from us, and now out in the open.

And yes, although SGMB is JM confessing his love to that person (cough JK cough), he's already done that in a song, right? So what now?

Layering peeps.

JM is telling that person, but more so, I do believe, telling us.

Remember how Letter was hidden? Yes, we got to hear it, but it was hidden on JM's album. Like a secret that isn't to be shared with everyone. Like something that needs to be hidden. And here comes the layering again - it's hidden cause it's a private letter to the one he loves, but also hidden because it's something that cannot be revealed publicly, because he's an idol and 'not allowed' to have such a personal relationship and because the relationship itself is 'not allowed', being with another man.

And now we have SGMB. Not only is the song not hidden away, but it's out there in the open. Loud and proud. The first single released from Muse. How louder or more public can it get than that?

Ok, so feels like a good place to talk about the song's choice of name and its lyrics for a sec.

Much has been said already about the Smeraldo flower, it's meaning and The Truth Untold.

And now we have this:

"The longing to confess and find love on behalf of those unable to articulate their feelings..."

Let's talk about this sentence for a second.

One of the things we get from the MV is cupid or matchmaker JM. Not only is he telling his person how he feels, he is also helping those around him express their love. So, as usual we have a layered message, oh so like JM to do in his well thought out messages. JM 'confessing' to his love, but also to us about his love (first 2 layers) and another layer of JM helping us, his audience, to express our feelings to whomever we wish to and are struggling to do so. Oh and another layer to it all is the one surrounding all three, the one that connects to the Smeraldo flower and it's part in The Truth Untold - that part of allowing to show your true colours, your true feeling, and not be rejected for them, not necessarily by the person you love, but by those that surround you and will not accept your true self or your love for each other.

The connecting lines between the two songs.

And we know who this song meant so much to as well.

"But I still want you"...

So most definitley not a coincidence JM choosing the Smeraldo flower nor calling his band The Smeraldo Garden Marching Band, having them be the ones to deliver this oh so loud and proud message to us all.

One last thing before I leave you for now.

Let's talk for a sec about the new JM dance challenge?

We got cutie sexy lovely JM in this one.

And again, thanks @andy-wm for your lovely post.

Once again, if it wasn't clear already, the one he's paired up with is Loco, sitting there on the sofa, not even dancing with him, just there all googly eyed at JM, struggling to keep a straight face. And the end, omg, that end.

No Loco. That performance was not for you. And fyi, there is only one person JM is accepting flowers from ...

You know...

That one and the same person he was rushing home to pack for their trip to Japan the next day.

Same person he chose to enlist together with less than a month later.

[thisismeracing]

Die from a broken heart | MS47

― Pairing: Mick Schumacher x wolff!reader (she/her) ��� Warning: mentions of food, jealousy, and a secret relationship; angst with a happy ending. (3k words) ― Summary: After a fight with Mick, your secret boyfriend, you find yourself crying in your father’s arms, and it won’t take much for Toto to connect the dots. The thing is: what is going to happen when he finally does? (based on this request)

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“He’s just a friend!” Yn finally snaps, voice getting louder and thicker in frustration.

Mick, who’s at the other side of the room, arms crossed, and face twisted in a frown, scoffs at her words just like he’s been doing the past few minutes they have been fighting.

“Yeah, but at this point, so am I to everyone who knows us,” his remark makes her heart clench.

She loved him, she was sure of that even though they had been together for less than a couple of months. They had known each other for over a year. They were friends before becoming lovers. So his harsh words and his lack of demonstrating hurt hit her differently.

Fighting with someone who won’t match your screams can be slightly worse than fighting with someone who will. Mick had his voice even the whole time, lips pursed, eyes hard. His cheeks flushed from the alcohol, and his stance wide, but other than that, he did not cave, did not scream, or point a finger at her.

“And what do you want me to do Mick? You wanted me to make out with you in front of everyone so they could record and we could wake up being the news headlines tomorrow morning? You more than anyone know how the media can be pushy, how they can break beautiful things.”

“Guess sometimes you don’t need them to break it, those beautiful things will break themselves,” he retorted, walking past her and to the door.

“Where are you going?” Yn asked, tears gathering in her eyes.

“I don’t know, it doesn’t matter to you.”

And just like that, he gave his back to her.

Her sweet, loving, patient boyfriend turned around and stormed off the room as if he was done. As if their relationship was done for.

She loved being Toto’s daughter. Loved being a Wolff, and all the things that came with it, except how her dad’s fame would play out in her life. She wouldn’t mind the constant travel, something she really liked as a kid. She wouldn’t mind the constant questions about her dad and F1, and driver X and Y. She wouldn’t mind the cameras whenever she went to the paddock. Now, she hated how her name affected her relationship. Fair enough, she doesn’t know how she would meet Mick if she weren’t a Wolff. You can never guess destiny, maybe in another life she would have worked in F1 and they would’ve met. But the fact was, she hated how she had to keep their relationship a secret at least for a bit before telling her dad. He had a rule about not dating drivers, but who was she to resist ocean-blue eyes and a dazzling smile?

When Yn started dating Mick they agreed to keep it under wraps until a month or so.

But now it’s been six months, and though Mick had suggested they talk to Toto and Susie, Yn was a bit taken aback. She was postponing the confrontation.

She hated how he stormed off. Hated the feeling of being left behind. It felt like he didn’t want to put effort into fighting with her, as if he was done with the relationship.

Ordering from the app, Yn took a cab to her Dad’s house, and though she tried to keep herself together, the second he opened the door wearing his flannel pajamas, she couldn’t help but sob and hug him.

Toto frowned in confusion but held his daughter, closing the door behind them.

Susie, sitting on the couch, got up, “Oh, baby, what happened?” Her soft tone made Yn cry harder. She clutched her dad and Toto shared a look of worry with his wife.

“Am I gonna be alright?” she whispered against the soft material of Toto’s pajamas.

“You will, baby, you will.” He compromised even though he had no idea of what was happening. Yn was still his baby in his head, he would move the world if it meant making her happy. So he kissed the side of her head, and asked: “Now, you wanna tell me what happened or want me to tuck you in bed?” Yn was similar to Torger in a lot of things, one of them being how she needed to sit on her feelings before talking about them. He knew it, but he always gave her the space to choose, either talk about it as soon as it happened if by any means she wanted a change, or simply wait for her to come around.

“Bed,” she mumbled.

She got a kiss on her forehead from Susie and shared a small teary smile with the oldest Wolff, before following her dad to her childhood bedroom. The decorations still intact, everything the way she left it.

She took off her shoes and coat, and lay in bed, letting Toto drap the comforter over her body and adjust the heather.

“Dad,” she calls with the smallest voice, yet he catches it. It’s like when you become a parent you get some superpowers, you get to hear better so whenever your kid cries from a different room, baby monitor or not, you’re able to pick it. Another thing is that you become good at telling whenever they’re lying or hiding something, that’s why when Yn apologizes and tells him it’s about her secret boyfriend, he’s not mad. A bit hurt that she waited to tell him, but not mad.

“Did he do something?”

Yn shakes her head, “It’s just regular couple stuff, I guess.”

“You came here crying, that shouldn’t be regular couple stuff, Hase.”

This time she nods her head, “It’s our first major fight…I didn’t know what to do, or where to go.”

“I’m glad you came home,” he stated simply, kissing her forehead. “Now get some rest, we’ll be here for breakfast in the morning, ja?”

She agrees, turning on her side and closing her eyes just as Toto turns off the lights and closes the door. Her childhood bedroom used to be the safest and comfiest place and whenever she got there it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes for her to fall asleep, yet it still took her a couple of hours, crying hours, before she finally drifted to sleep.

In the morning, Yn woke up to the fresh smell of breakfast and a weird car noise so close that she opened her eyes to discover Jack setting up a whole Grand Prix on her bedroom floor while waiting for her to wake up. The image of her youngest brother pushing cars around made her smile.

“So, is this der Großer Preis von Österreich?” she asked, and Jack gasped, faking a scare with her waking state, but was quick to jump into her bed, hugging his sister.

“It’s my version of the Austrian Grand Prix, in this one we win!”

“What makes you think that we won’t win in real life?” she arches her brow, knowing all too well how smart her baby brother is.

“We don’t have the best car in the grid, but we do have the best drivers, so…maybe we can root really hard and get it?”

“That’s how I like to see it!” They share a high five.

“We also have the best team principal, you know?”

“Yeah!!”

She chuckles.

“Now, let’s get some food in, shall we?”

Jack eagerly nods, running to the door, but stopping in his tracks just when he reaches the door handle, “Maybe you should…” he points to his face. “You look kinda funny…like a panda.”

“Oh-!” Yn smacks her face after looking at her white pillow case now dotted with dried mascara. “Thank you, Jackie. I’m on it.”

“I’ll wait for you,” he states, turning to his toys and sitting on her carpet again.

She smiles. Though there was a big age gap between them, they had always been close, and Yn missed her little brother every second they spent apart.

She washed her face, changed into more comfy clothes, and gave Jack a piggyback ride to the kitchen where Susie and Toto were just finishing setting up the table.

“Morning!!” Jack greeted loudly making Yn wince with how close he was to her ear. Toto chuckled, taking him in his arms and kissing his smooth cheeks.

“How’d you sleep, honey?” Susie asked Yn after she got a kiss from her dad and he left carrying Jack and a big jar of OJ.

“Ok, I guess…Do you happen to know how to take mascara stains from a pillowcase?” Yn asked, eyes cast down, voice laced with a bit of embarrassment that was quickly pushed aside by the older who hugged her close.

Deep down what she really wanted to ask was: can someone die from a broken heart? What does one do when they have no idea what’s going on? Can you go blind from crying so hard? Was she exaggerating? Did Mick have a shitty night as well? Were they going to be alright?

“I’ll get it sorted for you, how do we feel about some Apfelradln like the old times? They used to cure your pouty lips when you were a kid.”

“They would sure sweeten a bit of my mood,” Yn confesses with a small grin, and they walk with linked arms to the breakfast table.

It’s loud and boisterous, full of smiles and giggles. It feels good to be home, even though there’s a nagging deep down in her heart, a longing. Breakfasts with Mick used to be a mix of things, sometimes full of laughs, other times just the crunching noises and smacks of kisses against any available piece of skin from the other.

Susie pulled her from her thoughts, dropping some of her favorite Austrian breakfast on her plate, and Yn smiled, digging into the sweet food.

When Toto and Susie left to get some things sorted for the Race that Weekend Yn stayed with Jack to get distracted. She knew she would most likely run into Mick had she decided to join her parents, and the hurt was still too raw to put a finger on it now. Maybe she would call him later, and see if he would answer. For now, she got busy with Disney movies playing in the background while she and her little brother put some Lego figures together which proved to be a terrific distraction.

—

“Did you get into the sim earlier than scheduled?” Toto asked when Mick entered the garage, big bags under his eyes and no sign of his trademark sweet smile.

The Schumacher shook his head, “Nah, just couldn’t get much sleep last night.”

“Did something happen?”

“Love happened,” he mumbles, walking to one of the rooms to drop his things there, not before grumbling on the way about how hard relationships were.

Susie who was beside Toto shared a knowing look. The arched brows and darting eyes silently get to the same conclusion.

“Do you really think…?” Toto finally voices and his wife shrugs, biting her lips.

“Maybe. They’re good friends…maybe they’ve been more and we failed to see it.”

Toto sighs, moving the headphones that are on the desk.

“Please, don’t smash it,” she jokes, and he pinches the bridge of his nose.

“She’s our baby.”

“She’s twenty-three, Liebe.”

“Ja, but still…”

“If you asked me to choose someone in the Paddock, it would be Mick. You’ve been working with him for a while now, we both know he’s a good guy.”

“That’s the problem!” He points and Susie arches her brows in confusion, “I’m supposed to hate my baby’s boyfriend, or give him a hard time, but I actually like that blond Ken doll, ugh.”

Susie burst into laughter, and Toto can’t help but let the smallest grin grace his features.

“She’s everything,”

“He’s not just Ken, and you know it, Torger.”

“Well, to me he’s just Ken. She’s my everything, and he’s just Ken.”

They share a look, before Mick walks back and sits on one of the computers across from them, fingers quickly typing on the keyboards.

“You sure you’re ok, kid?” Toto asks and Mick nods.

“What do you think of dinner at ours tonight, Mick?”

The German seems surprised with the invitation but is quick to recover. He scratches his neck and then nods, “I would like that, thank you.”

Susie kisses Toto’s cheek and gives Mick’s shoulder a small squeeze before leaving to do her thing.

Later that day, when the doorbell rang and Toto called for Yn and Jack, motioning for his daughter to open the door, she wasn’t expecting to face her boyfriend with two simple yet pretty bouquets in hand and a wine bottle in the other.

“I-...I thought you may be with your best friend,” his voice is like a whisper, almost as if he was talking to himself, but Yn caught it. She was used to his traits.

“Nope, I came straight to my parents.”

And just when he opened his mouth to say something, Jack came barreling into his legs, “Mick!!!”

“Heya, Jackie! How’s it going, buddy?”

“I’m good! I missed you. It’s been forever since we played games!”

“I know, I’ve been a bit busy, sorry,” the blonde made a face and messed Jackie’s hair, before looking up again only to find Susie at the door as well.

“You’re just in time, Mick.”

“Did you invite him?” Yn asked, confused.

“We sure did.”

“These are for you, and for you,” he gives the flowers to Susie and then to Yn who takes a step back when her body involuntarily leans towards him for a hug.

“Thank you, Schumi,” Susie kissed his cheek and opened the door wider for the German to get in.

He greeted Toto in the kitchen and helped finish setting the table. On the way home Toto and Susie discussed if the invitation was truly a good idea, if Yn would be mad, or if there would be any tension in the room, but as it happens, things were good. Mick was used to the Wolffs, he felt comfortable around them, and there wasn’t space for awkward silence, not with Jack around, or when Austrian dishes were involved because Toto would proudly explain the detail and story behind everything as if the name wouldn’t do it justice.

“I’m sorry I stormed off,” Mick hesitated for a second. They were doing the dishes while Susie and Toto got Jack ready to bed, and finished some of the chores around the house. And though Mick had a feeling about the whole arrangement, Yn was sure that her parents had set it up. She knew them all too well. “I know how much you hate when people walk off while you’re talking, and I know how you hate to sleep angry. I’m sorry if it seemed as if I was pressuring you into telling your parents about us, I think I’m just…I love you and I wanted to share this with everyone, but I forgot to consider your saying in this.”

She shook her head, trying to keep her tears at bay. It was the first time he said he loved her. Upon seeing the tears finally streaming down her cheeks, Mick dried his hands on the towel and stopped them just before they reached her lips. She smiled this time, and more tears gathered on his fingers. Mick dipped his head and kissed them away.

“I love you too. I’m sorry I didn’t consider your side as well,” she admitted, threading her fingers on the nape of his neck and enjoying the feeling of his soft strands against her skin.

He smiled, but it didn’t last long because their lips found one another in a kiss that tasted like salty happy tears and forgiveness. She missed his warmth and he missed her softness.

“We should tell my parents now, you know. Since we’re already here.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, they invited you to dinner after I got home crying, they probably pierced everything together.”

Mick chuckled and pecked her lips again before turning back to the dishes. Once they were done and walked to the living room with dessert plates in their hands, Toto shared a knowing look with his daughter. Yn sat beside Mick on the smallest couch, and they both looked like two teenagers about to confess they passed the curfew and skipped class both in the same week.

Susie smiled.

“I…we have something to tell you guys,” Yn stated, shaking her legs up and down on the sofa, and she would probably go round and round before getting to the point, so her boyfriend ripped the bandage.

“We’re dating.”

“We were going to tell you guys, we just…were waiting for the right time and…”

“It’s ok, love,” Susie reassured.

“It is?” Yn asked.

“Yeah, but I won’t forget you got home crying last night,” Toto huffed, crossing his arms and looking at Mick whose eyes grew two sizes bigger.

“That whole thing was exactly about telling you guys,” Yn started, telling them how everything started and how she was afraid of their reactions. Her parents listened attentively, Toto would eye Mick every once in a while, to which Susie would grip his thigh even though she knew he was just messing with the German.

“Alright, it’s fine by me, but we still have to talk, young Schumi.”

“Of course, Toto.”

“It’s Sir from now on,” he stated and Mick opened his mouth looking for the right words, but settling only for a quick nod and a “Yes, Sir” which caused Susie and Yn to laugh, knowing the oldest Wolff long enough to catch when he was messing with someone.

“It’s a joke, kid. Welcome to the family,” he got up, and shared a quick hug with the youngest, but not before adding, “But I hope to God she doesn’t come home crying again, or else…”

“It won’t happen again.”

“What are you whispering to each other?” Yn intervened.

“Nothing,” Mick was quick to answer.

“I’m just telling him how happy I am to have him in the family now, right?”

They would eventually talk more, but for now, both were satisfied where things stood. Mick was happy to have the Wolffs' blessing somehow and to share with his own family about his relationship, and Toto was relieved his daughter wasn’t dating a driver from a different team.

────── ⋆🪩 VOICEMAIL: Hi, honeybees! I hope you guys liked this piece. As usual, a huge shout out to C (my coffee emoji anon here on Tumblr) for proofreading yet another piece! <3 Please, if you do like this, make sure to REBLOG and leave me an ask/comment because Tumblr put me in some sort of shadow ban so my posts are taking forever to show up (sometimes not showing up at all to some people). Help your writer out and get a virtual hug *mwah* hihiih <3 thank youuuuuu!!!!

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