#gilby-the-geek-girl

[yourmateyoya]

I think I found them the artist: gilby-the-geek-girl

someone on twt said it and i havent been the same since

whoever said this literally fuck you 

[erstwhilesky]

Commission for @gilby-the-geek-girl

As a gift for @sebthesnipe

based on a scene from sebthesnipe’s fic My Dearest Procyon. It’s a really fun fantasy au, and I highly recommend checking it out! You can find it {here}, and the chapter this illustration goes with can be found {here}.

I got to experiment with so many different techniques on this drawing, it was a really fun challenge and I’m really happy with how it turned out.

[iggyalfi2319]

Piccrew shoes! Link here

Long time since I seen a piccrew thread, so imma start one :3

I'm tagging @gilby-the-geek-girl , @under-the-blue-moonlight, @michaelmac6072

And anyone else who wants to do it

(I'm not not tagging everyone right away so they can be tagged later as the thread goes)

[kazuyumi1412]

I’ve been reading a lot by @gilby-the-geek-girl recently, especially their “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” story, and I’ve absolutely fallen head over heels for their rendition of Virgil being a sizeshifter! I found it pretty interesting seeing how his ability works, along with seeing mentions of him wishing that it could work in both directions, and I thought that I’d write my take on what could happen if his ability could make him shrink too.

Note: This is just something I wanted to write and is in no way canon to gilby’s story. So read with a grain of salt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hero in Hiding

[Regrets]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No. No, no, no. This cannot be happening.

Well, it was happening. Right before Virgil’s eyes, but…

Ah, geez. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

There he was in a ransacked room with three roughed-up roommates and a royally spooked Roman. How’d any of that even happen? Honestly, it was all such a blur to Virgil. One second, he was in his room, stressing about school and his too-rapidly-dwindling meds. The second… Well, the second was too blurred for him to remember anything other than accidentally creating an extremely-localized earthquake and nearly causing part of the ceiling to come crashing down.

How the hell did his reverb cause that?

“Holy–! What was that?!” Roman asked Virgil, clearly still being in fight-or-flight mode.

“That was clearly the reverb from his voice, Roman,” Logan calmly stated as he brushed himself off. Some dust had landed on him from the cracked ceiling. “Albeit much stronger than normal.”

“Aside from that, Microsoft Nerd.” — he quickly gestured to Virgil, who was tightly covering his mouth with his hands — “He barely grew at all, yet look at this mess!”

“Now, now. Let’s try to calm down,” Patton told them. “Losing our heads isn’t going to help right now.”

Losing our heads. If the vibrations were any stronger, Virgil was sure that they’d have had something happen to their heads. Or would something have happened? Logan could’ve easily held up any falling debris with his telekinesis, but a whole ceiling? A whole roof, even? Virgil’s heart pounded as his mind ran rampant with possibilities.

What if the ceiling caved in and crushed them? Would he even be able to use his powers to protect them? Why was the reverb so powerful that time? He was sure that he knew what would happen with his powers at that point. He’d been living with them for practically all of his life! But what if they were changing? What if this was the beginning of a domino effect? What if—

“Virgil!”

His heart skipped a beat as he refocused on reality. Roman was right in front of him, hovering his hands over Virgil’s shoulders. Did he not want to touch him in case it spooked him? Well, that can’t be right. He already spooked him a bit already when he snapped him out of his trance.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Roman told him, keeping his volume low. “We’re alright. Just try to calm down, Panic! at the Everywhere.”

“Really?” Logan deadpanned as he cocked an eyebrow.

“You want to try calming him down, then?”

They both knew that Logan was pretty much useless when it came to emotional support, but he still replied. “No, but I’d prefer if you didn’t use those nicknames when Virgil is in this kind of state.”

Despite how much of a killjoy he was, Logan had a point. “Fine.” — he looked back at Virgil — “Breathe for me, will you? Four seven eight.”

Roman sung the tune to himself as Virgil tried to follow along, trying to keep his reverb to a minimum. “ONE TWO THREE FOUR ONE TWO…” he whispered.

They kept going for a bit, with Virgil feeling the sensation in his body lessening as he slowly returned to normal, but he completely stopped when he saw something slowly flowing down Roman’s forehead.

Blood.

Oh god, he actually hurt him. He hadn’t noticed it before due to how dark Roman’s brown hair was, but the blood was clear as day on his skin. And he was not easy to injure. And apparently, none of them had noticed until Virgil stared at it.

“Ah, your head!” Patton exclaimed as he rushed over to heal the wound.

“Since when did this happen?” Roman said as he looked at the blood on his fingers from checking.

Virgil’s stomach immediately felt uneasy as he felt a strong sensation surging through his body. However, he didn’t seem to recognize it, feeling different compared to what he was used to.

“Are you okay?” He asked before quickly shutting his mouth.

That was definitely not reverb.

“You alright there, Stormageddon?” Roman asked, having heard the odd new tone in his voice.

“I-I’m fine, really,” Virgil replied as he took two steps back.

“Well, when you’re not feeling fine, you better believe that your pop knows it.” Patton said as he was healing Roman’s head wound. “Is something wrong?”

He tried to repress the feeling in his throat as he replied. “You guys should worry about yourselves first. I’m just the guy that caused this mess–”

Okay, now they all heard it. God, he really did have something wrong with him, didn’t he? No, he didn’t. He wouldn’t have something else wrong with him. Living with his powers was already a pain sometimes, especially when he couldn’t control it! Virgil looked around to the others, seeing the looks on their faces.

Shock? Fear? Maybe even a glare?

Then again, he probably deserved it. For hurting the people that he cared about.

“Virgil, what’s happening?!” Patton asked, frightened.

Maybe it’d be better if he was gone for a while.

“What’s going on?!” Roman panicked.

…

And everything went out like a light.

__________

Virgil came to again a few seconds later, unsure of where he was. He heard what sounded like the low rumble of an approaching storm, along with other sounds that he couldn’t quite make out at the time. They echoed around him, the sound waves bouncing off every surface and reverberating back to him.

…Wait. Reverberating?

He looked around, seeing what looked like four pillars supporting a giant ceiling. And giant objects that went up and down from the ground, making the ground shake a bit. And…

“VIRGIL, WHERE ARE YOU?”

“IF THIS IS A JOKE, IT’S NOT FUNNY!”

“VIRGIL!”

Voices.

Their voices.

“So this is what it feels like to live with me…” Virgil muttered to himself, still hearing the change in his voice.

He thought of trying to change back, but a thought ran through his head. He didn’t have school the next day. Maybe he could try disappearing for a while like he thought earlier. See what a day without his presence was like.

It wouldn’t hurt, would it?

After all, he didn’t want to hurt the others any more than he already did that day.

[giant-sketches]

A sweet, slumber time gift for my friend @gilby-the-geek-girl. 

This is based on their story Not All Heroes Wear Caps, which is an amazing series everyone needs to read. It has inspired me to change up the way I write and try out new ideas.

Please go check out chapter 1 of there story here! 

They deserve all the love and support you all can give them! Please take the time to send them a nice message or just to say hello. They mean a lot to me as a friend!!! :3

[sebthesnipe]

3 name a fanfic/story you're particularly proud of writing

Such a good one! Ugh! Um... Hm... Well I’ve mentioned before that I’m really proud of the poetic nature of Sun and Moon Prinxiety.

There are a few others though...

Where There’s Smoke has been pretty challenging. We’ve been meeting a pretty strict schedule (give or take a day and ignoring the week Hell (Texas) literally froze over) and I’m not an analogical fan so... That one I’m pretty proud of but I think its mostly cuz I’m so proud of @gilby-the-geek-girl. 

Then there’s My Dearest Procyon which was my first complete multichapter fic. Which I hated by the end of it all but am very proud I completed it. 

I dunno. I guess I’m proud of all my work in one way or another, as I feel it should be. There are some I don’t like *cough* Erato *cough*, but each has improved my writing and allowed me to express my creativity, explore new themes and characters, and overall just improve myself.

As artists (because yes, writing is an artform) I think that we should always be proud of our work. Whether it be a two line poem, or an 800k story, a fanfic or a paper on Quantum Physics. The work itself can be as bad as they come but every piece means something. Every piece is an example of improvement, an example of passion. That in and of itself is enough to be proud of. The fact that we are moving forward, improving, and sharing a piece of ourselves is something to take pride in. 

And you never know when that one piece that you loathe because its so bad is just what someone needed to spark their own creativity, their own self worth, to push them back from a ledge or encourage them to move on from something toxic. 

Every word is worth pride. 

[spootdoodles]

Where There’s Smoke Chapter 9 Emblem!

Analogical fic written by @gilby-the-geek-girl and @sebthesnipe.

Chapter 9 will be posted tomorrow 2/28/2021.

[birdsongisland]

Side having a nice nap!!

decided to combine two prompts @gilby-the-geek-girl (i can't tag your other blog ?) and an old wip ! so have some analogical doodles because they are me and i need a nap

[snaccforyou]

G/T Secret Santa Exchange

Story for @gilby-the-geek-girl

Challenge from @secret-shifters

The house was warm, bright, and full of laughter. A few people were exchanging presents, and most had a glass of eggnog or cider in their hands. It wasn't a massive party, only a couple dozen attendees, but it was a little crowded for Celine's tastes.

As a friend-of-a-friend attendee, she didn't know most of the cheerful group, and was a little too shy to try and mingle this late into the party. Instead she sat on one of the host's fluffy couches and watched the merriment with a mix of discomfort and amusement.

"Hey!" A rosy face appeared next to her, and she jumped. Someone she vaguely recognized from one of her classes, Anna maybe, was leaning over the couch next to her.

"Selena, was it?"

"Celine, actually," she corrected, a little startled.

"Oops! Sorry!" Possibly-Anna said, breaking into tipsy giggles. She held out a glass full of cider. "Did you want something to drink?"

"Um, no thank you," Celine declined with an awkward laugh. If she were at her own home, she might be tempted, but Celine was a bit of a lightweight. She was a little wary of drinking any sort of alcoholic beverages with so many strangers around, especially with how she was currently feeling. There was a slight itching, a tingling under her skin that meant losing her self-control could end badly.

"Suit yourself, I guess," laughed Anna. She straightened and joined a large group of chatting friends.

Celine felt a familiar wave of claustrophobia, and took a deep breath. Honestly, the party wouldn't be half bad if she didn't feel like she might shift at any moment.

Celine was a sizeshifter, a being that was able to change her size dramatically. While some size-shifters had complete control over their abilities, others were more unpredictable. Celine had moderate control over her shifts, but the longer she went holding back, the more uncomfortable she felt.

Right now, her body felt far too small, the room far too tiny for her. She subtly scratched her arm, and tried not to imagine stepping outside and shooting up to three times her "regular" height. She let herself grow an inch taller and glanced around the room.

Byron, the friend who had invited her and the only other sizeshifter she knew of in this city, had been mingling with some of his friends, but she'd lost sight of him several minutes ago. She wanted to pull him away and ask if there was any way they could leave early. As a sizeshifter with even less control over his size, he'd understand.

Of course, she'd feel terrible making their ride, a really nice person named Wren, leave early, but she would rather leave when the discomfort was bearable.

Last she'd seen Byron, he'd pulled one of his friends aside to talk. She hadn't seen them in several minutes, but when Byron's friend came back alone, her gaze shot to them. Suddenly, a shifting in their hair caught her attention. She blinked, doing a double take.

Sure enough, nestled in his friend's hair sat Byron. They locked eyes as well as they could from across the room, and Byron gave what looked like an apologetic shrug. He waved his now tiny phone, and Celine checked her texts. There was a new message in the carpool group chat from Byron.

Sry, unexpected small problem. Have 2 ride back w/ someone else.

It was subtle enough that Celine would've understood what happened even without seeing him small. She completely understood, but her desire to stay was even less now. She started to look for Wren, not looking forward to telling them she wanted to leave early.

***

Wren wasn't a huge fan of parties. They weren't a very social person, but Byron and his friend had needed a ride, and he was one of their few friends that actually cared about them. Besides, this party wasn't too bad. They'd had a little eggnog, but not enough to feel more than a slight warmth. The other partygoers mostly left them alone, so they didn't have to socialize too much.

About halfway into the party, they got a text from Byron saying his change in plans. At first they let out a sigh. Typical Byron, having some secret emergency that changed his plans. It was fine, though, Wren was used to his strange habits by now, and as long as he had a different ride they weren't too worried about him.

Wren just hoped the ride home wouldn't be too awkward with just them and Celine. They didn't know her very well, but she seemed nice at least. And she hadn't reacted negatively to hearing they were non-binary, which was usually a pretty good sign. They wondered if she'd be willing to leave the party a little early.

As if summoned by their thoughts, Celine was suddenly standing next to them. Wren jumped slightly, and gave a small wave.

"Uh, hi, Celine," they said. She waved back just as awkwardly, and stood silently for a couple of seconds. At least they were both in good, socially awkward company, Wren mused.

"Hi," she finally said with a little laugh. "I was wondering if you saw Byron's text?"

Wren nodded, waving their phone and almost dropping it.

"Yeah I saw it just a minute ago," they said. "Typical Byron."

"Typical Byron," Celine agreed with an awkward but nice laugh. She seemed like she wanted to say something else so Wren waited.

"So, I know it's still pretty early, and I'm sorry if it's inconvenient, but how do you feel about leaving a little early?" She blurted, words running together slightly in her rush to get them out. Wren felt themself sag slightly with relief.

"Honestly, I am so glad you asked," they said, looking up to meet Celine's eyes. "I don't really like parties."

Celine smiled down at them. Something seemed slightly off to Wren, and they frowned. Maybe it was just the eggnog, but…

"Are you taller now?" They asked, squinting. Celine laughed awkwardly, looking off to one side and Wren slammed their hand over their mouth. "Sorry, that's such a weird question. Obviously you're not."

"It's fine, it's fine," Celine said.

"Do you think Byron's still here?" Wren asked. They didn't want to leave without telling him goodbye, but he might've already left.

"Uh, I haven't seen him for a while," Celine answered. Wren scanned the party for a few seconds, seeing no sign of their friend.

"Well, I guess we can always say we're sorry we missed him later," they said, eventually giving up.

Leaving the party was surprisingly easy. Most people didn't even notice they were leaving. The one guy who did wished them a happy holiday and went back to the party.

As they stepped outside, Wren was a little surprised to see snow falling. Celine, who had visibly relaxed once they stepped outside, tension falling off her frame, looked surprised as well.

"I thought it was supposed to be 'unusually warm' tonight," Wren said, quoting the day's weather forecast.

"I guess the weather really is always wrong," Celine responded with a little laugh. Wren unlocked their car, and they both climbed inside. When Wren turned the key, the car made a horrible spluttering and failed to start.

"Um," they said, and tried again. Five minutes, and several curses later, they gave it up as a lost cause.

"I'm really sorry," they said, feeling mortified. "Should we just go back inside?"

Celine hesitated, looking super uncomfortable. Wren wondered if she had trouble with crowds.

"I have a… place pretty close by that I can probably walk to, but I'd feel bad leaving you alone," she said.

"A 'place'?" Wren repeated incredulously.

"Well, Byron lives kinda close to here, and since I go to his place pretty often I have a little area with this super old car parked there for emergencies," Celine rambled.

"I'm not gonna lie, that's really weird," Wren said, still very confused. There wasn't even a guarantee that car would work, and having a 'place' was a little sketchy. They weren't thrilled about walking in the snow, but they were even less thrilled with the idea of letting Celine walk off by herself. That was a disappearance waiting to happen.

"If… if you don't mind taking me along, I could walk with you to your… 'place' and you could drive me home?" they suggested. After a moment, Celine nodded.

"This is such a bad idea," Wren muttered to themself, then they followed Celine into the snow.

***

After about ten minutes of walking, the snow had soaked through Wren's shoes. They really regretted not just going back inside, but at this point Celine's car was probably closer than the party.

At least Celine seemed to know where she was going even if she'd severely underestimated how long it would take to get there.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't think it would take this long," she apologized, looking just as miserable as they felt. She looked more uncomfortable than cold though, shifting from side to side and fidgeting with her warm looking hoodie.

"It's f-fine," Wren muttered, only lying a little bit. They were really regretting not bringing a warmer jacket. "As long as you don't get lost, then we're screwed."

"No, I know exactly where we're going," she said confidently. "I'm good with directions I just have trouble with distance sometimes."

Celine gave them an apologetic look backwards. She stopped as she noticed them shivering.

"Are you ok? Do you want to use my jacket?" She asked, sounding worried. Wren shook their head vehemently.

"No, no, then you'll be cold. I'll be fine for another couple of minutes, let's just get there quickly."

Celine looked worried, but kept walking. Over the next minute she looked more and more fidgety, until finally she stopped. Wren shot her a questioning look, but she wasn't meeting their eyes.

"I have… an idea," she started hesitantly. "It'll be warmer, and we'll get there quicker, but… it'll be kind of shocking. Do… do you trust me?"

Wren stared at the girl who was basically a stranger, leading them to an unknown location in the snow. At this point, they thought it was a little late to be evaluating their life choices, and they told her as much.

"I mean, if you're a serial killer it's a little late for me to suddenly realize how sketchy this situation is," they joked nervously. "But I think, and I really hope, that I can trust you." Celine smiled, but she took a couple of steps back.

"Thank you, I think," she said. "Just… don't freak out, ok?"

Wren nodded, feeling more freaked out by the second. Celine took a deep breath, then stopped fidgeting, completely relaxing for the first time since Wren had met her. They watched in fascination as she looked somehow freer, less stressed, and taller. Then their heart skipped a beat as they realized that she was actually getting taller, it wasn't just their imagination.

They watched with wide eyes as Celine slowly grew, until she was twice their height, then three times, so tall they had to crane their head to look up at her. A massive shadow fell over them as she blocked out the light from the moon and the distant streetlamps. She knelt, but kept growing, getting so tall that they couldn't see all of her at once.

Wren didn't even realize they were backing up until they ran into something large and warm. They jumped and looked back, shocked at the size of the hand behind them. Celine's hand was now big enough to completely cover them. They stood in stunned shock as Celine gently cupped her hand around them, her fingers almost as long as their body. Wren looked back up in awe.

"Celine?" They asked, voice sounding small, even to their ears.

"It's ok," Celine said. She sounded like she was whispering, but Wren could feel the vibrations from the sound. Far above them, Celine smiled.

Fingers moved around them, and Wren's attention was brought to the impossibly big hand at their back. They stared as another hand the size of a mattress appeared at their side.

Wren suddenly knew exactly what a hamster felt like when being picked up, as hands cupped them from both sides, gently maneuvering them to sit in the palm of Celine's hand. Warmth radiated from her hand, and they could feel her heartbeat pulsing beneath them.

They were torn between being nervous and amazed, and they settled for studying the incredible close-up of hands in front of them. They hesitantly reached out to touch Celine's fingertips, their breath catching as they traced the detailed lines.

Wren felt a slight sense of vertigo as they were lifted higher. Celine had lifted them to her face, and the full force of a giant's attention distracted them.

"Are you feeling warmer now?" Celine asked, and Wren felt the vibrations where they sat. It took a couple seconds for them to process the question, and they nodded, still too shocked to speak. Their heart was beating a little too fast, and they realized they'd been silent for far too long.

"C-celine, what… how?" They stammered, unable to tear their gaze away from her. It would be hard to look away if they wanted to, considering she took up most of their vision.

"I'm a sizeshifter," Celine said, a smile that they would've called small if they were the same size on her face. The phrase rang a bell, and they wracked their memory. They remembered their parents using the phrase years ago but they thought that was a fairytale. Apparently not.

Wren stared for another moment before the amazement finally overtook the shock of suddenly feeling so tiny.

"That's so cool!" They blurted, a smile breaking out onto their face.

***

Celine had been nervous about showing her ability. Wren seemed trustworthy, but it wasn't something she just told people. She'd been planning to shift and walk on her own. The discomfort from not letting herself shift had been growing since they left the party.

However, when Wren insisted on coming with her, and refused to take her jacket, she couldn't bear seeing them so cold. Not when the walk was so much longer at human size than she remembered. Not when she had such an easy solution that would help them both.

They seemed nervous at first, but she thought it was more the shock of seeing someone grow taller than a house than actual fear for their safety. And after less than a minute of sitting in her hand, they stopped shivering, so she counted that as a win.

Once Wren got over their initial shock, they were excited, looking up at her with an awed expression that made her feel embarrassed. They seemed a little too flustered to talk much, so she stood as slowly as she could, trying to keep her hands from shaking too much.

Wren seemed ok, waving up at her with a shy smile, and looking out in fascination. She started walking again, making progress much quicker, and they eventually relaxed against her fingers.

Her heart melted, and she felt flattered at the amount of trust she was being shown. Honestly, she thought Wren would be scared off once she mentioned the hideout she had for if she needed to grow. Of course she hadn't called it that, but the wording had been weird enough to scare anyone off.

But Wren had stayed, and even now was trusting her, sitting calmly in her hands and listening as she chatted about something she read recently.

Eventually, even sitting in her hands couldn't keep the chill away, and they started shivering again. They weren't that far from Celine's hideout, but she asked them anyways.

"Would it be ok if I put you in my pocket? It would be a little bit warmer."

Wren nodded, and she carefully shifted them to one hand. They held onto her fingers for balance, seemingly fascinated by watching her hands move up close. She carefully moved them to the opening of her pocket, tilting her hand and letting them slide off into the hoodie pocket. She stuck her hands inside, careful not to squish them. After a moment, she felt them lean against her hands, getting comfortable in the warm pocket.

She walked cautiously for the next minute, careful not to shake them up too much. When she reached the hideout, she sank to a seated position.

"We're here," she said quietly, not wanting to move Wren without warning. There was no response.

"Wren?" She carefully felt around her pocket. Her tiny passenger was curled up against her hands, breathing deeply. She smiled as she realized they fell asleep.

"I guess I'll let them sleep a bit longer," she whispered to herself as she watched the now tiny snowflakes falling and felt the gentle breathing of her tiny friend.

[darkmagic-sweetheart]

Recent and fun commissions I’ve worked on over the past few months. Some for friends, new customers, and returning ones too. Either way I like how all of these came out a lot and wanted to share them! 

One of my friends being @gilby-the-geek-girl ;3 They do amazing writing that I highly recommend.

Also go check out @bluewolfangel!!! Their art is awesome and it was super cool to be commissioned by them!  I have one more commission to go and then I may take a break. I have a convention in mid-June I need to prepare for and new products I want to get done/ordered by that time. 

I’ll post my commission sheets again once I open back up!

[kazuyumi1412]

Me two days ago: “I’m really glad that I finally finished that idea that I had! Now, about those other ideas…”

Me today: “…”

Me today: *URGE TO MAKE FOLLOW-UP INTENSIFIES*

Seriously, though, ever since I made the end of my little “Not All Heroes Wear Capes” fanfic post (In @gilby-the-geek-girl ‘s words, “a fanfic of a fanfic”.), I’ve been wanting to make the rest of that little storyline! I was wondering what would’ve happened after Virgil went into hiding, along with how everything gets resolved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hero in Hiding

[Vanishing Act]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It’s cold as hell in here…”

Virgil muttered to himself as he made his way throughout the house, hearing the echoing voices of his housemates wandering around. Even though it’d been a few hours since he’d initially shrank, they were still looking for him relentlessly. Well, he couldn’t say that they weren’t dedicated, but the reason that they’d spend so much time trying to find the person that nearly brought the house down eluded him.

As for Virgil himself? Well, aside from being cold, he kept thinking about how it must have felt for the others to live with him, especially when his voice started to act up. The voice that caused that whole mess…

What was going on with his voice anyway? It didn’t sound like the large, booming voice that came with his flare-ups normally. It sounded exactly the opposite. Small. Quiet.

Weak.

No, there wasn’t any time to think about that. All he had to worry about at that point was keeping himself in the walls and making sure that nobody heard him. Well, that and make sure that he wouldn’t freeze to death. Damn, it was cold being that small.

“HAVE EITHER OF YOU SEEN VIRGIL?” he could hear Logan asking the other two.

“NOT EVEN A HAIR ON HIS PURPLE HEAD,” Patton replied.

“ACTUALLY, IT’S FUCHSIA,” Roman corrected him. “STILL, WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED? ONE SECOND, HE WAS ONLY A LITTLE TALLER THAN PATTON, AND THE NEXT, HE DISAPPEARED!”

Virgil covered his ears when Roman got louder. If he was the one that changed sizes instead of him, he was pretty sure that they’d all be deaf by that point. Then again, he had the (not exactly supernatural) superpower that was being able to tame the beast that was Virgil’s anxiety, so that had to count somewhat.

“IT’S CERTAINLY STRANGE,” Logan remarked. “WE’VE NEVER SEEN THIS SIDE OF HIS POWERS BEFORE. AND FROM HIS REACTION, NEITHER HAS HE.”

“AGH!” Roman groaned out of frustration. “IT’S BEEN THREE HOURS, AND WE STILL HAVEN’T FOUND HIM! HE COULD’VE SLIPPED OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR ALL THAT WE KNOW!”

“FALSEHOOD. WHILE THAT’S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE, YOU’RE NOT FACTORING IN WHAT’S OUTSIDE THE HOUSE.” — Virgil imagined that Logan was listing off the next items off using his fingers to count — “IT’S RAINING OUTSIDE RIGHT NOW, SO HE COULD BE WASHED AWAY. OTHER ANIMALS COULD CONSIDER HIM AS THEIR NEXT MEAL AS WELL. AND IT’D BE FREEZING FOR SOMEONE AT THE SIZE THAT HE’S AT, WHATEVER THAT HAPPENS TO BE RIGHT NOW. ESSENTIALLY, THAT’S THE ABSOLUTE LAST PLACE THAT HE’D WANT TO BE.”

“SO HE CAN’T BE ANYWHERE EXCEPT IN THE HOUSE?”

“UNLESS YOU WANT TO INCLUDE THE EQUALLY BAD IDEA OF GOING INTO THE PIPES.”

“WELL, I’M SURE THAT HE’S AROUND HERE SOMEWHERE,” Patton reassured them. “I CAN FEEL IT.”

“SPEAKING OF FEELING,” Roman noted, “IS IT JUST ME, OR WAS THERE SOMETHING DIFFERENT ABOUT THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING EMO? ASIDE FROM THE SHRINKING PART.”

‘Thinking that the person that almost brought the house down is incredible?’ Virgil thought. ‘He must’ve hit his head harder than I thought.’

“HE DEFINITELY SEEMED SLIGHTLY MORE VOLATILE THIS TIME AROUND, THOUGH I’D IMAGINE THAT IT WAS MAINLY DUE TO HIS HIGH STRESS LEVELS,” Logan stated.

“I GET THAT MUCH,” Roman remarked. “I MEAN WHY HE STOPPED WHEN HE SAW ME BLEEDING.”

“I THINK…WELL…” Patton said with a tinge of uncertainty, “I MIGHT BE WRONG, SINCE EVERYTHING WAS ALL JUMBLED, BUT–”

“JUST TELL US WHAT IT IS!” Virgil could tell by Roman’s tone that he was getting desperate.

“I THINK VIRGIL FELT GUILTY. FOR ALL OF IT.”

Right as he heard those words, Virgil almost instantly remembered what happened to cause the incident.

__________

Virgil tried to calm down as best as he could, staring straight at his hands as he rested on the couch. He would’ve gone back to his room at that point normally, but recently, he’d felt more anxious than normal being there. As for why, he couldn’t put a definite finger on it. Was it about school? His dwindling antidepressants? Something else he couldn’t think of? He had no idea.

“You alright there, Not Sleeping Beauty?” he heard Roman ask him. Apparently, even without looking directly at him and even with all of the eyeshadow he had on, Roman could still see the dark circles under Virgil’s eyes. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“I’m fine, Princey,” Virgil muttered a reply.

“Fine?” Roman knew about his dislike of that word, so hearing Virgil use it definitely threw up some red flags.

“Yes, fine.” — his tone sounded almost like a growl — “Now, can you leave me alone? I’m trying to think.”

“You know that going without your beauty sleep isn’t good.”

“I said that I’m fine, Roman.”

“Hey, I’m just worried about you, Snow Fright. That’s all. Your grades are going to dip if you don’t get your sleep.”

Something in Virgil snapped when he heard that. He stood up, not noticing the change in his height or voice as he glared at Roman. “I said that I’m FINE!”

The massive reverb shockwave shook the house, knocking everyone off their feet and shaking things loose, even cracking the ceiling.

Oh boy…

__________

Virgil fled towards a different part of the house once he remembered that, not wanting to be reminded of the giant mistake that he’d made a few hours prior.

When he was satisfied with how far he went, Virgil sat down to rest, being rather winded. Who knew walking across the house at that size could be so exhausting? Either way, he wondered how the other three would act the next morning. Would they still be looking for him? What about cleaning up the damage that he’d caused? He remembered back to when Roman lifted him up that one time and he tried to get back at him, only for Logan to yell at both of them to go outside. Guess it was because he didn’t want Virgil accidentally wrecking the room that they were in. What would he think of him now that he actually wrecked one of the rooms? Virgil’s thoughts were cut short as he heard a door open and shut through the wall behind him.

“HOW IN THE WORLD ARE WE GOING TO CLEAN THIS UP?” he heard Logan mutter to himself. He guessed that he’d wandered to where Logan’s room was. “THE CEILING IS DEFINITELY GOING TO NEED TO BE REPAIRED. WHAT WAS VIRGIL THINKING?”

“Glad to see the human calculator likes me,” Virgil said to himself, his words oozing sarcasm.

He thought that Logan would continue going on about the damage, but was surprised to hear the next words coming out of his mouth. “IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT. HE KNOWS IT JUST AS WELL AS WE DO. SO WHY WOULD HE HIDE FROM US LIKE THIS? IT’S JUST SO…ILLOGICAL…” He heard the chair to Logan’s desk being pulled out. “WHY ARE YOU HIDING, VIRGIL?”

Did he know? No, he couldn’t know. His senses were keen, but not enough to hear Virgil’s extremely quiet voice. Or were they? Virgil didn’t want to risk it, dashing off to another part of the house just in case Logan could hear his voice.

As he continued wandering through the walls, he heard what seemed to be Patton talking to himself. Virgil really didn’t want to risk almost getting noticed again, but then again, Patton’s hearing wasn’t as sensitive as Logan’s. Either way, Virgil’s curiosity got the better of him, and he quietly approached the side of the wall and listened in on Patton’s one-man conversation.

“EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT,” Patton muttered to himself. “WE’LL FIND HIM EVENTUALLY. WE HAVE TO.” — he sniffled a bit, and Virgil could only imagine that he was fighting back a few tears — “HEY, I SAID THAT EVERYTHING’S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. CRYING’S NOT GOING TO DO ANYBODY ANY GOOD RIGHT NOW.”

Virgil’s heart broke a bit inside when he heard that. For all the time that he knew Patton, he knew that he didn’t like showing that he was crying at anything other than a scene in a movie. Holding back his less-than-awesome feelings when it came to other people. To hear him fighting back tears was…

Well, he really didn’t have any words to describe it.

If Patton was that worried about him, then he could only imagine how Roman felt about Virgil’s disappearance. He was always a drama queen regardless, even though he technically identified as male.

“Can’t these guys go one night worrying about themselves for a change?” Virgil said to himself, making his way through the house’s walls. “They got hurt because of me…”

He heard his stomach growl, with the sound echoing a bit in the hollow walls. Swearing to himself a bit, he decided to change course and head towards the kitchen, going to get himself something to snack on.

Slipping out of the wall for a bit, Virgil looked around, trying to find something out in the open that he could take. After all, he couldn’t open the fridge, and the cabinets were too high for him to reach. Being that small had a lot of disadvantages, didn’t it?

“LET’S GO IN THE GARDEN…”

Virgil quickly hid, hearing Roman’s voice coming in his direction.

“YOU’LL FIND SOMETHING WAITING…”

His voice. Something seemed off with it.

“RIGHT THERE WHERE YOU LEFT IT, LYING UPSIDE DOWN…”

It wasn’t his usual soft voice. Not the reassuring one that Virgil knew.

“WHEN YOU FINALLY FIND IT, YOU’LL SEE HOW IT’S FADED…”

What was it? What was different about his voice this time around?

“THE UNDERSIDE IS LIGHTER WHEN YOU TURN IT AROUND…”

Virgil peeked out from his hiding spot, seeing Roman sitting on the couch. He couldn’t make out his face from that distance, but even just by his slouched posture, he could tell that Roman was not his usual happy self.

“EVERYTHING STAYS RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT IT…”

What was he hearing in Roman’s voice?

“EVERYTHING STAY, BUT IT STILL CHANGES…”

Exhaustion?

“EVER SO SLIGHTLY…”

Frustration?

“DAILY AND NIGHTLY…”

A hint of a solemn tone?

“IN LITTLE WAYS…”

Roman completely stopped, letting out a sigh. Virgil quietly got closer to him, making sure to stay hidden by using cover. He saw Roman resting his head in his hands, though he couldn’t tell what face he was making.

“BUT NOTHING REMAINS…”

Woah. Okay, Roman changing the lyrics? Virgil knew that something was wrong at that point. Maybe he was feeling all the things that he thought he was feeling. Then again, he couldn’t know for certain. He wasn’t an empath like Patton, nor was he a telepath like Remus. Whatever “-path” he was, it wasn’t either of those two. Either way, he hid underneath one of the chairs, recognizing that it was the exact same one that he’d been hiding under when he initially shrank, and looked up at Roman.

“THAT IDIOT BETTER KNOW WHAT HE’S DOING, HIDING FROM US LIKE THIS,” Roman said to himself. “MAKING US WORRY ABOUT HIM. HE’S PRACTICALLY GIVING US HIS LEVELS OF ANXIETY!”

“Liar...” Virgil muttered. “You’d all be better off if I wasn’t around.”

“I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT,” he heard Logan’s voice remark.

Virgil froze up, wanting to turn around before he felt himself being lifted up. He quickly shut his eyes as tightly as he could as he braced himself. It felt like Virgil’s heart was beating a mile a minute.

“PUT HIM DOWN!” Patton exclaimed. “YOU’RE SCARING HIM!”

Virgil felt himself being gently set down on some surface, though he couldn’t tell what it was with his eyes closed. As he slowly peeked to see where he was, he saw Roman, Patton, and Logan all staring back at him, all having various degrees of concern on their faces.

And just when he thought that things couldn’t get worse...

“ARE YOU OKAY?!” Patton quickly asked, looking at Virgil’s tiny form. “YOU’RE NOT HURT, ARE YOU?”

He quickly covered his ears upon hearing Patton’s loud voice. “You’re about to burst my eardrums if you’re not careful,” Virgil replied.

Patton let out a sigh of relief alongside Roman, though Logan seemed rather unphased. At least, on the outside.

“REGARDLESS,” Logan said, keeping his voice down, “I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT BY ‘YOU’D ALL BE BETTER OFF IF I WASN’T AROUND.’.”

“You heard that, huh?” Virgil remarked, already knowing the answer.

“YOUR VOICE ISN’T THAT QUIET.”

Virgil let out a sigh, knowing that he couldn’t keep quiet about it, otherwise the other three would get at him nonstop. “Well, you saw what happened earlier. I’m practically a ticking time bomb. I was just thinking…” — he took a deep breath to calm his nerves — “I was thinking that…maybe you’d all be better off without me. I just wanted to see what it was like for a day.”

“AND I ASSUME THAT YOUR INITIAL HYPOTHESIS WAS WRONG?”

“Not all of it. I finally know how you feel when my voice acts up.”

“ANYWAY, CAN YOU TURN BACK TO NORMAL?” Roman quickly asked. “WE CAN’T HAVE YOU STUCK AT YOUR ‘PINT-SIZED’ SETTING, C-3MO.”

He crossed his arms a bit. “You know he can’t change his size like I can, right?”

“I KNOW! I’M JUST RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS! MY BRAIN’S FRIED BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH WE’VE BEEN WORRYING ABOUT YOU!”

Virgil reflexively covered his ears again as he heard Roman yell. To be honest, he wasn’t at all used to having to cover his ears every time one of the other three tried to speak. Either way, he was a bit curious himself, and he tried to get back to his normal size. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really able to get much of his height back, so Virgil was pretty much stuck as the shortest person in the house for the rest of the night.

“I’M SURE THAT YOU’LL BE BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL SELF IN THE MORNING, VIRGIL,” Logan stated. “NOW, IF YOU DON’T MIND, IT’S LATE, AND WE ALL SHOULD BE GETTING TO SLEEP.”

“SEE YOU IN THE MORNING, KIDDO,” Patton said as he carefully patted Virgil’s back.

The other two left, leaving Roman and Virgil alone in the room. It was a bit awkward to have such a height difference between them at first, but then again, it was essentially the reverse of what usually happened.

“SO, I GUESS I’M TAKING YOU BACK TO YOUR ROOM, UM…VIRGIL,” Roman said as he held out his hand, having run out of new nicknames for Virgil.

“Hold on,” He told Roman. “I…” — Roman motioned for him to go on, hearing him out — “You mind if I sleep with you tonight? My room’s not the best for helping my anxiety go down.”

He smirked a bit. “IS THAT JUST AN EXCUSE TO GET IN BED WITH ME?” — Virgil got a bit flustered, and Roman chuckled — “I’M JUST KIDDING. C’MON.”

He carefully picked Virgil up in his arms and carried him over to his room. It wasn’t exactly his usual fireman carry, but still, Virgil wasn’t exactly his usual self at the time, so a bride carry had to do. After setting him down, Roman went to “quickly” change into his pajamas, leaving Virgil sitting on his bed. He glanced off to the side, seeing a familiar green gingham dress and off-white apron on the plush next to him.

“And here, I never thought that we’d see eye-to-eye,” Virgil muttered, a slight laugh escaping from his lips, probably from the absurdity of the situation. They were practically the same size at that point.

Eventually, Roman returned, having changed into some sweatpants and an old t-shirt, and carefully clambered into bed. Taking both Virgil and Mrs. Fluffy Bottom in his arms, he laid down on his back. With the utmost amount of care, he flipped the hood on Virgil’s jacket up, covering his head.

“GOOD NIGHT, YOU TINY THUNDERSTORM,” Roman said before drifting off to sleep.

Virgil could feel Roman’s heart beating as he laid on top of his chest, looking over to the plush rabbit accompanying him. He smiled as he shut his eyes, feeling the warmth comforting him.

Even if his powers seemed like a curse sometimes, he had to admit that there were some blessings in disguise hidden within them.

[sebthesnipe]

I finally found you on here, omg. If there’s one thing I have to say, it’s this: You. Are. Too. Kind! Leaving me those sugary-sweet replies on Ao3? Making my whole day with just the first few words? I can’t believe it. Now, I have a big, stupid grin on my face and I can’t be angsty around my family (which is a good thing). Thank you for that. You brighten my day. I’m growing speechless haha. Okay, I’ll leave you alone now 💙

Okay... First off... HOW DARE YOU! How dare you take so long to bring you’re amazing personality over to tumblr!  Secondly, Bitch please! It makes my day when I make someone else’s day! And C. You made my day first with you’re amazing comments!  Quatre of all... Don’t ever think I want you to leave me alone! You are an amazing bean who I adore and shall now cherish forever and for always.  @gilby-the-geek-girl You see this shit! This amazing bean saying ‘I’ll leave you alone now’ and taking time out of their precious day to spread love?! HOW DARE THEY! HOW DARE! I mean... They clearly deserve all the love and affection. Wouldn’t you agree?

[spootdoodles]

Where There’s Smoke Chapter 14 emblem.

Analogical fic written by @gilby-the-geek-girl and @sebthesnipe

Chapter 14 prospective post date is  4/04/2021.

[mini-march-mayhem]

Posting Dates!

Hello there, sorry for the super late second post! I hope you all had fun with working on your Fics/Art. If you could fill out this second and last survey to tell me when your posting date is I’d appreciate it! [Posting has also been moved from the 14th-21st to 18th-25th due to delays]

Form Here

Thank you all for participating! Once you pick your posting date I’ll be sure to check on your blog the day of to reblog your work to the page. If it’s late or if something comes up feel free to message me so I know you’re still participating.

Tags

@andtheyreonfire @tiny-peter-rabbit @genderlessfish @davidthetraveler @gilby-the-geek-girl @esperinkdraws

[nonbinary-octopus]

Ooh, nice.

Uh midnight art I guess

This is from @gilby-the-geek-girl 's fic not all heroes wear capes because I love it and her.

(If you see this, please drink a little bit of water. Take care of yourself you guys. I love you!!!)

[kieraelieson]

Podfic of Jar of Heart! By @gilby-the-geek-girl! 🥰

https://youtu.be/iLG9xIIm520