#guys ocs are sooooo cool

[angelicdonuts]

I love peniliansss I love my wifee <3<3

Ummmmmmgmmhmmmm some penilian cass things + some random penilian that was just a warmup ("??who ?") <3 and also one of my ps ocs SAAAANNNDDDERRSSS/Sandra (they/them) :3 oh yeah and also cthulhu in a heart patterned bikini??

I love drawing with a pen sm it makes my stuff look so much better <3

Sanders is the one with all the tentacle stuff going on <3 they're like............ a demon.... or something....... umm...... it's a long story :3 !! and ummmm they shapeshift <3!!!!!! And they're nonbinary!!!!

And ummmmmmmm ummmmmmmm sanders and cass have a lil somethin somethin going on :33!! (They're married [lesbian win!!])

[luca---paguro]

suuuuper experimental luca piece because i wanna get good at backgrounds

[axolozzy]

i reeeallly wanna make a picrew……

[phtalogreenpoison]

Your BSD OC!! If you don't mind :)

For my OC Dorian Green!!!!!!! (who is low key a self insert but hey, we all cope somehow!)

Thank you so much for the ask!! I LOVE talking about them! :)

[albireon]

thinking thinking thinking...

[mossyflowers]

Genuinely considering making a comic for Ace n stuff so!! If I do make a side blog I'll end up reblogging it to here too. Anyways here's some other doodles I never posted bijvfsjbkfssbhk

[waterfallofspace]

Who are your favorite artists/writers in the community?

I see this one has been going around!! I actually got two, so forgive me for answering only just the one, but thank you both for sending this in!! Absolutely gonna emphasis *favourite*, not best, so I'm CERTAIN I'm gonna miss people that I just haven't seen

Okay so this is gon be a long list, and tagging people is scary so I really apologize if any of you didn't wanna be tagged <3 and I'm certain to miss a few, so if I don't mention you, please know that you're still amazing and it doesn't mean I don't melt to bits at your content!!!~ <3

(also gonna include a few wav makers bc that's honestly an art too!!! and i feel they deserve to be praised for that!!~)

(and gonna copy snzdreams here <3) People I know/Friends:

--- @onetrickponi is an absolute TREASURE, not only so kind and fun, but also genuine triple threat, despite what her name suggests~ --- @zensations35 one of the BIG names on here, at least to me~ someone I've adored for years, such a kind person too!! Not super close, but adore her!~ --- @snzdreams Absolute dear, and SUCH a fun person, and honestly honestly honestly the best g/ojo writer ive ever had the pleasure of reading, girl i stg that closet fic will live with me forever --- @bestwhumpist SOOOOO good!!! and so sweet, i have the honour of calling you a friend and also the honour of enjoying your WORK bc mmm girl yes --- @ithadtobesneezing also one of the sweetest people, so many people on here are so sweet and it makes me insane, and SUCH a good writer, like hello??? hi???? made me fall in love with y/uta i swear --- @6pmsoup AMAZING art like AMAAZZZINNGGG art, looks so good i'd swear it was straight from a manga --- @hachiibun some of my favourite art on this entire site, hachii is not only INSANELY impressive, also so nice!!! genuinely amazing~ --- @goodlucksnez makes some REALLY good wavs, and Vic is also such a kind and fun person!~ --- @ezynse REALLY good fics, personally seen a few a/ce a/ttorney ones making the rounds, but also just a funny and sweet person~ --- @lycheeehehe made this one w/olfwood drawing that made me feel things AND AND AND then also made a list of hcs for t/oji and ik hcs arent what you asked but literally made me insane over this man --- @devilscastle69 THE h/otwings writer on A/03, absolutely go check them out if you like h/otwings, some AMAZING stuff on there!! (also just such a cool person hi <3) --- @themiseryandcompany older fics but SOOO worth it, tasty lil morsels, and also one of my first friends on here!!! so adore her forever <3 --- @snzluv3r hi so honestly this one is so hguahguh for me to admit but some of the hottest wavs on here, and more than that!! literally a sweetheart, SUCH a sweet person!~ <33

People I don't know, but really appreciate:

--- @whiskey-tango-matcha such good stories about their lil guy ocs, they're SO alive and I honestly feel like they're characters from a published media with how much I know them and feel certain of them!! --- @autumnsneezes some of the best wavs (and snzs) that i've heard, absolutely amazing!!~ --- @gemsden some REALLY good content over here, mostly just posts with vague ideas, but some writing too!~ and just sooo good!~ --- @kotyonoksnz literally SUCH amazing art, released a few comics of it, and SPOILED snzblr with a beautiful h/azbin partial one, absolutely incredible art!!

omg this has been SO long im so sorry!! and im so sorry if i missed someone/you, i PROMISE it doesn't mean I don't love your stuff, just means i forgot T-T but I hope the length (and tags) are alright, and thank you for asking non!!~

[girl-named-matty]

@traceyc-uk, here are the others that have been chilling around.😂 I realize I talk about them a lot but I've never really showed them on tumblr sooooo here we go! (another tag @diana-bluewolf <3)

Atlas Thatch-Sharp

Now a couple of you have seen Atlas before and out of all of them, he probably has the most lore outside of Matty. He's a Ravenclaw and Aesop Sharp's adopted son and he even has a fanfic, I've just been unmotivated to keep writing so hopefully I can find the motivation to write it.😂

Daisuke Sato

Originally from Japan, Daisuke is a Japanese transfer student. He's the biggest sweetheart ever and ugh I just love him sm <3. He's besties with each of the Hufflepuff girls and they have the best girl talk tbh.

Vivian Gao

I made Vivian in the past couple of months and actually she is my first Slytherin MC. I have Slytherin OC's but I never got around to making an MC I actually put lore into. I love her sm, she's so cool and I'm obsessed with her.

Penelope Darcy

She's newer than the others but she has my heart fr. She's adorable, sweet, confident, and very smart. Definitely the kind of girl I wanna be. Again, I'm obsessed LOL.

Anyway I'm done yapping now. Hope you guys enjoyed 😂❤️

[strangegutz]

i made a heartbreak gulch guy i wanted to share with you!! i am so obsessed with this whole universe (i made this blog literally five minutes ago expressly to message you since you can't send pics on anon lol). it's such a fun world to play in and you and your co-creator are so talented.

i wanted to have my oc be a singer, since I love the sort of "old west saloon girl (gn)" energy, and from there, I got the idea of Ramirez Robotics licensing the voices of certain musicians, the same way they do their likenesses. There are three genres of song (crooner/oldies, country, and rock) and one of each gender for six total options. I'm not a great visual artist, but I made a little fake advertisement for that model of C-Droid styled after a 50s nostalgia moment.

Anyway, that's what my little guy, Cassidy, is--he's a deluxe model who was purchased for one of those tourist-trap "saloons" out in Texas with the voice of a female country music star (like a Loretta Lynn or Bobbie Gentry type) and would headline their performances. He was built with a female body mold with wide hips, like a pixar mom. Then the saloon went under and Cassidy was kicked to the curb. Left to his own devices, he decided he wanted to get a few changes made to his body--he started by getting his chest plate swapped for a flat one by his on-again off-again mechanic boyfriend, and buying himself an accessory d*ck he could swap out at will, but by the time he'd saved enough to do things like getting his voice box altered, Ramirez had stopped making the male country model he wanted, so he stuck with his original voice and just named himself after the country star. He kind of bounced around from place to place for a few years looking for somewhere with the same vibe as his hometown until he found Heartbreak Gulch, which is where he posted up! I'm working on sketching him but rn i'm just rotating him in my mind <3

THIS IS SOOOOO SO COOL

I like, don't have any commentary other than vigorously nodding my head and pointing at you. Amazing. Beautiful. Such a good idea. Also really good username you were able to nab

Eddie had a fleeting lover in his past, one of the first other free CompanDroids he ever met, who was a transgender model B named Bruno in a similar vein as this! When Eddie knew him he hadn't had a proper flat chest piece tooled for him yet, so he proudly showed his inner mechanics where he removed his breastplate. Eddie has his own trans allegory thing going on but straight up transgender robots are so so cool conceptually.

I love this sssoooOOOOOOO MUCH thank you for sharing!

[barrenclan]

RAAINHAAZEE ISSSUEEE

the issue starting with deepdark just going to his murderous colleagues and saying “wanna act with me”… deepdark theater kid is not something i expected for patfw but makes sense.

CUPID RETURN!!! rainhaze and him having a little fun banter… aaaa. i don’t wanna get attached to cupid because what if cupid is also using him but-… silly raccoon guy. the fox also once being one of rainhaze sit buddies hurts :(((

HERE IS THE PAGE!!!! THE BEAST!!! its so fun how many defiancesonas/ocs u fit in here, it’s such a treat to be on patfwcord!!!

DEEPLINGS REAL!!! hyssop looks like such a little shit i love him.. AND DEEPDARK!!!!!!!! him calling them his friends and wishing him warm welcomes.. i’m sure i’m not the only one who didn’t expect him to present himself so.. friendly? but he’s a theater kid so it makes sense, yeah. it being referred to as a family tho… cult red flag?

THEY DISRESPECT FANG?? IN FRONT OF ME?? MY FAMILY??? SHAME!!! JAIL FOR A HUNDRED YEARS!!

BEAR WAS LONGEST CLAWS!!!! thank u patfw discord my ass could have never theorized that hard. i can’t really tell if deepdark just wanted to be dramatic and cool or if he just wanted to spar with his buddies and trashtalk longest claws.. perhaps both..

and especially with the story changing ever so slightly, at first deepdark calling himself his current name and then prowl acting proud of deepdark when in reality he wanted vengeance… history is really what the victor makes of it, isn’t it? and prowl and spike so easily going along.. deepdark really changed them too.

THE QUOTE!! ATE OF HIS FLESH!! DRANK OF HIS BLOOD!!!! HE EATA THE HEARTA!!!! IM SOOOOO EXCITED THIS IS THE TIME THIS IS THE MOMENT AAAAAAAA

yes the rainhaze trauma- love the connections between deepdark’s story and the truth and what rainhaze’s imaginations are and the truth, him imagining dustfeather happily taking a nap instead of bleeding out and him being happy instead of terrified of himself.. and i know it’s meant to be sad for him but honestly.. get her ass rainhaze

i love this page and much like deepdark eats the flesh i shall eat this art and it tastes good. keep up the great work o777

Deepdark is a dramatic king through and through.

God, man, the big cameo panel on page 2 took me so long to finish. But I liked getting to draw all the animal species.

Deepdark is very performative, and with such a violent group, he has to make sure they all feel welcome, and more importantly loyal to him. His lieutenants help enforce that.

All the theorizing about Longest-Claws was so so fun for me. And they caught on so fast! Very nice. Actually, we will in fact learn why Deepdark chose to talk about Longest-Claws and the origins of Defiance in an upcoming issue!

Getting to that quote I thought up all those months ago was a real treat. Here's the original art that accompanied it, for anyone who didn't see it:

[ratsbypaulzindel]

HI. BIG OVERVIEW OC POST THING. IT'S RAINFOREST FLOODS.

have you ever thought to yourself "hey wouldnt it be cool if there was an oc story made by two guys and it was about a haunted waterpark slash arcade in a fake town in a real state". you probably haven't. but if you have youre in luck! more under the cut ok.

rainforest floods is a terrible no good ocverse made by me and my good friend crawford @dykeseesgod. everyone in it sucks and is horrible except maybe one or two side characters. it's set in the podunk middle of nowhere town of timberline, new mexico, and more specifically a waterpark/arcade called rainforest floods (title drop).

also the waterpark SUUUCKS like its budget is nothing they are in debt. the managers havent paid taxes in 15 years. anyway these are the employees. theyre bad

and these are the co-managers. theyre even worse (and also toxic old man yaoi. these refs were drawn by the aforementioned crawford)

anyway yeah. they get up to wacky hijinks in what will ideally be a tv show coming out in one million years. they're also horrible and tragic. most of it is bruce's fault. some of its not though!

ok also here's some other side characters.

^ running gag that nobody knows her name except kelsey who has a huge crush on her.

^ unnamed girl's younger brother who is constantly faced with horrors and torment at the hands of the rainforest floods employees. dont get me wrong hes annoying as fuck but he didnt deserve to run on that hamster wheel. (ref also drawn by ford)

^ jeff's girlfriend. also the coolest person in timberline new mexico. worlds most unimportant minor character but she is wonderful and loved by the producers (me and cosmo)

FUNNY OUT OF CONTEXT THINGS THAT SHOULD MAKE YOU MORE INVESTED IN THIS OCVERSE

rainforest floods stupidity logic is a thing me and robbie came up with to explain why all the characters are idiots who dont find things out that are important to the plot too soon.

there's a chain gimmick restaurant that andy's whole family runs except him. its like italian food but its like also magicians. their tagline is "so good its practically magic". andy hates it.

kyle has a curse on him so that nobody remembers or recognizes him outside of like. his family. so the rff employees arent even targeting him for their shenanigans on purpose theyre all just weird freaks.

kelsey gives unnamed girl the company landline as her phone number because shes stupid and a ghost and doesnt have a phone.

the employees all get together on wednesdays in the breakroom and compare evidence on whether or not andy and bruce are together romantically. its the one thing that truly bonds them all together.

vincent: is a watchmojo fan, had his first kiss as beethoven in his 12th grade production of dog sees god confessions of a teenage blockhead (2004), gets really christian in some episode subplot, is not a swiftie but he is a gaylor, wishes he was jonathan sims sooooo bad, types like a toddler who was just given a keyboard.

vincent also ruined rainforest floods' lobby playlist

also there's a brand account that we run and post on whenever we feel like it. its more of a sounding board for ideas we may explore more in the future. its fun but it may be a bit difficult to get the full idea with the execution so :-( sorry you wont fully understand our wonderful and hilarious visions

annnd i think that's it. yay worlds silliest yet most tragic oc story. ok bye ^_^

[rizzzcat]

haha hello its me again . was the knockoff oc anon, forgot to check if you answered my ask until now. i assumed ppl would look down on creating knockoff ocs because of how protective people are of their characterss... but i guess i was wrong ?

but anyway, i cannot resist being asked abt my ocs so i am going to stop being shy now. uh. long post my b

here are the original drawings. i drew them together just because they were my favorite scugs to draw but then got super attatched to the dynamic and was like Oh No

and so i made them ocs

here's my beloved enot clone, their name is Django or Navn. they really dont pass as original at all but the enot design i'd come up with was so simple and already good i wasnt sure how to change it. other than, cube. i like the cube. i cant get over how good of a character concept inv is. flirty reality breaking rat bastard. its phenomenal and i can find 0 ways to iterate or improve upon it so this character is basically just inv but again

and here's my artificer clone. her name is J9, Async or Xand. the spear is now a gun. she is still very arti reminiscent but personality wise she is quite different; she's a hard boiled war dog, very loyal and protective, also not very smart; she mostly knows battle related stuff and has a very limited understanding or vocabulary for everything else and is sooooo socially awkward

i kept the multiple names thing, because itss cool and i like it.

i have a shitpost with them https://youtu.be/ZeHPDGuLS1w

their plot is a stupid romcom plot. basically Django got chosen by the cube thing (called a tesseract) which will usually kill anyone who touches it. and i guess, it needs to be transported somewhere important, so Xandy was assigned to protect this dumbass and escort them there. shes so mad about this. and then shenanigans ensue and they fall in love

thank you for reading this lol i hope you enjoy my slug.. .. . dog...s.. i dont know theyre not from rainworld universe anymore so i have no idea what they are now lol, i just call them ""dogs""

Couldn’t resist myself, dude your art style is so rad and I love these two???? Obsessed with your colors

Just a silly little guy, their big dog gf and a super important cube

[princehendir]

OC interview

Tagged by @henbased (hi Jack thanks Jack)

Tagging: man it's been a while since I did one of these I forgot everybody's urls um @evenom @waterbearable @houseaeducan @lavellander and You, Who Are Reading This, Who I Forgot (sorry).

Under the cut:

Name: Adrian Hawke

Nickname: Addy (<- family members and partners only, and even then we're on thin ice) Red (<- if you're Varric)

Gender: just some guy 👍

Star sign: N/A due to the in-universe calendar. He's a spring baby tho.

Height: like, 5'6, max

Orientation: Straightish. Girls mostly. Kinsey 2. He'll use the phrase "heteroflexible" if his siblings aren't around to give him shit about it.

Nationality/Ethnicity: Ferelden. Freaking it sensitive style at the Hanged Man on a Thursday night and all the barflies shout Go Whiteboy Go.

Fave fruit: Apples.

Fave season: winter (not clickbait. He loves being cold.)

Fave flower: embrium.

Fave scent: whatever Merrill happens to smell like on any given day.

Coffee, tea, or HC: coffee

Average hours of sleep: 4-6. Usually 4. 6 if he's lucky.

Dog or cat person: ehhhhh no real preference. He does prefer that either one be someone else's pet though.

Dream trip: Merrill is there. Isabela can come also if she wants. They are anywhere but Kirkwall. No one there recognizes him or knows who he is. That would be really cool.

Favorite fictional character: he's really more of a non-fiction guy. Uh, except Hard In Hightown! which he definitely read. And enjoyed. His favorite character was, the guy. The main one. He definitely read the book and isn't lying because that would hurt Varric's feelings sooooo bad. Anyways.

Number of blankets they sleep with: at least 2. Ideally more

Random fact: enjoys and is actually pretty good at learning languages. Can speak & read Elvhen, hold a conversation in Orlesian, and his Tevene is. Fine.

[sehtoast]

Writer Tag

Thanks for the tag @venus-haze <3

How many works do you have on AO3? 29

What's your total AO3 word count? 230k

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Tender Threads

Satisfy Me

One Big Wet Spot

Say Please

The Hand That Feeds

(All Homelander fics) ^

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Most of the time, but lately I haven't had the energy or the time. My social battery is pretty fucked, but I do read every single one of them and love them

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? So it's technically unpublished, but it basically ends with Ben (my oc) sentencing himself to die pretty painfully alongside Homelander with that thing that got revealed in Gen V. If you know you know

What’s the fic you've written with the happiest ending? Honestly, Envy.

Do you write crossovers? I've done an AU crossover for the same fandom, but not really

Have you ever received hate on a fic? Most of the hate I get is in my tumblr inbox. I haven't really done/said anything about it bc no one really wants to see or hear about it tbh, but I've gotten a fair amount of shit for pairing homie with a guy and then also more for pairing him with a trans guy. I think the only ao3 hate i ever got was barely even hate, more like someone bitching that my tender threads formatting wasn't to their liking bc it's Y/n formatted

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yessir yessir. Honestly just whatever i'm vibin with

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i'm aware although i don't think i've written anything steal-worthy

Have you ever had a fic translated? no, but @anon-nee has been my personal jesus christ in helping me make sure my english to german translations in tender threads has been accurate. love you nonnums <3

Have you ever co-written a fic before? technically no, but @homelanderbutbig did a collab with me and made this to pair with a fic i wrote, which i feel like is co-creation so i'm gonna say yes anyway. love you HBB <3

What's your all-time favorite ship? honestly i don't really have one, unless i can count my ocxcanon ship in which case it's benlander

What's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? i have a depowered homelander fic where ben answers the door one day and ryan, now in his late teens, is there to finally see homie again after all those years went by. i adore the concept but i'm like NEVER in the mindset i need to actually write something like that

What are your writing strengths? yall got strengths?

What are your writing weaknesses? all of them

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? i think it's fine so long as there's clarification shortly after for the readers who may not understand, and also that you've somehow gotten it cross checked by someone who actually speaks the langauge so ensure you're not just saying some wild shit. but ultimately do whatever makes you happy idk bro i don't make the rules

What was the first fandom you wrote for? Prometheus! i was am down so bad for david omg

What's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? astarion/tav. i wanna write something sooooo bad but i just can't get in the headspace for it

What's your favorite fic you've written? probably satisfy me because the role swap was incredibly fun and it's REALLY fucking cool to unbind homelander from his own behavioral patterns and manifest them into a reader's concept. like, of everything i've written, i could most clearly imagine everything that happened in that fic and i'd find myself grinning like a sick fuck while writing about literally eviscerating a man's chest cavity lmao

No pressure tags: @blindmagdalena @hom3landr @irenadel @slasher-smasher and anyone else who wants to participate

[clivedovelover]

Very politely but sorry i was referring to ur oc aus i saw on the other blog 😭😭😭

IM FINALLY ANSWERing THIS ONE BECAUSE I REALIZED I CaNT ACTUALLY do A COOL THING FOR EVERY AU

Hello sorry i think 4 months passed since this ask was sent i'm kissing you on the forehead anon i'm sorry

Okay so there are 3 AU's or so, i'm still thinking of doing more in relation of these main 3 but i don't know!!

Folie a Deux

I don't have this one super elaborated. I just wanted an AU where Valentine beats the shit out of Clive daily

Basically is an AU where pretty much everything stays the same at first (clive blowing up london, Valentine's mom dying) but in relation of both characters they are more morally dubious, Clive goes to prison but he manages to made it appear as if he killed himself there, and then he runs away with another identity to avoid his sentence.

Valentine thinks, in this AU too, about how clive freed him from his mother and, in some percentage, they both were meant to meet. He doenst feel guilty about these thoughts (not like the original who does feel bad about thinking like that). He also doesn't believe the news about this guy killing himself in prison, he feels so upset about it and takes it as a personal attack, Valentine decides to start investigating about that, mostly because he got a fixation with Clive after the destroying of the city.

One way ir another he finds out that Clive is alive, in an almost empty town. As a said before both of them are more morally dubious SO yknow lol. Valentine's mom is dead and Graciella isn't being really helpful, he doesn't have friends or anyone who is close to him so what he has to loss?

Valentine kidnaps Clive on his own place, knowing no one would look up for him and does shitty stuff to him from time to time, but mostly just keeps him at his mercy. Clive develops Stockholm syndrome

Puppy Love

I guess the name is self explanatory, kind of.

Valentine is 14 and Clive is 17, valentine moves to London way earlier in his life. Graciella is a teen here too with the same age as Clive, they are classmates.

I did this one because i wanted something more light hearted and also because i wanted Renata (Valentine's mom) to interact with Clive in some way.

Valentine is still a lonely kid but at least has Graciella as his friend since is the only other argentinian person on his school.

Graciella doesn't like Clive and Clive doesn't mind her, they just team up when it's needed because it's easier to work with the other.

Valentine has a crush with Clive, and it's silly. He's also 14 because i was that age when i found out about Clive and Professor Layton games hehdhehhe

Im not sure how i want for this one to end, but since it's an AU i can give Clive a happier ending? Maybe

Elope

Again, i'm sooooo creative with the names

It's the same as the original story but it ends different, Clive doesnt kill himself and accepts to run away with Valentine, again lying about his own death. Valentine just leaves a letter for Graciella and she doesn't make the report to the police

They run away to the same town as the Folie a Deux AU and have a pretty calm and nice life, they change their names and formalize a relationship after some time.

Valentine becomes an art and theater teacher for the people of the town and Clive takes care of the house most of the time (for safety reasons mainly)

[excelsi-or]

summoned (pt. 11)

hi everyone!! i've been writing a ton for other things the last month (original work???? scary and shocking), but now i need to let those stories stew for a bit. SOOOOO a promise to you all and myself that i will finish posting this story before the year is done! @darum-darimda i've seen your tags on the last few posts and they've made me really happy! 💕

pairing: woozi x fem!reader/fem!OC

w.c. 2.8k

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10

With a gasp, she jolts upright. Her heart is racing; she can feel it pulsing hard in her neck. She puts her hands flat on the bed and takes stock of the gasping breaths, the slight pain in her chest. When the door opens, she isn't surprised to see Jihoon standing there.

"I thought you were getting possessed," he says softly.

She hangs her head. Her breaths are shaky, the incoming air to her body cool and sharp. "Nightmare, I think."

"Hm."

When her heart rate comes down, she straightens her spine and lets out one long exhale. Then she notices Jihoon still standing in the doorway watching her.

"I'm fine."

"I know."

"Yet you look concerned," she chuckles. 

He shrugs one shoulder in response. She doesn't know why that's so charming. 

"Are you going to go out tonight?" she asks.

Jihoon shakes his head. "No. I wanted to finish a book."

"Ah."

When she doesn't move to lie back down, he demands, "Why are you not going back to sleep?"

"You're kinda staring. How am I supposed to sleep?"

Jihoon frowns. "Since when has my presence disturbed your sleep?"

She lies down, using her pillows to prop herself up a bit more. "It's different when you're staring."

"I'm not staring."

"Then what are you doing?"

"Waiting until you fall back asleep."

"Why?"

He shrugs again.

She smiles a little, but she closes her eyes. 

It's not Jihoon's presence that is preventing her from sleeping. Actually, if anything, it's comforting. But her brain is circling around and around the conversations she had today. She and Jihoon had gone over them on the drive back, but her brain seems to be trying to make connections.

"Is this going to take a long time?" Jihoon asks after a while.

She snorts and sits up. "Yes. Apparently, I want to think about the Grand Plan." She stretches towards her bedside table for the notebook she'd used during her impromptu interviews. 

Jihoon takes a seat on the edge of her bed and leans towards her to get a look at the notebook. He hasn't seen the notebook, but he's surprised she's actually taken notes.

"I wanted to be accurate," she says when she notices him scanning the pages.

"It's great work."

She hums. "But what does it mean?"

"Well, you forgot to mention that Eliza said this," Jihoon points to the middle of the page of her second interview. "She's describing espionage."

"Well, she did turn the conversation to Russia and US relations."

"You guys seemed to have been talking about American recipes, though."

She shakes her head. "Demons don't always seem to think in straight lines. But what's catching your attention?"

"She said something about international seeds?"

"In the context of them being planted."

"Planted specifically for plants? Or could it have been metaphorical?"

"You're thinking that she turned the conversation to espionage, because she was talking about demons going international to spy on angels?"

"And further the Grand Plan."

She shrugs. "Anything is possible now. Would the demons have thought of something so cunning?"

"We're not all stupid."

"I guess that's true."

She flips through the pages, and Jihoon reaches for her wrist. He doesn't touch her, but the heat of his hand stops her.

"These four," he says, and flips to four different interviews, "say that the Final Day is coming."

"They all also mentioned the Antichrist."

Jihoon frowns. "The Antichrist?"

She looks up at him. "Maybe they think the Antichrist is coming."

"Very specific events have to happen for that," he mutters.

"Well, what else could the Antichrist mean?"

Jihoon shakes his head. "I need to think on that." 

The interviews don't yield much more, other than to tell them that the demons don't care whether humanity survives or not. If anything, they are pretty anti-humanity.

She sighs and leans back into her pillows. The notebook falls closed in her lap. She looks over at him. "How long have you and Seokmin known each other?"

Jihoon blinks at the random question. But they do seem done talking about the Grand Plan. "We met in the 60s."

"The 1960s?"

"Sorry, the 1360s."

"Oh."

Jihoon snorts at her surprised expression. "I've lived a long time."

She hums and studies his face. There seems to be a question she wants to ask, but Jihoon senses she holds back. "Where did you guys meet?"

"He bumped into me in front of a church."

"You were in front of a church?"

Jihoon shrugs. "Just scaring some God-fearing people."

"Did Seokmin lecture you?"

"Incessantly, but he seemed to like me. I don't know why. He invited me to his shop for tea."

"Shop?"

"He had a tea shop at the time. Sold all sorts of varieties of tea, dried leaves, the tea bag was starting to become an idea. Didn't really have the plastic thing down yet, so the paper would melt in the hot water."

"Doesn't sound delicious."

"Or popular. He had to wait a while for tea bags." Jihoon describes a fragrant tea store, the walls covered in shelves that stocked all sorts of tea varieties. Many of them are extinct now. The floors and counters are so well greased that they're reflective. And Seokmin was very particular that his tea be accessible to everyone. So, he had another selection of easier to get teas that the less wealthy people could afford.

"We talked until nightfall."

"Wow."

Jihoon nods, casting his mind back to that first meeting centuries ago. "He was so sure I was an angel then."

"Really?"

"The eyes eventually gave it away." He looks over at her, his eyes flicking black and green. "I hadn't quite learned the trick to keep them... normal looking. Wore a lot of hats and sunglasses at the time."

"Ominous."

"Well, you know. People could get killed looking like me."

They let that sit for a while before she asks, "Did you?"

"Get killed?" Jihoon snorts. "They tried. Seokmin got upset, though, the second time he realized that I was possessing humans and—"  He remembers he's talking to a human and stops himself. "Anyway, I learned to play different tricks."

She tips her head, but Jihoon doesn't seem to want to elaborate.

Or rather, he does want to elaborate, but seems worried that she'll judge him.

And she probably would. Human and demon scales of acceptable are definitely different.

"How did you meet Seokmin?" he asks her. He slips the notebook out of her lap and places it on the bedside table.

"High school. He was in my literature class."

"Did you know he was an angel?"

She pauses to consider this. "When I first met him, I wouldn't say I knew exactly. I was 15, maybe? Linnaeus didn't tell me the truth about my parents until I was 16. But when he did, I was certain about Seokmin."

"And you never told him?"

She shrugs. "Never really came up in conversation. And then he was busy becoming a lawyer. Not that he ever really studied."

"Of all professions, I would never have expected him to become a lawyer."

"He has businesses on the side. He's his own lawyer. I don't know how ethical it is, but no one's stopping him." She wiggles further under the covers.

Jihoon gets to his feet once she's asleep. It's nearly imperceptible the way she falls asleep. It was as if he'd blinked and she was unconscious. 

He catches one last glimpse of her as he shuts the lights off and closes the door.

At the picnic the next afternoon, she learns a few things very quickly about having a demon.

One, this one hates the sun. Jihoon insists on staying in the shade for as long as possible. When the boys drag him to play foot volleyball, he plays, but he also slathers on as much sunscreen as demonly possible.

Two, they can't get too far away from each other. They've tested it enough times to know 2 metres is about the limit before she feels a tug at her waist and suddenly Jihoon's at her side. The invisible tether's pull is so uncomfortable that she's just been lounging near him in the shade of a tree.

Three, it's evident he has a moral compass. And it's confusing.

"Stop," Jihoon says.

Lying on her stomach on their picnic blanket, she has her sketchbook open in front of her. Jihoon leans back on his palms, watching her sketch, the two of them trying to come up with some sort of coherent plan.

"You can't keep assuming that I'm going to take your soul."

She rolls her eyes. "How many times has Seokmin needed to heal me today?"

"How was I to know that demons liked sunbathing?"

While there isn't any reason why Jihoon can't be around them, the demon has suddenly gotten very cautious whenever other demons are around. He's reached out for her to take on her human scent, forgetting that his skin is the temperature of the sun. More than once, Seokmin has had to discreetly heal various parts of her body.

Her lower back is still sore.

"All your friends think we're dating. It's getting very bothersome trying to divert their minds."

She waves him off, as she taps the back of her pen against the paper, thinking. "Leave it. They think I'm dating every man they don't know."

"You're okay with them assuming that?" Less strain on him.

"We've been together all afternoon, can't leave each other's sides, and you keep touching me. So, yeah, Demon, it kinda looks like we like each other." She stabs the sketchbook. "I have no idea what we do. We don't know what they want, we don't know what was on that computer. You said all the bad stuff, the war, the uprisings in different countries, the pandemic, could be demons edging it all along. But all of that has historically happened before. They mentioned the Antichrist a few times." She stares down at her notebook, which just has doodles of Pup and the boys throughout. "What are they trying to do?"

It clicks for Jihoon then. He straightens, his eyes widening, turning cat-like to the deep human brown.

"You look like you're going to possess someone? Or is that your idea face?" She looks out to the grass where the boys are playing. "Is Pup okay?"

Pup is happily playing with the humans.

"Your mother doesn't know because what's coming doesn't directly have anything to do with us. It's why the demons have all been giving vague answers." Jihoon gets to his feet and pulls her to standing.

Before the burn on her hand can turn third degree, she pulls away. "What's going on?"

He picks up her bag and guides it over her shoulder before dragging her by the bag strap towards the car. "You said it right there, and it all just came together in my head. A new war, uprisings, pandemic. There's death everywhere. It's so obvious, but most demons wouldn't think specifically of it. But clearly it's been on some of their minds. What does all of that sound like to you?"

She frowns.

"Did your parents not bring you up on theology?"

"It shouldn't surprise you that we typically avoided that sort of stuff in my household."

"How's that even possible knowing who your parents are, I'll never understand." He goes to the driver's side of his car. "The Four Horsemen."

Her jaw drops at that realization. "That... is surprisingly obvious." She tosses her bag into the car. "Let me just ask Wonwoo to take care of Pup. I'll be right back." 

Jihoon watches her hurry back to the picnic. 

And then he hears someone call out to him. With a name he doesn't like to use.

The demon turns and comes face-to-face with Linnaeus.

"I thought that was you." Linnaeus looks past Jihoon to his human walking over to her friends. She joins the game for a bit before stopping it completely to say something. "Thought I recognized you in the elevator." He turns back to Jihoon with a smirk. "Xero's daughter, I see."

Jihoon's eyes narrow, but he says nothing. Linnaeus always liked a fight.

"Whatever you and that human are up to, I suggest that you stop what you're doing. You do not wish to fall out of favour with Him."

When Jihoon still doesn't respond, Linnaeus tries a different angle.

"That human of yours may have a larger role to play than you think. What do you think was going to happen when Xero and that angel she 'fell in love with' mated?" Linnaeus shivers before a grin grows on his face. "A catastrophe."

Jihoon wants to say something in her defence, but her voice echoes in his head. He's just trying to scare you. Whatever lead you're following is getting a result the demons don't want.

"Do you really want to continue to live in this, in this, this purgatory? Are you not sick of needing to deal with the angels constantly? The Grand Plan is near completion, and you are doing nothing to help it along."

Linnaeus continues trying to convince Jihoon to stop, but then the human, Seokmin, and Hansol start walking over.

"I would reconsider where your alliances lie."

"Who was that?" Seokmin asks, his eyes following Linnaeus's figure as it saunters off. 

She doesn't say anything, just watches him walk away. When she meets Jihoon's eye over the car roof; he's sure that the human knows exactly who he'd been talking to. 

They all climb into the car.

"Wow, sweet ride, Mr. Demon," Hansol says as he puts his seatbelt on.

"He's moving up on my human list," Jihoon says to her, as he turns the key in the ignition. "I won't even demand that he get out of the vehicle."

She snorts, her smile playful. "Get off your high horse. Where's—?"

Seokmin sits back in his seat, his palm hitting his forehead with a loud thud. "Horse. The apocalypse! How could I have missed that?"

Jihoon glances at the angel in his rearview mirror as he pulls out of the parking spot. "The human helped me with that one."

"But where exactly are we going?" she asks.

"We're going to Mrs. Han's store." He swerves into the left turn lane, ignoring the barrage of honking. "It's the only time we've sensed something evil without a body being attached to it." He speeds off as soon as the light turns green.

And then the lights don't stop being green.

Hansol, who is gripping both his seat belt and the handle of the door with his eyes shut tight, asks, "Why though?"

Jihoon's so focused on driving that he doesn't remember to scowl when answering Hansol's question. "The hospital and patients I could tie back to demons. The abandoned building that we visited is a demon body dumping ground. Demons are stirring up shit here, but it's not the only side of the story." He pauses to whip around a corner, nearly missing the turn.

Seokmin and Hansol both gasp and hold their breath. Meanwhile, she's dozed off in the passenger seat again.

Jihoon catches the side of her head on another turn and nudges her back into her seat.

"What concerned me is that Seokmin said angels are manipulating humans too."

Hansol gasps. With his eyes still closed, he turns to where he thinks Seokmin is. "What? You never told me that."

"Humanity is like putting the world in limbo. While you all still exist, we don't live in eternity," is Seokmin's vague answer.

Hansol doesn't like it. "I don't want to know more." He turns away, wincing at the next sharp turn. "Does your plan involve us all surviving today, Mr. Demon?"

"The plan is to get in there and demand to know what's going on."

"Oh, we're not even going to be subtle?" Seokmin inhales sharply on a tight turn. "God, Jihoon, can you slow down?"

"The world could be ending soon and you want me to slow down?"

"What is the likelihood that the world is going to be ending—?" Before Seokmin can finish his question, Mrs. Han's shop comes into view. The black smoke is now billowing out of the front door and seeping out through the front window.

As Jihoon comes to a stop, his human rouses. She has to blink a few times to readjust to the sunlight, and then fiddle with her hair. "Hmm," she leans forward to peer out the windshield, "seems we are right on time." She grins at Jihoon and hops out the car.

Jihoon and Seokmin exchange looks.

"Something's weird now," Seokmin agrees to Jihoon's unasked question.

The demon slams his car door closed. "You think?"

part 12