#hails rambles about stuff

[arsenic-katnep]

shit...... its jade day

can i get a flash round of jade related requests since its her bday?

[chirpingchorus]

chirp

(long and silly rant in tags so maybe don't open them if you're scrolling at a leisurely pace)

[see-arcane]

Friends. Fiends. Fellow Dracula Dailiers and assorted undead.

I have some hypotheticals for you:

(Explanatory ramble below the cut)

Short version: I would love to have some real Dracula merch.

Long version: I cannot stand the fact that there is no real Dracula merch*. The Vampyres is obviously all on me as far as getting things made, being my own skinny little indie book. But it’s genuinely driving me nuts that the only Dracula stuff around is from Universal, Coppola’s fanfiction, or Castlevania, and none of it features the actual protagonists of Dracula. There’s nothing for the book! Nothing for Jonathan, period, and Mina’s stuck trading spit with Gary Oldman on Hot Topic t-shirts. Hell, Dracula himself isn’t even Dracula! He’s always Count Suaveman Sexypire instead of the bat bastard I know and loathe. It’s miserable. So, I want to give this a try.

I’ve submitted a request to Makeship to see if they’ll collaborate with me for a campaign. It turns out it’s a bit of a ‘cool kids only’ deal, so there’s every chance they’ll pass on it, (Tumblr wasn’t even an option on the What Social Media Do You Hail From, Content Creator? bit of their questionnaire, so that’s telling.) But they’re supposed to get back to me with a Yes or No in ten business days, so we’ll see what happens. If they pick up my project, that would allow the plushie of choice to be crowdfunded without a major monetary blow to anyone and a guarantee of a good quality product. If it doesn’t reach its goal within the campaign period, everyone gets their money back.

If Makeship doesn’t work out, I’ll go sniffing around for other options. Maybe see if there are any good stationery makers to check out too. Feel free to send recommendations my way!

So yeah. That’s about it.

I just want to fill the void where a cuddleable little Harker and a strangleable little Dracula should be is that so much to ask?

*Not counting the cool stuff @re-dracula has in their shop. Thank you for the coziest coolest foul bauble of a t-shirt.   

[starlightandfairies]

Ok ok I really love you! That's the last request hahaha I don't wanna annoy you ❤️ I had this somehow cute idea where you've fallen in love with him but he doesn't know and one time you get a little drunk with the girls, later deciding to grab a taxi to the Mikaelson house. Klaus is the one letting you in but Elijah already felt your presence and tries to keep you safe around Klaus, or as you start playing with their swords and stuff. Klaus watches with amusement at his brother taking care of a human girl and makes a comment like "better keep her before I do", and that wakes something in Elijah that he takes you to his room, just to keep you safe. You end up cuddled on top of him, admitting your love to him before falling asleep. He also realizes that he has feelings for you, but he decides to tell you properly in the morning when you wake up 😊😙

Description: A drunken reader leads to playful chaos between the Mikaelson brothers and feelings being revealed.

Warnings: she/her pronouns, drunkness, fluff, swearing

*Requests are open, please send through as many requests as you want, check my character list and requesting rules.*

Thank you so again for requesting! No! You're not annoying me! I'm really enjoying getting requests so don't feel bad! I hope you also enjoy this one!

Key: Y/N = Your Name, POV = Point of view

Word Count: 1,156

First Person's POV

Girls' night out was amazing, I haven't had a night like this in ages, away from all the drama and finally able to just relax with the girls and just be us. I knew I was getting tipsy, I could feel my giggles becoming more and more prominent than normal. The girls were going home, so I decided to head towards the Mikaelson house, I stood on the street hailing a taxi and stumbled into the vehicle once it arrived. I asked to be taken to the address, the walk to the porch of the Mikaelson resident seemed like an incredible challenge, I'm sure that to an outsider I just looked like a fawn learning to walk but I felt as if I was climbing Mount Everest. 

I giggled to myself as I fell against the door, I sucked in a breath, trying to pull myself together as I knocked waiting for someone to answer. I was surprised when it was Niklaus, I waved almost childishly, smiling brightly at the Hybrid who clearly seemed amused by my current state.

In all honesty, I have no clue how I ended up sword-fighting with Niklaus, however, somehow this is where we ended up. Sword fighting in the parlour. I highly recommend it, however, do take care. I grinned brightly seeing Elijah walking forward with his usual look of concern plastered on his face, however, once he was at my side he smiled. 

"Good evening, Y/n, I didn't realise you'd be joining us." 

"Spur of the moment type thing." I turned my attention back to Niklaus, continuing our little sword fight, I jumped as Elijah used his speed to appear in front of me, I grinned excitedly but quickly pouted as he took the sword off of me. 

"How about instead you sit with me, and tell me all about your night?" The pout faded away, I nodded in agreement, sitting on the sofa with him and instantly began rambling on about every little detail that went on tonight. I'm sure I shared details I wouldn't typically share in normal conversation, my filter was non-existent and oh, how I know that if I could watch myself right I would wish for it badly. 

"Am I okay to take my shoes off?" I questioned glancing down to the hells that were now becoming painful and unwanted. Elijah nodded, though, after watching my struggle he lightly took my hands and proceeded to continue to charm me with his gorgeous smile that drew me in the first time I saw him. 

"May I help you?" I nodded, frustrated with my inability to undo the damn straps on my shoes, Elijah kindly took my shoes off for me and rested them to the side. The vampire stared at me for a good minute, assessing my needs and whatever else that was needed to be assessed. 

"I'll be right back, I'll get you some water." I threw my arms around him, giggling happily, thanking him and plopped back into the couch. I waited patiently for both vampires to return, I fiddled with my hands, staring at everything in the room and running my finger over my lips making odd sounds just for the sake of it. 

Elijah's POV 

I began pouring some water, and getting some things prepared for Y/n knowing that in the morning the hangover would come, I wanted her to be okay and wanted her to be safe. So I was quite glad that Niklaus chose to follow instead of causing more havoc with Y/n. 

"You know, brother, you better sweep her up before I do." His smirk and words struck a chord. He knew of my feelings, Niklaus knew that I would do anything for her and knew that he would follow through on his words. I made my way back to the living room, stopping in my tracks seeing her laying upside down on the couch, he head on the floor and her legs dangling over the backrest of the sofa. 

I bit back the smile dying to show, I sat beside her, smiling as she waved happily and awkwardly twisted and turned trying to get back into an upright position. I took her hands, smiling as she rested her head on my shoulder and that gorgeous smile just permanetly stuck on her lips. 

"Come with me, will you, please?" Y/n nodded, taking my hand and following me to my room. I handed her the glass of water, watching as she plopped onto my bed finishing the glass of water within a gulp and began curling up underneath the blankets. 

'Would you lay with me, please? I couldn't refuse, I nodded and kicked off my shoes and rested besides her. I wrapped my arms around her as she began to lay upon me, her eyes were fluttering open and shut her words escaping in a mumble. 

"I love you, Elijah. I really love you. Like a lot. Super a lot." Before I could even deny anything, I could feel her swiftly fall asleep, I didn't want to disturb her, I didn't want this moment to end. I knew that in this moment I wanted to confess my feelings for her, so I thought it would be best to do so in the morning. 

First Person's POV 

As the light shined into the room, I knew my headache would be a bitch to deal with, I pushed myself up into a sitting positon in the boat. I stretched briefly, jumping slightly to see Elijah walking into the room with a glass of water and a packet of painkillers. 

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you." I whispered, sipping the water and taling the painkillers. Elijah sat on the bed besides me, I rested my head on his shoulder and began sharing my apology. 

"I'm so sorry, was I a complete mess?" 

"No, not at all." 

"You're a liar." I whispered. 

"You were just really giggly and silly. You told me you loved me- I don't know how much of that was true..." 

"That was true, I meant that." I confirmed, seeing there was no point in denying the fact that I loved him. Elijah sat in silence for a good moment, I could feeel my heart halt for a second fearing that his reaction cold be poor and that he would react in a way that ruin our friendship. 

"I love you too." He whispered, his eyes focused on me, I glanced to him surprised and shocked about the outcome of the confession. I smiled pushing myself up and grabbed ahold of his face. Looking to see if the noble vampire was lying to me, he grabbed my hands, his look gentle and comforting. I knew just then that it wasn't a lie and that this was all true. 

[monscrow]

intro post, i guess!!!

last updated 27/nov/2024

⚠️flash warning for blinkies at the bottom⚠️

free gaza, free palestine, stop genocide. you don't agree? block me.

i go by both mons and crow.

my pronouns are they/them, he/him and any neos/xenos that you think would fit either comedically or off of vibes.

lvl 16, so, a minor !! beware

aromantic, graysexual, something like that; qprs are sick asf and all hail relationship anarchy.

art sideblog is @monscrowarts

super amazing pretty boyfriend !!!<3 🍎

audhdcd (asd + adhd + ocd 😻😋) and hEDS. i use tonetags, feel free to ask for clarification!!!

bday is oct 7. 🎉🎉🎉

i'm mexican 🇲🇽!! i speak both spanish and english.

timezone is cst/utc-6.

i say slurs i can reclaim (mainly the f and t queer ones) and swear a lot, though if that makes you uncomfortable please either block me or lmk so i can try to tone it down when around you.

i love interacting!! feel free to tag me in stuff, send some asks (be it on anon or not), or message me! moots can ask for my discord even if we've never actually talked before. though i suck at keeping consistent, nothing personal i promise</3 /gen

i tend to spam-reblog so do with that information what you will.

some tags you might see me use here and there:

#mons rambles ← just my thoughts, ideas, opinions, and whatever i feel like throwing into the tumblr void.

#ask a crow / #anon asks ← askbox replies.

#save / #art save / #fav / #hellsite faves ← these are more for myself, but yeah they're pretty self-descriptive. just in case you get curious or anything.

#🍎 ← beloved.

hyperfixations/interests/things i'm passionate about !!! i guess, kinda

→ mcr (+ most of the members' solo projects)

→ killjoys (california + national anthem, but mainly calif and fanon)

→ demolition lovers lore (i have literally written like at least three different essays about it for school help me i'm so serious)

→ emo/alt/diy culture

→ will wood

→ bandom in general

→ graphic design, arts and crafts, illustration (that's right y'all graphic design IS my passion 😔)

→ fnaf

→ cosplay/costume-making

→ d&d

→ crows (no way, crow, really???)

→ australian shepherds

→ the umbrella academy (s4 isn't canon in my heart + currently reading the comics !!! )

→ gravity falls

→ neurodivergencies/psychology/disabilities (this one's pretty meta ngl)

→ lgbtqia+ identities (emphasis on the aroace-spec ones + relationship anarchy)

→ politics/activism

→ linguistics + conlangs

→ fantasy in general (high fantasy, magic, vampires, tieflings, you name it)

→ boardgames

→ the count of monte cristo (2024) (also i just bought the book so i'll be reading that too !!)

→ parkour civilization

→ WEBFISHING !!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LET'S PLAY WEBFISHING OMG FEEL FREE TO DM ME IF U HAVE IT AND WANNA PLAY TOGETHER :333

→ uhhhh there's more but i don't remember rn, i'll keep adding as i see fit (probably... maybe..... perhaps....... quizás........ puede ser..........)

dni

trump supporters, terfs, transphobes, anti lgbtqia+/queerphobics, exclusionists, ableists, racists, prolifers/antichoicers, proshippers/anti-antis, irl gore, pro-israel/zionists, pro-ai generated "content", pro-nft, non-critical media consumers, classists, ed blogs, sh blogs.

also, i'm aware that dnis tend to not be effective and i probably will still get shitty ppl in my inbox so i can and will block. though i'm p chill as long as you're chill. this blog is run by a very neurodivergent, mentally ill, mexican, transmasc, aroace faggot, and any kind of bigoted hatred will not be tolerated.

blinkies made with blinkies cafe !!!

pssst btw, before you go, if you read my intro post i'd heavily encourage you to like it, so i can know!!! :] (/nf though!)

[crowandthefics]

Yet another Ethan/Drew siblings fic because it’s the only thing I can write apparently

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

Ethan and drew walked behind the rest of the Hermes cabin, having still not been claimed. It was nearing the end of their first summer so they were babbling on and on about how they’re gonna wreck havoc for their father.

“Do you think there’ll be funfettie cake at dinner?” Ethan asked his sister.

“Mmm funfettie, I hope,” drew responded.

Cabin 11 took their spot in the dining pavilion. Drew and Ethan sat on the edge together. They were arguing about senseless things as siblings do.

That was until drew had gotten on a ramble about makeup. She didn’t even notice the glowing dove above her head or the change of clothes and makeup that had suddenly appeared until Ethan interrupted her.

“Uh, Drewdrop, I think you’re being claimed,” Ethan said.

Drew paused and looked up, then seemed to notice her clothes. “Oh my gods! Wait- why aren’t you..?” She trailed off but Ethan got the point. Everyone was looking in their direction.

Chiron stood up. “All hail Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite.” He gave his normal claiming line.

After dinner Silena helped Drew move her stuff to the Aphrodite cabin. Ethan stood on the porch of cabin 11 watching as his sister moved cabins. It felt wrong for people who barely knew Drew to call her their sister. Drew was Ethan’s sister?

People started to forget that Drew and Ethan were siblings because Ethan was clearly not a son of Aphrodite. Even separating the last name Tanaka-nakamura. Which annoyed the two to no end.

As time went on they became more and more annoyed at how the cabins were separated so much. They could hardly do anything together because of it.

Finally the end of summer came around, it went by a lot slower when they were separated.

Drew and Ethan sat together by the old farm road waiting for their father to get there.

“Well that last month sucked.” Drew sighed.

“You don’t say,” Ethan replied.

“They kept calling me their sister. I’m not their sister! I hardly know them!” Drew exclaimed.

“It’s so- weird! Why do they insist on separating the cabins so much?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know but I don’t like it,” Drew sighed.

“Look! It’s dad!” Ethan pointed to a car coming up the road. He stood up and offered a hand to his sister to help her up.

Their father pulled up and stopped. Drew and Ethan put their stuff in the car and climbed in the car’s backseat. Excited to go home again.

They spent the car ride rambling and excitedly talking.

When they got home, there was a funfettie cake sitting in the kitchen. Dre didn’t notice because she was distracted by talking about clothes but Ethan did.

“Drew shut up there’s cake!” Ethan gasped.

Drew dropped her luggage on the floor and ran to kitchen. Their father laughed. “Yeah, I figured that would be how you children react. After you eat go put your stuff away.”

Etha nodded. “Ok!! Thank you dad!”

Drew nodded as while, though she was distracted by the cake in her mouth

Overall a pretty happy family. Such a rarity for half bloods.

➴➵➶➴➵➶➴➵➶

I think drewdrop is such a silly nickname I love it

Happy siblings:D

I actually wrote not angst!

[scarecrow-collective]

Was gonna wait to make this but I couldn't get it off my mind no matter how hard I tried, but uh. In regards to my recent posts, I'm not sorry. Some of you guys(in the ghost fandom.) are complete assholes and my post I made about wanting to see more disability representation really showed this.

In case you haven't seen it, I made a post recently begging to see different disabilities and issues being represented within the community. Some of you didn't like that!! I do not know any names due to them coming into my ask box anonymously but I received tons of back lash due to my post and I need to talk about it.

Stuff like this?? This brings us down as a fandom, some of you(not pointing fingers/srs) need to realize that diversity and representation matters within the fandom. I understand you use your writing to cope but also there are people like me who sit and scrounge for an ounce of representation within a fandom that was once so wildly loving, and I'm not hating on headcanons!! I love to see how diverse everyone is and their different designs!!!/srs

It's just so exhausting to have to beg for this. "There are already fanfics like that out there." If you have any I am begging you to send them to me please, I'd love to read them. But we as a fandom need to realize that having representation is so important, I've had people cry to me cause they've never been represented before in fanfics and that's why it's important!!

If you take away anything from this ramble please let it be that representation and kindness is so important, and please!! Come into my ask box and tell me your headcanons and ideas and I'll post em!! I love to see em!!

That's the end of this rant, hail satan and I wish you all a good day<33

[haileybeehappy]

Between The Pages

Harry Styles AU

Summary : You are a temp that gets a job as a personal assistant for a semi-reclusive author named Harry Styles. While his regular assistant gives birth and going on maternity leave.

Word Count : 3k

Warnings : I have no idea what being a temp is like so im winging it, older harry, idk, just the starter chapter

Series Masterlist

Being a temp was not where you thought you would be at twenty three years old but here you were in a small office that smelled of copier toner and stale coffee. In an office chair with springs that dug into the backs of your thighs and a cubical neighbor who hummed the most annoying songs very out of tune. So when an email comes across your laptop for a personal assistant position for six weeks you apply immediately. You daydream of getting coffees for fashion designers and picking up celebrities dry cleaning.

So when you get a call to come in for an interview for a semi reclusive writer who was going to need an assistant while his went on maternity leave. Your dreams were a bit crushed, but you went anyways. Anything has to be better than this busy work hell. The interview is at some big office building packed full of important people.

You pulled down the skirt you were wearing to conceal your knees. Feeling cold in the A/C pumped white walled room. The walls lined with old chairs, the fabric sagging and wrinkled. Ancient faded magazines sat on dented coffee tables. The door connected to the room opens and out steps a very pregnant woman. Your name falling from her mouth. You stand and she motions for you to follow.

“So I’m going to be honest,” she says nervously. “You are the only one that has responded to the application that is qualified for it and I don’t have much time,” she tells you as you follow her waddling form down the hallway. “The job is yours if you want it,” she pauses and looks down the left and right sides of the hallways. Contemplating for an second before going right. “We can up it 200 more a week on salary,” she then stops at a door and opens it. You trail her and sit down at a table that is stacked with papers. You sit for a moment and the two of you look at each other. “So?” She asks. Slightly out of breath.

“Oh um,” you ramble. “Do I have to answer now?”

“No but if you do,” she pauses and looks down. Taking a deep breath. “We can do fifteen hundred a week on salary,” she then lets out a small groan and covers it with a cough. “I know it’s a big waving glowing red flag to hire on the spot but not much I can do from here,” her hands grasping at the handles of her chair. The skin on her knuckles stretched white.

“That’s a lot more than advertised,” is all you can think to say.

“Yeah well circumstances have changed and you would need to start tomorrow, maybe today?” She then slowly stands up. Your eyes snap open as she begins to breath heavily.

“Are you in labor?” You pop to a standing position and dash to her side. She shakes her head, pauses then shrugs.

“I don’t know I’ve never been in labor,” she groans. “And I can’t be in labor because I’m not due for another,” a scream like noise escapes her lips as she grasps onto your arm. “Two weeks. And I still have to train youuuu..” her words stretch out to a wail.

“Okay, okay, okay, well I think you are most definitely in labor. We are gonna get you to the hospital and then we can worry about this job stuff okay?” You speak calmly and she nods her head along with your words. The two of you make your way down the lobby passing many New Yorkers who don’t even then to look at the woman groaning and borderline screaming. You hail a cab and clamber into the germ infested back seat. Your hand used as her squeeze toy, your fingers pinched blue and purple and loosing feeling at the ends. “You got this,” we got this, you think. As the cab comes to a stop in front of a hospital you get out and she’s on the phone. Quickly giving you instructions and tasks and rules and people and numbers and emails and everything. Not catching all the information between the contractions. The cab driver seemingly unfazed as you tuck thirty dollars into his hand.

“And I will email you all this stuff once this is over, if it’s ever over,” she groans as she lays in the hospital bed. You are awaiting the arrival of her husband, not wanting to leave her alone. Even if she’s a stranger. “And it’s, it’s a lot. But you can do it. Hell you’re helping me through this. Which you will be paid for,” she laughs. “He is really a nice guy. Just. A little reclusive. He leaves his building, he just doesn’t leave the block. He goes to the Chinese food place and corner store on his block. And occasionally the hot dog stand on the other side of the street. But he needs help with the other stuff. Picking up dry cleaning. Running copies to the office and things like that,” she lets out quickly in two long breaths.

“Okay, okay, okay,” you nod your head. Her hands squeezing yours.

“And if you need anything. Text me. Call me. Um, i probably won’t be getting much sleep anyways,” she chuckles. You nod. “And, and, um, I need you to bring him that envelope in my bag once my husband gets here. He needs that today!” She yells out. And as she lets out a scream the door bursts open and in comes a tall man, long hair tied back into a pony tail.

“Sarah oh my god I’m so sorry,” he rushes to her side. “Baby, I promise I was as fast I could,” she grasps onto him as he comes close enough. You take a step back and wait while they hold each other for a moment. She then turns to you and points the the envelope.

“Take that to the address for Harry Styles, that’s who you will be assisting. I guess you should know that,” she smiles. “It’s in the email I sent you. He knows your coming. Take then red key ring from my bag. Those are for the building and the door. I think that’s it for now. I will call you in the morning okay?” She asks. You nod. You turn and grab the envelope before looking back at her and speak.

“Good luck,” she smiles at you.

“Thank you,” and you turn and leave. You take a long breath and stand for a moment. Processing as much of the information that you can remember. Then scrolling through your phone and find the address for Mr. Styles building. Once you find it in the Email you travel back to the lobby and hail a cab. You fidget with the envelope the entire ride. You pay the fare with the card sara gave you right before you left the hospital room, the name ‘H Styles’ written in gold letters across the black card. You hop out the cab and slowly make your way to the door. Sifting through keys as you go to open the lock. Finally finding the key it clicks open the door. Once on the elevator you take it to the top floor, it opens to a hallway and you step out with uneven footsteps. Nerves flooding your veins. No ideas how this is going to go. You have the key to open the door but you don’t know if you should use it. So you stand there a second, thinking. You raise your hand and knock three times. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Four Mississippi. Five Mississippi. Then a tumble and a crash. Footsteps towards the door. A lock slides and the door opens.

“Hello,” an accented voice speaks as the man comes into view.

“Hey,” you introduce yourself and hold out the envelope. “Sarah said that you needed this today and um so yeah,” you say as you wave around the yellow paper.

“Thank you,” he smiles as he takes the envelope from your hand. “Come in, come in,” he opens the door and moves out of the way so you could come into the apartment. You nod awkwardly and shuffle past him, “I’m Harry it’s nice to meet you,” his hand reaches out to shake yours. His hand grips around yours, large fingers cover your smaller ones. Rings cold against your skin, tattoos speckled on his hands and for arms as far as you can see.

“Nice to meet you,” an uncomfortable smile on your face.

“How is Sarah doing?” He asks as he walks further into his apartment. You follow meekly behind him.

“As okay as she can be I guess,” you shrug. “She’s gonna call me in the morning to talk more,” another awkward shrug. You don’t know what to do with your body. Your arms curled towards yourself oddly. Shifting on your feet back and forth.

“Good, good, would you like some tea? Coffee? Water?” He asks while he floats through his kitchen. You shake your head.

“No thanks I’m okay,” he looks at you blankly, thinking for a second.

“Well Sarah said that she had some stuff to give you if you could wait here just a minute,” he then disappears into the hallways behind him. You stand awkwardly and wait. Something brushes against your leg and you let out a yelp. Looking down there was a small orange cat.

“Oh hey,” you whisper down to the small feline. “You scared me little one,” you said as you reached down to let him smell you. Your hands running through his fur as he purred at you. Harry came around the corner with a large binder amount other books and papers.

“Hey honey,” you look at him, eyebrow crooked. “The cat,” he smirks at you. You nod. A smile playing at your lips. Cute.

“Hey honey,” you whimper to the cat as he rubs against your leg. “How are you? Huh?” He continues to purr while rubbing against your leg.

“He’s a grumpy old man,” Harry says dropping the large pile of papers on the counter before lowering himself to the ground and scooping Honey onto his folded legs. “Sixteen years old,” his large frame wraps around the cat like a shield as he babbles to the cat. His curly hair is lightly speckled with grays, his green eyes sparkle as he talks to the cat. Fingers scratching under his chin. “My little old man, so stink huh? Such a stink man huh?” he talks the the cat. You feel as if you’re invading their space.

“So I’m gonna take these then?” You ask as you bring yourself back to your feet. Plopping your hand on top of the stack. “What do I do with them?”

“Read them,” he looks up at you. “I’m honestly not all sure what’s all in there. That’s just what she’s been gathering up these last few weeks?” His hands still petting Honey. He looks so meek and small curled up on the floor with the large orange cat.

“Oh..” the stack seems to grow. “I guess I should get on that,” you slip your fingers under the stack before trying to lift up the papers but they are too heavy. “Oh shit,” you gasp as you fling the binders and papers and books over the edge. He is up and standing. Hands overtop yours and brings it back up to the counter.

“Let me get some bags,” he whispers into your ear as he catches you. You just nod.

“Oh. Okay,” you freeze. His disconnect from your frame sends goosebumps over your arms. Feeling cold without his contact. He walks back into the area he got the books from. You suspect it’s the hall that leads to the bedrooms of the very spacious apartment. When you heard reclusive writer you were expecting an much older man who had books stacked to the ceiling and smelled of coffee and whiskey. Not an attractive British man who baby talks to his cat. Your eyes skim the kitchen and the small sitting room attached. Picture frames covered the walls of the apartment. All the frames different shades of gold, brown and random accents of color. The photos in them range from people to places and animals. Quite a few pictures of the beautiful orange cat that has now perched himself on the counter next you and is purring as your hands mindlessly scratch at his head.

“I’ll help you carry them down yeah?” He asks, startling you. A squeak like noise leaves your throat. Your hand flying over your chest. Like you’re trying to capture the heart that seems to be beating out of your chest. “Sorry love,” he smiles. “Didn’t mean to scare you,” you shake you’re head in response.

“It’s okay I just scare easy,” you reach to grab the two reusable bags from him. “And I can carry them it’s okay,” he shrugs.

“I have to go down to get some new pens from the corner store so it’s okay,” you shrug.

“I guess I won’t fight you on it,” a light smile etched onto your features.

“You wouldn’t have won anyways,” he then guides you out of the apartment. You opening doors for him and pressing elevator buttons as he holds the two very heavy bags. For you they would have been anyways. But he carry’s them with ease, the muscles under is sage green cardigan slightly bulging. “Um,” he starts. Pulling his lips into his mouth quickly as if to think of what to say. “Thank you so much for taking this on,” his fingers fidgeting with the steps on the bag. “I really appreciate it and hope that we can make this run smoothly until sara is ready to come back,” he rambles as you finally make it to the ground floor

“Of course it’s hopefully going to be a little bit more exciting than data entry and customer service,” he lets out a small laugh.

“I hope so,” he guides you out the door and a black SUV pulls up to the curb. “Here’s your ride,” you look at him with wide eyes.

“Huh?” You ask and a small older lady comes around the side and walks in front of you. Reaching out and grasping your hand in hers.

“Hi I’m Elaine and I am Mr.Styles driver,” she says with a large smile. “Though he doesn’t go anywhere so I am your driver,” her voice is airy and happy.

“Oh um,” you can’t seem to get nah words out. Shocked. Harry introduces you to her as your brain is still running behind. A driver for a personal assistant is kind of a lot.

“There’s lots of driving in this position and cabs can get expensive,” he moves to put the binders and folders in the back seat. Leaving you room to sit behind the passenger seat. “And there’s some things that I’ll need to bring to the office and back that I just don’t trust to be transported by subway or bus,” he says nervously. Sarah has mentioned he is a very paranoid man who hides it easily, until it comes to his writing. Along with other things, hence why he doesn’t venture more than a street from his apartment building.

“Oh okay,” you then nod at him. “I will see you tomorrow?” You ask trying not to sound too nervous.

“You know where to find me,” he lets out a shy laugh. You just smile at him and pull the door closed. You give Elaine your address and she sits in thought for a second. Before signaling to merge onto the road.

“Isn’t he handsome?” Elaine speaks as she pulls out into traffic. The question startling you. Her small frame is placed atop a cushion that gives her a few inches to see past the steering wheel.

“Oh yeah I guess,” you shrug.

“It’s okay honey you can tell me the truth,” she smiles mischievously through the rear view mirror. Why is she asking you this. It seems unprofessional considering you two are basically co-workers.

“He is a little too old for me,” you tell her click open your phone. Finding the email again and trying to read through and memorize as much information as you can.

“Not at all! You seem like a mature young lady. And very beautiful,”

“Thank you Elaine but Mr.Styles is my boss and I’m a little uncomfortable with this conversation to be honest,” your voice trailing off quietly. Hoping not to offend the older woman.

“Oh of course I’m so sorry,” she shakes her head. “I won’t ask again,” she waits a few seconds before looking back to me again. “So what made you take the job?” She ask’s curiously.

“The money pays well. Sarah seemed really nice and it’s definitely better than the dead end office jobs I’ve been finding,” you shrug. “Even though it’s a temporary thing it’ll be nice to get some experience,” she nods along with your words.

“Oh good reasons,” she laughs as you pull into a spot in front of your apartment building. “Here we are,” she sighs. Turning to look at you face to face. “Right?”

“Yes ma’am,” you respond opening the door and shuffling off the seat and pulling the bags with you. Your arms straining to carry the large heavy bags. ‘Wow I really need to go back to the gym,’ you think to yourself as you make your way to the door.

“Just call me Elaine,” she smiles at you from her now open window. “And I will be here tomorrow at seven so that we can do Mr.Styles morning errands,” you Jude nod and wave. Quickly making your way into the building.

"What did I just get myself into?" you whisper to yourself as you stop onto your elevator. Elaines words running through your head. Did you think he was attractive? I mean he wasn't unattracrive? Why was that her question about him for you? Was she trying to play cupid? Weird way to start out her first day at work. "Whatever he has in store for me tomorrow better not be nearly as exciting. Today was too much,"

[nin-jay-go]

for morrotober i posted a pirate au thing, and like 2 ppl were interested in it, but then i didn't think about it for a while KJSHFKJKJH but uhhh yea i have a full fledged treasure planet au because i can't keep away from funky alien stuff

here's the crew! minus wu bc he didn't fit into the scene but he's here in spirit lol (he's the captain) he can be taking the photo

brief synopsis before i go ramble under the cut: kai, cole, jay, and zane all met when they stole the golden tech-weapons from a museum, then when the weapons called them all to each other again, they formed a crew to take down garmadon and then just do general space pirate stuff. they're only considered pirates bc they do slightly illegal stuff in the name of good, but everyone hails them as heroes (except the actually bad pirate crews they dismantle)

anywayz feel free to send in asks because OH MY GOD IVE PUT SO MUCH EFFORT INTO WORLDBUILDING

vwoop here i go

kai, nya, and cole are humans. well, cole was human but i'll get to him later. this is a universe where humans are space orcs, so they're referred to as deathworlders more often than not. jay's an alien, raised on earth, and lloyd is half alien, raised on a moon colony. zane and pixal are automatons, though built on different planets, so their technology is a bit different. wu is fully alien and the same species lloyd is.

speaking of which, wu and lloyd are the captains. wu is the actual captain, and lloyd is the captain that they show off. he has a cool mech suit that hides the fact that he's a child (bc i didn't age him up). they're a species known as dragoni, ancient beings of creation and destruction that have witnessed the birth of the universe. wu hides his status as a dragoni from the public, and lloyd hasn't quite learned how to shapeshift his dragoni traits away.

nya's the first mate because she makes good decisions and also has a mech suit, and she's absolutely terrifying. people are right to fear her, and most of the time are more afraid of her than they are of the actual captain.

kai's the fighter and crew big brother. he's always the one to make sure everyone's safe and accounted for, and he's the one that takes the longest watches (other than the automatons and cole). he's also, alongside wu, in charge of finances, and can handle weapons in a pinch. he kinda does anything he wants on the ship tbh

zane's the cook and sniper. he likes ranged weapons and is pretty adept with guns, so he likes hanging out in the crow's nest to keep an eye out for things. he's also the only one who can cook, so they trust him to make good food.

jay's the engineer and shipwright. he's a species known as a lectrite, which have an innate sense for when lightnign's about to hit. he also can tell when storms are coming, so he helps pixal with navigation if they see a storm on the horizon.

cole's the muscle and helmsman. he's an infected ghost (because the ghost species pass on the "curse" through infection), used to be human, and the strongest member of the crew. he doesn't really need his legs anymore, so all his strength is in his arms now.

pixal is the navigator and other helmsman, when cole isn't available. she's also one of the best fighters on board, and is unafraid to kick ass. she might as well be the second mate at this point, because she kicks just. so much ass. she's so cool. she also assists with shipwrighting stuff with jay.

[corvidinthewoods]

going to ramble a bit about hbomberguy, not the latest video directly more about some of the reaction to it. full disclosure i am a patron of his, have been for a few years, and became a fan of his channel years before that. i think maybe six years ago? give or take.

im maybe experiencing cognitive dissonance bc its nice that something ive enjoyed for a long time is gaining new audience, and of course new criticism. my initial reaction has been one of resistance that i need to check.

but after reading a bit more of the criticism im like. i kinda of agree? only kind of. i feel like the criticism is maybe not directed at me (or types of fans like me) but at folks for whom this is their first encounter with hbomberguy and are hailing him as a career-ruiner and gleefully enjoying the takedowns. dont get me wrong, takedowns are fun and they’ve always been core to his channel. his oldest stuff was debunking and clowning on right wing youtubers. but thats not all he is? and i dont like the idea of him as this Great Takedown Guy because personally the stuff i like best is his media criticism.

and thats not in the way some folks are like “oh yeah i enjoy hbomberguys media analysis but not his political stuff” i like both. but i think if folks are disregarding that side of his channel then theyre not like. idk how to word this im not the best writer. theyre missing out? or missing the point?

my personal favorite hbomberguy video is Halcyon Dreams. I also really enjoy Scanline (which is both him and shannon strucci), the CAD SLA, and the whole And Here’s Why series (especially speedrunning and pathologic). in much of hbomberguy’s other work, he will disagree with creators or producers in ways that aren’t career endings. and i don’t imagine he’s trying to become a person who does that all the time? i see behavior of his that indicates this to me, such as not naming who took his joke in the uber, explicitly saying “if you go harass Somerton you are worse than him”, and how most of And Here’s Why is neutral to positive, even tho the Garbage ones may get more views. the Sherlock has the highest

uhh where am i going with this. i always got points off for my transition sentences in essays

i guess im saying like. i don’t think it’s fair to just view the hbomberguy channel as waiting for the skeletons to come out of the closet. but i also dont think fans (especially y new fans) should put him up on this pedestal, particularly as Guy Who Destroys Careers. its not a good idea to idolize ppl in general, and its not great to live in a mindset of waiting for the next target for you to justify harassing.

[maluspumilaa]

word ramble about the southerngothic farcille au bc im too tired to draw rn + i want to get better at talking about my fandom stuff on here !! below the cut since im still a bit shackled by cringe

so i had an entire whiteboard but its gone now because i am Not paying for premium but thats okay

this is pretty unstructured but i really like chewing on this au brainstyle

i think that imogen and laudna met on the island after separately being adventurers for a little bit (personally i think laudna wouldnt have had the best luck getting jobs, with the whole scary/off-putting thing about her, but still would be scraping by) – no magic academy, sorry farcille lovers

in terms of the bells hells: im honestly not sure !! i think that it would be cool to have them just be an adventuring party and all have ventured down to save laudna but i dont know how that would work, since it gets dangerous to adventure with a party larger than six or so... maybe someone joins after laudna dies, senshi style? i dont know how much meshi will be in the dungeon meshi au tbh

a lot of this au is me building around the fact i went "what if lesbians from one fandom were the lesbians from the other one" tbh

the treant that laudna is chimaeraed up with is definitely meant to do the same job as the red dragon from dunmeshi . im thinking about a crazy large treant btw. like a hulking monstrous mass of gnarled branches that shambles with alarming speed. bark so thick it seems like fire doesnt do anything except anger it. all that

also !! @/sharkodactyl 's comments on my first art post about this au made me insane (/pos), i def think that the imagery of replacing some of laudnas bones with parts of the treant is awesome... something something it ground up some of her bones to use like bone meal for itself and its not like they can just fix that damage

so they use parts from the treant in the ritual hoping that the absorbed bone will be okay to use . and it turns out fine (no it doesnt) !

ABOUT THE RESURRECTION: i think mashing the dnd and dungeon meshi resurrection scenes would be beautiful to me. i deeply enjoy laudnas resurrection in c3, maybe with the ancient magic ritual there has to be some calling of the spirit to beckon it forth or something?? i just want imogen to talk to laudna before the ritual . feels like it raises the stakes or something

also!! if you look at my au art youll see that laudna still has her ear cuff things. that is because i gave her different trauma for this au ♡

until there was some event like what happened in falins backstory, but after laudna was an adult, leading to worse, more direct treatment from her village/city – i was thinking that due to the general anti-elf/anti-magic attitude in her village, individuals deemed especially "dangerous" or suspected of practicing dark magic would have their ears cut to resemble elves (similar to the canaries but. worse i think)

from what ive gathered, a lot of tallman communities in dungeon meshi (specifically what ive seen of laios and falins northern village) are to some degree intolerant of magic, not super open minded, and to me laudna hails from a village or city around there (or somewhere similar to there) and ended up leaving because, like falin, she had an affinity towards seeing ghosts and performing magic and suffered for it

generally, she was a little bit of an outcast even as a child because she was just kind of scary? she had that weird girl swag but nothing that made her stick out all that much

SO BASICALLY thats why she has those ear covers. she doesnt like looking at the scars . maybe they also tried to hang her ? i dont know

also alsoo imogen in this au does have her lightning markies. frequently i forget those. i think theyre more subtle generally (to the point of looking like really pronounced veins) and restricted to mostly her wrists/hand area but they do glow when she uses magic (not a lot ! maybe a lot during the resurrection scene but thats for my enjoyment more than anything)

her lighning markies + hair color is still from her being ruidus-born. it has some sway over ley lines/mana in some way but the attitude in this au is very much the same as in exandria in cr (represents negative things to people, not seen as a good omen, and generally isnt focused on). it still flares and such, but the flares affect stuff with magic – something something it makes magic more volatile/is linked in some way to ancient magic

i think imogen (+ her mother) would have been fairly ostracized by the small village she grew up in (but not as severely as laudna) due to their unique appearances as a result of being ruidus-born. liliana still leaves relvin and a young imogen but not before introducing lifespan angst into her daughters mind

i think. ruidus flares fuck with peoples lifespan. generally elongates them by a good bit? since it has that connection with ancient magic which is from a time of longer lifespans and such

anyways. imogen ventured out from home to find out where her mother went + learn more about her ruidus-born status and such. she came to melini (or. the exandrian equivalent to it?) for research reasons, maybe to make money before setting off on her travels once again or something

and then met laudna and was charmed a normal amount by her on first meeting and decided to stay dungeon diving with her (and bells hells? for a little while after)

also dont ask about pate i dont know either. maybe he is just a little inanimate puppet made out of dead things or maybe hes a regular rat that wears a bird skull sometimes . maybe he has wings . hes a familiar he can do what he wants

if you made it this far, thank you for reading !! i would love interaction about this au :3 sorry if any of this got really long or ramble-y i have many thoughts LOL

[ixiot-ghostrebel]

Yk Back At The Random Ghost Rebel Stuff

A straight up ramble but does anyone feels this retching feeling in their hearts whenever they think about the High Cloud Quintet and its lore and go like "Dang, if only we COULD change what had happened bc this crap is dark and sad as hell" because that's what I feel like right now

And lemme tell you: It's not a good feeling bc I don't even want to think about how they're all just old and tired grannies and grandpas. The only person that has proper solace in the High Cloud Quintet is flipping Baiheng bro—poor Yingxing got turned into Blade bc yk—he's the beloved of that one relic set story.

Dan Flipping Feng becomes Dan Heng and even as Dan Heng he doesn't get a single drop of solace bc now the former-artisan-now-maniac dude is chasing him all across the universe bc of the sins of the past and it's just so heartbreaking bc Dan Heng isn't Dan Feng and Blade is only the shadow of Yingxing (this concept with Yingxing and Blade heavily reminds me of Makoto and Ei—Ei was the shadow of Makato and the shadow of the light is all that remains ykyk)

And then there's Jingliu who just straight up asks her student to kill her if she ever becomes mara-struck and in the end she still lives somehow and then she decides to go full-traumatizer with Blade back when he was the Unnamed that wandered the place—as if he needed MORE trauma and honestly her weak grasp over the mara which in turn makes her insane is so upsetting bc in the end she ends up having beef with a 14 year-old lieutenant who's trying to do his job and protect the Luofu (though, I have to admit it: as much as I want to protect my child Yanqing, his methods were kind of flawed—) even if he doesn't know who Jingliu is.

And ofc we got the last man standing Jing Yuan who just sees ghosts in everyone around him. Istg I feel like bc he sees ghosts, he can't move on from the past, and when he can't move on from the past, it's honestly a red flag bc it might mean that his present relationships with everyone are (sometimes) only just one-sided or something. Like, take the relationship between Yanqing and he: Yanqing trusts the General with his life bc he raised him as a baby. But the fact that he calls Jing Yuan "General" and not some sort of parental title says that Jing Yuan is being unnecessarily secretive due to his fear of vulnerability. I mean—literally in 1.2 Story Quest, Jing Yuan quite literally just left Yanqing on the island alone after he got beat up by two men that have beef with one another, practically leaving him in the dark with no explanation. And even before that, Yanqing was still left in the dark. Jing Yuan doesn't open up easily bc of the crap he's been through, which is understandable, but his lack of explanation backing up his highly meticulous moves—that's not really healthy. In the end, it just leaves a gap of mistrust, be it intentional or not, between Jing Yuan and Yanqing. In some cases, and this one (imo atleast) is one of them, if you don't explain your actions, it pretty much just leaves the person that's been left in the dark with their waves of emotions, which might cost said-relationship between the two people in the long run.

It also seems like (based off what we know of, at least) at least half of Jing Yuan's choices are also connected to sentimental reasons and seeing ghosts in people. I think he sees a ghost in Yanqing (idk who tho—ppl say it's Yingxing bc of his obsession over the sword), he sees one in Yukong (definitely Baiheng), he sees one in Dan Heng (obvious reasons, very evident throughout the game) and possible Bailu (because she's technically being hailed as the next Imbibitor Lunae after Dan Feng's sin), and it could possibly go on. This old grandpa really is comparing the present with his past and that's honestly a little heartbreaking, bc there is a chance that that might mean that Jing Yuan found more happiness (serotonin work hardcore fr) in his past than he does in his present. He should at least be happy enough of the present to not be this sentimental of the past, but he's really suffering of the incidents like bro—

The High Cloud Quintet is like The Five Yakshas from Genshin Impact but with more lore (that we know of) and more angst twists (that we know of) to it fr. It's so heartbreaking and angsty, I both love it, hate it, and cry about it.

Like bro, look at these two groups. It's always a group of five sobbing.

They're all fine as hell too like CMON

[shadows-coffeebeans]

‼️[Previously aphantomnamedghost]‼️

Ahhhhh redoing my intro post 💥💥

● Name's Gabirel (Gabe) though y'all can call me Shadow (other nicknames are also welcome :3)

● I use they/ghost/void/it pronouns ^^

● I like drawing, mainly fanart though I also draw Traveler (my sona) every now and then!

● Asks are always open! I love talking to others so dont worry about annoying me with asks :]

asks closed so i can work on art requests!

● I AM MULTIFANDOM‼️ YOU CANNOT CONTAIN MY BRAINROT TO JUST ONE 💥💥(however sonic has been a parasite living rent free in my brain since april 2023 so you'll mostly see that)

● My main interests are: Sonic the Hedgehog, The Franky Fetti Show and Danny Phantom, Dog Man and Fairly Odd Parents (A New Wish)

● I don't really reblog on this blog often because the clutter freaks me out so i have a reblog/spam blog as well (@veetheghost-reblogs)

● Art requests: CLOSED

● Art trades: OPEN

● Tags‼️

shadows latte art™ [art tag]

shadow reblogs stuff™ [reblog tag]

hashtag ask shadow™ [ask tag]

insert shadow noises™ [talk/ramble tag]

friend ask :] [mutuals ask tag] <3

friend art :] [mutuals art tag] <3

• Fankid Masterpost [ABANDONED]

• Join my silly little discord server!!

• Check out my Strawpage!!

That's it for now! Byee!!!

(userboxes under the cut)

[letsquestjess]

Protective Measures - Part 3 (Howzer x GN!Reader)

Summary: It has been too long since you last saw Howzer, and after his escape, the first thing he wants is to see you.

Word count: 2.2K

Warnings: Usual Empire stuff mentioned in the first part.

Part 1 | Part 2

Fic Masterlist

-- -- -- -- --

Order 66. That is what they were calling it. The eradication of the Jedi at the hands of the clones who had fought beside them and trusted them. The vindication of a new empire, ruled with a ruthless grip. Each passing day saw the relentless exploitation of planets, depleting them of all their valuable resources and smothering any signs of rebellion. Thousands resisted and died. And as the galaxy’s suns rose and fell, more perished. 

News of Imperial bloodshed reached you daily, and it hadn’t taken you long to question the integrity of this new authority. The calculated methods hinted at a meticulous plan prepared before the fall of the Jedi. If that were the case, the alleged assassination attempt against the chancellor may not have been wholly unjustified, but you knew better than to voice your doubts. Instead, you locked them away and remained vigilant. 

Everything changed in a blink, in a whisper, and your life altered with it. Colleagues you had known for years started voicing their dissent and vanishing, and with each disintegrating world, the Emperor’s dominion grew stronger. You had managed to retain control of your own planet, but barely. It wouldn’t take much time before you faced demands you were not willing to meet. 

To add to the mounting pressure of your job, your communications with Howzer had ceased. After your visit to Ryloth, you had both kept in touch via holo-communications, cherishing stolen moments to talk or respond to messages. But since that day, since the galaxy was turned upside down, you hadn’t been able to reach him. 

“You look as if the weight of the world rests upon your shoulders,” Riyo Chuchi remarked, interrupting herself as she rambled about the recent senate meeting. 

“I’m fine,” you replied. “Or at least I will be.” 

The Pantoran smiled kindly, but an underlying worry tinged the gesture. With a hand to your elbow, she veered you into a deserted corridor. “You haven’t seemed yourself, and I can see that something is on your mind.” 

Her intuition wasn’t wrong. You had plenty to trouble you, but there were some burdens you locked deep down so that nothing could reach them. Burdens that haunted you in the depths of the night while the hail pounded the windowpanes and preoccupied your thoughts whenever you spotted an elegant bouquet or the first speckles of sunlight. Like the flecks in his eyes, you remembered. 

However, there was one topic you knew you could discuss with her, a common concern you both shared. “Riyo, do you agree with what the Empire is doing?” you asked, lowering your voice and checking that there was nobody lurking nearby. “I’ve heard things, things I probably shouldn’t have and… The Republic wasn’t perfect, we made many mistakes, but we never would have done this. People are disappearing in alarming numbers. Families are being torn apart. The slightest hint of insurrection and Imperial soldiers are wiping out villages.”

“I have also heard of some disturbing events,” Riyo admitted. “The more I hear, the more I question what we’re doing, but we have to be careful of what we say, at least for now. All we can do at the moment is keep on fighting for the clones, and maintain a low enough profile that the rest of the senate thinks we are unaware of certain liberties they have taken.” Her pale yellow gaze dropped, and a troubled wrinkle squeezed at her brow. “This is not what I become a senator for, and I understand it is the same for you, but we still have the ability to help people.”

“We do,” you said with an inkling of hope in your heart. But for how long, you left unspoken. 

* * *

Accompanied by the melodic tune on the radio, you whisked the lumps from the sweetened batter and poured it into the little trays, mopping up the stray blobs and slipping them into the oven. While it may have seemed unusual to other senators for one in your position to refuse any staff arrangements, you found comfort in tending to your own needs. Following the incident on Ryloth, the former senate had clarified that tighter security was non-negotiable, and you had had to relent, but unless there was an issue, they left you in peace. 

As the oven emitted thin beeps, you gingerly took out the trays. With careful coaxing, the cakes popped from the mould and gushed out ribbons of vanilla-scented steam. Once the bowl was full to the brim, you plodded into the living room. Your days were usually hampered with work, leaving little time for self-indulgence, but you made an effort to carve out moments of quiet whenever you could. 

You activated the buttons on the armrest of the sofa as you sat down to eat and the holographic television blinked to life. Among the holo-dramas and news bulletins, you lingered on a garden documentary. The pruned flora and the spread of pastel petals transported you back to the secluded plot of land on the outskirts of Lessu, and a thin layer of tears clung to your lashes. The devoted warmth that had caressed your face and the delicate scents that had invited you in. And the man who had walked by your side. Who had made you laugh so much that your cheeks ached and opened up to you in one of the most vulnerable ways. 

Howzer, you thought, momentarily closing your eyes and summoning the image of the clone captain. 

A worried grumble fluttered from your lips and you set the bowl of tiny cakes on the seat beside you. There was no way of finding out what had happened to him. The stars above only knew how you’d tried, discreetly checking the Ryloth accounts and making tactful inquiries just to catch a hint of his whereabouts. In the back of your mind, you realised you may never see him again, but you stubbornly refused to entertain such a grim thought. I’d know it, you convinced yourself. He’s still out there somewhere. 

Amidst the uncertainty, you took a deep breath and returned to your well-deserved dessert, immersing yourself in the narrator’s vivid descriptions of each flower and their vital role in the delicate environment of the outer-rim planet. Enthusiasm dripped from her voice, and for a time it distracted you. Enough that when the buzzer screeched, you almost dropped the bowl in your hands. 

You hurried to the door and stole a glance at the visitor identification by the intercom system, disabling the locks and ushering your guest inside. “Senator Chuchi,” you said as she lowered her hood. “I wasn’t expecting any callers tonight. Is everything okay? Has something happened?” For a frightening moment, you worried your conversations had been discovered, but the Pantoran’s composed demeanour dispelled your concerns. 

“Do not panic, senator. All is well,” she replied. “I am not disturbing any plans, am I?” 

“No, not at all.”

“Good.” Riyo glanced towards the door, her attention drawn to the orderly row of jackets hanging on the hooks. “I would recommend you bring a thick coat. It’s rather cold out tonight.”

“Why?” you asked, spotting a rare, mischievous glint in her features. “Where are we going?” 

Noting the unease in your voice, the senator retrieved a small, transparent bag of rounded chocolates from her pocket and presented it to you. Your heart soared and pounded. 

“There is someone who would like to see you,” Riyo said, depositing the packet in your hand before she strolled to the entrance of your apartment. “But we need to be discreet.”

* * *

Senator Chuchi hadn’t been mistaken. The merciless chill bit at you through your layers of clothing and a fierce howl bounced between the buildings. Goosebumps crept up your skin and your breath curled in huffed streams. 

As you descended to the lower levels of the city, the elements filtered into the tunnel and gradually eased. Alleys and walkways painted a mosaic of shadows and artificial light on your path. At the faint vibration of your footfalls, small creatures scurried out from the bins, and the metal casings rattled as they scooted away. 

“Riyo,” you said in a hushed tone, tugging at your hood. “Where exactly are we going?” 

“Just a little further,” the senator replied. She gestured to an air taxi, the engine purring, and smuggled inside. 

You followed her in and settled down, observing the kaleidoscope of neon lights zooming by in a disorienting blur as you journeyed to your unknown destination. 

Your legs bounced with the faint rhythmic pulse of the vehicle. Only one person was aware of the chocolates, but a twinge of doubt tempered your anticipation. For all you knew, someone else awaited, someone with bad news. 

Part way down the underground portal, the air taxi came to a smooth halt at a landing point. Filled with trepidation, you climbed out and craned your neck to look up at the shutters, trying to figure out where you were. Riyo tapped a signal onto the corrugated metal and the massive doors shuddered, revealing a narrow gap for you to squeeze through. 

The accompanying senator wriggled in first, the sliver of light leaking through the divide temporarily engulfing her slight frame. Once she had disappeared, you manoeuvred your way inside the repair shop.

“What is this?” you asked, taking in the shelves stacked with dusty ship parts and unopened crates that provided a resting spot for the chatting soldiers. 

“A place of security for the clones,” Riyo explained. “It’s an underground network that I have been assisting. I wanted to tell you about it, but it would have put you at considerable risk.”

“These are unsettling times,” you assured her, eyes brimming with understanding. “Thank you for not taking my safety lightly.” 

“I hope your journey here wasn’t too troublesome, senators,” Captain Rex said, winding the entryway closed and acknowledging both of you with a firm nod. 

“I waited until nightfall, as you advised,” Riyo replied. “Is he here?” 

Rex waved towards a shelving unit, drawing your attention to the clone engaged in a conversation with one of his brothers. Gone was the familiar white and teal armour; now he wore a dark under suit and navy vest. More like a prisoner than a captain, but it was unmistakably him. 

You inched closer, the sight before you seeming too surreal to be true. How many times had you dreamed of this moment? How often had your thoughts roamed on lovelorn feet to the memory of how his smile had warmed you, how his comforting words had sung to you like a lullaby? 

Your timid footsteps stirred him from his conversation, and his placid expression morphed into one of utter disbelief. In a rush, you ran towards each other and collided in a desperate embrace. He sank to his knees, and you willingly followed, squeezing him so tightly you felt the racing of his pulse. 

Howzer drew back, his forehead meeting yours, and he wiped away your tears and left a chaste peck on your lips. “Hush now,” he cooed. “It’s all right.”

“When I stopped getting messages, I feared the worst,” you admitted, straining to get the confession out through the knot in your throat. “What happened, Howzer?”

“There’s time for that later. I just want to enjoy having you here with me.” 

His words spurred your heart, and you couldn’t resist the urge to capture his lips in a fervent kiss. Others be damned. You didn’t care if they looked. Your captain was here, and that was all that mattered. 

Reluctantly, you parted to catch your breath, accepting his assistance as he helped you back onto your feet. Fresh scars littered his hands, glossy in the strong lamplight and mottled around the edges. Your thumbs glided over them, tracing every contour and silently cursing the people who dared to harm him. 

His melancholic smile deepened the creases above his cheekbones, and you pulled him closer, seeking to provide him with as much solace as you could. “I missed you,” you whispered.

“I missed you too,” he said just as reverently. “Whenever I could, I went to that garden, remembering how your eyes lit up when you first saw it and the softness of your voice as we spoke.” He kissed you again, inhaling your scent as if you alone could nourish his soul. “How you felt in my arms the night before you had to leave.”

Every shred of fortitude within you ignited. The months of arguing with the senate over clone matters teemed in your mind, and the intensity in that gold-flecked gaze only fuelled your determination to fight even harder. You would secure a home for them and shield them from ever having to endure such troubled times again. Even if it meant risking everything and abandoning the senate to join forces with Rex, it was a chance you would take. For Howzer, for the clones who aided your planet during the war, and for your suffering people. “Whatever we do next, we do together,” you spoke, resolute in your conviction.

His hands squeezed yours with a fierce determination, his expression overflowing with love and unwavering devotion, as he gave you a steadfast nod. “You and me,” he said. “Together.” 

TAGLIST (Message if you’d like to be added for future reader fics, 18+ only)

@skellymom @freesia-writes @the-hexfiles @theeyesofasoldier @multi-fan-dom-madness @savebytheodoresnonjosestuff @tech-aficionado @techsriduur @dangraccoon @starrylothcat @jediknightjana

[little-red-fool]

OMG YOU'RE SEVENTEEN?? (I've been following you for months and I didn't once read the pinned message beyond the line about no AI and NFTs lmao) YOUR ART IS SO CRISPY I THOUGHT YOU WERE A PRO ARTIST AROUND 30 WTF

(sorry for the yelling via text)

HOW DID YOU GET SO GOOD!! (Tips on lineart please?) WE'RE THE SAME AGE, BUT HALF OF MY ART IS SHIT AND THE OTHER HALF IS FART

ALL HAIL LITTLE RED FOOL, BESTOW THY GREATNESS UPON THOU MERE MORTAL SERVANTS

But in all seriousness, any tips on, like I said, lineart or just digital art in general? (I just started digital, and... Ten hours of work and I'm just on base colors 😎🕶️🤏🥲) I love, LOVE your style and especially COLOR! How do you tie it all together? Like, I'm 17 too, but I'm not even close to your stuff?? I'm scared as fuck from ever trying color traditionally because I spend SO MUCH TIME ON A SKETCH, so I just picked up digital and HOURS LATER IT'S STILL AWFUL

Sorry for the rambling and repeating, man, it's been a long day and it's late in the Balkans... Don't let the rambling force you into answering tho

Have a good one. ->excited fellow artist

(tip of the day: did you know that in Romanian, moon and month are the same word, with the same pronunciation, spelling and plural? It's called: lună [loonuh] and I think it comes from latin, since Romanian is a heavily latin language, with bits of french and turkish (HEAVY bits), dacian, slavic, italian)

OUAHFSHD THANK YOU SO MUCH I’M REALLY HAPPY YOU LIKE MY ART!! Also I’m sure your art is better than you think it is (we generally tend to view our own creations as worse than others because we’re the ones that made them, don’t worry I’m the same as well ajdbsjd) but yeah I’ll be happy to give you some tips and stuff! (and yeah I never colour traditionally either I just leave everything in plain biro because I don’t want to mess it up lol)

(I haven’t seen your art so these will probably be more general tips but hopefully they’ll help a bit, also keep in mind that I’m not a professional so this will be more about what has worked for me but I hope it might help you a bit)

So for stuff like lineart, avoid using chicken-scratches—it might seem easier or less daunting to do shorter overlapping lines like that but it will give your sketches and drawings that overall fuzzy look, the trick is to have longer confident strokes. It might seem a bit tricky at first if you haven’t done it before so don’t worry it happens but if you keep practicing they’ll eventually look smoother and less shaky. For the longer lines it better to draw from either your elbow or shoulder, and by that I mean keeping your wrist still and letting the larger parts of your arm do most of the work—this will also help your wrist in the long run. For things like shorter lines and smaller details then absolutely use your hand to move the pen, but generally try to use your elbow and shoulder as it will help you get those longer smoother lines. Also this is just a personal preference of mine but I generally use brushes that have a bit of pressure sensitivity which helps add some line weight. If you don’t have pressure sensitivity another way you can get line weight is by taking an eraser to some of the edges and narrowing some parts.

For colours it mainly depends on the lighting—lighting is everything and will affect how the rest of the colours will look, so it’s important to have an idea of the brightness and colour of your lighting. The background also plays an important role in picking colours for me as well as it helps provide colour context and makes it easier to pick colours by eye if you want a certain mood. If you want a more dependable way on getting colours to match up then I’d recommend having a layer that’s just colour on top of the rest of your piece—you can play around with the blending modes and opacity, I mainly use either an overlay layer with a medium colour that’s slightly desaturated or a colour burn layer with a light saturated colour; most of the time I use colour burn because if you put it over your lineart then it will also tint the parts of your lineart or sketch that’s at a lower opacity too. But with figuring out colours I’d highly recommend researching some stuff about colour theory, there are a lot of good and easy to understand explanations and art tutorials on YouTube so I would recommend starting there (unfortunately I can’t link recommend specific videos because my playlists are a mess ajdbsjdbsj but some good channels to learn from are Sinix Design, Marc Brunet and Marco Bucci).

In terms of general digital art tips, ALWAYS FLIP YOUR CANVAS. You will not believe the amount of times I’ve looked at a drawing and thought it looked pretty good, flipped the canvas and found that everything’s wonky. In cases like these the liquify tool is your best friend, as well as the lasso tool and transform tools, as well as just manually fixing them by redrawing some parts. Also use as many layers as you need, and by this I mean if you’re working on your sketch, lineart or colouring or whatever and you want to do something you’re not sure you’ll like, duplicate the layers so you have a backup in case it goes wrong and you want to go back. When I say use as many layers as you need I mean use as many as you need, these are some of mine and they’re all from just one sketch because I get really anxious about messing stuff up lol, also don’t be afraid of drawing separate parts on separate layers and merging them afterwards if you want.

Also take your time, unless you have a deadline don’t feel like you have to complete a drawing within a certain timeframe, if you want to get faster at drawing then that’s great but don’t feel like you need to push yourself, especially if you’re just starting. Practice takes time and patience is your best friend, and you probably hear lots of other artists saying this but trust the process. You might get to a bit you’re struggling with and not like it and want to abandon the drawing, but I found that rather than saying “this is bad” or “this is wrong” start asking “how can I make this work” because a change in mindset can help you a lot with art. Also don’t feel like you have to reach certain milestones with your art by certain points either, like with the age thing and comparing your progress with other artists of either the same or different ages, because it can make you feel worse about your art. Trust me there are some artists younger than me who are like 14 or 15 who’s art I envy and—again with the mindset thing—instead of getting down that your art isn’t similar to their’s or worrying that you’re “behind” in your artistic development (there is no such thing btw everyone learns at different ages and speeds so don’t feel bad if you haven’t progressed as much as you would have liked to) it helps to ask what you like about their art and what you would like to incorporate into your own—this has helped me learn and improve a lot faster.

I don’t know if I have any more tips at the moment, but I hope that answered some of your questions! (also sorry it’s a bit long or some bits don’t make a lot of sense I like to ramble a bit lol) (also also thank you for the little fact as well!)

Have a nice day anon 🧡

[manda-kat]

Precious baby Jenna! I think this is the most intentional character design I've ever made. So let me ramble a bit about her.

Jenna is Micah's twin and the two of them are both new dragon riders hailing from a proud family of dragon slayers. While Micah despises the idea of teaming up with a dragon, Jenna actually loves dragons and wants to disown the idea of dragon slaying entirely.

So for Jenna's design, I focused on the following:

Each character has their own signature element, related to the element of their dragon partner. Jenna's element is sky, so she has a lot of blue, she has long flowing hair, round edges, archery as a fighting style, ribbons, and- something I noticed while drawing and decided to emphasize a bit later- a flight-attendant-esque outfit. Like wind, sky, storms and rain, Jenna is a free spirit, but her preppy style implies that she's putting on appearances and not fully embracing that personality.

She is woefully underprepared for this new lifestyle. Jenna has no armor, is wearing a skirt, has little buckle-on shoes with no socks, her hair is down, her bows are in the way. Every utility-based item she has is in the same dark gray featured in Micah's belts.

This basically spells it out that Jenna didn't actually pack that stuff herself and Micah is the one adjusting her gear so she doesn't die. Since she'll be riding a dragon, she is now wearing thick, protective leggings that don't really match the rest of her outfit. She didn't want to bring her weapon at all, but Micah insisted. The bow is dark and has little to link it to her character. It represents the violence that Jenna despises, but like it or not, she must carry and learn to use for the protection of others. The quiver is just thrown around her waist with the only added detail being a bow she added after the fact just to keep it from being depressing.

There is a lot of room to grow. Jenna's final design at the end of her story would be more put-together, confident and prepared for action. Right now she's a teenaged girl trying to live her dream without really knowing the details of that lifestyle and I really think it shows! I hope I design more characters like her.

Bonus for her twin brother's design:

Micah's element is fire, but at this point he won't be flaunting that the way Jenna already is. His hair and cape give a bit of fire imagery, but that's mostly it. Fire is the most dragon-like element and he doesn't want anything to do with it. Red is still his color, connecting him more to that violence that Jenna is running from. For Micah, being able to fight and protect is the most important trait for a person to have and if he fails in that regard, he's nothing. The red is smothering him. It's something he carries for someone else rather than something he owns and wears proudly.

Just like Jenna, he is unprepared. While she forgot essential supplies and dressed for fashion rather than function, Micah remembered his armor and gear. However, the gear isn't suited to him specifically. Everything he is wearing is a hand-me-down from his father and grandfather. Key parts of the golden armor are missing, which implies he couldn't find a way to fit into the whole set and had to just settle for the pieces he could adjust. The sword is nearly as tall as he is and is way too big for him. Instead of finding a more reasonable weapon, he stubbornly sticks to the family relic, insisting that if it worked for the previous generations, it'll work for him.

Micah's round chin and freckles just make him look so young. He's way too much of a kid to realize the severity of being a dragon slayer.

I think Jenna's design has more thought behind it, but I love the twins together. Their eyes match, but their hair and skin helps keep them separate. Jenna is slightly darker, implying a tan. Like she actually goes outside and does things on her own, while Micah hides indoors and avoids actually living. Micah's blond hair matches his mother, but Jenna's hair has red in it, which neither of their parents have, which marks her as an outcast in the family. She's also taller and comes across as more mature than her brother, despite them being twins.