Tumgik
#how to use concealer
Text
youtube
Does expensive mean better? 🤔 Find out as I try a new to me make up brand and test out their affordable under eye products 👁️👄👁️
1 note · View note
puppyeared · 3 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media
(guy who has never played cotl) haha au time
#this started as a design exercise bc i couldnt get sphinx/devon rex narinder out of my head#but the whole time i was thinking man imagine if the lamb brings him in as a follower but nobody knows he was actually. you know#and the followers are like haha wow our leader channels the power and wisdom of the one who waits almost as if they were them#would that be cool or what. anyway heres narinder reassuming his pre-bishop form and everything his flesh remembers before godhood#ok now im gonna ramble abt design notes#the singe marks were inspired by fallen angels like how some ppl say they burned while falling from heaven. i wanted smth like that when#the lamb is resurrected by nari.. their outfit is inspired by papal cloaks while narinders is based on crusader armor#the lambs name 'bellwether' is also a term used for sheep that wear a bell and lead the flock and i thought that was cool#idk what the thuribles do yet but i do have smth in mind where theyre linked together. and ofc the lamb has a shepherds staff#very proud of nari's little devil tail!! and it was hard to see bc its so dark but he has wrinkles around his forehead to conceal his#third eye. even he isnt aware of it (for now)#idk where im going with this au i just have a bunch of ideas?? basically the lamb is keeping nari's identity a secret from him so he doesnt#go down that path of powerhungry destruction. smth like trying to lead him down a better path but feels guilty lying to do that#also theyre in love with each other and theyre stupid pining idiots abt it. mwah#cult of the lamb#cotl#cotl lamb#cotl narinder#the one who waits#cotl the one who waits#narilamb#art#au#myart#my art#character design#cotl au#false prophet! au
929 notes · View notes
emry-stars-art · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
I don’t know if you know this but I love a good royal au just as much if not more than a mer au… so when someone mentioned it at the beginning of May and i went for the thematic mermay instead I vowed I would come come back to the subject. Sketch dump time
Enter young king Aaron and prince Andrew, who recently were assigned new personal guards but Andrew is starting to realize every other word out of Abram’s mouth is only a half-truth if not an outright lie… what could he possibly have to hide
379 notes · View notes
poisonousquinzel · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media
"a dude in Texas legally changed his name to "Literally Anyone Else" and he's attempting to run for President against Biden & Trump" [source]
okay, but putting aside the comedic aspect of this, it is concerning the amount of people who are prompted to vote for candidates just because it's funny. I'm not the biggest fan of how his policy about the boarder sounds [Site], but I do implore anyone who is able to vote in the 2024 US election to please research other candidates.
The media is only going to continue pushing the idea it's inevitably going to be Trump vs Biden 2.0 and we have no other options, that we have to vote for Biden again because of Project 2025. Is that whole thing terrifying?
Yeah, fucking absolutely.
But voting for Biden will not solidify our safety from that. Biden is exactly like the rest of them. He always has been. You can't make the lesser of two evils argument when they're both just plain evil.
You cannot say that Biden is even mildly a better choice than Trump when he is currently directly involved in a genocide. That is not some little fucking thing. That in and of itself disqualifies him as a lesser evil. Biden is just as bad as him and he will not save us because he doesn't fucking care.
Cornel West [Site] is an Independent candidate running for President in the 2024 Election. [Policies]
Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia [Site] are running for President and Vice-President as the candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation in the 2024 Election. [Policies]
There are options.
There are people trying to change the corrupt foundation our system is built on, but we have to help amplify them because the mainstream media will not.
#have you looked at what's happening in New York & the subways#There's so many reported shootings and deaths and it just seems to be getting worse.#I just looked up subway shooting ny because I wanted to check before saying something#There's reports from like 3 hours ago about someone getting pushed in front of one of the moving subways & there's so many others#or how about the like thousands of police officers that they've got stationed at subways in ny literally doing fuck all#or how everyone's going through a housing crisis and cant afford rent and cant get medical care because it can cost#$4000 to get a fucking ambulance and that's cheap. That's a ride to the hospital less than 20 minutes away probably.#or the rise in hate crimes and bigotry and all the shit they're now trying to censor with the kosa bill#or how terrifying places like Florida have became for anyone thats not seen as an equel by people who dont view most others as equels.#or how they're pouring billions into wars while we're in the midsts of a homeless crisis#suicide rates are at record levels in the us and it's only going to get worse. theyre pulling telehealth which will take away#life saving medical care for people who dont have the ability to go in person. people's ability to get therapy and meds being taken away#Is going to kill people. or how the Biden administration has fucked up their Covid response so goddamn badly#people are referring to the pandemic in past tense and have lost understanding for others who they'd have understood before#they've lied and they've concealed and its killing millions of people and disabling even more. but they will not take accountability.#long covid is ruining people's lives and they've successfully led the narrative that its not real or not that serious.#they will sit there and they will lie. they will say they've protected women's rights and that its a top priority.#they'll say that healthcare is a top priority but have suggested that they'd veto a healthcare for all bill because of its price tag#but will spend billions and billions and billions on a genocide that the majority is against. the system isn't going to begin collapsing#it already is.#its crumbled and we must demolish the corrupt remains and rebuild a better government that gives a shit about people#ALL people.#they use basic human rights as bargaining chips.#the Democrats and Republicans on a Venn diagram is a circle. wake up.
74 notes · View notes
millenari · 5 months
Text
The Macavity fight in Cats 98 vs the Broadway Revival. Trying to sync these up was torture. Also volume warning, in that it's pretty unpleasant to listen to the whole way through.
33 notes · View notes
sistersofsilver · 3 months
Text
okay. heres my rough (rough) idea on how to make a shade a little more tangible.
ashes: to remember him. there's a spark of something there.
bones: to strengthen him. he"s clearly more tangible than other shades given he's at least semi corporeal
fate fabric: to twist possibility in favor. basically mandatory, there's little chance of this working otherwise. (it very clearly didn't entirely work, but that's not the point)
nightshade: tied to death, used for medea upgrades thus tied to her in some way and given her everything...
myrtle: tied to love. take that as you will, but i dont think you can try this without love.
blood: not a proper reagent, but clearly, this took a pound of flesh either way. blood = life as seen with zagreus last game. (<- oversimplification ik)
complications: some of these are later game drops, and so melinoë was NOT grabbing these. where did melinoë learn this. how did literally no one stop them.
tentative solutions: icarus is already dead, and we know of scouting shades by odysseus. hecate had a surplus of reagents lying around - she mentioned she had some early on in game but hasnt had the chance to refill them as of late. therefore, melinoë and icarus could have done some pilfering. eris could have been involved if only because hecate would not approve of this. we know eris made bombs, and her, mel, and icarus have some sort of connection. as for learning, there's something about taking bits and pieces of medea and circes teachings and trial and getting a rough idea. melinoë isn't stupid after all. circe for changing ones nature, medea for dealing with the dead. both are important imo. as for how & why no one stopped them... great question.
idk!!! idk i'm still cooking, but i feel like i'm onto something.
32 notes · View notes
Text
I'm in the process of proofreading my Comte 7th bday event translation. However. I had to say it because reading the english version of the Impossible Choices event KILLED ME WHERE I SAT:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
VIDEO GAMES WERE A MISTAKE I CAN'T UNSEE IT 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Also because it was hot as hell:
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I think Comte deserves to be a little violent. As a treat (for me)
I will also never get over Vlad going AND MAKE IT STRAWBERRY at pretty much everything and Comte just "Can you be an adult. About anything. For like 3 minutes." Meanwhile I'm with MC where I just find it lowkey hilarious. Realizing now as I write about it that Comte, Vlad, and MC just feel like Comte and MC are the dad and mom humoring an overzealous child, and something about that is freaking uproarious to me. I was sitting there like "where have I heard/seen that tone in Comte before" and then it hit me like a ton of bricks (as if he doesn't run a whole house, don't look at me I'm a 🤡)
I find it all kinds of adorable that Comte's playful and silly only when he's alone with MC, makes it feel special in a way--like he's comfortable sharing because it's her. I also think it's cute because he often manages to find a way to spin it into something that ends up being fun/sweet/thoughtful towards MC, which is just delightful. I feel like when Vlad comes in he gets a lil grumpy and jealous and retreats into himself a bit, like his private time with MC was stolen 😚
I still chortle about the Honeymoon event where Vlad gave MC a bouquet of flowers to celebrate their wedding day, and the way it felt like Comte wanted to trash them 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 it was so unbelievably funny. Like it was so clear he didn't want to ruin MC's gift, you know, be mature and let her have this. But also. REEEEEEEE M Y MC 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Deleted footage of Comte the second Vlad offered her flowers:
Tumblr media
Also, spoilers for the Epilogue that left me clutching my pearls MC GIANT MOOD, I LOVE HIM:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
ME TOO, ABEL. ME TOO [SOBBING]
78 notes · View notes
sugarsweetvirgo · 5 months
Note
Eve: Bottling up negative emotions is bad for your health, so you shouldn't do it.
Seto: I know, that's why I bottle up all my emotions, both positive and negative, so it cancels out.
Eve: Th-that's not how that works-
Tumblr media
Actually, the two are pretty open with each other.
#small hastag ramble#but i low-key feel kaiba is like. super mischaracterized when it comes to how he handles emotions#Id absolutely argue that Kaiba is one of the most emotional characters In the entire manga. More than Yugi is even#its just that a majority of the time his emotions are based in anger and hatred. so people see him as bottling up his feelings#when he's honestly the exact opposite. hes VERY open about how he feels and why he feels certain ways#For example Kaiba bluntly telling the gang that he's going to blow up Alcatraz because he hates his stepfather so much#or when Kaiba was very visibly disgusted by the shadow game on the piers with Yugi v Joey#or the numerous amounts of times Kaiba verbally told Atem how much he wants to defeat him. to the point of trembling with desire#Like Kaiba is incredibly open about his emotions. Except that a majority of the time his emotions are based in anger without a resolution#I just think its misinterpreted as him concealing his emotions because he doesn't show a lot of positive ones. but no. he's just that angry#especially since a majority of his actions in the manga are based on his own feelings#anyway sorry for the rant lmao the conversation just drives me nuts#I think he'd absolutely be really open to Eve about how he feels and his frustrations#Kinda using Eve as a sort of rubber duck to vent to a lot#It's also one of the reasons Eve loves Kaiba so much. because he's so brazen about his thoughts and feelings#ssv#oc#yugioh au#giant/tiny#yugiohoc#bondshipping#rant#tag rant#oc x canon#answered asks#ask
25 notes · View notes
dramarants · 11 months
Text
i only want love triangles if it's whatever fucked up polygon junmo kicheol and euijeong have going on
#the worst of evil#ranting#idk how to articulate how juicy it is#junmo's fierce protectiveness of his wife - he trusts her but can't help his jealousy fear or frustration while trapped in the situation#euijeong hurting but putting her own life on the line worried for her husband while unpacking the memories of her first love#she can't help but sympathize with kicheol and what he's endured; haven't seen much of how she feels rn but it must be c o n f l i c t e d#(not necessarily even in a romantic way but wanting to root for a person chasing their goals who was once so important to you)#(all while grieving her mother without the support of her literal goddamn spouse by her side)#and kicheol. also grieving and trying to establish a place for himself and his crew yet drawn to junmo despite the red flags#his panic and desperation when jungmo bled out on him which must have triggered his own memories of losing taeho#junmo who has every reason to despise kicheol barely concealing his general rage but protects him like it's second nature at every turn#all while conflicted as a bystander to atrocities (and now willfully leaving another cop to die to protect himself his wife and the mission#getting mentally and physically pummeled left and right just bc his superiors demand it from him#all to please euijeong's family by using the promotions to prove himself and get rid of the stigma weighing him down#like !!!#and haven't even touched on kicheol wooing euijeong against his buddy's wishes and in such a pure heart fluttering way#accepting the risk for a second chance to bathe in the bright light she used to shine on his life#OMG AND BIBI'S ENTRANCE!! junmo realizing her interest gives him leverage and agency but struggling to use it to his advantage#it's soooo messy and i'm obsessed#that funeral arc is gonna haunt me for years#as is the tension during the pat down which def was supposed to be like a gang pride/dignity/lack of power against the jp folks thing#also testing their relationship and responsibilites as leader subordinate#but felt charged around whether kicheol would protest or junmo would accept the manhandling in totally different 👀 ways#goddamn i wrote an essay and this doesn't even scratch the surface of the meat of the show#tldr; i have many many feelings and for once the 'love triangle' isn't making me gauge out my own eyeballs#it's about power it's about raising the stakes and revealing things about the characters w/o dominating the plot
52 notes · View notes
svtskneecaps · 7 months
Text
FRIENDS I HAVE BEEN PLAYING WITH SOME OF THE QSMP MODS AND I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH
Tumblr media
BEHOLD THESE THREE PARTICULAR BLOCKS FROM THE FRAMEDBLOCKS MOD!!!!! FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, THE "FRAMED SECRET STORAGE", THE "FRAMED DOOR", AND THE "FRAMED ONE-WAY WINDOW"
Tumblr media Tumblr media
FRAMED SECRET STORAGE, A BLOCK WITH SOME STORAGE THAT CAN BE CAMOUFLAGED TO LOOK LIKE WHATEVER BLOCK YOU DESIRE!!!! WANT TO BUILD YOUR WHOLE HOUSE OUT OF CHESTS AND STILL MAINTAIN AESTHETIC?? GO FOR IT!! HAVE SECRET CONTRABAND BUT NEED EASY ACCESS? HIDE IT RIGHT IN YOUR WALLS!!!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
THE FRAMED DOOR, ABLE TO BE CUSTOMIZED TO LOOK LIKE A WALL!! THE TOP AND BOTTOM CAN BE ASSIGNED BLOCKS INDEPENDENTLY!!
Tumblr media Tumblr media
SECRET TUNNEL!!!!!!!!!
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
THE FRAMED ONE-WAY WINDOW!! ANY ONE SIDE OF THIS BLOCK CAN BE MADE TRANSPARENT, INCLUDING THE TOP AND BOTTOM!!! the transparency can also be REMOVED, so if your friend forgets to look at the name of the block their crosshair is on, YOU CAN TOTALLY PRETEND IT'S A TOTALLY NORMAL SOLID BLOCK AND ADD THE TRANSPARENCY ONLY WHEN NECESSARY >:D
NEEDLESS TO SAY, I AM SO EXCITED FOR WHEN THE PARANOID MEMBERS WITH MANY SECRETS AND MANY THINGS TO HIDE DISCOVER THESE BLOCKS HEHEHEHEHEHE. AS SOMEONE WHO LOVES AND CHAMPIONS ESPIONAGE THIS CONSTITUTES AN ABSOLUTE WIN
#qsmp#I LOVE ESPIONAGE I LOVE SECRETS I LOVE HIDDEN PASSAGES#HOHOHOHOEHOEHOEHOEHOHEHOE#reading through the mod notes apparently if you use phantom membrane on a block it allows you to walk through it like ghost blocks#how FUCKIGN DOPE IS THAT#THIS MAKES ME SO FUCKIGN EXCITED LIKE ACTUALLY I LOVE ESPIONAGE AND SECRETS AND HIDEY HOLES SO MUCH#if mr badboy 'paranoia incarnate' halo stops being deceased i hope he discovers these blocks bc he'd go CRAZY#cellbit would also like DAMN like DAMN#imagine if he'd been able to conceal the security door in the fear room behind a door that looked the same as the wall#jaiden being able to see through the fog using the waterframes couldn't have revealed the door >:D#this is so COOL this is so DOPE i'm in tears i love espionage i hope someone finds these blocks soon#also don't mind that you can't see my hand in any of the screenshots i found a scarf that gives me invisibility#WHICH IS ALSO FUCKING DOPE#the artifacts mod is actually so OP like genuinely#i have bunny slippers that make me jump the height of three fences and take 0 fall damage (i make bunny noises when i'm hit too >:D)#i have a snorkel that gives me 15 seconds of water breathing every time i surface for air#i have night vision goggles AND i have a CLOUD IN A JAR that gives me a DOUBLE JUMP so combine that with the bunny slippers and :DDDDD#and NONE OF THESE have durability and i can have them on AT ALL TIMES unless they conflict in slots ofc like no two in the head slot or smt#tho this is assuming that i downloaded the correct mod (i would have grabbed it from seeing it in a tooltip on a stream so jury's out)#(i don't remember what stream either lmao)#but yeah assuming these items exist on the server they're so fucking cool; i'm assuming they'll pop up in a shop later#since i haven't seen people find many yet#anyway not to be a fucking nerd or anything lmfao just got a lil excited#long tags#shut up vic#block game brainrot
21 notes · View notes
redpapercraness · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
some more blaze exploration
48 notes · View notes
whatisthisnonsense · 4 months
Text
"mutants are poc analogy" "mutants are queer analogy" Listen, X-Men and as such mutants as a whole should really be disability representation, and I mean representation and not analougous to it they just occassionally also get to blast ice while having furniture not built for them, struggles with keeping their mind in the present, and constantly having people casually discuss sterilizing or euthanizing them and being considered either dangerous or simply incapable of understanding when they get mad about this. But nobody is ready for this conversation.
#Marvel#X-Men#But no as someone who is queer and also has untreated disabilities#Plays at saying being antimutant is metaphorically homophobic mostly just pisses me off#And I'm sure people of color aren't thrilled when Mutants As Analogous To Racism comes up since most of the big names are white#And more often than not this is usually used for Marvel to avoid actually talking about the real issues#Nevermind rarely combine in an interesting way when you do get a gay mutant or a poc mutant or a gay poc mutant#However any time they run into the world simply not being built to accomodate their physical or mental needs and get sneers for asking#You can immediately see me doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point#“but what about Homo Superior” nobody in the 616 knows how genes work because the writers don't#And as a scientist if I have to see X-Gene pop up one more time I'm going to transmogrify into Galactus and eat the planet#One of the biggest experts on Mutant biology is from the Victorian era why are we listening to him#Anyway where are the DIY accomodation features for people with tails or touch telepaths#Rogue basically had to be bubblewrapped most of her life once her powers kicked in#Scott has literal braindamage on top of his powers so he's either blind or colorblind if he doesn't want eyebeam everything#Magneto and Polaris's mental instability probably is related to their electromagnetics fucking with their brains#And Also They Both Have Hella PTSD#Hank has had to make shit that's big enough for him or just run around in boxers#Kurt literally had to use holograms to hide his physical appearance and sometimes still does or has to wear concealing clothes#Logan has chronic pain and rips his skin open any time he pops his claws#Big Fuckoff Migraines plague all psychics#And we have ALL of the Morlocks EVER#Isn't Hellion using his powers to make up for having no hands??#Or at least was before they walked it back like they did the Professor needing a wheelchair#I just think there is an argument to be had here about this
9 notes · View notes
spaciebabie · 2 years
Text
Tumblr media
"Put your head on my shoulder.....Hold me in your arms, baby."
just some oc lore. who is it? wouldn't you like ta know
imagine being eaten alive by rats at 6 years old. well, they don't hafta imagine they remember. even decades later the nightmares don't seem ta stop.
193 notes · View notes
mishkakagehishka · 7 months
Text
Like we'll never make proper progress bc too many women have internalised misogyny and are quite happy with it bc they see their successful conforming to gender roles as something they should be proud of and other women's "unsuccessful" conforming as something to shame. Why? My assumption is bc they also don't want to have to conform 24/7 and are bitter when confronted with women who have decided they won't bother anymore. I like to think that bc then there's at least some hope for them.
16 notes · View notes
Conversation
Saint Germain, to Leonardo: You know, Vlad can be really aggressive, so it's important to take all the necessary precautions when approaching.
Also Saint Germain: *fires pistol at Vlad* GET FUCKED!
93 notes · View notes
goldeneyedgirl · 9 months
Text
TwiFicmas23 Day 7: Hybrid Jasper
Tumblr media
Good evening! Tonight, we have something experimental. I was trying to put together a one-shot that focused on Jasper as a hybrid because I'm equal-opportunity with my nonsense.
It's still in parts, and I'm not sure that I've captured the vibes that I'm aiming for, but we persevere. I kind of love the idea of Jasper being the vulnerable one and Alice being the protective one and wanted to riff on that concept. Some of the 'rules' and world-building are a little iffy at the moment, but first drafts always need a little work.
Thank you to everyone who has read, liked, tagged, and messaged me. Those tags and messages absolutely make my day and I love every single one of them.
I'm off to sleep off this cold, in the hopes that I can recover fast enough to finish off a couple of planned entires <3
on the edge of dawn.
His past is knotted up in secrets and lies. 
And blood, he can’t forget that. 
(It starts and ends in rivers of blood, in so many lives worth of blood, that it would be disingenuous not to acknowledge it.) 
When he meets the eyes of the recruitment officer and tells him that he’s of-age, he’s not lying. He’s been a grown-ass man for a decade now; just because he’s sixteen in human terms is meaningless. He is more than capable of fighting a war. 
(He fights to protect the people that raised him, the cousins who were really his little sisters. He goes to war to make sure that he can send money home, enough to keep them fed and warm and safe. He doesn’t need much, and it’s nothing compared to what they gave him.) 
When he runs afoul of Maria, he expects it to be his death. One that is surprisingly appropriate considering his own origins. Instead, it is a fever that cooks him from the inside out, one that he stays lucid throughout, begging for answers, to explain what is happening for water, to know what has become of his poor horse. He sees a lot of people, strange people, that feel like they are all wrong but he doesn’t know why. 
He thinks of his little sisters, and hopes that they’ll be okay. He saved a lot of his pay, sent it home, so maybe they will. Maybe they won’t go hungry or get sick.
Maria is exceptionally intrigued by him. This man who doesn’t die, who rambles at her, begs her. And even when the fever ebbs, his eyes are still a piercing hazel. He still bleeds and sleeps and breathes. But he feeds on blood, he can move at least as fast as the slowest newborn, and has a gift that he almost effortlessly weaponising. 
He is a marvel, a miracle, a prize. 
So she keeps him, and Jasper is mostly reminded of stories about hell from the Bible. 
(He can never go home again.) 
Her visions have shown him since she awoke, but he’s always been very strange in them - like he’s made of smoke and memory, faded and halfway gone. She doesn’t understand it, and it scares her - that very first vision, where he tucks a flower behind her ear and says her name - is her north star, and her touchstone. She doesn’t know who she is without him, and the idea that he could disappear terrifies her to the bone. No one else does that in her visions, and she can’t work it out. 
Then she realises his eyes are hazel. Somehow she missed that little detail as she watched him fight and feed and rule Mexico in Maria’s name. They are such a beautiful shade, impossible for a vampire. 
And then she sees him sleeping, and it terrifies her that he is so vulnerable and unguarded in such a terrible place. She feels sick at it. 
He’s still an enigma, she still has questions, but it’s a clue. It’s something. It helps her shape and frame their future in her mind, knowing that he is not entirely the same as her. 
It makes her feel useful, and that’s a nice feeling. 
He remembers his mother a little too well. She had sharp hazel eyes and hair so light it was almost white. She’s already dead by then, washed out and still, and it’s a single frame in his memory. Something he should never be able to remember. But he does. 
(Jasper remembers her best when faced with the bodies. The ones who were taken as a meal, and the ones that don’t survive the change. Bloodless and broken in every way that counts. Her face is always clearest in his mind as he gathers up those dead people, and maybe he remembers his upbringing and says a quick prayer for them. But it doesn’t take long for those prayers to be meaningless mutterings under his breath, part of the routine without any of the meaning.) 
Sometimes he wonders what would have become of him in another life, with his mother perfectly dead. His grandmother had no love for him, not in those earliest days; a pious woman, she would have cast him out young if it hadn’t been for his mother’s brother. 
For a long time, he’s raised by his Uncle Jed. Jed looks at him and seems to see past all the things that shouldn’t be and the things that make him strange, right down to the lost boy he is. 
Jed gives him the family name - Whitlock - and puts him to work on the ranch. It’s a good life, and he likes working with animals, likes that the things that make him different make him useful on the ranch. He likes that he never has to see the old bitch of a grandmother that never let Jasper forget that he was the reason his momma was dead. 
(His momma named him. She picked the name out herself and started embroidering it on a blanket because she became too ill. That’s something he tucks in the back of his mind, that possibility that maybe she didn’t hate him, maybe she even loved him.)
Then Jed meets Gracie Wainwright and Jasper is terrified that he’ll have to leave; that being reclusive and unseen is the only way he can stay there, outside San Antonio. Jed doesn’t even let him go to church except at Christmas; for Jasper to grown up, he must be invisible and it’s the one family law they all obey. 
Except… Aunt Grace is his greatest champion, the mother he never had before. She is quick to teach him, bringing him books and teaching him his sums, how to sew on a button and darn a sock, and cook a hot meal - “Everyone needs to know these things Jasper, no matter where you go in life.”
And then there are the girls, he beloved cousin-sisters who climb over him and cling to him and are nothing but laughter and soft, kind things. Jed and Grace produce five of them, one after the other, all golden-eyed and blue-eyed and his favourite people in the world. Girls he would die for. 
So he does. He goes and signs up for the army because he’s been grown for years, because he’s faster and stronger and doesn’t need food or water. Disease never seems to touch him, and there’s little-to-no chance that they won’t have to leave the ranch. They’ll need to eat and travel, and his stipend will help with that. It’s the least he can do. 
(In her letters, Aunt Grace worries about him incessantly, tells him that Little Emma wanders around calling for him, not understanding that he’s not coming home any time soon; that his stipend has been useful in keeping them fed and well. Jed writes him and scolds him for running off and for sending them his money, but always ends his letters speaking of his pride in Jasper, and wishes to come home safely. Jasper’s always felt guilty he never made it back.)
Maria is oddly fascinated by the concept of his family, by how dearly he holds them, and how he still remembers them, still adores them. Vampire memories are supposed to decay; it’s considered a rebirth for a reason. He doesn’t know why his memories stay so vivid, but he treasures them. In the end, it’s easier and safer to stop mentioning them, to pretend the memories are starting to decay, so that Maria stops interrogating him, so that she thinks he’s finally behaving how he should. 
//
The first time Alice sees Jasper bleed, she nearly screams. It trickles into his eyes and he swears, and she’s frozen in a vision that she cannot escape from. He swipes it off his forehead and sucks on his fingers a moment to swipe over the shallow wound. 
And it’s sealed. Does he have a healing gift?
She doesn’t know. 
But the visions start showing her the things that are to come. The Cullens are still a possibility, but Jasper will be more skittish about joining them, about letting others know about what he is. About having to live with more vampires after South. He’s terrified of Carlisle on so many levels, and the idea of school goes against everything his uncle taught him. 
But she’s gratified that he seems happy when they’re together. That he sees something in her, the lost girl, that maybe he recognises. 
I love you Jasper, and I know that we’re going to be so happy together.
And she does. She loves that he can walk in the sunlight without notice, but he still hates doing it. She loves that he has no special talent for languages, but has still managed to learn Spanish and French fluently. That he’s never learnt to dance, but he’ll dance with her. That at some point she’s going to try to cook for him, and it’ll be a messy disaster and he’ll just laugh until there are tears in his eyes and tell her that he loves her for trying. 
Sometimes she wishes that she could share visions, pass them from her head to another’s because she wants to be able to save all of this for him, to show him that everything is going to be okay. Better than okay; perfect. 
//
Peter is a blessing in disguise. At first, he’s only there to make trouble, only there to test the boundaries and question authority. He hears Jasper’s sluggish heart, sees the way Maria watches over him, and decides that Jasper is the weak link, and he just needs to exert the right amount of pressure to break him. 
It goes about as well as expected, and something about the fact that Jasper is the one that returns Peter’s arm instead of throwing it on the pyre cements something between them. Loyalty, understanding, and a sense of fairness. 
Friendship and brotherhood comes in time. But that evening, as Jasper realigns the joint and explains to Peter that Maria has tried to rip off Jasper’s arm before but the joints are weird because he was already venomous before being bitten, that it didn’t work. Did fuck up his shoulder for a while though. 
Peter is fascinated. That he can be cut and bruised and broken, but they can’t do something as simple as tear him into pieces. That Jasper takes days to heal, and on the long sunny days they stay inside for, Jasper sleeps.
//
She finds him in Philadelphia and, oh, her heart breaks. In her well-loved dress and too-big shoes with the creases deep across the toes, she looks like a real lady compared to him. 
He’s outside in the alley, trying to convince himself to go inside. She’s seen it happen both ways, and that’s why she was late. To make sure that either way, he’s going to find her. She refuses to risk it any other way.
In the flesh, he’s a lot further gone than she expected. Enough that she discards her coat and her shoes as she enters the alley, moving quietly towards him. He’s so thin, and his hair is a tangled mess around his face, and he bares more than one bruise. His clothes are woeful, filthy and too thin for the cool weather. He’s not going to survive another winter like this. 
“Hello,” she says, and when he looks at her, his eyes almost pass as hazel, with the ring of fading red around the pupil. But he also looks hunted and haunted, like an animal backed into a corner. “I’ve been looking for you.”
She smiles at him, and he stares back for a moment before he relaxes a little. “I didn’t realise I had an appointment,” he manages, his voice cracking with disuse. He lets her get a little closer, looking at her bare feet, her green dress that has seen better days, the less-than-clean gloves, and the ribbon in her hair. Oh, and her purse. 
“That’s okay, because I’m here now,” she decides to brazen it out, and goes closer to sit beside him except he stops her.
“You’ll spoil your clothing,” he says, getting to his feet and he’s so very tall. He has to look down at her, and she feels very delicate and precious as he does so. 
“I have a lot of clothing to spoil,” she says honestly, and he still looks uncomfortable. “I’m Alice.”
“Hello Miss Alice.” He sounds uncertain but for her, it’s the most beautiful sound because it’s the very first time that she’s ever heard him speak her name out loud. 
15 notes · View notes