#i did in fact draw all three of them. am going to work on doing digital versions of the other two

[hal-o-ween]

Sweet Dreams <3

[baby-yongbok]

Go, Baby

Boyfriend!Hyunjin x Afab!Reader x Boyfriend!Felix

♡ Genre - Smut ♡ Word Count - 1.2k ♡ Summary - You give your boys a treat for being so amazing. ♡ Warning(S) + A/N - Poly!Hyunlix + This was just something that I wrote one night as I was fighting sleep at 4am. Enjoy! Reader is depicted as chubby/plus size and is a POC ♡ MDNI ✧ Masterlist ✧

They never had a problem with sharing. In fact, they were happy to have the other to show off to. They really have been the best to you ever since you got together but they've been your real life superheroes over the past couple of months. 

Naturally, you wondered how you could thank them for all of their unwavering hard work and passion. You found the answer when you heard them joking about lap dances one night in the kitchen. Why should it be limited to a joke? Let's make it reality. 

Three days later you asked them to push the loveseat in your living room directly across from the couch. Felix sat there while Hyunjin made himself comfortable on the sofa. They were confused but intrigued. They wanted to ask questions and Felix almost did, until you turned the music on. It's been five minutes since and they're still hopelessly entranced by you. 

"God, look at our baby go." Hyunjin leans forward resting his elbows on his knees. "How is she Felix?" 

"She's an angel, I swear it." Felix runs a hand up the curve of your hip. He's a goner as he watches you move, completely hypnotized by the sensual rhythm. There's a hunger in his eyes that you've never seen before. "Baby, why don't you show Hyunjin what you can do."

You slide off of Felix's lap with a smile. Indulging in a swift kiss before your knees hit the floor and you turn to face your other boyfriend. He narrows his eyes at you, keeping your gaze as you crawl over to him. You slither up to plant a kiss on his lips once you reach him. Slipping a bit of tongue into the mix to make him groan.

"You should thank Lixie for sharing, I wasn't done with him yet.”

You crawl into his lap and Hyunjin reluctantly breaks your gaze to meet Felix's, who's gawking at you with lust decorated pupils. "I'll show him how thankful I am later." With a wink, Hyunjin drags his gaze back to you. 

You can see the same hunger residing in his gaze as he looks up at you. Like a predator taking in its prey. He's more primal than Felix but you know that the blonde is more likely to bite than the raven haired beauty under you. 

"Come on, baby." He lands a light pat on your ass. Indulging in a light squeeze as he moves his hand up your back. "Show me what you got.” 

He explores you as you swirl your hips. Slow and calculated movements that encourage you to give him more. The music is a mere echo to you at this point. It's the rhythm of their breathing that you're grinding to. Hurried, desperate, sensual. 

“My god, maybe I regret giving her away.” Felix rasps from the other side of the room. He runs his hand through his hair in a desperate attempt to busy himself. If he's not distracted he's more than certain that he'll pounce on you. 

“No take backs.” Hyunjin teases, a smile in his tone but absent from his features. He's too busy studying you, taking in the smooth tick of your hips and the way your hands run over the perfect mounds that he's dying to nip at. “Show Felix a little something, baby.”

You immediately oblige, bending over further into Hyunjin so that your breasts press against his chest and your full ass is on display to the groaning blonde behind you. You can't see him but you know that he looks absolutely debauched. Messy blonde locks falling into his face as he pulls at the crotch of his sweats in a desperate attempt to make room for his growing erection. 

“Ah, fuck.” Hyunjin hisses, large hands squeezing at your sides while you shake your ass for your boyfriend behind you. 

You tick to the music, keeping a steady rhythm despite the relentless dripping of your core. “Love seeing you move like that.” Felix's eyes follow you as you whine. Drawing imaginary circles with what he perceives to be the most perfect ass to ever exist.

“Reverse, baby.” You follow his request with a smile. Whining counterclockwise and throwing in some other moves that you know drive him insane. 

“How's the view?” Hyunjin asks. 

“Sinful.” Felix groans a reply, leaning back into the loveseat. “C'mere, baby. Come back to me.” 

You sit up on Hyunjin’s lap, locking eyes with him and giving him a smile that makes his cock twitch, you can feel it. You make your way to the center of the room and look between your boys. Both disheveled and hungry for more. 

They watch as you dip your thumbs into the waistband of your shorts. Popping the fabric against your skin in an effective attempt at teasing them. They watch with bated breath as you untie the string of your shorts. Easing the fabric down your thighs inch by painful inch until they pool around your ankles. 

You bend to pick them up, swaying your hips to make sure they both get a good look. “God damn.” Hyunjin rasps with a hand resting over his hardened cock. He rubs at it subtly but it's not enough, you know it. 

“Let me have em, baby.” You turn to Felix with glowing eyes taking him in slowly as you stalk towards him. Elegant yet dangerous like a cheetah.

 You crawl into his lap, settling quickly as you lace your shorts around the back of his neck like a winter scarf. You use them as leverage to pull him into a sloppy kiss. Giving his mouth the attention you know it's been dying to have. You moan into his mouth and he licks up the sound like his life depends on it. 

Desperate hands knead at the flesh of your hips and his heaving chest is pressed firm against yours. He feels so good that you've forgotten to dance and Hyunjin is so quiet that you've forgotten his presence but you know that his eyes are on you. 

You know that he's taking in every sound, every slight grind of your hips. He's imagining the twirl of your tongue around Felix's and he's wishing that it was him that was tasting you like that. 

You pull away from Felix with a wet smack echoing from your lips. His gaze is more fucked out than hungry now, this is the look that you're familiar with.

“Having fun?” You jump when Hyunjin sounds too close to you. Suddenly you can feel the pressure of his hard cock straining against his sweats in the middle of  your back. You don't dare turn around. He thinks that's cute. 

His slender fingers wrap around your neck, splaying over the soft skin with a gentle press. He tilts your head back so that your eyes meet his, the crown of your head resting against his stomach. 

“Enough of the teasing, yeah?” He presses his cock into you at the same time that Felix grinds up against your cunt. You moan at the pressure, feeling dizzy from the slight pleasure. 

“I thought you two liked my dancing.” You smile with the tip of your tongue between your teeth. Usually they like a good tease but it seems that they've reached their limit for today.

“Oh, we love it, baby.” Hyunjin confirms as his free hand tugs at the hem of his sweats. 

Felix's lips are hot against the exposed skin of your chest. He tugs at the neckline of your tank top as his teeth nip and mark the flawless skin. He whispers between open mouthed kisses

 “Let us show you how much we love it.” 

Thank you reading! Please like and share, it makes my day!

ALSO, please follow my back-up acct. @minniee-verse 💕

Perm. Tag List:

@kibs-and-bits @lixiluvs @armystay89 @lghtdarling

@teddy-stay , @baconcupcakes123, @moonchild9350 ,

@krayzieestay, @soulsbbg , @stay-bi , @yzsqu , @gho-ster , @lghtdarling

(Reply to this post if you'd like to be added to the perm. taglist.)

[alpaca-clouds]

If I had a penny for every time a Belmont got startled by a fox...

So, @aquilaofarkham pointed this out on BlueSky, and is totally right about it (they made the screenshots to, thanks for allowing me to use them!). Why I clocked this scene in Nocturne as well - I actually did not draw the comparison to the Trevor season 3 scene. But yes, that is indeed...

If I got a penny for every time a Belmont got startled by a fox, I would have two pennies, which is not a lot, but it is weird it happened twice.

And you know what that means, right?

THEORY TIME!!!

As some people might know: Since season 1 of Nocturne was out, I am very very certain of one thing. And that thing is, that the Belmont bloodline also goes back to a god.

In S1 of Nocturne when Annette talks about her own divine bloodline, she says a lot of people do have a divine ancestor, but the knowledge got lost. And to me this instantly read as: "Actually, by the way, the Belmonts totally have a divine ancestor as well!"

And I have been riddling since then, who it could be.

So, what if the fox is a representation of that ancestor?

Yes. This does mean I get to talk mythology again.

So, foxes. In early European folklore the fox is basically equivalent to coyote in North American folklore. Especially in Germany and France Reynard or Reinecken shows up a lot as a trickster spirit in the form of a fox. While there are some theories on Reynard somewhat going back to an actual deity, we kinda don't know about that for sure, because we have absolutely no textual evidence for it, and it mostly goes back to the fact that throughout the area in early medieval times the depiction of Reynard as a trickster is very very consistent - and also lines up with more eastern depictions of fox adjacant deities. Since we know that those are connected through Indo-European culture group it is not so weird to assume that there might have been a fox trickster deity, though if there was, we do not know their name.

But the good news is: The Belmonts are French in origin, and we do know from Trevor that they had contact to indigenous European people (aka the Celts). So, the highest likelihood for a divine ancestor is definitely a Celtic god or goddess.

Now, if we talk about Celtic deities we obviously run into the problem: Outside the Gaelic culture we know Jack Shit. Because fuck the fucking Romans and fuck the Christians even more, who very thoroughly erased most stuff about those religions. My anthropology heart does not spend three hours a day crying about this fact at all!!!!

Of course, we know the Celtic cultures were related, so there is a high likelihood that at least some of the deities from the Gaelic culture will also show up in the Gaulic culture, but we do not know for certain.

Which on the bright side also means, that my guess is about as good as whatever the writers might come up with. Hooray!

So, my first guess is Adsagsona. A goddess about whom we know exactly nothing. We know she was a goddess of magic, who was invoked in spells. And we have the suspicion she was maybe linked to foxes. Maybe. Because the thing is, we do have one written evidence of her being invoked, and some artifacts from the same area she was invoked in that might be related to her and the practice of magic. Which is not a lot. Cool bit about that, of course: It would totally give a writer freedom to make up whatever about this.

Next guess would be Arduinna. She was a forest goddess who got merged with Diana when the Romans colonized what is France today. She definitely got depicted a lot with forest animals, and definitely also was connected to the hunt (which works well with the Belmonts), though the preferred animal for her to be paired with was either the deer or the boar. Which, I would guess, makes sense, because people hunted those more for food than they would hunt foxes.

A bit more vague would be the god Cunomaglus. Because he is British, not Gallic, though definitely he is a hunting god, and while his main animal was the dog, he definitely got also depicted with foxes. No doubt about that bit. xD

Next up would be a probably related god to Cunomaglus: Nodens. Again, British. Again, hunting. Again, the main animal are gods. I would not know about him being depicted with foxes, but given he has a lot of overlap with Cunomaglus I would also not be surprised. Bonus points, because I know there is fandom-overlap between GDT's Hellboy movies and Castlevania: Nuada is based on the Irish equivalent to Nodens, and draws a lot of influence from the Brittanic god.

If we go a bit more wild, we could also make a guess for Ceres, though that one would be a bit weird. Ceres is of course a Roman Goddess, but Romans were also in France forever, so it is not impossible. Ceres is heavily associated with foxes, though mainly in the sense that foxes are sacrificed for her. But there is a fox association.

There is also with the Roman gods a very loose association with both Dionysus and Diana. But Diana usually gets depicted with dogs and stags, and for Dionysus there is exactly one myth linking him to foxes. So... Eh.

Lastly... I will just leave here that Diana's Slavic equivalent, Devana, actually gets depicted as a fox more than once. But Slavic culture is kinda on the other end of Europe. So it is possible, but also... Eh. It is a far bit away. But then again, the Belmonts lived in today's Romania for a long while, so it is not impossible, I guess.

And that's it. For today at least.

But I wanted to get this off my chest.

[maudie-duan]

Series Summary: For nearly two years, Harry has been fighting to keep his relationship with Olivia afloat. At what point do you make a choice to either endure or let the strain of the world defeat his ambitious hopes of a lasting relationship? Or will a single night and a fleeting encounter be enough to change the projection of Harry’s path? Maybe our ‘Mystery Girl,’ Shiloh, will happen to be in the right place at the right time.

 If you missed *Part l* check it out here!!!

A/N-Shout to all the kind support I got for Part l:

Tag List: @sassamanda77 @babegoalsreads @howling-wolf97 @palmettogal508 @indierockgirrl

Word Count: 2K

Warning: Strong language, minor angst, eventual smut, emotional.

I knew my time in Italy would be short. There was so much to cram into three days and barely enough time to do it. The second we got off the plane was a whirlwind, and in less than 24 hours, I was already sitting front row at a Gucci Cruise Show, slowly losing my mind with the chaos and excitement it brought. 

An illusive fever dream—I sat exhausted, staggering between the reality of it all, attempting and failing to shake my jetlag—delirium blooming into the worst case of imposter syndrome I think I’ve ever had to face head-on. It felt like I was playing dress-up in some rich woman’s closet. Except it was the complete opposite—There I was, sitting in a costume-beaded dress, thinking, “I better not fuck this up!” It was annoying because who cared what I—a nobody—was doing? The room was filled with high-profile people; I was just lucky to be there.

I won’t lie and say the show wasn’t a big deal—My best friend was originally going to join me, but she was probably still crouching over the toilet back at the villa, trying to figure out where the hell she got food poisoning, leaving me to survive on my own—I was alone. I felt like an idiot wearing sunglasses in a dark room, but my anxiety was through the roof. I didn’t want anyone to notice if I was staring or draw attention to myself in any way. I had already accumulated enough compliments on my dress that all I wanted was to run and hide; I don’t do well with compliments.

—let me just say fangirling is real, and while my career has somehow morphed into me dealing with celebrities, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a big fan of most a majority of the time.

What made things worse was every time I slumped in my chair, the dress would pinch my ass, so I had to sit upright, super straight, making me feel more rigid than I already felt. All I wanted was to relax in the moment and give it the gratitude it deserved, but instead, I found myself counting down the minutes, waiting for the chance to stand, move around— and breathe.

I didn’t go straight to the afterparty—Of course, I did the appropriate thing and found the furthest bathroom from the party and called Annelise—My best friend—Who by now was tucked away in bed, feeling closer to human than she did before I walked out the door. 

“Dude, I can’t believe you’re there. It’s like it doesn’t feel real to be in Italy…granted, I’ve been sick most of it—” Annie says as I wedge the phone between my ear and shoulder to wash my hands.

“But still, like you’re really doing this. This is a big fucking deal,” she adds, and she’s right; this is a big deal, and I’ve been trying to play it cool all night. 

I lean forward, trying to touch up my lipstick, “This is a big deal for ALL of us. You’re just as much a part of this as I am. Without you and Kevin, I would probably still be working at Starbucks, cringing every time someone asked for cold foam on a fucking hot drink—”

“Why do people do that?” I ask, “Don’t they know that that shit curdles? Do they even know what curdle means? Just ask for whip cream, dammit; it’s literally the same thing…and it’s free.”

She laughs into the phone, “No, seriously…and the audacity for them to throw a fit when you try and explain that to them. It’s like, Dude, I’m on your side…” 

“No, exactly! It’s like fuck you, then. I hope your stomach hurts later, Asshole.” We both laugh, enjoying that last bit a little too much.

Somehow, this seems to calm me down—the normalcy it brings. I’m trying not to stare at myself too long in the mirror. I know the longer I stare, the more I’ll pick myself apart. “I don’t want to go back…” I breathe into the phone, a nervous surge climbing, and I look down at my phone to check the time.

“Dude, we’ve been talking for almost thirty minutes. I should probably get this over with,” I say.

“You’ve got this, Shi—” she starts.

“Yes, SHY is exactly how I feel!” I blurt out.

She exhales, “Shiloh, you’re the most personable person I know. Just go in there and pretend like you’re working. Be in “go mode.” And if you see the love of my life, text me right away!”

“I thought Kevin was the love of your life?” I question.

“I think you can have more than one love in life—” she explains, “Kevin is my current love—”

“Kevin is your ONLY love,” I emphasize, leaning against the counter and flinch when the dress pinches my ass cheek, and I’m upright in a matter of seconds. 

“Okay, Kevin is my ONLY love, but Harry Styles was my FIRST love.”

I roll my eyes, glancing at myself one last time in the mirror, trying to hype myself up, “Oh god, Dude, I forgot about your obsession with him. I’m still not sure I’m seeing the draw—”

“Shiloh, I’ve tried to explain this to you a million times…” She has that tone like she’s about to lecture me, and I quickly cut her off. I’ve heard her reasoning so many times now. I totally missed the “One Direction Era,” so I don’t think I’ll ever get it, or at least not on a level that I can connect with. Not with the enthusiasm and passion she holds for one single human—She’s hopelessly devoted, and I can respect that. I felt the same way about Leonardo DiCaprio the first time I saw him in Romeo and Juliet. My thirteen-year-old brain burned his face to memory. Now, no matter how old he gets, I’ll only ever see him as that—The blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy of my dreams.

“I won’t be that girl that takes a picture to send to her friends…that’s too weird for me…” I tell her.

“I would never ask…just tell me exactly what he’s wearing. If you get close enough, breathe him in for me, and if his pants are hugging…you know…PLEEEASE tell me if it’s as big as it looks in pictures. I swear he’s packing heat, Dude.” She pleads. 

I shake my head, even though I know she can’t see me, “You have no fucking shame, Annie. I will not be objectiving some dude.” I laugh, “Plus, you’ve trained me well, and I haven’t seen him yet. But I promise you’ll be the first to know.”

It took me two drinks to relax. At first, I stuck close to Alessandro because he was the one who invited me, and he carried the conversation as if it wasn’t a big deal that I was monopolizing his time. Eventually, people began to interrupt us—understandably, since he was technically the guest of honor; this was his show, after all— As I made my way to get a third drink, I debated whether it was a good idea. But perhaps this was one of those “go big or go home” moments, and everyone else seemed to be well on their way to getting drunk.

That was when I spotted him across the room—Harry Styles—My best friend’s dream man, and seeing him was a strange rush of familiarity, like deja vu, like I had already been here at this very moment in time—This was the part of my life I couldn’t wrap my brain around: the realization that celebrities are real people. It’s hard to explain the surreal feeling of coming face to face with someone usually projected as a larger-than-life figure. But, once you have a real conversation, you realize they’re just as human as you, like worrying if they have food stuck in their teeth. At least, that was my thought when I ran into Stevie Nicks while she was getting some hors d’oeuvres, and she asked that very question.

And so this is what my night turned into. I exchanged somewhat meaningful conversations with people and enjoyed myself more than I would have imagined. The weirdest part about the evening was somehow Harry had become my focal point; it was like every time I looked up, he was somewhere in my line of sight—and I don’t mean like, “He’s so hot, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him,”—Not that he’s not hot—it was more of a weird energetic pull, and the more I watched him, the more I noticed a gentleness about him. The way that he interacted with people. How his kindness infiltrated every conversation, he seemed to get hooked into. 

It was as if he were the most famous person in the room, and everyone wanted a piece of him—I avoided him at all costs and the draw of his presence, which became more apparent as the night stretched on, sucking me in like I had no choice. Yet, there was comfort in it, and although he didn’t know me, we had a commonality; that was my best friend, and maybe that was the draw, after all, that he reminded me of her. So the rest of the night, any time I felt myself getting overwhelmed or drifting inward. I would find him in the room and find my center.

I found myself getting attached to the idea that he was becoming my lifeline for the evening. I know I sound completely ridiculous, but it’s a feeling I couldn’t describe even if I tried. Maybe I could say it was all the stories that Annie had filled my head with, but seeing him in person was different. I was beginning to see the attraction that everyone had. 

This continued, and eventually, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I must have stolen a thousand glances in Harry’s direction, but not one time did I catch his eye, nor was I trying—plus, I was being extra careful because I didn’t want his girlfriend, who was glued to his side, to see me. I couldn’t think of a worse feeling than being “another girl staring at her man,” I don’t know how she was doing it. So many people were bidding for his time, stealing pictures. Several times, I saw her pushed to the wayside, holding a desperate scowl; she wasn’t good at hiding.

I couldn’t imagine what it was like to date a “heartthrob.”—Well—I do, actually. I dated this guy right before he got his breakout role. This kind of put me on the map the more people consumed him. The collateral damage was that it upped my rising following when they found out his “cute influencer” girlfriend was likable.

I guess, in a way, I know that feeling, and I learned a lot from that experience and how I would navigate any relationship moving forward, whether they’re famous or not—In a way, I pitted her. She looked miserable. She didn’t leave his side all night, but something about it didn’t feel authentic. It felt forced, almost performative even, and as I glanced up to get another look, they were both looking at me. 

My brain went blank, and my first reaction was to avoid making eye contact with Harry. So I did the most natural thing and gave the girlfriend the attention. My instinct was to compliment her dress, and that’s what I did. 

Before, I could allow my panic to seize the moment. I turned away as smoothly as possible, heart hammering in my chest, and bolted to the bathroom to call Annie. When I got back, Harry was on stage with Stevie singing Landslide. I hung toward the back in case I cried because who could hear this song and not relate to it in some way? Not feel the weight of the emotion when you realize how fleeting life truly is.

Then Harry started singing, and my stomach dropped. The words soared through me like a gust of wind, chills running up my arms to the tips of my ears. I couldn’t pinpoint the feeling as the room grew smaller, as my cheeks warmed. I felt like he was calling me out; my body heating with it, like hearing each word for the first time, and when he pulled away from the mic, his voice choking up, I thought I would lose it right then and there—but then Olivia was pushing past me, the faint light catching her tear-stricken face. My gaze followed as she stormed out the doors and into the hallway. 

A/N: If you want to be tagged in my next post, let me know! Thank you guys for all the support!!!

Previous Chapter<-

[thosetrollkids]

MONSTOBER: DESIGNS

Part 1: Teen Cast!

HELLOOOOO everybody! Welcome to my project, Monstober! A series of several posts with large, in depth looks at different aspects of my AU, Monster Kids, that I wrote during October this year. Special thanks to @eurazba for listening to me ramble over all this and helping with the AU over the years <3

This post will be going over the general monster designs for notable teen characters, as well as some thoughts as to why I chose said designs :D

There will be a second post for the main adult cast, and once posted, you can find it linked here :)

Jim / Toby / Claire

Jim Lake Jr (Sphinx): It's him! The poster boy! Wahoo! Honestly, I don't have many notes for his design process, because his design has stayed relatively similar since the early drafts. His was the very first design, and other than being a typical lion/eagle sphinx for like. two drawings, and then a panther/blackbird for two more, once the snow leopard/blue jay combo was struck, he's only really changed in small ways. I chose a blue jay, because they're one of my favorite birds, they're blue, and I'd used them to be an accent to Jim in a previous drawing. Snow leopards are also my favorite big cat! So similar reasoning for that particular aspect. If I were to design him today, blank slate, I miiiight have changed his cat species, but I still am way too attached to the leopard/jay combo.

Toby Domzalski (Gargoyle): Toby's design also hasn't changed much! The main trio haven't, other than minor adjustments. He originally had yellow eyes, but they're back to standard green. He also used to have larger wings, and while I liked the idea of the main three being able to fly together, I decided to go with a different route as I leaned into his design looking more aquatic, and he instead has wing shaped back fins! They fold down and sit under his clothes, as he only really can use them while swimming.

Claire Nuñez (Harpy) Also another design I haven't changed since conception! Harpies were always something cool to me, and I was inspired by an illustration of harpies in a mythology book I had bought at the time. Her design was originally just 'bird' until I tired to find a more specific species that fit. I landed on barn owls, and coincidentally, they are also associated with brujeria/witchcraft in Mexico! Win-win. With her stronger connection to magic overall, she's also the only member of Team Trollhunter that can fly reliably; her magic feeds her energy enough to keep in the air (Jim's wings are too small for anything besides light gliding and cushioning falls).

Steve / Eli / Krel / Aja

Steve Palchuk (Faun): Steve's design was always pretty formed in my head. For the guy that tries so very hard to be an all-American boy, an icon of that is the whitetail deer buck, and it very quickly fell into place! His design is fairly simple, which is why it works so well for him, IMO. Fun fact, he has a set of scars on his cheek from the equivalent of the fight he had with Jim in S1. More to expand on in a later comic, >:3c

Eli Pepperjack (Bat Humanoid): Eli was actually also a sphinx originally, but I wanted Jim to stay fairly unique among the main teens, so my follow up design was something more batlike! I did do plenty of research for monster bats, or hybrid bat monsters, but what research I could do didn't produce much (then again, could always be wrong!), so I went with 'attributes'. He's based on a Little Brown Bat. He little >:) His wings are also not capable of flight, they're basically large hands, all the better to hunt down creepers with, my dear.

Krel & Aja Tarron (Amphibious humanoids): WAHOOOOO!!!! I'm very proud of these, because you have NO IDEA how many months I struggled to find a design I liked for them. They have been (checks notes) spidertaurs, a few other passes of various insectoid tries, I was going to attempt something more seal like, because I knew the main group's designs were already mammal-heavy, and something aquatic or insectoid was what I wanted to balance the group out. Then my beloved @eurazba, listening to me ramble one night, helped me come to the idea of their 'human' transductions looking closer to old monster movies! Creature from Black Lagoon was an easy pick, I did some research about CFBL and Shape of Water (thanks Del Toro), and bada bing, bada boom! My fishy twins! Also Krel is the only one wearing shoes. Just realized this...

Mary / Darci / Shannon

Mary Wang (Dryad): Mary has also gone through a lot of changes (turns out, I was very indecisive outside of the main trio, AJDJSBSJFHB). She was actually a -taur alongside Darci! Specifically a unitaur (saw a lot of alternate Monster Falls art of Mabel Pines as one, and I really liked the idea. The overall AU was inspired by the Gravity Falls AU, now you know!) She stayed that for a while, then also went through some bug-like redesigns, and then a couple months back, I decided on a dryad! Before that point, I was trying to stay strictly to animalistic monster designs, but it became a little too confining, so she exploded into my sketchbook and became real. Her tree is a california redbud, and her 'antlers' are like the branches of the tree, and leaves/flowers bloom in time with the season on them. The hooves were based on a Zelda design from an artist I liked a lot (truffe.art on IG!)

Darci Scott (Praying Mantis-taur): HERE COMES THE BUG PAYOFF. Some of you may remember my design for Darci hasn't changed for quite some time, and while I liked the look of the cervitaur (a centaur, but deer), it didn't feel... as unique as I wanted? And I was still missing my BUG. So, debating over this, I did a few passes of her mixed with a bee, spider, etc etc... and then once again, @eurazba was like "hey! praying mantis." and I fell in LOVE with the concept. (Very quickly sketched her up as I was doing these sheets, actually NDJSNJKJD)

Shannon Longhannon (Gorgon): Last design of the group, another that has hardly changed since conception. Nagas, gorgons, lamias- whatever they're called, I love the visual of a reptilian character slinking around gracefully, and she helped balance out all the mammalian designs as well. She was originally a typical green/yellow snake, but when I inevitably color her, I picture something more ruddy, reddish brown, to match her hair :) She indeed is able to turn someone to stone, but as she was not born a gorgon, this ability is dulled, and only lasts for a few hours, working only if she focuses completely on doing so to someone. She's taken to wearing shades more often to not scare people who don't know this.

[reallyromealone]

Hello there!

I thought of a cute scenario a couple days ago and wanted to send it to you then but your asks were closed. So here I am, ominously crawling out of the bushes like some Lovecraftian horror to ask you this.

Can you write Bonten with a child reader that makes them something during arts and crafts class!

Like; a warped modeling clay ashtray for Takeomi, a too small felt eyepatch for Kakucho, a messily beaded bracelet that spells "kill all traitors" for Sanzu, a dried mochi made of playdough for Mochizuki, a papermache name placard for Koko's desk, a poorly drawn picture of a dog for Rindou, a construction paper card for Ran and a macaroni heart for Mikey.

You can do all of them, one of them, a few of them and even none of them; whatever you're comfortable with.

Please and thank you, regardless of if you decide to write this or not; you just reading it was a kind enough gesture to be honest. Have a wonderful morning/afternoon/evening/night!

Absolutely this is adorable

🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐🪐

Father's day.

Something Bonten didn't think about before (name), the three year old starting preschool and boy did he have his work cut out for him.

Thankfully they were doing many fathers day activities in his preschool, the Bonten men putting in crazy money for the highest education thru could give their little one.

"Hewr papa, a neck-o-lass" (name) said handing Koko a painted macaroni necklace that was frankly tragic looking but Koko thought it was absolutely precious.

"An ass-tray!" (Name) proudly presented the frankly fucked up looking ashtray to Takeomi as the men tried to not bust out laughing at what the boy said "Ash Tray (name), and thank you" (name) smiled at the praise and the head pat before going to the next father in the list: Mikey.

It was again macaroni art, on construction paper was a glittery macaroni mess shaped like a heart with a 'i Lov Yu papa!' At the bottom and Mikey silently cooed at it "thank you (name)" he said softly and (name) continued his mission.

"Moh-cheey for you papa!" (Name) handed Mochi a lump of clay with glitter and a smiley face on it "very unique bud, thank you" it was ugly as hell and it was in fact going on his home office desk.

"We made bacelets" (name) handed Sanzu a pipe cleaner bracelet with poorly put on beats and it was ill fitting but the words "cool papa" warmed his heart "thank you.." when he had the chance he planned to replace it with a more durable bracelet strap.

He wanted to keep this forever.

Bonten tried not to laugh at Kakuchos gift, a poorly shaped felt eyepatch glued together.

"For your ouchie!"

"...thanks..."

"Ok this is being used for work" Koko said holding the cardboard name plate with "papa" written in crayon and stickers on it.

"This is going on the fridge!" Rindō said at the shitty drawing of their dog Coconut, looked like a bunch of scribbles but the "Koko-nut" on top dignified what it was.

Ran followed with his construction paper card and (name) beamed at their praise "now, why don't we go out to eat, hm?"

[beannary]

OK so I dont really like this but this 2012 tmnt mermaid au has been driving me INSANE so here are some mermaid designs for the boys (which I might change if I draw more stuff for this au) and some lore for the au under the cut!

also Donnie is ftm and Leo is mtf and those are the facts! (Donnie did do top surgery on himself, do NOT ask me how he did that underwater safely)

(just a quick note: I am using some japanese mythos for the mermaid part but I'm also being loosey goosey with it alskjdfh)

ALSO slight tw for cannibalism? or like cannibalism adjacent behavior

There is a yokai described in Japanese literature called the ningyo, a creature that is half human and half fish. Legend says that if you capture a ningyo and eat its flesh, that you will be granted eternal life. Hamato Yoshi and Oroku Saki were familiar with these legends, though Saki always believed in them more than Yoshi. Saki believed in the legends so much that he became obsessed with finding the legendary ningyo and becoming immortal after consuming its flesh. Yoshi accompanied his brother on these ventures, more out of a sense of familiar duty and a need to watch out for his younger brother than an actual belief in the ningyo.

And of course, it just so happens that the brother who does not at all believe in the existence of yokai would be the one to find one. Yoshi encounters Tang Shen, a ningyo who has been living throughout the local freshwater river system. And suddenly Yoshi realizes that Saki's quest for murder might actually come true since apparently these ningyo are very much real. So now whenever he accompanies Saki on his hunting quests, he does everything in his ability to try to dissuade Saki from his plan, and when he realizes that isn't going to work, he starts to sabotage Saki's efforts. And Yoshi does this because well he kept in contact with Tang Shen, and the two became close friends, and son fell in love, bridging the gap between yokai and human.

They can't get married, obviously, Tang Shen is fully a yokai, but they build their lives together and eventually Tang Shen falls pregnant with their daughter Miwa. The two weren't entirely sure what to expect of their child, but Miwa turns out to be a completely normal human child.

Over the years as Yoshi and Tang Shen's love and family grew, Yoshi started pulling away from his birth family, and more noticeably, from Saki, who was you know pretty angry with Yoshi who seemingly disappeared on him with no explanation. Saki channels his anger into his search for the ningyo, and it takes three years but eventually he does finally find one.

Around three years after Miwa was born, Tang Shen and Yoshi welcome in four new kids! Quadruplets! Three boys and a girl. And these four, unlike Miwa, seem to all be fully ningyo, which very much surprised Yoshi and Tang Shen (both the fact that there were four kids and those four kids are all mermaids) but hey, they knew their genetic situation would be weird and they were fully ready to hop into raising these four.

It's only a few days after the birth of their quadruplets, so soon after that they haven't even given them names, that Saki stumbles upon the home of Yoshi and Tang Shen. And He Is Pissed. Not only did his BROTHER ABANDON him but he abandon him to start a family with this yokai? The yokai that he's been hunting all this time? And Saki, like in canon, kills Tang Shen and Miwa. (Or well you know, he kidnaps Miwa and renames her Karai but Yoshi thinks Miwa is dead)

Yoshi manages to get away with the quadruplets in the chaos, and he tries so hard to establish a new life for himself in Japan, but no matter where he goes, Saki manages to find him. Eventually Yoshi gets desperate enough to flee the country, and he finds himself in New York City!

But meanwhile back in Japan, Saki did in fact end up eating Tang Shen but idk how he realizes it but he figures out that he didnt get immortality, and so he concludes that oh, Tang Shen must have been tainted somehow by her relationship with Yoshi, which sucks because now he has to find a whole other ningyo to get immortality. Luckily he happens to know of four ningyo that he would be more than happy to kill, which is basically Saki's drive to finding and killing the Hamatos.

Anyways that's all I have so far!!!! I'm trying to think about how they would live in NYC, if they can somehow become human (in maybe like an H2O just add water situation) or if they are stuck in the water all the time.

I'm leaning towards them being able to shed their fish tails if even only for a small amount of time, just so they can still be ninjas and train on land, since I think Yoshi would still want to train them to defend themselves. I think that if they can be human for a bit, they still get dried out really easily so they can't stay out of the water for very long, probably not long enough for them to go to school full time, so they still live super isolated lives. Or maybe Yoshi figures out a way to train them to fight in the water? Idk suggestions are appreciated!

They do eventually meet April and Casey, I think April is gonna be on the swim team and so she's a fairly strong swimmer (for a human) and so she spends a lot of time in the water with the hamatos which they appreciate a lot! I think maybe Yoshi isn't a super strong swimmer so as much as he tries to spend time with his kids he can't really.

Casey is still on the hockey team and he can't swim, the hamatos try to teach him but they fully dont know how to swim with legs and so they are Bad tm swimming teachers salkdjfh.

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 25

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe : Military School

Words: 5k

Masterlist

———————————————————————

Friday, December 18; 11:00 AM - School.

The bell rings, signaling the end of classes. I finally leave the classroom, leaving behind my last lessons of the year. They were certainly the longest I’ve ever endured since my last exam. I’ve never been so excited to get out of here. My things were already packed even before the final announcement. I run out without waiting for Alexia, who’s desperately calling after me in the hallway. I manage to avoid the rush and arrive in record time in front of Lucy’s office. I immediately scan the room for her, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Bronze?” I ask, out of breath.

“Hello to you too, Ona,” Engen greets me. “She had to go to administration. She shouldn’t be long.”

“Thanks!” I say as I turn to leave.

“Hey! No running in the halls!” Engen reprimands me.

Her warning doesn’t stop me from continuing my sprint toward the entrance hall. I smile when I see Lucy making her way through the students rushing to leave. I dash towards her, causing her to frown as soon as she sees me. Before she has the chance to scold me, I leap onto her.

“What are you doing, Ona?” she growls sternly.

She tries to shake me off, but I tighten my legs around her waist. I’m too happy to care about the attention we’re drawing.

“I did it, Bronze! I did it!” I shout excitedly.

“What are you talking about?” she grumbles. “Let go of me!”

“It’s thanks to you! I passed almost all my subjects!”

My words stop her in her tracks. She stops struggling and looks me straight in the eyes. Her expression changes dramatically, making me beam with joy. The wait to show her all my makeup test scores that my homeroom teacher gave me during my last class was unbearable. I release my grip on her now that I have her full attention.

“Even though this is good news, never do that again… in public,” she scolds me. “Am I clear?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I reply indifferently.

I rummage through my bag and pull out all my makeup test papers. I put the first one we worked on together at the top—the one with the math equations. My teacher handed it back to me along with the rest since I was sick when it was returned and he forgot to give it to me earlier.

“Here, look.”

She sighs in annoyance and snatches the papers from my hands. She squints as she examines them. Her features soften, and her tense jaw relaxes. She looks back and forth between me and the first paper several times.

“An eighteen!? When did you take this one?”

“It was the first one you helped me study for. The equations, remember?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I got the highest grade,” I say proudly.

She smiles as she flips through the rest. I smile too, noticing that she’s genuinely interested. My grades range between eight and sixteen. They’re nothing like the ones I used to get, which ranged between three and nine. Thanks to her, my averages are going up, maybe even doubling if my last assignments of the week turned out well. It’s a huge leap forward.

“See, I told you there was no reason to worry. You drove yourself crazy for nothing, and you drove me crazy in the process!”

The pressure I had been carrying is released in a nervous chuckle. She surprises me by pulling me into a hug, even though a few students are still passing through the hall. I won’t complain and just let myself enjoy it. All my efforts have finally paid off.

“I’m proud of you.”

I smile against her shoulder, savoring those simple words. It’s hard to remember the last time someone said that to me. The fact that it’s coming from Lucy warms my heart. The emotion and relief are so overwhelming that a few tears escape without me realizing it. I step back to avoid breaking down and quickly wipe my eyes to hide any evidence of recent tears. Unfortunately, it seems she noticed, as she gently wipes the dampness from under my eyes with her thumbs.

“It’s all thanks to you…”

“I didn’t do anything special,” she says with a sincere smile.

“Yes, you did. You helped me, supported me… You’ve been there from the start and never gave up on me.”

“That’s not what you said when you first arrived.”

A throat clearing interrupts our moment, startling us. Our intimate moment could have been witnessed by anyone, but we relax when we see it’s only Engen.

“You’re both so reckless! Doing that in front of everyone! Imagine if Wiegman had seen this scene!”

If Engen weren’t so angry, I’d probably be laughing. It’s the first time I’ve seen her so mad. She’s usually in a teasing mood. Lucy doesn’t seem fazed; in fact, she seems amused by the situation.

“The chances were slim since I just came out of his office. But thanks for being so concerned.”

“Yeah, whatever,” she grumbles.

“Anyway, here, go eat. They’re waiting for you.”

I nod as I put my papers back in my bag. I wish them a good lunch before heading to the cafeteria. As I expected, everyone is already at the table. No one seems bothered by my delay. I’m sure Ale explained why. She knew I wanted to show my grades to Lucy. Anyway, everyone is too preoccupied with their upcoming holiday plans to notice my absence. In a few hours, we’ll all finally be home.

“Did you manage to ask Mapi about New Year’s?” Ale asks me.

“Well, no, I didn’t get the chance. She wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t have the opportunity. I’ll ask her during the week and let you know.”

“Okay, we’ll go with that. We’ll be in touch anyway, right? Unless you decide to go radio silent for two weeks…”

“That wasn’t my plan,” I reply with a small smile.

“Phew! Because I’d miss you! Well, except maybe your snoring.”

“I don’t snore!” I protest.

“That’s what you say,” she teases.

“It only happened when I was sick because my nose was blocked,” I defend myself. “It doesn’t count.”

“You snore even when you’re not sick. I swear! Where’s Bronze? She’ll confirm it!”

“She wouldn’t know that,” I mutter.

“She watched over you all week. Of course she knows.”

“Ridiculous,” I roll my eyes.

Alexia laughs while I’m clearly annoyed by her claim. There’s no way I snore. Mapi can’t stand snoring. She would’ve said something if I did.

“So, is it true?” Alessia asks.

“Of course not,” I insist. “My ex would’ve kicked me out of bed if it were.”

“Seriously, she would’ve done that?” Alexia giggles. “Oh my God, I really need to meet her!”

“Who are we talking about?” Alessia asks, looking quite curious.

Alexia glances at me, biting her lip. Her slightly too obvious comment didn’t go unnoticed. Surprisingly, I don’t mind. It’s not like most of the people around the table don’t already know about my orientation. Alexia had encouraged me to tell them a while ago, so I did. However, she’s the only one who knows about Mapi.

“Mapi” I say hesitantly.

« Mapi as Mapi your best friend ? » Alessia ask.

I rub my neck, feeling awkward. No matter how many people know, this topic is still uncomfortable for me.

“It’s complicated. The only thing you need to know is that I m lesbian and we used to date but we broke up a long time ago.”

“Sorry,” Alexia grimaces. “It slipped out. I know you don’t like to talk about that. »

“It’s okay,” I say, offering her a reassuring smile.

She seems relieved by my words. Alexia is someone who doesn’t always think before she speaks when she’s excited. I can’t really blame her for being herself.

“You know, there’s no need to feel ashamed,” Alessia tells me. “I know it’s hard to come to terms with it—I’m a lesbian myself—but you get there with time.”

“Everyone is who they are. We don’t accept the same things or have the same background” I say more coldly than I intended.

We maintain eye contact, neither of us backing down. Her reaction slightly irritates me. What does it have to do with her anyway? It’s not like we’re close or she knows me well. She looks away, clearly hurt by my response. The table falls silent. Patri finally breaks the tension with a throat-clearing.

“So, what’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?”

Her subtle change of subject successfully shifts the mood. Everyone starts talking about their plans, and the conversation picks up again, excluding me. I hope I made my stance on my orientation clear. The last thing I need is rumors. If that happens, I’m sure the gossip about Lucy and me will only intensify. That would be unfortunate, especially now that she’s just starting to open up to me. My attention is drawn back to the table when I hear them discussing New Year’s again. Thanks to Ale’s comment, everyone now understands that Mapi is my ex. This new information doesn’t seem to have changed their minds about inviting her. If anything, they’re even more eager to meet her now. After that, we finally head back to our rooms. Alexia hasn’t stopped apologizing on the way back. She clearly feels guilty.

“Seriously, I really regret letting that slip.”

“It’s fine, I promise.”

“Why aren’t you mad? I don’t know, say something. You’re worrying me even more!”

“What was said?”

We turn towards the door as Lucy walks in. She looks at us curiously, as if she just realized she interrupted an important conversation.

“That Mapi is my ex. The others didn’t know.”

“Oh. And is that a problem for you?”

“No, but Alexia doesn’t seem to get it. She thinks I’m going to explode at her any second.”

“Wait… What? Bronze knows!? Since when? Don’t tell me she knew before I did!”

“Oh, Ale.”

I roll my eyes in exasperation. This girl never ceases to amaze me with her sudden mood shifts. Lucy, watching this unfold, smiles in amusement, probably noticing my frustration.

“I hope for your sake I knew before her,” she says, barely containing her laughter. “I’d be really offended if I didn’t.”

Lucy exaggerates the gesture, placing her hand over her heart to accompany her words. I respond to her joke with a middle finger. Then, I continue gathering my last belongings into my bag. I barely have time to grab anything before I find myself unceremoniously sprawled on my bed. I try to get up, but she quickly pins me down, leaving me unable to move. I recognize Lucy by her long brown hair tickling the tip of my nose.

"I'm not your friend here, so do that again and you'll regret it," she whispers in my ear. "Did I make myself clear?"

I groan, struggling against her unpleasant hold. All I manage is to tighten her grip on my wrists and legs. Her body traps me completely.

"Did I make myself clear?" she repeats. "You don't get to disrespect me like that."

"I understand. Let me go now," I plead. "I won't do it again."

My plea works. She gets up, releasing me. I stay on the mattress for a moment, regaining my senses with my eyes closed. Damn bad memories. I eventually get up, putting my headphones and phone in my bag. I gather my courage when it's time to face them. I don't even have time to react before Alexia pulls me into a hug.

"You better make sure to come for New Year's."

"I'll keep you posted. Have a good holiday."

"You too, sweetheart."

She kisses my cheek, lingering. I kiss her back before grabbing my luggage and leaving with my supervisor. She's the one taking me to the airport today, so I can't really avoid her right now. I’ve been out of it since we started walking. I haven't even looked at her yet. It's her arm around my shoulders that brings me back to reality.

"Hey. Is everything okay?"

"Hmm."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying."

"Is it about earlier? You've been acting strange since then."

"No," I mumble.

"Ona," she scolds me.

"Okay, fine. Maybe," I admit.

"Sorry, I had to act. Being here, we're sort of teaching you to enter the working world. If it had been your boss, you would have been fired. I'm not your friend here."

"I know, it's fine. I won't do it again."

"Tell me what's bothering you. Did I cross a line? I know very well that you have a problem with physical contact."

"How—"

"I notice your behaviors," she cuts me off. "I observe you, you know. You hesitated for a long time before letting me help you shower the first time. And you only allow closeness to people you trust or feel close to."

So she's been observing me… She must have noticed it a long time ago. I sigh, shaking my head. She knows I care about her. The only people whose touch I allow here are Alexia and her. It's unsettling to know she knows. She ruffles my hair.

"Sorry. I can't help it," she says with a soft smile.

"It's no problem…," I murmur.

We arrive at her car in silence. She parked it in the same outdoor lot as last time. We load the car, then hit the road. The music breaks the silence that had formed. I hum along to relax the atmosphere, and certainly to relax myself as well. When we arrive at the airport, she takes the time to help me and accompany me to the boarding gate, just like last time. It feels like a new, very pleasant routine is forming.

"Take advantage of the holidays to rest and clear your head. You need it after these last few weeks."

"That was my plan."

"Try not to forget me, either."

"That's not likely," I chuckle.

The intercom, which I now know by heart, calls me to order. I bite my lip as I look at Lucy. I don’t know how to say goodbye. She answers my question by pulling me into a hug.

"I'm going to miss you," I whisper.

"Write to me if you need anything."

"Can I write to you even if I don’t?" I ask, making her laugh.

"Of course. I'll respond as long as you don't overdo it. Send me a message when you arrive."

She surprises me by kissing my forehead. I close my eyes to savor this little moment before reluctantly pulling away from her.

"Have a great holiday."

"Thanks, you too," she replies with a smirk.

I head to the boarding gate. I use the waiting time to pull out my headphones and phone. When I reach the turn, I look back one last time to see if Lucy is still there. Seeing that she is, I give her one final wave before continuing to board the plane. I find the flight attendant I’ve befriended on previous flights. I greet her with a smile before taking my seat. And so it begins—two hours of flight ahead.

Friday, December 18; 11:00 PM - Barcelona Airport

I'm woken up by the young flight attendant who seems to enjoy taking care of me. We chatted a bit during the flight. I learned that her name is Shay. She asked me what I do for a living to be making so many trips back and forth across the continent. I answered that it’s for my studies without elaborating further. She’s really nice. As I exit the plane, I wish her a happy holiday. It's now time to meet Hector and Mapi. I smile when I see them. Mapi jumps into my arms the second she can. I hug her as tightly as I can. I quickly notice that she hasn’t bothered to wear makeup. That’s a sign she’s really not doing well. It’s rare for her not to put make up on. I wrap my arm around her shoulders before moving towards Hector, whom I greet with a big smile.

On the way back, Mapi didn’t want to talk, so I just kept her in my arms. That seemed to suit her. I took advantage of the quiet to notify Alexia and Lucy of my arrival. When we arrive at the house, I relieve Hector of his duties, telling him not to bother with my suitcase. I’ll take care of it myself tomorrow when the time comes. For now, I just want to get to my room as quickly as possible with Mapi. When we get there, I'm surprised but pleased not to see Joan. I would have liked to see him, but at least this way I can take care of my best friend properly. She remains very quiet. She sits on my bed while I find us some t-shirts to use as pajamas in my closet. She changes in the room while I go to the bathroom. I should shower, but I’ve decided to do that in the morning when Mapi will probably still be asleep.

Once ready, I return to the room to find Mapi under the covers. I glance at my phone, where I notice messages, but I decide to ignore them. I’ll respond tomorrow. I lie down next to Mapi, who immediately snuggles into my arms. I gently hold her, stroking her hair. It’s been a long time since we’ve been this close in bed. Lately, Joan was sleeping between us. Lucy was right about my issues with physical contact. The only people I can sleep with since I came back are Joan and Mapi. I’ve never tried with anyone else, but I know I wouldn’t be able to. My thoughts are interrupted by pressure on my lips. In a moment of panic, I push Mapi away to end the kiss.

"S-sorry," she stammers.

"What was that?" I ask, not delicately.

I can’t control my tone, taken aback by the surprise. I calm down when I see tears at the corners of her eyes. She’s so distraught.

« Map—"

"I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to! I just needed comfort. I don’t know what came over me."

"Okay, hey, calm down. It’s not that serious..."

I relax and open my arms for her to come back to me. This time, I think it’s for real. She clings to my t-shirt, soaking it without restraint. I take a deep breath and kiss the top of her head.

"It’s okay, let it all out," I whisper.

I hold her a little tighter as she finally lets her sobs go. It was about time she broke down. I stroke her back to reassure her.

"You’ll find someone else, Maps..."

"You don’t understand! You’re the first person I got serious with. When you left, I knew it would be hard to get into a new relationship."

"Map—"

"No, let me finish," she interrupts. "I trusted her and opened my heart to her again! She knew all about our history without knowing who you were. If she had dumped me for a reason, I would have understood, but no. That bitch couldn’t find anything better to do than cheat on me with your damn ex! I don’t even know who I should be angry with! What did I do to that puta to ruin all my relationships?"

I tense up, realizing who she’s talking about without her needing to name her. An inexplicable rage wells up inside me. But I quickly calm down when I see Mapi’s tear-filled eyes staring into mine. I feel so small.

"I-I’m so sorry," I say.

"It’s not your fault," she shakes her head.

"No, really. I want to apologize for what I did to you. I left you for someone else. I chose the easy way out instead of fighting against my depression, fighting for us."

I knew she had a hard time dealing with our breakup. It’s the first time we’ve talked about it since we reconnected. Of course, I had already apologized for leaving, but I had never apologized for breaking up. Her eyes soften.

"Ona..." she whispers.

"I-I feel so guilty for hurting you so much," I continue, my voice breaking. "If I hadn’t been a coward, maybe we’d still be together now. You deserved and still deserve so much better. You have no right to feel bad about all this crap. If anyone deserves happiness, it’s you!"

She smiles softly before snuggling back into me. I rest my head against hers, feeling relieved to have gotten this off my chest. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.

"I never blamed you, Ona... You may have made bad choices, but I understood them all with time. All that mattered to me was getting you back as a friend because I missed you terribly."

"I missed you so much too, Mapi. There wasn’t a moment I didn’t think about you."

"The best thing I ever did was write to you on your birthday a year ago. If I’d known it would bring you back, I would have contacted you sooner," she giggles.

"I might not have reacted the same way if you’d done it earlier..."

"Doesn’t matter. What’s important is that you’re here now and that you’re trying to get better... By the way, reassure me," she says, sitting up. "You don’t want anything more than friendship between us, right?"

"You’re the one asking me that?" I chuckle. "I’m not the one who kissed you five minutes ago."

"Yeah, well, um... I’m sorry about that little lapse... I was just upset. I wasn’t thinking about more. I really appreciate the new relationship we’ve built. I feel like we’ve become inseparable."

I smile at her and nod. She’s right. We were already close, but it was different. We were younger and bolder. I already saw myself spending my life with her, traveling the world. We’ve grown up since then, matured even. Right now, I don’t feel quite like an adult yet, even though I should start becoming one at my age. However, if I’ve learned anything in recent years, it’s that I shouldn’t distance myself from people like Mapi. Our feelings for each other have evolved, but that doesn’t stop us from being close. She’s become indispensable to me. If something were to happen between us again, in my opinion, it should have been when I returned. But that would have been selfish of me, knowing that I was the one who left her. So I simply accepted the friendship she offered me. It wasn’t a negligible support given the situation I was in when I came back home. It was probably the best decision of my life. I believe that even more now, seeing where we are today. Inseparable, that’s the word. If there’s one thing I don’t want, it’s to lose her or hurt her again.

"We are," I murmur. "I don’t want our relationship to change."

She smiles at me before nestling her head into my neck. She lets out a contented sigh. Yeah, this situation couldn’t be better; we both know it. We won’t abandon each other again, no matter the circumstances.

- "No offense, but I never liked Ana," I admitted.

- "I knew that," she chuckled softly. "Why don’t you ever tell me these things?"

- "She was your girlfriend, and you seemed happy. As long as you’re happy, I don’t care who you’re with, and I’ll support you no matter what. But don’t be too upset that this relationship didn’t work out. I know it’s painful, but I’m sure you’ll find the right person when the time is right."

- "Hmm, not right now, at least. I’d rather take a step back."

- "I forbid you from going back to your one-night stands," I grumbled.

- "That wasn’t my intention. I think I really need to find myself, you know?"

- "Yeah…" I sighed.

A soothing silence settled between us. This conversation had been quite enriching. Mapi was finally relaxed. I could hear her gentle, steady breathing. Unfortunately, my curiosity risked breaking this moment of peace.

- "How did she meet Feli?" I asked gently.

- "I get the feeling she’s been coming to my parties more and more, like she’s looking for you."

- "Oh..."

- "I don’t even know who’s to blame between the two of them," she growled. "I think I hate them both. Anyway, enough talking," she said, sitting up. "You’ve got two weeks to distract me! How about we start by going to the amusement park tomorrow? I bought tickets. We’ll bring Joan; he’ll love it."

- "Why not, sure. I have a suggestion for you too. I was going to wait to ask, but now that you’ve brought it up, this might be the best way to get you out of here."

- "Well, I’m listening. What do you propose, Onita?"

- "My group of friends from school is celebrating New Year’s together in Manchester. They’re inviting us to join them... Alexia really wants to meet you, and I really want to go... Please, say yes!"

- "Alexia, huh? She’s the one who’s taken my place over there, admit it! Or no, wait. Even better, it’s Bronze!"

- "Don’t be ridiculous," I rolled my eyes. "No one can take your place, silly. Come on, it would be the best way to meet my new friends. I’m sure you’ll love them."

- "I don’t know…" she pretended to think. "I’m sure you’ll abandon me and leave me on my own all night."

- "Liar," I giggled. "We both know it’ll be you who abandons me as soon as you feel comfortable."

- "Yeah... You’re probably right."

She laughed heartily, making me smile. Maybe I’m not so bad at cheering people up after all. At least I managed to make her laugh.

- "You’re so silly. My answer was already yes as soon as you asked. We’ve got nothing left to do here anyway. And we’re not risking a night out if Feli is after you."

- "Yeah..."

- "Plus, I’ll finally get to meet your new friends. It’s an opportunity not to be missed, right?"

- "Uh-huh," I said with a smile.

- "Can I meet your supervisor too, since we’ll be in Manchester ? I’d like to see what she looks like."

- "How would we do that? I have no contact with her outside of school."

- "You’ve got her number."

- "So? She’s not my friend, she’s my supervisor. She wouldn’t want to."

- "Oh come on, there’s definitely more between you two, considering how she took care of you during your withdrawal and flu. She even gave you private tutoring sessions for your exams. We all know what ‘private tutoring’ means these days," she said, miming air quotes.

- "Good Lord, Maps," I protested. "That’s not it at all!"

She burst out laughing at my reaction. I didn’t find her implication very funny. If I’m getting comments like this here, what must the students at school be thinking? I’m starting to regret telling her everything.

- "Get that idea out of your head," I grimaced. "And don’t you dare say anything like that in front of others when we’re in Manchester."

- "Oh my God, that’s right... We’re actually going there."

This girl exasperates me. She never thinks things through. Sometimes I wonder how she managed to get to her third year in mechanical engineering. I’m not going to complain because it’s her carefree attitude that saved me. Without her crazy plans, I’d probably still be moping in bed every evening after coming home from rehab.

- "But, but, how are we going to do this? I don’t have the money to buy a ticket!"

- "Calm down," I chuckled. "I’ll pay for the trip. Consider it part of your Christmas gift."

- "I can’t accept that."

- "It wasn’t an option. I have a yearly pass, so I get tickets cheaper, and it’s my mom’s money anyway, so I’m not the one directly paying," I shrugged.

- "Alright... By the way, speaking of Christmas..."

- "Yeah?"

- "My parents left to visit family for two weeks. I was supposed to spend the holidays with Ana and her family... She wanted to officially introduce me."

- "Oh... Well, you can stay here. At least I won’t have to endure my fake family alone."

She giggled immediately. "You’ve never accepted them."

- "Whose fault is that?"

- "Let’s not talk about things that upset us. I don’t want us to argue right now."

- "A very good idea. I’ll tell Sam to set an extra plate for you."

- "Are you sure it won’t be a problem?"

- "Of course not. You already know everyone anyway. I don’t care if they complain. My mom won’t say no after our last conversation."

- "What conversation?" she frowned.

- "Nothing important. We argued when we talked about my withdrawal. I kind of hinted that she never trusted me."

- "You didn’t tell me about that..."

- "No, I only briefly mentioned it to Bronze. I didn’t really want to talk about it."

- "Hmm, Bronze, huh!"

- "Stop it," I groaned. "You win, it’s time to sleep."

- "I was joking," she chuckled.

- "Well, it’s not funny."

I turned over to turn off the light and lay down, ready to sleep. But Mapi didn’t seem to get the message as she climbed right over me to turn my lamp back on. I groaned to show my annoyance.

- "What now?" I grumbled.

- "It was a joke! I didn’t know you were so sensitive."

- "I’m not sensitive," I sighed. "I’m just already tired of the rumors at school. I don’t need you adding to them here. There’s nothing between us, OK? She just gives me everything that no one else ever has, that’s all. That’s the only reason she’s special to me. I’m not interested in her in the way you think."

- "Alright, sorry. I won’t tease you about it anymore."

- "Thanks."

I grumbled when she climbed over me again to turn off the light. She snuggled up against me, trying to find a comfortable position. I smiled at this.

- "Mapi. You know I don’t like sleeping on my back, right?"

She groaned in frustration, realizing I wasn’t planning to stay in this position just after she’d found hers.

- "Fine... But can I still sleep in your arms, or is that too much to ask?"

- "Of course you can."

I rolled onto my side and opened my arms. She nestled into them, making sure to tuck her head into my neck. It had been a long time since we’d slept so closely together. I have to admit, I missed it. We finally wished each other good night, and I drifted off with a small smile on my face.

[ancha-aus]

RealAgeAu Drabble - Backstory

And the next drabble I wanted to work on! @spotaus Get in here :3

The gang discussing what their backstory is going to be :3

I am sure everyone is chill about it!

First Drabble Prev Drabble Next Drabble

No Editing or Beta'ing either. We go STRAIGHT into the fun! :D and we are back with silly Killer for the POV :3

*----------------*

"Okay guys! you are probably wondering why I gather you all here today!" Killer grins widely at them as he stands before the group.

Cross raises his brow at him "You didn't gather us. we were already sitting here and you just closed the door-" Killer quickly puts a hand over Cross's mouth and Cross glares at him.

Killer grins as he speaks again "As I said. I gathered you here today for a reason!" Killer has got this!

Dust looks at him bored as Horror tilts his skull at him. Nightmare sits between them on the couch with his book open.

Killer grins "We need to discuss what we will tell everyone!"

Cross finally manages to free himself from Killer's hand and shoots him a look "What are you talking about? I thought we are hiding."

Killer rolls his eye lights "Not the multiverse obviously. but this universe!" he throws out his hands and Cross yelps as he barely dodges it.

Horror frowns but gives a nod "true. If we stay for longer people will ask questions."

Killer nods "indeed! And I spend the last three days, so since we stepped foot in this universe! Thinking about a backstory. And with Crop confirming he has gotten into contact witha doctor for Nightmare. It is time we set up our backstory and lore!" Killer would have prefered to have a board to cover with drawings to better show his plan but this will have to do.

Dust tilts his skull "so we are staying then?" Dust grins a bit "also don't hurt yourself with thinking so much."

Killer just grins back at dust at his joke as he can see both Cross and horror look hopeful. Killer grins as he nods "If this works out! We already have a good standing here thanks to Horror and his friendship with Crop!" which is Killer not at all jealous about. shut up. the fact that Horror decided to go back to them even when he was friends with crop proves he likes them better!

Killer forces himself to focus back on the now "Anyway! We can't say we just came from another universe because that isn't a thing here so we need a better backstory!"

Dust tilts his skull but nods "seems fair."

Killer grins and decides to go for the easiest part first "Obviously! most important. Where did Nightmare came from." and he shoots Dust and Cross a very pointed look.

Cross blushes bright purple as he connects the dots and he holds up his hands "We can't say we... we... together!" and he tries to hide in his hood.

Killer snorts "Obviously not you both. One of you need to claim the bio parent role though."

Dust has a suspicious look on his face "Why just one?"

Killer gives asmile as he just looks away. aparently he can't start the easy part first.

Dust glares "Killer."

Killer sighs "Look! We need to explain Ngihtmare's past trauma. Which means someone did something to cause said trauma." he waits but everyone nods in agreement. Killer continues "We can't just say we stole a random child. people will try to get him to go into like whatever child system they have here." another round of nods "so. easiest way. one of us got him. But with someone else and that someone did the trauma!"

Cross connects the dots first "You want to use an abusive ex storyline?"

Killer nods as he grins "yes!"

Dust crosses his arms "No one is going to believe one of us would stand by the abuse and let it happen or let it happen to us."

Killer just keeps grinning at Dust and waiting. time for the ahrdest part.

Dust blinks before glaring "No."

Killer whines and straight away goes on his knees as he looks up begging at Dust "come on Dusty! You are the like only pick for this! Neither Horror or I can play the bio parent part as we have too strong characteristics that would be suspicious to not see in Nighty!" Killer with his dark sockets, his goop, red soul and obvious red magic. That is too many strong indentifiers to ALL miss wiht Nightmare. Horror himself is large and tall and has red magic himself. Nightmare is tiny and purple so it won't fit for either of them.

Dust does not look convinced so Killer continues still on his knees before Dust "pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaase Dusty! You and Crossy are the only ones that fit with the looks!"

Dust glares down at Killer as he crosses his arms. Killer grins "I mean it! Crossy has purple magic and you too! That fits wiht Nightmare's even if the shade is a bit off but people are less likely to ask questions or comment about how the other's parents genes were clearly stronger."

Cross looks thoughtful "True... "

Dust sighs "Fine I can admit that works but that still leaves the issue that clearly neither of us would stand back or let the abuse happen." he blinks at him and looks to the side as a tiny tiny bit of purple starts to dusts, heh, his cheeks "and get off you knees you weirdo."

Killer shakes his skull because now comes the hardest part. "about that..."

Cross also clearly knows and same for Horror as both of them have a look of understanding and neither look at Dust. Dust glares "What?"

Killer keeps grinning "Out of all of us? You are the least obvious with your LV..."

Dust blinks before glaring more "absolutely not!" his rage is obvious and Killer can feel Dust's magic crackling and growing more staticy. Dust glares "I am fine with being seen as his bio parent. That is fine that changes nothing at this point. But I am not acting as if i am defenceless."

Killer just keeps sitting on his knees before dusty "please dusty! You are the only one that fits the image they would have for this!"

Dust glares at him "One check Killer. One check and this whole fucking plan falls apart!" Dusty glances at nightmare "don't repeat that."

Nightmare, who had been watching this whole situation with bemusement. Shoots Dust a glare which Dust looks unbothered by as Dust himself glare at Killer. See?! Even the same expressions!

Killer just keeps trying to use his most charming smile as he begs Dusty on his knees "please!! They won't check you!" he shoots Horror a look "right?!"

Horror looks unhappy about being involved and a whole lot more nervous when Dust sends his glare in his direction "true... Only monsters can check in this universe. And they never even did it with me. It is seen as slapping someone to start a fight. Made a lot of people very nervous when i would not stop checking people on first instinct."

Killer grins at Dust "See? Perfectly fine!"

Dust rubs his face but Killer just smiles wider. He is getting through to him!

Dust groans as he leans back "This is such a stupid plan."

Cross clears his throat as he speaks "I... I euh... think Killer is right on this."

Killer and Dust both turn to him and speak in unison "What?!" though Killer can admit that he himself sounds a lot happier and Dust a lot angrier.

Cross looks nervous "It is just... Even when i met you guys first? I gravitated towards Dust because well... he seemed the least threatening at the time? Because... well.. you know... you normally look calm and collected and just bored... you are still shorter as your LV didn't affect you physically and only affected your magic and stats. Meaning... well... if people don't know about your LV?" he waves at Dust.

Dust slowly but surely gets a slightly horrified look on his face "No...." he glares a tKiller "no."

Killer go straight back to begging and smiles at Dust "please?"

Dust groans as he covers his face and leans fully agaisnt the couch. Nightmare gently pats his shoulder. Dust glances at Nightmare and keeps staring at him for a long time. Ngihtamre just tilts his skull at him.

Dust sighs and then lets out antoher sigh but this one a lot longer and louder "and... what exactly... did you have in mind?"

Killer grins widely as he climbs on top of the couch next to Dust, thank the fucking stars his knees were starting to hurt, and launches into the plan.

"The plan I had in mind is easy. We all went to the same school in some other country. We will keep this vague on purpose because we 'don't want to be found.' by who? Not important as they aren't real and we in the lore aren't risking it. One day, lets say..." he glances at Dust. Dust still looks young just exhausted and unhealthy "lets say we were 16 ish. maybe 17ish." that would make Dust now like 22 or 23ish. Seeing as they all were stuck in timeloops and universe hopping makes ages weird as for the fact as skeletons it is hard to guess by looks. It doesn't really matter in the long run. They will get a random age on their new papers and roll with that.

Dust raises a brow but keeps listening. Killer continues "So. lets say you were 17ish and suddenly. boom. no longer going to school and no contact with us, your three besties. the bestest besties to have ever bestied!" Cross rolls his eye lights but Horror and Nightmare both snort. Killer grins "So we finish school. la-di-da. when. say... about a year after you diappeared you just showed up again. Said you had a relationship. got a babybones. but the asshole run off wiht said babybones!" he grins as he has everyones attention.

"We work together and start looking but the guy, or gal, who has the tiny baby is high in power. political wise, only local though as bigger would have been noticed. and dusty and the baby had been completely kept out of the spotlight so no one was aware, whcih is also why no one every said anything about dust just being gone or being kept quiet bla blah let them make assumptions on what happened in this time. It took us a lot of time to figure out where nighty was kept. and we just. stole him back! then we ran and we went to crop because one, other country, two, Horror trusted him and we trusted horror!" and he throws his arms out.

Cross frowns "won't people demand to know more? To bring whoever did that to dust and nightmare to justice." dust sputters about them not having settled on this yet but Cross just gives him a smile before focussing back on Killer.

Killer shakes his skull "Not if we play our parts right. we don't want to risk it ever again. No one is looking for nightmare because our 'enemy' had kept him hidden and unknown to make sure no one asked questions about his health or what they did to him. Which now makes it impossible for them to look for him because he technically doens't exist because of that. Whcih works because none of us technically exist."

horror gives a slow nod "We gave up everything to help our friend and his babybones. and are trying to start completely anew." Dust sputters again.

Killer grins "that is the plan!"

Dust covers his face as he leans back "This is so stupid. how many dramas did you watch to GET this idea?!"

Killer hums proudly "haven't seen a single one since we left the castle!" he glances around and sees that cross and horror are both sold on his idea as well. It is a bit complex but they can stay general and vague as they don't have to use names or places because they are trying to stay hidden. all that leaves is the most important part of the plan. He looks begging at Dust and gives his best begging face "please?"

Dust looks to the side "ask cross! His magic and looks also work!"

Horror shakes his skull "Cross obviously works out and is and looks taller and stronger than both you and Killer, not to forget healthier than you. Won't fit the mental image they will have of someone who could be used, abused and abandoned."

Dust looks very, very, offended after that sentance and Horror is very quick to realise this and apologise.

Killer pouts at Dust "please dust. The alternatives would have to eitehr explain why you would claim a random babybones not your own and how you even found out about him. Which would cause a lot of questions. and if we don't go this route but keep you as bioparent it would raise questions on how the hell you as a badass would EVER allow anyone to take your babybones without raising bloody hell. which would ahve to include a friend of some kinda betraying you and then how could you trust us near or a friend of a friend you know?"

Killer knows he is just saying a lot of words at the moment and Dust looks deeply unhappy about the whole situation.

Dust covers his face but glances at Ngihtmare again before groaning louder "Fine!! Fine fine fine!" he glares at him "we will do you stupid stupid plan and stupid story but I swear you own me BIIIIIIG time."

Killer grins and hugs dusty "you are the best dusty! Thank you!! You will see this is fine! just in the beginning people will act weird but once we are settled and a bit of time passed and things are chill it will all work out!" Killer nuzzles close to Dust "It even explains that you would know more personally about Nightmare's situation and can help him when answering hard questions because you would have been in the same hell as he was for a little while!" Dust just grumbles with crossed arms, which are now holding Nightmare close. Clearly the real motivation to even accept this situation.

Killer will have to gravel a LOT to make it up to Dust for this but that is okay! This just gives them options and the backstory to make other options and paths work! Dust will probably eventually forgive him and otherwise Killer can beg a bit more. it clearly worked once already!

*----------*

and that is the backstory they settling on!

In short: Dust is a late teen parent. had a relationship with someone, much older much more adult with political power. That someone hurt and isolated him. Dust got the babybones wiht them. This person, stole nighty, and left Dust somewhere in anouther country alone with nothing to his name. Dust, the vengeful and resistent guy he is. Makes his way ALL the way back home to his old hometown, still nothing to his name not even a high school degree, gets into contact with his old friends. With said friends they get all the resources they have and start searching for the asshole and get Dust his babybones back. It took them a while to get him back, six years, but they managed to find where the asshole had hidden Nightmare. Stole Nightmare. and made a run for it to get all the way to Crop.

That is the backstory/lore they settled on! :D Dust is unhappy about his roll in it even if it gives him priveledges with deciding stuff for Nightmare. it is a double edged sword.

First Drabble Prev Drabble Next Drabble

[loudclan-clangen]

Fierce x Silt would be an ABSOLUTE POWER COUPLE and you are welcome to ship them all you want (as always) but in cannon Fiercestripe would never, even for a moment, consider taking another mate. If Wildfirecry dies before her she will wait that shit out cause she's not single, her husband is just in starclan. I honestly think that even without Wildfirecry in the picture she's just too much of a caretaker/mom friend to ever be in a relationship with someone younger than her. Fiercestripe needs her mate to be the one person in her life that she is not worried about if that makes sense? She'll help find Silt a nice new boyfriend who is not 48 moons older than her and they can be crochety grandparents in the elder's den together.

No. <3

Thank you! And do not be sorry because YES! You're so right! She's seeing herself in the stars and so she doesn't look any farther into it but it's just an image she's projecting, not something someone is showing her. She also doesn't put any thought into the fact that in order to walk amongst the stars she would have to pass away so, she's literally seeing a future where she dies due to her own inflated self image and it just inflates her self image more. It's a self fulfilling prophecy and it makes me love her and her story so much!

It was not intentional as I haven't watched centaurworld, but upon listening to it I see what you mean! It definitely fits in with what I was trying to reference, which are those kinda ominous lullabies (hush a bye baby was the specific one that came to mind while drawing), but to be honest with you it's a relatively minor detail in the overall comic. What the character is saying is a lot less important than what the character is about to do so i didn't put a ton of thought into it.

Thank you! I am also shocked by how little time has passed in story like what do you mean we aren't even at two years yet? Eklutna wasn't even here for a moon? How is that possible?! I know that Moon 21 brought and is still bringing a LOT of people to the blog and I am so grateful for that! Loudclan gained like 200 followers over my break and that's AWESOME but also a little bit terrifying tbh. Don't worry I also got attached to Mothtree and I was like lying in bed thinking about the fact that she dies for like three whole months while I and everyone else drew cute art of her.

Thank you! I'm so happy to be at a point where I'm happy with my art and my process and that has a lot to do with all the support I've gotten from you guys! You're an awesome community who has encouraged my growth at every opportunity and I couldn't be luckier! All that said I hope you get to enjoy a minor version of the same process all over again as I get back in the routine of drawing cats again after my break lol.

I mean... they are kinda yellow... could that mean... PACKMAN IS THE BABYDADDY?!?!?!

I did really enjoy my break! I got to go to Greece and Germany with some of my best friends and then I came home and cracked down on school work (which wasn't necessarily fun, but feels good to be done with), and now I am rested and relaxed and ready to get back into it!

Thank you! I try to put a lot of thought into them! Things like that are generally the first thing that I envision when I'm formulating a comic page and then I build the rest of it around that original idea which I hope helps to make the pages more dynamic and less repetitive.

Thank you, I can't wait to finally drop Part 2! Only 5 more days!

[rutlancecf]

Sleepover, part 2. (Fragment)

- What do you need to have a sleepover?-

Grayson blinked a few times at the question. Diverting his attention from the television, he fixed it on the 10 years old girl, who was looking at him with the greatest seriousness in the world.

- What did you say, Dami?-

Annoyed by how distracted her older brother was, Damiana crossed her arms and pouted.

- What do you need to have a sleepover?- She asked again, drawing the attention of the other two boys in the room.

- Woah, woah, woah.- Jason muted the television.- Is the demon princess going to have a sleepover?-

- Ha!- Tim laughed, pointing a finger at her.- To have a sleepover you need friends!-

- Tt, that's covered.- She said, looking disinterestedly at Drake.

The three brothers stared at the news for a moment and reacted differently.

- Since when are you able to socialize with someone without breaking their face?-

- You blackmailed someone, right? Or possibly you threatened them, right? Oh, oh! Surely they are part of a gang, right? That, or they have a possible mental disability.-

- Oh, Dami!- Dick, unlike the other two, took the infant in his arms and hugged her tightly.- You're finally going to bring girl friends home! I am so happy!-

- Enough.- No matter how much time had passed, she still couldn't stand being hugged and having her cheeks rubbed against those of others.- They're not girls.-

- WHAT!?- They yelled at the same time, so stunned that even Richard let go of her.

And immediately the scolding, lectures and threats began.

- YOU CAN'T BRING BOYS IN THE HOUSE!- Jason yelled at her.- BOYS AND GIRLS DON'T HAVE SLEEPOVERS TOGETHER!-

- Drake has sleepovers with Brown, Cain and his stupid boyfriend Konnor!- The girl replied.- So your aphorism has no foundation.-

- HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT CONNER IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND, AND THAT HE IS NOT CALLED THAT?-

The little girl rolled her eyes, she had her suspicions but she wasn't going to waste time arguing with Tim.

- Whatever.-

~*~DELETED SCENE~*~

Taking advantage of the fact that the Demon Princess wasn't there, the three plotted their evil plans.

- All right, guys. First things first: No bottles.- Dick warned them.

- That will be difficult, remember that soft drinks come in bottles.-

- Well, we drink them, what a problem.- Jason answered.

- Don't be silly, we can make Alfred empty the sodas in jars, or buy canned ones. It's that simple.-

- What if someone wants juice, Replacement? That also comes in bottles.-

- So buy those that are in tetrapack.-

- More than a sleepover, it looks like a preschool meeting. The Demon Princess is going to get very angry.-

- I don't care.- Grayson said very seriously, making the other two see him.- I don't care if Dami doesn't speak to me again for the rest of my life, I won't allow a brat to take her by the hand and give her her first kiss. NOBODY!-

[joyful-soul-collector]

Eclectic Ensemble

Pairing: Steven Grant, Marc Spector, and Jake Lockley x gn!reader (reader wears slightly more masculine clothing but other than that it's pretty neutral)

Summary: Reader decides they're going to ask the moon boys out on a date. Things do not go perfectly to plan

Tags: SFW, asking out, neighbors to lovers (is that a tag??), swearing, uhhh reader is a major fucking dork who talks to their cat like it can understand them, no TWs it's all fluff

Wordcount: 1288

Read on Ao3

You couldn’t figure out why you couldn’t stop thinking about him. You’d had crushes before, and those were tolerable, you would daydream, but you’d snap back to reality at some point, and go about your day like normal. 

With the man across the hall though… that was something else entirely. 

You tried to convince yourself it was just the mystery of him, the fact that he seemed to have three different accents depending on the day, how one day he’d be cheerful and awkward while the other he’d be suave or stand-offish or nervous. 

But you couldn’t convince yourself of that, because even after he explained to you that he had DID and was not in fact a method actor of some kind, you still found yourself fascinated by him despite the mystery being solved. 

Fascinated by all three of them honestly. 

You’d talked to each of them in the hall before, learned things about them, even visited Steven at the museum a couple days ago. That’s what started it honestly, you’d chatted for hours after he got off work, each of them periodically switching out to have turns to speak with you. Sitting next to them by the fountain, rambling on about anything and everything as the sky grew darker and darker, it was the most fun you’d had in ages. And by the end of the night, with the way you couldn’t seem to shake the thoughts of them, you’d think you were in love with all three of them.

Which is also part of the reason you were so nervous to be doing this. 

You folded the collar of your dress shirt down, sighing at your reflection in the mirror on your closet door. 

“What do you think? Too much?” You turned to look at your cat, who was sitting on your desk, not at all minding that she was wrinkling all your papers. She stared at you for a moment, then licked her paw. “Yeah. Too much.”

There’s no way they’ll say yes, you thought as you unbuttoned your shirt. Even if one of them likes me back, what’re the chances the other two will be willing to date me if they don’t like me? Even lower chances that two of them will be interested, and definitely not all three of them. This is such an awful idea, why the hell am I doing this?

As you were undoing the third button you heard someone walking down the hall outside your front door. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for alarm, but you recognized the voice drawing closer and closer. 

“Yeah, I know it’s your turn to choose dinner tonight, but I’m just saying, could you maybe not go wild with the hot sauce this time? You always do that and then leave me and Steven to deal with the stomachache after--”

A voice speaking in Spanish cut him off, and you would’ve started laughing if the panic hadn’t seized you right in that moment. 

They weren’t supposed to be home this early! You were supposed to have another hour to get ready, to rehearse what you wanted to say, to work up enough courage!

You didn’t even stop to think about what you were doing because you could hear them getting out their keys, and if you didn’t do it now you weren’t sure you ever would. So you sprinted to your front door and flung it open. 

There stood the man you’d been waiting for. It was clear that Steven was the one who dressed them that day, wearing his oversized clothes, but the perpetually frowning face 100% belonged to Marc right now. He glanced over his shoulder at you. 

“Oh, hey Y/N! How’re y--” He cut off as he fully turned around to see you, and it was only then that you remembered exactly what you were wearing. 

Not only was your shirt halfway unbuttoned, but you were wearing a rather old tank top underneath it, your bedhead was not the hot kind, you didn’t have any shoes or socks on, and of course, you were wearing a pair of fluffy blue pajama pants covered in cat fur. 

Marc was clearly trying not to smile, but it wasn’t working very well, and for a moment you were glad for it, as Marc seemed to smile the least out of the three. 

“I uh--Well I--Okay I was going to ask you something,” you said with an embarrassed laugh, running a hand through your hair as a nervous habit, but also just to try and get it under control a bit. “But just--Just hang on, lemme put on actual clothes--”

“Pfft, you’re fine, we don’t care about that, you should see the things Marc tries to make us go out in some days,” Jake said, his Spanish accent replacing Marc’s American one. “He would wear pajamas to work if me and Steven didn’t stop him. Go head, what’s up?”

You stared at him for a second, and in that moment you remembered exactly why you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about them. 

Because no matter who was talking to you, each of them had that same soft look in their eye. The one that made you feel instantly better after an awful day, that made you smile when you were worried, that made you feel like you could be yourself in a way no one else did.

The one that didn’t care at all how disheveled you looked right now, only about the question you wanted to ask him. 

“Do you wanna go out sometime? Maybe for coffee?” you said. Jake blinked, and immediately his demeanor changed, his head tilting to the side as fidgety fingers rose up to touch the strap of his bag. 

“You mean, like a date?” Steven said in his British accent. “You’re asking us out? All of us?”

You nodded and suddenly felt like looking anywhere but at their face, running a hand nervously through your hair again. 

“You uh, you guys can think about it of course, you don’t have to answer right--”

“We’d love to,” Steven interrupted. You looked up to find him smiling brightly at you, the excitement so evident in him he practically glowed. 

“Really? ‘We’ as in, all three of you?”

“Yes, yeah, er, well we've been meaning to for a while really, we wanted to ask you at the fountain the other day but… I dunno, we weren’t sure you liked any of us that way, much less all three of us.”

You gave a small laugh and leaned your arm up on the door frame, shaking your head. 

“I honestly don’t know how I couldn’t like all three of you. Really it’s a surprise that all three of you like me.”

You gestured pointedly to your rather comical outfit, and Steven laughed. 

“I dunno,” he said, tilting his head and gazing at your eclectic ensemble. “It’s kind of cute, in a messy sort of way. Jake and Marc think so too.”

“Oh? Well maybe I’ll wear this on our date then.”

He laughed again, and you chatted for a few more minutes, long enough to set up a coffee date for Sunday, before Jake said he needed to get started on dinner (much to Steven and Marc’s annoyance). 

Once you were back on your flat with the door closed behind you, you punched the air with triumph, letting out a laugh of both relief and excitement. 

“YES, yes yes yes! Fuck yeah!” 

Your cat stared at you with her head cocked as you did a victory lap around your living room, before returning to licking her fur, and you liked to imagine she silently believed in you all along. 

THE END

If you made it this far, congratulations, you have read the first x reader fic I have ever written lol. Lemme know what you think, I hope you enjoyed!

[niennanir]

It is Two Days to Christmas and I am in Walmart.

I hate Walmart. I'm not getting into cultural or economic ground here, it's an actual physical problem for me to be in a Walmart. I'm not just hyper observant, I'm hyper perceptive and Walmart assails the senses in a way that borders on the debilitating. The is too much stuff, piled to the ceilings on rows that are engineered in a way that cuts off sight lines, there are too many colors, too many people, and the smells, they're overwhelming and conflicting. The lights are too bright. The lights are too loud. The HVAC and the coolers in frozen foods are also too loud and I can hear all of them in dissonance.

I will avoid Walmart if I can. The longest I've managed to stay out is four years. My schedule used to take me to parts of town where I had more options but my schedule changed this year and now the easiest option is to go the four miles to Walmart rather than the fifteen to somewhere less offensive to my own personal brand of crazy.

It is too days to Christmas and Walmart is three times worse than it is any other time of the year.

I only need a half a dozen things and I zip from aisle to aisle as fast as I can, skirting around shoppers who look dazed beneath the yellow green glow of the humming florescent lights. I slither past a man trying to figure out where he left his wife and rapidly start scanning at the nearest self checkout. I can feel my anxiety ramping up but it's fine, I can get out of here in a few minutes, out into the fresh air and the warm Florida sun. It's fine.

I reach into my bag for my phone, my hand closes around it as I remember that I can't use my phone at Walmart. I use Apple Pay for nearly all my groceries. The less I fumble with my wallet in a crowded store the better. But I can't use it here. I let go of my phone and dig down for my wallet.

My wallet isn't there.

I open my bag wider and stare into its depths. There is an iPhone, a tiny drawing pad with a stub of a pencil. A grape chapstick. My car keys. My sunglasses. And no wallet.

I jiggle my bag ineffectually, hoping for a Christmas miracle that will summon my wallet from the back pocket of my favorite pair of jeans. My favorite pair of jeans is hanging on the back of the bathroom door. I wore them last night to look at lights, and I put my wallet in my back pocket after I bought hot chocolate.

I could walk out of course. I want to. But there are so many people in line waiting, trying to get home to their other tasks. I flag down the nearest self checkout monitor.

"You're going to have to clear my transaction." I say "I left my wallet at home"

"Oh dear, are you sure?" she replies. "I can save the transaction and you can go get your wallet and come back, then at least you won't have to collect everything again."

"It's eight miles there and back in heavy traffic," I say with a sigh. "It would take a miracle to get back here before the frozen vegetables thawed."

"Ma'am, did you forget your wallet?"

I turn at the sound of the man's voice. He's a little older than me, an everyman type. Polo shirt shorts and docks, the standard Florida grocery shopping uniform.

"I did," I say with a sigh.

"I do that all the time," he said sympathetically. I'm about to reply that unfortunately that doesn't make me feel better.

"Would you let me buy your groceries for you?"

I freeze.

It's rare that I don't know what to say. I always have a quip or a comeback. But in that moment all I can think of is the eight mile drive, the whine of the lottery ticket machine the way the fourth florescent light from my left is flickering, the fact that I should have been back to work ten minutes ago.

It's only $35 dollars. I have $35. What I don't have is another trip to Walmart in me today.

"Hey!" the self checkout monitor says cheerfully. "You got your Christmas miracle from Santa!"

"Thank you," I say to the man. I can feel my throat closing up as he reaches over and runs his card.

"I do this all the time," he says, shaking his head. "This is the only place I can't use my phone."

"That's how I got in trouble," I admit.

He nods, knowingly. "You have a Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to you too!"

By the time I've gathered my bags he's disappeared in the crowd.

I couldn't pick him out of a lineup right now if my life depended on it. I notice everything, but he was so unassuming there wasn't a lot to notice. Just a guy, in Walmart, two days to Christmas.

Making the world a little better $35 at a time.

[snowdice]

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 125]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54 Part 55 Part 56 Part 57

I have been sick and I'm very tired, but I will work on the epilogue today for a bit at least!

Chapter 58 (Patton)

If Patton hadn’t already been looking, he probably wouldn’t have had any idea what happened.

Everything had been fine. Virgil had been sitting cross legged, idly watching the conclusion of the game they’d been playing when his posture had suddenly changed. Patton had looked over at him only to see an expression on his face he didn’t recognize, but it didn’t seem good.

“What?” Patton had asked, but the question didn’t seem to register to Virgil.

Logan had glanced up confused and also noticed Virgil’s face. He’d just opened his mouth to also ask what was going on when chaos descended.

Virgil was suddenly moving, crashing into King Thomas who hadn’t even looked up to see something was wrong at that point. Patton realized after the fact that Virgil had swiped up the board of the game they’d been playing as he jumped over it, the pieces previously stacked on it scattering all over the blanket. There were three thumps as some things hit the thick board, imbedding themselves into the surface.

When Virgil discarded the board in favor of the picnic basket, Patton saw there were small darts in it oozing a dark black liquid. The parts of the board they touched were dissolving, the grass under the new holes beginning to wilt rapidly.

Logan seemed to notice the oozing liquid the same moment Patton did and was quicker to realize what it was. He grabbed Patton’s arm and yanked him away from the board so hard he almost dislocated Patton’s shoulder, not that Patton was too worried about that. He scrambled away from it when he realized what it must be himself.

He could hear the sound of glassware smashing above them. Logan and Patton had rolled off the blanket in their quest to get away from the smoldering, melting board and apparently Virgil had pulled the picnic blanket fully over the king at some point.

Virgil himself was now gone from where he’d been the last time Patton had looked and it took him a moment to figure out where the boy had gone. The person who had been shooting poisoned darts at them had been drawn out of the wooded area they’d been hiding in by Virgil’s attacks.

They were cloaked in dark green from head to toe, explaining why they’d been difficult to spot when they were in the woods. Whoever they were, they were significantly larger than Virgil, possibly an actual adult or almost adult assassin, but they were also clearly a long distant fighter. They had not been expecting resistance let alone resistance in the form of a so quick he was almost a blur fellow assassin.

They had a bow strapped to their back, but they hadn’t had a chance to get it. Instead, they were trying to fight Virgil off with an arrow they’d managed to draw from their quiver. Virgil, meanwhile was lunging at them with a broken piece of plate in one hand and the picnic basket in the other.

Virgil dodged out of the way of the arrow striking towards his arm, though Patton didn’t think it was because he was afraid of getting scratched by an arrow, but because it may also be poisoned tipped.

Virgil was distracted by dodging for long enough that the older assassin managed to hit him in the face with the arm not holding the arrow.

He went down, but he took the older assassin with him, sweeping their legs out from under them. Patton hadn’t noticed (his mind working too slow for how fast they were moving) but they were on a slight incline. They went rolling in a tangle of arms and legs towards the edge of the cliff and skidded to a stop only a few feet away.

Virgil ended up on top, his piece of broken plate in his hands. He moved to slash it across the other assassin’s throat and managed to draw blood, but the assassin’s fist came out to shove at Virgil’s chest at just the right moment, causing the strike to veer off course and slice across the assassin’s cheek instead.

Virgil jerked to the side to avoid a second strike to the chest and went back for another slash. The other assassin rolled to the side as he did and the plate only managed to nick their ear. The point of the motion hadn’t been to dodge, however. They were lunging for the arrow they’d dropped a few feet away while they’d rolled. They grabbed it with their right hand and in the same motion stabbed back behind them towards Virgil.

Virgil rolled to avoid the hit, already slashing up with his plate as the assassin turned back towards him.

87295

He didn’t hit them this time but his swipe managed to stop them from stabbing him when they tried again. They shoved themselves back to avoid Virgil’s swing, putting a bit of distance between them. Both of them managed to make it to their feet during the momentary reprieve, but both also stayed crouched, eyeing each other.

They both lunged towards each other at the same time. The assassin went for a stab to Virgil’s neck with the arrow, but Virgil was already ducking down. This time, he wasn’t going for a kill shot. He grabbed the assassin’s wrist and at the same time drove his piece of plate into the assassin’s arm, slicing down from the elbow to wrist. The assassin spoke for the first time, cursing in a language Patton didn’t recognize as they were forced to drop their arrow.

Virgil took a moment to kick the arrow away from the assassin and it ended up falling off the cliff.

However, this pause gave the assassin enough time to regroup. Despite their arm bleeding profusely, they still decided to use it to backhand Virgil across the face viciously, leaving a long line of their own blood across his face.

Virgil lunged back forward, but the assassin was able to get a leg between them, kicking Virgil squarely in the chest and sending him flying back a few feet parallel to the cliff’s edge.

The assassin went to grab their bow and another arrow from the quiver still strapped to their shoulder.

Virgil, however, apparently went for another weapon too and he was much faster with a knife than any archer. A knife appeared in his hand, having been strapped to his ankle and was embedded into the assassin’s chest before they could even full remove an arrow from their quiver.

The assassin promptly burst into flames, fire catching their clothes (and from the smell of it their skin) ablaze. Panicked and dying, they stumbled two steps to the side. They stepped directly off the cliff.

There was a second of silence. They heard the sound of the body hitting the ground far below and then the flap of wings and screeching as birds below fled from the startling sound (and possible soon to be forest fire).

…

“Uh, Virgil?” King Thomas said. He had managed to get the blanket off his head at some point. When, Patton didn’t know, but seeing any of it was probably enough.

Oopsie.

Chapter 59 (Logan)

Logan and Patton had been useless during the fight, but that may have been for the best. Considering the skill differential when it came to fighting (and that differential had never been as clear as it was in this moment), that was probably for the best. They likely would have just gotten in the way.

The moment Logan’s father spoke, however, they both jumped into action.

They both knew their jobs in a situation like this. Patton pushed himself up to his feet ungracefully and all but sprinted over towards Virgil. Logan, on the other hand stood to face his father, putting himself very purposefully between the man who had no idea what was going on yet and the boy who was two seconds away from remembering what was going on.

“I can explain,” Logan said.

His father was still sitting on the ground. “You can explain,” he said slowly, “how Virgil just threw an assassin off a cliff.”

Logan thought pointing out that Virgil hadn’t thrown anyone off a cliff and instead had set them on fire with a magical knife causing them to walk off a cliff, would not be useful in this moment. He glanced back briefly towards where Virgil and Patton were standing and then turned back to his father. “Yes.”

“And what would that explanation be?”

Before even starting to speak, Logan found himself making large dramatic ‘explaining hand gestures’ that he’d thought he’d long since trained himself out of. When he was younger and in trouble, he always used to give himself away as guilty by being overly expressive with his hands (and arms).

“So,” Logan said. He was still not able to stop the hand motions. “Virgil was an assassin. He came here to kill you last fall, but he accidently went to the wrong room in the royal wing. Patton and I were having a slumber party and caught him in the act. Then we reformed him and now he doesn’t kill people anymore.” He paused and glanced back, remembering the body that had just toppled off the cliff. “Er, uh, he doesn’t kill people who haven’t shot poisoned darts at people recently anymore?”

“What?”

“Look,” Logan said. “You’re going to have to tell him you’re not going to execute him soon. Patton can only keep him from bolting for so long.”

“Execute him?” his father asked.

“Well, he was a Mocnejsi assassin sent to kill you,” Logan said.

“Virgil is a Mocnejsi assassin,” his father repeated as though to confirm he’d heard him right.

Logan had thought the Mocnejsi was implied. “He was,” Logan confirmed.

“Why does that make more sense than any other explanation I’ve come up with for him?” his father asked while pinching his brow. Logan took that as rhetorical. Then, his father looked at him again. “He’s 14.”

“Yes,” Logan said, “I’m also pretty sure this is the first person he’s actually killed while not under a blood compulsion, so you really need to tell him he’s not going to be executed.”

His father seemed to actually absorb Logan’s request this time. He finally looked over Logan’s shoulder at Virgil, concern crossing his face at what he saw. “Right.”

He moved to step around Logan then, and Logan let him. Logan turned to watch him slowly approach Patton and Virgil, his hands out in a placating manner. He stopped a few feet away.

“Hey,” his father said. “That was a bit scary, huh?” Virgil looked at him, eyes wide and darting around like they did when he was looking for an escape. There wasn’t much of one being so close to the edge of the cliff.

Logan would worry he’d contemplate throwing himself off of it in a bid to escape if Patton wasn’t clutching him to prevent that. “You did a good job.”

That seemed to give Virgil pause, his eyes focusing on father. “Good job?” he asked.

“Yes, well,” father said with a small smile, “judging by what those darts are doing to the grass and how far we are from any supplies for counter potions, I think you blocking them probably saved my life. So, I think a good job is in order.”

Virgil did not respond verbally, though he tilted his head like he did when he was thinking through the steps of a potion.

His posture changed enough that Patton released him cautiously, taking a step away.

“But,” Virgil said. “I’m an assassin.”

“Yes,” Father said. “I could tell by how that fight just went.”

Virgil shifted his weight. “I came here to kill you.”

His father spread his arms wide. “Yet, here I am,” he pointed out. “You’ve had me alone multiple times including once in a secret room possibly no one would have ever found. Plus, you saved me today. I think that more than makes up for the intentions you had months ago.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to send me to prison?” Virgil asked. “Or execute me?”

88533

“No, of course not,” his father said.

Virgil eyed him, still slightly warry.

“I promise, Virgil, you’re fine.”

“Dad wouldn’t lie,” Logan interjected. Virgil looked over at him and then back at Father. He nodded slowly.

“Good,” Father said. “Now can we get a bit further back from the edge?” He glanced at Patton. “You too, Patton.”

Virgil and Patton both stepped towards him, and he herded them far away from the edge until they were at the edge of the surrounding forest. Logan followed as well.

“Can I touch your face?” Father asked once they were sufficiently away from the cliffs.

Virgil nodded and father pulled out a handkerchief. He carefully wiped the blood off Virgil’s face the best he could (most of it was not Virgil’s) and inspected the boy’s split lip and already bruising eye.

“Is your chest alright?” Father asked.

Virgil nodded. “Yeah.”

Father considered him. “Enough to ride back to the castle.”

“It wasn’t that bad of a hit,” Virgil insisted.

Father studied him for a moment longer. “I’ll choose to believe you for now,” he said. “We should get back to the castle as soon as possible just in case this is not an isolated attack.”

88736

“We don’t work in teams,” Virgil informed them. “They worry we’d get emotionally attached and not complete our missions.”

“I can understand why they would say something like that,” Father said, letting just a bit of his scorn come through, “but still, we should be on our way.”

With that, he put an arm on Virgil’s back to guide him back towards where they’d left the horses.

“Huh,” Logan said to Patton as they began to walk behind them. “I thought we’d be in more trouble for all of this.”

His father paused at overhearing that, turning to look at them over his shoulder briefly.

“Ah,” said Logan with a grimace. “I see.”

“It’s been nice being your friend all these years Logan,” Patton said solemnly. “Too bad we’re both going to be locked in our rooms for the rest of our lives.”

“Until your 50s with good behavior,” Father informed them blandly.

That was… probably fair. They did allow an assassin to freely roam the castle for months without telling anyone. The fact that his father was now watching that assassin like a hawk to make sure he wasn’t more injured than he was saying, did not change that fact.

Logan couldn’t find it in himself to regret it.

Epilogue

“Do you think they’ll light your trees on fire this year?” an amused (but slightly concerned) voice asked from behind Jeffers. Jeffers ran a finger over the empty thumb of his slightly dirty gardening gloves while watching the two boys. They were currently leaning over an unlit lantern and various “supplies.” In truth, he’d stopped his own work to watch the two boys out of that very concern.

“Virgil helped me fertilize that tree a week ago,” Jeffers replied. “So, I’d hope he has some caution.”

“Virgil likes fire though,” Thomas pointed out.

Jeffers sighed. “That he does.” He tilted his head towards Thomas. “You did confiscate the fire knife again after last week, yes?”

“I did,” Thomas confirmed, “but that means very little. Even burying that thing with a corpse did not dissuade him.”

As he spoke, a sudden spark of light flew from where the boys were working. A whining sound and then pop sounded as the spark exploded into 10 pieces, raining down colorful light. Luckily, they burned up before hitting the ground (or the tree).

“Boys, if you set anything on fire, you will be grounded from the festival,” Thomas called in a booming voice. Both boys jumped. Jeffers imagined Logan hadn’t even known he was there. (Virgil certainly did, but he still jumped. “For the second year in a row in Logan’s case.”

“They’re not flammable!” was the claim from Logan.

“I don’t believe you,” Thomas called back.

The boys ignored this, turning back to their experiment.

“We should have kept them grounded,” Thomas muttered. Despite Thomas’s original decision to ground Patton and Logan until their 50s (and Helen’s push to keep them grounded until Thomas, Helen, and Jeffers himself were all dead and couldn’t enforce it anymore), the boys had only been grounded for two months after Thomas had found out the truth of Virgil’s origins. That did, however, mean that Patton and Logan had been grounded from most of the lantern festival the year before.

89280

Logan, at least, seemed to be trying to make up for lost time this year (explosively). Jeffers did worry about where Patton was slightly, but honestly Patton without Logan or Virgil tended to be much less destructive in his hijinx. The worst he was probably doing was stealing sweets out from under Helen’s nose. Which was why both Jeffers and Thomas were currently here watching these two.

There were more sparks from the boy’s experiment. The grass caught fire at their feet. Virgil hastily stomped it out.

“I’ll watch them if you want to get food to bribe Virgil away,” Jeffers offered.

[randomshenaniganery]

Mairon to Finrod (info dump time)

I am going to draw Oleander when im not busy but I did want to show why it took me three days to finish up everything

Me diving into the outfit design and slso Finrod's opinion on the boys its in the bottom tho skksks

ALSO ALSO if u make vespersonas i will be friends pls let us lore dump together

real name: ??? I haven't picked one akskkaskskaskas

Age: 29 (they pretend they're older as Vigil)

Height: 5'7 cm

Gender: enby

Sexuality: Asexual biromantic

Weight: 73 kg

Traits: Street smart, scrappy, observant, liar liar pants on fire

Skills: Swimming, sewing, sword fighting (shield user), puzzle solving, running,

Weaknesses: when they don't want to do something they'll be stubborn about it, can't jump very high,

Backstory timeline:

Has had Fractum Anima for at least 2 months now (same as all Vespers)

In the surface their job was being part of a group of private guards, they mainly escorted people or goods

Ran away from home due to domestic abuse at the age of 12 before joining the guard for training

Worked there for 17 yrs before they got diagnosed and went under

Met Cirrus they were like okay weird but whatever if there's a lunar ichor alternative we gotta try that, saw Cirrus punishing that dude went nope try again later, they did try again later and got the Cirrus grew bored of you route with Ark

Set the pleasure den on fire by using the lotions and oils that were left in the room. Fun fact if you dry lotion on fabric it's VERY flammable and since they don't have synthetic fibers in this game, plus considering what kind of ingredients they'd be using for lubrication, lotions and oil; it's really easy to set things on fire.

After running away and grabbing a new face, they broke into their old room and left their medallion before returning as 'Finrod'

met Oleander while avoiding the guards because they were feeling antsy

became Vigil and is balancing new work, how do I kill Cirrus thoughts and I might need to steal lunar ichor when it pops up in the market.

Habits & hobbies:

Whenever Finrod gets too overwhelmed they use pain to calm their mind, to them pain is clarity. So, sometimes when Finrod stews on bad memories they'll end up harming themselves in some way to force themselves to calm down

Really, really quiet when it comes to pain, crying or having a crisis, high pain tolerance basically which is good because of their flare ups

Sometimes Finrod doesn't really laugh even though something is funny so they learned to fake laugh as a way to show they find something funny

Whenever something is really funny to them they have the habit of covering their mouth

When they're unsure, nervous or feeling awkward they'll scratch their nose

Doesn't have a tell when they're lying cause they do it so much

Finrod has the habit of bringing everything they think they need with them at all times (matchsticks/lighter/strike-a-light/flint, knife, scissors, needle and thread, bandages, map, a magnifying glass, paper and ink) this is because of having to live on the go for their job. scouting behavior etc.

When Finrod is happy/relaxed/calm they'll start humming or singing this applies to games, when they have their plan all finished and they're confident they'll start singing to themselves

In a fight Finrod will throw themselves at people like a battering ram if needed, not that they're big but that they're good at knowing how to use their momentum and weight.

Likes massaging/caressing/tracing their friends' hands as a way to soothe themselves

Can finish dressing up and arranging all their things in under 4 minutes (habit from being a private guard on the go)

Name stuff:

Chose Mairon for their first half because I thought it would be appropriate since this is their first go at the mountain. Finrod is their second go because of how Finrod died and the betrayal stuff that happened to him.

Outfit Design:

Mairon's Clothes

Wanted it to come off as simple and formal more reminiscent of their time as a private guard. The most color you'll get from them is their belt and matching cuffs. Very neat appearance more npc looking since they want to blend in. They use the standard black mask in the game as well.

Finrod's Clothes

I gave it more color because Finrod had to ditch their old clothes due to the fire, it's a mix of things they grabbed or bought after the fire. They kept their belt and cuff because it's sentimental and also just useful to them. Although they wear more colors It's mostly dark shades so that they don't stand out in shadows. A lot of their body is bandaged and when they met Oleander half their face was bandaged under the mask too.

Opinions on the boys:

REaLLy wants Cirrus dead doesn't care if they get hurt in the process

Slowly growing an obsession over Oleander but they're very good at hiding it, their banter helps calm them down

Likes to mess with Kier otherwise neutral but i think storywise they haven't met

Francesco reminds them of a friend from the surface they bump into each other time to time

[indilaras]

2024 Recap! Template from here (twt).

Looking back on the year and realizing I did some cool stuff is fun! Even on the busier months, I still managed to do at least one relatively "finished" thing, so I'll need to remember that next time I'm beating myself up for never finishing what I started.

Individual works + some thoughts and feelings:

January: 100 Hua Day 4

Fu Hua | Honkai Impact 3rd

the fact that i did four of these in the first month of the year and then my progress going down hill from there is pretty funny ngl

February: akademiya days

Cyno/Alhaitham | Genshin Impact

done for cyhaino week 2024. I continued using the akademiya designs i made up for them in 2023. retroactively headcanoning that cyno wore his hair like that as a student to mimic cyrus <3

March: flowering

Tess/Alinua | Aurora

i just wanted something somft. some early sketches had tess with a flower crown instead and i kinda wanna toy with that idea again someday

April: The General Mahamatra & the Dendro Archon Swapped Bodies?!?

Cyno, Nahida, Alhaitham | Genshin Impact

silly lil April Fools comic. I just think these three should be allowed to prank the entire akademiya, staff and students alike. as a treat.

May: girls' night!

Alhaitham, Cyno, Dehya, Candace | Genshin Impact

genderbent cy and hthm warning. entirely inspired by a meme that my friend made with deep sea girls' night and their glowing eyes from their demos

June: Form Change!

Cure Lovely, Cure Princess, Cure Honey, Cure Fortune | Happiness Charge Precure

happy hachapre anniversary year everyone <3 i still really like the colors and lighting here

July: don't threaten her with a good time

Kira/Misteln | Honkai Impact 3rd

the only other two kirastelners here are too big brained with their analysis of them so i have to provide the balance (memery)

August: 100 Hua Day 12

Fu Hua | Honkai Impact 3rd

i had a period of my life where all i drew were knight girls so this felt nostalgic to work on

September: sun and her world

Dehya/Dunyarzad | Genshin Impact

another just wanted something somft drawing but also i tested out different ways of coloring and really enjoyed it

October: onwards, to the next future

Cure Supreme & Cure Puka | Precure All Stars F

was stuck in WIP hell for a long time. anything for the destruction bnnuys tho.

November: it's mira loving hours <3

Mirabelle Chevalier | In Stars and Time

mira my dear friend mira.. i wanted to get more used to her design before i draw all the cooler stuff in my head so i did this simpler thing as practice

December: desert gang more like dessert gang am i ri--

Candace, Dehya, Cyno, Alhaitham | Genshin Impact

mostly done for chibi practice but also there is a great shortage of butler candehya and maidtham (cyno maid is a little less uncommon in certain circles but. he's still cute in a dress <3) and i will be the one to. serve. get it. like serving a dish you see. bring me to pun jail so i can serve a sentence too--