#i forgot my commission tag uhhh

[gurosinner]

@mageshine-dance's FFXIV WoL dressed like a fall out boy enjoyer :100:

[camotherogue]

Figure I'll finally throw my tf2 sona on my blog, meet the Polymath, Nikolai Morrigan! My silly queer trans guy fella with something so so wrong with him

[onedismay]

15 questions for 15 friends

yay, got tagged by @dandenbo :D months ago but... i'm here

I can't think of 15 people but I'm tagging @noirchotic @skeknya @reikiajakoiranruohoja @messydiabolical @arts-butthound and if YOU want to do this thing too, do it.

ARE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?: A relative I never met ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?: Today and I already forgot why.

DO YOU HAVE KIDS?: Nope! Never wanted any.

WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY/HAVE YOU PLAYED?: Only whatever I was forced to play as a kid, lmao. Never enjoyed any. Hate physical contact, hate getting hurt, hate consistently letting the team down. I was pretty good at Mass Effect 3's multiplayer at one point though? :D

DO YOU USE SARCASM?: Not much on the internet, I always worry people might think I'm being serious. I think I use sarcasm more when speaking Finnish.

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?: Uhhh in real life it's whether they seem like a threat or not. I don't mean a literal, physical threat, necessarily, it's more of a general "is that person likely to make my day worse" thing. I have the brain of an anxious prey animal.

WHAT'S YOUR EYE COLOUR?: Blue

SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?: Eh, I don't need happy endings. Don't hate them either but I think bad/nuanced endings are more likely to leave a lasting impression on me. Also when it comes to scary movies, it's probably not a surprise that I really like well-designed monsters. Not a fan of jump scares though!

ANY TALENTS?: Behold my talents

WHERE WERE YOU BORN?: Finland

WHAT ARE YOUR HOBBIES?: Video games, art.

DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS?: Nah, I'm allergic to everything furry and generally worried I wouldn't be able to care for a pet well enough. But if someday I do decide to get pets, I'll probably go for a small aquarium.

HOW TALL ARE YOU?: 169cm or 5'7", i think. I have to google it every time. I hate inches. They're too imprecise. screw inches

FAVOURITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL?: I had a really cool and supportive art teacher in middle school so art was my favorite subject even though I was only really interested in one of the many topics we were taught (drawing). Also loved biology! Especially gene charts and cells and space stuff.

DREAM JOB?: I don't have one. The only work I've ever truly enjoyed is doing the occasional art commission. It's very rewarding to be able to illustrate a scene that previously only existed in someone else's head, and sort of make their idea real. I love getting to know people's characters through these types of projects.

[synthetic-sonata]

💞 making a quick link to all the important links on my blog and pinning it bc i forgot you can do that on tumblr. on any other site i am knightofpherae / knightofpheraee if you don't recognize my username here, but know me .

💗 mocha / aria | he/they/etc | 19 ( or over )

🍰 homepage / about / F.A.Q / carrd / commissions / oc ask blog / pokemon irl blog / artfight

🐈 robotenjoyer and also ai/cyborg/android enjoyer. terminally insane. ill about my OCs and usually one fictional guy constantly . doeboy or catboy ( gender neutral ) depending on how i feel . i am autistic and my special interest is pokemon and related media . system . aro spectrum

🖌️ my art tag is #aria doodlez and sometimes i tag art i rb as insp, which mostly just means i rlly like ur art and artstyle and that post is smth i wanna look at again later. commissions and art trades are probably not open.

🍒 i am 19 or over by the time of writing, and i reblog nsfw/suggestive things sometimes but 99% of the time its just nsfw textposts/jokes, but i never reblog straight up porn. if i did i'd have a sideblog for that lol . these r all tagged as either nsfw or suggestive, so blacklist those if it makes you uncomfortable.

❓ know what i reblog and blacklist tags accordingly. i do not reblog porn. i often dont tag slurs anymore unless its like, the r slur. i talk or rb kink discussion sometimes and reblog nsfw jokes. you should probably filter those words n tags yourself if you take issue w them. i do not really prevent people from following this blog but just be aware of these things Or else i told you so !

⚡ oh also if you have the default tumblr icon or just an icon of a random woman and no desc ( or a shady desc ) or likes or posts or anything and your acc hasnt been here for long im Going to assume ur a bot and report/block you. If you somehow arent uhhh. Woops. this goes for asks too. i Block annoying people too . Watch out

🎨 as for art credit and such, if you post my art somewhere, do not repost it just link to it. and also do not use my personal art as your icons or whatever ( personal meaning ocs and stuff ) unless i know you and/or give you permission. thankyou.

( art tags, because they're sort of weird: tags under just the character name is for any general thing related to said oc, character name ( oc ) is usually for only the art of the oc or for specification. It's a little messy sometimes )

___

feel free to send me asks, questions, or dms whatever - i love talking about things i like, like my ocs or interests or characters i enjoy! you can also send art requests maybe involving characters i like from things i'm into, but don't expect me to draw those.

don't ask about my banner image i thought it was funny when i was younger and i do not want to change it ( yet )

[pantherxdrawz]

Oh fucc forgot to do an intro

and AFTER the 500 post point-

…I ain’t putting all this in my bio

Anywho, Welcome to my blog!

Well.

[That is of course, unless your a proshipper, MAP, lgbtphobic, bigot, TERF, racist, support the shitshow that is TBATF and/or the creators (that parts just because I’m in the Eddsworld Fandom).]

^Visual representation of me tapping my lil DNI list

YK the common basics. (Tbh who WANTS those guys interacting with them/rh)

If your one of them,

very kindly fuck off

(You WILL be blocked if not)

★・・・・・・★

With that out of the way,

☄️-I’m Panther/Nyx/Shade

I’ve also got many other names take y’all’s pick [pulls out a comedically large tophat with names], I even have names like Cloudberg and Roomba at this point as long as it’s not offensive anything is on the table really-/hj

At this point you could point to me and go ��your name is Tom now your Tom” and I’d go: “…okay guess I’m Tom now”

💫-I currently use all the pronouns, He/She/They/Xe/It etc. Whatever just go for it, still figuring that shit out and I don’t really mind

☄️-I‘ma hobby artist, also hobby animator if I feel like it, but I do take Discord Nitro commissions at times (info below if you’re interested, you could also just DM me right off the bat for info, however since I also have school I might not get to it straight way as fair warning)

I also feel like I should’ve charged for completion and not crop and that these are embarrassingly cheap, and full body’s are embarrassingly expensive but hey I don’t have this as my full job what do I know

You can DM me on here, or on my Discord RandomPurplePantherGorl#2046 if you’re interested

Edit: So since the Twitter (or “X” *gags*) forced update with the username changes, my Discord is now pantherxdrawz just like my Tumblr

Disclaimer: I have all rights to deny a commission for any possible reason, even if it’s perfectly fine by all the guidelines I’ve put, I still have full rights to deny it (I probably won’t though, but still) ★・・・・・・★

Current Hyperfixations:

-Ensemble Stars (This one’s the newest and current strongest)

-Project Sekai

-Ace Attorney

-Danganronpa

-Eddsworld (Well, actually not really anymore, Been Hyperfixated on it for a year then eventually just kinda…lost interest and left the fandom. but I’m still gonna put it here, I might return one day)

-

I’m basically Multi-fandom friendly and post whatever tf I want when I want, basically I just see a cool thing and hit reblog

so if you followed me for only one fandom and don’t like multi fandom posting, uhhh sorry pal you’re in the wrong place, feel free to unfollow in that case

I’m just a little guy trying to post their art and reblog stuff

★・・・・・・★ Filtering tags of mine, everything else on this fucking blog is a cluttered garage:

#pantherxdrawz My art/animation tag

#pantherxeditz My edit tag, where you’ll find my au edits of game/show shots

#pantherxwritez My tag for writing/fanfics that I make

#pantherzocs / #panthersocs My tag for if you ever get interested in my Hand made blorbos (my ocs) and want to see everything I’ve posted of them

#for the pocket friends My tag for showing my mutuals stuff simple as that

★・・・・・・★

Enjoy your stay :]

[rippleap]

GUYS IT'S THE INTRO

hey chat my name is Tobias but CALL ME TOBY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD or dont, do whatever!

and karkat is cool too yes yess

hey where do you think you're going theres more under here

I USE HE/HIM PRONOUNS, CIS GUY AND BISEXUAL YEAAAYUH

im a furry and an actual cat and vampire lile actually no joke like slash srs im dead serious

im neurodivergent anddd a minorr so errmm yeah :////

im 15 and my birthday is january 24th....heh...just putting it out there...

i draw, i animate, i make music, um i go to school idk i forgot the rest

umm more info

i haven't posted much, and i have no clue if i ever will, but i'm trying to post more art on here

guys....im gonna be honest im kinda a noob at this site

ive heard so many tales of tumblr in my lifetime but ive always been too scared to actually be on here, and i still am im still very scared but im scared of everything im not used to ok guys it'll get better

if i do anything wrong or odd on here PLEASE TELL ME PLE

i make too many typos, too many i cannot proofread, but I'll TRY...one day....

im not too sure how to use tags but i'll update this post if i use specific ones!

ok update

TAGS

#rippleap art :: my art

#into the wild allegiances :: me drawing the into the wild allegiances!

#clix :: art of my oc clix!

also i curse sorry guys

things that i like??

UMM I CANT KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING I LIKE BECAUSE, I LIKE A LOT OF THINGS

but my main mains are homestuck and warrior cats and wargames and object shows and ummm IDK THERES TOO MUCH

dni!!

umm gross people, and basic dni duh yk the deal no zoos no pedos, also no anti furries or anti nonhumans?? and no proship please for the love of god get out, just take a gander at my profile use your noggin

if i block you DONT ASK WHY!!! YOU DONT GOTTA KNOW!!

also don't trace my art or use it without permission, credit if you use it as a pfp or whatever, if you wanna use my art for anything else just ask! if i don't respond here my discord is always a good option to contact me lmao

also guys my boyfriend is here and hes a pro at tumblr go follow him and be nice or i'll get mad, and he'll get more mad @120red

my commissions are HERE

my user is rippleap on every social EVER

[taketwoinink]

84 years??? Wow Crystal, you're

you thought you were safe on tumblr but you're never safe

thanks for the tag and on to the questions!

Do you play an instrument? - I do!!! I played the violin for 6 (or 7, I don't remember) years. I haven't touched it in a while because I left the orchestra group I was in. Also, I broke my G string and replacing that costs money and I am a broke potato. And my tuning pegs desperately need replacing because they are fickle beasts. So currently, the violin sits unused until I have money to spare on fixing it up. I have to admit, I'm actually a decent violinist! Never got the hang of vibrato but one day! - I also play the kalimba! I am very bare basics beginner and I forgot to practice all the time, but it's such a gorgeous instrument (and much lower maintenance than a violin is) - I also own a ukulele (thanks to Kit who gave me it!) that I can't play because I cannot for the life of me figure out how to strum without tearing up my fingers - I also have a steel tongue drum! That I don't know how to play yet. - Ocarina! (I figured out how to blow into it and make a decent sound, but that's as far as we've gotten). One day, I'll master them all and everyone will bow before my musical prowess.

Favorite book character? - I... I haven't read a book in so long *cries* (unless you count graphic novels and audio books, which I do not) - If I can cheat and say a TV show character though, then Adrien from Miraculous (Felix and Chloe are close seconds).

What’s your star sign? - Sagittarius but I disowned my star sign. We don't get along Favourite colour schemes? - almost forgot to answer this one! I love purple with black, I love light gray with white, I love green with black (bet you can't guess why), uhhh anything that's dark but colorful accents I like. Earth tones can be really fun when they're done right. Did I mention purple? I love purple. Oh oh and orange and pink. Like sunset, peach shades. Love them! And yellow and white when it's like elegant and light, very pretty. Colours are just amazing actually. I love colours!

Naps or long sleep? - In an ideal world, long sleep. But, my world is far from ideal so I am a very big fan of napping. Took one today actually (was not as restful as I'd hoped)

What languages do you speak? - If we're talking in terms of fluency, then I speak some pretty good gibberish! (I'm a native English speaker). I took German for... four years, question mark? But all I can do is call you a potato or order five pizzas soooo...

Dreams/aspirations? - SO MANY! SO MANY! Ahhhh I wanna go out and live life and live it to the fullest! I want to become a silversmith, I want to amass hundreds of written fics on AO3 (and I want at least one of them to become well renowned), I want to meet my tumblr friends in person, I want to climb a tall mountain so I can say that I did, I want to confuse everyone who sees me because they can't tell what gender I am, I want to write my stories in a coffee shop, I want to make original music, I want to learn how to sing so I can belt Defying Gravity without sounding like a toad, I want to have the most aesthetic cozy happy house, I want to be happy, I want to make art commissions for people, I want to visit as many different countries as I can, I want to be satisfied with each day that I'm living even the quiet ones, I want to take public transport to work every day, I want to smile at everyone I meet, I want to be a supportive adult figure one day for queer kids like me who didn't find the love they needed at home, I want to be able to say I love myself every day and not hesitate and mean it every time, I want to run through a meadow screaming at the top of my lungs, I want to dance like no one is watching, I want to learn to make flower crowns, I want to make my own cosplay costumes and attend fan events, I want to learn sign language, I want to have the coolest decorated house on Halloween, I want to be Fae's roommate, I also want to be Kit's roommate, I want to make an acrylic painting that is just so beautiful, I want a handpan, I want to get really good at all my instruments, I want to do my laundry consistently instead of all at the last minute, I want to have a platonic 'wedding' that's just an excuse to have a great big wedding-like party and I want everyone to wear fantasy clothes and it'll be outside and we'll sword fight with pool noodles, AND I WANT TO PET EVERY DOGGO (and kitty!!) THAT I EVER SEE - I could keep going xD - Basically, life is beautiful and full of opportunities and I want to live it!

Long hair or short hair? - Short. But also having long hair with a drastic undercut sounds amazing. But also- short hair and slaying right now

Tea or coffee? - So, I don't drink caffeine for a variety of reasons but I do drink herbal tea! I love me some tea with lots of honey even though I don't like honey all that much. It's so aesthetic. And delicious. And the fact that tea kettles scream at you when your water is done will never cease to delight me

Bring a book character to life or go into the fictional world? - Go to a fictional world, unless I couldn't come back to this one. Because like Crystal said, I'd love to have an adventure, but also I'm kind of attached to Earth? I like so many people and things here. And bringing a book character to life would be epic, but I also wouldn't want to drag them away from everything they knew and leave them in a life that isn't theirs with no one that they knew or loved from their story.... I made this question depressing, oops. tagging! @quodekash @generalluxun (only if you would like to!) @skyisverybored (absolutely no pressure, feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do it, I won't be offended <3) @lilywolfgray @cauchemarlena @catkin-morgs (you're an awesome person by the way. Just wanted to tell you that) @moony4pads @eleilinnrallin @chaserofstarsandtheabyss @ipso-again @secretsinthevoid That's a lot of people... but if anyone else wants to join in.... please feel free!

thank you @depressedchameleon22 for the tag <3

do you play an instrument? yes i play the piano. i hvnt played it in years tho. also i was learning the guitar but rn i dont hv one so

favourite book characters? charlie from the perks of being a wallflower.

what's your star sign? cancer

favourite colour schemes? orange/wine red/tree green/creamy. basically picnic in the fall disjdkjd

naps or long sleep? long sleep bc when i nap then i cannot sleep at night

what languages do you speak? english and persian

dreams/aspirations? i wanna be a youtuber, i want to write a book, i want to work at an ngo, i hv many dreams actually jfjnsjd

long hair or short hair? for myself? short hair bc rn long hair gives me dysphoria. ive never actually had long hair. id cut it before it got too long everytime. for others tho both diskjsj

tea or coffee? tea. coffee makes me gassy djskskdkjd

bring a book character to life or go into a fictional world? go into a fictional world. probably a chill one where adventure and personal life is separate. like u can hv funa and then come home to a cup of tea and ur wife

do this if u want to <3

[medi-melancholy]

payment through PayPal invoices

characters with very detailed designs/accessories/weapons/etc may cost more, i’ll discuss this with you as needed

i reserve the right to turn down any offer, if i am uncomfortable with the source material or character, or feel as though i can’t complete the art

i have the right to use your commissioned art for my portfolio, i.e., as an example of what i can draw, with no profit made

you can post & use your commissioned art and share it however you please, as long as credit is given and no profit is made!

please message me here on tumblr, email me at medismagicartsgw@yahoo.com, or otherwise get into contact with me if you’re interested! happy holidays, everyone!!✨

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

I posted 9,171 times in 2021

144 posts created (2%)

9027 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 62.7 posts.

I added 2,518 tags in 2021

#911 on fox - 610 posts

#queued - 358 posts

#video - 352 posts

#911 s5 - 250 posts

#buddie - 222 posts

#eddie diaz - 167 posts

#atla - 153 posts

#spn - 140 posts

#art tag - 139 posts

#evan buckley - 127 posts

Longest Tag: 131 characters

#i can’t look away from the circles under his eyes and the frown on his face. also his hat (bc it’s cute not bc of angst reasons 🥺)

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

I commissioned @the-red-butterflies for some Greek-statue-like Donna and the finished product is just amazing!! thank you so much, Abril!!

98 notes • Posted 2021-03-21 06:06:58 GMT

#4

This was a commission done by @theflamiestjaime ! I asked for two of my favorite firebenders (Johnny Storm and Koriand’r) being fashion icons. 

Jaime, I’m sorry I forgot to post this on tumblr for literally months. I still love it so much. You’re amazing <333

114 notes • Posted 2021-02-04 01:52:18 GMT

#3

Not to be cherik on main but someone give me a modern au where Charles uses the internet to make friends since it’s so difficult to make connections in person. (Does he tell someone immediately that he can read their mind, and that they have no privacy? Does he put himself at risk like that? Or does he not say anything, therefore leading to the person feeling betrayed once he does tell them? There’s no winning.) Over text, he can’t read minds and there’s no pressure to reveal that he’s a mutant.

Except one day he finds a secret forum for mutants. It’s small, by invitation only, and it’s a safe space to make friends. Charles LOVES this place, and I think it wouldn’t take long at all before he became a moderator, interacting with lots of people and getting to hear all kinds of intriguing opinions and backstories. He’s in his element here, getting to have all these new acquaintances and friends, without the weight of his telepathy hanging around.

Enter Erik, who is alone in the world, having lost his parents and truly believing that he must be the only one with these kinds of powers (if they existed, he would have met another in his travels, he’s sure of it). Idk the circumstances of Erik being invited to the page, but he is eventually. And there, he meets ProfX, a man similar in age who enjoys spirited debates with him, who is fascinated by his mutations and encourages him to expand his skills. They get along really, really well, better than Erik ever assumed he would be able to with another person. (They still argue and disagree of course, but it never feels like the end of the relationship when they do. Just two brilliant minds butting against each other.)

Being on this site, maybe you don’t have to prove you’re a mutant, or maybe you just don’t have to make your powers public. And Charles doesn’t make his public. So maybe when Erik is like, I’m going to be in London/NY/wherever, we should meet, Charles... freaks out a little bit! He knows that Erik values his privacy very much, and though Charles wants nothing more than to meet him in person, he can’t just turn his mutation off.

Idk what happens next or how that conversation goes but

141 notes • Posted 2021-03-19 22:01:47 GMT

#2

One day Noir pulls Peter B. aside and he's like "I've noticed some. Some people. Who are...kissing. in public. Is this normal." And Peter B is like "yeah? I guess this world is less modest than yours," trying not to sound like a dick. And Noir is like "but....I noticed.....men. women. Kissing men. Women. That's not--we can't do that where I come from."

Peter B is like "(fuck) well uhhh do you. I mean. Are you...okay. with the gays." And Noir is like "??? I just don't understand why they're kissing in public. They could get hurt." Peter B tries to explain some and eventually they get to talking about how he and Peter Parker Prime both had MJs, but he'd also had a Gwen Stacy once upon a time. Very briefly. And maybe that's what was in Noir's future?

"No," he shakes his head. "No, I've met my...MJ. but it's not--nothing can come of it."

And it turns out his MJ is one Mr. Jonathan Storm

331 notes • Posted 2021-05-28 02:11:13 GMT

#1

Obsessed with the idea of Dean making a YouTube channel where he talks about hunting monsters. It’s therapy in a way, venting to a faceless audience who Have to listen to him. It’s also a good resource to have, not just for him but for others too

So the comment section looks like:

Hunters who are thanking him, correcting him, or asking questions

People who stumbled upon it and think this is one of those ARGs like on TikTok and are possibly pretending to be hunters thinking it’s part of the game

People who are legitimately concerned for his mental health because he is no joke talking about killing monsters and sharing traumatic stories about a childhood killing monsters. He either never mentions any friends at all, or none who are alive. He’s just always in dark rooms that feel menacing through the camera. He keeps saying “when I died”???

Idk if this is an AU with a more modern timeline or if he started in 2005 and is just this insane pillar still doing it 15 years later but

341 notes • Posted 2021-05-18 21:45:20 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[novantinuum]

Crack the Paragon, Chapter 8

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Words: 6.5K~

Summary: In another world, he doesn’t have his mother’s sword or shield to hide behind when Bismuth lands her strike. The bubble pops.

Steven falls apart.

Chapter summary: In which together breakfast can’t solve everything.

You can find the first/previous chapter and AO3 links in the reblogs! (I have to omit them from the original post these days to ensure this will show up in the tags.) If you enjoyed this, I’d greatly appreciate your support through reblogs here, or kudos on AO3 as well. 

_

Chapter 8: Fissures

In time, the rest of the household bursts to life.

His dad wakes up an hour or so later on his own accord, rolling out of bed and groggily stumbling into the bathroom to soak in the shower for a solid twenty minutes. Steven eagerly shares the good news— I’m whole again!— after he finally emerges, and while it takes a fair moment for his still half-conscious mind to fully grasp what he’s attempting to explain, when the message finally lands Dad lifts him off the floor and spins him around in his arms, laughing with joy. Compared to Pearl, his reaction to the gem’s rotation is minimal, which comes as a sweet relief.

“I’m just glad to see ya’ smiling and in one piece again,” he says, holding him close.

After sharing an amicable nod of greeting with Pearl, his dad sets out from the house to check on his van, promising he’ll be back in a few minutes. Apparently he needs to lock it, because he totally forgot last night. Again. Also, he did say he’d grab the waffle iron before he went to bed, so fingers crossed for that. Steven’s mouth waters at the mere thought of Dad’s homemade waffles, golden, crisp, and stacked sky high, their flavor— buttery, with a hint of lemon zest— bursting like fireworks against his tongue. Nobody makes waffles like he can, not even Pearl. While waiting for Dad to return with breakfast materials, he changes into clean jeans and a shirt. Lazily, he flops onto his belly on the couch with plans of playing Splashy Shark on his phone, only to find...

Steven groans, dropping his head face first into the middle of the cushion. His phone’s battery is so low it won’t turn on at all. Dead as a doorstop! It seems he forgot to plug it in before falling asleep once more, for the umpteenth thousandth time, even though he tried to remind himself early this morning on the beach. Typical.

“Is the world ending again over there?” Pearl— currently lounging at the kitchen counter— asks with a playful lilt to her voice. “Do we need to call in the rest of the resistance?”

“Noooo, it’s fine,” he replies, drawn out. “This is a path I must walk alone, for I’m the lad who forgets.” He rolls over onto his back, stretching his free arm towards the ceiling as if desperately reaching towards the stars. “And to forget is the dark burden I bear,” he whispers dramatically.

“You didn’t plug your phone in last night, did you?”

“Whoa, how’d you guess??”

“Steven, you do realize I’ve lived with you for almost three years, yes?”

“Oh,” he says, brows shooting up. “Right!”

Humming, he pulls himself off the couch and trots up the steps to the loft. He sets his phone on his nightstand and connects it to the charge cord. Unfortunately, it'll take a while for it to build up enough juice to turn on again. That’ll teach him. Or maybe it won’t, time will tell. He hopes it won’t be out of commission for too long, though, because he really should call Connie about all this…

The temple door begins to open. He rapidly turns upon hearing that familiar sound, just in time to see Amethyst emerging from the depths of her room. Her hair is a mess, her eyes droop in exhaustion, and for a moment one of her fingers digs halfway up her nose. More than anything, she looks like she needs a great big hug.

“Hey,” she mutters, and yawns. “Any word on ol’ Steven 2?”

“Amethyst, Amethyst, Amethyst,” he hollers, beaming from ear to ear, and leaps from the loft to greet her. He doesn’t even bother floating, with no need for a soft landing from this height. The impact of his bare feet against the floorboards reverberates through the whole house. “Guess what??”

He flings himself around the purple Gem, almost knocking her clear over in the shock of surprise affection. (Although by this point, if she’s not used to his hug attacks that’s her problem.)

“Uhhh, what?” she says, face blank even in the wake of his effervescent enthusiasm.

Pearl’s hands go to her hips. “Steven, what have I told you about jumping from the loft?

“I’m the full package again,” he declares, and throws his arms wide, pointedly ignoring her for the moment. “My gem reformed and then we fused!”

Despite her low energy otherwise, Amethyst cracks a grin at his good news. “Whoa, really? When was this?”

“This morning! I was up super early. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Sheesh. You and me both, bud.”

“At least you don’t actually need to sleep. Lucky.”

“Yeah, but I’ve been making a habit of it for so long that not sleeping pretty much has the same affect,” she says, and crosses to sit on the couch. She stretches back, body sinking into the familiar curves of the cushion she always claims. She props one of her hands behind her mass of lavender hair. “Ah, that’s more like it! So… after everything,” she begins cautiously, balling the other hand up against her gemstone, right against the facet she herself cracked about a year and a half ago. “How do you feel now?”

He shrugs one shoulder, the corner of his mouth twisting upwards. “Okay, I guess. I’m in one piece, but… everything’s different now, y’know? Even though I don’t want it to be.”

Her expression grows more downcast, the fringe of her hair shadowing her features. “Yeah.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Steven catches Pearl watching their conversation from the kitchen. It’s painfully obvious she’s trying to keep her dutiful surveillance on the down-low, her side glances interspersed with time spent washing raspberries and gathering waffle ingredients for his Dad, but he doesn’t get why this secrecy is necessary on her part. It’s not like they’re not openly discussing this in the middle of the house. If he and Amethyst really wanted to talk privately they’d wander outside, or into her room. Nonetheless, there’s nothing he could say that Pearl hasn’t already heard.

Although now that he thinks about it, there’s plenty of stuff he hasn’t told Amethyst yet. He purses his lips, unable to shake the thought of her visceral reaction to the reveal about his mo— about Rose— that dropped like an anvil on their family last night. With that in mind, how will she respond to the permanent visual reminder of this change that he now embodies?

With a quick glance between Pearl and the doorway his dad left through, his mind is made. If he isn’t forthright now, she’ll find out eventually. He figures it’s better she hears it from him rather than through the grapevine.

“Y’know, I should probably mention,” he says with a half laugh. “My gem did a bit of a weird thing. It kinda… flipped?” To prove his point, Steven lifts up the hem of his t-shirt, barring the diamond for all to see.

Amethyst squints as she peers at his gem. “What the fu—“

“Amethyst,” Pearl interjects sternly, crossing towards the pair of them.

“—uuuuuudge is that? Gems can do that??”

She rolls her eyes. “Somehow I doubt that every Gem can—“

“Oooo, lemme try!” she gleefully squeals, leaping to her feet in one bound and throwing her arms aloft.

Her gemstone begins to glow a soft purple as the finer details of her form blur into an indistinguishable mass of light. The edges of this light bend and wobble, and she seethes in intense concentration, but despite her efforts her gemstone refuses to budge.

Gasping for breath, her hard light form snaps back into its customary shape like a rubber band. The light fades, revealing her scowl. “Aww man, no fair! Everyone else gets all the cool powers.”

“Haha, well I didn’t exactly do it on purpose,” Steven says, shrugging nonchalantly.

The screen door slams open, prompting everyone in the room to sling their attention to the man standing tall and proud with the cast iron kitchen appliance brandished like a sword in his hands.

“Who’s excited for waffles??” he asks, his grin contagious.

Steven shoots his hand in the air. “Oooh, me, me! I’m excited for waffles!”

“Then guess today’s your lucky day,” he chuckles, moving across the house to the counter. “Pearl, ‘ya wanna help a man out here?”

“Ah, yes!” she chimes, raising en pointe as she triumphantly jabs her finger in the air. “Of course! I’ve even taken the liberty of gathering the ingredients for you already.”

Dad stutters for a moment, clearly not expecting this turn of events considering her former animosity towards him. Their family trip to Empire City— the night the tides forever changed— wasn’t that long ago, after all. He threads anxious fingers through a thick length of hair.

“Wow, you, uh- thank you.”

Steven follows them to the kitchen area, stars in his eyes as he rapturously watches their amicable interactions. Showcasing a surprising capacity for teamwork, they set up the waffle iron and start to prepare that gooey, delicious batter. His mouth waters at the mere scent of the lemon his dad squeezes into the bowl. Acting on unspoken impulse, Pearl grabs a whisk and accepts the bowl from him, beating the mix of ingredients until it’s reached the perfect consistency. The tastiest pancakes and waffles come from batter that’s still a little lumpy, his dad always says, since that causes them to rise better. In any case, his taste buds can hardly wait.

“I’m so hungry I think I could eat like, four bazillion waffles,” he tells Amethyst in the most candid voice he can muster, relocating to the couch she’s lounging on with a hop and a skip.

“Heh,” she says, a suitably up-to-no-good smirk framing her face. “Not if I get to all of ‘em first!”

“Whaaat? Naw, come on, you wouldn’t do that to your favorite Steven!”

“Are you kidding? I’d steal food from myself! After I swallowed it.”

“Ewww,” he laughs, his nose scrunching up.

They continue to laugh together for a solid few seconds, but the enthusiasm holding their facades together so precariously soon fades. Meanwhile, in the background Dad and Pearl converse as easily as if they’d never carried a decades-long feud to begin with. (Oh, the sweet irony of this reversal!) Steven clamps his lips together, for once clueless what to say to Amethyst to make everything better. Their conversations aren’t usually like this. They aren’t so… stilted, like he has to traverse across a lake of thin ice. He sighs, feeling his chest rise and fall with a weight almost heavier than the memory of the last few hours. That’s the one thing he fears most, if he’s honest about all this— that as a consequence of the mess Rose left him, his relationships with the Gems will never be the same again.

He can only guess Amethyst heard his sigh, because she’s the one who first moves to break the silence.

“Hey, uh,” she begins quietly, and shoots a quick glance at Pearl, meeting her eyes briefly before looking back at him. “I’m sorry for… well, everything, really. That I said last night.”

He frowns, the memory of her words’ sting suddenly looping itself in his mind like a broken record.

“And then, what? She creates you just so she doesn’t have to deal with the fact she’s a liar?”

“Oh. You, uh,” he scratches at the back of his neck, “you don’t need to apologize for that. We were all pretty stressed, I get it.”

“No. I do!” she insists, her expression stretching wide. “What I said, it wasn’t just mean, it was wrong. Like, I still feel like I don’t know anything about Rose, or Pink, or whatever anymore, okay? But just because I don’t get anything doesn’t make you— gah, forget it,” she says hurriedly, waving the thought away. “The point is, I’m sorry, y’know? For real.”

The earnesty of her apology covers his wounds like a salve. Blinking heavily, he throws his arms around her, burying his face into her hair.

“Apology heartily accepted,” he says, muffled.

The stiffness in her form eases up, and she finally, truly allows herself to hug him back.

“Thanks, dude.”

From that point forward, the atmosphere of the house grows lighter. No longer needing to worry about the state of his relationship with Amethyst, Steven throws himself into the nuttiness and excitement of family time feet first. The two of them horse around while Dad and Pearl continue making breakfast, wrestling each other in front of the warp pad. It doesn’t take long for a stack of waffles to pile up on the counter, cooked to a golden brown perfection. Catching his breath from all the play fighting, he eagerly rushes to sit himself at the counter next to the purple Gem, empty plate and utensils already set in front of them. His legs freely dangle, not long enough yet to reach the foot rest midway down the stool. He’s not paying attention to hear it, but his dad must have said something witty because Pearl is chuckling breathlessly. It’s probably one of his corny dad jokes. Pearl will never admit it, but she has a secret sweet spot for his puns.

The temple door slides open— a rush of slightly stale air wafting in to greet them— as Dad removes the last waffles from the iron. Beaming, his attention immediately peels away from the promise of food in favor of the entrance of one of his favorite people.

“Garnet!” he calls, throwing his arms wide.

“Good morning, Steven,” she says with a slight sing-song lilt in her voice, crossing the room towards the rest of the family. With a slight smile, she places her hands solid on his shoulders. “I presume you figured out how to fuse back together with your other half.”

“Yup! All together,” he grins, titling his neck back to peer up at her.

“Except his gem flipped, and now it’s all funky,” Amethyst interjects in a flash, playfully jabbing him right at his navel.

Garnet’s comforting grip slackens, her hands slipping free.

“Hey!” he giggles, smacking Amethyst’s arm away. “No tickling!”

“It’s not tickling, it’s revenge!” she says with a loud raspy chortle, and puts him in a headlock, scruffing at his hair until it’s a frizzy mess. He kicks his legs in futile protest as she mounts her attack, laughing until the pressure in his lungs is too much to handle and tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. It’s the most he’s laughed since… well, since before he was cracked.

The others, however, aren’t smiling. They don’t seem to be paying any attention to their antics at all. Pearl’s hand is balled at her chin, her soft blue eyes pinned on the Crystal Gem leader. Even his dad’s peering at her with concern, the spatula dangling off one finger.

“Garnet?” his dad asks, his frown deepening the faint wrinkles around his eyes.

“Are you all right?” Pearl chimes in.

“I…” She clenches her fists, averting her glance. “I don’t understand. Your gem—“

Amethyst scoffs. “—is all diamond shaped now, and it’s totally weird. Steven, show her!”

He gives a slight scowl, subtle enough that the others wouldn’t pick up on it right away. It would be nice if she wasn’t being so pushy about this, if he could find the right moment to tell Garnet himself. But with everyone here watching in anticipation, there’s really nothing else he can do.

Sighing heavily, he lifts his shirt, exposing his gem. “After I fused with my gem half, it was just like this. I still don’t get why.”

Her visor may cover her eyes, but he knows the spectrum of her expressions well enough that he doesn’t need to see them to know all three pupils have shrunk into pinpricks. Her mouth widens into a circle, crystallizing in her shock.

“Oh,” she breathes heavily, grinding her teeth against each other hard. “I- I never foresaw this possibility.”

Sweat beads at his brow. Even though she’s trying to mask it (probably for his sake), he can tell she’s struggling to keep from falling apart. Her hands are visibly quivering, and the gems inlaid in her palms pulse with light. He swallows hard, lump hanging in his throat. “Heh, what can I say?” he shrugs with a nervous laugh. “Guess I’m just really unpredictable!”

“Perhaps,” she says quietly, thankfully managing to pull herself together again. She flexes her fists, their tremor receding. Crossing her arms, she moves to lean against the wall by the fridge.

The household falls so quiet that Steven can hear his own stomach gurgle, everyone staring at the fusion in wordless worry.

His dad coughs. “Well, anyways,” he says, spinning the spatula in a circle. “Who else wants waffles?”

“Lay ‘em on me,” Amethyst says, holding out her plate. He serves her two to start. She shoots him a pair of finger guns, and digs in.

“Okay. I’m assuming none for Pearl?”

“That would be correct, thanks.”

He promptly turns towards the Crystal Gem leader, a weak grin stretching across his face despite the soured atmosphere.

“What about you, Garnet?” Wanna try the ol’ Universe family recipe?”

She shakes her head in singular motion. “No.”

The churning in Steven’s stomach fades into obscurity in light of the bitter prospect of his guardian’s emotional instability. So much for daring to hope that they could all make amends where needed, refrain from obsessing over their problems, and move on. He slumps on his stool. Dad deposits a pair of golden, buttery waffles on his plate, artfully garnishing the stack with a dollop of whipped cream and a cluster of raspberries from the bowl of them that Pearl washed earlier, but the idea of together breakfast no longer sounds very appetizing anymore. After all, it’s not the food that makes a together breakfast, it’s the company. And with Pearl and Dad standing nervously to the side, Garnet struggling to remain stable, and even Amethyst sapped of her usual spunk in the light of their demons, this is about as far from together a family can get. What did he do wrong? Why isn’t this the sunny future Garnet showed him last night?

Leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand, he aimlessly picks at his breakfast with his fork.

Amethyst glances over at him, already neck deep into her own meal. “Eat up little man, they’re super good!” she declares.

His mouth turns up into a small grimace the longer he stares at the food. It looks wonderful, but...

“Actually, I’m not all that hungry anymore.”

“Steven, you need to eat,” his dad says.

“I just said, I’m not hungry.”

Dad’s brow furrows as he leverages one of his rare father knows best faces at him. Steven looks to Pearl for rescue, but she (perhaps wisely) averts her eyes, choosing not to interject herself into Greg’s parenting.

Amethyst, however, is more than willing to take up the charge. “If you don’t eat up in two minutes, I’m claiming them,” she threatens, deadpan. “I’ll lick them, nice and slow, with lots of slobber, and then they’ll be mine.”

“Okay, okay!” he says, holding his hands up defensively. “Geeze.”

He blows a weary burst of air past his lips, grabs his fork, and begins digging in to appease his dad. The first bites settle like stones in the pit of his empty stomach. He has to admit, even if his appetite is zilch, at least they’re good tasting waffles. All his guardians visibly relax upon seeing him start to eat breakfast. Amethyst’s tensed shoulders drop. Pearl allows herself to lean back against the counter. Garnet uncrosses her arms. Out of the corner of his eyes, he catches a glimpse of the fusion picking up the can of whipped cream and squirting some directly into her mouth when she thought the other two Gems weren’t looking. The corner of his mouth perks up. Looks like someone has a secret sweet tooth!

He’s halfway through the second of the pair of waffles when the short quartz sitting next to him grins devilishly.

“Hey, Steven…”

“Hnn?” he utters, muffled through the food in his mouth.

She flicks a raspberry at him. “Catch this hide!”

He yelps, just barely ducking in time to miss the fruit. It falls apart upon impact on the floor, its juices exploding outward across the wood.

“Touchdown,” she says, and blows off her finger as if it were a pistol.

The edge of his lips curve up, chipping away at his melancholy. “Oh, I see what you’re steppin’ in!”

Pearl groans, throwing her hand against her temple. “Must you two really—“

“Let them have this,” Garnet says coolly as she leans back against the fridge, the whipped cream can still dangling at the edge of her grasp.

“But we just cleaned this place!”

Amethyst chucks another cluster of berries at him, but this time he’s expecting her fruity projectiles. He cranes his neck back, letting his mouth fall open wide. One of the raspberries bounces off his chin. Close, but not quite. If he’s quick enough, maybe he can catch one in his mouth. That’d be pretty awesome! Thankfully she seems to catch on to his ploy, because she starts to toss them underhand. He stifles giggles as he successfully snaps one— no, two— berries right out of the air.

“There’s some days I feel like we’re raising two children,” he hears Pearl comment to his dad offhand, as they watch them fool around with their food from the sidelines.

“And there’s some days I feel like I’m raising four,” he mutters under his breath.

“What?”

He coughs into his fist. “Uh, nothing!”

She raises a vaguely disgruntled brow at him, but doesn’t say anything more on the matter.

He and his quartz sibling gleefully continue messing around with their edible projectiles until they grow bored of it, soon returning to eating their food like (mostly normal) beings. Really, he can only speak for himself, since she’s recently taken to eating the paper plates along with her breakfast. He grins through a mouthful of whipped cream. This is one of the many things he loves and admires about her, that she always knows how to cheer him up when he needs it. Before their little food fight, the soured atmosphere of his household left him almost feeling sick, but he already feels a lot better now. Needless to say, with his restored appetite the last waffle doesn’t take long to disappear.

“Next time you really gotta try one!” he enthuses to Garnet as he discards his paper plate, weaving between Pearl and his father as they begin to clean the kitchen. “Dad’s waffles are batter than anything!”

He contorts his features into the most exaggerated expression he can muster, waiting with baited breath for the shoe to drop. On the other side of the counter, Amethyst snorts.

Her nostrils twitch with an uncertain air, the straight edge of her visor casting a deep shadow on her face. She stands with her arms wrapped tight around her torso, like a tourniquet wrapped around a bleeding wound. “Hmm. Perhaps one day.”

And in the space of those three simple words, his little heart breaks into pieces. She almost always chuckles at his corny puns, always! So for her to barely even acknowledge them, for her to bottle away all her usual joy and confidence and quiet wit and hide it under a rock solid mask of falsified indifference, it stings more than anything. He thought she’d grown past this.

“Garnet, what’s wrong?” he asks, voice cracking in his anguish. The others all look up from whatever they’re doing with obvious curiosity, all of them silently asking the same question but none of them having the courage to approach their leader directly. “You’ve been like this all morning, ever since—“

With a shallow gasp, his eyes grow glassy. Her mood drastically changed the moment she saw his flipped gem. He clamps his hands over his mouth.

Oh, shards.

He did this.

Both Pearl and Dad move on automatic at the sight of emotional distress, the Gem solidly clasping his shoulder, and his father wrapping his arms around him. Across the room, Amethyst bites at her bottom lip, expression alight with genuine compassion.  

“Steven.” Garnet kneels to address him face-to-face, sighing heavily in her exhaustion, worrisome as that is. He quickly blinks through the burn of unshed tears, glancing up at her. “The truth is, I— we have something we need to share. With all of you.”

The room fills with uncomfortable tension, the shock of her admission and its concerningly specific wording sinking in like maple syrup soaking through a waffle’s airy layers.

He rubs at the corner of one of his eyes. “W- we? I don’t—“

Pearl steps towards her, shaking her head in a daze. “Garnet, no, surely you can’t mean that…”

“Ruby and Sapphire have decided they want to take some time apart. Indefinitely.”

His mouth falls ajar, but there’s nothing he can think of to say. Steven’s chest rumbles, shaken with cries anchored too deep in his soul for him to actually express. In a heartbeat his dad pulls him closer.

“But… why?” Amethyst asks, face painted in shades of faint betrayal.

She adjusts her visor. “Because in the wake of recent revelations, we’ve realized that we only remained Garnet because of her.”

“Garnet, you—“ Pearl stammers— “now you know that’s not true! You saved each other’s lives, you fell in love with each other, you—“

“We stayed fused because a diamond took us by the hands and ordered us not to question who we were as Garnet,” she corrected. “Ruby and Sapphire, they never truly got the luxury to seek self fulfillment as individuals, not like you or Amethyst did. We… we both need time to reflect on what’s happened.”

Slowly swaying in his dad’s embrace, hugging those sturdy, dependable arms to his chest, Steven quietly speaks up.

“If both of you have been hurting ever since last night, then why didn’t you unfuse already? Why push through it just to come to breakfast?”

The fusion pauses, probably considering her phrasing. She briefly balls her hand at her chin, fingers pressing against one of her gems, and then taking a breath, allows her visor to shimmer away entirely. Her eyes glisten as she imparts her honest answer.

“If I unfused earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten to hug you goodbye.”

He can’t stifle his sobs any longer. Breaking away from his dad, he throws himself at Garnet and— pressing his cheek against her chest— gives a keening cry, the mounting pressure abruptly releasing from his chest but manifesting across his features as dry as a bone. He’s cried too many tears in such a short span of time that he almost wonders if he’s finally hit the bottom of the well. His fingers grip at her familiar form as if he can single-handedly keep her here together with him forever. He dry sobs in her arms until he aches, vying to burn the comforting sensation of his guardian’s solid hold, the assurance of the even thrum running through her hard light body, into his memory forever more.

The other two Gems join in the embrace, kneeling on the floor with him and wrapping themselves around him like a blanket.

“You- but you can’t just leave us,” Amethyst whispers brokenly. “Not now!”

Her voice hitches. She sighs, pressing her forehead against the smaller Gem’s. “I know this is gonna hurt you, I know. And we’re sorry. We’re so, so sorry. But we need time to reflect, to understand who we are apart from Garnet."

“Yeah, but…”

“Listen to me,” she says gently, pulling back and lifting her chin. “You are enough. An inimitable cut of quartz, just as you are. Please. Even in your darkest moments, never let yourself forget the depth of your worth.”

She nods, her lip quivering.

“And Pearl.”

The ebony Gem peels away from the hug at her beckoning to catch a glimpse at her, her pale blue irises glinting through the liquid pooling over them.

“In my absence, I need you to be strong. Not only for yourself, but for all of us. The Crystal Gems will do well under your leadership.”

She hums in confirmation, taking her new mission to heart. “Of course,” she says, straightening her back and sniffing away her tears.

Garnet turns her saddened gaze to him next, passing her fingers through his tangled mop of hair. “Steven.”

“Y-yeah?”

“None of this is your fault.”

“B-b-but—” he blubbers.

“None of it. The past is not your burden. And any time you begin to fear it is, I want you to pause… take a deep breath… and remember how much we all love you. You are your own Gem."

He bobs his head slowly, sniffling as his breath evens out.

The fusion sits back on her heels, ending their long embrace.

“Greg,” she says as she stands, leveling her three eyes directly at him. Though Steven has no clue what, some silent conversation passes between the two of them— like charge passing through circuitry— in a series of subtle, indecipherable expressions. “Take care of my family.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replies evenly, wiping a stray tear away from his own cheek.

Closing her eyes, Garnet begins to glow white, the gems at the core of her being shifting and separating into two smaller light bodies. They’re still holding hands at the moment the glow fades. Sapphire is the first to let go, letting her gloved fingers fall loose against the skirt of her dress.

Ruby’s face is a blank stone wall, one that’s been visibly chipped away at. Her eyes clearly glisten, as if she’s about to fall apart at any moment yet is stubbornly holding this outburst of emotion back until she can escape to a place of privacy. Sapphire, on the other hand, makes no attempt to mask her distress. As always the fringe of her hair covers half of her face, but the tracks of her tears flow down her cheek and to her chin, threatening to drip onto her bodice.

Despite the unfortunate nature of their appearance, Steven can’t deny he’s still glad to get a chance to see them.

“Um… h-hi, Ruby, Sapphire,” he stutters with his best attempt at a smile. “Long time no see?”

“Hello, Steven,” the blue Gem responds in amicable but still relatively formless monotone, as she clasps her gemless hand over the other. She sniffs, wiping the stray lines of hard light based fluid away from her eye and nose before allowing her expression to crystallize again. Gathering herself, she turns to face the group. “If all of you will excuse me, I need some time to think. Alone, for once.”

With not another word— not even an attempt at greeting the others, or consoling Ruby, who looks ready to cry at a moment’s notice— Sapphire turns on a dime and effortlessly glides across the warp pad to the temple door. She holds her right palm to the crystals embedded in the stonework, the blue one glowing bright in response. The seldom used entrance unlocks with a sonorous click. They all watch in stunned silence as she disappears through the opening, into the vast depths of the Crystal Temple.

The group stands ramrod straight, no one budging an inch as they stare vacantly at the doorway. Ruby folds her hands tight together, pressing them to her chest.

Pearl, thankfully, is the first to break the spell. (He’s thankful because he isn’t sure if anyone else here could���ve gathered the courage in the light of everything that just happened, himself included.)

“Oh Ruby, I’m so sorry,” she whispers, balling her hand against her mouth.

“D’ya wanna go punch some stuff in the Kindergarten with me?” Amethyst offers softly, slinging her arm around the shorter Gem.

Steven weakly raises a finger in suggestion. “Or we could play some games here. I finally found that limited release console version of Fight Fighters a few days back, if that’s up your alley.”

“And I could always take you for a quiet drive up the coast,” Greg says.

She shakes her head, shrugging away from Amethyst's attempt at comfort. “I- I don’t really wanna talk to any of you right now, to be honest. S’ not your fault, but—“

Ruby pauses, her small form nearly shaking as she averts her gaze from them all, staring into the middle distance with glassy eyes.

“I think… for now, I jus- I just need to run away,” she croaks. “Sorry."

Not even bothering to hold back her sobs anymore, she barrels across the room in a flurry of anguish and climbs the steps to the warp pad. Everything happens so fast that no one can react quick enough to stop her before she activates it, a burst of cyan light springing forth to whisk her away into the stream. In seconds, she’s gone.

Steven shuffles his feet, feeling for all the world as if some antagonistic force of the universe just stole a decent chunk of his heart away.

“Well, now what?” Amethyst says with a big shrug.

Pearl crosses her arms, her lips curving into a subtle sneer at the glibness of her attitude. “What do you mean, ‘now what?’ We’re going to go round them up, sit them both down, have a calm, rational discussion, and fix this!”

“But you can’t just— ughhh,” she groans, throwing her head back. “They’re not inanimate objects for you to sort into piles, P! You can’t expect to throw them together and like, make them fuse again! That’s not how it works!”

“Now, that’s not what I meant, I—“

“Bull! It’s exactly what you meant!”

She haughtily turns up her nose, aghast. “I don’t appreciate the accusatory tone you’ve taken with me!”

“And there you go, gettin’ all defensive,” she says, throwing her arms up. Her form glows white as she effortlessly shapeshifts into a picture perfect purple doppleganger of her. “Blah, blah, blah blah blah,” she spits in the most exaggerated voice she can muster, twirling the bottom ribbon of her sash on her finger. “I’m Pearl, and I know better than everyone else ‘coz I’m always right!”

“Amethyst! That’s enough!”

He pales as he watches the two of them outright self destruct. In many ways, it’s a disappointing step back. He hasn’t seen them spat this badly for almost a year. His feet shuffle awkwardly beneath him, bare toes twitching as his mind yearns for some brilliant idea that could stop this fight in its tracks, but at the current moment he’s got nothing.

“Daaaad,” he whispers lowly, obscuring his mouth from their view with a cupped hand. “Help me out here?”

His father grits his teeth, nervously stepping forward between him and the two Gems at each other’s throats. “H-hey, you two, how about we all take a deep breath a—“

“Shut up, Greg!” they shout in unison, whirling on him.

He throws his palms up, immediately backing away from their vitriolic spat. Steven grabs onto his arm once he’s returned to him, hugging it close to his chest, which is growing tighter and tighter by the second. He absolutely hates seeing his family fight, more than anything, but when they refuse to listen to reason, what can he do about it?

“As I was trying to say, you’re completely taking my words out of context,” Pearl hisses, advancing on her.

“No, I’m not!” she hollers, her voice echoing into the rafters of the compact beach house. She jabs her finger under the other Gem’s nose, the action violent enough in its intensity that Steven can’t help but flinch at the sight. “You still wanna think you can wave your little hand and have everything go back to the way it was, poof, like magic! But guess what?! You can’t!! Garnet’s gone, we have no real leader, Ruby disappeared to shard knows where, you can barely explain a single thing without locking up, basically everything we ever knew about Rose was a complete lie, a-and, and—“

“And now it’s Steven’s turn to leave,” he declares abruptly, the tension held in thick knots within him easing at his bold decision.

This is apparently enough to snap Pearl out of her emotional tizzy, his guardian whirling to face him with an embarrassed flush blooming blue across her cheeks. “Oh, Steven, I—“

Spinning on his heels, he scrambles away from the others as fast as he can, heart racing, only pausing to retrieve his phone from where it’s been charging and to slip on sandals. “I’m sorry, can’t talk, I’m headedtotown, needsomefreshair, bye!”

He lets it slam behind him as he races out into the arms of Beach City’s breezy, overcast morning. His flip flops clap rhythmically against his heels.

“Wait! Steven!” his dad calls after him, but it’s already too late. He’s not going back in, he refuses. Not now, not with everyone being so sullen and argumentative and weird.

He thought they could move on, he thought all this repressed pain and feelings of betrayal could heal and they could all grow closer for it, but apparently he’s wrong. Nothing about this messed up situation is ever going to get better, is it? He doubles over as he passes the mailbox, his sprint slowing to an abrupt halt. His teeth clench, his fingers digging into the fabric of his jeans like rose barbs through delicate skin as he catches his breath. Steven digs into his pocket for his phone.

“Hoh geeze,” he mutters, holding down the power button to force restart. “This is such a mess.”

At least he was wise enough to grab his phone in the first place. Blessedly, the screen finally lights up.

And as feared, he’s met with a hefty cluster of missed notifications from Connie. Sweat beads on his brow as he begins to scroll through them, even though he knew darn well this was coming.

Connie: Um?? How was any of that supposed to not make me worry?

Connie: Are you okay?

Connie: Steven? ???

Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:02 am.

Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:04 am.

Connie: Pls call me when you can

Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 7:51 am.

Missed call- Connie Maheswaran, 8:47 am.

Connie: Seriously I’m kinda freaking out rn what’s going on over there, I’d come over as backup if I could but I’m packing for the India trip and mom won’t let me leave

He purses his lips, silently smacking himself for sending that stupid, stupid text early this morning in the first place. “Yeah, I should probably clear this up,” he mumbles.

Steven swipes to unlock his phone, navigates to Connie’s contact, and presses the video chat button. Forget calls. This is definitely a scenario in need of face-to-face communication. If they can’t be in the same place at the same time, a video chat is the second best thing.

He plops himself down in the sand, and patiently waits through the first and second dial.

____

Notes:

Woo, this was a fun one (see: heart wrenching) to write. I enjoyed tackling a wide variety of family interactions here.

Some random notes for this chapter:

-HC: while Pearl hates eating, she's actually a fairly good cook. She's the one who makes sure Steven's getting some good ol' healthy food in him.

-Uhh, that game Steven was gonna play before he realized his phone was Dead with a capital D, 'Splashy Shark,' is just this universe's version of Flappy Bird, honestly. Don't ask why, haha, I thought it'd be amusing. XD

-I HC that non-diamond type Gems wouldn't be able to flip their gemstone like Pink/Rose/Steven can. It's something that requires a whole lot of power to carry out. Thus why even Amethyst, the shapeshifting master, can't manage it. As an added point, Rose was able to shift the color of her skin to a far lighter shade and completely change her eyes, whereas other Gems tend to retain their color scheme when they shapeshift. Rose definitely had an extra strong shapeshifting ability in the first place.

-After chapter five, the insinuation is that Garnet went into the temple, unfused, and Ruby and Sapphire had their little falling out there. They only fused again to come out for breakfast because they realized Garnet never got a chance to hug Steven goodbye for now- and they weren't sure when (if ever) they'd be fusing again. Whether this softened the blow or made it worse for the kid is up for debate.

-That being said, I want to clarify that this definitely isn't the end of Ruby and Sapphire's relationship. I'll tag more thoroughly once I start diving into specifics, but their arcs will be about self discovery, both about who they are as individuals and in relation to each other.

-I did not expect to end up writing a Pearl and Amethyst spat in this chapter when I first planned it, but I'm certainly not complaining. It just sorta... organically happened. XD

-The title of this fic actually has a double meaning... the word 'paragon' can refer to both a diamond, or something that is an example of perfection. The divergence in this world led to Steven's gem being cracked, but it also essentially shattered the perfect little family dynamic that he'd had for so long at this point.

[necrolentil]

28 questions tag!

rules: answer the following questions and then tag 20 people [lol not happening i don’t even personally know 20 people on here]

tagged by: @argonoranges

1. Nicknames: Kay, Lemon [full name Kayla]

2. Zodiac sign: Aquarius ♒

3. Height: 5′ 6.5″

4. Age: 23

5. Time: Pacific Standard

6. Favourite band(s)/ artists (s): lots lol. Based on amount of songs I like out of all the songs they have out, MUSE, Lorde, Tove Styrke, Florence and the Machine, Bastille, Troye Sivan, BORNS, Ariana Grande, among others but those artists make some bangers that I just have to sing when I hear them

7. Song stuck in my head: Where Have You Been by Rihanna

8. Last movie I saw: In theater, Infinity War. At home, The Last Unicorn

9. Last thing I googled: Apparently it was the lyrics to the song Kids by MGMT because I always thought that one line in the chorus was about a tree family being haunted or something but I was like that can’t be right. So I googled it an, yup, that’s actually what it’s about.

10) Other blogs: none thank god. less time to spend on here

11. Do I get asks: no probably because I don’t have many followers but don’t be intimidated! I love talking lol even if we’ve never spoken before

12. Why I chose my username: my d&d character is a lil necromancer human boy. I was getting him commissioned at an art booth once and the artist commented something like “he’s such a cute bean” or smth and I was like, well he’s so tiny he’s probably more specifically a lentil. So, necrolentil. I named my username after him because i fucking love him

13. Following: 36

14. Average amount of sleep: I’d say like 9, but some days I get closer to 3 hours of sleep and some days sleep in for like 12 hours so it’s erratic

15. Lucky number: 2 and I hate the number 3!

16. What I’m wearing: Lavender v-neck tee with black jeans

17. Dream job: Still figuring that one out hahahh

18. Dream trip: Japan or Italy, can’t decide between a culture that seems more fun and interactive with appealing food and activities, or to see awesome architectural and historical achievements and also good food

19. Favourite food: I just fucking love mushrooms

20. Play any instruments:  I used to play the trumpet and I knew the basics of guitar and piano, but like everything else in my life I lost interest and my talent faded away

21. Play any sports:  I’m not sure if it counts but figure skating I guess???

22. Hair color:  brunette

23. Eye color:  Hazel [green and brown]

24. Most iconic song:  Every Time We Touch,I Get This Feeling And Every Time We Kiss I

25. Languages I speak/am learning: English! I used to know a whole lotta Japanese but uh, forgot almost all of it

26. Random fact:  I’ve been electrocuted before

27. Describe yourself as aesthetic things:  uhhh floating in the water face down pretending to be a corpse, broken glow sticks with vibrant toxic juice all over your arms and clothes, a crystal champagne flute but in it is three shots of vodka mixed with glacier blue gatorade, walking through the grocery store listening to the fallout soundtrack at 4:02 am and wandering for over half an hour before buying only one pack of pepperidge farm milano cookies and eating them all in my car in the parking lot, that thing where you draw pictures and write words into bananas and the peel bruises to make it stand out

28. Favourite songs:  Into You - Ariana Grande, 10,000 Emerald Pools - BORNS, Fools - Troye Sivan, 400 Lux - Lorde, I have many favorite songs this is like .002%

TAGGING: @xuhbeeyl [I literally don’t know anyone else on here that would want a random mention from me so. but hey if we’ve talked before and you wouldn’t mind being tagged in this let me kno]

[stellartype]

oh heck i forgot i was supposed to make an intro post! :0c

yo i’m anyssa/chris i’m really gay and uhhh i’m mostly into tbo.m and joe ico.nis. i draw a lot (my commissions are open if anyone’s interested!) and post almost all my art from my artblog @aycief so i’ll be posting in the tag from there!!

i probs won’t be too active for a while tho bc my college schedule is crazy busy :’0

[limitededitionsnackoos]

hey uhhh

Ok ok kids inbox me some art requests and i can do sketches of em tomorrow? pls???

i’m only just starting to feel much better after the downfall i had a few days ago and i need some motivation kicked in my ass

I’d rather overwatch stuff, check the tags for ships i like if you want something ship-y(feel free to ask about ones i haven’t tagged! it’s late and i probs forgot some that i like or am ok with)

Just keep note that I CAN reject ones that make me feel uncomfortable or ones i don’t wanna do since these aren’t commissions

[cloversdreams]

I was tagged by @itsclowreedsfault, thank you! this was actually pretty interesting

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

Clover is my nickname and at the time when I made the account I was actually dreaming about the things I ended up writing so… it’s literal. Lmao, not that interesting tbh

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos)

Bookmarks -   Beasts Within (169) Subscriptions - Beasts Within (69) Hits - Beasts Within (12606) Kudos -   Beasts Within (659)

Alright… I get it… I screwed myself early on and wrote my best junk first. Will never be able to top that. Should give up writing and go live in an isolated cave. Noted. :’)

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

Well my previous one was a gif of my OT3 and OTP but I just changed it since that stopped working. The new one for now is this one of my commissions from tumblr,

I chose it because I love and would die for them. Who knows when I’ll decide to change it again X3

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Well I used to have a few regulars that would come talk to me after I posted a fic but they’ve gone now and I’m basically just sitting in my corner all alone :’)

Of course anyone that takes the time to leave a comment is my favorite! Letting me know that there’s actually someone out there that enjoys this stuff is the only reason I bother to post new things sometimes. 

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

Nah, not really. I don’t read much tbh. I don’t have the time to reread stuff so if I do read something it’s usually new (to me).

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

Subscribed - 29

Bookmarked - 25

(sad, no? it actually needs to be cleaned out again but I’m lazy, heh.)

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Fantasy AUs are my absolute weakness. Ughhhh. I love everything about them. Also noticed that I dont write about their quirks much? So quirkless AUs too I suppose. Also Aged Up… or is that a trope… I dunno XD

[cut for length!]

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Subscriptions: 259 Bookmarked: 1965 (across all my writing I guess?)

…anyway I’m pretty sure all of those subscribers are ghosts because they sure don’t ever interact with me. Must be because we’re on different planes of existence *nods*

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Nope. If I want to write a thing, I will. I am a firm believer in “don’t like, don’t read”. No one forces others to click on the content that has been clearly tagged. 10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Hmm. Writing smut I guess? I never feel like my scenes are up to par when it comes to that :/

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

This is hilarious. I’m laughing so damn hard. …-_-…

I live in rarepair hell. I was the only one writing for my OT3 for months. Now, I’m one of the only ones that writes for my OTP as the main pairing of the fic. I don’t even check my OT4 tag but I’m going to assume it’s mostly just me for that as well. It’s… great? I’m not suffering at all? No sobbing over here??

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

A lot. It would have broken 100 by now but I’ve gone back and combined things and deleted stuff twice so, now with today’s post its 58

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

All of them. Too damn many.

As for WIPs though, uhhh…. at least three? Maybe others I forgot about because yeah *sweats*

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I have to write them down or A) I’ll forget them and be sad, if that doesn’t happen then B) They’ll nag at me and I won’t be able to concentrate at all until I sit down and get the words out

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Not as of this moment but you never know what the future holds

16. How did you discover AO3?

Who even knows? A google search I guess? It feels like part of me has always known about it… like I was born with the knowledge of its existence in the back of my brain and I had to level up to unlock it lollllllll

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

No.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

No… but that’s cute. I guess that’s something the popular writers do?

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

Sure. All of the ones that had posted when I first found myself in the MHA fandom.

None of them had what I wanted to see, so I was inspired to share the beauty of my ship myself. It’s been a spiral into hell ever since, thanks guys!

(You thought this was gonna be positive pssssssssssh X3)

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Always keep writing.  People may not notice or appreciate your work like you want, but the more you write the better you’ll get. If you do this, you will be able to look back on the stories you wrote in the past and compare them to the present just to give yourself a shock. It will seem like a completely different person wrote the earlier ones. And they did. Because you’ve grown both as a person and an author. Keep at it!

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I just… wing it. Like I sit down and start typing the middle of a random scene just to see where it takes me. Writing process? What the hell is that X’D

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I feel like the people I whine at already know the answer to this lmao.  Yeah, I have. Some pretty stupid and even tactless ones too. At the end of the day I simply put on my best smile and replied as professionally as I could then moved on. No use dwelling on that kind of stuff. I just sit back and hope that someone else will come along with something nice to say afterwards, which is usually 50/50 :’)

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Smut takes me a long time to write and I never think it turns out any good… I’m also pretty hopeless at action scenes, I think?

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Well today’s fic was  The Merman’s Treasure but I guess you can ignore that since it isn’t a WIP

I’ve got a Baku/Shin, Kiri/Kami, and Todo/Baku/Deku WIP in my docs. Though the last one is prob on indefinite hiatus because I lost my muse for it :/ Edit: I've also got a Shin/Todo/Baku/Deku WIP!

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

Most of the time I can focus on a single thing… but sometimes the ideas just happen and I have no choice but to at least write down the concept because I don’t want to forget it

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Not unless I’m falling behind or not making the progress I expect from myself

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Oh god, yes. In fact, it’s so embarrassing to think about the older stuff I’ve got posted. They’re not even worth going back to rewrite lol. That’s why I’ve gone through my posts and deleted a lot of stuff… twice. My writing has evolved into a completely different thing, it’s nuts!

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

Beasts Within will always have a special place in my heart but I really, really love the way that  It Was Always You came out… I guess they’d be tied for first… oh… but wait…  Love, Piercings, and Tattoo Machines turned out better than I thought it would too. You know what I’m just gonna stop there lol

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

Older stuff… I struggle with the idea deleting a few of them any time I see them get a kudos (I’m like why are people reading junk when I’ve written better stuff lol)

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Nowhere, honestly. Isn’t that sad :3

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

For me personally, I’d say dialog. More often than not that’s the first thing I write as soon as I start a scene. In fact, I’ve written entire fics based off of a single line that I wanted to have a certain character say. Built everything else around that bit XD

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

Finding the time and motivation tbh. Followed by finding the inspiration and convincing yourself that the doubts you have are completely unwarranted. It’s an uphill battle a lot of the time

33. Why do you write?

Mostly because I enjoy it. I love seeing my darling characters get the happy ending they deserve over and over again forever and always. Won’t ever get tired of it.

…also if I don’t create the content I want to see for my rarepairs, who will?

Thanks again for the tag, I enjoyed this! I’m going to tag: @toraoraora, @xkuuhakux, @soulestring, @mack-is-magic, @okieclover and anyone else that wants to do this! Tag me so I can see X3

[ravenluckarts]

Tagged by @solbabydraws

(over a month ago oupss, I kinda forgot about this :`D)

Countries you’ve lived in: Germany

Favourite fandom: oh gosh, I don’t know.. most fandoms have their great and not so great parts and I love everyone I befriended through them <3

Favourite film of 2017: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Languages you speak: German and English

Last article you read: something about Libya (for my geography class)

Last thing you bought online: a ton of stickers

Any recurring dreams: the typical “too-late-for-an-important-thing”-dream

Any phobias or fears: uhh idk..my ongoing social anxiety counts as a fear of failure and being hated I guess :’)

How would your friends describe you:  uhhh idk, too stressed, too obsessed with musicals but also they’d say I’m kind and they keep saying I’m skilled, which I don’t understand :D

How would your enemies describe you: I don’t really have enemies, so Idk...stupid, stuttering, weak?

Would you take a bullet for anyone?: for the people I love? yes.

If you had money to spare, what would you buy first?: books. just lots of books (and manga) also commissions to support some artists

I tag: @pocketwoman7​ @beatriz-miau-mahia​ @kiwinana

[queen-scribbles]

tagged by @tatooine92​ (thanks dear. I love getting tagged for these things

1.       Last movie you saw: uhhh, *cough* The Psych musical(what, it’s like and hour and change it counts)

2.       Last song you listened to: “All About US” by He is We

3.       Last show you watched: Voltron, season 3

4.       Last book you read: Deadman’s Switch by Timothy Zahn

5.       Last thing you ate: Goldfish crackers, bc I forgot to pack a lunch today and it was raining too hard to go get something

6.       If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be? Anywhere? Anywhere at all? Hmm. On an island that I own, tanned and burnt but rested and alone–surrounded by enormous piles of money! #tangled (Sorry, Steph,  I’m keeping that--with minor adjustment for my pale af self--bc it’s too perfect)

7.       Where would you time travel to? Whatever point in time would be best to convince young!me to fuckin’ exercise you lazy gremlin. I’m too worried about screwing up important historical events to do anything bigger picture than that. Ooh, maybe go back and convince my grandfather to buy stock in google when he was considering that.

8.       The first thing you would do with lottery money: Pay off my parents’ mortgage etc and then go on a commissioning spree and share the wealth with a bunch of the fabulous artists I follow.  

9.       What fictional character would you like to hang out with? So many. Right now? Probably Lance from Voltron bc someone needs to give the guy a hug and remind him how important his is to his friends. 

10.   Time right now: 2:16 pm