#i got around to trying my new copics!!

[crabbng]

i actually got some in process shots for this #WebcomicDay ! they are of an episode 12 page, so this doubles as a sneak peek 🤣 you can see i forgot to take a pic of the finished lines before i started on coloring (whoops)

there are a few secret steps after finishing up backgrounds etc. (scanning, cleaning up) but since this is a sneak peek, i didn't want to put the Final Product out there.

I guess I'll ramble a little bit about The Process below the cut.

SKETCH: I don't plan out my pages as much as I should other artists do. I think about the next couple shots I want, what I can probably fit on the page, and then decide how tall the panel should be. after that I draw a big line across the page 🤣 sometimes the panel gets bisected, usually not trisected. I love it when people consider the whole of the page and make the paneling choices that elevate the art. I just don't do it lmao

luckily for me, I don't have a requirement to make every piece of my comic pages The Best. So, I focus on what I enjoy: expressions and conversations.

LINE DIALOGUE AND PANELS: For inking/lining, I ABSOLUTELY have to put in my dialogue/dialogue balloons first. Since I'm doing everything on the same page of physical paper, I can't really shift things around partway through to make the dialogue and art fit better together. I also have to make sure it all fits within the panel lines I have planned. I've gotten into situations where the WORDS fit in, but in order to make a word balloon with decent space around the words, I cross over a line. Sometimes it works, but for me.. it doesn't work most of the time. So, gotta plan ahead.

You can also see down in the final section, I handwrite my dialogue! So, if I mess up, I sometimes have to add in a few letter that I can substitute in during editing.

FINISH LINES & ERASING: All I have to say about finishing lines/erasing, is that erasing can be such a challenge lmao. JUST YESTERDAY... when I was erasing.. I tore a page a little bit. And I often accidentally crinkle a corner while erasing. The obvious solution, and what I know people do, is to sketch on one page, and then use a light table (or equivalent) to do a cleaner, lighter sketch on a new page, and then do lining on that. Which is a good idea, maybe someday I'll try it lol.

COLOR FIGURES: There's really no good reason I start with the figures, besides that I like watching them come to life with the colors. It feels weird when they're blank on the page. They're also generally the most important part of the page for me, and seeing them colored helps me decide on which panels I want to do flat color backgrounds for.

But! This means I can't go back and edit skin tones etc. to be in different lighting after the fact, unless it's to make them darker! So that's something I have to be cognizant of and plan for in advance.

I use Copics for most part of the figures, except when I know there's going to be several large areas to color, like Aoife's hair or her sweater and pants. I have character's hair planned in Copics, but I have several browns from other brands (Prismacolor, Blick, Winsor and Newton, Artist's Loft) that get pretty close to her hair color. Clothing that has large areas that need to be colored are planned as being from one of those other brands from the start. I don't want to use up all my Copic juice on them!!

Also don't you just love seeing the texture of the paper through the marker? I love it. I love the natural variation you get.

BACKGROUNDS & OTHER DETAILS: Color everything else! Backgrounds and shadows generally. For backgrounds I'm once again using my alternative brands. I've got a lot of space to cover, and those markers, along with being cheaper, are generally larger than my Copics. So it works out.

Sometimes I tend to go a bit wild with the single color backgrounds, to the point where I think it can get distracting. So I have to rein it in and leave some panels with white backgrounds, so the reader isn't just blasted with colors from every angle. My rule of thumb is to try and only have color on one panel in each of my lines of panels, and to alternate sides, if possible. I feel like that guides the eye easier.

Doing things traditionally means I don't really get any shortcuts when it comes to backgrounds, including just flat color backgrounds. Every square millimeter has gotta be colored purposefully by me. And maybe that seems like a pointless use of time and effort! But man, I love the end result. I'm all for shortcuts, it's just a lot of the ones I see floating around don't apply to me 🤣

I'll talk about my other steps here too, might as well.

SCANNING: After colors and everything, I scan the pages. They're too big to fit in my scanner, so I scan the top and bottom halves separately, and stitch them together (I use PhotoStitcher).

From there, I rotate it to (more or less) make it straight on my canvas, make a .clip version, and send it off to my iPad!

I got my iPad in a workplace raffle, and though there's a lot about the UI I don't love, it's been really convenient!

EDITING: Editing consists of: cleaning up things that should be white (like eyes, teeth, and word balloons), and then cleaning up marker that's bled over into areas it doesn't belong, and is distracting. I try not to overdo it on marker cleanup, because 1) it takes a while, 2) it can stress me out if I decide I need it all to be PERFECT, and 3) it feels slightly disingenuous, just TO ME, about my OWN work. I don't think 3) is valid, so I try to ignore that part, but sometimes in my head I'm like 'mm but Jacki can you say its traditional if you have to do so much work in post to make it presentable??' (said in a very snobby voice). I went from not really caring -> REALLY caring -> hopefully I'll get to caring a reasonable amount.

FINISHING: Last steps are to send it BACK to my computer, where I have two auto actions to size the page and to export it as a .png in a large and a small size. I should be rightfully criticized for how I size the pages lmao, it's 2647x3560 pixels. Why that number specifically? That's 1) how I've done it since the beginning, so they are all this very strange size, and 2) it's about the maximum area of scanned page I can consistently get.

I think that's it? I don't know why you would, but if you have any questions, feel free to hit me up and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. Hope someone finds this interesting or helpful LOL

bye 💕 happy webcomic day!

[sandrathachao]

A friend asked me a while ago to show off my markers, as i've lost myself completely to marker madness. I found it a little difficult to show them off in one spot, my desk is not normally this cluttered with stuff haha. But! Ive got 3 Ohuhu sets, a good collection of Promarkers and Touch markers, and around 180 Copics! The Copic collection is very new, so I havent had a lot of time to try em out! But the colors are quite lovely, but holy shit the price. Im not gonna be replacing that set anytime soon.

And cat. Because cat good.

[littlecarnet]

Birthday gift art haul!!

Well it's not officially my birthday yet...that's tomorrow, but my shipment arrived early and I got to see all the goods I ordered...

Some of these I've been eyeing for awhile in various stores, but since shipping was free, I thought why not order everything from one spot? Starting from the top left: Faber Castell petite soft pastels, Conté a Paris pastel pencils, Faber Castell Landscape selection soft pastels, Rembrandt Primary Collection, Rembrandt Earth Collection, Rembrandt Sea Collection, Winsor and Newton Gouache, Art Creation Square Sketch Book, faux leather journal with cream colored 100% cotton paper, and Winsor and Newton Designer Gouache.

Rembrandt pastels are my favorite. I have a well loved 48 color set already, but I decided get some more colors that I go through quickly. I've never used Conté a Paris before, so I hope they have good pigments, because I love that they're pencils! They'll be great for details! And I love Winsor and Newton, especially their watercolors, and their gouache is very pigment rich. I had a small set before, so these will round that off quite nicely.

Next are the Copics. I originally was going to buy the beginner illustration set, but I read some reviews about how it's not very good for beginners, aside from the book, so I went ahead and got a variety of sets to cover most of my needs. I've never worked with Copics before, so I'm a bit excited to try these out.

Okay, these have been lingering on my wishlist for awhile, so I thought...aw just get em! I absolutely love Kiki's Delivery Service, so I got the Art Book, a Jiji plush, a Jiij pin, and a collectable figure. I haven't opened it yet, but I like all the possible choices so I'll be happy with anything I get.

These came from a site called Ichigo, I've always loved Cardcaptors, so when I saw the hardback Vol 1 cover, I had to it. It's such a beautiful book, the back of it has the card design. Then I went ahead and bought some blind boxes and bags that were on sale. $3 each! I haven't opened any of them yet, but I'm really hopeful I'll get a bunny baby from the Calico Critters bag, and a jellyfish keychain from the Jinbei-san box. And I love Kirby, so it's doesn't even matter what I get.

This wasn't in the main shipment but purchased from the Five Below site. Look at how cute this all is! I didn't know they had Sanrio stuff! Or Pusheen! So I went a bit crazy and bought a bunch of things from their back to school section. I'm not in school anymore, but these would make my studies fun.

Annnnnd that's it! I'm very happy with my gifts, really excited to try a new medium, and I can't wait to swatch and play around with my new pastels and gouache. I believe I'll be taking those with me on vacation to do some art on location.

My mom and I are currently in town, she wants to get me a gift or two for tomorrow, so I'll maybe do a haul on that too. Likely it'll be clothing, perfume, or jewelry.

[the-fiction-witch]

Dec 11th the best gift!

Media death of a superhero

Character Donald

Couple Donald X Reader

Rating adorable

11th or December 2022

I sat on my little bean bag headphones on working away on my comic when I saw the door open it was my mum so I took a headphone off one ear

"Yeah?"

"Y/n's here" she smiled

"Oh thanks send her up" I smiled putting my headphones away and fixing myself a little bit.

Soon enough the door opened to a rather adorable sight.

She stood in her little white converses with stars drawn on, her green tights with Christmas lights printed on them twisting up her legs, a little black dress with gingerbread men on it and a bit of blue and silver tinsel to bundle her neon purple hair

"Hello!"

"Hi y/n" I smiled

"You are not festive" she says sitting beside me on the other beanbag giving my arm a poke

"Knowone I'd as festive as you sweetheart. You are the poster child for Christmas"

"Still" she pouts

"You look beautiful sweetheart. What did you pop over for I thought you'd be with your family thought till new year?"

"I will but I wanted to come see you before and give you your present and so I don't miss you too bad"

"Aww that's sweet. I'm going to miss you too but it'll only be a week or so and we'll still text I'm sure"

"Well I wanted to visit"

"Alright, you want your present?"

"Yes please"

"Alright, eyes shut" I told her so she closed her eyes, I got up putting my work away and got the bag from under my bed "here you go"

"Yay! Thank you ducky" she smiled giving my cheek a kiss as she took the bag I smiled and watched her open her little card "aww I love you too" she smiled before getting to work on her presents "ooooohh it's beautiful" she Cooes holding the dress to her body letting it sparkle

"I thought good for around the holidays or just when you wanna be sparkly"

"It's lovely" she smiled giving me a kiss "ohh and recipient?"

"I put it in just incase I brought the wrong size."

"Thoughtful" she giggled before getting her next one "oohh just the colours I wanted!" She smiled getting the little make up set out

"I can take a hint sweetheart you've been talking about it for months"

"And one more small one" she giggled opening it up "oh? A box"

"Yes. A box for you to put the new fantastic lands game in when it comes out in January. I am going to buy it for you and I have it pre-ordered but they pushed the release date back so"

"Awww thank you ducky" she smiled giving me a kiss "thank you for my lovely gifts"

"Your welcome sweetheart. Could I maybe have mine now?'

"Of course. I'm afraid it's only one this year but I think you'll really like it" she smiled handing over the bag, I opened the little Christmas card of a robin seeing all the millions of kisses she put in it "aww I love you too sweetheart, and I'd like my one billion kisses please"

"They are in installments" she smiled giving me about five kisses

"Thank you" I smiled pulling the large box from the bag I pondered for a moment what it could be but pulled the paper off revealing "a box?'

"Open the box"

"Okay" I laughed and as I did I almost fainted "oh my god! Are these real?"

"Yes"

"But - but there" I began stuttering in shock at the whole box of copic art markers in all various colours and sizes

"I know that's why it's on big present this year" she smiled "it even has the little storage thing to keep them all in"

"Holy fuck. This is the best gift ever! I have like two of them because they are so good but so expensive I can't believe you brought these for me!" I smiled hugging her tightly unable to stop actual tears "I love you so much!'

"I love you too" she smiled

"I need to get you more presents"

"What? Why?'

"This is not equal"

"It's alright Donald I don't mind I love my presents and I'm just happy your happy"

"No you don't understand I would give you my soul if I knew how and even then that's not enough for this!"

"I'm just happy you like it"

"I do I love It this Is the best gift ever. I love you I love you I love you!"

"I love you too. You want to give them a try?"

"I'm going to unpack them all into the storage I need to look at each and every one of them" I told her slowly pulling them out one by one "how many are in here?"

"Almost all of them or all I could find on their website"

"All of them! How'd how- I may actually faint." I told her "whatever you want for the rest of our lives tell me I will get it for you!"

"Anything?'

"Anything! Forever!'

"Well I'd like a trip to get my favourite take away?"

"Done! As soon as I sort these we will go and I will buy you anything you want."

"You don't have to -"

"Yes I do. You do not understand how happy this makes me. I love you so much and I'll never be able to fully repay you for this"

"Awww in sure you will so long as you use them and appreciate them that's fine"

"I will I'll use them everyday and appreciate every single one, whenever I draw I shall think of you sweetheart"

[silversatori-blog]

Aperture respects non-binary people. Do you?

[justthehiddleswrites]

Then Don’t | Adam x Female Reader

A/N: Two stories in one week!!!  Holy hell who am I???  Another request, this one was from @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay​ And here was the request:  I would LOVE some Adam. Maybe him being his usual grumpy self when waking up and dragging his butt out of bed because he's missing his partner and when he finds her (maybe lounging on the sofa or doing some work) he kind of just drapes over her and demands attention and snuggles like the grumpy baby he is? Just, something fluffy and sweet.

Pairing: Adam x Female Reader

Summary: You have been busy trying to get a commissioned piece done by the deadline, which leaves Adam wanting.

Warnings: maybe a couple of curse words, implied smut.

THANK YOU FOR READING AND YOUR SUPPORT!  TAGLISTS ARE OPEN! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WISH TO BE ADDED!

-

You knew better than to wear headphones when you worked at home. It was already hard enough to hear Adam walking around in the still silence of the dilapidated home on the edge of New Orleans the two of you shared. With headphones on, your chance of catching him before he draped his impossibly heavy body over you was down to slim to none. 

Adam woke just after dusk that night and instinctually reached for your side of the bed. You usually made a point to stop working before he woke, so you could both cuddle in the bed before Adam got up for the night to feed, write music, or tinker with whatever was building for the moment. But this commission piece deadline was the end of the week and you still need to finish coloring the piece. So you popped on one of your favorite playlists and got to work until well past quitting time. 

“No…” Adam groaned when his hand hit mattress rather than the soft form of your body. He opened one eye, squinting against the fading light through the curtains. “Fuck.” 

With much emotional but little physical effort, Adam tugged on his ancient dressing robe and headed out of the bedroom in his bare feet. By some miracle or keen vampire sense, he does not step on a single piece of wire, sheet music or other detritus on the floor. His eyes darted around the first floor when he spies the warm ambient light from your studio door. 

As you set your Copic marker back into its spot and reached for your blender, heavy arms wrapped around your shoulders. 

“Hmmmnnh.” Adam grumbled into the back of your head, leaning heavy against you. So much so you struggled to remain upright.

“Adam. It’s hard to breathe.” you chuckled.

“Then don’t.” His voice muffled against your hair.

“Well, that only works one time.” You twisted to pull away from him and he caught his body as he tumbled forward without you there to support its weight. “Have you fed yet?”

“No.”

“Go feed.”

“No.”

Your brow raised in an expression Adam knew too well. “Excuse me? I don’t appreciate your tone.”

Adam rolled his eyes and turned away. “I’m going. And there was no tone.” 

He disappeared down the hall, but you still yelled after him. “THERE WAS TONE!” 

Adam headed into the small bedroom on the ground floor. Inside was a small fridge where he kept his supply. After moving in and watching him feed twice, you promptly banished him to this room. Under the guise it made you faint. When he emerged, your studio light was off. He could smell something cooking in the oven. Some casserole. He headed to the living room. 

Amid the two different amps, a guitar being restrung and several notebooks filled with Adam’s unintelligible writing, you settled onto the threadbare dark blue velveteen sofa in the middle of the room. You closed your eyes and listened to the hum of the ceiling fan as it moved the cool evening air to stave off the humidity with little success. You dozed off just as Adam flopped on top of you. A heap of muscle. Heavy muscle. 

“Oof. Get off of me, Adam!” You playfully shoved at his shoulder. “I can’t move!” 

“Good.” Adam grumbled. “So you are my prisoner.”

You struggled underneath him for a while, arms and legs kicking. With a sigh, Adam rolled off of you towards the back of the sofa onto his side. His arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you tight. His nose ran along your neck and you swore he is purring against you. 

“You are so needy today, babe. What gives?” You enjoyed the attention from him and burrowed against him, wiggling your ass. 

“I missed you.” He dragged his fangs down the curve where your neck and shoulders met and you shivered in response.

You chuckled. “You missed me? I’ve been right here. For months, Adam. We don’t go anywhere at night. I run my errands and work during the day. So what—”

“No, you don’t. I miss you.” He nibbled on your shoulder. “You have been working later in the night. You sneak off. I miss you.” 

Your brow furrowed. “I thought I was being discrete, babe.”

Adam huffed, but said nothing. His hand ran down your side to light on your hip. He noticed everything, even when he said nothing about it. When you are unhappy about certain pieces, when a certain marker runs low on ink, when you slightly burned your dinner. 

You reached out to turn his face towards you by his chin. “I’m here now. For you. What do you need?” Your eyes stared into his, looking at their unnatural color, seeing the hurt and love behind them. 

“I don’t want to say.” 

“Then don’t.” You cupped his face.

Without sound, Adam rolled you onto your back and caged you against the cushions. His nose nudged against yours as his lips pecked. You sighed and wrapped your arms over his shoulders. As the breath left your lips, he caught you in a heated kiss. You moaned against him, hungry to taste him. 

With a nip at your lips, Adam wrapped his arm around you and effortlessly pulled both you and him to a sitting position. Your legs splayed on either sides of his hips. You threaded your hands into his dark, wild locks tugging on them as you pressed against his bare chest.

“I wish we were upstairs but I don’t want to walk up the stairs.” You murmured against Adam’s neck as you kissed the pale, near luminescent skin, watching as the dark marks fade as quickly as they appear.

“Then don’t.” Adam growled in your ear. He gripped you tight and stood, walking towards the stairs.

“ADAM! Put me down!” You clung to him, wrapping your legs around his waist. Your body pressed tight against him. 

“No.” He made it to the bottom of the stairs.

“But my dinner! The timer… Adam… please.”

With an exasperated sigh and eye roll you didn’t see as you buried your face into the crook of his neck, he turned and swiftly made his way to the kitchen. With a flick of his wrist, he turned off the oven.

“Solved.” And without another word, he marched upstairs with you giggling and screeching. 

[saturnznct]

nct 127 react to their child getting a bad grade

➸ request from anon: how would 127 react to their child bringing home a bad grade?

➸ note: this took so long to write omg but i hope you like it!! i tried to make a variety of situations here so i hope that i did well and represented each one correctly !!

➸ word count: 2121 words

➸ eunbi; aged 5, jude; aged 14, akane; aged 14, amelia & alissa; aged 14, kyungmin; aged 13, jaesang; aged 15, lucas; aged 4, dalgun; aged 14

nct masterlist

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ⋆✦⋆ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Lee Taeyong:

‘Hello beautiful,’ Taeyong greets you as he walks through the door, pecking your cheek.

‘Hi Yongie,’ you grin, ‘how was work?’

‘Okay, kind of stressful.. we recorded some of the new album but the normal sound tech was sick-‘

‘Oh no,’ you pout.

‘Where’s Eunbi?’ Taeyong asks, looking around the entrance of your house for your daughter, ‘she always runs down the stairs when she hears the door open.’

‘She’s a bit upset,’ you warn, ‘got her report card back and she hasn’t done as well as she hoped.’

Taeyong sighs. Eunbi is always like this, a bit of a perfectionist while also wallowing when things don’t exactly go her way.

‘I’ll go and speak to her, ok? You should sit down and rest, and I’ll come to bed once I speak to her,’ Taeyong affectionately rubs your bump which held your growing twins.

‘M’kay,’ you hum, yawning while making your way to your bedroom.

‘Bee?’ Taeyong asks, poking his head around the door to see Eunbi hunched over a book.

‘Oh.. hi daddy,’ she mutters, ‘I’m just reading.’

‘Mama told me that you’re disappointed with some of your grades.’

‘It’s just… in maths. I try so hard but I always get Ds in all of the tests.’

‘I’ll tell you what Bee… how about we get you a tutor? They can come over and help you with your maths.’

‘Really?’ Eunbi asks, eyes widening slightly, ’that would be nice.’

‘Yeah, Bee, me and mama will sort it out for you. Please don’t worry too much, ok? You’re only young, you have time to get better.’

’Thank you dad.’

‘You’re welcome Bee. Remember, I love you.’

Johnny Suh:

‘Oh God, oh no,’ Jude mutters to himself as he hears his father ascending the stairs, getting closer and closer to his room.

It was close to his exams, about five or six months away, and in order to prepare him and his classmates for them, they had all gone through a series of mock exams.

Jude had failed all of his science exams.

‘Hey buddy,’ Johnny greets, ‘did you get your mock exam results today?’

‘….yes,’ Jude murmurs, trying to avoid his father’s gaze.

‘How did you do?’

‘Uh…’

‘You can tell me…’

‘I passed most of them.. except science. I failed miserably.’

‘Miserably?’

‘I don’t even want to tell you how bad I failed.’

Johnny sighs deeply, flopping his tired body down onto the bottom of Jude’s bed.

‘What are you gonna do about it?’ Johnny asks.

‘Revise…’

‘Good man,’ Johnny claps him on the back, trying his hardest to be an encouraging supportive dad, albeit being a bit awkward.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jude mumbles.

‘As long as your grades improve, then we can just consider this a one off.’

Nakamoto Yuta:

It was a rare day, in the sense that Yuta’s only responsibility was to pick up Akane from school. It was nearing summer, so both you and Yuta were waiting for the day your oldest daughter came home with the slip of card.

Yuta sees the way Akane’s face lights up when she notices his car, schoolbag flying behind her as she runs.

‘Dad!’ She yells, hugging him across the console.

‘Hi angel,’ he grins, ‘how was your day?’

‘It was okay,’ she shrugs, ‘I got my report card and...’

‘Can I see?’

‘Uh-‘ Akane fishes the card out from the front pocket of her bag, pursing her lips anxiously as she hands it to Yuta.

‘An A in art!’ He exclaims, ‘I’m so proud. I guess all those copic markers and paints were worth it… an A in Japanese as well-‘

‘Did you not see my biology grade?’ Akane cuts in, surprised that her father isn’t scolding her for the D grade.

‘Well… I’d like it if you could study a little more, well I guess that’s what I’m supposed to say, but I’m not mad at you, if that’s what you thought.’

‘Oh. I was worried you would be.’

’I’ve told you this time and time again. Your grades don’t define you. They’re just stupid letters. I know you’re one of the most talented kids among your class.’

‘Really?’

‘Of course you are Kans… come on, I’ll treat you to some ice cream.’

Jung Jaehyun:

You should’ve known. Having twins meant that no matter what, they would always be compared by someone, whether it’s consciously or not.

Alissa and Amelia were incredibly similar, both pretty and girly, but they also had some differences. One being that Amelia was far more academic, opting to spend time studying over going out with friends like Alissa.

So naturally, when Amelia did better than Alissa in the end of year exams, you weren’t sure who to talk to first.

‘Ah well done Ahyoung!’ Jaehyun’s mother praised Amelia, who smiled happily, ’straight As!’

‘I swear to God, if one more person feels the need to talk about how great Amelia is I may throttle them,’ Alissa grumbles, folding her arms tightly and rolling her eyes.

‘Just endure it,’ Jaehyun reassures her, ‘you know your grandma will shut up about it eventually.’

You can tell that she’s extremely bothered by the attention on Amelia, but you decide to leave her be for now as to not to cause a scene or make Amelia feel bad.

But later, you and Jaehyun both gently knock on her bedroom door, opening it after she gives you her blessing.

‘Hi Lissa,’ you smile, ‘how are you feeling?’

‘I’m okay…’ she shrugs, ‘it’s just hard not being as naturally good at everything like she is.’

‘You’re both great at different things,’ Jaehyun responds, ‘you still passed all of your exams, you did really well, and we’re both going to let you both have equally nice treats each.’

Alissa sniffs.

‘And if you really really want to up your grades, you could spend some more time studying,’ you suggest, ‘we’ll help you in anyway that you need us to.’

’Thank you mumma/momma,’ Alissa murmurs, allowing you both to give her loving hugs.

‘Come on, love, get dressed,’ Jaehyun says, ‘we’re going to go and have a nice celebratory dinner, no grades or exams mentioned.’

‘Is it a buffet?’

You laugh at Alissa’s bluntness, ‘yes, it is a buffet.’

Kim Doyoung:

Doyoung expected better from Kyungmin. He’d hoped that his previous bad grades had inspired him to make more effort this time, but no.

Ds and Fs across the board.

‘Kyungmin, I really don’t know what you want me to do anymore. I know that you can do better than this.’

Kyungmin stays silent, seemingly deciding to just take your lectures.

‘I don’t know what I need to do to make you want to study,’ you sigh in defeat, ‘I don’t want to force you, but…’

For the first time you see tears begin to form in Kyungmin’s eyes, and suddenly he’s cowering under your gaze.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I do so terribly in the exams because I can’t read the words…’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I can’t read them… they’re just a blur and the letters like move around.’

You and Doyoung exchange a look.

‘Kyungmin… I’m sorry that we never noticed you struggling.’

‘I never mentioned it,’ he shrugs, evading eye contact.

‘I wish you had…’ you mumble, feeling a wave of guilt over the fact that your son was clearly suffering and you had no idea.

‘I’m sorry,’ Doyoung says, leaning down and engaging his son in a loving hug, ‘we’ll make an appointment for you, and you can talk to us about it a it more if you want okay?’

‘Yeah, I would like that. Thank you, Dad. I’m sorry I didn’t mention it earlier.’

‘It’s okay Kyungmin. I’m just glad that we can help you now.’

Kim Jungwoo:

‘Kim Jaesang,’ Jungwoo announces, a bit like a game show host. He’s holding Jaesang’s report card in between his fingers, while both you and your oldest son wait for him to read out his grades.

‘You got a B in computing.’

‘Really?’ Jaesang’s eyes widen, clearly surprised.

‘That’s so great!’ You praise, knowing how much he struggled to get that grade in such a difficult subject.

‘All that studying actually paid off,’ Jaesang sighs in relief, a faint smile spreading across his face.

‘But you got a D in English.’

‘Oh,’ Jaesang’s smile drops, causing your own face to soften at his sadness.

‘It’s okay, Jae,’ you rub his back, ‘you’ve worked so hard this term.’

‘I know… I just don’t want to disappoint either of you. Especially since-‘

‘No, Jae,’ Jungwoo interrupts, ‘don’t say that. You haven’t disappointed us at all. We’re just happy that you tried your best.’

‘Really?’ He squeaks, surprised.

You see him flush pink when you wrap your arms around him, pulling him so that this head is laying in your neck.

‘We’re incredibly proud of you, Jaesang… you work so hard, we couldn’t have asked for a better son.’

Jungwoo nods, joining in your hug on the other side.

‘Tell you what buddy, I’ll let you get a new game. Whatever you want.’

‘Thank you, Dad. I love you both so much.’

‘We love you too,’ you mumble, kissing his cheek, much to his embarrassment.

‘Mum/Mom, stop it!’

Mark Lee:

‘It’s okay, it’s okay, Lu, calm down.’

It’s not the first time your son has come home from school in hysterics. Only Mark is at home, having already picked Lucas up from school.

The one year-old Noah looks concerned from his playmat, put carries on trying to fit his entire first in his mouth anyway.

Mark is crouching down, holding the sobbing Lucas in his arms.

‘The mean kid… he said that I was stupid.’

‘But you’re not,’ Mark insists, rubbing his back in a soothing rhythm, heart shattering at Lucas’ words.

‘Just because I got a D in the science test.’

‘I know that you tried your best,’ Mark replies, ‘I really struggled with science too.’

‘Really?’ Lucas lisps, tears still falling quickly down his face.

‘Yeah, Lu. And you won’t be the only one who didn’t do well. This just means that when the next test comes around, you can study really really hard so you can show him who’s boss.’

Lucas giggles.

‘I’ll study real hard,’ he nods, ‘would you help me though?’

‘I’ll always be here to help you.’

Lee Donghyuck:

‘Eh, I don’t care.’

‘Donghyuck!’ you cry, making him jump.

‘What?’ he squeaks, seemingly surprised at your objection.

Your oldest, Dalgun, sits on the couch between you, shoulders hunched over while you both bicker.

In short, he got a bad grade in one of his classes, and you and Donghyuck have different ways of dealing with it.

‘You shouldn’t be encouraging him!’ You argue, ‘you’re supposed to inspire him to do better!’

‘It’s only a start of year maths test!’

‘Mum/Mom. I promise I’ll do much better next time.’

‘You’d better do better next time, Lee Dalgun. Anyway, I’m going to go and take a shower, then I’ll start on dinner for you and your sister.’

You get up, still completely stone faced, leaving the room and heading up the stairs, making soft thudding noises.

‘I was shit at maths too,’ Donghyuck announces once you’re out of earshot.

‘Don’t sweat it kid,’ he claps him on the back, ‘you’re still young, you have time. A little bit of studying wouldn’t hurt though.’

‘I will, Dad.’

[klayr-de-gall]

When did you start drawing?

Do you have other hobbies beside drawing? 👀

Hey there! Fancy meeting you here! <3

I was always artsy, even as a child, so it's hard to say when it started. I would say, I took an interest in Manga back when I was 14 and they were the fresh new thing in Germany.

But I can tell you on the Minute when I uploaded my first artwork to the good old internet XD

12.11.2006 06.15pm XDD It was this one for Harry Potter XD (Hope the link works)

From then on I have been fairly constantly drawing traditionally for a while. Copics and colored pencils were my weapons of choice. I tried digital once or twice, but it didn't stick. Around the middle of 2011, when finishing off school and trying to study art, I did fall out with the hobby, because I realized all the uni only wanted the artists that would make them money. It was very discouraging.

So then life happened and I got busy and didn't draw for a very long while. I sometimes tried to pick it up again, but it never stuck.

I don't know why in February 2018 I suddenly thought getting procreate and an iPad was a good investment (well, I kinda know, I started university, and had some time to be and think creatively again instead of being frustrated in a stressful job). So I invested the ones, and the rest is history. Since then I have been mostly constantly drawing.

So, that's the long answer XD

The short answer is, all my life or better, 10 years. XD

As for hobbies. I have tried my hand in various different things. I have been a cosplayer for 9 years. I love crafting, I have learned to make various types of jewelry, flow grows, fabric flowers. I enjoy baking. Atm, I mostly play video games on the side, because I focus a lot of time on my art. Oh, and O also write ffs sometimes!

Hope that wasn't too boring! Thanks for asking! 💙

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

It’s The Avengers (03x12)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 12: The Double Effect

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline   Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: ehehehehehe

Word Count: this chapter happened every time I tuned out my decision making brain, and the world, and just picked my laptop to go sit somewhere that is not cozy enough to fall asleep.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

A mellifluous note from a violin took over the speakers kept on the coffee table before a prima donna voice did a Snow White-esque intro. The camera sitting on the floor captured the graceful and delicate toes tipping their way before swirling three times. Another pair of feet came in the frame to let it capture two stoic bodies in their perfect ballet stance before they both dropped their head and twerked their behind at the tunes of the fairy tale WAP, revealing the faces of Tony Stark and his mentee. The exquisite routine ended with the same fervour that Tony Stark reserved for his biggest balls, leaving the two breathless and the audience- that was just coming in focus with their mouths gaping wide- quite impressed. "Let's see if you can top this," Tony winked at them, his stern face soaking in the silent applause.

No one said anything. "How can you look so good in tights?" was all that could be heard in the loud thought leaving Scott's mouth, who had to blink and get himself out of the trance. "Did I say that out loud?" "Oh...kay," Rhodey's forehead lines held the weight of all the sanity in this universe, "how about we do something that does not kill the audience with your balls in their face?" Natasha opened her eyes wide while looking at infinity.

Natasha: Can't say this was my first time to have someone dance with their Spanx on for full display. *looks at the camera with no emotion* The ones before were not that lucky though. *camera zooms in* may their souls rest in peace.

"How about an Among Us themed video?" Peter jumped where he stood, his tutu fluffing up with his movements. "And those Ooooooo-aaaaaaaahhh ones," Bucky added. "I'm surprised you even know that," Sam was quick to mention. "Cassie's been teaching me." "...Cassie as in...Scott's Cassie." "Mmm-hmm. She set up everything for me on my iPad." "But your iPad has a child lock." "Oh, that's for me," Scott called from the other side of the table. Natasha looked straight at the camera recording this conversation, making it focus on her face when she closed her eyes and mouthed 'don't ask'. Past the chatter, another camera focused on Tony's eyes stuck on the flat screen that was not turned on for the first time in a long while. "She's fine," Wanda assured him with a smile. "I just now saw her running through a desert. And she seemed really excited." Tony nodded, his body not still at the thought of you out...somewhere he could not see you. "And what about the too-clever-for-himself God?" Wanda chuckled. "He's right behind her. Almost catching up." A certain tick in his train of thoughts made Tony narrow his eyes before turning back to Wanda. "You can see inside people's head, right?" He whispered. Tugging her upper lip under her teeth, Wanda chuckled. "I can read everyone's mind and I know what you're going to ask. The answer is no." Tony straightened his back like a good ballet dancer. "No as in you can't read his mind or no as in he...does not...or no because he is...not..." Wanda passed a quick look to the camera by her side before walking away.

Wanda: *shakes her head* No. Not going to answer that. Or that. Or that. *breaks into a giggle* *sparkling eyes* oh but you should see his head!! Peter's voice: *from outside the frame* Who's head? the camera shifts from Wanda to a curious Peter standing in the doorway before coming back to her. Wanda: *looks back from Peter towards the camera* *stifles a blush* No one. *gives the camera a knowing look*

The Galactic Desert Lulu walked over the rocks giddy as ever. The familiar boots in black followed him as the camera rose from the bed of rocks to bring in the horizon over the smooth desert dune they were climbing. The view of the beginning of the rocky side of life on this planet welcomed them where some old ruins of a monastery lay scattered everywhere.  From where he stood on the top, they looked like scattered Copic markers left by a giant's child on a wild spree; that or something resembling close to your room. When his eyes focused on those figures, he could see the familiar rainbow group that he had grown to dislike. If they were close, it meant so were you. And as if to answer the question- that had just loosened that tension in his brows- Loki's attention was taken by a delightful chirp from Lulu, who pressed his tum-tum and slid down the sand towards the colourful aliens.   A beat resonated through the stones. Loki's brows grew curious again- but only till they saw you. The camera focused on you, panning in to take a good of the swing of your shoulders to the beat. Other than the pep in your step, the lens could make out the flower crown was new; and so was the glitters that were strewn on your black shirt.  A sigh was all that Loki presented the crowd with before coming down the discreet stairs in the sand choosing to completely ignore you.

Am I being weird You're looking through me like You don't even hear (hello?)

The words were clearly meant for him but it wasn't him who joined in with you on the beat. And that did get his attention. First, it was Sky- the sky blue dude who twirled you around to let you fall into Red's arm.

'Bout to get on my Houdini shit and go and disappear Am I wasting my time tryna give a fuck But I don't really care

Red- with his piercing gaze set at Loki- matched your step to the heartbeat with one fierce smirk before you were nearly stepping on your own feet to walk into the dead centre of the place.

Fading all the signs that I keep on running through Making up excuses so they blame it on my youth

White joined you, happy to be by your side. He seemed different today. A bit more handsome. Maybe it was this starlight. Or maybe he was born with it.

I just wanna have fun, with jewels in the sun And ignore all the calls that I'm getting from my mom saying:

Every single one of the rainbow band had their arms and legs in sync with your steps as if you had rehearsed this part with them at least a hundred times.

Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you

The twist and jerk of the hips was something new that raised Loki's brows. Nonetheless, no one from the audience complained about those moves. Least of all Lulu- who was shaking with beats while trying to mimic you as much as his bushy body allowed.

I'm trying hard, I'm trying really But I ain't got 20/20, I ain't seeing clearly I can't Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you

Loki tried to rub the worry mixed with frustration from his face while turning away from you. The camera caught the little flinch the God felt when you turned him around.

Face off, face off (Bang, bang, bang)

The finger gun motion brought down the rainbow colours one by one only to have them coming back up slowly, that too in perfect sync. They were so flawless that for a moment there, Javier had to catch his own emotion of impressed surprise in one of his devices.

Looking in the mirror You and me now (Yeah!)

You stepped closer to Loki with the words.

No one's around (Yeah!)

Winking suggestively at him while all his did was frown a little at that very suggestion

Time to get down (Down, down, down)

He took a step back in the name of caution only to find you catching Orange by his collar to bring him close and dancing your way down his body, leaving a little gap between the God's lips to let his lungs breathe in what he was witnessing. And whatever air he had left in his lungs was forced out when Orange looked at the God and gave him his version of a 'thumb's up'. Loki nearly broke into a run to get you away from him only to find himself grabbing thin air while you were standing on the broken pillar ten feet away from him. And relatively at quite the height.

Fading all the signs that I keep on running through Making up excuses so they blame it on my youth

Green and Purple joined you over the stone, swinging their arms and shaking their hips in languid harmony with you; going where your hands went, turning where your head did, enjoying themselves a lot.

I just wanna have fun, with jewels in the sun And ignore all the calls that I'm getting from my mom saying:

Whether or not you pretended to fall from that height, Loki felt the fear for a good second before Javier's camera recorded him inhaling in the fury of giving away his emotions as you appeared to dance right around his back. And these alien skittles made it even worse of an embarrassment.

Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you I'm trying hard, I'm trying really But I ain't got 20/20, I ain't seeing clearly I can't Focus on, focus on, focus on, focus on you

When nothing else worked, the silent death glare from those smaragdine eyes towards the jolly ball of music player did the trick of shutting the party down. "Every time anything even close to dreadful happens in my vicinity, why is it always the pack of you prism puppies?" Those 'prism puppies' giggled at some inside joke before White licked his lips and turned towards Loki. "Because one of you loves us too much." Lulu, now resting on Loki's shoulder, turned to look at you and his camera caught the giddy swing in your steps as you skipped your way to Loki's side with a guiltless smile on your throbbing lips and those barely open yet content eyes looking at everyone around them. "Bullshit," Loki cussed without a hitch in his breath, leading you to gasp with a dramatic air. "He said bullshit," you whispered to Lulu, who tilted his head in response. "Shut your ears, babe." Green smirked. "No bullshit, your highness. We can only be called upon when someone thinks of us with no ill intentions in their heart." Loki had to raise a brow at that. "So you are saying one of-" he pointed at the four of them- "us took the time out of their life to think about you? Where is your pr-" "We can project the thoughts of the caller on the big screen if you want-" Your eyes opened wide at the idea and you nodded with quite the enthusiasm. "Okay," Loki announced with an amplitude loud enough to make you jump, "we all need to take a break after that hard routine!" He clapped his hands to conclude the meetup which bummed you out. "Let's go somewhere then. Drinks are on me." "Yes!" You jumped and skipped to Violet, taking his hand in yours to swing your arms with his as the two of you skipped forward. Orange and blue with yellow mimicked the two of you while green and red kept their hands in their pants and followed you guys with a strut fit for Gods. Javier made it a point to stay right at the front to catch everything. That left Lulu and his camera to record the two kings left alone to look at each with a knowing gaze. "It should not come as a surprise but I have to say it was quite the shock to hear you call out our name." White nudges the rock on the ground with his shoe, giving enough space and privacy to the God look at him with a piercing gaze till he had his fill. "You never speak of this," Loki commanded, "to anyone. Especially-" "I know," White acknowledged before he could finish. "I have seen your thoughts, remember?" He cannot help but smile he prefect-teeth smile at Loki. "How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a mind reader, Loki?" "Do not talk to me as if we are friends." Loki sounded tired and done for the day. "Aw," White swung his shoulders before letting his finger poke Loki in his arm, "you have quite the ego even without your powers. But I still like you." He lets his index fingers touch each word in a fluffy manner while making uwu eyes at the God. "I don't," his eyes glowered. "YOU DON'T?" White gasped out loud enough to catch the attention of the group that were a few meters ahead of them. "BUT YOU SAID IN YOUR THOUGHTS THAT YOU L-" Javier's camera caught all seven of you turning around to hear white shout something inaudible before Loki apparently hugged him to the point that they both fell down. "Wow!" you tilted your head with a content sigh. "It's so nice to see people get along with Loki." "Of course, they'll get along," Yellow mentioned, "they both like y-ow!" No one but the camera saw the quick smack delivered on Yellow's head by violet. "To lead!" Violet declared, not taking his eyes off Yellow. "They both like to lead. Well and with example." You smiled at them with confusion in your eyes and turned away and forward, with the same confusion, shaking it off, murmuring 'space spirits, space spirits' and continued skipping towards the destination that lay behind the last piece of the standing monastery.

Violet: *cutest accent* that was close Yellow: *bumping into Violet to come in the frame* *excitedly* this close. *grins ear to ear* Violet: *rolls his eyes*

A small crevice between the monastery's remains led down a stony path that looked right out of a fantasy movie, giving the feel of the European middle age street except for the moss and hanging boulders over the group that crossed the path.  Javier's camera caught you humming as you bobbed your head side to side, the boys mimicking your movement while moving with you. "Oooh!" you sang, "the air smells like candy!" "What's candy?" "Something sweet, something sour, and sometimes tangy!" Green tsked.  Orange looked at him in confusion and gave him a questioning nod. "She is on the second stage now." "What's that?" Green gave his companion a head-to-toe look before narrowing his eyes. "I don't know." Gasping with fake frustration, Orange begged with his soft jumps to know what it was. His baby voice was in vain till he came close to Green to whisper, "Is it something terrifying?" Green shook his head. "Something...ugly?"  Green sighed. Orange walked closer to Green. "Is it something horny?" The miss in Green's step confirmed everything for Orange, who tried his best to stifle the ecstatic butterflies his felt in his gut by biting down on his lips. Too bad he could not do the same for his flirty eyes. "Ori..no," Green cautioned him, but 'Ori' was already clasping his hands and almost his entire body to not let the joy escape as he swung around and skipped to your side. "Bad Ori," Green called out, but Orange was already wrapping his arm around yours, making you skip with him towards the opening, leaving the rest to catch up. Violet and Red joined Green as they watched the two of you disappear from their view. "He knows White will kill him if he does anything stupid, right?" Red stated with the killer smouldering look. Somewhere on earth fangirls screamed and two specific men started to question their orientation. Violet stretched his pretty pink lips and raised his perfectly done brow. "Do you think that'll stop him from doing something stupid?" With one thought-ridden pause, they let out a collective groan.

Facility Lawn "Oi! Sam!" The camera looked down from the lounge's balcony at Natasha standing in the bright afternoon sun with her hands cupped to call out Sam's name one more time if he did not show up this time. "'Sup!" The falcon greeted the Black Widow from the balcony, sipping on fresh coconut water right out of its natural juice box. "Throw me a sanitiser," Nat shouted. Sam turned where he stood, bending backwards just enough to get a peep inside. "Yo-" he grabbed a passing Bucky's attention- "pass the sanitiser." Bucky grabbed the bottle kept on the coffee table on his way to casually throw it in Sam's direction- who made it a point to look just as effortless while grabbing it. "Where you been?" Sam asked before readying his arm to do a precise throw in Nat's direction. The camera grabbed the roll of her eyes and a defeated sigh. "Had to drop off some documents." "Where?" "...at the White House." The throw came down from half the way as Sam let out a disgusted- and stretched- 'ew'. "You went over to Trump's place?!" Clearly, the assassin was to trying to hold down the guts wanting to come out of her. "I know. You don't have to remind me of the misery I just went through." "Woman, you need something bigger than this can," Sam stressed while raising the sanitiser in his hand. "Why are you standing in the lawn?" The camera in the lawn caughtTony in his workout clothes coming out from the garage while Nat tried her best not to grit her teeth. "She was at that wrinkly orange's place," Sam quipped before Nat could open her mouth to speak. "My feelings exactly," Sam agreed with the emotions reflecting on Tony's face right now. "Just hand me the sanitiser," she muttered at Sam through her eyelashes. "Oh, noooo-" Tony shook his head- "you need a whole bucket." A whistle-like cheer came from the front door as Scott came skipping outside. "What's happening?! What are we celebrating?" His bright eyes waited for an answer in excitement. "We're not-"  Nat's voice was drowned by Tony's 'she visited the orange tan bitch's office', making the assassin share a mum look with the camera before closing her eyes to contemplate. "Oh," Scott breathed through his teeth with a sorry face before taking a few steps back, "I'll get the hose," leaving Nat to look at the camera with a blank stare that was painting quite the picture of her thoughts.

Natasha: *expressionless* Someone's going to die tonight. *takes out a folded dagger* Sam: *pops his neck into the frame* *whispers* of too much cleanliness. *smiles wide for the camera* Natasha: *looks at the camera* *clicks the dagger open*

Monastery Grounds Lulu's camera caught the eerie vibrations these narrow path reflected from its walls as the huge metal door came into view. The intricate foreign drawings were understandable to the few who knew about the times of the monks. But to the innocent soul like Lulu, it only added to the unspoken horror that might be on the other side of this numbing silence where this little one could hear Loki's heartbeat loud and clear. Floofed up and cuddled into a ball, he hid in Loki's jacket right by his chest. Everyone except Violet, White and Loki had already gone through it. "It's all right," Loki hummed at the little one, stoking a few hairs on his shivering head, "there's nothing to worry about". The tsk of White's tongue was louder than he expected. "I wouldn't be so confident," he muttered under his breath. "And he needs to hear this because?" Loki was quick to question, facing the captain of the little group. White looked at the little floof curled up around Loki's chest before his eyes threw a curious glance at the God. "If he does not face his fear, he won't grow. I am sure an intellectual like you would know." "And why would I want him to 'grow'?" The null emotion brought a smile on White's face. "Are you really that protective of him or do you not want someone to find out what happens when he...'grows'." "Maybe he's both," Violet adds while looking at the sky from whatever the tall walls have left for the view. "Maybe you two should keep your business instead of thinking what others are thinking." "You know that is literally the basic part of our job, right?" A roll of eyes later, Loki sighed and turned towards the door. Lulu perked up from the jacket a little to hear something before clicking his stomach. "What exactly did I do in my life to be stuck with you?"  White knew he wanted him to hear that. "You think it's you we want to hang out with?" The door is dragged open and bass boosted tunes fill the musty alcohol-filled air that comes from the night on the other side.

Candles, glow sticks, fire lanterns- anything that can burn and glow lights up the building on the inside. 

Take a sip, take a sip, take a sip And a trip, and a trip, and a trip

Bottles, vessels and jugs of baroque shapes decorated the wall at the back up to the ceiling, creating an intricate mirage of figures dancing in the glass as lights reflected off them. 

And I'm like, when you bitch, when you bitch, when you bitch Counterfeit hypocrite holy shit

Bodies everywhere. Smoking, drinking, grinding, making out, trying new colours on their tongues. Bodies dancing to the music roaring through the neon stick-looking speakers. The shadows left by the light dance everywhere; even at places they are not supposed to. 

And amongst all the elated uproar, Javier's camera caught the three beings- and a furball- dispersing the crowd with just their existence, standing there with an aura that said the world revolved around them. And to some extent, they were not wrong.

Everybody gets high, why the hell can't I?

Eyes followed these boys; some filled with lust, some with a shade of curiosity, some with a hint of envy. But these three had eyes only for one thing. Looking for half the shades of a rainbow and a tipsy woman accompanying them. It wasn't long before all those eyes landed on the figure standing on top a table dancing like it was the end of the world. The jacket was gone and the maroon tank top with those familiar black jeans was the centre of attention. Hair down and flipping with all those jumpy moves. At one point the camera even caught you looking at it, winking and giving a shiver-inducing smirk.

Everybody gets high, why the hell can't I?

A closer look and Javier was standing in the mix of some very desperate and hungry creatures either dancing around the table either enjoying your company or doing their mating routine to attract you. As long as they maintained the distance, everything was fine. But as soon as one wrinkly faced rat tried to step on the table to touch you, a burst of roaring energy blew that alien back to where it belonged with the rest of the confused crowd. A few seconds late realisation came when five shadows with eyes gleaming like cats looked right into their souls, making them shrivel and curl up. The very next moment, five cutest boys were dancing with you on the table, increasing your happy high even more.

Everybody gets high, why the hell can't I?

Loki: *rubbing his face in his palms* never in the thousand years of my life did I think I would die of old age. *shakes head* And that too from worrying to much because of a measly human woman. *you go dancing past the camera screaming in delight* *Loki's eyes follow you before he stands up from the wall he's been leaning on and takes a step forward to come in the way of this one crocodile-man alien who is twerking his way to you. Crocodile-man jerks his way into Loki, who is standing there with his arms crossed, unwavering in every way, making the aquatic species lose their composure and walk back where they came from, letting their body tell the God to take it easy.* 

Fifteen minutes later Javier's camera focused on those big eyes of yours that were so devastatingly engrossed in Lulu as if they were seeing him for the first time. And that poor little furball was mimicking every move of your neck like a little one does with their mama. "Waaah!" you whispered with a tinge of positive shock. Javier's camera zoomed in on Loki who was looking at you with the judgment of an entire galaxy in his eyes. "You adopted him," his voice tried to cut through that trance but all it did was make your pupils wide in affection and let your throat give out a broken squeal before you petted your little one affectionately. A loud gasp followed, making Javier turn towards you and pan in on the drunken horror on your face. "What." "He is so fluffy-" you whispered while drawing the purring burrito close to your chest- "I wanna kill him in my arms!" For the first time in the history of fancams, the lens caught Loki's head fall all the way back in defeat while a groan left his throat, and before anyone witnessing could recover from it, the God was on his feet trying to take Lulu away from your arms. "Give me the baby." "Mm-mm." "You'll kill it." "..." "Give me Lulu before I pin you down and take him by force." It was quite visible that you were trying to imagine his words and it was also evident that there was that very slight smirk at the end of your lips before you licked it away. "I'll give him to you when you finish my beer." A confused frown was all you got. "Dammit, you look cute even when you frown," you whispered to yourself before turning to Loki, "I don't like the taste but I don't want it to go to waste. Finish that and then not only will I give you Lulu but you can also take me home."

Loki: The fact that she is ready to go home when we all know what happens when she gets drunk is both a boon and a bane. It's like an opportunity presenting itself and you look at it suspiciously, wondering what exactly is hidden underneath. *camera pans in* But for tonight I am willing to take that risk. *picks the beer mug* *drinks it without breaking eye contact with the camera*  *camera zooms out to pan in on White standing at the back frozen with a beer mug in his hand as his jaw drops to the floor* 

As soon as the mug hit the tabletop, you, Orange and Violet hooted and cheered and Lulu- who was sitting in your lap- imitated your hand gestures. "Come on-" Loki got and dragged the chair back- "let's go." Like a basic instinct, White immediately took Lulu from your lap before you stood up and jumped in excitement. "YES! LET'S GOOO!!" And ran to the dance floor, leaving the camera to capture the pure void that came over Loki's face.

Quarantined Avengers Facility The security cameras showed the time as two in the night when Scott could be seen walking through the lounge still half asleep as he made his way to the kitchenette for some water. "Take this," a husky voice boomed through the dark, making the man almost have a heart attack while he turned his fists towards the source of the voice, letting the bottle hit his face and fall down. "Sorry," Bucky apologised before going to one of the three bottles next to him and devouring every drop of that gifted liquid. Picking up the bottle and nursing his fresh wound that was definitely going to grow into a bump in the morning, Scott joined the assassin on the sofa. "Can't sleep?" "I can't stop thinking about those videos where that one woman is spilling all the stuff men do." "You gotta be more spe-oh! the woman who knows the secrets of the balls! Yeah, she does know a LOT!" Bucky stared in the infinite darkness and nodded. "Well, nothing to distract us from how we play with our ass hair like this," Scott groan mentioned as he got up to pick the remote and switch on the big screen. What played was the recording of you dancing under shimmering lights in a crowd of quite a variety of creatures. The beats were not familiar at all but that did not stop you from swinging your hips and jumping around having the time of your life. Without realising, Scott was also swinging his head with the sound while the camera panned in on you a bit more, unexpectedly catching an odd faced creature with sparkling blue eyes and grey skin getting close to you from the back. Unbeknown to you, the creature opened his mouth to let his snake-like slippering tongue slip out to come next to your ears. "What the f-" Before Scott was able to finish his emotion, a hand caught that tongue from behind, twisting that little sneaky shit and throwing it back somewhere out of the frame followed by a very audible yelp. Without missing a beat one of those very hands took yours and dragged you out of the frame too without any warning. The camera hastily followed to find you being dragged right to the dimmest lit corner in the back only to smack your back into the cold wall while a strong pair of familiar arms pinned your escape routes on either side of your shoulders. "What the he-" your giggles stopped right with the sentence when you realised the distance between your face and Loki's was less than your palm's. All the fun in your eyes seemed to suddenly evaporate when you felt those hands by your either side drag themselves closer to your shoulders; when those green eyes were staring right into your soul and that flawless acne-free face was getting close enough for you to smell the sweet alcohol in his one long exhale. His black tresses nearly covered both your faces while your mind evidently went blank and your body wanted to be swallowed by the wall for a second. "Loki," you managed to whisper through your croaky throat, wanting it to sound like a question desperately. In response, Loki let his left hand grab the few strands of stray hairs out of your face and gently tuck them behind your ear. That was all it took. And the lounge camera recorded Scott falling to the floor unconscious with a satisfying thump. Bucky sat there sipping his water and raised brows and a contented 'hm' leaving his throat.

Over the other side, Loki drew himself closer to you, making you look at his lips time and again before you finally closed your eyes. Loki's lips brought themselves closer before stopping right at a finger's length. The camera panned in to discover a little furrow in his brow that came and went before finally settling in and letting him draw himself back with a glower. "Why did that beer taste sweet?" The question came out of nowhere, making you open your eyes to a very confused God looking at his hands and his surroundings and finally you. And just when that scared grin came to settle on your lips, did his eyes blow up realisation. "Oh, fu-"

[chemicalfics]

Hello hi, umm so you are really cool and I really like your blog. So if I may ask can you do some headcanons with bloody painter with a s/o who does art a lot and is really good at it. Also they are very gentle, small, and socially awkward. If you don't want to do this just ignore me sorry.

hi! i got to your request late because i stopped writing for a while:( anyways thank you this request is adorable!

ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄ bloody painter (helen) ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄

• helen is obsessed with you to say the least, you both were practically made for eachother!

• helen is a little less socially awkward than you are which works out when you two are in public together.

• helens hand gripped onto your tiny one as he walked with you through the streets of a small town. his dr martens boots caused the wet autumn leaves on the ground to mush under him. it had just rained in the area so the air was misty but overall the atmosphere was calm and quiet, the only noise was chatter from a small restaurant and birds in the trees.

• one of his favorite places in this town was a small presumably family owned art shop run by a sweet old man. he had never taken you here before and it was your first time in the town. as he opened the door to the shop a little golden bell jingled and the owner happily greeted you two.

• his mask was off so you saw the small smile he gave as he looked down at you “i forgot i need some more water colors..take a look around and i’ll meet up with you ok?”

• “um yeah that’s ok i wanted to see if they had copic markers here..” he was about to let go and walk off till he noticed you looked a little nervous to be alone without him in an unfamiliar area. “never mind, we can go together” he gave you a reassuring smile now walking through the store with you. eventually you found your markers and he got the water colors he needed.

• helen liked to dabble in all sorts of art but of course he had his favorite which was simply painting on a canvas.

• you liked to sketch in sketch books and were excellent with colored pencils and markers but also used a tablet for digital art.

• helen had never considered this as something he could do, he would much rather hold a paint brush but for you he was willing to try it out!

• one day to try something new he picked up a set of face paints from the store

• you giggled softly as helens hands lifted you gently and placed you to sit against the cold bathroom sink counter. “helen what is it now?” you blushed looking up at him, he liked to surprise you with little things here and there.

• he held up the set of colorful face paints and some brushes which were already thoroughly cleaned. “i wanted to see if i could paint something on your face, i won’t be long i promise” he was close to your face, the tips of your noses touching because he tilted his head downward to be closer to you.

• you blushed and nodded smiling “of course helen go ahead” he kissed your lips quickly and pulled away to tuck some hair behind your ear.

• “stay still my love..” he smiled lazily, his opposit hand held onto your chin to angle your face upwards as his paintbrush stroked an array of colors on the side of your face.

• helen painted your favorite flower, the petals looked like they could be real. he had the same relaxed smile as he turned you to look into the mirror and see his painting. “oh helen it’s beautiful!” you were mesmerized by the beauty of it all.

• he turned your face to his kissing your lips briefly again “just like you, you’re my flower y/n.”

• you’re his absolute favorite company, everyone else it’s a little too loud and rowdy for him. he takes comfort in your quiet peace and cherishes every moment he has by your side.

ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄ got a lil carried away but i hope you enjoyed! this was super cute and made me so happy ʕ⁎̯͡⁎ʔ༄

[tessmontyart]

2020 year in review

It’s funny, last year I never actually got around to doing one of these. I didn’t think it was overly interesting. Oh 2019, how I miss you so 😭Such an innocent time ....

I’ll do a quick recap, cause hey no-one but me reads these anyway. 2019 was a glorious time. I went to Italy for the first time, went on an awesome Hunter Valley trip with my friends, had a 100th birthday celebration for my pop, I got to see the show I worked on air on TV, we saw the Lano and Woodley apartment in Melbourne .... Good times!

I didn’t give a rats about being unemployed and took matters into my own hands by making loads of new merch and selling at the most conventions I’ve ever been to. I tabled at Sydney Supanova, Adelaide Avcon, Sydney SMASH, Coffs Nexus Con, Sydney Oz Comic Con and Brisbane Supanova! I did so much travelling and events, it became my full time job. It was exhausting, but it was loads of fun, it paid the bills nicely, and it was wonderful to meet followers and mutuals in person.

My partner was very invested in counting up the numbers of what was selling and what wasn’t, and taking note of what was inconvenient with my setup and how to make it better. He even made a powerpoint presentation on what I could focus on for 2020, what kind of merch I could focus on and adding more conventions to my list. We were both excited about the idea of trying out Armageddon in New Zealand, which would have been my first overseas convention!

Cue 2020.

It started off uneasy. There were still bushfires everywhere and smoke hanging around, but I was optimistic they would die soon and the rest of the year would be fine. I booked a bunch of conventions early as usual. Got a whole bunch of new things made and ordered for the first convention of the year, Melbourne Supanova in early April. Some Acrylic charms didn’t make it in time because of COVID, but I thought that’s ok I still have a whole years worth of conventions to sell them at!

COVID-19 was just a spooky mysterious thing that was happening overseas at that point. I think there might have been 1 case in Australia, so all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer was sold out, but we were still able to do our usual travelling for the event. Little did I know, Melbourne Supanova was the first and last event I could do in 2020.

COVID hit Australia hard, Melbourne especially. There were lockdowns, quarantines, planes were grounded, airmail was halted, the cases kept multiplying, rules kept changing and changing and it was all so new and such a headache. Seeing every single convention I had booked cancel one after the other was hard to process. This was my main source of income in 2019 and now it’s up and vanished. Everyone were losing their jobs too, so the idea of getting a new job was completely out the window. 

I tried to cheer myself up by drawing ‘Toilet Paper Chan’, my new magical girl character who has the ability to summon toilet paper in a time of need 😅

I made it into a Draw This In Your Style challenge, seeing as everyone was bored out of their minds in quarantine I hoped it was something people could pass the time and have fun making. 

(here’s a handful of my favourites) I had a few entries which were all very adorable, but I admit not as many people joined as I expected. I don’t blame them though, this whole pandemic was very soul sucking and demotivating, especially hearing the constant stream of bad news when it all started.

I also made some lineart of a cute Easter girl, encouraging people to colour her in if they are bored in quarantine.

That was really fun, and I planned to do more, perhaps whole colouring books for a small price to download. 

Then, out of nowhere, my friend from the last animation studio I worked at in 2018 contacted me. “Hey Tess, are you looking for work?”

“Um .... yes?”

Work? In 2020? What?

It turns out the animation industry is one of the only industries that are doing fine in the pandemic. Literally the only change is that animators have to work from home instead of at a studio. If you have the animation software and an internet connection you have everything you need.

So my good friend had recently scored this job for a studio which outsources all their animation for their animated TV series. The role is just fixing up any animation errors inhouse to minimize the amount of back-and-fourth between studios. It doesn’t sound like much but it became too big a job for just one dude to handle, so he contacted me and 2 of my other animation friends to help out. We had a ball!

It was loads of fun, and the contract lasted the whole year! 

It wasn’t just fixing up errors either, I got to animate walking/ running / jumping / flying cycles for the overseas animators to use, which was great practice for me, and we even had a whole episode to ourselves to animate from scratch which I really enjoyed.

And then ... the year just flew by, because I was busy working the whole time. It was really quite surreal!

There were a few highlights, such as being a bridesmaid for my best friend’s wedding and organising her hens party, which is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things.

(Hens Party - it was yellow themed (her favourite colour) and High Tea.. it was adorable!)

(The bridesmaids and the bride on the Wedding Day)

Unfortunately there were some lowlights too ... This was the last year I got to see my aunt. 

She was the craziest, funniest aunt, and still far too young to go. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be the same without her.

As always, drawing is the only way I cope with anything. My family chose a plain wooden casket, encouraging everybody to write a message or draw something on it, before it would be sent to the crematorium. I drew Spotty, her awesome horse I remember from my childhood, surrounded by her favourite flowers. Monty draw Mingus, her awesome ferret we also remember from our childhood.

That wasn’t the only bad news either. Pat’s Grandpa passed away later in the year, and a handful of my friends had relatives who either passed away or were diagnosed with cancer or some other horrible life threatening disease. A musician who collaborated with favourite artist collaborated passed as well, and even though I didn’t know him personally, it was still horribly devastating. Not to mention all my friends/relatives pets who didn’t make it through 2020. There was just so much loss this year, and I’m still grieving my cousin and my friend’s mum who both passed last year, it’s getting harder and harder to cope. It’s gotten to the point where I’m paranoid about who the next person will be because I haven’t finished grieving the last ... 

All I can say is I hope 2021 is a little kinder when it comes to my loved ones. The small light at the end of the tunnel is; any suicidal thoughts I used to have frequently have all completely vanished, because I’ve been faced with the reality of it all. You really don’t realise how many people love you, people you don’t even know.

...

That was very dark, but it’s definitely something I needed to get off my chest.

Lets go back to a much lighter note. 

More highlights: 

🌻Animal Crossing New Horizons came out this year! I used to play Wild World back in the day so it was wonderfully nostalgic, and me and Pat have made the cutest little town with all our favourite villagers. It’s a nice way to escape from it all ^_^

(Monty’s island when we started)

🌻Speaking of games, the brand new Crash Bandicoot came out this year too! It was actually jaw droppingly amazing seeing all the awesome new ideas and mechanics they came up with while still keeping it classicly Crash. I loved it and I’m so excited to see if they give Spyro the same treatment!

🌻2020 brought about new and interesting ways to still enjoy Live entertainment. Lano and Woodley did a Zoom show which was absolutely hilarious, and Lights did an amazing online Dead End show which had me so pumped!

🌻Pat and I continued our anniversary High Tea tradition, this time trying it out at the Hydro Majestic hotel in the Blue Mountains!

🌻Speaking of Pat, his sister got married this year too, despite the pandemic. Congratulations!

🌻Pat randomly bought a Miku figure for himself, out of the blue, completely unravelling years of unnecessary ‘shame’ I’ve inherited caused by a pushy mother and a crappy ex. I used to love figure collecting but was convinced by certain judgy people that it was stupid and I needed to sell them all. I kept my very favourites in a cupboard ‘just incase they increase in value’. But now I can finally display them all again knowing Pat loves them just as much as I do!

We also added a ton more to the collection to make up for lost time (and because there’s SO MANY CUTE MIKUS NOWADAYS)

It’s a bit messy because we recently got new ones and need to make more space for them. The shelf with the Vocaloid nendoroids were my original ones hidden away in the cupboard, the rest we got this year ^_^ They make me so happy!

🌻Speaking of Pat unlocking things I’ve always wanted to do in the past: I am now planning to revive my old OCs Yui and Lotto! They were just characters of mine back in the day, but since I’m not good writing I never really came up with a story for them. But with Pat’s writer wisdom and my kawaii art style, I’m now planning a webcomic featuring the two cuties ^_^ It’s still in the very early planning stages but I’m super excited, and forever grateful for Pat, for believing in me ;w;

🌻This year I drew 31 more Owl City songs in copic markers, to go towards my ongoing project to draw every song! I’m actually getting quite close to my goal now which is exciting! 

🌻This year I went to a Drive-In movie theatre for the first time to see the new Bill and Tedd movie, it was glorious and now I wanted to try more drive-ins. Going out to see a movie on a big screen *without* being able to hear smart-asses or screaming babies? Yes please!!

🌻How could I forget, this was the year my idol noticed me!! Lights shared and retweeted my Deadend fanart! Life = made.

What to to look forward to in 2021:

This is the first New Year where I actually have an idea of how 2021 will go! I managed to secure another animation job at a new studio starting January, ending January 2022 😊So thats the financial security for this year sorted! :P

As for general goals for 2021;

I’m hoping to have a decent plan, concept art, chapter ideas and hopefully even a script done for my new webcomic! I also wanted to make some cute simple animations of the characters just because c:

I’d also like to just do more of my own animation in general ... I animate every day for work but I never get to do my own animated projects. It will be hard with a full time job, so maybe this can be a 2022 goal ... but hopefully I can do at least one little animation of my own!

I suppose another goal is to make a social media accounts for my animation, too. Even if I don’t fulfil my goal, I still would like a page to showcase everything I’ve done so far.

And if all else fails .... Another goal is to draw more Miku. It’s crazy that I love her this much and haven’t drawn any fanart!

I think I’ll leave it there because I’m babbling now. 😅

I’ve done so many of these now o_o

[2018] [2017] [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]

[bishiglomper]

After sissy found out she got her stimulus, I checked mine. I got it too. 👀 I've been able to keep most of my money. My family isnt good with money but they are good at paying it back..

I want to keep the majority of it saved. Like for emergencies or big stuff. Like the car breaking or something. But it feels cushy enough I wanna splurge on Wish stuff again. Last time I kept it to like, $150 out of 1200. I bought so much hobby stuff I never would have considered asking for. This time around I could only think of about $50 worth of stuff I skipped over the first time. I even went through other wishlists to see if I'd been sitting on some long term wants 😖

I decided a lot of those were too big of a commitment for me not being into those particular hobbies atm though.. Like buying copics. Or special crochet hooks. Or replenishing my clay cache..

I kind of really want to try resin. But that shit is sooo much. And the materials to use with it. I have a teeny bottle of uv resin and a silicone mold of earring shapes I wanna play with. But I'm one of those people who hoard elixers until i know exactly when I need to use them and even then... Lmao. I can't bring myself to use up the bottle unless I know exactly what I'm making. So many possibilities.... 😶 If I could, I would get an assortment of all the colors, all sorts of filler materials, tools.. Sigh. Too much. Too big. 😅

I want a custom kigurumi too. But that's a few hundred dollars. Unfortunately sewing was one of the few hobbies that didnt agree with me.. (If anybody knows who can make me a kickass Decidueye kigurumi pattern tho hit me tf up 👀)

If I can't figure out any other special projects I'll see if mom or sissy wanted anything special. Maybe I'll get that new pokemon snap.

I dont have a bank, for reasons, so I have to withdraw my money before they charge the card it's on. I think I'll pick a gofundme or two before I pull it. 👀

[dennydraws]

Hello March!

Good Morning, friends! March has arrived and one hopes for warmer days. XD It’s obligatory end of a month, start of a new one, Denny life rambles~ Feel free to ignore!

February was such a lovely month, despite the cold weather. I got to reprint more of Mirage Crown and nearly all copies got claimed! I’m so happy!  🙏  I still got a couple left in case someone wanted one but didn’t see the post! :> Drawing all the bonus watercolor pieces has been such a blast too. I’m being slower this time around but I believe I’ve also improved more! :D First batches sent should be arriving soon and I hope I get to see posts around again! I’m about half way through with the orders! \o/ 

I also got to try a certain famous art supply that I have not tried until now! Copic markers! All thanks to a friend in Japan who was so nice to buy me a couple of colors so I could finally try these mythical wonderful copic markers XD

Aaaand Holy Moly they are amazing! But everyone knows that by now lol I’m late to the party XD It’s definitely a learning curve but I’m loving them and hope to use them more this month! And now I already want to buy more colors, argh D: rip wallet!

Speaking of, I’ve been having somewhat of a minor break from FF14 over the last two weeks. I’ve been drawing more and in the weekends I’ve been playing Dragon Quest 11, (yes, I’m so late to the party ;;) ... playing a console RPG is something I haven’t done in so many years. My last console before I bought a switch was PS2 lol xD;; ... it feels a little surreal to just relax on the couch and hold a controller again and... play. It felt like enjoying the fruits of years of hard work and stress even if it was just one weekend haha I know it’s so simple and silly but it brought me so much joy. Of course I will soon be stressing over repairs again, got more pending rooms to fix but for now this was a bliss :D;;

I’m also looking forward to grabbing Animal Crossing when it comes out. I’ve never played an Animal Crossing game and really want to try it! Seeing so many of my friends hyped makes me so stupidly happy too!

And lastly, I did mention I’ve been getting more and more into the healthy foods mojo? I’ve switched my meals around to focus on vitamin A rich foods in hopes it will help with my acne (at this age and it still bothers me so!) and while I’m just a week in with this meal plan, I’m having lots of fun cooking quick and easy meals after work and everything turns out so deeeelicious~  I’ve cut the coffee to one cup in the morning and switched to more green tea while at work. I thought I’d take the coffee cut more dramatically but nah it was fairly easy haha I hope I will see some positive results by the end of March! I’ll likely look into some laser treatment this month too cause dang it acne, you just had to leave scars too :c It has been major insecurity of mine for years now and it will be a dream come true to rid of it... or at least reduce it.

Anyhow~ That’s what I’ve been on and about through February! March’s theme for me is - GREEN! :D More greens in my food, more greens in my drinks! I hope you all have a lovely start of March and lots of positive moments!

[creamsherry]

Oh my gosh happy new year’s eve everyone!! (,,>ω<,,)💕 thank you for following me through another year! 🎨✍🏻✨ Next year, I want to try even more new things, like making new types of merch, and improving my skills in drawing anatomy, backgrounds (oh lord), and digital art too...! (⌯˃̶᷄ ﹏ ˂̶᷄⌯) What would you like to see me do more of in 2020? ( ´͈ ॢꇴ `͈ॢ)･*♡ These two drawings are commissions I did for @new_knees a while back but never got around to posting 💦💦 He is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and has been so incredibly supportive of me over the years (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀) If my dream of becoming a full time artist comes true in 2020, he is definitely one of the top people to thank for it! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ∩´﹏`∩ﾟ)ﾟ｡ — #copic #copicart #copicmarkers #commissions #pastel #anime #animeart #karakaijouzunotakagisan #animefanart #fanart https://www.instagram.com/p/B6vNf7jFijL/?igshid=1j92zqxmtabhb

[avengerscompound]

Routine

Routine: A Captain America Fanfic

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes x F!Reader

Word Count:  1523

Warnings:  Fluff, slight angst, sex talk.

Synopsis:   Steve has a morning routine that involves drawing the people he loves while they sleep.

A/N:  For my #Happy Steve Bingo Fill: Sketching

Routine

Steve had a routine.  He hadn’t had it long but he found it centered him.  It made him feel like he was part of something.  That he was more than just Captain America.  He was a friend and a partner and he was Steve Rogers too.

It wasn’t much.  He’d wake in the morning, untangle himself from you and Bucky.  It wasn’t always easy but generally, even if he did wake one of you, the two of you would grumble and move closer to each other before falling back to sleep.  He’d meet Sam in the lobby and the two of them would go for a run.  Together this time.  He wouldn’t just charge past him trying to show off.  It was stupid after all.  He got his body through science, he didn’t really need to do anything to keep it.  As long as he practiced his combat skills, he would always be fast.  So he took his time.  Talked with Sam.  Found out about how things were going with him.  Shared his own life. Asked him for advice.  Gave him some when asked.  Joked with each other.  Teased each other.

Then they grabbed a coffee and headed back home.  When he got back he’d shower.  He’d take his time, getting the sweat off from the run, enjoying how the steam felt when he breathed it in, and the heat felt on his muscles.  Appreciating this body he had, even with the things it had brought with it.  The feeling of not having any autonomy.  The fact he had found it hard to trust people’s intentions since he’d gotten it.  Since he got it he could see properly.  The world looked crisp and in color.  He could eat what he liked and enjoyed the flavor of it.  He could drink coffee without worrying about what it would do to him.  He could run without worrying that it would be the last thing he did.

When he got out of the shower he’d dry off and dress in just his boxers.  He’d take a seat in the recliner they kept by the window, pick up his drawing supplies and start to sketch.  It was the same thing over and over again.  When his therapist had recommended starting up drawing again, he wasn’t sure if she meant to just draw you and Bucky asleep over and over and over.

It was just every morning he saw something new.  Something that had it’s own beauty.  He would try a different technique.  Or he’d use a different medium.  It was never the same twice and he couldn’t help but want to capture it and keep that for himself.

Besides, this was his safe place.   Here in this room with you and Bucky, he could be naked and vulnerable and he never had to worry.  He knew here, he was safe and loved.  Even though what you had was not exactly normal, here in this room he felt the most normal of all.  He could be either weak or strong here.  He could give in to his desires.  He could laugh, and cry and be held or do the holding.  He could make sounds that came from a primal part of him and feel things that he didn’t allow when he stepped out the door.

He did that with the two of you and capturing your moments of peace and stillness, in that hour just before you both woke, meant something to him.

He first did it when you’d both slept over together for the first time.  He had seen you both sleeping on your own before that but there was something magical about seeing you together.  Alone Bucky always looked tense and vulnerable.  Like he was either expecting something to hurt him or he was ready to get up and start fighting.  With you beside him, his muscles were relaxed and he allowed himself to stretch out and tangle his limbs with yours.  Alone you always seemed to be reaching out and searching for the missing person.  You slept light and woke early.  When Bucky was there you curled up tightly against him, with your arm draped over his waist.  You curled into the crook of his arm.  You let yourself be spooned.

That first time it had been raining overnight and when he’d come back in, in his soaked running shoes, he’d seen you both just cocooned in a pile of blankets with only your hair visible.  You’d looked so cozy and comfortable he wanted to see if he could capture that on paper.  He’d used charcoal that time, trying to get that play of shadow and light that was happening thanks to the overcast morning.

Since then there were sketchpads full of drawings.  Graphite drawings on hot summers days where you both starfished out in the nude but still had a hand on each other.  Colored pencils sketches of fall mornings where Bucky was spooning you and you had your face buried in his chest.  Watercolor pencils of spring mornings where you were both naked under a heavy blanket with a foot sticking out each side.  He had pictures of you drawn in bright colored matching pajamas you brought as a joke but then insisted they all wear that he’d colored with Copic markers.  He had pictures of you naked and disheveled drawn in chalk.  Pages and pages of different poses and lighting and various states of sleep.

Drawing them made him happy.  They made him see you both as relaxed and vulnerable as you got.  He put part of himself in those drawings.  His love for you both.  The contentment he felt since the three of you had decided to go ahead with the rather unconventional relationship you were in.

Today the weather was cool but clear.  The perfect weather for a run.  He and Sam had talked about the photo opportunity at the homeless shelter they hoped would get more people donating time and money to running.  They talked about the girl Sam had been seeing for the last two weeks and if he thought it was serious or not.  They talked about whether or not children were a thing they could hope to even want, living the life they had chosen for themselves.

When he got back he’d showered and come into the bedroom to find you lying half on top of Bucky with your face pushed into his neck.  One of his arms was splayed out and the other was curled around your waist.  The blankets were mostly on a heap on the floor except for one that had caught on Bucky’s foot and there was a strip of light streaming in through the window and playing over your waists.

He sat down in the recliner and took out his art supplies.  Today he would try pastels.

Around 40 minutes passed as he sat sketching the two of you, trying to get the colors just right.  The only sound in the room the hum of the buildings vents, the deep breathing of you and Bucky, and the scratch of pastels against parchment.  Slowly the picture took shape.  Not that it was a photo-realistic version of the two of you or anything. He did feel he was getting that soft lazy relaxed feeling in the room and the real beauty he saw in you both.

You began to stir and your eyes fluttered open.  You looked up at him and smiled sleepily.  You and Bucky were no strangers to waking to see him drawing.

“Morning, my love.”  You whispered.

“Morning, sweetheart.  Did you sleep well?” Steve asked.

You hummed and untangled yourself from Bucky.  He rolled onto his stomach as he chased you in his sleep and then sprawled out.  Steve knew he would wake soon.  Empty beds were not a friend on Bucky’s.  You came over to the recliner and crawled into his lap.  He wrapped an arm around you and put his hand on your thigh, leaving a colorful handprint on your skin.  You looked at the picture he’d been drawing.  “I really like this one.”  You said, your voice still heavy with sleep.

“Mmm… I like it too.  Felt good today.  Like we get to keep this.”  He said.

You looked up and him and kissed his jaw.  “That’s a very good morning.” You touched your finger onto the paper and then rubbed the pigment that clung to your skin between your fingertips.  “You’ll have to set it.”

He nodded.  “I will.  When Buck wakes up.” He put the sketchpad and pastels aside and pulled you closer to him. He cupped your jaw leaving a print on your face.  “For now, I have a better idea.”

“Do you now?”  You teased, leaning in and rubbing your nose on his.

He smiled and for a moment he just looked into your eyes and felt content.  He has his routine.  He went for a run with Sam.  He took a shower.  He sketched.  Soon he’d make breakfast with you both.   Right now though was when he got to wake you both up.  He leaned in and the two of you kissed.

[hellas-himself]

Crack Ship Holidays

Friendsgiving Pt. 4 

“I love that vermillion, Cora. Good choice,” I say as Cora dips her brush into the paint again. She beams at me and I pat her shoulder before continuing on. I have the kindergarteners and first graders painting to their hearts’ content. ‘What do you think of when I say the word autumn?’ Some children are painting leaves, others foxes and just a mess of color, and I love it.

Ten minutes before class is over, I show them how to clean up their brushes. How to store them. We have a few hiccups, but it’s nothing I can’t fix. I have second and third grade working on watercolor galaxies and reflections in a body of water. 

Fourth grade is my last class before lunch. Aelin’s goddaughter, Evangeline, had volunteered to help me with our lesson in shadows and light. She sits on a chair in the front of the class while another student shuts the lights off. I turn on all four studio lights and Evangeline tries not to laugh at the sudden focus on her.

“Ms. Archeron?”

I look over to see Heather raising her hand.

“Hm?”

“Who was that guy who carried the lights in for you?”

I smirk. Cassian had driven me to work this morning to help me bring them in. He had kept them for me in the attic at home all this time-

“A friend,” I say and make my way to the front of the classroom.

“Your special friend?”  

“Yes,” I say, and get a bunch of little laughs and snickering. “In fact, he’s an artist as well. And what I’m showing you today is something he has to do every day. But in order to shade and highlight, we have to understand our source of light and how that light reflects back onto our subject.”

*

Aelin and I sit in the teachers’ lounge at lunch time. She’s grading papers while I heat up our lunch; Cassian made me so much food I decided to split it between the both of us.

“How are you holding up?” she asks as I set a plate down before her.

“It’s going pretty well. I think I’m going to keep it simple. We only have two days of school this week and it seems pointless to throw something new at them just to have to do it again after break.”

“Smart.” She pushes her papers aside and pulls the plate closer to herself. “Does Cassian always make you lunch?”

I laugh. “No. Sometimes we go somewhere to eat.”

“I wish Ro worked a little closer. I mean, I wanted to be closer to home- there’s a school by our house but it wasn’t a good fit.”

“He works with Elide’s husband, right?”

Aelin rolls her eyes. “Lorcan. And all his other ridiculous friends. If you were single, I’d totally hook you up with one of them. I swear they all look like they’ve walked out of a runway or something.”

“I feel the same way about Rhys and Azriel.”

“You all seem really close… How did you meet?”

“We grew up together… Mor and I became friends in like… third grade. Rhysand’s parents adopted Cas and Azriel and pretty much raised Mor, too. So we’ve kinda always been together. I started dragging Lucien along with me to get him out of the house and the rest is history.”

Aelin laughs. “That’s… That’s cute.”

“What about you and Rowan?”

She sighs. “I hated his guts when I met him. He’s my cousin Aedion’s best friend so he was always at my house on weekends and afterschool when they had football practice. He irritated my soul.”

“When did it change?”

“Oh, it never changed. He gets on my nerves but I love it. I love him- we’ve been through a lot of shit together.”

Aelin’s eyes widen and she reaches into her back pocket for her phone.

“Speak of the devil,” she murmurs and answers it. “Hiiiiii handsome. Come say hi to Feyre.”

Aelin moves to fit me in the screen with her despite his protests. Rowan doesn’t even have a shirt on.

“Hey, Feyre! Forgive her- I’m at the gym, so…”

“Understood,” I say with a laugh.

“Cassian made us lunch,” Aelin says to him and before she moves the phone away, I can see the frown on his face. “It’s amazing.”

She looks my way and winks.

*

Sixth grade is packing up for the day. I gave them free reign to choose what they worked on today and only interceded when asked. I had some working on pencil sketches, others on acrylic paintings. One girl brought copic markers to class and was working on a little comic strip that I immediately fell in love with. Pastels, oils and watercolors- I gave permission to a group in the back that wanted to spray paint this random piece of plywood that had been sitting in the closet. No one knew why or how it got there.

The door opens and I look up at the clock before I look at who walked in. Cassian grins and gives the class a quick hello. I get up from my chair and blush when the kids start teasing as fourth grade had.

“Class, this is Cassian. Cas, these are my sixth graders.”

“Is that a tattoo?” someone asks. When I look, Alice was holding up her hand.

“Uh, yeah. I’m a tattoo artist,” Cas answers rather bashfully. And the class collectively loses their shit. I cover my mouth, and try not to laugh as question after question gets thrown at him.

“Alright, alright, guys,” I say at last. “We’ve got like… two minutes before the bell rings. If you want, I can ask the principal to have him-”

I get interrupted by multiple voices already agreeing to have Cassian come to class. I laugh it off and wrap my arms around his. I lead him to my desk and have him sit in my chair before I go to lean on the desk.

“I’m really proud of the work you did today,” I say. “If you haven’t already done so, I need the entry slips for the winter art show. If you want to but haven’t come up with an idea, I have no issue helping you figure that out.”

After a chorus of thank yous, the bell rings. I wait until the last kid walks out to push myself off the desk and tie up my hair.

“I have to put away some stuff, then we can go,” I say and Cassian gets to his feet.

“Tell me what to do,” he says to me and rolls up his sleeves.

*

I lock the classroom and look at Cassian who is holding my bag.

“All done,” I say and reach out for the bag. He raises a brow.

“I’ve got it, bunny.”

“Well, if you insist.” I bat my lashes at him and he laughs as he reaches out for my hand.

“I do,” he says and we walk towards the front office.

“Are you up for going with me to the store?” he asks. “I need to start the pernil for Thursday.”

“Of course! I’m making apple pie, remember?”

Cassian flashes me a grin. “You’ll make one just for us, right?”

His voice is conspiratorial and I want nothing more than to push him against the lockers and kiss him.

“What kind of question is that, Cassian?”

“Just making sure,” he says innocently. I open the door that leads into the main office.

“I love you,” I say and briskly turn the corner.

“I love you, too, bunny.”

Cassian nearly bumps into me when I stop suddenly. Tamlin… Tamlin is here.

“Bunny, what-”

I want to walk away but I can’t move. Briar notices me and she beams.

“Feyre!” she exclaims and walks around her desk. “I’m so glad I caught you.”

Cassian stands beside me and I don’t miss the way Tamlin blanches slightly.

“This is my boyfriend, Tamlin,” she says cheerfully and takes his hand. “Tam, this is Feyre, the new art teacher I was telling you about.”

He gives me a curt nod.

“That’s her boyfriend, Cassian. He’s just…” She sighs wistfully. “He helped her set up class this morning. He’s an artist, too!”

I feel Cassian take my hand and I find my ability to speak again.

“Well, thank you for that, Bri… But we have to go-”

“Oh, yeah! Friendsgiving, right? I was telling Tam about it but our parents are so… traditional.”

“Bronn invited us for dinner on Friday,” Tamlin says, his voice rough. Briar laughs and gently taps her temple.

“Silly me, I forgot! Well. I don’t want to keep you. We should hang out some time! Maybe a double date or something.”

“Yeah,” I say with a laugh and look up at Cas.

“There’s a movie in the park coming up,” Cassian says to Briar. “Rowan invited us, I don’t think he’d mind if you tagged along.”

Aelin would no doubt eat Tamlin alive, but I don’t say that. I merely smile.

“Think about it,” Cassian continues, his nonchalance is enviable. “Well, it was nice meeting you, but bunny and I really gotta go. Our dog gets antsy after a while.”

Briar waves at us enthusiastically while Tamlin just remains frozen in place. I hear Briar excitedly gushing over Cassian’s pet name for me and I swear I hear Tamlin groan. Cassian hauls my bag over his shoulder as I open the front door, but Cassian doesn’t let me go, even after he puts the bag in the back seat. He opens my door but instead of lifting me up into my seat, he pulls me in for a hug.

“Want me to take you home?” he asks me softly.

“No… No, I want to go with you.” I pull back enough to look up at him. “I need it.”

“Alright.”

“And… we’ll talk about it later?”

Cassian nods and kisses me.

*

I have my laptop open on the kitchen counter playing Christmas music. Cassian has his hair tied up and is wearing grey sweatpants and a white shirt- no doubt on purpose. God, he looks fucking good. Valo is pretty bummed that Cassian won’t let him near the pernil for Thursday so he’s moping at my feet.

“Has it been like an hour?” I ask Cas as I look over the apples sitting in the bowl.

“No,” Cas replies with a chuckle. “I thought you put a timer on.”

I shrug. “I forgot.”

Cassian looks back at me and just smiles and shakes his head. He goes back to seasoning the pernil and I slide off the barstool.

“Need help?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“You being here is enough.”

I have no witty come back. Nothing funny to say. Last November, I was a wreck. I had only gone to our annual Friendsgiving dinner because Cassian and Mor practically dragged me out of bed…

I blink- Cassian kissed me.

“Get out of your head,” he says softly.

I lean back against the counter, mindful of all the bottles and glass containers of seasonings he has around him.

“I don’t know how I would have reacted if you hadn’t been there,” I say quietly. “But at least I know why he’s stopped calling me.”

“He was still calling you?”

I give him a nod.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, the last time he did, Nesta showed up at the apartment and then you came over and stayed the night. It didn’t really matter by then.”

Cassian smirks.

“She’s too nice for him,” Cassian says. “I can’t even imagine how that happened.”

“I wonder if Aelin’s met him.”

“Aelin would never keep her dislike for someone to herself. Believe me.”

I roll my eyes, but he’s right.

“Can I ask you something, Cas?”

“Mhm.”

“Will it bother you… me working there and him knowing, I mean.”

Cas sighs. “I always worry that you’ll bump into him when I’m not around… I see your sister every now and then- it’s not completely avoidable. But this is your career. He can’t take that from you.”

He leans over and kisses me again.

“I’ll never let him hurt you again.”

“I know.”

Cassian’s phone goes off and he asks me to check it for him. I let out a laugh.

“Thank you,” I say as I turn the alarm labeled ‘REMOVE THE APPLES, BUNNY’ off and lock his phone.

*

I wake up to Cassian��s alarm. I reach over to find his side of the bed cold. With a groan I get up and crawl over to his side of the bed and shut the damn alarm off. I hear the back door open and close, Valo’s excited bark at whatever Cassian is saying to him.

After washing up and throwing on one of his shirts, I go find him. The second I open the door I can smell the food in the kitchen. It smells like heaven. When I walk into the kitchen, Cassian is by the stove. The pernil is in the oven and on the stove is what I assume to be breakfast.

“It’s so early Cas,” I say with a yawn.

“The pernil wasn’t going to cook itself, bunny.”

I make my way to him and hug him from behind. He puts his hand over mine.

“Go back to bed,” he says softly. “I know you’re off for the rest of the week.”

“Your phone doesn’t think so.”

Cassian chuckles. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I say with a sigh. “I get to be with you longer.”

School had ended early on Tuesday and we had yesterday off as well. I had spent the day cleaning the house and playing outside with Val.

“Now that you’re awake, I can get started on the coquito.”

“Hm… Now you’re talking.”

*

“Hey, bunny, everything is in the truck,” Cas says. I look through the mirror to see him peeking through the door.

“I’m done.” I look back in the mirror and give myself a quick once over. Cassian walks into the bathroom and I can’t help but blush by the way he’s looking at me.

“I really like that skirt,” he says as he comes to stand behind me.

“Yeah? I like your shirt.” My deep red mini skirt matches his button up shirt. I have an oversized long sleeved shirt tucked into it and black tights with heeled boots. I like his black pants too, but he already knows that.

“You look beautiful, bunny.”

“Thank you, handsome.”

I turn to face him and give him a kiss.

“Let’s get Val and get out of here,” he says, and kisses me again.

*

There are spots in my vision from all the pictures we have taken. Rhysand’s mom insists on a big family picture every holiday- this year is no exception. They have always treated me like family, and I was always amidst the pictures taken for any event and holiday but this year… This year Adela ushers me away from the camera on the tripod and has me stand with Cassian.

“Don’t be silly,” she says as she smooths my hair and pinches my cheek. “You’re in the Christmas card this year, too, hija.”

I do my best not to burst into tears as we wait for the picture to be taken. Adela asks us to take a few more “just in case”. Val sits happily at our feet while Az puts Iliana down to stand. After the fourth picture, Vincente calls for coquito. Helion and Aurelie arrive right on time for dinner, as do Amren, Varian and Andromache. We take another picture to include them as well.

Rhys carves the turkey stuffed with mofongo that he and Lucien made while Cassian handles the pernil. We say grace solely for Adela and Vinny’s sake. Iliana tells us all how she stopped her teacher’s lesson about Thanksgiving to tell her that the textbook was wrong and that the lesson was based on lies.

“She wasn’t very happy with me, but she said sorry and explained uh… what was that word?” Iliana looks at her father who looks ridiculously proud of his daughter.

“The white-washing of history,” Az offers and she beams at him.

“That! I didn’t get in trouble for that.”

“No, you were suspended for fighting with that Hybern girl,” Elain mutters.

“You did what now?” Cassian asks and Iliana crosses her arms.

“She called me stupid and said she didn’t care about what I was saying.” She looks so much like Elain right now it’s astounding. “Then she said something nasty about brown people like me so I gave her something to be mad about.”

That is a line straight out of Elain’s book.

“We had to meet with the girl’s parents.” Elain rolls her eyes. “It’s disgusting that people teach their kids to be so hateful.”

“I have never seen two full grown adults look so ashamed after you spoke to them,” Az says teasingly.

“The bitch tried blaming Lia for her daughter’s bullshit,” Elain snaps and Az just leans in to kiss her.

“I know, babe.” He chuckles and she rolls her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I ask Iliana. She finally loses that haughty look and sighs.

“I was sad for a little bit, Auntie Feyre…” Iliana musters up a smile. “I only got suspended on Tuesday. That cabrona is in trouble for more days and isn’t gonna get to go to the museum next week.”

“Iliana Gabrielle,” Elain says sternly. “Language.”

It doesn’t help that everyone laughs. Elain just sighs and starts to laugh, too.

After dinner, Vinny brings out the cuatro and the singing begins. Everyone takes part in decorating the tree while coquito is passed around. We made a virgin batch for Iliana and anyone driving home- in my case, me. Cassian has rolled up the sleeves to his shirt and unbuttoned his shirt enough to let his tattoos peek through.

“I am honestly surprised I got engaged before you,” Rhys says. I roll my eyes.

“We’ve been together barely a month.”

“That’s bullshit.” I glare at him and he laughs. “You two have been together since New Year’s. That’s almost a year.”

“And you and Luce have been together since your Freshman year of college.”

“Fair point.” He looks pensive. I put an arm around his waist and lean into him.

“I am so happy for you two.”

“I know.”

“No, really. I know we all cried and said our congratulations that night but… I am really happy for you. I love you both so much.”

Rhys hugs me and presses a kiss to my temple.

“I know, darling. And we love you… more than words could ever explain.”

*

“Feyre, hija,” Adela says to me. “Leave that for Rhysand. Come sit.”

With a blush I pass the knife to Rhys who wastes no time in cutting into the pie. I make my way to Cassian but Adela pats the empty space beside her.

“Ma…” Cassian sounds worried but Adela ignores him.

“I want to share something with you,” she says to me and Cassian’s eyes widen. Az laughs and throws an arm around Cassian’s shoulder.

“You’re a taken man now, manito. It’s a rite of passage.”

Cassian elbows him which only makes Azriel laugh even more. Adela sets the album on her lap and opens it up.

“Look at this jamoncito,” Adela says sweetly and looks up at Cassian who looks like he wants to die. “Baby pictures are rare… but they’re precious.”

Cassian hadn’t been adopted until he was in grade school, that much I knew. I noticed the way Adela’s eyes welled up with tears as she carefully brushed her fingers over his baby pictures. She lets out a sigh and turns the page. She laughs and taps a picture of Cassian as a two-year-old, sitting on a towel at the beach with snails in his hands.

“Mami, please,” Cassian pleads but she waves him off.

There are very few pictures of him as a toddler. But he was the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.

“You were so fat,” I say happily. My heart feels tight in my chest- I can picture our own child together and I bite my tongue. “I could eat you up.”

“This is the day he came home for good,” she says as she touches a picture of Cassian standing outside of their house between Adela and Vinny. He’s smiling and his hair is a mess of curls. I had never seen him with short hair before. Then there were pictures of birthdays and his first time on a bike. Pictures of him with Rhys and Az in their bathing suits by the pool, the three of them smiling. I’m in some of the pictures and one of them brings me pause. Cas and I are asleep on the sofa- I remember that day. My parents had been fighting nonstop and Nesta had gotten in the middle of it. Elain and I rode our bikes to their house but it had rained so much, I lost control of the bike and fell. Elain had helped me sit up before she left me to find them and Cassian had come for me with Rhys. Rhys rode my bike back to his house and Cassian had ridden his bike with me sitting on the seat. Adela had cleaned up my knees and wrists, put me in some of Rhys’ pajamas while she threw my clothes in the washer. Cassian and I had spent hours coloring and playing on the Nintendo until we all went to the living room to watch novelas with Adela.

I look up at Cassian and he’s visibly concerned. I offer him a smile as Adela turns the page. I remember the middle school pictures- Cassian after his first football game. Homecoming. Cassian and Mor dancing at a Christmas party. There’s even one of Cassian diving into the water during a family vacation. Though Cassian smiles in most of the pictures, I remember how much he struggled with depression, with a self-hatred that had turned into recklessness that only worsened as he got older. There is a picture of us on his motorcycle- neither of us are wearing helmets and I’m waving at Adela. I remember that day- he’d taken me to my first house party and I’d gotten shit faced for the first time in my life. I cringe.

Cassian sighs with relief as we reach the end of the album. He gets up from the sofa and walks towards us and snatches the album from her hands. Adela takes advantage of that to hug me tight.

“I keep telling Vinny how lucky we are that our boys are happy,” she says and kisses my cheek.

“I’m lucky, too,” I find myself saying. “I didn’t have a family until I met you. I owe Mor everything.”

Mor is in tears but I know that it’s mostly all the rum she’s had tonight. I get up to hug her as she begins to weep much to Andromache and Rhysand’s amusement. Cassian pulls me away once Mor is calling for another song and Az is handed the cuatro to play. He leads me to the kitchen and surprises me with a hug.

“Are you alright, bunny?” he asks. He pulls away to cup my face, his eyes searching mine.

“Yeah, I’m great… Why?”

“You looked… spooked.”

“Oh… No. It’s just… You’ve always been there for me and I don’t know. It was a nice reminder of how lucky I am.” I put my hands on his chest. “And seeing you as a baby-”

He sighs. “I can’t believe her.”

“She did this to Rhys and Az, and you laughed at them. But that’s not the point.”

“No?” He brings his hands to my waist. I shake my head.

“Seeing you as a baby… It’s easier to picture what our baby is going to look like- I mean, if we have one.” I don’t know why I’m blushing, we’ve talked about this before.

Cassian smirks.

“And, I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “You went through so much… But you worked your ass off to work through it. I’m so proud of you, Cas.”

Cassian looks at me in surprise and before my heart can sink at the sight of tears in his eyes, Cassian wraps his arms around me.

“Cas?” My voice is a whisper.

“I love you, bunny,” he whispers back. “Thank you.”

.

.

.

This was so long!!! 

If you haven’t read any of the Elriel holiday shit before, lemme recap on some of the stuff mentioned here. 

Pernil is pork shoulder made for every holiday and major event. I don’t eat it but it is really good. Coquito is a coconut and rum based drink made during the winter holidays. Some people consider it our egg nog which is weird because its not made with eggs (although some people use it and that’s fine- to each their own). Mofongo is fried plantain and garlic and chicharrones(Pork cracklings) made in a ball. It is AMAZING. and inside turkey rather than stuffing- too good. 

Their dad Vinny’s full name is Vincente which is the Spanish form of Vincent. lol 

The word hija means daughter. The word cabrona is the feminine form of goat and is an insult lmao something like bitch, asshole, jerk, etc. Cabron is the male form.

The cuatro is like a guitar but small like a violin, traditionally had only four strings but I believe it goes up to six or eight. Idk my dad makes them and they are just the best. Aguinaldos (our holiday songs) are not the same without it- assume that’s what they’re singing. Azriel calls Cas ‘manito’ which is the shortened form of the word hermano\hermanito which means brother/little brother. I always forget who is the oldest of the 3 but regardless, you can call someone older than you manito or manita because its just another term of endearment. Jamoncito means little ham and I don’t know a single baby that has not been called that. Mami is mom/mommy in this case. Sometimes it’s used affectionately like my grandma will call me mamita or I've even called my daughter that. Some people call their wives/girlfriends mami but we’re not going there lmao Novelas are soap operas and god forbid you change the channel- even if your tia or abuela is not in the room. they’ll know. 

Anyway, there is that. lol I hope y'all had a great holiday. to my surprise, mine was really great. and my grandma’s food was to die for honestly. I also had my goddaughter to myself for 3 days so I was in baby heaven. Thanksgiving marks the beginning of our Christmas and it doesn’t end until the middle of January. ;)