#i haven't drawn much these last few weeks so this was so so so fun!!

[sleepinglionhearts]

The beach! The beach! There's lots of stuff to find at the beach! 🪨 🐚 🏖

[blaiddraws]

HOWDY FOLKS I've not drawn very much as of late since. uhhhh. SEVERAL things happened. but one of them is because i went to a miniature painting convention this past weekend!

it was super fun! here's a couple minis i painted-- first one was just for fun and i want to make her into a character now, second one i did in a class on painting with limited palettes! i did that with only three different colors of paint!

[banmitbandit]

Pots 'N' Picks Week 2024: Day 7: Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner/Snacks/Dessert/Family/Goodbye

[Dungeon Meshi spoilers (with a big amount of canon divergence) and a long, long caption beneath the Keep Reading]

November 20th, 1484 Dear Senshi, It's been a little over eighty two years since you've been gone. In that time, Merrywinn, the newborn baby you held in your arms days before you passed, became a great-great-grandmother, and her funeral last week was as rancorous as every other half-foot funeral we attended. Soon, it will be my one thousandth birthday, and I can only hope that, like you and Marcille, that's when this curse will finally be lifted, and I can see you again. If that's true, then that means I'm the beginning of an end. Instead of twenty one years, Laios will only have to wait three until he dies after me, and Falin will only have to wait three after that. In twelve years from now, Izutsumi will pass on too, and the six of us will get to share a meal together once again. I've missed your cooking, sure, but most importantly, I've missed you. Do you remember when we first shared that bottle of wine in my new house in Kahka Brud, over nine hundred years ago, before we had the slightest idea that something was wrong? I told you that I didn't want to make you feel the way I felt when Fayfinn left me. You said you didn't care, that it was worth whatever small amount of time you had me. Obviously, it turned out that fate had different plans for us, that the Winged Lion had cursed Marcille too, that we'd each live as long as she would. It's been hard, but since then, you've been there for me every step of the way. When Fayfinn passed, when my girls passed, when their children passed, and theirs too. You've been there for everything, and I'm thankful for it, from the bottom of my heart. I knew I wouldn't be prepared to lose you, and I wasn't. But no matter how much I hurt, Izutsumi was worse, even if she'd never admit it, and I had to be strong for her, too. She's strong and independent, just like she's always been, since the day we met her, but you were the closest thing to a father she ever had. She loved you, Senshi. She said so herself at your funeral. I just hope she doesn't miss me enough to cry at mine. I don't care what dwarves or tallmen or elves think, you and I both know funerals are supposed to be celebrations. Fun is in the name, isn't it? I haven't been okay in a long time, but these days, I feel somewhat peaceful. I have lived my life to the fullest, like any good half-foot should. My birthday gets nearer and nearer with each passing day. Tomorrow, Lochlee, Merrywinn's great-grandson, is helping me collect my things so that I can return to Merini for Laios and Falin's birthday in a few days, and I plan to stay there at the castle until my time is up. I've packed the cheesecake recipe you perfected, and I'm going to sneak it to the cooks whilst Laios isn't looking. I'm sure he'll end up eating yours and Marcille's portions too, but I know you won't mind. After that, it's Marcille's birthday. Then Izutsumi's. Then mine. I'm looking forward to it; like funerals, birthdays are for celebrating. Even elves know that. I can't wait to see you again, Senshi. Yours, -Chilchuck Tims

An AU I proposed back in the Chilshi Nation server a while ago seemed to be a good way to break my heart when rounding off Chilshi week. A lot of people bring up the tragedy of Chilchuck and Senshi's lifespans being so different, and it makes me wonder what it would be like if Marcille's misguided wish had long term consequences.

This wasn't intended to be seven pages long with the lyrics to A Thousand Years by Christina Perri shoved in, but that's what it ended up being. The song seemed a little too perfect not to include.

All of my Chilshi posts were drawn up on the day, and I used them mostly as an excuse to experiment, whether it be posing, body types, shading, comic layouts... My later entries got to be a little more ambitious with what I wanted to do with them, so they're maybe not as polished as I would like them to be, but I hope you can enjoy them anyways.

Whilst I'm here, I'd like to extend a special thankyou to @dumblilracoon for dealing with my awful brainstorming and struggling all week. Couldn't have done this without you. And of course, the Chilshi Nation discord server for being so lovely! :)

If you reblogged or liked or commented on even one of my Chilshi week posts, thankyou so much! Chilshi week has been a blast and working on it and seeing all the lovely art and writing that's come up from it has been a treat.

Happy Chilshi Week, everybody!

[seafoamreadings]

week of august 25th, 2024

these are written predominantly for the *rising* signs but they are also intuitively "channeled" enough that they should work for any dominant energy you have! (try your sun if you don't know rising, or more advanced readers can try moon, anywhere you have a stellium, etc and see what works best for you!)

aries: mercury going direct at last in leo in just a few days here will likely be fun for you and i don't even mean that sarcastically. something that got put on hold in the last few weeks gets new traction. by the end of the week uranus stations retrograde, though, so with that most likely in your second house, avoid excessive spending or burning through resources you aren't totally sure about.

taurus: while you can expect some (likely not unpleasant) surprises this week you can also expect them to be fickle or to have unseen strings attached. it's not a bad idea to accept or pursue them if you like them, but don't get too wrapped up in it all. things are fleeting. it's not an easy energy for a steady and stalwart taurean to grasp but, frankly, you're not supposed to grasp it.

gemini: the big news of the week for you is the end of your ruling planet's retrograde. things do not return to normal or comfortable just yet, due to the shadow period that follows, but this is the end of the actual retrograde phase and especially from the end of the week, things should start to get easier and less snafus ensue.

cancerians: this week may well bring new life into any stale or stagnant relationships or friendship situations. mercury stations direct in your second house also. take stock of what resources you have and what is lacking, and use what you have (or don't use what you don't have!) accordingly.

leo: unexpected opportunities arise this week. they may be quite startling and weird but if you feel drawn to them and it's within your means at all, you should take them, especially towards the beginning of this week. by the end of the week, uranus retrograde may have them a little bit less fruitful, or perhaps simply more difficult, but you can trust your best judgment even then. too much input from others is not advised.

virgo: the importance of ceres to your sign should not be understated. this week she goes direct in capricorn just as uranus goes retrograde in taurus. while they don't perfect the grand trine it's truly well-connected earth vibes for you. even inconveniences turn out to work in your favor. nourish yourself carefully and lovingly.

libra: venus coming home to your sign should help provide some comfort if times have been trying and even if they haven't, it's auspicious for you. meanwhile, uranian activity continues so be very careful who you share your resources (money, time, energy?) with.

scorpio: take care of your personal needs first of course, but then as much as you are able to, be in your local community and neighborhood. clean up a little trash, do a little volunteer work, help a neighbor out, etc. with the current activity this is the auspicious way to keep things going as smooth as possible. at minimum, it makes you look good, but best if you do it from the heart and not for status alone. this can help you cope with any relationship drama, btw.

sagittarius: venus into libra can have you in soap opera mode, turning friends into lovers and vice versa left and right. meanwhile mercury direct again in leo fires up your thirst for the truth, philosophically and spiritually. there's no reason you can't lean into both vibes.

capricorn: ceres goes direct in your sign this week and, believe it or not, one of the first events of *next* week is the retrograding ingress of pluto back into the extremes of your sign for the last time in any of our lifetimes. let ceres vibes help you nurture yourself as you prefer for any final demolitions caused by the king of the underworld.

aquarius: the air of churning and muckraking is still afoot. but at least some of it is in a pleasant manner thanks to venus. generally the muddiness of such upheaval is not so pleasant, but sometimes it does turn up trinkets from the bottom of the sea.

pisces: friends may come and go but your inner world is forever. without getting lost in the dream state, pay attention to it and respect and honor it. your dream life is just as real as your waking life. of course, you don't need to hear it from me, you're the expert. but in a time in a world where people are inclined to be blind to the magic around them, don't lose your contact with it too and don't let them convince you it's frivolous.

[jxckchxmpi0n]

Hi there. I was wondering if you could do a Spider-Man Ethan x fem!reader where the reader has feelings for Spider-Man and doesn’t know its her friend Ethan who she also grew up having a crush on. Every night the her and Spider-Man talk and hang out on the roof of her apartment. One of the nights there is so much tension that they end up doing the famous Spider-Man kiss. Feelings on both ends are confessed, but Ethan refuses to fully take off his mask. But then one night Spider-Man is extremely injured and loses a lot of blood. So the reader ends up patching him up and has to remove his mask to reveal that it’s her friend Ethan that she’s always had feelings for. Then it can end spicy from there with whatever you’re comfortable writing.

Thank you 😊

OMG! 🕸🕷 I love this idea - ugh, I'm gonna have so much fun writing this ahhhhhh hope you enjoy love 🌼

Two Hearts

Summary : You have a crush on your best friend Ethan- but growing close with Spiderman, and also sharing those same feelings leaves you confused. A rough night for Spiderman ends up revealing secrets.

||m.list

Word count: 3.0k

Warning: Angst, fluff, swearing, blood, mentions of death, slight NSFW.

I love how much music affects my writing. Listened to "hopeless romantic soft mix" while writing this. Made me kick my feet and giggle!! ALSO, THIS IS THE LONGEST FIC I HAVE WRITTEN ANNNDDD OH MY GOS I AM SO IN LOVE

There was a new superhero in town, and boy did that 'Spiderman' have all the girls' hearts. He sure had yours, but he will never be Ethan- Ethan was your best friend. He has been by your side since you could remember.

Any person that would see you together thought you were dating, but you weren't. The thought of telling Ethan you liked him - oh boy. That would be the last thing you would do. HE GIVES YOU BUTTERFLIES!!! he makes your stomach turn, and those chocolate brown eyes always make you want to grab his face and smother him in kisses.

Your little daydreams got carried away sometimes, staring off into space when you hang out with him. "y/n, you there?" Shaking the thoughts away, you nod. He then just continues on about science.

But this Spiderman, saving people, helping the elder, oh what a dream he seemed very sweet and always helped no matter how minor the "crime" was.

Not knowing who he was drove New York crazy the secret identity was smart and cool, but it really started to pick up in the school halls.

How old was he?

Was 'he' he or 'she'?

How did they become super?

You were always talking about the latest crime fight Spiderman had done, digging into conspiracies, which always made Ethan laugh.

Lately, you haven't been able to hang out with Ethan as much as he signed up for active work at the police station with his dad. Most nights, he would be busy with his dad doing simple desk work and / or join him in a ride along. So, being on your own was the new daily.

It started a few weeks ago. Slowly, you noticed webs around your neighborhood buildings. 'Maybe Spiderman came through.' he was always around this part of town, so it made sense.

As the school days died down and the city got louder at night, you would relax on the rooftop of your apartment. Being so high in the sky, being able to see over it, was refreshing. Turning your music off, you'd listen to the sounds around you as your mind filled with thoughts. Homework would also fill the gap.

It wasn't until the second week of being on the rooftop that something wild happened. As you sat playing music going over your English notes, right across the street, Spiderman stood watching you. He didn't want to seem like a creep - well, standing in a head-to-toe body suit watching from a rooftop seemed weird, but he kept it lowkey.

He liked seeing you in such peace, sitting looking down at the people who roamed the streets, or how you would lay on your back looking at the sky. You were so beautiful in his eyes. He was so drawn to you, he couldn't just stay away.

Before he realized what he was doing, his arm straightened out activating his webs. Putting his full body weight in the web, he swung over he landed on the opposite side of the roof near you. Why was he so nervous, you don't know who he is! What if this ends up bad! wait, you don't know who he is! this is perfect.

"Why do you sit up here?" he spoke before he could process. The sudden voice made you jump and yelp a little. Looking around, you saw him. He stood a few feet away from you.

'Spiderman, oh my gosh, it's Spiderman,' you thought, your mind racing with so many questions. 'Why is he up here?' 'is this fake' ?Did I fall asleep again?'

"What? are- this- I- Are you really here?" he couldn't help but laugh at your comment and walked closer. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears.

"Well, duh," he tried to sound smooth, but his voice ended up cracking while he sat in front of you. You laughed as he tried to buff up his look.

"So? Why are you sitting up here?" he tilted his head to the side in a questioning way. The spider eyes on the mask opening and closing softly.

"It's peaceful up here, I get to see the city, and no one else comes up here so it's like the perfect place to escape for a little" your heart ached, you wished Ethan wasn't always so busy so you could take him up here.

He hummed, satisfied with your answer. 'How was he just so calm sitting here with me, like this is normal?'

"I'm sorry, as much as I think this is cool - uh, what are you doing here? Don't you have some crime to fight?" You threw some fake punches his way, laughing to ease your awkwardness.

"I mean, yeah, but it's a slow day, and I just saw you hanging out here. I've actually seen you here a lot the past few weeks, so you know, I just thought I'd see what you do. " he was blushing so hard under the mask, and his body was warm. 'Don't sound like a perv!'

"Do you do this a lot? spy on people?" Your voice is playful and light.

"Me? Well, psh No, I-I haven't done this before. Is it weird - oh, did I make you uncomfortable?!" As he spoke, his voice started to hold some panic.

"What - no, you didn't- NO this is cool! It's cool. I swear, I mean, you're Spiderman, like how wouldn't this be cool."

He felt a little better knowing it didn't make you uncomfortable. Hours had passed, and you talked about what it's like to fight crime and how he got his powers.

This soon became a regular occurrence. Every other night, he would show up and tell you the star crime of the day. You would bring extra drinks and food and give some to him. He would always turn around, or you would close your eyes when he ate/drank.

The feelings you had for him grew into an actual crush, now that you knew him - somewhat you felt like you could trust him.

After a few months, things started to change. He would tease you as you would do the same. Playful touching, whispering as he was inches away from your face. He grew so comfortable around you that he would sit shoulder to shoulder with you.

The smell of his calonge would fill your nose, a sense of familiar came to mind. The tension between you two could be cut by a knife, long shared glances, his body pressed into yours when he would give you his web shooters and show how to use them.

"Would you ever feel comfortable enough to take your mask off?" You sat on the edge of the rooftop with him right next to you, your hands resting near one another. The city lights shined on your face as he looked at you, a soft blush rose to your cheeks.

"Uh, maybe. I'm just scared. " he looked away, not wanting to face you.

"You don't have to be scared," you hand reached for his face, pulling it to face you. Even if you can't see his eyes, you knew they were looking right back at you. "You have my trust, and I promise not to break it," your voice was stern, yet like butter to his ears. His gloved hand went to yours, holding it closer to his face, leaning into your touch, the warmth of your hand seeping into his suit.

"It's getting pretty late; I should get going." Your hand fell from his face, and he nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow?" You were already walking towards the door with your bag over your shoulder.

"Yeah, of course!" he smiled under the mask matching the one you wore. Turning around, you could hear the web shooters, meaning he was leaving, but to your surprise, he hung over the door by his web. Looking up, your eyes followed it to the billboard.

"Only a little." He couldn't trust his own voice. He was nervous. 'Did she understand?'

The sound of cars honking and people shouting started to drown out as you stepped closer. 'Was he sure about this?' Your hands got closer to his neck, finding the edge of the mask. "Are you sure?" concerned you asking, pressured him.

"Yes, please." it almost sounded like a whine.

Pulling the mask over his chin past his lips; you stopped right before his nose. Your heart was beating very fast, feeling it in your throat, the butterflies in your stomach, it was driving you insane.

You could see he was blushing, some moles on his face near his lips. His lips, they looked so soft, and your hands held both sides of his face like he was going to get away. Your right hand let go though, reaching to trace his lips; they were soft, but also chapped. Both of your breaths were picking up.

"Please y/n," His voice whining again.

Pulling you out of your trance, you leaned in, "You're so beautiful."

Your lips clashed with his, inhaling his scent. This was heaven. The kiss was rough, the tension finally catching up. Teeth brushing each other sightly, you could feel his head pushing into yours. He wanted more, and so did you. Your lungs were burning gasping for air, but you didn't want to pull away, no, not yet. 'What if this is the only time I can kiss him, feel him?'

He was the first to pull away gasping for air. He just kissed you after wanting to for so long. "I'd like to do that again sometime." he was smiling so wide, being able to see it made your heart do flips.

"You know where to find me." Leaning in again, you kissed his cheek.

Taking the edge of the mask again, you pulled it back down towards his neck and tucking it in. "I'll see you tomorrow." Your hands dropped from his face, and you walked past him into the door.

Hours have passed, sitting on your bed acting like a little schoolgirl, giggling and kicking your feet. Who wouldn't you just kissed spiderman!

Looking at the clock, it was near one am. Sleep was catching up. So, you started your normal night routine. Finding some old extra oversized t-shirt, you slipped it on, and it landed on your mid-thigh barley coving much. You had shorts on but night shorts that were very short.

As you were done in the bathroom, you walked back into your room and felt a cold breeze. Looking around, you saw your window was open. An overwhelming feeling flooded your body as you knew you had closed it earlier. Getting closer, you hear a noise out of the darkness. Spiderman sat up, holding his side. He didn't look good.

"Help me," his body collapsed halfway in your window. your heart sunk at seeing him like this. Running to him, you grabbed him the best you could and pulled him in.

"What did you get yourself into, bug boy?" he sat against your wall, one arm trying to hold himself up and the other holding his abdomen.

"It's not that bad, I-" he removed his hand to show you the deep cut. it ran from lower chest to the middle of his stomach, "Okay, maybe it's a little bad." Every word was broken up by him groaning or wheezing.

"I'll be back." Running out of your room, you grabbed the first aid kit in the hallway. "I don't have much, so we have to make this work."

Before you started to clean the cut, you looked at his face. The mask was beat up pretty bad. He had a tear in it, running from his ear to chin. After tonight, you don't think this suit would survive.

"Can you move?" Your voice was low. The last thing you need is your parents finding Spiderman in your room.

"I'll try," he tried to push himself up, his head spinning. Standing with him, you saw him stumble, catching him. You guided him to your bed. As soon as he sat down, the pain was too much to bear. His body went limp.

"Hey! bug boy! hey, can you hear me?" You sat next to him, patting his face over and over and hoping to wake him up. His eyes would open and close after a few seconds, "You got to stay with me!"

"I'm tired." he was barely auditable.

As you looked at him, an idea came to your mind, "I'm sorry," putting a hand over his mouth and taking your other hand, you pressed down on the cut. He yelled into your hand in pain, his eyes tearing up under the mask. 'fuck'

The most you could do right now is clean the wounds and patch him up. He was awake but laid there quietly. You were so focused on making sure the wounds were thoroughly cleaned that you didn't realize one of his hands laid on your thigh, gripping it every time you wiped the cuts.

"You're okay." You tried your best to comfort him, and not much could be said though truthfully.

Once you checked over his entire body for more wounds, you moved up to his face. the mask was resting weirdly, "I finished everything else, but if you don't want me to clean -" As you spoke, his hand that wasn't on your thigh reached for the mask ripping it off.

Your jaw dropped.

ETHAN FUCKING LANDRY.

YOUR BEST FRIEND.

"I-" before he could fully speak, you flung your body into his. He winced out in pain as he felt you on him, yet he felt better.

Your eyes were watering at this point, seeing Spiderman - no seeing Ethan like this ripped your heart apart. "I had my theories- but fuck bug boy why?!" you pulled away making eye contact. He could see the tear stains running down your rosy cheeks.

"Don't cry pretty, girl, please don't cry. I'm okay - kind of, " he chuckled, hoping it helped ease the tension. His hand cupped your face, his finger halfway in your hair, his thumb resting on your cheek moving side to side wiping the tears.

"You're an idiot you know that?" You hit his shoulder, pushing him back a little. He made a face like it hurt but only smiled. Looking at you through his lashes, blood sprayed on his face, scars you haven't seen before. His eyes softened as he saw your face red and stained, crying, pouting.

"I'm hoping to be your idiot though." his thumb still ran across your cheek, slowly moving down to trace your lips. He hasn't stopped thinking about kissing you. Even when he was dying, the need for you was strong.

He was just looking at your lips at this point. He looked at you like he was starving. The hunger for you grew stronger after that kiss. Noticing the change in how he looked at you, a laugh escaped you. "For almost dying, you sure are a teenage boy with your thoughts"

Your voice pulled him back, snapping his eyes up to yours he smiled. "That obvious?" Your hand had gone to his wrist rubbing circles into his skin as he did the same to your face.

Your head went forward, forehead to forehead. A sweet little moment between you two. "Don't die. I know what you do is dangerous, but I don't think I can handle seeing you crawl into my room like this again." he nodded his head, yours moving with his.

You felt far away from him too far, using what strength he had left he pulled you into his lap, straddling him, your breath hitched.

"I won't, I promise." his hand left your thigh holding out his pinky. It was cheeky, yes, but he would.

Both of your breaths were heavy, and the tension in the room was filled again. It's like he knew because he would lean in to ghost over your lips, yet pull away. 'asshole'

"Kiss me already," your voice was laced with annoyance.

Pulling you in from the back of your head, your lips crashed together, and it felt different. This kiss was hungry. It was needy. His hands went over the curves of your body, trailing under the t-shirt, gripping the back of your back, pulling you towards him if possible.

Your hands were tangled in his hair, the curls all broken apart, pulling it softly, earning a moan from him.

Your body was thinking faster than your mind, rocking back and forth on him. The feeling of his body tensing, pulling away to kiss your jaw, then your neck. Your head fell back, giving him more access. His lips were soft against your skin, his teeth grazing your skin as he left love bites, both of you, a moaning mess.

"Ethan" moaning out his name was something you both dreamed of "we- shouldn't- not- not now-" your words kept getting broken up from the feeling of him sucking your neck, and how his hands gripped your hips moving you more.

"Why?" he voice was muffled from being in your neck. He knew it wasn't the right time since he was so beaten up. His hands loosed up on your hips, and a whine could be heard from you. That didn't stop him from peppering your neck and face with kisses thought.

"Fine. We'll stop, but next time, I won't quit as easily. " he pulled his face out of your neck so he could look at you. Your face was red, with a smirk on it.

"Let's just lay here then," you crawled off of his lap. You laid down, following you, and he pulled you so close that you were basically on top of him again.

"I'm fine with that." he looked down, kissing the top of your head before sleep took over his body.

[oscarwilderthanyou]

You Kidnapped Me...Again!

Red Hood-Jason Todd/Female Reader

Hey guys! This is just a fun little one-shot I've been working on. Let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy! Just a reminder, my original works are cross-posted to AO3. Also general disclaimer, I own none of the characters used.

‐-----------------------------------------------------

I twist my head side to side in an attempt to relieve the pain in my neck. The detective to my left lets a loud snore, waking himself with the noise, and bolts upright. 

"You good there, Johnson?" I ask with a smirk.

"Fuck off," the older man grumbles in reply. He turns and leans over the edge of the rooftop were sitting on. "Any movement yet?" he asks. 

"Nope, nothing."

I hand him my binoculars and he takes a look for himself. "Who's CI brought this info in again?"

"Martin's," I grimace as I respond.

"Of course it's Martin's," he sighs. "How much do you want to bet he didn't even vet the info before passing it to the captain?

"I laugh in reply, "knowing Martin, I wouldn't take that bet.

"Silence falls over us again and I glance at my watch. "How much longer do you think they're going to keep us out here?"

"Captain seemed pretty determined so I'd guess it's going to be a long night" he leans forward, resting his weight on the ledge and pulls out a pack of cigarettes, placing one between his teeth and offering the pack to me. He lights both before turning back to the ledge. He glances over at me smirking "What's the hurry anyway, you got a hot date?"

I lightly shove his shoulder. "It's my anniversary, asshole."

He chuckles. "Oh yeah I guess it would be, that sucks. I hope you guys didn't have any big plans." 

I take another drag of my cigarette and tap the ash out on the ledge. "Not really, but with our work schedules I feel like we haven't gotten to spend much time together lately."

"I know that feeling" he says with a sigh. "When I first made detective I don't think I saw Carla more than twice a week." 

I wince. "And how long did that last?"

"Well I'm on the same last minute, all-night stakeout as you," he says, pointing out the obvious. I let out a groan and he just laughs in response. We finish our cigarettes in silence.

"So how are Carla and the gir-" my question is cut off by a loud bang from the street below. 

"What the fuck was that?" I whisper urgently.

Johnson immediately begins searching the ground with the binoculars. "I don't see anything," he replies, continuing to search. Another bang rings out, those are definitely gunshots. 

"We need to go down there," I say and Johnson nods in agreement.

We turn from the ledge and make our way down the fire escape, moving as silently as possible. As we descend I unholster my gun, keeping it ready if needed.

I stop walking as soon as we hit street level and scan the area. I listen for a few seconds before I make out the sound of footsteps coming from the alley across from us. I signal to Johnson and we being moving again, this time in the direction of the alley.

We both step into the darkness with our weapons drawn. Another gunshot sounds ahead and I swear its close enough to the see the muzzleflash from the shot. My heart leaps into my throat as Johnson and I both scramble to get to cover. The last shot didn't seem to be pointed in our direction but I wasn't stupid enough to stand out in the open in this situation.

I tuck myself into a door frame, leaning out to check for any possible threats, before concealing myself again. I press my arms against my chest, gun pointed up next to my head. I look for Johnson and see him in a smilar position further into the alley. He looks over at me from the safety of his doorway and I signal back that I'm okay. He nods and turns away to look down the alley.

A full minute passes in absolute silence and Johnson and I lock eyes again. He signals that he's going to move forward and I nod in understanding. He puts his hand up, telling me to wait. As he drops his hand in the signal to go we both step out into the alley. I see Johnson start to push forward and I move to follow him.

I freeze midstep. We're not alone.

I can sense someone standing right behind me but before I call out, a hand wraps around my face, covering my mouth. Another arm reaches around waist, pulling me back and pinning me againt my assailant's body. I try to fight him off but it makes no difference.

I see Johnson glance back and do a double take when he notices I'm not right behind him. He turns to see where I went and we lock eyes. At that moment the hand around my mouth is pulled away, allowing me to call out. Johnson sprints back in our direction but my attacker wraps his free arm around my chest, using both arms to lift me off the ground, and begins moving backwards far faster than should be possible.

I continue to thrash and shout, trying to break free. As we move I hear a vehicle approach and screech to a stop. There's the sound of a van door being slid open and I'm pulled into the vehicle. The door slams shut as the van takes off. 

My attacker releases their hold on me just as I hear my radio crackle to life. "He took her Captain," I hear Johnson's breathless voice say "Red Hood's got Todd." 

I freeze, still facing the door. Behind me I hear a metallic clasp being undone and the hiss of a helmet being removed. I turn to face him.

After a moment of silence he finally speaks "Surprise?" he says. He lifts his left arm, carding his fingers through his hair, and sheepishly smiles at me.

"Surprise? You kidnapped me!" I shout at my husband outraged. 

"Yes, but-" he starts to argue but I interject.

"No buts, I told you no more kidnapping me."

Removing his hand from his hair he wags his left index finger in disagreement. "Technically you said I couldn't kidnap you for any more date nights. This is our anniversary, totally different." He says this like it's a logical argument. 

I cross my arms and glare at him. I allow a few moments to pass in silence before I sigh in defeat, dropping my arms to my sides.  "The precinct is going to catch on eventually, Jay. This is the fifth time." I say to him.

He leans forward and places a hand on my cheek. I can't help but lean into it. "I'm sorry, baby," he says softly, looking into my eyes. "I won't do it again. I just really missed you and I was looking forward to actually spending our anniversary together this year." The lights from the passing street lights reflects off his eyes, his thumb stroking my cheek. 

"I missed you too," I tell him honestly. 

Just then I hear a phone ring. Jason lets go of my  face and leans back, reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants. He pulls out his cell phone and answers it, smirking at me. 

"This is Jason," he answers casually. His smile widens as his eyes sparkle with humor.

"Commissionor Gordan, what can I do for you this evening?" I let out a groan, knowing how this is going to go. The caller responds but i cant make out what's said. 

Jason sucks in a quick breath and responds "Oh no! What do you mean he took her again?" His tone is overly concered but he's still grinning at me playfully. I stick my tonuge out at him and he he raises an eyebrow in response. 

When it's his turn to speak again he gets back into character, "He can't keep getting away with this.  I'll be right there. Please, Commissioner, please find my wife." Another pause. "Thank you sir," and he hangs up. 

I roll my eyes at his theatrics. "So what's the plan now?" I ask. 

Jason leans over and opens the hatch separating the cabin from the rear of the van. "Hey Dick, pull over at the next corner."

"Will do Jay!" Dick cheerily calls back. 

"Dick?" I ask surprised. "How did you get roped into this riduculous scheme?"

"That's easy. I'll do anything for the sake of love," he responds wistfully.

I let out a laugh. "Of course you will."

The van pulls over and Jason and I step out. I see Dick still sitting in the driver's seat with his police radio held up so he can speak into it. He gives me a thumbs up and shouts through the open window that he'll be out in a minute.

As I go to step away from the van I turn to tell Jason goodbye. As I turn he grabs my waist and pulls me flush aginst his body. His other hand tangles in my hair as he bends down, bringing his lips to mine.  I wrap my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. By the time he pulls away I'm out of breath. 

"I love you, Mrs. Todd," he says quietly, our lips only inches apart.

"I love you too, Mr. Todd" I respond back with barely a whisper.

I hear the van door slam shut and reluctantly turn around. Jason keeps me in his arms adjusting to embrace me from behind. I feel him press a quick kiss to my hair before resting his chin on the top of my head. Dick walks around the front of the van to where Jason and I are waiting. 

"Alright, so I radioed in and let disptach know that I found you after you escaped on foot. I told them that you seem uninjured but didn't go into detail about anything else. A squad car should be here in a few minutes to pick us up." 

"Thanks Dick," I say. 

"Yeah, thanks Dickiebird, Jason adds. 

Dick tosses the van keys in our direction and Jason removes one arm from around me to reach up and catch them. 

"You should probably not be here when they get here, Jay." 

"Good point," Jason nods in agreement. He releases me and I step back, turning around to face him again. He gives me a quick kiss, still enough to still make me weak in the knees.

"Happy anniversary," he says with a smile. He turns and begins to walk away but stops and looks back.

"See you at the station," he calls back to me. "I'm sure you're too traumatized to continue working tonight," he adds with a wink before getting in the van.

"You're insane!" I call back to him with a laugh.

Not even a full minute after the van disappears from view I hear the familiar sound of police sirens approaching. 

[bqstqnbruin]

See You Again

I'm actually posting a fic for the first time in seven months aka the first fic I've finished in seven months peace love teaching

anyway, I wrote this for the lovely @wyattjohnston's summer fic exchange! I got to write for @selfindulgentpoorlywritten but I've never written for Nico before, so I hope you like this (I was fully inspired by my own mess of a life)

Edit since I’m a dumbass thank you to @kat-hearts for reading this first and being amazing ily 😭

One of the characters, Nat is nonbinary, and I did my best to make the reader gender netural, which I haven't done before on either account, so I hope I did it justice (if something is glaringly wrong, please let me know!)

Warnings: I was mean with the ending? A little? Also, some swearing, drinking, almost physical fighting

Word Count: almost 2.8k

_______________________________________

“When was the last time you saw him?”

You tried to shift through your memory to figure that out. In person, the last time was sometime in the first week of December about two years ago. Thinking about him, which thankfully didn’t count, would involve you giving a much more recent answer, way more recent than you would really like to admit. “I don’t remember.” 

“Well,” your roommate Nat says, looking down at their phone. “I have bad news.”

“Fucking hell,” you moan, tilting your head to hit the back of the seat of the Uber. You knew what they were going to say before the words even started to come out of their mouth.

“Nico is going to be there tonight. With all the guys.” You let out another groan, the Uber driver giving you a scowl through the rearview mirror. “I’m sorry! Jack didn’t know he was coming, or he would have told us way before we got ready.” 

You stare out the window, trying to think of all the ways that you could get out of this situation. You already paid for the Uber and didn’t want to pay for another one. You weren’t about to go somewhere by yourself, especially since the bar you were heading towards wasn’t within a reasonable walking distance if you were to go somewhere by yourself, and no way was Nat going to leave with you without Jack, and Jack, of course, wasn't going to leave without his teammates. 

“We can go back right now and I’ll tell Jack to have fun with his team instead,” Nat tells you as if they could read your mind. They put their hand over yours, trying to give you any sense of calm that was setting into your panic. “We do not have to be around Nico.” 

“What kind of person tells someone they like them but not enough to date them?” you mutter, knowing you and Nat have had this conversation many times on your kitchen floor, drunk and crying together at 2 in the morning. They had introduced you to Nico one night after a game when the team went out to celebrate. They had been dating Jack for about a year at that point, meeting him through his brother at Michigan and reconnecting when they both realized they were going to be in New Jersey together. Quinn had used the reasoning of, “he won’t know anyone in the state,” only for everyone to realize later that he knew Jack had been smitten with Nat since they met. If only you had been so lucky. 

You had known of Nico, obviously. How could you not? He was the captain of the Devils, the team you grew up surrounded by, the number one draft pick in the sport your roommate never shut up about. He covered your social media feeds without you really wanting them to and everyone you knew talked about what a great game he had the night before. You couldn’t escape the idea of him, no matter where you went. 

When you met him that night a few years back, there was something about him in person that you were drawn to. He had been just an idea to you, not someone you could think about as being real. You spent that entire night with him, your friends either wandering off or you too enthralled with Nico to notice that they were there. Nat and Jack were heading back to your place before last call, and you were left knowing that you had to see Nico again.  

He asked if he could kiss you, making you melt as his hand gently snaked its way to your cheek, pulling you close when you said yes and covering your mouth with his. You waited for his text the next day, anxiously checking your phone until he finally did after 3 pm. From then on, you told each other everything, texting each other whenever you could, him calling you and heading over to your apartment whenever he didn’t have an obligation to the team. You fell hard for him and you had believed that he felt the same about you. 

“The kind of person who doesn’t know what they have until it’s gone,” Nat tells you, trying to pep you up. “Hey, we can find you a guy that is just as hot as Nico tonight.” 

“I’m gonna move to Ireland and isolate myself with the spuds.”

“Act like you can be away from me for that long,” they tease, earning a laugh from you. “I’m serious, though. Tell me what you want to do, or who you want to do, and Jack and I will make it happen.”

You didn’t want someone just as hot as Nico, you wanted Nico. You hated the fact that there was more than one time that you had pulled up his messages on your phone, part of you unable to delete that conversation thread even though you knew it would be the healthy thing to do. But you weren’t known amongst your friends for doing what was best for your mental wellbeing, so you kept them, going back through the conversations you had in the four months you were seeing him. The last text was what haunted you the most, him telling you that he was going to be back in Switzerland for the summer and that he ‘didn’t want you tied down to one person’ while he was gone.

He said he would text you when he was back. 

He never did. 

There were multiple times when you wanted to text him, but you never did, either. 

“Yeah,” you manage to choke out. “Let’s do it.” 

You spend the rest of the ride in silence, trying to think of where in the bar you would be able to hide from Nico so that he wouldn’t see you. The guys were already inside, Jack telling Nat about 10 minutes ago that they went to start drinking as fast as they could. 

The bar was somehow muggy inside, as if the beer itself hung in the air rather than the sweat of the nearly one hundred drunk people that were crowding every square inch of the floor. Jack was easy to spot for Nat, his five foot eleven frame not the largest of his teammates, but still distinct enough that your roommate had left your side within seconds of entering to be with their partner. 

So much for finding you someone tonight. 

You tried to stay away from him, closer to Nat and Jack as best as you could, but they kept wandering off from you. The last thing you wanted to do was go with them when they were both on their way to drunk and have a history of doing slightly illegal things in the bathrooms at bars. 

You had to find someone to talk to. Any person who looked interesting. Any other guy on the team who you were friends with, but that was really only Jack, and that was really only because he’s dating Nat. Your phone was your only comfort, finding a table that had been pushed up against the wall and hoping that there was something you could doom scroll on that would distract you from looking towards Nico. 

He had the right to do what he wanted at the bar with his teammates. You weren’t together. 

“You ok?” you hear during a lull in the music, pulling you away from your phone for a moment. You didn’t know who was standing in front of you, one of the newer guys from the trade deadline that Nat definitely hadn’t introduced you to. He was waiting for you to respond, looking like he had wanted to sit down with you.

“Yeah, just, not a big ‘going out’ person.”

He lets out a nervous laugh, a smile that sends a jolt through your system that you hadn’t felt in a while. Since Nico, if you were really willing to be honest with yourself. “Me neither, honestly. I’m just here because I didn’t have anything else to do.” 

“I got dragged here with my roommate so they can be with their boyfriend,” you tell him, gesturing to Nat and Jack trying their best to sneak out of the bathroom, Jack’s shirt buttoned wrong, both of their previously neatly styled hair in a mess that you only saw after hearing them the night before. 

“So that’s the infamous Nat,” he says, taking the seat beside you. You nod as he continues, “Jack never shuts up about them. Not that Jack shuts up about anything or anyone, ever, but especially not Nat.” 

“I always knew he was a good one,” you tell him, introducing yourself so he knew you as more than just, ‘his teammate's partner’s roommate.’

“I’m Timo.” 

You spent the rest of the night bouncing between the table and the bar with Timo, him buying you every drink you wanted. There was something about him that was different, but you couldn’t focus all of your attention on him. 

He was talking about his time in San Jose while you were waiting for your next round of drinks. You couldn’t focus on a word he was saying, Nico within your line of sight talking to a girl. A really attractive girl, you might add. You felt your heart drop, feeling a lump in your throat forming faster than you could lie to yourself about that scene having no effect on you. Naturally, Nico would talk to other people. You hadn’t talked to him in two years, let alone seen him in person. Just because you couldn’t get over him, no matter how hard you tried, that didn’t mean he didn’t get over you.

“And then I got traded here, and I love it, so far,” you tune back into Timo, who is suddenly much closer than you remember. It’s just because the bar is loud, people are starting to crowd for drinks, and, fuck, you have to admit, he’s pretty hot. 

Nico was still watching. 

Timo took your hand, leading you off to the table where you were before, the drinks in your hand probably not ones that you needed to begin with. His free hand snaked its way to your waist, pulling you close to him. You could feel your heart racing faster with every inch he got closer to you. You wanted him to kiss you. 

You thought you did. 

“I’m sorry,” you pull away right as his lips were about to meet yours, tears starting to form in your eyes, leaving the drink he bought you in his hands as you ran from him. Your breath catches in your throat while you try to find Nat and Jack, just praying that they weren’t back in the bathroom or too intoxicated in general to help out. 

You heard Timo calling after you, somehow, through the volume of the music and your own drunkenness, breaking through and getting to you. You didn’t want Timo calling your name, you wanted it to be Nico. 

You needed it to be Nico. 

“Hey, hey,” you hear, feeling a familiar hand gently place itself on your arm. You turn around, Nico’s face a mixture of concern and fury. “What did he do?” 

“He, he,” you stammer, the tears falling faster the more you looked at him, every memory you had with him suddenly rushing back into your mind. “He didn’t do anything. You did.”

You yank your arm from him, trying to find anywhere to be in the building that didn’t have one of Nico’s teammates looking at you causing a scene. You knew he was following you, calling your name again and again over the music. People were starting to stare, but no part of you cared, trying harder to not let the tears that were burning your eyes fall down your cheeks. 

Nat and Jack were nowhere to be seen, the rest of Nico’s teammates trying to figure out what was going on when you burst through the front door of the bar, the cold fall air hitting your face as soon as you did. You let out a sob, trying to steady yourself against the wall of the building, sliding down to the ground while people waiting to get in tried to figure out if they should help you or if you were just another drunk person having some sort of meltdown that was none of their business. 

“Hey,” you hear, a soft voice coming from above you. “I’m so sorry if I did something wrong.” Timo slid down next to you. “I read the situation wrong, I thought you were also into me.”

“I am, I just,” you start, trying to think of what to say. 

“Hey, what the fuck did you do?” Nico yells, pulling Timo off the ground. “What did he do to make you cry?”

“Nico, stop,” you let out, Timo looking both confused and terrified by his new captain’s hand on his shirt collar. “He didn’t do anything.”

“What the fuck did I miss?” Timo asked, slowly trying to back away from Nico staring you down. 

“Why can you talk to other people and I can’t?” you ask him, feeling your sadness turn into anger. “You had no issue not talking to me for the last two years.” 

“I’m gonna go,” Timo lets out, barely loud enough for the two of you to hear and sneaking away before you could notice. 

“You didn’t want to talk to me,” Nico counters, taking a step towards you. “But you wanted to talk to TImo instead?”

“Where the fuck did you get that idea?” 

“You never texted me. You’ve spent the entire night avoiding me. You think I didn’t see you when you were by yourself on your phone?” 

“You were in Sweden. And you could have come up to me and talked to me, what was stopping you? Oh, that’s right, your new girlfriend.”

“Switzerland. And she’s not my girlfriend. I haven’t seen anyone in ages.”

“Wherever you were, you weren’t here,” you tell him, your back against the wall. How long had it been since he had last seen someone? There was no way you had been the last person he was with. “You told me you didn’t want to be tied down while you were back home. You didn’t even want to talk to me, because if you did, you would have.” 

“You’re joking,” he scoffs. “You think I didn’t want to talk to you? Every fucking day I have thought about how our conversations would go when I saw you after you get home from work. I would think about you telling me about your day, about everything you would tell Nat, or whoever you were seeing at the time. Every single person I saw in the last two years, I wanted them to be you.” 

You didn’t know what to say, letting Nico’s words sink in. “Then why didn’t you text me when you came back from Switzerland?” 

Nico took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and tilting his head up to the sky. “Because I thought there was no way someone else wouldn’t have realized how amazing you are. There was no way I could be someone who you thought was worth waiting for.” 

Nico takes a step towards you, his hand gently taking yours. This was a moment you had been thinking about since he left for Switzerland two years ago. You knew he was going to kiss you, having you pinned against the wall of the building. His free hand cupped your cheek.

“There you guys are!” Nat interrupts, them and Jack clearly having just finished up doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. Nico steps away from you, clearing his throat, the red in his cheeks so noticeable there was no way even your roommate wouldn’t comment on it later.  “We’ve been looking for you, for um.”

“Long enough,” Jack finishes their sentence, a stupid smile covering his face. You knew he was lying, but no part of your brain was letting you focus on that. Nico leaned against the building, his arm up over your head. “The uber’s almost here. Are you ready to go?”

No. “Yes.” 

The three of you leave Nico standing there by himself, Nat and Jack falling asleep in the Uber as soon as it gets on the highway. 

You check your phone for the first time in a while, a lone notification popping up on your phone that hadn’t been there in almost two years. 

‘Nico, iMessage.’ 

[wonsheep]

Got My Number

genre: fluff, friends-to-something-more

pairing: Jake x gender-neutral!reader

warnings: reader being referred to as beautiful, mentions of an unhealthy relationship, but only briefly, lmk if there's anything else!

word count: 1.2K

sheep's note: hello, everyone, it's been a long while since i posted actual content here, and i truly missed it, this is my first longer work on here, so please enjoy. i had fun imagining this, slughtly inspired by monsta x's got my number, but maybe i'll write something based more on the song in the future eheheeh in the meanwhile, this is my comeback and i'll try to be more sctive and practice writing in english more :DD

permanent taglist: @soobin-chois

thank you and enjoy reading!

Jake had been wondering why you haven't texted him yet. He thought your last date (actually, it was a friendly hangout, but a guy can dream) went well, and awaited your message inviting him to do something fun together.

But nothing new came up on his screen when he opened your chat for the nth time that week, only the last goodbyes you exchanged.

Y/N: had fun <3 talk to you later

The bright, white letters seemed to be mocking him as he wondered what time interval 'later' was equal to.

He was about to try and distract himself from you and your 'later'.

Hmm.

 '<3'.

Less than three. Three what? Days? Weeks? Months? No, that would be just cruel. He wanted to see you again way sooner than months.

Suddenly, three little dots appeared on the bottom of his screen, indicating that you were typing something.

It was a little stupid how Jake's heart sped up from looking at the animated circles, but he blamed it on being easily excitable.

He knew he shouldn't explore too much on his feelings for you, because it would end up awkward on your side and in a week of moping around on his.

The thing is, you already had a boyfriend. Even though you have told Jake before that nowadays, the relationship wasn't as fun as it used to be at the start, you stayed very committed.

"I'm just not really satisfied anymore, I guess…" you breathed out in a sigh, dangling your legs from the asphalt block you and Jake were perched on, next to a grassy portion of the park. "It's starting to feel like I'm more of a burden to him than a partner."

Pretty far into the night, it was quiet, only the rustling of birds settling into their places on trees and a few faraway laughs could be heard from your spot. The nearby streetlamp illuminated your features when the caress of a breeze passed by, blowing some hair into your face.

Jake moved involuntarily to remove the strands covering your eyes.

He couldn't have possibly helped being attracted to you, it would have been a nearly impossible task to not be drawn to your enticing persona.

For one, Jake thought you were effortlessly beautiful. You sometimes made him burst out laughing, without caring who could hear him, and there never was a dull moment while being with you.

You made him forget everyday struggles and made things seem better when discussing hardships you both went through as days passed by.

Jake's stomach dropped a little when you first mentioned your boyfriend, and he felt a little embarrassed, because he was in deep. Too deep already. 

So deep, in fact, that his ears went red in excitement from seeing you were about to contact him. Jake was met with disappointment yet again, when the little dots were gone, replaced by no new texts, just a blank screen.

He couldn't hold it any longer, jumping up from his bed he was previously spread out on to grab his jacket and leave the apartment immediately.

While he was locking the door, his phone vibrated with a new notification. Guessing it was probably Sunghoon telling him to wash the fucking dishes already or Riki sending one of his weird memes, he thought it wasn't urgent.

Jake pocketed his keys and started walking in the direction of your flat, not too far away, luckily, and decided to check his notification now.

His jaw dropped as he almost stopped in his tracks.

Y/N: my bed's empty without you

Yes, he had been to your room before, yes, he had laid in your bed too, but the wording… It seemed suggestive, nothing like pillow fights after a movie marathon or wishing goodnights and you asking him to stay a little longer. He brushed off the feeling though, setting his priorities and making a mental note to ask you about your wording.

Jake started putting one foot after another way quicker, and took a few deep breaths. Deciding that he had plenty of time to reply in real life, he shoved his phone into the backpocket of his light washed jeans.

There he was, faced with your door, alternating between raising his fist to rasp his knuckles against it and having a stare-off with the little stepping mat that was spread on the ground.

Taking a final calming breath, a desperate attempt at calming his racing heart, he knocked.

One, two, and then three seconds passed.

As expected, you were the one who opened the door. Looking nothing short of breathtaking in Jake's humble opinion with hair tucked away from your face, no makeup, a dark tank top and shorts.

Your lips stretched into an all-too-familiar half-smile as you recognised your visitor.

"If I knew you would appear on my doorstep after  that text, I would have sent it way sooner."

"Well, why didn't you?" Jake surprised himself with being able to put a coherent sentence together after being stunned by your beauty yet again.

Instead of answering immediately, you averted your gaze and stepped further from the entrance, inviting your friend in.

You lead Jake to the couch in front of the TV, grabbing both you and him a glass of water from the kitchen nearby.

"We broke up." You thought it would be better to be straight-forward about it, since it wasn't like being freed from this relationship was a sensitive topic for you. Obviously, you weren't nonchalant about it, but you felt better.

"Oh," Jake's mouth parted, hesitating on whether to console you or simply just accept this important fact you have thrown at him. "I'm sorry."

He wasn't sorry at all, maybe only for the fact that you might be disheartened after these events, even though you seemed fine.

The living room was bathing in warm tones thanks to the standing lamps you insisted on keeping around in the area, instead of hanging lights from the ceiling.

Your nose cast a shadow on one of your cheeks, and Jake suddenly had the urge to touch the presumably soft skin, as if he would be able to feel the dark outline of your nose.

"Don't be," you shrugged.

Jake gulped and took a sip of much needed water when you pulled up the strap of the tank top that slipped down on your shoulder.

"I'm pretty sure I will have to end things with him a second time, since he left with saying I can't break up with him, because he doesn't agree, but I'm completely done with his shit at this point." Your eyes wandered around the room while elaborating, the scene of your ex-boyfriend slamming the door to your house replaying in your head.

Catching up in the comfort of your living room and the soft pillows decorating your couch, you explained to Jake that you didn't want to risk dragging him into the ongoing fight between you and your ex, and since he would have jumped at even an innocent text from your friend, you decided on radio-silence while dealing with the problem.

Jake was only a little upset, since he found your actions reasonable, but it still bothered him that he wasn't able to help you.

After the sun dipped behind the clouds of the evening, Jake slowly got up from his seat, smiling warmly.

"See you soon?" you asked, your eyes shining.

"Yeah. Text me."

Jake lifted an arm to wrap around your waist and pull you against his chest. He moved his face so that his soft, plump lips were aligned with your ears and whispered, leaving a feather-light kiss on the side of your face.

"You've got my number."

THE END.

[camarocarfight]

There's A Demon In My Radio Chapter Two

If you haven't done so already, I invite you to read chapter one. This is so fun to write, and honestly, my escape. Please enjoy!

Chaper One

Living in your new home had been a long-awaited blessing. No longer did you have to listen to your critical father drone on about the lack of a marriage proposal from Anthony, and you and Anthony could finally live under the same roof. Some of the tension of worrying about Anthony had lifted off your shoulders when he agreed to move in, but when you were at work, you knew he was out with Valentino. The man whom Anthony had started dating when he was in high school. Their relationship had deteriorated into an abusive, drug-filled mess that Anthony couldn't free himself from. No matter how much you begged and pleaded, Anthony would always go back to Val, then return to you beaten and bloodied. 

It had been a few weeks since Anthony had gone out with Val, creating a false sense of calmness that was bound to break at some point. There was a domestic bliss that you wished you could become accustomed to. You would come home from work to find Anthony having already prepared dinner, or a warm bath drawn for you. He had told you it was his way of apologizing for his behavior, even though he had little interest in changing for the better. 

But just as you suspected, your moment of peace didn't last long and shattered when Anthony was preparing to leave to see Val, feeding you some excuse of needing money. You had expressed to Anthony many times that your wages were enough for both of you to live comfortably, all he had to do was ask and you'd give him whatever amount it was he needed. So long as it wasn't for drugs, but it almost always was. 

What hurt the most was that Anthony always left you in tears. After pleading with him not to go, he would still walk out that door, leaving you and your thoughts of worry in solitude. 

With a fire burning in the hearth of the fireplace, you sat in your rockingchair, wrapped in throw blanket. Your eyes stared into the fire unfocused, your tears having long since dried, but your eyes were still bloodshot and face blotchy. It was your first night in the cabin alone, since Anthony had stayed with you since your first night staying there. 

Outside, you could hear crickets chirping, and the cicadas humming with the occasional screech of an owl. Inside the cabin, however, was silence except for the crackling of the firewood. You pulled your throw blanket around you tighter, and buried your nose in the fabric and shut your eyes. Sleep would be illusive, and you actually contemplated not sleeping at all so you could wait for Anthony. 

The sound of a steady buzz that had slowly built in intensity had your eyes fluttering open, and your brows pinched in confusion. You stopped rocking your chair, and looked around the room. Chills erupted all over your body when you realized that the crickets and cicadas had fallen silent outside. 

“Anthony,” you stood up from the rocking chair and let the throw blanket fall and pool at your feet. “Is that you?”

You scanned the cabin anxiously and stepped over the blanket to walk to the front door. Hand reaching out for the handle, you hesitated, and jumped when you heard a loud pop come from the corner of the room where you had been sitting. The pop was reminiscent of the sound capacitors made in old radios. 

And then it made sense. 

You swung your head over to the radio in the corner and your eyes widened. The buzzing was coming from the radio, and a yellow glow was emanating from the frequency window. Your eyes darted down to the power cord that wasn't even remotely close to the outlet. This had to be some kind of a joke. Even if it had power, there was no possibility that the radio could work. 

“Hello?”

The color drained from your face. A voice - a male voice - had come through the radio. The radio that had no power supply and that would more than likely burst into flames if it had. The voice was barely audible, broken and filled with static, but a voice nonetheless. With your back now against the door, you were helpless as you watched inky, black tendrils claw out from under the radio and morph into the jagged shadow of a creature with a large grin. The shadow rose up the wall and onto the ceiling until it was grinning down at you. 

“Is this thing on,” The radio chirped once more, the voice coming over much clearer with a more pleasant tone. 

A scream erupted from your throat, and you ripped the door open to scurry out of the cabin as fast as you could, only to collide into the figure of Anthony as he was walking up to the door. From the force of your impact, the two of you tumbled onto the ground, with you landing on top of Anthony. 

“Hey, sweetheart!” Anthony grasped your shoulders and hoisted you up as he sat up. “What the hell, you look like you've seen a ghost.”

Your breath came out as gasps and you fought to free yourself from Anthony's gasp. Whatever was in the cabin you didn't want coming after you.

“A demon came out of the radio,” you freed yourself from Anthony's hold and proceeded to speed walk away from the cabin, not even bothering to look back, or caring that you lacked shoes. 

Anthony jumped up, and in a few strides, caught up to you and took you by the wrist. “Hold it! Are you hearin’ yourself? A demon?”

“Yes, Anthony, it looked at me! And smiled!”

“Your nuts,” the man grumbled and grabbed you by the waist to hoist you over his shoulder.

Anthony ignored your kicking and screams of protest and walked back into the cabin. Nothing seemed out of place, except for your blanket that was on the floor in front of your rocking chair. There were no ‘demons’, and the radio looked the same as it had before he left. There was no buzzing, nor was there a yellow light coming from the frequency window. Anthony put you back on your feet, and you looked around the space anxiously. Your body still trembled, and you were hesitant about letting go of Anthony. 

“I don't understand,” you whispered and looked up at Anthony with wide eyes. “I-it was here! The radio spoke and this thing came out and had this really big grin-,”

“You need some rest,” Anthony put his hand at the small of your back and ushered you to the staircase that led up to the loft. “I think you might have been dreamin’.”

“But I wasn’t,” as you climbed the steps, you looked over your shoulder at the now dormant radio. “How long were you gone?”

“A few hours, Doll,” Anthony said, and went about getting you a nightgown from your chest of drawers. “I told Val off, and got outta there before he could send his thugs after me.”

You gaped at Anthony, and sat down on the edge of your bed. Apparently the man had a death wish, and the two of you would be fortunate if Val and his gang didn't come busting through your door. 

“As if I didn't worry about you enough.”

“You don't need to worry about me at all,” Anthony sat next to you and tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear. “I'm gonna hang low for a few weeks. Figure out somethin’ for work.”

“Anthony,” you sighed and took your nightgown from him. His gaze met yours, and his brows creased at your worried expression. “I think we should just consider moving. I feel like that’s the only way I can keep you safe.”

“No,” Anthony shook his head and stood from the bed to strip of his suit jacket. He turned his back from you to let you change into your nightgown. “I won’t be the reason you sell the cabin when you’ve just settled.”

“If it means keeping you alive, Anthony-”

“Nothing is going to happen to me!” Anthony snapped and turned to glare at you. “Christ’s sake, you’re not my mother!”

Blinking, you were taken aback by his sudden lashing and folded your arms over your chest. He was so sure, but Val had beaten him nearly within an inch of his life many times before. What would stop him from just killing Anthony? You shook your head and bit your lip to keep your tears at bay. If it was one thing Anthony was good at, it was being completely oblivious to the amount of danger he was in if he were to crossed Val. Not to mention that he didn’t realize just how broken you would be if something were to happen to him. 

“I’ll be on the couch,” you sniffed. “A possessed radio sounds like much better company right about now.”

“Sweetheart, I didn’t,” Anthony sighed and watched you walk down the steps to the livingroom. “I didn’t mean that,” he groaned, and flopped face down onto the bed.

The couch wasn’t comfortable by any means, but you made do by wrapping yourself in a multitude of blankets. The fire that had burned in the hearth of the fire place was now just a few burning embers meaning the livingroom was now doused in darkness. As you tried to silence your racing thoughts, your gaze was locked onto the radio in the corner, watching for any signs of life. Maybe you had dreamt the whole thing up after having fallen asleep in your rocking chair, but the shadow figure just seemed too vivid to be a figment of your dreams. Not to mention the voice that had come through the speaker like it was spoken through a carbon microphone. 

“Whackey nonsense,” you mumbled to yourself and let your heavy eyelids drift shut.

Throughout the night you were restless, tossing and turning. Completely oblivious to the shadow with the jagged grin that watched over you throughout the night. 

[ehlnofay]

a series of outfit concepts for Pax... I find clothing to be such an interesting part of character design and wanted to explore that more for her. especially since he's one of my more fashion-conscious characters. miscellaneous notes and extra doodles under the cut

the first four of these designs are worn in cyrodiil; the last two are from the shivering isles. I haven't done much brainstorming for cyrod fashion so that was something fun to explore - especially with the challenge of keeping to a similar-ish silhouette and with pax's tastes in mind. most inspiration was taken from byzantine fashion, with some influences from roman and celtic garb as well. there was also a fair bit of simply making shit up. (I also had quite a bit of fun fucking with the saturation and colour values a bit in editing: here's the initial image, minus the increased saturation and also with the finger tattoos on the wrong hand because I got left and right mixed up at first. oops.)

of all my characters, pax is one of the pickiest about how they dress; they don't like fashion at the expense of comfort but they don't like comfort at the expense of fashion, either. he likes bright colours and good quality fabric (ends up stealing and altering a lot of his clothes.) she tends not to wear things with very overt nibenese influences due to her own associations with that style of clothing + nibenese garb tends to have a lot of flowy extra fabric, which she doesn't like. I had a lot of fun trying to explore different ideas, colour palettes, and statement pieces while keeping to roughly similar-ish shapes; for each one I also included slightly different versions of Pax's endless repertoire of jewellery and ways to do their hair.

notes on specific designs: the third one incorporates more of how I picture nibenese fashion, the first one is a reimagining of an outfit i drew them in ages ago, and the second references a piece I wrote and haven't yet published, in which the blades get martin a lot of nice warm clothes, including a long blue tunic (seeing as cloud ruler temple is cold as shit and all he has is a ruined liturgical vestment and some cheap clothes pax stole him during their journey) and pax unceremoniously commandeers most of it. the last two outfits are mostly just self-indulgent - in the state he's in by the time they get to the shivering isles, pax isn't too fussed about appearances, but I wanted to explore what they would wear if they did give a shit. I tried to roughly keep similar elements to the rest of the outfits, with enough tweaks to make it clear that they are very much Of Another Place. I used red as a major tone and colour in both because pax fucking hates it :) (it's the colour of the deadlands, and the mythic dawn robes, and the amulet of kings.)

there were a few more specific things I would have liked to design - in particular a travelling outfit and some concepts for the really fancy garb they take on once they murder their way into a duchy - but those, as well as a breakdown of their armour, are things I would want to give more attention to detail to. so I will do all that separately sometime. however I did do an extra doodle, not included above, of their sleepwear; because it's extremely simple, and because I've never drawn her with her hair down and I really, really wanted to. (even if it's unrealistic; pax mostly sleeps with their hair still up in some finicky arrangement sewn tight enough in place to last for a week.)

[onboardsorasora]

'I dunno what this is' - my usual trope lmao but I'm just happy to have written something. this week was great emotionally but also exhausting and a drag so this may not be the greatest but I'm happy about it. As always, idk where this is going or if its even going anywhere. also as always, I haven't read it over lol we are working with vibes over here. I had this idea last night so theres that at least

Lewis stares at the guy who is supposed to be replacing Seb for the summer break, while he goes off on a well needed family vacation. Originally Lewis hadn’t needed a supplemental security guy, but then he’d started getting an increased amount of hate mail again ever since he eclipsed Max and Charles to be P1 in the championship standings again.

It was a great feeling, being P1. Even if the trade off sometimes meant that people took out their pitchforks.

Either way, he didn’t think this new guy would make the cut. He was cute, but he needed more than a pretty face to keep him safe. Didn’t matter if he came by Seb's personal request.

He was cute in a douchey Italian way, with his grown in facial hair and kinda wild curls. Lewis watched him as Seb gave him the run down, he was listening attentively at least and nodding along. Finally they joined Lewis out on the terrace, Seb looking as stern as ever and the new guy looking chill as if they were here for lunch.

“Lewis, this is Daniel Ricciardo, the guy I told you about.” Seb introduced, Daniel leaned forward to shake Lewis’ hand with a smile. Lewis looked him up and down, trying to place the military training that Seb claimed they had together. He didn’t see it, but he trusted his guy.

“Enchante.” Daniel grinned.

“You look like you were out partying last night, man.” Lewis said with a grin. Daniel laughed and his face got maybe ten times prettier.

“Yeah nah that's just my face. I can't help my dashing his looks.” Daniel shrugged carelessly. “I've been told it's quite punchable but what can you do, eh?”

That startled a laugh out of Lewis which in turn made Daniel grin even more. Lewis wanted to amend his previous impression of him, he was dangerous.

“So Seb says you’ve had an uptick in threatening DMs?” Daniel’s face became more focused, brows drawn in. it was Lewis’ turn to be blaise.

“No more than usual.” Lewis shrugged, he saw Seb shift from his periphery and Daniel raised a brow. 

Daniel made a clicking sound with his tongue before turning to Seb. “Yeah, I’ll just stay, those kinda threats can go left pretty fast.” He was motioning with his hands and Lewis couldn’t stop looking at his fingers. His hands looked strong, steady. He had a tattoo on his wrist but his long sleeves prevented Lewis from seeing much else. 

“Ah, bet.” Seb was saying. “And Lew is vegan, like I told you. That won’t be a problem I assume?”

Lewis wanted to roll his eyes, as if he would force anyone to become vegan to work for him. Daniel grinned again and Lewis was drawn to his face.

“Oh yeah I'm cool with being vegan for the next month or so.” Then he laughed, a wild but fun sound, “I had a fried chicken burger this morning as a send off anyway.”

“For breakfast?” Lewis asked dubiously.

“For brekkie. With an oat milk latte.” Daniel crossed his heart as if he was attempting to be a boy scout. Lewis was horrified with himself to find out that it was endearing him to the unserious man.

“Alright perfect. Thanks man, you really are doing me a solid.” Seb looked relieved that Daniel seemed to have passed some test. Lewis hadn’t realized any of them were being tested, but he trusted that Seb knew what he was looking for.

“No sweat mate, call us even for Ibiza.” Daniel grinned a squinty eyed grin when Seb threw his head back and cackled. Lewis looked on confused but content to let it go, he would have more than enough time in the next few weeks to try to get information out of Daniel. Especially information about how Seb was when they were younger.

Daniel eventually left with a spare key, saying he would go pack a bag and be back in an hour. It was just Lewis and Seb.

“You sure about this guy?” Lewis asked, leaning against the kitchen counter and staring into his friend’s blue blue eyes.

“100% I trust him with my life. Just.. keep your regular schedule, he’ll blend in an you’ll forget he’s even here.” Seb shrugged, Lewis looked at him dubiously.

“Yeah fine. If you say so.” 

They walked to the door together, Seb would be heading back to Switzerland tonight. Seb looked at him assessing for a moment.

“Be truthful with me, if you’re uncomfortable with the situation we can figure something out.”

“No, Seb it’s fine. Go, have fun with Kimi and the kids. We’ll be fine here.” Lewis rolled his eyes.

“Fine fine. Sure sure. Just promise me something?”

“What’s that?”

Seb’s eyes became teasing. “Don’t fuck him, yeah?” Then he cackled all the way out the door, leaving Lewis stunned.

[fortunesfavours]

time travel in ten - sequential narrative collage piece done for my class, Artifact.

ramblings below the cut for those interested in the process/life update for friends who have noticed i've been gone

right lmao. i had two weeks to do this project and had a completely different idea that i just could not get myself to be excited about. emailed my prof in desperation, but it being like 10 pm meant that she was not about to respond. within 30 minutes, as it goes, i got struck with divine inspiration by whatever force of nature governs procrastination-induced genius, and i promptly spent the next 12 waking hours non-stop working on this.

my class, artifact, is a requirement for the foundation year at the college i attend. it centers around time-based media, ranging from the sequential illustration here to video later in the semester, and a bunch of other projects designed to get us thinking in 4d. artifact is the theme of the class - my peers are doing the same projects under a variety of different themes (tragically, haunting filled up too quickly and i missed out on enrollment in that one).

our first project was designing an artifact and doing a write-up of the story behind it. the girl to my left made beaded spiders members of a fictional cult carried. the guy across from me made an amulet of a long-dead god. you get the vibes. mine, which I still need to take professional photos of, is a pocketwatch that lets you time travel. cause, yknow. i'm me. it was gonna be about time travel.

i had originally intended to do a bunch of drawings of the watch's owner, building out her backstory and the world she lives in, and explaining why the watch exists,,,, then i couldn't bring myself to pick up the stylus. I just can't seem to find the energy for my usual digital art (sorry friends i miss yall i'm still here i swear).

here's the bit about my life so feel free to stop reading if you just care about the art 👍

I haven't drawn fanart or my ocs in months now, since last semester, and I miss it a whole bunch but right now that creative energy just. is not happening. i don't plan on abandoning it forever by any means, but p much everything i have is going towards school right now. sad as that is, i'm having so much fun, and i'm so proud of the technical improvements i've made. I've got so many things i want to create, mostly for my ocs. i still love crit role, but i've fallen of campaign three. i don't have the time, and the story hasn't been engaging me for a bit.

i've been really into dr who lately, and am eagerly waiting for the spare time to sit and watch all of candela obscura. i'm in a new dnd game. i've got friends! real life friends! irl friends who called me the wizard friend within a few hours of knowing me before i even opened my mouth about dnd lmao. i've discovered a new love of collage, and i've just declared my major in something unique to my school, a program called Studio for Interrelated Media. i'll be learning about illustration still through the extra electives i'll have room for, but i also get to explore printmaking in more depth, as well as event planning, installation, curation, and theatre work as well.

i miss being on here a whole bunch and want to be more active when i get more time. don't plan on abandoning this blog by any means. boston has been kind to me, and though i have had some Real Low Points, i've also been living the life i've hoped for since i was a kid. i'm good, really really good.

to my friends, ily, i miss you, and i hope you're well. can't wait to catch up on all yalls art and fic. sending all my love. <3

[dailycass-cain]

After much hype, a new volume of Birds of Prey was released this past week. Was it worth the hype? How was the Cass content in it?

Well, time to air my thoughts on Birds of Prey #1.

The first thing that kind of astonished me is the AMOUNT of Cass we got in this issue. Literally, I think writer Kelly Thompson just establishes WHO the keys are for this comic.

It's Dinah and Cass.

Like a part of me thought we'd get a little bone with Cass that sets her up, and she'd disappear amongst the other members. Nope. She gets as much fleshed out in this story as Dinah.

That has me curious given the setup alone of Dinah getting this team together to save Sin (yaaaaah. FINALLY!).

There's A LOT of potential here. A part of me still muses if this will get acknowledged from the ye old Black Canary mini which pulled Sin away from Dinah.

It isn't lost to me at all that throughout this issue Thompson littered a CORNUCOPIA of homages to past Cass stories (and probably other stories too just that I'm not Daily Zealot 😋).

Take for example the aftermath of Cass's introduction in the issue. Besides the sequence being STUNNINGLY drawn and colored by Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire. There's this nugget.

So the very League who broke Dinah/Sin are what paired her with Cass. But that's not the ONLY poetry Thompson delivers in this comic when pertaining to Cass.

There are OTHER callbacks.

Namely, the reason why Cass instantly agrees is "sisterhood" I know someone on Tumblr brought up Cass knowing its importance due to Sandra/Carolyn but I see it as more of a DIFFERENT reason. Something that sadly just ended.

*cough* Batgirls should be still going. Give me three comics of Cass a month dagnabit. *cough*

There are two others but I'll get to that soon. Can I just gawk at this page more?

Again, there are nice parallels here with the Brightest Day BoP volume. Dinah assessing someone just that this time IT IS CASS. No hoopla or things to deny certain other writers from doing this.

We actually have Cass officially on the BoP team in the main DCU.

It's just that this intro means a lot. The moment I got to this page I had the dumbest goofiest grin on my face. Not instant tears (those did occur this issue) like certain other comics of Cass I've read. Just, "Oh yeah this writer gets the character."

Like it was whiplash reading this issue after a certain OTHER comic this week. Like, this issue just feels like a nice pace just going from one scene to the other.

It just flowed so perfectly from one to the other establishing the other members as Dinah and Cass (or all four ladies) recruited them.

This leads me to what DID get me emotional about this issue: Cass meeting Barda.

Like so many years I wanted this. So many times neither character was synched with the other to do it (death and limbo sadly).

This leads me to what DID get me emotional about this issue: Cass meeting Big Barda.

Like so many years I wanted this. So many times neither character was synched with the other to do it (death and limbo sadly). But it FINALLY happened.

And… I'm tearing up looking over the pages plus my mind is on it. 😅

Wrassin frassin….

Like Thompson delivered in spades with Cass/Barda. This is everything I'd imagined and then some.

So with all that out of the way of me gawing at this all. What you really want from me. My thoughts on a certain Cass vs. Harley Quinn.

The truth if you haven't been following me the last few days is.. I didn't mind it. There is a precedent of Cass having trouble with folks like Joker (though he was the easiest to tell in the end), Mad Dog, Mr. Fun, and Harley.

Just that you think I didn't notice what you did Thompson but I caught the homage. Harley and Cass plunge off a building (yes that is Harley not Babs).

Besides the homage and precedent I know many are overlooking how this is all told from Cass's perspective and nothing she does in this tale showcases WHY Harley should be part of this team, other than Cass saying so.

Cass is an unreliable narrator due to well her disorder and can't describe the best words to what happened. Stephanie Brown, she is not at detailing everything PERFECTLY.

I just view it like a Pink Panther film. Cass is the straight man, and Harley was "Clouseauing" her way throughout the scene.

But I digress, if anything the scene made me wonder, "HOW THE HELL DID HARLEY LEARN A LEOPARD PUNCH?!" Only a handful of fighters know that.

HOW THE HECK DID HARLEY KNOW?!

Did the fight make Harley look good? Not really to me. It's Cass's PoV that did it and it didn't convince Dinah, Barda, and Zealot. Just the insistence that Harley is the wild card edge they need (which cues the obligatory reason for Harley being on this team and nothing more).

Still, that particular moment didn't ruin my fun (unlike a prior comic tried to achieve). Birds of Prey #1 was everything I wanted and then some. It made me smile and it made me tear up. It gave me that good Cass content. 😁😁😁

Like I'm pumped for the next issue. Because again, it's giving me something that has always left me lackluster prior. Cass vs. Amazons? More Cass/Dinah? More Cass/Barda? Why is the mysterious person not wanting Babs on this?

Okay. You got me comic.

I really REALLY loved this comic. Like, I never thought in my years as a Cass fan we'd be getting so much content like this. Like, after the heartbreaking loss of Batgirls (and Spirit World being a mini aka I DON'T WANT IT TO END), this series was the pickup I needed.

So to all the creatives involved in this comic. 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[shmowder]

🤯🖤🤯🖤 Ok, that settles it - I think I really will try to replay P2. Now it's all on my mind. Hello Darkness by Theodor Bastard my old friend 🫶 I feel kind of bad that I can't give much in the way of an intellectual reply, but please never worry about retelling anything I may already know (or getting too niche)! It's been two years since I played, and I'm realizing that I haven't retained many of the details, but rest assured I do enjoy reading your thoughts, and the passion you have for the game is contagious (I didn't realize I was making a plague related pun until it had already been typed...)!!

I totally get the "antagonist is your own ego" thing with Stardew. It can be frustrating trying to pace yourself when there's just so much to do, and knowing that it's impossible to do it all in one day. As far as villagers go - why am I suddenly picturing Bad Grief as, like, Redd from Animal Crossing, selling fake paintings? It must be the hair 😂 Yulia can help me plan out my farm because even when I was thriving in year 3, visually it was a bit of a mess, and I'm sure not laid out optimally.

Oooh how cool is that picture of the Executors bowing down before Aglaya... (as an aside, I took the quiz you linked to and Executor was my result lmao). And <333 I can't believe we have the same favorite characters. I'd be happy to read anything you write about them.

Something clicked when you used the word "gentle" when describing how Yulia is with Artemy. You're so right. I think part of the reason I'm drawn to her and Victor is they both seem to have a gentleness to them, or if not that then a stillness, quietness, introspection. And sadness. Even Aglaya for all her strict imposing presence has a sadness to her.

I did a little more poking around the P1 part of the Wiki - Sticky's animal being a kitten is the cutest thing in the WORLD 🥹

And thank you! Now I'm intrigued by this, shall we say, unorthodox emoji choice - but I understand if you don't want to say it 😆

I'm sorry you haven't been feeling well :( I hope things get better for you, and that you can find some relief through this blog ^^ I've been alright; I saw that you have a birthday coming up and mine was about a week ago! Gemini twins~

🐿️ anon

IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY LAST WEEK!! WE ARE TWINS HORRAY <33333 HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY I MADE THIS FOR YOU

Don't mind the cupcake. They both assumed the other person's gonna bring the cake and had to improvise really quickly

Mine is still a few days away, hehe 6/9 hehehe. It's gonna be fun. It's why I originally started the "what the pathologic characters bring for your birthday" drabble series but my god it was the hardest writing exercise ever??? I was a shriveled up husk of a human afterwards and had to throw in the towel. I don't think I'll ever do the termites or humbles rip.

You did mention people that you liked my Hysteria fics and that made me very happy <3 It encouraged me to continue and write the last and third part, even compiled the drabbles and posted them on AO3 so they don't end up swallowed up and lost by tumblr's gutters.

I don't think of my replies or characters analysis as intellectual tbh, I'm just throwing up words and saying what's on mind. So I never expect anything high-brow or even well formmated in return. You're doing wonderful and your replies have been a real delight to recieve and read, I promise.

And yes, the gentleness! The three of them are aimlessly drifting in an ocean of melancholy. You get it! They seem cold and detached, but deep down, they're incredibly sensitive. They're calculated yet so full of emotions. They understand people, and they dig past the surface in other's until they fully comprehend their structure, evualting their core and understanding what gives them meaning. They're thoughtful in their own way that most people miss.

Take Victor, for example. He tends to be polite even while giving orders, using please and thank you even in the most miniscule of requests. The way he doesn't take fault to any of Artemy's mean comments or insults about him and the Kains, he doesn't take your hostility to heart and keeps talking and cooperating with you.

He's patient with Artemy, much like Yulia is gentle with you. He explains the structures and their purpose, he explains to you how time flows and works, he shares his plans for the future at the end of the game, condensing the complex visions into simple terms for you to understand, without being condcending and without being asked to.

Like when your teacher explains to a child why can birds fly, how planes work and why flight is such an achievement for humanity. He has the patience of a loving parent that wants to share his admiration for the innovations in the world with you. But he keeps himself grounded through all of it, doesn't let excitement nor passion steer him away from giving you his full attention when you interrupt with a question.

Even after that, he still extends an invitation for you to join him, to join them, the future awaiting just across the river, a world born anew. Saying, "Of course, you'll always be welcome there"—you—the one who destroyed the hopes and dreams of everything his family has ever amounted for. He still welcomes you with open arms, inviting the ripper along to the heavens.

-

Meanwhile, the player can almost make Aglaya tear in the literal first ingame meeting. Nothing major, just the hint of a few tears when you pick the sincere from the heart dialogue options the Haruspex is known for. It moves her, genuinely moves her.

And by that point, she still is apathetic towards Artemy and is burtal and efficient with her words. This isn't the soft loving Aglaya you get at the end of the game, this is the steel inquisitor Lilich you're being questioned by.

Yet she is almost moved to tears.

You know those types of people that bury themselves under 13 layers of irony to be able to even function? The people who can't self-actualize or speak sincerely in fear of being perceived as cringe? the people who refuse to take anything to heart no matter how raw or moving? Because it's safer to not let the world affect you, it's safer to shut out both the good and the bad. It's familiar.

Aglaya is on the far extreme opposite end of that. She looks for the meaning of life in everything, be it under a rock or over a bridge. She dissects everyone's words, she tests how much their weight would truly hold up against feathers in the brutal scales of her mind.

She isn't afraid to feel emotions. She isn't afraid to face herself and her vulnerability as a human being. To be raw and open, completely unphased by the spears piercing into her soft bare flesh because she knows pain is part of being human. That pain is the price of growing up. Part of the process of being a full-fledged being with a soul.

She is not controlled by her ego nor pride. She knows that she knows nothing which is the greatest strength she holds over all of the factions in pathologic, which is the sole reason she is able to outsmart and manipulation the bachelor himself in his own game of chess.

She understands pain, she understands happiness and she understands what it's like to not have a purpose. To struggle to survive when your life is at the mercy of the whims of children.

Aglaya is probably the most emotional character in all of Pathologic for how many feelings she contains and doesn't shy away from. The rollercoaster these 5 days have been to her since she arrived in town. Dealing with anger and revenge with Daniil, discovering trust, love, and a new meaning for life with Artemy, learning about powers beyond anyone's control with Clara.

It is ironic how she appears as the most cold and apathetic to onlookers based on their personal opinions of her.

Yet not even a single crack forms in her sanity. She accepts the theory of the town being alive almost immediately.

She thinks. Truly uses both her brain & heart, and doesn't make her decisions based on personal biases and gut feelings.

Cogito ergo eum

Therefore, she is.

-

On a last note, Sticky's animal being a kitten genuinely made my week so much better. I kept thinking about that fact whenever I was in a bad mood and how fitting it is since he clings after Artemy left and right, following him and fearing abandonment just because his dad took too long in the shower once ouch my heart. It's so fitting!!!

A cub and a kitten!!! what more could you ask for??

That detail definitely slipped me by, thank you so much for bringing it up to me. My life just got ten times better with that imagery in my head.

I hope you have a wonderful day! I had fun writing this <3 thanks for existing.

[mountain-lion-gremlin]

I’ve got one. Probably not terribly insightful, but…what’s it like being a cougar? How did you realise you were one? I myself am actually a cat (tiger, jaguar), but I’m always interested in what other’s experiences as other animals are like, and quite like cougars. Do you find any fun in it? Is it purely serious?

:000

Its alright, uhmmm let me get my thoughts together for a second.

Its, honestly very interesting. A lot of it feels so much more like a house cat sort of way, I guess? Im not too instinctual as a cougar when im passively tuning in. I've spent so long being one it can be hard to pick out what it's like honestly.

Theres a huge pull to any sort of habitat. Arizonian deserts, forests, grasslands, mountains, it's so strange having so many places call to me, which was actually one defining factor to me figuring out i was a cougar.

Cougars relate so closely to house cats behavior-wise that I thought I was a house cat for a hot minute there. I've always been drawn to them in a way? I also live in their range, so I'm not shocked that Im a very passive cougar. It's like I'm safe in my home range and dont have to worry. (Like im not even kidding a few weeks ago a cougar walked down our street and it was on the news :D)

and i mean like, i was just kind of putting the puzzle pieces together on the floor (mentally) about my identity, and it all just suddenly clicked. Wish I could say it changed my whole life, I just kind of felt like I already knew and haven't really worried about my identity too much since. It's always been a peace and just a knowing that I was right. And I'm glad i figured it out so soon too.

I mean like, there is both serious and fun parts! Like getting phantoms while you are blasting music and feeling like a badass; or waking up in the morning, putting on a shirt and suddenly you begin having a physical flare and you start to grow fur on your back for no reason... Or or, mentally shifting and just a joy that fills you.

I used to be much more serious when I was younger (makes me sound old lol); mental shifting every day, researching everything I could for weeks on end, Journaling... I was very intense, almost to the point to complete obsession. Nowadays I just exist and let myself be a cougar, and I've had much more progress in these last few weeks in discovering than I did when I was pushing so hard.

Im so glad tp be where I am right now, its a mix of both serious and having fun. Might as well have fun, it's who I am going to be my whole life.

Thank you for the ask, I really appreciate it ^^ I love making posts like this :D

[battlemaiden13]

Hi hello! I dont think my og ask went through so i probably wont be able to recapture the excitement but!

So years ago when it was first starting up i read hnd and then kinda dropped it at some point but! I returned seeing it still updated!

My goal was to finish my reread before chapter 100 which i did last week and omg i completely fell in love w it once again!

I am like so particular about characterization of skeletons but as the fic went on I just loved seeing how u explore every single one of them more and more and just give them more quirks! And how eventually we start seeing their dynamics outside of mc! Its just so great! And i could honestly go off on a rant but this is already long ask ahaha

Anyway im edgy skeleton truther, end of chapter 99 left me in shambles and i cant wait for more!

(Also ur fic mightve motiveted me to draw some fanart but shshsh)

Oh my gosh!! No, HELLO! AH no, no your other one did send, it's here!! I just haven't been in the best headspace recently nor had the time to write back! Your other comment said it's been up since 2017 which is insane to me. I can't believe I've been writing it that long and that people are still reading it. I happy to see it's good enough to have people coming back to it XD

Congratulations on catching up! that's no easy feat I'm sure, I'm so happy that you love it to!! I have so many plans for the next like part of HND hopefully by chapter 200 she's dating the skeletons and we can get into some real juicy stuff. That seems like a slow enough burn right? XD

I'm really happy that you like the skeletons interactions! In future I might write some chapters just with the boys hanging out with one enough to deepen that too. I think it would be fun to explore characters who don't usually interact as often or even build better bonds. Berry and Blue have such a fun dynamic but I also love Blue and Red hanging out. If you wanted I wouldn't mind reading a rant about skeleton interactions and quirks XD

Chapter 99 is some of my best work. I've already had to re-read it a few times, something I've only done with a few chapters and I am in love. I made myself simp over the edgy boi. I really want chapter 100 to have more of those moments but there's a lot going on so it might have to be saved. Expect more of the sipping seen in chapter 99 to happen over the next stage of HND though because hot damn.

Holy heck please, please, if you've drawn anything please let me see it. I love fanart. Even if you want to send it on anon and request I don't post it, or tag me! It really makes my day. Of course if you don't want to that's fine to, I am really happy to know I've inspired you that much

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoy the next stage of this story as much as I will enjoy writing it