#i still need to figure out a personal art tag yeesh

[graynide]

Hello Everybody! 👋👋 The name's Graylinn and this is my main blog for my definitely normal fixation about certain media that make me want to expand upon and draw fanart about it.

simply, My Brainrot! no im not separating them into different sideblogs, thats too much work! enjoy the reblogs and tags lol

also number 1# fan of character design and split personality trope (figured it out! whoaw plurality mediaa)

Fandoms that im Cursed to be Stuck In Forever™:

Team Fortress 2

Half Life VR: but the AI is Self-Aware

The Freemanverse (mostly about The 3 FreeMEN)

Captain Underpants (Krupp and CU from the movie, fav guys)

Slay The Princess (birb man character designss)

Tag Guides:

#graynide's art - Art drawn by me!! :D

#graynide says - Text related posts typed by yours truly

#man in underpants posting - Every post I make for CU

#tail feathers posting - Every post I make for STP

#reblog station - Reblog tag (Choo! Choo!)

#im a character design fanatic guys - As if it wasn't obvious already wow

i can be found easily on other platforms but im only active on Tumblr and Twitter, because my already rotting brain cant handle the immense management i have to do for each I had made yeesh

Miscellaneous Tags: (custom made for such shenanigans)

#seemed better to type this out as a comment than in the tags - you'll probably see me add this if I made a 1-minute edit to any post whoops

#time loop trope shenanigans - any post that talks about time loops, i save em

#welcome to being an adult! - posts about the experience of adulthood

🚧 (okay this post is still under construction but i just needed to put this out so i can finally have an intro post) 🚧

[thetumblingtiger]

*whispers* i need to be banned

Did I tell anyone how I made another au because I wanted to use one of my favorite Doctor Who quotes

because I accidentally did

awhoopsie

Granted, I don’t know as much about Doctor Who because I haven’t watched the entire series (I just watched it if my older brother had it on) plus it’s been a while so I looked up some stuff about Timelords to get a better grasp on ‘em. They are actually, pretty dang cool as a species.

So yeah. Timelord Joker.

Why not? =P

I think it actually suits him pretty well and it was fun to think about in context of Dr. Neo showing up (because that’s about when my brain managed to shove this at me.) Though I don’t think he’d fit into the main series (unless he accidentally crossed into another universe/alternate timeline where he meant to just cross time. oops.) Rather, he’s a Timelord that takes it upon himself to gather up the dangerous (/cool) alien artifacts on Earth, storing away or destroying them so that they don’t fall into the wrong hands or set off because alien tech is crazy like that.

He kinda has a different array of tools from The Doctor, and is far less well known (mostly because he’s more specific in his goals, but also because he doesn’t nose around in all of time- just travels to where/when he’s looking to find the dangerous stuff.)

One of them is his watch, which while less powerful than the Sonic Screwdriver, has its own cool uses. It can tell you where/when the most dangerous artifacts can be found, has at least enough power to bypass most locks, can let you use a temporary hypnotic brain hack (it works best on humans) that allows you to gather information or disable someone, has a built in flashlight (because of course), and probably some more things Joker hasn’t told Hachi about because he forgets.

He also has a psychic paper of his own because museum curators are awful listeners and he doesn’t want to cause an overabundance of harm to humans. (”-and it’s going to pull half the building and all of the people inside it into a pocket dimension filled with horrifying creatures from across the universe if I don’t disable it now!” “I’m sorry sir, but I’ll need to see some identification first.” *bit back groans of extreme frustration*)

Then there’s his cards, which cause a small temporary rift in time-space upon throwing that can allow for a quick time jump if need be (it has a range of up to 500 years.) Joker just has to be careful to only throw one at a time, because horrible, horrible things would happen if two hit the same spot at the same time. He also has to make sure he has at least two, so that he can get back to the time where he left his TARDIS.

Speaking of which, I’m not sure what Joker’s TARDIS looks like, but it’s likely something silly and kinda childish. (I’ll change this if I ever figure it out though!)

Then there’s the Timelord Joker in general, along with his partner Hachi.

Timelord Joker is a pretty nutty guy, often lacking focus (mostly when talking to other people; he’s usually so far gone in his own mind that entire conversations will be ignored because he’s sitting there thinking), a sense of fashion (this version of him? Thinks the blue and yellow plaid tie goes with everything. And another version of him- be it future or past- has a mullet), and is willing to break more than a few rules to reach his goals.

But he’s still pretty nice; I mean he tries to keep dangerous alien tech from killing too many people (unfortunately, he can’t save everyone) and is also willing to pause his searches sometimes to assist others in specific need (say an extraterrestrial creature is about to kill a human-mmmNOPE, because Joker ain’t gunna just pass by that noise!)

His scar is actually a bit odd too- it stays on his body no matter how many regenerations he goes through. Apparently, the original wound was inflicted in such a way that it was bound to Joker through some pretty screwed up means to never leave him. It sometimes moves a bit after regenerating, but it’s never left his form. He refuses to say how or when he got it.

As for Hachi, he’s a human that Joker encountered while on the trail of a particularly dangerous ancient alien weapon. It had apparently come into Hachi’s possession at one point, but was taken by something more powerful… and sinister. Joker unwillingly allowed Hachi to assist him because of complications, and in doing so showed both his usefulness and the fact that even the smallest of small humans, while not as resilient as Timelords in most ways, do have their strengths. He has continued journeying alongside Joker since, doing what he can to help where he can (like cooking; Joker adores his cooking.)

As for other characters, here’s what I’ve got on that so far:

King’s a novelist that encounters Joker before Hachi. Apparently King helped out his previous self, but the two cut off soon after Joker regenerated so that he could continue with his normal life. He writes books based on the adventures he had during the partnership. (Spade is his pen name.)

Princess Emerald (Queen) is a princess-to-be-queen for a small country. Her kingdom was invaded by an alien species that was in search for a long lost mechanism buried beneath the lands. Said mechanism was very deadly, so Joker was there too. Cue using the power of TEAMWORK to stop the baddies and destroy the weapon. After that Queen sometimes travels around with Joker to catch a break from her royal duties (and he obliges because he’s actually seen her future, and she’s supposed to know some of the things she finds out on their adventures, apparently.)

As for the twins, I haven’t quite got a read on them yet, other than Rose probably being part alien or even having some alien abilities instead. All the other characters I just haven’t figured out yet.

(Except for Phoenix. He’s basically the same, game-loving bird alien that we all know and love, and is probably close to Joker since both have extreme longevity.)

Aaaaand, that’s about all I’ve got sorted on this one. Makes me kinda want to watch Doctor Who again, or at least some of my favorite episodes~

But really, I do not mean to come up with so many au’s, though I guess that’s what I get for A) liking crossovers a whole lot, and B) just kind of being an “idea” person.

(I like ideas. I like coming up with them. I like working on them. It’s a thing I do, and may even be my all time favorite hobby- besides drawing anyway. =P)

Once again though- feel free to pick up this au and do stuff with it because there’s no. telling. If I will do anything else.

Well that’s all I’ve got for now, so I’ll leave y’all with the first picture I did to practice/warm up with~

Later everybuddy!

[dee-the-red-witch]

OK, I’m gonna take a minute here while getting my brain re-set to sit back down and start in on the manuscript again. And I want to preface this all with a BIGASS disclaimer: I DO NOT THINK OR CONSIDER THAT THE POSTER WHO PUT THESE TAGS ON A REBLOG FROM ME WISHED ME ANY KIND OF ILL WHATSOEVER. IN FACT, I’M PRETTY SURE THEY WERE TRYING TO PAY ME A COMPLIMENT.

That said, I’ve been seeing this more and more. On here, on twitter, on Fb, everywhere. And it’s happening more and more as I post about more than just part of what I do as a dayjob, and as I’m trying to leverage back into doing more than just leather. ...y’all do get that my leatherwork and maskmaking is not the sum and total of me as a person, right? I mean, this is not meant as a humblebrag, or any kind of brag, just a resume list, because I’m all over the fucking map: In high school, it was debate and drama. Even ended up at State and Nationals for those to some degree.

After that, in between and during college, it was working haunted houses, studying english, history, and theatre, and then putting together a theatresports team that ran for two years (we were groaningly terrible, exactly the kind of humor geeky/nerdy theatre kids put together and it was awesome and these days I cringe at some of the jokes we used to do. I think our biggest audience was maybe thirty people.) Then it was moving here, going to Cornish for theatre, summarily dropping out of Cornish after a semester of realizing there was no way I could afford to stay in school and survive without being homeless on part time minimum wage, not to mention lots of disagreement with the whole program. Cue being a twentysomething in seattle in the early aughts- doing lots of small theatre, joining a Rocky Horror troupe, weird citylife adventures and a lot of shite underpaid jobs. Also figuring out I was queer in there. Leather didn’t happen until after I’d met my fiancee and we’d moved in together, when I got hit with a seven-month stint of unemployment, and with loads of boredom on my hands, decided I’d try and figure out how to make a leather mask or two from some spare hide she had lying around from making her own armor for the SCA. Which took a lot of attempts. Fast forward a couple of years, I was still working shit-paying jobs, we had a kid on the way, and couldn’t afford early daycare so we could both work. so I stayed home with the kids since I made less out of the two of us. Still don’t regret that. Also meant I launched a website and started slowly getting more and more professional and doing cons and stuff. Of course, doing a site means you have to do images, which meant learning photoshop, and, well, I also went ahead and learned how to draw, collage, etc in there. After a few years of photoshop, leather, and websites at home, and after going back to work at a bank doing image archival work on documents, I ended up working in a gallery as a dayjob, scanning and archiving paintings and photos for reproduction. which meant learning repro, art, art history, and putting it all together meant I was suddenly making digital art in my off time as well. And then kid number two and the ‘08 real estate crash happened almost simultaneously in reverse order. I was home with new kid again, because my job, and my entire department type, information services, pretty much ceased to exist from the corporate world. And since then it’s been working on self promoting and doing my own business since because fuck working for other people, its never worked well.

So yeah, I do leather, it’s a big part of my life,because anything is when you’ve done it for 15+ years. But that said, I’ve been fighting burnout with it for two years now, and been trying to leverage myself out of it the whole time. Which means fighting with the “but you’re the leather guy!” thing in my own head a LOT. I am not just a leatherworks guy. I write. A bunch. Next book’s almost done, and I skipped the history bit where I was freelancing for a few rpg designers- no, probably not anything you’ve seen. I DO VISUAL ART which you’ve all seen like mad if you’ve been following for any amount of time. I’d act if there were enough spoons, time and energy in the day. There isn’t, and I’m a cheesey fuckin’ actor anyways. I tattoo- that’s a new one picked up since quarantine, but I’v ebeen trying to make both of my hands less dumb, so picking up actual physical drawing and tattooing has been a thing. I still also craft all sorts of props and other bits when I want/get hired to. Because WHY NOT. But I’m a lot more than a leather guy, and I fight with myself every time I see stuff about me being just the leather guy. Jeebus, that was a wall of text. OK, I’m maybe also needing to vent a lot more, find time to get into therapy, and deal with issues on a healthy basis. Maybe find time and people irl who see me as a whole-ass person now that my vaccine’s almost finished marinating. Yeesh. Sorry for the screed, folks, but the ‘don’t fucking delete shit’ rule applies. It’s here, so I may as well share. But yes, your friend who does more than leather is trying to get seen as your friend who does more than just leather. Make sense?

[goosewhisker]

russetfur vs. the entirety of skyclan || ch. 3

read this on ao3 || read this on fanfiction.net

chapter one

chapter two

summary:  After enduring months of Turtlekit and Kitekit’s abuse, Rootkit finally snaps and accidentally awakens his powers. This has the unfortunate side effect of reviving the ghost of an angry Shadowclan warrior who: 1) is personally offended by Skyclan’s existence, and 2) has magnanimously taken it upon herself to relieve the world of that burden. Or something

okay so its been a minute since i posted. a lot of things happened, i got a kitten, a job, a new fandom, and i speedran a full semester of calculus in like the past four weeks. im sorry about how late this is and i cant promise when the next one will be up but its half written already so uh hope springs eternal. anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk

also shoutout to @turquoise-tulip for reminding me that ive had this chapter in my drafts for half a year now this ones for you im sorry its so stupid

Chapter Three: In Which Rootkit Practices the Art of Blackmail 

The morning after is quiet.

...is what Rootkit would like to say. Actually, he gets woken up by Tree at what his mom likes to call 'the butt-crack of dawn' to go talk to Leafstar, thereby ruining his chances of being a normal warrior forever.

When they get to the leader's den, Violetshine is already there. Rootkit discovers this by walking into her while his eyes are closed in the middle of a yawn.

"See, he's about to fall asleep on his paws," his mom points out, sounding pretty close to yawning herself. "It's too early for this. Morning, kid."

Rootkit mumbles something that's unintelligible even to himself and falls asleep on his mother's paws. A few minutes later, he's woken by gentle paws on his back.

"Hey, kid. Kiddo. You gotta get up."

Rootkit hums absently, still mostly asleep, before realizing abruptly where he is. Mouse dung! Suddenly, he's completely awake. He jerks his head up, almost colliding with Tree's jaw before he pulls out of the way. Rootkit, too busy panicking, doesn't notice. He just fell asleep in Leafstar's den! After she'd brought him over to talk specifically to him! After seeing this humiliating display of incompetence, she'll really never make him a warrior, and Kitekit and Turtlekit will-

"Rootkit." The single word cuts through the panic. Rootkit looks up to see Leafstar, looking very serious with only a hint of amusement seeping through. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes!" The answer bursts out of him before he really thinks it through. And, well, it's not entirely true, but it's not entirely untrue either. Either way, he's up for answering any questions, which is probably what she's asking.

Leafstar looks at him just long enough for him to start fidgeting before she begins. "I've already spoken to your parents, Rootkit, so I know most of the story. I just need to know your side. What happened yesterday with the ghost?"

Rootkit looks at his paws, then back to Leafstar's calming gaze. "It started when I was at the grave. I was just- just talking, and then Kitekit found me..."

He tells her the whole, stupid story. How he'd lost it at Kitekit and Turtlekit and turned around to find a ghost looming over him; how he'd asked Tree for help, only for her to disappear; how she'd attacked him and Tree, announced her intentions, and vanished. At last, the story runs dry and he falls silent to watch her expression change.

Leafstar hums thoughtfully. She turns to Tree. "Do you think she's likely to hurt someone?"

Tree shrugs, looking uncomfortable. "If she's serious, yes. Most ghosts can't touch the living. Those who can - like this one - usually died violently or thinking they were wronged. And angry ghosts tend to be... volatile."

"Ah." Leafstar considers this.

"If it comes to that, what'll you do?" Violetshine asks. "Will you be able to stop her?"

Rootkit watches Tree watch his mom, and something in his dad's eyes soften. He leans over to swipe a tongue over her ear. "You want to help her, don't you?" he says quietly. "Because she's Shadowclan?"

Violetshine flushes, but she doesn't back down. "Many of them weren't kind to me," she says, "But Shadowclan was still my home once. I can't just forget that."

Tree purrs and winds his tail with hers. "That's why I love you," he whispers.

Rootkit sticks his tongue out in disgust. Bleh. Grownups!

"To answer your question," Tree adds, "I don't know what I'll do. I suppose-" he pauses, eyes tight with worry. "I've never exorcised a ghost who didn't want to move on before. I don't know if I even can. This may be something of an experiment."

The grownups look at each other for a long moment. "I will do whatever it takes to keep my clan safe," Leafstar says. There's something like a warning in her voice that makes Rootkit shiver.

"What should I do?" he asks. All three adults look at him like they've forgotten he's there.

After a moment, Leafstar's face breaks into a smile. "Tell you what. You can help by keeping an eye out for this Russetfur and letting one of us know when she's nearby. But listen, Rootkit," and her voice goes stern. "You must stay away from her. Russetfur is dangerous, and she may hurt you to get what she wants. Do you understand me, Rootkit?"

Rootkit looks into Leafstar's amber eyes - warm and worried and burning with a fierce, protective fire - and knows what he has to do. "I understand, Leafstar," he says, and just like that, his mission clicks into place.

From somewhere else in the camp - probably the warriors' den - someone screams, followed by Russetfur's haunting cackles.

Rootkit ignores it.

As he double checks his supplies, Rootkit runs through a mental checklist. He's talked to the ghost - check. He's figured out what she wants - check. He's given her what she wants - well... no. Tree's three-step-plan hadn't exactly accounted for what happened if what the ghost wanted was unobtainable.

Well, it doesn't really matter now. This plan is sure to work.

"Are you sure this is gonna work," Needlekit says again.

"Yes, I am, Starclan above will you stop nagging me," Rootkit says.

His sister makes a disgruntled noise and hauls the next bramble into place with a particularly vicious tug. "I'm just concerned you have no idea what you're doing, is all."

"I know exactly what I'm doing."

Rootkit doesn't have any idea what he's doing.

"Hmm." Needlekit seems thoroughly unconvinced, but she gets on with the task anyway. The trailing brambles she's weaving into place will form a turtle-shell-shaped cage laced with warding herbs over the grave when they're done. The plan is more or less to summon Russetfur into a cage she can't phase through, leaving her unable to escape. In Rootkit's opinion, it's a pretty solid plan for someone who has no idea what he's doing. "Why're you so set on doing this, anyway? Didn't Leafstar tell you not to mess with Gingerpelt?"

"Russetfur," Rootkit corrects her automatically. "And, well, yes, but..." he hesitates. "It's just... you know. I was the one who set her free in the first place, and..."

"Yes?" Needlekit prompts him. She's given up on the brambles and moved to stuffing moss and bracken into the gaps.

Rootkit fidgets uncomfortably for a second before the truth bursts out of him. "And now Russetfur's running wild everywhere and it's all my fault, and what if Leafstar decides not to make me an apprentice? If I don't become an apprentice, I can't be a warrior! And if I can't be a warrior-" he cuts himself off. He can't repeat what Kitekit and Turtlekit had said; even saying the words aloud seems like tempting fate... and he can't burden Needlekit with that, anyway.

Needlekit looks at him, though, and her gaze goes soft. "And being a warrior is your dream," she says, and starts stuffing the gaps with renewed vigor. "Well, come on, then! If we can trap Scarletfuzz then Leafstar will have to make us both apprentices! I can't be an apprentice without you; then I'd have to share the den with just Kitekit and Turtlekit. Can you imagine?" She pulls a disgusted face that has Rootkit giggling despite himself.

"Alright, alright," he says. "While you're doing that..." He shoves aside the piles of bracken they'd collected and settles down on the dirt. In his stories, Tree had never really talked about summoning ghosts - his work had been more about getting them to leave - but Rootkit is pretty confident about his ability to summon her again if necessary. More importantly, one or two of his stories had been about things the average, non-ghost-seeing cat could do to ward off spirits.

Rootkit spreads out his supplies, most of which had been scavenged from the medicine cats through a combination of tag-teaming and white lies. The herbs really are going to help his mom, just not in the way Fidgetflake thinks.

Thistledown. Rosemary. Lavender. Thyme. All plants that either attract or repel spirits, according to Tree (from what Rootkit can remember, anyway). Plus a lot of spiderweb.

"Hey, are you sure that's right?" Needlekit asks, leaning over his shoulder. "I thought we were gonna get some sage. And why'd you pick up the thistle?"

Rootkit frowns. "Well, Fidgetflake was coming back too soon and I panicked, alright? If you've got a problem you can get some more yourself."

Needlekit snickers and prods the massive pile of spiderwebs. "No thanks. I think you could've gotten a little more spiderweb, Frecklewish might still have some left over... yeesh, alright, I'll leave off the sarcasm. You don't have to glare at me."

Rootkit rolls his eyes. The immaturity of some cats. "Maybe I went a little overboard, but we need it. Frecklewish can just send the 'paws out to find some more. Now help me apply it; we need to cover the entire cage so there's no chance of getting out."

It's the work of a few minutes to paste it over with cobwebs, and the work of a few more to weave in all the protecting herbs. With luck, they'll prevent her from just phasing through. By the time they're done, it's so dense that a living cat would find it impossible to escape; Rootkit can only hope that the same goes for a dead one.

"Alright, fire 'er up!" Needlekit commands.

Rootkit closes his eyes to focus, trying to recall the feeling of power rushing through his being. Once, Tree had told them of a time when he'd jumped onto a wire fence and been struck by something he'd called electricity- what lightning is made of, apparently. Rootkit imagines it feels something like that.

The power lying dormant in his veins leaps forth eagerly at his call. It swells like a crescendo of sound, rushing out through his paws into the ground.

Rootkit focuses on the grave with every fiber of his being and wills it to summon its spirit. "Russetfur!" he cries out.

For a moment, nothing happens.

Then, something shifts.

It's like a hole is briefly torn through space; instinctively, Rootkit reaches in, grabs something, and drags it through.

Beside him, Needlekit gasps. "What the heck was that?"

But her voice is wavy, distorted. Rootkit opens an eye and finds his world is tilted sideways. Needlekit makes a high pitched noise that scrapes its claws across the most inner parts of Rootkit's ears.

"M'fine," Rootkit mumbles. His words are slurred, he realizes distantly, because half his face is pressed into the dirt.

Needlekit jabs him. "This is no time for sleeping, Rootkit. Did it work?"

Rootkit blinks. For a moment, he has absolutely no idea what she's talking about; then, the memories start to flood back. He narrows his eyes, remembering the feeling of hooking a soul on his clawtips like a fish. "I think-"

He's interrupted by an infuriated caterwaul that drowns out whatever he was going to say.

"What is this?"

The cage shakes as its captive throws her entire weight against the wall, but it holds steady. The herbs have done their job; even a ghost can't pass through.

Needlekit laughs triumphantly. "It's bad kitty jail for bad kitties!"

Russetfur snarls back something absolutely obscene and proceeds to attack the inside of the cage with a ferocious determination. At least, Rootkit thinks she is; it's kind of hard to tell since they can't actually see her.

"Can she get out?" Rootkit wonders.

"No," Needlekit says at the same time Russetfur snaps, "You bet your kittypet hide I will."

Rootkit blinks.

"Literally," Russetfur adds. "Because I'll strip it off your back to line my nest."

"Oh." Rootkit drops his head back on the ground. The dirt here is very comfy, he realizes. Maybe he should just sleep here from now on. "Yeah. That was kind of unclear."

"It'll become very clear in a few minutes, runt. I'll even give you a demonstration."

Needlekit leans against the cage with a smirk that probably would have been infuriating, if Russetfur could actually see it. "Don't worry, Redpelt, you're clear as crystal."

Rootkit freezes. Even the scraping sounds coming from inside the cage cut off. "What was that," Russetfur says suspiciously. "Did you just-"

"Keep your spirits up," Needlekit says. "I'm sure you'll be back to your old haunting grounds in no time."

Rootkit tries to slam his head into the ground and discovers that it's really much harder to do when you're already lying on it.

Russetfur doesn't say anything.

"What's wrong, ghostie? You're as silent as the dead in there."

Then a translucent ear rises out of the ground right next to Rootkit's face and he screams loud enough to be heard halfway to Riverclan, probably, and scrambles out of the way. Needlekit screams, too, and then Russetfur is climbing out of the ground like a corpse emerging from its grave.

She shakes herself off and grins down at them with more teeth than a cat should rightfully have. "You forgot to ward the bottom," she says. Rootkit makes a very small sound that definitely qualifies as a whimper. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

All the fur on Needlekit's body has bushed out so she looks twice her size - which, compared to the full-grown warrior before them, is almost nothing. She's shaking like a leaf, but undaunted, she spits at Russetfur's feet. "Drop dead!"

Rootkit could kill her.

In a blur of movement, Russetfur pins Needlekit to the cage wall with one paw. "I admire your spirit, kit," she hisses. "But if you want to sass me, you're digging your own grave."

That's it. Rootkit has had enough. That is the final stars-damned straw. "Shut up with the stupid ghost puns, I swear to Starclan," Rootkit screams.

The wind rustles gently in the treetops as the two she-cats stare at him.

"The next person to make a single stars-cursed ghost pun, I am going to snap your fleabitten neck. Is that clear?"

Needlekit makes a stifled noise muted by the heavy paw slowly crushing her windpipe.

"Ah." Russetfur looks to be considering it. "Would you say we're dead m-"

Rootkit makes a very aggressive series of throat-slitting gestures.

"...you've got your father's spirit in you, I see."

"I brought you into this world and I can take you out of it," Rootkit snarls.

That gets her attention. Russetfur's eyes widen, then narrow. "Oh?" Her voice is considerably less friendly.

This is where it gets tricky. Rootkit's at a disadvantage - he's just seriously ticked off a relatively powerful ghost with a grudge against his relatively powerless clan, she's got his sister by the throat, and his only bargaining chip is a bluff. But there's an opportunity somewhere here; he just has to navigate a very prickly, very dangerous minefield and pray he doesn't blow them all up.

Time to channel his inner Tree. "Look," Rootkit says, in his best diplomat voice. "Clearly, we both want something here, something that we can provide for each other. What do you say we make a deal?"

Russetfur narrows her eyes and tightens her grip on Needlekit. "I don't think you're in a position to bargain, here," she says.

"On the contrary." Rootkit raises a paw. "I am in every position to offer a deal... as you just experienced yourself."

Russetfur scoffs. "What could you possibly have to offer me?"

"Your life."

That gives her pause. "If you could exorcise me, you'd have done it already."

Rootkit gives his best imitation of her knife-sharp smile and proceeds to lie through his teeth. "What do you think we were doing just now?"

The ghost narrows her eyes and says nothing.

Rootkit seizes his opportunity and plows onward. "You don't want to be exorcised, and we don't want you in our camp. So here's the deal - you leave and we don't follow." The last few words are growled out, like Leafstar whenever someone threatens the clan.

It's very intimidating, in his opinion, but it doesn't seem to have an effect in Russetfur. If anything, it only seems to make her angrier. "I won't sacrifice my honor as a Shadowclan cat to run from a bunch of kittypets," Russetfur snarls, leaning closer. "Even if you kill me again, I'd sooner die fighting for my clan than kowtow to some coddled housepets."

Rootkit grits his teeth. She hasn't called his bluff, but they can't have her running loose and hurting people. Think, Rootkit! "Another deal, then," he says. "If you won't leave the camp, then you just can't hurt anybody."

"No deal," Russetfur snaps.

"That's the final offer," Rootkit says coldly. "Under no circumstances are you allowed to hurt or injure any Skyclan cats. I'm not going to compromise on that point. And you can't really afford to bargain, anyway," he adds with a shrug. His heart is pounding so loudly he's almost sure Russetfur can hear it. "If you don't, I'll just summon you into the cage again and exorcise you for good. Or who knows? Maybe we'll leave you in there for a while. And this time we'll cover the bottom." He finishes with the nastiest, most hateful smile he can muster - which isn't particularly difficult, right now.

Russetfur goes silent. He can practically hear the gears in her brain ticking as she weighs her options. There's clearly only one real option here; he just hopes she isn't too prideful to take it.

"Fine," Russetfur growls, voice so low he has to strain to hear it. "Fine. I agree to your terms." The hatred seeping from her voice is almost palpable.

Well, the feeling is absolutely mutual. Rootkit dips into a little bow and bares his fangs in a farce of a smile. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Russetfur disappears into the air, leaving Needlekit to slump to the ground, wheezing. Rootkit waits until he's certain the ghost is gone before sinking onto the ground himself, body shaking with all the fear he couldn't allow himself to show before. Holy crap.

"Are you," Needlekit begins, then cuts herself off with a raucous bout of coughs that makes him wince. "Are you... okay?" she whispers hoarsely.

Rootkit makes a high-pitched, keening noise before breaking into nervous laughter. "No, no, not even a little bit. Oh, Starclan, I can't believe I'm alive, I thought she was going to kill us both. Oh stars..." he trails off with a giggle and buries his face in the dirt.

They lie there for a couple minutes, the silence broken only by Needlekit's wheezing and Rootkit's trembling.

"I want Mom and Dad," Needlekit whispers.

Rootkit couldn't agree more.

[concealeddarkness13]

A New Dawn Part 9

In which Kai actually feels pretty safe! Tagging my collaborator @ratracechronicler!

Intro

Kai: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8

Rat: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

Rat shook me awake, and I shot up, grabbing one of my knives. She whistled and shook her head. “Yeesh. It’s not my fault that you decided to sleep in late. We need to get going. Tim and Tom are waiting.” She tapped her wrist, even though she didn’t have a watch.

I blinked a few times as a fleeting fear faded away. A dream that I couldn’t remember. “You’re one to talk. I’m normally up hours before you.”

She scoffed. “Joke’s on you. I only wake up early when I have to. Anyway, you have ten minutes to get ready. So, get going.”

I rolled my eyes and ran off to get changed, and Eli shook his head at Rat. “You haven’t even contacted them yet.”

“She doesn’t need to know that.”

I just rolled my eyes as a smile tugged at my lips. They were weird, but they were my friends. I got finished getting ready in nine and a half minutes, so I was still on time. My machine was still not working, but at least it was easier to get one last good look at Joanndu as we left. Hopefully, the aliens wouldn’t follow me to Fre Jac-Mac, but I didn’t have much hope for that.

Rat cleared her throat, and I looked over at her. “We’ll be meeting our friends, Tim and Tom, right away because they offered to let us stay at their adoptive mother’s place. I don’t know anything about Miss Evy, but the twins are cool, so she probably is too.” She glanced back at me, and I stiffened at the fire in her eyes. “If you hear any whispers in your ears, let us know. We’ll help you keep watch for whoever is doing the whispering.” I nodded, and Rat smiled and turned back to the front. “Now, on to the description.

“Fre Jac-Mac used to be two separate cities, but the citizens thought that was a stupid idea, so they tore down the wall separating them because they felt like it. The river, Rio Sakura, splits it in half, so there’s still a natural divide. There are some pools of water, and there are parks for families to walk around in. We’ll be meeting Tim and Tom in one of the quieter parks. People in Fre Jac-Mac like art deco, especially graffiti, so it’s really cool to look at. And with that doohickey of yours not working, you’ll be able to see it in all its glory. Oh, and there’s, like, a thousand bridges.”

I smiled. “It sounds like a cool place.”

“From what Tim and Tom say about it, it is.”

Rat and Eli decided to talk too quietly for me to hear, so I just stared out the window again. We passed over three different bridges, and I just stared at them. They looked like they had tons of machines in them. If only I could tell what they did. Finally, Fre Jac-Mac to come into sight. It was so cool! A river did split the city, and some of the tallest buildings I had ever seen rose up on either side of it. It didn’t look as crowded or busy as Joanndu, so that was already better.

As we got closer, I actually saw all the bridges. Rat hadn’t been lying about how many bridges Fre Jac-Mac had. And there was art and graffiti everywhere. It was just so colorful, and people looked like they were enjoying themselves, like in Joanndu.

Rat parked, and we stopped to eat. Eli looked over at Rat anxiously, but Rat just brushed it off. “It would do them good to wait. Anyway, we’ve got to try the fast, cheap street food everywhere we go.”

It was a lot quieter than Joanndu was, and I just felt more comfortable here. And there weren’t any whispers yet. It was still early, but that already made me feel more comfortable.

The park we went to was pretty empty. We walked around it a little until Rat and Eli grinned, and Rat waved at two people sitting on a bench. They smiled and stood up. They looked almost identical, but one of them was using a cane to help him walk.

I hung back as Rat and Eli walked forward and high-fived them. The one without the cane smiled. “It has been a multitude of days since last we on each other’s visages laid eyes. It is pleasant and effervescent to see both of you again.”

The one with the cane grinned and leaned against his twin. “Hi! How’s you guys doin’? It’re good to sees y’all again!”

Rat snorted as I cocked my head. They just spoke so differently. “It’s good to see you too! How’ve you been?”

The one without the cane (hopefully they’d say their names soon) looked back at me. “But first, you might want to tell us who’s been following you. Is she a friend?” I cocked my head again. And now he wasn’t talking so formally.

Rat laughed evilly. “You know all those crazy conspiracies Rex had? Well, he was right, Tim. She’s an alien.” I just gave the back of her head a flat stare as she laughed again. Since she wasn’t able to explain it to Motor, she probably had been storing up the drama for the next victim on her friends list.

Tim frowned, and the other twin, who had to be Tom, laughed. “What a coincidence.”

It was Rat’s turn to frown. And she was just about to go into a big speech about how I came to be here too. “What do you mean?”

Tim shrugged. “Oh, these weird-looking things approached us earlier today. I guess you’d call them aliens. They wanted us to plague with you, but I made sure to let them see these…” He opened up his jacket, and I grinned automatically at all the weapons stored there. “And those fuzz decided to run. I don’t think they’ll be bothering us again.” He smirked, and Rat laughed.

“Good for you! Well, this’s Kai, and she’s the alien that the real aliens are trying to take. They threatened Motor in Joanndu, and they told him to haywire this weird machine she has in her brain. Could you keep an eye out for them while we’re here? We’ll need help if we want to get them.”

Both of their eyes darkened when Rat mentioned what they did to Motor, and Tim nodded. “Oh, I’ll do more than watch out for them. If I see their fuzzy mugs around here, I’ll repay them for Motor.”

I cocked my head again. “They aren’t fuzzy…”

Rat and Tom burst out laughing, and Tim frowned at me before he sighed and shook his head. I heard a snort from Eli before he smiled over at me. “When he says “fuzzy”, he means stupid.”

Oh. I flushed and ducked my head. “I’m sorry.”

A small smile flitted across his lips. “S’all prime, ma femme.”

I frowned, and Eli slid in. “He means basically “It’s all good, my friend”.” That just made me frown more.

He scoffed. “Any friend of Rat’s is my friend. I trust her.”

Tom and Rat finally stopped laughing, and Tom waved with his cane. “C’mon. Let’s go tour this park.”

I fell in step next to Eli as Rat teased Tim up front. “So, why does Tom have a cane? Did something happen in the extermination?”

Eli nodded, his eyes growing sad. “He was the first person in our group to get taken by the leeches. They messed up his leg really bad.”

I nodded with a wince. Tim kept hovering his hand near Tom almost unconsciously as we walked, and Eli walked up to join the group. He gestured for me to come up too, but I just stayed back. They probably wanted to talk about stuff I wouldn’t know about anyway.

It was a pretty park. Lots of trees and greenery, even though it was still freezing here. It was just so quiet, so peaceful. I smiled. I actually felt safe. Tim and Tom had scared away the aliens. Hopefully, they would stay away.

“Hey!” I jumped when someone spoke, but it was just Tom. The group had actually fallen back to include me. Crap. “I heard you have some kinda device in your head, but Rat said I’d have to ask you about it. So, what is it?”

“U…um. It’s a machine that points out other machines to me, and it helps me figure out what parts I need for machines I want to make. But it doesn’t work right now.” I frowned. “I don’t know if it will work again.”

Tom grinned. “That’s awesome! I’m an engineer myself. Do you have any machines you’ve made with you?”

“Uh…” I didn’t want to pull out a weird machine during the day where anyone could see it. What if the aliens saw it and could tell what it did?

Rat laughed. “Man, I’m starving! How about we head to your place to settle down? Everyone can check out the machine Kai made inside instead.”

I smiled over at Rat, and she winked at me. She had understood why I was hesitant.

 When we got to their house, I grinned. It was small and unassuming. So, at least it wouldn’t feel weird to stay here.

An older woman who was only about a few inches taller than me opened the door and hugged Tim and Tom. When they stepped aside, she gave us a small smile too. “I’m glad to have you over. I’m Eveline, but you can call me Evy, if you’d like. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable.”

Rat grinned and shook her hand. “I’m glad to finally meet you! Tim and Tom talked about you so fondly. I’m Rat, and these are my two fellow road-trippers: Eli and Kai.” I smiled and waved when Rat said my name, and Miss Evy smiled back. “Thank you for letting us stay here.”

She laughed. “Any time. Can I get you anything to drink? Or would you like to set your things down first?”

Tom led me to my room, and when I finished putting my stuff up, I opened the door, and Tom was still standing there with a grin. “Could I see the machine now?”

I nodded, and a smile tugged at my lips. It was nice that he was curious about it. I pulled it out, and he pulled me into the living room. We both sat cross-legged on the floor, and I held it out to him. He grinned and looked it over. “What’s it do?”

“Since you encountered the aliens, did you feel the effect that causes you to not feel any emotions besides peace and calm?” He nodded. “Well, I figured out how to make a machine to at least dampen those effects. When we encounter them again, I hope to use it to protect us.”

“That’s so cool! Did you make it while your machine was still working?”

“Part of it. I made the mental list of what I needed before I made it, but then I had to make it without my machine.”

“Well, I’ve made some good machines in my time too.”

We talked more, with little interruptions from others, but after a few hours, Tim came into the room. “Dinner’s ready.” His eyes looked a little dark, but I had no idea why. I shared a smile with Tom, and we all went to the kitchen.

The food was really good. I’d have to ask if I could help next time, just so I could see how they cooked it. I fell asleep that night quickly. This was the safest I had felt since those whispers had started.

 The next day, Rat, Eli, and I went out to see the sights. While I was just enjoying how pretty Fre Jac-Mac was, a voice whispered in my ear.

“You thought you were safe? You’ll never be safe from us.”

I whipped around, but no one was there. Rat and Eli looked back at me with frowns. I was supposed to tell them. “I heard a whisper from the aliens. They said that I’d never be safe from them.”

Eli stiffened and looked around, and Rat clenched her fists. Eli frowned. “I don’t see any sign of them. They couldn’t have moved that fast, could they?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea what their powers are, so I guess they could.”

Rat sighed. “Fine.” She linked her arm with mine and gestured for Eli to do the same with my other arm. “To make sure that they don’t sneak up on us, this is how we’ll walk now. We’ll catch the jellyfish bastards.”

 That night, while Rat, Eli, and Tom were talking about the extermination, I walked into the kitchen. Tim was there, and his eyes were still a little dark when he looked up at me. He didn’t seem to like me for some reason. “What can I do for you?”

I clasped my hands together to stop myself from fidgeting. “Would you mind if I helped make dessert? My friend back home taught me a few things, and I’d like to cook, if that’s okay.”

His expression softened, and he nodded. “Sounds prime, ma femme. I’d just ask that you make what I pick out. We have some…food allergies.”

I nodded, and he gave me the recipe. As I worked on it, he would come over and check to make sure I was doing it right. He tasted it when I was done, and he smiled over at me. “Prime. Good job.” I smiled back at him. I loved cooking things after Taeo had taught me some desserts.

The rest of the night, Tim didn’t seem so unhappy with me, and we all chatted and had a good time. Even though I had heard their whispers again, I still felt so safe and secure here.

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

@nagasleeps​ ... you unknowingly made me sweat blood upon getting the prompts lmfao 😅 (fake dating?? spo rT S??? so many things, none of which I’m into asgdsfafsd,,,) 

Getting over the initial turmoil and the need to hire a deep web hitman to assassinate me, however, I thought about it… and yes, I’ve always liked the aesthetics™ of figure skating and racing, so it wasn’t ~that~ hopeless of a case,,, All in all, I ended up revamping a scene from a half-done fic to feature the LoV (instead of the Todofam bc latter are the og cast in the other thing so they were out of bounds but sssh)

I was vibrating when you reacted to the Happy Feet joke, so I really really hope you’ll enjoy the rest just as much!! ✨ MERRY LATE CRAMPUS AND A HAPPY NEW YEEEEAH

OH right: have an ao3 link that will likely read better lmao

“Can I?”

The question itself takes everyone for a loop, but the real catch that makes heads turn is the barely contained excitement in Hawks’ voice. Then there’s his face, too, which is that of a kid on their first festival.

It quickly turns into an embarrassed blush that he tries to hide behind the collar of his jacket, but the damage has already been done- not only did he speak up like that, but it happened just a split second after everyone has unanimously started to move on.

“Can you?” grunts Dabi into the awkward silence with a raised brow, nodding towards the ice rink. He was a few steps ahead of them already, targeting what seemed to be the nearest punch stall available.

Hawks tagged along for the Christmas fair visit in Deika because he figured he might multitask and try this buddy thing with Jin and also catch a few snippets of info, but watching the kids slipping around on the ice when they stopped by the rink… did things to him. Nostalgic, dangerous things.

“You skate, Hawks?” Himiko asks with a glint in her eye. She also doesn't hesitate to turn back and bounce towards the rink, obviously interested in… either him, the fact, or the place itself. He's yet to get a grasp on the girl.

“ … ” His brows pull up as he sulks on behind the makeshift barrier. “... I could. A little.”

She hops against the railing, balancing over the dangerously unstable structure. “Oooh, that's neat! What are we waiting for then?”

Wait, we?

Hawks is almost surprised enough to say it out loud, which… nice save. That sounds all kinds of counterproductive.

Doesn't help with the emotion reflecting on his face, though.

“What’s that face for?” she asks with a pout, looking almost offended before hopping back down. “I’m not going to pass up some fun, if you’re going, I’m going, too.”

“Ah---”

“Me, too!! Me, too!!!” pops Twice’s head up from nowhere between them.

“--- I see.”

“Well then,” Himiko says, her grump already forgotten as she's planting a hearty pat on Jin's head. “Can you skate, Jin?”

His brows, if they exist, inch closer as he squints, as if thinking… but he also immediately says a plain “Hell no.”

“Want me to teach you, then?”

That one rouses a confident “HELL YEAH!!” on the other hand, and he pulls on the drawstrings of his hoodie with such force that he not only disappears up to the nosetip, but an audible ripping sound also conveys the hoodie’s dislike of the abuse.

“Buckle up, then!" Himiko states with her hands on her hips. "First we’ll need some shoes, though. Also, you should get up from the ground, can’t skate like that.”

The man jumps straight into a salute upon hearing that. Considering that his coat is hanging off his head like a tent, it's quite a sight. “Aye aye, Toga sensei!!”

Hawks can’t help but let the uncertain hum break free; he is not sure he’s ready to make a clown out of himself… or that he could still stand upright at all, as a baby bird he was quite a midget. And a lot closer to the ground in case he hit it, making it less, well, scary.

“Mister, you coming too, right?” asks Himiko turning back to the two leftovers of the group.

“Oh…? Oh, sure! Ha ha…” he starts, the nervousness hardly hidden in his voice.

A stone falls from Hawks’ heart; there’s another clown in the making…

The old man (?) is so full of it, though. Just look at him. The only thing holding him back from stuttering is state of the art bullshitting skills…

“--- it is a highly refined form of showmanship, of course I---” 

“You’re so full of shit, old man.”

… IT WASN’T HIM. IT WASN’T HIM WHO SAID THAT, RIGHT?!

Said old man’s monologue stops with a soft ‘ah’ of mixed shock and horror… followed by both hands pressed tight over his wounded pride and heart. Not even the mask can hide the damage done.

“Dabiii, you can’t just steal the big man’s thunder like that…” speaks up Jin as he peels a hole for himself on the hood to look out of.

Oh, thank GOD.

The offender isn’t shaken by the callout in the least.

“He should just admit he can’t skate,” Dabi shrugs, turning back to wherever he was headed before the minute disturbance began. “Anyway… I’m off to drown myself in mulled wine or whatever they have for sale. Smell y’all later.”

Yeesh… that’s cold.

… actually, getting Dabi alone out of the picture has made this issue of being seen stumbling around half as intimidating. Which Hawks isn’t gonna complain about.

A few minutes later he’s already received his pair of skates and is mentally preparing for the task at hand. And also trying to calm down, because honestly? He’s excited. 

First things first, though, for a change his wings are more of a liability while doing this, so he gets rid of most of the feathers. Only after piling them up in the corner of the coat (more along the lines of 'bag') check room does he try the skates from a few angles on the plastic covered ground. They may be rented, but in comparison to the pair of battered ones he found by a trash container as a kid, few sizes too big then and now just as small, anything shone as long as they fit the task.

With a deep breath, he decides to give this a try and steps into the rink. One leg, then the other… a slow start at low speed, but he’ll have to remember how to stop as well… Yeah, this will do. 

Having gained some confidence on the field, he also manages to get out of the way of Toga and Twice as they burst onto the ice with reckless abandon, the latter obviously having no experience in the rink as he finishes the action mopping up every person and shaved particle in his wake.

Hawks skates up to him with a raised brow as Himiko giggles on and makes her rounds around the sprawling man. "You okay there, mate?"

His face that peeks out of the fluffy hoodie still pulled closely around his head looks either really focused… or 100% out of it. Maybe embarrassed, or having a religious experience. Hawks can't tell. In the end, he summarizes his status as follows:

"... yes."

“I told you, didn't I?” chips in Himiko, too, now that she’s over her giggling fit. “Can’t skate while on the ground. Though, if someone can do it… it’s probably you.”

"I'd say he's still got better chances with the usual method," Hawks muses out loud before offering a hand. (Not the best idea. Jot that down, Hawks: Bubaigawara Jin not only is nimble, but also heavy. Easily two-times-your-weight heavy if wings are not included. Do not engage in close combat.)

Nearly ending up on the ice aside, he notes that the number of people in the rink has dwindled down quite a bit in the past minute. Whether the masses are intimidated, afraid, or just conscious of the dumbassery of the big guns, Hawks doesn’t know.

Nor care about, really- more space for him to fuck around. Speaking of which…

He leaves the two jokers behind as Toga starts to legitimately tell Twice how to stand on the ice, and picks up just enough speed to test whether he can do another thing he usually can’t because of his wings.

The first attempt doesn’t go all that well, as he nearly slips when the skate he’s balancing on hiccups upon a deeper trail cut by others; on the second, he manages to stand on one leg, which is half of the battle, alright. He takes a second of a breather to stretch his legs before taking the route back towards the entrance again, checking in on how Twice is faring while he’s at it; seems to be going well for him. A little shaky, but he doesn’t fall ass backwards anymore.

He takes a deep sigh to collect some second hand inspiration, then shoots off to where Mister Compress’ hat has entered the field.

Hawks lifts a leg again, but this time, he also reaches behind his back to get a hold of the blade that should be riiight about… there!

Just sliding in a straight line and not stretched enough for this shit so it hurts like hell? Yes.

It would hurt even if he had stretched, to be frank.

But!! One day, he’s gonna do a legit Biellmann spin, you just watch.

“Why, Starling…!” Mister calls out with an air of awe, the doom and gloom finally lifting from his stance as the blonde is shaking his leg loose. He does stay suspiciously close to the entrance all along, though. “This comes to you as easy as flying does!”

“Could be worse,” he yells back as the momentum from the bend takes him the opposite direction.

Frankly, some may see it as cheating… but his feathers are an amazing addition he's gonna use to the fullest when on ice. So what if he has sonars to know how and where he’ll touch ground, or where to look for his feet from behind? Anyone with functional legs can do this without the help, they just need a little more practice. And why wouldn’t they? This is as close as anyone else can get to flying themselves, and boy is it a lot of fun!!

In fact, he’s so psyched that he does a pretty decent, simple Axel, nailing the landing after. Nice~

Hawks doesn’t bother opening his eyes for the next few minutes, just enjoying the chilly wind pinching his face and ears even pinker. Only then does he look up when someone with a whiff of some peach flavored alcoholic drink is about to cross his way… and goes as far as holding him by the waist, even if it’s for the fleeting moment he needs to grab his arm and spin them around in a circle.

“Not bad for a chicken.”

What the fuck, it’s Dabi.

The suspiciously happy man smirks over the baffled expression that appears on the hero's face. “You should check whether there’s a Happy Feet on Ice project, you could even make it.” Having said that, he gives Hawks a spin and joins him for the next round across the rink.

Wait a goddamn sec…

The blonde looks around with mild suspicion; he’s just noticed that Dabi is keeping up with him fine, which means… he can skate? “I thought you didn’t do, like, sports?”

He is pretty adamant on whining and moaning whenever the need to do anything but stand around menacingly arises… which is understandable, since, um… isn’t this a little… painful with a Frankensteined body like that?

Actually, it definitely is painful, because there’s one--- scratch that, now it’s two red stains on the white shirt poking out from under that ridiculous coat, and--- and blood dripping from one of his elbows, what the sincere fuck. Can he not feel that?!

“Spiked enough to do some stupid shit,” comes the enlightening sigh of an answer as they take the curve at rather high speeds, the faint smell of something not punch like also apparent on his breath. Makes the fact of him coming up close again less alarming, at the very least; a drunk (if not high as a kite…) Dabi averages out as more annoying, and less of a threat. And double the creepy, but that’s beside the point.

“You ready, birdie?”

… okay, maybe there is some room left for worry.

“Ready fo… huh?” The villain has his hands firmly around Hawks' waist now, as if preparing to--- no, there’s no way, he’s such a stick man, but still, the mere possibility…

“Fly!!!”

“WhaaAA---?!” By the time he realizes that Dabi really has that exact thing on his clearly not quite lucid mind when picking up some more speed on the straight line ahead of them, he’s already airborne. Hell if he’s counting how many turns he is doing, but damn it all, he has bigger problems at hand- first, he's actually getting dizzy, and he’s never dizzy with the exception of concussions and being sick, which is concerning, but maybe it’s due to fear. Second, he needs to recalculate his fall right fucking now, because this cackling asshat has managed to throw him quite high and he's also off-balance. He has trouble landing on solid ground when plucked near clean like this as-is, fuck, he's falling already, fuck fuck fuck fUCK---

It costs him a nearly sprained ankle, some panicked arm and wing flapping and an instant heart attack, but he manages to stick the landing somehow. He’s shaking like jello as Mister claps on and Jin and Himiko cry an awed WOOO HOOO, though. In fact, his legs that he’s using as something to lean on now are about to finally give in under him.

Hawks also just about gives into the temptation of collapsing on the spot as his momentum dies off at last… if not for some fucker capitalizing on the situation and dipping him for good measure.

Dabi also adds a hearty chuckle while doing so, certainly pleased at the mess the other is right now. “And here I thought you couldn’t be shaken.” 

“I saw… my life flashing before my eyes, asshole,” he breathes between wheezes, contemplating whether he should grab onto the guy, because just hanging around doesn’t make for a stable setup and he’d rather not risk one of the concussions he's been thinking of.

A cock of the head aside, all he gets is an eyeroll. “Sure seem happy about it, don't you.”

Well, now that the villain points it out… Hawks certainly is grinning like an idiot, and has been for a while. For whatever reason, he also starts giggling uncontrollably at that.

“Shut up, will you,” he snickers while trying to find something to hang an arm onto.

It’s little use in the end, because Himiko decides to slide right into Dabi’s leg, both ruining a chance for a comeback and collapsing the unbalanced circus act.

He keeps giggling through Dabi’s moans of discontent and more, though. These few minutes were the most fun he’s had in a decade, if not more.

He's coming over tomorrow, too.

[hetaliaindie]

Going down memory lane

Just a little photo post.

June 9th 2017

I come back after more than a year, ready to try this out again.

I love how I'm always straight with ya guys in the tags yeesh.

July 4th 2017

The start of my first proper event, the Gandharva Event! (Though I've revised his design greatly ever since- there's no trace of Shiv in this anymore!!)

July 24th 2017

My first interaction with @grandparomeaskblog !!! When will I stop drawing your son in compromising situations-

August 28 2018

The very very first glimpse of Mr. G!

Also August 28

The day I started lowkey introducing the world to Shiv's 2500 year old crush.

September 1 2017

Young Shiv art!

September 9 2017

The most cursed artwork in this entire blog, thanks to aforementioned Grandpa Rome and Mr. Camel ( @de-beste-persian-empire) 

September 16 2017

I think, this is the first sridevi we got on this blog. No introduction, nothing.

Same day and we have Sridevi being as demanding of sweets as she always is, and our lovely Aarya! @ask-ladylotus​. The world deserves more india wamen.

September 21 2017

One of my favourite answers to date: Jugaad

September 24 2017

Gosh I don't like the art here at all, but here's the start of the lotus/god angst.

Same Day

The cutest darn Shiv ever. I hope I've kept this side of him alive.

Same Day

I think this is interesting because it seems that I was really fond of a more metaphorical approach to some questions and I'm still like that today: Jealousy

Same Day: Start of the God (dream) Event

September 30 2017

Yeah that's really what they looked like then.

October 5 2017

This may have happened nearly 2000 years ago but I do keep referencing it so here, boys and their issues.

October 24 2017

Same story, more details

October 26 2017

This is truly one of the most beautiful works I've made, and this is when I start getting very fond of this kind of storylike narrative, bright colours and literal metaphors.

November 3 2017

Jerks.

November 5 2017

Mr and Mrs. did have their casual pretend intimacy. Now she's alone but Mr. Gold has Zar. I hope we see her grow now that her fake love partner's dead and reborn.

December 19 2017

This is about when I fell in love with both of them tbh. Btw the baby was carefully delivered to an orphanage and quickly adopted by one of Mr. G's workers.

December 28 2017

The start of a legend. The Highschool AU. Would you believe me if I told you that Gypty and I still work on it casually or see various futures spawned from it? 

January 15 2018 (Welcome to 2018 my good folks, we made it)

This isn't important content but artwise, It's when I really started pushing for dynamic stylistic choices for my art.

January 16 2018

You really really see it here, and also I start indulging more in patterns to brighten up the simplicity of everyday life. I'd also say this is where the general body differences are most exaggerated between them all (even with sridevi as a child).

January 22 2018

A comment on Arthur Kirkland.

January 23 2018

A memory of the Sack of Delhi. It may strain your eyes (unfortunately I can't say that was on purpose), but it's a tribute to a nation who's heart has been stamped on by circumstances that no one can predict, yet its spark still lights. From an art standpoint, I was very proud of the expression I felt I conveyed well in this panel.

January 28 2018

Listen the amount of research I put into giving you a culturally intriguing gag response- 

February 2 2019

Mrs. Gold, I definitely improved a lot with colour usage here.

February 1 2018

This is where I have truly tried too hard on colours but I'm really warming up to it. (Oh nu is my icon that old- i'll get a new one soon I promise)

Please just take a moment, if you're someone who is an artist and is on a journey, to compare this piece with some of the earlier ones in this post. This improvement wasn't completely random. It started with looking for stylistic changes in the way I drew- in my case, really exaggerating the flowiness of my strokes and sharp points (messing around with a grittier brush, helped me a lot too, if you're someone who sticks with soft brushes or mechanical pencils, I couldn't recommend trying to use a textured brush or irl charcoal to get a grasp on the type of mood you want to evoke). At some stage it became a love story with color too, but colour takes time and lots of adjustment, which is why you won't see much of it in my blog.

March 5 2018

This is where I really start pushing the exaggeration on Mr. G, but only to get a feel for him. He evolved from a chunky nosed, physically imposing figure with a laughable quantity of gold, to something more desperate and dependant on money, something lean and mean with a nose that could poke an eye out. And here, most prominent is the shape of his lips, which had grown more prominent than before and very good for emphasizing his frown (and hell to work with when trying for his dimpled smile).

March 11 2018

I drew this for an rp starter since words couldn't describe what was in my head. I think it's a fine example of my adoration for patterns- but not just patterns, the idea of luxury beyond compare. It's prominent in my blog but only because I have the brain of a magpie and am constantly like ‘ooo shiny’. But really, I drew what I liked, so I improved. Find something you like drawing if you haven't yet. It can be skulls, it can be leaves, feathers, find your motifs and everything will honestly follow along.

May 17 2018

Post exam-hiatus, I am back with the gang, my art style is a bit rusty but boy have I got intimately involved with colours.

May 22 2018

I can't get colours out of my head, I'm thinking about them day and night, I need to create, I need to and so I do. (In all honesty I am certain that something greatly inspired me to do this but I cannot recall what).

June 12 2018

The Kill Cindy 2k18 movement is born. I can finally show you the Mr. G I have been hiding from you all.

July 1 2018

Something I can point out now is that while I think my colours work (honestly i was making use of patterns to distract you all at this stage- before I returned from my hiatus, I'd been rejected in an interview for an animation course and the key point my interviewer made was that my sense of colour was jarring, so I really was sensitive over it but seeking out improvement), what I would change is that adding a clear light source and allowing an atmosphere (by adjusting the main figures’ hues slightly to match the background) to emerge in my art would make it a lot better. And I start to grasp at this knowledge.

August 19 2018

The start of the bodyswap event, I swear I'll get back to it. I just want to use it as a stepping stone to get some meaningful character development out of it, thus it's ongoing.

See here, this is where I just stop caring about skin and character colour as something that should more or less be constant. Now it's vibrant and blinding for no other reason than I want to make you feel (granted, I did that too much here and it makes things hard to understand much less appreciate).

September 8 2018

Here I'm really just feeling the colours, Shiv's home is easy- everything is luxurious but at once welcoming (or at the very least, pampering), Sridevi's home on the other hand was shown to be neater and almost less personal, there isn't much immersion allowed in her place but in Shiv's..oh man.

November 2018

As you can see, activity has been dwindling what with rigorous college days and having moved to a new city. It should pick up eventually, but let me close this off with some new art.

Do I have something to say about this piece? Yes, I do! The point of view is Shiv's, thus the warm colours and the way he blends into the background. The main figure here is not himself or his 2nd player, but the vibrant peacocks, that exist in a shade of blue too vibrant to be real. In between the two sentient figures, is our young Mr. Gold, clearly he has the favour of these birds but he doesn't seem very affected by them- unlike the jealous Shiv. He's the dullest colour present and he wears the blandest clothing, the matters of peacocks (be they blue or orange) do not apply to him and he is at once alienated. 

Today, November 14th 2018

So after everything, here we are. Is this what all my art was moving towards? No it isn't, it's really just me playing around with photoshop brushes, but the mood of this image is something I feel that I've conveyed with integrity. That's what I want to keep striving for. Thank you all for staying with this blog as long as you have, thank you to all my newer followers, I've linked most of these points to their original posts, I hope that Tumblr does not break them. Love you all!