#i think they're gay

[reynolds-jackman-lively]

ohmygoshyougaays

[dreamduality]

I rented my spare room to 2 doctors and they decorated it like this

[quitebashfulexe]

Came back to the ship because I'm weak

[wordescollect]

The Flyer Lives

[[ I guess this is kind of Gregor x Ares. After rereading the series I realized that, 6 years ago and today, I did not like Luxa because it took away Gregor/Ares time. That is not how I found out I was gay, but looking back I definetly subconsciously shipped them. So uh yeah these two mean a whole lot to me. Ares was always my favorite ..,

Also I wrote this in a frenzy in like 2-3 hours at 2 am so it's not perfect and also I'm not really good at correctly characterizing people so just kind of ignore that]]

It had only been a week since Gregor had watched Luxa look up at the stars. Gregor had wanted to tell her that the stars reminded him of her, but he couldn't. He felt too weak and helpless. He had lost his bond, part of his soul, while fighting the Bane. Gregor's hand gently caressed the hard plastic of the toy bat that Boots had given him. “Ares!”. Boot's words repeated inside his head. His tears coated the little toy, letting his finger glide smoothly. “Ares!” This time, it was Henry's voice. He had died much longer ago, but Ares had let him, his bond, die just to save Gregor. “Ares!”, said his own voice, while fighting the Bane. Ares had died for Gregor. Gregor thought he himself should've died instead. Ares died so he could live.

Gregor silently compared Ares with Luxa. He thought about their actions towards each other. Sure, Luxa was a princess, and a human, so he could relate to her better. But Ares had sacrificed so much more and Gregor never got to express his appreciation for the bat. He gave all of his attention to Luxa. But now it is too late. He wanted to go back, to hug his bond, to tell him that things would be okay, that he's here for him. The poor bat was going though unbelievable stress and had needed someone. Gregor wished he could do more. But it is too late.

Gregor did not realize the time pass. He felt so hopeless, desperately gripping the plastic, like he had his bond's claw. He was careful to splay his fingers in a way the pressure lied on the thickest parts, so it would not break. A bat’s wings are very delicate. He would not hurt Ares. But he would never feel Ares' embrace, ever. Forever.

Gregor suddenly recognized the same feeling as before his third visit to the underland, where the rats forced his mother to let him go to back down to fulfill that prophecy. He remembered what it was like when he saw Ares’ condition. He cried more. Ares. He was strong. He could survive anything. Gregor wished he could have comforted him more. Again. He could not get the bat out of his mind.

However, this wasn't just a memory, there actually WERE sounds, like the rats had somehow come back. However, they were not aggressive. Not this time. The war was over. It had only been a week, and he was confident that Luxa could hold it together. More than him, at least.

Organized.. very organized…

Scratch scratch tap

Click

Scratch click tap

Tap

Scratch scratch click click

Click

Tap click

Gregor's vision blurred. He became hyper-aware of his surroundings. This was the rager kicking in. He went faster than he ever thought was possible, throwing the door open, jumping down flights of stairs to the laundry room. He ripped off the boarding on the grate of the laundry room like it was nothing, and swiftly yet elegantly front flipped into a dive, down into the welcoming darkness.

The sensation never faded when he arrived in the underland, taking a familiar path to his first visit. He vaguely sees crawlers. Maybe Temp, maybe not. The crawlers were kind. But they knew he had a mission.

He walked straight through the arena, with utmost purpose. His vision was in black and white, focused, nothing else in mind. He vaguely sees a golden brown bat, flying above. Luxa’s. This is where he first met Ares. His vision returned for a moment, when he realized what he was doing. There was a game going on concurrently. The underland was a mix of liveliness and sorrow at once. He’d even spotted one or two gnawers atop fliers.

Luxa was talking to him. “Gregor!” She shouted, snapping at his face. “We have much to discuss. I missed you, you know?.. but things are going well, as you can see. And also, I can see that Ares….

..

Gregor had zoned out. All he heard from her words was “Ares”. Gregor closed his eyes. Ares, Ares, Ares.. He remembered his nightmares of falling. Once they had come to fruition, and then Ares had soothed those dreams. Hah, they became dreams. Happy dreams. More time with Ares. He valued nothing more than spending time with his bond. The one who had saved his life. They saved the lives of each other, of course, as per their bonding.

His vision had gone into rager mode, once again. He didn't want to call it “rager” mode. This wasn't out of rage. Luxa did not stop his march forward. She knew that he had a mission.

Gregor entered the main city, taking familiar routes. No time to pay attention to the cityscape and engravings. Just keep walking. Have purpose. One step, another step. He did not stop. He knew that he had a mission.

Gregor had gone into a hefty jog. One underland child, no older than 9, had been bumped into by Gregor. But Gregor did not notice. Gregor started running. Sprinting even. Familiar fighting lines. Lines of war. Lines of pain. The lines. The vertical lines, Gregor falls. Caught by Ares. The hospital.

His vision returned to normal instantly.

He lives.

He lives.

Ares.

He lives.

He lives.

Howard is there. Gregor knows the severity of the bat’s injury, since he had been there when the bane ripped Ares’ throat open. He understands that he must wait a little while longer, and listen to his words.

“Gregor.”

“Howard.”

“As you know, Ares is a strong bat. You've gotten the message. He lives through strife in most dire of times,” Howard remarks. “However this time, his survival comes at a cost.”

It doesn't matter.

Ares.

He lives.

Howard clears his throat before continuing. “I understand you thought he had perished last week, but part of him is still lost.” Howard states, deep in sincerity to Gregor. Gregor remembers Pandora. Howard’s bond. Howard would not let another feel the same grief. It made sense to Gregor why he did so much to save Ares. Or at least Gregor assumes, since he didn't actually know who allowed Ares to live.

“His neck is badly damaged. He has tough skin and fur on his neck right now, so another injury will most certainly not occur in that area, since Ares will never fight again. I'm sure that comes obvious to you, however, since the warrior died and all”. Howard let out a little chuckle.

“Anyways. To get to the point. Ares has lost his ability to speak. Believe me, he tried. Nothing. He is mute. We made the difficult decision to close up his neck due to the immense stress and pain on it, which likely means that he will never regain this ability. I am sorry, Overlander.”

..

…

..

“Can I see him now?”

“Yes.”

He lives.

He lives.

Ares.

He lives.

He his here.

The massive black bat is motionless. Ares is right there. His eyes fixate on Gregor. Gregor looks at Ares. Gregor could see billions of emotion in nothing more than his bond’s eyes. His chest, expanding, contracting. As a flier his size, Ares had to take large breaths.

Gregor knew what he wanted to say to Ares. He knew, every day, hour, second, millisecond, what he wanted to say first. One final message. But now he could say his first. Second. Third. Fourth choice. And however many choices he makes in the future.

The room was large, and Ares was situated on a massive bed, situated for the bat. But it was huge for someone like Gregor.

Gregor thought about Henry again. How he acted on his second visit to the underland when he saw Ares. He has treated Ares like he was a servant. Worse, a pet. That is how the overland conditioned him to think. Like the stray dogs he saw out of the window. That was not accurate. Ares was essentially an entire living, breathing person, but a bat. The bat that had meant so much to him.

Ares moved his claw to the wall.

Scratch tap click

Click

Gregor had never let go of the toy plastic bat that Boots had given him. The tear-coated surface reflected the light from the hospital room. Ares knew.

Gregor nodded.

And then, he started crying again. It started slowly, and he felt like it was getting more and more intense. He stumbled. He stumbled forward. He wrapped his arms around Ares who was lying on his back. Gregor felt his bond’s fur on his face. He wanted to feel his fur. He never wanted to let go of his bond. He wanted his bond to be safe.

Gregor had climbed into Ares’ bed. His tears were soaking Ares’ fur. Ares' tears were soaking Gregor's hair. Gregor had never seen Ares cry before. Or felt it for that matter. His tears were silent.

Ares wrapped his wings around Gregor. Gregor immediately felt warm and cozy in Ares’ embrace. The bat began to purr through his breathing. Gregor began to feel relaxed with the deep rumble, still crying.

Gregor was ready to say his first choice of words. He remembered how much suffering Ares had endured, through the years. In exile. There's something Ares' probably hasn't heard in a good while.

“Ares the Flyer, I love you.”

Gregor wondered if Ares had ever heard those words in his life.

Gregor had a second, third, fourth choice of words and more, but he never said them. In fact, he didn't say anything else to his bond, at all. He knew Ares probably recognized Gregor wanted to say more. But Gregor knew that Ares probably had just as much to say, and that he just couldn't.

He lives.

He lives.

Ares.

He lives.

He lives.

The bonds do not realize the time passing, comforting each other in their embraces. Gregor had even occasionally stroked the bat’s fur, scratching behind his ears, under his chin. The bat smiles, nuzzling Gregor. The bat never wanted to let Gregor go. He never wanted Gregor to leave him. Neither did Gregor Ares. Food and water came. They fed each other, not wanting to leave one another’s embrace. They even had cookies. Gregor enjoyed watching Ares eat. He had tilted his head up and completely gobbled up his meal, making Gregor laugh. Ares could not laugh, even though he wanted to. But he didn't have to. Gregor knew what his laugh was like.

Maybe we all need a little laughter and happy tears.

–

Yes. Ares can still fly, but he and Gregor are essentially retired. Thousands of underlanders sent their regards to the flier. He rescued many, many creatures.

Gregor does not speak to Ares when they have alone time, with every prophecy about the warrior in their wake. They find themselves having much more time together, flying around the caverns of simply spending time together.

Gregor realized that Ares' sense of echolocation had substantially improved, from the flap of his wings, tap on the ground with his claw, or breathing. Due to Gregor not wanting to speak with Ares due to the bat being unable to reply with his voice, he realized that he could use his arm and angle it straight up, left or right. Ares could sense the angle. Gregor and Ares practiced this method for a very long time.

For Ares communicating to Gregor, he realized that he could use his ears to represent a direction of the tree of transmission. Left ear pinned means left, right ear pinned means right, both ears pinned means straight (unlike the two of them!). This complemented Gregor’s rager ability nicely due to the feature of hyper focus. Ares and Gregor practiced this method for a very long time.

Eventually, the two of them were able to communicate with each other blindingly fast, wordlessly. Even the greatest interpreters could not keep up. It became their secret language, despite being not-so-secret.

The two of them spent a lot of time cuddling together. They both appreciated the presence of one another. Ares adored how Gregor treated him as an actual person instead of a pet or servant. The other humans literally exiled him much time ago. How great. Ares licked Gregor’s face out of affection. He would never be alone again.

Gregor was not able to return to the overland very often. The traditional way of using the tree of transmission, in Ares’ opinion, was slow, inconvenient, and frankly annoying because it meant that he could not spend time with Gregor. It turns out the two of them are very clingy towards each other after nearly losing each other. Ares denies it regularly, blaming his lack of speech on his reliance on Gregor. But of course Gregor knows how much Ares cares about him.

Of course these activities hadn't really fully happened before Gregor profusely apologized to Luxa. Luxa was a great person and Gregor was loyal, sure. But with Luxa being a queen, Gregor would have to deal with “kingly” stresses. If Gregor was honest, that was just an excuse. He could not lose Ares-time. Or Ares, period.

But most importantly.

Ares lives.

[markipliermilkingmutual]

paper mario n64 has some really good koopas

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

historical drama/sitcom where two gay best friends (woman and man) get lavender married--and proceed to spend the Fancy European Honeymoon their parents paid for acting as each other's wingman

[umblrspectrum]

i love learning cursive just to write text for exactly one character

[blahlahblash]

Day: 24 "Photo Booth"

[themilkiestbread]

my thoughts during the 3.0 quest

also phaidei nation where you at???? did not expect to ship these two so hard but they're giving me so much brainrot we love our dumb jock rival boyfriends

[lotus-pear]

free will is drawing ur two favorite characters together and making them gay

[reynolds-jackman-lively]

Caliente!

[bunnybirds]

In Princess Aster's world, bunnybirds live in contented isolation, keeping themselves detached from the world in order to practice magic. Nothing is ever wrong, and no one is ever angry...even as Aster's people seem to be slowly disappearing. When her father is next to vanish, Aster resolves to find and rescue the missing bunnybirds—even if it means journeying over the rim of the world itself!

My middle grade graphic novel is officially available for preorder! Bunnybirds is a story about trauma, friendship, and my experience with autistic masking. It was drawn entirely with Prismacolor colored pencils and Pandafly markers, with Photoshop applied for color enhancement and text.

Check it out maybe! :D

That last panel with Carlin (the brown bunnybird) facing the corner was directly inspired by this wonderful TMA comic by @nubs-mbee!

[scurvyboy]

i like him the most

[nhura]

QUICK NO ONE'S LOOKING

(See readmore for thoughts, cope, bonus, etc.)

Anyone else up thinking about Ratio's big, strong, secure arms and how warm and all-consuming they could be in a hug or embrace. :/ Anyway

I just wanted to draw them being cute and seizing a sliver of a moment where they could have some PDA silly time without actually having any eyes on them. They're public figures and working adults with very clear boundaries between public persona and private life (to varying degrees of "in a sad way"), so while it may be in Aventurine's nature to constantly blur lines for various agendas and self-preservation (read: play "the flirt" without an aligned goal), I believe that in an actual relationship they'd be fairly private.

It's kind of fun to break your own rules, though! Ratio would be more upset about the consequences, though. He's a little bit of a hypocrite, which is devastating for someone of such discipline, but nobody's perfect.

I'm of the mentality of, "If you're tired of working on it, then just post it!", so here are some fun peripherals that I didn't feel like adding:

Some staff in the background sweeping up to evoke a blended sense of fragile privacy and liminal time.

A laptop on the aquarium/bar/counter because there's something fascinating about seeing people on their work laptops in public.

The rest of their clothes (casual friday)

[cozylittleartblog]

50+ deaths at 5 am got me yelling absolute nonsense to the bosses kicking my whole entire ass