#ic ➽; i'm not too good at talking.

[hawksblooded]

rest, sender rests their head on receiver's shoulder.

She jumps, at first. It’s unusual to her, this closeness. But its cold, and their journey has been hard, and Alizebeth doesn’t find it in herself to deny Anri what is certainly some form of comfort. The knight’s helm clanks against her own armor, an incongruous sound for such a tender scene.

“ Are you… alright? ” the hunter asks with some difficulty, breath shrouding them both in mist. 

She doesn’t immediately get a reply. Clearing her throat, Alizebeth shuffles beneath the younger woman awkwardly, moving so that her head rested on her chest rather than a hard pauldron. It’s not especially comfortable, the steel helm biting into her like this.

“ Take off your helmet, ” she says, humming in slight confusion as she thinks of how to soften her words. “ …I’ll give you my cloak. ”

[hawksblooded]

The water is soothing in it’s frigidity, like Anri had said. Her dearest Mara was laid dutifully down on the shore, ears perked to the noises of the wind in the reeds, and the women speaking. Her tail wags gently as she takes in the sun. Still, this was the wilderness - at once somewhere Alizebeth felt at home, and somewhere she knew she was not. Amber eyes flit from the bank to the horizon, and her body insists on a certain tension of the muscles that she can only try to shake. The quick movement of a crawfish beneath the clear waves is enough to make her flinch.

She sighs, crouching down in the water and submerging her head for a moment, dutifully holding in the gasp that came with the cold. Alizebeth pats the riverbed with a wide hand, finds herself a suitably soft stone and sits down upon it, long limbs folded into herself. Without cease her gaze moves from Anri to the shore, to the reeds, to the tall oaks that border the river. Though she is tuned to the sounds of danger always, this time she begins to think maybe the knight is right, and nothing will reach them here but the rays of the sun and the song of birds. It is as though they have wandered in the fey realm, and are not mortal women but -

Alizebeth furrows her brow as water is splashed towards her. A heavy sigh as she sinks herself further into the river, bending her broad back. Her face only resurges to glare disapprovingly at Anri with a shake of her head.

“ Water sprites? Nokken, more like. ”

Really, the knight is too old to believe in such fairy tales. The hunter has never seen any river-women grant wishes, unless one wished for a swift death under the waves. But she can’t bring herself to say that. She sighs again and busies herself with rinsing her scalp. Specks of dirt and dried beast blood run down the clear river. Everywhere she goes Alizebeth brings the hallmarks of death and violence - even here, in this small idyll, this moment that could be a space, with the gentle knight she had for companion.

She looks up at Anri, skin colored rosy with cold, her blonde hair as bright as the sun. Maybe if she looked like that - like an escaped princess, or a pagan druidess - and hadn’t seen the things she had seen, she would believe in fairy tales too. She can’t help but wonder how that innocent girl has made it so far. In truth, she knows Anri’s skills are notable, has seen her fight, if briefly; can tell from the care she put into her armor and arms that she is no novice to the arts of war she herself has grown up with. But like this, bared to the sky and reveling in nature and the sunlight, she looks as though she has never even thought of the thing. As if she is to be protected, and loved, and not left to train with sharp things and wander with the rough, crude kind of the hunter’s. They had always made a strange looking pair, and beneath their armors they looked like they came from entirely different worlds. Perhaps they did.

Alizebeth speaks plainly, wide shoulders rolling as she unfolds herself to rest one elbow on the shallow riverbed: “ Play with the dog, if you must. I’m sure she’d like the attention. ”

⚘ @hawksblooded // cont.

Alizebeth was a figure cut from fairy-tale pages. A beach pebble polished by years of wind and wave, a dryad sprung from mossy, vine-riddled cracks. Weathered in beautiful ways, her roots ran deep into the soft belly of the earth, her flint tongue fluent in the language of seasons and storms and shifting light. Even her hound – a lithe, long-limbed creature of cream and shadow – seemed understood on some primal, unspoken level.

It was a beautiful exchange, Anri thought, even as unease curled like smoke in the corners of her mind. Once, she had seen a similar beast shake a small child dead, had watched in dark-eyed terror as its squabbling pack pulled him apart like a hare. Ever since, she had doubted even the most obedient of velvety, black-lipped maws.

But this was no space for old horrors. Not today, not here. Not while the sun was warm on their backs, the sky stretching bright and endless. Not while the river ran clear and cold, minnows darting around her knees in open-mouthed streaks of quicksilver.

Despite the unwelcome memories, despite Alizebeth’s grumbling participation, Anri smiled warmly. Hurt recognised hurt, and she wondered if, beneath the hunter’s brittle words and bristling weaponry, there was something raw – a bruised and tender spot, one wreathed in broken glass and steel-tipped pikes. Knowing that some wounds were best nursed in secret, healing only in the dark, she dared not ask.

Instead, she waded deeper, careful not to wander so far as to be snatched by the current. Mountain-birthed water rose, pressing frigid kisses to her thighs, then her waist, stealing the heat from her skin in a stinging rush that shocked the ache of travel from her bones. It was bracing and joyous – but Alizebeth moved as though the river might rise up and devour her whole. Restless hunter eyes trailed over the sodden stoop of the banks, cutting through curtains of reeds, ever cautious and wary.

“Perhaps,” Anri said softly, her voice lilting with its gentle cadence. “But even the diligent must rest – and play.”

With those words, she cupped her hands and splashed water toward Alizebeth, intending to draw her companion’s attention away from imagined dangers.

“Let the river bear the weight of your burdens for a time, hm?”

Anri was still smiling as she worked with wet fingers to remove her hair pins, honeyed waves tumbling from fraying plaits, kinked with the memory of their bondage. Pale, dappled light played across the damp-dark hair that fell to the tundra between her shoulder blades, across the rose-tipped breasts that perked with the cold. Among her own sex, there was little room for shame. The young acolytes of the cathedral had bathed and dressed together, flinching as a flock when the man-eating saint lunged. Her childhood had been one of crowded dormitories and wishful whispers, escape found only in dazzling flights of fancy. Unfortunately for Alizebeth, old habits died hard.

“I think we should stay here, you and I,” Anri continued gently, her cornflower eyes bright with a quiet, girlish mischief that she was sure her companion had already come to dread. “We can live as water sprites and grant wishes to weary travellers.”

[septimusmoonlight]

You doing ok?

hi

[missholoska]

So, in Water Under the Bridge (the underswap take by Moonster) Goner Kid is swapped with Ralsei. Is that also the case in your Underswap take?

ooh I'm not familiar with that take but that's a cool swap :0

it's not one I'm using though; an idea I had pretty recently (haven't properly thought it through yet, it is just an idea right now) is that since I leave Gaster unswapped (because there's so little character to work with while Deltarune is incomplete, so until then I'm avoiding committing to any designs or headcanons for him) and most of the fun value events are in some way connected to Gaster, it'd probably make more sense to leave those unswapped too? aside from minor differences like referring to Undyne as the next Royal Scientist instead of Alphys, of course

in this case Goner Kid would remain unchanged, which I like more than making a Goner version of Asriel just for the sake of it when I don't have any inspiration to do so. plus if Temmie had access to some of those events during their resets, the thought of them potentially having encountered Goner Kid is fun :] (for me. incredibly not fun for them)

[stepfordgoth]

If you're not having any kind of joint pain today, take a second to thank your body..... And do some stretching RIGHT NOW.

[hekateinhell]

caught in between being desperate to have time to write fic and also doing my best to navigate adult responsibilities which this week alone look like: an assignment due, a lawyer meeting (everything is fine I just had some questions about stuff), an interview, and my bestie about to go into labor at quite literally any second and I have to be Available

[einstetic]

i'm not tired, i'm exhausted

[cttncndyhrt]

Too shy to come off anon despite us literally being mutuals lmao

My character is 5'6. He's so short. But god if he's not still the cockiest thing in the world despite being way under 6'0.

"Well you still look pretty tall from where I'm standing!"

[byanyan]

ㅤat this point, they're beyond wasted and vibing out to music that's too loud with several substances on standby for when the buzz starts wearing off. happy new year!!

[tj-crochets]

Crafting update: I did not craft anything sewn, knitted, crocheted, or embroidered today, but I did make dulce de leche! 

[the-acid-pear]

Ohh babeyyy the loquats in my tree are turning green already ya know September 1 imma be sucking those outta da branch like a newborn sucks milk outta da titty ‼️

[hawksblooded]

Rain's coming down far harder than it has any right to this time of year, nearing the dead of winter as they are in these parts. Storm clouds that gathered nearly a tenday ago haven't yet broken, and the downpour drenching the town reeks of a fetid sea. Where frost typically crept across the cobblestones and icicles grew long under awnings now run shallow rivers of salt water and unassailable curtains of rain, and the fog that's risen from the streets seems to wrap tightly around those still willing to brave the deluge. Discontentment and unease keeps even those deep in their cups from truly enjoying themselves, and it's to this grim atomosphere and the endless drumbeat of rain upon the roof of the tavern that Soot makes his move. "Gotta job." A chair protests, creaking mildly at being pulled out and away so suddenly, and without so much as a by your leave he's sitting across from her. Stained fingers tap-tap-tap an uncertain beat upon the table as his flinty eyes regard her warily. Carefully. "Heard ya know 'bout reburying th'dead. That true?"

IT'S TOO LOUD IN the tavern, too full of noise and smoke. She wishes she slept outside, as she always does, under the black sky and a hundred thousand stars. But this place hasn't seen stars in a long while, not with this accursed change in the season. The inn is filled to the brim with the scent of fire, watered down soup, and the wet clothes that stick to travelers. Chatter is unending in this place without rest. Business and pleasure alike are heard on quiet voices, although the latter is rare and so thoroughly drowned by the weather. Yes, it smells like wet dog, and it sounds like misery. Ah well. Beats the rain.

She's three cups deep when a stranger seats himself right in front of her. It's all she can do not to tell him to fuck right off - she's halfway through the fourth mug of ale, as watered down as the streets outside and piss-warm. Though the place is packed to the brim, most give the hunter a respectable berth. Well, not all men are born smart, she thinks. She's about to slam her cup down in a clear display of impatience when he speaks just the right words. Alizebeth's amber eyes dart immediately to his', coal-black, thin gashes of light on her dark face. She doesn't bother with his question.

"What makes you think I want to get involved with whatever trouble you're in?"

[frozenambiguity]

«The day Diluc is not such a bore is the day I rejoice».

[caninecowboy]

24 days!

[corvidiss]

#smile at people #a majority of the time people will smile back and you win Human Points #learn how to compliment people and do it often #Normalcy is a perspective that changes depending on who is looking but kindness and a positive attitude shows the same view to everyone #basic politeness with a little extra effort is amazingly difficult at times #but it goes MILES

Genuinely good advice from @aroace-get-out-of-my-face

can someone recommend some beginner normal behaviors for someone looking to become normal

[maddy-ferguson]

like a month ago a guy told my friend he thought she was cold and disrespectful the day before at a girl's party and since she and i are always together the description has to apply to me too especially because he was talking about a moment where we were talking just the two of us so we reference it 24/7 and the other day we were like this is just like art and patrick who's cold and who's disrespectful...