#idk how long this is but we'll see

[8-rae-rae-8]

[OCs - precanon]

He's not a bad man.

At least, he tells himself that a lot. More than he should if he truly was a good man. The lines between morals and orders blurred, though the guilt always sat heavier no matter what order they brought out.

Lukas likes to think he's different. That there will be something on the other side of war and he'll simply be a man, not a soldier. If he's lucky, he'll have everything he's ever wanted. A wife, a child, a gorgeous house out in the countryside where he'd spend time in the garden every morning.

Family is the reason he's where he is now; his shoulders hunched over himself as his fingers tap desperately at his side. He was UA—unauthorized absence—from a single call that made him race to a hospital too damn far away. Flight tickets, rental cars. Whatever the price, he was there.

His brother was reckless, he's known that his entire life. But Lukas couldn't imagine being in this situation. Walking fearfully into a hospital room where his brother looked half alive with bandages covering his face. The guilt for that burns more than anything else. The wound wasn't his fault, but it was his fault that his brother joined the military.

Wesley, what a fucking idiot. How could he be so stupid to get injured like this? And Lukas doesn't even have the clearance to know what his brother and his team were doing—he wasn't in the army anymore.

"Wes," He hated the way his voice chokes up as he stands over his brother in the hospital bed. Under the bandages over his face, he knows there have to be deep stitches. He's lucky, Luke thinks, that his nerves were intact still.

"'m okay..." Wesley, despite exhaustion and pain, mutters to comfort his brother. He's gentle, calm. It's happened before, this, all this. Except Lukas couldn't make it before. And Wesley had the scar on his throat to prove that he made it out regardless; Lukas' eyes glance at the scarred skin.

He's ruining his brother by letting him hurt like this. Wesley got the idea that the military was a good option from him. He was inadvertently causing him so much pain. After all of his best efforts, at forty years old, he's still failing his brother.

"You're in the hospital, again, Wesley..." Lukas struggles with any attempt to keep his voice level. He's always been calm, he's supposed to be calm, but he can feel the flame beneath his skin. Guilt, anger, fear, all simmering.

"They were gonna kill 'em, I did something." Wesley's eyes convey the emotions his face can't. Tears sparkling in his brown eyes, trying to meet Lukas' green ones and failing.

Painfully, Luke knows he would've done the same thing in his brother's position. But he can't stop the way his hands shake as he tries to breathe. He made a bad choice. He got hurt. Just to save someone else.

"You need to protect you first!" His throat already feels raw from the lack of water, but he still strains for each word, falling from his mouth in a mess of vowels and consonants that he wasn't quite sure made sentences. "You almost got yourself killed, how many times can you almost die before you get it??" He looks anywhere but Wesley's face, heart pounding in his ears.

"I'd do it again." Wesley whispers to the air around them, barely containing the wince at moving his face too much. It hurts, breathing, eating, sleeping. God forbid he needs to yawn.

"That's the problem! You're too reckless, this isn't just the corps anymore, you're specialized! I don't even have the fucking clearance to know what you were doing out there!!" Lukas' voice shook with each forced syllable.

He's not a good man.

But his stomach drops as he sees the look on his brother's face. Not the physical pain, but the tears forming in his eyes, the tensed shoulders, the rise in heart rate. Fuck, fuck.

"Wesley.." Lukas murmurs, head hung low as he grabs his brothers open hand—as if he was waiting for it to be over to hold onto him—it hurts to still be wanted when it gets too much.

"I know..." Wesley sighs, trying to blink away tears. "I know it's stupid... I do- I just.. they were gonna die. 'n' I knew I wouldn't." A calculated risk is still a risk. And his life on the line- Lukas doesn't want to meet his eyes again.

"You take too big of risks an' you're gonna die next..." Lukas' hand interlaces their fingers, supportive and gentle where his thumb strokes the side of Wesley's hand. His chest hitches with each full breath.

"Don't count on it. Got plans to make it where you are.. Prestigious PMC, good pay, insurance, time off." His inhales are pained, but he breaths out as he speaks almost annoyingly calm for the tears still in his eyes. Wesley squeezes his hand.

"As if..." Lukas half-heartedly scoffs.

"'m not fifteen anymore, that ain't working.. C'mon, you know the commander. Can't you put in a word for me? When 'm better and not in a hospital bed?" That would be the next day, if the wounds were looking okay enough. A precaution.

"You'd make it in, know it. Just don't wanna see your dumb face all the time." Lukas teases, as if he'd ever hate to see his brother. But he hopes it's enough to make Wesley smile, a playful tease.

"You fly here just to mock me... Bastard." But it does make him smile. And that's all Lukas hoped for. Even if the shaking doesn't go away. Even if his heart hurts as he stares at his little brother.

He's not a bad man. He's promised before and he'll say it again; his family will always come first. And Wesley was all he had right now.

[cerubean]

somewhere deep in the forest...

[wiltenjoyer]

🏀🏀🏀

[mintaii]

botw au idea i had for a while that abruptly decided to re-emerge in the year 2024

[overlymetaromantic]

I will admit, I am currently anime-only for Dungeon Meshi at the moment, but this is the broad impression of Kabru that I've gotten from the fandom so far, and I have to say, I am very much looking forward to this man's anguish and mental suffering ✨

[gaymyboycole]

do you think flowers grow in the land of lost things or did Cole just find some lost bouquet just to surprise his boyfriend

[duskerot]

i disappear inside myself / my friends don't know it can't be helped

[Pure You - Nothing But Thieves]

[thenamessparkplug]

its me.... the one the cishets warned you about.... THE MAN AND THE WOMAN IN THE RELATIONSHIP

[justficsiguess]

uh oh another long covid fantasy. this time yandere!batfam flavored.

so I imagine this happening after having lived with them for some time (aka you were kidnapped, but it wasn't recent) so you've mostly come to terms with being around them all the time. Maybe one of them got you sick unknowingly, maybe you're at a stage where they trust you enough to take you outside with them sometimes. Either way, you get covid.

They take care of you as well as they can (which is VERY well. they're rich and smart as fuck), but you simply... don't get better. Well, you do kind of, you test negative again, but you develop long covid.

Anyways, their already fucked up protector instincts go haywire. So much research gets done, doctors get bribed, they experiment in the batcave, they do everything they can trying to find a cure. In the meantime they're still taking care of you of course.

Making sure you don't hurt yourself, don't move too much, don't make your fatigue worse. Getting you everything you want. They relocate your room to the ground floor so you don't have to go upstairs to get to your room, but get an elevator/etc installed anyways, in case you do feel like going upstairs but are too weak.

Extra cuddles in your bed when you're napping and too weak to push Dick out of your bed. Tim quietly watching movies with you when you feel up for it. Jason reading to you. Damian walking around the garden with you if you feel good enough to walk, if not he'll push you around on a wheelchair so you can get some fresh air. Bruce making you sleep in his bed when he's worried you're not breathing right, so he can immediately hear if something sounds wrong.

Maybe at some point their research dies down, you're not in any immediate danger and they like taking care of you like this... I mean, you still used to complain and fight them a little even though you've been with them for so long, how bad could it be to have you a little bit more dependent on them than before? A bit more helpless? If you get better by yourself in a few weeks, or months, or years, so be it, they'll still have gotten some quality bonding time in. And if you don't get better? Well, I don't think they'd be as disappointed as they first thought they'd be...

[lizardkingeliot]

the moment i allowed myself to think "could this rockstar lestat/photographer louis fic be a multi-chapter thing tho" i doomed myself to it not only absolutely being a multi-chapter thing, but one of those multi-chapter things that starts exploding in my head to the point i need a notes doc to keep track of the vibes and the yearning and the scenes that force their way into my head while i'm just trying to live my life and do my lil tasks...

[nellasbookplanet]

One more from the mighty nein coloring book. Im love them.

[eulaliasims]

*pokes head in* I saw a photo of this fourplex and needed to build it in my game. Middleground absolutely doesn't really need any more single-bedroom apartments, but whatever. There's a patio behind the building with a tiny pond, because my current obsession is tiny/container wildlife ponds. 🙃

The funky little roofline (facade? whatever) is a half-wall combined with regular walls shrunk with the CFE cheat. The real roof is much cuter, but I like this and I think I'll use the same style again in the future.

Floor plan:

[j-esbian]

maybe the real voltron was the friends we made along the way

[artisadie]

i got bored so i did a kind-of-redraw of a drawing I did closer to when i first got a tablet, so like 2015 or 2016??? It's weird looking back at old art but I'm glad i kept it around :') it's good to remind yourself of your progress sometimes i think

[harbingersecho]

PALLA GRANDE - charred saints

Saint Deja takes the stage

skeletal sculpting done by nikifor aka zdisław inspired by the catacomb saints

[arendaes]

Rogue Trader is a comedy, deep down. No, I'm not just saying that to cope, look at this skill check if you don't believe me: