#idk take your tablets everyone they work!!!

[starfire-s]

i have been taking my iron and vitamin d tablets consistently… and wow who knew being tired all the time wasn’t normal and i should have the energy to do more than 2 tasks in a day

[ghostxrose]

𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒏 | 𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒖𝒈𝒐 𝑲𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒖𝒌𝒊 𝒙 𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓

Summary ~ You thought it would be just another night at work until your eyes met the crimson ones of Pro Hero Dynamight..

Tags/Warnings ~ Minors DNI, NSFW 18+ Content, Charaters are in their 20s, FemStripper!Reader, P in V, unprotected sex, porn with some plot, oral sex, face riding, multiple orgasms, creampie, WC 9k, idk what else to tag

Note ~ Hello Lovelies! I hope you all enjoy this spicy lil fic I've got for ya here! I'm still not all that good at writing smut stuff so don't expect too much of me, haha. I do want to give a quick thank you for all of the hype I got for this fic from my Sneak Peek post, so thank you Lovelies! Anyway, I'll let all you fiends get to reading! <3

You let out a heavy sigh as you stare at the back door to the nightclub you work at from the driver’s seat of your car. You weigh the pros and cons of going inside and clocking in for your shift while you sip on your first Red Bull of the night. It’s not that you hate your job or your coworkers, it’s just that feeling that everyone gets before walking into work. That feeling of “ugh, I wanna go back home and be lazy” that settles over you until you shove it away and force yourself to get out of your car. With your bag slung lazily over one shoulder you lock your car, then head for the door that you’ve been dead-eyeing on and off for the last 30-ish minutes.

Once inside the nightclub, you make your way to your dressing room. The bass from whatever song whoever is on stage right now has chosen thumps through your eardrums and chest. You absentmindedly nod your head to the beat as you enter your dressing room. You close the door behind you and lock it, then walk over to the vanity. Setting your bag down, you grab the tablet sitting at the corner of the vanity countertop from its charging port and sit down. You log into the nightclub’s app and clock in before clicking the “songs” tab within the app.

Once it loads up you scroll through the list of suggested songs but none of them really call out to you or feel right for the vibe you create when you get on stage. You tap the search function then get to typing and looking up songs to add to your list for your sets tonight. As soon as you’ve lined up a pretty nice selection of six songs you submit the list, then shut the tablet off and begin prepping yourself for your first set.

You touch up your makeup and loosely curl your hair. After laying out both outfits you brought for tonight, you decide to flip a coin to see which one you should wear first. Heads is for the lacy dark purple bra and thong set with a pair of black open-toed stilettos - simple but still a favorite amongst crowds. Tails is for the slightly more intricately designed deep wine colored bralette and g-string set with dark red cross strap, heeled sandals - another crowd favorite because of the way it’s slightly more.. sheer as far as materials go.

You toss the coin into the air with a small but knowing smirk because you know that it really doesn’t matter what outfit you wear. What people really show up for are the feelings of dark attraction that the physical traits of your Quirk stirs up inside them. Attraction that makes them feel as if it’s taboo or maybe even dangerous to tamper with, but they enjoy the thrill either way.

Your Quirk is called Hellspawn, but you’ve never viewed it in a negative light. Your Quirk is the product of generations of similar Quirks possessed by both sides of your family. You’ve been taught your whole life to be proud of your Quirk and its traits, no matter what people might say or think. You confidently show off your demon-like horns, wings, fangs, and tail every day.

The coin lands on heads so you put on the dark purple outfit and stilettos, taking your time to make sure everything goes on just right. With one final glance in the full length mirror in your dressing room you smile at your reflection, then turn to leave and head backstage. As you walk through the back hallways of the nightclub you begin to feel excitement and adrenaline thrum through your veins. Just because this is a job doesn’t mean that you don’t have fun when you’re up on stage.

“There’s my girl! How’re ya doin’ tonight, Luci?” Sakura, the nightclub’s manager and owner, cheerfully greets you when you get backstage.

“Ask me that after my set,” you say jokingly. “Better yet, when you see me raking in tons of bills just assume that I’m feeling pretty good!” You add on with a smirk.

“Mmm, always love your confidence, Babes! Alright, now get out there and kill it like you always do!” Sakura says with a wink, then focuses back on whatever she was working on her tablet.

You smile to yourself, amped up by the vibes within the club and your rising confidence, and begin stretching to warm your muscles up for your first set of the night. More adrenaline, and the caffeine from your energy drink, hits your veins when you hear the ending of the last song for whoever is on stage and you wait for your stage name to be called.

“Alright everyone, can I get a round of cheers for our lovely Siren?! Don’t worry, they’ll be back a little later!!” Hikari, tonight’s DJ, says after hopping on the mic.

“You all are in for a real treat now, though! Please help me in summoning our resident hot demon-babe to the stage; Lucifer!!” A wild smile pulls at your lips as you take in the crowds hyped up cheers from the other side of the curtain. “Get your sexy ass out here, Luci!!” Hikari excitedly calls for you and you let out a giggle before taking a step forward.

Pulling back the curtain you slowly walk further onto the stage, emerging from a cloud of smoke and into the dark-neon lights shining onto the stage. You smile and wink over at Hikari in the DJ’s booth and she blows you a kiss making you giggle a bit. Looking back towards the crowd you sway your hips as you walk, your eyes half lidded and a sultry, fanged smile on your face. Your body getting into the flow of the music from the first song of this set. The bass produced from Obsolete Ritual makes you vibrate when it hits and it’s a rush that fuels the amped up fire within you that you’ll never get over.

Getting up to the pole at the end of the catwalk, you wrap your hands around it and walk in a slow, teasing circle despite the song’s tempo having sped up. Your eyes scan over the crowd, running across the familiar faces of regulars and lingering for mere seconds over new faces. For reasons unbeknownst to you, your gaze gets stuck on one new face in particular.

Sharp, crimson eyes connect with yours, the stranger’s handsome face set in a scowl. ‘The hell is he scowling in a stripclub for? If he didn’t want to be here, then why did he come? Or maybe he’s just mad that Siren’s set ended? Whatever, buddy, try to enjoy the show.’ You think to yourself as you pull your gaze from Grumpy Hot Guy and officially begin your routine.

As you bend, twist, and dance your way through Obsolete Ritual, Veins, and Descending you find that Grumpy Hot Guy’s eyes never seem to leave you. His scowl remained but his eyes seemed to burn more with every movement of your body. When you finish your set you have to force yourself not to look at him as you spread your wings and bow to the crowd.

The weight of his eyes on you grows heavy as you help the club’s “Money Grabbers” rake in your earnings. Purposefully ignoring him you smile, giggle, and thank customers as they stuff more bills into your lingerie as you work to grab cash from the floor of the stage. You move to head offstage once all of the money has been gathered when you’re stopped by a tug on your tail. You let out a yelp, then quickly turn around to hiss at whoever the perv is that committed the action. A security guard is already handling the guy but he still has the nerve to shoot you an unsettling and creepy smirk. You hiss anyway, then roll your eyes as you stand and quickly leave the stage.

“Christ, are you okay, Luci?? Fucking hate pervs like that bastard! He’s being thrown out as we speak, so don’t worry! How’s your tail??” Sakura frantically asks, immediately mother-henning you as soon as you’re backstage.

You let out a soft giggle and give her an appreciative smile, “I’m fine and so is my tail, but thank you. Handsy people are very annoying but I can handle it and I’m fine.” You say reassuringly and Sakura lets out a relieved breath, then looks you in the eye with a smirk.

“Ugh, what’s with the look, Sakura? Did I really make that much from the set?” You question with a slightly bored look.

“Way off base with the guess there, Babes! Seems like we may have a few heroes in the house tonight, literally! I was watching the cameras when that creep grabbed your tail and I saw a few customers try to get to you, one in particular seemed especially pissed. Any guesses as to who they could be before I tell you?!” Sakura explains with a playful glint in her eyes.

“You know I hate guessing games,” you say in a forced bored tone that hopefully masks your itching curiosity.

“Oh, you’re no fun sometimes, Luci! Anyways, Pro Heroes Cellophane, Chargebolt, Pinky, Red Riot, and Dynamight were rushing to be your knights in shining armor! How crazy and exciting is it that a few Top Ten Pros are here at my nightclub?! Wild, right?!” Sakura reveals and you mentally kick yourself for not piecing together that Grumpy Hot Guy with the crimson eyes and spiky blonde hair is Pro Hero Dynamight.

“Uh, yeah, that is pretty crazy.. Uhm, I’m gonna go clean up and get ready for my next set, see you back here in an hour.” You say in a slight daze, the shock from Dynamight not being able to keep his eyes off of you clouding your mind.

“Mhm, gonna go make yourself extra pretty for the Pros, huh?” Sakura says with a devilish smirk.

“Sakura, please, I’m hot enough as it is. If I got any prettier customers would start dropping dead.” You say matter-of-factly after you’ve turned to walk away, hoping that Sakura didn’t see your blush. Sakura bursts out laughing behind you telling you to not kill her sources of income. You wave a playfully dismissive hand in the air before disappearing down the hallway back to your dressing room.

Once you’ve locked your dressing room door you let out a long exhale. You had run into a few of your coworkers on your way back to your dressing room and had to reassure every one of them that you were okay. But not only that, you were reminded again and again that there are Pros out in the crowd tonight via your coworkers gushing over their favorites within the group that came. Apparently a couple of your coworkers are major Dynamight fans and you tried your best to keep your cool when they wouldn’t shut up about how hot he is.

Even now, sitting at your vanity touching up your hair and makeup, you swear that you can still feel his burning gaze on you. Thinking about every time you made eye contact with him during your first set stirs something up inside of you and your reflection shows the blush you can feel heating your cheeks. As you change into your second outfit of the night you can’t tell if you’re nervous or hyped to get back on stage.

As soon as the straps of your heels are tied you make your way towards the mini fridge in your room. You grab the small bottle of Grey Goose and a small can of Red Bull from inside the fridge, then a shot glass from the top of the fridge. Sitting back down at your vanity, you pour yourself a shot and crack open your Red Bull. Downing the shot, you give it a second to settle before you pour a second. After shooting the second shot, you put the Grey Goose back and start drinking your Red Bull.

‘Nothing wrong with a bit of liquid courage, right? It’s just to help me through my next set after that creep touched me.’ You reason with (aka lie to) yourself as you look over yourself in the mirror.

A little over five minutes before you are to be called onto stage again, you make your way backstage. The shots you took earlier have succeeded in helping you feel like the confident and powerful Queen of the Underworld that you are. A cat-calling whistle pulls your attention over to Sakura and she gives you a smirk.

“Thought I told you not to kill my customers, Babes! Gah damn, you look hot! Trying to impress some certain Pro Heroes out there?” Sakura exclaims with a shit-eating grin.

You roll your eyes and cross your arms, “Being hot is part of the job, Boss. I don’t need to impress anyone but myself.” You say as you suppress a blush and look at your nails.

“Damn straight, Babes! Preach! Ugh, sometimes I’d really kill for your level of confidence.” Sakura says in all of her dramatic flare.

You giggle and shake your head as you blow her kiss, then turn towards the curtain. You exchange smiles with Siren as they walk through the curtain to head back to their room and wait for your cue.

“Everybody, shh shh, quiet down for a moment,” You hear Hikari say over the club’s speakers and you wonder what she has planned. You stifle an excited giggle and bounce a bit with anticipation.

“Oh, sexy Queen of Darkness, please grace us with your presence!” Hikari half chants, half moans into the mic, and you have to cover your mouth to hold back your giggles.

“Lucifer, hear us and show yourself! We’re on our knees, begging! Get out here you little vixen!” Hikari dramatically cries out and you do your best to not laugh your ass off at her antics.

With smoke clouding the view of the curtain you slip through carefully so you don’t disturb it. Suddenly, you flare your wings out and let your eyes glow, your arms held out to your sides a bit as you slowly walk forward. Spotlights slowly crawl towards you and up your body until you’re illuminated and you flash an “evil” grin at the crowd.

“Oh yeah, baby!!” Hikari dramatically moans out as she starts the first song of this set.

A laugh leaves your mouth and a genuine smile pulls at your lips as you walk to the pole at the end of the catwalk. Each of your steps deliberately heavy so that your breasts and ass bounce to the beat of Hot Demon B!Tches Near U as you walk. You briefly lock eyes with Dynamight and in all of your confidence (liquid and natural) you wink at him before grabbing the pole and getting to dancing.

HDBNU and the second song Slayer are full of fast paced moves and ass shaking, money seemingly raining down like confetti. So caught up in keeping time with the song, you had blurred out the crowd. It wasn’t until the first base drop of your last song, Fill The Void, that you noticed something slightly startling.

You had your back against the pole and slowly slid down it. Your arms stretched above you gripping said pole and your legs spreading as you sank to the ground. Your breathing hitched a bit when your eyes connected with burning crimson, the owner of the eyes standing at the front of the crowd at the edge of the stage. You did your best to hide your surprise but of course Dynamight noticed and he sent you a small smirk.

You smirk back at him, accepting an unspoken challenge of sorts, slowly and sensually standing back up. Wrapping your legs around the pole you do a few tricks before you slowly slide down, feet hitting the floor once more. Swaying and moving your body to the music, you get to the front of the pole where you sink to the floor once again, this time getting on your hands and knees.

You bite your lip seductively and slowly crawl towards the crowd, your tail slowly swishing side to side and your eyes glowing. You stare Dynamight right in the eyes as you crawl and mouth the last few words of the song. You stop about half a foot from the edge of the stage and gently roll onto your back, arching it and sensually running your hands down your body. As the song comes to a close, your eyes glow significantly brighter, you let out a puff of blue-colored fire.

When the song finally ends, you stand up and bow, blowing kisses and smiling at the crowd. You cast one last glance at Dynamight and find that he looks slightly stunned. You smirk, then turn to make your way off of the stage, hips swaying the entire time. Getting backstage, your body feels like it’s on fire in the best way possible and Sakura definitely notices.

“Christ, Luci, I’m gonna have to call every ambulance in Tokyo after that performance! Shit, I think I’m even having heart palpitations! You fucking killed it out there, Babes!” Sakura exclaims, one hand fanning her face and the other on her chest.

“Stop, you’re gonna make me blush!” You say, feigning embarrassment, but ultimately giggling.

“You know who's blushing? Everyone out there who just jizzed their pants!” Sakura says, sending both of you into a laughing fit.

“But for real, great work! Now go grab a snack, get changed, and help out the other servers on the floor, please!” Sakura loosely orders with a bright smile.

“Yes, ma’am!” You say with a mocking salute and smile, then head to your dressing room.

𖤛 𖤛 𖤛

Once you’ve changed into the club’s server outfit, aka a top that is basically a bralette paired with what could be the shortest skirt in the world, some cheeky panties underneath, and knee high stiletto boots, you make your way out to the bar.

“There she is; the girl who always makes me regret not bringing an extra pair of underwear!” Ruby, the bartender for the night, playfully exclaims as you walk up to the counter.

“Thought you knew better by now!” You say with a laugh and Ruby rolls their eyes with a smile.

“Alright, Love, here’s a tray of drinks for the group over at VIP table three. I don’t know if Sakura told ya, but the VIP section will be yours tonight.” Ruby says as they carefully slide a serving tray full of drinks towards you.

“C’mon, Rue, of course she didn’t tell me. Do I ever work any other section?” You comment with feigned annoyance and Ruby laughs.

In reality, you love working the VIP section. It’s always full of rich people with too much money to spend and they always tip very generously. It certainly helps that you flirt your ass off whilst serving but everyone does that.

Picking the tray up with the skill and grace you’ve perfected over the years of being in this industry, you send one last smile and wink to Ruby before heading for the VIP section of the lounge. You smile at patrons as you move through the crowd, giggling and thanking them for the compliments they give about your performance. While you truly do love your job, customer service could still be considered a performance and you are flawless at it.. Until you make it past the roped off entrance to the VIP lounge and see the group at table three.

Virtually unnoticeably, your steps falter and you’re thankful that the club's ambience is fairly dim as you take in a steadying breath. Mentally reasserting your confidence, you paint on a cool and flirty smile as you walk over to table three. Your thoughts run through your mind, filling you with the tiniest bit of dread, ‘Of fucking course it’s them.. I mean, they are Pro Heroes, why wouldn’t they be in the VIP lounge.. For fuck sa-’

“Good evening, everyone. My name is Lucifer, or Luci for short, I’ll be one of your servers tonight. I have your drinks here, but let me know if you need anything else.” You say as you set the tray down on the table, your voice coming out impressively even and a bit sultry.

“Yeah, uhm, I’m gunna need your number,” Chargebolt drunkenly slurs out, a dopey smile on his face and hearts practically in his eyes, as he grabs his drink from the tray.

You giggle at his attempt at hitting on you, having to keep from full-on laughing when you notice Dynamight’s jaw clenching out of the corner of your eye. You smile gently at Chargebolt, “Sorry, babes, but I don’t give my number out to strangers.” You say with a sympathetic pout as you try not to join the rest of the group in their laughter.

“I’m not a stranger, I’m Chargebolt aka Denk- OW! Man, c’mon, you don’t gotta hit me!” Chargebolt whines as he pouts at Dynamight while rubbing the back of his head.

“Sorry about him! He hits on anyone who breathes his way! Thanks for the drinks, Luci!” Pinky giggles out over Chargebolt’s whining, said man still on the receiving end of Dynamight’s murderous glare.

“No problem! I’ve got a few other tables to serve but I’ll check back in a little bit!” You say as you pick up the now empty tray and step back from the table.

You hear the rest of the group thank you as you walk away, Dynamight’s grumbled and gravelly ‘thanks’ sending a wave of heat through your body. ‘It should be illegal for someone’s one-worded, grumbled response to sound so sexy, what the fuck?!’ You mentally curse as you walk up to one of the other tables.

The hours fly by quickly as you wait on each of your tables. Every stop at the Pros’ table met with flirty quips from the group, minus Dynamight. In fact, he hasn’t even looked at you the whole time you’ve been off-stage. You’d be lying if you said that you weren’t just a little disappointed, but you shove it down to keep your sultry and flirty persona up. You flirtatiously thank the group at VIP table five as you stick the wad of bills that is your tip from them into your bralette and blow them a kiss as you walk towards the bar.

“Hey Ruby, you got the time?” You ask, exhaustion leaking into your tone.

“A little past one. You’re off at 15, right?” Ruby asks as they wipe off a glass. You nod, relief settling over you as well as exhaustion. It was a good shift but you are so ready to go home.

“This tray is for three, right? I’ll take it to them before I head back to my room.” You say, picking the tray up with a bit of a huff.

“Don’t act like you’re doing any favors for anyone, you just wanna see the Pros one last time before you leave.” Ruby teases with a smirk and you feign offense.

“Or I just want to reem them for tips, but go off I guess.” You playfully bite back, then giggle as Ruby raises an eyebrow at you.

Despite your exhaustion setting in more with each minute passing, you quickly make your way to the table of Pros. Pouring the last of your energy into your customer service persona, you set the tray of drinks down on the table and smile at the group.

“Hey Heroes, it has been an extreme pleasure serving and meeting all of you but it is now the end of my shift. One of our other servers will take over for me, I hope that you all enjoy the rest of your night!” The well-rehearsed spiel leaves your mouth with a pleasant tone and warm smile.

“I know I’ll be back if only to watch you dance again,” Pinky says with a flirty smile and wink that makes you giggle.

“Thanks for being so amazing!” Red Riot says with a bright smile as he hands you a fat wad of cash. You feign surprise as you take the cash and thank them all as you shove it in what little space you have left in your bralette. You spare one last glance at Dynamight and suppress a frown when you catch him looking very intently at his phone. You say your goodbyes, then rush to drop the empty tray off at the bar before heading back to your dressing room.

Changing back into the sweatpants and sweater that you arrived to work in, you feel the bone-deep heaviness that comes with being tired. You throw your hair up into a messy bun and slip your shoes on, then clock out from the tablet in your room. Slipping your bag onto your shoulder you leave your room and head for Sakura’s office to pick up your earnings from the night.

“Hey Boss, I’m outta here,” You announce from the doorway of her office.

“Alrighty, Babes! Here’s your check, you made pretty good bank tonight! Might be a little more than usual, awesome job!” Sakura beams as she hands you the envelope with your check in it.

Taking the envelope and putting it into your bag, you smile tiredly at her, “Thanks, Sakura. See ya later.”

“You want an escort to your car? I can call one of the bouncers back.” Sakura offers like she always does.

“Nah, I’m good. You already know that I’m the scary creature that lurks in the shadows.” You joke as you activate your Quirk a bit causing your eyes to glow while you shoot her a fanged smile. She laughs at your antics then bids you goodnight and you begin your walk to the back door of the club.

You step out into the chilly night air and are nearly blinded by a set of headlights coming from a car parked in the spot right in front of the door. You put your hand up to shield your eyes from the bright ass headlights and try to see who may be in the car. Suddenly the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and an anxious chill shivers down your spine. From your peripherals you see a hand reaching toward you and you try to move out of the person’s reach. Unfortunately, you’re a tad too late and they are able to grab your wrist and pull you towards them. You come face to face with the creep from earlier and your stomach drops as fear begins to course through you.

“Finally, some alone time with the demon-whore herself. Ya know, I’m a real big fan of yers. Wha’ do ya say we go back to my place and commit some sins, baby?” The creep-ass perv drawls out with a sick smile and your fear quickly turns to anger.

“Fuck off, you corny-ass pervert!” You growl out and you jerk your wrist up to your face, letting out a small breath of blue flames aimed towards the creep’s arm.

“Fucking bitch!” The degenerate of a man roars out as he yanks his hand away, continuing to curse from the pain.

You take the opportunity to whirl around and rush back into the club, locking the back door behind you once you’re inside. The door begins rattling from heavy banging against it and you can hear muffled shouts coming through from the man. You stand there shaking and trying to think of what to do now when you hear the footsteps of someone running towards you. Squinting through the dim lighting you nearly cry at the sight of Sakura and Pinky.

“Are you alright?” Pinky asks, her years of being a Pro making her voice come out steady even though she just ran here, and you nod shakily.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Luci! I should have checked the cams before sending you off! Fuck, I’m so stupid!” Sakura cries into your shoulder after pulling you into a tight hug.

“It’s not your fault, Sakura, it’s okay.” You whisper, your voice coming out strained as you try not to cry, and hug her back.

The three of you jump at the sound of an explosion coming from outside the door, and Pinky pushes you both behind her. You all stand there quietly for a few moments until Pinky’s phone goes off. She answers it quickly and you’re only able to catch her end of the call, “Yeah... She’s fine... Ugh, gross, what a bastard… Okay, thanks Red!” She finishes, then hangs up and turns around to you and Sakura.

“Are you sure that you’re okay? You don’t need to be checked out by a doctor or anything?” Pinky questions as her eyes roam over your form to visibly check for any injuries whatsoever.

“No, no, I’m okay. I just want to go home.” You quietly assure the two; Pinky cautiously believes you but Sakura is still suspicious that you’re hiding any sort of pain. A loud bang on the door makes both you and Sakura jump while Pinky just lets out a sigh.

“Unlock the door, dammit!” A voice shouts from the other side of the door and Pinky takes it upon herself to fulfill the demand.

The door swings open to reveal Dynamight, the dim lights from inside the club and the street lamps from outside the only things illuminating his figure. You can still tell that his face is scrunched up into something angry even with the poor lighting if the way he is grumbling about the “fucking creepy pervert” is anything to go by.

“Good job taking down that creep, Blasty!” Pinky cheers with a smile and a thumbs up.

“Shuddup,” Dynamight says with annoyance laced in his tone, but Pinky just laughs it off as she walks past him.

“Miss Sakura, if you could come with me? The police may want to see the security footage or get a statement from you.” Pinky says from her paused position in the doorway.

“Of course! Text me when you get home, Luci! I mean it, like, as soon as you pull into your driveway!” Sakura demands with a stern look on her face as she moves to catch up with Pinky.

“I will,” You promise with a small smile and send her a wave as she leaves.

A few moments of silence pass as you and Dynamight just stand there, an air of awkwardness beginning to settle in before you speak up, “Thanks for.. arresting that guy.” You say quietly, looking at him with a small smile.

“The guy had a pretty bad burn on his arm when we showed up.. Any idea where it might have come from?” Dynamight asks in a low and even tone, his sharp crimson eyes looking into yours.

Your smile drops and panic churns at your stomach, “I-I.. it was self defense! I-I didn’t know what else to do, h-he wouldn’t let go of me!” You fearfully begin defending yourself, only just now realizing that you used your Quirk unlicensed to harm somebody. Your heart begins to race and your breaths start to stutter, mind racing over the fact that you broke the law.

“Calm down, I was just curious. As far as the cops are concerned they think I did it, so you’re in the clear. Even if they do find out it was you, it’s legal if it’s in self defen- Jesus christ, take a deep breath, it’s okay!” Dynamight’s voice raises a bit when he notices you beginning to hyperventilate.

You turn away from him and make your way towards the wall, leaning against it to steady yourself. You close your eyes and take some deep breaths in hopes of calming down. After a minute, you open your eyes and look at anything except the hero in front of you when you turn back around.

“I’d like to go home now, if that’s okay? Or do I need to speak to the police?” You meekly ask as you adjust the strap of your bag on your shoulder.

“I’ll tell them that you’ll go down to the station tomorrow. The security cam footage should suffice for tonight.” He says and you can feel the weight of his gaze on you as you nod your head.

“Well, thanks again.. Goodnight, Dynamight.” You mumble as you move toward the door to leave.

“I’ll follow behind you.. to make sure you get home safe.” You hear Dynamight’s rushed and raspy words from behind you making you stop in your tracks.

“That’s not necessary, really.. Should you even be driving? You’ve been drinking all night..” You ramble out after you turn around to face him, your heart thundering in your chest when you find that he’s right there. 

“I only had a couple drinks, plus I’m not weak like Dunc- Chargebolt, I can handle my fucking liquor. I’m gunna go get my car, do not leave this parking lot until I get back here.” Dynamight firmly demands before rushing off toward the front of the building.

You stand there dumbfounded for a moment before you shake yourself out of it and make your way to your car. You get in, hitting the lock button as soon as your door closes, and start it up. You spend a few minutes queuing up songs until you hear a honk from next to you. Nearly pissing yourself, you send a glare to Dynamight for scaring you but he just rolls his eyes and motions for you to go.

With a little bit of hesitancy in your gut, you back out of your parking space and begin your drive home. Looking at the routes on a map, it’s not a very far drive, but traffic always turns short trips into longer ones. Periodic glances at your rear view mirror tells you that you’re not the only one annoyed with the traffic. A small giggle leaves your lips every time you see Dynamight puff his cheeks with a huff or yell at some dick speeding past the both of you.

Finally, you arrive at your house, clicking the button on the gate opener and waiting for it to open fully before pulling up into the drive. Dynamight follows right behind you, pulling up next to you but just sitting in his car. You wonder if he’s going to watch you walk into your house then you wonder why he’s doing this at all. ‘There’s no way the Dynamight does this with even half of the victims he helps rescue..’ You think to yourself as you pull out your phone and tap the call function on Sakura’s contact.

The conversation is short and as soon as you hang up you turn your car off and gather your stuff, then get out. You barely register that Dynamight has gotten out of his car before he’s walking toward you. You look between him and his off car with a confused expression on your face.

“You gunna close the ga-” Dynamight starts but cuts himself off when he sees that the gate to your driveway has automatically started closing, the allotted time you have it set to stay open if you don’t close it yourself having run out.

“I didn’t realize you’d even be getting out of your car..” You comment quietly, and albeit nervously, as you make your way to your front door.

Silently, you take your keys out of your bag, placing the magnetic fob on its spot just above the doorknob. The lock makes a small beep and the keypad above the spot for the fob lights up. You sneak a glance behind you to see if Dynamight is looking but his back is to you as he seemingly surveys the driveway. You quickly type in the code for the lock and a chime rings through the air as the door unlocks. You push the door open a bit before turning around to Dynamight, unsure of what to do or say.

“Uhm, so-”

“Are you sure that you’re alright?” He cuts you off with his question as he turns to face you and his eyes scan over your body as you blink up at him.

“I- yeah, I’m fine..” You say, a little bit shocked by his behavior, and he just nods his head as he stuffs his hands into his pockets. 

A moment of silence fills the air between you two before you blurt out, “Why did you do this? Made sure I got home safe, I mean. You.. you barely even acknowledged me after my performance at the club, and it’s a pretty well-known fact that Dynamight doesn’t really follow up with those that he rescues, let alone escorts them home..”

Dynamight’s jaw clenches and irritation fills his handsome features, and you have to remind your body that right now is not a good time to be getting aroused. His eyes meet yours and promptly melt you with their heat, whether it’s from irritation or something else you don’t know.

“Because, dammit..” He starts, dragging a hand through his hair and letting out an exasperated sigh, his eyes flicking to the ground and glaring at the cement.

“Strip joints aren’t my thing. They’re too fucking loud, there’s too many damn people, and I’ve never had any interest in watching people twirl around on a pole.” He continues, but gets interrupted by the scoff you defensively let out.

But he continues on before letting you get a word out, “But it was stupid Pinky’s birthday and that’s what she wanted to do, so I was dragged into going. I sat at that damn table hating every second until.. Until you got onto that fucking stage. And I know, I know, you probably hear this shit all the fucking time but dammit there was just something about you. I couldn’t tear my damn eyes away from you.”

You’re not sure when it happened but suddenly he is so close to you, crimson eyes sending a blazing heat through your body. Your breath hitches when you catch a whiff of his cologne and your panties are starting to feel much more damp.

“There’s some sort of lust factor to your Quirk, right? There has to be because I never feel like this towards anyone right off the bat,” He rasps out, his voice quieter than before and husky.

“Feel like what?” You whisper, playing the dumb-innocence card heavily as you stare into his eyes.

“Like I wanna fuck you until you’re nothing but a drooling mess cumming on my cock,” He rasps out huskily, his face mere centimeters from yours.

You can’t take it anymore, something in you just snaps and you’re smashing your lips onto his. Your moan mingles with his groan as your arms wind their way around his neck. His hands quickly find purchase on your hips and his fingers dig into the fabric of your sweats as he pulls your body impossibly closer to his. The kiss, if one could call it that, is aggressive with sharp canines nipping each others’ lips and tongues fighting for dominance.

In the midst of your devouring of each other, he backs you into your house, kicking the door shut behind him. You absentmindedly hear the chime of your door locking itself over the rush of blood in your ears and Dynamight’s groans. Your bag ends up crashing to the floor and you both somehow manage to haphazardly kick your shoes off.

You both stumble down the hallway as you lead him to your bedroom, pieces of clothing almost literally torn from each other’s bodies littering the floor as you go. By the time you fall back onto your bed, you’re both in nothing but your underwear. Dynamight stands at the edge of your bed seemingly entranced as you drag your hands along your body up to the front clasp of your bra. You slowly and sensually unclip the bra, making a show out of taking it off even though the Hero’s focus is solely on your tits.

His eyes then meet yours and his tongue darts out to wet his lips, “Are you sure you wanna do this?” He asks, his voice rough with lust but you hear the slight hesitance.

“I kissed you, didn’t I? Listen, I know I’m a stripper but I don’t usually fuck the patrons, I simply have no interest in it. I want this, I need this, and I’m clean if that makes you feel better. Plus, I’m on birth control, so please Dyn-”

“Katsuki. If we’re gunna fuck then you at least get to call me by my fucking name.” He bites out with fake annoyance, rolling his eyes as he shoves his underwear off.

You smirk up at him, toying with your breasts and moaning his name, just to test it out on your tongue and goddamn is it delicious. His eyes darken yet seem to glow at the same time like a whole new level of lust flowed over him, and you give him your real name.

“So, Katsuki, are you gunna fuck me til I’m a drooling mess cumming on your cock or am I gunna have to call Charg- shit, ahh, fuck-” You try to taunt him but are quickly cut off when Katsuki is suddenly on you, mouthing at one of your breasts while his hand kneads and squeezes the other.

He grinds his hard cock on your clothed pussy, right on your clit, the friction of it all making you pant and moan underneath him. Your hands sink into his hair, your claws scratching against his scalp and pulling more groans from him. He gives both your breasts equal attention, biting and sucking and leaving hickies in the wakes of his lips. His kisses begin to travel down your body until his hot mouth is sucking and licking over your already soaked panties.

It’s a slow kind of torture when he finally decides to drag your panties down your legs and off of your body. Needy whines and breathy begs leave your mouth as he uses one hand to slowly drag your panties down your legs while the thumb of his other hand rubs torturously slow circles into your clit.

“Fuck, you’re soaked.. You that needy for my cock, baby?” He husks out as he settles on his stomach between your legs.

“Y-yes, ah, been wet since, fuck, since my second s-set when, a-ah, wh-when y-you were by th-the stage,” You barely manage to get out between the slow stripes he’s licking up your pussy.

He sends you a cocky smirk before fully diving into your wetness and one of your hands flies to his hair while the other grips the sheets. He drinks you up like a man dying of thirst; going from sucking your clit and flicking his tongue against it to dipping lower and slipping his tongue in and out of your slit. Every ministration pushes you closer to that edge and you can’t stop your body from squirming as moans fall from your lips.

An idea manages to slip into your pleasure-addled mind and you pull at his hair to get his attention. This only results in what could only be described as a growl leaving his mouth and vibrating against your clit, nearly sending you. You fight off your impending orgasm as much as you can manage and try to use your words instead, “K-Katsuki, w-wait! I-I wa-wanna ride your face!” That gets his attention immediately, making him pause mid-lick to lean back a bit and give you a wild smirk.

“Fuck yeah, baby,” His lust-laced voice carries through the room as he shuffles around to get into position.

Once he’s comfortable, his lust-darkened and excited eyes catch yours, a devilish smirk sitting on his lips. You send him your own fanged smirk and carefully climb over his body, the shuffling of limbs resulting in your body facing your headboard as your pussy hovers over his mouth. His hands come up to grip your thighs as you slowly seat yourself onto his hot and waiting mouth. A half moan, half gasp leaves your lips when Katsuki immediately gets back to devouring you and one of your hands buries itself in his hair.

You let yourself drown beneath the waves of pleasure for a moment or two before forcing some clarity into your mind. You smirk down at him and his ministrations falter a bit as you trail the tip of your tail down his torso. He questions your action with his eyes until they widen a bit out of surprise as your tail slowly gets increasingly closer to his cock. His groan vibrates against your clit as you wrap your tail around him and his eyes flutter a bit.

You start jerking his cock slowly, your hips moving in sync, and both of your moans start filling the room. Katsuki becomes more aggressive with his licking and sucking, his tongue delving into you every now and then as you grind against him.

“Hah.. ah.. I-I’m g-gunna f-fucking.. cum..” You pant out between moans, your grip on his hair tightening as the overwhelming sensation of your orgasm begins flooding you once again.

“Fucking hell.. Cum, then, baby. Cum on my fucking tongue.” Katsuki’s muffled command is followed by another groaned out curse, his hips bucking a bit off the bed as you continue to jerk him.

“Aah, Katsuki,” His name comes out as a high-pitched moan as your orgasm hits you. Your pussy clenches around his tongue as you double over, your free hand sinking into the mattress next to his head. He tongue-fucks you through it as your eyes squeeze shut and your nails scrape against his scalp. In your bliss, you hear and feel him let out something between a groan and growl, and you’re not sure if it’s from pain or pleasure.

He continues swiping his tongue against your pussy as whines from overstimulation leave your mouth. Something more begins building in your abdomen and you forcefully lift your hips from his face to keep from potentially drowning the man beneath you.

You're both panting as you stare at each other with the same look of feral lust in your eyes. The moonlight shining in from your window making it look like his eyes are glowing and you feel just a bit envious over how fucking effortlessly attractive this man is. A playful smirk pulls at your lips when you squeeze your tail around his cock and he lets out an unintentional moan. Suddenly, in a blur of motions, you’re flipped onto your back with Katsuki hovering over you, his lips still shiny with your cum.

“Ya know, teasing isn’t nice.” Katsuki comments huskily with a smirk as he grinds his cock against your wet pussy, his tip catching your clit with every stroke.

In an instant his lips are on yours, swallowing your whines and moans. He holds himself up with one arm while the other leaves its position from beside your head. His now free hand runs down your body until he gets to your pussy. His fingers rub at your clit a bit before moving further down where he slips a finger into you. Your moans go up in volume as one finger becomes two and his lips suck hickies into the column of your throat. Your body begins to writhe a bit as his fingers brush over your g-spot and his teeth nip at your hot skin.

Soon enough two fingers turn into three and the tsunami-size waves of your next orgasm crash against the poorly built dam you’ve built. All the while, Katsuki just swallows all of begging and pleading for him to just put his cock in you already. His hot, hard cock that is currently weeping pre-cum all over your thigh.

“I-I think I l-learned my lesson ‘bout teasing, Ka-Katsuki! Oh fuck.. J-just put it in!” You demand when his mouth goes back to sucking more marks into your shoulder.

“Demanding little slut, flip the fuck over.” Katsuki commands after he pulls his fingers from your pussy.

You flip yourself onto your stomach, ass up in the air and tail swishing sensually slowly behind you. You look back at him with a smirk that quickly falters when you meet his gaze dead-on as he licks your cum from his fingers. A cocky smirk pulls at his lips when he finishes and uses that same hand to smack one of your asscheeks making you cry out. Pain and pleasure tingle up your spine and your pussy continues to leak.

“Yeah, kinda figured you were a pain slut by now. Only fitting for someone with a demon Quirk, huh?” Katsuki husks out following another smack to your ass.

Finally, without any further commentation, the fat head of his cock nudges its way between your pussy lips. He enters you slowly, groaning as you pant through the welcomed invasion of every inch of him. When his hips finally meet your asscheeks you understand why he had taken his time fingering you. Of course, you had noticed that his cock is big but you weren’t quite prepared to feel this full. There isn’t a single complaint that runs through your pleasure-melted brain, though. Only praises intermingled with moans fall from your mouth when he gives an experimental thrust.

“Shit, you’re so fuckin’ tight.” Katsuki grits out as he sets a steady pace, moving in and out of you while his hands grip your hips.

“So.. fuckin’.. good.. s-so.. full..” You moan out as you push yourself back on his cock, absentmindedly wrapping your tail around one of his wrists.

The room becomes hot and stuffy, the smell of sex and Katsuki’s cologne on every breath you breathe in. Your eyes are half-lidded, wanting to roll back, and your mouth hangs open as Katsuki begins drilling into you. You nearly cum from the sight of him throwing his head back and groaning at how your pussy squelches and clenches around him.

His cock hits your g-spot over and over, making that overwhelming feeling inside you unbearable. You don’t get anything other than a high-pitched moan out of your mouth as your second orgasm crashes into you. Your eyes roll back as you squirt all over Katsuki’s cock and pelvis. You become a babbling, drooling mess as he fucks your through your orgasm, his pace somehow getting faster. His exhales become grunts and growls as he pounds into you, his hands now gripping you so tightly that you nearly cum again thinking about the bruises they’ll leave.

“Fuck, I’m gunna fucking cum!” Katsuki groans out, his thrusts beginning to falter slightly.

“Ah, please cum, a-ah, pleasepleaseplease,” You mindlessly beg as you cum on his cock again.

“Sh-shit.. I-I.. fuuuuck,” He stutters out as he thrust hard into you one last time before stilling. You moan softly as warmth fills you, your eyes shutting from all of the bliss and pleasure you felt throughout the night.

Katsuki is hunched over you for a moment just trying to catch his breath before he kisses your shoulder and straightens up. He slowly pulls out causing both of you to groan, then he collapses onto the mattress beside you. You lower your hips down to the bed and stretch your body a bit before shuffling over to lay on his chest. With his eyes closed, Katsuki wraps an arm around you and begins lightly rubbing your lower back. It’s a peaceful and calm silence between the both of you, the only sounds being both of you breathing and your house’s A/C kicking on.

“There’s no lust factor,” You say quietly, your chin resting on his pec as you look up at his face.

Katsuki cracks an eye open and tilts his head to peer down at you in confusion, “What?” He rasps out.

“My Quirk, Hellspawn, is just demon traits. I don’t have any succubi traits or powers, so there’s no lust factor to my Quirk.” A teasing smile plays on your lips as you explain.

Katsuki is silent as he glares down at you, his face unamused until his lips twitch and a chuckle escapes him. You let out a few giggles yourself and Katsuki runs a hand down his face.

“Well, shit, there goes that explanation. If you’re telling the truth, that is,” He says as he gives you a look of feigned suspicion.

You gasp with feigned offense as you sit up a little, “I would never lie to a Pro Hero such as yourself! What’s the matter, Mr. Dynamight, you don’t believe in lust at first sight?” You can’t help the giggle that escapes you at your bad pun.

Katsuki groans as he rolls his eyes, “Jesus Christ, ‘lust at first sight’? I can’t tell if that's the stripper in you talkin’ or the succubus.”

“I’m not a succubus!” You exclaim as you playfully push him, a laugh leaving your mouth as you stare down at his smirking face.

“Where’s your bathroom, Succubus? We both need a damn shower,” Katsuki asks as he sits up.

His question feels like it’s muffled in your ears as thoughts of not wanting this to end flood your brain. You wonder if he wants this to be a one night stand. If he’ll get dressed, then ask you to not tell anyone about what you two did tonight. If maybe he doesn’t want the fact that he slept with a stripper to get out and ruin his grand reputati-

“Hey, we gunna get this shower over with so we can sleep or what?” Katsuki’s voice breaks you from your thoughts. “I’ll help ya change the bedding and shit after we get done ‘cause I’m sure as hell not sleeping in the puddle you made.” He says with a teasing smirk. You blink dumbly for a moment, then move to stand up to lead Katsuki to your bathroom.

‘He’s spending the night? Maybe he doesn’t want this to end just yet, either..’ You think as you step into the warm water of your shower, Katsuki stepping in right behind you. His arms wrap around you as he pulls you back flush against him, being mindful of your wings. He sighs as he kisses the crook of your neck and you lean back into him, closing your eyes and just enjoying the moment.

Note ~ Welp, there we go, Lovelies! This was a fun fic to write even though I'm not familiar with the workings of a strip club. I did recently watch the movie Hustlers and felt a bit more confident about what I was writing, haha. Hope it was a good read and y'all stay tuned for more fics! Love and appreciate all of you, Lovelies! <3

Divider Credit ~ @tsunami-of-tears

[shegatsby]

I'm sorry but I have another idea for a story😅 please take your time to write it again and if you do it can I maybe be "♡🌸"-anon? I hope you had a really good time the last few days and weeks and that you're healthy! Same for anyone else reading this! Now onto the idea..

Hannibal and reader are already married and reader is a tattoo artist, one day when Hannibal comes home from work he sees reader sitting on the couch and sketching a tattoo, the tattoo is deer antlers(wink wink lol-) with vines around them, when he asks who the tattoo is for reader says that its for him and then they go on and on about why its fitting for Hannibal and he's just listening to her rambling before he stops them and asks if they could do a heart tattoo with the words Mischa, Readers name and the name of their child. (I know Mischa is from Hannibal Rising but I like to think that the movies are all connected to the show so.. yeah that would be amazing <3) Reader would say that they already thought of doing a design like that and they accidently slide the wrong way on the iPad and Hannibal sees a picture that says "Congratulions for a second child!" and idk, the rest is up to you!^^

Sorry that its so long again but its just super cite and yeah.. anyway, a good rest of the day to all of you! I hope all of you are healthy and stay/are safe! And I feel with everyone thats also a bit pissed at the situation with Tik Tok and UMG🥲

-♡🌸

A/N; Girll I haven't been writing Hannibal fics for a long time but here we go. Thank you for the request. xxx

You were preoccupied and didn't even heard the door. Soft yet determined steps approached you from the back and strong arms wrapped around you, you looked up to meet your husband's welcoming gaze, he he seemed tired because his work was consuming his hours more than usual. His hands were cold due to the fact that it was a harsh winter day in Baltimore, ''Hey.'' you said smiling, ''Hello dear.'' his voice softened. ''How long have you been sitting here and designing new drawings my love?''

You were self conscious about your designs before you could respond he added, ''Who is this for?''

His interest was piqued ''Do you like it?'' you asked testing the waters. Hannibal observed the design on the tablet, it was deer antlers with veins around them, ''Yes, I actually like it but you didn't answer my question dear.'' he replied with a questioning look in his maroon eyes, ''Its for you and I'm glad you liked it.''

He seemed confused, ''For me? Why do you think this dsign is suitable for me?'' he genuinely asked. You cleared your throat before speaking, ''In many cultures, the deer is a symbol of spiritual authority. During a deer's life the antlers fall off and grow again and the aniaml is also a symbol of regretion. In Christian imagination, the deer is a symbol of piety, devotion and of God taking care of his children: men.'' you explained, emphasising on the word ''children'' your eyes glowing with passion.

''And you my love,'' you held his hand, ''you are everything and more to us.'' you meant yourself and your daughter Mischa. As if the toddler had sensed that you were talking about her she started crying from her room. ''I'll get her.'' Hannibal said and kissed your temple gently. In moments he came back with Mischa in his arms, he was swaying her gently, ''Cna you also make something,'' he began and caught your attention, you admired the love he held in his eyes for you and your daughter and your hand went to your stomach without realizing, ''Mischa's name in a heart, maybe?'' he suggested, ''I already have.'' he was surprised that you already had thought about it, ''Can I see?''

You showed him the design you had made few weeks ago, ''And I also have other designs maybe you'll like them more.'' you said and moved to the gallery to show more and he made you pause, he held your hand, ''What is it?''

You got a picture of pregnancy test on your latest photos, 'you looked up to meet his gaze, hi clicked on the picture and saw that it was positive, ''Honey are you-'' he began but couldn't finish, ''Yes, yes I'm pregnant!'' you bolted to your feet and hugged your husband and daughter, Hannibal was holding Mischa with one hand and the other hand moved to your neck and kissed you passionately, you let him dominate the kiss. When you parted you were out of breath, ''I'm going to be a father.. again.'' his maroon eyes were glowing with love and warmth for you, Mischa and the new member of the Lecter family.

[if-mirrormine]

the morning after

summary: the follow up to drunken confessions

pairing: grayson x mc

word count: idk bestie alot

based on the request: you had a drabble that was grayson drunkenly confession his love to mc at a party and it was chefs kiss and i remember sending an anon message saying that i think a follow up of the next day would be amazing. i can't find the ask anymore but think in my original anon message it was something like they talk about it and mc reciprocated and they get together the next day (yay fluff) and it's either the day before or the day of callies birthday party and they're planning on telling everyone at the party but oh no mc never shows up and grayson only got to live his dream for a few hours before mc goes missing for 10 years be (yay angst). You replied like "sounds like a good drabble idea" and bestie I haven't stopped thinking about it since

**unedited//this is kinda all over the place and idk how good it really is but i think my eyes will start bleeding if i look at it any longer**

request a drabble here!

grayson wakes with a start and a pounding in his head that rocks his senses. he pauses, willing his headache away and failing miserably. groaning, he slumps back onto the bed and drags a hand through his hair.

he feels movement beside him and squinting in the harsh light of the morning, he sees mc sitting next to him on top of the duvet, their laptop on their lap. they pause their work to smile at him.

"morning, sleepyhead!" they say as they reach for a glass of water on the side table and hand it to him. "i was wondering when you'd rise from your coma."

he takes the glass and drinks from it greedily, the cool water soothing his dry throat. "what time is it?"

they hum. "a little past eight."

he groans again, leaning over the mc to put the glass back on the side table. "why didn't you wake me up sooner?

they scoff before going back to their work. "you don't think i tried? you sleep like the dead, gray."

he hums in reply and lies back down on his pillows, his arm slung over his eyes. now that he's more awake, his headache has worsened to a steady throbbing behind his eyes. his mind drifts back to the night before and everything he did to get to where he is now. he remembers the party and drinking way more than he usually would, losing the mc somewhere along the way and reuniting with them. telling them he’s in love with them. twice.

embarrassment takes over, flooding his sense and twisting his stomach. he can’t believe he was so reckless, he should never be allowed to drink again. the thought alone of what they must think of him is makes him groan again, his face buried in hands.

"gray?" they say, nudging his side. "you okay over there?"

i don't think i'll ever be okay again, he thinks to himself but all that manages to come out of his mouth is a muffled, petulant no.

they shuffle on the bed next to him, the old bed frame creaking slightly and he peeks out from under his arm to see them leaning over him. "is it your head? i think there's some paracetamol in the medicine cabinet, if you want." he's quick to shake his head, groaning when that only exacerbates his headache, and they chuckle softly. "only you would martyr yourself over a hangover," they tut, staring down at him in amusement. "wait here, i'll go get them for you."

they're off the bed and out of his room before he can even comprehend it. with another groan, he sits up and, glancing down at himself, he realises that he's in pajama bottoms and one of his sleep shirts. he barely remembers getting home let alone changing into sleepwear which means the mc mustve done it for him. somehow that's even more embarassing than his drunken confession.

"here you go, gronk," they say, suddenly reappearing next to him with two white tablets and his half filled glass of water. he takes the medication and swallows it down in one fluid motion before turning to look at his best friend with a critical eye. they don't seem to be out of sorts. there's no pity in their eyes when they look at him, put off by the idea of him being in love with them for the past six years. no, it's as if the whole thing didn't even happen. they're still mc, he's still grayson. best friends. nothing more, nothing less. for all his hoping though, he knows that's not the case.

"so," he starts, clearing his throat, his anxiety at the situation rises to new levels. "about last night -"

"you mean your love confession?" they clarify and his eyes widen exponentially. this can't be real, he thinks. lord, if you're out there, kill me now please. despite his embarrassment though, they can't keep from smiling at them. "i was wondering when you'd bring that up."

"i- um... i-i don't know what you're talking about," he says quickly, his face burning red and his eyes anywhere but their face.

they pout at him, reaching out to take his face in their hand. "don't chicken out on me now, donohue. you know how long i've been waiting for you to finally say those words?"

he's looking at them now, only half because they're forcing him to by holding his face, and he can't believe the loving smile on their lips. "what?" is all he manages to get out and it makes them chuckle, his cheeks somehow getting even warmer.

"gosh, do i need to spell it for you, gray?" they move their hands from his face to his shoulders, where they proceed to lightly shake him, mindfully of his pounding head. "i love you too!"

"you do?" the words don't make sense in his ears, in his mind. the mc loving him? no, that can't be. he must be going deaf. or crazy. yeah, definitely crazy. sure, he's a little young to be going senile already but there's obviously no other explanation, right?

they laugh again and return their hands to his face. without another word spoken between them, they pull him close, kissing him softly and stealing all the air from his lungs.

he freezes momentarily, unable to comprehend that this is truly happening, but his hands are settling on their hips and pulling them closer. im dead, he thinks. ive died and gone to heaven.

it feels like an eternity has passed before they pull away. still stunned, he peels his eyes open to look at them, that smile of theirs that he loves so much spurring one of his own into existence.

"believe me now?" they quip and he shakes his head slowly, his lips parted and still tingling.

"no," he says, breathless. "maybe if you kissed me again."

amused, they lean forward and give him a peck on the lips, so quick it might as well have not happened at all, and he pouts, following after them when they leave.

"don't tease me," he whines and their smile widens slightly. "why didn't you say anything?"

they shrug. "i was too nervous. guess that makes us even, huh?"

he wraps his arms around them and pulls them onto his lap, resting his forehead against theirs. "say it again."

they hum, their arms going around his neck. "that i love you?"

"yes."

"i love you, gray."

"i love you more."

they're about to protest when he kisses them again. he kisses them long and soft, like he's wanted to every day for past six years and he doesn't stop until his lungs are empty. and even then, he attempts to go back for more.

laughing, they press their index against his lips as they sit back on his lap. "easy tiger," they say. "don't want you suffocating on me."

again, he pouts. "'m making up for lost time." he doesn't know where the boldness - or the neediness - comes from but he chooses not to think about it too much. he's waited for this moment for a long time and now that's it here, he doesn't want it to end.

"sorry, gray; ive gotta put my foot down here," they laugh. "ive got a busy day of errands and you're already late for class."

"i can miss one class," he attempts but they simply shush him again, now using their whole hand to cover his mouth.

"not on your life, mister." against all of his muffled protests, they climb off his lap, moving to the other side of the bed where their laptop sits, turning it off before looking back at him. "youve waited so long, what's a few more hours until callie's party?"

he shakes his head vehemently, ignoring his headache for time being. "nope, can't do it," he insists. "i'll die before then."

"you're so dramatic," they say with a roll of their eyes before moving to kiss his forehead. "school first. and then i'm all yours at seven."

"do you promise?"

"pinky swear."

hooking his pinky finger around theirs, he can't keep the smile off his face. "okay. seven o'clock then."

"seven o'clock," they agree and with one last chaste kiss, he watches them climb off his bed and leave his room, laptop in hand. he lies back down and rolls over onto his stomach, pressing his face into a pillow and screaming in excitement.

he can already tell that this is going to be a great day.

[micahulrichdraws]

Hi Mic, hope you are doing well! What are your thouths on moving from paper to tablet, i just feel like i want to try something new but i worry that it will take me ages to learn wail everyone my age is already master of the tablet illustration (i just never had the money to buy a tablet) and now i feel tiny bit like a looser late 20s pretty close to 30 to start doing my work on tablet i feel like people will see me as a lame grandpa. Idk i just have seen that after the age of 27 people have been supper rude and judji when it comes to my life choices like they do the - arent you too old to want to live off art and that makes me feel like a mummy 🙈 i dont think i am ThAT old or idk anymore... Just seenpeople on tiktok make fun of 30 year olds and then going on instagram and seen full time illustrators with perfect tablet skill at the ripe age of 21 i feel like a looser, my family has never emotionaly supported me about my passion for art and that took a tol on me emotionally i am not using it as an excuse just i do think some people get faster and more far in life just with thanks to getting some love and affection from there tribe and when you dont have that i feel things feel wayy heavier.... Sorry for the yaping, stay awesome and have a great rest of the year, sorry for the long post i just feel less and less happy wail been on instagram and more and more calm when i am away from it

No one actually cares what age you are when you make art. People who are going to be asses will always be asses. People suck, life is short, be cringe, none of this really matters all that much, just enjoy it. Also Instagram is going to feed you content based on what you click on - so if you click on stuff that makes fun of artists, it'll feed you that crap. Just stay off the thing.

Also, for jumping from paper to tablet is easy. If you can draw or paint on traditional media, you're already leagues ahead of most digital artists. Just pick up a cheap one off eBay, they're all the same outside of branding. Start in black and white just like graphite, then introduce colors. However, I'd suggest talking to someone who actually does digital art, all my stuff is traditional pen and ink on paper. Haven't touched a tablet since 2015ish, and only did that to show how much of the painting process is automated by Photoshop and a tablet. Not having to mix your own paints, blend your own paints on canvas, stretch a canvas, worry about overworking a spot, adjust the color balance along with contrast on the spot, learn about varnishes, etc., means that the computer and tablet automate 95% of the process for you - it just comes down to your technical ability to draw and patience to learn it.

Hope that helps!

[crystalsnow95z]

your allergy fics are so good! would you be able to write one with jungkook? any caretaker, with jungkook coming into contact with something he's terribly allergic to but he wants to enjoy (like a bouquet of flowers or a cute kitten idk) and it sets him off sneezing a ton, with a super itchy nose. thank you!

I have plenty of mostly finished projects, but I can't bring myself to post them, so I keep working on new ones, and after months, I finally made one I like!

"Jaykay...Jungkook-ah.. wake up.. we're landing.." Hoseok shakes the mankae when his gentle approach doesn't work. "Jaykay your face is so puffy.." Hoseok smiles fondly, grabbing Jungkook's face and smooshing his face in between his fingers.

Jungkook moans in complaint, his eyes fluttering open to look at Hoseok. "Hyung..what time is it?" he grabs Hoseok's wrist to get him to stop attacking his cheeks, rubbing at his eyes. "It's morning still?"

"It is..Good morning Junggukkie." Hoseok smiles, feeling pride in successfully getting him to start moving. "It's because of the time difference. Remember?"

Jungkook studies his surroundings perplexed before his eyes widen with recognition when the sleep that fogged his memory dissipates, replaced with excitement. "Oh! I know! We're filming a music video!I'm so excited! We're going to be filming by a real waterfall and going to a garden with hundreds of different flowers and we're going to work with birds!" The memory of the meeting floods over him.

"We're going to get amazing photos. I wonder if we'll get to see a real toucan." Taehyung adds in his own excitement, leaning forward to talk to Jungkook.

"Toucan? Do you really think we can see a real one? I've seen videos of them and they don't look real." Hoseok adds in.

"Everyone, please return to your seats and buckle up." The boys hear the announcement, gathering up their things.

"Namjoon-ah do you have everything?" Yoongi asks, placing his tablet into his bag.

"Of course. You gifted me a holder for my passport after that incident in japan.." Namjoon pulls out the passport that was tucked into his shirt.

"That's because we almost couldn't perform.. you're lucky that man found it in the bathroom for you.. What about your headphones?"

Namjoon opens his airpod case, ears reddening when he sees there's only one inside, feeling around his seat until he finds it. "You knew i lost one didn't you hyung.."

"It fell out when you were sleeping." Yoongi smiles, then gasps in surprise when the turbulence hits, clutching onto the armrest, his stomach churning uncomfortably.

"You okay Yoongi?" Jin asks, taking out his headphones when he feels Yoongi's hand brush against his arm.

"I'm okay, my stomach just fluttered.." Yoongi swallows the saliva that filled his mouth, taking a deep breath. "It'll pass.."

"We're almost on the ground, and we'll have a few hours to rest." Jin reassures the daegu rapper, taking his hand.

"Thanks hyungie.." Yoongi speaks softly, squeezing Jin's hand.

"You don't have to thank me. Just take it easy until the shoot okay?" Jin gently runs his thumb across Yoongi's knuckles.

"We landed!" Jungkook says excitedly, unbuckling himself, but Hoseok puts his hand on Jungkook's thigh.

"Let's wait a bit to get off Kook-ah." Hoseok orders gently side eyeing Yoongi, who still hadn't regained the color in his cheeks.

"Yes hyung..." Jungkook settles back in, eyes sparkling. It doesn't matter if I have to wait. I'll be able to film with the birds and see the waterfall and take pretty photos for army.

"Is everyone finished changing?" Namjoon asks, looking over his team, frowning when he notices Jungkook's darker outfit in comparison to everyone else's vibrant colors."Jungkook, that's the wrong outfit..that's for the garden shoot.."

"Aish..I'm sorry Hyung.." Jungkook quickly starts stripping to switch outfits. "Everything looks so pretty from the carride and the hotel view..I got excited.." he casts his eyes down guiltily. I'm not some teenager anymore.. I need to concentrate and not make such rookie mistakes.. I should've noticed I didn't match..

"It's okay, just pay attention from now on, alright? We need to focus on filming. We only have so much daylight with outside shoots." Namjoon rubs Jungkook's back, helping him get changed to make it quicker.

"I'll pay attention from now on.." Jungkook promises shyly looking away from Namjoon. After switching to match the others in the mankae line, the seven boys leave the dressing room, Jungkook fighting the urge to run towards the sound of the waterfall.

Hoseok and Jimin links arms with Jungkook, keeping him at pace with the others. "Calm down Jaykay you don't want to risk getting hurt on this uneven ground before we even get there." Hoseok scolds him gently, leading him around a tree root.

"I'll be careful, sorry hyung.." Jungkook watches his feet carefully stepping over branches and stones that made it on the path. Taehyung and Namjoon walk ahead of them, taking photos of the scenery in front of them. "Why can't I run free with Rapmonie hyung and Taehyungie-hyungie?"

"What? You don't want to walk with me?" Jimin pouts, letting go of Jungkook. "Fine, go play with them."

"I didn't mean it like that Jimin-shii.. I just wanted to go ahead too.." Jungkook relinks his arm with Jimin pulling him and Hoseok to walk ahead with the others.

"Look Hyung! That tree.. it's filled with birds." Jungkook points our, his voice scaring the birds into fleeing in several directions.

"Kook-ah you scared them away." Namjoon frowns, watching them go with disappointment.

"I'm sor..ah..ah.." Jungkook puts his hand over his nose with an itch forms, breath hitching. "Ah..heygifh!"

"[Bless you]" Jimin speaks in English. "You okay? Not catching a cold are you? You did sleep the whole plane ride.."

"No, no I'm okay..my nose just had a bad itch.."Jungkook sniffles, wiping his nose with the side of his hand. "A feather must've tickled my nose or something..I haven't felt sick today."

"I can see the waterfall!" Jin announces, everyone looking forward, trying to spot it through the trees.

"Oh wow, it's bigger than I thought it would be.." Yoongi's eyes widen when he sees it, the boys rushing to get closer.

Jungkook bends down to take a photo of a cluster of flowers,trying to ignore the itch that annoyed the tip of his nose.

"Don't get too close to the water, Jungkook-ah. You need to stay dry for the shoot."

"I won't hyung..I'm just looking at the flowers.." Jungkook's breath hitches when another sneeze builds up, but he gently rubs it away. I can't be getting sick now.. we're spending four days in a tropical paradise.

"Did you get water in your nose Gukkie?" Taehyung asks when he approaches Jungkook, the younger jumping when he sees Taehyung next to him.

"Aish, Hyung you scared me.. I didn't hear you coming over the water. I don't know what's wrong with me, but .ah..agh..heh'ticgish!" Jungkook quickly covers his face, Taehyung grabbing the back of his shirt to keep him balanced. "Ugh. Thanks Taehyungie-hyung. I was fine earlier..I don't know why I'm sneezing all of a sudden.."

"Maybe it's all the flowers.. maybe you should take some medicine just in case.." Taehyung suggests, pulling Jungkook away from them.

"But I want to get some good shots for Army to see." Jungkook whines, but makes no attempt to pull away.

"We have to work now. We can take photos together later, and I can take photos for you if you can't get close." Taehyung promises leading him back to the others. "Is there any way we can get allergy medicine for Jungkook? His nose is getting red and stuffy.."

"I'm sorry, but we would have to go back to the resort for that.. I'll send someone to go get some. Do you think you can film until then Jungkook-sii?" The manager asks.

"Yes, I'll be okay. It's not that bad. It's just an annoyance.. I can still film.." Jungkook replies politely.

A female staff member digs in her purse, handing him a small packet of tissues. "Here Jungkook. Blowing your nose might help."

"Thanks Noona.." he bows, turning away from the others to try to clear his nose of the clear goo. "That's much better.."

As soon as the seven members get their makeup redone and the director gives them their directions, the boys get right to work going through the scenes and choreography.

"Jimin-ah..you weren't looking in the same direction as the others and you led on the wrong foot.." Hoseok scolds him when they were reviewing the clips, noticing Jimin was looking at Jungkook who couldn't stop sniffling, fighting off the urge to sneeze.

"I'm sorry.. can we do it one more time? I'll get it right this time." Jimin bows in apology to his members, looking at Jungkook when he does it. Jungkookie looks uncomfortable..I need to get it right the first time so he can get some time to rest.

Jungkook tries to hold back another sneeze when he sees Jimin's worried gaze staring back at him, but Jimin could see his nose twitching as the itch builds up.

"Noona will be back soon.." Jimin gently uses his thumb to wipe the tear that formed in Jungkook's tear duct. "You don't have to be tough for us, okay?"

"I'm not crying..my eyes are just watering because of my allergies.." Jungkook sniffles. "I'm okay..it's just irrita..ah..itdgitch! Heh'itchu!"

"Bless you.." Hoseok frowns, hugging Jungkook from behind. "My poor baby.."

"Jungkook-sii I got..you the medicine." The staff member who ran to the resort calls to him, out of breath from running back.

Taehyung rushes over to get the medicine from her, popping the blister pack to get the round pink pill for Jungkook, bringing it back to him. "Here Jungkookie, I got it."

"Thanks Hyung." Jungkook swallows the pill Taehyung gives him, Jimin getting him water to help it go down quicker. "Let's do the shoot again."

"You don't want time for it to kick in?” Jin asks, fretting over the youngest.

Jungkook shakes his head."No, I already got us behind schedule with all the touch ups.. I can do it.."

Jungkook and Taehyung rush ahead of the other members despite the older members calling to them,unable to hear them over the sound of the birds.

"Oh wow.. it's so pretty!" Jungkook's pupils take over his irises, his eyes becoming to round black discs, taking in the special guests for their music video. "Oh wow..This one's purple..I never seen a purple bird before!'

"This is [purple honeycreeper.] This one rescue. I thought he would be perfect for you ." The bird handler smiles when he sees the boys look surprised at his Korean skills.

"[Purple honeycreeper..]" Jungkook repeats the name in English. "[What's bird name?]"

"[Ah, right introductions...] I'm Gary and this bird here is Viola."

"Can I touch?" Jungkook asks, ignoring his body's warning. The medicine helped him yesterday, but at the moment he felt just as bad as he did the first day they were filming.

"Hold out finger." Gary tells him, showing Taehyung what to do by getting Viola to go on his finger. "[Step up Viola.]" He gives the command, letting her climb onto his finger.

The other members catch up, taking in the sights of the colorful birds surrounding them.

Jungkook holds his to Viola, gasping when he feels the bird use its beak to balance herself while she climbs onto his finger. "Look Hyung..i'm holding a bird!" Jungkook sniffles, turning to the man. "Can i pet?"

"As long as you only touch her head and neck." Gary gently ordered.

"You can't touch a bird anywhere else or it will think you want to mate." Yoongi tells Jungkook.

Jungkook turns to the handler, who blushes."Ah, that's true. It.. excites them if you touch its wings or chest too much.."

Jungkook nods, gently touching Viola's head, gently ruffling the feathers. Oh no.. not now..

Jungkook quickly places his hand on Taehyung's shoulder, hoping the bird would have a safe escape from the sneezes he could feel coming despite his efforts to hold them back. "Heh'heh..heygifh! Heh'itchu! Higtcvhsgh!"

Viola screeches, flapping her wings in fear jumping off of Jungkook's hand and jumping onto Taehyung's head, trying to get farther from the sound that startled her.

The other birds go into panic at the sound of viola, Hoseok clinging to Namjoon when they take flight.

Jungkook covers his face,trying to muffle the sound, but when the birds take flight the feeling only worsens. "Hehtichih!"

"[Woah, Woah. It's okay Viola.. it's okay..]" Taehyung tries to speak English for the frightened bird, Gary trying to calm his other pets down.

"Somethings wrong you need to get away.." Jin starts leading Jungkook away from the chaos, his heart racing in fear.

I can't breathe..I need to calm down..

Jungkook staggered away from the others, Jin keeping a tight grip on the mankae"Woah Jungkook I got you.."

"Heh..hehitxgh! Heh'itchu! Hey'itchi!" Jungkook let out another flurry of sneezes, holding Jin tightly. It wasn't the flowers..

"Here Jungkookie, look at me.." Jin gently leads his chin up, taking a nasal spray from the bag he was given as an accessory. "I got this just in case.."

"Thanks hyung.." Jungkook sniffles, taking it from Jin. "Heh'itchii! Hey'itchi!" He sneezes as soon as he puts it near his nose only amplifying the itch that plagued his sinuses.

"Here let hyung do it." Jin gently grabs Jungkook's chin, tilting his head upwards. "Try to sit still for me. I'll make it quick..okay?"

Jungkook nods, holding his breath to try to avoid sneezing on Jin as he swiftly sprays the medicine into one nostril than the other.

"Hei' etfhitch! Heh'itchu!" Jungkook's eyes water as he sneezes. "I'm sorry Hyung.."

"It's okay baby.. I know you aren't feeling well." Jin rubs the back of Jungkook's neck. "I think your allergic to birds Jungkookie.."

"I was around birds before..I was fine.." Jungkook sniffles, rubbing at his nose to try to ease the itch that threatened to cause more sneezes to erupt from him.

"You can develop new allergies Kook-ah.. I know how excited you were to play with them, but outside of filming I think you should avoid them." Jin tells him solemnly.

Yoongi goes up to them with a small packet of tissues,giving it to Jungkook. "They got the birds under control, but they want to give them time to fully calm down."

"That's good. I was worried I ruined the...heh..heh.." Jungkook felt the sneeze building, but it was only a false start. "Ruined the music shoot.." he finishes, his voice coming out as a nasally whisper, trying to clear his nose to see if that would ease the discomfort that was making him miserable.

"It's not your fault, Jungkookie. We could always make changes. What's important is that you don't suffer for the shoot. Even if you push through it, army will be able to see how much you're suffering." Yoongi puts his arm around Jungkook, pulling him close.

"I'll go get the others so we can see what our next move is. We'll figure this out together, okay Kookie?" Jin leaves to the filming site.

"Hyung I really wanted to play with the birds.." Jungkook sighs, knowing that all the members would agree with Jin.

"I know. Life sucks.. now you and Jiminie can suffer together." Yoongi teases him lightly, getting a small smile out of Jungkook.

[nijisanji-brain-rot-fics]

i didn't sign up for this!

IKE EVELAND - DAY 3

“Hey, welcome in!” Ike called out as he heard the bells above the cafe door ring. You walked in, shivering with a beige scarf wrapped around your neck, your puffy white jacket covered with snow as you shrugged it off before getting inside. It was nice, being in a warm and cozy small local cafe. You knew almost everyone who worked there, from how frequently you go there, even during rainstorms. You saw your favourite employee (though you always swear you don’t have favourites). Ike always had a somewhat special place in your heart; he was a novelist with a part time job at the cafe, and you were an illustrator. His books were always fun to read, as he showed you a few drafts, but he’s never published one.

“Ike, hey! Could I get-“ You started but Ike already interrupted you.

“The usual? Your iced coffee with three shots of espresso, two pumps of vanilla, chocolate syrup with caramel drizzle and whipped cream? [a/n: stop ok idk any drinks]” He recited, as you had always requested before. It was an extremely random combination, but you always seemed to love it.

“You remembered?- Oh, well, obviously, I always order it,” You said, chuckling, “Yeah, that’s what I’ll get.” He laughed a bit, then nodded. He made the coffee and gave it to you, as you handed him money.

“Have you finished another illustration, (Name)?” Ike asked curiously, leaning on the counter towards you.

“I don’t have anyone who commissioned me yet.” You told Ike, sipping the hot coffee with a sigh of content.

“Maybe you could illustrate the cover for… my book?” He asked hesitantly, fiddling with the golden chain on his glasses. You looked at him, dumbfounded. Ike finally published a book?

“You… got a book published?” You asked him, your excitement climbing. You’ve always wanted him to finally have a book on the shelves, mainly because his writing style was so unique and his books had always piqued your interest.

“It just got through editing. I still need to illustrate a cover for it, then I can publish it.” Ike said in a meek tone, clearing his throat.

“Congratulations!! I would love to illustrate for you! Okay, okay, so!-“ You started off at the mouth with excitement before Ike inevitably stopped you with laughter.

“Okay, okay, calm down (name)!” He laughed, pushing up his glasses, “First of all, are you free anytime this weekend? Maybe we could meet up, y’know, discuss a few things? Or… how does it work for you?” He tilted his head slightly as he looked at you, a shy smile creeping up his flushed cheeks; he was very flustered about your excitement towards something that seemed so mundane for him.

“Yep, yep, I could clear Saturday if that’s cool with you!-“

“Woah, woah, if you have something important for Saturday, we can meet some other time, I don’t wanna like- Take up so much of your time.” Ike said sheepishly, leaning forward as you suggested having to clear a day just for him.

“Huh? Oh, no, don’t worry! It’s nothing important. Just a date that I don’t really want to go to.” You waved it off, chuckling quietly.

“A… date, huh?” Maybe I could take her out on a date… Ike thought as he got embarrassed at the thought. He’s been pining for you for a while, ever since he started to become your friend, “Uh, sure then… If Saturday’s alright, I can do that.”

That Saturday, he ended up meeting with her on Saturday at the cafe again, but just when he wasn’t on shift.

“So what’s your plan for the cover?” You asked, taking your drawing tablet out as he sat beside you after ordering two coffees.

“Uhm… I made a sketch already of what I wanted, I was just thinking that you could just render it?” He asked, taking out a page with a very rough but still talented drawing of his desired cover.

“Sure! It’s a very nice drawing, by the way.” You giggled when he blushed bashfully, shaking his head at your comment while you scanned his drawing to keep most of his originality in the cover while still fixing a few rough patches and such.

“So, uhm… Why did you not want to go on that date?” Ike asked awkwardly as you started to render his sketch on your drawing iPad, since he insisted you stay for lunch.

“Oh, I didn’t really like the person. Honestly just accepted the date to get over talking with them.” You shrugged, looking up for a moment at Ike while you took a sip of coffee, “Why do you ask?”

“Ah, nothing, just curious… Say, if I asked you on a date, would you accept?” Ike asked meekly, turning away from your face.

“Hm, well, sure.” You shrugged, the words not connecting in your mind while you drew, mainly focused on his art. Your response made him become bright red and very flustered.

“Oh- Ah, then… Would… you go on a date with me?” He stumbled through the words, looking down into his cup as he asked, expecting rejection.

“Huh? Oh, uh… Sure.” You replied, looking at him with a surprised expression though you sort of expected it at this point. You’d never tell him how obvious he was though.

[nightowl374art]

how long have you been drawing for and how did you make big steps in progress?

I’ve been drawing since I was little but I started taking art more seriously in my teen years. I had some art books and used those to get going but Fanart was really the thing that got me into improving my skill. First, I spent time redrawing screenshots of my favorite animated characters so I could learn their features and expressions (that helped so much with proportions.) Then I would practice drawing those faces and expressions with pose references. Also, I found that the best way to get better was to follow, be inspired by and watch more experienced artists. YouTube helped me so much, idk what it was but watching other people work gave me insight into things I couldn’t learn on my own. Also, if you can, practice digitally—mistakes are much easier to fix and eventually you learn what works best. I learned most of my skills on a tablet.

But my best advice: Practice. Everyone approaches things differently so what worked for me won’t work for everyone. Practice is truly the only thing that will move you forward. Art takes work. Talent is a thing, but it’s better to approach any pursuit with patience, knowing that anything worth learning will challenge you. Just keep moving forward. I’ve always had a passion for art and honestly that’s all it takes to be an artist. Anyone can do it, it just depends on how serious you are about it. Just keep going even when you’re frustrated. It’ll be worth it.

Also, I know this is cliché, but comparison is literally art cancer. Stay focused on your own thing, you too will find your niche/style and originality is what moves creators forward.

Hope this helps 🤟

[sorrow-already-spoiled]

I Hate Coming Up With Titles

Future: Mech AU (Pacific Rim inspired - someone talk to me about this more, I have thoughts DESPITE having not watched the movie)

This was meant to be super short… IDK what happened… Also it’s in a different style than I normally write — SO MUCH DIALOGUE I’M DYING

Anyways… Enjoy?

______________________________________________________________

The door seal opens with a hiss. 

“Wrios!” a voice screams. “Help my brother!” 

Firm hands restrain the man. 

“Elkhardt, he’s gone. I’m sorry, but he’s gone.”

______________________________________________________________

“Did you hear about the Elkhardt brothers?” 

Faye sits down across the table with her breakfast tray as Alexei takes a sip of his coffee. 

“Hasn’t everyone? It’s all anyone’s talked about for days.” 

“Still,” Faye continues, “it’s bad enough to lose one pilot, but two? They’re gonna have to start from the ground up with training again.”

“Thought Sio made it out alright?” 

Faye shrugs and starts peeling her orange.

“He’s stable, but his psych report has put him out of commission indefinitely. Guess that leaves some spots open for the rest of us.” She grins and throws a piece of orange peel at Alexei’s face. It’s too early in the morning for him to protest, and just lets it happen, smacking off the side of his cheek. She keeps talking in the background, but Alexei stops paying attention. He glances over Faye’s shoulder to see a familiar figure heading out of the mess hall. Faye follows his gaze and snorts. 

“You and I have different ideas of what hatred looks like.” 

Alexei snaps his attention back to Faye, narrowing his eyes. 

“Don’t start with me, Perish.”

“Making fun of Alexei already this morning?” Lovi joins the table with a grin. “Without me?” 

“What else is new?” Alexei groans.

Laughter comes easy after that. Alexei takes comfort in his friends, and pushes all thoughts of broken pilots and irritating women out of his head. 

______________________________________________________________

Alexei is working on his routine Jaeger weapon maintenance when the loud speaker overhead crackles to life. 

“Alexei Kizer. Report to training facility 9 immediately. Alexei Kizer.”

He looks to Rowen, who’s just as covered in grease as he is, but she just shrugs.

“Better get a move on.”

Prism Defiant looms above him as he leaves the workshop, gleaming black and gold, with its fusion reactor core pulsing faintly red. She’s beautiful and deadly; a desirable combination.

He’s never been to this part of the base before, and will never admit it, but he nearly had to stop and ask for directions. Two people are waiting for him. He recognizes them both: Commander Imdra Arlagath and Staziya Kingsley, one of the head engineers at this base. The commander addresses him first, offering her hand to shake, grip firm.

“Thank you for coming. Your pilot simulation scores are impressive.”

Alexei grins. 

“Thanks. I’ve been messing with it a bit. Can I ask why I’m here?”

Imdra’s expression hardens. 

“I’m sure you heard what happened in Los Angeles.” When he nods, grin gone, she continues. “Obviously, the Elkhardt brothers are no longer able to pilot a Jaeger. We need replacements and fast.”

Staziya steps forward, the tablet in her hands lighting up with a projection. 

“It’s standard protocol to have full body scans of every employee, trainee, and military officer. I created a cross referencing diagnostic to analyze potential compatibility, and we found a promising match between you and someone else.” 

Alexei can’t help the spark of excitement in his chest. He knows the risks, obviously, but who hasn’t looked at those massive metal machines and dreamed of being the one at the helm? At piloting a war machine built to protect humanity from the creatures that come from somewhere else? He certainly has.

“Who’s the other person?” 

Imdra and Staziya share a look, before Staziya smiles brightly. 

“We’re not going to tell you yet. We want to do a blind compatibility test.” She produces a simple black eye mask from the pocket of her lab coat, as Imdra hands him a simple quarterstaff. A bell jingles on either end of the staff, the sound giving away the location of each end. 

“Don’t worry, Kizer. Your potential partner will also be blind for this test.” Imdra presses the quarterstaff into his hands, even as Staziya shoves the mask over his eyes. His protests fall on deaf ears, not that he really meant much by them anyways. He’s an easy going guy. It’s going to take more than this to throw him off his game. Besides, if he becomes the new pilot, he can only imagine the look on Faye’s face. It makes him grin again, as the door slides open in front of him and each woman takes an elbow to guide him through the opening. 

With his eyes covered, Alexei focuses his attention on his other senses. A second door sliding shut, the pattern of his own breathing, and most importantly a second set of chiming bells across the room. 

“Socks and shoes off. Both of you.” Imdra commands as she and Staziya move away from his side as he kicks off his combat boots, and reaches down to pull his socks off while Imdra continues. “There’s a padded training mat just in front of each of you, approximately five feet squared.” Alexei immediately visualizes the space in front of him, marking the dimensions. “The intention here is to test your compatibility, and instinct to move together. Not to harm one another. We understand that this is not the most typical of exams, but we deemed it necessary under the particular circumstances. No speaking. Step forward onto the mat.” 

Alexei takes a blind step forward, twirling the staff in his hand. The bells chime softly, and he hears an answering ring from a few feet in front of him. 

“You may begin.” 

For a moment, nothing happens. The silence is hesitant and measured. And then it isn’t quite silent. He hears a deep breath, and he swings. 

His staff collides with another in the air, bells chiming, but it feels weak. They’re too far away. He steps in and swings again, and this time when the staffs collide, it’s solid. He pushes off, turning to strike from the other direction, and connects again, his sparring partner blocking. Strike, block, block, strike. He knows how they move by the pressure of their blows, where the weight of the strike is distributed. It feels instinctual. His partner gives a breathless laugh as they both push back. She’s a woman then, and based on the angles, he’s quite a bit taller than her. He hadn’t expected this to be so fun. 

“So?” Staziya’s voice interrupts from the sidelines. “Does it feel compatible? It certainly looks like it.” 

Alexei feels the adrenaline in his system, the eagerness to go again. He wants to keep at this, to work with her, whoever she is. He nods his head, still following the no speaking rule. There is a long pause before Imdra speaks up, his partner evidently more hesitant about agreeing than he is.

“Good. I expect you to each keep your word and to remember this feeling, even as you take your blindfolds off.”

“There’s a reason we had the two of you evaluate each other blindfolded,” Staziya says as Alexei reaches for the cloth over his eyes. “I don’t think you would have even given each other a chance otherwise, and your compatibility scores were extraordinarily high. I think you’ll make a wonderful pair.” 

Light floods back into Alexei’s vision and his gaze meets the warm brown eyes of Giovanni Sereno. His smile disappears instantly, anger flooding his system. She beats him to the punch.

“Absolutely not. Anyone but him.” 

“Ms. Sereno-”

“Why? Think there’s someone better than me?” Something in Alexei’s system gnashes its teeth at Giovanni’s insinuation that someone else could be better. He drops his staff and steps towards her. He towers over her, but she doesn’t flinch or back away. 

“Anyone is better than you.” 

It has no bite behind it. Alexei is used to snark and sharpness, a dance of vicious words that he refuses to admit that he loves.  He loves to hate her, and isn’t quite sure what to do when she backs down with dull eyes and walks away without a fight. 

He blinks as the door opens, and shuts, and leaves him alone with the two superior officers in training facility 9.

______________________________________________________________

Three days pass without any successful compatibility matches. The atmosphere around base is tense. If something crawls out of the breach right now, they’re defenseless. 

______________________________________________________________

Alexei rolls over with a groan, looking at the clock on his nightstand. 3:07AM glares back at him. This is getting ridiculous. He sits up, shoving his feet into his boots, and pulling on a t-shirt. He knows what door is hers, and he knocks without hesitation, moving to the side so she can’t see him through the peephole. There’s a moment of quiet before the door swings open. He immediately shoves his foot in the doorframe and braces his arm against the steel. 

“We’re talking about this, whether you like it or not.” 

Giovanni blinks up at him. She’s wearing comfortable clothes, but looks far too awake to have just been sleeping. There is silence for a moment before she sighs and steps back away from the door. He follows her in. 

“You do know what’s at risk here, right?” 

“Of course I do, Alexei.” 

“I’m clearly better at seeing the bigger picture than you are. I don’t want to work with you either, but even I can’t deny that we seem to do alright together, at least physically.”

She raises an eyebrow, leaning back against her desk. Her eyes flick downwards towards the waistband of his sweat pants before slowly climbing back up to his face. He knows he’s good looking, of course, but feels his ego swell under her attention anyways.

“Figures you would be concerned about physicality, Mr. Casanova. It's not the physical element I’m concerned about.”

Alexei smirks. 

“That was an innocent comment, and you made it dirty. You’re no better than me.” He sits down on her bed. “It’s the drift then? Scared of what I’ll see?” 

“Very much so.” She looks him in the eye without flinching or hiding. “I don’t want anyone to see me. Particularly not you.” 

“You’d let humanity go without defenders just to hide from me? I just don’t get how you can just sit back and do nothing. We move good together, Giovanni. And frankly, we’re the only option right now. It's bigger than us.” 

He gestures between them, and she looks away, fidgeting with a pen on her desk. Her inaction is irritating as all hell, and he’s about to lose his cool completely when she looks back up at him, a little spark of fire (that he definitely didn’t miss) reigniting. 

“Don’t think less of me when you see.” 

“I won’t.” 

Alexei is surprised to find that he means it. 

______________________________________________________________

“Your ass looks good in that, Sereno.” 

It’s the first thing he says to her as he steps into the prep room full of engineers and military personnel. They’re both wearing skin tight under armour, waiting to be fit into the rest of the pilot gear. Immediately she turns to roll her eyes at him. 

“Classy start to a partnership.”

“Well, you checked me out last night. Thought it was only fair to return the favor.” He steps onto the pressure plate in his side of the room, letting the attendants press additional pieces of armor onto his body. “How’s mine look?”

“Flat.” Giovanni replies, without missing a beat. Alexei can’t help but laugh. 

“You’re lying, and we both know it.”

“Prove it.”

“I will in about 3 minutes.” 

Bolts were fascinated, and spinal transmitters whirred to life behind them both. The helmets clicked into place, and the circuitry suits came online. They step into the head of Prism Defiant together. She moves to the left as he moves right, no communication needed. There’s no more time for bickering, as calibration and startup procedures begin, Staziya’s voice issuing instructions and orders over the headset. 

“Neural handshake beginning in 15 seconds.”

Giovanni tenses beside him, but doesn’t back down. It’s too late for that now anyways. The drift is happening whether they’re ready for it or not. 

Their minds collide in a flash of blue, hundreds of thousands of memories crashing together in an overwhelming wave, experienced in the span of a few seconds. Addiction, abuse, loss, fear, happiness, rejection, adoration; all of it. Alexei’s senses sharpen, and he feels untouchable as hundreds of tons of steel and power move with him. Giovanni’s breathing matches his, and even though he can only see her from his peripheral vision, he feels the same excitement in her. Everything else can wait. 

“Neural handshake is stable and holding strong. Right and left hemispheres are calibrated. Prism Defiant is ready for her first test run. How's it feel, you two?” 

Alexei grins.

“I knew you were lying. My ass looks great.” 

Giovanni groans, and with her relief tingling under his skin he laughs. Giant steel fists collide triumphantly as they take their first thundering steps forward. This is going to be fun. 

[wifetomegatron]

here's to peace ( and those who get in the way of it ) ( first aid / reader )

summary : first aid has dinner with your family for the first time. first contact au pairing : first aid (idw) / gn! reader fandom : transformers idw continuity, more than meets the eye rating : m for mature due to mentions of blood and cursing, generally safe for work (sfw!) warnings : human ignorance. mentions of blood. tags : rewatched the awkward family dinner scene in fleabag and i didn't realise how much i loved it. deeply inspired by that scene, if you're it familiar with it, go have a good laugh and see it. i tried to be funny. idk if it works though.

There's a moment when you were sure that the sinking, churning feeling in your stomach would actually rise and push bile out of your mouth. That the sudden awkwardness in the air, pulled taut by the prolonged silence, will snap and cause your eyes to roll back — fainting would be a great distraction to get you and your boyfriend out of this agonizing position: a formal dinner with your family. 

You've been putting it off for weeks, declining their calls and sneakily texting your sibling back with the brightness of the screen down to zero while First Aid dozes off next to you. Eventually, he confronted you about it —  of course , he would find out. Attentive, doting, First Aid, who would scrub the apartment spotless every Sunday until no speck of dust survived, would find out. The grenade was already in your hands, the pin in your mouth like an apricot seed — and nearly sparked an argument about how you were ashamed of him. You had to calm him down and explain that it wasn't him you were ashamed of. It was the fact that your family told everyone that you were  dating a car . ( " Unfortunately, I can't turn into anything at the moment.") And to think that it's been nearly a decade since first contact, and they still couldn't find anything wrong with calling him an android. To make matters worse, they were referring to the Samsung  tablet —

" Ahem."

You were pulled out of your thoughts, and he gave you a reassuring squeeze, trying to level his vocalizer even if he was sitting as stiff as a rock next to your father. 

" Thank you, for having me here."

And like a kid who threw a rock at a sleeping hive of bees, the table buzzed to life, unapologetic to the fact that they've been staring in stunned, shameless, silence ever since you both arrived in the restaurant — which was, you glanced at your watch, fifteen minutes ago.

" Are you sick, love?" Your stepmother asked him. First Aid looked in your direction, confused until she gestured ( fingers a little too close ) to his mask.

" Oh no... this is just how I...look like."

" Well you're not at the hospital anymore," She chuckled through her teeth, smile stiff and voice so chirpy they grate your ears, " You can, you know, take it off."

" No, it's fine" You interrupted, " It's not a big deal." 

The rest of the people were looking at the menu, brow knitted and deep in thought as if they weren't just choosing whether to get the lamb shank or the vegetarian option for the starters. Cowards.

" It's a bit rude to have the shades and the mask when you're inside." She insisted.

" It's ruder to impose stupid, ignorant customs onto others."

You had to grit your teeth to get the words out. There was a brief pause, and you had to trace the seams on First Aid's arm to calm yourself, focusing on how the light bounced off his armor. And as if slinking back into her cave, retracting her claws, she swallowed the sour look on her face as it flickered back to a faux grin — nose scrunched and teeth bared.

 " Oh silly me. I do apologize."

First Aid let out a shy chuckle, " It's fine I understand —"

" I didn't mean to assume you had a mouth or eyes for that matter. Biology under all that...must be different."

Your stomach dropped. You could have sworn something lagged inside First Aid.   

" It's so lovely to have you here, darling! " Your sibling pans in your direction and smiles, trying to salvage the shattered pieces of the atmosphere, considering that your stepmom had  brutally  whacked a sledgehammer through it. The night is young. You were hopeful. You can count on them to say something reasonable —

" Considering your dating history, I just want to say that it's so refreshing to see you dating someone who's...not human! Diversity in relationships, after all, is the spice of life. Love wins."

Nevermind.

Your father cleared his throat — choked on his wine was more like it. Your sibling's partner talked over them before you could interfere: " Hear, hear! Humans are more compatible with your kind anyway. We're too emotional and fickle-minded. Dating metal must be a real upgrade from your previous relationships. They don't come with the messy, human baggage."

" That's a stereotype," You snapped, lowering your voice once a few heads turned to look, " So you're saying he's incapable of expressing his emotions? Because he's not human?" 

" Now you're just putting words into my mouth. I never said —"

" Do you need anything ?" The needy waitress interrupted, hovering around your table every ten minutes. You wiped your face with both hands. A cluster of arms flew to order drinks. The cutlery was noisy against the table. A headache formed in the back of your skull, and all you could do was anchor yourself to First Aid's palm as they massaged the small of your back. It was too much. The waitress called you twice and you lifted your head to order vodka, and then she gives you a pretty smile and accidentally asks First Aid wine or champagne.

Fuck. It was too late.

When he said no, your sibling-in-law and his disgusting, lazy excuse of a mouth were quick to joke, " What, you're not gonna offer the guy some oil?"

Immediately, at the same time, your father and First Aid placed a hand on your shoulder. Fingers and servos brushed against one another to calm you down, but it turned awkward, and your father pulled back a little too quickly, looking at the ceiling while First Aid crumbled like a wounded puppy. You want to reassure him that your old man's just socially constipated, but you feel the air rush past your lungs. The room felt hot. If there was an invisible camera, tucked away into the corner of the room, you would've stared at it for the crew to stop rolling. It's a shame that life isn't as simple. Or cheesy. And there wasn't a laughing track to wash away the discomfort suffocating everyone like waves bubbling into foam against the shore.

And that was how you ended up in the washroom scrubbing the bloodstain off your clothes. Water splashed all over the sink and onto the floors as you wiped the red pouring down your mouth, your chin, and even your neck. There was talking outside, and you held back tears, remembering the nervous phone call First Aid had with Ratchet in the evening before you had left the house. He told everyone. Your sweet, sweet boy had asked his CMO a week before about getting off early on Friday to meet your family. He told Velocity. He told Ambulon. Hell, Rodimus knew. And whether out of formality for being his previous captain or out of a severe case of 'never knowing when to mind his business', he had phoned your place and wished him luck. 

There was a knock.

" Can I come in? "

You slowly turn to your lover, nodding and finally bursting into tears. He hugged you tight, and you clenched your eyes shut, too ashamed to look at him. He was so gentle it was almost painful. Blood stained his shoulders. You know he's itching to wipe it off. Yet he stood still, steadying your shoulders with both hands. If he understood you less, you would've apologisedBut it was a wordless exchange between the two of you. Always. Only when you've stopped withering did First Aid speak.

" That went well."

You scoffed, " They're idiots."

" But you love them. And you should continue to have dinner with them. Meet them. Talk to them."

You frowned. You don't even know what's going on out there. But from the marks on First Aid's servo, he must have patched up the bleeding, bruised (hopefully not broken ) nose you had given your sibling-in-law. And knowing him, probably also helped ease your father back on his feet after you had accidentally knocked him down amid your little scuffle.

" I'll even go with."

You shook your head incredulously, " Why would you ever want to repeat this?"

" Because they apologized." His tone was soft, quiet almost as he stroked your hair, " And I'm sure, this won't happen again."

" Be realistic."

" At least it won't at least end like this. I know it."

Sometimes loving First Aid was like looking directly into the sun. You can't help but look away, eyes sore and heart bloated with hope. He pulled his mask down and kissed the discomfort away, and for a brief moment, you almost forgot that you still had people outside.

" If it makes you feel better, your stepmom apologized first."

" Really?" You pulled away from him to search his expression, mildly impressed, " And she didn't follow it up with anything?"

" Well, she did say life in the berth — erm, bed room, must be so interesting when you've got so many cables to choose from. She said it must've been a letdown for me to find out you've only got one port."

" Oh, fuck me."

[rivstyx]

Hey! Could I please ask for a NatM fic recommendation? I don't like oneshots or pwp so Idk where to start tbh

YES of course you can my dear anon! it sounds like you're looking for longer, more plotty stories, so here are some fics that may fit that description:

The Barn Raising by PoetryInMotion (7,463 words)

The Old West's barn has been demolished by a fetch-related accident. When they get a new one, the Western denizens throw a good old-fashioned barn-raising party. Jedediah decides to invite Octavius (and both secretly hope that they can kindle a romance between the do-si-do and the two-step).

some classic fluff. if you grew up a yeehaw like me, you'll love the little touches of Western culture; if not, you can still appreciate how damn cute this fic is

Down Then Left by mournwiththemoon (36,024 words, incomplete)

Octavius is balls deep in the closet and a mild midlife crisis. Jedediah just wants to fix the elevator. AKA the corporate loser x mechanical engineer AU that literally nobody asked for.

modern AU that i'm obsessed with. octavius is a sad divorced sandbag, jed is an obnoxious wannabe country singer, and i love them both with all my heart

He Loves Me Not by orphan_account (25,820 words)

Jed stumbles across a stack of unsent/unfinished love letters from Octavius to an unknown person in the museum. Jed sets out to find out who. Not because he’s jealous. No, not all.

big romcom vibes. it's not miscommunication, but it's not not miscommunication

if this was a cowboy movie (i'd give you my boots) by Liviapenn (10,180 words)

There are secret articles in our treaties with the gods, of more importance than all the rest, which the historian can never know.' -- Henry David Thoreau. This hour I tell things in confidence, I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you. -- Walt Whitman, "Song of Myself"

ok this one only sort of fits the bill, but i love it too much not to rec it. it follows jed and octavius as they walk back from the car wreck in movie 1 and tell each other stories about their pasts

living beyond your years (acting out all their fears) by Riv_Styx (16,447 words)

“Go,” Octavius repeated. “Run. I am with you.” Jedediah did the one thing he never thought he was capable of doing. The thing he would have sooner died than chosen of his own accord. He ran. Secret of the Tomb AU. Octavius doesn't make it out of Pompeii; angry and grieving, Jedediah goes home alone. Meanwhile, for Octavius, his whole world changes overnight. The new museum is thriving on the magic of the tablet, but it's not where he belongs. It's going to be a long way home.

oh look a familiar name!

my heart will stop in joy by HungryOnMain (12,433 words, incomplete)

A temporary exhibit, on display at the AMNH for a limited time, brings forth a vengeful force from the past. Terrible, painful memories bubble up from the depths of the minds of everyone on display. They can be taken, and joy restored - for a price.

dark, fucked up, and utterly addicting. i eagerly await every serving. this one says "hey, forget kahmunrah - what else could tablet magic possibly do in the wrong hands?"

Any Weather (series) by EwokRae22 (151,470 words)

On a lucky break from McPhee, Larry brings the exhibits on a winter vacation north of New York. He has everything prepared, or at least that’s what he tells himself. Because nothing can stop Jedediah and Octavius’s useless and oh-so-tiny longing for each other, not even the snow.

a fandom classic! the series follows jed and octavius through some wild adventures and features some genuinely heart-wrenching twists

Cacoethes (series) by Anonymous (25,927 words)

A deeper look into Jedediah and Octavius's experiences during Battle of the Smithsonian, and a look at what could have happened after the end.

take the hourglass scene from natm 2 and turn the homosexuality up to eleven, and you've got cacoethes - though the rest of the works in the series are definitely worth the read!

hope this helps! :D

[wryterofworlds]

How does it feel to have inspired such a huge trend in dimension 20 fandom? Do you have any more headcannons for your modern AU?

In reference to this post:

Firstly, I do want to shoutout all the people who have made AUs based around the concept. All of them are so good and I can't believe that they exist because of my post. Obviously at this point everyone writing for this AU has their own ideas and versions of events, but here's the extended version of my version of the AU

Links to fics inspired by the original post:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45248404/chapters/113833735

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45109150/chapters/113477032

https://archiveofourown.org/works/45058684

https://www.tumblr.com/weareinvisiblespectres/709282235918991360/this-got-stuck-in-my-head-so-i-decided-to-write-it

Also fanart!!!: https://www.tumblr.com/mylovelyfools/709107455283593216/i-dont-have-my-tablet-rn-but-my-brain-is-moving

LMK If I missed any!

Various headcanons and plot beneath the cut

So starting with backstories:

Gerard was born into a wealthy family, and at a young age was kidnapped

Luckily he escaped, as he had always been a slippery little kid.

Unluckily, by that point his family had already had him publicly declared as dead, so no one believed him when he claimed to be Gerard Greenleigh

He lived on the streets for a while, and befriended Elody, and the two fell in love

It was only when he'd already grown into an adult that Gerard was able to prove his identity and gain access to the family fortune.

From there, familiar territory. He acted vain, petty, immature, etc., he and Elody separated, which brings us to when he adopted two kids

Ylfa is autistic, and she has particularly bad meltdowns and anger management issues. Her mother didn't handle her well and would frequently send her away to stay with Ylfa's grandmother

Eventually, she decided to just leave Ylfa there permanently

What she didn't know is that only a few days into this new arrangement, the grandmother would die of natural causes. Ylfa. Did not handle this well

She froze in place, not wanting to move forward. If she just didn't move, then she wouldn't have to deal with what came next. If she just stayed still, then there's a chance everything could go back to normal

Fortunately, Mr. Wolf the child welfare caseworker had already been looking for her as one of the mother's neighbors noticed the missing child

Unfortunately, it was still two days of her standing there, frozen and terrified, before he found her

The first thing Mr. Wolf did was take her to get some fast food, that she devoured ravenously

(She would throw up most of that food in the backseat of his car a few minutes later)

She ended up in the foster care system after that, as her mother was deemed unfit to parent her

(IDK how child welfare stuff actually works so I'm just taking my best guesses here. Apologies if I get anything wrong)

Pinocchio has chronic pain, and some days he can get by with a cane but other times he needs a wheelchair

His father was a loving, if demanding parent who, along with his kindergarten teacher, were very strict about morals and particularly lying

Eventually, a strange woman approaches him as he's about to walk home and she starts asking him increasingly personal questions about who his parent is, where he lives, how he gets home, etc.

Pinocchio cottons on that she's acting weird and lies, saying his dad will pick him up soon

Teacher Turquina hears this, and goes to give Pinocchio an earful about lying, telling the woman the truth

Geppetto goes missing soon after

Pinocchio is taken care of by his stepmother (his actual stepmother, in this AU), but eventually the way she's been emotionally and sometimes physically abusing him is noticed and he is put into the system

(The stepmother was particularly fond of locking Pinocchio in a closet for hours at a time. He still remembers the way it looked when she would open the door, the only light coming from behind her)

He has complicated feelings about his stuffed animals Spinocchio and Pinocchicrow, given the stepmother is the one who gave them to him. Eventually Pib mauls Pinocchicrow, and given how relieved Pinocchio seems, Gerard quietly moves Spinocchio into storage

Rosamund's backstory probably gets the most major overhaul

Rosamund was 16 and in love when she and her boyfriend (if you want to be particularly on the nose he could have the last name of briar or thorn or something) got into a bad car crash

She woke up from a coma 2 years later

Her boyfriend, who had been released from the hospital just a couple months after the accident, had already moved on, hence her current distaste for romance

Her parents tried to keep her inside all the time, obsessively overprotective after the accident, and she couldn't stand it

She eventually ran away, and given that Cousin Gerard has been one of the few tolerable people to be around (He had been kind and funny when she was growing up; after the accident he was empathetic in a way no one else was. It wasn't exactly the same, but he knew what it was like feeling like you've lost years of your life) and eventually she made her way to an address he'd written down for her saying if she ever needed to talk, she has an open invite

Her parents don't look for her under the belief that eventually she'll realize they were right all along and come home

(that isn't what happens)

Gerard was initially going to just take in Pinocchio, as he felt like since they'd shared experiences with kidnapping he could be helpful, and he could help Pinocchio deal with any issues the way he had

(He has not actually dealt with those issues)

Then he met Ylfa totally by accident, not at all arranged by Mr. Wolf in the hope that maybe this man would finally provide a home for two kids who so many felt were too high-maintenance to foster or adopt

So he ended up with two kids

Pib is a cat

He was originally a stray, taken in by Tomas, put in a shelter when Tomas died and then adopted by Timothy

Timothy has his husband, his menace of a son Jack, and inexplicable beef with a gander from the local park. He wants it dead, and the feeling is mutual

From here it's just general headcanons and little scenes

The non-Elody princesses are Rosamund's friends from an etiquette class that all of their terrible parents made them attend. None of them go to the class anymore but they still hang out

They are...maybe not the best influences. They regularly commit petty acts of vandalism and were maybe responsible for that time the school's library almost burned down

At some point one of Rosamund's friends/classmates says that Gerard is kind of hot in a pathetic way, and her first thought it "gross, that's my dad." She then has a minor crisis over when her goofy cousin became her dad

Gerard still exercises, but since it's his first time not working with a personal trainer he cannot figure out why he's getting stronger but not more "muscular." (not defined) Lifting more weight should be better, right?

This does mean he is strong enough to carry all three of his kids at the same time (because yes, Rosamund is his kid, even if not legally), and has carried them all to bed at once without waking them up before

Ylfa goes over the shoulders, as her grip is strong even asleep. Pinocchio is fully baby cradled in one arm, and Rosamund is carried in the other, her face tucked into this shoulder. Pib got Ylfa's back at some point without Gerard noticing, so actually it's three kids and a cat

Pib knows exactly one trick that he'll do on command, and that trick is "attack," where he runs up and smacks whoever without unsheathing his claws

For unknown reasons, he only does this trick for Gerard. Timothy is definitely not jealous

At one point Mr. Wolf was trying to talk to Pinocchio about setting goals and future careers, and Pinocchio panicked and said stand-up comedian

When Mr. Wolf tried to prompt him to set goals, he said he could come up with a good joke in a year. Mr. Wolf tried to hint that maybe that's a little too long. Pinocchio misunderstood and made it a year and a day

Pinocchio: I think that if I don't tell a good joke in a year and a day he's going to kill me

Ylfa, whose life was saved by Mr. Wolf and has known him for much longer: (100% earnestly) yeah, maybe.

Gerard tries to take the gang fishing. It goes badly. Gerard punches a fish

Ylfa has a dorky middle schooler crush on all of Rosamund's friends, especially Snow White. They think its cute and harmless enough not to discourage, much to Rosamund's chagrin

The princesses are also consistently accidentally mean to Gerard (a la "she's married?") They actually think he's a pretty good guy and by far the best parent any of them have, so they feel bad whenever it happens

Gerard does have minor Gilear energy in this au. Sorry bud.

Gerard and Elody's reuniting

For Elody and Gerard reuniting, IDK what leads to it but eventually Elody agrees to one date after starting to realize how much Gerard's changed

Gerard is very excited and spends nearly the entire day preparing for their dinner date

Unfortunately, the power goes out about midway through the day. At first it's kind of fun and everything's fine, date still set to happen

Then it gets dark and suddenly things aren't so fine anymore

Ylfa remembers the nights she stood, starving, staring at the body of her grandmother, trying desperately to pretend that nothing's changed, even as she becomes too dehydrated to cry

Pinocchio remembers that darkness of the closet, the silhouette of his stepmother, the way he could only ever catch glimpses of her sneering face as the door closed once again

Rosamund remembers the weeks of consciousness before she was able to even open her eyes, trapped in darkness by her own uncooperative body, aware yet unable to do anything, to save herself

Gerard might've asked Timothy to help out, but he'd left earlier that day to go on a camping trip with Henry and Jack, so it's up to Gerard to help his kids

So he does the one thing he's ever been good at. He tells them stories.

Some of them are old stories he's known since childhood, but some of them are new

He tells them stories of a brave little girl who was strong enough to survive despite everything, and a clever little boy who knows that sometimes you need to break the rules, and a bold princess who was able to free herself from the prison others had made for her

He does not tell them the story of a cowardly prince, too unlovable to be wanted by his parents or his wife, who has no one to blame for how things turned out but himself

Instead, his kids tell him a story

They tell him the story of a funny, smart, kind king who was beloved by all his subjects. Who never, ever got mad, and was super strong, and would accept any who would seek refuge in his kingdom. The three (four, counting Pib, who Timothy asked them to watch while they were gone) immediately decide it's their favorite

"How can that be your favorite story? That's barely a story at all, it just a list of character traits."

"Too bad, it's our favorite now, so we're gonna tell it every night."

They pass the night with stories and candles until eventually all his kids are happily asleep, and Gerard crashes onto his couch.

He, unfortunately, could not text Elody about this change of plans as his phone died before he could (his phone hasn't been fully charged since he got kids)

Elody shows up the next morning to be like "Why'd you ditch me and also are you still alive because I can't think of anything short of death that would've kept you from showing up"

She is greeted by a very tired Gerard in his pajamas, who asks if she wants to come inside for breakfast

Elody is very confused to be sitting around a table with three kids and a cat while her husband cooks breakfast (when did he learn how to cook?)

The neighbor pops in to say hi and ends up staying for breakfast as well, and Elody is quickly realizing just how much of a life Gerard has made since they separated

It's not a great breakfast. The eggs are kind of rubbery and the bacon is burnt on the edges, but it's far better than she ever imagined Gerard capable of

She...kind of wants to learn what else has changed about Gerard

She also wants to know when, where, and why he acquired these kids

Anyway, that's all I got. Maybe I'll make a continuation if I have any other ideas

[susiehunsecker-remade]

hi guys im back from my college entrance exams i completely bombed math which was 40 out of the 120 questions but did pretty well on the eng/sci parts if i do say so myself. im praying this means i still get in just because my course is relatively unpopular (everyone goes into it for nursing/med school, im taking up a bachelors in special needs education) and as far as ive heard the passing rate is something around 40-50%? ..i did the exam on like 3 hrs of sleep and no reviewing bc i got struck with the february nightmare bug (also reviewing just never works for me idk why) and this is a lot better than i thought it would go.

umm what else did i do today. oh i explored the city after staying in the mall for half the day and found a little dnd/warhammer cafe where they gave you figurines to paint with your coffee but i got distracted and bought a bunch of lolita headbands they were selling next to some keychains. i was also looking for a copy of lolita the book but for some reason its never in stock here. i did find tlt paperbacks! but they were super expensive and i wanted to use my money on food and criterions. sorry lesbians

im !!!EXCITED!!! to move out its so close i can taste it. im gonna be sharing an apartment with my best friends for college. we have accepted the fact that this will probably lead to us hating each other but honestly the worst we can do to each other doesnt really seem that bad in comparison to having to share a bedroom with people we dont like. we are hoping to find a pet friendly apartment thats close to the school which is tough because this place is PACKED but we will persevere.probably need to get a laptop and a tablet though since my pcs staying at my parents home unless i can kidnap it beforei move for good.

im gonna sleep for 10million hours or get none at all after i finish cleaning up. we will see 🤸

[cloudcountry]

fuck i literally realized a lot of this is due to how much I relate to him IM SORRRYRYRYRYRY but i just wanna talk about him today (i have no fun insights this is just yapping... URGGBSHGRFYGH I RELATE TO AND LOVE HIM SO MUCH SOBS ON UR DOOR STEP)

im sorry, i believe a little warning for the first paragraph i bring up my own dead sibling cause I wanted to get that out of the way

This is decently specific to me: I have a younger dead sibling and idia is just i can relate just so hard to bc of that one fact, (gets out the idia journal) we were around the same age when our siblings died we think we both got them killed through harmless fun comments and just having someone so close to you as your younger sibling die at a young age kinda fucks with you and stuff idrk whats going on but something is

we both have social anxiety i don't think mine is as bad but if i had the option to just talk through a tablet i would, especially in certain situations where i'll freeze up (aka talking to any waiter ever) I genuinely a lot better when im there for someone else that has so we could have a symbiotic relationship for social situations

+ I NEED TO REASSURE HIM HIS DAMN IMAGINARY AUDIENCE ISN'T ACTUALLY REAL NOT EVERYONE HATES YOU YOU DON'T HAVE TO ACT LIKE IT IM RIGHT HERE I LOVE YOU SM :((

Okay funny silly time: love of cats omg cats i love cats he loves cat give him cat he would be unsure how to treat it exactly bc he never had a childhood cat but he has done so much research on cats that he probably could info dump on the cat on why it so cool and the best thing ever "Awww did you know you get a lot of your water from your food bcuz you're a dessert animal and you avoid still standing water due to your prey possibly contaminating the water" please let him see those stray cat cams in china he would love donating food to them,, he would be spear heading naming everyone and making sure they all get a wiki page

OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT IDIA AND CATS BUT HE WOULD SEE IF HE COULD GET THE FUNDS TO OPEN A CAT SHELTER AND FEED SO MANY STRAY KITTIES MOVING ON

baby noooooo,,,, :(( yes im looking back on his after overblot dialogue as a reference even though i just read it anyways,,, Idia will never be able to have his own life separate from his family, since yk cursed and shroud, it's basically a path that was bricked in for him. its like his life path is a long corridor that leads to the same road no matter what he picks. Especially since his unique magic locks him into working for STYX since he can just open a very vital thing and idk almost take over the world. if the shrouds acc got unique magic i think idia could have actually went on to lead a decently good life whether he was STYX head by choice or something else (game dev)

hes so passionate about the things he enjoys, there is so many examples of this, he's into so many things and loves them all with his whole heart it's so endearing (also uhsn dfbghrg bonding over media is the best, hes probably so fun to talk to about media... but he might lord knowing so much over you >:p ily just let me put my two cents in you can keep info dumping idia) OUGH (ignore me doing the hand thing PLEASE I LOVE IDIA I LOVE ORTHO IM ENJOYING WRITING THIS SM) OKAY ANYWAYS aww okay reading over idia's dialogue like im writing you an argumentative essay or something,, STAR ROGUE! the idia of idia (wtf r u writing edie) HIS SILLY ASS SLANG HRGBHRBGVLRHG "OUR LEGEND, POP OOOFF!" Anyways idia just recounting everything about star rogue without second thought he loves it sm he probably played it sm he knows the opening by heart (IDIA AND ORTHO SAYING THE TAG LINE TOGETHER THIS IS KILLING ME AUBURN)

hes heard so often that he was genius when he was really young it was just hardwired for him to think he was the best in the room especially with the advancements he has made from the ages of 10-12. like building ortho is genuinely a feat and he did it and two years definitely he's going to let that go to his head. ngl i feel that his parents were not too great probably absent most of the time since he can just lock himself in his room and work on something that no one knows about for two years. probably fucked him up developmentally too, he was NOT properly socialized the internet was his parents for the entire time probably

he wants to be FUCK THIS SHIT ACC OMG CRIES IN A CORNER SADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD HE JUST WANTED TO BE A COOL ADVENTURER HERO GUY HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT WOULD HAPPEN!!!!! WHAT WENT WRONG IS NOTHING YOU WERE JUST A TOO SMART KID,,, IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT AND NEVER WILL BE YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT WOULD HAPPEN OMG. DFGVJKDHJHBCBSHFBSFBSFR

it's like 12:30 right now my mental state is deteriorating this is stupid opinions for the most part i tried my best im sorry if this is bad but YOU SAID GUSH IN YOUR INBOX SO I MADE THAT HAPPEN???

-- with lots of love Edie

EDIEEE MY FAVORITE IDIA KISSER‼ THANK U FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS READING THEM WAS SO INTERESTING!!

first of all holy shit im so sorry about what happened to your sibling. i totally get why you'd find him comforting because of that but Oh my gosh. im so sorry.

i think having social anxiety is something a lot of people can relate to with him, even myself. identity actually brought this up but seeing him being pushed into situations where he is ABSOLUTELY not comfortable makes me want to run in there and help him GET OUT. like i may not like this man that much but nobody should feel pressured or panic over entering a social situation they dont want to be a part of.

AH YES THE CAT CARD

RIGHT YEAH its so SAD how he will never get to live his own life and THATS one of the things that ive thought about a lot concerning him. like it would suck to actually have your fate predetermined no matter what. like he's just going to be stuck there with nobody else except for like ortho and his employees(?) but actually. yk what thats how he spent his school days which is even sadder hello

"the idia of idia" HELLO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

actually! you bring up a good point about idia always being considered a genius since he was young and how that affects his self esteem and how he interacts with people now. i have literally never thought of it that way but it makes a lot of sense.

THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS EDIE <3 I LOVED HEARING THEM!!

[concerningwolves]

Sorry if this was asked before but I saw a post you made that mentioned you had a migraine and you took some medicine for it and I was wondering if you would be open to share things that work for your migraines? I get them more frequently now and I'm desperate for some relief because "Bedridden in complete darkness with earplugs" isn't always a possibility. Hope your migraine is better and sorry if this is nosy.

Not at all nosy, and quite an understandable question. Migraines are a horrendous curse and any way to alleviate them is a blessing 😔

Medication-wise, the first line of defense for me is paracetamol. If I get in there early enough, this can head the migraine off, or at least make it bearable. I'd say this is... idk, 30–40% effective? I top up with ibuprofen if I need to, but it makes me queasy so I try to avoid that. Something the doctor who diagnosed my migraines said was that because migraines slow the gut, it's best to take dispersible/liquid versions of the medicine instead of the tablet version (I'm just too sensitive to the bitter medicine taste, even when mixed with fruit juice, for this to be a viable option for me).

The migraine-specific drug I take is sumatriptan, which can completely wipe me out but it also works most of the time. My mum swears by maxalt instead, while other family members (basically everyone on my mum's side suffers from chronic migraine) find co-codamol works best– point is, migraine medication can be trial and error because migraine is so varied, but it's definitely worth pursuing.

Ice packs against my head and neck and cold water are another method for finding at least some relief. I watched a documentary once about migraines where cold water swimming was something that one lady found immensely helpful, but I'm a weenie so I take a cold shower instead. In the absence of a shower, I'll just wrap cold wet towels around my head or hold my face in a sink full of cold water. I've managed to get through three-day migraines with this trick.

That same documentary also discussed the use of this... I don't know what it was exactly, but a small gadget that can be stuck to the forehead and it pulses or vibrates in certain patterns. I keep meaning to look that thing up and forgetting, so in lieu of that I sometimes hold my sister's mini massage gun (on the lowest setting) against my forehead and temples, which usually gives some relief. Massaging around the neck, particularly the base of the skull, sometimes releases enough tension that the pain eases significantly. Gently turning my head to stretch my neck is also helpful, as is rolling my shoulders (don't roll back and forward – only back, and squeeze your shoulder blades together. This releases tension in your neck).

Finally, coca cola. This one always gets weird looks from people but it just? Works for me? My gran swore by it and she passed this knowledge down through three generations. I don't know if it's some mix of the caffeine and sugar or what, or maybe some weird family quirk lol, but drinking original (full fat/sugar) coca cola has pulled me back drom the brink of an all-out aura+pain+nausea "this is so bad i want to chop my head off" migraine many times. It also helps offset some of the queasy weirdness I feel as a side-effect of sumatriptan.

Oh and in terms of preventative stuff, blue light filters, dim screens and regular breaks from screen time are so so important. Annoying, but important. My desktop monitor has built-in eye protection blue light filter which I pair with my windows laptop's night light feature. I suspect my uptick in migraines lately isn't just because my t injection is late, but qlso because its too cold to work in my cabin office & there's nowhere in the house i can set up with the monitor, so im currently working without that extra layer of eye protection. I've also heard people talk about red or green lights and red-tinted glasses.

Sorry this got rambly but I wanted to answer now so this didn't get eaten by my drafts. I hope something in here is helpful to you ❤️

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Archon war anon

I'm fairly certain that canon implies that Xiao didn't have too many masters, but I'm just having fun with it. I haven't hot potatoed him too much in what I have written, but I'm planning to pass him off for a bit to a bunch of Sumeru tribes who don't actually know what to do with an adeptus, and so just keep trading him off for benefits based on the idea that he's definitely got value, but they don't know what to do with him. I'm also doing this so that Morax later names him after himself? Like, "Xiao" is pretty Chinese sounding, and it would be weird for another land to have used it as a name. That in itself means nothing, bu I was like, "A perfect opportunity to make things weird!"

I did go check Cuijue architecture before I wrote the last ask and was all suspicious about it since I noticed that circle out front had that same square pattern as Guili stuff, but the pillars were very distracting!

We actually do know of gods to do with dreams - the Sumer Companion gods! But, they're obviously not in Liyue, and also not in Chenyu. The most I could find for the god of Chenyu Vale was the line "she made many dreams come true" in An Ancient Sacrifice of Sacred Brocade. Fujin and the others betrayed their god because they wanted to keep the humans safe, and the god was going to flood Chenyu Vale as a last ditch attempt to fight Morax.

The Dunyu-star connection comes from the Records of Jueyun book. The book also says "the redoubts of the Dunyu Valley stood tall and maintained prosperous relations with Liyue Harbor up till 500 years ago"

Very fair about thinking that the stone ruins all have to be old, but at the same time, given what I know about how ruins tend to work, they seem way too intact to be as old as all that? Like, people would have take all of that nice, preworked stone, because that's what people do. Like sure, some of them are kind of far, but then any quarries are also probably pretty far. Especially since Guili looks so much more ruined?

Tianqiu does look pretty temple-like, but also they kind of remind me of this documentary I saw talking about shitty Roman apartments? Like windowless and damp and all that because you spent basically all your time away. And even if it was a temple, temples need like staff to take care of them and priests? It looks big enough that it would probably need a proportionately big staff. I don't know, I'm not actually invested in this theory, it's just kind of fun to think about/argue.

As for when Guizhong died, yeah no confirmation on exactly when, but still at least 1700 years before the war ended.

What I could find on the move to the harbour was mostly referring back to one of the books - Stone Tablet Compilations - which was pretty vague, saying the war killed Guizhong, and "thereupon" Morax took their people to the harbor. And then the event that talked about the flood doesn't mention Guizhong dying, but in it Madame Ping does seem fairly specific about the actual move only taking a dozen days? Like, longer than you'd expect for that short distance, but not a "have to re-gather everyone" type situation (but honestly re-gathering would be really interesting to explore? and I want to see where you got that impression from) The teaser Echoes of the Heart mentions Guizhong's death and implies it was early in the war, but not how it happened or what was going on with their people after. And that's all I could find referring to her death specifically, so yeah, we know nothing. :(

I'm glad it wasn't too much!

no worries, it wasn't too much!

yeah i'm also fairly certain xiao only had one master before morax, but the concept is really interesting (and kinda funny). the idea of him winding up in sumeru and the gods there being like: "you want this magic kid?" "what does he do?" "idk but he's magic so he must be valuable" "you're right, i'll take him" .... "you want this magic kid?" fucking hilarious ngl

my only point of contention (that sounds ultra serious what) with the roman appartment point is that this is liyue? so i'm not sure they'd have a random ruin with no explanation be something that we wouldn't expect from a completely different culture? i guess it could always just be an adaptation though. but yeah, if it was a temple, there'd deffinitely be people living there. if not there, then in the surroundings – i'm just not sure if that would qualify as an entire town, more than just a temple complex. anyway, i've not no smoking gun on tianqiu valley either, we just know so little, but it is fun to throw things at the wall hahah

i have to be honest in that i completely forgot about madame ping's dialogue in moonlight merriment. like i had done the research on this mess for cyanide before that event came out? and since i wasn't even going to get to the founding of liyue harbor in the fic, i didn't bother changing my notes. but yeah, if madame ping says it took more than ten days (original chinese text), then yeah they probably migrated as soon as the flood took over. thankfully the cinematic specifies it was the guili assembly – knowing mihoyo they could've just left it as 'a flood destroyed their home' and never clarified LMAO like even then obviously it would've been the assembly, but still. unless i'm just missing stuff from the original chinese text, it doesn't, however, specify that it took them over ten days to get to the harbor. like it says the adepti stayed with them for ten days, but not how long their journey actually was? it was probably ten days, the harbor isn't all that far from the assembly and it'd be weird for the adepti to just... leave them halfway through the journey, but still. this is what i mean by the lack of clarification being a pain in the ass ToT

the scattering and gathering part actually comes from the guili plains' viewpont. it says "those who gathered here were once again scattered" in reference to the war destroying it. 'scattered' doesn't sound to me like a term you'd use for "there was a flood and so they fled together in a group with the adepti". it sounds more like "everyone fled to different places during the chaos, and then either morax gathered all of them back together to then migrate as a group immediately after it happened (like as soon as the flood settled morax was like "ok where's everyone"), or he took longer to gather them (like longer than ten days)". there's also the issue of the geo travel diaries? which like- i know morax being the god of the stove was disproven, but i'm not sure if that disproves the entire legend? which implies that people had to re-learn how to fucking cook when they first settled in the harbor. that might just be weird wording though, and since it's a word-of-mouth legend, also exaggeration.

the worst offender here i think is zhongli's dialogue during his first story quest. we know he's a little shit sometimes, but he's not known to outright lie when it comes to debating the history of liyue – he even goes out of his way to debate things that have become twisted by time if he finds himself in the conversation (because for some reason he also sometimes just lets the misconceptions be? which- i mean sure, he probably realizes it's an impossible task to try and fix every single erroneous tale in liyue). but when the scholars he's arguing with ask him if it's true that the lord of geo taught the people how to build houses when liyue harbor was being constructed (and how the model he used was made from mora), zhongli just says that yeah that's true. like ????? this either implies that the people didn't know how to build houses by the time they got to the harbor? as though they had been separated for so long that they had to re-learn it (which would make no sense if less than two weeks ago they'd been living in this advanced civilization that they'd built)?? like entire generations had passed??? or like- this could also be that zhongli taught them a new style of houses, going by the fact the architecture is not like the one in the assembly. given we now have madame ping saying it was more than ten days between the fall and the harbor, my only guess is that morax went 'hey i think we should try a new building style, how about this?' and made a harbor house as we know them entirely out of mora, and the people went 'ooo teach us how'. i guess there's always the possibility that, since the way it's worded in the dialogue (i don't have the originla chinese for this i'm afraid), that zhongli is saying that the fact the model house was made of mora is true, and not that he had to teach everyone how to make houses from scratch all over again. it could be that?? it's still weird.

it could always also be a case of all these things are from very early in the game, and since madame ping in moonlight merriment is the latest data we have, hers is probably more accurate? like they hadn't yet quite decided how long it was before the fall and the harbor, and that's why all the sources say different things.

still weird, though.