#it admittedly is still good practice for this one project I REALLY want to do for my blog's first anniversary coming up next month...

[remxedmoon]

so all you need to do right now is disappear.

HHHHAPPY ISATVERSARY EVERYONE. here’s redraws for every single battle cg in the game. 36 drawings this time around, with 11 of those being custom (though admittedly a good portion of those are edits). combined with the portrait redraws i made back in september, i’ve made 114 redraws for this project! jesus christ! just like those redraws, these are completely free to use!! as long as i’m credited and it’s not for commercial purposes, go wild!! do whatever you want!!!

no i didn’t make these for isat’s 1 year anniversary this is just wildly good timing.

i genuinely can’t fit all of these cgs in one post even with the 30 image limit on browser, but i’ll still try to fit Most of them below the cut (without making this post horrifically long), along with some notes that might be important 👍

okay! once again, i labeled all of the custom art as such in the drive(UPDATE. NNOT TRUE ANYMORE. reformatted file names to be easier to mod in auau. apologies!), but if you want a full list, the customs are hatless siffrin jackpot, bonnie jackpot, bonnie special attack, bigfrin attack, and a bunch of alts which are definitely not related to any projects i’ve been thinking about don’t worry about it. and out of those customs, only like. 3 of them are actually completely from scratch.

while i did my absolute best to keep the aspect ratios completely the same as the originals, there’s 3 exceptions that i just couldn’t get to work.

isabeau’s hair in his special attack cg wouldn’t fit in frame if i kept things completely accurate to the og, so i moved his cg down a bit. it shouldn’t cause any issues with modding or anything, it’ll just appear slightly lower than it does in game. alas…

isabeau’s sleeve and mirabelle’s hair made their jackpot sprites a little larger than the originals? i’m hoping this doesn’t have too much of an effect (since the jackpot sprites have inconsistent sizes) but i can’t test this myself unfortunately. aaa feel free to let me know on discord if any problems arise!!

i managed to fix these, so they aren’t going to cause problems now, but my original drawings for mirabelle and siffrin in the final attack scene were a pain in the ass to fix. mirabelle’s sprite was slightly too talk to fit in frame and siffrin’s hat whacked bonnie in the face while i was editing everyone together. i’m only mentioning this because it took like an hour and a half to fix them and finish the scene.

all that aside, these were a fucking BLAST to work on. apparently this ended up taking 57 hours over exactly 10 days. which is a little worrying if you do the math on that but somehow i have not burnt myself out. i will be doing enemies at some point!!! but probably not for a little bit. i think my friends will actually kill me if i don’t take a break.

once again, happy birthday isat. you’ve ruined my life and i wouldn’t have it any other way (silly).

also, on an actual serious note, this little timeloop game has genuinely changed my life for the better? you guys are probably sick of hearing it at this point (or maybe not, i don’t talk about myself That Much. i hope), but i was practically a ghost for about 2 years before joining this fandom. it’s a little surreal to suddenly have friends (plural!!!) and people who Care about me, or even know i exist, honestly. it’s weird!! in a good way!!!

i don’t think i would’ve ever come back to social media if this community wasn’t so welcoming. i’ve met a lot of really great people through this game!!! so, uh, thank you isat, i guess. here’s to another year.

[hells-wasabii]

Headcanons for Charlie, Lucifer, Lute, and Alastor with a m!reader who’s the Demi-god son of Zeus?

I would imagine that deities from other myths and cultures do exist in hazbin hotel/helluva boss but don’t really have much power like they did in ancient times, likely mainly due to when christianity started to grow larger pagans ended up being persecuted and killed if they did convert. And it would effect them to the point where either deities chose to live among mortals (like how deities do in American Gods), simply join Heaven and became powerful angels, or tried to fight heaven only to get killed and end up in hell and possibly be more powerful than overlords.

Y/n doesn’t really have a good father-son bond with Zeus, given how much of a terrible father and wife he is in the greek myths.

And with y/n being a son of zeus he also inherited some of his abilities (lightning, strength, etc.)

A/N: I really hope this one is formatted properly, I had to post this one from mobile. But I didn’t write as many headcanons as I normally would due to the number of characters in the ask. From this point on my max character amount will be 3 per ask. But in any case, I hope you enjoy what I got!

Characters: Lute, Lucifer, Charlie, Alastor

Type: Headcanons (x son of Zeus!reader, General)

Lute

When Lute first met you, she immediately saw an opportunity. She practically begged you to join the exorcists! She did admittedly get scolded by Adam for letting the exterminations and exorcists slip, but after that she went about trying to recruit you to their cause properly.

The greek gods wandered freely and let their powers go to waste, but you, you could do something with your powers! Sure, they may not be nearly as strong as your father’s but you’re powerful nonetheless. Which on top of that, there weren’t all that many demigods in heaven anyway, which made you all the more

So she goes out of her way to try to recruit you. She had met your father in passing, sure, but she didn’t particularly care for or about him. He was complicit, doing nothing when it came to the sinners, so frankly he was none of her concern.You on the otherhand were a well of untapped potential!

She would personally make you her project. Your uniform would be altered, an indication for other exorcists not to get to close on the battle field, after all electricity is hard to control especially surrounded by metal objects such as armor pieces or weapons.

Lucifer

Lucifer was initially confused to see you in hell. The other pantheons had their own afterlives, you knew that, right? You were a demigod, you were practically guaranteed a spot in elysium, especially with one of the old Olympians as a parent. Oh, you didn’t want anything to do with that sort of stuff? That’s fair he supposed.

When he finds out about your lack of a relationship with your dad, he initially would want to help fix it. He doesn’t have the best relationship with Charlie, something that the king of hell deeply regrets. He knows how much it can hurt.

That is until he finds out your dad is Zeus. Then he fully understands. See, he never really liked Zeus all that much, between how he he had the habit of acting childish and how he constantly cheated on his literal wife, (which that was a whole different can of worms that Lucifer was not about to open)

Charlie

Being the princess of hell, she wouldn’t exactly have any room to talk when it came to your lineage. But you were the son of Zeus, that basically made you royalty, right? Regardless, she’d still refer to you as such, even if your human blood prevented you from being heir to a now nonexistent throne.

Much like her father, your strained relationship with your own dad tugged at charlie’s heartstrings. She will actively want to help you reconnect with him.

She might initially be a little pushy about it, considering her views on forgiveness and redemption, but she would want you to try to better your relationship with your dad. She herself doesn’t have the best one with her own, but they had been working on improving it. She wants that opportunity for you too.

If that’s something you would want at least. As much as Charlie would love for you to have a better father-son relationship, if that’s something you’re uninterested in she’ll respect your decisions and help better set boundaries with the God, because lets face it. Zeus wouldn’t exactly heed any you might set on your own.

Alastor

Well, i think we all know how he would react. You were powerful, more powerful than a normal soul and he knew it. He could feel it. Sometimes, when you got too excited or let your emotions get the better of you he could feel the charge of electricity

He, in terms of sinners, is likely to be the most open to the idea of other pantheons existing, he dabbled in the dark arts after all.

He knew early on that he could use you to his advantage, and if he could do so by simply saying something along the lines of your father wouldn’t approve, that’s even better. However, if you were harder to get into a deal or to form some sort of alliance, then that meant you would need to be dealt with or steered clear from.

After all, radios and an abundance of electricity don’t exactly mix well.

[littlejuicebox]

An Early Highharvestide Feast

(Soft Dom Astarion x Female Reader)

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Setting: 4 years after BG3, "good" ending, Unascended Astarion x F Reader Notes: Took a break from my WrenxAstarion fic to write this Thanksgiving-themed (kind of but not really... lol it just worked for the plot), one shot. This idea was playing in my head, and I had to get it out. Hope you all enjoy and have a happy Thanksgiving! This might end up being a Part 1 of a mini story. I'd like to do the fluff scene with all their friends around and imagine the lives they've lived. I love to see comments about what you liked in the story, it inspires me for other fics. Rating: Mature 18+ / smut Word Count: 2.5K

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You’re in the kitchen, flowers strewn about the marble countertop as you arrange the bouquets for tomorrow’s banquet. It’s been four years since you’ve seen everyone at the same time, and finally, finally, the old gang will be back together in one room in less than 24 hours. Your heart practically soared in anticipation... a Highharvestide banquet in your very own home, with your favorite people in the world. You wanted everything to be just perfect.

The planning had taken weeks. Astarion had left the menu to you, of course, apart from the wine and alcohol selection. He had taken that from you quite early on and it had been more than a tenday before he solidified his choices between his frequent business meetings and your political events. He’d focused heavily on guiding you both in politics and expanding your wealth the past few years, while you focused on gardening and improving Baldur's Gate... plus navigating the lack of anonymity in your life.

Admittedly, you’d stumbled clumsily through your change in status, from unknown woman to Lady Ancunin, while Astarion glided into the position like he’d simply left his post for a long vacation. You’d been happy to take the lead in the wilds while a tadpole was lodged in everyone's brains, but you were even happier to hand the reins to him once the city was safe. And you were always proud to tell your friends that he’d navigated the two of you through the changes quite well.

In fact, he'd just purchased a second property outside of Baldur’s Gate with aims to start your very own winery; his pet project that he loved quite dearly. It was beautiful to watch Astarion approach something with such passion and vigor. After becoming the heroes of Baldur’s Gate, it had pained you that he could no longer stand in the sun. Not as much as it so obviously pained him. His mask was carefully crafted, and yet you often saw right through it. You hoped that perhaps one of your friends would bring news of a cure for his condition to the feast.

He had always been adamant that he’d make the same choice over and over again, but guilt still stabbed you like a dagger to the gut when you saw him watch the sun rise from the deepest depths of your manor or caught him studying your tan lines from your many hours spent out in the garden, your own personal pet project, specializing primarily in night blooming plants.

Astarion’s voice pulls you from your reverie as he enters the kitchen with Scratch trailing behind him. His vermillion eyes are focused on a scroll in his hands as he grasps a bone from a jar and tosses it into the dog’s bed. Scratch obediently settles himself into the plush mattress, content to gnaw away at the treat.

“Darling, your dog went after the chickens again. One of the staff had to run him down and then give him a bath. We may want to seriously consider a trainer. Command beast works all well and good when you’re around, but not everyone has that skill set in their repertoire, dear.” His tone carries just the slightest tinge of annoyance; you two have had this conversation before. But you know in his heart of hearts that Astarion loves the blasted dog perhaps more than you do.

You glance at Scratch, currently focused on giving you his best look of feigned innocence. The look reminds you quite a bit of another white-haired miscreant standing in that very same kitchen and you chuckle. Distracted, you feel the miscalculated slip of your hand as you reach for a particularly thorned flower stem. The punishing sting causes you to wince and pull in a sharp intake of breath. Blood blooms in buds of red on your fingers and the scent catches Astarion’s attention immediately.

His eyes are alight as he chides you. “You really must stop bleeding everywhere, my heart. It’s distracting.” He places the scroll down and comes to your side, grasping your hand in his to examine the damage.

“Perhaps if you helped me with these arrangements like I’d asked, I wouldn’t be in this situation, my love.” You respond with a soft huff, but you extend your hand towards the vampire, already quite aware what his next move will be. He bends to lick the red droplets from your skin before he kisses the knuckle of your hand. Astarion will never waste such a precious thing, that much is certain.

“Perhaps if you more frequently used the staff -- that we pay quite well, might I add -- to do things like tend your garden, put all these flowers in vases, and perform any number of menial tasks, then you wouldn’t be in this situation.” The vampire retorts with a raised eyebrow. “All of this is below your station now. It truly pains me to see your beautiful hands doing such things, my dear.”

You smile as you close your eyes and whisper a healing incantation, sealing the superficial wounds with minimal effort. You swivel in your seat and turn to face your husband, eyebrow arched to mirror his own, voice slipping into a coy register. “And what, Lord Ancunin, would you rather see my hands doing?”

You won. You could see it in the darkening of his eyes as he placed his hands on either side of the counter and pressed forward to look at you, red eyes flitting between yours.

Astarion had ebbed and flowed in his sexual appetites, especially in the first few years of your union. He had been plagued by panic attacks and night terrors something awful; they still occurred but not with the same horrid frequency. Your many nights of herbal teas and "flower child" magic, as he so lovingly called it, eased the suffering. You’d been content to ride the waves of desire with him, and it seemed more recently, as the two of you adjusted to domestic life, his appetites had returned with force.

His face hovered just inches in front of yours, eyes alight with a combination of adoration and lust as he pressed a soft kiss to your lips before pulling back and running his eyes greedily down your body, cocking his head as he fantasized about any number of dirty things. “I have several delicious ideas for those hands, darling.”

The flowers were scattered on the ground, along with a broken vase in an instant. The vampire hoisted you up with relative ease before placing you onto the cool, marbled counter. His hands grazed up the side of your silken gown and then delved under the hem to explore your bare skin. He quickly found his way to the junction between your thighs and a pleased, rakish smile crossed his face.

“No underclothes, Lady Ancunin? You truly do desire to test my patience today.” His eyes locked with yours as he knelt in front of you, draping your legs over his shoulders and pushing your dress up to reveal you to him fully.

You would have to enlist the help of the staff tomorrow afternoon. The tradeoff was well worth it, you thought, as your silver-haired husband bowed his head before you to run his tongue against your slit, a little hum escaping him as he tasted your warmth. He ran his tongue up to your clit, his lazy, languid strokes pressing into you. Always such a tease.

“Astarion…” You murmur, bucking your hips toward the vampire as your hands found silver curls of hair and took hold.

A smile snaked its way across his lips as he continued his torment. You were wriggling, desperate for more, which the elf adamantly denied you, his hands gripping into your thighs as he brushed his feather light tongue against you once more. Just enough stimulation to keep your attention, but not enough to provide any relief.

“My love..” Your tone is practically begging for him to give you more.

“Mm, darling. I do believe I need to show you what else your hands could do, don’t I?” He grabs your hand and yanks it towards your sex, where he guides you to play with yourself. Hungry red eyes watch the show as arousal begins to drip from you onto the countertop. He slips two long fingers deep inside your cunt and curls them slightly, pumping the digits in and out, which earns him a delightful moan. Still on his knees, the vampire removes his fingers from inside your walls and licks your juices off his hand before sliding your legs off his shoulders and standing. He makes quick work of ripping your gown over your head, pressing gentle kisses against the newly freed flesh of your chest. You are now completely barren and exposed to your lover, his lustful eyes stoking the fire between your legs.

His own arousal is now clearly straining against his clothes. Astarion quickly undoes the buttons of his collar and lacings of his trousers, freeing his cock before your hungry gaze. You’re still playing with yourself as you watch the man completely undress before you.

“Now darling…” He murmurs in that sensual tone reserved only for you. He guides your unoccupied hand to the twitching length of his cock and wraps it around the shaft, giving a few experimental pumps into your hand. “What else can your beautiful hands do?”

You take the queue and begin moving your hand around his length. Astarion hisses in pleasure, rolling his hips as he fucks your hand. The vision is quite lewd; you're playing with your own pussy as you pump your lover’s cock in time, your respective arousals just inches from one another but not touching. It's enough to cause the heat in your cheeks and your sex to rise and illicit several excited keens from you. He teasingly moves his length closer to your entrance, pulling away just as the head of his member brushes against you. You want to scream every time he pulls away, the bastard lives to tease you to the edge of desire.

Astarion was watching the scene with rapt interest, absolutely transfixed. His breath was quickening as he pressed himself into your hand, watching the head of his penis sheath and unsheathe itself under your ministrations as your pussy prayed to be plunged into, leaking arousal all over the cold countertop. He was always more in control in these situations, able to keep a firm hold on his desire in a way you never could.

“Look at my little treat, making such a mess on these expensive counters.” He murmured in mock disappointment and mock condescension, eyes burning with excitement. “Play with yourself and show me the mess you make when you cum for me, my sweet.”

You moan, desperate to have him fill you. “Astarion, please. Fuck me already. Please.” You’re keening, fingers rubbing against your clit with vigor. Desperate for something to fill the ache inside you, you remove your hand from your lover’s cock and shove two fingers into your wetness. The stimulation is fantastic and rips a moan from your vocal cords as your head tilts back.

Astarion chuckles darkly at the scene before him. It was no secret that he loved the way you inflated his ego when you begged for him, a writhing mess of wanton desire for his eyes only. The do-good, stoic hero of Baldur’s Gate turned into a desperate, needy little minx under his touch. He never tired of it. “Cum for me, darling. And then you will get your reward.”

You aim to do as he says, using one hand to plunge in and out of yourself while the other rubs frantically at your clit. Your legs are spread wide, displaying everything to the vampire as you push yourself towards release. Finally, the bubble bursts and an orgasm crashes around you, sending waves of pleasure throughout your body and into your thobbing sex. The pulsing seems nearly endless, and you feel the ooze of your juices sliding between your legs as you ride the wave of pleasure. When you come to your senses and flutter your lids open, Astarion's eyes are boring into you with such desire that it causes a tremor of excitement to run down your spine.

In one swift move he has you in a new position. Your feet are on the floor, albeit legs a bit shaky, and your ass is turned toward your lover, body bent at the waist. Your face is pressed into the counter, into the stickiness of your own juices. Everything smells of sex.

A delicious groan escapes from the vampire as he presses the head of his cock into your entrance, ready to take you from behind. “Beautiful... now, let’s see if I am able to make you come undone once more.”

Astarion slams into you with vigor, the force of the movement knocking the wind out of you as he groans in appreciation. Your soaking wet sex offers no resistance and you gasp at the pleasure of the rapid intrusion. He repeatedly drags himself back at a tortuous, languid pace just to thrust himself balls-deep once more, snapping his hips into the flesh of your ass, moaning every time he takes you to the hilt.

“Oh gods!” You exclaim as he picks up the pace, pumping into you with increasing speed, his cock curving gratifyingly along your insides. You feel yourself clenching around him as his efforts push you toward another peak.

Astarion growls and grabs your hand, guiding it once again to your clit. You’re climbing up to a second release as he rolls his hips behind you in an unceasing onslaught.

“There you go, little love. Won’t you cum for me again?” He coaxes in a graveled whisper as his lips and tongue trail down your spine, never once ceasing his thrusts. The vampire’s teeth find a beautiful little spot at the meeting point of your shoulder and neck, and he bites down, just enough to draw blood. The sensation pushes you over the edge and you spasm around your lover, your cunt eagerly gripping at his length.

“Oh! Oh... oh, my love.” The vampire groans as your throbbing sex pushes him over the edge, his final pumps turning sloppy as he spills into you. The two of you are a mess of panting chests and tired limbs for a few moments before Astarion straightens himself up and gently pulls you from the counter, dotting kisses along your shoulder where he left the bite.

"That was wonderful." You whisper, turning to face the vampire as you plant a gentle kiss on his lips.

“Mmh.” Astarion agrees in a little hum as he looks down at you with soft and loving eyes, pushing strands of hair away from your face before holding your chin in his hand and planting another kiss on your lips. The slightest of smiles flits across his lips as he runs his hands down to the curve of your waist. You move to begin cleaning up the mess you two made when your lover grabs your hand and begins to tug you away from the kitchen.

"Now, now, darling. Leave that be. I haven't finished showing you what else your hands can do… and we only have a bit longer before our friends show and ruin all the fun. Seems my Highharvestide feast came a day early." He muses, before eagerly leading you to the bedroom you both share. The flowers would have to wait.

——-

Part 2: Happy Highharvestide Day (all fluff)

[chlobliviate]

Wolfstar Microfics - Outsider POV

Words: 952

@wolfstarmicrofic

***

Lily had reluctantly agreed to go on a blind, double date with Remus, Benjy, the guy Remus was seeing, and James, Benjy’s colleague. The fact that it was at the funfair was a big selling point, even if just for the nostalgia with Remus. They hadn’t been since the summer before university, when they’d drank too much strawberry wine and it had been very difficult to hold back the neon pink vomit until they were off the waltzers.

Lily wasn’t a huge fan of Benjy’s, he was alright, she just found him dull. Too normal for Remus, somehow. Nevertheless, she was prepared to make small talk with one of his friends for an evening for her best friend.

James was, as it turned out, objectively, very attractive, with dark brown eyes and untameable hair. Plus he was funny and charming in ways that Benjy really wasn’t. She had half a mind to ask if he’d got a different friend for Remus.

The four of them were having a good time, to be fair. Maybe Benjy was lightening up a bit. They went on the waltzers, the Wall of Death, and the dodgems. They’d stopped for candy floss when Remus noticed the cutest cuddly toy dog on one of the games. Benjy immediately declared that he’d win it for him. James met Lily’s gaze and she swore that he rolled his eyes.

£35 and almost twenty minutes later, Benjy was no closer to winning anything, let alone the cute dog. Remus had told him several times that it was fine and they should just go and ride the Miami or play the arcade but Benjy was having none of it. Remus turned to look at them and shrugged.

It was at this moment that another man stepped up to the stall and exchanged his money for darts, while Benjy was pulling out more money. James’ face did something strange when he saw the man and she was suddenly intrigued by this admittedly very attractive stranger. He was wearing a leather jacket and his long black hair was pulled into a messy bun which only served to accentuate his cheekbones. She didn’t even need to look at Remus to see his reaction, because if Remus had a type, this man was it.

He paused for a moment, before looking at Remus and asking ‘It’s that dog you want, yeah?’, and Remus could only nod, stunned, as the man threw each dart and popped a balloon with all three. The fairground worker frowned at him before grabbing the fluffy black dog and handing it to him. He passed it over to Remus, “Here you go, darling.”

“Are you sure?” Remus’ cheeks were pink and Benjy looked mutinous.

“Yeah, felt like you’d be there a while otherwise.”

“We’d already been here a while!” Lily said before covering her mouth apologetically.

“Thank you,” Remus took the dog and held it in the crook of his arm. “That was seriously impressive,” Lily swore she heard James suppress a snort.

“I would have got it soon!” Benjy snapped. “I’d almost got it.”

“Oh yeah, for sure.” The stranger smiled, “Just wanted to help. Misspent youth coming in handy and all that.”

“We all appreciate it,” James said. His face was still doing the weird thing, grimacing but with a twinkle in his eyes. “We should probably get going though.”

“Of course. Have a good night.” The stranger let his eyes linger on Remus for a few seconds before he turned and walked back into the crowds.

“Who the fuck does that?” Benjy growled. “Are you going to keep that?” He asked Remus.

“Well, it would be wasteful not to, right?” He chuckled, “I can’t believe a stranger would do that, that’s so nice.”

Benjy sighed audibly, “You could probably catch up with him if you wanted.”

“Oooh bad move, Benj,” Lily said under her breath.

“Lily, let’s go grab us all a drink. We’ll be back in a minute, guys.” James grabbed her hand and practically dragged her away towards the bar. When they were out of earshot, he looked a little sheepish. “Hey, are you and Benjy close?”

“We get along ok for Remus I guess, but other than that, nope. Why?” She looked up at him.

“Because uh, the guy that came and won that dog for Remus is my brother. Well, best friend, basically my brother. Long story.” He ran a hand through his tousled hair. “I didn’t invite him or anything, he just showed up and…”

Lily started to laugh and James felt his stomach do a little flip. “He’s your brother?!” She wiped a tear from her eye, “Oh my god, I don’t even know what to do with that. The way that we were all so uncomfortable about competitive Benj that we somehow manifested your brother to put us out of our misery is the fucking funniest… Thank you James’ brother.”

“He’s a fucking menace, but he’s wonderful.” James shrugged, “I know I probably shouldn’t say but your Remus is just his ty-”

Remus appeared behind Lily, without Benjy. “James, Benjy said to tell you that if you want a lift home you need to go now.”

“Nah, I’m good,” James said, sneakily pouring some vodka into the coke he’d bought them all. “Unless you’d rather just hang out the two of you, of course.”

Lily made eye contact with Remus and smiled. “Nah, stay with us. We’re more fun than Benjy anyway. See if your brother wants to join us if you like.”

“You have a brother?” Remus asked.

“Yeah, I think you’ll really like him.” James grinned as he saw Sirius round the corner of the dodgems and head towards them.

[thewholekittyandkaboodle]

Day 2 Savior

'Diana…!'

Akko's weak voice echoed through Diana's mind while Akko herself laid motionless on a sterile hospital bed. They were both incredibly lucky to have avoided the worst outcome today. Neither of them could have truly been prepared for how everything could suddenly go wrong.

Lotte and Sucy had gone into town to get some potion ingredients for a class project and Akko had told them she was going to meet them in town later. She said she wanted to go to the outskirts of Blytonbury to practice flying by herself for a bit. Diana didn't mean to eavesdrop on that conversation, she really didn't. After being unable to even leave the ground on her own for so long, could Diana blame Akko for being over the moon for having finally lifted off on her own? Ever since then she had been practicing flying every chance she got. The small victory only strengthened her drive to master flight. Diana didn't want to make Akko feel coddled, not when Akko felt she was so close to her dream of soaring through the air like a splendid witch. Still, Diana just couldn't shake the feeling that something could go terribly wrong. After all, as much as Akko accomplished she was still the most accident prone witch in the school. Just last week she nearly flooded the school after miscasting a teleportation spell, Scintalia, in the bathrooms. It couldn't hurt if Diana happened to be there in case something went wrong. She could come up with an excuse if Akko noticed she was following her out of town. Admittedly, that didn't take long.

"Diana?" Akko inquired. "What are you doing all the way out here?"

Diana found herself akin to a deer in headlights, ironic considering her namesake.

"I-I'm…here to get ingredients for the upcoming potion assignment." Diana suddenly blurted out.

"Really? There's things that can be used in potions right outside of Blytonbury?"

"O-Of course! I-I can even show you if you would like!" Neither of which were a lie, Diana might have omitted her true intentions for coming here, but there were a number of previously extinct magic plant species that had sprung up in the area thanks to the revitalization of magic in the world.

"Really? Thanks so much Diana!" Without a second thought Akko hugged her. Diana's mind went completely blank. Despite herself, all she could think about was how soothing it was in Akko's arms. It came to a halt when Akko suddenly pulled back.

"Sorry, I got a little excited." Regaining her focus, Diana finally noticed that Akko's face had turned a bright shade of red.

"Are you feeling well? Your face is awfully flushed." Diana reached out her hand to feel Akko's forehead, but Akko hopped backwards.

"Oh yeah, I'm totally fine! Honest!" Akko hid her face as she abruptly ran off.

"I'll meet back up with you in a bit! Good luck getting ingredients for your team's assignment!" Akko was quickly out of Diana's sight. Diana hoped Akko didn't run off because she was upset that she followed her to her training session and was trying to hide it to spare Diana's feelings. Diana silently promised herself that if she had offended Akko she would make it up to her as soon as they met back up. Maybe she could treat her to ice cream, Akko seemed to like that ice cream parlor somewhere in town. Come to think of it, she'd never been there herself. She should probably get some directions to the place first, maybe get some napkins too in case of an ice cream spill…

"Diana?!" Diana snapped back to reality hearing Akko's panicked voice.

"Hold on Diana! I'm coming!" Akko's shouts were getting more distant.

"Akko?" Akko didn't seem to hear her, her shouts calling out Diana's name got farther and farther from town, from anyone that could hear her. Diana felt chilled to her core as she rushed after her.

"Akko! I'm right here! Where are you?!" Diana desperately cried. No one responded. No matter where she looked, Akko was gone. Diana couldn't accept this, there had to have been a clue somewhere! Then she found something, Akko's shoes left some prints in the dirt. She took off after them immediately. She came into another dead end when the tracks suddenly stopped. Or maybe…they were being hidden…She drew her wand.

"Illumina!" With a flick of her wand, her fears were proven correct. Illumina countered the cloaking spell that was concealing a magic forcefield. Diana could finally see inside. Akko was desperately kicking against two massive eagle-like birds pinning her to the ground. Standing over her was a scruffy looking woman wearing a weathered green cloak. Diana drew her wand again.

"Murowa!" Diana shouted.

The magic bolts she summoned fizzled uselessly against the barrier. Nobody inside reacted to her attempt to break in either. The barrier must be soundproofed on the inside.

"Careful now dearies." The woman cooed at the massive birds of prey.

"Don't bang up the kid too much. After all, it's much easier to extract memories from a healthy victim's brain." Akko glared up at the woman.

"What did you do to Diana?!" Akko demanded. The woman let out a hearty chuckle.

"Aww, did you hear little Beatrix Jr. cry for help? I'm afraid my little pets have no manners, so things get a little hairy when they sink their talons a little too much into their catch." Akko's eyes widened in horror.

"No!" Akko caught the birds off guard with her angry pushback and it finally gave her some wiggle room against them.

"I swear, if you've hurt one hair on her head-" Her attacker's boot dove into the ground mere inches from her face.

"I have no real reason to hurt the Cavendish girl. That is, unless you give me a reason to." Akko froze.

"What do you want from me?" Akko gulped. In turn her attacker reached into a pocket inside her verdant cloak.

"Oh, I'm not asking much. Thanks to the wonders of magic and science it's now possible to create wands that can mimic the properties of even the most infamous and powerful ones mankind has ever known. The only catch is that one who seeks to make such a wand needs to have the memories of someone who wielded it at one point. You see as the previous wielder of the legendary 'Shiny Rod', as you call it, you're the last component necessary. It'll never be as potent as the real thing, but even a fraction of its power is enough to accomplish feats no witch could ever dream of."

Diana eyed the black vial the witch took from her pocket and her blood turned cold.

"You don't need to do anything but lay back. With just a drop of this potion you'll be in a magic made stasis. You won't feel any pain or need sustenance to stay alive. In essence, your aging and biological processes will freeze in time. It'll make this much easier for both of us." The woman said as she towered over Akko. Diana frantically kept firing every spell she could think of against the barrier blocking her from running to Akko's side. Each spell proved fruitless. After unscrewing the cork, the assailant pried Akko's mouth to pour in the contents of the vial. Akko bit the woman on the hand and she jerked back in pain before she spilled a single drop.

"I'll only cooperate with you if you let Diana go!" Akko spat at her face for good measure.

"Fine by me." the woman coldy replied. The woman drew a wand from her coat and waved it to show Akko what appeared to be a vision of Diana asleep at her dorm. Diana recognized she was showing Akko an illusion. She probably used illusion magic to mimic Diana's voice earlier too.

"See? She's back at your precious Luna Nova safe and sound." Diana gave up on spells and started banging her fists against the forcefield, desperately trying to get Akko's attention, to stop her from throwing her life away. Akko none the wiser sighed in relief believing that Diana was safe. She turned to look her attacker in the eye.

"…Okay, you can take me. Just don't drag Diana into this."

As time was rapidly running out Diana internally pleaded with her ancestors for a miracle. She would give anything to take Akko's place, to get to Akko before it was too late.

"You have my word Miss Savior of Magic, Diana will be spared."

Diana blinked as she remembered a spell that could help her get to Akko, but she had to work fast.

"…I'll drink it."

Accepting her fate, Akko put her lips to the bottle and swallowed the black concoction even as she gagged at the taste. She struggled to keep her eyes open as the effects of the potion were already taking over her.

"Scintalia!" With a resolute shout and a big burst of light Diana warped inside the impenetrable force field and tackled the green cloaked witch away from Akko. Diana's vision spun in wildly different directions all at once. Diana surmised that the magic resistant barrier scrambled Diana's magic and mind when she broke through, but a small price to pay for Akko's safety. In retaliation the older witch angrily pushed Diana to the ground and the girl shouted in pain as she hit the dirt.

"Diana…!" Akko feebly cried out terrified for Diana's safety.

"How disappointing." The woman planted her foot at Diana's head as the heiress struggled to glare at her through the disorientation and pain.

"I thought your family would raise you to be smarter than this, Miss Cavendish."

"I will not let you take Akko!" Diana spat. The woman smiled with a sarcastic grin.

"Oh dearie, I think I already have. What could you possibly do to stop-"

"You promised Diana would be spared…!" Akko desperately coughed out as her strength was failing. The woman kicked Diana to the side to deal with her rebellious prisoner.

"Stop being such a pest. You need to keep your end of the bargain if you want me to keep mine and I don't have all day, I'll force it down your throat if I have to!"

The woman wrestled Akko's jaw open and shoved the vial inside. Her rough approach earned her another swift and painful bite on her knuckle. With a newfound opening as her captor recoiled in pain, Akko spit the contents of her mouth right into the woman's eye and she shrieked in agony.

"It burns!" she screamed as she fell to the ground.

"It all burns! It's everywhere! Kill it! Kill it all!" her agony all fell on deaf ears.

Diana clung to the ground for stability and crawled toward the direction she heard Akko's voice coming from in all the confusion. She was quickly pinned down by a large body, she'd probably recognize it as one of the birds if she could think straight. She desperately reached out for something to reorient her. She reached Akko's trembling hand. Looking upwards she could make out Akko's fading smile.

"Please…Diana……Save yourself…!" Akko whispered before her eyes fell and her body followed.

"No…" Diana weakly cried. The weight of Diana's failures hit her all at once. She was too late to save Akko from the spell. Akko would be trapped in her own mind forever. If only Diana thought of something faster. If only Diana didn't let Akko go off on her own. Diana wanted to scream, if only it would wake Akko up.

"Scintalia!" was Diana's final desperate use of her strength. The world spun faster than it ever had before and when Diana opened her eyes again her spell had brought them back to the halls of Luna Nova. She clung to Akko even as her magic caught up to her and she lost consciousness.

"Diana! What happened?!"

"Akko's unconscious!!"

"Go get the professors! Quick!"

Everything after the incident was a blur. The woman apparently fled the scene soon after they escaped her forefield. The doctors that came to help had reassured Diana that both her and Akko were stable, but there was nothing they could do to wake Akko up. Diana was left to watch each of Akko's friends look upon Akko's unconscious body in horror, despair, and sadness. Hannah and Barbara tried to reassure Diana that she did all she could, but she vehemently disagreed. She may have stopped the kidnapper from taking Akko, but she didn't stop her from casting her horrible spell in the first place. Perhaps they were right in a sense, Diana didn't see how she could have done anything differently in that situation. Even the magic she trained for years to master couldn't break through the attacker's shield without discombobulating her. In the end, all she did was get trapped in the same situation Akko was in. If anything, Akko was the one that saved her, and she couldn't even repay the favor. All she could do was lay in bed and wallow in her pathetic failure. Her guilt plagued her even as she drifted into a restless sleep.

"Diana…" she would recognize that normally cheery voice anywhere.

"Akko!" Diana found herself standing in a white void. She looked all around her, but saw no one else.

"Diana…" Diana spun around to the direction of the sound. Off in the distance was some sort of figure against the ethereal backdrop.

"Akko I'm coming!" She raced after the person she saw in the distance, only to be stopped by a stream of black goop. No matter how she struggled against it, it quickly enveloped her faster and faster.

"Diana….I'm right here…." was the last thing Diana heard as she was swallowed by the darkness.

When she woke up again the sparse sunlight indicated it was early morning. No one else was likely to be awake yet. She turned her head to see Akko's sleeping form once again. At that very moment she made a decision. The key to saving Akko was out there somewhere and she was going to find it. Everyone would probably be worried about her leaving so suddenly, but she didn't have time to dwell on that. Diana grabbed her wand and jotted down a note for her bedside detailing where she went. Once she was satisfied she slammed the door behind her. When she came back, Akko would too.

Author's note:

Fun fact, I originally wrote this for last year. But a combination of running out of time, feeling like the direction I wanted to go for this story didn't fit the prompt anymore, and having work in the morning caused me to shelf it. Maybe I'll make this into a full fanfic if I can think up a good plot for it. Don't worry, I won't leave it on a cliffhanger! I will make some sort of conclusion to this. If not a chapter fic then a shorter fic at the very least. Anyway, feedback would be appreciated from readers! If you have any, no pressure if you don't Heck, let me know if you have ideas for how this story could go. Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

@dianakko-week

[irregularbillcipher]

the one thing i do genuinely miss about that "irregular client illegally eloping with a regular line" storyline that i had to cut is kryptos' part in it. the general idea is that andy just completely throws himself into this client's wedding, and bill and clem just do. not. get. why

they're pretty blunt and in bill's case, almost cruel about the fact that what this client and his girlfriend are doing is practically a suicide pact. they won't make it, they won't elope successfully, they'll get caught -- hey, we'll make them the dress, we'll make a tux that fits him, sure, money is money, but andy, you know that they're not actually gonna get a happy ending, right? like, we know you're not stupid, you know this isn't gonna work, you're more familiar with all the laws to stop this guy from getting married than we are. these two are gonna end up in a jail cell, at the very least

but andy just keeps pushing it and pushing it. it'll work. it'll be fine. they can get a happy ending, you guys just need to shut up and let me them have this! the circles won't find out about them and they'll have a ceremony and they'll sneak away to a less strict district or they'll hide out somewhere-- in the forest, maybe!-- and they'll be safe and happy and good and i'll help them pick the flowers for the reception :)

and idk if bill or clem ever really figure out why he's so desperate for this to work, why he's so bullheadedly insistent that this is gonna have a happy ending. admittedly, i hadn't quite decided whether they pick up on his feelings, or how much they really get what's going on, but throughout the chapter it becomes very clear to the audience with what he's saying and how he's acting and how angry he's getting at bill in particular for being such a jackass about all this that oh. oh andy is starting to realize he's gay. he's projecting

and like yeah, this isn't a gay couple, but this is a couple that the circles and even the average citizen of flatland would absolutely not want to be together, who have hidden their relationship for years. and andy is close to irregular anyway, and bill is irregular and he's the first crush andy has ever had, and he's figuring himself out and coming to the realization of what being gay means in a society like flatland and he's just... scared. he's scared! even if this couple isn't exactly like him, they're close enough, they understand enough, and he just... he needs this to work for them. he needs that reassurance that even if the circles fucking hate you and don't want you to be happy you can still manage it. you can make it work

for anyone curious... it was going to be open ended, how the elopement goes. the irregular young man, (eddie,) is lucky enough to have a mother who cares very deeply for him, (and a dad who cares enough about his mother to care about his well-being for her sake.) his class status, (he was a low polygon,) and his mother (and, a little more begrudgingly, his father,) have protected him for most of his life from being killed, and he trusts his mother well enough to let her know about his girlfriend, and she was trying to help with the planning and the actual elopement. they do end up disappearing with all their wedding garb, and with at least one family member on board, supportive, and trying to help them, they have better chances than most would. nobody ever hears from them again after they disappear, but maybe that's a good thing. they like to think it's a good thing

[tammyisobsessedwith]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for the tag @mrsbsmooth 🥰

How many works do you have on AO3?

24. I also have another 40 fics posted on my old ff.net account that I always mean to cross-post and forget 😅

What’s your total AO3 word account?

366,872. I have another 321,055 words in ff.net. I had no idea it was that much!

What fandoms do you write for?

In AO3, I have works for the MCU (Captain America, The Avengers), plus What If…? And Agents of SHIELD, Love Island the Game, Too Hot To Handle: Love is a Game and Heaven’s Secret (Romance Club).

In ff.net I still have fics for Sailor Moon, Harry Potter, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Grey’s Anatomy, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Mentalist.

Top five fics by kudos

To Build a Home (MCU)

Avengers Initiative: Reset (MCU/Agents of SHIELD/What if…?)

Drawing Hope on the Skyline (MCU)

A Real Relationship (LITG)

Lights Will Guide You Home (MCU)

Do you respond to comments?

Sometimes. I’m admittedly very bad at engaging back, I used to be way better at it when I was publishing things regularly. I still love and appreciate all the comments and kudos so much!

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I guess that would be Stuck, but then it’s got a sequel where it’s not such a sad ending after all.

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

My oneshots are usually happy endings. I have so many unfinished WIPs, it’s a whole other thing. I guess To Build a Home is the only “long” project I ever finished and it’s my idea of a happy ending for the pairing.

Do you get hate on fics?

No. I think I only ever got one rude comment in all my fics, I can’t even remember what it was now, but I just deleted it and went on a tirade in my author’s note in the next chapter, I was really upset 😭

Do you write smut?

I started writing it in recent years. I’m not the best at it, but I find it very fun 🤭

Craziest crossover:

The only crossover I have is Avengers Initiative: Reset and it kind of makes sense since it’s all within the MCU and adjacent universe.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I think one of my old fics in ff.net got translated into another language at some point, but I can’t really remember which one now. Oh and I used to translate my old fics into Portuguese too.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, Love Island, Actually with my girls @i-boop-you, @crimswnred and @ellegreenwxy ❤️

All time favorite ship?

Considering the amount of words I wrote/read for them, it’s got to be Steve/Natasha (CapWidow, Romanogers) from the MCU. But I’m such a shipper, I have so many pairings I love.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Sadly, all of them. I’m very bad at finishing projects and once I lose my inspiration to work on something it’s practically impossible I’ll get back into it at a later time.

What are your writing strengths?

I hate this question because I’m very bad at knowing myself as a writer. I’ve heard I’m good at dialogue tags, like I know how to convey the right reactions/emotions with a few words without getting too much into inner monologue. Which makes sense because usually I start writing something with the dialogue, the back and forth and then I’ll work on the scene around it.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I also hate this question because I know there’s so much I need to work on, but it’s hard for me to list them all down at the same time. I mentioned I’m terrible at finishing long projects so that’s one. I know my characters when I’m writing them but at the same time it’s hard for me to translate that into my writing. I have a really hard time creating original characters, my MCs are just facets of myself in general, so it’s hard for me to really get into their characterization.

Thoughts on dialogues in another language?

I’m totally fine with it, I think I’ve done it in a couple of fics. As long as there’s the translation somewhere (author’s notes, in brackets or narration) I don’t mind.

First fandom you wrote in?

Sailor Moon, back when I was 14 years old and used an actual notebook.

Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ahhh there’s so many of them! I’m really proud of the ones I wrote for the MCU, they were a lot of fun. I have a Sailor Moon long fic I spent years writing, I still think of going back and finishing it. Recently I’ve been obsessed with Heaven’s Secret though so if I have to pick one it’s probably Prayers on his Lips. It was just so much fun getting back into writing after I went through a very long pause in all my projects.

[chiefyakousdilftits]

I don’t think I’ve ever really uploaded the very specific version of Yakou I had in my mind since like July, so, here it goes. ✨

✨ Yakou Furio Headcannons Two ; Electric Boogaloo !! ✨

( This is going to include both the Rain Code era of Yakou, and my little spinoff AUs / Devil’s Deal and Project Ninjin 💕 )

( CW ; Drug Usage !! Mental Health !! Trauma !! )

✨ Rain Code Era !! ✨

✨ Yakou does actually have an apartment in Kanai Ward, but he doesn’t really go back there too often. He and his wife both lived there, so being in a place that has practically been untouched since her death really stirs up a lot of sad feelings, so he avoids it as best as he can. He promises that one day he’ll clean it up and move back, but it never ends well when he’s there by himself for too long.

✨ He’s the youngest of three siblings ( and also the tallest ) !! He’s also the only one that lives in Kanai Ward. His mom moved across the world to her hometown, and his siblings live in various places around the world. He’s always wanted to visit his mom, but given the travel restrictions in Kanai Ward, it’s near to impossible to get out of there.

✨ He owned rabbits growing up !! He has a keepsake of rabbit feet in his desk somewhere, from all the previous rabbits he owned. He would gladly have another pet, but it doesn’t feel right to have a larger animal that needs to go outside on the submarine, and he barely has enough money to take care of himself, much less another living thing.

✨ Literally the worst smoker’s cough, also really bad sleep apnea. No, he’s not going to a doctor for it. Lots of waking up in the middle of the night to cough and clear his throat. Yakou doesn’t really get restful sleep, but he’s kind of used to it at this point. It’s part of the reason why he sleeps in so late.

✨ Has always loved the rain, he’s one of the few people that doesn’t get tired of it raining in Kanai Ward, still jumps in rain puddles when he passes by them. :))

✨ Has super bad eating habits, and rarely ever eats unless he feels like he’s starving.

✨ He’s pretty lanky, tends to trip over his own limbs. His body is soft, and he’s not very toned, especially in his hips and stomach. He definitely has muscle in his arms, chest, and shoulders, but he tends to get sore easily, and doesn’t really want to do lots of heavy lifting. He hasn’t really needs to for years.

✨ He’s probably good enough to protect himself at self defense, he can walk away from a fight, but he does get pretty banged and bruised up.

✨ He does actually need glasses, but the ones he’s wearing aren’t prescription, they’re just his late wife!s regular old sunglasses, so he tends to squint. Don’t call him out on it though, he’ll deny he needs them until the day he dies.

✨ Does not take care of himself medically speaking either, he will avoid going to the doctor at all costs, even if he’s sick. Fortunately for him, he has a rather good immune system, so it’s rare for him to get sick, but he does have unmanaged and overlooked medical conditions.

✨ Has four tattoo pieces, two half sleeves on his upper arms of flowers, his signature chest and stomach tattoo, and one on the back to match the front !!

✨ Main choice in pajamas is his suit pants, he hasn’t gone back to his apartment for any, and doesn’t really set aside money to buy more.

✨ I’ve personally always seen Yakou as cisgender ( though I definitely experiment with Trans! Yakou and love the idea of that ), and he is closeted biromantic / bisexual, disaster bi energy. He definitely tries to be as supportive of queer people as he can, but admittedly, being an older queer person, he’s a bit out of the loop on some things.

✨ I headcannon Yakou being forty - one at the time of Rain Code !! Has grey hairs for sure, though he doesn’t feel like he’s aged much since his late thirties. Doesn’t really have any sort of wrinkles yet.

( Now We’ve Reached Lop AU Territory !! )

✨ Devil’s Deal Era !! ✨

✨ Yakou is so mentally ill and unwell. Much more hardened than Rain Code! Yakou for sure.

✨ The OG! Yakou, human Yakou, non - homunculus Yakou !!

✨ Definitely gotten much better at self defense, though due to untreated trauma among other things, his fuse is much shorter. He’s bordering on paranoid at this point, and knows that people are out to get him, so he’s quick to react when he’s anxious or cornered.

✨ Unfortunately took up a lot of drugs during this era, it really adds to his paranoia and temperament, as well as his overall health. Also does a lot of chain smoking, it’s more of a coping mechanism at this point.

✨ Avoids doctors and hospitals like the plague, he genuinely will do whatever it takes to not have to go to the hospital, and really gets into home remedies and such to try and clear up any sicknesses. Keeps a first aid kit in his car to take care of injuries, and has definitely made splints for his fingers and even his leg at one point.

✨ Gets a few scars, ranging from one across his nose, one on his jawline, a few on his torso, a couple on his arms and legs, and a rune scar on his neck ( due to making a deal with the devil ).

✨ His sunglasses end up getting broken, and he doesn’t stop wearing them. It’s a reminder to keep going in the situation that he’s in, even though the cracks in the lenses obscure his vision, and by the end of Devil’s Deal, he’s just wearing the frames, because the lenses get busted out. It’s a comfort item to him.

✨ One of the few survivors of the Blank Week Mystery, he ended up escaping with a few others, and they live in an apartment complex together for awhile, until he makes a deal with the devil. Admittedly, he wasn’t the most badass survivor, and partially thanks dumb luck for making it out alive. It wasn’t really lots of fighting on his way out, more so just keeping quiet and knowing when to time his movements.

✨ Was a bartender again for awhile, and genuinely enjoyed his job this time around, especially after surviving what he did and going through the things he went through.

✨ Definitely exhibits symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, paranoia, and substance abuse disorder.

✨ He becomes much thinner and definitely more dehydrated after awhile, his skin sticks to his bones and muscle, making him seem a little more toned if you don’t look close enough. Though, upon further examination, you can definitely tell he’s extremely unhealthy, with his hands showing it the most, due to his fingernails being unhealthy and the inability to find the veins in his hands and arms, and his breathing problems being much worse.

✨ Honestly so much more grouchy than the Yakou we know, especially nearing the end of this arc, but he’s just having a tough time in general throughout this entire arc.

✨ Project Ninjin Era !! ✨

✨ He’s now reached the age of 42, yippee !!

✨ Still struggling with mental illness, but has built up a wall, so while he’s definitely still very aloof, he still manages to have somewhat genuine interactions with people, especially Yui, but you can definitely tell that he’s trying to keep himself emotionally distanced from many people.

✨ This is the first time in years he’s had a comfortable home to sleep in, though he finds it almost too comfortable, too girly, too soft. But yeah, the image of Yakou sleeping in Yui’s office / guest bedroom, surrounded by all these frilly throw pillows, heaps of blankets, and stuffed bunnies is hysterical.

✨ Finally gets actual glasses !! He keeps the same frame shape, but he now has glasses that fit his head better and actually feel comfortable to wear, rather than digging into his head and nose. He ends up getting the transitional lenses too, so they get darker in the sunlight, but lighter when not in the light.

✨ Actually gets a lighter wardrobe with more breathable fabrics and such, especially since Ninjin Meadows is much warmer than Kanai Ward, and now has actual pajamas that consists of either old thrifted band tees or regular baggy shirts with flannel pants or his boxers.

✨ Starts going to the doctor at the constant insistence of Yui, eventually gets referred to a therapist for his mental health, as well as a primary care doctor, where he learns that he actually does struggle with sleep apnea, COPD, and one of his knees had healed incorrectly, so now he is encouraged to wear a knee brace / wrap to help support it due to the muscle and bone damage.

✨ Still has a complicated relationship with food, because he didn’t really eat unless he had to before coming to Ninjin Meadows, so his cues on when he’s hungry isn’t something he really picks up on anymore, but Yui definitely makes sure he eats at least two meals a day.

✨ You can definitely tell that he gets healthier during this arc, he’s more capable with helping Yui out with heavy lifting and builds back his upper body muscle ( especially in his arms, shoulders, and chest ). He also mentions that it feels like he’s gaining weight back, and while he’s initially upset about it, he eventually embraces it, getting somewhat of a a dad bod.

✨ Really shows off his skills in taking care of rabbits during this arc !!

✨ Stops smoking cigarettes, but has definitely never given up on smoking weed.

✨ Eventually gets a CPAP machine so he can sleep better.

✨ If anything, living with Yui, he has a more comfortable place to stay and someone actively encouraging him to take better care of himself, and while he’s extremely reluctant to do so, vehemently rejecting any kindness for a little bit; slowly, but surely, Yakou starts to get better again, and learn how to cope with his trauma, as well as take care of himself. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not still a grouch like in Devil’s Deal, since he still very much is much more grumpy than in Rain Code, but now he’s learning how to care for himself in ways he never did before. 💕

[lotusprotocol]

dreamcatcher devlog: past 3 months (oops)

(screenshot from current wip level, out of orbit)

full devlog below the cut!

long time no see! really sorry for missing the past two months; i never ended up getting started and by then it was too late to post. i'll try my best not to let this happen again, though i can't make any promises.

anyways, there's been a lot in the past couple months! without further ado, here's everything(?) that's happened since the last devlog:

i started off in december by getting some of the core mechanics working, such as the camera, level transitions, etc. the visuals aren't completely done yet, but my main priority is getting the mechanics to actually work, and i'll make them look good later.

i did a lot of work on optimizing the performance and build size of my game, which i made a few posts about (big one about build size here)

i made another track for one of the levels, and i think i've been improving at music! here's the audio:

(i also tried making album art later in december but it didn't turn out good so i'll redo it at some point)

one of the most important things i did in december was get playtesters! i made applications open from the 15th to the 22nd, and chose 6 people who submitted. it was hard for me to leave people out though, but applications may be open again sometime in the future.

i set up a daily goals list to put 5 things on every day, and hopefully stay focused. admittedly, it's been a while since i used this list, and i lowkey forgot about it until i looked through my post history before making this devlog, but i think i'll get back into it this month.

i also set up a twitch channel! i'll be streaming over at https://www.twitch.tv/lotus_protocol if you want to check it out!

i was on break for the last week of december, so i was able to get a lot more done in that time. i also got a stylus, which is a really nice upgrade from drawing with my finger before, and did a lot of practice with it.

january didn't start off great, and i barely got anything done over the first couple weeks. i was eventually able to get back in the groove, but i had a sucky feeling during that time since this game's a big part of my life and my mood depends quite a bit on it (in a healthy way though, it's not out of control)

when i came back to working on the game, i polished some stuff up before pushing the first playtester build! i got some valuable advice, and it went pretty good.

i wrote down the outline for the entire story! there's still some wiggle room if i want to go back and change anything, but it's nice to have it down instead of only in my head, and i've wrote the dialogue for a few scenes already.

i've been improving my art a considerable amount over january and february! i've gotten a lot more confident in my art as well, which motivates me more to make it!

(pencil sketch from mid february; there's quite a few mistakes here and there but i still really like it)

i continued working on one of the levels, which was what i did for the rest of the month. not much i can say here, but it's been shaping up pretty good so far!

to be honest, february wasn't a good month for development. i had a lack of motivation and a lot of work to do for other things in my life, and there was barely anything new from last month.

the main thing i did in february was work on the tas tools for the game more, which are coming along nicely. i've been having an issue with consistency and don't know exactly what's causing it, but i'll figure it out eventually.

(unrelated to dreamcatcher but) during february, i took some time to make a side project i had been wanting to do for a long time: an upgraded level editor for red ball, a flash game that i enjoy. there's still plenty of work to do on it, but so far it's pretty nice, and it's not my main focus right now.

(screenshot of the tool, you can find it here it you're interested)

i've also been delaying the next playtester build for a long time, and it was originally supposed to come out at the start of last month; if there's any playtesters reading this, sorry again! i'll hopefully have it done this month.

i finished off february by making some more music! here's a wip from a few days ago:

and that's it for the past 3 months! with all that being said, here's what i plan on doing next month:

get the current wip level done, and hopefully do another full one

finish all story scenes for the demo

push at least two new playtester builds

do some story art if i have time

enjoy the process :]

that's all for this devlog, and if you made it this far, thanks for reading! right now, i'm trying to get the demo out by august this year, so expect to see something done by then. also feel free to join the discord server, where you can get more regular updates, ask me questions, or chat with the community! anyways, signing off now, have a great day!

[cfrog]

OC-tober Day 5: Relationships

[full prompt list]

How about the start of a relationship, does that fit the prompt? Here's a "prologue" I've been working on about how Xiph and Naut met :]

Xiphoid was working on a bot. An Arachnoid, not an uncommon sight in maintenance. It was an older model, with an ambitious number of moving parts for when it was designed. Intended for textile production, the model was usually issued to work in factory settings, along production lines. A good idea on paper, but not in practice. Sure enough, one of its four arms had gotten caught in the bigger machinery. Could've been a deliberate action spurred on by a human supervisor, or a mechanical failure brought on by repeated stress to the joints. The file didn't describe the full circumstances. It didn't matter. All the bot really needed was a few parts replaced and a bit of cleaning. That'd been easy enough.

This wasn't the sort of repair that would normally require xer skills, but it'd been sent to Xiph anyway. Maybe because none of the other Xiphoids had time for it, maybe because none of them felt bothered to do it themselves, maybe just as busy work. But it was work all the same, and Xiph savored it.

That's why Xiph was so immediately annoyed when they were interrupted by a ring at their office door.

Admittedly, the doctor was running a bit later than anticipated on their current project. The repair was only scheduled to take an hour, but Xiph had found a few parts on the Arachnoid's other arms that needed replacing, likely from smaller accidents that hadn't impeded its function enough to warrant sending the whole bot out. Those weren't listed on the initial damage report, which meant the Xiphoid didn't have to fix it, but Xiph did it anyway. They didn't have anything else to do today- or so they'd thought. No, Xiphoid was certain they hadn't had anything else scheduled for the day after this. Who was at their door, then? Pulling them away from their work, without even the decency to schedule an appointment, or give them a heads-up? And when they were so close to being done. Surely it wasn't the other Xiphoids back with more work to drop on them. But who else? Was it a human? No, no. In the maintenance wing? That couldn't possibly be it.

A second ring pulled Xiph back out of xer thoughts. Right, no point in questions. They can just open the door.

The door slid open and the doorway was empty. Then Xiph tilted their head a little further down than usual.

It was a small bot, very small compared to Xiph, maybe around 5 feet tall. A model they didn't immediately recognize, this was rare. Big eyes, thin protrusions in place of ears, sleeves? A quick search of the database gave them a match: Nautiloid. A skim of the basic model file gave them more information: 'Intended for deep sea research.' That explains why they hadn't seen one before.

The Nautiloid simply stared back up at them, unblinking. No clear expression. Still no greeting. Xiph would have to make the first move.

"Hello." No verbal response, but at this, the bot's eyes finally blinked. A deliberate gesture of acknowledgement. Xiphoid continued. "I'm sorry, I was sort of in the middle of a repair. Did you need something?" This time, Xiph got a nod in response.

… And nothing else. Xiph pulled back up the file they'd found, and skimmed it a second time, searching for something in particular. 'No speech program.' Of course, that's a logical design choice. What would it use that for, talking to fish? Still, very inconvenient at the present moment. This would require more time than they wanted to spend standing in their doorway.

Xiph sighed, an expression of resignation lost on the Nautiloid, then moved to beckon it inside. "You can come in."

Xiphoid instructed the little bot to sit by the desk until xe was finished. The bot complied and hopped into the guest chair. There it sat, perfectly still, watching the doctor work. Staring into their back. Xiph did their best to avoid acknowledging the new audience, but couldn't quite get back into the groove. Working under watching eyes was never pleasant.

They finished their work quickly. Xiph saw the repaired bot out, and watched the door close again behind it. Then turned back to their unexpected guest.

"Nautiloid model, intended for deep sea exploration, no speech program," Xiph recounted the information they had so far, ready to solve this new conundrum. It was almost exciting. "You can't speak, but you understand my speech just fine, yes?"

The bot nodded.

"Good. So I just need to stick to yes or no questions. Easy enough." Xiph recalled a human game with a similar premise. They’d always liked that one. “I assume you’re here for repairs. Is that correct?”

Another nod, just the same as the last.

“And do you know if you have a file started already? Have you seen anyone before me?” Wait, that was two questions. There they go, getting overexcited.

A short pause, processing. Two nods.

“Ah.” The doctor fought xer disappointment. Xe always loved getting to make new files. Not that it was important. “Alright, let me pull that up. It’ll be faster than just listing out every possible damage and defect.”

The doctor moved around the desk to their own chair, well-loved and only a little too short for them. The Nautiloid carefully turned its chair around to face them. A proper meeting position with a desk between them, much better. Xiphoid didn’t have the bot's exact ID, but a search on their laptop found only one Nautiloid registered as currently in the center.

Naut0324. File created by Xi04- of course she’d gotten a hold of it first. The full edit history, however, was more surprising. This bot had already been checked by half their department. The file had been created a month ago, but its contents were light. Lists of diagnostics run, hardware and software checked, multiple times over. Each with the same result: 'No issues found. No maintenance done.'

That’s why it’d been sent to xer. A puzzle. Xer favorite.

An easy place to start an investigation would be the subject of the mystery itself. Xiph turned to address the Nautiloid. “Do you know why you’ve been sent to us?”

This time the nod it returned was slower, unsure.

Xiph tilted their head at this new response. “You do know?” They glanced back at the file to check again that they hadn’t missed anything. “Your file doesn’t list anything being wrong. Which is odd, because there should at least be a note from the human sending you as to why you were pulled from…” Xiph's sentence drifted to a halt as they looked back at their patient.

The Nautiloid wasn’t looking back at them this time. Its expression had finally changed, shifting into an expression Xiph could only guess was frustration. The bot had no eyebrows, or at least none that Xiph could see under its bangs, but its eyelids were low, and its mouth twisted into a most disgruntled frown. It looked unnatural, likely not something the face had been designed for, but here it seemed to be all the bot had to communicate. This wasn’t something they could 20-Questions their way through. A different approach would be needed.

Xiphoid opened a new text file and turned the laptop to the other bot. The Nautiloid stared back at the blank screen, expression reset once more. Then at the doctor, awaiting explanation.

Xiph gestured to the keyboard. “You know how to type, right? Just write out what you know. Why are you here?”

Nautiloid studied the laptop for a moment. Slowly, they pulled up a claw-like 3-fingered hand, and began to poke at the keys. It didn’t have the dexterity for proper touch typing like Xiphoid had been taught, but it managed. Slowly, its motions gained confidence, getting more familiar with the layout. Xiphoid waited until the bot came to a full stop and looked up before they turned the laptop around to read.

'I collected samples. I sent reports. I stayed under the water for many days. Human team receive my reports. They tell me what to do next. Team stopped responding. I sent reports, no response. Alone. 217 days. Boat came and collected me, no warning. Sent me here. Many robots. I do tests, no response. 9 days. Nothing to report. I do not know what is wrong with me.'

Xiphoid had always known they were sentimental for a robot, another oddity in their programming. They kept junk files on their laptop, physical pieces of paper tucked in their desk, things that gave them this same sort of feeling. Xiphoid often recalled the phrases found in human text to describe these sorts of feelings, tightness in the chest, ache in the heart, stinging in the eyes. All things linked to their biology, to systems the Xiphoid didn’t have. But they could assume it as a similar sensation to the one running through them at that moment. Something about these bits of text were so familiar, not as if they’d read them before, but their meaning. They'd thought it a million times, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.

For once, Xiphoid had no idea what to do. What could they do? What was the repair to be done? Where was the problem to be fixed? They read the text through a second time. Then a third. It didn’t make sense.

Nautiloid’s fin twitched in their peripheral, and Xiphoid snapped back to attention. Xe was making it uncomfortable. Xe shut the laptop.

“I’m so sorry,” Xiphoid apologized, not entirely sure what for. “I… I don’t know what’s wrong, either.”

The Nautiloid’s fins drooped. Its face twisted again, eyelids low. Disappointed.

Without thinking, Xiphoid reached across the desk and held its hand in theirs. An attempt to comfort. Another gesture lost on the little bot, Xiph thought, but it was all they could think to do. What the Nautiloid model had could hardly be called a hand, less fingers with less joints, a simple grabbing implement. Intended to collect samples. Not that Xiph's hand was much better, long and slender, removable joints, some fingers still swapped for small tools. Intended to complete repairs. No, this wasn't something they'd been trained for. This wasn't something it had been designed for. But here they were, two bots.

“Hey, look at me.”

Camera to camera, metal on metal.

"I want to help you. I will. Promise."

Xiph gave it a smile. Naut twisted its mouth to match.

[grimmla-arts]

End of year wrap up and what happens next!

Well it’s the end of the year, and what a year it’s been. I feel like this is the best/worst year I’ve had so far. On one hand I’ve really gotten to spend a lot more time doing what I love to do, which is designing characters and monsters for you guys, and on the other hand the world feels just all the darker.

Ai really took off early this year and it’s been a shadow looming over our community ever since. It’s hard to focus on work when I’m wondering if I’ll be able to continue it in the years to come. I also decided I was going to work on ttrpg stuff this year (another hobby I love) and if you’ve been following that scene you’ll know that it’s been flooded with controversy all year long. X’D

With that being said I’m going to keep a brave face and work towards the future. I love doing what I do, and I think it would break my heart to give it up. It hard, but it’s worth it.

What happens next?

Well first and foremost I’d really like to work on my own personal project more this year. I spent last year doing a lot of writing and plotting, and I’m still working on it, but I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of where I’d like things to go. So I would expect to see more of my own beans running around. (I will be making a point to draw them more often) I need to practice drawing humans more so there will definitely be more doodles.

I admittedly have fallen out of love with the classic D&D dragons set I’d been working on. It was partly fatigue and partly feeling like I was promoting a company that thought it was cool to lay off 1100 employees just before Christmas. I just don’t have the passion for it anymore so I’ll probably work on something else, or go back to monsterhunter.

I’d really like to do more with the creature club this year. (discord for patreon and ko-fi supporters) I had a lot of fun designing beasties for them (all the sketch designs I’ve been drawing have been creature club requests), and this next year we’re going to do something special with give away designs, the first of which I’m thinking I might make public? I haven’t decided just yet.

Anyhow I just wanted to wrap up my thoughts for this year. It’s been a crazy one. I hope that you have all been doing well, and that these next few days are full of rest and relaxation.

Here’s to hoping that 2024 is a little less manic.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Directors commentary on the play's the thing 👀? (which I meant to ask this morning and then didn't, please forgive me)

I did this one before and got carried away so I had to think of something I didn't talk about there.

I mentioned the line about sleeping perchance to dream before, but that was the payoff for this line, which I didn't talk about:

How the hours between studying and sleep keep growing longer, and it’s not because he’s studying less. How even with the extra lab, he’s finding himself with too much time on his hands. 

He's not sleeping, or he's not sleeping well, or enough. We see Hawkeye have issues with sleep in the show, and while that could easily be just a product of the war, I like the idea that he had problems with sleep on and off before, too. A lot of that is, admittedly, projection, but it also goes with the idea of Hawkeye as someone who's a little off because people who want to be surgeons tend to be a little off. And here, he's not being destructive, at least in the short term. He's doing extra work and studying and leading the class and taking on an extra hobby. Eventually, he'll probably collapse. Or he'll start sleeping better again.

Brian Thompson (Polonius)’s apartment. He closes his eyes and imagines it. Polonius has a phonograph, a good one. Claudius—what was his name? Greg something

“Hey,” a voice calls out. “There’s Hamlet!” 

He gazes up at Ophelia looming over him, her breasts exposed, her hair loose around her shoulders. 

She pulls back again, this time to tug at his shirt. It’s a doublet, really, he hasn’t changed—he’s still dressed as Hamlet. 

These lines all go together, the recurring theme of the boundary between play and reality getting a little fuzzy. I had a lot of fun with that, especially using it intermittently.

The scene between Hawkeye and Gloria includes Hawkeye quoting some lines from Hamlet and when I first wrote this I just searched for some Hamlet-to-Ophelia lines to use as placeholders. When I looked more closely, I ended up keeping almost all of them! I think I just tweaked the order a bit so it would make more sense.

The interjections, beginning with "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance–," were @hamiltonsteele's suggestion, especially because I already had the "Her perfume smells like wildflowers," line, and I was so skeptical. But I tried it and it ended up being great. I'm glad I did it.

Speaking of interjections, the limited parts that are from other POVs being parenthetical is something I've never done before (or since, but I would do it again if the fic called for it) and I really love how it turned out. It started as a practical thing, because I wanted to stick with Hawkeye's POV, and I didn't have any full scenes from other POVs, but there were a couple of things I simply could not leave out. The original one was John Grable seeing the play:

He recognizes the skull, but not the student--

I think I decided that scene would flow better with more than just his reaction, if I was doing the parenthetical scene. And I think I came up with a second one fairly early on and wanted to fill it out. It was also important, I think, to show how people reacted to Hawkeye as Hamlet. So I wrote all those little OCs and the hardest part by far was coming up with names. I always use my relatives for Maine people and I'm running out so I had to supplement. I had fun with the rest of it.

She reaches for one, covertly, but the movement draws the man on the stage right to her.

I always felt like I could have written this a little more naturally, but this was the best I could get it. That moment of eye contact is really striking in my mind.

Doing the parentheticals also allowed me to give that little moment to Gloria. I really wanted that, Gloria telling the host "there’s a freshman in the bedroom who’s had too much to drink" because we know and in my opinion, though this is up to interpretation, she knows there's something else going on, but she doesn't know how to explain that. She's also trying to be tactful, because everyone understands a young guy drinking too much at a party, and she doesn't use his name.

I had at least one commenter remark that it was sad that Gloria didn't know who his friends were, but I never thought of it that way. I honestly just saw it as Gloria going to a different school and not really knowing these guys outside of the play (she meets Hawkeye to go over lines, but she wouldn't do that with most of the others). So that comment was really fun because it was a different perspective I hadn't anticipated!

He hears whispers, people asking if that striking young fellow is playing the lead again, and it doesn’t occur to him until later that they were talking about him. 

I really liked the idea that Hawkeye doesn't really know what that was all about with the play, so of course he doesn't realize they're talking about him, but I also wanted to hint at the way other people might feel. What was the impact of this kid doing this incredible performance as Hamlet and then just disappearing?

“No kidding.” Sidney stares at him, and he has a funny feeling he can see all of it. 

Sidney sees right through him, of course. That's what causes the "sudden attack of stage fright." This fic was finished and maybe even posted before I realized the parallel between Gloria thinking he has stage fright at the beginning and the sudden attack of stage fright here.

“You’re a great actor, Hawk, but you’re a terrible liar,” he said, but he laughed, and they got on with rehearsal. 

I wanted to pull in "I lied to you about Hamlet,” because I fully believe (obviously, given the fic) that he was lying then. And it clearly doesn't work, because Sidney still wants him to participate in the reenactment. So, you know, he's a bad liar. We don't see Hawkeye lie often, so I found that believable. The exact meaning of the last line, and of it ending there, is unclear to me. It feels like it means something. So if you have an idea, I'd love to hear it.

[multisfabulis]

Stay

Word Count: 2431

Here's my last fic of the year 2022! After the enormous trouble I had with my previous project last month, this felt like a breeze to write!

However, there is a bit of sad news I must share. This is going to be the last RLD fic I'll be posting, at least for the time being! The reason for why is that I simply don't have many ideas left to write for RLD and the ideas I do have need to be fleshed out more and given coherence. Right now, they're VERY rough and shoddy, to the point they need time dedicated to planning them out that I won't have in the near future. This doesn't mean I won't come back to RLD, though! Once things have slowed down some and I'm able to really conceptualize on what I have, then RLD will be brought back out into the spotlight. Until then, the dregs' will be going into the shadows.

Maybe it's because I knew RLD would go into an indefinite hiatus after this that I decided to write this idea out. I didn't plan it that way but it feels appropriate. This is pretty much a marriage proposal fic in all but name because when you think about it, isn't marriage just a legal way of saying you're choosing to commit to someone and spending the rest of your life with them? Of course, there had to be some angst thrown in here because these two boys have issues and it wouldn't be a RLD fic without it!

One last thing I want to say is that this was beta'd by my dear friend rosemaryblues! They admittedly had problems with this, due to it not really being their style, but they were still gracious enough to look over this and edit it so thank you!

Read on AO3 | Read on DeviantArt | Support me on Ko-fi!

     Okay.

     Today was the day.

     It was a day Ravi had been both dreading and looking forward to. A day in which he’d ask Luce a question. It had weighed on his mind for years now and Ravi had finally worked up the courage to ask it.

     Sure, it took several failed attempts due to him chickening out like a pussy every time, but still!

     In his hands was a small, plain white box. He didn’t bother wrapping it up or putting it in a gift bag because it would only call more attention to the occasion, attention he definitely didn’t need. However, it was what was inside the box that gave him the most anxiety.

     Inside was a handmade gift, something he had made for Luce in only a span of a few days. Something like this was rather uncharacteristic of him, but he worried the most over whether Luce would even like it or not.

     If he did, then everything was well and good. If he didn’t, well…it would certainly make what Ravi planned on doing afterwards super awkward.

     He heaved a sigh. There was no use in thinking about it. He just needed to get it over with! Steeling his resolve, he called out, “Luce, you wanna come in here?”

     He could hear the sound of footsteps approaching from outside the room. His heart hammered in his chest as he waited. To say he was scared shitless of what would happen next was an understatement. This was a hell of a gamble for him to take. All the years he spent bluffing and charming his customers hadn’t prepared him for anything like this.

     Luce entered the room, a quizzical look on his face.. Ravi still couldn’t get over the transformation he’s had in the four years they’d known each other. Before, Luce was practically a dead man walking, with his bones threatening to split open his pale skin as his dull red eyes peered out from the shadows of his own making. Now everything about him seemed to scream that he was alive, from how he glowed in the sunlight to the way his smile looked positively gleaming with life. He was, to put it simply, absolutely and irrevocably beautiful.

     “Is everything all right? You normally don’t…” His voice trailed off as he noticed the box in Ravi’s hands. “What’s that?”

     “It’s…a present?” he replied rather comically, holding it out to Luce as he felt warmth rushing to his cheeks. “Just hurry up and take it already.”

     Luce gave it a curious glance before turning his gaze back to Ravi. “What’s the occasion?”

     “Just take the damn box, Luce.”

     Luce took the box from him with a bemused expression on his face. Ravi watched him pull off the lid and peel away the thin sheet of paper hiding within to look at what was inside. He saw his eyes widen in shock as he took out something that seemed to resemble a band of some sort. Here it was, the moment of truth.

     Wrapped around Luce’s hand was a homemade necklace. There was a simple black cord just big enough for him to put his head through since Ravi knew how much trouble he had with clasps. Next were a few small beads on either side of the cord that were deep shades of red, violet, and blue to help splash some color on the otherwise dark palette. Then there was the main ornament, a crow feather that had taken way too long to find.

     Shifting his gaze towards Ravi, Luce asked in almost breathless wonder, “What is this for?”

     “It’s something I should’ve given you a long time ago,” he replied, fixing his eyes to the ground in embarrassment. The way Luce was looking at him right now was almost too much for him to handle. “You’ve been with me and Amelia for a few years now and I figured I should welcome you into the family. Not that you hadn’t been a part of it, this just makes it official!”

     “Wow, I…I don’t even know what to say.” Taking in a deep breath, he slipped the necklace on and held the feather gently between his fingers. “Snowbird…thank you so, so much for this. It means a lot to me.”

     “It’s okay? It’s not too loose?” He stepped forward to examine how the necklace fit around his neck. “A bracelet would’ve been too inconvenient for you and I know how sensitive your ears are so that’s why---”

     Ravi found himself drawn into a tight embrace as Luce whispered into his ear, “It’s perfect. Thank you, Ravinn.”

     Ravi returned the hug with just as much strength, nuzzling his cheek into Luce’s chest. God, he still couldn’t believe a man as good as Luce would love him and want to be with him. He didn’t deserve someone like him.

     That’s what made the next part of this so nerve-wracking. It was finally time for him to ask the question.

     “There was also something else--” he pulled away from Luce, gripping onto his arms gently as he looked up at him-- “to the present. I wanted to ask you something, something important.”

     “Oh, well, okay,” Luce replied, flashing Ravi a small smile, “Um, shoot?”

     “Would you…I mean, would you want to…” Fuck, this was harder than he thought it’d be. He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, willing his nerves to calm down. Rip it off like it was a band-aid. “Would you…want to stay with me?”

     His words hung between them for a time. He could see the gears turning in Luce’s head as he tried to glean the meaning behind them. Can’t fault him for lack of effort, he supposed. The question seemed so simple at first, but Luce knew Ravi long enough to know he wouldn’t ask something like that unless there was more to it than meets the eye. He was surprisingly intuitive for a guy who spent half his life avoiding people like they were the plague.

     “I’m guessing it’s not just for now, right?” Luce asked confusedly.

     “Yeah, it’s kinda like a marriage proposal, you know?” Right when those words left his mouth did he realize what he just said. “I-I’m not asking you to marry me, by the way! I sure as shit can’t afford a wedding and I definitely don’t wanna get fucking married because it’d be way too much fucking work and---”

     “Snowbird.” Another chuckle spilled out from Luce as he held Ravi closer. “You’re rambling again. Just tell me what you were meaning to say.”

     Steadying his breathing, he tightened his grip ever so slightly, “Luce. You have been with me through both the highs and the lows of our entire relationship, seen me at my best and at my worst. It didn’t matter how many times I’d push you away, you would just keep coming back like…the annoying cockroach you are, and I hated how persistent you were. Then we started getting closer and one day…I realized I was in love with you.”

     His hands shook as he continued.

     “You…see me in a way no one else has and you make me feel happy, and joyful a-and hopeful. I never thought I’d meet someone like you in this hellhole of a place we unfortunately call home and…I honestly can’t imagine my life without you.” Ravi wasn’t used to being so vulnerable but it had to be said. Luce needed to understand just how important this was to him. “So that’s why I’m asking if you will…stay with me. Be with me until our time is up.”

     “Do I want to spend my life with you, is what you’re asking.”

     “W-well, when you put it that way…”

     “Then yes. I’ll spend the rest of my life with you.”

     Time seemed to freeze. There was no way he misheard that, right?

     Luce said yes.

     He said yes to staying with him. To being with him until the end of their days. That was what Ravi wanted. He wanted Luce to be with him.

     So then why couldn’t he accept it?

     “But…why? Why would you…”

     “What do you mean, why?” Luce asked, concern shifting across his face. He lifted a hand up to Ravi’s cheek as he continued, “I want to stay with you. That’s what you want, right?”

     “But why?! Why would you want to stay with me?!” His grip on Luce tightened like a vice as his breathing grew more frantic. “I don’t understand, why…”

     Why was he sabotaging himself like this? Wasn’t it all well and good that Luce wanted to spend the rest of his life with him? Yet he just couldn’t believe Luce would willingly choose to subject himself to such a torturous idea. After all, Ravi was too vile, too wretched, too much of an asshole for anyone to want to be with. What in the ever-loving hell was Luce thinking?

     Breathing out a sigh, Luce pressed on, “Then help me understand. Why do you think I shouldn’t stay with you?”

     “Because I don't deserve you!” Ravi pushed himself off of Luce. He couldn’t stop shaking. Everything was going to hell and it was all his fault. “Why would you ever want to be with me, knowing the kind of person I am?”

     “Snowbird---”

     “I get annoyed by you, I call you by all sorts of horrible names, I treat you like shit and you don’t deserve any of it!” His eyes burned but the words would not stop flowing from his mouth. “I don’t deserve you…I sometimes wonder if you know how much I love you and I should be better but I can’t and---”

     Luce closed the distance between them and drew Ravi into his arms, stopping him from saying anything else. Quiet sobs spilled forth from his lips as Ravi clung onto Luce with a strength he didn’t know he had. No amount of comfort would ever silence the voices in his head screaming at him the awful things he’d known about himself for years.

     Selfish. Greedy. Entitled. He never wanted to let Luce go, he wanted him to stay with him till the day he died. But he also knew that wouldn’t be fair to Luce, especially when he’d spent so much of his life unaware of the beauty that laid out there in the world beyond this city. Luce deserved someone better than a guy who’d love to chain him down to him.

     “Ravinn.” Luce pulled Ravi away but still kept an arm around his shoulders. “I want you to look at me, okay?”

     There was no doubt he looked like a downright mess, his eyes red and puffy and his makeup smudged from crying so much. It took him a moment but he slowly raised his head to look at Luce.

     All he saw was a tender understanding as Luce wiped away a tear rolling down his cheek.

     “Listen, I know how hard it is for you to be open and honest with me, or anyone, really. You spent years putting walls up in order to protect yourself and I get it. I do. But that's why it means so much to me that you trust me enough to let them down, to let me in. It makes me happy to know I’ve earned that trust from you.

     “I don’t need to wonder if you love me because I know you do. I see it in all the little things you do for me.” His lips curled up into a fond smile as he reflected back on the past in thought. “You always take the time to listen to me and check in on me whenever I’m having an episode. You think about my boundaries to an almost frustrating degree but I know it’s just your way of letting me have a choice in the matter. You’ve given me things I never had the joy of having as a child…So, so many things, Snowbird. But there’s one very important thing I can’t get from anyone else. Do you know what that is?”

     He couldn’t even begin to guess the answer. What could he have given to Luce that he couldn’t receive from literally anyone else?

     “It’s safety.” Luce took Ravi’s hands into his own, holding them gently. “You make me feel safe, Ravinn. I’m not afraid to be myself around you, to fall apart around you. I’m not scared of you hurting me because I just know you wouldn’t. You and the snowdove are like home to me.

     “I don’t want to go through the rest of my life without you there by my side. That’s why I’m staying with you, no matter how much you think I shouldn’t.” He gave him a soft kiss on the cheek before suppressing a chuckle. “You know, if you didn’t want me to choose, you shouldn’t have told me what I wanted mattered all those years. So this is, in a way, your fault.”

     Ravi bit down on his lip to keep from cursing him out. Just because Luce was right didn’t mean he had to go and say it! Still, that wasn’t enough to stop Ravi from wrapping his arms around him once more and burying his face into his chest. Screw it. He decided to throw something out into the air to show Luce had gotten through to him.

     “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that?”

     Luce felt safe around him? It was…surprising, especially since Ravi didn’t consider himself strong in any regard. Yet he’d be lying if he said it didn’t make him a little happy to hear that. If only he had the courage to admit the feeling was mutual…

     Maybe he’d never fully believe he deserved Luce. Changing one’s way of thinking wasn’t exactly an overnight thing, after all. If he truly wanted to stay with Ravi of his own volition, genuinely and wholeheartedly, then who was he to deny him that? All Ravi knew for sure was that the future was looking a little brighter with the stubborn, tenacious crow known as Luce by his side.

     Softly, his voice barely above a whisper, he said, “I love you, Luce.”

     “I love you too--” Luce placed a hand on the nape of Ravi’s neck, prompting him to look up at him-- “snowbird.”

     Their promise was then sealed with a kiss. It didn’t matter to them how much time passed between now to the day they moved on from this world. They only cared that, for tomorrow, the day after, and every day since then…

     They would stay.

[lab-trash]

Spin-Centric (Trans Spin Fic)

I hope you guys don't mind me having an oc in this story, but if you do, I can try to avoid featuring them heavily.

Spin spent the next few days training exclusively with Leo, Bree or Chase. It was nice, having these people who supported him.

Chase told him that he was trans too. Spin tried to argue this, as he’d seen Chase shirtless before. Chase explained that he came out so early that he was able to get on puberty blockers and then T, so he went through an average male puberty. 

Spin envied that. It was too late for him. 

Part of Spin was happy for Chase, because he didn’t have to go through what Spin was going through. But that didn’t mean he was okay with going through it either. 

It was still nice to know that Spin wasn’t alone. 

He wondered if Bree knew that her brother was trans, as she’d mentioned earlier not knowing many trans people. Was Chase one of the few she knew, or was she not even including him because he had a mostly masculine childhood.

After a week, Spin was cleared to bind and train again. 

He took a single, tiny dose pain reliever before training. Just in case. His ribs were still a bit tender. He’d stop in a couple of days, it was temporary. 

When he arrived in class, he noticed something. Jaime. 

The colour on their shoulders was green now. 

Are you… fucking kidding…

“Did you seriously get fucking credit for fighting me while I was injured?” Spin asked, shoving the blonde back. 

“What? No, I—”

“You’re wearing a colour up,” He said, shoving Jaime’s shoulder where the colour started. 

“That’s because I—”

“You didn’t beat me because you’re skilled, you beat me because I was already hurt!”

“Spin!” Jaime practically yelled. “I fought someone else to get green,” They said. “Even if they’d offered me green for ‘beating,’ you, I wouldn’t have taken it. I want it fairly.” 

“Oh,” Spin said quietly. He backed up. “Sorry,” He admitted. 

“It’s okay,” Jaime said with a small laugh. “Are you okay, by the way? I know I was tough on you, you seemed really hurt.” 

“Yeah,” Spin said, “I’m feeling better now,” he said, running his hand over the side of his ribcage. It was true. He was feeling better now. 

“Good,” Jaime said, crossing their arms, “Wouldn’t want to kick your ass while you’re hurt, now would I,” They said with a small laugh. 

“You wish,” Spin retorted. 

“Hey, I’m serious. I don’t want to injure a fellow classmate just because they’re already injured. I’d rather leave a few bruises than break a few bones,” Jaime said. Spin shook his head realising that Jaime definitely didn’t get the point of that quip, but let it go. 

“So, who’d you fight to get it?” He asked, changing the subject. 

“Thomas,” Jaime said, admittedly smug. Spin’s eyes widened in shock. 

Jaime and Spin were among the shorter students. In fact, Jaime was a year older than Spin and was only 2 inches taller. Thomas on the other hand was 5’10, about 10 inches taller than Jaime, and a full foot taller than Spin. 

“Seriously? Dude, that is so cool!” He exclaimed. Jaime shrugged.

“Yeah,” They said, not even trying to be humble about it. “I honestly don’t know why I was ever put in yellow. I think it’s just because we’re young, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Spin agreed, although he did feel guilty when he was automatically bumped up by Mr Davenport when he showed off. It felt… icky. Sure, it was a nice feeling to one-up Leo, but sometimes it felt like Mr Davenport pitied him.

It was like he was ranking him not as a bionic hero, but as a child. He was better than your average child, so that’s what made him good. 

“I mean, you probably should’ve been in green to begin with; you’ve always had really good control of your powers.”

“I mean, I only really have the one,” Spin admitted. “So it’s not like I have to practise with multiple powers to master all of them. I can only practise with one, so I get the most practice with one.”

“Hey, you know we get more bionics as we grow up,” Jaime said, poking Spin in the arm. Spin looked at Jaime, confused. “You did know that, right?”

“No,” Spin said, confused.

“Yeah, dude. Like, Before I only had super speed. But now I have plasma spheres too,” Jaime said excitedly. “I think I might also have superstrength, but I haven’t talked to anyone about it,” They said quieter. 

“I thought you always had plasma spheres. I don’t remember seeing you without them,” Spin said, still confused. Jaime laughed nervously. 

“Right,” They said. “I probably was just bumped back down to yellow since I got new powers that I needed to master.”

Jaime themselves sounded unsure about the excuse they’d generated.

Spin raised a brow but didn’t get a chance to interrogate them, as the class started. 

As Spin thought back, he realised that he really hadn’t seen Jaime when he first went there. He only really saw them pop up after… hm. Oh, after he and Bob helped the police catch those robbers. 

Only then did he see them around. He figured he’d remember hair that obnoxiously bright blonde and the oddly confident stature. 

But at the same time, Jaime had numerous scars that they wore happily on display that could’ve only formed if they were there the whole time; if they were part of the bionic army from the beginning— if they had been going to the academy the whole time.

Various half-healed cuts, gashes and burns, and a single frozen scar on their left bicep. There’s no way they’d only been there for the few months between now and visiting the mainland for the first time. 

And to Spin, that just begged the question… where the fuck did this person come from?

[oiladgivememoney99]

Newscapepro Rewrite: God, Allah, Yahweh, Etc.

Nikole and Cory practically kicked down the door of Dr. Patience’s lab, both panting heavily due to the sheer amount of running they were doing to get there.

Dr. Patience jumped a little as they nearly broke his door. “Jesus, you two are early,”

“Oh, *huf* really? I thought we were late,” Nikole took a swig from her flask to regain her energy (somehow). “That’s why we ran here,”

“I wanted to be earlier than Nikole…” Cory pouted as the older woman crossed her arms in pride. “Why do I still have to do this stupid test?”

“Really? Cause there’s a lot of people who would kill to see this Skip,”

“Really?” Cory and Nikole raised an eyebrow, most of the things they had seen were murder monsters; the absolute last thing any reasonable person wants to see.

“Of course! Because this Skip is God… or Yahweh, or Allah or-”

“We get it, Doc,” Nikole interrupted. “The Abrahamic God lives here,”

“God?” Cory looked a little shook. “That can’t be possible,”

“According to some Foundation staff… it is!” Patience smiled. “Of course, some believe him to be a pretending reality warper,”

“Oh… wait SCPs can warp reality?”

“Some can,” Patience snapped his fingers to change the subject. “Let’s head over now, Cory, Nikole”

“Sounds good, Doc!”

The three walked into the SCPs containment chamber, an old Victorian Style room complete with mahogany tables, chairs and a roaring fireplace.

“Hello, Cory, Nikole, Gus,” The ethereal voice of the old man, sitting in front of the fireplace echoed from across the room. “What brings you all to my chamber?”

“Who’s Gus?” Cory looked confused.

“That’s me, Cory; we’re here to introduce you to Cory, SCP 343,” Dr. Patience explained.

“Hey, are any of us going to Heaven?” Nikole asked, smirking.

SCP 343 looked lost in thought for a moment. “I can’t say,”

“Dammit!” Nikole pouted.

“So, if you’re really God, can you… grant my greatest wish?” Cory gave puppy dog eyes, God chuckled.

“Let me see…” He closed her eyes for a minute, then raised an eyebrow as he finished thinking. “That’s it? Alright I guess…” The man snapped his fingers and all kinds of food: fruits, meats, fried meats, candy and the like appeared laid out like how they would’ve been on the on the tables of a king, the smell was heavenly (heh), easily attracting the somehow not morbidly obese private.

“You really are God!” Cory began to wolf down the food with a speed even 343 was shocked by, Nikole and Patience looked at the blonde man with confusion, and mainly concern.

Before the Doctor could even open his mouth, the elderly man answered. “His greatest wish is to eat until he explodes,”

“You could-”

“And not just some stomach rupture!” Cory ate an entire chicken wing in one bite, bone and all. “I mean full on exploding!”

“So, you can create anything?” Nikole asked.

“Yes, and I can even take it away,” God snapped his fingers and the food all disappeared.

“Awww… I was eating that!”

“And you shouldn’t have been, Cory,” Dr. Patience chastised. “That much food would’ve killed you!”

“Yeah, you still got missions to do, Blondie,” Nikole chuckled.

“Awww…”

God chuckled, lounging further in his chair. “You’ll be doing missions for quite awhile too… if you can survive what’s coming up I forsee a great career, Cory,”

“Wait wha-”

God cleared his throat. “All will become clear soon, I would know; I am The Lord, after all,”

“But… that can’t be possible,” Dr. Patience squinted, suspicious of the Elderly Man’s admittedly wild claims. “How come you never try to alter any events? If you were God you could do so easily!”

“I can… I simply wish to be an observer nowadays,” God looked down for a moment, a brief look of what appeared to be shame on his face before returning to his neutral look. “Things didn’t go very well the last couple times I intervened,”

“I’ve read the bible,” Nikole chuckled. “I’d know,”

God chuckled back. “Enough about me, what about you, Gus? What is your greatest desire?”

“Well… I’ve always wanted to see the Great Wall of China, but-

Before the Doctor could finish what he said, 343, Cory, Nikole and himself were suddenly atop a great wall, they stood upon perfectly clean stone near a stone tower taller than anything they’d ever seen. Looks of utter bewilderment filled their faces as they faced towards the green plains below it.

“Oh my God!” The Doctor screeched.

“You never do get a chance to see humanity’s achievements when you’re cooped up in that lab,” God paced around. “It’s sad, hopefully you can get a vacation soon,”

Cory looked at the plains in utter awe. “So this is what China looks like,”

“That’s Mongolia,”

“…So this is what Mongolia looks like,”

Nikole chimed in “Speakin’ of which, did Genghis end up going to-

“Yes,” God nodded.

“Didn’t even get to finish,”

“I know what you’re all thinking always…” God smiled. “Let’s go back now,”

Before they could even blink, everyone was back at 343’s Containment room.

“That was amazing! Thank you 343,” Dr. Patience was smiling too, even bigger than he already was.

“You’re welcome, my child,” God cleared his throat. “But I think I must be going now,”

“Wait what?” The smile faded, replaced with a look of fear… mainly from his superiors. “But you can’t go, I’ll get in trouble!”

“I’m sorry, Gus, somethings needs my attention,” And just like that, SCP-343, God, Allah, Yahweh whatever people wished to call him was gone in an instant.

“Oh jeez, this is really bad,”

“Chill out, Doc, he’s Safe Class,” Nikole took a swig from her flask. “He’ll be back,”

“But the General’s gonna dock my pay for letting him escape!”

“Well, maybe God can make him not do that?” Cory shrugged, a cringed smile forming on his face.

Patience’s face lit up and he suddenly fell to his knees and started praying.

[h0n3yk1tt3n]

4 7 11

4. What is the plot bunny you've been carrying around the longest? Optional bonus question: do you ever wonder why you haven't written it and experience deep existential dread?

Jeremy's freshman year bisexuality crisis... those first two chapters are still on ao3 but gods the progress I lost... maybe one day I'll dig up the scraps I could salvage and piece it together. It actually inspired another user (whose name escapes me, but they did ask if they could write it in that comment section) to write a fic entitled "sophomore year" way back in 2018 so it's kind of funny how the spiritual successor got completed while the original died.

7. Tell us about the plot for the first fanfic you ever wrote.

Technically the first one was this self-insert youtuber thing when I was 13 that was highly wattpad-coded, but I didn't finish it and I was physically writing it on paper and didn't share it to the internet (or anyone. For good reason.) Like, I needed to be kidnapped bc [redacted youtubers] thought I was keeping "government secrets" but really it was just fanart of them bc i was a ✨️#fangirl lol✨️ It made. No sense. But I was 13 so of course it didn't.

As for the first one I posted, it was started a few weeks after I got into bmc - like I hadn't even listened to all the songs yet, I was banking off of boyfs fanart, animatics, the wiki synopsis, and then LATER the script when I got to the Halloween portion. It needlessly erased the fact that Jeremy was crushing on Christine and that she'd "known him since seventh grade" via AGTIKBI. Like she had just moved and Jeremy was trying (and failing) to project his feelings for Michael onto her bc he lied abt wanting to join the play "because of his crush" and just.. made up the name bc haha theres not a Christine Canigula at this school. And then he goes to rehearsal and Mr. Reyes is like "lol new student this is christine canigula" and jer is all "oh shit shes real and Michael is supposed to think i have a crush on her GUESS I HAVE TO GO FOR IT NOW."

It's like... not quiiite the Christine erasure that I thought it was now that i think abt it, but it was still needlessly wishy-washy about her importance to the story. It was basically "Be More Chill but Jeremy got squipped trying to get with Christine specifically to get over Michael" which is like,, prime 2017 cringefail bc I started it when I was 15. It was,, stupid.

Though admittedly it had some fun ideas. Like ACTUALLY SEEING HALLOWEEN THROUGH JENNAS POV VIA A VLOG AND GIVING HER SHIT TO DO PRIOR TO THE PITIFUL CHILDREN!!! I POPPED OFF THERE IDC!!!

11. What's something neat you've learned while doing research for something you were writing? Also, how much do you worry about research in general?

This is actually recent bc of smth I wanted to do with Tales From The Lagniappe!! So in L4D2 the military calls the Infected "Whiskey Delta" as code for "Walking Dead" (despite them not being dead but not the point.) And in The Sacrifice comic that bridges the gap between the first and second game, they call the Survivors "Tango Mikes." I didn't know what the "TM" could've been code for so I looked it up and it's in reference to Typhoid Mary, who as far as I can tell is the first (known) asymptomatic carrier of anything ever???

She was a cook for hire and most of the families she worked for mysteriously got typhoid fever bc she had it in her gallbladder and didn't practice proper hygiene while cooking (it was the 1900s so it was like, weird but not weird weird). She was quarantined for like 30 collective years throughout her life and,, knowing the lethality of the Green Flu and that the L4D military nicknamed the Survivors after her brings an even darker spin on their view on carriers, as if it wasn't dark enough that they (spoilers) later resorted to killing carriers instead of just imprisoning them.