#it’s been a while since I’ve mapped colors

[in-a-closet]

A concept sketch 🐞 🐈‍⬛

[emmyrosee]

“How come you get to ride in the cart?” He says, a pout in his voice but a smirk curling at his lips. Your hip cocks up as your arms cross over your chest, more than willing to duke this out with him in the entrance of the store.

“Uh, because I’m adorable?” Your words only make his grin spread even more, he knows he’s supposed to make an argument against that but he can’t bring himself to; it’s true, you’re perfect in every trace of the word.

But who was he to go down without a fight?

“But baaaaabe,” he whines further, folding his torso into the cart. “I’m so sore from practice and ‘Samu hit me with the ball and I’ve been walking funny since, and I just want my perfect, stunning, and oh, so smart-“

“Oh my god, fine, just get in the cart!” You snort, the giggles bubbling from your lips. He merely grins victoriously before scrambling himself up and into the cart, other shoppers watching in annoyance and amusement as you watch his knees fold up to his chest.

“Comfy?” You snort, to which he nods over enthusiastically. You roll your eyes before folding yourself over the front of the cart to plant a kiss on his head.

“What do you even need, anyways?” He hums, his head turning back and forth in the superstore, sharp eyes glazing over the shelves. You lean on the handles of the cart, looking around and making a beeline straight to the snacks, giving him a dramatic sigh as you do so.

“Well,” you hum. “I know you wanted m&m’s and popcorn, but I also wanted to grab a few bags of Doritos and since the fuckface I decided to let spoon me at night ate the last of my cookies,” your eyes glare dead at him, only to be met with a wide, toothy grin. “I need to buy more.”

“The guy who spoons you at night sounds hot.”

“The guy who spoons me at night sounds like I’m going to smother him with a pillow.” With that, you two make your way to the snack aisle, your eyes glazing over the contents of the shelves hungrily. “You want any drinks or anything?”

“Nah, I’ll just take whatever you buy.”

You glare at him, “that’s kinda the reason we’re in here in the first place, you clown.”

He snorts at the nickname before hooking his chin over the side of the cart, his sharp eyes flicking over the colored bottles and cans. “Toss me a grape soda.”

“Grape?”

“Yeah.”

“Mid,” you scoff, grabbing him a can to put in the cart. He blinks unamused at you, but ultimately keeps his mouth shut while you make your choice.

“Oh, but my choice is mid,” he teases as you plop a can of lemon lime in his lap.

“This flavor has been worshipped all over the world- you just like the taste of cough medicine or something.”

“My mom only buys the bubblegum flavored cough medicine.”

“Feral.”

The little back and forth you share passes the time as you turn the cart to the chips and Candy, and without sparing a second, you grab the Doritos and toss them carelessly into the cart, smirking as you hear them crunch against his head and body.

“You know, I may annoy you, but I am still in the cart,” he says, shielding himself from another bag of chips that you swat in the cart. When he turns his head up to glare at you, he sees the goofy smile spread over your cheeks, and he’ll happily get beat up by your snacks if it meant he could see it forever.

It’s simple. It’s comfortable, annoying each other throughout the aisles and laughing when the other makes a stupid jab, but Rintaro knows that this is all he’s worked up for. A domesticity that had to be crafted carefully, and he’s honored that you decided to map it with your love.

It’s nothing all like he’d expected love to be like- and now, it’s love he’d never change for anything.

“Get your cookies and lets get the hell out of here.”

“Why? Afraid we’ll miss another episode that we’ve seen forty-eight thousand times?” You jeer, steering the cart to the back wall, where all the cookies are tucked away. He decides to say nothing, merely letting your own joke make you chuckle.

He says you're easy to sedate like that. Really, he does it because the way you get the last word makes you happy.

He watches your lips pull back into an almost relieved smile, grabbing the box of cookies and nodding happily, all before turning back to him in the cart.

“Now be careful,” you warn, clutching the sweet to your chest protectively. “Suna, I’m trusting you with the most precious cargo in the cart. Do not blow it.”

“God, no need to bring out the government name, just give me the damned cookies,” he scoffs, making grabby hands and rolling his eyes when you hesitate. “And for the record, I’m the most precious cargo in the cart. Don’t even start with me.”

“You’re like. Fifth, on the tier list.”

“I’m going to fart on your pillow. Give me the cookies.”

You do, with another small smirk. "You want anything else, baby?" You ask, though you proceed to the checkout.

"Nah, I think I'm good, booger."

You hum and steer him to the self checkout, letting you bag the snacks while he passes them to you, citing you both as the "dream team"- which briefly collapses when you refuse to take his card to pay for everything and chuckling as he scrambles for the wallet tucked in his back pocket.

"You're annoying," he grumbles at your lack of acceptance for his chivalry.

"And you're squishing my snacks- you trying to sleep on the couch?"

Regardless, you push him out of the store and into the night air, and even if he'd rather chew on glass than admit it, the way your face relaxes at the feeling of fresh air makes him melt, and he smiles dopily until you jerk the cart.

"Okay. Get out."

"Huh?"

For a moment, just a moment, it's possible that Suna Rintaro forgot he's in the cart.

"Get out. I'm not wheeling you home, babe."

He sends you a playful glare before using massive hands to grip the side of the cart for leverage. He tries to push back, but his legs can't extend much farther out.

At this point, you're just watching, one brow cocked in amusement and tongue licking the corner of your mouth victoriously. If you didn't look so hot, Rintaro would be furious.

“Babe?”

“What's up, player?"

There’s a silence between you both. You're the absolute worst in this situation by barely even acknowledging his struggle. his lanky frame, still in the wired shopping cart, looks so cramped, and maybe, just maybe, if one of the Gods loved him, they would smite him down from the face of the earth right now.

You smirk, “problems?"

"I'm gonna cheat on you with Kita-San."

"Like he'll he's gonna want you when you're stuck in a cart you begged to be in."

He gnaws at his lip in focus, trying to will his knees to unbuckle from their position and out of the cart.

But they refuse.

He whimpers in his throat while you point and finally cackle at him, loudly, rudely, being absolutely no help in this scenario, and he finally hides his face in his bent knees in embarrassment.

“I’m stuck in the cart.”

[ruthytwoshakes]

after 30 hours we’re done!!!

I love little pootis so much, a fantastic series. If you haven’t seen it yet I really recommend it!! I bought one of the plushies for my little siblings for Christmas hehe.

I’ve been wanted to make some fanart for it for a while, but I wanted it to be special! Since it means too much to me and my family :3 so I tried my hand at digital painting again! Here’s my process:

First I started out with the sketch and putting in the values, (that image is the scene I was referencing.) and since I have absolutely no idea how perspective works I just guessed and went “eh good enough.” I also used my radical composition skills to give the whole thing some life! (Golden ratio my beloved.) I should have gotten some reference images, first mistake, but I was way too excited lol.

Then I duplicated the layer and started painting over my sketch using some painting and blending brushes. Unfortunately I forgot to capture any in-betweens of this process so it makes it a little hard to explain. But once I got my values down and my painting rendered to point I wanted it to be, we started coloring!

And oh god! This is why the painting took 30 hours! This was my first time painting using this method, so I was so not ready for the coloring part. I’m in a love-hate relationship with gradient maps so the coloring was mostly done with blending modes, I think I used the linear light mode?

After watching a stupid amount of videos by Marc Brunet I finally got it! Used just one overlay layer and adjusted my colors and values as needed for this one. Used a couple gradients and other techniques to get the snow and the water looking how I wanted, and we’re almost done!

My favorite step! Adding a bunch of textures and sparkly stuff! It’s not for everyone but I really like it. And congratulations we finished our first painting yippee! Thanks for reading :3

little pootis by @quazies

[botanicaxu]

Hello Botanica I admire your art so much ❤️ do you mind giving tips on how you improved your art over the years? I would also be delighted if you could show us what your drawing process is like a little bit, if not thats cool too🤗 have a great day!!✨

Hey there! (*waves*) Thank you so much for the love <3 I'd be happy to share some insights on the topics you mentioned! (Sorry that it took a while.)

I think I’ve been drawing for almost 20 years now (Whoa!). Honestly, I don’t even know how I made it through, but ever since I was a kid, I knew art was a necessary part of my life. Looking back now, I’m just glad I stuck with it!

This piece is like a visual timeline of my art evolution. It’s wild to think I went from those super basic kid doodles to the style I have now. Growth is real, y’all!

So the tips! (They are mainly for those hobbyist artists, since I don’t have the luck to make it as my career.)

Keep your eyes and mind open to learn from different fields. It’ll spark fresh ideas and enrich your art, but always double-check when diving into unfamiliar territory.

Find tutorials that vibe with you, and collect references IRL.

Use primary sources to avoid distorted or AI-altered refs.

Take your own photos as ref.

Use 3D websites like Sketchfab, Blender for 3D assistance, and posing apps or manikins to help with your art.

Practice consistently. Balance your time between quick sketches and more polished pieces.

Accept where you are now and improve from there. Don't let others' opinions or other artists’ activities throw you off your path.

If art’s your hobby, the goal is to have fun! No pressure to push boundaries unless you’re feeling it.

Let’s move to drawing process. I’ve been doing hand-drawn art for more than a decade, but had to fully switch to digital media after 2016. Now I usually use Procreate for sketches and lines, then use Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop for colors and adjustments.

I’m gonna share two sets of process. One is for generic character art, and the other one is for pieces influenced by environment.

So character art is like:

(More under the break.)

Do some (very) rough sketch to locate the characters → Line art

Define coloring section → Do flat basic colors, adjust the tone via gradient map, change line color

Add more details, use airbrush to shape the volume → Rendering (layer mode: multiply, linear burn)

More rendering (layer mode: screen, overlay, soft light) → Post effects

Done!

The next is art influenced by environment:

Make a color sketch to set the general tone → Line art

Flat basic colors (background & characters) → Darken the art (layer mode: multiply), add more details

Add more details and begin rendering → More rendering, lighten some parts (layer mode: screen)

More rendering, use gradient map to adjust the tone → Post effects

Done!

Wow, this turned into a long post! Hope you found something useful here! Thanks for sticking around till the end! 🙌✨

[dailyhatsune]

hi! not exactly a request but i do wanna ask, whats your process when you're rendering more paint like art? (if that makes sense, English isnt my first language so apologies hdskhsjdbd) i really love how you use the colors and im curious how you do it :0

i’ve been meaning to answer this one for a while so here’s how i painted miku in today’s post (put under the read more because yeah prepare for a long post

i’d also like to preface this by saying that i never follow a set way of doing things, so in terms of what my personal process is like, these are only broad strokes of what i do! sometimes i’ll combine or skip parts entirely, depending on how i feel. also, this is not a tutorial, just how i do things, so please don’t treat it like one :’D this will read like the ‘how to draw an owl’ picture if you do

first, like every artist, i sketch. more specifically, i’m getting an idea of what i want to paint later on. this could be how a scene is set up or in this case, how a character is posed. here i’m not concerned about details or getting everything perfectly, i’m only planning how the thing will be composed. maybe a lot of canvas size changing, or adjusting what miku’s doing (note how busted miku’s right hand looks from all the transforming!) however, i still have to be concerned with how clear the sketch will be to future me, because the sketch won’t be any good if i can’t read what miku’s doing

after that, i lay down a flat gray under the sketch, mainly focusing on giving miku a clear silhouette. this is also a good time to make adjustments to the composition on the fly if i suddenly feel like something can be improved upon, like shortening miku’s left arm from the sketch!

after painting a flat silhouette, i start shading in grayscale, focusing only on lighting. i usually do it in two passes, one for the lightest and darkest tones i’ll use (not black and white) and then a second for midtones to blend them better with the base gray but i forgot to screenshot the result of the first pass 🗿 nevertheless, here is where i can start adding some amount of details. i’m not including any extra accessories yet, just focusing on the base design of the outfit and the character herself (for anyone wanting to draw characters from That Gacha Game, this is how i personally make the process more bearable for myself.) i still use the dark gray to separate where certain details (like the facial features and fingers) begin and end, mainly to make colouring more bearable later.

now here’s where i get the Good Colours. it’s a cheat lol. i put a gradient map layer over the grayscale painting so that there’s a little bit of color to start. some gradient maps can be applied as is, some need the layer settings adjusted to make it look good. this one, for example, is a (free) gradient map set from the csp assets store that needs you to set the layer opacity to 20% and to set the blending mode to color to achieve this result. in general, i tend to pick which gradient map i want to use based on vibes, or basically whether i want the work to be warmer or cooler, colour-wise. but this does do quite a bit of lifting for the colors in my stuff.

and then, finally, i add the colours. i add flat base colours in an overlay layer. at this stage, i’ve made the character silhouette clear enough that i don’t need to refer to the sketch anymore for what miku looks like. also, the gradient map layer does its magic by making the shading a bit more vibrant than it would’ve been without it. after that i paint over with a new layer to add details like the lace.

and then i put some extra shading on top. basically this is where the ‘better lighting’ happens. again, this isn’t a tutorial, so i’m not here to say what each part of the lighting is, but i’ve labeled which layers do which job. in other works where the lighting within a scene is more defined (from a window, from a small crack in the walls, etc) the glow dodge layer may be more opaque and sharper, but since this isn’t a work with that, the lighting was applied using an airbrush. the linear burn layer is also there to make the whole thing darker so the glow dodge doesn’t end up oversaturating miku. i also usually match the lights to the vibe i want, and use a complementary color for the shadows. so here you can see i have warm colors on the glow dodge layer, but light purple on both the linear burn and multiply layer.

and that’s it for the character—here’s a gif showing how each layer adds to miku! (sorry it’s so toasty)

as for the background, depending on the complexity, it may go through a similar process, or if i can settle with flat image backgrounds, i just go for that. it’s ok to use external image materials. i didn’t have a background in mind for this miku in specific, so i got some default csp materials and threw together something

and that’s about a rough overview of what my process for more finished works looks like! again, art is a fluid process so i never specifically stick to certain steps all the time, and you shouldn’t either. i can probably answer why i’d pick this colour over another in one particular work, but it’s something that kinda has to be learned on a grander scale. i think everyone can already feel what colors work with what atmosphere or what setting, even if they can’t immediately explain why. colors and composition do take some level of experimentation to find what works best!

[moonlight0934]

Crocodile Tears

Damian punches the last goon in the face before turning back to his brothers. Tim and Dick are both done dealing with their goons too which means the only target left is Joker himself, and Bruce went after him a while ago. Tim drops his staff, causing Dick and Damian to just stare at him.

“Sorry, my hand seized up,” Tim says, his face red.

Damian laughs.

“That’s ridiculous. You’re a vigilante, and you just dropped your weapon?”

Tim grumbles something as he grabs his staff.

“Shut up.”

Damian huffs, and turns away.

“We should go give Batman backup,” he says after a quiet second.

“You know that he doesn’t want us going after Joker,” Dick says.

“So what? He’s not that much better. He could die,” Damian replies, folding his arms.

“As much as I want to trust him, he doesn’t have the best track record,” Tim says.

“Fine, let’s go find him.”

Damian nods.

“He turned his tracker off when he went to find Joker. So, we should split up and look for him,” Tim says, pulling up a map of the city. “Nightwing, you take this area, while Robin can take the other one. I’ll go over to the harbor.”

“Are you alright with that?” Dick asks.

Damian nods again.

“That sounds acceptable. I will radio if I find anything.”

They disperse, and Damian heads to his area of the city. There’s an abandoned apartment building that has a few lights on. At first, Damian thinks he’s found the fight between Batman and Joker. However, as he gets closer, he realizes that there’s no way. It’s far too quiet, and there isn’t much noticeable movement from inside. Damian still walks into the building, and he takes the stairs since he doesn’t know for sure that anything is happening.

Damian slips into the apartment with the lights on, and sees the weirdest scene in front of him. Jason, who hadn’t been responding to their attempts at communication since Joker started attacking, is sitting across the table from Scarecrow. Damian immediately holds his breath as they both turn to look at him. Damian slips his filtered mask on his face as Jason smiles.

“Hey Baby Bat, what are you doing here?”

“Hood what are you doing?”

Damian types out an SOS message on his communicator. It explains that he’s with Scarecrow, and he doesn’t know the situation.

That should warn them to wear a mask. Who knows what I’ve already been exposed to. It might be in the whole building.

“What do you mean? I’m talking with one of the people that lost their homes in the recent arson cases. I’m going to help him if I have the opportunity.”

Damian narrows his eyes.

“No, you’re not. That’s Scarecrow.”

Scarecrow smiles at Damian.

“Well, it seems that you didn’t breathe in the gas that’s coating this room. That was very smart of you. I guess I’m just going to have to give you a shot of it so you can tell whatever backup you have that it was a false alarm.”

“What?” Jason asks, his eyes slightly glassed over.

“Can you give this to him?” Scarecrow asks, holding a syringe out to Jason. “It’s a vaccine for something that’s been going around this area. You wouldn’t want your brother to catch it, would you?”

Jason takes it, shaking his head.

“Come here.”

Damian shakes his head.

“Hood, snap out of it.”

Jason continues walking towards him. Damian takes a step back, his eyes trained on Scarecrow.

“Come on, it’s not that bad. It’s just a shot. You’ve never thrown a tantrum about a shot before.”

“I don’t throw tantrums!” Damian cries, obviously offended.

Jason grabs his arm, but Damian kneecaps him. He twists his arm away from Jason, and storms over to Scarecrow. Damian grabs Scarecrow’s collar, but Jason tackles him before he can do anything.

“What is wrong with you? Attacking a civilian?” Jason demands, anger coloring his tone.

“Shut up, and get off of me!” Damian cries, trying to push Jason off of him.

Jason is about to stick the needle into his arm when the door slams open. Dick comes in, and stares at both of them.

“Get off of him!” Dick says, his tone hard. Dick’s eyes start to glass over slightly.

“Put your mask on,” Damian demands, then drives his knee into Jason’s stomach.

Jason stumbles, leaning against the wall, and Damian climbs out from underneath him.

“Why would I need a mask? You and Hood need to stop fighting, and get along.”

“Because of Scarecrow!”

“Scarecrow isn’t here, Da-”

Damian is across the room in an instant, and he presses his hand against Dick’s mouth.

“Were you just about to say my name in costume?” Damian hisses, his eyes dark.

“Calm down. It’s just us, Hood, and some civilian. I’m sure he won’t say anything.”

“That’s not a random civilian, that’s Scarecrow. Either way, you shouldn’t be saying my name in front of civilians.”

“Did you hit your head?”

Jason climbs to his feet, but he looks confused.

“What was I doing?”

“You were just about to sedate Robin because he attacked me,” Scarecrow says, putting on his best scared voice. He sniffles, and a single tear rolls down his face.

“Can you just put the burlap sack back on your head, because you are the ugliest crier I’ve ever seen,” Damian snaps before turning back to Dick.

“Robin, you can’t talk to people like that. Is that true, Hood? Did Robin attack him, and were you trying to sedate him?”

Jason looks down at the syringe in his hand, and then nods. Scarecrow continues fake crying in the background.

They’re both really high by now, so I have to figure out how to restrain both of them, and not let Scarecrow get away. This is going to be difficult, but I have to figure something out before someone else shows up without a mask.

Dick grabs Damian by the shoulders.

“You have to calm down, Robin.”

Damian glares at him, then slams his elbow into Dick’s face as hard as he can. Dick stumbles back into the wall while Jason rushes forward to grab Damian. Damian ducks, throwing a batarang at Scarecrow, who is trying to move closer to the window. It doesn’t seem like he’s actively trying to sneak away, just trying to make it easier to do if Damian does get the upper hand. The batarang hits him square in the jaw, knocking him off of his feet.

Jason goes crazy at that, and grabs Damian like he’s a rag doll. Damian almost snaps his neck, but then remembers exactly who he’s fighting. Jason slams him against the wall hard enough to crack a few of his ribs. Damian gasps.

“You just assaulted a civilian!” Jason forces Damian’s face up to lock eyes with him. “Do you understand how serious this is? I thought we were past this? You can’t keep acting like that!”

Damian blinks, all of the rational thoughts leaving his brain. Scarecrow is getting up now, wiping the tear tracks off of his face. Damian bites his lip.

“Yeah, you should be upset. You’re acting just like your grandfather.”

Jason drops Damian, and hits the floor a second later. Tim is standing behind him, a mask in place. Dick is also unconscious exactly where Damian left him. Tim knocks Scarecrow out too before turning back to Damian.

“Hey, are you ok? Did he hurt you?”

Damian shakes his head even though his ribs and back are screaming.

“Ok, well we need to get them out of here. Batman had Joker handled already. I assume that Scarecrow was trying to use the distraction to get a hold of Hood. What he planned to do after that, I’m not sure. For now though, we just need to get them home. Can you help me get Nightwing to the car?”

Damian nods again, almost mechanically at this point. Tim looks concerned, but doesn’t say anything. Once they get Jason and Dick to the infirmary, Damian doesn’t wait to hear if they’re ok, or if Bruce found out what Scarecrow wanted. He just changes, and goes straight to his room. He locks the door behind himself, and throws himself into bed. He ends up crying alone until he falls asleep, unable to get his brother’s words out of his head.

Tim drops into a chair, his whole body aching. 

“Do you know what’s going on with Damian?” Bruce asks as he checks both Jason and Dick’s IVs. 

“No, I got there right as Jason was pushing Damian against a wall. I have no idea what happened before that. I’m worried about him though, because he completely shut down earlier. I know something happened, but I’m not sure what it was.” 

“Ok, well, can you stay with them while I go check on him? There probably wasn’t any surveillance in the area, so all we can do is see if we can get him to talk.” 

Tim nods, turning his attention to his other two brothers. Bruce walks up the stairs, leaving the cave in complete silence. Bruce is gone for almost fifteen minutes, and he doesn’t look happy when he walks back in. 

“How’d it go?” 

“He was asleep when I went in there. Of course I accidentally woke him up, but he kept insisting that everything was fine. That it was just a long day, and that he was tired. I asked if he was sure that he wasn’t exposed to anything, and he said yes. That was when he kicked me out. He wasn’t standing weird, or wincing, so it probably wasn’t an injury that he’s hiding. I’ll see if I can talk him into an X-ray later, just to be sure.” 

Tim nods, his gaze distant. “What do you think happened?” he asks after Bruce is settled in between Jason Dick’s beds. 

“I don’t know. They were under the influence of Scarecrow’s newest concoction, so it could be anything. That’s more what I’m worried about. There’s no way we’re going to guess what it was, and I’m not sure exactly where to start.” 

“Well, you are the greatest detective, so I’m sure between the two of us we can figure it out,” Tim offers, trying to be uplifting. 

“Yeah, I’m just so tired. I know that we should figure this out now, but I’m so exhausted I can barely think.” 

“That makes sense. You just fought Joker by yourself, then immediately got a call saying that something had happened with three of your sons. That definitely makes for a stressful evening.” 

Bruce hums, but his eyes are still sad. “How do you think he got Jason there in the first place?” 

“Probably some kind of bait, or trap. Maybe he set up a meeting, then gassed the whole place? I’m not sure, but it definitely could be that.” 

Bruce nods. “That makes sense. We’ll talk to him later, and see what he remembers.” 

Tim forces himself to his feet, aching muscles protesting immediately. 

“Alright, well, I’m heading to bed. Let me know when they wake up.” 

He walks up the stairs, stopping by Damian’s door for a second, but ultimately deciding against knocking. He changes before flopping into bed to get some sleep. 

Damian wakes up to his ribs burning. The pain has extended from his back to his hip, and he winces as he shifts. 

I’m getting weak. I was barely able to hide my pain from Father when he came in here earlier. I can’t let myself get complacent. 

He starts stretching lightly, and the pain in his back and hip doesn’t get any better. It’s still dark outside, but that doesn’t really mean anything, so he checks his phone for the time. It’s almost seven a.m., so he gently climbs back into bed. His ribs shift with the movement, and he has to bite his lip to keep himself quiet. Damian reaches out to grab his phone, then dials Jon’s number. 

He answers on the last ring, “Hey, Damian. It’s kind of early for you to be calling me on a Sunday. Is everything ok?” 

“Yes, everything is fine. I just needed someone to speak to. I know you’re busy though, so it’s ok if you don’t have time to talk.” 

“You’re just like your grandfather. You can’t keep acting like this.” 

“No, don’t worry about it. I’m not busy at all. What did you want to talk about?” 

“Anything. Can you just tell me what you’ve been up to?” 

“Yeah, but, Damian, are you sure you’re ok? I know that whatever happened, you don’t want to talk about it, but you sound like you’re in pain.” 

“It’s just a few broken ribs. It’s not a big deal.” 

“I guess there isn’t much you can do for broken ribs. Anyway, you want to know what I’ve been up to… I’ve been working with the cows. One of them kicked me the other day, and I crashed into a wall. I was fine though. It was wild. How are your friends?” 

“They’re fine. Titus is sitting outside of my door right now begging to be let in.” 

“Aw, poor guy.” 

“Yeah, but he doesn’t understand the concept of broken ribs, and he’s too big for me to trust him not to hurt me.” 

“Oh, yeah. You should definitely keep him out then. I didn’t even think about that.” Jon keeps chattering, and Damian lets his head drop back. He listens to what Jon is saying even though he’s barely processing it. He’s starting to fall asleep by the time Jon says, “Hey, I gotta go. Mom is heading up the stairs to tell me that it’s time to get ready for church. Do you want me to call you back afterwards?” 

“No, that’s alright. I’m going to get some more sleep, and then check on my family. We had an incident with Joker and Scarecrow yesterday.” 

“Is that how you got hurt?” 

“I thought we were past this?” 

“Yeah, that’s exactly what happened. I got hurt during a run in with Scarecrow. Anyway, thank you for talking with me.” 

“Yeah, anytime. Just take it easy until you’re feeling better.” 

“I will, goodbye Jonathan.” 

“Bye, Damian.” 

Damian hangs up, then shifts as slowly as he can onto his side to take pressure off of his back. He falls asleep again quickly after changing positions. He doesn’t wake up again until light is streaming into his room, which is only a couple of hours later. It’s ten by then, so Damian forces himself out of bed. He walks into the bathroom with clothes so he can get a shower. His back is purple, and his chest has a thick black line across it from Jason’s arm slamming into him. Damian winces at it, but continues what he’s doing. Once he finishes his shower, he heads down the stairs to find Tim curled up on the couch. 

“Hey, Baby Bat. Come sit with me?” 

“I was going to check on Grayson and Todd.” 

“Jason already left. He was angry and confused about yesterday. Apparently one of his people betrayed him, and he went to deal with it as soon as he woke up. You actually just missed Dick. He’s heading to the store with Bruce. I think Bruce just wanted an excuse to talk to him about something, but that just leaves us. So, come sit with me. You can talk to Dick when he gets back.” 

Damian walks over, and sits down besides Tim. Tim pulls Damian a little closer, and Damian bites his cheek to stop himself from crying out. 

“Are you alright?” he says softly. 

“Yes, I’m fine.” 

“What happened yesterday before I got there? Jason and Dick don’t remember anything after being put under the influence of that drug.” 

Damian huffs, looking away. “Was it Scarecrow? Did he do something? Was it one of the other two? I didn’t see most of it, but it did not look like Jason was being too gentle with you.” 

“He wasn’t, but I’m not a baby. I don’t need someone to coddle me, because Todd was a little aggressive. I can handle some bruises, especially since it wasn’t his fault.” The words sound hollow even to Damian’s ears. Especially the last comment, but he lets the silence continue instead of trying harder with the situation. 

“It’s ok if something did happen, buddy. You’re safe here, and you can be honest with us.” 

“I know that I can be honest with you, Timothy.” 

You’re not the problem. I could still be the same person I was when I got here, and you’d still love me. I can’t ruin whatever Todd and Father have right now. I know that they probably won’t ever kick me out, but I don’t want to ruin anything else, especially since I’m a bad person. 

“You have your thinking face on. Whatcha thinking about?” Tim asks, putting his cheek on top of Damian’s head. 

Damian lets himself relax against Tim. “Nothing. There’s a lot of thoughts running through my head, but not a lot of coherence. Can we watch something?” 

“Of course. What do you want to watch?” 

He’s letting it go for now, but I know that he’s just trying to let me come to him. What do I do now? I’m going to pretend like nothing ever happened. 

“We can just turn on whatever anime you’re currently watching.” 

Tim smirks. “Yeah, I’m sure you want to do that.” 

He grabs the remote, and turns on one of Damian’s documentaries before settling back down against the couch. He keeps an arm around Damian’s shoulders, but it’s loose now. Damian finds himself falling asleep again even as he tries to force his eyes open. Tim laughs as he runs a hand through Damian’s hair. 

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Damian complains, scrunching up his nose. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you just seem like you need some sleep. It was a very long day yesterday.” 

Damian rolls his eyes, but lets them drop closed after that. The door opens, startling Damian awake. He sits up, pulling away from Tim. Tim stands up, stretching. 

“That’s probably Bruce and Dick.” 

He walks to the doorway, and Dick hugs him. 

“Hey, Timmy. How’s Damian? Was he hurt last night?” 

Damian stands up as Tim answers, “No, he’s fine. He’s right behind me by the couch.” 

Dick turns away from Tim to Damian. He walks over, and wraps his arms around Damian. 

“I am so sorry about yesterday.” 

Pain flares through Damian’s body, and he has to disguise it with a frown. He doesn’t move to hug Dick back, because the thought of moving his arms feels like torture. 

“What are you referring to?” 

“When you sent out that message last night. I don’t know what was wrong with my communicator, but it didn’t give me any words. I was told that you added a message to your SOS, but I didn’t get it. That’s why I came without a mask on. I had no way of knowing that it was Scarecrow specifically.” 

“Things happen. It’s not like you broke your communicator on purpose, or something. Either way, it’s fine. This actually makes a lot more sense than you just showing up unprepared.” 

Dick smiles. “Yeah, I try not to do that. I didn’t know. I just got an SOS, and pulled up your tracker to see where you were. You’re sure that you’re alright?” 

“I will be.” 

Dick frowns, obviously a little confused. 

“I’m heading down to the cave. I have some reports to write, and it’s quiet down there.” 

He walks past them even as Bruce follows him. “Damian, can we talk?” 

“Why?” Damian asks quietly as he sits down in front of the computer. 

“You know that you can talk to me about anything, right?” 

“Hm.” 

“That’s not an answer. I need you to know that I’m here for you Damian.” 

Damian’s eyes are burning now, because even if he is, Damian will never be as important as the sons he picked. The ones that are good for things other than killing, and that were raised for better things. 

“Yeah, whatever,” Damian bitterly replies, knowing how badly that he would get punished for that if he were anywhere else. 

Bruce doesn’t scold him though, he just leaves him to work. He ends up staying down there for the rest of the day avoiding his family, which means he’s exhausted by the time Tim and Bruce come down the stairs for patrol. 

“Are you heading out?” Damian asks, keeping his eyes on the floor. 

“Yeah, but you don’t have to come. You can just rest tonight,” Bruce says, then kisses Damian on the top of the head.

“I’m going to be staying here and working comms tonight. If you need anything at all, just let me know,” Tim says, giving Damian a thin smile. 

Damian returns it, then stands up. “I think I’m going to head to bed now. I have school in the morning, and would like to be adequately rested.” 

He heads up the stairs, but he can hear Bruce say, “He’s not actually going to sleep at nine thirty, is he?” 

“Probably not. He’s probably going to read, draw, or find something else to do,” Tim replies. 

Damian doesn’t stick around for the rest of the conversation, too tired to really care. He goes up the stairs in a haze, not really paying attention to what he’s doing. Alfred is the only one in the manor right now anyway, and he’s cleaning in the living room. He still can’t completely relax, his training kicking in. However, he’s tired enough that he isn’t hyper aware of everything around him. Damian opens his door, and steps inside. He goes to take another step, but Alfred the cat walks directly underneath his foot. He pulls back fast enough not to step on him, but he also loses his balance. Something in his chest shifts again when he hits the ground, and pain overcomes all of his senses before he can even make a sound. 

Tim shifts, an uncomfortable feeling spiking his anxiety. It’s only ten, and Bruce isn’t due back for another three hours at least. Also, he’s been checking in every fifteen minutes, just like he’s supposed to. So, it can’t be him, and Tim can hear Alfred upstairs. He’s gotten quieter, but he’s obviously doing something in the kitchen. 

I really shouldn’t have expected to hear from Damian. He’s only been upstairs for half an hour, and he’s probably unwinding. I’m sure something happened, and pushing him isn’t going to make him tell me. However, I don’t normally feel like this, and this really doesn’t feel right. Something is wrong, and checking on him isn’t bad, right? I’m not going to be pushing too hard? I won’t even ask anything, I’ll just make sure that he’s ok. 

Tim stands up. “B, I’ll be right back. I’m going to check on something, and then I’ll be back.” 

“Alright.” 

He walks up the stairs, poking his head into the kitchen. Alfred is making tea. 

“Hello.” 

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I was just making sure that Damian wasn’t in here with you.” 

He heads up to Damian’s room, pausing at the top of the stairs. There’s an odd sound drawing his attention. It sounds kind of like a mix between gasping and gurgling. Tim jogs to Damian’s room. His door is open, and he’s on the floor. There’s blood on the floor too, a lot of it. Tim kneels down, his mind racing. 

Damian doesn’t have any obvious injuries, but there’s blood covering Damian’s face. It takes Tim a few seconds longer than it normally would to figure out what’s going on. Damian has gone quiet by then, and Tim gently picks him up. He can’t tell if Damian’s chest is rising and falling anymore. He races back down the stairs, barely pausing by the kitchen to ask Alfred to come down to the cave with him. He puts Damian down on a bed before racing over to flip off all the comms. Alfred is standing beside the bed when Tim gets back over there. 

“Call Leslie,” he says, grabbing something from a table nearby. 

Tim doesn’t look at it, think about what it is, or wait around to see what Alfred does with it. He walks back over to the computer to call Leslie. She gets there less than ten minutes after they get off the phone, and Tim is left alone in the main area of the cave. 

“Red? Are you still there?” Bruce asks, sounding confused and concerned. 

Tim reaches over to flip the comms back on from his end. “Yeah, I’m still here. You need to come home.” 

“Why, what happened?” 

“I’m not sure. I found Damian passed out upstairs. He was choking on blood, but I have no idea what actually happened.” 

“Is he alright?” Bruce asks, sounding slightly panicked. 

Tim sighs. He knows that Bruce doesn’t mean alright, he’s asking if Damian is going to be alright. 

“I don’t know. Just come back please.” 

“I’m on my way back right now,” Bruce says, and Tim drops into his chair. “Can you call Dick? He should still be in town, and he’ll want to know what’s going on,” Bruce says as Tim hears his car roar to life. 

“Yeah, I can do that. I’ll see you when you get here.” 

He flips the comms back off, switching off the noise from Bruce’s end too. He has to take a minute to compose himself before he can call Dick. Surprisingly, Bruce and Dick get there around the same time, and it’s only fifteen minutes later. 

“Where’s Damian?” Dick asks as they both jog over. 

“He’s with Leslie and Alfred. I haven’t heard anything since they left with him earlier.” 

“Do we know what happened?” 

“No, we don’t,” Bruce says, putting a hand on Dick’s shoulder. “It’ll be ok, but we have to stay calm. We have to figure out what could have happened. Was there any sign of a break in?” 

“No, there wasn’t, and I think we all know what happened. He had to have gotten hurt yesterday during the fight with Scarecrow. He’s been lethargic, and slept most of today. He also hasn’t gone anywhere since then,” Tim says, folding his arms. 

“He would have said something,” Dick argues. 

“Not if something else happened while he was there. Speaking of which, I figured out how we can see what happened. Do you guys remember the cameras in the dominos? I was thinking that we could access that. I checked, and Damian keeps his on almost all the time, just like he was told to. It’s surprising, but we can watch what was happening through his mask camera,” Tim says, motioning to the computer where he had already pulled up the footage. 

Bruce nods, and the three of them walk over. Tim starts the footage, and it begins with the end of the fight against Joker’s goons. So, Tim fast forwards until Damian walks into the apartment building. They’re quiet as they watch Damian enter the apartment to find Jason and Scarecrow sitting together. They watch all the way until Jason slams Damian into the wall. They see Damian’s right hand go for Jason’s neck only to pull back at the last second. Then they hear a crack when he actually hits the wall, and Jason starts yelling at Damian. Damian doesn’t do anything to get away from Jason, and then Tim shows up. Tim pauses the video at that point, pinching his nose hard. 

“I’m going to call Jason. He needs to get down here.” 

He walks away as Dick says something softly. He can’t hear what it is, nor does he care. He calls Jason, putting the phone up to his ear. 

“What do you want, Tim?” 

“You need to come back to the cave. Now, before you protest, or argue, I’m going to remind you what I am capable of. I can make your life a living hell, starting with posting all of the pictures from my blackmail file on every social media platform around. Now, I don’t want to hear any questions, or arguments. You’re going to come here, and I’ll explain when you get here, ok?” 

Jason is quiet for a few seconds before saying, “I don’t like you threatening me, but yeah. I can be there in half an hour.” 

“Good.” 

Tim hangs up, leaning heavily against the wall. He stays there for a while, letting Dick and Bruce talk. He waits until Jason gets there to head back to the computer. 

“Jay,” Dick says, his eyes red. 

“What’s he crying about?” 

“We found Damian passed out from a punctured lung. We haven’t gotten any word on that yet, but we did find this,” Tim says, pulling up the footage again. 

He lets it play from the beginning until the end again, keeping his eyes trained on the screen instead of letting them drift towards Jason. 

“Shit, I hit the kid pretty hard, didn’t I? That was really rough of me to say. Do you think he…” 

“Took it seriously? Yeah, he did. We need to do something about this. Have some kind of conversation about this.” 

“Damn, I know that I was drugged, but I can’t believe I said that. Like, who am I to talk? He’s trying, and I think he’s trying too hard.” 

“Yes, but he’s been trying that hard to get away from his heritage. You didn’t have anything to prove, and he’s always felt like he does. I think he was quiet about his ribs because he thought it would be fine, and he was scared of what would happen between you and Bruce,” Tim says, leaning against the computer. 

Jason scrubs a hand across his face. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” 

The room gets quiet after that, and no one talks for a long while. Eventually Alfred comes back in. He looks tired. 

“How is Damian?” Bruce asks softly as Alfred approaches them. 

“He’ll be alright. He won’t wake up for a few hours though. He has seven broken ribs, and a fractured spine.” 

Damian wakes up in significantly less pain than he passed out in. He barely remembers tripping over his cat, but he can tell that he’s in the infirmary now. There’s machines recording his vitals, and an IV in his hand. Tim is sitting next to him, his head resting in his palm. Damian can hear people talking outside of the room, but he can’t tell what they’re saying. Tim blinks slowly, his eyes coming back into focus. 

“Dames, hey. How are you feeling?” 

“I’m… I’m fine, I think. What happened?” 

“Your ribs punctured your lung. I found you upstairs. The others are talking outside about what happened with Scarecrow. You had your mask camera on, so we were able to look back at everything.” 

Damian feels his face start to burn, and he looks away. 

“I’m sorry, Timothy. I failed badly.” 

Tim leans forward, putting his face into his hands. 

“No, I’m sorry. We have failed you so badly, Damian. We love you so much, and we all know that you’ve… I won’t even say changed, because it’s not accurate. You are sweet, kind, helpful, and empathetic. All of those bad habits weren’t your fault at all. The murder, anger, and violence were choices made for you. The choices you’ve made since being given any options are so different. You’re vegetarian, you rescue animals, you volunteer at multiple spots in town, and you help people every night. 

You are one of the kindest children that I’ve ever met, and people have hurt you more than any of us can understand. I know that Jason didn’t mean a word that came out of his mouth, and you need to know that too. We all have seen who you are, and we love you for it.” 

Damian sniffles, his eyes filling with tears. “Timothy.” 

“No, I need to know that you’re hearing me.” Tim grabs Damian’s hand, and Damian squeezes his eyes closed. 

“I do, but…” 

The door opens before he can continue, and Jason, Dick, and Bruce all come in. Bruce’s eyes soften upon seeing Damian. 

“Hey, we heard you talking. Good thing you woke up,” Jason says, clutching the edges of his jacket hard enough for his knuckles to turn white. 

“Todd, Grayson… Father.” 

Damian’s eyes drift back to his lap. Dick elbows Jason and he grunts. 

“Damian, I’m sorry. I know what I said, and it was completely ridiculous. I know how much our opinions mean to you, and how scared you are of turning out like your grandfather. I know that sometimes it feels like we’re stuck on a train hurtling towards something that we want to get away from so desperately. That there’s no stopping what we’ve been told we’re going to turn into, but that’s not the case.” 

“You’ve decided who you’re going to be, Damian, and I am incredibly proud of that person. I’m incredibly proud of you,” Bruce says, putting a hand on Damian’s knee. 

That’s enough to draw Damian’s gaze. “Really?” he asks, close to tears again. 

“Yes, really. I’m so proud of you, and I love you so much. You’re my child, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.” 

“But you didn’t want-” 

Bruce flinches. “I do want you. I was shocked when you first showed up, but I do want you. I’m not always the best at telling you how I feel, but you are extremely important to me.” 

“You’re important to all of us. Which is why you need to tell us if something happens in the future. You could have died, Damian. You can’t hide injuries just because you think it’s going to get someone in trouble. Also, Jason wasn’t in control of himself. He’s not going to get in trouble for something he can’t help. He’s going to beat himself up about it for the rest of eternity, but no one else will,” Dick says, and Jason elbows him this time. 

“He’s right though. Not just when you get injured, but you can’t hide any of it. You need to tell us when you’re not feeling good,” Bruce says seriously. 

Damian nods. “I understand. I know I shouldn’t have lied, but I don’t want to be a problem anymore.” 

“You are not a problem, and you never have been. You’re a child who needs the love and support of his family. That’s what we’re here for.” 

Damian turns to Tim, who gives him a supportive smile. 

“Ok, I won’t hide anything anymore. Thank you.” He doesn’t look at anyone when he says it, but his eyes soften. 

“Also, I’m sorry that I laid hands on you. I know that what I said was the more important part, but those were some pretty nasty injuries you got,” Jason says, frowning deeply. 

“Stop moping, you’re annoying me. It wasn’t your fault anyway. I’m glad that neither you nor Grayson had any long term effects from the drugs.” 

Jason smirks. “Of course that was what you were worried about.” 

Damian also smiles. Recovery is going to be a long road, but maybe it won’t be as hard as Damian thought it was going to be.

[angelgoeslewd]

these hands of mine. (too shaky to hold.)

🔮 summary: solomon gets you back.

⚠️ warnings: SPOILERS FOR LESSON 13, 18+ content, minors DNI, comfort fucking, PIV sex, AFAB reader.

“hng-…. S- Sol.”

his colored eyes lift to meet yours, but his tongue doesn’t let up at your call — tracing the curve of your puffy pussy up, continuing to abuse your overly sensitive clit by licking his name into you over and over and over.

“Sol,” you whisper, hurriedly, “Please! Pleasepleaseplease—….”

“I’ve missed you so much, Starlight,” he whispers back, from in between your thighs. his ministrations haven’t stopped, you noticed, but you just can’t seem to figure out in your hazy mind when he replaced his tongue with his fingers, dipping into your honeypot, gathering slick from you and pushing it back in, his thumb always barely brushing your clit every time he pushes into you. “—can’t even imagine.”

“H- Huh?”

you bring forth a laugh from his grinning face, a soft rumbling that is almost like a purr. even the slight vibrations from his chest pushing against your thighs has you throwing your head back and moaning, making him laugh more. it’s not fair! it’s not your fault! he’s been at this for hours since you’ve gotten back to Cocytus hall, refusing to let you leave your shared bed, his mouth pressing against every piece of skin he could find — your breasts, stomach, thighs — all while his mouth overflowed with words of love, spilling onto your bed like the white wine you share during your late night stargazing, leaving behind nothing, not a trace it was ever there.

but Solomon is more determined than ever, it seems, to carve his devotion into you, a pact of his own, overlapping any of your previous ones, mapping out your new future with him — his hands are picking up pace now — making you grip the bed sheets, fisting them with all your strength — he’s telling you to cum on his fingers, on his tongue, to let him taste you, let him memorize it, and —

you cum with a shout of his name on your lips, letting thoughts crystallizing in the atmosphere as you lie there, trying to catch your breath.

(‘you know he’s hurting. you can tell by his grin, how much it wavers, how his eyes get glossy when they rest on you too long, he was scared. he thought he lost you when he’s only just gotten you. he refuses to grab your hand, lest you feel how much it shakes, but you notice it regardless. why does he feel like he has to always be strong and collected for you? doesn’t he realize that you can be strong for him too?’)

“Starlight,” he whispers, shattering your thoughts into shards. his hands rest on your thighs, the man himself still crouching between them, half your body sidled off the bed, presented to him like a plate at Diavolo’s dinners. his hands don’t move from your body as he stands to lean over you, choosing instead to caress your sides, your stomach, the curves of your breasts, his tender touch meeting your soft skin all the way up to your face. you’re both silent for a moment as you gaze at each other, him looking you over for a moment, you captivated by the way he rivals the moon in its glow. another beat, and then he presses a soft kiss to your mouth.

“Starlight,” he repeats, helplessly, desperately, as if trying to convey every single second he felt guilty, every moment he thought of you in that single word.

“Solomon.” Your answering word is firm, a call for his attention, and he gives it so willingly. Your hands ghost over the small of his clothed back, finally, finally, allowed to touch him. You echo his loving touches, hands making their way to rest over his on the side of your face. “I need you… Please… I…”

he gives you a smile that is softer then it ever has been.

your hand squeezes his.

his finally stops trembling.

your shared room is emptied of its silence once more.

moans chase after each other, bumping their way through pants and groans, wet smacks of kisses parting them every so often.

Solomon presses his warmth into you, fucking you like it’s the only thing he knows how to do. you’re blissed out on his cock, so much pleasure coursing through you that you wonder if you actually woke up.

his hands hold you down as he rocks into you, gripping you with a desperation that can only be akin to a man hopelessly in love.

“Starlight,” he gasps, his forehead sparkling with unshed sweat, “I love you. IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou.” You reach up and pull him down into a kiss as he cums in you, and in that moment, every second he thought of you, every ounce of guilt he felt courses through you, connecting the two of you with something greater than any pact could. you hold him tighter as he buries his head into your neck. there is no sound, no way you can tell that he’s crying, other than the tears that wet your neck.

“Please,” he whispers, with an emotion so strong it can only come from a man who’s seen empires rise and fall. “Don’t leave me.”

[tmntxthings]

how would they behave if turtles and the reader had a kid?

well, let’s see…

immediately when I think of Raphael, I’m reminded of all the episodes where he’s telling his brothers not to do something because it’s dangerous or just him being super overbearing with Mikey cause he’s the youngest, now that’s just his brothers! Imagine this turtle with kids?! Raph is the kind of Dad who’s constantly checking in, all throughout your pregnancy he’s making sure you feel no pain, and he’s carrying you if he sees the slightest swelling from your ankles!

Once the baby is born, oh my goodness, he hasn’t left their side! Swaddled in blankets and cradled in the crook of his arm. He is most definitely falling asleep in that position too. As the kid gets older he’s constantly in their room, checking in! All of his favorite stuffed animals are no longer his own. They belong to baby! When that child finally learns how to walk, then to run!Raph is not ready!!! He’s worried, constantly there catching them when they fall. Raising his voice with concern, “Slow down!!” “No running!” “Watch out for the corner—!!!!” And if somehow, someway Raph isn’t there to protect them from the inevitable. If he’s in another room or whatever the case and hears his little ball of happiness crying, he’s there in the next second. Comforting and cooing, wiping away tears and kissing booboos all better! “Don’t worry I’m here, Dada’s here!” He’s the most attentive parent, but also the equivalent of a helicopter parent. Just the constant hovering, it’ll be cute until those teenage years when they start to rebel and do some questionable stuff!! Raph will have plenty of heart attacks but he will learn just like he did with Mikey that sometimes you gotta let the babies spread their wings!

…Just not too far away! ❤️❤️❤️

Leonardo is the epitome of cool dad. It comes naturally to him. Of course! When your pregnant he’s soooo excited, wants the gender to be a surprise! Loves them wholeheartedly no matter what they are! While Raph is super duper careful, Leo is way more laidback. Leo is actually the one chasing after his tot once they learn how to walk/run. He turns back into a child because of them, playing silly games, running around the house and jumping on furniture! Definitely knocking things over and getting plenty of bruises. Both him and tiny tot! “Uh oh did that hurt? Oh no no, it’s okayyyy! Look look Daddy got a bruise too. Ouchie! But it’s okay, we’re okay!” Now I have no clue what a safe age to start portal-ing but yeah, many a-portal-pranks! The type of dad to do jump scares for fun! This little kid will grow up a rascal through and through! Daddy Leo taught them well. But make no mistake, just because he’s more laidback than Raph does not mean that Leo won’t go berserk if he finds out someone is messing with his little tot!

Protective when needed! 💙💙💙

Donatello with kids. Where do I begin? I’ll keep going with this ‘how overbearing would they be’ scenario since that’s the theme I’ve stuck with for the first two. Donnie is a planner. He’s a problem solver. So I imagine he’s been preparing ever since the two of you starting trying for kids…maybe even before that… but most definitely mapping things out once he knows your pregnant. And when those nine months come to a close he’s got everything. Everything. I’m not a parent so I don’t know the essentials but like Donnie would have a whole room (color coded to light purple obviously), meal preps, and carefully crafted toys for whenever they reach certain ages! All very stimulating and made for educational purposes because this baby shall be the smartest baby ever! I’m sure they will be a little genius by the time they can talk in Donnie’s careful hands. Because that baby will have seen some high caliber tech when being held by their dear Papa. And where Donnie once would talk to himself about his own creations he now had a little listener…who couldn’t talk back yet, but was surely listening with big, round eyes! So cute!!!! (Also I didn’t mention this previously but each baby is definitely getting a shade of their father’s color. Like they had no chance in that department!!) So yeah Donnie is more on the unhinged side of protective parenting like Raph. Very adamant about knowing exactly where his little bundle of joy is at all times!

Tracker? Most definitely 💜💜💜

Michelangelo is a cool dad like Leo, but more understanding. It should come as no surprise since he’s a very empathetic turtle! But in this sense he knows how it feels to be young and to always be watched/babied/doubted! Now make no mistake that baby will be by Mikey’s side 24/7 until they can vocalize the need for space! Boundaries shall then be set and Mikey most likely will never cross them unless for a serious/good reason! I also think that there is a good chance Mikey’s kid will become an iPad kid. Not because he won’t be around or isn’t entertaining! But because I think Mikey is a iPad kid as well, so they will both be watching YouTube or playing Minecraft together! And there is a good chance all of the turtle’s kids will turn out this way. I think the only one who may not would be Raph and that’s a questionable maybe! I think we all know how Mikey felt when his favorite place (pizza place) in the world was destroyed for no reason at all! If his child was to ever get hurt, or made to cry by malicious intent, then you can assume he will have a similar, aggressive reaction to the person who hurt his little tot so badly! But of course he is civil, who will ask questions and try to get apologies before it gets out of hand. So Karen/?Chad’s? beware! Coloring and cooking are the go to bonding activities at the appropriate age! “Alright chef, what’s on the menu tonight?! Cookies?? Well, okay okay that can be dessert, but what about the main course? …Brownies… hmmm..”

“How about pizza?!” 🧡🧡🧡

[delphinus-dancer]

A deep dive into a swan lake and flipping the (metaphorical, sadly) bird:

A Mihaly-centric view of JD 2024 story mode

(because they’re my favorite and I’ve thought about this way too much over the past few days weeks) Spoilers for JD 24 in the almost-essay under the cut, including some images!

Starting off with Mihaly’s first appearance in the story mode in Canned Heat, it seems like not too much time has passed since the end of jd23- Sara seems to be at the same party, Jack still at the tower, etc. (how Brezziana got to the beach that fast and had a workout class is something I’m going to guess was preplanned before everything went down).

We can assume this would be the first time Mihaly’s come back to their room since then (which makes the idea of Wanderlust FaceTiming everyone like 5 minutes after they left even funnier). Of course there’s the shot of Mihaly ripping the poster off the wall, which probably puts their feelings into words better than anything else within an E10 rating. <Side note: I don’t know much on lore but does the setting mean there’s a chance they’re from Eternyx? Both maps started in dark crowd/nighttime so wasn’t sure if confirmed or not>

While Sara has the spot pretty much clinched for a Night Swan’s foil, Mihaly is a really close second. This shot literally puts it into perspective- Mihaly’s color scheme has as many color elements of Master Panda’s (shirt/jacket/foot wraps) as it does Night Swan’s (hair-that-perfectly-matches-the-poster/ gold of headphones and glasses/pants). Their dance style also overlaps moreso with hers than the other dancers, with the precision and technique of their moves, from the footwork and leaps of Rather Be to the dramatic powerful motions of their Swan Lake part. It’s pretty obvious who the song is directed to, and what makes the song so interesting compared to their last story mode one is how loose it feels. This is unlike their usual technical style because of the connection to Night Swan with the control demanded of certain moves that they’ve presumably mastered- maybe they were fueled by a desire to achieve her success. Regardless, the song and emotion fueled, less ‘perfect’ dance lets Mihaly basically flip the bird at Night Swan’s corrupted idea of perfection. Either way, it culminates in them achieving a new high in their training with channeling their ‘true’ inspiration of the (master) panda. Although they retain most of their same costume after sort of becoming a furry?, a noticeable change is that the black leggings are understandably switched to something looser- but to the navy color of master panda instead of Mihaly’s black.

What’s also interesting is that the specific point Night Swan interrupts Mihaly’s song isn’t at the beginning like Brezziana/Sara/Jack’s or the very end like Wanderlust, but at the climax of their journey for the song. Not only does this imply that she may have been watching the entire time but choose to interfere later, but she is also the only character to see the Panda form before Swan Lake.

As Night Swan basically invades Mihaly’s //mind/headspace/flowspace?/no idea on the lore// they initially try to fight her off, but unlike Brezziana in her map, don’t fight until the end. Although Mihaly themselves wasn’t being corrupted like the background coaches in Brezziana’s map, they still let themselves, in a sense, lose a more internal battle to Night Swan as they leave the metaphorical and literal height of their understanding and power in the Flow and come back to the real world.

This then takes us straight into Swan Lake, which is really interesting for the Night Swan/Mihaly interactions and how they compare to the other dancers. Although from a format standpoint it makes sense for the movements in the bridge to be different, there are more differences too.

A big one that I only realized once I watched Majesty again is how the other swan soldiers/minions were turned back- and that was mainly by doing the same moves to ultimately come together and bring the dancers back. Here it’s the opposite for effectiveness- what causes Wanderlust and Brezziana to fail is that they think that’s how to stop Sara. Sara matches the moves in a way that <well> matches, if not surpasses the power that they put in. As a result of meeting them head on and assuming control, Sarah actively corrupts the two of them. She makes motions to bring in the smoke, and both of them also are stationary/surrendering as their color drains.

When it gets to Mihaly, the dynamic with Sara changes completely. While Sara starts off watching with the same expression as when the others challenged her, it shifts as she realizes she can’t emulate what Mihaly does, with the movements almost like Night Swan’s-dramatic and slower. It comes to a head when Mihaly channels the panda again and visibly knocks Sara back, so she’s unable to push any of the smoke towards them.

Sara’s expression also becomes noticeably softer for the rest of Mihaly’s part, and she doesn’t reassert that dominance/control she had earlier- with dancing or the smoke. See how she looks almost pensive in the photos above/below, especially compared to the earlier parts.

Speaking of the smoke, this is the key part about Night Swan seeing the panda earlier. She knows it exists and how to force it off after the earlier song, and as Sara is incapacitated/distracted, she presumably sends down the smoke that starts attacking Mihaly in Panda form.

This attack is why despite having a chance to get through to Sara, Mihaly still ends up failing as they return to normal. However, they are the only character to be so dynamic in their active corruption. Not only does Mihaly manage to send a signal out to Jack, which was a display of power never seen from them previously, but they also do it as they are actively losing their color and control. Unlike the other dances, Mihaly still moves as they lose control, possibly having the strength to continue to fight had they not realized that Night Swan was attacking alongside Sara.

Although the signal is in the shape of a pawprint, its underlying meaning is more than just a plot device to send Jack on a wild goose chase (pun intended that I couldn’t pass up). With the way it opens to form a window into the location from such a distance, it almost seems to be a step away from a full fledged portal. With the sudden appearance of a new power, it’s also an interesting parallel to Night Swan, who here uses powers to create a unique form of control that wasn’t seen in the previous game and who regularly uses portals with her magic.

Another note is the lights that appear for each of the dancers in the upper left corner during the song as they take on Sara. While Brezziana and Wanderlust’s fade out a few moves before they fall, Mihaly’s still goes strong even as they completely turn grey, as seen the the photos above. This could be a possible indication to them having a more stable power than the other dancers, or a form of magic more comparable/competitive with Night Swan’s. Also to note about the lights: looking on the floor during the song, the diamonds flash 3 colors: hot pink (Night Swan), a deep green (Sara, especially while corrupted- her original outfit but darker), and a teal (the exact same color as Mihaly’s flow energy). Like everything else, this is a stretch, but it could possibly mean that Night Swan’s control and magic background could have stemmed from a pure form of flow like Mihaly practices.

This could also be a factor in why they retain the most of their original outfit in the corrupted design- possibly a form of resistance like they displayed during swan lake or general flow magic? Notice that while they have significant changes to their robe/face/accessories, their feather motifs are much less pronounced than the others, simply appearing as marks on the robe that can be mistaken for stripes, rather than overt feathers like Wanderlust/Sara or Sara/Brezziana’s feather tights. Unlike the others, Mihaly keeps their leggings exactly the same (which were notably lost in the panda form, as mentioned earlier), and interestingly enough, their wraps. I initially thought that Night Swan would have changed that to something like ballet slippers with ribbons, so I think it’s really interesting that they are the only dancer who had any details remain exactly the same, especially one that had unique opportunities to be changed.

Going off of that, since they were the last to turn and have (some?) control over their outfit and (some?) magic that may be similar to Night Swan, I could see them being the first/easiest coach for Jack or someone else to turn back when he (hopefully) takes on the coaches.

One last note is the number of maps per story mode coach at this point. Counting Stronger /Survivor, and Treasure/Lose Yourself (hopefully coming soon after that ending!), that seems to be setting a trend for the other coaches to potentially have an additional map as well. If so, maybe that would be one where Mihaly could individually be freed, or a chance for them to further explore their rapidly developing powers (maybe in a confrontation with Night Swan?? a girl can dream).

And there y’all have it! Thank you for somehow reading to the end!! Happy dancing!!

this took forever oh my god

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hello!

I am currently writing a novel that takes place in a traveling circus. Since all the primary characters are performers, their acts are, of course, a very important part of the story/who they are. Therefore, I'm wondering if you have any advice on how to go about describing the performance acts (i.e., contortion, trick-riding, clown acts, etc.) in the book? I fear the descriptions will end up sounding boring, being confusing, or seeming convoluted. I've primarily worked on screenplays for films, so this has been a great struggle for me. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!

Describing Circus Acts

1 - Map Out Your Need - Before you do anything else, it will help to map out the specific moments in the story where these performances will occur. What specific feat, trick, or sketch is being performed and by which character? Is it a performance, audition, or practice? Who else is watching? Who is the POV character? Does anything unusual need to happen with the performance?

2 - Research the Details - Once you have the specific moments mapped out, it will be much easier to research the details, and having a grasp on the details is essential to good description. You can create a much more authentic image if you know the names of different contortion poses or different trick riding moves, for example. Since you mapped out the need in step one, you should have a good idea of how much of the performance will need to be described to the reader, too.

3 - Consider Sensory and Emotional Details - Another part of creating an authentic and impactful description is remembering to consider the sensory and emotional details. What can the POV character see? What can they hear? What can they smell? What can they taste? What can they feel, both physically (touch, internal cues) and emotionally? See: colorful costumes, props, the joyful faces of the audience. Hear: prop noises, music, audience laughter. Smells: popcorn, circus animals, people smells from the crowd. Taste: circus food, bile rising in throat from nervous anticipation. Feel: warmth of the crowd, numb butt from hard seats, butterflies of anticipation, sense of thrill and joy.

4 - Resist the Urge to Overdo it - Even if these performances play a big role in the characters' lives, if the reader wanted eleven hours worth of circus performances, they'd probably just watch eleven hours worth of circus performances on YouTube. The performances themselves should play only a very small role in the actual action... like Katniss Everdeen's bow skills, Luke Skywalker's piloting prowess, and Arya Stark's Faceless Man shapeshifting abilities. They're shown only when they add something to the story, and never just for the sake of showing them.

5 - Some Telling is Just Fine - Obviously in fiction we want to rely on showing as much as possible, but there are certainly times when "telling" makes more sense, and telling is a great way to make sure these performances feel like the important part of the characters' lives they are without feeling every scene has to highlight such a performance. For example, once you've shown a couple of contortionist performances, you might instead have the contortionist doing something else in a scene... helping another performer, making repairs on a costume, or doing whatever they do in their spare time, and maybe have them talk about an earlier performance or something they're going to do in a performance that night. You and even have other characters refer to other characters' performances. For example, "I don't know where Ribena went. She was monkeying around with her horse's saddle while Lian was doing their Double Marinelli bend finale, and I haven't seen her since."

Happy writing!

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[happyely2]

Pairing: Portuguese D. Ace x Fem!Reader

Rating: 18+ | The rating will be red this time, so if you are a minor skip this reading or highlight your age in your bio.| sex scenes, cuddles, and much more very explicit.

Summary: 31 prompts for 31 days of October. Life on Moby Dick is always hectic and has become more so since Ace boarded this ship and became part of the family.

✒️Prompts taken from the contest (even if I don't participate) organized by the Italian Fanwriter page. I only translated the prompts into English, I hope you like it.✒️

🌊Writober PumpSea🌊 #day 6 - Saltiness

The island you found was desolate.

A desolate paradise just for you.

It took a couple of days of sailing with the medium of Ace and so much coffee to keep him awake, but in the end you managed to get to the island where you would have spent a couple of days just for you. You only talked to WhiteBeard about it, showing him that you had come into possession of a Loge Pose and a map during one of your last raids on an opposing ship.

And the old man gave you permission to go and explore the island in question, and he also told you to call every once in a while so that everyone would not worry.

So you left, backpacks and supplies for the journey and at dawn you were already at sea.

"Ace look at that crystal clear water!" You said by taking off your sandals and dipping them in the water while the Strider slowed down, you had found a natural inlet that created a sort of open-air cave and a small white sandy beach waiting for you.

According to the map that was the only point through which you could access the island or you had to climb a rocky wall and walk around the rocks.

"We gotta anchor the Strider, be careful, all right?" Ace said stroking your hair and then taking a top to throw on the rocks next to it to tow it to shore.

You nodded, you took off your clothes, and you stayed in your bathing suit, you took Ace’s dagger, and then you dived into the water, it was pretty deep, and the bottom was full of corals and fish that you didn’t seem to mind.

You went deeper to catch some fish and start exploring the surroundings to understand the map directions.

You stayed underwater until the Strider’s shadow disappeared, and only then did you decide to surface with the small loot you had procured.

"So what?" Ace was on the beach, had already set a fire and with fallen trees he had created benches on which to sit and had begun to prepare the tent.

"Look, I caught a lot of fish!" you said by showing him your loot and he laughed and left a kiss on your cheek.

"I’ll start cooking them, it’ll take a while if you want to take another bath you can." He said as a snap of his fingers lit the fire. You nodded and went back into the water, using the rocks to dive in and start looking for other useful information. The bottom was full of sand, with rocks and corals at least five meters high, swimming in it was quite easy and even the passages themselves were very easy. There didn’t seem to be any dangerous predators.

A good yellowfin fish walked by and started following them.

It was better to stock them up because you had travelled light.

You went out a couple of hours later from the water, Ace had dedicated himself to cleaning the fish and had him cooking on the fire, he had also been so careful to take off the bone.

You hung the rest of your loot on a branch so as not to put it on the ground and you lay down on the tablecloth that one guy had prepared for you to dry in the sun.

A hand on your back made you smile, Ace had sat next to you, with food ready, two giant bowls of rice and fish in hand.

You tied your wet hair and sat next to Ace to enjoy the shade and the light sea breeze that he had taken to blow.

"How was the water?"

"Beautiful, you don’t know how many corals I’ve seen of different colors." You responded by leaning on him and eating your meal: "No predators, no small sharks, no moray eels, or they’re somewhere else or I don’t know." You said biting your meal.

Ace laughed and after a while he took the map you brought.

"At least that makes things easier for us. The treasure should be here, sorry to make you do all the work." He said Ace by finishing his meal and placing the bowl on a rock near you and carefully observing the designs and directions that were present on the parchment.

"Don’t worry Honey, sometimes it’s right that I do something too, usually you do everything." You kissed him on the shoulder and Ace grinned and lay down with you in the afternoon sun to get some rest.

You have fallen asleep close to each other with the background noise of the sea.

Until the Lumacofano started playing insistently and made you wake up suddenly, Ace took him and the calm and calm voice of Marco interrupted the silence that had been created.

"We’re fine, we were resting." Ace said with his voice still sleepy. The sun was still high in the sky, you hadn’t slept too much.

"Better yet, do you have any news?"

"We found the spot indicated by the map, but as we suspected there are no caves on the surface, they will be underground, it will take a while to catch the treasure." You said while you stretched your legs and arms.

Before you started and before you podevate enjoy your short vacation.

"All right, let us know if you need anything, I should be able to find it in a short time and I recommend that you hear." He reiterated Marco closing the conversation.

"Still with this story they know very well that if we don’t call everything is fine." He said Ace putting the Slug back in his place and then taking his hat from the rock in which he had laid it.

"Do you want to start seeing where the treasure is?" He asked you as he saw you were tying a waterproof bag to your waist.

"Yes, I want to use the light before the sun goes down." You answered by turning to him and smiling at him.

Ace nodded and handed you his knife, just in case it was always better to be prepared he told you, despite the absence of predators did not trust to let you swim not without protection.

"You see that rock there in the middle, it swims immediately in that direction and you notice something strange, I’ll come and get you right away." Ace said by snapping a loud kiss on your cheek.

You nodded and went into the water.

Your exploration lasted literally until sunset and was really very profitable. The currents were not strong and the crystal clear water had allowed you to find the chest immediately, along with everything that was on the bottom.

It was a great haul. Ace helped you get him out of the water by exploiting the rocks that emerged from the sea and before the sun went down you had almost everything.

"Tomorrow we will organize the space on the Strider for tonight we can rest." He said taking your life and taking you for a ride in mid-air.

You laughed happy, for once a mission proceeded smoothly. It was too good to be true.

The camp was ready, dinner was ready, and the inventory of what you found had already been made by Ace as you brought something back to the gala.

You wore a perforated sundress and you enjoyed the evening with Ace, he asked you every detail of the bottom, the fish you saw and many other things.

Ace a little envied you, having eaten a fruit of the devil could not stay with you in salt water.

It was a shame because he would have liked to take long swims with you to explore the seabed.

"Ace... will you help me get the salt out of my body?" You whispered in his ear resting for a moment your lips on the lobe and then withdrawing almost immediately and melting the sundress that you had put on your self.

Ace envied you a little bit, but he always liked it when you asked him to help you get rid of salt in your body.

"With pleasure my love." said your man approaching you and holding you close to him. Ace wasted no time searching for your lips, he bitten them urgently and licked them immediately after.

She took advantage when you hatched her to better deepen the kiss, Ace made you taste the salt that was deposited on your body.

You scratched his hips and Ace sighed inside your kiss when you started tinkering with his belt.

But first he had to get the salt out of your body.

Ace has abandoned your lips, descending down your neck and savoring every inch with his burning tongue. You have arched your back to feel it closer to Ace has harpooned your butt with his warm hands to pick you up and lift you and brought you near a rock to make you sit.

A thrill descended down your spine in contact with the cold rock, but Ace’s warm tongue warmed you up right away. Your top piece had flown away and now it lay on the white sand as Ace’s mouth moved greedily over your breast.

Ace was licking, biting, sucking hard, and nippling you, making you scream with pleasure, and you were alone and you could afford it.

"What a hungry sailor." You whispered to him, clutching his hair and pulling a little when Ace bit his nipple hard.

"Ahhh..." You groaned your legs, looking for some satisfaction.

"Yes I am a very hungry sailor." He told you by licking the other nipple and taking them both together, starting to caress them and bite them with his teeth.

You screamed again for pleasure and Ace enjoyed every single groan that came out of your lips.

He loved taking you to the edge.

He continued his descent of kisses on your belly, biting and scratching the skin near your navel and then quickly removed the piece from under your costume, noting with pleasure the stain that had formed on it.

"Someone here needs to be properly controlled." He said as he knelt on the sand and used the height of the rock to be able to admire you better.

"Acee..." You tried calling him, but your voice died in your throat when his tongue crept in. You arched your back again as Ace’s hand came back to tighten your nipple and the other one held your leg still.

"Shhh Love, let me take this salt off you." He whispered to you, got back inside you and made you scream at too much stimulation.

Her fingers had penetrated you, middle and index fingers, as her tongue made circles around your clitoris and tapped it just enough to make you wince and moan loudly. You had tears in your eyes from how much it was stimulating you.

And you felt like you were reaching the limit.

You tried to stop him, to get up, but his hands stopped you, he tightened your thighs tighter and intensified your tongue movements.

"Aceee... I.... I come..." You said arching your back and seeing for a moment the stars closest to you. And Ace didn’t walk away, but he ate all of you.

"So good just for me." He told you by kissing your lower belly and slowly going up to your lips and then catching them in a needy kiss

You held it to yourself, making your breast adhere to her chest and feeling the thrill of her cool red pearls in contact with your warm skin.

You heard a rustle of clothes, Ace’s boots flying somewhere and then his presence pounding on your lower abdomen.

You have moved the hips of instinct and you have widened a little more the legs and Ace entered inside your pussy with one and only push, going to hit your sensitive point.

"I found a treasure." He whispered in your ear, made you blush and started pumping inside you.

"Perhaps I’d have a bigger reward if you behave yourself sailor." You answered him kissing him again urgently. And Ace went crazy and started pushing harder into you.

One thrust, two spines, three thrusts and you screamed with pleasure when Ace hit that spot again, it didn’t give you time to recover that it kept pumping all its length inside you.

You could feel your walls tightening tightly to his cock and getting wetter and wetter as he kept hitting incessantly and nonstop.

"Love..." A whisper, a poorly restrained groan and a silent request.

You nodded and kissed him again and allowed him to pour into you.

You both came, collapsing on the cold rock and panting, but happy.

Ace picked you up once he got out of you and brought you by the fire. You curled up on him and listened to his heartbeat.

"We should do this more often." he said while playing with your locks of hair.

"What?" you asked leaving a kiss on his chest.

"Look for underwater treasures." He responded by rekindling the fire with his power.

"Maybe next time you could be the sailor who stole the mermaid’s tail." You said already imagining the situation.

"Ohhh... and what would this mermaid do to get her tail back." Ace bit your neck, and you sighed at his hand, and it was creeping back into you.

"Ahhh... I think he could do anything Love." You kissed him back.

"It took you three whole days to recover all this stuff?" Satch looked at you puzzled. I mean, it was a nice haul, but generally it would have taken less.

"How much sun did you take?" asked Marco noting your tanned skin and the fact that there was no sign of the costume.

Izo laughed, or if he laughed relishing the scene of your interrogation. Marco and Satch didn’t want to admit the evidence, and White Beard also laughed with him.

"Three days? What did you do?"

You turned red to remember the days you spent sunbathing and making love to Ace on the beach.

"Come on, Satch, any self-respecting pirate is very careful to make sure he’s got all the treasure." Ace’s hand had rested on your back, even though it was next to you you could feel the grin that had appeared on his face perfectly.

Oh he took all the treasure.

"What’s wrong with our little sister?" Izo approached you, seeing you red as a pepper: "Too strong a heat stroke?" He winked at you while you took his cheeks to pinch him and Ace laughed.

"These two will drive us crazy Marco." Satch enjoyed the scene alongside Marco and the Fenice nodded.

You really were the worst generation, you and Ace.

[aspitefulwriter]

OUT OF TOUCH [Ch. 1]

(Poe Dameron x AFAB!reader)

Summary:

First Order pilots are trained from childhood to deal with crash landings, equipped with the means to survive until retrieval and tasked to eliminate enemies on sight. When you crash on an uncharted planet just behind a Resistance pilot, your training comes to the test as you’re thrown into a new environment and forced to make decisions that go against your code.

One such decision while leaving the planet comes back again and again to haunt you, causing yourself to wonder one thing:

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩?

includes (eventually): enemies to friends to lovers, angst, pining, slow burn, eventual smut, casualties of war

author’s note: i post on ao3 first!!

word count: ~6.5k

Series Masterlist

“Kriff!” You slam your hands on the console of your fighter as alarms and warnings continue to flash and fill the cockpit. Blurs of red and green fly past you, adding to the cocktail that colors your face and pumps a steady flow of adrenaline through each limb. A hard jolt and shake rocks you in your seat, your ship clinging to life and succumbing to the pull of the planet that sits below you. 

You grit your teeth and pull in a breath to center yourself. This wasn’t what you were anticipating when you were pulled from your sleep 5 hours ago, the stress and shakes adding to the headache that’s been building since you opened your eyes. Hitting a button on your console, you bring up a map of the sector that glitches with each shudder and groan of your ship. A quick flit of your eyes across the projection shows you and the planet that’s actively trying to capture you, which you click on for details. It takes a moment to pop up, and the stress you’re under mounts when you see there aren’t any details about it; a huge ‘unknown’ titling many others below it. What if there isn’t any enough oxygen available and it’s a sulfur-based planet or phosphorus? There’s not enough oxygen on board to hold you over for however long it would take the Order retrieval ships to get you–their hands were full. At the thought, your eyebrows pull together slightly in concern.

Your index flicks to your headset, “This is Canis Leader. Mayday. Mayday. I’ve been hit. Does anyone copy?” A frown creases the corner of your lips when static is the only response.

“Mayday. Does anyone copy?” You repeat, your frown deepening as still no response is given. You have half the mind to panic, but this is only one occurrence of the few you’ve been through recently. It’s fine. You’re fine. Taking another deep breath to relax, you start to power your ship down to where you no longer fight against the pull of the planet’s gravity. The fight isn’t worth it, you need to keep your ship in a repairable condition. When the last button is hit, your ship offers one last grueling shake before the clatterings and warning lights cease.

“So dramatic…” You mumble to yourself, gripping the controls and settling into your chair as you’re drug into the unknown atmosphere. With the cease of lights, it’s difficult to keep your mind off of the fact you’re gliding into the unknown, one that you now see is shrouded by clouds with an atmosphere that once again rocks your ship. But every concern is quickly quelled when you breach the wall, a sea of blues and greens of vegetation and water filling your vision.

You sit up and out of your seat to peer over your console, eager to have your feet touch steady ground, and as you’re surveying the horizon, you see a plume of black smoke billowing into the sky and breaking the blue-green horizon. A more hopeful part of yourself wishes it’s a crashed ship with an alive First Order pilot rather than an enemy or a planet’s inhabitant much more suited to take you down, but a realistic part of yourself that knows your luck surmises it’s likely an enemy. 

As you get closer to hitting the surface, you try to crank up your engine to release your landing gear and propulsion systems, but all it gives you is a weak whimper before simpering out. Damned thing. In a show of your growing irritability, you rattle the controls violently. “Kriff!” You scream, your voice ricocheting off of the tiny cabin. By the time your lungs run out of air, you’re heaving and have a mood that reaches far down below you and into the depths of the mantle of this planet.

You take a glance out of the window and see you’re likely soon to be crashing into trees that guard the ground you’re so desperate to get to. You mumble to yourself as you get ready for ejection, so much for wanting to keep the ship repairable. You check your pockets, making sure you have your weapons on you before hitting the button that rockets you out of your cockpit. A low gasp leaves your mouth at the force you’re launched into the air with, making you close your eyes and grip the bars that line your seat with almost the same force you were subjected to. You’re suspended in the air for what feels like eternity before you feel the sudden drop, your stomach immediately tying into knots at the pull. 

Within seconds, the jets to your seat kick in, stopping the quick drop. You let loose the breath you didn’t know you were holding, opening your eyes to survey where your ship is deciding to crash itself. Maybe in the best stroke of luck you’ll have all day, you’ve opened your eyes just before the ship goes crashing into the tree line, a straight shot from where you were ejected. Your grip on the bars slacks.

A good amount of your stress melts away, at least somewhat comforted by the fact that although you can hear the sound of your fighter crashing, there still isn’t an explosion and the plume of smoke that comes from it isn’t as dark as the other one you saw.

Your grip tightens again. Oh. Right.

___

After your seat lands, you throw off your helmet feeling a metallic twang filling your mouth as saliva pools under your tongue. You lean, settling your palms on your knees as you dry heave, the force from the chair’s propulsion catching up to you. You stay like that for a moment, nothing coming out, but your stomach is still in a state of unrest. 

With a breath through your nose, you stand up, wiping the back of your hand across your mouth to get any spit off of your face (just in case). It wasn’t the hardest landing you’ve ever had, by a long shot, however recently it had been hard to deal with the problems that had been coming your way. Odd things were happening, and you didn’t feel like facing it right now. So with a look around, you pull out the tracking device you have that’s connected to your fighter, trusting its directions given the huge trees of the forest are clouding your perception. You rub off the sheen of condensation that forms on the tracker when it meets with the humidity in the air. Based on the calculations, the jet didn’t land awfully far away, maybe a 30-minute walk. A smile starts to build on your face. That’s good, walking in this humidity seems like a worse punishment than flight school was…and that was rough. 

However, once it passes 20 minutes and more than half of your armor has joined the decomposing leaves of this Maker-forsaken planet, that smile has long since wiped off of your face. No wonder this place hasn’t been uncovered. This humidity is absolutely brutal. Sweat pools in each pore and drips down your arm as if it’s a waterfall. Your mouth is dryer than Tattooine even though the moisture in the air is already choking you with each breath.  

Dehydration sets in and the headache that you forgot about kicks into overdrive, your vision pounding. You need to stop and rest, so you do. Closing your eyes, you hang your head back and take almost gasping breaths, setting your hands on your hips to get some semblance of a breeze to reach every crevice of your body and cool you down. You stand in silence like that, listening for the sounds of the wilderness which did echo off of the trees not ago, however, there’s not much to listen to. Strange.

Opening your eyes, you pull out the tracker to see how close you are, needing its steady and rhythmic blinking to remind you you’re not doing this for nothing. Underneath your feet, the terrain shakes, breaking you out of your thoughts. You look around and shove your tracker back in your pocket, replacing it with your tiny blaster hooked to your waistband. Crashing soon accompanies the tremor of the ground, as well as gasps for breath past a small treeline to your right, which you turn to and point the blaster at. 

Just as your finger reaches the trigger, someone crashes head-first onto the ground, grappling at the leaves to launch himself back to a run. Your finger slips and a shot simmers some leaves right in front of the tree line. A droid soon rolls over where you shot, and before you know it, you’re being grabbed and dragged along while a ferocious roar rattles all the vegetation around you.  

“Wha–” You stammer out, scrambling with the man to catch your footing, your feet not quite catching up with the urgency he has. The sound of something big breaking through a wall of brush causes you to look back, eyes with hardly the vision wide enough to get all of the beast that meets them. It stands nearly the length of half of the towering trees above you, its skin covered in a mossy substance with a bright yellow liquid flowing from what looks to be a wound on its lower right. It roars again, its mouth a bizarre and vibrant blue that in no way distracts from the very large and very sharp teeth that are lined in rows. 

Now you get it and now your legs want to work. All three of you, the round droid included that is non-stop blabbering, topple over rocks, fallen trees, and anything else to get away from certain death. 

Scrapes are starting to litter your body as the forest grips you, almost like it wants to make you the meal of the beast that is admittedly kind of slow compared to its size.You look for escape, eyes eagerly trying to find something where you can safely hide. As you guys slide down a small, yet steep rock facing, you see a cave hidden by a narrow opening to what looks like a sizeable cave. You grab and pull the guy’s arm, pointing to it. He stops and quickly looks at it before looking around him and then back at you.

“Are you sure?” He lowers his voice, face etched with concern as his droid beeps almost sarcastically. 

“Have you seen any better options?” You grit your teeth, not wanting to argue about what is clearly the best choice right now. At his hesitation, you let go of his arm and head to the cave, his droid following you.

You look over your shoulder at the droid who’s talking and then back up at him, a scowl on his face. “Clearly your droid has more sense than you.” At your words, he looks up at the rocks you just slid down from, some tinier ones dropping as the beast approaches. 

“Okay, okay.” He says, jogging over to the hole where you stand. You slide in and help him with getting the droid in. Just as the bigger rocks start to slide down the rock facing, he slides in and puts a finger over his lips while he looks at the droid that beeps. The beast jumps down, rocking the cave, and you look down to see the droid almost drawing into itself and rolling as far back as he can from the entrance. You follow suit, grabbing the guy’s arm and leading the two of you to where your backs hit the wall of the cave. 

It approaches, following your scents before a screech from another animal causes it to snap its head up into the air, a growl coming from deep into its throat as it stalks off. A breath of relief escapes from the two of you while the droid goes back to its former posture. You step away and look up out of the cave, seeing if it’s clear. The sounds of the forest have even returned to what they were a few minutes after you landed. Now that you’re relaxed, you turn back to the man and the droid, realization dawning on you that you’re with a Resistance pilot. 

On instinct, your hands draw your blaster up, which grabs the attention of the droid that was just before talking to the man. 

“Woaaaaah,” it says, its human counterpart now seeing what is happening as he brings his hands up to his head in surrender. 

“Wait, hey, I just saved your life. If you do this, this is a huge mark on your conscience.” Even though you have a blaster aimed straight at his face, he looks calm–like he’s talking a child into putting something they shouldn’t have down. You give him a perplexed look.

“Conscience? You have no idea.” Your finger is just about to put weight onto the trigger when you feel a huge wave of electricity slam into your body, causing your finger to lock down and shoot a bullet. The man ducks down in time, effectively cheating death and scrambling away. When the voltage stops, you drop the blaster and groan out in pain, the wind knocked out of you. You grasp at your chest, trying to gasp in air when the guy grabs the blaster, pointing it at you now.

“Way to go, bud. Couldn’t have done it sooner.” He says sarcastically, rolling his eyes down to the droid who chirps at him. 

“You–” you start, a scowl starting to wrinkle your face before you’re interrupted.

“Now seriously, why would you do that?” He stares at you in confusion, “What is it about you First Order that just have to go and ruin a good thing? I saved your life!” He exclaims, shaking the blaster in his hand a little.

You’re leaning down, hands on your knees and still feeling like you’re not getting enough air as your mouth hangs open.

“Protocol,” you shrug, wiping the sweat off of your brow and standing up.

“Well if you thought past that for a second, you’d realize we could help each other.” He says, signaling in a circle to include all three of us in the cave.

“How would that help me? One less of you to shoot down in the long run.” He studies you for a moment.

“Who has the blaster and the droid that electrocutes things?” He asks, almost as if he can’t believe he’s asking, his eyes shooting between your face and the blaster he’s still pointing at you.

You’re silent for a moment. Although he’s right, there’d be no way that something like this wouldn’t be discovered. If you’re found to have teamed up with the enemy, you’d effectively be serving yourself to a life of torture. But right now, you think you want to live. It’d be humiliating to be bested and killed by a member of a group that’s so disadvantaged. You breathe out, rolling your eyes shut and holding your hands up in surrender.

“I guess you have a point.” You open your eyes again and see he’s lowered the blaster, a pleased smile on his face. 

“Great, well I’m keeping this.” He pats the blaster he’s now attached to his belt loop.

“What, can’t trust me?” You mock pout as the man snickers. 

“Trust you to kill me, yes.” He nods and joins you at the entrance of the cave, looking around. 

“Do you think we should stick here or go back to our ships?” 

You think about it for a moment, about to say that you should stay here before you feel how dry your mouth is again and the aches covering your body from crashing through the forest. 

“We should at least get emergency gear from the ships. Mine has first aid and provisions that’d be helpful given there’s nothing known about this place.” He nods, pondering the situation himself. 

“When I crashed, the cockpit was fine. My emergency provisions should be okay too.”

“Split and meet back here?” You question, looking at him as he’s spaced out in thought. His eyes snap to you.

“Split? After what we just experienced? There’s no telling what’s out there and I’m not dealing with anything alone after all the trouble of getting you.” He stresses the last word, eyebrows lifting up and creasing together. The droid beeps and the man looks at him, his features softening.

“Okay, well I mean another human, BB.” He rubs his head and brings his attention back to you when you open your mouth to talk. 

“We’re going to have to go to mine first then. I’m closer.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He smiles, and bends down to push the droid out of the hole. You go to help him even though you harbor a little hatred for the thing now that it electrocuted you. But you guess you understand…you were about to kill its master. The man pulls himself out of the hole and you follow. When you stand up, you get your tracker out of your pocket and see it has a single crack breaking its screen in a jagged half. You purse your lips, a little frustrated. 

“Is that an emergency device?” The man asks, a twinge of worry wavering his tone. You snort out an airy laugh. 

“No, it’s a tracker to get to my ship. Unfortunately, I don’t have any emergency calls on this thing.” He laughs dryly.

“Unfortunate? That’s possibly the best thing I’ve heard.” He thinks for a moment, “Well maybe one of the best things.”

Your eyebrows pull together, a little concerned about what that means as you hit the device in your palm, hoping something comes across the screen. You turn it to its back and hit the reset button, checking the screen again where you see that the blip comes back onto the screen. You’re happy momentarily before you see you’ve added another 45-minute walk to the ship based on the run you’ve done.

“Good news, the tracker’s working. Bad is that it’s a bit of a walk based on the humidity of this place and the sun falling pretty quickly.” He looks up at the sky, seeing it is getting a little darker by the second. 

“We can get to my ship tomorrow,” He shrugs, starting to walk in the direction you are. You stare at him for a moment, perplexed at his trusting behavior. 

“You Resistance are so naive.” You laugh, shaking your head.

“We’re both in the same boat. Neither of us have our ships and you don’t have any emergency contact routes, so why would it not be better to stay with you around your ship?” He says, explaining his thoughts to you while talking with his arms. You stare at him in amusement.

“I didn’t say I didn’t have emergency contact, I just said I didn’t have it on this device.” You lightly shake the tracker in your hand.

He opens his mouth like he’s about to respond but he stops. His mouth hangs open for a second. “Good point.” He nervously chuckles. “I’ll just stay somewhere else in secret then.”

“Then how would we be safe?” You tease, referencing his previous arguments that you should stick together. BB beeps and the man sends him a hurtful look.

“You’re supposed to be on my side.” BB sends a few beeps in succession in response. 

“Okay, maybe you do make several good points and I’m so glad you’re having a good time mocking me.” He looks at the small smile that turns the corners of your lips up. You quickly take it off, subbing it for a frown instead and looking ahead. “However, it’s just in everyone’s best interest to not do anything crazy.”

“Fair enough,” You say, pursing your lips and nodding to his words. 

___

The walk had mostly been in silence. The man would respond to anything that BB said while you would only listen to the interaction. You didn’t know the language of the droids, most of the ones on board your bases spoke basic so there wasn’t a need. You weren’t really interested. 

Close to your ship, your dehydration started peaking a little and your vision was getting blurry while you walking. You pinch your eyes closed, shaking your head side to side a few times to will it away. He notices your behavior, watching you with concern. 

“Hey, are you alright?”

“Fine.” You mumble, pulling your tracker out of your pocket to give you something else to look at. He hums, not believing you. He especially doesn’t believe you when you stumble due to the vertigo you’re getting. Stepping closer to you, he goes to grab you when you flinch away. 

“Seriously, I’m fine.” He holds his hand in the air and steps away, exchanging glances with BB before looking back at you and at the ground to watch his step.

“Sooo…” He draws out the vowels, “My name’s Poe.” At your silence, he looks at you and huffs a laugh.

“This is usually where the typical person tells the other their name.” He teases, but you’re not amused.

“I’m nobody.” You respond, opting to keep your anonymity the best you can for the sake of your future. 

“Hm, interesting. You’re one of the many nobodies I’ve met before. A pretty common name.” You’re silent, scaling a rock slower than you would if you weren’t seeing two of everything right now. Poe pushes BB up the small rock hill.

“So why are you in the First Order?” He asks, breathing a little heavy from the exertion of pushing the droid up. 

“Why are you in the Resistance?” You ask immediately, not even thinking of another response. Going into your life story with him would not do anyone any favors. And digging everything up is not at the top of your to-do list.

He scowls, “Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not changing the subject, I just asked you the same question you asked me.”

“Because it’s what’s right and it’s just a role I was born into. Now you go.” His tone has more edge to it than it did when he first started talking.

“Same here.”

Poe scoffs, “You can’t really believe that what the First Order is doing is right?”

“So what if I do? You don’t know me and I definitely don’t have to explain myself to someone like you.” You shake your head, wiping sweat from your face as the movement causes droplets to slide down. 

“I don’t see how you can get into a ship and not think about the countless lives you ruin by enabling the terror the First Order brings.” 

Your face turns into a deep scowl, “Like I just said, you do not know me.”

“Yeah, but I know enough that you don’t–”

“Drop it,” you grit out, “Getting into an argument because you’re too curious for your own good is just going to make our situation worse.” He huffs and turns his head away defiantly, the only sounds around you know being BB rolling, you two walking, and the creatures of the woods.

Soon, but not soon enough, you break past some vines and see your ship sitting in all of her glory, a steady (yet small) stream of smoke billowing out of the engine. You stumble over vines hidden beneath piles of leaves and Poe’s hands go out to catch you but you catch yourself.

“It’s fine,” you snap, continuing your pace. His eyebrows pull together again in displeasure.

“That’s your favorite word.” He grumbles.

You climb up the steps to reach the manual hatch for entering the cockpit, the crash slamming the roof back over it after your expulsion. “What are you even talking about?” You say, somewhat distressed he keeps picking fights. 

“Your favorite word is fine.” Poe says, “I’m fine, it’s fine, everything’s fine. Well, it’s okay to accept help when you need it. You don’t have to do everything alone.” You stop what you’re doing and stare at him, seeing an anger that has molded his face with valleys, darkens his eyes, and pulls his lips into a kind of frown that seems unfamiliar to him. Letting your eyes travel him further, you become amused with the way his leg is kicked out and his hands sit on his waist. 

“You’re projecting.” You say calmly before going back to getting your pack of provisions out. 

“You lie to yourself.” You pull the pack out and throw it to the ground, right in front of Poe before pulling yourself out.

“Doesn’t everyone?” You muse while walking to the pack and opening it for a hydration packet that you down as quick as you can. Poe watches every movement you take, and he’s taken aback when you offer one to him. He’s guarded when it takes it from you, which you think is a little ridiculous given you’ve agreed you’ll do what’s best for all of you for the time being. You take a seat next to your pack, legs screaming at you for taking as long as you did to rehydrate them. Rubbing out your calf that’s having a tantrum in the form of cramps, you look up at Poe. 

“Are you done brooding or are you going to sit down?” With your free hand, you signal to the free space on the other side of the pack. He sighs and nods, taking a seat and surveying around your crash site.

He signals to your fighter with his head, “A TIE silencer, huh? I thought you said you were nobody.” You stop your massage on yourself and change your position to lean back on your hands set behind you.

“I am.”

He gives a dry laugh, “Right, because the First Order is going to give a silencer to just anybody.” You shrug in response. He doesn’t need to know who you are or what you do. Frankly, you could’ve gone without finding out his name. He shakes his head with your silence and you stand up, brushing the various things that stuck to you off. 

“It will be in our best interest to find a safe place to camp.” You hold your hand out to Poe to get him up, BB looking between the two of you as it’s practically sat in the middle. 

He grabs it and you pull him up with a grunt, then reach down to grab the pack. Poe beats you to it and slings it over his shoulder. 

“Wow, color me surprised. You were just biting my head off a few minutes ago and now look at you.” At your tease, a red wave blots his skin, climbing up his neck. You have to turn around to block a growing smile from his sight, pointing and saying, “We should look over here.” 

It doesn’t take long to find a new cave to replace the one you left miles ago. You stand up from where you were peeking your head into the cave. It’s relatively shallow, promising an absence of something crawling from its depths and eating the two of you alive. BB might survive. The thought kind of amuses you.

You dust off your hands, “I think this will work. It’s not too deep, but it’s big enough for all of us to fit comfortably. Plus, we’ve got this vine patch to act like a kind of curtain to keep anything from seeing in and stalking us.” He nods, appraising it and all of its quirks before throwing the bag in.

“BB-8 and I can search for some wood to make a fire.” You throw a suspicious glance over your shoulder as you get down into the cave and he sighs.

“My ship’s a while out, it’d be hard for me to go all the way there and back with people before dark falls. Trust me. I’m not risking it.” His eyes are wide while all the kinds of ways he could die flash in his mind. 

“I’m timing you then.” You say, sliding all of yourself into the cave entirely and shutting the vines.

Poe looks to BB, “Was she joking?” If a droid could shrug, he probably did.

—-

By the time he gets back, the sounds in the cave are quiet and he slides the vines to the side to see you’ve set up a makeshift bed out of the emergency tarp from your pack. You’re lying on your back with your hands crossed across your middle, a blanket rolled under your neck acting like a pillow. He breathes out a small laugh at how quickly you fell asleep, the corner of his mouth tilting up. He sets the pile of wood he collected by the entrance, signaling for BB to come over before he gets down into the cave and opens his arms to help him in. BB launches himself into his arms and Poe grunts, putting him down as fast as he can for the sake of his back. Poe looks over at you and sees your eyes are now open, causing his skin to nearly launch itself off of him. A smile pulls at your lips and you sit up as he clutches his chest where his heart is racing. 

“I think that almost scared me as much as that big…thing showed up out of nowhere.” He jokes, now moving the curtain of vines to pull the firewood in. He crouches down and stacks them in a way it would be easy to put firestarter in the middle. 

You think back to the creature and the wound you saw, “Were you the one that wounded it?” He shakes his head briefly before he stops, “Uhhh maybe.” You look at him questioningly. 

“I might’ve hurt it when I crashed. It’s possible something got knocked off and stabbed it or it impaled itself on a broken piece.”

“I probably would’ve been fine if I stayed where I was then, it seems like it had a vendetta just against you.” He snorted, looking through the pack for the firestarter, and grabbing it.

“Probably.”

You look at BB, nestled in the corner as if it wants to sleep. “How did the droid survive the crash then? It sounds pretty bad. The smoke I saw coming from it looked bad too.” The fire catches, illuminating the cave and its inhabitants in a warm glow.

He looks behind him to the droid and smiles weakly, “I wouldn’t let anything happen to him. He’s probably one of the best friends I have.” You look between the two of them, predominately the way the light highlights the dark circles under Poe’s eyes and the rough stubble that’s making its own shadow.

“You don’t have friends of your own species?” He turns his head to look at the blazing fire.

“No, I do. It’s just different when we’re pretty much involved in each other’s survival on a daily basis, not just when we’re flying. Today is an example.” He chuckles after his last sentence. “What about you? You can’t ask all of these things about me without thinking I’d ask my own.” He teases.

You stare into the fire too, your eyes unfocusing as you think of all that are on the base. You can’t count any of them as your friends. Those you did were gone. “No. Friendships are…complicated.” 

He nods slowly, digesting your words. 

“Well, you can count me as one.” He gives you the same weak, tender smile he gave his droid only moments ago. You couldn’t take it. You stare at him before sliding back down into a sleeping position on your side, eyes wide open as you stare at the section of the wall in front of you where rock meets dirt. 

Poe’s eyes blink in quick succession, kind of surprised at your response. He really doesn’t get you. One moment you’re open to joking and teasing, but the next moment you shut down, acting exactly like a stereotype of the typical First Order soldier. You were confusing, more so than anyone that he had ever met. Granted, you were what appeared to be a high-ranking member of the Order, and you have to be far from normal to get that far. But he studies you with perplexion, your feet pointed to him and yet your face obscured from his sight, and he thinks about how you behave when a wall isn’t completely blocking the two of you. You seem…normal. Someone with interesting stories to tell, ones that are good and others that are bad. And he wanted to hear you talk about them. Probably more than he should.

With a sigh, he lays down too, arm behind his head acting as his own pillow as he stares at the ceiling of the cave. For now, he’ll just chalk it up to a healthy curiosity of a person involved in an organization that kills without thought. 

The next day, you awake with a start, the fire in the middle long sizzled out. Your shirt clings to you, the humidity back with a force now that the sun has risen. You look over to Poe, seeing he’s knocked out cold, his mouth slightly agape to let out tiny snores. BB turns his eye? to you, releasing a small beep now that he sees you’re awake, sliding a little closer to his friend. 

You signal with your hand to him that you couldn’t give a damn about Poe and you walk with your knees over to your pack, grabbing a meal bar and opening it with a frown. You know that beggars shouldn’t be choosers, but you have never liked these things, It’s like a mix of sand and mud wrapped up in a vacuum package meant to punish you for ever needing to use it. They gave it to the cadets in flight school, and being an impressionable child meant these, along with other things, left a scar on you.

You finish it up, less than pleased with the experience. Getting up, you see from the corner of your eye that BB follows you with his gaze and you ignore him, pulling yourself out of the cave to go get more firewood.

Poe’s awake once you’re back, the tell-tale sign that he ate the bar on his face as you slide yourself back in. 

“It’s terrible, isn’t it?” You say, stacking the firewood you got in the same way Poe did last night.

“I’ve definitely had better.” He chuckles. You nod in understanding, not willing to continue the conversation. 

The rest of the day goes by slower, the excitement not quite building like it was yesterday. The three of you went to Poe’s ship and you saw just how ruined the thing was. Honestly, it surprised you to truly how bad it was. You didn’t even know how he was alive. The lack of conversation dulled the day more, and in some way you felt guilty for not reciprocating the energy he often showed. As hours ticked by on this planet, you confused yourself more and more. Why did you feel guilty you weren’t talking to him? You didn’t owe him anything other than his life. It didn’t matter to you how he carried it out unless he wasn’t actively trying to take you down. 

You’re taken out of your thoughts by the rumble of the ground, one very reminiscent of the one you experienced not even a day’s cycle ago. Getting up from where you leaned against the cool cave wall, you shush Poe and BB playing with a small rock and peek past the vine curtains. 

Standing only a few paces away, a creature similar to the one yesterday, yet smaller, has its head to the forest floor, strongly sniffing for a trace of whatever it’s searching for. It stalks slow, lightly lifting each foot, and you wonder to yourself why you felt the rumble of steps when you no longer can. It takes its movements closer to the cave, causing you to let go of the vines and fall back to where you were originally. Poe looks at you in confusion and you lift your finger to your mouth as you try not to have your scent carry by the breaths you let out. 

 Moments pass and nothing happens, but you don’t risk the off chance the creature is waiting for something to trigger movement before it snaps. You and Poe sit in silence until night falls, continuing the trend until Poe lights the fire and falls asleep.

Sleep doesn’t come easy to you that night. You’re left thinking about everything he’s said to you. About the evils of the Order…the evils you’ve done. And the memories of those evils haunt you until eventually you fall asleep, envisioning you’re back on base.

What feels like only minutes, but realistically you know has been hours based on the remnants of the fire, you’re woken by the sound of a low-flying jet. As fast as you can without waking the others, you get to the entrance and look to the sky, seeing the lights of a carrier flying in the direction of your ship. With a last look at the sleeping forms of Poe and BB-8, pull yourself out of the entrance and creep away from the camp, using the light of the various moons peeking through the canopy to see where you’re going.

You pick up your place the closer you get to your ship, nearly running by the time you get to the line that obscures your ship from everything around it. You stop there and try to control your breathing, not wanting to give away your position. Moving away a big leaf to see, you catch three soldiers surveying the wreckage, their garbled voices bouncing off of the enclosed area. Those are your soldiers.

You take a step out of the brush, “Did you enjoy your vacation? Or was there another reason it took 2 days to reach me?” The lights on the blasters of your soldiers snap to you all at once, blinding you from the sudden change of dark to light.

“Special orders, ma’am.” They say in unison. 

“Of course.” You mumble, pushing past them and up into the carrier, seeing the other members of your group. Passing them, you head into the passenger seat of the cockpit, stiffly sitting down. It was likely Ren who told them to stay on base for no retrieval. The thought causes the familiar rise of anger to form in your chest, tightening your throat. You ignore when everyone boards the jet and settles into their places, staring out past the window and the natural canopy, not hearing the question you were asked.

“What?” You say, attention brought back.

“Did you encounter any contact on the planet?” With a twist of your stomach, you’re reminded of the two hidden away in the cave. 

“Nothing except for the creatures half as tall as the trees that surround us.” You say, looking toward Canis 2 sitting in the passenger seat. They give a single nod, turning back to the controls.

”Now let’s get back to base, shall we?” 

“Yes, Commander.” 

author’s note: hi! i hope you enjoyed—this is my first attempt at a fanfiction. i just felt some type of way with oscar issac in orange lol.

also, let me know if there are any discrepancies! this isn’t beta read. i’m always on the look out for (nice) constructive criticism

[immortal-raine]

NEW OP CHARACTER (OC)

Out of the 7 years I’ve been consuming OP I haven’t made made an Oc until now hehe

She’s still in daft so bear with me, tbh she doesn’t have a name yet maybe Mylo? Nova?Lmao idk

Gonna have to zoom in, to really soak in the plot jk jk I’m info dumping here: (but if you don’t wanna read a lot, the images is a recap more or less)

- Born In Water 7, This Kid Worked as a Apprentice Shipwright at Galley-La Co.

- Got Caught in a Annual Aqua Laguna

- Ended Up Stranded On a Random Island, Built a Boat to Get Back Home; Without a Log Pose, Map, Or Navigation Skills, She Just Ended Up Drifting From Place to Place. Kinda Became A Adventure on It’s Own

- Found and Ate A Devil Fruit called smth like…

[ Sheep Sheep Fruit Model: Komahitsuji]?

- Now Can’t Swim, She Decided to Stay on Island And Just Live as a Sheep, Eat, Sleep, Shit and Repeat living the dream y’know

- Months Pass And A Ship With A handful Of Pirates Show Up, Izo Being Apart This. Believing A Sheep Native to Wano Somehow Got Out Of Country, Decided to Bring it Along. Izo Using Snack Sack To Get it Aboard The Ship, And Her Being Have Sleep And Delirious, She Follows.

- Not Fully Aware During The Trip Back To The Main Ship, She Wakes Up in Front of Whitebeard Confused, But Keeps up The Sheep Act really what do you expect, they make awesome food, she can chill all day, and be on the sea without worry, it’s a solid deal

- After Week She Just Decides To stop The Act, Playing With Stephan Was Fun But Getting Treated Like Them, Not So Much

- Huge Shock For Everyone But They Got Over it, Got Adopted By Whitebeard, And Became a Official Member Of Whitebeard Pirates

- Starts Working as a Apprentice Shipwright Again, Under 6th Division Blamenco!

- Working in The 6th Division Means She’s Not Always On The Main Ship, But When She is She’s Following Izo around, Izo Being The one Who Brought Her is Kinda Responsible of Making Sure She’s Alright

- Besides Izo, She’s Learning a Few Things From Haruta, Ranting to Namur, Listening to Stories from Whitebeard, Gushing about UTA to Thatch, and Bothering Marco because everyone likes to do that once in a while

- Getting Away From Work Is Where Whitey Bay Comes In, Jump Ship With Her and Be MIA until She’s Found Out and Called Back

Ace Joining (Kidnapped) 5 years after her:

(Gonna have to zoom in man)

- Met 2 Months into his assassination attempts they met randomly, when Whitey Bay dropped her off.

Ace and Her Was Cool After The Assassination Attempts, They Would Talk When She’d Get Back From Where She Working

After The Paramount War:

- Not Able To Participate In The War, She Was Left To morn Whitebeard and Her Brother’s Lives

- She Decided To Work For The Revs

- Learned Protocols And Tactics For a Year

- There She Loved Meeting Ivankov because who wouldn’t? And Learning under Inazuma Was Fun Reminded Her of Learning Things From Haruta

- Met Sabo and Talked about Ace and Moments She Spent With Him

- After Being Deployed In A Mission With Sabo, Koala, Hack, And a Handful Of Revs, She Both Respected And Feared Sabo

- Koala Unintentionally Saved Her From Talking With Sabo Once And Became Her Saving Grace Ever Since

- She Was Deployed Under Morgans as a Spy to Keep Tabs On Him and Anything Else Note Worthy

- Shockingly Met Deuce, Told Him The Truth because she’s conditioned to tell her older bothers the truth He Didn’t Care Much, So He Became A Silent Accomplice

- Another Year Pass And Strawhat Pirates Make Their Debut Into The New World, While Working For The Revs She also Helps Deuce Write Reports On The StrawHats Newest Exploits

Now That that’s Over With, Here’s All Her Art (Still Drafting)

Sketches:

With Color:

Thanks for coming to my rant fest, or just looking at the art, I appreciate it, okay bye :D

[loonybun]

making a whumptroduction post because it seems appropriate to do for my first post :3

Blog/Whump Introduction

hello! my name is crep/loony and I use any pronouns!! i started this blog because i’ve been really interested in the whump community for some time (since like maybe October?). It pretty much has all my favorite elements of stuff all put into one genre loll. I don’t have any plans to start a long-term story as of now, but that could change in the future! I have a ton of characters, but I mainly just use them for roleplaying (if you are interested in roleplaying with me i’m totally down to try it out and see how we mesh together!!!)

some fun facts about me: my favorite color is pink, i’ve been roleplaying for around 7 years (online for closer to 5), i love coming up with new characters and intertwining them with other people’s characters!!! it’s really fun to see how they interact with each other for me. it’s like how you played w barbie’s as a kid but infinitely better. for roleplaying i can use tumblr dms or discord. i am autistic, and my primary special interest is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll!!!

ONGOING STORIES:

- Aisling CYOA story

(more under cut)

Favorite whump tropes: kidnapping/captivity, doll whump, tiny whump, lab whump, medical whump, inhuman whumper, inhuman whumpee, immortal whumpee, fae whump, cult whump, religious theming, heavy/detailed gore, body modification, drugging, display whump, academia whump (so hard to find but so so good), carewhumpers, defiant whumpees.

Things I may interact with but will probably not post: generally suggestive stuff 👍

Squicks/things i will not interact with: almost all nsfwhump (i am a minor and do not feel comfortable reblogging smut on my page), anything related to S/A, pedophelia, r*pe, or sexual grooming, and slave historical whump. If your blog is centered around any of those, I ask that you do not interact with my blog.

DNI conservatives, anti-lgbtq, acephobes, biphobes, transphobes, racists, antisemites, islamophobes, xenophobes, terfs, general bigotry, dark/proshippers (dunno which term to use but i mean this as in people who ship incest, r*pe, and pedophelia. while i believe that it’s okay to write about these things, a lot of pro/darkshippers seem to glorify/romanticize these dynamics and that’s what i have an issue with. i want to specify that while i personally feel uncomfortable with such, i do not agree with witch-hunting or harassing people. i just will not interact and i ask you to do the same.), straight up nsfw blogs whump or not, pro-zoophiles, pro-maps, etc…

thank you all for reading!!! looking forward to being a part of this community!!

[terrors-and-tables]

Strange Encounters #1

Damn it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on this blog. Having just run my first game of Dungeon Crawl Classics (to my players who might be reading this, love you guys), I’ve realized that DCC is in need of more monsters; or rather, it’s in need of monsters repurposed from things I enjoy, including other games. That sent me spiraling down the rabbit hole of reading through the original 1e AD&D Monster Manuals and Fiend Folio, meticulously cataloging the monsters and treasure types, cursing Gary Gygax’s lack of consistency regarding how individual treasure versus “in lair” treasure is formatted, and once more appreciating what the RPG community can do, even forty years in the future, as the Fiend Folio (which is mostly a compiled list of monsters from the UK Magazine “White Dwarf”) is pretty consistently written when it comes to formatting at least.

That then led me to admiring the encounter tables in the DM’s Guide, and the use of overland encounters and treasure maps as a sort of perpetual motion machine for quest generation. Don’t need to have some haggard old man deliver a little monologue and beg for your players to help them when those greedy bastards are looting treasure maps (with more overland encounters between them and the treasure, not to mention whatever monster lair or crypt the treasure is in) and coming across pilgrimages of cultists out in the dangerous wilds.

Which brings me to my final point, that the encounter table format in the back of the 2nd Monster Manual is actually quite nice, and I felt inspired to make one today. The monsters given are for 1st edition D&D, but many of them exist in other editions of D&D, retroclones, and other fantasy games, so it shouldn’t be impossible, or even difficult, to repurpose this for your own use.

To use the following chart, just roll 1d8 and add it to 1d12, creating a large flat spot of probability in the middle of the chart, ensuring those results will be equally common

Caverns, Primeval

Roll Monster

2 Medusa

3 Demon, Type I (Vrock)

4 Ant, Giant

5 Beetle, Giant Fire

6 Norker

7 Grimlock

8 Ochre Jelly

9 Lizard, Minotaur (80%), or Protein Polymorph (20%)

10 Caveman

11 Troglodyte

12 Centipede, Huge

13 Black Pudding or Zombie

14 Gray Ooze

15 Xorn or Centipede, Giant

16 Ghoul

17 Caveman (Hero) 70% or Grimlock (Villain) 30%

18 Slime, Olive

19 White Pudding

20 Dragon, White, AN

The table above is meant for a large system of caves somewhere so remote as to be totally unsettled, and even untouched by time. Where early humankind dwells in caves, dwarves have not expanded into every nook and cranny, and the elves do not tread. Specifics and further detail on each kind of encounter are as follows:

The Medusa, likely just one, though if the caverns are truly huge enough there may be multiple, exists to answer the question of where humans get their primal fear and distrust of serpents from; it is from her, the serpentine witch that turns men to stone with a hiss and a fatal glance. The Medusa would no doubt be a known (or rumored) terror of the caves to those cavemen who live nearby.

The Type 1 Demon (the Vrock) is on the chart solely as a servant of the Grimlocks or Troglodytes detailed below, likely conjured to wage war or to serve as a guardian for something precious or of religious significance. They do not live here naturally, and will never come to such a place of their own accord.

Giant Ants have not yet overtaken the primal caves, but as some of the oldest insects, they’ve certainly gotten a head start; where they are found at all, they are found in tremendous numbers. Similar things may be said of the Giant Fire Beetles, which do not form groups quite so large, but work in natural opposition to the ants. The centipedes, of which there are many in all sorts of sizes, colors, and shapes, are kings of the cavernous arthropods, and will happily eat both.

Norkers are one of the only two humanoid races besides Humans (next to the Troglodytes). As written in the Fiend Folio, they are a primitive relative to the hobgoblin in much the same way Cavemen or Neanderthals are to humankind.

The Grimlocks that appear on this table are not actually their own species, rather they are those cavemen who in desperation, greed, or sheer malice have found acceptance in the waiting arms of Abyssal powers or Chaos lords, and among them can be found more advanced arms (such as swords and axes of strange material) and armor (no heavier than scale mail) as well as Chaotic (or Chaotic Evil) Clerics and Magic Users. “Villains” may occasionally be found, which will have the best arms and armor available to the tribe, 4 hit dice, and the spellcasting abilities of 3rd level Wizards (or Magic-Users, Shamans, or Elves), as well as a 10% chance to have a magical melee weapon (generate as if it were a magic sword, but it may be a sword, axe, mace, or spear).

The Minotaur Lizards on this table are huge, pale, broad headed lizards which creep through the caverns, eating whatever they can fit into their gullets, be it bug or man. They are plentiful enough, however, that the exceptionally brave (such as large groups of cavemen) may hunt them for food.

Perhaps more plentiful are the Protein Polymorphs, Ochre Jellies, Black or White puddings, Olive Slimes, and Gray Oozes, found all throughout the caverns amidst the many puddles of bubbling, gurgling, proto-biological crud, the primordial soup from which life emerged. Because of the frequency of such foul puddles (many of which are not such slimes), any slime encountered doubles any chance for surprise (I.E. it surprises on a 4 in 6 for most parties, 2 in 6 for those with elves, etc.). Protein Polymorphs are an outlier beside the other slimes, being dangerously clever, and capable of changing their shape and dividing their mass to appear as all manner of inanimate objects or even entire groups of creatures.

Cavemen are cavemen, it’s not that complicated. Heroes exist among them, the biggest and strongest, with up to 4+2 hit dice and saving as 6th level Fighters. These will no doubt have cavemen followers, their friends, companions, and caveman groupies.

Troglodytes exist even in ancient caves as these, and any encountered here will be marginally smarter and well equipped, perhaps these haven’t fallen as far as their more mainstream counterparts; they still bear the same stench, but are 10% more likely to possess magic items and may even have works of writing, magic, or textile art, though these will be crafted without any use for human language or aesthetics, and will thus be alien to those who find them.

Xorn, oddly enough, are plentiful compared to other places on the Prime Material. With only the fading Troglodytes as enemies, and no local industry, expansionist dwarves or modern humans, or need for currency, precious metals and gems are incredibly plentiful, so the xorn flock here to swim through stone, gorge themselves, and sometimes give strange wisdom to those who can understand it.

Ghouls and Zombies appear more often in areas controlled by the Grimlocks, as foul energies flood the caverns and animate the dead that lie there, but the ghouls in particular appear in the same way they usually do; as the result of humanoids resorting to cannibalism in the cold and lightless tunnels.

The Ancient White Dragon will always be the only one of its kind; how and when it got there, not even the Troglodytes can guess, but the weirdest and wisest (if they can be called that) of the Grimlocks may know. Regardless, it has slept here for quite a while, slumbering at the heart of a subterranean expanse of ice and stone, with cruel, simple deathtraps to guard its hoard.

I hope the above encounter table and implied adventuring location is of use to anyone. I might post more in the future :)

[soft-bellied-tannies]

Chubtober Day 2!

Today's prompt is a combination of two from older Chubtober prompt lists - Fall Fair and Bellyaches & Binges. Enjoy Jungkook eating way too much at the fair!

Read here or on AO3!

---

Jimin had not stopped talking about visiting the fall fair since he found out about it. He always thought it looked so fun filled with bright lights, cute games, and most importantly, delicious food. Jungkook couldn’t possibly say no when Jimin asked if they could spend their entire Saturday at the grand opening of the two-week fair. 

As they stepped onto the fairgrounds, the aroma of warm sugar and freshly popped popcorn filled the air. "Where should we start?" Jimin asked, his eyes scanning the booths of games and food lining both sides of the walkway.

“Well, I’ve always wanted to try a funnel cake and that could pass as a sweet breakfast, right?” Jungkook replied, immediately realizing that Jimin’s desire to visit the fair was actually an amazing idea considering the smells surrounding him. His stomach had started to rumble as soon as they arrived.

Their first stop was at a booth adorned with colorful signs advertising deep-fried delights. They ordered a large funnel cake topped with powdered sugar and strawberries. "Mmm, this is so good," Jimin sighed as he took a few bites. 

As he should have expected, Jimin handed the plate to Jungkook after barely making a dent, saying he wanted to save room for more food. While Jimin had a small appetite, Jungkook knew he could finish off the funnel cake and have more than enough room to continue on their day of taste testing the fair. 

Next, they wandered over to the barbecue stand, enticed by the savory scent of grilled meats. Jungkook couldn't resist ordering multiple sides on top of the pulled pork sandwich Jimin picked out. 

"I think I'm already getting full," Jimin chuckled as he wiped barbecue sauce from his chin, only managing two bites of the sandwich. Jungkook just laughed and accepted the container his boyfriend handed over, encouraging Jimin to try a few bites of the coleslaw and mac and cheese.

Jimin figured they should probably try a game or a ride before buying more food. He knew Jungkook could keep eating well into the day, but he wanted to pace himself to make sure he got to try everything he wanted.

After a few spins around the Ferris wheel and Jungkook taking a few attempts to win Jimin a stuffed bunny at the ring toss game, they made their way back over to the various food booths. Jungkook managed to find the main tent after looking over their map and the food options seemed endless.

The full food stand was offering everything from huge trays of nachos to giant turkey legs to massive ice cream sundaes. Each vendor seemed to outdo the last in terms of portion size and creativity. Jimin couldn't resist buying a bucket of chocolate chip cookies, while Jungkook ordered a jumbo-sized pretzel, a footlong corn dog, a turkey leg, cheese fries loaded with toppings, and a giant deep-fried pickle with a tray full of assorted sauces for everything.

As Jungkook arranged his food on an open picnic table, Jimin returned with an overflowing bucket of cookies, a milkshake, and two sodas. He slid the milkshake toward Jungkook and said he couldn’t resist because it looked so good. 

Jungkook looked at it with a mix of surprise and amusement. "Are you trying to fatten me up?"

“Don’t be silly! I wanted to try it,” Jimin cut back, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend. 

“Min, we both know you never have more than a few sips of any milkshake, especially considering how much we’ve been eating today.”

“But I have you! I get to try everything I want and nothing goes to waste,” Jimin said as he waved his hand toward Jungkook’s full belly.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and tried to hold back his smile. “I’m not a garbage disposal, baby. I’m getting full too.” 

Jimin giggled but nodded in agreement. "Okay, that is fair. Consider it a challenge then," he teased, winking at his boyfriend knowing Jungkook can’t resist any sort of competition. “Also, how could you ask me that looking at all this you ordered for yourself?” 

“Hey! I ordered this for both of us. You love pretzels and you said you wanted to try a turkey leg,” Jungkook replied, defending himself for ordering with his eyes instead of his already full stomach. 

Jimin just kissed his cheek in thanks and sat down, holding back from continuing to tease his sweet boyfriend. It was a date after all and Jungkook was actually doing a great job of making their fair date everything Jimin wanted it to be. 

As Jungkook and Jimin slowly made their way through their spread of fair food, the full weight of their indulgent day settled upon Jungkook. Jimin had five bites at most of any single item, pushing the rest off onto his boyfriend to finish. Jungkook's discomfort became more palpable as he felt his pants fitting less and less comfortably as he ate, his hand subtly adjusting the waistband of his jeans every few minutes.

"You okay, Gguk?" Jimin asked, noticing Jungkook's discomfort.

Jungkook let out a soft groan. "I think I might have overdone it," he admitted sheepishly, leaning back and letting out a deep sigh as he rubbed the top of his full belly. He felt his face warming up a bit, flushed with a wave of self-consciousness once he realized just how much he’d eaten since they arrived at the fair.

"Maybe I shouldn't have eaten that entire turkey leg," Jungkook mused, his voice tinged with amusement in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

As much as Jimin wanted to laugh, he actually had to agree. He hadn’t eaten maybe a quarter of what Jungkook had, yet he was feeling just as full. "I think I've eaten enough to last me a week. I wish I could unbutton my pants," Jimin groaned, pushing the containers toward the center of the table.

Jungkook laughed, thinking that his boyfriend had no room to talk considering his own waistband felt like it would permanently mark his skin with how tight it was at the moment. Somehow though, all things considered, Jungkook was staring at the containers with remnants of food left thinking he shouldn’t let it go to waste. 

Jimin assumed they were done and ready to walk a bit to digest before heading home, but to his surprise, Jungkook actually reached for the last few cookies at the bottom of the bucket. 

“I don’t even know how you are still eating, Jungkookie. You just said you overdid it,” Jimin joked, hoping Jungkook didn’t end up sick from his day full of eating but appreciating how much Jungkook was clearly enjoying their day out.

“Well, like you said, this stuff shouldn’t go to waste. We’ve spent so much money today, might as well get our money's worth,” Jungkook replied before eating one of the cookies in a single bite.

Jimin simply hummed in agreement, reaching across the table to wipe some chocolate from Jungkook’s lip. Then as he started cleaning up the table, Jimin held up any morsel of food left to his boyfriend and watched as Jungkook continued to somehow find room to finish off everything they ordered.

Jungkook let out another deep sigh as he polished off the last cookie, feeling like he was actually at risk of losing the button on his jeans. He could not remember a time he had been so full even with his massive appetite. Jimin took care of him well and always encouraged him to eat as much as he wanted, but his boyfriend had outdone himself that day. 

The walk to the car felt more like a waddle for Jungkook, almost feeling winded as he was still digesting an absurd amount of food. Jimin seemed full himself, but he was moving and talking like normal, going on about how he was so happy that they came to the fair which made Jungkook feel like stuffing himself full of fried food and sugar was worth it, especially seeing Jimin’s bright smile.

Back at home, Jungkook stood in front of the bathroom mirror, examining his reflection with a mixture of amusement and concern. He poked at his now protruding belly, full and round enough to overhang the waistband of his sweatpants and feeling every bite of their big fair food day.

"You know," he said loud enough for Jimin to hear from the bedroom, "I think I might have gained a few pounds today."

Jimin, who made his way to the bathroom, chuckled softly. "Honestly, it’s possible. You really put your appetite to work today," he admitted, joining him in front of the mirror. "But it was worth it, right? I had a great time. I’ve always wanted to go to the fair."

Jungkook nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Definitely worth it, best date we’ve had in a while, but maybe we should lay off the deep-fried everything for a while."

Jimin laughed, gently reaching over to poke at Jungkook’s taut belly. "I promise not to order so much next time.”

They both chuckled at the image of Jimin piling food onto Jungkook's plate throughout the day. Despite his teasing, Jungkook couldn't deny that he felt a twinge of regret over his lack of restraint. "I think I need to hit the gym this week," he said, mostly to himself.

“Or we could go back to the fair. You know, get our steps in and play more games this time. It’s only in town for two weeks. We should make the most of it!”

“Yeah, I guess we should, but I’m definitely hitting the gym after.”

“Of course, babe, whatever you say.”