#it's so soft and so present

[share-the-damn-bed]

JONATHAN listening to NANCY as she opens up to him

"...and no one is listening to me!"

[marciaillust]

bro fuck it im workposting. i did illustrations, i storyboarded, i directed. I did many cool things in 2024 and millions of people all over the world saw em. that has to count for something

[flwrstqr]

♡ SHUT UP AND KISS ME / PARK JAY

🪽 : jay x fem!r. 𖥔 academic rivals to lovers 1000wc. 𓈃 ◌⠀⠀˖ 𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄

YOU'VE NEVER LIKED JAY. Ever since you two became top students, it had been a constant battle. Who could score higher on the next test? Who would get called on first in class? It didn’t matter what it was—if there was a way to compete, you and Jay would find it.

Today was no different. After a heated argument during PE, of all places, you were both punished with the oh-so-glamorous task of cleaning the locker rooms. You could still feel the frustration bubbling beneath your skin as you slammed the mop into the bucket, glaring at him across the room.

“This is your fault,” you snapped, sweeping the mop across the floor aggressively.

Jay, leaning lazily against one of the lockers, raised an eyebrow. “My fault? You're the one who started yelling in the middle of the game. Couldn’t handle losing, could you?”

“I didn’t lose! You just—” You groaned, running a hand through your hair. “You know what? I don’t care. Just clean so we can get out of here.”

He didn’t move. Instead, he crossed his arms and gave you that signature smirk that made your blood boil. “Why do you always have to be so competitive?”

You froze for a second, glaring at him. “Excuse me? You’re literally the definition of competitive.”

He shrugged, the movement slow and almost infuriatingly casual. “Maybe. But at least I’m good at it.”

“Are you kidding me right now?”

There was that look in his eyes again—the one that said he enjoyed riling you up. And of course, it was working.

You stomped over to him, the mop clattering to the floor behind you. “You think you’re so much better than me just because you’re good at—”

Jay cut you off with a laugh, leaning in just enough that you could smell the faint cologne mixed with the sweat from earlier. “You know, you get really worked up about this. It’s almost cute.”

Your jaw clenched. Cute? The nerve of him.

And then something snapped in you. Maybe it was the months, no, years of pent-up frustration. Maybe it was the way he was looking at you like he knew exactly how to push your buttons. Maybe it was the damn tie hanging loosely around his neck that gave you an idea.

Without thinking, your hand shot out and grabbed his tie, yanking him closer until his mouth stopped moving. His eyes widened, the smirk dropping as he stumbled forward, bracing his hands against the locker behind you. The sudden closeness made your heart race, but you didn’t care. All you could focus on was the fact that he was finally silent.

“You talk too much,” you muttered, still holding onto his tie, fingers curled around the fabric.

For a second, Jay didn’t move. He was staring down at you, mouth parted slightly in shock, his breath coming a little faster now that you were only inches apart. The usual cocky attitude was gone, replaced with something else—something you weren’t quite sure how to interpret.

And then, in a split second, something shifted in his expression. The surprise melting away as his lips curled up ever so slightly. His hand came up to rest over yours, holding his tie.

“Maybe you should do something about it then,” he said softly, the challenge clear in his voice.

You hesitated, your heart pounding in your chest. What was happening? This was Jay. The same guy who drove you insane with his constant need to outdo you. The same guy who always had something snarky to say, always one-upping you.

But right now, none of that seemed to matter.

Before you could stop yourself—before you could even think it through—you pulled him down, crashing your lips against his.

For a moment, everything went silent. The only thing you could hear was the sound of your own heartbeat in your ears, the feeling of his lips moving against yours, the faint taste of the mint gum he always chewed. Jay responded immediately, kissing you back with an intensity that made your knees weak.

He pulled away, just enough to breathe, but kept his forehead resting against yours. His hand still held yours, like he wasn’t ready to let go.

“Well,” he breathed, his voice rougher than usual, “that’s one way to shut me up.”

You rolled your eyes, though your pulse was still racing. “You’re still talking.”

Jay chuckled, his breath warm against your lips as he leaned in again, this time kissing you, like he was savoring the moment.

When he pulled back, his smirk was back, “I guess I lost this time, huh?”

You rolled your eyes, finally letting go of his tie. “Maybe just this once.”

“Don’t get used to it,” he teased, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Trust me, I won’t,” you shot back, though there was no bite to your words this time. Instead, you found yourself looking up at him.

Maybe this whole rivalry wasn’t what you thought it was. Maybe all the tension, all the arguments… maybe it had been leading to this all along.

[s0fter-sin]

vampire au where they can only drink the blood type they were before they were turned. other blood has an almost poisonous effect, burning them from within like acid and drinking too much of it can kill them

in the old days, before the knowledge of blood types, it made humans they could feed on absolutely precious. they're kept safe, pampered and doted on; a vampire’s most prized possession

attacking another vampire's human is seen as the highest insult; not only is it a slight against them, it also carries the implication of "i want you to starve"

it's also used as the cruelest of punishments; starving a vampire for months, until they're feral with hunger just for their torturer to throw in a random human, watching them desperately suck down poison, their instincts begging them to keep drinking even as it kills them

ghost is one of the few who survived it; thrown in a pit so deep, he saw stars in the middle of the day, left with nothing but the dried bodies of the humans roba drained without care, others with their throats slit, blood he can't drink spilled out around them

a taunt of the one thing he needs but will never get

but ghost hasn't survived this long just to give up here

he refuses to die in this stinking, rotted pit

ghost is a force of nature as he descends over roba's manor; killing any who wander into his path until the halls run red. until he gets his hands on roba and tells him a secret:

vampires can feed on the blood of any vampire, regardless of blood type

it becomes a legend in vampire high society; if you starve another, you'd best make sure they actually die

otherwise you might end up piled in a dining room, the vampire you left for dead lounging on a throne of corpses with his fangs lodged in your throat

ghost decimates roba's empire, burning it to the ground until no one dares to speak his name in fear of incurring his wrath. it's incredibly taboo for a vampire to feed off another but ghost's too powerful for anyone to challenge him and the other vampires are too scared to try. scared of what he's willing to do, the lengths he'll go to; not that they'll ever admit it

soap is the first human he ever brings to court; delicately bathed in the finest silks and jewels, his throat always bare so he can show off ghost's ownership, his bite framed in lace

he's not like the delicate waifs the other vampires show off; he doesn't cling to his master, demure and submissive. he shows off his teeth as often as any vampire, fully willing to rip out the throats of any who insult him or ghost

a feral master needs a just as feral pet

[aha-my-villainous-thoughts]

Working on something behind the scenes, have this sexy lil number in the meantime 😘💋

[bullagit]

due to personal reasons i am now firmly on team “i hope aziraphale does change heaven for the better actually (going on the assumption that his return is as straightforward as it seemed etc” 

like if the alternative is just this ohhh he’s so NAIVE and SOFT and so WRONG and he’ll have to LEARN A TOUGH LESSON etc etc nonsense then yeah 1000% go for it babe knock it out of the park

i hope choosing hope and kindness pays dividends. i hope the soft traits that made other characters continually disparage and underestimate him and his intelligence turn out to be his greatest assets bc i kinda don’t give a shit about a “toughen up it’s the only way everyone else knows better” life lesson for this character

(which like honestly a lot of the rhetoric is dismissive of the fact that persistent goodness in the face of an existence of disparagement takes great strength and that at the end of the day aziraphale has always been able to stand up in his own way)

[flamingocolored]

[gunsatthaphan]

03/09/1998 - happy birthday to the king, the legend, the light of my life (and the actor that he is) 🥺

~ ⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⟡ ✨🫶🏻💘🫳🏻🐈‍⬛🍊⋆˙⟡ ♡˙⟡ ~

[soybean-official]

Compiled the Disco Elysium style MGS2 portraits into 1 post!

[esmes]

that wouldn't be too painful, would it? 🎥 @theriddletrades

[crystallizsch]

runs - runs away giggling

is the. is the size accurate to the background i dont know 💀 i got bored

anyways this post is literally just a small art dump of them being silly (mostly) :3c

[hotdrinks]

[ID: A photo of a brown tabby kitten laying on a blanket. End ID]

I never updated Tumblr but there's a new animal in my house (his name is Teddy)

[coyotecares]

this was gonna be such a banger until i. didnt want to work on it anymore

[zukosdualdao]

i will never understand when people act like zutara shippers are reaching when we say the crystal catacombs scene is intensely romantically coded because like... ignoring literally all other context (which does have other hallmarks of romantic coding, but literally pretend you don't know anything about the show or scene for a second)... what would you think happened in this picture?

would it .... would it maybe be an interrupted almost-kiss

[hazyange1s]

i’ll give you the stars (ominis gaunt x f!mc)

summary: mc (diana) goes home for a quiet christmas to escape the chaos of her sixth year. ominis, still estranged from his family, has come to spend the holiday with her — and brings a gift in the hopes of lifting her spirits and showing her a bit of light in the darkness.

tags: fluff, ambiguous relationship but they obviously are disgustingly in love, suggestive themes while still keeping it “chaste” a la the struggle of Victorian expectations, excessive prose, smooching, Christmas Eve magic, sweet gentleman ominis, cheesy nicknames, lots of astronomy references

word count: 2.7k

a/n: I wrote this over a year ago. like, wow. but I don’t talk about these two enough so here we are, unearthing a relic 😭 this is set during incendiary (so, um, very mild spoilers ig since we haven’t gotten to christmas yet there) and has some references, but it can be read alone 🖤

The crackling fire filling the marble hearth casted shadows onto the floral papered walls, outlining Diana's petite frame as she slid a gauzy nightgown over her head before fixing the dark hairs misplaced by its skirt. Sighing with relief, she sank onto the plush mattress of her four-poster bed at last.

It had been a long day — but it brought the kind of fatigue that came from a day well spent, its leisurely passage of time due not to monotony or stress, but a chest full to bursting with warmth and affection for the people she’d spent it with.

The hours of ice skating, cooking, and telling stories by the fire before finishing the last wrappings on everyone's gifts ensured she was more than ready to be welcomed into the comforting embrace of sleep. Christmas would come in the morning, and with it her Aunt Celeste’s annual Yuletide Feast. She’d need a good night’s rest if she was to properly prepare herself to navigate the whispers and expectations of Celeste’s pontifical friends (who were even more unbearable after several glasses of elderflower wine).

Diana began twirling a lock of inky black hair around a slim finger, gazing absentmindedly out the snow-frosted windows as the day's events replayed in her head:

The way the sunrise this morning (a sight she'd usually ache to paint) was dim compared to the brightness of her best friend's smile; a rare treat as of late. How good the Earl Grey tasted in her mother’s old china, somehow much better than what they served at Hogwarts. And, of course, the many, many times a chill had skittered down her spine any time Ominis brushed her hand 'accidentally' or touched her lower back whenever he walked by.

All of it so wonderful, so familiar, so...maddening in its mundane joy.

Merlin, but my hair has seen better days. Diana sighed, now employing both hands to untangle a stubborn knot that wouldn’t budge, forcing her to drag herself out of bed with a groan and plop down at the vanity by the window. The tug of the brush through the nest atop her scalp elicited a nose-scrunching wince.

It was at that moment that a knock jolted Diana from her reverie, ringing out in the quiet room where only the fireplace crackled. Who would possibly need her at this hour?

It had to be important. Perhaps even urgent.

This was precisely the thought that catalyzed her movement from the mirror to the door, abandoning her hairbrush in favor of snatching up her wand to light the darkened hallway as she flung the door open.

“What? What is it?”

Her visitor appeared just as alarmed by the unceremonious greeting. Ominis jumped at the sudden gust of air, shifting his weight and exhaling forcefully when he’d settled.

"Er..." he began, clearly expecting to have this initially go a bit differently. A hand reached up to scratch the back of his neck, head dipping towards the ground. "Apologies, I didn't intend to intrude."

"Ominis,” Diana breathed. Her immediate reaction to cover her scantily clad form was abandoned the moment she realized it was unnecessary. "No, um, you aren't intruding. I wasn't doing anything important."

It began to feel like every word she said around the man came out sounding entirely idiotic. Truly, it was a mercy Ominis's eyes were not privy to the blush staining her pale cheeks.

Despite it, the corner of Ominis's lips tugged up into a soft, genuine smile. "Not sleeping, I take it? Have you been up painting again?"

Sometimes it shocked Diana to realize how well he had come to know her in just a year of friendship. Everything from the basics such as her birthday and middle name to the most unscrupulous of quirks and habits seemed to be engrained in his mind — not to mention some of her deepest secrets, as well.

"Well, I was about to, but I suspect I'd have had a hard time falling asleep, anyway." Diana lamented with a shrug.

"May I come in?"

Ignoring the way her heart did a little skip, she stepped aside, letting him hear the creak of the door as she held it open. Ominis’s wand hung limply at side, pulsing a vibrant red as it guided him through the doorway and into the spacious warmth of her bedroom. He stopped in the center before deciding to take up residence in a seat by the hearth.

Diana extinguished her own wand after the light from his faded into nothing, leaving only the glow of the fire and a few stray candles to illuminate the tight angle of his jaw, the thin press of his mouth. Ominis started to fiddle with the sleeves of his loose white button-down when she took the seat across from him.

"Is something the matter?" Diana asked.

"No, no. Nothing’s wrong." Ominis replied in one breath. She didn't miss the way his silvery eyes softened at her obvious distress (a state he knew all too well). “I wanted to give you something...well, that is to say...I'd like to give you your Christmas present early, if that's alright."

Of course it was alright, but Diana had to wonder why it had to be now — when the clock in the corner had struck midnight minutes ago, and Sebastian had made them swear to wait until morning before opening any without him.

"Is it time-sensitive? Don't tell me it's a kitten; I've enough animals to care for as it is,” Diana laughed, eying one of said beloved creatures that was curled up on the bed. Saoirse’s whiskers gleamed in the moonlight spilling over the gray cat's sleeping form.

"Not exactly."

She could have sworn Ominis's cheeks were red now, too. But perhaps that was simply due to the flames. "I had just hoped to gift it to you in a more private setting."

Diana didn't think he meant anything untoward by his statement, but it made her breath stall anyway. She had been trying not to think about the logistics of their current circumstances as it was, and then he had to go and say something like that. It was a small conciliation being able to let her wandering eyes sweep over his angular shoulders, down the arms corded with veins to his slender piano player's fingers while she mused if only those fingers could play across her body the same way.

The vulgar tirade of her fantasies was abruptly halted by Ominis's cleared throat. She couldn't tell if it had been meant to puncture the silence that had settled between them in the midst of her stupor, or if it was to steady himself.

Refocusing her gaze, Diana watched him reach into a pocket to produce a square box lined with velvet in the deepest obsidian that let her imagination run rampant, despite her logical mind telling her it definitely was not what she initially assumed. The box was far too large, and his expression all too casual as Ominis reached out to hand it to her.

His little smile told her he knew exactly what she had been thinking. "I hope it isn't too much. Or too little. You don't need to accept it if you don't —“

"Oh, hush,” Diana chastised him affectionately. "I'm flattered you even thought of me, especially since…well, I know you’re still cut off. You shouldn’t have spent money on me.”

"Of course I thought of you. You're worth every effort, every galleon and then some." Ominis said with a shake of his head.

Money was no object to most members of the Gaunt family. Even after he'd publicly disowned the lot of them — save for his older sister Cordelia — part of his inheritance would be granted to him regardless the moment he turned seventeen in January. But for now, the only money Ominis possessed was whatever he had left in his Gringotts vault.

His fingers brushed hers, tentatively, seeking the center of her palm where he placed the box.

The air around them seemed to still. Everything else became background noise to the soft sounds of their breathing and his soft, “Go on,” as she forced herself to tear her eyes away from a smiling Ominis in order to lift the lid on the box.

Her sharp inhale pierced the blanket of quiet. Heart fluttering like a caged bird that had caught a glimpse of the open sky, Diana reverently lifted a silver necklace from the plush bed of silk it rested on. Its chain sparkled in the dim light, along with the deep cobalt stone in the center, cut into a flawless oval and set in the same pale metal. A closer look allowed her to notice the starburst veining through the ebony-flecked gem.

"Ominis..." her voice betrayed every ounce of her amazement as she slid a thumb over the stone's center. "It's — I don't think 'beautiful' even begins to cover it."

Diana's eyes flitted back up to his. He was leaning towards her in his chair, elbows resting on thighs and keeping one of her hands clasped between them. The distance was small enough that she could see the lines of near-white in his icy irises. They reminded her much of the webbing in the crystal, yet somehow infinitely more captivating than any jewel or constellation.

"I suppose that means you like it?" Ominis glowed.

"Like it?" Diana scoffed, unable to contain the bubbling gratitude and affection that filled her to the brim. Every word she summoned to her tongue seemed to fall short, all of them abandoned before they left her lips, so it was decided there’d be only one proper way to show her appreciation.

The already marginal space between them disappeared completely as the Ravenclaw flung her arms around his neck, enthusiastically pulling her startled Slytherin into a hasty kiss.

Ominis's gasp of surprise stole the breath from her own lungs, sending her into a free fall that hopefully ended with him catching her. There was the briefest second that her friend hesitated and she thought she would die of embarrassment.

Their first couple of kisses — too few and far between, in her opinion, but she was patient — had been different than this. More layers between them, for one, and more time to consider her moves carefully.

Mercifully, Ominis did not pull away. On the contrary; after the initial shock wore off his arms came up to cup her cheeks gently, fingers sliding through her loose hair as he returned the gesture with just as much fervor and meaning. Diana instantly became pliant beneath his touch. He still tasted of cinnamon and currant from the wine they’d all shared earlier…

Yet it wasn't the evening's indulgence that had her feeling a bit dizzy, it was the pillowy softness of Ominis's lips combined with his startling heat and devotion.

Though he was sharp-tongued enough to get by with a few clever words, he hadn’t needed to say a thing in that moment. Diana understood what each slight tug on her hair meant and that every slow drag of his bottom lip across hers was a silent question.

Before she could answer, Ominis pulled away, his voice tremulous as he asked, “Will you allow me to put it on for you?"

Diana had almost forgotten about the necklace she still had wound around her palm and yielded it to him with a dazed nod. “I mean, yes. By all means.”

Her body moved automatically up from the chair, pivoting to face the window as Ominis followed suit and came to stand just behind her. It would appear that breathing wasn't so much in the cards for her tonight, because each time she regained it, it was snatched from her chest — this time by the drag of his fingertips along the curve of her neck until they came to rest at its nape, deftly closing the clasp of the necklace beneath her hairline.

"Thank you,” She murmured, not quite ready to turn around and be within kissing distance once again. The brief moment they'd shared had been like an appetizer that only made her hungrier for a main course, and Diana feared she would scare him away if it was too much, too fast.

Patience, remember?

"It's my pleasure,” Ominis's voice held all the same thinly veiled tension as her own. His breath disturbed a few stray hairs atop her head as he leaned in closer, mouth just barely grazing her ear in the most-spine tingling way. He had to know what he was doing, and yet he acted as though he was none the wiser.

"I only..." his admission was broken by a longing sigh, thumbs rubbing circles into her shoulders until they, too, paused.

"Are you...in your nightgown?"

The modesty she'd dismissed at the door returned with full force. Diana's arms snaked around her waist, hugging herself protectively as if she could somehow hide the way the thin material became translucent in the light despite knowing he remained oblivious.

Besides, she'd never been able to hide from him in any sense of the word. He had always sensed her coming up behind him, known the moment she walked into a room as well as every thought and emotion and physical state as if he didn't need the luxury of eyesight to peer into her very soul.

"I was getting ready for bed, so yes,” Diana's giggle was almost giddy. "Perhaps I should have warned you. I just thought —“

"It wouldn't matter, because I can't see it?" Ominis finished helpfully, his tone filled with wry amusement. "But, darling, I can feel it."

To illustrate his point, those wretched hands began a journey over the hills of her shoulders, down the planes of her arms and stopped only when they found the curve of her waist.

"It's likely for the best. I doubt I’d ever look at anything else if I had the pleasure of seeing you like this, but knowing you're wearing my necklace, too… I would give my wand hand to take in that sight,” Ominis pressed a kiss that was laughably chaste — given its lingering duration — on the dip of her collarbone.

Diana found herself beholden to the inner voice that urged her backwards, her back fitting into the angles of his torso and head snug between his pectorals where his heart beat.

"But there's more to your gift than meets the unassisted eye."

Regrettably, Ominis removed his lips from her skin before pulling his wand from his pocket and holding it in the elegant way only he could seemingly master. "Lumos."

Diana’s head tipped back further, eyes wide in awe as the heavens themselves seemed to burst forth from the gem at her throat. Stars danced on the walls, nebulas of swirling violet and startling indigo and colors she didn't even quite have a name for painting the room like watercolor.

She could have sworn tiny glimmers of it played in the shadows of Ominis's starburst eyes, too.

"You're quiet,” He mused. "I can't tell if it's because you love it or hate it."

"What?!" Diana raised a hand reverently to her chest, palm over heart and fingers grazing the underside of the necklace. “Absolutely not. It’s wonderful. No — incredible. I don’t really think I know the right word to cover it, actually.”

"Amit helped, so I can't take all the credit,” Ominis chuckled. “But I’m glad you like it, Di. I only wish…”

His palm cradled her cheek, thumb ghosting over the constellation of freckles there with a reverence usually reserved for praying to deities or admiring great works of art. “…I wish I could give you more. You’ve been through so much lately, and you, of all people, deserve the bloody world.”

“What more could I possibly want?” Diana leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering shut as a deep sense of calm — a feeling she was granted so little of lately — settled over them like snow. “I have your heart, and that’s the best gift I could ever ask for.”

[screechingfromthevoid]

I think the kids are waiting at the sun tree. They've never really done that before. Sleeping by the sun tree. But as they watched their parents and their friends disappear, with fear in their eyes, it was a day full of firsts.

Wolfe ends up running off in a sort of fit. Leona runs after him. They both feel more at home in the woods. They probably went there to calm down. Vesper, as the oldest, decided she needed to get some things in order. Just in case.

And Gwen was going to leave, sneak into her father's office, past all his traps and rigging, until she notices Vax just standing there. Staring at the seams in the bark that aren't really there. She watched him collapse, sitting crisscross on the roots.

So she stayed. She sat next to her big brother, close and leaning on him. Though, she wasn't there looking for support. She had watched his cocky, teenage attitude melt away into a panic. Vax'ildan was panicking.

"They'll be okay," she told him. "They're the heros of the realm. They'll save uncle Vax and the world and come home." She sounded so sure. He had to believe she was right.

They stay there though. For hours. It might have been the most time the pair ever spent with each other. The sun starts wane and their home turns golden and their parents aren't back yet.

Leona and Wolfe come back, their faces red and a little dirty. They hadn't even taken their leathers off. Like they were going home when they saw their siblings still waiting. They flank their siblings, Leona wrapping an arm around Vax's shoulder and Wolfe taking Gwen's hand. Also contented to wait.

The sky is purple by the time Vesper came with blankets, pillows, and large boxes from The Slayer's Cakes. She had all of her siblings favorites picked out. Trinket 's bear claws for Leona. Sun treats for Gwendolyn. Trayon's Blondies for Vax. Keyleth 's almond bark for Wolfe. And her own personal favorite Everlight-as-Air Scones. She brought enough to count as dinner. She wasn't their head of household. She was their big sister. She didn't need to make sure they ate well or went to bed on time. That wasn't her job. Not yet.

The stars were out that night for them, granting them the family time that they desperately needed. They laughed and stole each other's pastries. They danced around any subject related to parents or their aunts and uncles away. Hunting and tinkering and spying were all fair game. The twins fought, Vax'ildan rolled his eyes and they got him to smile. Gwen listened carefully. Vesper counted the hours since their parents left.

She thought the sun might rise and they'd never see them again. She thought they would have to gather their things in the morning sun and start their new lives emerging from the roots on the sun trees. She thought-

The bark of the sun tree cracked and groaned as it split. All of the De Rolo children held their breaths. Aunt Pike, Uncle Scanlan (in centaur form?), the ashari man, Uncle Grog, a very beautiful and very scary elf woman.

Then father. Then mother hanging on the arm of a strange man they recognized immediately.