#just something fun and lighthearted. love that

[knoepfl]

A Crazy Christmas in Zaun

15/24

Characters:

• Viktor – The brilliant yet workaholic inventor from Arcane. Often consumed by his projects, Viktor rarely indulges in personal connections or sentimentality. However, he holds a deep affection for the Reader, appreciating their creativity, warmth, and ability to draw him out of his usual stoicism.

• Reader – Someone who brings light and warmth into Viktor’s often cold, logical world. They are skilled in their own right, crafting and tinkering in ways that mirror Viktor’s passions, but their focus is more on bringing joy and connection to those around them.

Themes and Trigger Warnings:

• Lighthearted Romance – The story centers on a sweet and tender holiday moment between Viktor and the Reader, celebrating their connection amidst the chaos of Zaun.

• Gift-Giving and Sentimentality – The Reader’s handcrafted gift symbolizes their love and effort, and Viktor’s reaction reveals his vulnerability and gratitude.

• Contrast Between Settings – The warmth of their shared moment contrasts with the harsh environment of Zaun, emphasizing the beauty of finding love in an otherwise bleak world.

Masterlist

Words: 688

You were late. Not that Viktor would mind too much—he was used to your unpredictability. Still, you had been planning this for weeks, and nothing was going to ruin tonight.

---

Zaun’s streets were their usual chaotic blend of smoke, dim lights, and the buzz of machinery, but tonight, there was something else in the air—a rare warmth that could only mean one thing: Christmas. The makeshift decorations strung between crumbling buildings glinted faintly in the dim glow of the chem lamps, and you couldn’t help but hum a mangled version of a holiday tune as you darted through the streets, a package clutched tightly in your arms.

Bursting into the small, cluttered lab he called home, you stopped short, your grin widening at the sight before you. Viktor sat at his workbench, hunched over some contraption you couldn’t begin to understand, his golden eyes focused intently as he adjusted a delicate gear with his gloved hands.

“Viktor!” you called out, your voice echoing through the room.

He flinched, nearly dropping the tool in his hand, before turning to look at you. A soft smile spread across his face as he saw you, his ever-watchful gaze sweeping over your slightly disheveled appearance.

“You’re late,” he teased gently, his accented voice laced with affection.

“I know, I know,” you said, bouncing over to him and plopping the package onto the table. “But I brought you something!”

His brow arched, and he tilted his head, the curiosity in his eyes unmistakable.

“A gift? For me?”

“Of course, for you!” you replied, your hands clasping his. “It’s Christmas, silly. You can’t just work through it without any presents or fun.”

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I am not one for such traditions. But since it is you…” He gestured to the package. “Shall I open it now?”

“Yes, yes, yes! Open it!” you said, bouncing on your heels with barely-contained excitement.

Viktor’s thin fingers worked carefully at the wrappings, untying the haphazard bow you had knotted at the top. As the paper fell away, his eyes widened in surprise.

Inside was a beautifully crafted pocket watch—though it was unlike any he had seen before. The gears were exposed, spinning elegantly beneath a layer of glass, and the face glowed faintly, almost as if powered by a shard of hextech.

“You made this?” he asked, his voice soft, almost disbelieving.

“Of course, I did!” you replied proudly. “Took me weeks to figure out how to make it work without exploding. But I know how much you love things that tick and spin, so… Ta-da!”

Viktor’s eyes softened as he ran his fingers over the watch, taking in every detail. “This is remarkable, miláčik. Truly.”

Your grin grew wider, and you leaned closer, your voice dropping to a playful whisper. “I may have also inscribed something on the back.”

Flipping the watch over, Viktor read the words etched into the metal: ‘Even when time stands still, my heart ticks for you.’

He let out a soft laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. “You are incorrigible.”

“And you love it,” you shot back, perching on the edge of the table and resting your chin in your hands.

He nodded, his gaze meeting yours with a warmth that made your chest tighten. “Yes. I do.”

You leaned forward, pulling him into a hug. Viktor stiffened briefly, as he always did with physical affection, before melting into your embrace.

“You’re too good to me,” he murmured against your hair.

“And you deserve every second of it,” you replied.

The two of you stayed like that for a moment, the hum of the lab fading into the background. Outside, Zaun’s chaos continued, but here, in the soft glow of your shared sanctuary, it felt like the rest of the world didn’t matter.

“Merry Christmas, Viktor,” you whispered, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“Merry Christmas, my love,” he replied, his voice filled with a quiet kind of happiness that was rare in a place like Zaun.

And for once, it truly felt like peace had found its way to you both, even if just for one night.

---

[new-revenant]

Danny makes some little animal stick figure desktop pets, with Tucker's help, mainly to help with homework, act as autocorrect, and serve as something cute. He notices after a few weeks that they can interact with different things in different ways (think of the stick figures from animation vs animator) and is impressed. He decides to bring the six with him in his phone on a class field trip to Gotham and excitedly shows Sam and Tucker the evolved code. While there and walking around the sticks were just messing around in Danny's phone when they manage to accidentally air drop themselves into Tim Drake's laptop. Tim somehow doesn't notice until he's back at the cave and connects his computer to the bat computer and accidentally uploads the desktop pets to it, Danny at this point also realized his desktop pets were gone. At this point Danny and Tim are both low-key freaking out for different yet similar reasons.

omg they accidentally created a computer virus! And it’s probably a ghostly one too all things considered. Maybe it’s just some blob ghosts that infected the code, or Technus. Team Phantom might be blaming Technius at first haha.

And Tim is going to suffer, this I swear. Why are these weird, stick figure things messing the Batcomputer? He tries to fix everything and delete the little animals before anyone else shows up…but an 1 hour later, when Batman calls everybody to the Batcave, they find Tim is now a sobbing mess, whining about how the Batcomputer got hacked by stupid stick figures. Who hear that of course and decide to blast music right into his ears. The rest of the Batman try-and fail-to fix it. It definitely isn’t a normal virus, and could be something magical, but they aren’t too sure. Meanwhile, Team Phantom has been trying to figure out where Tim lives. Now Danny, as Phantom, is floating around Wayne Manor. He really hopes they don’t sue him after this.

[turtleblogatlast]

Thinking about how Leo says he uses his jokes to cope and y’know, thinking harder on it I think it may very well be because of what else uses one-liners and puns and that type of humor.

Specifically, 80’s action movies and campy sci-fi. Even more specifically, the protagonists of these.

So I can imagine why, exactly, Leo leans toward this brand of humor. It’s directly linked to things he loves! But even more than that is why I think it’s used as a coping mechanism.

In these genres, these quips tend to be said by the winner - or, if not a winner, then someone who will stay alive. So there’s a confidence behind them, an assurance, almost, that even if things go wrong, things aren’t ever too serious. There’s no bad endings here! It’s all good fun, even if the stakes seem high.

Leo canonically has been known to steer his brothers away from the more brutal villains and toward more fun, lighthearted activities and not-so-dangerous criminals. So for Leo, these jokes definitely make things less heavy, make the situations they find themselves in less intense.

It’s kinda not just coping, but also can be seen as a form of escapism. A safety blanket. A way for Leo to defuse the tension of knowing just how dangerous their lives are and replace that with a levity which implies that things will be okay.

Unfortunately, levity alone does not alter reality.

[crispycreambacon]

Not gonna lie y'all I didn't plan to do a full redraw. I just wanted to sketch this scene because I stumbled upon this while googling Gobo and Uncle Matt, and Wembley looked funny in this screencap. Then ruh oh I accidentally put in effort and. yueah.

This was fun to do! I used a different brush for the lineart, and I really like the simple clean look that it gives. I hope the expressions match the context since I didn't check the original scene, and I. I'm not going back to this episode y'all. The Fraggle Rock writers really heard me go "I wish Uncle Matt and Gobo would reunite..." and relayed that wish on a Monkey's Paw.

[annamationsart]

so wonderful precure huh

[toxooz]

I know the answer might be no but still!

Are you ever going to make or add your characters into character ai?

I think it'll be really cool to be able to talk to Ollie, or just talk to the whole gang!!

Also lots of love to your art and comic, I found this comic when I was at my lowest and it really helped me out when I was really sad in depressed! Thank you for making this comic and for doing all of this amazing work that you have put in to your characters and storyline!!!

look 🙏 i do see the possible appeal in that i aint gunna lie one bit and as the creator of these characters the idea of being able to seemingly talk to them sounds pretty cool! BUT i simply cant jump on the AI train to Any extent it just wouldn't sit right with me. I feel like it would unnerve me after a while plus the idea of my OCs being 'off' or having out of character dialogue that's out of my control kinda gives me the willies. It seems like one of those things that are simply too good to be true in a practical sense so any possibility of it happening just goes into uncanny valley like do i wish i could take my ocs out of my brain and talk to them HELL yes ( if i dont get killed first) but that should be an impossible thing to do unless im dreaming or hallucinating or some shit. It's like the AI images ie. i Could just type in a bunch of prompts and shit out like 30000 images of my ocs so that i could look at them but where would the yearning be after that??? The loving sculpting of them in my brain while im trying to capture their essence with my hands into a drawing??? One of the main reasons for my ocs to exist is so that its something for my brain to toy around with and wallow in like a cat in catnip, so the idea of being able to just 'lay everything out' so easily just ruins the whole ' i have mysterious little dudes in my head that i mold around everyday to try and figure them out' aspect if that makes any sense??? PLUS im pretty sure the chat ai basically takes paragraphs from writers so for me to be so abhorrently against ai images yet being on board with chat ai when its ~surprise~ stealing from real writers feels like the most hypocritical ass shit i could do sO long old head 'robots evil' rant short: its a no from me dawg

BUT THAT ASIDE im glad to hear u like wheel bitten!! That means so much to hear and may your life continue to improve and thrive!✨🌟

[beaulesbian]

One piece ep. 1099 // ch. 1068 - Luffy agreeing to help Vegapunk escape Egghead Island

[mixed-up-metaphors]

weird practice doodle comic thing idk 2/2

(first one is over here)

in case you are bamboozled and missed the first post this is just me ranting/rambling abt dimitri and ashe and ghosts in comic form

huzzah, the rest of the first one featuring uhhhhhhh idk lol its like the first one. But Now With A Brief Appearance From Our Special Guest, Dedue!!!!!!!!

[jils-things]

eeeekk hi again everyoneee!!! i'm gonna allow myself today to post one art because i miss sharing my stuff on my blog :]]

red sprites: (x)

[mellotronmkll]

I just typed out a really long rant about like the shame I feel about being autistic and getting this obsessed with things and how hard it is to let go of that and just let myself like things as intensely as I do since it's literally fine and my therapist is encouraging me to but like I still feel so guilty and embarrassed all the time because I learned from a young age that I should be and that I should really try to suppress all aspects of my personality to avoid being a weird sad obsessive annoying freak or whatevs and how it's way worse with my current obsession because I have a longer history and deeper emotional connection with it than basically anything else which means that it's both more intense than other fixations and I also automatically feel so much embarrassment because I was made fun of so badly in high school for being the weird tmbg guy and yet I couldn't stop myself from talking about them 24/7 and it's so frustrating the way that always happens to me where if I'm just like I wish I could shut up about this but I feel like if I don't talk about it constantly I'm actually going to die and it's just so exhausting and frustrating and I know from experience it will start to be more manageable after a while but trying to fight it just makes me miserable and makes the fixation even worse and it's like I desperately wish I wasn't this way but also beating myself up about it does nothing to make me Not that way so there's just no point and my therapist is literally like you need to stop judging yourself and just have fun with your interests like if you want to spend several hours listening to bootlegs and reading interviews just do that without judgement or feeling like you wasted time since doing that literally makes you happy and is fine . and im like this is true. Probably. But how. But anyway tumblr errored and it didn't post which is probably for the best because it was 5 times longer than this

[hermithomebase]

.

[pidgecv]

[candyriku]

finally getting a chance to work on chapter 15 today :-)

[kurthorton-moving]

this isnt an au ive talked ab on the dash much its mostly been written on discord but i am thinking heavily about the au where kurt spends his entire teenage years kidnapped and finally escapes a little while after he turned eighteen and the way he has to adjust to the shift in his life from being hostage and conditioned into the lifestyle he lived vs freedom and rediscovering the world and more importantly rediscovering himself

[torgawl]

i'm not at all emotional about a robot who was created not to lie learning his master died for him and ultimately making the choice to lie for the first time, sacrificing himself to save people's lives. like, i'm totally normal about this.

[seventh-district]

*puts a photo of me in between two random photos i took of the sky today, not because they go together whatsoever but simply so any poor soul that happens to scroll across this post won’t be jumpscared by one giant image of me taking up their entire dash* :)

also yes those are the Everything Stays shoes that i wear far too often and i thought about Moon and flustered my damn self when i was putting them on today and if you want to know why i thought of him specifically… well, you’re just gonna have to read Ch. 4 of ES when i post it on Thursday and you’ll find out 😊