#like that part of my art brain got eaten

[karofsky]

what a week the last 24 hours have been

[bichambered-reservoir]

What does swwh mean?

Also your art has really pretty colors <3

I’m not very familiar with the v,ore community so I don’t know a lot, I used to be uncomfortable with it due to sexual themes, but learning about a non-sexual side of the v,ore community is nice.

I’d love a run-down about some of the terminology, for someone who doesn’t really know anything

Sure thing! Swwh stands for swallowed whole! It was my attempt to make an alternative name for v,ore exclusively for nonsexual purposes, both for the safety of those who enjoy vore sexually and nonsexually (so, minors/nsx enjoyers out of main tags, and nsfw accounts out of minor/nsx accounts!) - the other one's "e-a/t" or eaten-alive trope.

Another one is extreme cuddling, which is a term exclusively for nonsexual, safe/nondigestive/nonfatal v,ore, which i find to be a very endearing term for it. Unfortunately there are now a lot of sx accounts using this term, (and not everyone knows about the latter part of the description) though it doesn't hurt to keep posting under it, obviously. The newest one is vorarefixation, I believe.

There was also the term vescor and vittle made by the same coiner of "e-a/t," as an alternative to "predator and prey" respectively. This one I haven't seen too much, but it might still be around.

Also, same here! I used to not like v,ore in any capacity but then I saw art that forever changed my brain chemistry to see the wide, wide possibilities for portraying intimacy. And was even more surprised to find a nonsexual community for it, especially on tumblr! - I thought I was just gonna have to keep this shit to myself forever.

Also, thank you for the compliment on my colors!!! This is an artstyle I use almost exclusively for the type of content on this acc. I draw neon frames on a black background and fill it in, and the whole artstyle is also sort of reserved for romantic/intimate situations (I'd love to draw this, but: i imagine that if a character is swooning/in love, the neon frame appears and they turn into the artstyle). I also used to do an anticipatory thing where I would sort of imply I was gonna draw something via posting just the squares on the black background with my friends, so the artstyle got dubbed the "suspicious squares."

[kandisheek]

If you're part of the Put On The Suit 18+ Stony Discord Server, you may already know that we've been running a server-exclusive bingo for the past one and a half months. And today is the day when we can officially say:

✨ WE HAVE BLACKED OUT THE CARD!! ✨ Great job, team!

This was the first fandom event I've ever run, and I couldn't be happier with how many people participated and created beautiful fics and art for it. And to share the love, here is a masterpost of all the incredible works that people have made.

What's a Reverse Trope, you may ask? You simply take a common fanfic trope and flip it on its head. "There's Only One Bed" turns into "There's Too Many Beds" and so on.

A special thank you to @avengersnewb for her help with organizing everything, and let's get into the fan works!

S1: Good Doppelganger 🔃 Evil Doppelganger

Now this is a whole different birthday. by Lancelot_The_Dragon_Lord It's Tony's birthday coming up, and Steve doesn't know what to give him.

S2: Fast Burn 🔃 Slow Burn

Welcome to the 21st Century by EvilDime Phil Coulson wonders if he should have held back the information about queer rights a bit longer. Captain Rogers does not seem to be taking it well. How to make friends with new teammates by Girl_Back_There Tony didn’t mean for it to happen, but he can’t resist a hot guy in a Captain America suit. Especially when said guy is eye-fucking the Iron Man suit.

S3: Twice Serumed Steve 🔃 De-Serumed Steve

Perfection, Scientifically Speaking by EvilDime When Steve injected himself with the serum in a desperate bid to keep it out of A.I.M.'s hands, he had expected something familiar like more muscles, greater speed, further heightened durability. Or even no change at all, since the first dose had already been designed to make him perfect. Steve had been wholly unprepared for what he got instead.

S4: Fake Break-Up 🔃 Fake Relationship

The Inheritance by laiwrites Without waiting for an answer, Steve approached, laying the spread out on the polished oak desk and setting their places as if they were in the dining room. He was in the middle of drawing up a chair when Tony said, "Darling, I believe we must divorce." On accident, Steve scratched the chair legs against the expensive parquet flooring. "It is too early for this. If you must jest, Tony, could you at least wait until after I have eaten?"

S5: Can't Forget Anything 🔃 Amnesia

Remember (when your dreams have ended) BirtheV If Tony Stark were a better man, he would take responsibility for his actions. But since Tony is not even a good man, he's going to take the easy way out and forget Steve Rogers ever existed. Only then will he be able to live without this grief that's killing him. It turns out brains are rather fickle about what they remember and forget. Things can always get worse.

T1: Empty Nest Fic 🔃 Kid Fic

mirrors a still sky by laiwrites Four snapshots over several decades of Steve and Tony growing old together at their house on the lake. Based off of an AU where they make up and get married after Civil War.

T2: Too Hot To Cuddle 🔃 Huddling For Warmth

Beating the Heat by KandiSheek It's too hot to do anything but lie in bed together. Steve and Tony find ways to entertain themselves.

T3: Hate At First Sight 🔃 Love At First Sight

If You Tame Me by KandiSheek They've been together for barely a month when Steve gets a dog. Which would be all well and good if the dog didn't hate Tony on sight. How the hell is Tony supposed to make a dog like him anyway?

T4: Didn't Know They Weren't Dating 🔃 Didn't Know They Were Dating

Been There, Done That by EvilDime "Steve," Tony interrupts Steve's solicitous stream of concern. "Do we have a date this afternoon?" "Sorry, a what?" "A date," Tony repeats. "My calendar claims that I have a 'Coffee Date with Cap' at four o'clock." There's silence on the other end of the line. Then, hesitantly: "Like, a date-date?" "That's what the calendar says," Tony confirms. In which Tony and Steve lost only a week's worth of memories during a mission, but it turns out it was a somewhat important week.

T5: Lie Serum 🔃 Truth Serum

(No) Touching by Naivelittleprincess "I hate you," Steve whispered with a softness better suited to a different set of words. Tony only hummed and paused in the middle of his rant about pineapple on pizza to plant a quick kiss on his lips. "I hate you too, winghead. Now, listen—this is important and it makes my hot, Italian blood boil."

O1: Presumed Alive 🔃 Presumed Dead

Sanguinary Revelations by FestiveFerret Tony's pretty sure his brand new relationship with Steve is the best relationship he's ever been in. Until he learns something surprising about his new beau.

O2: There's Too Many Beds 🔃 There's Only One Bed

Sometimes, There's too many beds. by Lancelot_The_Dragon_Lord With the others Avengers moving way, Tony and Steve are left in the tower alone, with far to many empty beds. Tony falls back into bad habits, and Steve's just being Steve. This always end well, Right? Romcom Fantasies by starkparade Tony runs into Steve at the airport, and when the hotel Tony booked in Washington DC abruptly cancels his reservation, Steve offers him to stay the night at his place. It sounds like something straight out of Tony's romcom fantasies starring Steve, except Tony is convinced that Steve is in love with someone else. Situation Normal: All Fucked Up by KandiSheek Tony had a foolproof plan. Step 1: Get Steve into bed with him. Step 2: ? Step 3: Live happily ever after. Sure, it could use some work, but success was guaranteed. No one is more shocked than him when it doesn't work out quite like he planned.

O3: Free Space

Friends by EvilDime Shopping for a coffin is not where Steve expected to make a friend. And he almost doesn't.

O4: Ruin-It 🔃 Fix-It

Close It by starkparade Steve had to make the hard call to prevent the nuclear blast going off inside the wormhole from reaching the island of Manhattan. As a result, Tony Stark never made it back. Steve did what he had to, and yet his guilt is eating him alive and he can't figure out just why he is so affected.

O5: Too Much Communication 🔃 Miscommunication

The Opposite of You by KandiSheek Tony has a lot of opinions about the kind of person Steve should date. Steve doesn't quite know how to tell him he's already made up his mind.

N1: True Hate's Kiss 🔃 True Love's Kiss

What if.. Tony was where Rhodey was by Lancelot_The_Dragon_Lord Tony is following the Quinjet, and gets hit by a stray laser by Rhodey. He falls.

N2: Abstain or Die 🔃 Fuck or Die

Swingin' Party by Naivelittleprincess It’s his sister and his best friend’s wedding, and Tony is not allowed to have sex with his ex-husband.

N3: Divorce of Convenience 🔃 Marriage of Convenience

Fools Rush In by betheflame “So you’re getting a divorce of convenience to then get a marriage of convenience, but really nothing about your actual marriage has changed?” “Pretty much,” Tony affirmed. “You’re fucking nuts if you think this’ll work, pal,” Bucky said. "Fucking nuts."

N4: Found Foes 🔃 Found Family

This Meeting Could Have Been an E-mail by laiwrites In an alternate universe where Iron Man is one of Captain America's fiercest enemies, the two of them find themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield as usual. Only, this time Cap has a proposal.

N5: Lovers to Friends 🔃 Friends to Lovers

The sunrise over the cliff face by Lancelot_The_Dragon_Lord Steve is proposing to Tony. Or is he? It's Not You, It's Me by EvilDime “Tony,” Steve said slowly. “Is this the Talk I think it is?” Chewing on his lip did not make this any easier. Resigned, Tony slipped his lip back out from between his teeth and faced the music. “Not the way you’re thinking, Steve. But, basically? Yes.”

Y1: Everyone Has Powers AU 🔃 No Powers AU

Waiting On A Miracle by Naivelittleprincess [An AU inspired by Encanto, featuring Peggy as "Abuela", the team as her adopted foster children with special gifts and Tony as the odd ball without any powers.] "I don't know why you weren't given a gift, Tony," Peggy had raged. "But that does not mean you go around ruining everyone else's life!" "I wasn't. Steve wasn't happy with Sharon!" "And he won't be now. You've made sure of that. Howard was right! You are a miserable child! I should have never let you stay here."

Y2: Virgin Tony 🔃 Playboy Tony

Darling, don't be afraid. by Lancelot_The_Dragon_Lord Tony Stark is a virgin, always has been. It's not for the lack trying. He's just scared to be vulnerable.

Y3: Monstercuddling 🔃 Monsterfucking

All Wrapped Up by KandiSheek Tony gets caught by a tentacle monster, which sounds terrible but actually isn't. The creature just... holds him, for a while, before the rest of the Avengers show up and rescue him. Finding out just how depressingly touch-starved you are via wholesome tentacle kidnapping has to be the pinnacle of humiliation. Now Tony needs to figure out how he can repeat the experience with less tentacles and more actual human contact. And also why the hell Steve seems to be the only one on the team who isn't down for some casual Tony cuddling.

Y4: Undercover in a Straight Bar 🔃 Undercover in a Gay Bar

Fruit Punch by Naivelittleprincess Tony's days of being a playboy might be over, but that doesn't mean anything when he has to teach Steve a lesson.

Y5: Last Kiss 🔃 First Kiss

Forever the Name on My Lips by ralsbecket Tony jokes about how the final kiss they shared was all love and morning breath. A full grin spreads across his face as he confesses, “The only thing I regret in my life is not brushing my teeth that morning.” Don't Look, I Think We Made The Sun Cry by Naivelittleprincess As long as they are together, death is but the next adventure.

[nobylu]

Long Ass Logical Lore Conclusion Of The Balor (art at the end)

Let me put you on two trains of thought that will crash together like trucks on Mythbusters in a way that will make sense when they're together.

Train 1: Healing via putting numbers back on your health bar during battle is pretty rare in Lancer. There's really only two robots in the current edition of the game that can do it - the Lancaster can heal everyone and the Balor can fix itself. In fact, I'd argue that the Balor is defined more by healing than the Lancaster - you heal on your turn, you heal more on your turn if you activate your core power, you heal immediately after battle without expending repairs IF YOU ARE A BALOR AND YOU HAVE DAMAGE YOU HEAL and your DM vows to focus all fire on you so at least you take some kind of damage that's permanent (but then you activate your core power and say fuck you DM i rolled a d6 and got a 6 so actually there's no structure damage i am fine because I am a Balor)

Train 2: We all know and love that the Balor is just nanites on some sort of structure and that it goes yum yum yum on anything standing near it via the power of Scouring Swarm and Swarm Body (2-11dmg if you're standing next to one, if you dont know), but now we gotta ask - how do the nanites know where the robot ends and where the pilot begins? WHAT IS STOPPING THE NANITES FROM GOING AUTO YUM YUM YUM ON MY PILOT BECAUSE MY PILOT IS VERY ADJACENT TO THEM. I argue that what is keeping the nanites from snacking on their pilots is that the swarm knows what a human body is supposed to look like on several different levels. If they just know to not eat the skin, then the moment the pilot gets hurt because something got them when an enemy was shooting at the quote "angry water" that is the Balor then they get eaten from the inside out and turned into a fashionable human-sized human-shaped artisan raw leather bag because all the swarm knows not to touch is the pilot's skin. They also gotta know more than "a person is a head, torso, and four limbs" because then the bees will be the Diogenes to our Plato the moment, say, a space murder tiger comes into contact with the nanites and the bees will also cease to recognize the pilot when the space murder tiger rips off a leg because you know what's gonna happen the moment the pilot becomes a head, torso, and THREE limbs you guessed it it's yum yum yum time and now the swarm is the space murder tiger's, congratulations to the lucky tiger. So they gotta know skin, muscle, bones, blood, pilot's DNA, nerves - THE WHOLE NINE YARDS and probably how they sort of go together. (also probably clothes because i'd hate to pilot my bees and come out with my whole entire dick and balls and titties in the breeze because my bees atomized my fit and won't give it back). The subsequent collision of Train 1 and Train 2:

If Balors are greedy heal bots and know how people are put together, what is keeping them from healing their pilots. NOTHING, IS WHAT I SAY. I posit that Balor nanites can, in fact, fix their pilots because bodies are just the frames for the computational core that is the brain. How well you want them to fix their pilots is up to you - for me, the answer is poorly and with balor-ification. Mechanically, it can't be instantly because that would be busted and poor sport, but you can theme your Balor Pilot's revival upon their unfortunate death likely of reactor stress (RIP my shit heat cap) as "they got fixed up by their nanites". And if you really really want, you can add nanites to your Pilot like I did with my guy, Diederik.

Nanite Infestation and the Small Balor Stability Problem

You're familiar with that part of Balor lore that says that they don't work on anything smaller than size 2 because they just need SO MUCH ENERGY, so how do I justify through lore that my pilot has these nanites while also not acting as a size 1/4 Balor. The way I've perceived it is that Diederik, my boy my man my guy, is host to a swarm that 1) does not operate in its fullest capacity and 2) subsequently cannot do mech-level combat.

Balors have specialist nanites used in specific weapons like the Hellswarm, CONSUME/HIVE, and SWARM/HIVE. Something that can damage a mech probably is super energy-hungry, so we can have those be turned off. The only activated nanites would be structural nanites, sensor nanites, greywash (the part that eats), and reconstruction nanites that take what the greywash atomizes and glues it together like a 10 year old making a clay model of a person that makes you go "oohhh, thats... nice. Great job??? It looks just like me?". Just enough nanite activity that it can be powered by the human body at the low low price of "eat more food". (For Diederik, I've gone another step and will say that the reactor of the Balor is made of reactor nanites but that running them inside a human body uuuhhhh cooks it so those are off too.)

The cool thing about having Balor nanites permanently on you is that you can flavor all sorts of things as nanite shit. My pilot melee weapon is nanite knuckle dusters. I flavor my successful pilot-level rolls as the nanites doing something or alerting of something. I'm running the Bond Magus so all my Magus powers are just nanites doing their thing - skincrawl (get a bad feeling and react fast) is just the nanites telling Diederik about the bad thing in time for him to react, Geist (touch someone and experience what they do while unobserved even when far away) is just planting a nanite bug on them, Possession (ask the dark presence inside you a question) is just asking The Maw their/its opinion, etc.

(Another tidbit to chew on is that the swarm is still going to run a little toasty, so pilots hosting Balor nanites post healing are in turn going to be a little toasty just kind of always. Hello 100 freedom degree perma-fever.)

[punch-love]

2, 7, 10, 15, 16

greedily takes up five of the options

I'm actually going to answer these for both lokius and spideypool to be fair to what fandom you read for and also to what I'm reading for right now.

2. 🔁 A fic you’ve re-read several times

There's a clear theme in these.

i could show you by jilliancares

I think this was the first real gender-affirming trans porn I had ever read and kept on re-reading. It's so good. It's very hot and I love everything about the smut and the dynamics but it's also just - a trans guy talking about oral sex and his disappointing experiences with it and there's a lot of intimacy in the way that's handled. It's just very real so the fantasy of it is even realer. I have read this one many, many times.

Turnabout loop - Mirilya

The Mobius coochie fic. It's great. I could say that I love the idea of Loki using his magic for shapeshifting his partner in bed and the genderbending of it, which I do. It's also just hot. Objectively. I think there needs to be more fics with this exact thesis of Mobius getting eaten out. I support it.

7. 💯A fic that makes you think #writergoals

morning in the burned house by antivenom

Just a really stunning character study and piece of prose. It's such a complicated, nuanced approach to Wade Wilson as a character and his relationship with Spider-Man. It has my favorite approach to a backstory I've seen for in the fandom. This just really sits with him as a character and explores the side roads and back alleys of his brain and the reason he is who he is. It's beautiful. I think anything that sits with you afterward is something I am inspired by, and this sits with me.

The Shapeshifter's Guide to Butt Stuff by comrade_bucket

I just recommended the first part of this series (and the whole series is #writergoals) but this one is so conceptual, so out there, so fucking weird and strange and beautiful that every time I read it I'm struck at what a piece of art it is. The way this work addresses genderfludity, god-hood, the human experience, love, gender conformity, and compromise is just so wonderful. I would love to write something as strange and shocking and daring as this! Again, both installments of this series including The-Infinity-Year-Old Virgin are both something I love to re-read and also get inspired by every time. The endings on both of these are something I've taken notes on.

10. 👽 A fic that isn’t prose (poetry, text fic, etc.)

I got really into the Wickerman tag the other day and this AMV is one of my favorite things I've ever seen.

Lovely Day (Good as Hell) [Favid] periru3, Tafadhali

hare toss, check my nails, baby how you feeling? feeling good as hell!

15. 📚 A fic you wish you could display on your bookshelf

They're both by the same author, surprise. (I think it's funny that @primewritessmut wrote two masterpieces in my favorite genres.) I also have told them before that I would book bind them both, and I am extra serious about doing it for the second one.

Songs for the Zombie Apocalypse by zerospoons_onlyknives

I love zombies. They're my favorite horror genre and I have read and watched as much of it as possible but it's so rare to find the good stuff because no one goes far enough. (Prime goes farther.) It's dark, demented, violent, gloriously unwell and erotic. It's not a love story, it's something so much more interesting, and each chapter I got to read in advanced had more and more tangled in it. The ending is unbelievably glorious. It was one of those things that I was like "this feels written for me" and it wasn't (and it kind of was) but I enjoyed it so much. It deserves to be bound in a book that looks suspiciously like human skin.

Midori Sour - oprime

This is the hallmark rom-com bait and switch psychological thriller family drama slice of life romance of all time. It's so good. It really has no business being as good as it is. The idea is so fun and the dynamics are great and the setting and side-characters are so lived in but the underlayers of this. I want this book bound so I can just re-read sections and underline the lines that stick through onto the other side. I love this thing so much. It's so human and compelling and deliciously deep. The depth that Prime goes in on with this one is just unbelievable. I love it very much. I would bind it in green leather and put a little fruity drink in the middle of it and highlight the whole thing in a green neon with red on the cherries.

16. 💞 A fic that led to you making friends with the author

I think it's funny that these are both series.

Bad Things - wanderingflame

I was so, so obsessed with this when I first read it. I remember sitting in a car outside a thrift store just binging through it (and then I re-read it at least two times.) I also think @in-my-loki-feels is the first person I have ever asked to write inspired work for (and also, found out we both share the same feelings on inspired work lmao) because I was just so enchanted by this story. It's so fresh, thoughtful, compelling, and just the right hint of dark. Their passion for these characters and the nuanced groves of their natures is just - god, it's so good. We have a very "writers who like each other's work" friendship in a way I really appreciate.

gunpowder triology - periodicallypuzzled

It's rare for me to find a writer with such a personality through their work. I couldn't get enough of this series when I first read it - the humor, the personality, the characterization, the heart juxtaposition with the grit. I don't often say "I really want to know the person who wrote this" but I remember thinking that after reading that. @periodically-puzzled read something of mine and offered to exchange discord handles and after that we became friends. I should also re-read this, now that I'm thinking about it again.

[phantomrose96]

The Art of Keeping Secrets

(Back at it with writing fic for a show I've seen like 3 episodes of. I saw this comic by @cadenzarose and my brain took things in a very different direction. 1.3k words. Enjoy!)

----------------

Marinette has two secrets.

The first comes as naturally as breathing. She’s coddled it long enough, held it close enough to her heart so that it’s become part of her identity. Ladybug is her identity, and so is the fact that she may never reveal that it is. Marinette knows how to lie easily now. Deflect, deny, “Oh I don’t recall”, “No, I was walking home”, breathe in, breathe out, easy. There’s something even easier than lying, and that’s never having to lie in the first place. Marinette has learned most people aren’t so observant. Most people would never suspect her. And if they never ask, then she never has to lie.

Marinette’s second secret is so much harder to keep.

It’s new, and it squirms the way new and uncomfortable secrets do. It twists her gut and pushes sweat into her palms. It feels like lying every moment she does not say it. It feels like lying every time Adrien catches the discomfort on her face (He’s observant—at least observant enough to notice this) and asks what’s wrong. “Oh, nothing! Why do you ask?” Does he believe her? Marinette had thought she’d gotten good at lying.

Marinette’s second secret eats her. She thinks of telling someone. Luka, maybe. He would at least understand the weight of it. But she can’t. She knows Luka would do the right thing, and the right thing would ruin so many things.

“Bye, Dad! Marinette and I are heading out to see a movie. I’ll be home before 9.”

Gabriel Agreste stares at them from the heights of his beautiful staircase, stern face set to the glower of a father who doesn’t approve of anything that brings his son happiness. Least of all friends. Least of all a girlfriend.

Marinette sees so much more in that stone face.

Marinette cannot tell Adrien that his father is Hawkmoth.

It eats her all over again.

…

“I think my dad is warming up to you,” Adrien says in a courtesy whisper, even though the previews have not started yet and the theater is empty save for them and an old man nodding off 10 rows ahead. His words are full of hope so deeply misplaced Marinette wonders if he’s lying to himself. “He’s been acting way less—Marinette?”

Oh. Adrien’s looking at her. It should be wonderful to have him look at her like that. But concern creases his brow. Marinette freezes. She feels it’s written all over her face. As if Adrien only stares close enough, he’d know the words playing in her head.

Your father is Hawkmoth, Adrien.

“You okay, Marinette?”

“Oh! Yeah. It’s—I just—it’s just I just have a headache, is all.” That part isn’t a lie. Marinette is bad at lying these days.

Would it have been better if it weren’t a solo mission? If Marinette knew she’d been heading directly into the bowels of Hawkmoth’s lair, she would have called for back-up. She hadn’t known it would be Hawkmoth’s lair. It was only supposed to be the Agreste family manor. She didn’t know until it was too late. She ran before she could think to call for back-up. What would Chat Noir have thought? What would he have done? She hasn’t seen him lately. She can’t ask him. She can’t tell him this secret, anyway.

“--Marinette?”

Oh. Adrien is still talking.

“Are you sure you’re okay? I can walk you back home if you’re—”

“I’m fine!” Lies. And Marinette is a bad liar these days. “Really. Just a headache. I was up too late studying. I have some Advil. I’ll just take some and—” Marinette reaches for a backpack strap which isn’t there. Right. She’s not at school.

“Here.” Adrien hands her his bag. “I’ve got some Advil in the front pocket. Have you eaten yet?”

“Um, no—”

“Then I’ll get some water and popcorn for us. That’ll help.” Adrien stands. The worry is still on his face. “Or, really we can just head home. If you’re not feeling well—”

“I’m fine, really! Popcorn, yes—popcorn would be good!”

He smiles at her. Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth. Adrien is smiling at her and he’s concerned for her. He has no idea how much he should be concerned for himself.

“I’ll be right back.” He leans down and plants a gentle kiss on her forehead. Marinette’s nerves buzz.

He can’t ever know.

And suddenly she’s alone. Holding Adrien’s bag. And it smells like him.

The previews kick on, stuttering and sudden. Marinette startles. The man 10 rows in front jolts awake. Marinette is out of her own mind for the few moments that the first preview holds her attention. She tries to follow it, tries to absorb its distraction, but her mind always pulls her back.

Hawkmoth.

Her head hurts.

Right… the Advil. In Adrien’s bag. Adrien her boyfriend and his dad is Hawkmoth—

Breathe.

Calm down. Come down.

Adrien said it was in the middle pocket, right?

Marinette unzips the middle zipper.

Two beetle-green cat slitted eyes blink up at her. Surprised, then scared, then vanishing all together, with just the remnants of a half-nibbled wedge of cheese to confirm Marinette had seen what she’d seen.

Marinette is good at not saying the words which only Ladybug should know.

Plagg?

She stares into the after-image. The previews fall quiet, and kick into the next film. Marinette isn’t breathing right, but her heart is racing. That was Chat Noir’s kwami. She knows she didn’t imagine it. And Plagg hid himself from her, because she is Marinette, and not Ladybug.

In Adrien’s bag.

Why in Adrien’s bag?

Marinette’s breathing gets shallower. She digs her fingers deeper into the pocket, pressing against the sickly sweaty sides of cheese wedges, until she hits something smooth, something hard, something small. She clasps her fingers around it and raises a single silver ring from the bag’s depths.

Marinette isn’t breathing.

When was the last time she saw Chat Noir?

“Marinette?”

She stows the ring, and snaps to attention. Adrien’s footsteps had always been quiet. She hadn’t noticed him return. He hands her a water bottle, and she takes it with her unoccupied hand.

“Here, for the Advil,” Adrien says, and he offers the popcorn in turn, though he hesitates at the new look on Marinette’s face. “Marinette, are you—?”

“I’m—NOT feeling well, actually…” Marinette says along a shaky exhale. “I’m just gonna go home.”

“Oh. Here, I can walk you—”

“I’ll just call my dad! Really. I don’t want to get you sick.”

“Oh… Okay, well—”

Marinette shoves his bag back at him, and she tries for a nod to temper the look on Adrien’s face before she pivots and stumbles through the row of theater seats.

She presses her fingers against the ring in her pocket as she pushes out of the theater.

She has to get this back to Chat Noir.

(If he’s still alive.)

She has to protect her own Miraculous.

(Assuming Adrien doesn’t already know.)

She has to protect all the others too.

From Hawkmoth.

From Gabriel Agreste.

(From his son.)

Was it foolish of her? To assume she knew something Gabriel’s own son didn’t?

To assume she was protecting Adrien from this?

Was it because Adrien never seemed anything like Hawkmoth?

(Marinette doesn’t seem anything like Ladybug.)

Why did she assume that she and the other Miraculous carriers were the only ones good at it?

The night air feels so much colder now. It’s the sweat on her face.

The son of Hawkmoth had kidnapped Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

A car narrowly avoids her, blaring its horn as it sweeps around. Marinette only touches her fingertips to her pocket, ensuring the ring is still there. Her ears, touching the earrings in place. The ghost of Adrien’s kiss lingers on her forehead.

(Why should only one Agreste be Hawkmoth?)

Marinette has three secrets.

[ahbeduo]

Do u have any subject 2 headcanons? 👀

I DO ACTUALLY!!! I think I've mentioned some in another ask, but uHHH I will put them here again cuz I might have changed some since last time🤔 I will put em belowwww Because I will not shut up about him /lh

REMINDER THIS IS ALL MY HEADCANONS! I ain't saying they're correct and true at all! There's so little screen time and crumbs I had to cook my own bread

Note: If it's not in any Aeruby AU (Aether x Rubedo but i and my friend like to call him Ruby haha) then he will forever be subject 2 in my head

I had HC Subject 2's real body underneath the Albedo imitation has multiple large jagged scars from when Durin had eaten him. Those large sharp teeth probably had pierced through his body once or twice before he was sent down the esophagus. That's why some parts of his body are so damaged he can't feel anything there

Another thing is that his hair.. I HC it to be black as opposite to Albedo's pale blonde-ish colour since Albedo is considered free of impurities and Subject 2 isn't at this point? Marinating in Durin's blood has GOT to do something right? Right?

This isn't exactly my HC, but of a friend who I always throw my brain worms at. They say his hands and feet has a bit of darkening, like a siamese cat's paw 🥺 It ends at his forearms and shins

Mentally, he is a child because I don't think Rhinedottir had allowed him to grow and develop so much. So yes, he doesn't have as much control over his emotions as Albedo. He isn't patient either compared to his successor. His relationship with their Master is complicated. He hates her, yet he refers to her as his mother. Mommy issues ayeeeee lmao

"You are my magnum opus" Rhinedottir had said to him. He had been proud to be her work of art. So he didn't expect to be thrown away for failing. What did he fail at? He didn't know. He was never told.

other simple stuff

-He won't get a vision -Has an interest in plants and animals -He's physically stronger than Albedo since he doesn't have a vision to rely on -Is very willing to get his hands dirty and commit murder for his benefit ((not surprisinglol))

All in all he gives feral stray cat energy that just wants love but would rather replace his successor to get it than to start his own life.

[ambrosiagourmet]

thistle for ask meme!

Thistle :0

First impression

No joke I was convinced early on that Laios & the party were making like a huuuuge leap in assuming that Thistle was the Lunatic Magician TM like guys you can't just go accusing every random person you find in a living painting of being the manager. Alas... he was, in fact, the manager.

Impression now

He's so jester coded👍

I think Thistle is very interesting and a great foil to Marcille, which I looove. They are both magic elf(-ish) advisors, they both get caught up in wanting to help the people around them live longer, they both become dungeon lords in pursuit of that... I think Thistle's story as it is works well for the narrative and I don't necessarily think he was underutilized exactly, but it is a little hard not to want A Bit More sometimes. Even if I do think it would be hard to add that more in without sacrificing some of the pacing overall :')

Favorite moment

I was initially going to say the ending for them, because I do love it, but you know what? I've got a more interesting answer. My favorite Thistle scene is.... this:

This fundamentally changes the trajectory of the story. In trying to find someone to stop the Winged Lion, Thistle launches Marcille into becoming the next lord of the dungeon. The next victim of the Lion. If Thistle hadn't resurrected Marcille, then the plot would have played out totally differently. She wouldn't have been able to finish unsealing the book. Laios would have been on his own when the canaries came. Would they have just cleaned everything up more easily? Would it instead have become something worse? Would Laios somehow have unsealed the book and become the lore of the dungeon right away?

I dunno. But this action reshaped Marcille's life, and Laios', and so many other people's. And it was done out of a desire to keep fighting. To not give in.

Augh idk. It's good. Their connection is good.

Idea for a story

Thistle & Chimera Laios.

But not just a "Laios gets eaten by the dragon instead," I think it would be cool to explore an AU where for some handwavy magic reason, Laios gets his soul bound up w/ the dragon during Falin's resurrection, and he gets poofed into a dragon form.

There's a note somewhere that says that chimeras start popping up the more the lord of the dungeon starts to lose their hold on things, but having met Laios before might help Thistle eventually realize that something is Off about the dragon. From there... well maybe he starts to ask questions and gives Laios more freedom to actually answer, and things could continue from there as Laios gets enough humanity back to start to understand what's happening, and also Thistle takes more time to question the Lion's plans rather than just continue to act. They'd be stuck together, probably with Laios still under Thistle's control, but maybe as they figure out more of the truth, they'd actually work together? Need to rely on each other? I'd like to see how each of them would deal with that situation...

PLUS then on the flip side I think switching Falin into the group part way through the story (rather than at the start) could be really interesting. So the adventures on that side would be fun too.

Unpopular opinion

umm idk. Is Thistle widely regarded as a Marcille foil? Because if not then why. They are so inchresting. funky little mages.

Favorite relationship

Hmmm okay so like obviously Thistle & Marcille, but also as seen in my story idea I want to explore more of Thistle & Laios bc their interactions were fun, soo... I'll just say the Dungeon Lord quartet as a whole. I like when people draw art of them all together. Let them bond through shared trauma. And also all of them have tried to kill at least one other person there at some point. It's great. They should go on brunch dates.

Favorite headcanon

This post about Thistle's goal to eat a meal with Delgal fundamentally rewired my brain

[kyuohki]

For the fic game, specifically for your "An Honor" fic series. ✄, ★, ✎

As I had two fic game posts, with some duplicate symbols, we're going to get a bonus question! :D

.

✄ DVD BONUS: pick a fic and I’ll describe or write a deleted scene!

I actually had Valere's family be the asshole family that controlled the village and abused their kids (so Valere's mom and aunt) as described in the first part of that chapter. I didn't like how it was turning out, and it was becoming a slog to write; there was a confrontation between Aelia and her parents bc she was grieving the loss of her baby, while they were both celebrating the honor publicly and berating her for not planning it properly so they could have another mage in the family... They were downright horrid, and I hated them. I eventually scrapped it bc it was starting to feel too forced and a different idea bit for later down the line, for when Valere meets her family.

.

✄ what’s your editing process? (Bonus Question!)

I edit as I go. Sometimes when I get stuck, I'll switch to edit mode and try to polish things above/below where the block is. It sometimes works and knocks the words loose, or gives me an idea for later down the line.

Which means that when I get the chapter/fic into a good place, I tend to skim the parts I've gotten really familiar with and miss stuff; or there are extremely polished sections, and the more recently written spots are in a "I do words good" level of coherency. I try to make myself wait a day or so before posting, then one last read through on the website, but I get so antsy and end up posting almost immediately.

.

★ what was the scene you most wanted to write in [fic]? what was the hardest scene to write?

I answered this for An Honor in a different post, so I'm gonna expand this to do any from the rest of the Bloodlines series.

I think the scene I wanted to write the most was actually in Friends, of Zale being "kidnapped" by Rocky, based on his concept art of him being "eaten" and my playthrough with him being the one targeted exclusively (or at least the most). Zale being used as a squeaky toy still makes me giggle.

Hardest of the ones posted? Probably Reunion, bc I got stuck a couple of times with how quickly Yu'mi's mood dropped over someone possibly knowing Zale, then getting hostile bc she *really* doesn't like the system or Solstice Warriors bc of it.

.

✎ how do you think readers would guess a fic was yours if you posted anonymously?

I...don't last long posting on anon, honestly. All my smut fic were on anon, but I caved pretty quickly and took them off bc I was literally vibrating with the need to talk about my fic on here. And at the time most of what I was posting was just smut...

But if I managed to stick it out and keep some fic on anon...I know I've got some writing quirks, some odd turns of phrase bc I write late at night and my brain can't do words good. (I don't catch them on edits either...) So, I'm sure people would catch on fairly quickly.

[cliff-and-the-kid]

(Noodling around with different 'verses, since that seems to be a Thing happening more often lately)

Main TFP universe, aka Cliff Lives

My first and foremost setting for Cliffjumper and Sierra, based on some fan fiction I wrote several years ago. Unless otherwise specified, this is where I'm working from concerning interactions, whether that means a thread is taking place in my AU, or Cliff and Sierra have un/intentionally gone universe hopping. Their groundbridge acts screwy plenty often, no need to elaborate beyond that.

Fae!verse

This one comes from @sparkmender, who's shared a frankly fascinating giant-magic-insect AU that I'm dipping my toes into, with red lily beetle Cliffjumper pretending he isn't breaking any rules by smuggling a teenage human into Iacon Hive, and said human changeling Sierra figuring out how to poke her magic into revealing itself. And also how to avoid being eaten.

Sarant!verse

Look. I'm a self-published author with one (1) novel to my name so far. Sarant is a big massive complex world I've been building over the past fourteen years, there's a tabletop roleplaying game I started crafting alongside the various book plots, and I will absolutely take any excuse to put some free publicity out there while also having fun amusing myself and friends. Hence Minotaur!Cliff and Quirren!Sierra and a few others I've been putting together.

Jedi!verse

Aaand this one I blame @ghostlyvisage for; mentioning a Mandalorian bounty version of Ghostspire instantly catapulted my brain towards all the space-magic shenanigans Cliff and Sierra could get into with the Force. So, introducing Devaronian Jedi Master Cliff Jammp'r and his human padawan Sierra Redsand, blue and green lightsabers respectively.

Cyberkid!verse

SO THIS ONE HAS A FEW DIFFERENT ITERATIONS, depending on which way the cards fell in Sierra being cyberformed via Omega Lock, yes there will eventually be fics for each. The main line is her alone going into the goop and coming out a brand new Cybertronian, except in an initially inert form that means Cliff and the others leave her for dead. Once the kid wakes up, however, the Decepticons quickly scoop her up as a 'recruit' (aka ace in the hole for taunting the bots), and it isn't until her path crosses with Cliffjumper again that Sierra remembers herself, remembers being human, remembers him. They escape, and the 'verse goes from there. Alternate Option! My girl isn't the only one cyberformed, because @convenientkeystorage and I are suckers for letting Sierra and Jack act like bonded cats even when they've become amnesiac alien robots. These posts are additionally labeled Sunset AU

Adventure!verse

Vaguely D&D, mainly just high fantasy shenanigans, with dragon!Cliff toting around young elf wizardling Sierra. So far this one's mostly art, we'll see if I ever get around to writing for it

Squire!verse

Less sorcery and more swords, featuring Sir Cliff the Jumper, Knight of the Autobot Order, and his young squire Sierra of Jasper. Also mainly art for the moment

Supers!verse

I'm not calling this one an X-Men AU, but. That's essentially what it's based off of. Established superhero and mutant boarding school gym teacher Cliffjumper generally likes all his students, but there's this one little spitfire with energy powers that he takes a bigger shine towards and invites to be his part-time sidekick

Future!verse

There are really only two ships I'll ever write on this blog, and that's Sierra/Jack and Cliff/Arcee, with a longterm endgoal of next gen fluff. I've got the name 'Gatecrasher' picked out for a dark magenta colored mechling, and 'April' for a human great-granddaughter, and at some point there might be some time travel shenanigans purely so I can give them a bit of the spotlight

[kickthecan-revolution]

The. Best. Holiday.

My sister made me an ornament with Peach’s paw print and we laughed so hard, I cried. He’s doing great, not so sure about the dog but everyone is obsessed with him and he seems happy. My sister’s place is like a cool art installation, so many places for him to play.

I’ve actually never been to my sisters before, I would fly out immediately after Christmas Eve. I’m so glad I changed my ticket to leave tonight. Christmas Eve at my brother’s was so fun, and then Christmas morning we went to my nieces house where we watched the little girls open presents. I am kind of obsessed with them. They are so cool and sweet and funny and they absolutely adore each other which is always so cute to see. I tried to stop by to see my parents but the place where they are in the cemetery is closed, so I might go today. 

The drive to Bellingham is about an hour and a half and I listen to Christmas music all the way up. We opened presents and then just hung out – I played with Peach a lot, which was so fun. My older niece has been struggling, and when the kids got back from seeing their dad, she closed herself off in her room and was in tears. You just never know with schizophrenia what’s going on - I can see the pain on my sister’s face just not knowing what to do. After a few minutes I went into her room and we talked for an hour. She asked me if she was the same person that I knew and loved before she got sick – I said that she was even more of who she is. That may be the little girl on the soccer team and who is the life of the party was only a part of her or maybe even a performative part of her, we don’t know, that the smart and brilliantly sensitive and intuitive little human I knew then, is even more focused for me now despite her suicide attempt and the awful scar on her neck as a result, and her diagnosis. That she’s so much more than that and maybe it’s time to forgive herself for both.  I talked about how hard it is to trust myself at times, and that my brain tells me if I make a decision, I’m going to hurt someone, I’m going to hurt the cats, someone’s going to end up dead and alone. I don’t have schizophrenia, but I do struggle with mental illness and some days. It’s very difficult to stay tethered to the world.

She ended up coming out of her room and went to a movie with everyone so maybe it helped? I hope so.

I said my goodbyes and started to head home when my sister called me after I driven 30 miles to tell me I left my purse there. So I had to drive all the way back, and was so tired at that point I pulled up to McDonald’s to get a Diet Coke and a hamburger cause I hadn’t eaten dinner and I got stuck in their line for over 30 minutes. the rain was coming down, hard and so much standing water on the freeway, it was pretty scary, but got home just fine and crashed like I have never crashed before, I meant to post descriptions on those pictures below, but I kept falling asleep. It was trying to hit publish.

I have a lot of people who love me here, and I’m able to feel it more this holiday than ever before.

Woke up this morning to the moon. My flight is not until 7 PM tonight so I’m just going to hang here, get a little Mexican food at my favorite place and take a walk on the beach.



I love all of you so much. I hope you are doing OK, and finding softness, love, healing and a little wonder.

[goneahead]

I got tagged by @demeter1111 back when wattieza forests were still a thing. sorry for being a disorganized noodle!

15 questions and 15 mutuals:

Were you named after anyone? When was the last time you cried? Do you have kids? Do you use sarcasm a lot? What's the first thing you notice about people? What's your eye colorScary movies or happy endings? Any special talents? Where were you born? What are your hobbies? Have any pets? What sports do you play/have played? How tall are you? Favorite subiect in school? Dream job?

KNIGHTS! NEW QUESTIONS! (obligatory obscure Monty Python reference)

What famous person, alive or dead, would you want beside you during a zombie apocalypse?

Hanibal of Carthage. He is super smart, a great fighter—and he comes with elephants. Lets be honest, elephants would be super cool in a zombie apocalypse. Especially zombie ones😁

If they made a movie about you, what would your theme song be?

since I’m a nomad, The Great Divide by National Park Radio😉

Which muppet character would you be willing to go on a date with?

Gonzo—as long as Gonzo sets up the date. Cuz you know Gonzo would set up a wild date😆

What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?

I was served whale blubber at a party once. Do NOT recommend🤢

What is the weirdest thing you still eat?

I really love peanut butter on my crepes😋

You can have any extinct or fantasy animal as a pet. What would you choose?

The enormous pteradactyl, Quetzalcoatlus. With a handy riding harness. And maybe some water ballons…😏

List a very boring fact about yourself.

I am an American mutt. My parents were from very different parts of the country, but all four of my grandparents came from families that settled in the U.S. in the timespan 1630–1730.

You are granted a wish to have any food you want—but the catch is you will have to eat it twice a day for the rest of your life. What do you choose?

**ponders** popcorn or freshly baked cookies or popcorn or freshly baked cookies or popcorn or—

You can choose any singer or band to play at your funeral. Who do you pick?

Nat King Cole. Everyone can roll up the rugs, and dance the night away!

What line of poetry or doggerel is forever stuck in your brain?

Charge of the Light Brigade: “Into the jaws of Death, into the mouth of hell/Rode the six hundred.” I used to quote this at work, usually when we were getting overrun. For some reason, my bosses were never amused. Then again. they also didnt appreciate it when I would tell them ‘I would like to inform you that the barbarians are at the gates.”😂😂😂

You can bring back an item of clothing that has fallen out of style. What would it be?

We really need to bring back the clothing of the Han Chinese. Imagine if we could all walk around in loose, flowing comfortable clothes. Also, wearing hanfu means long flowing belts—which means we could turn all the cool stuff we currently put on our key chains into belt decorations. With tassles. Cuz modern clothing haz a serious lack of tassles. Just saying…

You are granted the gift of being a were creature. What animal would you choose to change into?

Definitely were-otter. Much scampering, much floating—and lots of fish. Also, I wouldnt have to worry about villagers and pitchforks, cuz seriously, who is gonna be scared of a were-otter?

What is the most useless fact you know?

The last person to collect a Civil War pension was Irene Triplett. She passed away in 2020. Also, in 1916 the U.S. Postal Service changed the rules, and you can no longer mail more than 200 pounds/90 kilos in a single day. Why? Some guy was building a bank in Utah and realized he could save on freight charges by just having the bricks mailed. Yes, ALL of the bricks😂😂😂

You are going to be locked, all alone, in a place for 24 hours. Which place do you choose?

Um, tie. The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art or the Gilcrease Museum😍

What is the superpower you want and whats the superpower you DONT want?

Best superpower? Making quarters appear wherever I want. No, seriously. Think about how much fun you could have, in a super sneaky way. College kid walks by—put a few extra quarters in their pocket. Seniors sitting on a park bench—now there are handfuls of quarters in the bottom of their purses. Tip jar at the coffee shop—add another layer of quarters. Also easiest superhero name ever. Just stick a pencil behind your ear and call yourself ‘Drawn and Quartered’🤣🤣🤣

The worst superpower? Anything to do with ice and snow. Nope nope nope!

ok tagging @distilled-prose @cowandcalf @teruel-a-witch @ellena-asg @wordrummager @torrentialmonsoon @sherrylephotography @ends-2-beginnings @itwoodbeprefect @alex-a-roman @mikefrawley @firstfullmoon @gracebriarwoodwrites @maureen2musings @stephmcx and cuz I changed the questions @demeter1111 also tagging @neil-gaiman cuz I know he wont answer, but I am super curious about his answer to question one😂😂😂

[murkystarlight]

DREAMZzz S2 spoilers pt.2

(And my personal comments)

Okay- I lost all progress once. But this time it'll be fine. Right? Anyways... I lost my energy so I'm going to make it a bit more shorter and brief....

Starting off with the sirens. Can we appreciate that glossy tail?? We need them as figurines ASAP.

Izzie and Cooper suffering

I like the sticky hand Mateo makes. Probably the best one he made during his... *I miss z-blob phase*

And- have I mentioned the opening song before?? Cause it's really nice

RIP Sandman... where did he go??😭

I personally loved all the ✨family drama✨ in this season (also, poor Izzie that keeps thinking she forgot stuff she doesn't actually know. Must be really confusing)

And do they not know that their parents got divorced? I mean... they gotta be divorced, right?

(Did anyone hear Mr. Oz grumbling while he took out the dreamy-screamy?)

Cooper, not having any knowledge on tech giving an idea for using a Lumi-Caster, that's used for making light, while they're in broad daylight? Sad. But adorable

Why do they have headphones in the library? For kids who have trouble with the noise?

Zoey winking? And mentioning Way of the departed?? Then she punches a siren in the face???

(Logan needs more appreciation)

Dallas is doing a great job knitting

Throws headphones, lands on their heads perfectly

"Woah-"

Also, they almost get eaten. EATEN. By the sirens!? We need angst art on this👍

"Remember, DO IT QUIETLY" (he's Dumbledore) ((what color can I give mr oz? This is the only one left so))

Cooper stressing out from not being able to turn on a computer- he's losing brain cells, oh god... and he got a temper like have you seen Mateo and Zoey's face? Shocked

Mrs. Castillo is the best

(Oh~ then we must go north!)

Why are their colors the same? In the last season when they went through the rift the colors were like... faded and... dreamy

"The fantasy realm? Sirens dont belong here!" (That's a bit mean- be like Cooper->) "well, they have to be somewhere, don't they?"

Or preferably. Like Zoey

"I hope they don't eat anyone though"

Why did Mateo tell Logan to play his song before they left the rift?? Or- at least when they're a little bit closer to the rift?

Cooper was badass with that frying pan.

We got a new

Rapunzel

He looks so happy when he tagged the ravennn (the wacky-tracky looks like it resembles a bird. Don't you think? Or... is it just me..?)

aughhhh my heart

(He also seems really down, he says so himself that "if I do one thing right today, please be this" he needs help y'alll)

José and Jasmin look so happy togethr

And Mateo got over his mom a teenie weenie bit "we're all just figuring it out, right?"

(Sounds a bit...🏳️‍🌈) just saying! Don't take any of what I'm saying seriously

Episode 4

Logan's song. Let's see the good parts I found-

Mateo singing along and dancing(and being mad about it- btw, the z-blob drawing right in front of Mateo when he wakes up has got to be one of the cutest drawings yet). Zoey, Cooper, Mr. Oz and Albert dancing

Now-

Why can't they be supporting? I mean... okay.. maybe it's a bit weird (and I thought it was a bit weird too- especially when the other guy suddenly got so popular just as fast as Logan) but he's your friend?? Is it that surprising that Logan have fans? ....yeah.. okay, maybe?

(Also, Logan can do splits??)

Uh- I just noticed, Izzie has pickles on her lunch plate. Like- a full sized pickle! That's pretty much all she has on her plate

But Zoey. That was kinda mean- you... you were more than harsh

���Sparkles✨

They really tried to make us belive that Jasmin is a witch or smth- but! I know my cliches. And at this situation? She's definitely just a normal person(and I was right)

Does Logan's beast crafting only work with his anger? I remember seeing a cool artwork with Logan using it with other emotions. Maybe later if he develops his powers?? Or.. something similar?

Why does some people only think of dancing and some people can keep thinking 'what the- why can't I stop??' And all that(like Zoey still complained)

Rupert Finneas Shufflebottom Oswald

How did Mateo and Izzie get up in a tree??

Cooper looks so darn cute!! Look at his smile! So precious

He looks... genuinely happy. Like... has he really been losing brain cells?

When Logan has his head down, the mouth animations looked really cool(also, I love the captions. Logan's official name as the blue gremlin is Lo-lo)

Zian and the frog cab is also dancing! Cute

"A lizard person from planet Sikoria!"

"And- why are we sitting on mrs. Castillo's food truck?"

"I don't want dad to hurt like I'm hurting right now.." such- a good kid

Is it just me or did Cooper really, actually get more laid-back than before??

Oh- so Logan is the tech guy now?

Logan looks so sad-

Well Zoey. You tried. It wasn't a bad apology, but.... not the best.

And Logan with a new instrument??

Episode 5

We need info! Why is the Never witch so mad?!!

But seriously- her incantations are just... really nice

Really sad that Izzie can't remember Phil...

Hate Royce

Cooper being...

Rebellious

Phil being the best wingman ever-

(The hug.... Phil- oh god)

"Coop, did you mess with this thing?"

"No, why?"

"Just wondering if you broke it"

"Wow."

The raven was being happy and cute making it's nest... aww

I like how Izzie keeps repeating what she did the first time(like trying to fly)

"Oh! Try asking it to lead us to the witch!"

"[Laughs].... oh, you're serious"

Oh right! The Grimm spawn disguise! We have a new costume now~

Logan's moms being bird ladies and everyone staring at Logan like he's gone mad

Izzie still doing the Naruto run

"We're close"

"Uh- close to what?"

"Her"

Yup. He's losing brain cells...

And that one scene when they retrieve their memories?(kinda). Oh..... boy

Cooper you poor thing! Nooooooo

I was very happy when I heard the sound of glass shattering. And.. why was it so sad?? They do not have the right to make it seem so sad

But like- even though this is great. Love the angst and all...(he barely got to be sad about it? He barely showed it) I hope Cooper gets his tech powers back. He can be a chef, and a tech guy. Like that show on Netflix! Baking impossible? I think it was? Making functioning cakes. But maybe the whole "tech guy" thing was like... a fence for him? He only thinks of things in that way. Maybe that's why he was the most closed(least creative) person at first. But now he's out of that boundary. And he does look like he's being more care-free and seems more brighter? (...in case you haven't noticed yet. He's my favorite character. He's going to take up about... half of the space in my rambling;;)

Zoey's past!

That was dark. Like... really cool though

I love how Izzie gets her memories back!

The armor coming together? Coool

Inspector Strick actually helping them??

Previous part , next part

[elisysd]

7. Maybe together we can get somewhere

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Tracy Chapman - Fast Car

The sun was piercing through the curtains, waking up Julia. She took her time getting out of bed, letting the memories over the previous night rush over her. She took a quick shower before putting on an old Ferrari tee-shirt that she once borrowed from her dad (and never gave back) and some sweatpants. She was going to work a little bit on the data that some engineer from Warsaw had sent yesterday. She needed to be comfortable. A quick detour to the kitchen to make herself some toast and a cappuccino and she was ready to face her day. She came back to her room and sat at her desk. Before logging in, she unplugged her phone and quickly wen through the few texts messages and social media notifications. Her gaze was attracted by a name trending on Twitter and soon a text message from the same person that was under the spotlight on the app.

It worked.

She knew that she should stay away from the posts on social media, but curiosity got the better of her. She clicked on Ethan’s name and soon she was overwhelmed with pictures of them in the restaurant and hundreds of comments of people trying to guess who the girl in the pictures was. Investigations had begun and Julia knew it was only a matter of time before they get to her. A part of her knew that nothing would give away that it was her. The picture was blurry, the only thing you could see was her back and a brunette wearing a black dress was something pretty common. That was the rational part of her brain that was talking. But the tiny insecure one couldn’t help but play the devil’s advocate. What if someone had seen her and decided to speak? What if there were other pictures that were not online yet and someone decided to release them? Monaco was after all a small city, almost a village where everyone knew everyone. She could feel herself spiralling and nausea coming over her. She only had time to go to the toilet before emptying her stomach.

“Julia? Are you okay,” asked her mom that was passing by.

She knelled beside her daughter and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I’m fine, I must have eaten something that my stomach didn’t like yesterday, that’s it.”

“You sure? Did everything go well yesterday? I didn’t hear you coming back.”

Julia’s only answer was to throw up again. It was as if her body was trying to tell her that the whole thing was a bad idea. She felt her mom’s cold hand on her neck and then moving up to her forehead.

“I’m not sick, mom.”

“You are throwing up and you are shivering, excuse me to feel a little worried.”

“It’s just the stress. That’s it. We have a lot of work to do…”

It was not a lie. It was just not the reason why Julia felt so sick.

“I knew it might not be a good idea to let you work in F1 right after graduating…” she heard her mom sigh.

“That’s my dream. I don’t want to work anywhere else.”

“I know, but sometimes you have to delay your dreams in order to feel ready. Maybe you could have started in F2, I know Fred still have some ties with Art Grand Prix…”

“No! I’m okay. I just need to get used to the pressure and I’ll be fine.” explained Julia, getting up.

“Come with me, I was about to make myself some tea. I’ll make you one. You need to drink.

Julia followed her mom as they make their way to the kitchen. Julia sat on a bar stool and watched silently her making the water boil in the kettle. The comfort silence was suddenly interrupted by angry footsteps coming from her father’s office. She heard him hanging up his phone call with rage and barging through the kitchen’s doors before sitting on the stool next to her. From the corner of her eyes she saw her mom taking another mug from the cabinet and pour a third cup of tea for her dad.

“What is happening?” asked Charles’ wife.

“We are screwed. We are not going to win a championship this year. It’s over. Lamborghini won.” he explained.

“Didn’t take you for a quitter, honey. That’s not the man I married.”

“It’s just… the data between the simulation and the actual data we collect during the race are strictly different. We are losing speed during straight lines, with or without DRS. We don’t know where the problem comes from yet, but I just had a call with our technical director isn’t optimistic about the upgrades we are working on for the Casa Grand Prix. I know I shouldn’t tell you that Julia, but I needed to let this out.”

Julia had rarely seen her dad so defeated and frustrated. Sure it happened before, when he was still driving, but he never was under the amount of pressure a Team Principal could receive and Julia could see the toll it was taking in him. She drank the rest of her tea in one gulp and went back to her room. Rummaging through her suitcase, she finally found the envelope she was searching for. She took out the USB drive and plugged it in her computer. In front of her eyes, dozen of documents could be seen. Pictures of the car, of notes taken by engineers, of date displaying on screens even blueprints of the car that Ethan might have copied from someone else’s computer. She was impressed by the dedication of her fake boyfriend to get her onboard. He really was not joking when he told her that he had important pieces of information. Of course, some things were lacking but Julia knew that if she studied them really hard, she could fill the blanks. A least she hoped so.

Downtown Monte-Carlo, in his flat Ethan was expecting Maserati’s PR manager phone call and was not surprises when he received it, right after his morning run.

“What were you thinking? We asked you to fake settling down not keep acting like a dick!”

Ethan sighed before drinking a huge glass of water in one gulp.

“And I’m working on it, but I can’t appear at the next GP with a girl out of nowhere. We have to make it believable. That’s what I’m doing. I called the paps yesterday. It’s under control, relax.”

“Who is the girl?” she asked.

“Not going to say. You will corner her and make her sign stuff, I know you. I don’t want you to make her run away, it was hard enough to get her onboard.”

“Ethan…”

“No. You will know when I’ll deem it useful for you to know. For now it’s not the case, but don’t worry, she is perfect. You have to trust me.”

He couldn’t help but smile, imaging the PR officer probably rolling her eyes at the idea of having to trust him. She was pissed of, he could hear it. But he didn’t care. For once, he had control on his life. Ever since he started to get big and under the spotlight, people tried to get advantage of his image. He stopped counting the number of brands that contacted him and the photoshoots he had done in the past. And of course people that tried to use him because of his father. He was not stupid, contrary to what other people might think and what it seemed. He knew who he could trust and who he couldn’t. But as his dad once said to him, really early in his career: “ You will attract dishonest people like corpses attract vultures, don’t hesitate to use them the way they will use you.”

“You’ve never made it easy for us to trust you.”

“See that as a new start.” he replied.

Ashley ended the call, not without making him promise to not do anything stupid. They didn’t need another scandal. Right after hanging up, his phone rang again and the name of his mother appeared on the screen. Ethan wondered if he should ignore it. He knew why his mother was calling, she must had seen the pictures and she wanted to know everything. But Ethan knew better, if he was not answering she was perfectly capable to come to his place and that was the last thing he wanted.

“Mom…”

“Were you on a date yesterday?” was the first thing she asked.

“Oh I’m fine mom. My flight was amazing and I made it home safely. The beginning of the season is not so great but I hope it will get better. I’m so happy you asked.”

“Smartass. So, do I know her? Is she from Monaco? How long have you seen each other? Why am I not aware of anything? You don’t tell me anything about your life lately…” she complained.

“Maybe I’m not telling you anything because it’s always like this! You are intrusive. It doesn’t matter what i do or it’s not good enough or it’s too risky or it’s too stupid. But it’s my life. I’m not fifteen anymore, I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

He didn’t know where this was coming from. Probably a mix of everything that had happened the last few days. He was tired, under pressure and a part of him was scared the whole fake-dating would turn sour really quickly. He din’t entirely trust Julia. After all, he was giving the responsibility to save his career to a girl that hated his guts.

“I’m worried about you. And I wouldn’t need to if you had given me reasons to trust you in the past.”

He knew this conversation was not going anywhere. They both were too stubborn to admit their wrongdoings.

“How is dad?” he asked.

“Don’t try to change the subject, I still want to know who that girl is.”

“And I won’t tell you.”

“Is she from Monaco? Or Italian maybe? Or French?”

“She is Monegasque, born and raised here. See, happy?” he ended up saying, fed up by her questions.

“Oh so I might know her, then. Monaco is not that big.”

Ethan knew his mom. She was going to dig he was sure of it and that was the last thing he wanted. Because she knew that she was going to talk to other people and soon everyone will know that Ethan was dating someone. And that would mess with the whole plan him and Julia had come up with.

“Mom, it’s still early and I’m not even sure it will lead anywhere. Please, I’m not asking for much just let me go at my own pace and if it becomes serious I’ll let you know. I promise. But for now it’s too soon.”

He heard her sigh.

“Fine. Just one more question. How long has it been going on? Because with the scandal…”

“It’s been a few weeks.”

And that was another lie he could add on the pile that was starting to get big. He had to explain it to Julia so they wouldn’t mess with their relationship timeline in case questions were raised.

“Okay. Well, I’m happy for you Ethan, really. And I will be waiting for the day I’ll get to meet her. I won’t force you to talk about her if you don’t feel ready but you must care a lot about her if you are asking me to not mingle in your life. I’m glad you are happy and you finally found someone you want to spend time with.”

Ethan couldn’t help but feel a pinch of regret in his heart. He could hear his mom being genuinely happy for him and he knew that if she happened to know about the lie, it would crush her. He said his goodbye to her, promising to visit her soon and decided to go out. He needed to clear his mind after this conversation and to forget how of a liar he had become in the span of a few days. He was not proud of it. He felt bad, but Ethan was ready to do anything to keep his seat, even if he had to go as far as lying and potentially hurting his loved ones. He just hoped that the truth would never see the light of the day.He put on a jacket that was lying on his couch and left his flat. It was windy in Monaco, even a bit chilly, he could feel the salty air coming from the sea on his face. He took a deep breath before turning his dead to the left to see if a car was passing by before crossing the road and was surprised to notice a silhouette that he was becoming familiar with running in his direction.

Her brown hair pulled in a ponytail was bouncing from left to right, rhythmically with her footsteps. When she finally arrived near him, she was breathless and bright red from her run. He was about to say something when she interrupted him, pointing her finger in front of his face, silently shutting him up.

“Louis knows.” she said.

Ethan took a minute to understand what she meant.

“He knows? About us? What did you tell him?”

“Nothing, I swear. My brother is a genius and knows me better than anyone. I didn’t say anything, he put 2 and 2 together. He thinks we are dating. ”

“But you didn’t deny it.”

“I don’t want to lie to him.”

“Well you did lie, because technically we are not dating for real.”

“I don’t want to lie to him more than necessary.” she added.

“My mom is suspicious. I mean, you know her, you know how much she likes gossips so it shouldn’t surprise you to learn that she knows about the rumours and she saw the pictures. It will probably only be a matter of time before she finds out about you and I.”

Julia leaned over the wall and let herself gliding to the floor. She didn’t think about that. She didn’t think about how great friends her mom and Ethan’s were. If Kat met up with Lyanna, chances were high that they would talk about their kids. And Ethan’s dating life would be mentioned and then Lyanna would probably tell Kat that Julia had been on a date, because Julia knew for sure that her mom didn’t believe her when she said she was going to meet some friends. And then, their cover would blow up. Their moms would questioned them. Julia closed her eyes and try to take a deep breath that was soon caught up in her throat preventing her from exhaling normally. She tried to stand and started to pace back in forth, her breathing shallow, to organised her thoughts. But no matter how hard she tried to compartment her thoughts, new ones were adding up to the pile and she soon felt like the whole world was crushing down on her shoulders. She tried to keep the tears from falling by shaking her head but it was no use.

Ethan didn’t know what to do and he ended up doing the one thing he thought about. He put his body in front of her and his two hands on her shoulders firmly, forcing her to stop. She looked at him, anchoring herself in his blue eyes that was staring at her with a harden look.

“Julia… hey, Joolsie. Stop and listen to me. We are in this shit together, I dragged you into it. I may be an ass but i’m not ungrateful. You were kind enough to help me and you will go through enough of shit because of me. I promise you, I will try to make this whole dating thing the less painful possible. I owe you a big one, I’m not going to let you down. And you know me, you know that when I promise something, I don’t back down on it.”

It calmed her down a little bit. They tacitly decided to walk along the harbour, as Ethan lived nearby and they knew that there wouldn’t be a lot of people. The walk was silent as they didn’t know what to say. Julia was still deep in her thoughts and Ethan was eyeing her from the side. She really looked like Charles, he thought. The same way to carry themselves, the same hazel eyes, the same driven attitude and fiery look when they set their eyes on something. He never really paid attention before. He would even go as far as to say that she was pretty and in another life, she would have been his type. But she was Julia and he was Ethan and so, he put this thought in a box and far away in his mind.

They found a quiet spot away from the main road and near the sea. They sat on the only bench and looked at the coastline.

“This is my favourite place when I need somewhere to cool off.” Ethan told her, breaking the silence.

“Mine is the big cabin in our garden, at home. It’s used as a screaming room when someone needs to let go of some stress or anger. It was my mom’s idea, so no one would shout again one another and Louis had somewhere to go if he felt the need to be on his own, in a safe environment.” she explained with a bittersweet smile when she mentioned her brother.

“How is he? Is he still home schooled?”

“Yeah. It’s still hard for him to be around a lot of people for more than an hour…”

“But, how can he get used to it if your parents keep him sheltered?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell them but… they are scared I guess.”

‘It must be hard, no? To have a brother like him.’

He saw her glared at him and added quickly that in no mean did he think that Louis wasn’t normal.

“He has ups and down. Like everyone, I guess. But his are always very high or very low. He doesn’t know how to recognise what he feels. It can take him days to put a word on a feeling. So, yeah… it’s hard. Sometimes it feels like no matter what we all do to help him, it’s not enough.”

“Does he have friends or is he really lonely?”

“He has Percy, Lando’s son. I don’t know if Louis considers him as friend, but I know that they chat online from time to time. That’s the closest thing he has of a friend and contact with the outside world.” she fidgeted with her red bracelet, her gaze set on it.

“And you, do you have friends, Joolsie?”

She was about to answer when a girl interrupted them. She was young, probably around fourteen years old with blond curls falling down on her shoulders.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt but, are you Ethan Verstappen?”

Julia looked away and put distance between them as Ethan replied with a smiled and posed with the girl for a selfie. As she left, not without thanking Ethan one last time and wishing him the best of luck for the season, they left their spot and wandered off the street. As they were planning their next move, Julia’s phones buzz and a text from her mom appeared on the screen.

It’s getting late, Ju’. Are you far from home?

She looked at the time and realised that she was almost late for dinner and the sun was about to set.

“I have to go. I don’t want to upset my mom more than she probably already is, I didn’t realise that it was late. We’ve been out for hours, I didn’t notice.” she told Ethan.

“Who would have thought that we could manage to stay out together for hours and not rip each other’s heads off? Look, we made it out alive. Maybe, this whole fake dating thing might work.” Ethan teased her.

She laughed slightly before waving him goodbye.

When she finally got back home and was surprised to see her dad playing with Bailey and her ball. He was sitting down on the stairs of the porch and seemed down which alarmed Julia. She didn’t like seeing him like this because it meant that something happened with Louis.

“Dad? Is everything okay?”

He looked up to her and sighed, before scooting over to give her some space to sit down.

“I messed up with your brother. Again.” he confessed with a low voice.

“What happened?” she asked gently putting her head on his shoulder as she felt her dad’s cheek resting on the top of her head.

“I involuntarily triggered him and now he locked himself in his room and doesn’t want to see anyone. He… he was playing piano and I… I’m stupid. I just thought that maybe I could play with him, that it could be a nice bonding moment. That if I can’t get through him with words maybe I can let music do the talking, you know? I startled him. I know that I should have made myself seen. Instead I just went and scared him. He started to panic because he didn’t feel that I was around and I tried to reassure him. I naturally put a hand on his shoulder and I shouldn’t have. I know that he doesn’t like when someone touch him without his permission. And he started to scream. The more I was trying to calm him down, the worst I made everything.”

“It’s not your fault, dad…” Julia tried to comfort him.

“I fail him, Ju’. Times and times again. I’ve always failed him and I keep on doing so. Why am I such a bad dad to him?”

“You’re not a bad dad. You try your best, like you always do. And maybe it won’t be today or tomorrow, but I know that it will get better. Because when you want something, you do everything you can to achieve it.”

She felt her dad’s head nuzzling against hers and his embrace being stronger.

“I love you, princess. I feel like I don’t tell you that enough.”

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it before standing up. The house was quiet. Her feet dragged her to her brother’s bedroom where her mother was talking to a closed door.

“Louis, baby, please open the door. Talk to me, please. Daddy is so sorry he didn’t want any of that to happen.”

She seemed tired and Julia regretted to have not come back earlier. Maybe if she had been there, the incident wouldn’t have happened.

“Mom? I’m taking it from here. Go see dad, I think he needs you.”

“You sure?”

Julia nodded and when her mom was out of sight she stuck her ear against the door, trying to hear something from the inside.

“Hey munchkin. Can I come in? I promise you, it’s only me.”

She waited for what felt like minutes before the door opened slightly. It was just a crack but it was big enough to allow Julia to slip through it. Louis was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall near the door. Getting closer to him, Julia noticed he was shaking slightly. She sat beside him, careful to not go to close in case it would trigger another crisis.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.

“Dad hates me.” he ended up saying, is voice hoarse from the screaming and the crying.

“Why would you think that?”

“I just know it. He is ashamed of me.”

“Louis… it’s not true. You know that.”

“Yes it is. I surprised a conversation between him and mom once. I know it’s bad to eavesdrop and I didn’t want to but then I heard my name…”

“What did you hear?”

“Dad saying that he would have loved to have a son that was into racing and who would have been like him. That he would have loved to know how grandpa was feeling when dad was competing in karting. Because it would have brought him closer to his dad. He would have preferred to have a normal son and not a weirdo like me. He didn’t say that but it felt like it.”

Julia didn’t really know what to say but one thing was for sure, she knew that Louis had misinterpreted whatever he had heard and was not meant to. She would talk to her mom about it later.

“Normality is overrated Louis. And I wouldn’t want another brother. You are perfect just the way you are.”

It made him feel a little bit better. At least he wasn’t shaking anymore. She pulled out of her pockets his favourite sweets that she always kept on her in case of emergency occurring with him. The smile that she managed to get it from him, made her happy and it’s with a lighter heart that she went back to her room. As she was about to plugged her phone, she saw he text from Ethan, appearing at the top of her notifications.

Hey, I hope you made it home safe and sound. The fan that asked for a picture earlier posted it online and she said that I was with who she thought was my girlfriend. It’s on a lot of gossip accounts. Just thought that I should let you know. Take care.

Julia gulped. Of course it was something that she imagined could have happened but she was so used to control everything that this slight inconvenience in their plan well thought was enough to make her anxious. It was real now, they could not back down. She couldn’t, not anymore. She opened Instagram and went to her profile. Maybe it was time for her to make it public. It would give her a sense of control over what was posting about her. She went in the app setting and opened the access to her profile.

author's note: This chapter was a pain in the ass to write so I'm very curious to have your thoughts about this one.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. It helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

Taglist:

@herondalism @aundercover @musingsbyshreya @karmabyfernando @reengard @mycenterfold @smoooothoperator

[monsterfloofs]

Eldrich Entity x Anonymous Reader (Sfw) part III

( Headspace buddy got a traditional drawing of them done. It has been so long since I have fooled around with a tonal drawing in graphite and black colored pencil. ^-^ ) Before I used to paint digitally or use markers or paint, this was my medium of choice, so it was a nice throw back to my younger art days!)

“Miniscule beings with grandiose emotions.”

You blink blearily, the bed room was dark, only a faint trickle of light was seeping into the room. The voice in your head has woken you up. Although it didn’t sound like it was talking to you. Your body ached and you had to pry yourself from the covers. The washcloth laying in a crumpled heap beside your pillow. A hand pressed to the small of your back as you shuffle out into the kitchen. You must have been laying down all day to feel this sore.

You look around briefly for your cell phone, before reading the clock on the stove. You could barely make out 8pm written in dark digitized marks. You groan softly and rub your eyes with your hand.

“You have not eaten all day.”

You feel your stomach plummet as you could feel attention on you.

“. . . Nope.”

“Will you?”

A flick of irritation glanced across your mind. What did this thing care if you ate or not? It probably was slowly consuming your brain or something like some ungodly abyssal slug. You tried to stuff the emotion down, make it small and unnoticeable.

“Maybe.”

“You resist my suggestions, even if it is for your own betterment?” The voice mutters with a mirrored annoyance and you give a soft huff.

“. . .Welcome to humanity.” You hum, going to the fridge and crinkling up your eyes at the sudden bright light that flicks on as you open the door.

“Buh. . . I second thought. . . I don’t know if I can eat. My stomach feels a little iffy.”

You push the door close with the tips of your fingers, leaning your forehead against the cool metal.

“I detest that simile.”

“What simile?” You mutter.

“I do not, in any way shape or form, wish to consume your being.” The words were punctuated with disgust, and a fair share of indignance. “I am no slimy invertebrate.”

You give a small laugh, a twitter of almost mirth. Realizing how impossible and insane the situation was. It was like a lightbulb lit up in your mind, you had a shouting match with some kind of cosmic god. Now. . . you’ve been going around insulting it. They could hear you, they could hear everything. All the thoughts you never dared to say out loud. If this didn’t show you succumbed to madness, or perhaps were fairly mad to begin with, you weren’t sure what to think anymore.

“You. . . kind of do look like a slug,” You dared to tease, feeling a strange wave of annoyance wash over you that wasn’t your own. You titter with laughter again, putting a hand over your mouth to hush your giggles.

“I do not see why this is funny,” They hiss at you. “Perhaps I shall change my mind after all.”

The giggle fit ebbs away, and you feel tired again.

“I dunno. Sometimes humor helps. If you saw things from my perspective this would be utterly terrifying.”

Silence.

You tilt your head, waiting for some kind of response. When there wasn’t one you sigh, turning around to face the stove. You jump about a foot when you see the starlight being hovering by the kitchen table.

“Ho-my god,” You rasp, “I wish you would say something, that is so freaky.”

The tall shadowy being looks down at their hands, clawed fingers slowly curling towards their bright luminescent palms.

“. . .”

You stare at the figure, studying them quietly. Their skin did look like some kind of strange dark sea, or flowing galaxy. with dots of light that swirled around it. With branchlike horns that turned into wispy plumes of smoke. They didn’t have a multitude of limbs this time, or many angry writhing smoky tendrils. This appearance looked, what you take a very vague guess at, was what they looked like when they were calm. You remember the dreams of this huge mountainous creature, and the lake of swirling stars you had been thrown into. With a voice so loud and deep you thought it was going to shatter your ears. Like being too close to pumping speakers and their thrumming vibrations.

“You’re. . . a lot bigger than this,” You found yourself saying out loud in a quiet voice. “Aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“And this fragment thing. . . you mentioned,” You ventured forward. “It's like . . . a miniature version of you, right?”

“That is correct.”

"So. . . how come you know English and. . . Earth stuff?"

The horned head shifts to look up from their hands.

"Shared knowledge. You speak this language, while a piece of me is bonded with you, I share your experiences."

You make a face and they tilt their head.

"That's. . . really creepy. . ."

"You're uneasy."

You nod and purse your lips, "Most. . . most people would be. . ."

You huff and your eyes shift, this really brings a whole new meaning to getting inside someone's head. . . yikes. You go back over to the kettle still making a face.

You decide that you are definitely going to need some tea.

“I. . . would prefer that you stay out of my headspace. . .”

Fingers turn the knob on the stove, listening to the click fill the empty space until flames slither around the kettle. You fiddle with the knob to adjust the heat.

“It’s. . . kind of like invading someone’s personal sanctuary. I would rather not have all my thoughts and feelings be shared. . .”

And what did they absorb already? You felt your heart give an uncomfortable flutter. They were able to learn a language in only a few days. And speak with nuances that a native speaker could, where it almost felt. . . normal. How much did they already know? How much did they already learn from you, cracking your mind open like a clam and examining your thoughts. You glance at them, where the being stood, unmoving and unblinking.

“And. . . what’s your purpose in being here anyway. . . ? You’re not. . .”

You hesitate how to phrase the words.

“No. I did not come here to set in motion ruin this planet.” The little dots on their skin flaring brightly as a few tendrils manifest and whip with sudden irritation. “Your people are akin to ants to me, one does not wage war on miniscule creatures, ones that have proven that they can easily destroy themselves.”

You wince. “That’s. . . that’s part of the personal space thing I meant. . . But. . . ah. . .” You rub your face with your hands, anxiety growing in your chest.

“What I need to ask, the most important question I have is, can I trust you? Obviously, I don’t really have much choice in the matter. You can do just about whatever you want, I just. . . need to know if I have to submit myself into a psych ward and wear a tinfoil hat for the rest of my life.”

You watch the tendrils slowly, wrap back around their flowing form. The horned head bowing.

“I shall not harm you.” They intone. You give a shaky sound, turning your head so you can discreetly wipe your eyes.

“Okay-“ Your voice is unsteady and high, “I’ll uhm, trust you, I guess. . .”

You blink, and look down, as black starry water begins to swirl around your feet.

“Ah-h-hey?”

“You have shared your sanctuary with me, I shall return the gesture and show you mine.”

You watch as the black waters raise higher, engulfing your world back into that starry time void.

Except it wasn’t a black floating void anymore. You stare around a new and strange place. The same swirling star patterns twist and circle along the walls, floor and ceiling. It reminded you of a starry maze, some pathways looked like they go on forever, others took twisting turns and disappeared around corners. A floating staircase of light in the middle of the space that spiraled up into nothingness.Twinkling spheres and shrapnel of glowing rays floated dreamily around it.

“I come here when I need time to think.” The being at your side mused.

“Does. . . does it help?” Your murmur weakly.

They turn to look down at you, “It helps get my mind off my thoughts. Come.” They gesture with a hand before their form starts to glide over the floor. You look uneasy, before you tentatively walk after then. “We— We sh-should probably turn the kettle off.”

They look back at you, and you watch as one trailing tendril unwraps from their body and rises upward through the ceiling. Once it wraps back against their body you nod awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck before you pace yourself beside them.

“Do. . . you have a name?”

“If you must have one,”

“It. . . I would rather call you something other than a voice in my head,”

“Orthcursus, some have called me.”

“And why. . .” You pause, but Orthcursus fills in the rest of your question.

“Simply, to observe, I had not realized my visitation would affect so many around me. I needed a way to move quietly without making many dream of things they weren’t ready for. When I realized planting myself in the surrounding area drew people towards where I lay. A human had already approached me. They fell, and I chose to conduct through them to save their life.”

“Conduct. . .”

“Human beings are made up of water and electricity, I passed a line of my own energy through you to stop the fall. I also hadn’t realized it would also bond us together. Realizing that this would serve my own purposes, I chose this small form, and why my true form is no longer on this planet.”

You have a brief flash of a vision, a tendril shooting your body and curling around you. You press your hand to your heart uneasily.

“So I’m. . . powered on Eldrich energy o-or something?”

A soft scoff, “Not exactly, I made an impression on you, and when I had realized that I had caused a space. . . the only thing I could fill it with at the time was myself. We are bonded, that is. . . the closest word I can use that is available to you.”

“And that’s why you can’t just close the gap and leave.”

They shift slightly and make an uncomfortable sound. “If. . . I was to. . . pull away from this body, the force would pull you along with me. I have tried to pull away, without avail.”

You pause, looking at them. “I. . . Oh. What. . . would happen if. . . I got pulled along?”

“. . .I suppose I could try it, if you wish,”

Your eyes widen and you shake your head, “Ahhh I’m g-good thanks, I’m still wrapping my head around what you j-just told me.”

Your fingers tighten around the fabric over your collar. You pause to take a deep inhale, counting your breath.

Denial to Acceptance.

“It. . . sounds like some kind of corny sci-fi movie.” You give a nervous laugh, “But I. . . I can’t deny what I have been seeing. . . or h-hearing the past couple of days.” You raise your hand briefly towards your surroundings. “Or the logical explanation is. . . I’m in a coma.”

A huff above you, and a dark hand opening palm up towards you. A light blue palm glowing faintly. “Perhaps this will convince you.”

You glance up at them, before taking their hand with your own. The palm is warm, the back of the hand is cold. You startle slightly as the hand splits apart into tendrils that twist up your arm and give it a squeeze.

You laugh, a strange mix of surprise and unease. As their hand reforms, you rub your arm. Orthcusus’ fingers slip back into your open palm. Your thumb gently rubbing circles into their hand.

A faint smile tugs at your lips.

—

The Cell Phone:

You crouch at the bottom of the canyon, staring at a smattering of glass. “You know. . . I should have realized something was wrong when I didn’t know where my phone was. I guess I’ll have to get a new one.”

“Are you ready to leave now that you’ve found it?”

You stand up and stretch, “Mmhm, I guess it’s time to go to the store.”

A breeze whips around you and you hold out your arms, letting yourself dance in the wind.

A starry portal bubbling up underneath your feet.

“You’re enjoying this far too much.”

You give a wide smile, without a care in the world. “Yup! And you can’t stop me!”

A soft deep voice chuckles as you wink out of existence.

[heartstringsduet]

michelle <3 ask for you.

what was your favourite part of first aid to write/what was your favourite thing about writing first aid?

do you think of yourself as foremost a fic writer, then an artist or the other way around? (iconic multi-threat queen)

is there anything in 2024 that you are super keen to write or are you just going off vibes? <3

A heart-ask for me <33 Thanks Lola! 1. My favorite part to write is the scene you just beta-read, of how Carlos got his wound and TK's first real fixing him up. Mostly because it FLOWED. Like, the special kind of flow where you don't ever want to stop! Similar with the party scenes (I have more than one. welp.). Easy to get into some fun specific scenarious. In general I really enjoyed writing a longer story of characters lying and hiding things, ngl. 🙃💗 2. Aww thanks. I definitely feel more like a writer first. Art is a lot less forgiving mentally. So easy to compare something visually to something else visually - and come up short. Like. You know what an eye looks like. Some artists have the coolest interpretation of an eye. You try to draw an eye...and it looks ...eh. So writing is a lot more rewarding to me while I do it. And I feel in both I'm only decent, but writing gets a lot more positive resonance truly, which helps also make me see myself as more of a writer in a weird way. 3. Ohh yes, I wanted to stay off of long fics for a bit after First Aid. But I think the fantasy AU I for now call Bargains about elemental magic and demons and healers and soulmates has been eating my brain. It's gone. Eaten up by said demon probably. So yeah hoping to get that rolling! <3