#like literally i will try drawing a little ponytail for every character once

[devotion-disorder]

LOW PONYTAIL KUUYA?? GRRRRR 🤭🤭🤭

good eye!

i have to actively resist putting little ponytails on every single character i design. like it is actually a problem

[genericpuff]

I hope you won't mind this in particular because I have no way of posting this anonymously to the critical community outside of making a burner account but I'm hoping that maybe you could share this as you're well respected in the community and may understand where I'm coming from.

It has become increasingly uncomfortable the way I've seen some people in the community comment on Psyche's design. I'm Black, and while I have my issues with the way she's been introduced, her entire character arc, or the fact that she was made into a token character for diversity points, I still find the way part of the community discusses her increasingly uncomfortable and nearing anti-Blackness at times. Really all I want is for non-Black criticals to please be more mindful of their criticisms when it comes to her character. That's all. Some comments are starting to become hurtful, like her current hair being called ugly (which I get isn't done in more creative styles but puff ponytails are a thing Black women wear often) or just the fact that she's Black now at all, she was always brown, the only thing that really changed was her hair texture and eye color. And repeatedly seeing things like "She looked prettier before" when she isn't ugly or "I liked her hair before" it's...uncomfortable, which hurts because I really enjoy this community full of creative and intelligent people. 💔

That's all, thank you for taking the time to read this.

Ouu, this is a great post with some great points, thank you for sharing! I don't mind people sharing their takes through my inbox if it gives them a safe outlet to do so, just so long as y'all don't mind me responding to them!

CW: this is mostly just a very sensitive post regarding race and culture representation in LO so just be aware that this one miiiight be heavy and/or triggering, please please please if anyone has anything to share in response to this just let me know, these discussions are important to have but they can still be emotionally draining and I don't want to make anyone feel upset or invalidated by this lil' essay post!!!

So obviously I can't speak on this as a black person BUT as an Indigenous person, I feel like I would be in your same boat if Psyche were being drawn with Indigenous/Mi'kmaq traits and I saw people going "well she looks UGLY now and she was PRETTIER before." So I can empathize with you there in that regard, people's takes can be a little rough around the edges with this kind of topic.

But I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt most of the time when these topics do come up because a lot of the criticisms aren't aimed at Psyche specifically being black or having textured hair, they're aimed at Rachel for suddenly retroactively retconning Psyche from being a dark-skinned/brown Mediterranean woman into a black woman.

Like, straight up, what pisses me off about how Psyche is treated is simply how she's been drawn as 4 different women of color over the course of the comic. Having a hairstyle that changes often is one thing (literally every character in LO lacks consistency) but her hair texture and length is constantly changing (which isn't something you can just change on a whim unless you're Persephone LMAO) AND her skin tone has flip flopped between, again, dark-skinned/ woman and black woman. In some panels she's outright orange which is... ech.

Now, take this with grains of salt because I have no source on it, but I've seen claims that RS once stated she "always wanted to draw Psyche black, but didn't know how to." Besides the fact that this sounds outright lazy (it's not hard to learn how to paint skintones that are not your own, Google exists) it also seems like RS trying to paint herself as "progressive" which she's done for a LOT of things beyond just POC rep (ex. fat rep, mental health rep, etc. all things that she's butchered or misrepresented entirely but still pretended like she was doing well).

Again, I'm giving a lot of benefit of the doubt here and I'm sure I'm gonna be proven wrong on this (I welcome it if there's something I've blatantly missed here, educate me in the comment section below pls) but when I see people say Psyche's hair is "ugly" in the newer panels or they "prefer her old design" I don't see it as them saying the hair style or texture itself is ugly or that she, in and of herself, is ugly. Often times people will short form it to "it looks ugly" especially in the faster-paced discussion circles, but really more often than not they mean "I think the way RS is trying to draw her just isn't good." Especially considering how low effort and lip service-y it feels. Like, Psyche's hair rn is literally just a giant texture brush pressed onto the screen and her skin tones are just brown + brown set to Multiply.

And that design is a far cry from where Psyche started.

Like, these are LITERALLY not the same women and while some might say "well maybe it was after she became a Goddess-" nope, she looked like her S3 version when she turned back into a mortal from nymph form, except she had an entirely different hair texture and skin tone.

None of this is to invalidate anyone's feelings regarding this criticism and how it's delivered. There doesn't need to be an intent to hurt for something to be hurtful. The purpose of this post is more so just to explain my own interpretation of where these criticisms come from (as someone who's had them myself) and how I interpret them as a POC. I don't think anyone's trying to be intentionally malicious to people from the POC community (though they can be blasé) especially considering a lot of the people talking about it are black themselves. No one person is a monolith for the entire community so while some are fine with how Psyche is being drawn, others aren't, and I think both are valid in their own ways. Often times it can come down to individual experiences and what people are used to seeing in media when it comes to POC rep and that's something that will vary per person. I've definitely seen conversations revolve around something being racist towards the Indigenous community that I couldn't care less about because it just wasn't something that I found offensive due to my own upbringing or what I'm used to seeing in media. Doesn't mean I can't still be educated on why it's hurtful to others, though!

All I'm gonna say on it is that, personally, I don't find anything inherently wrong with any of the designs on their own, there's nothing ugly with any of those looks. If they were all each their own character, I'd be down for it, absolutely. It's just the fact that all these designs are for ONE character. It's a shame to see Psyche robbed of any consistency even more so than every other character in the plot, and it very much feels like a case of a white New Zealand woman trying too hard to win representation points (and yes, that's a hot take, but it's a small hill I'm willing to die on because we all know RS' history with this sort of thing at this point, she's not good at hiding it lmao). It feels very low effort and obligatory, like Psyche is just there to check off a list of mandatory representation rather than be her own character with her own goals or traits or motivations.

And, REAL hot take, though it isn't really related to the majority of this post, I have to point out that it gets even weirder/ickier when you remember the fact that nymphs are treated as lower class in the narrative and Psyche... becomes a black-coded nymph... who works for Aphrodite as a servant...

(sigh how was this any better than just doing the OG myth, Rachel?)

Anyways, that's all I'm gonna say on that. That is, again, my personal take on it but I obviously can't speak on behalf of the black community or people in it, most of what drives me nuts just has to do with the lack of character consistency and the feeling that RS is just phoning shit in. The designs on their own independently from one another are fine and I don't think that's what most of the criticisms out there are annoyed about anyways - we're all just tired of seeing Psyche morph into different POC rep characters every other week.

Thank you for taking the time to write and voice your opinion on it, it's definitely a topic that can veer into nasty territory if not treaded carefully but it's one that interests me in talking about because POC rep is important to me, whether or not I belong to the specific culture that's being represented. I know I would be in the same boat if it were concerning Mi'kmaq characters.

And by all means, if y'all think I'm just spouting shit out of my ass or speaking completely out of turn, tell me in the comments or in my asks, this isn't a discussion with one simple clear cut answer or solution so I'd love to hear your own takes o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

[marahuyos]

how they kiss: genshin boys

*:･ﾟ✧ nothing much, just me describing how diluc, kaeya, childe and zhongli kiss. this piece is mostly just me trying to practice how to write kisses.

tw: slight suggestive themes, swearing, character story spoilers for childe, zhongli

✧ Diluc Ragnvindr

• A tentative flame-you don’t know whether it would spark and rise up in flames or die out in smoke, leaving nothing but a charred mess. That’s how Diluc is. You know he wasn’t good at this and he’s both thankful that you’re patient enough and annoyed that he couldn’t even muster a single kiss. At the start of your relationship, he is like a flame on a matchstick during a snowstorm. He burns but with how cold the world is, he fights to survive. With you, you are the closed space that blocks the harsh snow. You are the hands that cradle his flame ever so gently. He may be the one with the Pyro Vision but you warm his cold heart.

• His lips are slightly chapped but you’ll be lucky when you catch them moist, tasting of wine when Diluc taste tests new wines. When you do catch him with wine-flavored lips, you would press your lips against his with an excited grin on your mouth. With your sudden kiss, Diluc had to open his mouth to emit a gasp as you took the chance to slip your tongue inside his mouth. The taste of wine was stronger, your tongue slowly gliding over his own just to taste the sinful beverage. Your hands would grasp his shoulders, massaging the muscle that’s been way too tense. You think that you have surprised him from your impromptu kiss but Diluc is just as passionate as you are.

• Reaching around your back, he pushed you closer to him, chests bumping against each other as he began gaining control. He tilts your head, his ruby eyes staring at your surprised ones. He parts for a chance to breathe before diving back in to claim your lips again. The wine he tasted was still present on his lips but, combined with your taste, he was already getting drunk on the flavor. His nose nearly brushes against your cheek as he hears you mewl from his sudden outburst. His hands roam around your back, leaving warm tingles across your skin despite the layers of clothes. Before you two part for the next breath of air, he whispers into your lips how cheeky you are, his breathless voice making you swoon.

“You truly test my patience, love. Don’t think that I will back down once I’m through with you.”

✧ Kaeya Alberich

• As much as he’s cold to the touch, being a Cryo user and all, he is rather like the freshly fallen snow on a winter’s morning. Yes, it may bite your skin (also doesn’t help that Kaeya is a biter) but it also leaves you tingling after the cold shock response. That’s how he leaves you after kisses: shivering but wanting more as he chuckles on how cute and needy you are for him.

• He’s a charmer so it’s not an uncommon sight to see him with pampered skin and well-taken care of hair. So, as such, you bet that his lips are just as soft and plump (like his chest) because he always seeks out the best lip care. You’re jealous of the way his lips just shine naturally and how pouty they are every time he speaks. Your jealousy became a weapon for him, as he would always go beyond your personal space, making sure his lips are the focus as he smirks. And if that didn’t make you want to wipe the smug smirk off of his face, there was probably more teasing remarks that Kaeya would’ve used. You taste mint and hints of berry when you kissed his lips, swallowing in the chuckle that he emitted. His hand reaches around the back of your head as he tilts your head, deepening the kiss as he teases your lips.

• Remember when I said that he’s a biter? He would always nibble on your lips if the cold wasn’t enough for you. First, it was small kisses on your bottom lip then his teeth gently nibbling on it. He takes his time, making sure your lips are swollen before kissing you fully and letting the cold in your mouth. His one eye is open to see your closed ones, which clearly meant you were enjoying it. He chuckles against your lips before running his tongue along the roof of your mouth before parting away, a trail of spittle connecting your lips. His eye shined with wildly when he sees your dazed look.

“Clocking out already? We’ve only just begun, darling.”

✧ Childe/Tartaglia/Ajax

• There’s three ways on how Childe kisses-and it all really depends on who you’re talking to. In his years as a Harbinger and in his time wandering the Abyss with his teacher, the young man has garnered many a façade. He doesn’t just hand out his love for free-you must brave through his storm that he brewed for himself, the capsizing waves that swallows anything in its path. Only then will you see the eye of the storm and see Ajax.

• As Childe, you literally get what you hear. Childe’s kisses is, well, childish. Quick little pecks on your lips when he’s in a hurry, a loud, obnoxious kiss on your cheek, or him rubbing his nose softly against yours-all of those things are Childe. You can’t really tell if he was ever serious at all when he smirks playfully at your flushed face. As Tartaglia, this is the storm that you need to brave. He is a Harbinger for a reason and his kisses are just as ruthless. Overbearing, domineering, he makes sure that everything you see is only him. His lips glide over to yours before sinking his teeth on your lip until it’s swollen. His tongue would push in, teeth nearly clacking against each other as his hands grip your skin to the point of painful. As a warrior, he dominates, he conquers, and you were no exception.

• But as Ajax, sweet sweet Ajax, he’s none of those things. He lets go of Foul Legacy, he lets go of his weapons-in front of you, it is merely a young lad who grew up too fast too soon. He is the still waters, easily disturbed by any force, so you take his face between your hands as you initiated the kiss. First it was small pecks, then a pleasant plant of the lips against his before whispering against his lips that he is your home. What sounded like a choked cry died in his throat, as his own hands clutched your hips shakily as he draws you closer. His lips are surprisingly smooth, either from the Hydro Vision he’d been using or he’s taken heed to his older sister’s skincare. There was no danger, no tension, no ulterior motive each stroke of tongue you two share. Here, he is finally himself.

“I don’t know what god would give me someone like yourself, babe... But I’m grateful that you’re here.”

✧ Zhongli

• Morax, Rex Lapis, Vago Mundo... many names, many lives, many loves. Zhongli had such a long life of war, love, and everything that no one should’ve ever experienced. He is as long-standing as the earth (haha), never faltering, even with so much weathering. He should be as long-standing, there was no room for cracks, even as a mortal man. Yet, he seems like he didn’t know that you’ve already made several cracks across his heart and weathering him down to a man who is in love.

• His kisses are secure. Vanilla maybe, but you know that Zhongli is being a gentleman. With a hand under your chin to tilt up your face towards his, his thumb smoothly glides over your bottom lip before planting his lips against yours. He moves his lips against yours slowly, giving small pecks along the way, before diving back in. His other hand smoothly glides over your back before settling on your waist, pulling you closer. Meanwhile, your hands would softly tug at his ponytail, making the gentleman shiver as he gives a warning pinch to your waist for being cheeky.

• But there are times when that gentlemanly face breaks through. Most of the time it may be Venti getting him drunk. In this moment, he remembers that he was a ruthless god who formed this land from his own hands. He is the god of contracts and if you wanted it rougher, then he expects to hold your end of the bargain. Excuse my sudden twist, but I am a firm fuckin believer of dragon Zhongli and ya’ll can pry his elongated, forked tongue swiping across your lips before slithering inside your mouth off of my cold dead hands. His fangs threatening to bleed your lips... unless you wanted it, then who is he to oblige? His clawed fingers poking holes through your clothes as more skin is accessible to his scaly hands. There is no escaping this contract.

“My treasure, you created this contract. Now you must abide to the conditions.”

[wield-the-mighty-pen]

Analyzing Marinette’s hairstyles

So, I’ve actually seen a bunch of different posts and takes of what Marinette’s hairstyles represent and symbolize especially in regard to the episode “Heart Hunter”, but I wanted to go through all the different styles of hair instead of solely focusing on the pigtails/hair down of that particular episode.

With that being said, in no particular order, here we go:

The Bun

This hairstyle is almost exclusively seen in the episode “Animaestro”. However if you’re paying close attention, you will see Marinette wearing this hairstyle, in the old class picture, featured in “Reflekta”. I find the fact that the show made this connection between these two (scenes? examples?) incredibly interesting and very telling. Putting the class picture aside for a moment, one must analyze Marinette’s behavior in the episode “Animaestro”. To be sure, it isn’t great. For the most part, Marinette acts foolishly and immaturely and her actions in this episode, indirectly lead to the akumatization. Marinette, in her jealous state, goes so far as to join up with Chloe (a person she despises), and attempt childish pranks on Kagami. In short, I think that the bun hairstyle symbolizes a sort of immaturity for Marinette. The fact that she wore this hairstyle when she was younger only goes to prove my point. Marinette is not a perfect character, but her actions in “Animaestro” are arguably some of her worst, and naturally when she has hit a low in her maturity level, she reverts back to a hairstyle of her youth.

The Braid

The braid can be easily shoved aside as not holding any symbolism, as just a way the design team chose to incorporate the tail in her costume. However, there were a number of ways the tail could have been incorporated into the Ladynoir costume, and as such the braid must be analyzed. Now, a braid can be considered an almost restricting thing, it carefully tucks back locks of hair and traps them better than an ordinary ponytail can. However, the Ladynoir braid almost has a ‘fun’ twist to it (pun not intended but appreciated). It is long (like really long), and we even see her flick it playfully over her shoulder. I think that the braid is supposed to represent that dualism between responsibility and fun that the job of superhero can have. I have heard a lot of people criticize “Reflekdoll” for its lack of parallels. In other words, Chat Noir learns something and better appreciates Ladybug, but the reverse isn’t true, and I would say that in many ways this is true, Ladybug is not privy to the lesson that Chat Noir is. However, I would argue that she did learn something. Ladybug learned that it’s okay for her to have fun and to joke around. Towards the beginning of the episode we see Ladybug chastising Chat Noir for his joking around, however by the end we see Ladybug embrace this approach and even make some jokes herself. The braid shows Marinette acceptance of balance, of the combination of enjoyment and responsibility within her life.

The Space Buns

This design as well can be attributed to the design team finding a way to show mouse ears, but I’m still going to try to analyze this. I have two different ways to possibly explain this hairstyle. The first being to draw parallels to the bun hairstyle as this is essentially the same thing but two instead of one. The correspondence between the two hairstyles could be seen through Marinette’s feigned naivety in front of Chat Noir. She “accidentally” reveals herself as Marinette and pretends to be less informed than she really is. The other way to translate this hairstyle is as a security blanket so to speak. I haven’t gotten into the metaphorical interpretation of Marinette’s pigtails yet, but I will briefly explain a part of it now (and go into depth a little later). The pigtails serve as a sense of security for Marinette, as a source of status quo. The space buns are that, but elevated. In the episode this hairstyle is featured, “Kwamibuster” (I don’t think I mentioned this before), Marinette is desperate to keep her identity a secret from Chat Noir and develops a convoluted plan (including Multi-mouse) to accomplish this. She wants the security of her identity and wants to use her comfort style at this moment. However, Marinette is trying to distance herself from Ladybug and as such she uses a slight variation of her pigtails in her alternate hero form.

The Ponytail

I’m gonna be honest and say that I can’t fully analyze this hairstyle as we have not yet seen the episode where this hairstyle makes its second appearance. So I’m just focusing here on the ponytail from “Optigami”. I might make another analysis on the ponytail after “Sentibubbler” comes out but it might make more sense to wait until after the whole season comes out, in case there are new examples of ponytails (or other hairstyles for that matter). I don’t want to say anything about Pegabug’s ponytail, because as I’m sure you know, Miraculous trailers can be very misleading. Anyways, after that ramble, I now focus on Ladybee’s ponytail. To be frank “Optigami” was a bit of a doozy. I watched that episode with a sense of dread that did not lighten by the end of the episode. This isn’t a bad thing, but it was intense for a typical episode of Miraculous, a show where my usual reaction is a mix of “oh this is cute” and cringe (to be fair I cringe easily). But what I like so much about season 4 is that we get more than that (I won’t go into this now because I’m straying from the topic too much). Ladybee comes at a time of great stress for Marinette, she gets stuck in an elevator with someone and is thus unable to transform (let alone the fact that that “someone” is Adrien), she is without the help of Chat Noir and most of the other heroes, and (unbeknownst to her for a majority of the episode) her friend has been replaced with a sentimonster. Yet, despite all of this, Marinette remains cool, calm, and collected. She, unlike Alya, does not fall apart and despair when Senti-Nino is revealed, she knows she has to get the job done. A ponytail gives an image of “getting the job done” of focus. Although the situation is dire and dangerous, Marinette displays her competence in crisis and the ponytail magnifies that trait. I have a feeling that the same will be true for Pegabug, but only time (and the episode coming out) will tell.

Hair Down

In the two episodes that we have seen Marinette wearing her hair down, they were both in connection with Adrien and her relationship with her. I want to separate the two examples because though they both wind up achieving similar goals in regard to their symbolism, they do it in different ways. Focusing first on “Chat Blanc” Marinette wears her hair down in part to distinguish to the audience the difference between the two timelines. Though the surface level explanation of her hair would be sufficient explanation, this choice of hairstyle also has a deeper interpretation. This being as a metaphor for Marinette’s vulnerability. She is allowing her feelings to be known to Adrien, she is allowing herself to be open and honest about her emotions and with that freedom she lets her hair free as well. It is also significant that she is free from her secret identity (albeit unknowingly) and as she allows Adrien to see the full spectrum of her personality, she frees her hair from its restraint. In “Heart Hunter” too, this hairstyle signifies vulnerability and freedom. In this episode we see Marinette having fun with Adrien and Kagami, without the worry of how she is being perceived by Adrien, without the stress about her feelings for him. It is of great significance that when she lets her guard down, when she “lets her hair down” (both literally and metaphorically), Adrien comments on her beauty. We already know, as viewers, that Adrien has fallen in love with Marinette’s personality as Ladybug. But as Marinette, Adrien has not been privy to her full personality. He has only been given glimpses, as in this episode, to the full extent of her persona. Marinette is seen later on in the episode to revert back to her old hairstyle once she is no longer comfortable, when she feels inadequate compared to Kagami. She puts back on her guise when she feels she needs the security. Which leads us to that source of security.

Pigtails

I feel a bit bad as I have simplified this hairstyle in earlier paragraphs to a symbol for security. While this definition is a correct one, this hairstyle has more than one explanation. As Marinette’s primary hairstyle, in both her every day and hero outfits, we see this hairstyle A LOT. Because of this, there is an array of interpretation as to what this hairstyle could mean. Starting with the aforementioned, this hairstyle works as a form of security for Marinette. The style required her to hold her hair back, to keep it in check, away from possible disasters and viewers (wind can tangle hair very easily). The pigtails are the antithesis of letting her hair down, a common symbol for freedom and relaxation. The pigtails therefore show that she is on her guard and is protecting herself. The pigtails also represent her quality of being a do-er. She likes to do things, she is an active person, she doesn’t stand aside or wait for things to happen, she works to make them happen. As a do-er she needs focus, she needs a restraint for her hair that could get in her line of sight, and the pigtails do that well. As Ladybug, the same is true. She is focused and determined to accomplish her goals, to succeed in her battles and she needs to tie her hair back to best accomplish this. There is importance in the fact that she chooses to focus herself with pigtails rather than the equally practical ponytail. This can be attributed to the child-like quality that pigtails have. Marinette, simply put, is still a child. Though as a whole she is particularly mature for her age, at times she can show a bit of immaturity. It is interesting to note that as the seasons progress, the more we see her with other hairstyles. As she matures she wears the pigtails less. The pigtails are also a girly hairstyle and show how Marinette is a girly-girl in a plain and easy way. Additionally, the pigtails give her the approachable, girl-next-door look. In simply looking at Marinette one gets the image of her sweetness and good nature. In visual media, it is important to make a connection between personality and visage. In cartoons especially, a character’s design should fit with how they interact with their world, and the pigtails are an immediate signifier as to Marinette’s character. This about sums up my analysis of her pigtails. I know that there are more ways to interpret them, and feel free to comment if you think of any other interpretations!

[the-angriestpineapple]

Love and War (Miruko x Fem Reader)

Rating: Explicit

Characters: Usagiyama  Rumi / Miruko

Inspiration: My SECOND piece for the Citrus Dome Discord server’s Gods AU collab. It’s a bonus! Written mostly for my partner and Peach, because they love her. Masterlist is here.

Prompt: Worship has always been a part of your daily routine. Each season you place the fruits of your labor at the altar. Every day you pray. It’s human nature, seeking answers from the Gods.

But you never expected one to answer…

Word Count: ~4.6k

You yell out a war cry as your sword falls, the metal making a harsh clang against the shield of your opponent. You’re in the middle of a war, and fighting for your life. Most of your fellow warriors have been killed and there is a scant few still remaining on the field. The enemy forces have been whittled down as well, but there’s definitely more of them than are of you. These were forces of a man who was trying to take over any country he could, and you were defending the smaller villages in the area since they couldn’t defend themselves. You had prayed to your goddess that morning, a goddess of strategy and war, and all you could do was hope that she would not allow you to fail. You hear a cry of pain to your left, a voice that you know. It’s one of your friends, a man you’ve known since childhood, and you make the mistake of looking toward the source. You see your friend fall, but then feel a searing pain in your side as well. The momentary lapse of concentration may have just cost you your life. You see the man you’d been fighting run off toward another of your comrades as you sink to the ground. Your vision goes black at the rims and you feel your sword fall from your hand before your eyes shut and you hit the ground hard. Your mouth makes one word as you lose consciousness.

Miruko.

You feel yourself coming to consciousness, your mind flashing through your death. You’re in Tartarus, you’re on the beach, waiting to take the ferry to the underworld. You’re dead. Your goddess didn’t hear you. With a heavy heart you open your eyes, thinking about how many of your friends you would be making the journey with, only to find yourself in your temple of worship. You stare up at the statue of Miruko feeling absolutely dumbfounded. How did you get here? How did you survive? “Good, you’re awake!” The unfamiliar tone draws your attention, and you look up to see an absolutely gorgeous woman walking toward you. Your eyes widen as you look her over. Dusky skin. Flowing white hair with two silken ponytails atop her head. Strong arms and thighs revealed by the cut of her tunic. Cocky smile on her face. You were staring at your goddess, at the patron of this temple. You were staring at Miruko. She grins wider at your expression and lets out a sharp bark of a laugh. “You’re confused, I can tell. That’s fair. I can explain. First, no, you aren’t dead. You were supposed to be, but I can’t let my favored devotee die just yet. You will eventually, obviously, being mortal and all. But the underworld can’t have you yet.” She shrugs, reaching for a peach on the offering table under her statue and taking a large bite out of it. She says it so casually, as if she doesn’t care what the god of the underworld thinks. That she just does what she wants. “I’m… not dead? But what of the battle? What happened to the villages? What-” You cut off, wincing in pain as you try to sit up. Your side suddenly felt as though it was on fire. Miruko quirks a brow, placing the half-eaten peach on the table and walking over to you. She tips your face up to hers with fingers that you feel could easily snap bones and gives an almost feral smile. “The villages are safe. None can hope to stand against me on the field of battle.” There’s a wild edge to her tone that chills you to the core and you nod. Like you would disagree with her, especially to her face. Especially with that wildness in her eyes.

“T-thank you.” She stares at you with that feral grin for a few moments longer before it falls into a softer smile. “It felt right to step in. And besides,” She drops your chin, rolling her shoulders. “It’s been ages since I had a good fight.”

She’s as terrifying as she is alluring, that’s for sure. You look down, wanting to avoid her piercing gaze, and realize that you’re wearing nothing but a bandage around your chest. Your eyes widen and you pull the blanket up to try and protect at least a little bit of modesty. This apparently strikes Miruko as amusing, since she starts laughing. Your face colors in embarrassment as she wipes at her eyes. “Come now, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” She gestures to her own very filled out feminine form. She isn’t wrong, but it doesn’t make you any less self conscious. She smirks a little and looks back to the fruit bowl, plucking out a few figs. It’s a good thing you offer her fruit, she seems to like it. But then she brings the figs over to you, and holds them out. Wanting you to take them. “I can’t have those,” you gasp immediately. “They’re for-” You cut off, and Miruko raises a brow and smirks. They’re for her. And she can distribute her offering as she sees fit, right? Gods, if the High Priestess could see you right now she would have a stroke. Your shaky hand rises and your fingertips brush her palm as you take the figs from her hand. “There you go. Good girl. You need to eat to get better. I’m not exactly a healer, after all.” She turns from you to retrieve her peach and you’re relieved she didn’t see the shudder that went through you at the praise. This was so strange. Most of your life you prayed to this goddess. You joined her order when you were scarcely out of childhood. You trained to be a warrior, vowed to protect those who needed you, just like she does. And just as you thought she had turned from you, here you were. In her presence. With her feeding you her offering fruit. “Why…?”

Miruko quirks a brow as she looks back at you, peach halfway to her mouth. “Why? Well, I can’t be the goddess of everything. I may have called in a favor with Hawks to make sure you weren’t gonna die on me anyway, despite my interference.” Hawks, the god of healing. Also medicine, archery, music, and poetry. The goddess leans on the table and brings the peach to her mouth, but pauses. “Ya know, Hawks is a bit of an overachiever now that I think about it.” She takes her bite and chews thoughtfully, looking up at her own statue.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” Her eyes dart back to you, and you flinch. You never realized that her eyes were red. All the depictions you’ve seen of her have been in stone, and it makes her even more intimidating. “I meant, um, why save me?”

Miruko stares at you and takes another bite of her peach, not blinking as she chews. It’s a few agonizing moments of silence, but then she gives a half smile. “Because I wanted to. Haven’t you ever been taught not to question the gods?” Your eyes widen, thinking you just offended her, but she chuckles. “I’m kidding, calm down. You’re gonna need to relax if I’m gonna be here making sure you heal. Now, eat those figs and get some rest. Hawks said you’re gonna sleep a lot at first.” You look back down at the fruit in your hands and slowly lift one to your mouth. Of course the goddess was given the best of the crop, so the figs were almost unbearably sweet. You eat all three, and she gives one approving nod before pushing off the table. “Good, now sleep.” You weren’t sure if you could, with your literal patron goddess in front of you. But once you slowly laid back down and closed your eyes sleep easily claimed you.

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

When you woke again you felt much more rested, and this time when you cautiously sat up there was no stabbing pain. You feel your side and find that it doesn’t hurt at all, which surprises you. You’d been dealt a mortal blow, surely it couldn’t just be gone. But it seemed to be. Along with your bandages, apparently. You were now wearing a simple tunic instead. You glance around the room looking for a sign of Miruko, but you don’t see her. Maybe she was gone. Maybe she saved you at that was all she wanted. You slowly slide from the bed, wanting to look around but not wanting to injure yourself in case you aren’t as healed as you seem to be. You seem to be okay though, and you feel confident enough to look around. This room is the main offering room in the temple, with the huge statue of Miruko dominating the center. Gone are the fruit offerings from the table, and in their place looks to be something covered by a linen cloth. Curiosity gets the best of you. You walk over to the cloth and slowly pull it away. Under it is a small loaf of bread, olives, more figs, and a bowl of soup. Along with the food is a note.

ΦΑΕ αυτο. Eat this.

You know it’s been left for you, and it smells amazing. You don’t waste time picking up the bowl and drinking a third of it down. You can practically feel your energy going up with each swallow. The bowl goes back to the altar, and you grab the bread next. You suddenly feel ravenous, like you haven’t eaten for days. You rip hunks off the bread and swipe it through the broth of the soup. It tastes fresh baked, and the grain compliments the spices of the soup perfectly. You aren’t quite back to normal yet but you feel like you’re getting there. You’re sharp enough to hear footprints coming up behind you though. You turn, not entirely sure who you’re going to see. The High Priestess? Maybe Miruko came back? You definitely don’t expect to see a man with messy blonde hair approaching you, and your body is shifting into a defensive position without even thinking about it. He holds his hands out, eyes widening. “Whoa whoa whoa, little warrior, I come in peace. I’m just here to check on you. You’ve been sleeping for a while.” You don’t shift out of your pose, eyes narrowing. The man drops his hands and smirks. “Miruko always has the most suspicious followers. Fine.” Large red wings unfurl from his back, and he presses off the stone with his foot. He rises in the air and hovers a foot or so off the ground. Only now do you rise from your pose, eyes widening. “That’s more like it. Hawks, god of medicine, archery, music, poetry, and luckily for you and Miruko… healing.” He sweeps into a bow in midair, and you can’t help but smile a little. He’s pretty charming, though you would imagine that a god of music and poetry would be. He sinks gracefully back down to the ground and folds his wings back. “Ah, a smile! That’s better. So, songbird, I see you’ve eaten. Good. You’ve been asleep for nearly two days straight.” He shuffles closer to you and leans forward, getting very in your space. You can’t help but pull back, which makes him grin. “Your skin is a better color. Less pale. Eyes are responsive.” He holds a hand out and presses it to your forehead before you can move. “No fever, so I doubt there’s an infection. There’s just one problem left.” His face falls, seriousness taking it over. A problem? You bite your lip, wondering what was wrong, but then Hawks breaks out into a grin again. “A cutie like you is stuck in this temple with Miruko.” “You want your wings tied together, you overgrown pigeon?”

You both jump as the goddess strides into view, that feral grin back on her face. Hawks straightens and flings his arms wide as she approaches. “Miruko! There’s my favorite war goddess. I was just checking on your disciple here. Seems fit as a fiddle. Of course, I treated her, so obviously she would be.” He preens a little, pleased with himself. Miruko rolls her eyes and shoves him.

“Yeah yeah. You’re miraculous. Now if she’s no longer about to head to Shouta, please vacate my temple before I physically kick you out of it.” There’s a tone to her voice that sends a shiver down your spine, but Hawks just looks gleeful. “Of course. Just let me know if you need my services for anything else-ow! Fine, I’m going!” He’s scowling and rubbing his arm where Miruko punched him. He gets the last laugh in though, turning and snatching your hand up to kiss it before disappearing in a cloud of feathers and laughter as the war goddess swings again. “I’ll get that mouthy feather duster when I get back to Olympus,” she grumbles, then turns to you. “Are you alright?” She steps in closer, red eyes glancing over your form. You nod, unaware of the fact that you’re holding your breath at how close she is. “Good. Now that you can move well enough, finish eating. Then we’re going to spar.” She turns and walks away from you as your eyes widen. You were going to spar with the goddess of war and strategy. That didn’t sound like something you’d be able to easily win. But at the same time, the challenge was enticing. And you would get to see her in action. But first, the rest of the food.

You turn back to the altar, picking up a few olives to pop into your mouth. You don’t want to rush eating because you know that if you do that, it’ll make you feel sick. But… you’re pretty excited to be sparring your goddess. You tear off another hunk of bread to dunk into the soup, and just as you shove it into your mouth you hear Miruko behind you. “Here. Water.” She hands you a cup, and you gratefully accept it with a murmured ‘thank you’. You’re very thirsty, and the water in the cup tastes pure and clean. You greedily drink all of it down, and when you come back up Miruko is giving you a half smirk. “I’ll get you more.” She plucks the cup from your hands, her fingertips brushing yours as she takes it and turns away. You blush slightly at the subtle touches, not entirely sure why.

You choose to not dwell on that uncertainty though. If you’re going to spar Miruko and hope to hold your own against her you need to be focused on that. So you spend the remainder of your meal with your eyes closed, taking deep, controlled breaths. Eating slowly. Balancing, preparing yourself for a battle. Normally you would also be praying to Miruko, but that didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to do if you were about to fight her.

Once you’re calm enough and feel as centered as possible, you open your eyes. Miruko had replaced the cup at some point and you grab it. This time you sip, looking around you at the temple. The bed you’d been on was shoved to the far side of the room against the wall, and Miruko was standing in the empty space. Waiting for you.

It was time to try your luck against your deity.

You place the cup back on the altar and step over to her, sliding down in the defensive position you had taken when Hawks arrived. Her neutral face curls back up into that feral grin that you’re now accustomed to and she slips down as well, hands arching into claws. Arms and legs spread wide. It’s intimidating, but you refuse to show it.

“I’ve watched you for a long time, I’m looking forward to this.” Her grin widens and she’s moving, pushing off on her foot to launch herself at you. She’s too fast for you to be able to avoid her and you shift so she doesn’t hit you head on. You grab her side as she slams into you and pull, trying to make her be off balance. Miruko just gives a manic cackle and manages to land and put all her weight on one foot and tangle the other leg between yours. She crooks her leg quickly to trap you, your eyes widening at the pressure of the single leg lock she put you in.

Holy fuck, she’s powerful.

Obviously she’s powerful, but there’s something completely different about seeing the latent muscles in her form and fighting her. Gods, she must be breathtaking on the battlefield. You’re almost sad that you were unconscious when she took down your enemy. But now wasn’t the time to swoon, you were in the middle of a fight. You had to get out of the lock.

You twist yourself, able to wrench your leg out from hers. Though you have an inkling that she let you do that. The wildness in her eyes is back, pupils dilated to the point where there’s barely a red ring. Miruko lets out another laugh as you launch yourself at her. It’s like a dance, this fight. She’s allowing you to feel her out as an opponent since she knows exactly how you fight. You have a solid lock around her waist but she grabs yours in return and flips you up, the back of your thighs landing on her shoulders. She grins wider up at you from between your legs and your heart skips a beat, but then she throws you off of her. You land hard and roll but pop right back up, a little shaken.

You’re circling each other again, and now it’s her turn to charge you. You’re more ready this time though, and you shift and grab her arm. You pivot, your hip checking into her and you’re able to throw her over your shoulder. Her face fades to surprise for a second and then she’s behind you. You’re too slow to turn, and her foot strikes out in a wide arc. Miruko easily sweeps your feet out from under you and you land on your back, the breath knocked out of your lungs. Then her face fills your vision, she grabs your wrists and slams them above your head. You can feel her strong legs pinning your lower half. You’re both breathing heavily from the exertion of the fight. She increases the pressure on your wrists and your breath hitches. She pauses, her red eyes studying your face, and then she leans in and crashes her lips to yours.

Your mind shuts down for a second before you’re kissing her back. That’s what the feelings were when she brushed your skin. You were attracted to her, and obviously she was to you as well. She saved you, plucked you right out of your descent to the underworld. You couldn’t move even if you wanted to, you were entirely at Miruko’s mercy. And gods… this was exactly where you wanted to be.

The goddess finally lets up on your wrists in favor of cupping your face, which allows your hands to come down and rest on her hips. She’s solid muscle, you could tell that when she was fighting you but now that your hands were sliding over her form it was like caressing smooth, warm marble. Unyielding. Unstoppable. A small groan escapes your lips to be lost in her mouth, and she increases the pressure of her kiss.

She pulls back with no warning, a smirk on her face. “I’ve won,” she says with a smug note in her voice. “Are you ready for my reward?” If it’s anything like that kiss she just claimed, then you definitely were. She rolls her body to gracefully rise from the floor once you agree. You start to rise, getting ready to stand as well. Just as you gain your feet you find them swept out from under you again. You hit the floor hard, but then you freeze when you feel a foot on your neck.

“I didn’t say you could get up,” Miruko practically purrs. “Now, I’ll ask again. Are you ready?” “Yes,” you breathe, looking up at her with wide eyes and parted lips. You wanted anything she would let you do. With her foot still on your neck she peels her thigh slit tunic dress off of her body and drops it to the side. She’s nothing short of magnificent, and you forget to breathe for a few moments while you’re staring at her.

She smirks at you and removes her foot from your neck. Then she pivots, her muscular back toward you before gracefully stepping over you to straddle your chest. You watch as she lowers herself, and as she moves closer she reveals the beautiful pink of her sex, already glistening. Miruko settles herself hovering just over your face and braces her hands on her thighs. She looks back at you, smug smile still tugging at her lips. “Well?” You don’t need to be told twice. You wrap your hands over her solid thighs and pull her down to your face, immediately licking with a flat, wide tongue. She inhales sharply at the contact. You let your tongue drag down to circle her clit, which earns a soft gasp from Miruko. She tastes sweet, and the way she gasps when your tongue drags up and down her slit is intoxicating. But the noise she makes when you wrap your lips around her clit drives a spike of heat right to your core. “You’re so talented with that tongue. What a good girl,” Miruko get out between her pants, “I think you deserve a reward.” Your fingers dig into her thighs as you realize what she means when she slides your tunic up your thighs. You watch the muscles in her back flex as she leans forward, strong arms pushing your thighs apart. Your body is coils tightly in anticipation as she starts kissing along your thighs and up to the apex, but then kisses back down. She’s teasing you. It’s making it all the more exciting, but you need the relief. You wrap your lips around her clit again to suck in an attempt to get her to give you more. And you get what you want. She groans, her hips rolling, and circles her tongue around your clit as well. Miruko dips down, her tongue tracing your entrance, and she groans. “Mm, you taste so sweet. Even better than that peach you gave me as an offering. Maybe that’ll be what I call you,” her voice has a hint of amusement to it, but it makes you visibly squirm. She notices. “You like that? My peach?” Miruko leans back in, her tongue slowly dragging up and down your clit. You make a noise that you hope is taken as an affirmative because you can’t bring yourself to pull your mouth from her sex. Her hips are rolling down into your mouth and yours up into hers, stifled moans the only sound echoing in the room. But your voice kicks up an octave as you feel her fingers rub at your entrance and slip inside you. She chuckles at your reaction as she crooks her fingers up, easily finding the spongy spot that makes your eyes roll back in your head. It makes you work her over more vigorously and her smugness over the reaction she pulled from you melts away. Her choked moans get louder and louder, encouraging you to go at her harder. Pull her thighs harder. It’s getting more difficult to breathe, but it’s so worth it when she finally tenses as she hits her orgasm. You keep licking as she comes down from her high, but whine when her fingers slip out of you and she rises. You hadn’t had your own orgasm but you weren’t about to complain to her about it. Just as you’re about to rise to your feet Miruko surprises you by reaching down and pulling you up as if you weigh nothing. She’s yanking you into her body and crashing her mouth to yours in a heated kiss. Miruko only breaks the kiss when she quickly pulls your tunic from your body and throws it off to the side. “You’re delicious all over, it seems,” she murmurs into your kiss-swollen lips. You have no opportunity to answer, her hands seizing your waist. She lifts you off the ground and easily walks you to the smooth stone wall, lifting you high enough that your thighs can rest on her shoulders. Her arms lock your thighs in place to keep you there. Your eyes are wide at the show of strength, and you are very aware that her face is now at a perfect height for her to devour you. And she does. Her red eyes lock with yours for a moment before she is diving back in. Your head falls back at her skilled mouth, hips almost immediately rolling into her. You’re surprised as you feel one of the hands holding you up vanish from your thigh and easily slides into your wet heat again. Miruko’s fingers immediately curl up and press into the spot that makes you cry out. You can’t help it as your hands grasp for something to hold on to. Fists wrapped around her twin ponytails, allowing you to anchor youself. “Look at me,” she rasps out, and it takes all of your remaining senses to comprehend and comply. “Cum for me, Peach.” Then she flicks her tongue on your clit before sucking it into your mouth as she presses up with her fingers again. And the tight thread in you snaps, and you completely fall apart around her. Miruko keeps licking and crooking her fingers as you ride through your climax, red eyes still trained on your face as you try desperately to catch your breath. Without you really noticing your thighs are slipped from her shoulders and you’re gently lowered to the floor. She catches her lips with yours again but this time the kiss is soft, tender, and she pulls you into an embrace that has your head tucked under her chin.

Miruko doesn’t move for a moment, and you wonder if she feels as bone-tired as you do. But then she’s once again sweeping you up in her arms as if you weigh nothing. You marvel over her strength for what feels like the hundredth time as she brings you over to the bed you’d healed in. Only this time when she places you in the bed, she crawls right in after you. You lie there, both naked and turned toward each other with the blanket pulled up just enough to cover both of your forms. She’s gently running fingertips up and down your side, and now you can fully understand why she broke rules to save you.

“Ah, now I understand why you’re a disciple of this temple!”

Both of you jump, and Miruko’s eyes narrow to slits as she looks at a grinning Hawks floating in front of her statue. “Way to go Miruko.” He winks at her, then looks at you with a wide grin. “Songbird, how is she? I bet she’s bossy-” He cuts off with a yelp as a nude Miruko flings herself from the bed to attack him. Hawks immediately vanishes, disappearing again in a cloud of feathers. Miruko stops short, then snaps her fingers and her tunic dress flows down her form like water.

“I’ll be right back,” she says with steel in her voice, “I have a chicken to fry.” She vanishes too, and you lean back into the bed with an incredulous laugh. Who would have thought this would be the outcome of becoming a disciple of the goddess of war.

[aggressive-positivity-network]

General Demo in a relationship Headcanons?

Demo in a Relationship

Headcanons

Meeting for the first time:

Probably either at a pub or some sort of restaurant that serves drinks.

He sees a person put something in your drink, and he absolutely loses it. He’s not even drunk (bonus headcanon: he only gets himself drunk if he’s tired or upset) but he just chews the guy out. Tears him a new one.

“YA CAN’T FIND A LASS WITH THAT WORMTOOTH SMILE ‘A YOURS, SO YA DECIDE TA GET ONE ALL DRUGGED UP AND DRAG HER HOME LIKE THE FAE?! YOU’RE GONNA BE THE ONE STUMBLIN’ AROUND ONCE I GET AHOLD OF YA!”

He starts beating the guy up, and invites you to join him. You accept, fists swinging. The manager and bartender say nothing, since they are all very good friends and they watched the whole thing unfold. However, they had to “kick” Demo and you out, since to technically caused trouble on the property. However, they were very nice about it and even got you a free drink to replace the tainted one.

Demo introduces himself and asks if you’d like some company on the way home, since it was getting late. You say yes, and he ends up sleeping on your couch. You don’t mind, and he even calls you that next afternoon to thank you and ask if you’d like to go to dinner as payment.

At first you refuse, because it was no trouble at all, but then realize that this is Demo asking for a date. You set the time, ask off work, and get yourself ready.

First date:

He’s the kind of person to just talk about anything and everything when he’s nervous. And he is certainly nervous on this date.

He’s wearing his normal clothes plus a bow tie and sans his beanie. He still has it in his pocket though - for luck.

He picks a seafood restaurant next to a pier, after making sure that you were a fan of seafood, of course.

The people at this restaurant know him too, and the waitstaff tease him about having a date. He smacks them on the shoulder and says something between his teeth, and they walk away, still laughing.

After the meal, which was comped because of the “entertainment,” they say Demo provided them with, you both walk to the edge of the pier and look at the stars. However, rather than ecstatic, you feel nauseous. The shrimp must have been bad...

You finally puke off the edge of the pier, and Demo pats your back and guides you back to the car, even offering to carry you. He apologizes profusely, and says that he will make sure it never happens again.

You wait in the car while he goes in the restaurant. He comes back with a two-liter bottle of ginger ale, a straw, and a huge gash on his knuckle that was bound up with a washcloth.

When you ask about it, he says not to worry about it and that he took care of it. You decide not to press him.

Romance beginning:

He asks you out on a park bench, on your fourth or fifth date.

“Er...I know we’ve not know each other long...but I think you’re a real bonny lass, y’know? Perhaps we can...well, I can be your lad?”

At first you don’t get it, and ask if he is asking to marry you. He stumbles and sputters.

“N-no, lass, we’re just kids...I meant...y’know...boyfriend and girlfriend.”

You smile and kiss him on the tip of his nose, which causes him to stammer even more. He didn’t think he would get this far. Embarrassed, he pulls his beanie over his eyes, his usually dark cheeks turning even darker.

You eventually say yes, but you had to wait for Demo to lift his head up from his hands.

Jealousy:

Demo doesn’t get very jealous - he has friends that are girls AND boys, so shooing other boys away doesn’t make much sense to him.

Sometimes he jokes about your guy friends, saying, “What, are ye gonna up and leave me for tall, blonde, ‘n handsome over there?”

But you know full well that he trusts you, and that he knows you can hold your own.

Even if someone flirts with you while you’re out somewhere, he’s relatively civil, even friendly.

“Aye, sorry lad, this one’s taken. Better luck next time.”

There was one time when a guy pushed it way to far.

You two were at the mall - you were looking for a certain figurine of your favorite character, and he was looking for a few...undisclosed items.

A guy asked if you were single, you say no and pointed to Demo, who said the same cheery spiel he always did.

“Huh...though he was your father or somethin’. You sure you should be with a guy that old? He’ll die before you’re in your prime.”

Demo had mellowed out, especially since he was with you, so he just shrugged.

“It’s ma beard. Adds ten years on me.”

“Shows every bit of it, huh?”

Demo begins to look physically frustrated, so you jerk your head, to signal that it was about time to leave the situation.

You guys try to leave, but the guys follow you, continuing to comment about how old Demo is for you.

Finally, the guy says, “I mean, if you guys wanted a threesome, maybe...”

Demo swirls around and punches him in the face, not realizing he still had a brass knuckle he had bought still on his fist. The guy’s nose is broken, and his left eye is bleeding.

The guy tried to sue, but because of Demo’s near immunity (the mercs have great resources), he wasn’t charged. The guy, however, was charged with harassment.

Introduction to the Mercs:

Instead of meeting Demo’s family, you meet his coworkers, which you find a little strange. Demo brushes it off by saying that these people were pretty much his family.

You enter the base’s lobby, and the first thing that you see is a tall, thin man pointing a revolver at you.

“Who are you, and whom do you work for? I’ll gladly get rid of a weak link.”

You, being a detective, cooly draw out your own gun before Demo walks in. He’s absolutely horrified.

“I told ya she was comin’, didn’t I? Ya don’t have ta give her the third degree, Spy!”

Spy raises his eyebrows, checks his watch, and puts his revolver away. “You are a bit early, oui?”

“By five bloody minutes!”

“You can never be too careful, mon ami. My deepest apologies, mademoiselle...”

Spy takes your hand and starts to kiss it, but then just touches it lightly with his forehead for a few seconds.

The other mercs trickle in, starting with Scout.

“Hey, so this is the broad you’ve been talkin’ about, huh?”

He takes a closer look at you, then grins.

“She doesn’t have a little sister, does she?”

Demo smacks Scout in the back of the head playfully. “She’d be out of your league even if she was just half as beautiful.”

“Aw, c’mon, who can resist this?” he says, gesturing to his face and winking at you.

Engineer and Heavy are next.

Engineer shakes your hand and takes off his building hat.

Heavy tries to get down to your level. “She is...small...” He glances at the gun, which is still in your hand, and laughs a booming laugh. “But she is fierce!” He glances at Demo. “Be careful with this one.”

By the time Sniper walks in, you’re wondering how many there are.

Sniper tips his hat so far down that is covers his eyes. “G’day.”

Soldier and Pyro come in together, and Soldier salutes and says, “Welcome to the ranks, maggot!”

Pyro, on the other hand, runs up and hugs you, almost lifting you completely off the ground. You’ve seen a few hazmat suits, but you’re still a little unnerved.

Finally, Medic walks in, Archimedes still on his finger.

“Ach, vhy are there alvays visitors during feeding time...?”

Six or seven doves soon follow, landing pretty much anywhere they can. In fact, one of them lands on you. It startles you a bit, but you are soon petting it’s head. Medic gently retrieves it from you.

Instead of greeting you, he looks you up and down.

“Five foot seven - a bit tall for a woman - Indian descent, I’m sure. But...there is something else...ah! Yes! African American! Your hair is straightened, but has that same texture that is common in that race. About thirty years of age. And...”

He looks at your feet.

“...slightly pigeon-toed.”

You blink, then start putting your hair in a ponytail.

“Six feet. Pure German descent. Mid-forties. Ambidextrous, though you lean more towards your right, ‘cause your callouses are bigger on your right hand. May or may not be sociopathic, since you studied everyone’s faces and matched their expressions before you talked to me. And...do you usually wear gloves?”

Medic nods, his eyes wide and his mouth on the verge of a smile. He looks at Demo, then back at you.

“God help you if you decide to cheat.”

Demo shakes his head. “I would never.”

That’s about all I have for you folks! If this is popular enough, I might make a part two!

But hey, my TF2 headcanons are always open!

[sugarbubbleslove]

The Bane of Flowers - Mass Effect Andromeda

Title: The Bane of Flowers

Characters: Liam Kosta, Sara Ryder, the cast of Mass Effect Andromeda

Pairing: Liam/Sara

Rating: Teen

Disclaimer: I do not own anyone/anything from the forum Mass Effect. Bioware and EA own Mass Effect and its characters. There is no copyright infringement intended. I do not make any profit/money or take any credit.

Summary: It was stupid. He was stupid.

Yet, here he was. Jealous every time she giggled when she looked at the flower.

Timeline: Saving Vorn/Seed Vault and agreeing to take the flower to Kesh. (Committed to Liam). Before the Archon Ship.

Warning: Jealous!Liam, Idiot!Liam, Oblivious!Sara, Drack is literally just in the background, rolling his eyes at the idiots.

Author's Notes: This came to me after I saved Vorn and agreed to take the flower, picking the choice that made her say Vorn was adorable, and I had Liam in the party, and it made me…wonder.

Part of 'Dreams and Faith' Series

Read on AO3

The Bane of Flowers

It was just a flower.

Sure, it was a flower that Vorn had grown.

But it was just. A. flower.

Liam lowered his data-pad onto the counter when he heard Sara giggled, looking up to see her brushing her fingers over the soft petals, with that look on her face.

Usually, any flowers would be kept in the bio room, but Sara put the plant on the crates next to the room, where it seemed to be mocking him.

And annoyed Gizmo, the pyjack, since being on top of the crates was one of his favourite places to be.

It wasn't even a flower meant for Sara. It was a gift to Kesh, something that made Sara call Vorn adorable and made him burn hot with jealously before he smothered it down when she spun around with the pot of flower held carefully in her hands.

It was stupid.

Yet, here he was, watching her smile softly at the flower, a light in her eyes he had never seen before and jealously twisted in his gut, making him feel guilty and stupid.

It was just a flower!

Sara turned around, one last stroke of the petal, and met his gaze. A bright smile lit up her features and he felt his own smile answer, watching as she walked over to him.

"Hey."

It dawned on him that it was the first time he had seen her with her hair down from its ponytail. Well, not exactly the first time but still, it was the first time and it struck him at how…soft she seems to look.

Sara came to a stop in front of him, resting her hip against the counter and looked up at him with an expression he had only seen in private.

Relaxed. That was the word he was looking for. She looked relaxed.

He liked seeing her like this. Relaxed. She never got to relax. He chanced a glance at the flower behind her and wondered if it had relaxing properties.

"…busy right now, huh?" her voice brought him back and he looked down to see her concerned dark blue eyes staring back at him.

"What? No, I'm never too busy for you," he assured her. She arched an eyebrow.

"Wow, and here's me thinking you were miles away." She teased him.

"Just thinking," he muttered, drawing a curious look from her.

"Penny for your thought?"

"Is that even still a thing? Can we still use pennies in this galaxy?" he found himself asking.

Sara's curious look turned to one of amusement as she pressed her lips together, clearly struggling not to laugh.

"Liam, is there something on your mind?"

"Nope." He popped the 'p' and sighed as she nodded, her eyes twinkling.

"Alright." Laugher was clear in her voice. "We're heading back to the Nexus to pass on some news and for me to do some updates." She leaned in and brushed against him. "Meet you at Vortex for a drink?"

"Sure." He nodded, swallowing back his desire as she shot him a teasing smile, pulling away and walking toward the catwalk with an extra sway in her hips.

She always did know how to tease him then he felt a scowl replace his smile when she touched the flower on the way by.

"You're an idiot," Drack muttered next to him, appearing from wherever he had been hiding. Liam shot him a glare. "I'm not the one feeling jealous of a flower!"

"I'm not jealous!" protested Liam. "Not over a damn flower."

"Right." Drack chuckled. "That's why you keep expecting it to burst into flames every time you look at it."

"Aren't you supposed to hate that flower? Considering it's for Kesh, from Vorn?" he reminded and got a dark scowl in return.

"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do," Drack fired back. "And it's not working."

"Sure thing, old man." Liam shrugged. He glanced at the flower once more before bringing up his data-pad.

He had work to do. And he wasn't jealous of a flower.

Now he was beginning to get annoyed. The flower kept nagging at the back of his head.

It felt like every time he turned around, Sara was there with the flower, giggling, and looking soft and vulnerable, and it was so stupid. How can one possibly be jealous of a flower?

By the time they reached the Nexus, Liam felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin with annoyance. Anything to get away from the flower when he reached the docking bay and saw Sara carefully holding the pot.

He bit back a resigned sigh when she turned to look at him and smiled at him before turning to the others when they started to group around them, all of them clearly eager to get off the ship for some shore leave time.

"Alright, we're docking for a little while longer this time since I have a few things I need to do. So, feel free to wander. No getting in trouble."

"What's the fun in that?" Peebee protested.

"Fine, fine, get into trouble all you want. No calling SAM. He's not bailing anyone out." She stuck her tongue out at Peebee, who just returned the sentiment and Liam rolled his eyes.

It really was amazing how responsible and logical Sara could be, yet when she was with Peebee, it was like another side came out and when he was in the party with those two…he was the mature and responsible one and it really shouldn't scare him as much as it does.

"So, I'm off to see Kesh, and Addison, and Tann…and to help nail Spender to the wall! Wish me luck!" She waved a free hand as she darted out the Tempest, leaving behind a bewildered group.

Gil was the first one to break the silence with a chuckle.

"Who wants to bet on what she'll have fun doing the most? Nailing Spender to the wall, calling out Addison regarding Spender and the Three Sabers, or giving Kesh the flower?" He held up a book. "I have 50 credits down for Spender."

"Put me down for Addison," Cora gently bumped shoulders with Gil. "Addison keeps rubbing her up the wrong way. No way Addison isn't going to try and downplay her part in either Spender or the Three Sabers." She left the Tempest.

"Good point." Gil opened his book and quickly pencilled in Cora's bet.

"Nailing Spender. She hates that guy. I still can't believe she's hasn't rubbed it in Morda's face that the Krogans believed the lying weasel," Peebee spoke up.

"That's probably because she doesn't want to make the situation worse." Vetra sighed, "Though I think she's stowing it away to use at a later date, should Morda try and step out of line."

"Peebee for Spender. How about you Vetra?"

"Addison for sure. If the woman would learn to stop annoying Sara, she'd get much further." Vetra and Peebee made their way off the Tempest.

"I'm not voting," Drack told them as he walked by them. "Because I'm off to help nail Spender to the wall and hope I can gift his head to Morda." He chuckled darkly.

That left Liam with Gil.

"How about you Liam?" Gil turned to look at him before he grinned. "Oh wait, you don't bet."

"The flower." Liam surprised even himself as Gil's smile slipped, awe clear on the other man's face. "Put me down for the flower."

"Ho-oh!" Gil quickly pencilled him in, and why wasn't it weird to see Gil with a pencil? "Insider's information?"

"No, just…a feeling." He shrugged before making his way off the ship. Instead of heading straight to the Vortex for his usual drink, he decided to wander, to take in the sights.

He still couldn't believe the difference between now and when they had first arrived at the Nexus.

Back then, it had been dark and empty, hope all lost. Now, it was bustling.

He watched as the Angara mixed with the Milky Way species. Saw Jaal as he conversed with the Asari from the Culture Exchange as they walked into the building.

Watched as Vetra watched the dock people.

Watched as Kallo and Suvi chatted animatedly as they walked together, Suvi's grin bright and teasing, Kallo's resigned features.

He watched as Gil quickly dodge some guy determined to catch up with him, disappearing within the tram and made a mental note to ask him.

Peebee had already disappeared toward the Hyperion, having now made her spot there.

Liam made his way up to the second level and settled at the railing, looking down at the sights.

This is what they had brought to Andromeda. Hope. It's what Sara had brought to the Nexus.

He knew she still grappled with her decisions, was still unsure of herself and what she meant to everyone. Still balancing the pressure on her shoulder as a Pathfinder, and as Alec Ryder's daughter.

He once overheard Kallo ask why Sara always tried to find a way to please people.

Curious, he had looked over at the two of them to see Sara shrug and mumble something under her breath, not really giving an answer. Kallo merely turned back to piloting, respecting Sara's need for privacy.

Yet Liam had seen the answer on her face.

Because the black mark of being Alec Ryder's daughter had carried forward into Andromeda despite the promises of a fresh start.

And it made him hurt for her. Had made his heart tightened and anger surge through him.

If only people would stop seeing Alec Ryder's daughter and start seeing Sara Ryder.

The one who pushed forward trying to make Heleus a better future for everyone. The one who had to carry everyone's doubts on top of hers.

He hated that she doubted herself. He hated seeing her second-guess her actions, hated seeing the way she over-thought something.

She had only really taken the plunge twice in the time he had known her.

When she shot the Cardinal in the back – he agreed with the Moshae, that Kett had deserved far worse than a quick death – and when she kissed him – she kissed him - when they both needed comfort, a moment to feel real and to forget what they had seen.

But other than that, she kept herself professional, even when they spat in her face, then turned around and demanded her help.

He had seen that sharp edge she kept hidden though. The others didn't see it but sometimes, it would slip through, and it made him wonder how deep the cuts she could create if she would just let go and spoke what was on her mind.

But at the same time, it terrified him.

If she let that edge come through…would she lose what made her Sara Ryder?

A familiar figure out the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned his head.

Vorn was standing the corner, talking with Dr Camden, a botanist who had asked Sara for some cultivation samples.

He grinned as he remembered Sara arguing with SAM over the differences – or lack of difference – between a gardener and a botanist.

And, yep, here comes Sara with a bounce to her step. Her light brown hair had been pulled back into its ponytail. Out of the way and professional looking and damn it if it didn't make him want to tug on it just to see how she would react.

Probably with a roll of her eyes and amused smile. He always seemed to get that reaction from her, and some quick-witted remark that had him doing a double-take at her smug expression and shaking his head, amazed when it came to her.

He watched as Vorn said something to Dr Camden that made the botanist gesture crazily and Sara laugh, drawing a grin from Vorn and another twist of jealously in Liam's gut.

Liam sighed as he dropped his head, shaking it, wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

They were committed; said they weren't playing games anymore. He had refused to be the clingy boyfriend back when they had that moment, saying it wasn't what she needed.

And it wasn't what she needed. She needed someone to have her back, and he managed it.

Yet, here he was, jealous over a damn flower and the Krogan she called adorable.

How pathetic could he be?

"Hey!" he blinked and turned to see Sara rounding the walkway heading toward him with a smile and he smiled.

"Hey, you."

"Thought we were meeting at the Vortex." She came to a stop next to him, gently checking his hip with hers. "Dutch asked after you when he saw me. Thought something had happened to you. Of course, Anan had to tell him that I had you tied up in my room."

Liam chuckled as Sara rolled her eyes. "It's not funny, Liam. You didn't have to deal with Dutch demanding I let you go." That made Liam laugh even harder, and she nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. "Watch it, Kosta, I can still ditch you."

That sobered him up, but he kept the smile on his face, amused at the thought of Dutch arguing with Sara over him being tied up.

Knowing Dutch, he took it literally which would have meant a flustered Sara trying to fend off Dutch and dealing with Anan's teasing jokes.

"So, why are we up here instead of the Vortex?" she asked him.

"I thought I'd come up here and take in the view." He looked back out. Sara settled on to the railing next to him and she smiled.

"Yeah, it's one heck of a view." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

She was beautiful.

"So, how did things go with Spender and Addison?" Liam decided to change the conversation.

"Eh." She wrinkled her nose. "Addison tried to cover up the Three Saber thing, but I overruled her. Told her to let everyone knows what happened. She said it would cause friction with the Angara and I told her it would cost us down the line if we covered it up."

Vetra was really on the money when it came to Addison. Liam shook his head.

"And Spender, did you finally get to nail him to the wall?"

Sara rolled her eyes.

"Kandros arrested him and hauled him into Kesh's office – since that is the only place we can interview people, apparently. The leaders aren't too happy with the mess."

"And Spender?"

"Spender tried the whole 'they threatened me' line until I pointed out that he was playing everyone to get what he wanted. And that everyone fell for it and they had no one to blame but themselves. Addison is kicking herself over it. She says she should have acted when I brought it to her but." Sara shrugged. "Too little, too late."

"So, you had to pass judgement on Spender, I guess?" he was beginning to get annoyed with the way everyone passed it down to Sara whenever they had a big decision to make.

"Yep, exiled him. He's currently kicking and screaming as Kandros drags him out." She shrugged. "He liked playing both sides, he can learn what it's like when you don't have a good side."

"Wouldn't want to be him."

"Not if someone decides to switch the papers and send him to Elaadan." She gave him an impish smile and he sighed.

"I'm not even gonna go there." He shook his head.

"Probably a good idea." She nodded sagely. "Best to have deniability." He shot her a look and she smiled. "Liam, there is a lot of people who hates Spender. Hell, the Comm expert all but jumped for joy when I told him I was investigating Spender."

"And Addison wondered why she never saw it."

"She never wanted to see it. That's the problem. They all knew he had an attitude problem. And he was playing them all. I found his notes. He was causing friction between Tann and Vetra's replacement. Was constantly reminding Addison that the Krogans left to keep her unhappy. They were all blinded by what they wanted to see that they never saw what was happening."

Sara sighed then rolled her shoulders, clearly trying to get rid of the tension in them.

Liam stepped behind her, his hands going to her shoulders and gently rubbed his thumbs into the muscles, eliciting a soft sigh from Sara as her head dropped forward.

"You're too good to me."

"Pff." He leaned forward and kissed the back of her neck. "Never. Just making sure you get to be Sara, and relaxed."

"With very magical hands," She near purred, making him laugh.

"All for your benefits," he assured her, and she laughed, making him grin and press down a little harder, getting a soft moan from her before she pulled away, shaking her head.

"Nope, you're not distracting me." She turned to look at him.

"Hmm, shame," he shrugged, and she gave him a baleful glare and poked him in the stomach, making him laugh as he came to stand next to her again

"Did you get round to giving Kesh the flower?" he asked, turning to face her, resting the side of his body against the railing. Sara wrinkled her nose.

"Krogan are so bad at accepting gifts unless it's some form of weapon." A fond smile crossed her lips.

The same smile she always had when she looked at the flower. "She scoffed at the gift. Said Vorn was wasting his time growing flowers." She looked at Liam. "I threatened to take the flower back. She yanked it out of my hands, protesting and told me not to tell Vorn that she thought it was sweet."

"Hmm, guess she liked it then."

"I guess even Krogan can fall for that kind of charm."

"What charm?" Did he sound defensive?

"The sweet romantic one." Sara sighed happily. "Though the thought of a Krogan being romantic is kind of…weird? I guess." She shrugged.

"I guess some people like that, huh?"

"What? Being wooed by a flower named after you by a cute guy who tells you that the flower never had a chance back in your home-world, but it has a new chance, just like them?" She smiled. "Yeah, most people like that kind of thing."

"So, it was a big deal?"

"For Vorn, it was. For Kesh…I think it's a new thing for her. Even though she's not like most Krogan since Drack said she liked to read ever since she was young, she was still brought up by Drack and I don't think Drack has a romantic bone at all." She scoffed. "I don't think Drack even knows what romance is." That made Liam laugh at the thought of it, remembering the old man going off on a rant over how Vorn and Kesh had gotten together, and how in his day, they didn't just do what they wanted. There were traditions before they started courting.

"I guess they are kind of creating their own path, just like us." He murmured.

"Liam Kosta!" she gasped. "That was so sweet." He rolled his eyes even as he felt his cheeks heat up only for his eyes to widen in surprise when Sara leaned up and kissed him.

Wow! The last time she kissed him like this, they ended up on his couch. She very rarely initiated anything. Not that he was really surprised, she was reserved, and he could sense the underlying pain in her history.

And yet it took a flower to make her happy?

"Alright, out with it." She pulled away from him, staring up at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Out with what?" his eyebrows rose at her sudden change in attitude.

"Like I haven't noticed the attitude regarding the flower, Liam. I'm not stupid."

"There's no attitude," he defended himself, his hands going to his hips.

Sara just glared and he cracked, his hands sliding off his hips. "Fine, there is an attitude with the flower. But it's stupid. You don't need to worry about it."

"Worry that my boyfriend seems to be acting weird about a flower?"

Boyfriend? His heart thudded a little. Sure, they were now serious, made a commitment and everything and yeah, he thinks he might be a little head-over-heels in crazy love with her but they never really stopped to put a title on their relationship.

"Liam!" her voice brought him back and he looked at her frustrated features. "It's just a flower."

"It made you smile," escaped him before he could think about it and groaned. Why did he always have to put his foot in his mouth?

Sara just stared at him, her lips parted and dark blue eyes wide before she blinked.

"You…you were jealous? Of a flower?"

"It's stupid. I know it's stupid. I'm stupid." He groaned. "But you just seemed…happy. And I haven't actually seen you that happy like that. I mean, I kind of have but I haven't?"

Sara just chewed on her bottom lip. A sign that she was waiting for him to explain.

"You were happy. Whenever you looked at the flower. You were happy. It made you happy and I…don't seem to make you that happy…" He grumbled lamely.

Sara blinked again before she started laughing. Actually laughing. Tears coming out the corner of her eyes laughing.

Liam gaped at her, bewildered before he looked around to see people were now looking over at them curiously. He just gave them a sheepish smile before his hands went to his laughing girlfriend's hips, holding her up.

"You're attracting attention," he told her, his voice low. He was very well aware of how shy Sara could get when she had people's attention when she wasn't expecting it.

She tried to stifle her laugher, shaking her head when she caught his eye.

"You were jealous of a flower." She laughed again and he sighed, wondering if he would ever get over this.

"Right now, I'm just hoping you're not going to hold it against me for the rest of my life."

Finally, her laugher settled, she placed her hands on his shoulder, moving in close and she smiled brightly.

"Liam, you make me happier than you know. So happy. A flower can't compare to that. Trust me."

"So why did it make you smile?" He hated feeling insecure.

"Because it reminded me of my parents."

What? Liam's confusion must have shown on his face because she smiled.

"Dad used to get mom flowers whenever he was an idiot and forgot something. When I saw the flower, it made me flashback to when I would see my dad show up with a bunch of flowers and a sheepish look. Mom would be so amused."

Sara shook her head. "Mom told me, once, that SAM had taken upon himself to remind dad whenever he made a promise and forgot. So whenever Dad showed up with flowers, it was because SAM chastised him."

"I did not chastise your father. I merely reminded him of his promises," SAM cut in and Liam was amused to notice that SAM sounded defensive.

"My story, SAM. Butt out," Sara teased.

"I am merely pointing out a fault." Now it sounded like SAM was pouting and Liam couldn't get over how human SAM was beginning to sound since joining with Sara.

"Protest noted. Now go away and find someone else to bother."

"…fine."

Liam arched an eyebrow at Sara who rolled her eyes amusedly.

"He may, technically, be older than Scott and me, but I still have the big sister role down." That made Liam grin.

"So, the flower reminded you of your parents. Now I feel stupid."

"It's not your fault that you didn't know why I was always smiling at the flower. I must have looked crazy to everyone, especially Jaal."

"Cora seemed to get it."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Well, Cora was close to my father so I wouldn't be surprised if she was there for some of SAM's 'reminders'," she carefully spoke so she wouldn't invoke the AI. "Besides, she likes flowers too."

"You know, I wouldn't have expected that from Cora," he told her as he gently swayed them.

"Don't let Cora fool you. She's a softy under all that armour." She winked. "And please don't be jealous of Cora." She grinned as he rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm not gonna be jealous of Cora." He scoffed. "So…what was the flower? It must have been something like what Vorn created."

"Myosotis," SAM informed him, coming back to the conversation. Sara giggled at Liam's confused expression.

"Forget-me-not." She smiled. "Inside joke for my parents."

"So…the whole thing was just a trip down memory lane about your parents?" Now he felt even more of a jerk for being jealous.

"In a way. But at the same time, Vorn was just being adorable. Every time I saw the flower, I was reminded how…hopeful he looked when he asked me if I could take the gift to Kesh."

"Hopeful?" Now that he thought back on it, she was right.

The way Vorn had asked Sara to take the flower…he could see that Vorn had been scared in a way, almost as if he was expecting Sara to reject helping him with this sweet gesture.

And it dawned on him. How could he have missed it?

Easy, you were jealous, came Drack's voice, mocking him.

Everyone saw the Krogan as brutes. Good for war and fights. Nothing else. People liked to see them as weapons, as tools. Not as people, with emotions and dreams and hopes.

Sara agreeing to Vorn's request, even going as far as to tell him that he was adorable and the eager way she reached for the flower had only helped her relationship with the Krogan.

And yeah, he might be more than just head-over-heels crazy in love with this girl.

Just when he thought he couldn't be any more amazed by her, she would go and do something like this, and he would fall even deeper into the rabbit hole.

"You're such a dummy." She cupped his cheeks and pulled him down for a kiss, slow and sweet and damn it if he didn't feel himself harden as she pressed herself up against him.

His hands slid around her waist and up her back, holding her close to him. She hummed and he shivered before she pulled away, her hands slid down to cup his neck.

"I like you the way you are, Kosta. Jealously and all." She grinned as he rolled his eyes.

"You're lucky I like you, Ryder."

"Hmm. I know." She reached up on tiptoes and kissed him again. "And you're adorable too."

Oh, well, maybe it wasn't so bad being jealous of a flower.

The End

Ha! I actually had fun writing this. I hope you guys liked it. (and to be honest, it really wasn't supposed to turn into a Liam monologue about Sara…hey, gotta go where the flow takes you, right?)

[the-satellite]

Hello friends and welcome to ☆Hateful Nostalgia☆. I was exposed to the mob talker mod WAY too young bc I was an unsupervised child on the internet watching mod showcases and SkyDoesMinecraft. Looking back these sucked, the stories were often bland and the designs were milk toast at best and tits out at worst. So for the sake of procrastinating on working on anything substantial I grabbed the main 6 I remembered and gussied em up. Redesigns, rewrites, better names, all that bullshit. If your interested in better photos, design notes, story details and rambling hit the basement, otherwise here's a line up you should click for better quality.

Also I wrote all this once before already but I deleted it like a dumb bitch. On the night Unus Annus was murdered in front of my eyes no less. Was a rough fuckin night.

The Creeper- Kupa. An explosive pyromaniac with a habit of making empty threats and yelling. She protects what she believes to be her territory with a suicidal passion, but if you manage to get her to cool down and soften up she's pretty sick to hand out with. Hard of hearing, has at least one bout of head trauma at all times, and deathly allergic to cats.

Because the creeper is kinda the og I wanted to reference AT2's design more than the others, but I'm p sure the only thing I actually kept was the red hair and brown gloves. Otherwise I was doing whatever. I really wanted to lean into the explody bit of creepers, so I gave her some bite and dressed her in clothes referenced from Irish railroad workers. This may also be why I keep imaging her with a very heavy Irish or Scottish accent, whichever would be most incomprehensible when angry. Every color but her skin was color picked from one of the references, with some minor alterations for makes my eyes happy reasons.

With Kupa I imagine a story line with her would largely be about her as a character and her development than like an actual adventure narrative like everyone else. She starts off ready to blow up both you and herself in a misguided attempt to defend what she sees as her's and opens up and learns not everyone is out to get her. Lots of time taken to understand her childhood and how she ended up how she is. Very simple, probably the default or tutorial run people would go through.

The Zombie- Bee. The ill husk of a missing explorer suffering from a less than conventional appetite. She wallows in her self imposed loneliness, believing herself to be an irredeemable monster doomed to hurt those around her. What she really needs is a buddy and some clue to who she used to be. Rough voiced, chronically fatigued, and prone to spontaneous combustion in sunlight.

 I definitely consider this one the weakest for design sadly. I imagined Zombies as humans who went into strange caves and caverns and didn't come out for years, only to pop up as completely different people. I just tossed AT2's design. The first thing I did was make her a bit of a genderbent Steve and tinted her green bc Zombies in game are just Steve but green. Tore up her clothes, colored picked the darkest colors I could from the clothes on the in game and boom, Bee. I do vaguely regret not making her eyes pure black but I also still wanted her to be human enough to fit with the other overworld mods.

 Ok so Bee actually has a basic story. When you meet her she's aggressive, but as a warning. She fears the possibility she may hurt somebody so heads for threats immediately. Going back and forth between her cave and village for a while you learn more about the situation with the missing folks who come back and Bee as a person. After a bit you pick her up off her depressed ass and start a nocturnal adventure of refinding your past, adapting to who your becoming, overcoming self destuction, and slow burn babey!!! 

The Skeleton- Ulna. One of the few surviving warriors of a now destroyed kingdom and dead culture. She spends most of her time now traveling alone, hiding in trees and shooting anything see sees as a threat- which is everything- in the face with homemade arrows. Very much suffering from loss of her home and a bad case of lost purpose. A woman of few words, very antisocial, and naturally nocturnal.

 I came in with the Skeleton wanting to make her seem mysterious, so my first thought was immediately a cloak and a mask, but I wanted her face to like be visible so I went with the face paint. I didn't actually know that I wanted to do under there so I went with wraps that are reminiscent of the original outfit but still not tits out bc it's so fucking easy! Gave her a quiver, color picked the cloak and face paint from the in game model and the wraps from AT2'S art. I did like. Subconsciously draw her eyes the way I do Asian characters but I didn't have anything specific in mind so like go nuts with what you think she is.

 Ulna's deal is very much her lack of purpose or home and the entire thing is about finding that again. She's found sitting up in a tree during a storm pointing a bow and arrow into your face. She eventually let's you stick around until the storm is over and theres some bonding into deep night until the rain stops. You ask if she wants to come with on your little travelling sword for hire business, she says sure, sleep schedule shenanigans, backstory angst, and road trip bonding happens and she eventually decides that helping people is her new purpose and you're her new home

The Spider- Park. A young adult experiencing the world for the first time through her tribe's rite of passage. She's really just trying to figure out how to live life outside of the cave she's been stuck in her entire life and aggressively trying to be an independent adult despite not knowing anything about being an independent adult. Its projection. Blind in the daylight, naive and excitable, and taken to refusing help at her own risk.

 Ok so. I don't know who looked at the spider and said "purple haired loli with puffy pants" so I once again yeeted the whole thing, only really keeping the kinda cutesy and childish bits. Spiders are a tribe of humans what live in caves unless they've broken off to live on the surface. Kids are kept inside until they hit a certain milestone, where they come up to explore at night. They're usually small and pale, but are pretty kickass when necessary. Again picked the colors off the in game model, played with the lightest gray for the skin, and bc I couldn't figure out anyway to use the stripes so they're on the patches lol.

 Park's meeting is probably the funniest and most meet cute one here, in that she accidentally drops on top of you from a little cliff drop off. Cue loads of apologies and an explanation about the spider deal and being blind in light. She asks for some help getting around and bam babey friendship and emotional attachment! What follows is kinda a buddy of coming of age story with the obligatory goes home and is miserable scene. Generally it's just about being a scared young adult and having someone to fall back on and why that's important. Also crushes and young people being bad at that.

 The Blaze- Amber. A demonic entity who would let the world burn and the sun die if it meant she'd get her soul back. She's known for being ruthless, taking souls through force instead of making deals like other Blazes. Keeps this forceful nature even once she's become friendly, makes you do dump shit. Territorial, eyes glow and dim with her life, and runs remarkably warm.

 Amber here is the first one I actually did! I was just. Really tired that she was in a bikini. I decided early on I wanted overworld mobs to be human and everyone else was decidedly not, so Blazes are demons who gave up their souls under false pretenses to other Blazes. Because of how little clothes AT2's design wore I had essentially free reign and my thought was immediately to lean on golden knight bc of how Blazes are found protecting fortresses. The gold isn't picked from anything bc I was looser with the colors, but everything else is, and the hair is supposed to represent the smoke. Also the sticks in her hair are blaze rods bc I don't like them just floating around her.

Amber is found in the Nether obviously, protecting a fortress and immediately trying beat your ass and either incinerate you or make you give up your soul. During you prove yourself a p damn good fighter and she makes a deal to show you how Blazes exist and pursade you to give your soul up willingly. Bonding happens and she explains where the souls go and what happened to her. Insert line about how she dug in the sand for her soul until her fingers bleed bc I'm an Arcana freak lol. In general I'd just like her to learn to adapt to who she is now and learning to live life well instead of letting her anger burn her up from the inside out.

 The Enderman- Violet. A confused but sweet young bit of void created by and connected to the Ender Dragon. Her relationship with reality is tenuous at best and abusive at worst, making stable existence rather difficult. She doesn't know a name, age, gender, anything about herself aside from that she likes sweaters. Communicates primarily through psychic connections, docile and sweet, and melts like a witch in water.

 Violet was incredibly easy, so this may be way short. Endermen are decidedly human shaped void from the End with varying sentience. They're direct extensions of the Ender Dragon, and nobody knows how they're made or where they come from, not even they do. Adventurers who escaped The End say they seem scared of it though. Violet in particular is pretty damn new and extraordinary nonconforming, and I tried to show that with her sweater and ponytail. Once again, literally all colors picked. Definitely the simplest but one of my favs.

Violet is the sweetest meet up I think. As your traveling between villages you notice a strange enderman watching you and plant a little flower in front of her. She picks it and you hear a happy little trill come from you and a pretty voice say thank you in your head. Now you have a tall dark teleporting travel buddy! After a little bit of back and forth she tells you in some broken English that the Ender Dragon made her but she doesnt know how, and that it's bad and needs to be killed for the sake of Endermen and that's the new goal. Spoiler they're the corrupted souls of those that died fighting it, with it gone Endermen are free to exist as their own being and do whatever, hurray!

[ask-benrey-in-the-void]

Hey Gordon! Don't? Yell at Benry please? He just had Dr. Coomer taken away from him again by two weird people that control (?) the game. Also yes this is a game were you the only non-self aware one?

[Gordon is now laying on the ground, eyes impossibly wide. Benrey isn’t too far from him, eyes dropping again when he sees mention of Dr. Coomer. Gordon reads the message a few times before groaning for a long moment.]

Gordon: I... I’ll unpack all of that later- I don’t know if I can handle this all at once

Gordon: But- no, I didn’t know

Gordon: Like at all

Gordon: I thought- I thought this was all just my life, okay? Is- is that so wrong?

Gordon: This was all I fucking knew! After a while I just- just didn’t question what Benrey or anyone else was able to do because I thought he was an alien or it had something to do with science or- or something

Gordon: And now apparently I’m- I’m a video game character?

Gordon: All of my suffering and everytime I thought I was gonna break or I couldn’t do it or when my fucking arm got cut off and I thought everything and everyone I thought was a friend betrayed me-

Gordon: That was all just- just a game??

Gordon: I- fuck, man!

[Gordon shakes his fists, every muscle in his body seems to be tensing up. Benrey waits until he’s sure Gordon is done.]

Benrey: deep breaths dude

Gordon: I’m TRYING

Benrey: it’s not that big of a deal once you settle into the idea

Gordon: Not that-

Gordon: Fucking hell, Benrey, how long have you known??

Benrey: since the moment i met you

Benrey: literally

Gordon: Is- is that why you were so fucking apathetic? Because you knew it was all a game?

Benrey: mmhmm yeah pretty much

Gordon: How- how are you not losing it??

Benrey: i dunno i just manage

Benrey: make do with what ya got y’know

Benrey: so. what do you want that you can get right now

Gordon: I want a lot of things Benrey but I don’t think I can actually get any of them

Gordon: I want to see the team- the Science Team! I want to go home and see my son- does he even exist? Or is he not real either? God fucking- I want to feel real and alive and I- I want to get out of this fucking void and this- this god forsaken HEV SUIT and-

[Benrey perks slightly.]

Benrey: oh hold on

Benrey: i can do that

Gordon: Do- do what?

Benrey: your hev suit

Benrey: i can bust you out of it

Gordon: I... I’m not wearing too much under it and I would really rather you not see me in a... Uh...

Benrey: in the fuckin’ nude? you nude under there?

Gordon: NO

Gordon: Just- I’m kinda in boxers and a tank top and that’s too little clothing than I’m comfortable being in around you

Gordon: ...I’d say no offense but you know exactly why

Benrey: don’t worry ‘bout it

Benrey: i can make you somethin’ new

Benrey: watch this

[Benrey hesitates for a moment but runs a quick command, knowing that changing a model is pretty minor anyways and won’t draw too much attention. Gordon is soon changed out of his HEV Suit and into an orange sweater with jeans and black and white sneakers. His hair is tied back into a ponytail and his robotic prosthetic is polished and clean. Gordon blinks, looking himself over.]

Gordon: Huh...

Gordon: Uh... Thanks for that... Benrey.

Benrey: no prob

[Gordon’s shoulders relax and he blinks fast, letting out a shaky breath.]

Gordon: Fuck, it feels good to be out of that...

[Benrey nods slightly then accidentally spits out balls of blue to black, a low but comforting tone following.]

Gordon: ...What’s Blue to Black-

Benrey: s’not important

[teaspacebar]

whipped for you (modern coffeeshop!au)

a/n: lemme just say that i am so incredibly gay for robin, okay? i saw her and i was like, “that’s the one right there.” i absolutely adore her character and i saw an au prompt from a list - if i can find it i will link it - and just ran with it. 

relationship: robin x fem!reader

word count: 1.2k

summary: you’ve had a crush on a regular customer for the past six months. you want to ask her out, but every time she comes up for her drink, you get all flustered and completely embarrass yourself. it’s a good thing she finds it cute.

-

She always came in at the same time, every day. She ordered an iced caramel vanilla latte with whip, no matter the weather. She would take her drink from you with a smile, telling you to keep the change, and sit at a table in the corner. Her laptop would sit on the table, tons of nerdy stickers covering it, and she would stay there for at least an hour. There were very few occasions where she would just rush out the door, but when she did, you would find yourself missing her presence.

You started writing cute messages on her cups, dotting the ‘I’ in her name with a little star – a heart just seemed too cliché. Your coworkers would always tease you, saying that if you had the balls, she’d probably be dating you by now. You proceeded to snap back with a comment about how you didn’t like balls and would never get any.

She radiated queer energy. Her haircut literally screamed at you, as well as her bright rainbow sticker right in the middle of her computer. So, that wasn’t an issue here. You knew you were at least her type in that regard.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t tried to ask her out. You did. Or at least, you planned on it. Until she walked in wearing those high-waisted shorts and her hair tied up in a messy ponytail. You had immediately flushed red, turning around to start making her iced beverage before she even came up to the counter. You could barely speak as you took her money, shoving the drink at her before escaping to the back. You must have looked like a lunatic.

You even told your best friend about her.

“She’s literally so gorgeous, I have no idea what I’m doing. It’s like she walks in and I’m this weird pile of jelly that can barely talk!” You gestured wildly with your hands.”

Your best friend snorted, shoving french fries into his mouth as he said, “It seems we have the same problem.”

“I’m being serious Steve! I’ve made her order almost every day for the past six months. I write these cheesy sayings on her cups, but I can’t get up the courage to write my number or even say anything besides ‘have a nice day’ without turning into a tomato. She gives me this smile when I hand her her drink before she can even order it and I die a little inside.”

“In a good way?”

You nodded, “In the best way.”

Steve had tried to give you a few pointers, but they didn’t really end up working out (probably because that boy has about the same luck as you do). It was all red cheeks and stuttered words.

Two weeks had passed, and you were waiting eagerly for your crush to make her appearance. She was late, which was unusual. You already made her drink, the ice slowly melting and condensation forming on the outside of the cup. The more time passed, the sadder you got. Maybe she wasn’t coming today. She could be sick, right?

The soft ring of the bell signaled that someone had entered the shop, causing you to look up. There she was. But she wasn’t alone, you noticed, as the guy held the door open to let her in. “Steve?” Your best friend gave you a grin, whilst your crush looked between the two of you with confusion. The two of them walked up to the counter, and the blonde shook her head, giving you a sheepish smile.

“Sorry I’m late, this dingus always holds me up,” She gestured to Steve.

You giggled, “Tell me about it. I didn’t know you knew Steve.” You shot your best friend a look; he shrugged in return.

“If it’s any consolation, I didn’t know either,” Steve explained.

You rolled your eyes, turning to make both of their drinks. You took out your signature silver sharpie, writing their names on the cups and drawing a little doodle on both. Setting both drinks on the counter, you leaned against it.

“Who the hell is Ronnie?” Steve questioned, gesturing to the drink with flowers on it. You stood up, looking at him incredulously, glancing at the girl next to him. Her face was red, and she was avoiding your gaze. You pointed in her direction, to which Steve barked out a laugh. “Her name is Robin.”

Oh god. You had been writing her name down wrong this whole time?! You felt your cheeks heat with embarrassment, and you covered your face with your hands, “I’m just going to go run into the back and die now.”

“No! No, I didn’t correct you, I’m sorry!” Ronnie – Robin – exclaimed. She was pushing Steve, who was trying to hold back his laughs, out of the way, to get closer to the counter. “You were just so cute and the message you wrote was really sweet that I just, never mentioned it.” You peeked through your fingers at her, catching the soft smile on her red face. “I thought that if I said anything, you would stop writing the notes or doodling on them, and it’s one of the best parts of my day.” She reached hesitantly to pull your hands away from your face, continuing to hold them once they were lowered. Your eyes met her blue ones, and it was like an ocean of calm washed over you.

“Robin fits you better,” you said gently, a smile forming on your lips.

Her laugh sent a wave of warmth over you, “That’s good, then. I was worried I’d have to change my name.”

You shake your head, looking down at your intertwined hands, “No, definitely not. Although it wouldn’t be a deal breaker, or anything.”

“Deal breaker?”

“God, just ask each other out already!” Steve butted in, causing the two of you to send him a glare. “We have a project to work on.”

Robin turned back to you, “So, do I have to order another drink for you to write your number on the cup?” You let go of her hands so you can grab a cup, eagerly writing your phone number across it. You place her existing cup into the new one, sliding it over to her. “Sweet, I’ll text you, yeah?” You nodded, letting her walk over to Steve, who gave her this shit-eating grin. Robin shoved him, making him stumble.

You started wiping down the counters, when your phone dinged.

you always put the perfect amount of whip :)

Another ding.

it’s exactly how whipped I am for you.

You snorted, peeking over the counter to see Robin snatching her phone away from Steve. She glanced up, catching your gaze. “Ignore that!” Oh, your cheeks were going to hurt if you kept smiling this much. You quickly inserted her number into your contacts, then slid your phone back in your pocket. You went back to work, basking in the giddy feelings bursting through your body. The rest of your shift, silly faces and gentle smiles were passed between you and the girl that had burst into your plain life so suddenly, brightening everything with a sly smile.

[juliapetertodd]

Universe Jumping: Gotham - OCs Fanfiction

It was a quite night in Gotham… Well, as quiet as Gotham can be, anyway.

There was the usual hustle and bustle of cars honking, people partying the night away and the occasional gunshots, as familiar in that city as the stone gargoyles that adorned the buildings. But the Joker wasn’t spreading canisters of Laughing Gas throughout the city; Two-Face wasn’t off on some duality themed robbing spree and Poison Ivy didn’t have an army of love struck folks running around and destroying every can of bug spray in the area.

One of the particularly quiet places was Robinson Street, a short little street made entirely of cheap, rundown apartment buildings. The cement pavement was cracked and dirty, some of the walls were covered with graffiti and streetlights were specked evenly along both sides of it. All in all, it was an entirely unremarkable and typical Gotham Street. It just so happened that that night was a remarkably atypical night.

The signs that something was off in Robinson Street were hardly noticeable if you weren’t paying attention. The streetlights flickered with increasing speed and intensity; if you happened to touch some of the metal trashcans outside, you might get shocked; and the animals were restless, sensing the coming changes.

Really, the first noticeable warning came just before it started. At two in the morning, with no living soul around, a single, short and quick spark of red lightning came out of nowhere between two lampposts on the left side of the street, hitting one of them and blowing its bulb, sparks shooting out everywhere. About two minutes later, the same thing happened again. Then again, one minute later. Then 30 seconds later. Eventually, multiple red sparks were buzzing around the street, always shooting from between the same two lampposts. The sparks buzzed and buzzed until the air from which they shot out seemed to shift and changed, almost as if it was trying to open itself up. It stretched and crinkled, more and more, until a sound no one could ever quite describe was heard and a perfectly round circle of light appeared, in between the two lampposts.

It hung in the air for a few minutes, held by nothing, and perfectly out of place in the dark corners of Gotham, until something emerged from it. A single left foot, dressed in a black sock and a black left running shoe (for, after all, the right didn’t fit it) took a tentative and careful step out, moving slowly forward and showing that it was not alone but, in fact, came attached to a leg, dressed in black suit pants. The foot kept pushing forward until it finally touched the ground, tapping lightly to make sure it couldn’t lose its footing. It retreated carefully, but quickly (along with the leg, which went first) and was quickly replaced by a face, which also moved rather cautiously. First came the nose, then the glasses, than the rest of the thing. It looked around carefully, making sure there were no threats, and, sufficiently satisfied, left the portal with confidence, dragging the rest of the body it was attached to forward.

This particular body belonged to a man named Tony, who was tall, a little chubby, bearded and with some noticeable hair loss. He was wearing black rimmed glasses, a t-shirt with some sort of obscure reference, a long, black overcoat, the aforementioned pants and shoes, and, most strangely of all, a multi colored, 4 meter long scarf.

Tony took a few steps away from the portal and looked around, with the sort of face that expressed abundant cleverness and confidence, even if he didn’t exactly have either of those things at that particular moment. After giving a quick visual inspection at the buildings and lampposts around him, he pulled out a curious looking device similar to one of those credit card things you find at stores from his pocket. He pushed a few buttons on it and after hearing a satisfying little “ding”, turned toward the portal.

“You can come out!” he screamed “It’s safe!”

“Are you sure?” a female voice on the other side said. It sounded a little garbled, like it was being spoken through a walk talkie “It might be a trap. You might have landed in trap world.”

“You do know what trap means, right?”

“Something meant to trick and kill us?”

“No, it’s what we call guys who look like girls. They’re traps, y’see. I’ll send you some pictures later. Anyway, since there are no impossibly pretty girls with miniskirts running around, I suggest you get in here.”

Tony looked at the portal for a few minutes when, at last, a female figure emerged. Júlia was her name and she was wearing some fashionable sneakers, blue denim jeans, a Miraculous Ladybug t-shirt, a comfortable looking teddy coat and had a backpack strapped on her shoulders. She was short-ish, also wore glasses and had her striking light brown hair tied up in a ponytail.

“Very sporty” commented Tony “Almost draws the attention away from your caterpillar-like eyebrows.”

Júlia gave him an annoyed gazed in response. “Well, at least my clothes fit me properly. This world better have a lot of danger, cause you certainly need the exercise.” She tapped Tony on his belly.

“Pfff. I look great.” He self-consciously closed his jacket, while keeping his proud look “Anyway, the Dimensional Transporter will take a few days to recharge, so let’s try and figure out where we are. Care to take a guess?”

“Hmm…” She held her chin with her right hand and stepped to the middle of the road, looking around. “Well… It’s a city. A big one, by the looks of it. Very New York-ish. Meaning we could be anywhere from Friends to Escape from New York.”

“Let’s hope it’s neither.” Tony said as his fingers tapped the little device and stepped next to her “Unless I get to threeway Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox.”

“Did you start this whole thing, just so you could fuck characters?”

Tony stopped tapping and arched his eyebrows ponderously “Not just because of that”

Júlia sighed, while Tony tapped a bit more and looked intently at the screen “Well, according to the Atmospheric Analyzer, there are no deadly toxins in the air, the water is clean and, by all accounts, this is just like any other city back on our world.” He put the Analyzer back in his pocket and pattered around a bit “I’ve been meaning to find out whether this thing takes us to every fictional world or if it’s just the ones we’re particularly interested in. For all we know, we might be in some cheap romantic comedy.”

He twirled around, amazed at how cool his overcoat looked in the breeze and how fun it was to see his giant scarf, flip flopping around “We might just see a third grade actress walk across that street and bump into some third grade actor, their eyes meeting and the spark of predictably insipid romance is set.”

“Has anyone ever told you, you have a particular knack for taking the fun out of everything?” said Júlia, her eyes rolling so hard, they might’ve actually made a sound.

“Not today, but it’s still early.” Casually, Tony glanced at the sky, and his eyebrows once again shot up “Ah. I think I know where we are now.”

“Where?” But instead of an answer, Tony merely pointed a finger at the sky, and as Júlia looked she instantly realized where they had landed.

That night was cloudy, and on the grey clouds above their heads was projected the shining image of a giant bat.

“Well… The DC Universe… Or perhaps just Gotham. It’s hard to guess at this point, but what say you we take a look-” However, Tony realized he was talking to himself, as Júlia had made a straight run towards the nearest alley she could find on Robinson Street “HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”

Júlia looked back and breathlessly answered “To… an… alley…way.”

Tony went after her, catching up when she stopped, far into the alley, to catch her breath. “Why… did…” he said, realizing now that maybe the gym does have its uses “…you… come… here?”

“Because… Because that’s where crime happens in Gotham.”

“Wha… What?”

“Yeah! Don’t you know? Innocent people walking down an alley in Gotham City, a mugger pulls up, and what happens?”

“They get robbed and killed?”

“No, dummy. Batman saves them! Or some Bat related character.”

“So, you want to get robbed, in the hopes of meeting Batman? What if you get killed for real?”

“Pff” Júlia waved him away “When has that ever happened in Gotham?”

“Like all the time! That’s literally the reason Batman exists!” Tony answered, gesticulating wildly

“Ah, we’ll be fine. Come on, let’s keep going, see if anyone’s lurking around.” she answered, as she casually strolled deeper into the dark, empty and quiet backstreet that led off the alley. Tony sighed but dutifully went after her.

“This just seems like a really bad idea, Júlia. I’m just saying.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not the boss of me.”

“I made most of the machine that allowed you to get here.”

“But I helped you build it. So, I own like 40% of ownership.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“Oh, whatever. You just wanna boss me around, cause you wanna act like The Doctor.”

“I… What are you talking about?” said Tony, plunging his hands deeper into his pockets and turning his face away from Júlia.

“Come off it. Magical machine that takes people places? Invites one special girl? Makes a lot of jokes? You’re even dressed like him! I mean-”

But Júlia couldn’t finish what she meant, because from one of the many shadows that consumed the alley came a man holding a revolver. He looked disheveled and dirty, a tattered and filthy shirt hanging loosely in his body, a green coat that seemed to be made out of the skin of an old couch, fingerless brown gloves and a patchwork ascot. In his hand, he held a black six shooter revolver, a relic that seemingly jumped from its original time straight to modern day.

“Gimme all your money” mumbled the dirty thief, waving his revolver in Tony’s and Júlia’s direction.

Júlia shifted a little, retreating behind Tony with the intent of using him as meat shield, while Tony slowly put his hands up as the thief moved closer.

“Now, now… We don’t need any of that…” assured Tony, as he stared at the gun with widened eyes “Say… That seems like a very anachronistic gun, for the time we come from… Can you tell us what year it is?”

The thief’s face contorted into an expression of confused anger, and he waved the gun more fiercely “Now, listen here! Don’t try to… to… patronize me! I’m holding the gun! And I say that you should give me your money! NOW!”

“I… uh… don’t have any money” muttered Tony, fearful and a little embarrassed. After all, it’s probably bad manners to get robbed and not have any money to give.

Confusion had left the thief’s face by this point, but the anger had stayed firmly in place. He held the gun with a tight grip and pointed it straight at Tony’s face. Tony did his best to keep Júlia behind him, and closed his eyes, as he heard the squeeze on the gun’s trigger, expecting that all familiar sound.

KAPOW

“Kapow?” he thought, opening his eyes.

From the pointy ears, to the cape, to the outside underpants, everything about him screamed “I’M BATMAN”. He had come from above, all “I am the night”, and kicked the robber in the face, knocking him against the brick wall. The robber’s head hit the wall, knocking him out.

Batman looked at Tony and Júlia, efficiently checking to see if they had any bruises or needed any medical help. After realizing they were ok, he shot out his Bat Grappler, intent on continuing the night’s patrol and, had these been the regular type of people he usually deals with, that’s what would’ve happened. Except…

“WAIT BRUCE STOP!” yelled Tony suddenly.

Batman almost slipped from his Bat Grapple in shock. He quickly composed himself and, rather swiftly, pushed Tony against a wall, as Júlia watched in shock.

“WHY DID YOU SAY THAT NAME?” yelled Batman, his forearm pressing hard on Tony’s throat.

“I…” Tony tried to gasp his explanations through a squeezed throat “We… Different… Universe… Júlia…”

“Don’t look at me, man! Who told you it was a good idea to antagonize Batman?”

“I want answers.” Batman was getting annoyed at his lack of progress “NOW!”

“We’re from a different universe where you’re a comic book character, Bruce!” answered Júlia, pulling some courage from place she didn’t quite know she had “We found a way to travel here and… uh… we… uh… want to visit the place. And meet some heroes.”

Júlia pointed at Batman awkwardly, as if trying to remind him that he’s a superhero “Like you. Or Jason” Batman scowl deepened and Júlia’s voice fell a couple of notches “Or you. Y’know. Whoever.”

Batman looked at Tony for a little while more, before dropping him. As Tony wheezed and Júlia leaned down to see if he was ok, Batman started asking questions.

“What do you want from me?”

“We want to spend time with you.” answered Júlia, as Tony composed himself “and the other superheroes also.”

“Yeah” continued Tony “and you’re actually the perfect person to help us, since you’re so paranoid and shit, which means you know everyone.”

Batman considered this “What reason would I have to help you?”

“We know the secret identities of basically every single superhero on this planet, as well as the place where they live and their supporting cast/ loved ones.” Answered Tony, as he got up

Batman quickly turned around, with a powerful rage on his face “Are you threatening me?”

“No, no! I’m just saying… uh…” Tony really hadn’t thought that threatening Batman was a good idea and he was desperately trying to back out “Look, man, we just want to meet some people and you have more money than God. Can’t we work something out? Can’t you call out the Batmobile, take us to Wayne Manor and we can talk about it?”

Batman looked at them, pondering. They were both scared out of their minds that Batman would just punch them until they got out of his universe but, surprisingly, he got a little bat shaped remote and pressed one of the buttons. The remote made a quiet beep and, soon after, Batman started to walk out of the alley. Not knowing what to do, Tony and Júlia followed, keeping a safe distance from the Dark Knight.

As they reached the place through which they entered the alley, they quickly realized what the remote had called. In front of them, roared the Batmobile, sleek, black and with a big bat face in the front. Batman clicked another button on the remote, and the roof of the car slid back revealing four seats inside. He jumped inside into the driver’s seat, and our duo awkwardly got over the side of the car to get inside, because the Batmobile didn’t actually have doors. Once they were inside, Bruce closed the top and got the car moving at ridiculous speed.

Júlia was internally freaking out about being in the Batmobile (and, weirdly enough, admiring the comfortable leather seats), while Tony pulled out a notebook and pen, and started asking Batman some questions.

“So, the first thing we want to establish is what version of your universe we’re in.”

“Version?”

“In our universe, you’ve been adapted from a full universe of comic books, to movies, to cartoons, to video games, etc. So, we need to figure out where we are.”

“Alright.”

“Cool. So, who is Batgirl right now?”

Batman looked stiff and unresponsive

“We know it’s either Barbara, Cassie or Steph.” said Júlia “So you can just come out and say it.”

Batman stayed quiet for a bit “Stephanie.”

Tony jotted a few things down “That’s… interesting. And weird, since it’s not current.”

“Current?” asked Batman

“I can’t tell you, sorry. Unless… Say, Batman, have you ever heard of something called the Flashpoint?”

“Yes. It was something that happened to the Flash, some time ago.”

Tony raised his eyebrows “He gave you a letter from your alternate reality dad?”

“Yes.”

“What were you wearing?”

Batman didn’t flinch, but his voice and general stiffness betrayed a certain amount of surprise “What?”

“What version of your costume?”

“Tony, where are you going with this?” asked Júlia

“Just trust me on this.” he answered before turning his attention back to Batman “Let me clarify: At that point, did you costume not have the briefs on the outside, and did it have some weird lines running through it?”

Batman remained quiet for a bit, before answering “No.”

Tony looked at his notebook, inquisitively. “This is weird… This is really very, very weird. Can I ask who the Teen Titans are at the current time?”

“Robin, Superboy, Kid Flash, Supergirl, Batgirl and Blue Beetle.”

Tony’s eyes widened in surprise. “Ho ho… Well… I’ll say this is… Intriguing”

Júlia nudged Tony “What are you talking about?”

“Well Júlia, if I understand this correctly, and I’m fairly certain I do, I think we’re in a version of the DC Universe where the New 52 never happened.”

“What do you mean never happened? Like… None of it?”

“Well, maybe a few plots here and there… Hey, Batman, did you fight the Court of Owls at any point?”

Batman considered. “Yes. Some time ago.”

“Well, there we are. I’d say that wraps-”

Suddenly, the Batmobile came to a sudden stop, knocking Tony and Júlia forward.

“What-” asked Júlia, but Batman interrupted.

“Gotham’s first national bank is getting robbed right now by the Riddler. You two stay here, I’m going inside.”

He popped open the roof of the car and left, leaving the two travelers sitting there, stunned.

Júlia looked around the car. There were all sorts of buttons and levers on the dashboard, but at her feet was some sort of compartment. She popped it open, and inside found a couple of Batarangs, a grapple gun and a Bat Taser Gun. She looked at Tony, and found him staring at the weapons, wide eyed.

“Should we?” asked Júlia.

Before he could answer, both of them heard the sound of broken glass, as the Riddler left the bank through the back.

“Riddle me this! What’s bad as a bat and covered in bruises?” said Nygma, his Bowler Hat slightly askew on his head “The Batman after my henchmen are done with him!”

As he headed out with his henchman, he found himself stopped by two 20 something young adults, wielding weapons.

“Freeze!” said the man, with one of Batman’s grapple guns.

“Yeah” said the woman, wielding a kind of gun shaped apparatus with electricity at the end. “What he said!”

“Hmmm…” said the Riddler “And who might you two be?”

“We’re-uh…” the man thought for a bit “Friends of Batman?”

“The Bat doesn’t have any friends. And if he did I doubt he’d pick such... Riddle me this, what has funny accent, a gigantic ass and two caterpillars instead of eyebrows?”

Júlia blushed heavily and looked down, embarrassed.

“Riddle me this, what’s balding, masturbates far too frequently and sweats like he’s running a marathon when he’s sitting down?”

Tony also blushed (and started sweating) but he answered back “Wow Nygma, you’re a dick. I have literally zero problems with what we’re about to do. Júlia, hit him.”

Júlia, getting over her embarrassment, pressed the trigger on her gun, and shot Riddler with an electric shock straight to the private parts. He fell, in pain, to his knees. Then Tony shot the grappler gun at him, and watched it tie around him. Soon, Batman came from above, gliding down on his cape.

“Hey, we took care of this Bat Boy.” said Tony “No worries.”

As they walked back to the car, Júlia asked “Hey… Do my eyebrows really look like Caterpillars?”

“If they do, they’re the loveliest caterpillars ever.” answered Tony.

“Thanks.” Said Júlia, slightly happier “By the way, the bald look works well on you.”

Tony smiled at her and sat back on the Batmobile, as they both waited for Batman to finish tying up Riddler.

…

Having finally arrived at Wayne Mansion, Tony and Júlia gawked at all the cool shit in the batcave, before going up into the mansion proper.

“Oh.” Said Alfred, when he first saw them coming up with Bruce Wayne (as he had taken off the costume and switched to civilian clothing). “Well, at least the new Robins aren’t children anymore.”

Bruce gave him a sarcastic smile and told him to make tea for the three of them, before taking the two travelers into his dining room.

After a long and straightforward conversation, it was agreed that Bruce would supply them with funds to travel around the country, meeting whatever superheroes they wanted and then leaving promptly when their travelling device was charged. They would leave the next morning for Metropolis, but not before Bruce did them a little favor…

…

Tony and Júlia waited around on the roof of a random Gotham skyscraper, with Batman standing next to them. Júlia looked particularly fretful.

“It’s going to be fine.” Reassured Tony. “He’ll love you. How couldn’t he?”

She nodded, but was still fretting around with her feet, rolling her heel on the floor and playing with Tony’s scarf. Suddenly, they heard a noise, and someone else was on that roof with them. He had on a black body suit, with a brown jacket over it, some guns and, completing the look, a big red mask that covered his entire face.

“So… What’s this all about?” said the man, Jason Todd.

Júlia squeed when she heard him talk, and immediately hid behind Tony, shoving her face hard into his scarf.

“These people are… travelers from another universe.” Said Batman, looking entirely unamused “The girl apparently wanted to meet you.”

“Are you serious? You call me in just for this?”

“Well, they know our identities and apparently are just passing by. I figured, why not? They know who you are, by the way, you can take off the mask.”

“Tsk.” Said Jason, as he took his Red Hood helmet off, revealing his ruffled black hair and perfect looking face. “You know… I have other things to do, I can’t be dealing with whatever fanboy wants an autograph.”

“Well…” said Tony “It’s not really a fanboy… more of a fangirl.”

Tony flipped around and grabbed Júlia by the shoulders pushing her towards Jason. “Come on girl, knock him dead” he whispered.

Before she could even collect herself, Júlia was staring Jason Todd straight in the face.

“I… uh… I mean… You… I…” she stuttered, blushing so hard you’d think she was drunk.

Jason had softened a bit seeing this, and gave a cocky smile, slicked his hair back and began talking.

“So…” he said, getting a little closer to her “Where you’re from I’m a big deal?”

“You… uh… Yeah, you’re a… character from… from comics…” she said, smiling ridiculously.

“Well… That’s pretty cool to know” Jason his arm around her, causing Júlia to smile even more “And I’m your favorite character?”

She nodded.

“Cool cool. So… now that you got me here…” Jason gave her a peck on the cheek and whispered in her ear “What do you want to do with me?”

At this point, Júlia made another, much more pronounced squee sound and promptly passed out. Tony stared at her unconscious body.

“Well… Shit.”

…

Júlia slowly came back to conscience and felt her whole body shaking and vibrating slightly. She opened her eyes and saw Tony in front of her, fiddling with some apparatus. She also realized the source of the shaking: She was on a train, specifically sitting in a train compartment.

“Ah good” said Tony, smiling “You’re finally up.”

“What… What happened?”

“Well, you met Jason Todd, you squeed and then you passed out.”

Júlia remembered what had happened the night before and felt her face brightening with red.

“Oh don’t worry.” Reassured Tony. “He liked you. At least enough to give you this.”

Tony opened a bag sitting next to him. It contained Red Hood’s helmet, with a signature on top that read “To my biggest fan. Till we meet again. Jason ;)”

Tony threw the helmet at Júlia who caught it and held it with care and affection.

“I get the feeling that’s not the last time we’re gonna be seeing him. He really did like you.”

“Yeah…” Júlia sighed wistfully and smiled “I liked him too…”

“Disgusting” Tony shook his head “Anyway, after you fainted, Jason left once he made sure you were alright and me and Bruce carried you to the train going to…”

“Metropolis?”

“Very good, you are paying attention.”

“And you’re playing Doctor again, I see.”

“Let me have this.”

Júlia looked outside the window at the trees rushing bye and wondered.

“Hey Tony?”

“Yes?”

“Why me?”

“What?”

“Why did you bring me on this little adventure of yours?”

“…Because you’re like the only person who’d appreciate it, I guess. Plus, it’s your birthday. Figured you deserved something pretty good, after the decidedly mixed year you had.”

Júlia nodded in thanks, and stared once more out the window, wondering what new adventures awaited them in Metropolis…

SO THIS WAS NOT WRITTEN BY ME, BUT IT WAS GIVEN TO ME AS MY BIRTHDAY GIFT AND HE ALLOWED ME TO SHARE IT CAUSE I LOVED IT ALOT!!! HOPEFULLY YOU GUYS LIKE IT TOO AND HE MAKES A PART 2!!

[alitheamateur]

Pleasure for Pain

Characters: Tommy Conlon/Reader

Warnings: Mild pain kink. Mild sexual language. Mild sexual content. Mentions of injury. Fluff.

Word Count: 2,331

Summary: You decide to accompany Tommy for the morning jog he’s been hounding you about, but the plan backfires. You’re left in pain, and unable to finish the run, but the way Tommy tends to you is well worth the pain.

Tommy had begged that you finally join him for a morning jog through the hazy, day-breaking streets of the city. He wasn’t currently training for a specific match, but of course keeping his fitness in ample condition was a necessity in the profession of fighting. The May temperature had finally been inclining to the warmth you were fonder of, so you decided firmly you’d oblige your gym-rat husband, and join him for his daily run. He never tried to push the strict diet on you when he was trying to maintain weight, and you were never frowned upon for your very minimal amounts of exercise, so Tommy genuinely only wanted you to come with him solely for the extra quality time it meant with you.

Your kind gesture had so brutally backlashed on you however, and here you were, currently being piggy-backed up the front stoop of your shared, brick townhouse. A mile or so into the mapped-out route Tommy had specially scoped out for you so it would be a safer part of town, your natural-born, clumsy nature reared its ugly head. The toe of your gray sneakers caught a crumbled chunk of concrete on the sidewalk, causing your weak ankle to curl painfully. Thank the Holy Heavens you were able to save yourself from weightlessly tumbling face first into the asphalt, but the throbbing, instant swelling of your foot was enough to have you yelping. 

Tommy insisted on carrying you the entire way back toward the direction of home, but you incessantly refused, and flagged down a taxi instead. However flattered you were by the man’s desire to always portray the role of your knight in rusty armor, you knew without question his shoulder couldn’t handle the 125 pound pressure of your weightless body for a distance such as that.

The cabby dropped the two of you off after a literal 3-minute lift to your street, and Tommy paid him with the fee, and a ‘thanks’. You carried you untied shoe, and sweating sock in one hand, and tossed both arms around those bullish, broad shoulders to brace yourself for the jarring up the brick steps.

“I’m gonna head upstairs, babe. You can put me down here. I wanna soak it in some Epsom salt so the swelling will go down.” You winced into the ear of his that was level with my mouth.

You had expected him to gently ease me from his back to the floor, but he instead began his march towards the upstairs bathtub with you strapped to him like a fleshy backpack. You tried earnestly to squirm from the clutch he had around your thighs locked around his lower abdomen, but his vice-like grip was impossible to escape.

“I don’t think so, Y/N. You ain’t puttin’ weight on that ankle for at least 24-hours. So, don’t even try t’ fight me on it, baby. Y’know you won’t win that argument.” Tommy sternly spoke, but you knew whole-heartedly he was only looking out for the woman he loved so fiercely.

He entered the dark doorway of the bathroom, flipping the switch for the light, and the ceiling heat you always turned on whenever you took your nightly bath. Your mate knew you were like a cat to heat source, and always promised one day the two of you would pack up and move away from the stark winters of Pittsburgh.

Tommy turned his back to the vanity, so your bottom was even with the cool countertop by the sink and you sat down, unlatching yourself from around his tattooed upper body. His profile revealed a crooked, toothless smile after you kissed the back of his neck before parting. A silent, admiring gesture of appreciation for taking such good care of you. Tommy never treated you as a lesser, or a helpless little bird by any matter. But, when he vowed to protect you til’ death do you part, the man meant it with every haunting fiber in his body.

He pulled your other shoe from the back of your heel and tossed it into the hallway near the mate you had dropped there, then stepped over to unleash a steaming spout of the water into the wide bathtub. Without explanation he exited, but you knew he was retrieving the jug of medicinal salt from the hall linen closet. What you weren’t expecting, was for him to return missing the dri-fit white tee he was wearing when he’d left your sight just seconds ago.

“Well, get those sweaty clothes off, baby. I don’t know how ya’ expect me t’ give ya’ a hot bath wearin’ those.”

Tommy sprinkled a considerable amount of the lavender scented contents into the filling tub, and turned to see you trying to wiggle from the confines of your running shorts without putting weight on the injured limb. Your tongue was stuck from the corner of your lips in concentration, and he quickly jumped to your side offering the steady space of his broad chest to help keep your balance.

“Tom, I’ve been sweating, and I don’t want you this close after my deodorant has definitely worn off,” you uselessly protested.

Not that you didn’t feel one-million percent secure in your relationship with the devilishly handsome individual, but the two of you were only newly-weds of 7 months, and an official couple of 2 years. You didn’t want to ruin this foolish vision he had that you were flawlessly beautiful in every way just yet.  

“Y/N, I think I’ve been on toppa you under much sweatier circumstances. I can handle it.” He winked, then effortlessly swooped you into his cradling arms so he could submerse your naked body in the perfectly heated water.

You shifted your long ponytail into a bun so your hair wouldn’t get wet just yet, and Tommy folded a towel to cover the coolness of the tile tub behind your back. His bulky body was knelt on the plush shower mat covering the floor, and you relaxed back to drink in the way this brooding, masculine male was practically worshipping at your feet. A hum of pleasure rolled from inside your chest as he squeezed the aromatic water from a washcloth over your chest. Tommy’s eyes attentively followed the pathway of the erratic droplets sliding down your breasts and puddling into your navel.

“How’s ‘at, hm? Feel good, Y/N?” Your spouse turned apparently part-time servant cooed, brushing a stray line of hair away from the perspiration collecting on your cheek due the sauna-like bathroom.

The painful shocks from your ankle were shooting up your leg like an electric surge, but you wouldn’t dare hinder the sensual relaxation of this perfect moment. You kept a watchful gaze on Tommy as he leaned to pick up the bottle of soap standing on a shelf in the shower, squeezing a heavy amount into the opened cloth in his thick palm.

“I can do that, silly. Just sit with me until I’m done, and I’ll be perfectly happy, ok?” You shifted to raise, offering he hand over the bodywash.

“Ah, ah, ah. I’m the doc, and you’re the patient. I know what’s best, girl.”

He was getting off on this little role play, and who were you to stifle his fun. So, you returned to your original half-laying position and did as you were told. Tommy lathered the contents of his hands, and easily grabbed your arm resting on the tubs side, to begin lightly cleansing your limb. You closed your eyes, relishing in the concoction of the warm water, the velvety bubbling soap, and his firm, calloused hands attending to your entire body. Your nipples grew to a slight point under his touch, and he gave a hearty squeeze to both your breasts as he washed.

“C’mon, gorgeous. Gimme that foot, n’ I promise to go easy,” Tommy coddled, insisting you let him take on your bruising ankle next.

The water sloshed and waved as you lifted your leg from under the water, and Tommy made a foamy path from your hip, down your thigh, then to your foot, holding the weight of your leg for you. He kissed the bone of your ankle with featherlike lips before cautiously washing it. His hair had begun to dampen and drip with heat, so he pushed the strands from his eyes, and you felt an overwhelming tense between your legs.

Your lids had once again closed over your green eyes in shameless enjoyment, so Tommy new he had the element of surprise on his side. The feminine shape of your thick thighs were slightly gaped, allowing him to slide to your opening with little struggle, and you instantly shook from your lax state to find him biting back a smile between his teeth.

“Gotta make sure we get ya’ allllll clean, baby. Can’t leave anythin’ out.” He whispered wantonly as he began tickling the tiny bulb above your entrance.

After turning the bottle of soap upside down into his hand once more, Tommy indeed began washing the half-shaved area at the center of your body. The raw, intimate moment ensuing erased momentarily the hurt from your injury, and you let his motions take you over fully. His strong middle finger entered you as he came closer to kiss your panting lips. He breathed in the hotness of your breath for a brief second before massaging over your tongue with his own. He knew how to make this last, and draw out your release, and he knew exactly how to touch you and send you over the edge in an embarrassing, short number of minutes. Tommy knew your body, as he knew his own. And you could tell by his touch, along with the curling stretch of his finger prodding at that tucked away spot inside you, that it would not be long.

You shook and writhed in the water causing puddles to splash onto the bathroom floor, and no doubt all over Tommy. A mess you were making regretfully for him to have to mop up considering your wounded state, but you couldn’t control your twitching reaction from his intense onslaught. He slid an open palm over the womanly length of your neck as your head tilted in desire, and traced downward to your collarbone, and the peak of your pink, aroused nipples.

“Tommy, more. Please, finish me. I’m so… I can feel it. It’s so close.” The way he could use his bedroom talents to transform you into a begging slag was an enigma you’d yet to solve, and you had no desire to even try.

His veined forearm was no doubt bleeding from your trimmed nails latching onto him, in an attempt to still the contorted flails of your approaching release. But you knew there’d be no complaints on his end, due to the slight kink he had for a little pain here and there when it came to your sexual endeavors together.

“Mmmmm… Baby girl wants to come, does she? I think I got just what she’s lookin’ for then.” The grunts vibrating from his chest, along with you own squeaks of approval filled the room with an X-rated soundtrack that you’d play on repeat in your head when Tommy was gone for a fight that work just wouldn’t let you away for.

When he added his thumb to the attack, you sensed his closing move approaching so you opened your eyes to meet his shadow-blue ones staring back at you, under brows furrowing with passion. Tommy had made it very clear early on that he wanted to look you square in the eyes as he made you come, so he could watch the orgasm pulse through your dilated pupils. And from that conversation on, you had done just that for him. Obliging to his particular desires was the least you could do, considering the plethora of ways he had to satisfy you.

With a wave of warmth raging in your gut, and the growing sensitivity of your clit under the pad of his circling thumb, a scream of his name crawled from the back of your throat. His motions strategically slowed, careful not to deprive you of a single millisecond of orgasmic release, and you lazily gathered your composure.

“How’s ‘at ankle now?” He smiled crudely, dabbing the splashed bath water from his chest with the towel he had waiting by the sink.

“At this very second? I don’t feel a thing.” You moaned with choppy, uneasy breaths.

You were carelessly sailing on such a wave of adrenaline and oxytocin that the lingering sprain of your ankle was wholly absent in that moment. Although you instantly began to dread to commute from the bathroom to the bedroom, knowing the pain would only come rushing back like a mighty hurricane.

“Happy to oblige, baby. Let’s jus’ hope these pain meds do the job as well as I did then.”

He cradled you under the armpits as you lifted from the cooling water and draped the fuzzy bath towel around your shivering shoulders. Your hair had mistakenly gone unwashed in the exchange, but you’d take care of that particular matter later.

Tommy made sure your feet never even touched the ground the remainder of the evening. Settling you back into bed even though it was barely noon-time, he taped an ice-pack to your foot then left your side only to take a shower of his own before joining you for a lazy, Summer Saturday. He elevated your leg to minimalize the swelling, and then wrapped you with a cloth bandage. Thankfully, he was well-equipped to take care of matters as such, due to nursing many of his own ailments caused in the cage. He waited on you hand-and-foot unreservedly, even stuffing his healthy-toned body with some of your favorite ice cream he had treated you to.

“From ‘ere on out, maybe we should keep your workouts in the bedroom, baby. Leave the jogging to me, ay’?”

TAGS: @eap1935

[tumblunni]

Ok so.. I feel really ungrateful as fuck saying this.. but it kinda bugs me how much perrin being nonbinary just.. isn’t really shown at all.

At least, in what i’ve seen so far, yknow? I watched the first ep of someone else’s let’s play to see if i was gonna like this game, and i like this game SO MUCH that I stopped right there and am downloading it at the speed of light yo!!! My hype is maximum and I really don’t want this to be seen as a hate message or anything, it's just a mild opinion piece about something that bummed me out a little, as a nonbinary person.

Ok so.. again, this makes me sound like an ASSHOLE but I have to say it.. Perrin looks like a boy. 100% of all LPers I have seen have assumed they were a boy. I, a nonbinary person, assumed they were a boy. (And felt like absolute shit afterwards, man I still have to work on my internalized gender stereotypes!)

Now in real life I absolutely wouldn’t go around being some douchebag who tells other NB folk they aren’t dressing ‘right’, or whatever. In real life people can feel very different ways about being outside of conventional gender norms. Some people feel like “both at once” or “neither” or “something else entirely that doesn’t touch either side of our society’s current binary stereotypes”. And regardless of whether you’re agender/bigender/genderfluid or any other type of genderqueer person, your fashion sense doesn’t have to fit any strict rule to “prove” it to people. Some people try and dress in androgenous stuff, some people try to mix parts of both gendered fashion worlds, some people like to wear very neutral baggy stuff as a different way of being androgenous, some people like to wear wild and fun stuff that never had any gender stereotype in the first place/because it helps them feel confident in themself if they have a big brave kind of fashion, yknow? (that’s why I dyed my hair at least, and why I think a lot of lGBT people do) And of course, some people just prefer ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ clothes regardless of not being that gender, and if we can accept that cis women can enjoy ‘tomboy’ fashion then we should accept that trans people don’t have to fit into even more rigid fashion rules in order to ‘earn’ their gender.

BUT this isn’t real life, it’s a videogame

We have a lot more context here, with the context that this is a character designed within a fandom whose previous attempts at NB representation have kinda started setting up a trend. In that context, this is a bit worrying that it’s happened again, and maybe future fangame creators are feeling like they have to do it, or something?

Like the NB protagonist Pluto in Pokemon Uranium.

They’re still someone I deeply love, but their design looks incredibly masculine aside from a side ponytail. If anything their design communicates more that they’re a younger option compared to the other two, or something?

And the two NB protagonist options Ari and Decibel in Pokemon Reborn

Their designs look like more traditionally masculine and feminine-leaning ways of being nonbinary, ykno? And that wouldn’t be bad on it’s own, but let me try and explain what I mean...

A similar issue occurs in the unrelated dating sim Hustle Cat:

Which is generally incredibly progressive and actually the first dating sim I’ve ever seen that lets you play a nonbinary protag! But you still get only two character models to choose from.

Like it’s great that they had two options to aknowledge how not all trans people are the same, but it starts to look a bit.. odd, when those two options are ‘feminine and masculine’ and no form of androgenous is ever an option. or even like.. someone with a ‘masculine’ body build but a ‘feminine’ fashion sense. That would be kind of a stereotypical way to depict a trans character but it wouldn’t just be making a random design that could fit amoungst the already existing gendered protags and then just saying they’re trans. And a lot of people found it weird how these ones seem to be drawn as like.. both on the far masculine end, just a cis man and a trans man.

Like.. even as a nonbinary person myself, I wouldn’t have known these characters were nonbinary if you hadn’t told me. And that leaves me feeling horrible about myself that I judged them on first sight, but I mean this is within a genre of entertainment that’s literally never had any Me in it and i’ve got used to being all ‘no you’re just reading too much into it’ whenever i headcanon anyone as genderqueer...

And just.. I feel like if you’re gonna just draw another two masculine and feminine looking characters, or just a second masculine one (or a weird two masculine ones that’re labelled male and female with no option for in-between...) then couldn’t you have saved time by just letting us choose our pronouns for the two you already had? like I already play a lot of games headcanoning the protag as just a masc-fashion version of my enby self, I feel like kinda the point of adding a third design would be to make it something the others aren’t already delivering. Look at it this way, you already HAVE two nonbinary characters who look masculine and feminine, just like the player could also play them as a trans boy and trans girl. Pronoun selector box is the greatest invention of our time! So what I’m really saying is not “don’t have super masc NB protags” but just “can we have another option too?”

Oh, but then that’s also been done not-so-well by certain games too.. Awesome amazing multiplayer party game dating sim Monster Prom let’s you choose your pronouns!

...except these are your only character options! All of these are very clearly intended to be read as masc or femme, you’re probably gonna feel dysphoric as heck if you play them as trans, and none of them work super well as nonbinary either. I think pretty much every NB player has always gone for Oz (yellow one), cos he’s the one that’s most capable of fitting that headcanon just by virtue of being perpetually shadowed. Tho still his default is “he” pronouns, his fashion sense is masc and his voice is masc. Still I’m really fuckin proud of the fandom for collectively latching onto NB Oz and using “they” all the time in fanworks, and then the developers being okay with it, like holy shit man you healed my goddamn heart... <3

Still, it makes me feel a lil like this would have been easy to fix? like I’m not saying redraw everything to have them all change bodies/fashion style depending on your pronoun choice, but like.. maybe just not draw them with such super disparate body styles in the first place? like in this style every girl is hourglass and has weird legs out arms out pose, and every dude is a chunkfest with twice as big hands and feet. Like you could have maybe just made two of the characters be a very curvy girl and a very buff boy, and then the other two be more neutral in appearance but still retaining the same designs. Like I think if you just gave the blue girl a baggier shirt that doesn’t highlight her boobs and hips so much, she could easily be my favourite ‘most NB-able’ design! maybe also tone down the eyelash and lipstick effects?

I think probably a similar thing could have been done with the Reborn protagonists? like there’s nothing inherantly feminine about wearing a tanktop and having a fancy undercut hairstyle and such, its just the way they drew Ari that makes them look feminine. I guess maybe that’s a necessary evil of fangames, since they usually use edits of already existing characters from the games? Then again the games have plenty of androgenous characters already, even if nobody is canonically confirmed as LGBT. *shrug*

Anyway

I absolutely am not trying to nitpick and attack the game for not being perfect in this one aspect. i’m still super excited to even see someone like me in a videogame at all, and I’m definately not one of those people who’s like ‘I’d rather have nothing than have something flawed’. I already admire you greatly for what you’ve done for the inclusivity of this fandom, and I hope that my discussion of this stuff doesn’t discourage you from continuing.

And I guess my point is, in summary

What I mean is not “there are no nonbinary people who prefer to dress masculine instead of androgenous”, but instead that when you’re designing a nonbinary person as the only option a nonbinary player gets or the only nonbinary person in the game, with no playable option, it would probably be a little better to draw them androgenous.

Like, you’ve put that NB character into the role of representing all nonbinary people ever, to the hypothetical audience of people who’ve never heard of the concept before and aren’t super educated about the intricacies of gender presentation. And then also rather than using traditionally gendered outfits to aknowledge that NB people have many ways to present themselves... you’ve given us less ways to present ourselves.

Also it’s a little bit odd that you have an NB rival but said “we’re not ever considering an NB player option in the future”. Sorry but I cannot understand the logic? Like.. you know NB people play your game if you wanted to put NB representation in it, but you didn’t put it as playable because... reasons?? I hope maybe that interview was just taken out of context and you meant something more like “it’s not planned for now because it’s a lot of work and the game is still in its demo stage”, which is absolutely an understandable reason and how Uranium and Reborn did it. But Uranium and Reborn were kinda odd for being a world where literally nobody else aside from you could ever be NB, so I am really grateful that your game did add an NB character. And one in a big role!! This is what i mean about how grateful I am and how I feel awful that my bad internet typing skills are making this post come off as more aggressive than intended.. *sigh*

OH and also maybe a tip for Periin? just.. like.. mention their pronouns. It’s really frustrating to watch everyone doing let’s plays of this thing and constantly assuming Perrin is male because their design is very masculine. Even me! Even me was assume! :( So like... maybe just have Perrin actually tell the audience that they are nonbinary at some point, during this introduction? or have the protagonist’s inner monologue mention it, or another character mention it on the way towards meeting Perrin? like I dunno, maybe a Perrin fan npc?cos it would seem a bit more natural to talk about gender if it’s someone saying “wow I admire Perrin’s androgenous fashion sense” rather than like.. a stranger saying “i can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl from your face”.

I can understand how it can be tricky to figure out how to introduce a LGBT character’s LGBT-ness without having them go around saying it to every new person they meet, it’s something I’ve had to fix in the editing process even as a trans person writing trans characters. But just having their gender only be mentioned on missable promotional material outside the game means that a lot of players won’t ever hear about it, and it like.. has zero impact of actual inclusivity on the game. It’s why people were angry about DUmbledore only getting revealed as gay after the series already ended. Him being gay missed all of its chances to make gay readers of the series feel welcome, or have any part of his character be informed by his sexuality. like the plot between him and grindlewold could have been way more effective if it was him losing a boyfriend to the dark arts, just sayin...

anyway whatever, bunni is bad at writing coherant posts in summary thanks for perrin and sorry for whining about perrin, aaaaa

[themisadventuresofcando]

Life #10 (KnB/YoI Crossover)

Character Sheet

Face Claim:

Basic

Name: Carmencita D. Mikealson

Pronunciation: Car-men-SEE-tuh

Meaning: Little Song

Nicknames: Carmen, Dee, The Less Stupid One, Kitten

Name Origins:

Carmen: Shortened from Carmencita

Dee: Middle Initial

The Less Stupid One: Hanamiya… no further explanation needed

Kitten: Yuri likes cats and Yuri likes me, therefore, I am his kitten

Titles: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Alias Origin: N/A

Orientation: Heterosexual

Gender: Female

Age: 18 (Just a few months younger than Yuri)

Date of Birth: June 4th

Star Sign: Gemini

Birth Flower: Rose

Meaning: Different Types of Love

Birthstone: Pearl

Meaning: Innocence, Purity

Species: Human

Affiliation: N/A

Social Status: Lower Middle Class

Dead?: Some Day

How?: ...I don't want to know

Last Words: “STOP YOUR GONNA GET US KILLED!”

Appearance

Eye Color: Grey-Blue

Glasses/Contacts: Glasses

Skin Tone: Pale with Freckles

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Hair Length: Just Below Shoulders

Hair Type: Thick, Frizzy and Curly

HairStyle: Ponytail

Height: 5’1 (My name means little for a reason, I suppose…)

Body Build: Thin, Scrawny, Small

Notable Features: Small Scar on Left Cheek (I fell down the stairs… into a broken fence)

Piercings: N/A

Tattoos: N/A

Scars: Cheek, Thighs, and Knee

Birthmarks: Left Thigh

Soulmate Words: ”Where THE FUCK did you come from?!” on the right side of ribcage

 Wardrobe

Style: Comfy and Cute

Favorite Outfit: Light Blue Minnie Mouse T-Shirt, Black Leggings, Light Blue Converse, Pastel Blue and Pink Hoodie, Minnie Mouse Backpack, Rose Gold Headphones

Casual Outfit: Black T-Shirt, Black Cherry Blossom Patterned Leggings, Black Cat Backpack, Rose Gold Converse, Rose Gold Converse

Winter Outfit: White Padded Fur Lined Coat, Lavender Watercolor Sweater, Pastel Violet Baret, Tan Knit Gloves, Black Backpack with Lavender Elephant Pattern, Black Buckle Boots, Rose Gold Headphones

Formal Outfit: Pastel Blue Asymmetrical Gown with Pale Pink and Blue Floral Pattern, White Mary Jane Kitten Heels, Pearl and Rose Necklace, Pearl Studs, Double Layered Pearl Bracelet, White Crossbody Bag

Sleepwear: Black and White Kitten Cropped Shirt, Black Shorts with White Polka Dots, Grey Moccasins, Black and White Sleep Mask

Accessories: Rose Gold and Pearls

Scent: Rose, Sugar, and Vanilla

 Relationships

Mother/Mother Figure: Abigail Mikealson

Relationships:

Our mother is the picture of a stay at home dotting mommy. She has raised us and taken care of us since they say we were born. She knows us better than we know ourselves! All the cooking I know I learned from spending hours in the kitchen helping her cook. My mom loves us to the point of babying us sometimes and I know she means well but she just has to let us grow up. I think the one thing that disappoints her about me is my aversion to makeup and jewelry (unless it's a special occasion). Well, that and my aversion to people! She's always trying to push me out of my comfort zone and I thank everything that I do dress a bit girly so she leaves me alone when it comes to shopping.

Father/Father Figure: Robin Mikealson

Relationships:

I am much more distant to my father… and I don't know why. Olivia is incredibly close to him but I’m just not. I guess it's because he spends so much time traveling for work and I just can't get over it. He loves me and I love him we're just… distant. The most time I spend with him is during family movie nights. One thing I can thank him for, though, is my interest in ice skating! Because of my dad and his love for every sport in existence I met my soulmate!

Brothers/Brother Figures: Elliot Mikealson, Makoto Hanamiya

Relationships:

Elliot is my super protective big brother! He loves to tease us (and is probably where I learned my affectionate violence thing) and he loves to make us squirm. He hates when he thinks me or Liv is hurt and will immediately start looking for a face to punch. He’s a super successful artist nowadays and is the entire reason I draw! Even with his busy schedule, he finds time to visit his baby sisters. Some people like to say that I'm too close to him because he's one of the few people I hang all over and they're not used to me letting anyone touch me.

Hanamiya concerns me. He is my sister's soulmate so I have no choice but to try and get along with him but he is a genuinely sadistic person. I'm not afraid of him which pisses him off to no end and I only make it worse when I stand up to him (even if I don’t really mean it). I’m sure the only thing that keeps me from his wrath is the fact that it would hurt Olivia and he secretly has a soft spot for her. I tease him about that too which pisses him off. We have a love-hate relationship.

Sisters/Sister Figures: Olivia Mikealson

Relationships:

Ah, this idiot. She is not too bright if you know what I mean! She has this weird charm that endears her to people for like half a second and then they can never get away. She like a homeless puppy, feed her once and you are never getting rid of her. And I tend to feed her a lot she is my food testing guinea pig when I make new recipes. She is a huge pushover, which, is why she needs someone around her to deal with her problems aka me. She cant say no so I do, she thinks it rude to leave I drag her away, she won’t stand up for herself so I do. I have to help with homework because even if the answer is staring her in the face she still won’t get it. She is my big sister and I do love her but she needs to act like she's the big sister before I treat her like she is.

Soulmate: Yuri Plisetsky

Relationship:

My very grump soulmate! He kind of had a hard time believing I was his soulmate but the tattoos don’t lie! We kind of met when, on one of my father's extended stays home, we went to an ice skating competition (Olivia got very bored very fast). At one point I got up to go to the bathroom and got incredibly lost due to my poor sense of direction. I, somehow, ended up near where the skaters happened to be and literally ran into him. He then proceeded to scream the words on my side and I responded with, ”I’ll tell you when I figure it out. Hi, I’m lost!” there was then a lot of cursing from one of us and awkward laughter from the other. After another skater helped me back and the competition ended he found me as we were leaving and exchanges numbers. We spend a lot of time talking on the phone, texting, and facetiming because he lives in Russia and I live Japan and he travels constantly for skating competitions. When we do get to see each other we get along surprisingly well and we do things we don't let others do (I get to play with his hair and he gets to lay in my lap). I am currently in the process of learning to ice skate to surprise him the next time he can come see me.

People

Mentors: Hanamiya Makoto, Abigail Mikealson

Advisor: Elliot Mikealson

Confidant: Olivia Mikealson (Don't know why she can't keep a secret)

Teammates: N/A

Friends: Yuri Katsuki, Victor Nikiforov, Shintaro Midorima, Ryota Kise, Kirasaki Daichi High Basketball Team

Best Friend: Olivia Mikealson

Soulmate: Yuri Plisetsky (I am aware that is not his full name but I’m not writing it)

Rivals: Hanamiya Makoto

Enemies: N/A (I mean unless you count Smile Man)

Person Hated Most: … I don't really hate people

Most Important Person: Yuri, Mom, Olivia, Elliot (I’m indecisive, okay?!)

Awkward Around: N/A

Admires: Yuri, Victor, Other Yuri

 Past

Hometown: Tokyo, Japan (Technically speaking it’s Boston but that was only for a few months of my life)

Childhood: I had a pretty nice childhood

Childhood Hero: Abigail Mikealson

Most Important Memory: Freakin’ met my soulmate!

Worst Memory: When Elliot left for college

 Present

Current Location: Tokyo, Japan

Living With: Olivia Mikealson

Occupation: Student

Pets: N/A (Unless Yuri’s cat counts cuz she loves me.)

 Health

General Health: Pretty Average

Reason: Genetics

Mental Health: Pretty Average (Hanamiya would say otherwise)

Reason: Life

Sleep Habits: I sleep like a log

Diet: Anything! (I love cooking new recipes and who else will try it)

Exercise: More now that I'm trying to learn ice skating

Allergies: Lactose

Injuries: N/A

Disorders: N/A

Deformity: N/A

Disabilities: N/A

Mutations: N/A

Handicaps: N/A

Medication: N/A

 Education

School: Kirasaki Daichi High

Best Class: Home Ec

Worst Class: Math

Sports: Figure Skating

Clubs: N/A

Languages: English, Japanese

Memory: Pretty Good

 Personality

Good Traits: Playful, Clever, Funny, Helpful, Caring

Bad Traits: Childish, Blunt, Terrible Sense of Direction, Oblivious, Antisocial, Easily Frustrated

Likes: Cooking, Drawing, Pastels, Leggings, Cookies, Reading, Sleeping, Figure Skating, Mom, Baking

Dislikes: Dresses, Makeup, Socializing, Chocolate, Cream Cheese, Cherries, Mornings

Turn Ons: Teasing, Slight Rough Play, Cuddling

Turn Offs: Insults, Self Centered or Mean Personality

Talents: Cooking, Baking

Sense of Humor: Silly, Mean

Darkest Secret: N/A

Does Anyone Know? Who?: I’m a Big Mouth and if I don’t say anything Olivia will

Greatest Fear: Being Alone in The Dark

Why?: Don’t Know Just Always Have Been

Other Fears: N/A

Why?: N/A

Most at Ease When: Cooking

Most Uncomfortable When: Hanamiya

Enraged When?: I’m not an angry person

Depressed When?: Overthinking

Frightened When?: In The Dark

If Granted One Wish What Would It Be?: … Can I Be Done With School

 Habits

Hobbies: Cooking, Baking, Drawing, Ice Skating

Instrument?: N/A

Sport?: Ice Skating

Spending Habits: I’m Quite Frugal

Drinks?: N/A

Smokes?: N/A

Drugs?: N/A

Nervous Tics: FIDGETS LIKE NO ONE’S BUSINESS

 Favorites

Prized Possession: N/A

Color: Pastels

Song: Starving by Halsey

Quote: “Bitches be like,’you know my name not my story.’ I be like ‘I don’t give a fuck about either’”

Movie: Wizard of Oz

Food: Jambalaya

Season: Spring

Book: Da Vinci Code

Genre: Fantasy

Flower: Cherry Blossom

Flavor: Chocolate

Dessert: Oatmeal Cookies

 Either/Or

Pessimist or Optimist: Optimist

Pacifist or Fighter: Fight

Introvert or Extrovert: Introvert

Proud or Humble: Humble

Messy or Tidy: Tidy

Risky or Safe: Safe

Strength or Wisdom: Wisdom

Flashy or Simple: Simple

Long Range or Short Range: Long Range

Cats or Dogs: Cats

Hot or Cold: Hot

Book or Movie: Movie

Loud or Quiet: Quiet

Logic or Emotion: Logic

Work or Relax: Relax

Confident or Shy: Shy

Night or Day: Night

[meanderfall]

//pops out from under your desk, 1 - 3 - 5 - 9 - 13 - 14 - 17 - 19 - 23 - 28 - 29 - 31 - 34 - 37 - 40 - 41 - 45 - 47 - 51 - 52 - 55 - 56 - 59 - 67 - 68 - 69 - 72 - 75 - 79 - 80 - 83 - 93 - 95 - 99 - aaaaand 100!! its a lot (even more than YOU sent ME i think) so feel free to skip some if u dont wanna do them!!

I DID IT!!!! IN YOUR FACE!!! (i love u, i dont mean that. for the most part.)

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

I actually don’t mind, even like it, when my cereal gets all soggy from milk, but if you think for a single moment im going to drown my cereal in milk, you are a mad man. Besides, I fill my bowl up past the rim, so it’s basically physically impossible for there to be more milk than cereal.

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

you fool…. you underestimate my power…. i dont bookmark my page, i just remember the page number i was on

(When I was a kid, I would dog-ear the pages, but I think my brother got mad at me for doing that to his books, so i moved on to using tissues and then paperclip or magnetic bookmarks, and then keeping track of that shit was too much effort, so now i just remember the page number instead)

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

nay, friend! But I am self-conscious about my laugh… it’s… loud, as you might have noticed by now. To the point that a lot of my classmates just knew who I was because of my laugh.

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

An easy way to tell if I’m in not having a good day is if I’m not singing or humming something. I grew up surrounded by people who love singing or whistling or humming, so it’s what I do. (I say people, but the main culprits were my dad and older brother.)

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

*whispers* getting a message from you…

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

ummm, there would need to be a separate room with sound-proofing for her piano and bird. I’d imagine there would be bookshelves on every wall, filled with so many books like goddamn. A couch and tv would be necessary for gaming. Im sure the place would be filled with her art projects (she once built a chair out of recyclable items for the end of year project!!!). She would probably want to have houseplants, bc she’s outdoorsy like that (disgusting i know). I don’t really care about wall colours, so she would probably pick and i would just voice my opinion if i really didn’t like the colour. She would probably bring paintings too. This question is too hard, i legit do not care at all about how my apartment would look, please. you would understand if you saw my room, just how little i truly care.

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

A purplish-red! Like so:

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

If you mean a journal where I keep all my thoughts and feelings in, then no, i do not. I have an app for that. If you mean a writing journal, then yes i have one, though i barely touch it tbh. I just scribble ideas and sometimes outlines, or even plan out history and culture for the fantasy worlds i create. I don’t really draw, unless im trying to create a map.

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

well if today is anything to go by, it’s sleeping. I also like binge-watching comfort shows like Friends.

28: sunrise or sunset?

Sunset. They’re prettier to me and give off a different feeling than sunrises. It’s peaceful, a bit melancholy, and soft. a reminder that i’ve made it through another day and it’s time to rest.

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

i have this friend that i play overwatch with who likes to shout LMAO whenever they do something cool or badass that’s also completely ridiculous (like, say, making a goal in lucioball from their own goal)

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

socks are socks. they keep my toesies and feetsies warm, though i usually prefer to go barefoot, bc wearing socks implies that im going to wear shoes which means im going to leave the house which ew. i literally do not give a fuck what colour they are, as long as they do their job, so i got bright colourful socks, dark socks, and just plain white socks. i only wear my socks to bed when im too lazy to take them off at the end of the day and just end up forgetting that im even wearing them, though i don’t like it too much when i do that because my feet feel dried out afterwards. i have a pair of thick wooly socks that are dark blue with patterns of white snowflakes on them that i wear during winter, especially on days when im wearing my onesie.

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

I didn’t have one. I mean, I had stuffed animals, but cuddling something that small when I was a kid was impossible for me to do. They just got in the way. The only thing I’ve ever shared my bed with besides blankets and pillows was my cat.

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

pls go see drace’s ask im sorry i dont want to write it all again or copy and paste it.

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

my aunt on my dad’s side visited one summer. she brought me two necklaces, both that i adore. One is a choker with real gold beads that used to belong to my grandmother, my dad’s mom. I never met her, she died long before any of the kids were born, so i consider very special, beyond the fact that it’s expensive and elegant. It’s pretty much the only connection i have to her.

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

John Dies at the End!!! Along with Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, written by the same author!!! There’s so much character just from the narration, i wish i could write like that!! and it’s surprisingly deep too, i cannot recommend the two enough!!

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

i suppose i do, considering the few times i didn’t, my instincts ended up being completely right. 

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

drace’s ask pls.

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

I hate the fact that I immediately started thinking of characters instead of a person. Anyway, Hush by Emeline makes me think of @anthcny-stark

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

the distracted boyfriend is a definite fave. The floor is… is also pretty good. i thought roll safe and the white guy blinking was from 2016 but apparently not, and i quite enjoy them. i dont know if the reaction image of the dude saying “why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?” counts as meme, but i love a lot. all the other memes of 2017 are Bad.

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

I don’t know if this counts… But, at some point in high school, I got sick, with a fever at around 102, and like, I guess I wanted to prove that my family doesn’t actually care about me, and so, I didn’t say a word about being sick. I wanted to see if they would notice for themselves. I also didn’t take any kind of medication for it.

They did not notice. Which either proves that they pay little attention to me or I’m just a really really good actor. Or I spend little time with them.

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

…………………………………….. i’ll be honest, i dont pay enough attention to other people in order to answer this, i spend most of my life in my own head and i ignore everyone. It’s kind of fun though, to see what other people do while on the train? Some people are texting, or playing games on their phones or listening to music. Others are reading. Some are just staring out the window, lost in thought, and others are hard at work on their laptops. It’s interesting, it’s like getting a hint of what kind of person they are just based on what they do.

59: what’s your favorite myth?

i don’t know and i don’t care, next! (nah seriously, i used to be into mythology, by i havent read a myth in so long and i really don’t care enough to go and find one i like)

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

see drace’s ask

68: what’s winter like where you live?

Cold!!! and windy. And so much goddamn snow, holy shit. And it lasts for months, like the snow lasts all the way to April some times. It’s very pretty though, and peaceful and i like it.

69: what are your favorite board games?

Sorry! is probably the one i like the most. though tbh, i didnt play a lot of board games.

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

see drace’s ask

75: tell us about your pets!

pls go and see my answer on drace’s ask for the love of god im not rewriting all of that

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

One time, there was only two chocolate and white chocolate chip cookies left, so i let my younger two siblings have them, and they each decided to split their cookie in half and gave me a half, so i ended up with an entire cookie.

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

Three of them are white and one of them is like crimson. I did not choose this, the room came like that, and we never painted it a different colour.

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

I sure do like the album art for Atlas: Space 2 by Sleeping at Last and Atlas: Light.

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

Well, when I had long hair, I would usually wear it in a ponytail. My hair is too short for that now, so I just let it loose with its natural curls.

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

ummm probably play overwatch with you??? idk man, i dont have school anymore or a job, so im just stuck in this horrible in-between moment with no purpose or goals and i might lose it if i don’t find something soon.

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

In a Big Country by Big Country, Riptide by Vance Joy, Carry Your Throne by Jon Bellion, Saturn by Sleeping at Last,  Fear by Apsley, Exorcism by Clairity, Brian Wilson by Barenaked Ladies, Which Witch by Florence + The Machine, Pinch Me by Barenaked Ladies, Pompeii by Bastille, A Chance of Rain by Bedouin Soundclash, Gems by birthday, The Kids Aren’t Alright by Fall Out Boy, My Heart’s Grave by Faouzia, 100 Years by Five for Fighting, You Found Me by The Fray, Ready Aim Fire, I’m So Sorry, Believer, Dream, and Thunder Imagine Dragons, Irresistible Force by Jane’s Addiction, Money by Mystery Skulls, Afraid by The Neighbourhood, Just to Get High by Nickelback (which is weird considering i cant relate to this song like at all)This Afternoon, How You Remind Me, and Just For by NickelbackMy Demons, and Starlight by StarsetGo To War by Nothing MoreLose It, and All We Do by Oh WonderCounting Stars, and Secrets by OneRepublicWait For ItEmperor’s New Clothes by Panic! at the DiscoSOS, and Montreal by Raine MaidaStand by Rascal FlattsWhen the Truth Hunts You Down by Sam TinneszFall by Serena RyderStitches bby Shawn MendesSecond Chance by ShinedownEverybody by StabiloPieces by Sum 41Kings by Tribe SocietyKitchen Sink by Twenty One PilotsBeautiful Day, and Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of by U2Shut Up and Dance, and Anna Sun by Walk the MoonUnsteady by X AmbassadorsEast of Eden, and 1965 by Zella DayBe Like That by 3 Doors Down

There!!! I went through every song i downloaded to pick out the songs that resonated with my soul. (I’m not touching by Spotify though lmao it would take at least five hours)

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

Like. Going into the past would be nice because then I could redo all of the mistakes I made, and hopefully, I’d be in a better position than I am now. However, going through paths I’ve tread before sounds like it would suck a lot, and I’m much more curious about the future! What has changed? What is my life like then? Have I moved out? Do I have a job? A job I like? Did I make friends? What’s the political climate??? Going to the future would be much more interesting!!

[masked-disciple]

What is the technology level of the "duct-tape realms" in Ilya Serina? (steampunk, high fantasy/LOTR-esque, more advanced than earth, etc?)

This is gonna be a long answer, mainly because in order to answer this, I have to explain how the Serin works. For the record, this is based off of how it works in Fall of Ilya Serina- I don’t know what’ll happen in Starlight so let’s work off the timeline I know.

The Serin is a world of pure creation. (Long ago, it was based off of Minecraft. Five or six or maybe even eight years ago. It also has a nod to CS Lewis’ Wood Between the Worlds- he should’ve done more with that and he didn’t so I’m taking the idea and fucking running with it.)

Nothing stays in the same place. You see mountains on the horizon, by the time you get there, it’s a fucking forest. Fuck you, fuck your “cartography”. Shit moves around and it’s the portals to the other realms that don’t. There are specific locations, of course, they just move the fuck around.

It’s like- you make a puzzle with a map image on it. But the puzzle pieces are squares. They can fit anywhere, in any combination. There are little lights, though, on the board that will glow through the puzzle no matter what piece is on top of it. There are locations on the pieces- civilization, certain mountain ranges, forests, lowlands- but the pieces themselves just fuckin move around.

In Fall, it is canon that locations wander in large, wobbly, looping paths in the daytime and move towards the centre of the Serin at night. The Serin itself is kind of shaped like a donut- the sun sets and rises in the center, and the moon circles the outskirts. For these reasons, eclipses are quite common.

It is also canon in Fall that the Serin is largely conscious, if not sentient. It is aware of its inhabitants and how they are different from world-travellers who are passing through. If there is something in the Serin that it doesn’t like, you will know. Because it will take the problem and put it in your way. As many times as it takes for you to fix it. (That actually happened in Fall, too- Lusmos, Jules, Kinefira, Ophi, and Tarathiel were getting to Ilya Katayona and it put a mountain in their way three times before they went and fixed the problem, which was Lillith was stealing all the dragons meant to protect that area of the Serin.)

The Serin is however, lazy as fuck. It will sometimes mess with you and shove a forest in your way every now and then. But it won’t shove a whole lot of objects, like a city, in your way more than once. It doesn’t like moving more than one thing at a time to fuck with just one person or group. If you see the same thing twice and you’ve already passed it once, it’s because the Serin wants you to check it out.

Hence, maps are virtually useless. But then, Pale, why the fuck does anyone live there, and how? Well, they make do. In the many languages of the many species found in the Serin, in Jules’ words, you are less likely to come across a word that means ‘tower’ than you are to find one that means roughly ‘tall thin structure’.

Because the Serin, on top of moving shit around and fucking with people and being awful to deal with, looks differently to different people. What one person sees as a crack-like ravine full of trees just in front of them will appear as a river to someone else. What one person views as using large crystal spires to walk across is what another might see as walkways between old buildings made out of steel and large wires.

Jules explained this neatly to Tarathiel like this: It’s like 3D modeling. The models themselves don’t change, but the painted textures sure do. 

So maps and most directions of any sort are nigh impossible to make. In Fall, Jules found the formula the Serin uses to move things and used that, plus a general location network and a few other things and actually made a smartphone app that can work as a navigational tool for the Serin. Tarathiel uses this app to get herself to Ilya Taranisi to go rescue Lusmos in Fall, which befits the following cut from the novel:

I pulled out my phone and opened up Jules’ map app, to see what it wanted me to do. Firstly it started searching for a signal. The tip below the searching icon said “Tip: Get somewhere high. It’s easier to catch a signal.” Well, I was up high, so there wasn’t much of an issue there. After about thirty seconds of a cheerful “Searching for signal...”, it displayed a quick “Signal found!” followed by a “Connecting to signal...” A few seconds after that, it told me that it had found a signal, and then the popup went away, followed by a very Google-Maps like display. I noticed a search icon, and just to see if I could, searched for Ilya Taranisi. Jules’ app would probably save my life, so going after his god first seemed like a good idea. The only search result was for Ilya Taranisi, with two options: About and Get Directions. Hell, let’s get directions to Ilya Taranisi.

(Tarathiel is somewhat tech savvy, being from Ilya Tirana and having some adventures in Ilya Karina, homeworld to Maria Leuite and the solarpunk-style theme of pure science.)

And that’s how the Serin works. That all being known now, what sort of tech do the different civilizations in the Serin have?

There is no good way to answer this- different civilizations will have different resources and abilities. I’d like to say nobody in the Serin has anything like steampower or higher, since if they did they’d know better than to stay there in the duct tape realm that quite literally makes a game out of trying to kill you.

Most of the Serin’s civilizations have few trade routes if any at all, so they’re largely isolated from each other. Nomadic species are very likely to get wiped out with little trace of having ever existed. The ones that survive, like Kinefira’s changeling hive and the Maybo, learned to do so by clinging to their roots and not moving very far from their headquarters and capitals. 

Those two are actually two of the few documented civilizations- I haven’t stuck my protagonists in the Serin much, and those two are the only ones that have cropped up except for the occasional village that has accepted their fate and relies mainly on trade and worship to survive. (The Serin is nicer to those who worship the gods, if only because getting the faithful killed isn’t usually wise.)

Kinefira’s changelings are largely militaristic, and have figured out metalworking and some agriculture, though they largely gather considering their area is generally a forest to people, and always bears edible things. Winter does not strike the area too often because of how deep the forest is. (It’s like a lake, but replace water with trees. Elk as big as whales and entire civilizations in certain divisions like the oceanic ones- like the bathypelagic division from 700-1000m deep in the ocean. Forests do this in our world to a point, with different lifeforms appearing at different depths of the forest depending on the height of the trees, but the Changeling Forest takes it to an extreme.) They live at the bottom centre of the forest at the deepest point, so it’s very humid and very hot and their metalworking underground, below their fortress, makes it no more bearable.

The Maybo, on the other hand, are a friendly bunch who don’t really disturb anyone and generally just harass each other when they feel like it. This is the description I wrote for them in Fall, and if you want to draw it, be my guest because I sure as hell can’t.

The city grew closer, and soon, I stopped at its edge, in awe of the movie-elf-like craftsmanship in everything. And then I caught sight of what must’ve been a Maybo: they were odd little creatures, actually. They were about as tall as most halflings and some gnomes, but incredibly thin and short-limbed. They were covered in fur for the most part: their forearms, heels, and around their eyes seemed to be scaled. Their fur was far longer on their back, giving off an interesting look when combined with long, faun-like ears. This Maybo’s longer fur was kept tied in what looked like a ponytail, just below their tailbone. They had an angelic looking tail, but with fur instead of feathers at the end. It was impossible to tell if they had a male-female system like humans, but they, like most ‘fantasy’ races, weren’t almost naked.

(Though I should mention that immediately after this, the Maybo in question grabs Tarathiel, takes her to the elder of the city to get a spell so she can understand their language, which I very cleverly named Meyh’ktaio and did not include a guide on how to pronounce. Then they ask her about the outside world and she just fuckin shows them her phone and Jules’ app and her selfies with all her friends. They are mystified and I had so much fun writing that scene.)

The Maybo are among some of my favourite to write for: they have absolutely no basis in anything except maybe a slight nod to RuneScape’s Naragi in appearance. I made them and their entire culture and language up on the fly. In Fall, after Tarathiel returns to them after freeing Lusmos and heading to Ilya Katayona, Lusmos’ gifts to them for helping him and his group out are a silver elk that calls to whoever is worthy that can call it, and turning their God of the Waterfall into a person again so they can act as a spiritual leader for their people. The Maybe don’t really work with the Aethelian gods, as they’ve got their waterfall guy, but the waterfall itself is made of Tomian magic and they do generally follow his creeds, so they are regarded as Tomian.

I really like the Maybo. I don’t know where they might crop up next, as they don’t generally leave their area, but I like to think there’s a few out there who might be more personable and in the spotlight than Renmi, Nmenra, and Aushla, our two background character Maybo. (I have no idea what the gender culture is like for the Maybo, but I like to think Renmi’s a trans guy. Aushla’s the elder so she’s just Old Sage Woman, but Renmi’s definitely a trans guy.)

So, all in all, it really depends on the civilization, but with limited resources and the lack of reliable trading routes for anyone, don’t expect too much in the way of advanced technology. Kinefira’s changelings are about the most high-tech you’ll be seeing for a while, if and when we ever take a thirty-thousand-word trip through the Serin again.

(I like to keep the Serin as far from coherent as possible- the less rules I put on it, the more I can stuff in there. It has some young gods in there too, but it doesn’t need to have any real requirements.)

Though I feel I should mention that Ilya Serina is the real base of the whole project- not Ilya Aethela or Haridor or even Tarathiel: the Serin is what ties the whole project together, just as it ties the realms together. No novel I have written concerning the project at all hasn’t had at least a brief trip through it. It’s my pride and joy.

And yes, at one point I really did call it Afiroja. What was wrong with past me.