#lil for fun thing while looking back on some old art

[maiddon]

Redraw of one of my first Fairy Tail drawings from over a decade ago:

[morgana-larkin]

Hiiiiii ! You are one of my fav fanfic authors 🥳 I wanted to kindly request a lil angstyyyy request plzzz maybe with a lil comfort (if you want 😗🤣) ! Where reader and Melissa were secretly together @ school but Mel wasn’t fully out to her family … so she settles for Joe and then regrets it later on. Years pass by and reader is visiting town, is an artist and has a art exhibition that the Abbot staff visit for fun 👀 and one portrait is almost identical to something special Melissa has and Melissa feels so connected to the artwork not realising she’s the inspo ! and then reader approaches her or idk something dramatic 🫣🫣🫣 !!! Onlyyyyy if ya wanna 🥳💕 TY

Hi Anon! I really liked this prompt and had fun imagining a little 18 year old Melissa in love. Also I’m so happy you like my fics! Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: I’ve been starting Regina Mills x reader fics so if you like her from Once Upon A Time then feel free to check them out!

“Best Friends”

Warnings: homophobia

Words: 4.6k

“Hey! Give that back!” You tell the boys who just took your artwork.

“And why would we do that you homo.” They tease and you look down before looking back at them. “Maybe I’ll hand it off as my own, or maybe I’ll just rip it.” The leader says and the other boys laugh. He goes to rip it but then you feel someone pull you back and walk in front of you.

“Give it back Eric.” You hear Melissa say and they look at her.

“Oh look, the homo’s protector.” Eric says to her.

“I said give it back to her or my mom knows a guy that can make your life a living hell.” She says to him and he gives it back to her and walks away. Melissa walks up to you and gives you the artwork back. “It’s very good.” She tells you with a smile and you hug her.

“Thank you.” You tell her and she hugs you back.

“Of course Amore.” She says and secretly kisses your head. “I’ll always protect you.” She says. “Come on, we gotta get to class where you can turn in your beautiful art.” She says and you both walk to class.

After school she drives you to the park and you both stay in her car and you look at her.

“I don’t get why we have to do this in secret, I’m sure your family will still support and love you.” You tell her and she shakes her head.

“They won’t, this is Philly and we’re Italian.” She tells you. “But you know I love you.” She says and you smile before you lean forward and kiss her.

“I know, I just wish we didn’t have to hide.” You say and she moves some hair out of your face.

“I know, but this is how it has to be if you want to be with me.” She says softly and you rest your head on her chest.

“I understand, and I don’t want to let you go.” You tell her and she smiles before kissing your head and puts an arm around you.

“Do you want to come over to my house for dinner?” She asks and you nod.

“You know I’m surprised no one in your family has figured it out with how many times I’ve come over.” You tell her as she drives you both to her house.

You get to her place and you see a few of her siblings running around and a couple others doing homework while the rest aren’t home.

“Oh Melissa, I wanted to let you know that Joe is joining us for dinner tonight.” Teresa tells her daughter and Melissa looks at her.

“Why is he coming over?” Melissa asks.

“He likes you, honey. And I think you two would make a good match. Y/n, you know Melissa the best and you know Joe, don’t you think her and Joe would be good together?” Her mom asks you and you freeze.

“I guess they do have some things in common.” You tell her and Teresa smiles.

“I was going to spend the evening with Y/n tonight though.” Melissa tells her mom.

“You always spend the evening with Y/n, and I’m sure Y/n will understand if you two can’t spend one evening together.” Teresa says and they both look at you.

“Of course, I can leave now.” You tell them.

“Nonsense, we’ll feed you first and then Melissa can drive you home after.” Teresa tells you and you nod.

Melissa brings you upstairs to the room that she shares with Kristen Marie and you both sit on her bed.

“Your mom is trying to set you up with a man.” You tell her and she nods.

“I didn’t know she was going to do this.” She tells you and holds your hand.

“I know Mel, are you interested in him?” You ask her and she shakes her head.

“Maybe I would be if I wasn’t with you.” She says and you look at her. “But I honestly don’t care about anyone else as I already have someone.” She adds and you smile at her. “When I move out for college then we can be out together.” She tells you. “Just have to finish this year.” She tells you and you nod before you kiss each other.

At dinner, there’s tension in the room as Joe keeps trying to hit on Melissa and she’s not picking up on any hints and you’re just quietly watching and listening.

“Melissa, honey, Joe wants to be a firefighter.” Teresa tells Melissa and that gets her attention.

“Really?” Melissa asks him and he nods. “That’s cool, I want to be one as well but they said no as I’m a woman.” Melissa tells him.

“What do you want to be when you grow up then?” He asks her.

“A teacher.” She states proudly.

“I think you’d be a great teacher, you’re amazing with your siblings and you always protect people you care about, like Y/n.” He tells her and she smiles. That seems to start a conversation between them and you have to watch as Melissa gets to know Joe and Joe gets some confidence as he finally has her attention.

After dinner you help her mom with the dishes while Melissa and Joe are talking on the couch.

“Hey, I’m going to just walk home, I don’t want to interrupt those 2 in there.” You tell her mom.

“Are you sure? I’m certain Melissa won’t mind, to ensure you get home safely.” She tells you.

“I’m sure, tell Melissa I’ll see her tomorrow morning.” You tell her and she nods before you sneak out of the house.

After a few minutes, Melissa gets up and looks around for you.

“Has someone seen Y/n? I’m gonna drive her home quickly.” Melissa asks everyone.

“Oh she already left honey. She didn’t want to interrupt your time with Joe. She said she’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Teresa tells her daughter.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me?” Melissa asks her mother.

“I didn’t want to interrupt.” Her mother tells her.

“Sorry Joe but I have to go make sure she gets home safely.” Melissa says and then leaves. She gets in her car and then drives the way she knows you take to get home and she sees you a few minutes later and she pulls up beside you and gets out. “What the hell Y/n!” She asks you and you look at her.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be flirting with Mr firefighter?” You ask her and she rolls her eyes.

“And that’s about as far as my interest for him goes.” She tells you. “I don’t like him romantically and you know that.” She tells you.

“It didn’t look like that to me.” You tell her and go to walk away but she grabs your arm.

“Can I drive you home and we can talk about it on the way?” She asks you and you sigh before getting in the car.

For the next couple of weeks you watch as Melissa and Joe get closer and closer and it hurts you everyday.

There’s 4 months left until graduation and then Melissa has promised that you can be together openly when she’s out of the house. You just don’t know how you’ll survive the next 4 months. After another two weeks you’ve had enough and you have a talk with Melissa.

“Melissa, we need to talk after school.” You tell her as she’s talking with Joe.

“Of course Y/n, do you want me to drive us to your place after school?” She asks and you nod before you walk away. She watches you walk away and then she turns back to Joe.

After school you’re waiting at her car and you watch her say goodbye to Joe before walking up to you.

“Hey Amore.” She tells you with a smile and unlocks the car and you get in. She drives you back to your place and she keeps glancing at you as you’re quiet the entire way there. She parks in the driveway and then you both get out and enter your house, both knowing your parents won’t be back for another 2 hours. “What did you want to talk about?” She asks you and you both sit on the couch.

“About us.” You tell her and she looks at you.

“We’ve already talked about this though. We stay secret until we both move out for college.” She says and you take a breath.

“I don’t think I can wait that long, especially when I have to look at you and Joe flirt everyday.” You tell her.

“I’m only talking with him to get my parents off my back about dating a man. But him and I are only talking.” She tells you.

“And what happens when he gathers the courage to ask you out on a date?” You ask her and she looks down before looking into your eyes. “He’s already asked you out and you said yes.” You say with hurt lacing your voice and she nods.

“Y/n, I had to.” She tells you and she goes to hold your hand but you push her away.

“Melissa, you can’t have both.” You say as you get up. “I’m sorry but you have to choose.” You tell her and she looks at you. “It’s either me or Joe.” You add and take a breath. “I want to be able to hold my girlfriend’s hand at school or to kiss you while saying goodbye to you as we both go to a different class.” You say.

“Y/n, I can’t come out to my family, it’s just not possible.” She says and you look at her.

“So you’re choosing Joe and your family then?” You ask her and she nods as a tear rolls down her cheek. “Get out.” You tell her and she looks at you.

“Y/n, please just think about this.” She says as she stands up.

“I have thought about it, I’ve had enough time to think about it for the past month, Melissa!” You yell at her and a few more tears roll down her cheeks.

“Please, I don’t want to let you go.” She says and goes to hold your hands but you slap them away.

“I’m sorry, Melissa, but it’s over.” You tell her and she starts crying before she leaves. You run upstairs to your room and close the door before you break down in your bed.

On Monday, you walk to school instead of Melissa driving you and you go to your locker and see a photo of you and Melissa that you hung up on your locker. You stare at it for a few seconds before you take it down. Kristen Marie passes by as you do that and stops.

“Woah, what’s going on with you?” She asks and you look at her.

“Leave me be Kristen Marie, I can’t deal with any Schemmenti's right now.” You tell her.

“You know Melissa was quite upset this weekend and now you’re taking the photo of you two down? Did something happen?” She asks you and you slam your locker shut before looking at her.

“You don’t have to pretend to like me anymore.” You tell her. “Melissa and I aren’t friends anymore.” You snap and then walk away but she walks after you.

“But you two were so close, you were best friends.” She says to you and you turn around and look at her.

“I said leave me alone!” You yell at her before walking away. That got a bit of attention in the hallway and Melissa sees it and watches you walk away with a guilty look on her face.

“Jeez, what happened to you two?” Kristen Marie asks Melissa and Melissa sighs.

“It’s none of your business Kristen Marie.” Melissa says softly and then walks away.

You end up getting accepted to a few colleges and you pick the one that’s in New York. You end up hearing that Melissa and Joe are a couple a month later and you see them a few times from afar. You notice that it looks like Melissa isn’t fully into it as he is and you do feel sorry for her that she has to hide a part of herself due to fear. Melissa ends up hearing that you’re going to college in New York and she ends up having a breakdown upon hearing that. She looks for you after school that day and goes right up to you.

“You’re going to college in New York?” She asks you and you nod and walk away. “I thought we were both going to go to the same college together here in South Philly.” She says as she follows after you and she follows you all the way outside.

“Melissa, we broke up.” You say quietly. “All those plans ended the moment you chose Joe.” You tell her.

“I still love you, I still want a life with you.” She tells you.

“I’m sorry, but you have to let me go and start building a life with Joe instead.” You say and walk away as a couple tears escape both of your eyes.

School ends and you pack up for New York. You’re putting your luggages in your parent’s car when Melissa pulls up.

“What are you doing here?” You ask her as she gets out.

“I wanted to at least say goodbye to you before I’ll never see you again.” She tells you and you close the trunk before walking up to her.

“Most people don’t talk after they break up.” You tell her.

“We aren’t most people.” She says.

“True.” Is all you say.

“I think you’ll become an amazing artist in New York.” She tells you and you nod.

“And I know you’ll become an amazing teacher, you’re great with kids.” You tell her and she nods before she looks down shyly.

“If I knew that my family would accept me liking women then I would have chosen you without question.” She says.

“I know, and I hope you have a good life with Joe or whatever man you end up with.” You tell her and you grab her hand and give it a squeeze before looking into her eyes. “Goodbye Melissa.” You tell her and give her a hug and she immediately hugs you back.

“Goodbye Y/n.” She says and both pull back before you get in the car and your parents drive you to the airport.

*30 years later*

“So I thought we could all go to the art exhibit that is in town.” Janine says enthusiastically.

“Oh that sounds delightful.” Barb says and looks at Melissa. “What do you think, Melissa?” Barb asks her and Melissa shrugs.

“Sure.” She says and goes back to her phone.

On the weekend, the Abbott crew goes to the art exhibit and Melissa has no idea who the artist is. They all have a look at the paintings and a few of them reminds Melissa of you and she takes a deep breath before they continue. Then they look at one and Melissa stares at it while the others continue on. Without her noticing, you see Melissa there and you walk up to her.

“Hello Melissa, been awhile.” You say and she whips her head at you.

“Y/n?” She asks and you nod.

“Nice to see you came to see my art.” You tell her and her eyes widen.

“This is your exhibit?” She asks and you nod.

“I didn't know it was yours, my coworkers wanted to come and I tagged along.” She tells you.

“I see.” You tell her and look at the painting she was staring at. “This one seems to have caught your attention.” You tell her.

The painting has a shadow of a person on their knees and holding their head as the other shadows stare down at them and casts the person out.

“Ya.” She says and looks at it again.

“Maybe because you were the inspiration.” You tell her and she looks at you. “It’s about not feeling accepted by other people. Seem familiar?” You ask her and she sighs.

“It does, or at least it did.” She says and you look at her.

“Are you out to your family?” You ask her and she nods.

“Came out almost 15 years ago after I divorced Joe.” She tells you and you smile.

“I’m glad you finally got the courage.” You say.

“I wasn’t happy with him, I regretted it immediately.” She says. “After 15 years I finally had enough.” She tells you.

“So how have you been for the past 15 years then?” You ask her.

“Staying single, just focusing on teaching.” She tells you.

“You became a teacher?” You ask her and she nods.

“Second grade teacher at Abbott.” She tells you and you smile.

“Second grade, that fits you perfectly.” You tell her.

“Kristen Marie became a teacher as well, she teaches at Addington.” She tells you and you nod. “I never stopped thinking about you.” She says and you look at her.

“I never stopped thinking about you as well.” You tell her and she looks at you and you see the same look in her eyes that you saw when you broke up with her.

“How long are you in town? Maybe we can catch up.” She offers and you take a breath.

“I’m actually moving back to South Philly.” You say to her. “That’s why I’m hosting an exhibition here, getting my name out here over here.” She looks at you the entire time with disbelief.

“You’re moving back?” She asks and you nod. All of a sudden someone short comes up all excited.

“Oh my god! You’re the artist right?!?!” She asks and Melissa glares at her.

“Move along pipsqueak.” She tells her and you look at her.

“Melissa, she’s the artist.” She tells her.

“Is this one of your coworkers?” You ask her and she nods.

“Hi, I’m Janine.” She says and holds out a hand for you to shake and you shake her hand.

“I’m Y/n, Melissa and I used to go to school together.” You tell her and she looks at Melissa.

“We didn’t just go to school together though.” Melissa tells you with a blush and Janine looks between you both.

“You guys dated?” She asks and you nod. Just then an older woman seemed to hear that and pulls Janine away.

“Thanks Barb.” Melissa tells her and then turns back to you. “If you’re moving back then I’d still like to see you, catch up on what you’ve been doing for the past 30 years.”

“You’re looking at the past 30 years.” You tell her and point to the art exhibit.

“Not just your art.” She tells you.

“I’m not with anyone if that’s what you’re wondering.” You tell her and you see a brief smile before she goes back to her neutral face.

“Did you not find anyone?”

“I did but then we broke up as she was scared to come out.” You tell her and she gulps.

“I still feel so bad about what happened between us.” She says and you nod.

“I know, I can see it in your eyes.” You tell her.

“Oh my god, Y/n?” You hear and you see a blonde coming towards you and Melissa groans.

“Worst timing as always sis.” Melissa says.

“Kristen Marie?” You ask and she nods.

“You know sometimes I wondered what happened after you and Melissa stopped talking.” She says and Melissa glares at her.

“Can you wonder at another time?” Melissa says to her and Kristen Marie looks between you two.

“Oh come on Melissa, we all wanted to know what happened, even Ma.” Kristen Marie tells Melissa.

“Her and I broke up, that’s what happened.” Melissa tells her.

“I had a feeling you were together.” She says before leaving.

“I would like to get together with you and talk.” Melissa tells you and you smile.

“I would love to.” You tell her and take your phone out. “Here, give me your number.” You tell her and she takes your phone and puts her number in.

“When are you moving back?” She says as you send her a text.

“In a month.” You say and Melissa gets the text and adds your number to her phone. “Already got a place and everything.” You tell her.

“Well maybe for today you can give me a tour and explain all your art to me?” She asks and you smile and nod.

“I would love that, it kinda reminds me of when we were in school though and I would talk about all my artwork.” You tell her as you walk another art piece. “Also there was one bullying incident after we broke up and then they never bothered me again.” You tell her.

“Ya I threatened their families after the incident.” She tells you and you chuckle.

“I wondered if you had something to do with it.” You tell her and step in front of the art piece and you start explaining it and the inspiration. Melissa pays attention the whole time with her full attention and keeps glancing at you with a smile.

“I’m proud of you.” She says after you finish explaining every art piece to her. “I always wanted you to have your art get recognized.” She adds and you look at her.

“Thank you.” You tell her. “I’ve received many compliments about my professional artwork, and you know what I feel when I hear them?” You ask her.

“Happy?”

“No, I feel nothing. The only time I never felt nothing was when you complimented me about my art in high school.” You tell her and she looks at you.

“You were always talented though, professional art or school art.” She says.

“And there it happens again, the only time I feel something is when you compliment me.” You say and she looks down and then back up at you. “I’ve also been with many women, but none were as good as you. They didn’t make me feel as happy or loved or even as satisfied in bed.” You say and you see a blush appear on her cheeks. “I didn’t know I could still make the great Melissa Schemmenti blush.” You say and she chuckles.

“You’ve always had that power over me, even after 30 years.” She tells you and you smile.

“I’m busy this weekend with the exhibit but I’ll be here next weekend finalising some stuff for the move. Maybe we can spend some time together then?” You ask her and she nods.

“I would love to.” She tells you and you smile at her.

Melissa goes home half an hour later and she has a smile on her face the entire way home. She got to see you again after 30 years, the woman she has always loved, and now gets to spend time with you again next weekend.

On Monday morning Melissa walks in the school, coffee cup in hand and a smile on her face. She walks into the break room and she goes to her table she shares with Barb and sits down.

“Since when are you smiling on a Monday morning?” Barb asks her.

“Just a nice weekend.” She says and the trio looks at her.

“Melissa, that girl with the art exhibit, it was mentioned that you two dated?” Jacob asks and Melissa turns around to look at them.

“Yes, in high school.” She tells them.

“What happened?” Janine asks her.

“Well not that it’s any of your business but I wasn’t out yet and I chose Joe over her. After high school, she left for college in New York and I haven't seen her since.” She explains to them.

“Well until Saturday.” You say and they all look at the entrance and see you there.

“Y/n, what are you doing here?” Melissa asks as she gets up and goes to you.

“Well you saw what I do for a living, thought I’d come see yours. And you mentioned working at Abbott, wasn’t it rumoured to be the worst school in the area?” You ask her and she nods.

“Ya that rumour really spread. It’s not all a lie, it’s extremely underfunded but the teachers here care more for their students than our teachers did.” She tells you and you hum.

“Ya our teachers really distanced themselves from their students.” You tell her and she smiles at you.

“How about I show you my classroom? I think you’ll like it.” She offers and you nod.

“Ok, I’d love to.” You tell her and she grabs her things before bringing you to her classroom.

“Mel’s got a crush.” Jacob singsongs.

“And this is my classroom.” She says as she opens her door and you walk in first.

“Wow, I would have loved to learn in a classroom like this, your students are so lucky to have you as their teacher.” You say to her and she blushes. “Remember our classrooms? Cold and dry. But this one is warm and welcoming.” You say as she walks over to her desk to put her things down.

“You’d like a few of my students, little rebels like you were.” She says and you turn to look at her.

“If I recall, you were more rebellious than I was.” You say as you walk over to her desk and she chuckles. “I have a confession.” You say and she looks at you. “I didn’t come here just to see your work.” You tell her and she tilts her head.

“Well what’s the other reason?”

“I came here to see you.” You say and you look to see her eyes brighten. “And to ask you if instead of catching up next weekend, we could go on a date?” You ask her and you see her immediately freeze.

“You’re- you’re asking me out?” She asks in disbelief and you nod.

“I’ve had time to think after seeing you on Saturday. It was really wonderful to see you again and I missed you more than I realised, a lot more.” You tell her. “I thought about it yesterday and I still love you.” You say and you hear her slightly gasp. “Even after 30 years I still love you, the one that got away.” You add and she walks over to you.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since high school. I never stopped loving you either. I was so stupid to let the best thing in my life slip through my fingers.” She says.

“What if…” You start to say and grab her hand. “We continued where we left off?” You suggest and Melissa smiles.

“You really mean that?” She asks and you nod. “Can I kiss you right now?” She hesitantly asks.

“You better.” You say and she immediately surges forward and places her lips on yours. Her lips were still so soft, just like you remembered and you don’t want to stop feeling them on yours. She pulls away after a few seconds and looks at you with a soft smile. “You know, I’ve forgiven you for letting me go but I haven’t forgotten that you broke my heart.” You say and she places her forehead on yours.

“I know, I haven’t forgotten that either, and that decision broke my heart as well. But maybe I can make it up to you now.” She says and you kiss her again.

“You can definitely make it up to me.” You say and Melissa kisses you again.

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Let me know if you want to be added!

[silentwhispofhope]

*Limping to your request box* I MISSED YOU AND I WANT TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA FILLED WITH FLUFF!! Is it okay to request?

💞[Skin Writing/Drawing Soulmate AU]✍️ 🖌️ - Reader is an artist and constantly draws many art in their skin because it's just so satisfying! Their soulmate Vash feels appreciated, in love, and beautiful whenever Reader's drawing appear on his skin. Their art just gives him a reason to love his skin despite skin scars 🥺 🖋️ - Reader does calligraphy, and they sometimes quote the bible doing it cause why not? Soulmate Wolfwood just looks with a soft, maybe teasing smile as he sees his soulmate's work. 😎 📜 - Reader is a poet and they randomly have ideas and prompt all throughout the day, so they grab a pen and start writing all the poetry from their head. Soulmate Knives who's intellectual and curious admires whenever his soulmate's writing appear on his skin, he just covers it from others eyes because pest don't deserve to see this beauty. 🌱

YOU CAN PICK TWO OUT OF THE THREE!! IT'S YOUR CHOICE MY FRIEND!!! 😍💝💌

- Sugar Plum Anon 💟

A/N: Just for you Sugar Plum Anon, I’ll do all three <3 I do hope you’re alright though! Please do stay safe! Since I’m doing all three, I hope you’re alright with headcanons instead of normal lil’ one shots. :)

Skin Writing/Drawing Soulmate AU Headcanons

Vash

He was absolutely scared out of his mind when he first saw the ink appear on his skin. He even went as far as to try to scrub his skin raw, and the ink was still fresh as ever. Poor blondie is wondering how the hell something like this is happening.

Meanwhile, you’re doodling like there’s no tomorrow with your ballpoint pen, tracing the outlines of your veins and doodling smiling faces.

Over time, Vash learns to just accept the random appearance and disappearance of drawings across his body. At the end of the day, it’s like a fun little game to see what’s been sketched on him underneath his turtle neck.

It takes a while for Vash to realize that it’s his soulmate doodles appearing on his skin. Warmth floods his heart each time he thinks of this, causing him to lovely trace the marks across his own skin.

He would laugh sometimes at the sudden ink smear appearing on his skin before new sketch marks appeared, your work hypnotizing him. He especially loved when you used different colors, almost painting his skin like a canvas. Eventually, he makes the move to respond.

So imagine your surprise when you find a poorly drawn flower appear on your skin. Ensue the same panic Vash experienced when you remembered you didn’t draw that.

Wolfwood

Scrubbing his skin did nothing. Seeing the scripture on his forearm made him wonder if he had perhaps gotten too drunk the night before and had gotten a tattoo.

The fancy calligraphy was choice, especially with that proverb. For the lips of the adulterous woman drop honey, and her speech is smoother than oil. Wolfwood decided that there could be worse things etched into his skin from that old religion.

You, on the other hand, were giggling to yourself. Oh, the irony of something appearing to beautiful but naughty. A snort escapes from one of your nearby friends.

He didn’t put anymore thought into it until the next day when the ink disappeared. Lowkey, thought he was super dehydrated for him to imagine that, but nope, even after drinking tons of water, the ink was no longer on his skin.

Cue some praying. He nearly has a heart attack when more ink appears on his skin. He has to go back to the orphanage and ask the elders for help on understanding the situation. Turns out it’s a soulmate thing, one which they didn’t even bother to mention until now.

Overtime, he appreciates the calligraphy he appears on his skin, particularly when new motifs appear. Wolfwood liked seeing you test new things and watch as the ink appear on his skin.

However, he was very glad to wear long sleeves when you would write down a particularly dirty proverb like 5:19. He would always end up blushing a bright red like a tomato, a huge contrast to his normal, stoic personality.

Imagine, your surprise when you notice fresh ink on your skin. For your ways are in the full view of the LORD in basic script.

Knives

He almost didn’t see the script appear on his arms, the ink nearly blending into his suit and pale skin. His fingers traced the letters he could make out. Knives immediately knew what this meant, it was his soulmate reaching out- most likely not knowing what was happening.

He tried to ignore it the best he could and kept himself covered with his cloak. Having someone would just drag him down, make it harder to reach his goal of eradicating humanity. However, his curiosity got the best of him.

Taking another look, the bleach blond quickly recognized the letters as chords with their denoted accidentals. Luckily for him, he new how to play. It was child’s play, really.

Meanwhile, your trying to understand how to play different songs only by listening too them. You were too stubborn to look them up, very confident in your ability.

And so it became a pattern for him to decipher your song you had written on his arm. He would spend hours playing the piano, watching the notes on his arm be crossed out and replaced. The composition rarely stayed imprinted on his skin for longer than a day.

Often, Knives would see lyrics being written with the chords. A little artist are we now? His small joke to himself caused a small smile. He would end up humming them, his low voice cutting through the air. It was for the sake of rhythm, he told himself.

Imagine your surprise when you saw a new. mark you knew you hadn’t inscribed into your skin, a word marked out for another.

[soraviie]

chasing after you.txt

━ type: bts x f! reader ━ navigation

━ about: dynamics in order: Joon - one-night stand + enemies to lovers, Yoongi - neighbours with a bit of a bad boy influence, Jin - sort of arranged marriage au, Hoseok - exes to lovers, Jimin - sugar daddy/fake dating au, Taehyung - tease x anger issues/clingy + tsundere/f2l, Jungkook - bodyguard x ward

━ pictures taken from Pinterest

━ previously posted on soraviii

NAMJOON: "Aw, fuck, who invited that guy?" you growled, whilst rolling your eyes at the corner where Namjoon had been so precariously sat like an asshole. You hated everything about him - the smug smile, the cocky tone of his voice, the winks he threw your way. Kim Namjoon was nothing but a sure way to get your blood pressure up and stay that way all through the night.

"Probably one of his fri- Shit! He's coming this way!" as your friend dipped over the bar and away into the crowd, courageous as ever, you snatched your drink partially pondering about throwing it into his face.

"You look lonely," he cooed with that shit-eating grin that you had wanted to smack away since the first meeting. And maybe to kiss but he didn't need to know that. "Why don't I keep you company?"

"Keep company with your left hand like you usually do," you yelled over the music.

"Well it does pair well with certain memories of you," he smirked and you groaned in disgust.

A misguided February 14th evening could lead to many foul things - unexpected pregnancy, STDs, Kim Namjoon having the delusional idea that you liked him.

Frankly, you'd rather endure a yeast infection than have this 6 feet fuckboy in the disguise of a pacifistic art lover keep chasing you every night out. More than once you wanted to slap your younger self only to come to their defence over and over again.

Namjoon was big. Big man. Big muscles. Big...well you get it.

And that may have made you a little bit stupid once! But not twice.

Yes.

"I can't stand you," you sneered at him with the most contempt you could possibly muster

"Sit on my lap then, baby."

You took a long swig to finish your drink, sliding it across the bartop and walking backwards, you levelled him down with a:

"You'd only cream your jeans, caveman."

"That's possible," he reckoned with a soft smile watching you mingle with the dancing crowd.

And for a while, it all went well, you'd find someone to at least waste some time with only for them to suddenly start sprinting away for their lives. You frowned after them, coming to a screeching halt in the fun.

Did your breath smell or something?

Taken with dancing, you hadn't noticed the broad-chested giant charging forth, smoke practically fuming from his nostril as his eyes glinted devilishly when tracking down the opponent. As the music changed, you found your waist circled by a shovel-sized palm.

"You really have no luck out here. You keep on being stuck with lil' old me," he whispered in your ear, causing long trails of goosebumps where his breath landed and you elbowed him, hard, in the gut.

He didn't even seem to mind.

"I don't know who you think you are Kim Namjoon but I will never-!"

"Oh, how you hate me," he lets out a burst of raspy laughter, head thrown back on the pillow, pulling you closer as much as he can despite you both being considerably sweaty.

"S-shut up," you grunt back, thighs aching but just a little bit more and you'll be in your happy place even if it was with this obnoxious gym rat. "You're just a cock on legs to me."

"Oh, for sure," he smirks and then prompts himself upwards to bite on your neck. "But you might think of screaming a tad quieter if you want to be really convincing."

It's a sick sense of deja-vu to wake up sore and aching all over in a sun-filled room overstuffed with cacti and a very soft blanket. The bed was empty and as you clamber to the toilet wearing a shirt found on the floor, struggling to walk, you stumble upon him in the kitchen - Cheshire grin spread all over his lips.

"Good morning," Namjoon greets. "You want some eggs, babe?"

YOONGI: His eyes track your movement as though it's dazed him and it's in moments like these you wish he was a criminal or something, a certified member of a mafia. A flag touch redder.

Stay away from Min Yoongi, they said, he's trouble but what to do when he doesn't stay away from you?

"So a kitten does come out to play," he purrs pressing one of those veiny palms against the elevator doors, halting it in its tracks and climbing in. You roll your eyes and straighten your back to appear more threatening. Yoongi, of course, couldn't give less of a shit.

"You're one to speak," you counter. "The most walking you do is through your apartment. It's like a herd of elephants."

"Well then don't listen in on what I do, you little pervert," he smirks, pressing the 8 on the elevator and it jerkily moves through the floors, reminding you once again to be grateful for life.

"Give it here," without waiting for a reply, he grabs the hold of your bags and goes straight to your apartment doors. Once inside he makes himself right at home, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

"What are we eating?" he questions gruffly, examining the produce with no small amount of judgment.

"You're speaking French now?" you push him away, relinquishing the rightful ownership of a pair of avocados you bought. "Whose "we"?"

He doesn't bother gracing it with a comment as anyhow a doorbell rings and you see his tongue poke against the cheek.

"Who the hell are you?" he questions sharply and you peer into the doorway.

"Oh, hello," you greet your coworker with a reserved smile. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, what are you doing here?" Yoongi echoes, placing his hand above your head and on the very edge of the door.

"Just interested if you're going to the uh... team bonding activities," he replies, fretfully glancing at Yoongi.

"Ignore him, I do," you smirk up at Yoongi. "And-"

"She has plans," Yoongi interrupts, pushing you back into the kitchen with his palm against your back.

"Oh, okay," your coworker stutters awkwardly, trying to lean in somehow. "See you around?"

"No," Yoongi cheerfully replies and smacks the door right into his face.

"You're such a dick," you groan.

"Did you have plans?" he asks with a teasing lilt, voice dropping nearly an octave lower. "And are you going to lie that it wasn't with me?"

"My jumbo-sized Charmander plushie and I are doing well on our own," you point at him with a packet of tomatoes. "Where you fit into the equation is a mystery."

"I'll tell you where I can fit," he laughed, wagging his eyebrows.

"No, no, goodbye," you wrinkle your nose in disgust, pushing his still laughing back out of the door. "Leave."

"Wait, what if I need some sugar?" he objects and you furrow your eyebrows, glaring up at him in suspicion.

"Do you?"

"No," he shrugs carelessly. "But what if."

"Begone, demon," you push against him harder but he seems to only enjoy it.

"Come to my game. It's right across the street in that park. I need a good luck charm."

"Will you be throwing a ball in your face? If no, then I'm not interested."

As you slam the door shut there still comes a raspy whine.

"Come on, short ass, come."

And if you do happen to drop by the nearest park with its shitty basketball court it's because you have nothing better to do and you needed some ice cream. Yoongi, uncharacteristically brazen for him, smirks at then winks in the middle of the game.

And promptly receives a ball to the face.

JIN: "Eat more garlic!"

"Straighten your hair with an iron!"

"Belch really, really loudly!"

You try to recall all of your friends' sage advice whilst pacifying your nerves. Being late nearly an hour didn't sit well with you but this guy was...determined. Insanely determined. So the ends justify the means.

When at last you arrive at the three Michelin star restaurant it's an hour later than what your family had set and you're wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. Your face may burn with shame at such a display but certainly, this would beat this broad-shouldered man off the path. This was beyond and above rude. You're already prepared to be yelled at, scorned and insulted but Seokjin merely blooms into an eager smile. Doesn't even blink twice at your choice of wear.

He dismisses the host with a polite nod and pulls a chair out.

"Hello, _________," he greets innocently. "Traffic is hell, right."

There was no traffic and he knew it only making excuses to achieve whatever nefarious goal he had set out to.

"Just give him a chance," your mother pleaded over the phone. "He's been asking about you forever. Please, he's rich and handsome, what's not to like."

What's not to like? Well, probably something. Kim Seokjin in your mind had always stood as that annoying guy who'd dropped a water bomb on your head when you were about to take the most glorious profile picture ever. Spinning in overlapping social circles, you'd seen too much of him growing up and had to endure several of your friends flailing over him especially when the pool season began. He was like a jar of honey to their fly status. And as such only a tar in your own pot of sweetness.

He was old. You had not exactly a criminal age difference but still more than 2 years. He was a creep, you firmly plant that idea into the recesses of your mind.

Why oh why, was he so insistent on asking about you?

"Good idea," he praises, pointing at your outfit. "It's best to be comfortable. I should have done that as well, this is quite uncomfortable," he waves a disappointed hand over the blue three-piece suit.

The waiter along with the menu serves you a freshly plucked side eye.

"Yeah, that's why I did it," dryly you mutter back, hiding behind the menu.

Think, think, think, what else turns off snooty men?

"Fucking shit," you cry out to your own amazement. "These prices are ridiculous. I'm not paying for this!"

"That's fine," Jin shrugs with that seemingly permanently etched expression of a tender smile. "I invited you here, I'll pay."

You groan.

"I'll fart," you threaten.

He shrugs and gracefully pours you a glass of wine.

"Everyone does that. It's a part of life."

You slobber your dinner up like a beast.

"Hmm, you're making the meal look more delicious," he nods.

And not even when you "accidentally" spill a mango sauce on his pants worth more than your apartment, does he weigh the thought of becoming angry in his mind.

"Ah, it's a perfect colour now," he merely congratulates with a jubilant cry and you let your head fall on the table with a thud, only it hits his palm as he had stretched it out at the last second.

"Are you insane?" you breathe out in sheer desperation. "Why are you not running over the hills?"

"Do you really think I can't see that you're doing this on purpose?" he smirks in amusement, over the rim of the wine glass. "We've known each other for a while, I know you better than that."

"Exactly!" you yell before falling into a hush as numerous daggers shoot your way. "You know me! As the annoying friend of your cousin! Why are you asking after me all of a sudden?! What joke are you playing?"

"Well, first of all," Jin corrects all too self-congratulatory. "I've never thought you were annoying. Maybe except when you were like 14 but who isn't the worst person in the world at that age? And secondly," his ears abruptly turn quite pink and he lets the wine glass rest on the table, nervously fiddling with its stem. "I asked for you because as you may know your mother is quite eagerly seeking various wedlock opportunities. For you specifically."

That makes you groan only louder.

"Don't remind me. So, so what? You want to get married to me?" you snort at the idea but then, for the first time ever, Jin is not laughing.

"Yes," he says dead serious.

"Wait, is this a prank?" you glance all around in an attempt to find the hidden cameras. "Are you pulling my leg?"

"I'm pulling no legs. What a weird thing to do," Jin muses and you narrow him down.

"Don't joke. It's not funny. Say "got you" or something. You can't be serious?!"

"Listen, ___________, I've liked you for a while now. I wanted to ask you before you began university but then you brought Jae home and..."

"Jae? Jin, that was...that was five years ago! You couldn't have liked me for five years?"

He averts his eyes and sips on his champagne. Even his neck is red.

"Five years?" you cry out. "And you kept quiet?!"

"Well, I told you now!" he objects with some indignation but even more of a burning shame. "All you need to do is to decide what you're going to do. 'Cause I'll accept you as you are, belching, sweatpant wearing and all. Even if you straighten your hair with an iron."

For a second you sit still and stupefied on this ridiculously over-padded chair ad then you feel yourself match the heat blooming on his face.

"You know Giulia?" you ask, downing the entire wine while desperately trying not to smile at the soft amusement in his eyes.

"Of course, I know Giulia," Jin chuckles self-consciously. "Who do you think gave me the genius advice of this stuffy suit?"

HOSEOK: You should have known from the start that this would lead to nothing good. What else could wait for you at the end of the nondescript hallways of conference rooms? One thing you didn't expect however was the loathsome face of your ex-boyfriend. Hoseok was sitting already by the table, beautiful as ever, leg nervously bouncing against the floor and treacherously a click of a lock snapping in its place echoes behind you.

He springs up from the seat, nervously glancing at where you tried to somehow break through the door. Or the wall, whichever came first.

"Oh, hell no," you growled, nails scraping against the doorknob. The betraying Brutus of a friend he had bribed to text you to come here will find an egg on their window for sure.

"_____________, please, let's just talk," he pleads. "Just let...let me explain."

"I don't want to hear any explanation," you hissed, turning to glare at him. From the way his eyebrows sloped, you could tell he was deadset serious but then it comes too clearly back into your mind.

That you were weird, not his type, that he doesn't understand you. But instead of simply crying about it you left. To cry about it in your own space. And also then turn incredibly bitter over it.

"I just meant that..."

"That I'm a freak? Yeah, I got it," you snarled before yanking harder on the knob. "Open the damn door!"

"No. If you're going to leave then please do the courtesy of letting me memorize your face."

You close your eyes, steeling your resolve. Don't give in, you reminded yourself, not after a whole year of hunkering through yet another heartbreak. Hoseok was just like the rest. Taking weirdness in all the things you liked, that you were. Why should you ever change for anyone else?

"It's been a year," you note sternly, having slid on the floor. He's also there, watching away from the small distance with a crease of a frown between his brows.

"Exactly. This year was one of the worst I've ever had," he confesses, supposedly earnestly. "I admit the things that I said were wrong but I did not mean it like that!"

"________________ is just a bit weird. You know the people I used to date, there's a bit of a difference, softly said," you quote him word for word. "And you said that to someone else! You opened your mouth, said that shit and thought it was okay!"

The sun behind the window had nearly slipped over the horizon and the office space was illuminated with a soft orange glow.

"You know the first time I met you, that was a lie," he mutters into the air. No one had come to open the door despite you nearly beating it off the hinges.

"Oh, that too was a lie, wonderful," you groaned, rolling your eyes but Hoseok remains sitting sadly by, occasionally passively twirling his shoe laces.

"I actually went past you on the street. Remember the crossroad by that small confectionery?"

You did remember. You lived right above it for a while, making your hair smell perpetually of candy for half a year.

"I...I got lost around there and walked past you, and you were sort of listening to your headphones, not looking around. I remember," he chuckled as though taken by an old memory. "You wore that knitted jumper that kept falling off your shoulder, the faded beige one and I just...I was so jealous of you, you were so carefree."

You glanced at him surprised. As far as you knew the first time Hoseok and you met was at a graduation gathering, a friend of a friend sort of a situation. And as you sat there, enjoying your barbecue by the side, wondering whether to dip your ketchup-stained hand in some weed brownies, he came up to you with the brightest smile, talking as though he knew you. Guess he did then know you.

"And the next day I went there again. I didn't even know why but I just did and you were there again. And I kept returning," he smiled at the ground but it quickly vanished. "Every day for a month before I met you at that gathering. Sometimes you were there, a lot of times - not but when you did it lit up my entire day. I didn't know how to approach you though, it's not a thing you do in the middle of the street, you know?"

"No," you affirm faintly.

"And when you left..." Hoseok winced at the mere mention of it. "I still kept going back," his breath was nothing more than a whisper stained with regret. The look in his eyes was downright depressing and you wondered if he had roamed around bearing the same heavy chip that you had. "And our favourite cafe. And your favourite park spot. I was there like...like a ghost lingering in your presence."

"But why did you say then that I was weird?" you sniffled, letting, for the joke of your own mental stability, some of that defence down. Attempting to look at Hoseok without the veil of contempt you've draped over him for a year. Dragging yourself back from hell was hard, dragging yourself from hell when thrust there by the one person you thought wouldn't do that - even harder. But by peeling off at least one cover, you saw many wonderful memories behind it, as slightly tainted as they were.

"I don't know," he groaned, hiding his face in the palm of his hands. "I was stupid. I meant in my heart that you were unlike anyone I've been with before. Not bad but different. And, yes, sometimes I don't understand you but I want to," he rouses to look into your eyes across the room. "I want to. And even if I never fully understand, I would like to make you feel heard and stand by your side nonetheless."

You stare into the sun to avoid crying. Stupid thought as no one ever stared into this glowing orb of light hanging in the sky in order to not get misty-eyed.

"What I said there was, I admit, crass. I was scared because I...with you I don't want to leave. I don't want to call quits when it becomes uncomfortable or becomes uneasy, I want us to grow together. And that scares me because, for the first time, I can really truly get hurt," he exhaled a heavy sigh, voice growing strained. "So when you left, no explanation, just gone in the wind..." he glimpsed over the horizon. "Anyway, I recognise me cornering you like this is wrong but...if you ran away because you felt unloved, I just wanted to show that I'd be chasing after."

Hoseok wiped at his eyes and briskly got up.

"But if you didn't and don't want me, I'll open the doors," from the pocket of his jeans, he fished out a glinting silver key. "I really just wanted to memorize you for as long as I could. I'm sorry."

He opens the doors and you called out -

"Hoseok!"

JIMIN: The phone kept ringing. You'd put it on mute but even so the bright light of the flashing screen stirred you awake and after a brief wrangle of putting the chip bowl actually on the table nearby, kicking your leg free from the grasp of the blanket, you simply watched it ring. After eventually growing into silence, it went to the 45 unanswered calls like the rest. You sighed turned to your side and slid the eye mask over the face, trying to somehow coerce yourself into immediate and indisputable slumber.

This was just the outward manifestation of his bruised ego, nothing more. You don't think anyone had ever rejected Park Jimin so this must be a new, unfamiliar feeling, one he'll get over in time and then maybe even laugh about it years down the line.

I mean, come on, you thought to yourself cutting the words like bloodied post-it notes in your own mind. There's no such thing as a rich handsome guy genuinely falling for someone so...

The disgusting words sprung too freely on the tip of your tongue so you settle for normal. To not at least give into self-hatred so easy. Such was the plot of romantic dramas and fantasies hence why it was fiction. Rich, beautiful people went for other rich beautiful people, normal folks went for normal folks. Dogs did not mix with chickens or pandas with capybaras. It was simply nonsense.

But as you close your eyes, the memories make it harder to be as clinically objective. All too well, you remember. His hands on your face, grasping as though he feared you would leave.

"Why don't you ever believe me?" he asked with heated desperation. "Nothing I say is ever good enough. Nothing is trustworthy!"

You tried to pry him gently away.

"Because how can I believe you? Look at yourself and look at me. This is not even opposites it's...unfathomables!"

You wished partially that he'd go to the good old Mr Park of the beginning, one who'd walked up to you in a cafe and asked if for a fair amount of money you'd be willing to answer his phone and pretend to be his girlfriend. And since the sum he called out was the rate of an onerous monthly rent, you'd plastered the sweetest voice you could in a matter of seconds with no questions asked.

When thinking of all the troubles when he approached you again, completely by accident, you had thought to yourself jail, assault, violence, even cannibalism for good measure, who knew what kind of sicko this stranger could be, but never you considered you'd be scared by the simple fact that he was in love with you. He had been cold, rude and brusque at the start and you had been fine with that, your "job" was to sometimes go to family dinners and lie which while not moral was not a crime.

Only then he invited to accompany him to his office, then to trips, then to movies and then one day you wake up in your bed and Mr Park, once a cold and resigned man, drenched in his own riches, is now making pancakes on your old stovetop and smiles the kindest smile you'd ever seen and asks if you slept well.

How could it not be a scary sight?

"I love you!" he shook you by the shoulders, not hard enough to hurt but as if trying to shake the bad thoughts out. "But you hate yourself! And you never listen!"

"They'll think I'm a gold-digger!" you cried. Just looking around his apartment made you sick. You couldn't even afford his carpet. How could he love someone with whom he shared so little with? He had never known the feeling of counting one's last money to afford bread or not buying something out of impulse. And you had never known the etiquette of polite brutality, of caring about who sits where because one word spoken at the wrong crowd table could destroy your entire livelihood. Love didn't change two profoundly different experiences.

"They don't think that!" he argued. "My parents wanted me to be with someone-"

"Poor?" you interrupted finally wrenching yourself free. Why was he so cruelly saying these things? He will just make you love him and then dump you with nary concern. Like others and then in time you will always think that you should have known better. Should have gotten rid of those rose-tinted glasses sooner not when they're smashed in shatters on the cold concrete.

"No!" Jimin immediately counters. "Of a different social circle! And even if they did, I don't care!"

"But the press-!"

"I don't care!"

"The rest of your relatives and friends-!"

"I don't care!" he yelled back, ripping at his hair, faint tears lingering in his eyes. "What will it take for you to believe me?! Please, why don't you believe me?"

"I can't!" you shrieked back in a sob. "Because better you not love me at all than fall out of it after some time! I don't want to be loved! I don't want to trust! I just want to be alone!"

Alone is what you were now but it felt no better.

"It will," you calmed yourself aloud. "Give it some time and your life will return to how it was."

Boring. Monotone. A single actor performing the most dreadful play to an audience of no spectators. You sniffled punching the pillow. Stupid Park Jimin waltzing into your life and making you think you were not the person you saw in your mind. That you were better. But how can you be when you're always "you"? A nameless face in the crowd, a cog in the machine.

No one, really.

As a sudden hand wraps around your waist, you scream and nearly punch the lights out of the affectionate attacker before in the faint streetlight streaming through the windows you recognized Jimin's eyes.

"How did you get in here?" you rustled in indignation.

"I had a key made. Remember? So I could greet you at home after work," he explained sternly.

"Well, you can't be here now-" you tried to argue, even push him out if needed, but he grasped at your legs and wrestled you to sit atop of him. You always fretted you were too heavy but he never objected.

"I'll leave if you order me to leave. Say those exact words: "Jimin, I want you to leave and never return back."

"I want to be alone," you muttered out of force of habit playing with the neck of his shirt.

"It's not the same," he cupped your cheek. "Until you tell me to piss off in my face, I'll keep chasing you every time you run. You think no one would? I will. Over and over again."

Your lip wobbled.

"It's ungrateful work," you breathed as he tugged you closer into a hug, gently swaying from left to right.

"Not to me."

TAEHYUNG: It takes thirty minutes for your aunt, a known stick in the mud, to go from screaming why was there a whole ass adult man traipsing in the apartment her niece should keep an eye on, to peacefully discussing the best nut selection over the kitchen table with eagerly listening Taehyung on the other side.

You were 35% convinced he knew how to do magic, and 65% convinced he was magic. And if he feasibly could he would live in your asshole. And the worst of all you can't get rid of him.

Well no, the worst of all you don't want to.

Coming from a rough environment, no matter how you slice or dice it, that leaves its own impression upon the mind. Yours being - people leave, people lie, people bad. It was easy to go through life, more than two decades of them in selective solitude, having friends but never letting them too close in and soon after they would stop even being friends. It was easy and predictable and while no one cared for you, you had to care for no one, could go where you wanted, how and when you wanted and fully enjoy doing what you liked.

And then this curly-headed now human reincarnated tiger-bear hybrid showed up. Literally dropping out of nowhere whilst still in university, pointing a finger of his frankly too large of a hand at you and then basically saying: "I want that one, that one's mine". Actually no, he did say exactly those words as you remember faintly chucking a dictionary of law at his head, thinking he'll abduct you or something.

And that's how six years later you were moved in. And he had invaded every part of your life, with his kind words, sopping eyes and chiselled chin.

As Taehyung slowly drifted to sleep, eyes falling heavier, his hand is intertwined with yours. And as you'll go to sleep yourself, despite him having his own bed, inexplicably you'll wake up with his breath against the back of your head.

Which was strange you know. You don't even remember agreeing to be friends with him. But steady as a clockwork, lo' and behold, at two in the morning, Taehyung's thigh squirms in between yours and he sighs in content.

Bizarre to say the least.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asks in wonder, poking his very shirtless body through the crack in the bathroom doors, toothbrush hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Out?"

"Wait, lemme comme with."

"Can I go out on my own? As the big girl that I am?" you huffed dryly, brows furrowed.

"No," he replied with a smile. Then you walk side by side you glare at your hands, swaying together in the warm air.

"A crazy question, one I'm just putting out there, will you ever...leave?" you ask with a faint frown. There might just be this...supposition, guesswork if you will, in your mind that it might just be that somehow you're...Taehyung's partner now.

"Hmm," he makes an act of pondering it out. "No, no, I don't think I will. Unless you kick me out."

Kick him out. Why didn't you? When previous lovers threw fits about Taehyung always being near, you parted with them with nary of guilt because they were...not your rock. Your rock and safe space had become this strange, occasionally vampiric-looking, a cardigan-loving friend of yours. But he never vocalized it. Or so you thought. He was always teasing you about being hard of emotional hearing, now that you thought about it.

You halted in the middle of the sidewalk and he turns to glimpse at you, curious.

"Taehyung...are you...in love with me?"

Astonishingly, he bursts into a peal of laughter.

"I have been for years now," he chuckles light-heartedly. "Though thank you for finally noticing."

"Wh-why didn't you say something? Anything?"

An expression of deep fondness settles on his face and it warms you like the late summer sun.

"I say "I love you" every day, dumbass. I've chased after you for like six years now. Oh, god," he gasps, sounding suddenly absolutely horrified. "Six years of my life wasted chasing after your stupid head. Oh, I'm an idiot."

"So a moron for a moron, a match made in lower intelligence," you grumble and he snorts at it, crossing the distance once more. When he takes your hand it feels weird for a second. But only for one. You ask yourself what will change and realize - not much.

"That we are Mrs Kim," he coos with a broad grin. "Great! Now I can show you the plans for our shared tombstone I sketched back in the university!"

JUNGKOOK: "He's...will he be staring like that for the entire evening?" your friend asks timidly, voice nearly overshadowed even by the pleasant music of the brunch place. You glimpse over your shoulder to find him aimlessly lounging around. When meeting your gaze, his lips, almost involuntary, spread into a wide grin as his nose scrunches in a manner that is inappropriate for any self-respecting bodyguard. He at least gathers that and sobers with a stern cough.

"Yeah, he's just...my...finance manager," lamely, you trail off but at least they believe it. Considering the last three months it wasn't that believable.

"In a twist of miraculous fate, a poor vintage boutique worker becomes the sole inheritor of the Durhanan Estate," she quotes with a mysterious smile and you squirm awkwardly as you always did when it was bought up. Six years of lawsuits had rendered the luck into a frenzied fever dream one you thought would never come to fruition. Even when the final decision was laid to rest and the lawyers of your great-grandfather popped their champagnes with cheery eyes it all felt so distant. Like a different life. That feeling, you find out, never left.

"Yeah, it's...crazy," you chuckled self-consciously.

"So is the old house haunted?" she questions leaning over the table with keen interest, though every once in a while her gaze does stray worryingly to where Jungkook was standing.

"It's just creepy. It's big...and old," you confess perhaps colouring it with hues too bold, knowing only the answer such as this would satisfy her interest. It was old and entirely too big (who needed thirty-four rooms) but with Jungkook it was less lonely, less of a ghost house and more of a...

No, it's stupid, don't say it, you think to yourself.

"So now that you're rich," she throws a not-so-small of judgemental look over the crystal glass of mimosa. "Will you be forgetting all about us?"

"No," you assure her. "This means nothing. It's just a change of...housing."

But she only scoffs in reply. You think you might not have your best friend much longer.

"You look unhappy," Jungkook reckons quietly, whilst driving back to the Durhanan estate. A nearly 300-year chateau hidden within an unnamed forest deep in the countryside. Once the chief story of the local children's ghost tales and now - your home.

Of sorts.

"I'm just tired," you deny, peering into the rolling landscape of the wilting greenery. A rougher hand suddenly rests atop of yours, stopping them from ripping the skin around the fingernails. Your face swelters with heat and you gently remove his palm.

You were his boss and this was...this was not appropriate.

But Jungkook has other ideas and despite there being thirty-four rooms and whooping nine acres of gardens there's hardly any escape from him.

"My lady, oh, my lady," he calls across the gravel path leading down into the overgrown, ivy-ridden paths. He runs up to you and then gently tucks the bloom of one of the wild roses ravaging the grounds behind your ear. He tries to suppress the smirk on his face and narrows his eyes against the glaring sun.

"You're...you," he stutters. "You doing anything special, tonight?"

You don't quite know why but that question, posed so innocently and presumably out of a need to start a conversation, makes you laugh. It was only you two here, no wifi, piss-poor electricity and the nearest town, a village actually, was thirty-minute drive away and the only thing interesting there was a two-room corner shop.

"Wondering whether we're going to be killed by demons, yes," you laughed lightly.

"I was just wondering whether we could bust out the old reliable solitaire in the library?"

You sigh but it falls more endeared than annoyed.

"Jungkook, stop trying to seduce me."

At first, his face seems to be crestfallen only for a cheeky smirk to appear.

"Trying?" he echoed and slightly leaned into you. A gust of sharp wind broke through the gardens and in sync you glanced at the sky above your heads. A cluster of dark clouds was gathering in the south.

"Let's go in," he urges softly but his body standing behind you flames your back.

A thunder was ripping outside like something crazy, rattling the panes of the window so hard you fretted they would shatter at some point. And the house screamed. Every breeze of the wind seemed to tear into the old floorboards as though they were alive.

Ghosts are not real, ghosts are not real, ghosts are not-

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

You screamed your lungs out, lunging towards the golden candelabra perched on the bedside table.

"You're alright? Are you okay?" Jungkook's voice swims through the dark and you exhale in loud relief.

"Do not! Scare me like that!"

After a moment and a creak of the old floor comes a bashful.

"Sorry."

Another crack of lightning. In the brief flash, you see him standing, unsure but not leaving. It was a bodyguard's duty to protect and he always took his duty quite seriously. Even if this duty was simply to protect you from any unwanted journalists and stalkers where there was none leaving him practically with nothing to do.

"Should I stay here? Protect you...from the storm?"

You raise an eyebrow.

"The storm? That is-"

CRACK!

"Yes, please and thank you," you whimper and not even a second later, the side of your bed dips.

Crickets might as well be chirping at the moment.

"Do you want to hold my hand?" he offers, sweetly, oh so sweetly as if he wasn't a little demon wearing a cheap halo. But still, the house continues its wail. How many lives had been lost in these walls? What stories did they tell?

You didn't want to know and so you agree but as he takes your palm, your hand lands on a very firm set of muscles.

"Jungkook, please retake 9th-grade biology, your six-pack is not a hand."

"It emits the same level of comfort."

He trails your hand higher, over his pecks and lands right on his heart. It drums like a fevered bird underneath your fingertips.

"Why are you so nervous?" you hum and he rolls on his side and settles himself onto the pillow.

"Because I like you. And you like me. Even if you pretend that you don't."

"It's really not ap-"

"Appropriate?" he finishes and then tugs his hands over your waist pulling you closer. "Perhaps not but you know what happens in the spooky old mansion, stays in the spooky old mansion."

His warm palm cups your cheek, stroking it with a dizzied smile.

"And if it doesn't, I'm a really good runner, so you can scurry all you like," a pause. His hand presses you even closer.

© soraviii/soraviie 2022-2023

[msookyspooky]

Slashers at a Haunted House

Severen please😳😩

Meant to post this over the weekend!!

Slashers at a Haunted House:

Severen Van Sickle

18+ • Short Story Imagines • GN!Reader x Severen from Near Dark • Smut • Exhibitionist/Voyeur • Fear & Adrenaline • Blood & Gore • Power Dynamics • Slight CNC • Oral with GN!Reader Recieving / AFAB & AMAB Anatomy • Sketchy Sex in Public Places

"C'mon! Don't tell me yer scared of this lil spook shack." Severen teased with a lopsided grin. In that thick Texas drawl that sounded like it was from back when drawing guns and robbing train cars was a thing.

You huffed, arms folded as you saw the very sketchy haunted house in the rough part of town that barely had anyone here. "N-No it's just out of our way is all." You lied. Still human and very much still vulnerable to fear.

Severen grinned wider, his filed down teeth sharpened points that he flaunted anytime of year. Fall was just less questioning. "Aw, c'mon now. Don't tell me I'm dating a chicken shit scared of some guys in masks with ugly faces popping out at ya!"

You rolled your eyes, pouting a bit. "I am not that scar- AH!!" You screamed so much louder than you intended when a scare actor ran up on you out of nowhere in the dark parking lot.

Severen laughed loudly, head thrown back in the hearty gleefully impish way he did as the scare actor stalked away to find a new victim. "Ha! Aww, you really are a scaredy cat, aren't ya angel?" He cooed between snickers.

You glared at him knowing he saw the damn actor rushing you and said nothing.

He just drew you closer to him with a firm grip. "Hey...We're gonna have fun, alright? You'll see, sweetheart...Besides, have I ever hurt you or led you to some place you would get hurt?" He gave you a charming sideways smile.

You raised a brow because he has accidentally done both. He rolled his dark blue eyes with a tsk. "Gee, ya got so much faith in me I'm blushin' from the love I'm feelin' here."

You smirked a little at his sarcasm. "Okay...Fair enough. But I hope you know I'm going to be hanging onto you the entire time."

"That's the point!" He smiled "You can grip me as tight as you want. Break a rib or two; it'll just get me goin'." He whispered huskily in your ear. You ducked your head a bit with a smile.

His spurs jangled as you both walked in. You were excited but he seemed so chill. Like he was at an art museum not a haunted house with people in dark tight spaces jumping out at you.

You both were led to a room were a demonic 'birth' happened and the scare actor told some story to set the tone of the place. Severen heckled a tad just to nudge you and get a smirk or two but other than that he just had his hands in his pockets with you in front of him.

As soon as it came time to move through the scare house rooms; you instantly felt your adrenaline pumping. Going through an old wild west room with skeltons and outlaws wasn't too bad till a damn corpsey looking skeleton dropped from above down at you. You jolted back into Severen as he giggled and held you still.

"Calm down, sweetheart! It's just an old dusty bag of bones. You see Jess everyday; This should be nothin."

Okay, you did chuckle a bit at that as he grinned and moved you both on through. "Jesse would kick your ass if he heard that."

Severen laughed. "Ha! I'd like to see the ole saddlebag try!"

Even if you knew he was joking and deeply respected Jesse. Hell, Jesse was probably the only creature alive that made Severen behave himself.

You went through a 'cabin' with a bunch of inbred mutant hillbillies yelling and jumping out of walls. Banging pots and having fake guts that smelled putridly close to the real thing near you. Severen grinned like a kid at a candyshop while you were hiding in his jacket.

One tried to scare him and he hissed at them, showing off his teeth and the scare actor backed away. You could tell the actor didn't know what to say having gotten out of character as Severen just smiled and walked you and him on through.

"See? You don't got nothin' to worry 'bout. Jus' a bunch of loud fucks jumping out hollarin'... 'Boo!' He quickly grabbed your sides and you jumped before chuckling and shoving him away. All before an animatronic zombie sprung from the wall withering and groaning and scared the shit out of you enough to grab ahold of him again.

Severen got a good laugh out of that as you exclaimed, "Fuck this place!" Even if you were smirking a bit.

He gave a huffing sort of chuckle and slung an arm around you as he forced you through the next room. Strobe lights, a putrid smell in the air, a body jerking on a medical table and another one covered.

"Uh uh!" You mumbled trying to turn but he just turned you back around snickering while trying to push you forward. Using a quarter of his strength as you put your brakes on.

He sighed heavily. "Fiinne, I'll go first chicken shit." He dragged you behind him and you realized that was a mistake because they waited till he was halfway in before the one on the table jumped out at you and another sprung out from a hidden door in the wall. You practically jumped on Severen's back and he just stood there grinning. Letting the scare actors get up in his face to try and scare him as he looked downright out amused. He made a wise crack about health insurance to the doctors and then they just tried focusing on you as you, no matter what your size, dragged Severen by the arm out of there as he laughed his ass off. Tripping over his own two feet in his boots at being off balance by you.

"Okay, okay! We're goin'. Relax!" He laughed as you both rounded the corner to a much creepier area.

Some makeshift butcher shop that was almost completely dark with a few red lights. Fake dead bodies and body parts everywhere and a smell that imitated blood.

You cringed, "Ugh, this is neat but I hate it." You whined a bit having fun but also your human heart beating out of your chest.

"Really?" Severen commented taking a big whiff. "Smells as good as cherry pie to me!" He winked at you. "Though not as good. Guess comparing some artificial bullshit fragrance from the real thing."

You weren't even listening to him. Too preoccupied in what was happening. An animatronic dropped from the ceiling as a dead body right over top of his head and he just looked annoyed for the first time tonight when it dropped too low. All before a human scare actor jumped out at the same time and maybe it was the blood smell distracting him or the animatronic or too many distractions for even a vampire to comprehend it all but a guy with a butcher knife tried to grab Severen...And in a harsh motion Severen just instinctively lashed at him and sent him flying into the wall.

Your eyes widened and even Severen looked a bit surprised. "...Oops." He mumbled with a slight bewildered smirk.

The guy groaned, yelling out in pain as a rib or two was definitely broken. Severen sighed, shrugging at you before walking up to him and picking him up by the back of his head. "Welp, looks like the butcher is getting chopped. Can't have you gossiping...I'm damn hungry any." He joked while slamming the guy against the wall. "All this imitation blood is makin' me hungry as a tired hound!"

The guy grunted and tried to fight Severen and he just gripped his head and started slowly twisting to snap his neck in a quick death. "How's 'bout I show ya what actual blood smells like?" Severen purred out with a grin.

The victim he had threw the butcher knife and you yelped as it cut your arm...Jesus Christ, was that real!? Severen's eyes flared, sneering as he ripped the guys head clean off...CLEAN...OFF. You had never seen him do that! The sound of you yelping and smelling your blood set him on edge like no other as he ripped his head off and with the angle the guy was decapitated; that blood from the bodies arteries in the neck spurted out all over you like a damn water gun when he accidentally aimed it at you when he jerked to see if you were okay.

Blood went EVERYWHERE! On your face, your chest, your stomach and legs. Soaking over your clothes that didn't cover much anyways with you being down South in the fall. Your mouth hung open in shock as you outstretched your hands looking down at your body dripping red. The metalic smell hitting you in the face.

Severen cringed. "...Oops...."

You sighed heavily looking irritated but defeated as your entire everything was soaked in sticky hot blood.

Severen clicked his tongue against his teeth with a sheepish smirk. "Sorry, sugar...C'mon! The guy was askin' for it!..." He then came towards you with a concerned look. "Ya alright?"

You forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He grabbed your arm. "Liar." He muttered as he gently brought your arm up seeing more blood on that arm dripping to your fingertips. "I can smell yer blood type anywhere, angel...YN...Yer bleedin' too much. That bastard really got ya." He lowered his head to smell.

"I'm fine."

He lowered his face more not letting to of your arm. "No, yer bleedin'." Releasing a shuddering breath and letting his warm wet tongue swipe firmly across the cut. Savoring your taste as his eyes closed. It kept bleeding as he darted his tongue out, lapping little licks over the thin cut before gently sucking. It missed arteries but it still bled.

You felt your stomach flip and heat rise in you. "U-Uh, it's okay...."

"Then let me clean you up. No use letting it all go to waste." He mused while kissing the cut. Groaning to himself at the flavor of you on his lips.

"Um, you're uh...You're wasting blood over there already." You mumbled with wide eyes at the headless body in a pool of its own blood a few feet away.

"No, I ain't." He corrected as he licked a splatter of the man's blood off your arm. "Besides, I ain't licking floor blood. What do ya take me for? A damn dog?" He teased with a husky voice. Blue eyes still hooded as he lapped at your skin. Licking down your arm and wrist before he brought your hand up to dart his tongue out in tickling licks to flicker over your fingertips like the tease he was before sucking your fingers clean of any blood that dripped down your arm.

You were definitely flustered, loins doing that tingling heat thing as you looked at his heavy lidded eyes gazing at you as he sucked and kissed your fingers. "S-Sev! Someone will come in-"

"No they won't." He reassured as he picked you up with his inhuman strength and pinned you to a wall in the corner. Knocking a few props away with his boot. "If they do? We'll jus' say it was part of the act."

He swiped his tongue over your neck and throat, grazing his razor sharp teeth over your vocal cords as you whimpered before licking a firm trail of his tongue up to your mouth. Kissing you deeply with a groan low in his throat. Gripping you and licking the blood from your face and lips before forcing you to taste it on his tongue. You didn't like the taste, still human and the amount of blood not appealing and yet you didn't hate it either. Not when it was him.

He pulled away, blood on his lips; making them look more full while tinted red. He grinned. That euphoria hitting like it always did with blood. Like the sexiest most happiest most wonderful drug as they described it.

They all pointed at the dead bloody, raving how realistic this was before leaving. Severen chuckled at how flustered you were. "Not the best acting abilities babe but with looks like this? Who needs it." He mused as he sucked at your bare nipples/sucked your nipples through whatever garment you had and you whined at the hot rush pulsing between your legs.

You gasped sharply as he ripped your drenched blood red shirt off of you in one clean jerk and you faltered with big eyes. He sucked on the fabric a bit in his hand trying to get that blood before dipping down to lap at the flesh before him. Sliding and swirling and flicking his tongue over your chest and navel. You covered your mouth with heat rising in you. Eyes darting around as you were scared someone might see. You saw a group of people going by and ducked your head in embarrassment at being exposed. Severen blocked you, grinning a bloody sharp toothed grin over his shoulder while looking like he was a scare actor 'eating' another scare actor.

"Sev, please...We'll get caught..."

"Sshhhhhh." He hushed as he kissed down your navel while turning you so you weren't too immodest to any passing people. "Best part? You can scream as loud as ya want and no one will be the wiser, darlin'." He swirled his tongue with a smirk at the blood on your stomach and worked his way down before impatiently sliddinhlg your pants down.

You covered your mouth tighter as he slid your pants and or underwear down to your upper thigh. Just enough to lick what was important. The blood from your shirt had smeared onto your pelvis and he greedily licked his tongue over your skin in firm, flat swipes.

You quivered a little feeling his tongue getting closer to your sex. You were throbbing, heat pooling down there as he smirked up at you. Kneeling on one knee with a satisfied groan like growl coming from his throat. "Mm...Someone's excited."

"B-Because you're..." You trailed off.

He giggled, "Don't go blaming me. I can smell it on ya a mile away just from licking your fingers but this?-" He gently swiped a finger over your privates to collect the liquid your body was producing already whether pre-cum or slickness. It was A LOT on his finger tips. Your body knew what it wanted before you did. Practically dripping as you whimpered at his finger swiping over such a sensitive spot. He continued, "This? What a naughty lil darlin' I have...Hmm."

He blew air on you down there as you flinched. "What should I do to such a naughty thing, hmm? I mean gee...I done cleaned off all the blood. What else is there?" He mockingly gave with faux innocence.

God damn, he was gonna make you say it?! His teasing was ridiculous!

"S-Sev please."

"Please what?" He asked blue eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Please...Lick me."

He hummed. "Ooh...Like here?" He purposely barely licked near you. Tongue flicked at your inner thigh. "Here?" He fluttered his tongue on your pubic area so close yet not touching the throbbing that you needed touched to cum. "Well gosh, YN! How am I supposed to know if you won't say it?" He remarked with a smirk.

"...Please...Lick my...Cock/Pussy."

Severen grinned like a Cheshire Cat laughing at how flustered you were. "Well why didn't ya jus' say so? Sure, baby. I'll lick ya...I'll lick ya reeaalll good." He drew out with a husky chuckle before diving his head down.

You had to cover your mouth as a strained cry tried to escape. His tongue in flat, wet, firm strokes lapped at the tip/your clit.

Jesus! He didn't warm up or even tease like he normally did. Just those firm but flexible laps as wetness collected on his tongue. Your hips twitched at the urupt stimulation. He grunted at your taste as he closed his eyes and had uour hips in a death grip. His rough hands holding them firmly as you could feel his cool metal rings on your warm skin. He kept a pace he knew you liked. No teasing, just him wanting you to come undone on his mouth in a public place.

He dived back down, replacing his hand with his mouth. Careful when sucking and licking you from his filed down teeth. You barely felt his sharp teeth so delicate it almost tickled as he held your hips still so he didn't accidentally hurt you. His tongue warm and wet with saliva as he spreaded your own liquids with his tongue. Groaning into you as his tongue lapped faster. Right underneath your tip/clit as you tried so hard not to cry out but failed. A strained groan falling from your mouth...It just made him be firmer with the base of his tongue. Going up and down, side to side, fluttering, swirling. He was an insatiable greedy menace lapping and licking like a madman.

He used his hand to replace his tongue. Firmly rubbing you to talk. "Don't be shy, baby. Cry, moan, hollar. Ain't no one gonna know what's what in here." His hand moved faster, fingers dancing lightly in a fast pace over your skin as you trembled and gasped out a moan. Unable to control it, unable to move away with his iron grip, people being able to pass by at anytime.

"That's my darlin'."

You gripped the wall behind you, chest rising and falling as your groans and whimpers and moans were more urgent. You couldn't keep quiet with what he was doing. Your adrenaline pumping so much from the fear of being caught.

Then he added a hand. What his mouth couldn't do because of his teeth or the position; he did with his fingers. Grasping your aching cock firmly to pump / inserting not one but two fingers into that slick needy heat to stretch you out deliciously and rub at your g spot. All while his tongue and mouth sucked and licked making smacking noises in between his moans. His eyes hooded as he was enjoying doing this as much as you were recieving.

Your hips went from flinching away to lightly bucking against his face. He chuckled in his throat before growling a low rumble in his chest that vibrated in his throat as he kept up a firm fast pace.

Loud moans were coming out of you. Head back as he was relentless.

A group of people came by and you felt fear grip you at them seeing you in the dark-ish corner, red light refelecting on you. Trying to cover your upper body and Severen feverishly lapping at you. His head of dark hair blocking the view of your genitals thank god but they still looked...And Severen purposely pumped you harder. Hand tighter / Fingers firmer as you felt the heat erupting in you against your will.

"Nnnoo! DONT!! PLEASE DON'T!" You yelled out breathlessly. Before screaming. Absolutely throwing your head back and releasing a groaning scream right as these people walked by all before an animatronic on the opposite side of the room jumped out at them and they ran screaming themselves...They thought your pleas and screams were part of the act.

You gripped Severen's hair hard and rode your orgasm out when he wouldn't stop. Bucking your hips with teeth gritted and a low growling groan escaping you as all that pleasure tingled every part of you. Erupting inside you and then fizzling out. He kept going and it overstimulated so bad you jerked his hair harshly to the point you could've ripped it out.

"Ow! Babe, that hurts...I can handle a truck hittin' me, a shotgun, cold cocked in the jaw, stabbed but hair pulling is off limits...Shit hurts!" He pouted and pulled away. He smirked soon after as he drew his fingers away from you and licked any cum he might've missed; clean.

You stared down at him, panting. You almost slid down the wall from the intense orgasm you just had as he quickly stood up and braced you. "Easy there...That was so good. That's my baby. You were s' damn sexy...Taste s' good on my tongue." He praised in a husky whisper in your ear while holding you and kissing your head.

You were limp a moment. If you could purr you would. That was one of the best you ever had and so kinky in public and just...Memorable for sure. And how he treated you made you weak kneed.

He giggling a bit. "C'mere." He hugged you a second. "I'd love to stand here holdin' ya, sweetie...Buuutttt-" He gestured to the body.

Reality set in as you realized you had no shirt now. You both heard the scare actors yelling and talking to each other a room away and you panicked. He shrugged off his jacket then his over-sized red flannel he wore. He quickly gave it to you, whether it was too tight or too loose didn't matter. As long as it covered you enough to get out of here. Your shirt he ripped off was evidence and would've been a red flag as soon as you exited anyways.

He slung an arm around you to support you as you pulled your pants up and adjusted his flannel.

"Welp, time to head out. This was fun, YN." He mused as he quickly led you away to get out of here before scare actors realized he killed their coworker and police were called. If you did get on camera; it wouldn't be the first. The clan was good at evading cops and hiding as vampires.

Once through the rooms he slowed his pace. Having his arm around you with a leisure stride and smile. Boots jangling with his spur on each step. The security guard stared at you both...Eyeing the red on your dark pants but it wasn't as noticeable as your old now destroyed shirt was. You and Severen smiled and walked out the building. Scott free.

He leaned down. Whispering to you. "Close one. Nights young. How bout we get to some place private so we can keep having fun."

You eagerly nodded with a smirk still on an adrenaline rush you just did what you did and just as excited to return the favor. He stopped a moment to kiss you, lifting your chin to let his lips meet yours before you both just smirked at each other and kept walking. The night was his. It was his playground and he was like an excited teen boy in love rather than a centuries old vampire so ready to show you his world. You didn't know how long you'd be human but not long. You were too enraptured with him, with the night that how could you not?

For now, he lifted you up with the strength of a superhuman as he rushed with you to the nearest motel. Both of you laughing and in love and needed to touch and get as much lust out as possible.

[ellraiser]

Year In Review

Hey friends, and happy new year <3 I hope you all had a lovely break and are ready for the 2025!

Here's a little recap of what I've been up to this past year:

Personal

2024 was the first year of me doing gamedev full-time, for the whole year! It's certainly different to back when I was making APICO on the side of a full-time job (and later freelance work). I feel a lot more pressure that what I make has to be 'good', and by 'good' I mean good enough to pay the rent.

With a lot of APICO's gameplay, I just did what I personally thought would be fun, and the end result is a weird combination of things but those who get it, love it. With Mudborne I've been trying to do the same thing, but I have a lot more worries about certain mechanics or moments that I wouldn't have if it wasn't tied to keeping the lights on.

I can't say I'd ever go back to my old job all the time I can sustain myself making games (the big red date on my whiteboard tells me I have until October 2026 until I run out of money!), but it definitely has been a noticeable change doing art for money instead of hobby.

With APICO done, all the games I'm making are all in my own engine built on top of the LÖVE framework, and it's made things so much quicker to create. At the time of writing Mudborne is very nearly finished up, and it's taken only 8 months in total working full-time on it. I'd love to get into a place where I can comfortably making a game every year or so, without feeling rushed. I have so many different ideas I'd love to make, and only so much time!

APICO

APICO had it's 3rd and final (sorry) content update, "A Hive Of Industry". This update added a bunch of automation machines, plus a lot of stuff you all asked for, including pets, decoration and a butt-tonne of QoL tweaks.

I've also done a few little bug fix patches here and there which I'm sure gave you all a bit of false hope on new content when the download queued! It was nice to finally 'finish' up APICO - sometimes I wish I never did any of the content updates but I think looking at it now I'm happy with where it ended up, even if it's still a lil janky and bloated and I think all the art looks wack.

I'd love to come back to it one day, in a seperate game. When I drew up the new credit postcards (above) I had fun invisioning a game where you do go to the mainland and help clean up the environment using your bees. I think it'd be nice to take the same APICO gameplay, streamline some of it and make it all fit better (especially the money making side), and then expand the bees to all have functions in restoring nature.

However I think that'll need to wait a while as I have 2 game children screaming at me to finish, and a bunch of other ideas I want to get started on!

===

Synthesis

I don't often join gamejams, mostly because of the time limits they have, or I just don't personally have any time - but in 2024 I joined the LÖVE Jam, for games made with the framework.

I was still learning the framework at the time and tinkering with the engine I'd made to create the Snacktorio demo, so I thought it'd be a good opportunity to have a break from the APICO stuff that was getting me down at the time, and learn a bit more of the framework.

I was really happy with the end result - 'Synthesis'. I wanted to make a puzzle game with different modules like what you get with old patch synthesisers. As you mess with the different modules it changes the patterns drawn until you eventually come across the combination needed to match the required shape.

I also made a point not to ever explain any module's function - you just learn through doing very basic levels and then the rest you just learn overtime by doing. I wanted it to feel very experimenty for the player.

It was really fun to put this together! I had 10 days and pretty much used them all. I also did the music for it because I wanted to start practicing music creation for Mudborne, and was interesting in having the music 'evolve' with the puzzle progress.

I think it'd be cool to revisit one day as a 'full' game, as you could have lots of different module types and interactions, and let players connect modules themselves in different orders which then affects the outcome.

If you want to check out the game you can get it over on itch.io here: https://ellraiser.itch.io/synthesis

===

Mudborne

Ah Mudborne, my beloved. I've spent what feels like an eternity working on this game, when it's only been 8 months. I think I've stared at frogs more than I have the real world, but I've enjoyed pretty much every part of it.

It's been an interesting process, first I did like concept art for the rough game, and worked on all the individual mechanics - then I worked on the actual world development and story and tied it all together.

After the new demo was finished up, I spent a long time just designing the entire world and how everything connects, then piecing together the story. The writing in this one was definitely a killer as I've never written like a proper big story, let alone one with a few twists and turns. 

I wanted something players could piece together themselves, and get clues from all over the place to work out certain things, so there was a lot involved in making sure it all fit together nicely. At the time of writing this I've just finished up all the final dialogue lines, and now it's just a lot of drawing and polish left to go.

I'm planning to do a private playtest this month for the first time, so I can try and streamline any tutorialisation stuff and see if I've made things a bit _too_ difficult. I'm pretty confident it's a fun game but it's weird how hard it gets to judge that the longer you work on making the game.

Once the playtest is over it'll just be some last little bits to tweak and any changes to make and it'll be ready to release! Crazy to think it'll be my second published game.

===

As for 2025, I'm not sure yet what I'll be doing! The only thing I do know is Mudborne will be released this year, which is very exciting, I just can't say when yet. After that, I'm not sure - I'll need a long break that's for certain. I'd like to start working on Snacktorio proper and get that finished, but it depends on my brothers workload  (he still has a 'real' job). He did a lot of the work on the game design of Snacktorio and has a good idea for the levels, so I wouldn't want to really do it without him.

If he is free, then I imagine Snacktorio will get polished off this year, maybe an early 2026 release! If not then I'll just have to work down the list to the next game idea and get started...

A big thank you to everyone who played any of my games in 2024, all of the new APICO players, returning players for the 4.0 update, froggy friends excited for mudborne - without all of you I wouldn't be able to do this and I'm extremely grateful. Here's to 2025! ~ Ell

[lilmissasap]

boxer boy pt.2

warnings: swearing, use of the n word, grammarly edited, proofread, nun too serious

a/n: giggled while writing this

w/c: 2.1k ish

published: august 7, 2023

That Saturday, the air was brisk and slightly windy from the fire escape outside Kori’s bedroom where she and Lilac were doing homework

“So you met that guy right?” 

“Which guy? Can I use your sleeve, my uniform doesn’t clean my glasses right” 

“Blind-ass. Sure,” Lilac sighs,  rolling her eyes “That guy I was telling you about?” 

“Thanks,” Kori mumbles, pulling the spectacles off their nose “I mean, I met a guy, he’s cool I guess,”

“Yeah? What’s his name?” 

“Miles,” 

“What’s he look like?” 

“Don’t you have English homework to do?” 

“It’s just some stupid notes on some random-ass personal narrative we read in class.” she sighs “Tell me about this boy,” 

“Ion know shit about this boy, Lilac, all I know is he likes my shoes and knows Kendrick Lamar,”  they reply “Why does it matter?” 

“Because it’s a boyyyyyyy, you been all busy in them lil classrooms in shit,” 

“I ain't busy I’m focused, there's a difference” 

“Yeah whatever, do you think he’s cute?” 

“I dunno, I barely spoke to him,” 

“What? I bust my ass trying to find you a friend and you barely spoke to him,” 

“You literally just texted someone, calm down,” 

“Same thing, come on K dot, you know what I mean,” 

A sigh, then an eye roll. 

“Do your homework, Lilac,”

“You’re no fun,” 

Did Kori think Miles was attractive? It’s hard to tell, they just met for heaven's sake, what was it supposed to be a love-at-first-sight thing? He’s literally just a guy, Kori knows plenty of guys. 

“So, what about that girl, Kori?” 

“What about her?” 

Jakobi pointedly glares at Miles, popping his head out from behind the bag. 

“What?” 

“Miles, nigga, can you not be so hard-headed for once?”  

“What?” 

“Would you take a hint?” 

“I already told you, ain’t lookin for a girl,” 

“She doesn’t have to be your girl man, I’m just tryna get you out there,” 

Miles pauses and steps back from the bag swiveling his head to look at Jakobi. 

“Fuck’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You been different since your dad man, I’m just trying to get you more Miles, bruh, that’s all. Nun too serious,” 

“Nigga–” 

“I get that the process is different for everybody, but come on your dad wouldn’t want you to be this fucked up about it for this long,” 

“Yeah, whatever,” 

“So? What’s Kori like?” 

“They’re aight I guess, cool shoes,” 

“Other than they shoes, bruh” 

“Nice hair I guess, you want the bag?” 

“Stop changing the subject, and yes I do,” 

The two briefly switch spots. 

“So?” 

“What?” 

“You want to get to know her at all or?” 

“I guess,” 

“That’s enough for me,” 

“Can you actually jab?” 

“Shut the fuck up,”  

The following Monday, the air was light and chilly while a snake of less than enthusiastic students make their way up to Visions Academy. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” 

“Hi, Miles.” Kori turns, pulling out their earbuds, “How was your weekend?” 

Falling into step beside her, Miles shrugs. 

“Aight I guess, training, and then homework, you?” 

“Training?” 

“Boxing,” 

“Oh tight, my grandfather used to watch old matches when I was little,” 

“You box?” 

They snort. Miles pauses, examining the air around the two of them, Kori’s face more specifically. How her nose turns up and how their mouth stubbornly contorts and twists up into a smile, how there's just barely a gap between her two front teeth. Not too serious for braces.

“Fuck no, ‘m not coordinated enough for that,” 

“Yeah? Doubt it,” 

“Fuck you mean ‘doubt it’?” 

“All I’m saying is I see what you be painting in AP art, that's not uncoordinated,” 

“Keeping tabs on me, Morales?” 

“You wish,” 

“Whatever,” 

Oh shit.  

“I’m just saying, what you be doing has to have some sort of coordination,” 

“Not really,” 

Miles raises his brow. 

“Girl, be for real wimme right now,” 

“I am being for real,” 

“So them lil characters you be painting, no coordination?” 

Was Miles looking at her paintings? 

“Nah,” 

“Girl that's bullshit if I’ve ever heard it,” 

“I guess there's some coordination behind it, Ion think so though,” 

“So, who’s your favorite boxer?” 

“Adonis Creed?” 

It’s Miles’ turn to snort and Kori’s turn to observe. Miles had slight dimples on both sides of his face, and his braids traveled with him. Bright white teeth hidden behind a full pair of lips, but his bottom lip was bigger than the top lip. His nose crinkled slightly, but mostly from the side.  

Oh fuck.

“Are you for real?” 

“Partially,” 

“For real, though” 

“Tyson prolly, I’d say Ali, but that's cliché” 

“Them cats is intense,” 

Oh shit. 

“I guess, they’re good though,” 

“Yeah, they are,” 

“Where you transfer from?” 

“What?” 

“I mean, Ian seen you around here since last month,” 

“Maybe you jus aint look in the right places,” 

“I got eyes everywhere,” 

“Oscasio Charter in Brooklyn Heights,” 

“Oh no shit, my boy goes there,” 

“Small world,” 

“Hey, so–” 

The two get cut off by the warning bell. 

“See you in art,” 

“Uh, yeah, see you,” 

What the fuck just happened? 

Six hours later, Miles bounds down the stairs to the unusually full gym, meaning there were only two extra heads in the gym. But shit adds up. And, Kori was there? Alongside an unfamiliar face and Jakobi. The air in the gym was unusually stuffy and hung heavily in the air. 

“Aye, Ma–” 

“Jakobi, nigga get the fuck off Kori,” 

“Ain’t nobody say I was talking to her,” 

“Ion want your raggedy ass neither,” 

“Yeah, alright,” 

“Kori?” 

“Oh, hi,” 

“I thought you ain’t box,” 

“Lilac wanted to try it,” 

She waves from behind Kori. 

“Oh,” 

“Yeah,” 

“Miles!”  

“That’s Alexei, I’ll see you, Kori,” 

“Yeah, see you,” 

They turn around to a seemingly bursting Lilac. 

“Girl what was that?: 

“What was what?” 

“You’re so ridiculous,”  

“What?” 

“Nevermind,” 

“Okay, you tying your gloves wrong,” 

“Smartass,” 

Lilac was off, somewhere learning the ropes from that Jakobi guy and so Kori was off and alone. Too nervous to leave Lilac alone, because this was an all-guy gym, they decide to look around. With wide eyes, they ogle at everything within a two-foot radius. The gym smelled pungent, but what else was she to expect from a boxing gym damn near next to the sewers in Brooklyn? Lightly running her hand on the wall, she walked the perimeter observing, the wall was a mixture of cool and damp. She gently began to weave in between the rows and rows of bags, eyeing anything and anyone in sight. Anyone including Miles. He was good, with clean technique, power exuding from each and every jab he threw, gentle muscles jumping out from under his muscle tee, sweat dotting his forehead and collecting on his brow. Eyes level and focused, slightly narrowed. Focused and… a little beautiful, not that Kori would ever admit it. 

“You wanna try?” 

Kori snaps out of their trance. 

“Hm?” 

“Wanna try?” 

“Oh, uh, I probably shouldn’t” 

“Oh right,” He breathes “Uncoordinated,” 

“You have an excellent memory,” 

“Just one punch?” 

Kori rolls her eyes and laughs, slowly trekking over to the bag Miles was stationed at. 

“Ion even know how to throw one,” 

“It’s easy, come here,” He gently tugs at their wrist, “It’ll be fine.” 

Sidling up behind her, his breath tickles at her neck, hands resting on their waist.

“This okay?” He whispers in their ear, breath hot on their neck. 

“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Miles,” 

“I know what I’m doing, now, put your legs shoulder width apart,” 

“Like this?” 

“Yeah, now bring your hand up and keep your elbows in,” His hands move to guide their arms, adjusting his head to rest on her shoulders. “And then extend your arm, but not all the way through, leave a little bend in your elbow,” He mumbles, guiding her arm forward so their knuckles lightly brush the leather of the bag

“Why aren’t I fully extending?” She whispers, breath lightly hitching in their throat.  

“So you don’t waste time trying to bring the fist back,” Miles tugs their arm back, gently leading her arm to their side again. 

“Oh,” 

“It’s about mostly about power, speed comes second,” He steps back, “Throw one again,” 

Throwing a gentle punch again, she complies and turns to look at him again, a smile dancing on their lips as she shoves their glasses up her nose. 

“Like that?” 

“Kinda, your recovery is a little on the slower side, but for a beginner, that was good,” 

“Told you,” she giggles stepping away from the bag. “Uncoordinated.”  

“Nah, you just need practice,” 

“Yeah, whatever, boxer boy,” 

“You’re a trip, Kori,” 

“I know.” They shrug “I got Astronomy homework, see you tomorrow Miles,” 

“Yeah, K dot, see you,” Miles replies, jogging backward and waving lightly.

“Lilac?” 

“GIRL–” 

“Tone it all the way down,” Kori yawns, rubbing their eyes, leaning back in her chair. 

“Whatever, what was that?” 

“My calculus homework, you interrupted it,” 

“Not that you nerd, at the gym earlier,” 

“What was what?” 

“Ugh, how thick skulled are you?” 

“Judging on your tone, very,” 

“Kori he likes you,” 

“Who?” 

“Oh my god, Miles,” 

“No, he doesn’t,” 

“I don’t think he teaches just anyone how to throw a punch, much less like that,” 

“Like what?” 

“All up behind you,” 

“Oh my god, it was nothing,” She knew full and well it wasn’t nothing. But Miles was just a boy. 

“Whatever, what’d your mom make tonight,” 

“I’m in the Visions dorms during the week,” 

“Ugh right.” She scoffs, “You think you can sneak out?” 

“Lilac,” 

“What?!?” 

Kori laughs, rolling her eyes. 

“I’ll see you later K dot,” 

“Bye Lilac, love you,” 

“Love you too, bye” 

And then Kori was alone, silence flooding the dorm as a gentle October breeze wheezes through the dorm. Again, she didn’t necessarily hate Visions, they just hated how it made her feel. Small, like, playground small. Sighing, they warily look out the window at the last sliver of sunset dancing over the buildings and streetlamps. Huffing and returning back to the last of her homework, they rest her head on her hand, back to solving calculus problems. 

Hours later, tying her braids into a scarf and lazily stuffing them into a bonnet, they lazily make their way to bed, rubbing their face and yawning. Flopping down onto the stiff Visions Academy mattress, she sighs and yawns staring at the ceiling, when there's an abrupt scream and a flash of purple outside her window. Stumbling across her dorm, tripping over stray textbooks, and sloppily driving her glasses up their nose, she presses against the window. 

“What?”   

Almost as if on cue, the flash of purple appears again dragging a semi-lifeless body behind it, tying it to a streetlight down the block from her dorm. The Prowler. Brooklyn’s finest vigilante, what seems like the only person looking out for the city, making it a little safer for everyone. Older women stayed out a little later, laughing on city buses, young children skipped rope on their stoops a little later each night, and Kori felt a little better, walking home from the bus stop.  

Adjusting herself to see a bit better, leaning up on her tiptoes and craning her neck she fuses her face to the window, what was going on? Quickly and quietly sliding the window open, they lean out and bracing their arms on the windowsill, craning her head as far as humanly possible. The Prowler’s claws are extracted from his metal gauntlet in one quick motion, as he stands menacingly over the seemingly lifeless body, waiting for it to make a move. 

From down the street, another figure jogs up and joins him. The second figure is clad in a black zip-up hoodie and a ratty pair of sweatpants, face covered by a surgical mask. But those eyes, Kori has to have seen them before, intense and focused, narrowed in concentration. Where had she seen them? As the almost-familiar figure bounds up to the Prowler's side, Prowler speaks in a deep, almost demonic, warbled voice.

“Clean it up,” 

Instantaneously, Prowler's gone, speeding down the street on a purple motorbike. The hooded figure sizes up the body slumped in front of a streetlight, throws its head back, and sighs. Frantically looking both ways down the street to find not a soul lurking, the silhouette pushes back their hood. Those braids. She had to have seen them somewhere, two cornrows, tightly woven onto their scalp with a slight taper fade sharply dividing the skull from the nape of their neck. 

“Miles?” Kori whispers, pulling herself back into her dorm and shutting the window in haste.

Oh shit. 

taglist: @lunarfleur @mayeluvsu @kombuuuuuuu @nagi3seastorm @n1cole-ghost @milesmolasses @hearts4hobie @hummusxx

a/n: bounce concepts off me in asks/ leave reqs

🩷 reblogs are always appreciated for reach <3

xoxo,

rae <3

[seth-burroughs]

mdarc chapter 1 rewatch part 3, and yes, i am aware of the massive pile of asks i have on all my blogs however as always i shall keep running. no don't stop sending them i absolutely appreciate the attention its just i need to mentally prepare two weeks in advance and cry in order to give a sufficient response. you should give it a try and converse with yours truly again some more if the thought of torturing and killing me slowly sounds fun and exciting to you👍

oh look its the child extortion scene

you would think halara, who's got all that trauma from having their family get scammed and destroyed by a friend* they trusted as a child, would be just a tiny bit less comfortable with swindling kids out of their money rn but like you know that's just my thoughts......

they're Reclaiming it <3

*listen. like i know i can't be the only one that thinks that way, but so far so many people ive seen that played this game just went through this gab and thought "oh wow a middle schooler just scammed them that is so crazy lmao", and like. i was under the impression that halara was the one in middle school the entire time, and their "best friend" was just some adult con artist that gained Halara's trust (or just flat out groomed them, honestly) so they could scam their parents. like, you do know this interpretation makes infinitely more sense than... very nefarious 12 year old manipulator investment scamming adults or whatever

has nobody already made a halara "fuck them kids" joke or do i gotta pull out that art program again

this child is like fucking what, five?? literally crying what is your PROBLEM halara...... halara i don't even think he understands half of whatever you're saying to him right now.....................

they didn't even give it back to kei they just tossed it over to yuma???????? lmao?????????

still. they're so fucking cool. i'm giving them the highest honor i can bestow (narcissistic personality disorder and massive autism)

AH WAIT I FORGOT WE ACTUALLY INVESTIGATE SHIT IN THIS GAME OOOOoooooh. ooooooooooh.

i forgot to read the report by the way

*points at jiei colan* SYMMETRY TOOL LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

oh holy shit wait canon age??? jiei is 48??? ok now that is information i am going to blast into my mind permanently and not like. anything slightly more important

casual fatphobia jumpscare

pink blood scene *nods solemnly*

holy shit i know exactly who the culprit is you wont believe it. im so fucking smart. im a genius im a fucking god fondle my nuts while you blow me

i can already feel seth approaching rapidly because my eyes are getting teary and my chest is doing really funny stuff right now. the sense went off

once he arrives i will keep a list of "memorable and beautiful things seth has done in all his 4 scenes" as well as "memorable and beautiful things desuhiko has done in the entire game or perhaps his life" and then compare once we finish. wish me luck

chapter 1 >>>>>>>>>> every other fucking chapter. i am going to kill a man on this hill

THERE HE COMES .

I'm twitching like hell right now. my muscles yearn for the burroughs

UUAAAAAIIIIIGIHUGFFYDFUUUUUGHGHHHHGAAAAAAAAAAGHUSYDGHSDUUUUUHHHHHHHHGGHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! H H

HE HIS STUPID FUCKIDGFG WALK

take that rain cape off you fucking coward this is kanai ward. noticed his lil fox symbol on his back and got reminded of wackpedion's religious seth post but im not gonna look for it now. but yeah he's 100% metal fox church guy i told you this chapter got layerssss to it. this is cinema. video games lore have peaked at rain code chapter 1. scott cawthon has been really silent ever since rain code chapter 1 dropped

his face. its heeehhhhere. i am going tocommit vehicular manslaughter. and ask him why is his skin fucking gray

holy motherfucker I TOTALLY forgot how his japanese voice sounds. he sounds. slightly more normal actually. less pathetic if that was possible. its like he still has hope. help me he sounds so young

i like how. he just calmly extremely quietly tells them to stand up while standing like 20 feet away from them and knowing his voice usually doesn't reach above 30db. like he just stands there mumbling to them to plss get up now knowing they probably can't hear him. he jsut. gives it a try. maybe this time

maybe he's trying to awaken his telepathic abilities.

omg god a charlie radiohead wackpedion oc cameo???? i can't believe that wiki let spike chunsoft put charlie in their game in order to help increase sales it is so cool how they support smaller creators like that once again

that cunty stance. who stands like that.

its not fucking on. how did you notice its not fucking on. or did he just did but tried regardless. dead silence.

truly, a flattering introduction

and he. wasn't even that fucking mad he just gave him a very dissapointed look to go and fix that. which makes me think it has happened before. and numerous times

finally, seth has succeeded. you know whats crazy about that scene?? the peacekeepers were knocked out a solid while ago thats gonna be at least 15, if not just 20 entire minutes. realistically if youre uncounscious for that much time (and im pretty sure halara whacked them on the head) then you're gonna be concussed as fuck perhaps even have serious brain injuries (and im pretty sure halara whacked them on the head HARD) like youre not gonna be ok after this. his voice literally healed them. he commanded them to rise and so they did. combined with the blatant christian themes of rain code (makoto is satan. martina's motorcycle is the ark) the answer is obvious seth is jesus where was i going with this again

seth is so fucking chill its unbelievable. its the fourth time something has happened to him this moment, megaphone guy fucked up the fucking volume and he just. takes a few steps back motions with his arms and doesn't even say anything. if that were yomi he'd just bring out the whip. if that were martina she'd verbally abuse them so fucking hard they would not be able to look her in the eye ever again in their lives. if that were guillaume she'd start screeching at dominic to decapitate that man

i am going to look away whenever they mention Bodies Rotting Quickly In Kanai Ward from now on. i shall not. it is not worth it.

megaphone guy cringe moment

i would say something about the entire "public execution" moment but i think i already said enough before. so.

goodbye seth you absolutely fucking SLAYED it

[subaru-meteorlight]

I finished starforce 1-! I played the dx patch, ofc, I hunted the sp bosses but I gave up when deep space asked for a complete standard library like god bless dex filling is not my passion. Maybe one day I’ll come back to it. 25 hours across 6 days… it’s a bit sad actually, if I were a kid this would’ve taken years but now I just blitz through it in less than a week… aw.

But anyway I really loved it… I’ve never played mmsf1 before, only watched a playthrough and anime years ago so while I was aware of some major twists (pat/rey and AM-ian mega) and the boss lineup, I had forgotten a lot of the smaller details so it was still really fun… I really love geo’s character progression, depressed lonely kid who pushes others away but ends up being saved by people who insist on being in his life, insist on dragging him around and including him and consistently reaching out to him… as well as geo ultimately deciding to move on because he meets someone with the same pain as him and wants to reach out and help, so that she doesn’t fall into the same pit that he does, ending with the both of them moving forward and deciding to be strong together… it’s something I relate to/understand heavily so honestly I’m pretty floored that this is in a game for 10 year olds. If I had a nickel for every time a kid’s game smacked me over the head with its writing I’d have 2 nickels etc etc (tho it’s probably the fact that it is a kid’s game in the first place that makes me underestimate it then get surprised when it has good writing).

Geo and Mega’s relationship is so touching to me… I really love the dynamic of “oh dear god I’m stuck with this guy” but in the end it was because of mega first that geo started caring about other things, started trying new things and experiences for mega’s sake… and in return mega does learn more about caring for other people and being kinder too. It’s a minor detail that I haven’t seen anybody point out before but for transer requests in the early game areas (ie echo ridge) mega is often dismissive about other ppl’s problems (his dialogue along the lines of “ah geez let’s get this over with”/“yeah? let them figure out their own problem.”) but later on in the game he seems… disappointed? when megaman decides not to take on a request. It’s a really cute minor detail that I love. Sadly I don’t have any screenshots to prove this but you gotta trust me bro. Or you can look it up, compare say, echo ridge requests vs dream island or time square reqs.

And on mega- it’s actually very funny to me when you compare his sf1 and sf3 concept art, lol. In the art book it says that they redesigned him to have more upright posture and “handsome” appearance it’s killing me 😭 he’s a domesticated cat… geo tamed him….

Anyway! I just started zerker x ninja last night, played a lil bit of it- unlike sf1 I never watched a playthrough, only the anime, but honestly I totally forgor anything that was in it. Apart from there’s 3 main villains? And solo, god I love solo I can’t wait to meet him properly… but that was all from a rewatch of the anime op, so. First impressions of the game is- holy fucking shit mega follows geo around when you put on the visualiser?????? 😭😭😭😭😭oh my GOD. this is EVERYTHING. Tears in my eyes actually ohhh this is probably the best feature of the game. My god. It’s so cute….!!! Mega’s always by your side, geo… he’s like a following pokemon, lol. That’s a good thing. Number 2- oh, you can walk on the ground as megaman now, cool that’s like sf3- WHY DID I GET AN ENCOUNTER ON THE GROUND. When I tell you my jaw dropped…. Lmao it feels like my safe space got robbed from me </3 viruses should NOT be bothering me on the ground.

Frankly my initial opinion on sf2 was soured because of the negativity surrounding it online, which, fair, half an hour in and I can already see the translation errors… and I’m playing the lowered encounter patch so hopefully the rates won’t be too problematic for me… and ngl people saying that the game having a less heavy and serious tone unlike sf1 and sf3 is a bit of a let down, but ahh, I’ll play regardless and see how it goes. I’m excited to meet solo, at least-! Sf2 is entirely new sf content to me, so I’m way excited to experience it for the first time…!! After this I will join everybody else in the drought 💀

[stinger-shot]

Yey! Silly vent because I feel like shit!

Read under the cut if you want the juicy ass details

So basically, I gotta let this shit out.. its fucking me up a bit rn.

I met this dude around the start of 2021 on tiktok AND HE WAS SO TALENTED AND FUNNY but he always said he wasn't. Anyway time skip a lil..

We started getting into a few arguments near the middle of 2022. And they where just small disagreements then they gradually got worse and worse every time it happend. And it especially got bad when I made another friend on tiktok who loved doing art related things and drew my old persona back then.

And HE WAS NOT HAVING IT and he said quite alot of bad things to me. Did I stay friends with him? Yes I did. Did I also block the nice guy just trying to be my friend? Yes. I blocked them out of fear of loosing my best friend.

And near the end of 2022 we started dating because things had gotten a better.

Oh how I was so wrong. Everything just went downhill when he left high-school. He always needed attention. He got mad at me because I couldn't set an alarm BECAUSE he was up at 10am and I was up near 1pm. So I forced myself to do so mutch bullshit for him. Like draw him art as an apology and it drained me do badly I could hardly do my own personal art.

I didn't even have personal art at this point. Every time I fixated on something it was what he was fixating on because he'd get mad at me and argue with me if I wasn't.

But everything was calm when it was around April in 2023 and we where finally getting along like an actul couple because of a game called final fantasy. We where obsessed with it for months! And then around June or July I re discovered transformers.

I have never felt as happy in a fandom since 2019! Like holy shit the fandom is so sweet.

But I kept it a secret from him he still doesn't know. Then at some point I made this tumblr to get my stupid little urges out and now look at where I'm at. I haven't been this happy in a LONG while.

And just st the start of 2024 my ex got into an argument with one of his friends and I offered to talk to them. so he agreed and I spoke to them.

Im so fucking glad I did.

Because without their help I'd still be fucking miserable. They gave me the confidence to dump that bitches ass and I honestly feel like a weight has been taken off. Because it honestly felt like a chore every day of my life just talking to him.

And my other friend on discord had helped me out to. Including you silly fuckers on discord/tumblr. If your even reading this... if you are why are you still reading this?

But anyway. I just needed this off my chest. Because it does hurt a little spite how good i feel but I just have an off feeling. I haven't put down everything that happend while I was with my ex and some things might be in the wrong order or time but at least I'm forgetting it?

Just. I love the transformers fandom so mutch mutch really helped me pull through...

Fuck I'm ranting. Uh. Bye!

Also a big thank you to Avery and rex for helping me feel better (rex I've only known you for a little bit but jesus christ I fucking laugh my ass off because of you) jesus I'm sappy as fuck. (and avery your so fucking cool. You helped me alot.) And belyyvolks (I've had alot of fun messing around about ironhide XD) I'm not tagging because I don't want alot of attention on this post.

[depleti]

Happy Birthday! Been reading TMK for a while and really enjoying it, have you ever shared what inspired the story?

I'm not sure I have, actually, if only because it's not very interesting lol.

A long time ago, I used to play on a lot of rpg forums (where you would post your roleplay responses to each other) and back then there were a lot to pick from. I joined one that had an original fantasy setting and one of the cultures was inspired by the Vikings, which prompted me to do a bit of research. That board folded before I even played my character--which was actually a precursor to Coal--but I guess I found the Vikings in particular to be interesting enough to do more with.

More background and very early drawings below the cut!

This question prompted me to go looking for some of my earliest TMK drawings! Here's perhaps the first Coal drawings with a girl who would eventually become Hedda. For some reason she has a vaguely Asian outfit and I'm not sure why. Perhaps even then I was looking to emphasize the international reach of the Viking period.

Here's a page where Hedda starts to look like Hedda:

Now the very early story for TMK is quite different from how it ended up. Coal was always a kind of undead warrior, but how he died and came back has changed. Initially, Coal died defending a village from two demon-creatures (maybe dragons?), and killed one of the two demons. The surviving demon, who was the killed demon's brother, vowed revenge against Coal and intercepted him on his way to Valhalla/Sessrúmnir (Freyja's hall, looks like I never decided which).

This demon, named Fen, was the one who brought Coal back. He could also turn into a ship and control it and turn into a dragon with it (the oars became legs, the sail became wings, etc.). Coal came back with missing memories and had more of a blank personality.

Here's Fen in his demon form and a human form apparently:

For some reason that I never wrote down, various god items were included on this boat. It wasn't just items belonging to the big three (Odin, Thor, and Freyr) but also Freyja and Frigg and Tyr, etc. The idea was Coal needed to find their human counterpart owners in Midgard to do...something. I originally wanted to do nine items, because nine is a magic number, but after discussing with a friend (hi, Hannah!), I quickly realized that was too much work. Fen was scrapped but the idea of the living figurehead lives on in Rollo.

So the number of items changed to three four and Loki became the main cause of everything. I think I avoided using Loki before because I didn't want my version of him to be compared to Marvel's or whatever, but you can't really do a story involving the Norse gods without Loki in there somewhere. So I just bit the bullet and not only used him, but made him a main character. I think he's different enough to stand apart from most other depictions of him.

Here's me trying to figure out how TMK's Loki should look:

I realized early on he shouldn't look too refined, but also not as scruffy as the bottom drawings lol. I think when I realized he's not just "The Trickster" but also a father a lot of things fell into place. Also the feather cloak!

One of the hard things about working on webcomics is how long they take to make, but that can also be a kind of benefit. When I first started TMK I just wanted to make a fun fantasy adventure comic with a bold art style (it's probably no surprise to say Cartoon Saloon's Secret of Kells and subsequent films have been a huge inspiration to me), but as time has gone on and the world has shifted, it's turned into an exploration of toxic masculinity and its effects on the self and the world.

Anyway here's some other older drawings!

One of the first Ibrahims. His design was settled almost immediately.

Arne's design also came together pretty easily. I dunno what that old man at the top is for...

Anyway I hope you've enjoyed this lil jaunt down memory lane. Thank you for your question and birthday wishes and, of course, for reading the comic. <3

[raphdrawshorses]

Taking the dust out.

Well, i can say that all my doomer predictions about Twitter were right. In fact looking back i think i was being optimistic and things turned out a lot worse than I could possibly imagine. But to my surprise i turn to Tumblr and see that things seen to be going alright around here.

So i decided to shake the dust out of the old accounts and focus back in here. i can't post tits here no more, but it sure beats sharing my online space with fascists while my own followers don't get to see my posts cuz i aint givin money to a brain dead billionaire.

So we are back ok? Stay tuned, ill clean up the whole place and i got some arts, comics and stuff to share. FiM may be over, G5 may be shit, but we still can have some fun with some lil horses around here.

[shiny-miltank]

A leche hobbies update:

Update on knitting adventures: almost done with a scarf I started 🤔 dropped stitches everywhere but it really helps with my adhd to have something in my hands to play with while feeling like I’m working towards something! Don’t think I’ll show it off though LMAO, it’s ugly as a scarf but I like it as a “baby’s first scarf” to look back on when I get better. And it’s warm :)!

Other thing: picked up a sewing machine from the good will and still in really great shape and working! Its old and has character and I love it HAH. I’m learning from my abuelita on her own machine. It’d be great to combine this and knitting to make essentials and to repair clothes that really need it.

Drawing/not really a hobby it’s my “Jobby”: sorry for being a lil slow on updates! I got a little bit of burnout and I really want to finish summers commissions so I can clear my schedule more. I’m just about done so I’m no longer chipping on three projects at a time between my full time job oof-but do know they are being worked on. I’ve got adoptables on the way and sketching the next ask-n update! I’ve also been keeping an eye on other places to post like insta and bluesky but I feel like I need to like…observe? Some more? Before committing and learning whole new platforms and posting schedules bleh.

I got other projects in the pipeline, one including a pmd thing, more Paldea headcanons and what not and some certain purple psychic cat things returning. But all in due time! Can’t overwhelm myself : 0

And a little bit of a rant or ramble about perhaps dropping a longtime hobby I’ve had and feeling sad about it beneath the cut ;( but if you’ve read this far thanks! Love ya’ll for supporting me!

I think a handful of you? Know I roleplay on this platform and have for a good seven? Eight? Years. It’s fun, a lot of my ideas and headcanons and art I’m known for were actually jump started by some random thread or idea from between my rp partners and what not. The Mewtwo blog, ask-n, scarlet turo and etc etc were old muses or ideas that turned into their own thing. It’s always been so easy to write and collaborate your ideas with the rp community you’re in and it becomes it’s whole big thing!

But I know it hasn’t always been the healthiest hobby for me after awhile but esp when I want to focus on content creation as a job that I’m really into. I no longer have the time to maintain plots and characters despite being so determined to stick to it. It’s becoming more of a distraction of just scrolling down the rp dashboard out of FOMO more then anything and heck I can’t even see most of it as a lot of events and verses and etc I blacklist to attempt to curb anxiety and distractions which haven’t been working lately 🤔 I still get lots of anxiety.

That and the community’s changed really. I know every old rper has typed their piece on “back in the good old days-“, leaves their blog and doesn’t give any useful advice or attempt to change the narrative lol. I don’t want to do that.

And it’s not the communities fault either. It’s natural for spaces to change to help new ideas and new people come in. It just means maybe it’s no longer meant for me and that’s okay. If anything it’s more how my friends I’ve been with for all my time there have left or are leaving. There’s a disconnect I can’t seem to get over no matter what new muse or idea I promote esp when I’m no longer comfortable in the space I enjoyed for so long. I never had to block so many things before and again not the communities fault and none of the things I’m blocking are unsavory, it’s more like my tastes and likes and dislikes and what I have spoons for have just become different over so long. It’s totally a me thing.

It’s in my mind that maybe it’s okay to let it go since I’m getting so hyped for my newer hobbies and the ideas I have for my art/comics. I don’t have the time anymore to dedicate so much energy on it like I use to esp when even over all my work Im still figuring out my adhd after getting diagnosed officially, new meds, the other mental diagnosis that makes the mental soup in my head alongside other life stuff.

I owe rp in general for helping me get that creative spark and through a lot of tough, long dark times. It’s provided me with the escapism and outlet since like, forever. I started rping in ye old Neopet neomail days and haven’t stopped since besides the occasional period that didn’t last long. Who knows maybe this is just a rut and I’ll feel better tomorrow or next week or something. Could be the change of seasons where my seasonal depression kicks in but I’m not quitting yet but it’s somewhere in the funky mind palace as I navigate this weird patch.

Thanks if you’ve read my ramblings this far! I wish there was a way to reward peeps who read through my long jargon? It just feels good to know I can scream into the void and sometimes I’ll have one or two people nod at me in understanding. Idk, I’ll think of something—

[egg-emperor]

Been replaying the two All Stars Racing games and went back to gather and admire the Eggman in tank art from the Transformed special in Archie. (If only there was art of him in the Egg Monster too! 💜)

He always enjoys making a big entrance, jumping in and stealing the spotlight

because he's the real star and he knows it! 💜⭐✨

And he doesn't care that people hate him being around, he loves disrupting their fun with his maniacal deviousness 💕

A favorite thing about him in any spin-off like racing, Olympics, etc is that he's not meeting up with Sonic and co to be pals and forget about fighting for a while and have a fun time racing or anything. He always still has the motive to cause trouble, take over, or just be an asshole and ruin everyone else's fun in it lol

The drive and joy and determination that he has for it never dies! His beautiful evil dreams truly influence everything he does and he'll always seize the opportunity to wreak havoc and get what he wants. Transformed doesn't have a story but I love how they put the same motives as always to Eggman in its Archie special.

With him just being like "I'm worth WAY more than a trophy, I deserve to own all of your worlds as my prize!"

I love him coming in and ruining this casual event by bringing in such drama and high stakes in true Eggman fashion hehe. Too bad Sonic hates real fun smh

But that's never enough to rain on his parade or dwindle the motivation and passion he has to have a blast messing things up for everyone else and claiming victory and conquest.

And he looks so handsome while doing it! 🥰

And of course he won't play fair. He enjoys being a menace and rudely shoving them out of the way and being like whoops teehee

He's like "Look at these losers playing fair smh" and brings in some real excitement with MISSILES! 😈

I like the "those damn kids" moment with him for being one of the old man on the track that gets targeted by lil kids and teens

No respect for the elderly that just wants to destroy them all and take over their worlds ugh, the nerve XD

But it's fine because when all else fails he just can bomb the track!

He just loves being an evil asshole and ruining everyone's fun, I love him so much 💜💕💖💗

[narrators-journal]

Oh hi! I'm the one that requested a Chrollo x Fem!reader who's a singer singing the song criminal (by lady Gaga) so the reader sings the song criminal

"He is a bad boy with a tainted heart and even I know this ain't smart, but Mama I'm in love with a criminal"

But I also want her to sing another line the:

"he is a villain by the devil's law, he is a killer just for fun, fun, fun,fun, that mans a snitch and unpredictable, he's got no conscious he got none, none, none"

I thought these lyrics would describe Chrollo, but even though the reader has not found out Chrollo is her soulmate yet, Lmao, let's just say Chrollo went inside the building to steal or something along with the phantom troupe and there seems to be a concert, which turns out to be his own soulmates concert🤭

You didn't specify any particular au, so I went with one I've seen bouncing around on Pinterest from, like, Tumblr lol. I hope this is an entertaining read! It was a good lil break from the editing for me and p fun to write. Even if I am very rusty with hxh still. 😅😅

Also, I once answered an ask and said Chrollo is unlabelled and not picky, so I decided to shake things up by him going on a date with a dude here. I mean no ill harm with that, just thought it'd be a fun nod to that headcanon. Chrollo's sexuality is crime, nothing more lololol

Chrollo Lucifer did a lot of things for the spiders. From sleeping with someone to get his people a foot in the door of prime targets, to amoral killing. So, taking a man on a date to a concert was nothing new or challenging. Was it a date he particularly enjoyed? No, the dark-haired criminal was far more interested in reading than the squealing and screaming of fans over some vapid singer. Was this art collector his soulmate? No, Chrollo still saw the world as if he lived in some old noir murder movie, so he truly held no worth to him beyond the well-guarded goods his home held hostage.

Yet, there the ebony-haired thief stood. Swaying mindlessly to the opening act, pretneding to be interested in experiencing this man's favorite artist with him, internally counting down until he could politely suggest his date take him home to hook up.

However, the evening that Chrollo was almost certain would be highlighted by nothing except drunk, sloppy sex and a good heist was abruptly thrown into a centerfuge when that main attraction belted out her first note. "He is a hustler, he's no good at all~"

And the world imploded into color.

Of all the ways Chrollo lucifer had thought he'd run into his soulmate, on a heist was the most likely, yet the one he least desired. If he had it his way, he'd meet his destined beloved on one of his off days, when he was left to his books and thoughts. Yet, there was no denying it. With each word sang from the siren on stage, his world grew more vibrant and colorful. "He is a bad boy with a tainted heart, and even I know this aint smart~" She sang, flinging an arm over her eyes to match the drama of her words as she continued. And while, yes, Chrollo still didn't exactly enjoy the hysterics of the crowd or the shrill whistle of the music over the speakers, the sheer novelty of the clashing outfits and seeing things in such a new way washed that inhibition away.

Before he knew it, the thief was weaving through the crowd to get closer, as if magnetically pulled to the woman on stage. Naturally, followed by his date, but the man was pushed to the back burner for now. The only thing on the leader of the spiders' mind was getting closer to his soulmate and drinking in each and every one of the colors on her body. And, as if to reward that impulsive decision, the singer looked directly at him with a coy, almost knowing look when she sang, "He is a villain by the devil's law~ He is a killer just for fun, fun, fun, fun.~" Swishing her carefully-colored clothes with each flick of her hips to the words. "That man's a snick and unpredictable~ He's got no conscious he's got none, none, none, none.~"

It was such a brief interaction. One Chrollo was almost certain held no weight for the singer, as she was just as quick to flash a smile to the next eager man to move closer to her, but for Chrollo, her words were almost a message.

Chrollo'd complete his mission. He'd seduce this art collector, get into his house, rob him blind, and maybe kill him. But after that. After that, he would be certain to turn his entire attention to tracking down his soulmate. Those colors were just too nice to give up after just a simple taste.

[drawnaghht]

Samurai Rabbit trivia refs (+ name reminder)

just short post to say: Usagi is meant as his given name.

We don't know the lore or backstory for why Yuichi was picked as a surname

update from 6.01.2024: Candie Langdale, one of the showrunners for SR, confirmed that it is indeed Yuichi Usagi [surname][given name] and that they asked about Yuichi as a surname from both their japanese consultant and Stan.

the backstory is that they wanted to name him Usagi, but wanted to differentiate him from Miyamoto Usagi as well. They also wanted to honor the guy working at the karaoke bar they had been frequenting the past 12 years. Yuichi was considered based on these as a surname.

(read the reply in this post post by Freakova here: https://www.tumblr.com/freakova/738803294989860864/the-writers-of-samurai-rabbit-have-confirmed-that)

the show follows the same naming conventions as the comic, so [surname][given name] as in real-world japan, Gen introduces himself as Murakami Gennosuke in ep 4.

However, it mostly drops honorifics in the EN language original (but the honorifics are back for some characters in the JP dub)

You can use/do whatever you want in your own fanfic/versions but it's just good to know where the show is coming from

You can also use them in the same way as Stan and the show's crew do - Usagi when it's just about him, Yuichi when they also bring Miyamoto Usagi into the convo, or "our Usagi"/Yuichi and "Stan's Usagi/Miyamoto when talking about them both.

Whether Yuichi is meant as a namesake, a title, or just a very rare surname, the show itself has all the younger/ally characters call each other by first name, while older/enemy characters get called by their title+surname (w/ the exception of Lady Fuwa and Chizu, bc of the story arc there)

his own aunt calls him Usagi

both names are probably meant to be used in general, but in-world, everyone who becomes friends with him starts calling him Usagi, which is the name he prefers to introduce himself (see episode 1)

(lol this next part is a lil debunked now after the news from 6.01.2024 haha)

I have a suspicion that maybe that's what the name was for, like a consideration for the old fans and new viewers. Maybe it was intentional because the showrunners were aware how naming is tricky for this franchise (re: that 1987 TMNT re-named Miyamoto Usagi "Usagi Yojimbo" and most 87 fans still know him as that? the showrunners are old enough to have been in that audience) so maybe they intentionally looked for something that would sound good as both surname and given name (just another thought)

Anyway, since there's still confusion by fans abt it, here's some good general sources also just for those interested in learning more random trivia abt the show. But these are the sources I've used to refute for myself what older posts/tags claim: that there was no research and no respect in the show for Stan's original work or for Japanese culture. From these it seems like the opposite is true.

"Samurai Rabbit Facts" - this is a "# facts" video but provides a lot of interesting trivia from both the show and crew, as well as about Stan's involvement in the show. Fun stuff in general, like how Usagi's sandal features Stan's signature as a fun easter egg to characters they wanted to include but didn't have time to.

The Comicbook Couples Councelling podcast with Stan and Samurai Rabbit crew (youtube vers) - This interview features Stan and art director Khang Le talking about the characters and the art, while showrunners Candie and Doug Langdale answer burning questions about the storylines and writing the show as well as learning new things during pre-production and research. Both sides talk a bit about the challenges of adapting something as prolific as Usagi Yojimbo for a younger audience.

The 2021 SDCC @Home panel with Stan, crew and cast - LOTS of fun visuals and very informative on how the crew worked on the show when the first COVID lockdown happened.

The POPverse interview with Stan Sakai - This is a great interview about many of these same things in the other interviews, if you prefer reading rather than listening to interviews.

I have my old post abt Usagi's names and the connection to Senso (one of the main inspirations for the series) and i'm writing a new one, but I thought this shorter post might be useful. Plus, while writing longer essay-like things can be fun for me personally, the ultimate goal there is to provide some food-for-thought for other fans while being informative abt the show itself. Hope this helps!

(update 16.01: both of these are now slightly disproven I suppose since we know the real reason from co-showrunner Candie Langdale now since january 6th haha xD but - still keeping these as the theory is still interesting).