#monster never cry fanart

[saoirseuwu]

been playing this game for a month now, loki and the little black creatures are my favourite, so I combined them

[cheesesteak675]

Siren 🎻🪷

[ghost-of-an-artist-pp]

It's You!

Despite everything, it's still You.

[corvidaeconundrum]

COF/COM STICKERSSS :D they’re specifically based on our designs for our Cry of Monster’s fic/AU, wanted to make something with all the main characters

I’ll probably actually turn these into stickers too, considering we have a cricut!

Here are the individual stickers!:

[monster-hart]

So I've always been too shy to post oc/fc content here but I felt like this deserved to be somewhere other than my deviantart lmao

Ft. AU designs of Hoodude, Jackson and Robecca so yeehaw!

That queen never cry meme has been everywhere I look and idk why but it cracks me up every time so um uhhh redrew it with my monster high oc/fancharacter! Her names poppy (shes not actually a baby I just drew her as a baby 4 the meme 😭)

Poppy is hoodudes little sister he built with the help of jackson and robecca. I'm cringe but I'm free ;w;

[just-avocado]

Something something Slimecicle lore made me cry

To me she looked nervous, maybe even afraid.

———————————————————————— Personally of the headcanon/theory that the codes are corrupted versions of the dead eggs or at least failed versions of eggs we never got to see since Richas was confirmed by Sophia to not be organic a while back

So the whole Codeflippa situation is especially interesting, I like to think that if it isn’t her corrupted self trying to connect with her dad again (but still failing in many ways to be her old self) that this is still a child that hasn’t known love in a long time if ever

Honestly after being given some time I prefer the latter.

We still don’t entirely know how the Codes work, only that they want to harm. Are they with the Federation? As time has passed it’s seeming more and more like that could be the case. So maybe at first this will be an extremely fucked up experiment the island decided to do on a still grieving father who is just starting to heal. Maybe this could even be a defecting Code, running to the only person it thought might protect it.

 Either way, along comes an egg who looks like the daughter Charlie lost, even is his shock he notices things different about her, her crack, her spelling, but he doesn’t care because somehow his daughter is standing in front of him again. She doesn’t stay for long but she promises to return.

As viewers we’re obviously skeptical, her toast didn’t have avocado on it, she didn’t live long enough to get a crack, she didn’t backflip or fall to pieces once (her other favorite emote), her spelling was weird, plus all the shit with fake eggs recently has given us trust issues

While its very likely she is a fake, Charlie is desperate enough to look past the red flags long enough for her to learn how to be more like Flippa. And that’s why she didn’t want him to tell anyone, because anyone else (minus Mariana) would clock her immediately. 

This will give her time to learn from Charlie, he’s failed before and he’d do anything to protect her from harm again. Even if the entire server is trying to convince him she’s a fake he couldn’t bring himself to hurt her, even if his heart is telling him it’s true. 

Maybe the Code, this egg who never had a family, who has finally experienced the love of a parent, can change. She’ll never replace the daughter he had but Charlie realizes that this egg knows what it’s like to feel completely alone. They both know what it’s like to lash out at those who haven’t had their happiness ripped away from them. Charlie regrets how he acted back then.

It’ll be a rocky road no matter what happens but personally I hope the story takes this route, it’ll hurt much more than the Code simply gaining Charlie’s trust and betraying him within a week or two lmao

[ummthatsokiguess]

[securi-tye-blankey]

Fighting burnout with ocs and some apps. The egg is for and egg contest on Monster Never cry that I used my oc Butterscotch fo inspo. The last one of my Saltys from voidpets.

[sillylunaa]

Dot dot dot

(also thank you for all the kind words on my last post, i love yall so so so much<33)

[livelaughlovesubs]

Dom!reader x sub!scarletella

Warning: fictional stuff - stimulation through a separate object (?), inspired by some fanarts (artists are amazing), teasing, degrading pet names

I’m seeing so many fanarts that have this implanted and I HAVE to do something about my horniness that’s holding me back from working so, as far as I understand, for mr. Scarlettela his real body is his umbrella or it’s at least connected to him - anyway, can’t believe I’m writing about homicipher bruh, I feel ashamed T^T

!!Spoiler warning!! This is not canon but has some elements from it

He is a good boy, he really is! Well, maybe not at all times, but he’s trying his best for you. And haven’t you seen just how much he loves and trusts you? He’s basically devoted to you! Like a faithful follower~ Handing the red umbrella he always carries over to you so easily, when he normally would never let anyone touch it, let alone give or lend it. It’s just proof of how much he likes you!

So why were you so mean and destroyed it? You like him, didn’t you know that his umbrella is connected to him? Why were you hurting him. He didn’t understand, he didn’t even know what to do. Because in the end, he still liked you.

Now this over 8 feet tall creature was kneeling in front of you, head lowered in confusion as he stared at the concrete floor. You were still holding the now broken umbrella, scoffing as you stared down at his rather pathetic form. It wasn’t entirely broken, just some bend metal and rough ends, or a little tear here and there. Yet for some reason his clothes were torn and disheveled, hands shaking slightly as he kept mumbling the words ‘I don’t understand’ or ‘I like you’ over and over again. At first he seemed intimidating, but now you didn’t have an ounce of fear left.

There must have been a connection between him and this umbrella. Instead of speculating, best just ask him.

Slowly you pointed the long object in your hand at him, the tip pushed below his chin as you made him look up at you. His round, almost completely dark eyes stared right at you, one side was covered by his crimson hair. There were tears steaming down his cheeks, he was crying, how unexpected. The two of you locked eyes for a few seconds, and you wondered what you should do about this crazed man.

While their language was hard to grasp at first, you were getting the hang of it by now. “This umbrella, is you?” The meaning of the question itself was unbelievable, but since this ghost realm exists, maybe your hypothesis wasn’t that out of place. “Yes. Me body.” Look at that, you were right. That explains why he suddenly got so sad. You groaned internally and pulled your arm back, using the umbrella as a cane instead.

As you were still thinking over your next step, his hands reached out to you hesitantly, and softly tugged at the ends of your coat. After stretching the fabric out a little, he leaned his forehead against it, mumbling almost inaudibly, “please don’t go, I like you.” You raised an eyebrow, the corners of your mouth subconsciously moving upwards as you snickered, “What?” His grip got a little tighter and his hand trembled from tensing his muscles so much, then he said a little louder, “I like you, don’t you like me?”

God you wanted to laugh, this was so sad it was laughable. How in the world did he come to that conclusion? In that moment, you had a lot to say t0 him, but due to the language barrier you couldn’t convey it really well. So you just talked to yourself, needing some time to vent.

“Oh you poor thing.” You chuckled in your own language, the one he didn’t understand. “What am I supposed to do with a perv like you?” He looked up at you again, wanting to ask what you said if not for your shoes that were pressing against his chest. “..what?” The person- or monster asked, but he didn’t resist your touch and leaned back, following your guidance. From earlier up to this point, he has been kneeling, just this time he was also using his arms behind his back to stabilise himself.

Without changing the almost arrogant look in your eyes, you used the gift he gave you to trace some imaginary lines on his body. The tip glided from his jawline to the tip of his chin, and you asked, “your name?” The heavy tension was something he also caught on, and he hesitated, not knowing to what this would lead. He shook his head, forcing out a “don’t know…”

You hummed slowly, showing you understood the message. Nonetheless, you continued to move the tip down his neckline all the way to his toned collarbones, “I’ll give you a name.” His eyes widened even more, it made him look objectively creepier, but you thought he looked like a dumb puppy. All big eyed, bearing a deep need and raw desire in his pupils. “How about,” then, just like drawing with a stick in the mud, you traced the word, “Scarlet,” over his chest, simultaneously voicing out the word.

He shuddered as the hard surface scribbles around his torso, squeezing his lips together while he tried to stay still for you. You weren’t being exactly gentle there. When you stopped to glance at him, he quickly nodded. That wasn’t the end to your little play yet, and you slid the pointy end across his abs and stomach, down to his thighs, making him spread them a little wider, “I gave you a name, so you’ll be my servant from now on. Understood?” This has been said in your language, but you hoped he’ll get the overall meaning.

Again he nodded. In his head, being your servant meant you liked him, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t keep him around! So how could he ever say no.

“Use your mouth.” You ordered, digging the tip into his flesh a little, and he answered shortly after, “I understand, me happy.” Sweat was forming on his forehead, and his previous crying ceased. Instead a faint taint of pink covered his cheeks, and he stared at you almost manically. “Good.” You said, which was basically a praise— right? —and he smiled, a shaky, breathless one.

A little behind you was a chair, and you dragged it closer to the still kneeling man below you. Even you were starting to get tired of standing, so you sat down in a comfortable position. “What now.” You said to yourself, not really paying him any attention anymore. It would be nice if you had a collar, would red or black look better on him? But your resources were limited, and you didn’t exactly have a lot of things with you as well. That’s when you absentmindedly thought over what you did own.

Besides that crowbar you’ve found down here, you really didn’t have a lot. Well, you also had a broken umbrella now— hold up, that’s right, you own him now. A rather sadistic thought came to mind, and you pondered to what limit you could control him with this red, unusual umbrella. Would he feel your presence when you just hold it? You got lost in your thoughts again, fumbling with the torn textile and the handle. This didn’t stop until a strange sound caught your attention.

Your eyes left the red batch of fabric in your hands, and instead wandered to the other red thing in the room. He crawled into a ball, arms folded in front of his body while his head pressed against the ground. It looked like he was in pain again, though you weren’t sure if these noises were whimpers of pain or pleasure. “You okay?” You eventually asked, and he whispered in a higher pitch, “me okay..!”

Once again your gaze returned to the umbrella. He must be in this state due to something you did, and so you tightened your grip around the handle while mindlessly drawing a line with your index finger on the panel. As expected, his shoulder jerked upwards even more, and he rolled more together, as if he wanted to take up as little space as possible. His entire body was twitching, also for some reason his coat was only hanging off his arms now.

“You are into it.” You commented, not even too shocked to learn this rather unnecessary fact. At least you can have your fill of fun with this. “What about this?” Suddenly you started moving your hand up and down the handle, rubbing the umbrella panel with the other hand. It was a truly humbling experience to do something implied sexual to a literal object, but your eyes were glued to the ghost before you, so you didn’t even notice how weird it must have looked.

And sure enough, there was a change in his behaviour, he got louder. Your smile widened involuntarily, and your pace also got quicker and rougher. Oh fucking hell, if he was really feeling that kind of sensations, you won’t be able to stop yourself. It was like you were hypnotised, concentrated on nothing but his expressions. On the different ways his face twisted into one of ecstasy.

A big, dark, lunatic grin, paired with fanatic eyes that were ripped wide open. Some hints of a scarlet blush covering his face while sweat rolled down his face. Those perverse sounds he made were proof of the probably internal pleasure he felt, and he quivered all over, still bend down on the floor. Now that you’ve got a better grasp of what was happening, you realized he was crawled together to hide something.

“Ngh, hgGnn- ah..! Please…♥︎～” he whined at your feet, drool dripping from the corners of his mouth and landing on the floor. You’ve been fumbling with the handle for some time, so you’ve gotten bored again and was curious about if the textile was a part of his being as well. Without a second thought, you simply stuck two fingers between the folds, and you were met with a heavily muffled moan.

“Arghhh-…MmmHFfffF～ ♡♡♥︎” Once he felt your touch, he bit into his own palm to quiet himself down. At some point he started crying again, glistening tears decorating his already ruined face. You didn’t think his reaction would be this good, this lewd, whatever you did, he must have liked it a lot. Which is why, despite the absurdity of your actions, you moved your fingers in and out of the holes or just randomly caressed whatever part you felt like touching.

Out of nowhere you felt something tugging at your coat again, it gave off a sense of Deja vu. Of course it was him, who was only pinching the corner of it with a shaky hand. His grip had lost any strength compared to before, and you couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction. “What?” You asked him, though you didn’t stop your administrations. He cried out when he opened his mouth to speak, breaking down in front of you, for your entertainment only.

“Haaaa-HnnGh… wait, p-please wait-!♡” Was he telling you it was too much? It’s making you want to overstimulated him even more. He was being so pathetic it was cute. Without wasting a single second, you went as fast as you could, blatantly ignoring his pleads. Based on your own observations, he must have been close, if he was similar to a real person. “Feels good?” You asked, to make sure he was alright. He didn’t reply again and only nodded all weakly, but you’ll let it slide this time.

He felt so hot and strange, it was a nice but unfamiliar feeling. Not only that, he felt something burning building up inside him and it was threatening to spill. That’s why he wanted you to slow down. Poor thing was confused, absolutely baffled what this warm feeling was. Is it love? It must be love. He loved you and you loved him after all. All in all it wasn’t a bad feeling, and since you seemed happy, he is too!

Another sudden wave of pleasure coursed through him, his eyes were clouded with lust and bliss, and the dirty whimpers that slipped past his lips got more erotic by the second. How desperate and lovesick he sounded, begging, pleading, squirming and trashing around on the spot. Thighs pressed together while his toes curled, back arched as a last moan ripped from his throat, “nnNgGHhh ♡♥︎ ♡～” Just as you predicted, that must have been his climax. Now’s the question, did he came in his pants? Did such things still have a reproductive system?

My my, it seems that is the case, whatever it was it seeped through the dark fabric of his trousers, causing an even darker spot to appear.

You only caught glimpses of it since he was hiding his own body so much, but you were content nevertheless. Since he was so obedient the entire time, you decided to be nice to him with the limited vocabulary you had. “Cute.” His kneeling figure was still shuddering and twitching, ragged gasps and pants were also coming from him. But for him, the only thing he could hear was your voice ringing and echoing in his mind, as well as the awfully loud beats of his own heart.

After all this time, you finally praised him! Well you did before but this time he was sure of it! And you found him cute! He was so happy he couldn’t stop grinning. That’s when you said, “do you want anything?” It was to kind of make up for making a fool out of him, or maybe for breaking his umbrella. He didn’t even think before quickly turning his head up, slurring out, “g-give me you name?” You blinked, that wouldn’t have been what you wished for but oh well. Right before you simply told him the answer you stopped yourself, and responded teasingly, “call me master.”

You weren’t sure if he knew the meaning behind it, but it didn’t matter. He had a blank look for a few seconds, mumbling to himself, most likely repeating that word a thousand times. While he did that, he let his head hang low again, facing the floor. His hair hid his face really well, and you couldn’t read his expression. “You alright?” You asked once the silence started to make you feel uneasy.

He placed both his hand on the floor and leaned down, until his face was hovering centimetres above your shoe, and he whispered eagerly, excessively so, “I’m happy, master. I love you.” Before kissing the tip of your shoe. You stared down in disbelief, a shiver running down your spine. He was more of a freak than you thought.

The moment he was done, you grabbed a fistful of his hair, proceeding to yank on it, making him face you on eye-level while he gasped in surprise. Your other hand clutched the umbrella more tightly, causing him to groan slightly. “Stupid dog.” You chuckled with a sinister smile spread across your face, watching as hearts appeared in the middle of his pupils.

[saoirseuwu]

She got a redesign, so I had to draw her Really love these colours the game is going for

[anniflamma]

AnniFlamma, we all love your fanart and animatics of Epic: The Musical, please don't let a few shitty people demotivate when 100x those people love and adore the stuff you make, along with all other animators!

Stay safe and take care, we will always be here and I can't seem to repeat this enough but we love your art

Thank you and everyone for reaching out to me. I will be honest with you all that what happened did upset me a lot, but I am very lucky to have people to go to for support. I will even blame some of them for making me cry, my friends, I mean, because if I am upset and if someone asks me if I am okay, I just break down. 😅 But I used our little server as a ground to vent, and right now I feel much better now.

But I will still be honest that I meant what I said that my interest in making Epic fan content has reduced a lot. I still love Epic, and I still really want to do the whole Ithaca saga, but I have also realized that posting content about it has caused me to feel anxious.

An example is when I finished The Challenge animatic, I felt an extreme wave of anxiety when I was going to press the upload button. And the worst thing? My anxiety confirmed the fears. I have gotten tiktok comments saying that I am a freak for drawing Penelope nude despite it being in a non-sexual way. Apparently, I have to be constantly reminded that female bodies are icky and the world hates women. Aaaaaaand then to get hit by that TikTok video of thousands of people shitting on me, Duvetbox, Gigi, Mircy, Neal, and so many more…

If you have noticed, I have posted less, all types of content for Epic. I don’t do my headcanons anymore, I never wrote that full review of Epic, I feel less keen on drawing fanart, let alone joking about shipping here online. I remember when I made a joke about shipping Aphrodite and Athea because they were the only female characters interacting with each other (ignoring Hera), and then I took it as a critique that Epic failed the Bechdel test. After that, I got plenty of anonymous messages about how I am an evil person for shipping those two goddesses… Just say that you don’t know what the Bechdel test is and block me... 😑

I also hate how my first negative experience with the Epic fandom was pure homophobia toward my Bible animatics. Like, they used negative language toward gay people to tell me to make Epic content instead. There is this weird obsession where people expect me and other artists to only do one thing, which is Epic, and if we dare to do something else, we get punished or infantilized, like we didn’t have any say when Casper commissioned us for Stories of Styx. Don’t get me started on how fucking awful people were to Casper and Teagan….

I hate how people easily tell others things, only for them to unquestionably believe everything said about me. Like the amount of "Anni made Ody/Circe porn, uwaaaa!!" And then, the moment someone questions them and forces them to realize I never made such a thing, they double down and say that I shouldn't have made Circe nude in the original animatic "cuz female bodies are icky" or the classic "Well, I haven’t seen the porn video, but someone told me it existed, so I’m going to believe it exsits." Like, you could tell these people that the sky is green, and they would believe you.

Then there’s that whole "Anni supports rape" or "Anni felt bad for the suitors and wanted Penelope to get raped" insanity. Those quotes stems from ppl was crashing out when I made a post criticizing Epic’s way of addressing the topic of rape. In that post, I was suggesting that I would like the story better if Odysseus were actually morally ambiguous when killing the suitors. How could anyone even think Ody was in the wrong for killing the suitors because he wanted to protect Penelope? How can he be a monster after that? I don’t know, I support a husband protecting his wife from gang rapists, but I guess that was the worst thing for me to ever say, huh? Like, how dare I criticize their almighty Jorge…

It’s insane that I have an easier time handling hateful Christians compared to TikTok Epic fans. 😅

Oh well... I’ve had so many bad experiences with the TikTok Epic fandom over the past two years. And eventually, you just want to log off.

I’m thinking of stopping posting Epic content at all on TikTok as a first step. If TikTok Epic fans hate my fanart that much, then I’ll do them the favor of never seeing it from my account. I will, however, continue posting my Bible animatics there. And if I continue working on my Hold Them Down animatic and if I ever finish it… I will only be active here on Tumblr and on YouTube.

And so, at this moment, I will take a pause from Epic. It probably won’t be that long because, despite everything, I love that musical. But I also have to remind myself that, despite there being so many negative remarks toward not only me but the other artists, there is a lot of love from you actual fans. I have about 138K subscribers on YouTube. That’s 138K individuals who love my work so much that they want to see more of it. THAT IS TOTALY INSANE! And I will never forget that! And I am so thankful for all of you and your support. Thank you and I love you guys! 💕

I’m also planning on making a better-formulated post about this another day. All of this is just me ranting and want to take a short break, focusing on something else.... Maybe... Venice the musical? 😅

[foldedchip]

little doodles

I’ve seen people draw fanart of Monster High and Winx Club, and aside from the Mane6 from My Little Pony, I didn’t think I had a fictional girl group that I liked as a kid, until I remembered the OGs 😤 American Girl books. These put hair on my chest as a kid, I’d just be reading an inspiring story about an immigrant when BAM! her best friend dies of Cholera. And her parents tell her to stop crying about it and then the books never mention the dead friend again. Good reading material for a sprightly nine-year-old with anxiety issues.

[corvidaeconundrum]

Cry of Monsters in a nutshell

[eternalapogee]

Double Life Pearl is being discussed a lot recently so I'm putting forward the following song as Double Life Pearl propaganda:

【ANRI Arcane】How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb【SynthV Ori...

Especially the following lines:

"There was never a hidden answer

Just the truth of a dulling sickle's edge"

While I associate sickle's as a limited life aspect drawn from fanart of Pearl's hoes from the woodland mansion reimagined as sickle's, they are a motif associated with her. The Scarlet Witch isn't some monster that Pearl hid deep within herself, she is a result of isolation and loneliness, her deadly nature a mistaken conflating of Pearl's natural skill in PVP with the tragic character.

"Thank the martyr, live on, be happy

So the good one's have spoken - well ,amen

Hearing that, I snap childishly

I swing my foot back, then put it down again"

Scott is unsurprisingly the martyr, giving his life at the end of double life. The aborted kick represents the violence Pearl has inflicted on him him as penance never being on her terms, she as such feels conflicted on how much she actually forgives him for his behaviour in Double Life versus the lack of recognition of her hurt.

"I've tricked too many too into thinking I was strong

Oh doc, it's not a game I wanna play alone"

Pearl's nature as the Scarlet Witch of Double Life was I believe most will agree was self defense born of her loneliness, but the rest of the lifers doesn't see it that way, most notably Gem who frequently calls Pearl pathetic for not living up to the reputation of the scariest red. As many others have noted Gem will never have the red Pearl she seeks as by seeking Pearl out she gives Pearl the one thing she lacked in Double Life that created the Scarlet Witch, companionship.

"My stars burn a red unpleasant hue"

While stars most commonly represent Scott in the Life Series and Double Life Scott is from Pearl's point of view unpleasant, I actually believe this to be about Pearl. Red giants are dying stars that have exhausted their supply of helium and begun thermonuclear fusion of their helium, representing the beginnings of death for a star,red giants are most commonly know to the layman as an evolution of the Sun that will expand to encompass Mercury, Venus and Earth, representing the probable death of all life on Earth. Red dwarfs in contrast are the smallest main sequence stars in the universe and have an estimated lifespan longer than the current age of the universe. Double Life Pearl is a red dwarf being red far longer than the other reds of the series switching to her red skin for much of her green and all of her yellow life and lacking in truth the association of death that red giant's/ red lifers had(past tense as limited life would change how red lifers were understood within the framework of teams)

Finally the chorus(which probably isn't the right term for it but I quit music theory classes for a reason)

"The right to want,

The right to see,

The right to hear,

The right to speak,

The right to walk,

The right to run,

The right to claw,

The right to beat,

The right to cry,

The right to sing,

The right to stay,

The right to leave,

The right to jump,

The right to hang,

The right to cut,

The right to -"

This is, I feel, about Pearl's autonomy. She should have been able to leave to the Nether with Martin without having to look for her soulmate first and to stay with Scott once she knew the truth. She should be allowed to sing of her triumphs and cry over her losses and pain in Double Life. The final 4 lines are about suicide and self harm, Pearl frequently engaging in the latter to harm Scott.

[the-mountain-flower]

Happy Day 10 of @crustables-fanart-week! Here's a one-shot:

Day 10: Hand Holding

Falst hates his claws, and Dainix provides some much-needed comfort.

Content warnings: body dysmorphia, self-hatred, self-harm

Falst was never not bitter about how useful his claws were. He’d just gotten good at ignoring it, pretending he wasn’t frustrated. He could worry about how it felt to use them when he didn’t actively need to.

He nearly laughed at the irony when carving into that large Life lacrima at Hilltop. Writing the part about removing them with the very same claws he wanted to be rid of, was nearly ironic enough to overshadow the discomfort. Nearly. He still thought of not having that part of him with something almost like relief.

He had lots of nightmares, he’d gotten used to that too. A reoccurring theme in his nightly fear was claws. Specifically those of a certain monster that had scarred him physically and emotionally as a child.

“First time I can remember hating these,” he’d told Dainix a while back, “like I was halfway there already.”

Most of the time he could ignore it. Brush it off or push it to the back of his head to upset him next time he slept, then move on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a foolproof plan. Sometimes it was just... too much for him. He often couldn’t even tell what set it off, it just happened, and his bottled-up emotions would start overflowing.

He really tried not to let it get to him. He couldn’t afford to break down. It made him vulnerable. He needed to keep his guard up as much as possible.

He really tried.

But sometimes it was just too much.

It was a good thing Kendal didn’t need nearly as much sleep as the rest of them, and was pretty alert even when resting. Falst couldn’t manage staying alert right now, even if he tried.

Falst was lucky, he knew that. He had people he could trust. People who could keep watch for danger anywhere nearby, and that meant near Falst as well. He could actually be in a position of relative safety with other people, and not have to stay as vigilant as usual. It was something he was so, so not used to. Nor should he let himself get rusty, or start depending on them too much.

But maybe it was why it was so much harder to hold himself together this time. Because he knew, even if he didn’t want to admit it, that he didn’t need to stay vigilant this time. He didn’t have that excuse to try and hold it back. And maybe having friends for the first time when he was so unused to it, affected his emotions, too. And he knew they’d try to help him if they knew...

Godsdamnit. He couldn’t let any of them see him like this. He couldn’t look weak.

Which is why, after waking up in the middle of the night from another nightmare, he had positioned himself in the rocky terrain in a way that no could see him from the entrance of the stone tent-like structure Erin had made. He’d already opted to sleep outside of it, so it wasn’t too hard. Dainix was also sleeping under the stars- apparently the small, confined stone space made him anxious, which was understandable- but his stillness and slow breathing indicated he was still sleeping, and Falst was quiet enough not to wake him.

He sat with his back against a boulder, knees tucked against his chest, and tail wrapped around his legs. His vision was already blurry, and his shoulders shaking. He hated it, but he knew he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Despite the tears rolling down his cheeks, and the heavy, staggered breathing from his heavy chest, he made very little noise. Over the years, he’d managed to make himself cry silently, for safety reasons. Which made it suck worse, given the first time he’d needed to be completely silent despite the tears.

He kept his hands clutched in tight fists, thumb beneath the other four. He wished he couldn’t still feel the surface of his nails against his skin. And he tried hard to keep his fingers in a position where the tips of his claws wouldn’t pierce the skin.

He hated it.

He tried so hard not to think about it. About how they were hard enough to be unaffected by basically anything. About how they were sharp enough to carve through stone. About how easily they could tear through flesh.

He hated them. He hated his claws.

He disliked most of his body. His nose that made every environment a sensory nightmare. His eyes with their slit pupils and predator-like appearance. His pointed ears that picked up every aggression and threat. His fur that looked deceptively subtle but was just thick enough to not be able to pass off as normal. His tail that provided an extra target and was the most obvious thing about him that shouted to the world that he was a ferin.

Most of it... wasn’t as strong as it used to be, though. Maybe Kendal was right.

He didn’t stop hating his claws, though. Because he’d been so scared of them. It was similar with his teeth, four of them sharp canines designed to tear through flesh, but they were easier to ignore. He’d once gotten so desperate as to start trying to pull his claws out of his fingers. An attempt that had lasted a few seconds at most. At one point, he’d had to talk himself out of chopping off his fingertips. That was probably the worst idea he ever had, or ever would have, and he knew it. That kind of thing was why the first thing he’d carved onto that Life lacrima, had been the segment about getting rid of his claws. Which he now knew was a hopeless endeavor.

No matter how much he ignored it, he’d never been able to shake the feeling that his claws were that of a m-

“Falst?”

Falst froze. Well, not ‘froze’ exactly, he was still shaking.

“Falst?” Dainix whispered from behind him. “You there?”

Falst swallowed hard, willing his throat to clear. He tried to sound normal when he responded, “Yeah. Everything’s fine.” Damnit, he definitely sounded like he’d been crying. He hoped Dainix didn’t come closer, or try to talk to him. He knew he was too tired to effectively hide his... emotional episode.

Those hopes were dashed when he heard the sound of footsteps in his direction. Then of someone sitting down beside him.

“What’s wrong?” Dainix asked gently.

“Nothing.” Falst’s voice still sounded faint and broken.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

“Nothing I’m not used to.”

“Falst-”

“Bad dream. That’s all.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“...Alright.”

Dainix didn’t leave. Instead he... he put his arm around Falst’s shoulders.

Falst’s first instinct was to push him away.

His next instinct was to lean in.

To his own surprise, he gave in to the second one.

Damn it, why are you like this?

He didn’t know how long they sat like that. The moons hadn’t visibly moved from their positions, so it couldn’t have been that long.

Falst... was starting to feel himself calm down. That was strange. Usually the presence of people during moments of vulnerability did the exact opposite. He really, really wasn’t used to having friends.

At one point, he even noticed his clenched fists loosen up a little, making it so his knuckles were no longer white with tension.

Which turned out to be a mistake.

“You’re bleeding!”

Falst lifted his head just in time to see Dainix grab Falst’s hands in his. Both of his palms had traces of dried blood on them. It was soon clear that he wasn’t actively bleeding, the skin already closed with little to no traces of scarring.

“It’s fine.” Falst insisted, voice still weak. “Just scratched myself a little.” he mentally cursed himself for somehow not noticing despite being so focused on the area.

Dainix clearly wasn’t having any of it. He looked down at Falst’s hands, with flakes of red on the palms and fingertips. Then he looked back up at Falst, and... for some reason it looked like he’d figured something out. Put the pieces together in the puzzle that was the truth behind Falst’s words.

“That bad dream you had,” he asked gently, “did it have anything to do with these?” He brushed one of his thumbs over the surface of one of Falst’s claws.

“How... you are scarily insightful, you know that?”

“Sorry.”

Several seconds of silence passed between them, before Falst’s damned emotions got the better of him again.

“It was.” he whispered.

For a moment, he wasn’t even sure Dainix heard him. Then Dainix squeezed his hands reassuringly.

It felt strange, being held like that. Nice, though. He wasn’t sure how Dainix managed to do it without making him feel trapped. Falst let his head rest on Dainix’s shoulders, strangely comforted when Dainix reciprocated the gesture.

“If it helps,” Dainix said softly, “I don’t think your claws are a bad thing.”

Falst scoffed, “Sure.”

“No, really.” Dainix insisted. “I’ve seen lots of actually monstrous claws, and these,” Dainix raised Falst’s hands in his own so they were at eye level with Falst, “aren’t that. Because they’re yours. I’ve seen you use them to spellcarve, and to climb to otherwise unclimbable places, and I’ve seen you use them to protect yourself and those you care for. That makes them pretty amazing, and I hope you know that.”

Falst had no clue how to respond to that. He didn’t think anyone had ever talked about his claws like that, himself included. He was grateful that Dainix’s couldn’t see the blush creeping up on his face.

They sat there in silence after that. Falst didn’t know how long. All he knew was that he was very tired after his emotional episode. And Dainix was a very warm, very comforting presence.

He hadn’t meant to fall asleep leaning against him. He didn’t realize he had until the increased brightness provided by the sunrise woke him up.

And he realized he’d spent the night so close to Dainix, and at some point while sleeping their hands had changed from Falst’s being held by Dainix’s.

Now their fingers were intertwined to hold each other close, Falst’s hands laying perfectly to fit within Dainix’s.

Judging by the slow breathing, Dainix was still asleep. Which was good, because that meant Falst could let go and it would probably go unnoticed.

And... that he could hold on a little while longer.

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This was meant to be a ficlet like the others, IDK how it got so long lol. Not complaining tho, I like how it turned out :)

Remember to drink water, eat food, take your meds (if applicable), and get enough sleep. Love you all, and have a great [insert time here]! <3