#or one could paint or dye stripes

[xitsensunmoon]

My first ever comic con! And first cosplay too. Of course it's gonna be my boy :] Ramblings about the process are under the cut(Let me know if?? You would want me to elaborate with process images for any of the steps?)

The costume took me forever to make, as I've never done any machine sewing, sculpting, fabric dying or spray painting before but learning all of these was so fucking fun!! I never realised just how many different skills go into making a cosplay but it was so worth it!!!

Almost all of the clothes(except the hat) were purchased first as bases, but all of the detailing was added by me. All of the fabric used was originally just scraps that I was given for free so I needed to learn how to dye and dye all of the stars, they were originally white.

The sewing machine was its own beast that brought me tons of frustration from the lack of skill and knowledge (it was devastating to find out that 95% of fuck ups were my fault and not the machine's lmao). But as a result, a hat sewn from scratch, all of the fur trims, embroidery on the corset, stars and the collar(which is very hard to see on the pictures unfortunately) was all added manually. The stars and the stripes(on the back of the cape) were attached using heat-and-bond adhesive (I WISH I knew about such thing just when I started working on this. It would save me so much time and nerves.)

Then I found out about polymorph(mouldable plastic) and it has become the next thing I wanted to learn, to sculpt the claws and the fangs(yes, they're handmade jfksjs). The claws I then primed and painted in trillion coats because I wasn't satisfied with the colour of the spray paint. The fangs I moulded to my own teeth and then stained with tea to match the colour of my teeth :)c

As for makeup, I used Mehron Paradise water activated paints. At first I wanted to try to save money and bought myself Snazaroo instead, which unfortunately turned out to be a waste. Snazaroo didn't hold on my face for longer than 2 hours, cracking and peeling awfully. Mehron on the other hand survived 11 hours of me smiling, talking, emoting and such and didn't even crease at the smile lines(I'm actually shocked about that). It obviously works like any other makeup which means your skin texture and wrinkles won't go anywhere but Mehron's elasticity pleasantly surprised me. It did obviously smear from sweat and saliva(if you're eating and licking your lips) but if you don't touch the skin it just dries again, self setting. But if it's dry it's fully smear-proof. Highly recommend!

And last but not least, I've decided against painting my hands as it was very risky that I will stain everything I touch at the smallest hint of sweat. So instead I got myself gloves-tights(? Not sure how they're called but it's made from the same fabric as tights) and painted them with normal acrylic paint(did you know you could dye fabric with acrylic paint? I personally didn't), then heat set with an iron and voilà, they're reusable, my hands are not stained after an exhausting day and I don't stain everything I touch. It worked wonderfully which honestly was a surprise as I was really sceptical that acrylic paint will somehow stay in place.

I think this whole thing took me minimum of 6 months with big-big breaks for my school and life in general. But I'm really proud! This project taught me so many new skills and I couldn't have been happier about learning new knowledge, even if it sucked to fail in the meantime.

Everyone at the con was really nice and gave me a large confidence boost even tho it was my first time and I had no idea what I was doing. Taking photos with other people was really awkward/new for me as I hate cameras so I really had no idea how to pose/behave in front of one. But that's okay I think. This whole experience definitely made me want to do this again, so I think that will come with experience. Thank you for reading this far, hope you enjoyed this little summary :)

[skygoldart]

Cod Grian Cosplay Build!

The fish man himself, season 10 Grian!

Reference Sketch

Some notes:

I always end up changing somethings from the reference when making the actual outfit, although I stayed pretty close it it this time.

I initially drew him with a handlebar mustache and goatee to mimic the whiskers of a fish, however I switched to a fluffier mustache beard to match the guy from Frozen.

I also opted for my turtleneck shirt over the red sweater+collar to go for more of a fisherman vibe

Since Grian is usually drawn with parrot wings, I wanted to call back to that with red yellow and blue feathers on the bobbers.

The tail and fins

I wanted to lean into the “fish”er man design and gave him fish fins and a tail.

It’s design is based on a cod fish with striped fins based on the feathers of an osprey

To make it, I drew the tail pattern on a large piece of paper, cut it out, cut each section out of the respective fabric times two, sewed the two sides together, and lastly filled it with a ton stuffing.

The tail is heavy, but it’s fun to wack people with it.

The fins for the arms and beanie are made in a similar way, each hand sewn onto the beanie/bracers once stuffed.

The Overalls

I had originally planned for him to be wearing waders, but wanted to make the outfit more wearable for everyday wear without overheating. So I opted for some brown corduroy overalls instead.

To add a “wet” look to each pant leg, I briefly dipped each one into some black fabric dye before rinsing and drying.

The green pixels on his skin look like they could be kelp or patches so I decided to go with the latter and dug through my scrap fabric to find these green pieces.

I embroidered the edge of each piece with a unique stitch and placed them randomly on each leg.

The snails!

Of course we can’t forget about the snails

There are three snails for this project with two more eventually on the way (a plush pink snail, and a plush brown snail).

I made the clay blue snail first with polymer and attached tie tacks to the underside so I can use it like a pin and stick it anywhere on my clothes.

Same goes for the pink worm snail which is also made of clay.

The blue plush snail is based on a pattern from Etsy by willowynn with some slight modifications, mainly to the eyes/feelers, and doubling the size.

Facial hair

This was one of the parts I was the most excited about for this cosplay and the only part I didn’t do myself. I commissioned @basic-amoeba to make a custom ventilated beard, styled and everything. This part turned out so good!

Some final notes for this project

This cosplay took from Feb 20 to March 15th to complete since I was so determined to finish it before Grian changed his skin. Haha look at me now. He still hasn’t changed it.

Not pictured (cause why can I only add 10 photos 😭) is the mending book with a fish hook I made using scrap faux leather, cardboard, and some cut printer paper. I painted in galactic the word mending and sprayed the whole thing in my “enchanting” spray paint (a blue to purple iridescent glitter spray paint)

A small fun backstory to the fishing rod:

My grandpa is an experienced fisherman and has dozens of fishing poles. When I talked about this project with him, he brought me out to his workshop and pulled down the dustiest fishing rod there. He told me he had fished this fishing rod from a lake one day with the line and bait still attached. Can’t get anymore accurate to Minecraft fishing than that lol.

Obligatory cosplay photo:

[pinkbeanii]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝓓𝔂𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓗𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓪𝓲𝓻˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

-an unconventional date night w/ jongseob-

A/N: inspired by @soulseobie and their Soul one shot, also @kisseobie made the og prompt. This is my first time posting my writing to tumblr so please be nice!! Constructive criticism is welcomed!

Warnings: mentions of wandering hands but entirely sfw, pet names (baby, babe, beautiful, sweetheart), like two-ish kisses but no details, shirtless jongseob but no description

It doesn't matter if you have experience or not with hair, Jongseob trusts you implicitly.

He has so much confidence that even if you have no clue what you're doing it'll turn out okay, and if not then-

“it's just hair baby, it'll grow out eventually!”

Seobie is pretty laid back about the color, obviously he has opinions but yours are more important to him.

Definitely wants to go with you to get supplies, and he's attached to your hip the whole time. It's fun honestly, how involved he wants to be.

"what about this one babe? think I could pull off neon green?"

"oooo, they have rainbow bowls! we have to get some!"

"do you think we'll need a hair treatment for after?"

Very insistent on paying, saying that it's his hair you're doing and it's the least he can do. Tbh, hair stuff can be pretty expensive so you really aren't complaining.

Once you have all the supplies and your space is set up (covered in paper and plastic wrap as to not stain anything) Jongseob is practically bouncing in excitement.

He's gotten his hair done before, obviously, but it's his baby who's doing it this time, ofc he's excited!

Jongseob is dressed in some random old band tee of his, and forced you to wear one as well. It doesn't matter if you were wearing stuff you didn't mind getting dye on, he insists on his shirt.

"no, this is not just bc I like how you look in my clothes, I just don't want you to get dye on your pretty outfit!"

[It definitely is, and he is absolutely pouting when you accuse him of it]

Assuming his hair is already blonde (it is at the time of writing this) you guys start with color right away. He wants to be surprised, so he doesn't even look while you're mixing the color or applying it.

He's very chatty the whole time, still feeling excited and energetic. Which was cute and sweet at first, but he kept moving his head, causing you to mess up in certain areas and get dye places it really shouldn't be.

"babe, you gotta stop moving, I got dye on your neck again!"

"I'm sorry! I'll try not to."

He tries his best not to move too much, but as you finish up the back and move to the front, the moving becomes touching.

Seobie is normally pretty touchy with you, but as nice as his hands feel running up and down your thigh, it's also really distracting.

His hands don't wander too much, he really doesn't want to disturb you! But it's an unconscious thing, his hands just gravitate to your skin whenever they have a chance.

If you point it out he'll get kinda sheepish-

"oh, I didn't realize. your skin is just so soft and warm!"

When you're applying near the roots of his hair, towards his scalp, he gets shivers from the cool temperature. No matter how many times you get your hair dyed, it's always a weird feeling to have goopy dye on your scalp

As you get to his bangs and move in front of him, he gets an idea.

It's pretty obvious, at least to you, when Jongseob has a plan to do something, but being so immersed in applying the dye you didn't notice.

Just as you finish painting a stripe of dye, he pulls you fully onto his lap. Hands gripping your hips making sure you can't squirm out of his reach.

"JONGSEOB!"

"what? I want you here with me, isn't it easier than trying to stand?"

"you could have given me some warning, and what if I'd gotten dye on you? and I don't think that-"

*kiss*

"I want you here, please."

Not being able to say no to his pleas, and feeling quite comfortable in his lap, you stay seated.

Finishing up the front was easy. Using your gloved hand you massage any left over dye into his hair, making sure every strand is coated.

With your hands in his hair Jongseob relaxes even more, leaning into your touch and letting out a whine when you stop-

"felt good, keep going?"

Ofc you indulge him for a while longer, he's so sweet when he asks so it's only natural.

After finally pulling your hands out of his hair and removing your gloves, you hand him the neon orange shower cap he'd insisted on at the beauty store.

Seobie smiles when you turn around, the neon shower cap stretched over his head. He reaches for you again, grabbing you by the waist and pulling you between his legs.

"wanna play switch while this sets?"

After about 30 minutes the timer you'd set rings, signalling that it was time to wash out the hair dye.

You both got settled in the bathroom. Jongseob on the floor, upper body resting against the bathtub, neck stretched so his head was over the tub.

You tucked a rolled towel under his neck, hoping it would help lessen the uncomfortable feeling. Seobie gave you a thumbs up-

"thanks beautiful, feels fine don't worry."

You both thanked the universe that the shower head was detachable, and began the rinsing process.

Jongseob relaxed as your hands entered his hair again. He'd always had a soft spot for you playing with his hair, something you used to your advantage whenever you could.

As you worked to rinse his hair water splashed around, landing everywhere. No matter how hard you tried to minimize it, the water had a mind of its own.

By the time you were halfway done the floor outside the bathtub was damp and so was Jongseob, mostly his shirt. Which he promptly took off as soon as you gave him a break to sit up.

Seobie balled up the tshirt and tossed it up to the counter, turning to you shamelessly.

Ofc you'd seen him like this before, but it still left your face hot and needing to look away.

"what's got you so shy sweetheart, nothing you haven't seen before."

This boy... He's just... Cocky isn't the right word, but it was more than confidence. Maybe comfortable is a good word for it. He knew he was safe with you, so being shirtless didn't leave him feeling "exposed"

Once you got ahold of yourself it was time to continue rinsing.

It took quite a bit before the water ran clear, during which you took advantage of your position to occasionally glance at the shirtless boy under you. No matter how many times you'd seen him, it was still a very pretty sight.

When the dye had been fully rinsed out you pulled Seobie to sit up, plopping a dry towel over his head and drying his hair gently.

Neither of you felt like using a hair dryer, so once his hair was mostly dry, tho still slightly damp, you helped him stand.

"ready to show me babe?"

Covering his eyes you walked him in front of the mirror-

"3,2,1!"

Jongseob looked at his new hair with a wide smile, turning his head side to side, admiring it.

After a thorough appreciation of your hard work, he turned to you and gently held your face-

"it looks absolutely perfect baby, knew you could do it!"

His words left your face hot again, making him giggle at your sudden shyness. In turn, he peppered your face with kisses, light pecks scattered everywhere, ending with a sweet kiss to your lips.

An overall enjoyable experience, with a fun outcome. Seobie would definitely ask you to do it again next time he wanted a change.

Thanks for reading!! I hope this was enjoyable, the plot and idea kinda got away from me at times, but I had fun writing it!

Also, in my head the colour would be like a pinky orange, bc I love Seob's orange hair (let's be real, I love all his hair colors) and my favorite hair color on me is pink, so therefore: pinky orange lol

[ntls-24722]

cloesona

Featuring @artastic-friend's Kofruth and Atzurae! HOOH I've been thinking about doing this meme for awhile I'm glad it turned out so nice

breakdown:

So, I had the idea that from time to time in the comic, or when the perspective shifted, it would shift onto the artstyle of the respective species, here's how things differed.

Kofruth opens the scene in cave painting medium, cave painting that is notably lacking in Blue! Blue dye is a fairly cheap, common dye and Debu love blue, but it's sometimes excluded from cave paintings designated for fire rooms, which is... where most of their paintings are. Debu caves are completely dark except for the room dedicated to having fire, their fire room, which also happens to be the one they display their art in - because it's the one room you'd be able to see it! However, due to the lack of any other light but their fire, and the color of the cave wall, it's extremely orange in the fire room, which dulls out the blue color from their art. So, sometimes, they do away with it entirely.

Also, why is Atzurae just a bunch of lines?

Debu, due to their size, have the quirk of drawing most things from the top view, since that's how they see everything - especially the 2-foot-tall zebraelves! To them, they just look like big spiders. So they draw them as fat little spiders.

Also, Atzurae's cloesona! It's... not a zebraelf cloesona?!?! It's been given Debu anthropomorphic traits - tusks, and big nostrils! It's almost like it's kofruth's cloesona instead...🤨

I turned off the multiply blending mode to better show this - So, despite zebrapeople, especially zebraelves, championing dye production in the early history of Bolur, they only really make reds and blues. That's cuz it's all they can see! They could make a yellow due to paint something, but why do that when it looks pink, and they have red and white right there in their disposal?

There's also the art style - I originally went a completely different direction with this. My inspo was initially ancienct Chinese art since I saw the parallel of how popular the medium of ink and paper had gotten between both societies, and I had juuuust gotten to finishing before (and you can kind of tell where I was, at the scars around Kofruth's eye) realizing where I should've taken zebraelf art.

Zebraelf's aesthetic attraction is for geometry, and curvilinear designs! It's the same for zebramen too, somewhat, though not as strong as it is for zebraelves. Zebraelves LOVE making things with one stroke and they try to do it as much as possible since it resembles the uniformity and cleanliness of their stripes, though the exaggerated fur was fun (since they express emotions with their fur) so I tried to keep that, too.

There's also the anatomical inaccuracy of giving Debu teeth gaps. Debu notably Do Not have them in their front teeth, and find the seperation of said tusks creepy.

But that anatomical inaccuracy is far less egregious than the one in the next frame:

A closed mouth!!!

Debu's front teeth do retain some vestigial appearance of looking seperate through the gums and the striations, but their lips physically cannot close like this. Zebrapeople can close their mouths, though with a little effort since they have a natural grin, but Debu mouths are too tight, period.

Also, I think a zebraelf might give Kofruth a monobrow! Monobrows are seen as beautiful (due to the singular, aesthetically pleasingly unbroken line), so while not as common in Debu, they might still give Kofruth one.

Not much to say here other than this is easily my favorite frame!! The sclera are shown here since they're often shown in distress, and the white is drool, which are Bolur tears

Most "vertebrates" don't have sad tears, they have sad drool, and i've decided the new reason for that is because their saliva has chemicals with a mild painkilling + soothing effect, so when they're upset their body kicks the saliva-making into overdrive both to calm it down with those chemicals, and to slow their own breathing by having to stop and swallow their own saliva

That and there's the very cool detail (in my opinion) that Kofruth is implied to be semi-animated - Marc Azéma and Florent Rivère made the claim that a lot of cave art was made to be animated under the flickering light of a fire, and that's why a lot of cave art seems to be a lot of animals abstractly juxtaposed on top of one another. (he also made a video showing this off)

Also, here's the GORGEOUS bull from the Cave of Altamira i based the cave paintings off of. STUNNING <3333

[ang3lthoughts]

Warning: underage smoking, 15!chuuya, Chuuya is a stupid loser in love, reader and Chuuya are VERY a tiiiiny bit emo/scene. Dazai and Chuuya are roomies!!! Shotgunning, Chuuya and reader do kiss a little O,o

Do‼️not‼️smoke‼️nor‼️drink‼️unless‼️you‼️are‼️the‼️legal‼️age‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ I cannot stress that enough!!!! This is pure fiction. Not real at all. Smoking kills!! Not cool!! (Is it working guys am I the next DARE)

Reqs open btw!!! :3

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Chuuya didn’t know how long he had been looking in the mirror for. He wanted to make sure his eyeliner was perfectly smudged, his hair was perfectly messy, and his room was fit to match your liking. Posters were hung all over his wall, his laundry was (mostly) neatly put in a basket minus the few shirts and pants that were scattered around. His Millionares, My Chemical Romance and Pierce the Veil cds were “coincidentally” the ones on display because he knows you like them.

A knock on his bedroom door made him stop dead in his tracks. Were you here? He rushed to the door excitedly like a puppy when its owner comes home. “He- oh ew it’s just you.” Unfortunately, it wasn’t the one he expected, but his stupid roommate Dazai. “Were you expecting someone else, Chuuya~?” He flashed Chuuya a grin “it’s none of your business, brace face. What do you want?” “Not too much about my braces, pepperoni pizza. Have you seen my nail polish? You were the last one to use it” “I put it in the bathroom you idiot”

“Oh! Chuuya! Hey!” before their banter could grow further, a head popped out from behind the wall “[name]. Hi.” His voice was breathy. “Wait. How’d you get in here without keys?” Dazai questioned, peeking behind Chuuya to make eye contact with you “oh! The door was wide open.” “Fuck!” The brown haired man rushed down the stairs. “Cool bandages!” You yelled from afar.

Chuuya closed the door and put on music. You immediately recognized the song and hummed along, swaying while idly sitting criss-cross on his bed. “So… what’s in the bag?” The boy questioned. You grinned at him and shoved your hand in the bag making an annoying crinkling noise “I’m so glad you asked!” You pulled out a box of splat hair dye and a baggie of pre-rolled weed.

“Which one d’ya wanna do first?”

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“Okay. First I gotta light it. Then you put it to your lips and inhale. Juuust like a cigarette. ”

It was embarrassing for the the male to admit to his crush that he had never gotten high. Of course he had smoked before, but only nicotine-infused products. not anything that would get him too fucked up. Luckily, you didn’t tease him about it like a certain suicidal maniac would. If anything, you seemed excited to show him the ropes. “Cigarettes are just the less fun version of joints. When you smoke it so often the headrush just wares off and it’s no fun anymore” your rambling fell to deaf ears because all he could focus on was you. Your plump lips, adorned with piercings, the worn-out skunk stripes matched his freshly done ones from the previous activities together, your black-painted nails went with the black stained tips of your fingers from the hair dye... He could spend every hour studying everything about you.

He finally snapped out of his trance when you lit the plant. “Open your mouth for me, chuu.” what? You had just explained how it was like a cigarette, so why did you want him to open his mouth? He complied anyway and made eye contact with you as you took a looong drag. Grabbing his face, you exhaled smoke into his mouth and he immediately inhaled all the smoke you gave him. His cheeks blossomed into a fiery red from how intimate the moment was. The eye contact between the two teens in love was a gaze as intense as the piercing rays of the sun.

Oh my god. holy shit. That was so fucking hot. Oh my god. is she gonna pull away? His head was racing. You gave him a toothy grin and put the joint right up to his lips, not daring to pull away. He inhaled the weed. a harsh taste hit his mouth immediately. He shakily exhaled and you leaned in, capturing his lips in a kiss. He wrapped his arms around your lower back as you crawled ontop of him. Pulling away as a string of saliva clung onto the both of your mouths, you exhaled the smoke that was previously in chuuyas mouth.

Mind clouded with lust and the high hitting him at the same time had his whole world spinning. You sat up, straddling his waist and taking a hit. “You feeling it yet, baby?” You exhaled. He giggled drowsily and nodded “Cmere. Wanna kiss you again.” He pushed your back down so your lips could touch again.

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GRRRR I LOVE CHUUYA. LOBE LOBE LOBE HIM.

Reqs open btw!!! :3

[t34-mt]

sorry if you already answered this, but how do the specific colors for each species work when in different regions? are there any specific colors that are more common in one place than the other???

old art and outdated ethnicities, very skinny maanuls/kyhuines up ahead

yes, each region has a group/ethnicity that sports colors that are exclusive to them, even feather type for the mane of maanul divers from one region to another. For kyhuines every group has the same feather types, BUT it is possible to have an individual with curly feather genes like a frillback pigeon. that said gene is a mutation so it's not common but it can be passed down

now im sincerely sorry I don't have a really clean good chart yet, ill use these shitty drawings I once made to explain the color to a friend. while they suck and are not good references to look at when it comes to anatomy you still understand color variation with them at least. I'll start with maanuls!

Western maanuls

while on the maanul drawings they don't have size dif, if this was done seriously the females would be bigger than males across every group. Western maanuls are ""the basic ones"" if you had to put it bluntly. id imagine that ancient maanuls before they diversified in colors probably looked a bit like a tone-down modern Western maanul.

the examples ill use for each groups are the most basic individuals you could ever think of. Because with dye and modification, an individual from one group could end up widely different from the base look. For example, Morang is a western maanul but she doesn't look like the example shown here, she cut down feathers for a straight-end look and she bleached herself to be a unified white. another we

Eastern maanuls

now with these guys, i do have a good render of them which you can see here, like western maanuls they got a mane with flexible feathers. the best irl example i can give for you to visualize that type of feathers would be to look at a Japanese roosters's tails. males have a greenish turquoise end some of their feathers. Which is a color exclusive to them. If i ever post an image of yarey'lu ( a male eastern maanul) and you see his yellow feather tips be aware that its not natural, and these are done with dyes. so would be the yellow marks around the eyes, these are also done by paint. another character that is an eastern maanul is ak'laam who doesn't look like the examples because she's melanistic.

Eastern males are the most colorful of all, they've also got iridescent feathers but so do eastern females which is also unique to them. The sea they live next to is a bright blue and within that sea, they have many coral barriers and "exotic" wildlife, even the flora around their region is bright and varied so, i had to make them fancy to go with their place.

Southern maanuls

now they've got their perks too, maanuls and kyhuines after being an ugly hatchlings they become what they call a fledging, which is a state where they're fully covered in a yellowish coat of feathers with brown stripes. Now every maanul and every kyhuine shed that coat at some point, so they lose the stripes except southern maanuls. Southern maanuls even as full adults still have some reminiscences of their stripes from when they were a fledgling.

The mane of easterns are quite particular too, they've got a mix of the two variants. a top layer with hard shafts that move for emoting or just to dance, and a bottom layer of soft shaft feathers. my only southern maanul character is nau'stikah

North-east maanuls

northeast are not that far in the north honestly on the map that population just sits on top of keezeh behind mountain ranges where the nice weather shifts into more temperate ones, like a normal winter you'd find in central Europe (i wish snow was still a thing here), their feather mane is usually quite short compared to other maanul groups and it is fully composed of hard shaft feathers that moves unintentionally with emotions or can be controlled at will.

They are quite dark due to the place they live at, which are cliffs that have been tinted black because of ancient volcanic activities. There arent many north east maanuls, they're the rarest of the 5 maanul groups. A character that is a north east maanul to mention would be qua'tuli

Central north maanuls

and for last with maanuls, central north maanuls which are "real northern" maanuls because they truly inhabit the real north compared to north east. Like north east their mane is fully made out of hard shaft feathers that can move, but unlike them their mane isn't short. you may have noticed but they're more covered too! ears are covered, most of the hand except palms, and the same for feet, except feet can actually be fully covered in feathers in some cold periods of the year.

Compared to other maanuls, central north go out in the land much more often to find food because during cold seasons they cannot always easily rely on the ocean. Their life is harsher than other groups so it sometimes reflects in folklore, like, for example, the way northern maanuls draw haanu (maanul's all mighty mother deity, a sort of Venus of willendorf equivalent) is lets say much scarier than the way other part of the world do it. i dont have any central north characters!

-

i should also mention that all maanuls have yellow eyes by default, mixing groups can create mutations tho, like orange, red or even brown (monmartre for example, western+central north it has red eyes cause mutation, and while it just looks like a western with neglected feathers it starts to look closer to a central north when it ages in late GA), other mutations can affect eye color too, ak'laam has black/brown eyes because of melanism, and an albino maanul would have red eyes.

kyhuines, commonly have yellow eyes too tho it is plausible but rare to have red, grey and brown eyes without being mixed. These traits can become hereditary too, same goes for maanuls with mutated eye colors they can also be passed down (example with monmartre's litter, but also that was done so its litter would stand out and be recognisable)

-

Now with kyhuines, there are only 4 groups/ethnicity compared to the 5 of maanuls, and theirs are quite close to one another so claims like "south, west, east, north" is a bit of a stretch but they still use it anyways for communication.

Southern kyhuines

the most common kyhuine are southern! now with kyhuines the color dimorphism is much more present compared to maanuls. Even talons in females if often darker, southern females can have dark brown talons to just the light pinkish that males have. gular skin is usually less bright too. Like eastern maanuls, i have a proper render of that group that you can see here. notable characters that are southern kyhuines would be satmuh, kapone, oto, and bantam. These 4 are all siblings so they can also be shortened to "southern litter" in literature

Western kyhuines

body wise, identical to southern. The difference is that they're much lighter. between males and females colorwise it's not that different most of the time. But they still got their quirk, their gular skin is a blue color. first contact maanuls mistaken western and southern to just be the same group variants but not, they are distinct ethnicity despite looking similar. i don't have any character that belongs to this group!

Salt desert kyhuines (or salt rock)

calling them north is a stretch, while on old kyhuine maps, they are situated up to other groups, on a world map they're just in the center of the mega continent like other kyhuines its just that they live in the salt desert. the talons of a female salt kyhuine can almost be black, to just greyish tones like the example, same goes for gular skin it can go from this tone to a full black one. Then the males sport these blue cool tones and also have iridescent feathers, irredescent feathers in kyhuines is only found in male salt desert individuals.

now the "wings) these drawings suck because while you get the base idea for colors its not good when it comes to accurate anatomy, the feather of salt male kyhuines are long, very long, almost like a Microraptor (on the drawing the leg feathers are not right, not large/wide enough). While they cant glide because they're too heavy and not made for that either way. it does help readjust a fall or jump, you'd usually see males flap their "arm wing" a little when jumping to something high. notable characters of that group are Ame, kaasim, and the egg twin sisters

Eastern kyhuines

So for eastern kyhuines, i do have a clean render of them but its also outdated when it comes to spine posture. While ill still link it because you get a better look at their face beware that the kyhuine don't stand like that anymore (as you can literally see here). You can go view it here.

They're the only kyhuine that can have green-ish tones (for males), their face is also different its more curved, their face have a more "chubby" look. by the way, a healthy kyhuine from any region will have fat cheeks, best example to look at ig, are these shibas with fat cheeks. Their "wings" and overall look is a usually smoother than other kyhuines, they also have shorter "ears"

My favorite kyhuines honestly, i love their face a lot it's shameful that i didn't make any eastern oc atm.

all done, if you've reached down there then thank you for reading/looking! means a lot to me

[kyeomyun]

8:46 PM

pairings: dad!soonyoung x gn!reader

genre: crack + fluffy fluffy fluff fluff + more crack

warnings: jokes about ripping one's ear off, cursing, that's it.

word count: 0.9k

synopsis: nothing is more loving than coming home to your tiger family- wait, what?

::note: this took me me an hour to write and this is NOT proofread as of now.

Soonyoung knew what it took to make your son follow simple orders and Soonyoung follows along with his traps every. single. time. Today was no exception. The bad outcome of all of this? Soonyoung can get a little too deep into your son's tactics and become... well... a child himself.

Leaving Soonyoung alone with your son, Jiho, was completely out of your league and range of logical ideas you have ever made while being married to the man.

No, Soonyoung is not horrible at taking care of a child. Not at at all.

He can hold a child, feed a child, hell... even communicate even if the child is using their own unique dialect and/or language to try to convey whatever rushing scenarios or kid-like ideas they try to get across (which 9 out 10, barely works without having to rapidly fire questions about whatever it is they are trying to say).

The way Soonyoung handled the kid was not the problem. It was the least of your worries.

What edged you a bit was how your husband acted with your kid. That was another beast to tackle. A completely different persona to try to age back up to his fatherly one.

You knew today would be no different after you received a call from your next door neighbor, Jihoon, Soonyoung closest friend. Well... one of his many closest friends..

"Y/n." His tone was merely agitated, you can already see the vision of his index finger and thumb massaging the stress wrinkles from his temple. A breathy sigh followed and soon, the reasoning of dialing you up. "Can you please, please, give Soonyoung an earful before I rip his ear off?"

You let out a shallow exhale, your fingers clicking across the keyboard whilst your eyes traced over the blinking cursor that slid right of the monitor in front of you.

"What did he do, Hoon?" What did he do now you really wanted to ask.

"Just.. go home and see. Just know that I am not the only neighbor complaining."

And that's how you ended back home only 1 hour before you shift really hit a close.

Now, your mind already checked off that the problematic duo was obviously rowdy. You could hear faint screams of your son from outside. Even when the wind would clog your ears temporarily and then escape back into the breeze.

You expected Jiho, wearing his pull-up diaper and nothing more, waddling side to side in the living room, his high-pitched giggles (screams) almost shattering the glass windows that surrounded almost every corner of your house, and Soonyoung, his horanghae pose while chasing his miniature him around while growling obnoxiously loud; you know, the norm.

Surprisingly, that was not the scene at hand.

After entering the not-so-quiet home of yours, you were quick to rush upstairs (locking the door of course) to see whatever ruckus they have caused yet again.

"Now, show me your teeth little guy! Say 'rawr!'" Soonyoung ordered with a somewhat argent voice, he too obliging with his request for his son.

To paint the scene, there they both sat, one in the bath full of bubbles and orange dye, face striped with black but mostly plastered with orange, and the other on his knees beside the tub that was spilling luke-warm water onto the floor — a toothbrush at hand with toothpaste lined up on the brussels.

"Rawr!" The 2-year-old went on with his father's wishes and flashed his very few teeth, some crooked but overall healthy, before your husband began his duty of actually beginning to clean your son's teeth.

"This is how you become the best tiger, little one. With such fierce determination, handsome-ness, and passion, you can be just like me."

At this point, Soonyoung was just pulling this "tiger talk" straight from his tiger ass and you could barely withstand hearing another alpha-y dialogue from him.

"You know, Ji was supposed to be bathed a hour ago, Soon." And that's when you finally met your husband eyes that day. His hand froze and so did your next rebuttals as you took in the scene that you kinda wish to erase from memory.

As if you did not think this tiger agenda could not egg more than it already has for years...

There your husband is, black stripes scattered along his face and the base or his face orange. A sloppily drawn black dot on his nose and dotted freckles on his cheeks — much like your son's face.

"Um... welcome home, darling!"

As said before, Soonyoung knows exactly what to do to make your son oblique to simple orders. You however? This will be the last day you ever listen to Soonyoung suggestions and actually follow along with them.

"I, the tiger-"

"Horang." The man next to you dared to whisper the correction of your dialogue. You darted your newly painted face (art by your son) to your husband. You jutted your face towards him, curse words rippling from your mouth in hisses so your son could not be able to complain about one.

Clearing your throat, you panned your attention back to Jiho, who patiently waited with a fork at hand and a plate sided with steamed carrots and broccoli in a bowl.

"-The Horang royal, order you, prince horang, to eat thy vegetables, or I will have no choice but to remove-"

"Terminate." Soonyoung already began to take steps back, your head already slowly turning before you began your one mission and one mission only:

Ripping Soonyoung's ear off. (lovingly)

Per Jihoon request. :)))

Your son's exciting screams only urging you on to the so desired goal.

Seungkwan was right, it really did run in the family.

(no worries, you still love Soonyoung)

did you enjoy your order?

if you did, please reblog, like, (pls) comment, all of that jazz :>

have a good day, sweets ^^

tagging: @star1117-archives @m4rsluv @luvhyun3 @trblsvt @dreamyyeosang

[paigelovesliam1d]

Simon is trying to get a new boy band together to be better than One Direction 🙄. One Direction made high expectations for boy bands and no one could ever replace them, or be better. Simon regrets not taking ownership of the name One Direction. Luckily he didn’t, because so many things happened behind the scenes of 1D. Yeah the boys had good times, traveling to different countries, seeing happy fans, and goofing off together, ect, but there was things people didn’t know about that weren’t ok

1D had no proper breaks, or time to eat. So Zayn had an eating disorder. They had barely time to sleep, because they had to tour and record music. They made a new album every year for 5 years and toured each album. All of 1D end up getting anxiety

Zayn wrote 30 songs for 1D, but none of them could be used, because they didn’t fit One Direction’s style. Zayn couldn’t dye his hair or have a beard

Niall was forced to dye his hair. Forced to get braces. Needed a major knee surgery, but had it postponed, because of touring, and when he finally got it done. He had to preform instead of resting his knee after surgery

Louis was made to hide his true personality, and suffered from confinements issues after a severe reprimand from Simon, following a fun performance.

Harry wasn’t allowed to wear what he wanted, or paint his nails. His voice was made more horse by producers of the Take Me Home album. He was forced to do PR stunts and was labeled a womenizer at the age of 16, which took a tole on him

Liam got depression which led to a drinking problem, because he was most of the time lock up in hotel rooms, with only the mini bar. Liam said, the environment got so toxic. Liam probably thought he would kill himself if 1D hadn’t went on break

Louis and Niall barely had solos, because there Voices were deemed not good enough. 1D often had to be up at 4 AM to record music which caused them to not get much sleep

1D was selected to into certain roles, the cute one, the funny one, the bad boy ect. Fans realize there real life had no resemblance to these images. Fans grew to not like there management, for not recognizing how fans loved there real image, and not there manufactured image

According to Zayn, each member was treated like a product with their own branding. Zayn clashed with a manager when he dyed part of his hair blonde, because it was Niall’s brand. Liam couldn’t wear stripes, because that was Louis brand. These products were made to make money with no consideration for them being tired, sick overworked or injured

Remember 1D originally auditioned for the X Factor as solo artist. They were so young when One Direction started. They had no clue what to do. So they went along with the idea of being in a band

[asfateentertwines]

Spider + Kiri Platonic HCs

Platonic soulmates

Kiri claims him as her platonic partner when she's like 16 as a way to establish him as part of her family

At first it causes some raised eyebrows, people suspecting they are more than friends or something shady is happening until it is clear Spider is content with his respective partner and they are content with just having their brother at her side

They each have a little matching braid in their hair with beads for the other, it's a little reminder and a little claim when nothing in their lives are stable

They are also best friends with Lo'ak and act as a trio but he's more popular and less of a "village freak" so to speak and so their dynamic has always been a little bit different

Before she was born, Spider was always intrigued by Grace and her pregnancy. He would curl up by her tank with his toys or tablet, babbling to the tank and to the sister he didn't yet know was his

The occasional floating visitor kept Neytiri from separating him from Grace and later baby Kiri

They have about a 2 year age gap but it's not exact with Na'vi aging

Kiri was convinced braiding Spiders hair would create a tswin if they tried hard enough as a small child

Spider didn't really get it but let her play with his hair whenever she wanted, just liking the attention and the soft touches

Spider had a crush on her for about a year when they were 12 and 10 but later realized it was moreso just a lot of care he didn't know how to process

Kiri is the reason Spider learned what love is

Lo'ak and Kiri grew up tag teaming Jake and Neytiri with comments about their 'other brother' or 'Dads human kid' in attempts to get them to accept Spider as family

It sort of worked on Jake but scared Neytiri more

Kiri is the only one who can always find Spider when he runs off, but Spider is takes hours trying to find them when the rolls are reversed

It helps them both to know that someone always comes looking

Neytiri reluctantly lets it be that Kiri added a bead to her and their siblings songchords for Spider

Spider thinks Kiri is the strongest person he's ever met (though if you ask he'll say Jake)

She was who kept coming to mind when the RDA tried to search his mind and he had to blur her face and voice until he could barely remember them for fear of what it could mean for them

Their relationship is how Jake learned of platonic bonds in Na'vi culture and how valued they are in their society

It's also part of why he starts trying to bring Spider into the family more and more as the kids grow older

Spider thinks that Kiri will want him around less after Neteyam is shot but she leans on him tenfold

They're one anothers anchor

Kiri forgives Spider for saving Quaritch but its something they're never able to completely forget

On the same page, they never forgive Neytiri for pulling them away when Spider was taken and places blame on themself and their mother on bad days since they didn't go back

Kiri is the only one who really knows what humans can and cannot have of the Na'vi - she had to learn since Lo'ak and Spider kept daring one another to do stupid things

Kiri hates the dreads and ends up twisting and braiding his hair with Rotxo when they get to Awa'talu

Spider and Rotxo dye Kiri's tips red like her mothers with berries and paint - which almost got them killed by Neytiri but Kiri loved it

When Rotxo starts courting Spider, Kiri helps him by adding some of Rotxo's stripes to his paint (it's the first pattern that wasn't hers he ever wears)

Spider spends days with Kiri gathering gifts when Kiri tries to pursue their first real relationships

He also dyes the girls tail red with his hair dye knowledge when she breaks Kiri's heart

[sofiadragon]

I love your hp fashion post! I have a question: what do you think is popular for teenager girls/young women to wear in the 90s? How does it differ from muggles? Would they have incorporate muggle fashion trends into their outfits? And is that a thing you would usually see younger wizards doing?

Thank you!

Ok, this requires me to sit at my PC to type. Got me out of bed and off my phone to make tea and type while I'm sick.

Obligatory link to the post in question.

Fashion is Political

Fashion in the 70's, 80's, and 90's was hugely political both in the UK and USA. Goths, punks, preps... It was an entire identity. I didn't paint my nails black, dye my brown hair with translucent red or purple highligts, and wear mesh layers just for the aesthetic, it was an entire philosophy that had political, moral, and social ideas baked into the culture those clothes represented. When I wore a yellow sundress, a hat that hid the highlights, and stripped the color from my nails to visit certain relatives it was because that was a Sundown Town and the ideas represented by the counter-culture I belonged to very well could get me hurt when walking around alone. Yes, I look entirely white (got some Japanese but so far back it doesn't show, and I'm basically French and Bulgarian) but that kind of conservatism didn't (and still doesn't) take kindly to those who support the queers, freaks, and weirdos.

And it's still true, if not quite as much as it used to be. Social cliques still dress alike, but it isn't as quietly political the same way it was then. People don't seem to associate fashion with a political statement using style as much as they use modesty and cleanliness, but it could be that I've just become Officially Old now that I've got a stripe of white in my hair. It seems a bit more on the nose these days, or more accurately on the head. I have a lovely bright red knit newsboy hat I had to stop wearing around 2016-17.

Yeah, but so what?

Fashion changes over time, so let's start with some 1970's makeovers and work our way to the 90's!

The Marauders Prequel: Kinktomato, and all the similar disclaimers, but I respectfully disagree entirely with giving Sirius, James, or any of the other marauders a Punk aesthetic. Sorry JKR, but what you have James and Sirius wear in your prequel needs a tweak. Sure, they wanted to fight against 'traditionalists' which sounds like it's punk... until you realize that the Light was the status quo before Tom came to power. The Order of the Phoenix is a vigilante group working to protect the Establishment and prevent change. Yes, realizing that while reading the 7th book hurt me in my heart too.

I have to throw JKR a bone about her recent nonsense, but she's right in the manner of a broken clock that the rebellious counter-culture going on in the Wizarding World was being backed by the Traditional Family Values set. The politics in the Wizarding World do not match up well with the real world, mostly because if you think too much about it the political aims of the Death Eaters implode. For blood purity, leader is a half-blood who hates the rich and treats the high society types with deep contempt; were not in power and had to have a guerrilla movement, members included half the House of Lords. You can't square those circles, so we get the Light Preppy types like the Marauders and the Dark Preppy types like Draco Malfoy, and then we have the punks and the goths who are the outcasts and queers that get indoctrinated into one or the other set. Don't blame me, I didn't write the books.

The Marauders should look a bit like The Monkees.

James and Sirius were not in with the queers and freaks, they did not read dark poetry in black clothing with sharp lines and heavy makeup that obscured bruises, they were Preppy Jocks and bullies picking on the outsiders. Remus Lupin might be 'one of the good people' who got wizard AIDS, but he's at best masking to fit in with a powerful social group for protection. The black leather with the rocker band t-shirts look? No, no. Put that boy in a polo shirt and chinos. Give him a cable-knit sweater or a blazer over a robe. (And many people do give these things to Professor Lupin, but I mean from the jump.) They'd all be clean-cut, perfectly groomed, and wearing light colors because their political movement is literally called The Light. Black T-shirts with a phoenix on them? No ma'am. White or yellow shirt, embroidered (or screen print to look like embroidery) phoenix. Yellow blazer jacket on top with creamy muggle trousers in a high-water boot cut to show off expensive white or tan boots. (The high-water boot cut on the trousers are muggle 1960's, but wizards lag behind on muggle trends.)

Moving on to the Dark Side

Snape's our punk, or maybe a broody goth gremlin reading poetry books. All via thrift-shop [charity shop] finds, of course. The set of upper-class future Death Eaters he eventually starts to hang out with would have started out in clean-cut expensive dark-colored robes, but might have embraced a morbid aesthetic, as we see Bellatrix wear in the movies. This would be a case of convergent evolution in a sense.

Snape dressed like that due to the poverty and muggle influences in his life, and I headcanon that he liked to visit a record shop and stim his autistic brain with niche experimental music just like I used to at that age, but the morbid and shocking aspects of Goth or Punk aesthetics parallel with Voledmort's completely unrelated skull and snake symbol inspiring trends among his more loyal followers, who are rich enough to be trend setters and social influencers.

Snape very well might have made friends with those awful boys because they liked the casual clothes he started to wear on weekends once his mum started tossing some money at him and telling him to get his own shopping done so she could get back to her crossword puzzle (or maybe he got a summer job at a bakery.) Snape chose that look because if he's styled punk (violent) or goth (morbid) the rips his father puts in his clothes when he gets tossed around are there on purpose and it's just a nice coincidence that the stains in the second-hand clothes he gets on clearance at the charity shop get hidden by the cheap black dye he uses to get that grey and black look. This way, it is not just because he can't afford better and washes both himself and his clothing in the same portable tin washtub.

This convergence was accidental, but the artfully tattered cloaks and general look of the Death Eaters in the movies is something I can get behind - minus the Victorian trousers on the men, of course. The movies make the clothes way too muggle especially for the pure-blood set! Regulus Black spent nearly a hundred galleons getting a robe made of the finest linen and fur, snipped and cut so artfully to look like it was moth-eaten and torn even though every edge is properly hemmed and trimmed with a bit of lace that merely looks like a frayed edge.

Then Voldemort got Blown up

Look, the actress has red hair and a preppy lavender top - it's too perfect a reference image for Lily Potter nee Evans in a fashion post.

The morbid aesthetic that was so popular in the late 70's doesn't just go out of fashion, it is jettisoned like the toothbrush mustache. Yeeted from a seaside cliff. Dropped in a ditch full of burning petrol. Abandoned at the side of the road in a bag. Morbid? Don't know her.

Draco Malfoy, as I earlier teased, wears the fashion of the Dark upper class. Flowing perfectly tailored robes with a rope belt. Crisp and clean lines, no jagged edges or anything to even suggest aggression. 90's pure-blood fashion is soft. For the girls, more color, but we are going to backpedal so hard nobody will ever think we were associated with that guy we don't name. Draco Malfoy's non-uniform robes are like spun clouds, opulent and decadent in beautiful pristine velvet, shining satin, and resplendent metallic embroidery. While Snape and the generation of men older than him now wear waistcoats over their robes to look proper and all buttoned up, Draco's set is all about looking sleek, clean, and comfortably ready for a dramatic breeze. I don't think there is a large difference between what boys and girls wear, the gendering is all in the accessories and embellishments. Lace for girls, metallic piping for boys.

I'm talking flowy, I'm feeling swishy, I'm saying that 'looks like a dress' was a completely fair take from Harry's perspective. Yes the above characters are female and Frieren herself wears a lot of white, but you get the idea. The Dark Lord is dead, we need a rebrand yesterday. More lighter colors even for Dark-aligned [read:Tory, Conservative] families. No evil here! Nope, nope nope.

Harry is a Self-fulfilling Prophesy in More Ways than One

Harry accidentally has a hand in this trend in his earlier years, since he is wearing Dudley's castoffs and he's incredibly famous. Baggy is in! Just relax, chill, be comfortable. Dress like you just don't care what you look like. (You know, pandemic style.) He wears jeans, and probably most of his bottoms are jeans. They are one of the most durable things any boy Dudley's age would wear, and so wouldn't be as destroyed as the rest of his wardrobe by the time Harry got his hands on it no matter how hard Duds is on the trendy fast fashion clothing Petunia buys him. Petunia, a social climber, is set on making sure her family looks like the next rung up on the social ladder after all.

Later, when we can assume Harry has bought at least one wizard outfit that isn't his school uniform if he's got enough money on hand to buy Omnoculars, he's probably taken his fashion cues from himself indirectly. He likely gets his advice from Hermione and Ron, who get their fashion sense from looking at their peers, who get their fashion sense from... the trend of super casual heavily muggle-influenced baggy clothing in mismatched colors that Harry started as a first year.

Bit harder to find male examples than female ones, but that's fashion gifs on Tumblr.

Shorter robes with jeans underneath - or knee-high socks or dhoti style trousers in blue heather fabric that look like jeans provided you have never seen jeans before in your life. Open, short robes over closed-front ones, aping an overlarge muggle jacket over a robe. Floppy shapeless clothes held on with an overlarge leather belt. Squashy hand-knit jumpers. Girls in the Lighter political side also take cues from muggle women's fashion, which is more form-fitting than traditional wixan wear and shows off the legs. In the muggle world, this is the time of the babydoll dress, slim-cut trousers/jeans, and tightly tailored suit skirts for women.

Imagine way, way, way more gold embroidery on the above dresses.

And, because I can, because it's headcanon time, 90's Indian/ Bollywood fashion influence on the Light side after James Potter is martyred because #Indian Harry Potter is real and I love him. Music, clothing, art, it is in style among those who honor James and Lily's sacrifice. Harry's green eyes looks so bright next to chestnut brown skin. He can speak to snakes because his ancestry includes a bit of naga blood, not because of the Horcrux. Petunia certainly never taught him about it, and he's confused when an especially devoted fan sends him blessings addressed to Hindu gods instead of the Christian or pagan ones he hears about more often at Hogwarts. One of the Patil twins asks him what's wrong with him expecting, from his attitude and excitement about Christmas, that he's a devout Christian who hates his dark skin. Then they monopolize some of the time he's not teaching the D.A. or in detention to Educate That Boy.

[jeanniebug623]

By Eywa, internet loves…it’s been too long. Work, life, health, passing of loved ones…I’m so tired these days. Please enjoy some fluff before, you know, the story hits its peek… 💙🐞

🕸️🕷️ Weaving the Web 🕷️🕸️

Chapter 24: Familiar Faces

Spider stayed quiet and rigid the entire flight to the forest. Quaritch tried to spur conversation with his son but ended up just asking a lot of yes or no questions when anything more resulted in awkward silence. Obviously, his hand hurt like hell but it didn’t stop the colonel from keeping it on his son’s shoulder for some grounding comfort. They didn’t go far outside past the walled kill zone but he hoped being surrounded by all that green would start to perk the kid up.

”There ya go, tiger.” Quaritch said as he coaxed Spider of Cupcake’s back when he shied away, hiding his face in the hood of his sweatshirt. He frowned at the glisten of sweat he could see on Spider’s face. The kid NEVER wore long sleeves or pants outside and Quaritch couldn’t blame him given the heat and humidity. He put on a comforting smile as he pulled Spider’s hood back and remarked, “You gotta be melting, kid. Come on, you’ll feel better with some fresh air and a new coat of paint.”

Spider nodded in agreement but, instead of taking off his sweatshirt, just started to wander around and look for a Spartan fruit plant. Quaritch frowned a bit as he watched his kid from behind but let it go. He wasn’t going to rush him. Glancing down at his gloved hand, hiding the wound, he tested the injury by slowly gripping a fist a few times. He stopped before Spider caught him and went about searching the other direction the boy had gone.

It didn’t take long for them to find enough fruit to dye all of Spider blue. Before he could start peeling the purple skin back, Quaritch asked, “Isn’t there a way to make it last longer?”

“Hm?” Spider mumbled as he looked up. It was the closest thing to a word the kid had said since the night before.

”Well, it seems to wash off pretty quick lately, so…” Quaritch said, as he casually glanced around the surrounding forest, “But you were blue for a pretty long time in the beginning.”

”Oh…” Spider said sheepishly and shrugged, “It’s ok…”

”Nah, let’s make ‘em last in case I get sent out on another mission.” Quaritch suggested, pocketing his harvested fruit.

”Are you?” Spider said suddenly and whipped his head up to meet his father’s eyes for the first time since staring him down with manic terror in his own eyes and a knife to the recom’s throat. This poor kid. His eyes were still red from crying and lack of sleep and now they glistened with fear. He knew it could happen. His father was still an RDA attack dog.

”Nothin’ right now…but that could change at any time, you know that.” Quaritch said softly, “But hey, maybe you can tag along again one of these days.”

Spider’s gaze dropped and he looked away. He would love to do that. To get out of Bridgehead for more than just a few hours? Get away from doctors and prying eyes and Nash MCosker? He wanted nothing more than to be just one of the squad! But he hadn’t been in contact - not even SEEN - a Na’vi since he was first captured. What would his response be given Miles’ strong hatred towards…well, everyone?

”So…” Quaritch said as he cleared his throat and closed the gap between his son and himself to rest a hand on his head, “What’ll make these stripes really stick?”

”Oh…um…” Spider looked around for a few moments then pointed to a tree with smooth bark with a reddish hue, “Sap from those trees help…”

Quaritch ruffled his head with a nod and walked over as he drew his knife from his belt while saying, “Strip down to your skivvies while I do this. And drink some water, would ya? You’re beet red under the eyes.”

Spider was uncomfortably hot. Usually was, even in the air conditioned confines of the city, but felt less obvious and more ignored when he was dressed like a sky person and hiding his dreadlocked hair. Part of him didn’t even want him to get his stripes redone…even though he felt completely unlike himself without them. Whoever he thought he was at this point…

He watched his father stab deep into the tree then pull the knife down at an angle. The sap quickly started to flow and he knew they would only have some much time to combine it with the blue fruit juice before he set. He dropped the fruit he collected and turned away as he pulled the sweatshirt off over his head. He wasn’t so much shy as he was self-conscious…

Quaritch didn’t expect so much sap to flow so quickly and he looked around for something to catch it, “Hey, Spi-…”

The colonel found himself at a loss for words when he looked back to his son to ask what would be a good makeshift container for the sap. His question died in his throat at the sight of his son’s body. He knew Spider had been losing weight and muscle mass. He knew Spider hadn’t been eating or sleeping well. He knew all of the stress and medication was messing with the sixteen-year-old’s body.

But none of that rationale could soothe the heartbreak of seeing one’s son wasting away before their very eyes…

Quaritch was appalled, at no fault of his son’s, by how easy it was to see the dips between his ribs. When the boy turned to throw the sweatshirt over the closest breach, he could count each vertebrae of his spine between well-defined shoulder blades. The sharpness of his hips offered Quaritch no comfort when it was obvious the loincloth had been tightened significantly around the waist from slipping off. He quickly averted his eyes before Spider could catch him staring.

”What?” Spider asked, wondering what his father was going to ask. He did feel much better with the fresh air cooling him down. They locked eyes and Spider froze when he saw it in his father’s eyes. Pity . Of all things; one of the things he hated the most. He didn’t even notice he’d started raising his hand to trace where his stripes usually were on his forearm, even though that had proven a risky grounding technique.

Quaritch caught it before Spider’s nails touched his skin and said firmly with his ears flicking back, “Son…it’s alright.”

The colonel closed the gap between them and dropped to one knee to be at his eye level. Quaritch didn’t know how it was going to be alright, but it would be. He didn’t have the words for it, so he opted to show it instead. He placed his hands on his son’s shoulders. Ignoring how bony they were, he pulled Spider into a gentle hug. It was loose enough that he could pull away if he needed to.

But, to his surprise and relief, Spider wrapped his shaking arms around Quaritch’s thick torso and whispered, “I trust you…”

As much as they could have stayed like that for hours, they were on a time limit and not just because the sap was setting Quartich’s knife into the tree as it dried. Spider wove a leaf into a makeshift container and mixed the paint together. Quaritch watched the meticulous way he tested the consistency to get the right mixture.

When he was done, Spider immediately started painting stripes where he could see. He looked up with a confused look when his father took the paint and picked up where he left off. While Spider had gotten better at accepting his father’s help for the hard to reach places, he still didn’t like anyone other than Kiri helping him…some habits wouldn’t die.

”I got ya, kid, I won’t screw it up too bad.” Quaritch said with a chuckle to lighten the mood. He sure as hell was hoping he wouldn’t screw it up! Normally there was a faded pattern to trace but not this time. Not even a hint of blue remained. And that was his fault. Quaritch should have offered to take him out sooner, but Spider had been so reclusive and covering himself up that he had no clue his son was completely stripe-less.

Spider didn’t argue when his father started painting. He started on his back and Spider tried not to flinch at his touch or cringe when the recom’s fingers dipped in and out between his ribs. How much did he weigh now? Would be able to go back to the gym and try to build his muscle back up? Or go running in the forest or indoor track? He was just so tired all the time…in every definition of the word…

A little over an hour and a half passed, though to Spider he would’ve guessed only fifteen minutes given how quickly he zoned out. Quaritch watched him carefully and didn’t take offense when his son didn’t reply to his questions or small talk.

”Time for the face, tiger.” Quaritch said. Spider blinked out of trance and looked down at his body. When the hell did that happen? Quaritch was happy to see a smile tug at the corners of Spider’s mouth and suggested, “Or do you want to skip it? Do it back home so not to stress out your lungs.”

”No, do it here.” Spider said quickly. Even though everything gave him anxiety those days, going back to Bridgehead so soon sent a prickle through his body. He flushed red from embarrassment and said, “Please, ma sempul…”

Quaritch stared at Spider in shock. Had his son ever called him that…? Yes, he’d been calling him Koaktan and the translation of ‘old man’ made him smirk every time. Spider started chewing on the inside of his cheek when his father didn’t answer.

”Of course, son…” Quaritch said as he reached up to take hold of the mask, “Big breath.”

Quaritch worked as quickly as he could, stopping often - maybe too often giving Spider’s eye rolls - to let the boy get a breath. He didn’t find himself being as careful as he was with the other stripes. Maybe it was the irrational fear of his son suffocating after a few extra seconds without oxygen or that he was just straight up enjoying bonding over this that made him faster or slower. He was happy to say he was done after only fifteen or so minutes.

”Well, not too shabby…if I do say so myself.” Quaritch said with an approving nod.

”Yeah?” Spider asked before giving a welcome and mischievous little smirk, “I’ll be the judge of that…”

Quaritch feigned insult and stood, “All right, smart guy, c’mon then.”

Spider exaggerated his eye roll as he followed his father over to a pool of relatively still water aside from some water dripping off the mossy roots. Quaritch had a pretty smug expression of his own, ready to see his son’s awe at his amazing painting skills. The boy froze. His playful expression slowly faded away as he stared at his own reflection.

Something struck Quaritch. Given Spider’s, up until recently, hidden issue with someone writing warnings on the mirrors, would any reflective surface trigger a negative response? Or was the recom just that bad at painting his kid’s stripes?

”Spider? Don’t keep me hanging, kid, I’m awaiting judgment here.” Quaritch said, nervousness lacing his face. At least his tone sounded strong.

Spider continued to stare at his reflection, eyes darting around his father’s work. After nearly a minute of nothing, the teen ripped off his mask as he dropped to his knees and his father went into panic mode. Quaritch dropped to his own knees and tried to grab the mask to fix it back on Spider’s face. But he hugged it tight with one arm and placed the fingertips of his free hand to his face.

As scared as he was from his boy’s sudden actions, Quaritch didn’t try to grab the mask when Spider had pulled it away. His heart was rattling his ribs loose as he forced himself to just watch his son. Quaritch watched how the kid traced the lines on his forehead, cheeks, and jaw without saying a damn word. Goddamn, he really must have fucked it up…

“Spider, we can just scrub it off and start over…I’m sure we can find something to take it off quicker than waiting.” Quaritch said, disappointed in himself for screwing up something so simple and meant to make Spider feel better after the last several weeks. Especially the incident the night before.

Finally, the burning in his lungs from holding his breath and his father’s voice snapped Spider out of his trance. He fumbled slightly but replaced the mask and took several deep breaths. His father had a sad look on his face when he looked up at him with a bright, surprised expression.

”I look like you!” Spider exclaimed.

”Huh…? What d’you mean?” Quaritch asked, his ears perking up and his brows furrowed in confusion.

”These are your pil !” Spider said, looking back to his reflection again and running his fingers over the mask to trace the stripes again.

Quaritch was still confused. He leaned forward to get a better look at the kid’s face. Na’vi stripes were like fingerprints; they’d never seen a native look exactly the same as the one next to them. The colonel knew what his blue mug looked like but he didn’t put nearly that many stripes on Spider’s face. But the longer he looked…the longer he watched Spider trace over his stripes…the more Quaritch started to see the resemblance.

”Shit, son…” was all Quaritch could say. It was NOT his intention to pull influence from his own damn reflection that stared back at him every day. Was it an exact carbon copy of the recom? No, but he was seeing the stripes on his son’s face were almost exact to the more prominent of his own facial stripes. He opened his mouth to apologize and reassure Spider they could fix it, but he didn’t get the chance.

”I want you to do it again…next time.” Spider started softly, “Every time you do it. I want it to look like this…please. Is that ok?”

Of all the shock and awe the father and son had experienced in the last twenty four hours, this was the most unexpected and heartfelt. Quaritch wasn’t expecting Spider to say he wanted to look like him…even if it was just the boy’s way to feel more Na’vi and less human. The teenager had spent his whole life trying to separate himself from his roots. The roots that grew from seeds that came from the sky.

But even if the seeds came from the sky, the roots were deep in the soil of Pandora.

”Of course I can, son.” Quaritch said soothingly, running a hand back over his son’s hair. “We’ll make sure they never fade again.”

[naavispider]

Omg I LOVED the stripe one-shot! Can we get just a teeny tiny POV of Miles while he was applying Spider’s stripes, and his thoughts on what he said to him?

"Too slow!" Quaritch smirked as he snatched the tin out of Spider's too small hands. For a moment, he wasn't sure how his- how Spider would react, but eventually his instincts were proved right when the boy grouchily gave in. He mumbled something indistinct as he propped himself up on his heels, recovering from where Quaritch had pushed him (probably too hard) onto his knees in the ground. This way, Quaritch could attempt to apply the stripes at the best angle.

"Right," the Colonel muttered to himself, trying to figure out the most effective strategy. Spider had just been using his fingers. Although Quaritch's hands were rather larger than they used to be, he still figured this couldn't be too hard.

“Just… go over the marks that are already there.”

“You got it, tiger.” Quaritch's mouth pulled up smugly at his kid's clear worry.

“And don’t go over the lines.”

“Okay.” He took a sceptical sniff of Spider's concoction before dipping the tip of his middle finger into the blue mixture. It was extremely unpleasant, and not for the first time he found himself wondering why exactly he was willing to do this for the boy. His eyes sought out the largest and widest of the existing stripes on Spider's back, extending his hand until he was a hair's breadth away-

"Just a thin layer. The dye’s strong.”

Jesus, kid. Cool it. “I’ll do my best.”

Without waiting for another excuse from Spider, he reached out and dabbed the first blot of the faux paint on his back. He was sure that if he was still human, he would have missed the infinitesimal flinch from the boy. He pursed his lips together, ignoring it, and continued in as fluid motions as possible to follow the lines on Spider's skin.

It felt... strange. Different. Weirdly intimate in a way that he was sure would take both of them some time to get used to.

“Eywa,” the boy muttered, just loudly enough for Quaritch to hear. Quaritch said nothing, gripping Spider's shoulder with his other hand to pull him closer. His. boy was so fragile under his hands, despite the fact he was built big for a human. He tried to go as slowly and gently as possible. Maybe it was his way of making up for all the times he'd been too rough with him.

"So who normally helps you?" He asked to clear the silence.

“Kiri,” came the response.

Was Quaritch supposed to know who that was? “And who’s that?”

“She’s just my friend,” Spider answered, but by the tone of his voice he didn't want to continue to talk about her.

Nevertheless, Quaritch pushed on. He remembered the very first day in the forest, when he and the squad had stumbled upon Spider for the first time. He'd been with a couple of friends, at least one of which was a girl. “Is that the five fingered one?”

“The one you were going to hurt? Yep.”

Now it was Quaritch's turn to pause. He considered Spider's words. `Why did they hurt him like a physical knife? It was true - they were going to use the girl - Kiri- to get to Jake somehow, but he wasn't in the business of murdering children, as much as Spider seemed o think he was. “We’re not out to hurt people, you know that right? We just got a mission to complete.”

“Sounds about right. I wonder if Hitler thought the same.”

Hitler? Is that what Spider thought of him? No, Spider was too young to understand what he was talking about. He didn't know anything about that war. Jesus, which arsehole was responsible for polluting his kid's mind like that? What he wouldn't do for two minutes alone with them...

“Are you serious?”

“What?” Spider challenged.

“Hitler, really?”

Spider turned around, staring at him. If Quaritch didn't know any better he'd raise his fist to the boy, but it wasn't Spider's fault. He'd been told this twisted analogy by someone else. He''d been fed lies his whole life. Quaritch knew he had, but seeing the extent of Spider's belief system about him was nonetheless hurtful. “You’re young. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He pushed Spider back around, more because he couldn't stand to the resentment there, and tried to collect himself. “Never compare me to scum like that again.”

“Sorry,” Spider mumbled sarcastically.

In another life, Quaritch would have beat the sarcasm out of him. Spider was silent for a few moments longer while Quaritch resumed painting his stripes, but he couldn't let it lie. He couldn't let Spider believe that about him.

“Hitler was an evil piece of shit pretending to be a human being.”

“The parallels continue.”

Quaritch was stunned. He was so shocked by Spider's words that he momentarily lost himself. "Jesus Christ, Miles!"

Why were Spider's words getting to him so much? He tried desperately to gain some control over his reaction. “I know what you think of me. I know I’m playing for a different team than you. But I ain’t no genocidal maniac. Miles Quaritch… that’s a different ballgame. But I’m not that man.”

Spider didn’t reply. 

“You hear me? Spider?”

It took a few moments, but eventually the kid subsided.

“Okay…” Spider relented in a voice that sounded like he was only giving in because he knew Quaritch wouldn't budge.

Quaritch didn't know how successful he'd been, but the verbal recognition was enough for now. They still had so much work to do though. How was he ever going to get to know Spider better when the kid thought of him so lowly? And that wasn't the only thing.

It worried Quaritch how viscerally he'd reacted to Spider's words. They shouldn't affect him as much as they did. He wasn't stupid enough not to realise that his affection for Spider was growing, but he had never realised that this would be the result.

He had to get a grip on himself. There was more at stake here than just him and the kid. When everything was all over, that's when he could focus on rebuilding his relationship with him. Until then, he was stuck being an evil maniac. And that would just have to be okay.

[tallulah477]

ℐ𝒮𝕖𝕖 ℬ𝕝𝕦𝕖

Colors of Pandora Day 5: Blue

Pairing: None (Spider Centric)

Warnings: Sadness/Depression, Feelings of not being good enough

Word Count: 704

Spider has spent his entire life surrounded by blue.

The blue tinged lights that brighten the otherwise sterile looking lab. The holograms and workstation monitors whose default color is a glowing aqua when displaying valuable scientific knowledge that he can’t even dream of understanding.

He’s not a scientist, he wouldn’t even consider himself actually human if he could help it.

His home is outside in the wild jungle of the Omatikaya lands. It’s more green than blue outside, but he can still see the incredible sight of the sky and the moons orbiting the same moon he calls home if he climbs high enough to see through the tops of the trees.

At least he could . . . before the war.

Pandora is his home, his fortress, the place he loves with his entire heart that houses the people he cares about most. But now, here, it's like he barely recognizes it at all.

Tsireya says it will take time to adjust and to trust that Eywa will give him the strength it takes to do it. That he can find his place among the clan just like the rest of the Sullys did.

The sea is your home, before your birth and after your death.

The color blue is freedom. Freedom with scientific discoveries or freedom in one’s way of life - each version meaning the difference between life and death despite the cultures and making it one’s life work to honor it.

Here in Awa’atlu the ocean is vast, endless and all encompassing. It’s scary in the same way it's beautiful. The water seems to go on forever, blue as far as his eyes can see in the glistening open space before it meets along the horizon line with the blue of the wide open sky. It reflects all your worth, showing you who you are without mercy, and you can either tread water and swim with your strength, or drown in your fear.

He’s always proven to be up for any challenge in the forest, not willing to let his human body that’s clearly not made to thrive on this moon get in the way of living his life.

But it’s hard.

He’s not a Na’vi, and he’s reminded of that fact each and every day of his life. He’s strong for a human, but not Na’vi strong. He’s quick for a human, but not as quick as Neteyam or Lo’ak. His love for Pandora and all of the life on her is equal to the Na’vi, but what good does that do when all most can ever see is the species he was born as, rather than who he is in his soul?

He sees blue in loyalty. The Na’vi are blue, blue stripes decorating their cobalt skin. Blue is the color of his family and the friends that he’s grown to cherish, and he would do anything to just be considered one of them. He paints his skin with spartan fruit dye, painstakingly painting on stripe after stripe in the hopes of visually showing his loyalty in a way that his other actions weren’t able to. It hasn’t worked yet, Kiri even sometimes likes to tease him about it, but he just brushes her off with a joke to mask his underlying desperation.

He feels blue in the sadness he swallows down as he continues to paint on his skin, darkening the now fading stripes, and he can’t help but wonder if he just adds more - more stripes, more blue - if he would be a little closer to that acceptance he craves.

When he walks on the beaches at night, the blue of the sky has been replaced by black with only the stars to light up the night sky. Blue is his despair as he walks along the sand, trying to convince himself that this new journey here could be different - that he could finally prove himself worthy enough to be one of The People - but feeling in his heart that it’s not. The beaches themselves provide a little light, the bioluminescence under the sand lighting up under his feet with each step as he walks farther and farther away from the village.

It’s blue, he notices. How fitting.

Special thanks to @xylianasblog for the prompt!

[scarlet-traveler]

Katsuki’s hands were dangerous. Given that his palms secreted a highly toxic chemical that he could ignite on command, it was no surprise that they had hardly ever touched or been touched since before his quirk first developed over a decade ago. Sparking off or using special wipes to neutralize his nitro sweat helped in case Katsuki needed to reach out, but it wasn’t often that anybody would reach back.

Of course, like most things in his life, that changed with UA, and with Eijirou. Maybe it was because of his quirk, or maybe it was because of the copious amounts of hair dye that had most likely seeped into his brain, but he was always reaching for Katsuki’s hand for some reason or another, uncaring of the potential threat it held. He was the touchiest motherfucker Katsuki had ever met.

He didn’t complain about that fact as much after Kamino. Just a few gripes here and there because he had a reputation to uphold. Not that Eijirou ever gave a shit about that.

His touchiness especially ramped up after they got together, like he didn’t not want to be touching Katsuki or holding his hand in some way at any given point.

Like right now, as one of Eijirou’s hands cradled Katsuki’s, his other hand trailing over the skin of Katsuki’s palm, homework abandoned as it tended to be eventually. His finger moved with a purpose, tracing lightly but firmly along the lines streaking across his skin, the callouses on his fingertip occasionally catching on those that littered Katsuki’s hand from his explosions. Eijirou’s touch was exceedingly gentle, treating the ministrations like he was handling something precious and not a weapon, and it made Katsuki’s heart clench and warm all at once.

Eijirou painted a stripe across Katsuki’s heart line, hovered over the life line as he stroked it before shifting to his fingers, and the hand cradling his squeezed before Eijirou was raising his hand to his lips to press a soft kiss onto the pad of Katsuki’s pinky.

Katsuki’s heart lurched at the contact, and he tried to yank his hand away but Eijirou’s grip tightened, keeping him in place. “The hell are you doing, moron, you can’t kiss my hands!”

“Says who?” Eijirou asked, looking Katsuki dead in the eye as he kissed the pad of his ring finger before grinning up at him. Cheeky bitch.

“Says me, fuckface, and the fact that you’re kissing fucking nitroglycerin.”

Eijirou had the gall to laugh in his face. “Aw, Kats, are you worried about me?” A kiss to the tip of his middle finger. “Don’t worry, I know you won’t hurt me.” Kisses were pressed to Katsuki’s index finger and thumb, and as if to spite him, Eijirou pressed one more lingering kiss smack to the center of his palm.

Heat rushed to Katsuki’s face, and despite the fact that Eijirou’s lips were still pressed to his skin, he could feel his hand getting clammier, could imagine the nitroglycerin coating Eijirou’s lips.

A couple of sparks was the only warning before Katsuki’s hand ignited right in Eijirou’s face. Smoke plumed between them that had them both coughing, yet unbelievably, Eijirou was also laughing, and as the smoke cleared Katsuki could see that his face was completely unharmed as his hardening faded from his skin.

“See, I told you I’d be okay!” Eijirou said between coughs. He then licked his lips before beaming at Katsuki. “And there’s not any nitro on me! Win-win!”

The next explosion to Eijirou’s face wasn’t an accident.

~

Based on a mix of "tracing the lines on the other’s hands" and "kissing each finger" from this list! For @hummingflame because we were talking about this the other day :D

[chainsofaether]

Does your character like their appearance/does it fill them with a sense of pride? Do they take full ownership over their body and engage in things like hair dye, body piercings, tattoos, etc? Or are they shier, whether due to outside expectations or their own dysmorphia?

A very basic picture for reference.

Nyxathe is pretty aware she is generally attractive and she makes effort to enhance that where she can. She uses makeup rather often, partly to draw attention to certain features but also to add a bit of color to her otherwise extremely pale skin. She's a bit of an oddity for someone that lives in Ul'dah though.

Very tall for a woman in Ul'dah considering most are Lalafel or Hyur. She also doesn't tan at all. She just burns if she spend to much time in the sun. Her eyes are pretty, if mismatched. Full lips, often painted in a pale red to add more color.

But without getting in to more detail as we trail down past her shoulders, yes she's proud. Though she might not admit it. Bragging isn't really her thing. But even without the admission it's easy enough to see that she spends time on her appearance, picks out clothes that flatter her shape rather then hide it. All that leads the suggestion of pride.

Of course few people are entirely narcissistic about their appearance. Does she really find her eyes attractive? After all the right is rather odd. That's closer to something she's learned to accept then outright have pride in. It's a unique aspect if nothing else though.

A small hit to her pride though is her memory of her mother. A small part of her thinks she doesn't quite live up to her beauty. While Nyx knows she's nothing to be ashamed off she does wish she was a bit more. Nyx forgets though that she hasn't actually seen her mother in more then half her life. Her memory is less reality and more a figment. Plus, just maybe, if she ate more she'd get what she wants. Put a little weight on girl. Stop hyperfocusing on experiments and enjoy a cupcake or something.

As for the second question, Not really. One she likes her stark white hair. Not that she doesn't look good in other colors and styles. Plus the white makes taking on any color extremely easy.

But have you ear tired to dye your foot plus long ears without getting the dye in them? It's something of a nightmare. She can do it but it's extremely time consuming. Plus she has another problem. Thanks to her messed up aether her hair grows at rapid rate. So any dye job would be obvious if she didn't reapply almost daily. Which also means long hair styles are a must if she doesn't want questions.

So dying her hair is largely off the table. The ears present another problem though. They are extremely sensitive. She does not like random people touching them. She really doesn't like the degree of pain they experience. So ear piercings aren't really her thing.

The rest of her body is untouched too though not for any particular reason beyond she's content with her appearance. She could probably be convinced to try some piercing elsewhere. Or one day she'll find a piece of jewelry she'd really like to wear.

Tattoo are another topic entirely though. Nyxathe has some skill in Alchemy so she can make her own grimoire. But this has put the thought in her head of applying magical symbols to her skin. She knows some tradition of magic go that route and she's curious of the benefits. She's been considering a nontoxic, but highly conductive ink she could use. A lot of grimoire ink isn't really appropriate for the body though all of it is Aetherically conductive.

So one day she'll turn herself in to a canvas. One that she gets someone to stain with geometric patterns.

But no, not shy. She's comfortable up to just straight up striping down in front of people if it's more expedient, the situation is more important then modesty. They can look if they want, just no touching without asking.

Thank you Sea for the ask! I hadn't really thought about piercings that much in regards to Nyx. Give her magic ones and she'll put get pierced immediately though. Now I have to sit here and think what she thinks about piercings and tattoos on other people. First thought, hot. Well see if that's really her thought though.

[digitalagepulao]

A new arrival

Huaguoshan was rocked by the thunder-sound of the eternal rock splitting open, and the blaze of light that came forth from it not long after. As usual, the old langur Longan leaves her distressed troop to investigate.

Fic below, featuring A-ma Longan and An-Kong.

word count: ~1k

It had been a turn of the sun and a half, since the stone upon the summit of the mountain split, and a turn of the sun since A-ma returned from her journey to investigate. The gibbons on the crown of the trees called in the morning, loud and clear the news of the day for all the beings above and below. The birds flocked about, but none approached the graying monkey as she traveled at a leisurely pace. They knew better than to interfere in her duties to the beasts of the mountain, and until she approached them, they would keep their distance.

The wizened langur trekked her way across the mountain side, through loping branches and swaying stones, and into the small shallow of a once fallen, again blooming tree, with grasping branches reaching to the heavens. The limestone gave way in a deep rift beneath the arch of the tilted trunk, moss and ferns obscuring the entrance, and riddling all the walls and floor. The echo of dripping dew rang as the monkey waltzed through the slanting path, up to a small creek that had chiseled the entry open over the centuries. She could still recall when the path was a struggle, having to shimmy herself through the narrow parts that now had ample room for her.

At the end of the tunnel was a round concave wall, where the moonlight would hit from where the water pierced through, and cast her shadow upon the wall. It was a mere dead end once, but now it was decorated with a humble but beloved shrine. A shallow stone to catch incense, half of coconut husks for libations and palm leaves for offerings. The walls were painted with fruit and flower dyes, with finger and palm straw brush, decorations of phoenixes and unicorns, praying animals of all stripes and spots. Beaded wreaths of stone, seed and clay hung from the protusions in the stone and the drapes of ferns above.

The langur stopped before it, sitting comfortably before tapping her knuckles over the moist stone.

"You bring a newcomer with you." comes the stone-gravely voice, and from the limestone and red earth sprung a burst of creeping vines and lumps of black clay. A familiar figure formed from it, and the two primates regarded one another for a moment, and neither made a move to approach the other.

"Then don't keep us waiting, and come greet him." The black and white langur says in a stern but calm tone, almost chiding.

The figure at last stirs, long draping green-gray fur and dyed flax robes revealing the wrinkled moon-round face of a bearded orangutan, who stands and walks over to the crouched yao in a loping gate. Dark indigo eyes examine the small figure clutching to her furred chest, bright orange fur surrounding a stone carved face. The silence of nature envelops them, and the Tudishen frowns.

"This... being. Whence have you found it?" He asks, wary.

"Upon the peak fo our mountain." She says, and neither mind the sharing of the tutelary duties. "The eternal stone that sat upon it has cracked, and from it came an egg, and from the egg, this little one was born." She explains, and holds up the tiny monkey in her hands for the tutelary god to look. The little monkey grumbles and squirms at the attention, large brown eyes gazing every which way.

"It is like nothing we know, old woman. Is it wise to welcome it to the mountain?" He muses, still watchful of the little monkey. A-ma doesn't give him a side eye for his caution. She knows all too well how the old tudi has suffered under plenty of demon lords and higher deities than him.

"It was born of nature, and so to nature it belongs. It should live among us as one of us." Longan says. "Besides, it's wise to keep it close, so that if should try anything, we'll know it best and so how to defeat it or reason with it." The learned monkey explains, casual in her dryness as was her temperament. The mountain's grandfather hums in thought, still watching the wriggling baby like one looks at a particularly sharp knife and his beloved smirks with a knowing look.

"Why dear, don't tell me you fear this little pebble?" She teases. Said pebble is now crawling under her armpit, trying to reach her back to escape the land god's gaze, but is held back by the langur's foot cradling its head.

"It's only reasonable. This being is unlike anything this mountain has ever seen, if not this world. How can I not be cautious?" The Tudishen spoke, at last reaching out with a finger to touch the stone baby. It squeaked in surprise, but allowed the head and ear scritches with a pleased hum.

"I said afraid, not cautious. Are you afraid?" Longan pressed, watching the interaction with a fondness in her amber eyes.

"...No. Not yet, at least." The deity admitted, huffing at the glint in his old love's gaze.

Longan reached out, cradling the land god's large palm in her two long ones. "You've trusted me to help you guard this mountain for this long, you can trust me to keep an eye on this little oddball, hm?"

The old god gives her a deadpan glare, which she easily matches with her own. With a sigh, he waves a long dark-clay hand dismissively and she snorts in triumph.

"Very well, very well. Raise him them, and guard him well. I leave the other introductions to you." He says grumpily and makes himself comfortable upon his shrine once again. "Come bother me some other time."

"I shall, with more incense and fruit." She says simply, knowing he adores when she deigns to bother him with offerings and prayer, and wine and conversation to share on the new moons.

He hums, and the fondness buried beneath the dismissal is for her ears only, and she wouldn't have it any other way. She adjusts the baby on her chest, and makes her way back outside.

The evening is cool and the clouds gather for a late night shower, but she's unbothered. The monkey stands on her back feet, straight and deft as any human, and stretches her arm above her head. The little stone monkey grumbles at the shift in height and marvels up at the stars.

"Be still, little pebble, and I shall tell you of the Twenty-Eight Mansions another day." She promises, rubbing his furry back. The yao leans against a tree and mutters a small song to entertain her new child. Said baby turns to gaze up at her, brown eyes almost innocently unremarkable. Longan knows better, her own visions still peppered with starbursts from the blaze of light that came from the child when she encountered it.

The orange ball of fuzz gurgles and presses his face to her chest, enjoying her thick fur. She huffs with a pleased smile, and gently cradles the small form in her arm.

"You're a precious gem, aren't you? Can't wait to see what new wonders you can show us."