#so i actually spent time on a drawing when the topic came to drawing a creachur. tithi counts too actually

[maukiki1]

my son and his uncooked pasta bit-beast

also heres th lineart bcs the lineart was especially laborious lol

[jo-harrington]

Become What You Were Meant To Be (Eddie Munson)

Word Count: 2.4k

Themes/Warnings: Modern!Eddie, Older!Eddie, set in the mid-2010s, fandom lingo, nerd lingo, Star Wars, typical childhood bullying, angst, minor FOI reference, some canon divergence, coming of age themes, probably poorly written and not edited at all

Note: Happy Birthday to one of the backbones of this fandom, who supports and encourages so many of us, whose endless friendship I am so grateful for. Someone who has absolute endless creativity but doesn't give herself enough credit and grace, who is secretly sitting in the background pulling the strings on some of the best stories I've read and I've written. My muse, my life, my world, my cheeseburger. @fracturedarkness

Thanks to @dr-aculaaa for the beta.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

Eddie Munson was a nerd.

Point blank, end of story.

It was one of those badges he wore along with Freak and loser and...well, you get the gist of it. But it was a badge worn with pride. He owned his identity. Wasn't afraid to show everyone he came across who he was.

It hadn't always been that way.

There used to be a time when it felt like the worst thing in the world to be a nerd like that. The kids bullied him because he got overly excited talking about his favorite characters and favorite books that they found boring. They all teased him when he wrote stories about exciting heroes from fantastical worlds in English class, even though the teacher told him that his stories were ambitious and imaginative. And when he spent lunch doodling in his notebook instead of playing kickball or foursquare? Well, you get the point.

"You're so weird." They mocked him. "You're a freak. Draw normal things. Like normal things. Why can't you just be normal?"

It was cruel, in the way that children naively become perpetrators of cruelness. And it made Eddie sad.

Because what did that mean? He couldn't draw normal things, or like normal things, or do normal things. Then he wouldn't be himself anymore.

And that was the point where he decided normal was overrated. Why would he want to be normal when he could be...anything else.

He could pretend he was one of the Pevensies upon a throne at Cair Paravel. Or one of the Ghostbusters. Or a Jedi...

Of course, he couldn't actually be anything else; he was stuck being boring, old, nerdy Eddie Munson.

It wasn't until middle school--you know, middle school, when everyone decides to embrace who they are and become an individual--that he decided being Eddie Munson wasn't all that bad after all.

This epiphany definitely didn't happen after a Hot Topic opened up at StarCourt Mall. No sir. Not when one of the older kids that worked there, sporting armfuls of tattoos and a lip ring, told him the pen drawings on the toe caps of his sneakers were cool. Of course not. And not after he used the last bit of his birthday money to buy a cool band t-shirt and colored hair gel. Pssshhh...

So on the first day of 8th grade, he showed up rocking his dad's old leather jacket--the one that practically swallowed him--jeans that he ripped himself and a poor excuse for a mohawk, ready to accept the Freak label proudly.

He also accepted detention for breaking the dress code.

And a grounding from Wayne for cutting up a nice pair of jeans.

And a buzzcut because he'd done that poor of a job of cutting his hair for that mohawk.

But he'd gained a friend.

Several friends actually.

Ronnie Ecker and Doug Teague. They were both in the same grade as him, and shared many classes. And it might have been a little embarrassing, but a sixth grader named Jeff who told Eddie that he was his hero. That made Eddie feel like he was on top of the world!

They were friends that stayed with him all through high school, and when he repeated his senior year twice, even more joined the mix along the way.

Band kids and science fair nerds and...and...and...

He called them his sheepies, and he their shepherd clad in black band tees and ripped jeans.

And Eddie?

Eddie just got nerdier.

Got weirder.

Dug himself deeper into the pit of stark individualism that the close-minded town of Hawkins didn't know how to react to.

It was glorious.

He listened to music that made other kids cringe and turn away and neighbors complain about the noise; he liked it so much that he made his friends start a band with him. They played at every single school talent show until they graduated; they never won and sometimes people tried to plug their ears, but to Eddie and his friend, their sound and that stage was exactly what their hearts yearned for. To them, the auditorium might as well have been Madison Square Garden.

He started playing Dungeons and Dragons--started a club of his own design, Hellfire--when he found the guidebooks on a dusty shelf at the library. They were seemingly untouched since their initial publication in the 70s, but they were like a key that unlocked something inside of Eddie. Something that he seemed to have forgotten along the way of reclaiming the name "Freak."

Through DnD, the imaginary worlds that he left behind early in his adolescence opened their doors to him once again.

And his friends, his players, never made fun of him for knowing the ins and outs of the worlds of their fantasies. Worlds like Greyhawk and Faerûn.

Worlds like a certain galaxy far...far away...

---

Eddie's re-entrance into the world of Star Wars had been...an interesting one to say the least.

To Eddie, Star Wars meant the original trilogy. Cut, print, sign the check.

When he thought of Jedi, he thought of Luke Skywalker and Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan and a puppet Yoda. And of course he thought of the dreaded Darth Vader.

Yeah he had his books from the library, a whole extended universe with Mara Jade and Jacen and Jaina. But he'd missed out on the prequels growing up; from being a little too young to see them in theaters, to the whole fiasco of his mother's passing right before Revenge of the Sith had premiered.

As he got older, the need to see them just wasn't there, and hearing from friends and enemies alike that it wasn't anything to write home about was the nail in the coffin.

Until he met one Dustin Henderson.

It was the Jar Jar Binks t-shirt he wore on the first day of his freshman year that got Eddie's attention.

"What is that?" he flicked a finger against the graphic as he ran into Dustin and his friends in the lunch line. "Something from that new Star Trek movie?"

Cue a whole rant about the Gungans and the Separatists and an inter-galactic conflict that made Eddie happily fold Dustin and his band of nerds into the protection of the Hellfire Club.

Eddie still refused to watch the prequels, no matter how much Dustin begged.

"I like it when you guys talk about them," Eddie shrugged off the pleas. "Even better when you guys act out the whole fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan. I'd sell my left nut to relive seeing you and Lucas do that in Wheelers basement; it was the best day of my life Henderson, I swear to god. There's no way the movies could actually beat that."

He hasn’t expected that those little idiots would trick him into a movie marathon for Lucas's birthday.

Even Gareth was in on the whole plan. Traitor.

But it was the beginning of the end.

From the movies to the books to the cartoons, Eddie's love of Star Wars was rekindled. He even spent a short stint as a gamer playing The Old Republic on the old PC that was tucked into the corner of the trailer.

And when a new movie was announced, Eddie happily took his nerd-dom to the next level.

Yes, he was the one to suggest they all dress up for the midnight showing of The Force Awakens, but if anyone asked it was Mike.

He spent hours on a stupid Boba Fett costume. It was a different set of skills to the mini-figures he was used to crafting for DnD. He had to think on a different scale. Hot glue and spray paint and too much cardboard. Only to find real cosplayers used foam, not cardboard. His paychecks from Thatcher Tires went straight to the project, until he had something halfway decent for the premiere.

"What?" he laughed along with his friends when they joked about the hot glue spiderwebs that he'd been too lazy to clean up. "It's not like I'll have to do this again; we're not dressing up next time."

Or so he thought...

There was something so magical about sitting in a movie theater, in the middle of December, at midnight, surrounded by other people who decided to dress up for the occasion, and a few dozen plastic lightsabers all lit up.

To listen to the theme, to read the crawl on a big screen, to see the camera pan down into the vastness of stars...

This was what it was to be a nerd.

There was something extra special about finding a new favorite character. Something that touched something deep down inside of you when you saw something of yourself in them.

And Eddie had always been drawn to the villains. Whether in the media he consumed or the characters he created for DnD. He knew why; he wasn't totally oblivious. To be the hero of his own story, he often had to become a villain to someone else.

Besides, villains always had a little bit more fun.

So when Kylo Ren first made his way on screen, Eddie knew that he was done for.

The mask, the lightsaber, the Dark Side of the Force, the anger...how many times had he almost given in to the anger he felt at being mocked and teased. He'd overcome that time and again; what if he'd just given in?

There was also something about being Al Munson Han Solo's son.

Yeah. He could understand the anger there.

But then he was also Elizabeth Leia's son...the conflict.

It took Eddie a few days to get over the initial flurry of thoughts after seeing Force Awakens for the first time. That was when he realized he needed to see it again. And again. A matinee showing on Christmas Eve with Wayne, who he also treated to lunch. The last showing on a Thursday in January. Another outing with the guys, refusing to admit that he'd already seen it a few times between opening night and then.

Thankfully, this time, Mike was the mastermind behind their plans for the next movie as they waited for the previews to finish.

"So," Mike sat up straight. "I think I wanna get an early dibs on dressing up like Poe when Episode 8 comes out."

"I think I wanna try my hand at making an Admiral Ackbar costume," Dustin said with utter confidence, and then turned to Eddie. "What about you?"

It caught Eddie off-guard for a second; should he just say Kylo? Did they expect him to want to dress up as anyone else? Maybe they thought that he would want to be Poe, leader of their misfit group as he was.

"Eddie's obviously Kylo," Jeff piped up. Eddie's head immediately turned to him. "What? Don't think we didn't watch you drool over that lightsaber last time."

"And his ship?" Gareth cackled one seat over. "Fuck the Falcon. I swear, if you could turn the van into something that looked like that ship..."

"Oh my god, you're right!" Lucas cackled.

"Hey I think I could figure out a pretty convincing Snoke," Eddie argued, trying to deflect their teasing, but secretly pleased that he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.

And that his friends knew him so well.

---

For two years, Eddie worked on his costume.

Two. Years.

He was practically a different person by the time of the Last Jedi's opening night.

And yeah his motivation faltered, but he never quit.

It was strange, the need to perfect the costume. He’d almost given up many times. When there was a certain skill he wasn't good at or when he'd felt like it would never be finished. Every time, he felt like that silly kid who everyone just told to be normal. To like normal things.

He was growing up. He was a grown up! Shouldn’t he be passed all of this…silliness? Everyone else in the world seemed to think so, as they put away all the frivolities of childhood. Were they working round the clock and pricking their fingers on needles and burning themselves with hot glue?

Probably not.

Eddie found himself still stuck there, watching a world lose its joy and think that it was normal, and he always wondered if he should try to be normal too. For once in his life. The first time in his life.

But every time he thought about letting it all go, about putting his dream aside...something would come and drive him to keep going.

New promotional images, a new trailer. Especially the ones focused on Kylo himself.

"Let the past die," Kylo Ren grumbled in the voice over. "Kill it if you have to."

That became Eddie's driving force.

He owed it to himself to finish. He owed it to his younger self...not to let his dream die...to keep being weird and nerdy and happy.

"Let the past die," Eddie told himself as he stitched the hem of the tunic the week before opening night.

"Kill it if you have to," he said as he distressed the plastic helmet that he'd ordered, giving it the right amount of realism so it didn't just look like something so fake and commercial.

"Let the past die," his child self muttered, front teeth missing from the day Johnny B pushed him over on the playground because he was playing superheroes wrong. Eddie put a hand on his head and then stepped into his boots.

"Kill it if you have to," his preteen self urged him, self-assured, mohawk looking stupider than he realized way back when. Eddie flicked his ear good-naturedly before adjusting the cape on his shoulders.

There he stood--Eddie Munson, the young man, the freak, the nerd--in his bedroom before the mirror. He was adorned in pieces of foam and layers of fabric from the craft store, helmet tucked under his arm.

But in the mirror itself? There was Kylo Ren...there he was as Kylo Ren. In the hallway of a Star Destroyer, layered in armor and the shadows of the Dark Side itself, like he was ready for a battle with the Resistance.

Ready for the battle within himself.

But there was no battle, and the armor was actually Eddie's skin. This was his real self, his true self. All of his work came to fruition, all of the time and effort that he put into the craft. Not just two years working on a costume, but an entire lifetime poured into becoming an Eddie Munson who proudly wore the title nerd and freak and loser.

The destroyer melted away, and he was back in his bedroom once again. Surrounded by posters and books and drawings, by all of his crafts and his guitars and his endless clutter.

He smiled at himself, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.

Eddie Munson was a nerd, and as he lit the lightsaber and he was washed in a glow of crackling red light, he knew that this was who he was always meant to be.

[yumeka-sxf]

Regarding scans and watermarks

Yesterday, a SxF clear file scan made by my friend @xxscarletxrosexx (who had allowed me to share the scan on my blog here) was reposted on Twitter with her watermark clearly removed. She wrote an insightful post about how, despite what many people think, it does take a good amount of work to obtain and scan rare collectibles like this. As someone who makes a lot of scans with watermarks, I want to offer my thoughts on the topic.

For those who have followed me since my blog started, you may have noticed that my watermarks have "evolved" over time. This was in response to, of course, my scans getting reposted without credit (my old watermarks were easy to crop/edit out). I know some people take issue with putting watermarks on official art because we technically didn't "create" it. But that doesn't mean time and effort wasn't put into making the scan. To me, it's similar to people who take photos of exclusive events or people who make gifs...while they didn't create the subjects of these things, they still created the presentation of it. For people who take and share exclusive photos, they spent time, effort, and money not just on going to that location and taking the photos, but posting them in a presentable way online for others to enjoy. For people who make gifs, it again takes a lot of time and effort to create, edit, and present the gifs in an attractive way on social media. In both these cases, while these people didn't draw, animate, design, etc, the subject of their photos or gifs, there was still self-imposed work and creative effort behind it, which I think deserves some recognition. It's the same with making scans...I didn't personally draw the images I scan (and I make this clear by including "scanned by..." in my watermarks) but I still made the presentation of it - the scan - which does take time and effort; I bought a Canon TS6300 scanner a while back particularly for this purpose, I often have to finagle with the books I scan to make sure they're properly flattened so the scans aren't blurry or crooked (have to redo them sometimes when this happens), and if little pieces of lint or other blemishes get in the scanner, I either have to scan them again or use photo editing software to fix them. And while I paid for all the books, posters, etc, I scan with my own money, sometimes just obtaining certain rare collectibles not only takes money, but a lot of dedication to obtain! The Twiyor chara fine graph I recently posted about is a perfect example of how much work can go into acquiring a rare item...and I have no obligation to scan the merch I get. I could just enjoy them on my own and only share quick, low-quality photos from my phone. But I like making scans because I know other people enjoy them 🙂 I also know that many people don't have the means or funds to get this kind of merch, so it's nice to let them have enjoyment from it second-hand through my scans! Sometimes I buy merch only or mostly for the purpose of making scans because I know that artwork isn't currently available in an official artbook or anywhere else.

Since I make so many scans, I just accept the fact that they will get reposted without any mention of me or my blog...which I don't mind that much since that's what the watermarks are for - they're to show people who see the scan where it came from, and if they choose to go to that site, they'll be able to find even more scans to enjoy! But if someone actually removes a watermark, it's like they so adamantly believe that the person who made the scan doesn't deserve any recognition for their time, effort, money, etc, put into it that they're going to spend their own time to remove any trace of that person from the scan...I mean, I can't say it's the most heinous act in the world, but it's disrespectful and just plain not nice. I try not to let it bother me, but it is hurtful to see someone else get recognition for something you put work into. But I just keep things in perspective and tell myself that at least I'm not an artist whose creations are getting posted all over the place without credit (I always cringe at all the uncredited fan art I see on Facebook groups and YouTube music compilations. It's so out of control 😔)

Anyway, I hope I've properly illustrated here that it does take a good amount of time and effort to make scans. I don't think I deserve as much recognition for it as an artist who actually draws the images they post, but I still think this kind of content sharing deserves some credit, even if it's just leaving a watermark intact.

[angelofchaos001]

Meet Shale!

Okay I made a proper introductory post for Shale! (Schist will come once I figure out their design) I'll make them a separate post for all the dialogue I came up with.

some spoilers for the game but not a lot, also tagging time: @doodlebug091 @mellow-mooon @sawyer-is-eepy @a-crawling-chaos (Just poking at my followers/moots who I know like Outer Wilds)

Alright! Let's start the bidding at this beauty of a reference. I know it's got some messy colors and no I don't know which layer the two random dots are on to erase them, but I'm proud because I drew this without needing to reference someone else's posing art. I just used my own arms and legs to figure it out and winged it and it looks like a person. I'm proud.

While we're on the topic, I might as well discuss my thought process for their design. This is Shale when they're not busy exploring dangerous ice asteroids. I tried to make the design look comfortable, and that's the main thought behind it. Shale likes scarves. They like fingerless gloves. They like baggier shorts. They despise long pants. They don't like wearing bright colors. They like grays and browns. It's Shale in their peak of comfort.

And then we've got this one! Also done without a pose reference. I actually did draw a whole spacesuit originally, but then covered it up with that big coat they're wearing. Anyway, Shale's suit is designed to be bulky, thick, insulted, everything they'd need to explore space properly. But to add onto that, they brought the scarf and coat for extra warmth on the Interloper. A lot of their patchwork fixes were done by them on the fly, and they even made their viola case all on their own. Shale uses yellow as their bright coloration because they hate the color orange. They have a ton of rope, ice picks, and grippy boots because they knew they were going to an ice place. And that antennae on their helmet is meant to pick up distant signals, so far it has not picked up anything new.

Now it's time for what nobody came here for, the infodump about their history and personality!

Shale developed a fascination with space at a very young age. Extremely young. All it took was young Shale getting one look through a telescope to become completely obsessed with the idea that they, someday, would join the well-known travelers out there and do something legendary. Sometimes, when things lined up right, Shale got to opportunity to talk to the travelers over radio. They loved hearing stories of Feldspar's glory and dreamed to be immortalized like they were.

Once they were allowed to join Outer Wilds Ventures and start learning how to be an astronaut, Shale wasted no time being both a delight to teach and an absolute headache to watch over. Whenever they weren't learning or doing their part in the village (Shale helped keep the observatory clean), they were working on their own little project. With some help from Slate, they attempted to make a jetpack just like the spacesuits had. They got precisely two attempts at this before they were shut down, but the first attempt went off mostly fine. Despite the device not working, Shale landed mostly safely in the water and their only injuries were some scrapes and a sprained ankle.

Shale never stopped writing new ideas, but didn't physically attempt any more jetpacks for a while. Instead, they focused on studying and getting closer to the other trainees they were learning alongside. They did grow close to the protagonist, and another recruit named Tin, though weren't able to click as well with the slightly older hearthians, Schist and Bismuth. Most of their time was still spent with their mentors, but whenever hatchling wasn't working with Hal on the translator, Shale liked to be around them.

When they were a little older and nearing the end of their training, Shale made their second attempt at the jetpack, and came out with a promising result. However, this attempt went far poorer than the previous one. For one, they moved the attempt location to avoid being caught by anyone, sneaking away to some of the further-out geysers with Tin (in case something impossibly went wrong). They even snuck a spacesuit (yoinked from the Zero-G cave), since their plan was to launch from a geyser and leave the planet, just for a moment (They didn't take the jetpack there because the entire point here was testing theirs).

The plan went smoothly, with Shale indeed getting launched from the geyser and coming close to leaving the orbit of the planet, except for the part where their jetpack failed. Catastrophically. It actually exploded on their back, pretty much destroying the "borrowed" suit, but more critically, burning Shale badly. Luckily, they had brought someone else with them, so Tin was able to (try and) catch them so the fall wouldn't kill 'em and then get help for them.

Shale got taken to be medically treated, and everyone agrees they're incredibly lucky to have survived as well as they did. In spite of the massive burns, the suit protected them from the worst of it and it was really only their back that got hurt severely. While the smaller burns along their neck and arms healed fine, much of their back burns scarred and took a lot of time and effort to heal.

So. Obviously Shale got in massive trouble.

Such trouble that not only did they move their launch date back (both for recovery reasons and punishment reasons) significantly, but the others considered forcing Shale out of the space program. In the end, Shale was allowed to stay a recruit as long as they 1) Did not try that again 2) Agreed not to sneak around again 3) Helped repair the suit they'd broken and 4) Spent some time after healing not being in the program (think getting suspended). While in this suspension period, Shale got to watch Schist launch off, still fantasizing about that being them.

Shortly after Schist was Bismuth, and as Shale's own launch date approached they were eager. Tin launched a few days before their own, and so Shale spent a lot of time reassuring them that it'd be fine and they'd do great things. Eventually, it was finally Shale's turn. After camping with Slate (and having an amazing conversation about 'Why did you do the stupid thing' - 'Why did you let me do the stupid thing'), they set off for their ambition: The Interloper. They were determined to find out where it came from.

This ambition proved harder than they'd thought, but it didn't deter Shale from their goal. They became an avid studier of ghost matter by extension of their Interloper studies, and theorized a lot about what happened to the core of the asteroid and it's origins. They also spent some time studying how to make ships designed for deep space, hoping that the frozen Nomai ship they found on the asteroid could hold the answer for that.

Some time later, Tin sent everyone frantic radio messages to come back to Timber Hearth and that they'd discovered something new. Tin desperately tried to explain how they'd found a new hidden spinning disk thing, but as time passed with Tin being unable to provide real evidence, Hearthians began dismissing their claims. Shale was one of the last to give up on Tin's ideas, but eventually waved them off as mad like everyone else. They feel bad for Tin and their situation, but don't disagree with their grounding and truly believe their friend went a little crazy.

After that, some time passed, and then we hit the events of the game. They did radio Hatchling plenty of reassuring words before their launch, though!

[turbulentscrawl]

Identity(V) Headcanons: Andrew Kreiss

This one is not a request, just the next in line for my general HCs! As usual, if you like my stuff, feel free to shoot me a request.

-Andrew is a very hot-and-cold person. Mostly cold. …Like 85% cold. But it’s hard to blame him when life’s given him nothing to really have faith in. Once upon a time he still believed that good people existed, but his faith just waned and waned, and that’s long been relegated to fantasy. It’s incredibly difficult to breach his hardened emotional walls now.

-He made a conscious decision to not care about others’ wellbeing years ago so he’s largely indifferent to happenings that don’t involve himself. He’s not interested in looking out for or helping people, defending or comforting them. He does his share of good when he puts them in the ground, and that ought to be enough. And if he takes them out again later…well, if souls are real they’re surely long gone, right?

-Everyone knows he’s got a nasty mouth, right? Andrew was rarely spoken to kindly when he was growing up, and he learned to take those words and turn them back on people to keep them away. If he was always going to be accused of being cursed or demonic or whathaveyou, why should he bother with decorum? He cusses regularly and has called people every cruel name under the sun at some point. The worst of it is reserved for retaliation against people who start talking shit first.

-Andrew is not a weak man. He’s tall and athletic, and he’s adept with a heavy-duty shovel. That is to say, he’s more than capable of defending himself. He strongly prefers to avoid physical confrontation, but he has spent years throwing around bodies and I can assure you it really makes no difference to him whether they still draw breath.

-When he does get along with someone, the old habits die hard. Andrew spends a lot of conversation time still tripping over his own tongue, rephrasing harsh things he says out of instinct to try and be gentler, and then getting visibly angry with himself. (He is also not great at hiding his emotions.) He’s constantly afraid that he’s going to run off the good things he has and be back to square one.

-In an effort to…make up for? Cover up? those snaps he can’t hold back, Andrew sometimes rambles for long stretches. These don’t happen in front of groups, but during one-on-one time with his loved ones. He’ll get onto some topic he’s familiar with (or not, if he’s desperate enough) and just run his mouth off like he’s trying to lure you away from a trap with a treat. He’s not above shoving an actual apology treat at people either, if one is available.

-While not always the best at communicating his thoughts, Andrew is very philosophical under the surface. He’s had a lot of alone time to think over the years, and he’s analyzed every angle he could come up with to rationalize and understand his lot. He would really enjoy having a friend or partner who is up for those deep, 2-am conversations about the meaning of life and the universe. His own views lean towards the despondent, but he’d like to hear something more optimistic too.

-Even when close with someone, Andrew doesn’t initiate many conversations. Unlike some of the other introverts in the manor, this isn’t because he’d rather be left alone but because he secretly likes when they seek him out. You coming to him is a very simple reminder that his company is enjoyable and desired.

-The best Love Language for Andrew is probably Quality Time. He would like any of them if it came from someone he genuinely learned to love and trust, but Quality Time is what you’d need to reach that cherished place in his heart. Andrew acts prickly as a defense mechanism, and he needs someone who’s willing to endure his snappiness and show him they wouldn’t prefer to spend their time and energy on someone else.

-Andrew is the type to admire things silently. He gives compliments very sparingly, so when he does give them you know he really means it.

-He is plagued by back and shoulder pains. It’s mostly from his profession, standing hunched over for hours on end, and it’s affected even his resting posture now. He doesn’t just curl in on himself as an anxiety thing, he is sore. Can the Baron please invite a chiropractor next? A masseuse? …Yoga instructor?

-He’s mostly nocturnal at this point. (The manor’s scheduling has messed that up, though.) It’s not just sun-sensitivity, but that he usually worked after sundown when people wouldn’t be around the graveyard to see him.

-He loves a good homecooked meal! The best foods are the ones prepared by someone who loves you, so he’d choose a mediocre dish at home to the fanciest restaurants in the world.

[locusfandomtime]

Fake logo designs of various districts/companies in Hermitcraft S8! Something about Hermitcraft brings out the graphic designer in me (*cough* it’s because I love worldbuilding and making tiny details in a world) anyway!

Design notes under cut! (Alongside some headcanons - it is quite long)

Horse Head Farms: this is the logo that started this idea basically. I got such a cool image of an eclipse with a repeated b+w horse head pattern and I really wanted to make it happen. M.C. Esher has done designs like these but as tiles, which I used as inspiration. I think I could have made it look a bit clearer but for my first time drawing something like this I’m pretty happy. The text is from one of the default Procreate fonts and kinda makes HHF look like a law firm (which is the vibe I was going for, soul-stealers and lawyers are often sorta linked in fiction, and supposedly xB and Hypno are their own legal team). xB and Hypno are the only employees other than the people they blackmail into doing stuff for them.

Big Eyes: I wanted a red eyeball as a reference to Tango’s amazing prank on Boatem and I imagine it’s a goofy little mascot for the company. Some big goofy text felt fitting alongside this. I wanted to make a Pass n Gas specific logo too but I wanted to focus on the main “districts” rather than specific shops. I feel like this is kind of obvious but in-universe Big Eyes are VERY unsuccessful and actively losing money.

Hohenzollern Castle: not really a company but Joe and Cleo are cool so I wanted to include them and I had a tiny bit of blank space left on the page so here we are. I actually really love how the sign looks, the wood texture came out nice. They don’t have a logo as much as they do a sign outside their area, created by Joe, with the text written by Joe’s dyes. The “Hohenzollern” is kinda squished because he began to run out of room but was too stubborn to split the word in half. Cleo argues that it isn’t a logo and is just a sign with the castle’s name on it. Joe argues back with a deconstruction of “what is a logo, really?” and something about companies and capitalism and Cleo doesn’t care enough to respond.

Octagon: I am a fool who initially thought it was spelt “Octogon” and had to fix it well after I finished. Oh well. I wanted this to have a very evil look about it. You can instantly tell they’re the evil tech company running experiments on the quantum realm or whatever in a Hollywood movie. Between the unsafe work conditions and the tax fraud, it is a miracle they haven’t been shut down (reason: the government is scared of Doc)

The Evil Empire: the “the” wouldn’t fit so I had to make some sacrifices. Evil Xisuma is dramatic and edgy so he wanted the logo to be in fancy black calligraphic medieval looking text. It fits the evil castle aesthetic the whole area has pretty well too. The Evil Empire is kinda like a Hot Topic store and a Renaissance Fair combined, but it is also involved with Crypto. Despite being so weird it has a perfect niche of marketing to edgy teenagers so it is quite successful. The employees hate it there because their work mandated uniform is to “dress like an evil minion”. Jevin is a slime monster, Wels cosplays a knight and Beef turned into an alien so they thankfully didn’t have to change.

Boatem (BTM): heavily inspired by Grian’s simplified logo he made in Minecraft, where he shortened it to BTM. Despite already having a reference to work off, this was the hardest design. I knew I wanted it to be simple, all-white and leaning back dramatically but I spent ages fiddling with it. Boatem is the most successful company, being perfect for the general public and their shopping district a tourist destination in of itself. It nearly went into bankruptcy when Mumbo was CEO but has been very successful since his Robot took over.

Zedaph Laboratories: my favourite design. Hand writing the text was a nightmare but it came together nicely other than that. Sheep symbol because sheep are his brand. I used the same colour palette as his laboratory. “Laboratory” is misspelled for two reasons: 1) I realised my mistake too late to change it, 2) I think it is completely in character for Zedaph to not know how to spell laboratory and only realise after Tango points it out and be forever haunted by his mistake. Don’t let the sleek corporate design fool you, Zedaph is still wild and is the only person in the “Zedaph Labratories”.

[alpydk]

I had another one of the worst visits to the doctor today 😑

For one second I really had in my head "Where is Chase?" 😭

I was on the verge of making a House like fuss 😆😣

To my ask:

Do you have fluffy Chase headcanons in mind, where he is treating a patient good and comforting?

(Yeah I know who am I asking 😆🤣😋 But with Dr. Puppy eyes there has to be some comfort about him😁Just imagine I am a penitent nun, than he is extra nice 🤭😉 Sorry Daddy, punish me for I have sinned 😏 Wrong topic! Wrong topic! 😆🙈

But I am also always up for some angst...like having things in my head of Wilson seeing Amber in his final moments, greeting him, waiting for him...yeah...)

I'm sorry you had a rough appointment. I hope this brings you the smiles it brought me. I'm not the best at a headcanon, but I can do a short comfort fic 🫂 - My one thing is, Chase totally gets his hair back post divorce/s8. He still however pines from time to time.

Chase x You - Pure Fluff (like fucking candyfloss)

You’ve sat for some time in that small clinic room, your eyes strained from the florescent lighting, your head pounding from the many complaints outside the door. You knew the place would be busy, but you didn’t know to what extent when you sat down to see someone.

Now you waited for the doctor to come, the paper on the bed riding up under your jeans, your legs hanging off the edge as if you were some child. Doctors were never who you wanted to see, especially when they were like the last few. In their fifties, men whose education came from other men in their fifties. No understanding of what it was like to actually have struggles in either life or health. You sigh, expectantly.

The door is pushed open; you sit up straight ready to have your concerns ignored when he enters. Nowhere near the age you figured. Early thirties, you suspect, blonde, very good looking. Now your tension has become a furious blush in your cheeks as you explain your symptoms.

Robert Chase pulls up a chair and nestles himself in between your legs, placing warm hands under your chin and lifting your head slightly. He’s gentle, his hands soft. You notice he has no aftershave on, but the subtle aroma of saltwater drifts from his hair. His shampoo, or maybe a long-forgotten hobby, soaked into his pores? You don’t dare to ask, but the question doesn’t linger for long as you catch his gaze and realise the answer. The deep blue of his eyes glance into yours, endless seas you would happily swim out into. He gives the faintest smile, his hands brushing the skin of your neck as he pulls away. You suddenly feel cold.

He writes you a prescription, tells you to take it easy for a few days and call if you have any problems. His accent reminds of the old Steve Irwin videos you used to watch with your friends. It’s soothing in a way you don’t understand. You struggle to find your words to reply to him, but manage a whispered thank you.

Outside, the rain is coming down. You wait for your taxi, slowly becoming more and more drenched as the heavens open. You would stand under the portico, but it’s left clear for the emergency services. A gurney is rushed past, a young woman. You wonder what is wrong with her as the paramedics shield her from the rain.

“So, you come here often?”

The Australian accent draws you to your senses, a worthless pickup line that you’ve joked about but never had used on you before. You smirk. “Does that ever work?”

“First time for everything.”

He’s wrapped in a thin coat, his blonde hair becoming darker and sticking to his forehead with each raindrop that hits. You’re not sure when you agree to go to his apartment. It seems to happen so naturally as you find yourself walking to his car with him. He asks about you, what you do for a living, how long you’ve lived in New Jersey. Do you have any friends, family, a partner?

His apartment is what you expected of a young single doctor, more time spent at work than at home. There’s the odd creature comfort: a violin case stood against the wall, some aged video games in a stack by the TV. It’s not until you look closely that you see the hidden details: the photo frame face down on the cabinet, the medical journal under the leg of the coffee table keeping it stable. Rowan Chase? Any relation? You wonder.

“Got you a towel.” Robert brings it around your shoulders. Gone is his coat, leaving nothing but the wet shirt underneath. You know this is no longer professional care, but you don’t mind, swept up in whatever God’s plan is for the two of you.

“You have a nice apartment.”

“You should see the bedroom.”

He’s so quick to lure. How many of these lines have been used on others before you? How many others have there been? You’re drowning in those seas, but you don’t seem to care. Let the tide pull you away. Let him drag you down.

Suddenly he apologises, and you’re not sure why. Was it your silence at his remark? He offers you a drink, but you decline. The medication, you remind him. He nods, understanding, and places himself on the sofa, leaning his head back over the cushion. You sit next to him, seeing the façade of the strong doctor fade momentarily. You hesitate a moment, but place your hand on his knee, a warmth and comfort that you’ve both been seeking for so long.

He glances up, confused, a brief flash over his face where he considers rejecting the sensation, but then his arm comes around your shoulder, pulling you close. You lean into his body, taking in the seawater, letting it fill your lungs. You feel the warmth of his breath in your damp hair, the press of his lips on your forehead, on your nose, on your mouth, each softer and more meaningful than the last.

He doesn’t take it further. There is all the time in the world for that. Instead, he switches on a movie, holds you close in a way you’ve only ever dreamt of. You don’t realise you’ve fallen asleep until the next morning when you wake up, a cushion under your head, a blanket covering your shoulders. The scent of coffee fills the air, and you glance around, trying to catch your bearings.

Chase emerges from the kitchen, sweatpants shielding toned legs from your view, but a firm chest on display, skin you’ll run your fingers up, a scar you’ll learn about during lazy days in bed.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

He glows under the curious dawn that lazily comes through the window, his hair as golden as the coast you’ll surf with him one day, his eyes brighter than they ever were under chemical lighting. “Made you coffee.”

---

“These trials only test your faith to see whether or not it is strong and pure. Your faith is being tested, as fire tests gold and purifies it. ... And your faith is far more precious to the Lord than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tested, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.” – Chase S1 E5

[cerealforkart]

I made myself these little dress up dolls because everyone’s getting changed all the time, here’s the first batch, outfits pre-episode 13

Design notes under the cut

[part 2] [part 3]

Lincoln

* I would first of all like to thank Lincoln for being shaped like a model (long boy) and thus very easy to dress up

* I forgot that Link needed to tear off his sleeves to make Normal a diaper in lesson 14, so in lesson 11 he grabs a sweater when I assume he goes home between escaping the FBI and returning to school

* Lincoln is so comically tall the Teeny costume (which I just moved from Normal to Link and edited to match Link’s pose) only reaches his knees. It actually looked so stupid that I had to edit it to make the Teeny costume slightly longer in the legs

* Link has two roombas in his room, he’s a clean boy, he isn’t walking around Taylor’s house in his bare feet, he doesn’t trust like that, it’s sock time

Scary

* I actually originally planned for Scary to have more piercings, but I forgot to add them in lesson 1. Let’s just say her mom won’t let her go crazy on the piercings, from what we’ve heard in rad facts (wouldn’t let her get a tongue piercing or learn guitar) that sounds in character

* I wanted to do the Shit Garden logo on Scary’s shirt like one of those metal bands that only people who like metal can actually read, but I only have so much time and patience

* I want so badly to play with Scary’s hair more, but I haven’t really had the chance, I hope there will be more excuses to give her different styles in the future, I like the braided bun for fancy occasions a lot

* Big T-shirt and shorts are peak pyjamas, love it for her. Also, you don’t need to know how long I spent trying to come up with something for her shirt to say

Normal

* Don’t tell anyone but I kind of miss drawing Teeny’s big stupid head every day, it was easy comedy

* I did actually draw a Jimmy Buffet design on the shirt before scribbling over it, you can barely see if you look closely

* I don’t actually have anything to say about Normal’s dance outfit so I guess I’ll just take this opportunity to talk about my Normal design in general. He was the one it took me the longest to land on and I’m still unsure if I’m happy with him, I want his hair to be long enough to just sorta hang and be greasy, but not so long that it will get in his face too much and I still consistently fail on it

* Not much to say about his sleepover fit either. Froggy :)

Taylor

* I had originally planned for everyone to be wearing their bracelets on their left wrists but in episode 8 it’s mentioned that Taylor is wearing his on his right, at that point I think I had only drawn Taylor’s bracelet once so it was easier to just change his and let him be a special boy (also, they keep the bracelets on post-FBI because Taylor never really has an opportunity to take it off and the others wear theirs in solidarity)

*After Lesson 10, Taylor swaps out the crest of friendship from Digimon to wear his dad’s ring of swapping as a necklace, he tends to grab at it when his dad or the topic of betrayal comes up

* I hate Taylor for his dance fit. No longer my favourite son

* Not really a design note but I watched the Sailor Moon dub in three parts on youtube with my little sister huddled around our home computer after school, we’re real OGs

Hermie

* I finally decided to add the Joker makeup to my Hermie design, I found a powdery sorta brush to use for it so now he’s a true clown. Good for him I guess

* You may notice that I’ve tweaked my Hermie design and his colour scheme just a little bit. This is because white Hermie is dead and you know what? Good for him. I also made his hair a little wavier for Scam, you’ll start seeing the updated Hermie design (as if you can tell there’s a difference other than the very slight change in hairstyle) in lesson 16, because I drew the lesson 15 pages before episode 23 came out and I wasn’t going to go back and change them

* Stupid Joker tie. Hate it

* No sleepover fit for Hermie. Tragic. They need to have another sleepover and include him

[dylanndr]

It Happened to Me: Crushing While Aro/Ace

TL;DR: You don't stop being aro/ace even when you're having feelings that look, on the surface, strikingly similar to what allo people typically feel. Insert the usual caveat that this is about my own personal experience, other folks will have different takes on this topic.

So yeah, I came down with a crush recently, and decided to draw this little diary comic about it.

[For reference and clarity, I identify as demi/gray for both aro and ace. While I do want to be in a relationship, I don't catch feels for very many people. I do experience sexual attraction, but that's even rarer for me than romantic attraction. This particular guy referenced in my comic managed to set off both.]

On a surface level, there's nothing new or original expressed in this drawing. Pretty standard set of anxieties and behaviors when you're crushing, right?

And yet, for folks who are arospec or acespec, having what looks like a standard crush is not necessarily the same thing as allo crushing. This is not a dynamic I see talked about a whole lot, so I'mma talk about it.

By way of analogy, let's say I did a drawing of a cis man and a cis woman who are clearly a couple, and indicate that they're in a monogamous relationship. Nothing on the surface says that this is anything other than a typical heterosexual couple. Except, wait, what if both people involved are bisexual. Being in a monogamous relationship with someone of a different gender does not automatically reset either person to straight, nor can their partnership be accurately described as heterosexual. Neither person enjoys heterosexual privilege, and each person continues to experience and process attraction differently from someone who is straight.

By the same token, an aro and/or ace person experiencing romantic and/or sexual attraction does not automatically become allo. For my own part, the nature of this particular crush has caused certain allo things to make more sense to me, certain songs or movies or phrases or behaviors, but it feels very much like learning a second language: I just figured out the translation for one or two things that were utterly incomprehensible to me before ("Oh, maybe that's why allos don't seem to get bored of yet another rock song that's about sex. Fascinating.")

This crush does not at all mean that I will now be a typical alloromantic/allosexual from here on out. I still experience these feelings from a different vantage point, and bring a different set of past experiences to bear, experiences that many allo people have flat out told me make no sense to them ("What do you mean you weren't aimlessly horny all the time in high school???"). I still approach relationships in ways that seem "weird" to allos. I still won't be up to speed on attraction dynamics that are deeply intuitive to allo people, but that require translation for me to comprehend them.

And it's not like I haven't spent a lifetime trying desperately to understand all of this. I want to be in a relationship, a fact that a number of even my very close friends are shocked to learn, because I don't perform the typical social signals around that correctly, I guess. And when allo people give me dating and relationship advice from an allo perspective, it most often feels like I'm being offered an array of cow tools. What I actually need (if I may spaghettify this metaphor) is an array of bat tools. They won't necessarily look less odd, but they'll at least be the right tools for me.

[theladysherlock]

talk shop tuesday! incredible coincidence - i wanted to ask you more about your dnd OCs, and you posted a new art piece with one of them! continuing the theme: could you tell more about your dnd OCs and how they came to be?

Ohhhh you have opened Pandora's Box my friend!! I could talk about this topic all day.

Basically there's two parts to this: my approach to DnD in general, and in-depth explanations of the characters. I'm going to put this under a Read More to save everyone's Dash.

Part One: Dungeons and Dragons

So the thing I love most about DnD (and other TTRPGs) is that it's a collaborative game. I'm not responsible for the entirety of the story, I bring my character to the table and everyone else brings their characters and between us, the DM, and the dice, we figure out where the story is going. I enjoy it so much more than trying to come up with everything on my own. And I love that people can surprise me!! @mothmansbigfatass and @ahawkmet (my irl friends and in most of the campaigns I play) can attest, apparently I'm a lot of fun to watch during revelations because I always have a big reaction.

So when making a dnd character, it's important for me to know 1. What the world we'll be playing in is like, and 2. What everyone else is doing. Again, it's a collaborative game, so I want to make sure that I'm playing nice with the DM's world. AND often the setting itself will give me an idea (see Ethan: the game is set at a community college. What's a college stereotype that would be fun to play?). Ideally, the character I make would have a really hard time being plopped into a different campaign and have it still make sense. Secondly, it's more fun for me to play a class that will fill out the party. For example, if we already have a cleric, I don't also need to play a religious character. Those story beats are covered by someone else, I don't want to be competing with another person for cool moments.

Once those two things are settled, character creation is determined by what seems fun to play and what would be interesting aesthetically. I like to keep the backstory light to see what happens as we start playing, and then I can fill it in bit by bit later. Sometimes that bites me in the ass, though (see Ethan: I didn't give him birth parents and then they were incredibly important to the plot). I tend to have a general idea about who they are and what they're like, and then I always get surprised by what they actually end up acting like once we start playing. It's fun for me to figure them out along the way!

The last thing I wanna say about DnD (for now) is that I love everyone else's characters just as much. I just draw mine more because, well, they're mine. I feel weird putting their guys in situations and guessing how they'd react because they aren't my little guys. I much prefer working collaboratively with the other players (like an RP thread) to just writing a story on my own.

Part Two: Ethan

Where to even start with my boy. A bunch of my work friends got together to start a DnD game, and I hadn't played with most of them before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I also did not think the game would last very long, since most campaigns tend to fizzle out after a few sessions. So I made kind of a joke character with extremely little backstory: He's a half-orc, since I hadn't played that race before, he's a bard who is the captain of the local community college's Improv Team, he's "the kind of guy to play wonderwall at a party but you're not mad about it", and I said he's adopted by two men, neither of whom were his biological parents, and he wasn't particularly interested in tracking down his bio parents. This last point is for two reasons: one, I was trying to avoid just duplicating a Dimension 20's Gorgug, a half-orc who was adopted by gnomes and spent the whole first season trying to find his dad; and two, I was pushing an "Adopted parents are not less than biological parents" agenda.

My DM took this personally (affectionate). First session, I was given a clue about his birth parents' identities. From then on, Ethan was dragged kicking and screaming into being the unofficial main character of the campaign. His mom was one of our favorite NPCs, a kickass pirate with a truly tragic backstory who would always jump to help us out of a scrape. His biological dad was the human embodiment of Pride who had took on the form of Fantasy Harrison Ford and was an extremely famous actor in-world. Our BBEG was his uncle, the embodiment of Greed. Every plot point became very personal and it was a lot of fun. I also loved putting him through the wringer, so between me and the DM the poor guy couldn't catch a break.

Part of the dice telling the story, I rolled so bad all the time when I played Ethan. It didn't matter which dice I used, I just rolled really bad, which was not something that normally happened with me. So that was fun to incorporate into his character as we played-- he was insecure about his own abilities compared to the extremely powerful characters he was surrounded by (we had a 20 ft Earth Titan who was an extremely powerful Druid, Emeshka you will always be famous). So he became a more three-dimensional and actualized character the more we played.

He's extremely easy to put in situations and his character design is pretty solid, so I end up drawing him the most. My perfect little guy.

(Anything about him I've tagged either "Ethan" or "Big Yarr Energy" if you want to find more)

Part Three: Mina

After the campaign with Ethan wrapped up, we started a new one in a Cthulhu-inspired setting. My goal with making Mina was to do as close to a 180 as I could from Ethan. While Ethan was a friendly and charming but bad at most things, Mina is a competent and intelligent Druid who's blunt and overworked and doesn't quite know how to meaningfully engage with her party members (but she tries, bless her). Druid was one of the classes I hadn't played yet and I've been making my way through the list of available classes. The One-With-Nature stuff isn't super interesting to me as a player, but I found a homebrew subclass that was based more in Big Cities and as an Architecture Nerd that was much more my speed. Also, I hadn't played an Aasimar before, so that seemed like fun. From all that, I pulled together her whole deal: She was from a bloodline of guardian angels who were sent to protect different villages and towns, and she's gone from her mother's small town to being the guardian of a city of several million people and it's overwhelming. She's lonely and she's jaded and she's got severe Gifted Kid Syndrome and she's got her head on a swivel to make sure her party members are okay even if they don't like her very much and I love her.

I didn't give her a lot of tragic backstory because there are a lot of us playing and I wanted to have a character who could push the plot forward with her actions, instead of having a "now let's stop and talk about my life!!" moment every session that seemed to happen with Ethan. Give everyone else some time to have cool moments, you know? And by GOD are there some cool moments. My fellow players are so good at making compelling characters. Ask @mothmansbigfatass about Nelly if you get a chance.

We're still playing this campaign, although we're nearing the end of it. There's still space for some big moments for Mina in the game, though I'm hoping our DM lets me save hers for last. She's the kind of character to make sure everyone else is okay before taking care of herself, so it feels appropriate. I'm excited to see where Mina ends up. She's definitely a character I'll go back and write/draw a lot afterwards, though. Part of being in a group this size means there's a lot of stuff that just won't get covered. I'll have a lot of material to play with for my own work once we get to the next campaign.

(Anything about Mina I've tagged either "Mina" or "Cthulhu Crimes" if you want to find more)

Part Four: Jess

Jess is a character that isn't from DnD but is a TTRPG character of mine, and I like her so I'm going to talk about her too. Jess is a cautionary tale in Knowing Your Audience.

Jess is from a different group of players than Ethan and Mina. Our DM for that game is notorious for wanting to give us Big, Shonen-Style fight scenes and an insane level of power creep. Character interactions are fine, but his true passion is making us look like Goku.

Jess was... not built to look like Goku. In this world you could identify different types of magic users by their focus, and I wanted her whole schtick to be about deception. She looked like a wizard when she was actually a monk, she looked like a dumb blonde girl when she was extremely smart and good at stealing things, she's a dancer but her primary fighting style was based on capoeira, etc. Also part of why Jess sticks with me as a favorite character is the way I had her powers work was so fun and visually interesting that I haven't been able to shake it. Basically her superpower was that she could snatch bits of other people's powers and use them herself, and you could tell which ones she had because they would fill out spectral stained glass wings with specific colors.

Jess was (and still is, frankly) too complicated for the game our DM wanted to run. Immediately any hope of her being a chronic liar was dashed as her powers did not manifest in a way that could possibly pass off as being a wizard. So instead of being sneaky, Jess became very angry. She was quick to point out injustices in the world we were in. She beat up creeps, she yelled at bigots, she stole powers from macho superheroes trying to one-up her. She had to get a lot less complicated for the story we were in, but the complicated version of her still lives in my head and I like to see what she's up to from time to time.

(I don't think I have anything tagged for Jess, unfortunately)

TL; DR:

TTRPG characters are fun because they let me do my favorite thing creatively, which is bounce ideas off of other people. I typically design them based on the setting, party needs, character tropes that I think are interesting, and just general vibes. Most importantly, though, I don't have a fleshed out character without the input of the other players.

[akeowc]

Well, this is a story from a novel on Wattpad called “Sleeping Love.” You can find it on Wattpad and read it because I have already published approximately 7 chapters

To be clearer, this is Lance x oc's story, ever since I watched the show I've actually fallen for him.

So I wanted to do a story for him with my oc.

Now I leave you with the information.

Name: Elena Harris

Japanese name: エレナ・ハリス

Alias: Sleeping head

CHARACTERISTICS

Age

15 (Debut)

16 (now)

Gender

Female

Hair color

navy blue

Eye color

Bright teal

Height

164 cm

Weight

51 kg

Birthday

May 7th

PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION

Affiliation

Easton Magic Academy

Occupation

Student

Status

Alive

RELATIONSHIPS

Family

Unnamed father

Dead mother

Leon Harris (Older Brother)

MEDIA

Anime debut

Episode 1

Manga debut

Chapter 1

Japanese va

Sumire Morohoshi

Elena's mother died when Elena was very young. After her death, Leon took care of his little sister until she was 5 years old, when he had to leave his sister and go to Easton Magic Academy. During this period, her father was so busy that he appointed a nanny to take care of Elena.

She took care of her until she was 9 years old and said that she could take care of herself, so she did not need a nanny, even though she spent most of her time sleeping, which made her personality to be somewhat lazy. One day when she was  10 She went to the forest to go for a walk, and on her way she came across a boy of the same age pumping iron

She talked to him and asked him why he trained like this, he only replied that his father only told him to do it, she later learned that his name was Mash, and I became friends with him, since most people can't stand Elena's lazy personality when she starts, but Mash didn't mind  she also knew that he loves cream puffs, and when he finishes training, they eat them

Appearance

Elena is a girl of average height. She has slightly messy dark blue hair and pale skin. She has a moon-shaped mark on her left cheek. She often wears simple clothes when she visits Mash, but when she entered Easton Magic Academy, she always wore a school uniform that consisted of a T-shirt.  White, with a red tie, a black skirt with black socks, brown shoes and a black cloak, she is often seen with a sleepy expression but with a small smile on her face.

Fanbook Stats:

Blood type: O-

Dominant Hand: Right

Foot size: 23cm

Good Subjects: Astronomy, stars and the sky in general

Bad Subjects: Annoying or arrogant people

Hobbies: Sleep at all times and learn new information

Favorite Food: Sweets of all kinds

Favorite word: Sleep is the solution to everything

Favorite type of opposite sex: I don't care much about appearance, the important thing is that he is a good person and can deal with my personality

Dislikes: Complex topics

Frequently visited school spots: Mash room, dormitory kitchen

E.g. of spending money: Buy astronomy books

How to spend holidays: Hanging out with Mash and sleeping

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

I hope you liked Elena. I tried as much as possible to try to imitate the style of drawing the anime, and this is what happened to me. The next chapter will be about the meeting of Mash and Elena. After that, I will start plotting the anime

See you in the next chapter!

[armslikeanchors]

my first meal today is breakfast cereal at 1:00pm

im looking at this picture and reflecting after a short text convo with my best friend after 3 days of silence on her side

she’s pictured here

took this photo when i went on a solo trip to oakland california to visit her for a couple days, im surprised my mom let me take the plane by myself

i actually really love the airport and plane trips. it was my first time going by myself and it was a bit daunting but, i really love being alone sometimes

it felt natural, i felt grown, in a good way

anyways i took this photo while on a walk with her and her mom at a botanical garden-park in san fran, if i remember correctly

3 months after this we would have a falling out over something miniscule, which we overcame a bit over a month ago this year; i’ll get into it in a bit

sam, my best friend, and i had been inseparable since the day we met in 2nd grade

by the end of the school year she moved back to california, but we kept in contact: playing minecraft on our ps3s while on a skype call

simple times

every year we would meet up maybe once or twice for a day or two since then

in october of 2023 she got upset at me over a text i sent her regarding a festival we wanted to go to

i told her that i had a couple friends going to the festival and that i hope she wouldnt mind if i was really invested in spending time with them, since i had never hung out with them before

it was never meant in the way she took it, but the damage was done

i guess she felt i wouldnt make her feel included

which i wish she knew wasn’t true

she can be dramatic at times. growing up together shes always been like that and, in a way, i admired it because it was silly. it was raw, and she would apologize and own up to any little thing she did.

i dont tell her or her mom often but, ive truly always believed that her mom really raised her well. ive always supported sam through everything and i know she’ll make the life she dreams of

anyway to the reflecting:

i texted her i believe early august (i tried looking for the message but they wont load)

and apologized that what i said came off as rude but that it wasnt intended to be that way

she apologized too for taking it the wrong way and we admitted to each other that things have been hard and that our friendship-breakup had been eating away at us since then

the whole time i believed she was over me and didnt care, as i fall victim to overthinking and drawing conclusions (though i have learnt since then that things arent always worst-case scenario)

she visited me in august and we spent a day together (sleepover, junk food, movies and all) and we caught each other up on everything that had happened since october in the mall food court

i was annoyingly loud about things since i get heated over certain topics but, in the moment, i didnt care if i made a fool of myself in front of everyone there because i was just glad to have my best friend back

cut to today and ive realized that since our hangout, she hasnt been talking to me much. i get it though because shes starting college and met the sweetest boy, and im proud of her

im just afraid that we’ve grown too different.

its one of those cliche moments where one friend gets in a relationship and does things in life and the other one is sitting, waiting for a text back

it feels kind of pathetic but im trying not to let it get to me

i dont know,

the day we hung out was really nice but i get this gut feeling with people thats nearly always, unfortunately, true

in which

we’ve grown so different it seems they’re not the same person anymore

i dont know if shes truly my best friend anymore, yknow

shes made several friends since our falling out, friends that she does activities her and i would do when we got to meet up

even trips together like we did !! which is really cool !

anyway, ill love her forever but, the distance was so long and the taste of it all was so bitter i dont know if theres hope for recover anymore

i tell my friends: losing someone in your life makes space for people you never knew could make life feel worth living

maybe that’s what’s happening

the scary part is that only time will tell

but thats okay, here i am

[adversary-to-inamorato]

I LOOVE your IGBP AU tbh! :) your story was super cool, I'm so excited for the next chapter, and i love also the way your write it! I'm so into it, i was shocked when SMG4 came back in the loop!!!

Some questions :

--> will SMG4 get out of this loop?

-->How will you portray SMG34, I'm curious abt this haha, since it can be interesting to see how it is put

-->Will each "loop" be the same or be different?

-->To the Previous question, does SMG4 will somehow loose memory, or a character? Temporary or permanently?

-->How many chapters do you think this story will have? (you can skip this question I'm just curious lmao)

-->Does any characters will know abt the loop?

-->Tv hardware? Will be shown, interact with the others? Hmmm

I'm SOOO sorry for all these questions, I'm sooo curious abt your AU, LIKE İ LOVE IT, I LOVE YOUR STORY❤️

Omg omg you're my first ask hgsngsnhn I cannot keep this cool and mysterious persona (that I already heavily failed) anymore RAGHHH iM SO GLAD YOU THINK SO HERES A LIST OF RESPONSES

- Yes he will, this will be angst with a happy ending! I will add more tags and tw and cw the more I add on (I'm not evil I swear)

- How I portray them is based on their current canon personality from what I have observed so far from MAR10 Day till latest episode. BUT with a dash of psychological elements that they (unwillingly) have to face during the whole shenanigans.

(help me these two are stuck in my brain matter it's almost parasitism- but it's actually comensalism)

- the loop will be the same, but it's up to the characters to change or alter how they go through it. E.g: Same place where it all starts, but different endings when they change their actions such as SMG4 didn't make any of those Toad Legs models, the whole meme reaction thing. This is because he is aware of the mistakes he had done and trying to fix it while he still can.

- It's more of a brain-fog kind of thing. (Temporary) Memory loss is quite common with people with depression/developing depression. There will be serious topics in this fic that might be triggering so I would have to warn y'all beforehand because working on this actually made my friends worry about my mental state AHAHAHA

- I'm glad you asked! IM WORKING ON THE INBETWEEN(s) RIGHT NOW AND ALREADY HAD THE MIDDLE AND ENDING DONE. I already posted the introduction. So far 6 chapters and there may or may not be more. I've been working on this since November and it's driving me as crazy as the guy.

Oh, did I ever mention that? Hehe, forget it.

- Unfortunately, no. Mario would probably have a glimpse of what's going on but not entirely. It is about his recolours after all-- I mean guardians.

- n̵̨̛͉͚͎̯̘̮̭͓͇̪͎̘̥̖̱͖͆̽̓̇͜o̴̧̧̡̫͙̥͔̞̼̝̪̝̜͇̜͓͈͍̎̌̇̔̊͂̃̆͑̑̀͑̐́͝ͅ ̴͚̜̹̪̊̉̌̑̎͋̌̕c̷̞̘̬̟̓͂̀̚o̴̡̰̜̜̮̮̘̺̲̰̅̌͂͐́̋̋̕͝m̴̨̡̧͓̱̼̫̝̞̝͎̮̘̜̬̣͙̼͉̣͛̉̈́m̵̡̛̰͎͙̟͙̮̲̪̗͓̰̹̰̪̦͍͕͑̈́̃͂̀̈́̇̾̚ȩ̶̢̡͎̟̻̙̭̰̞̰͎̤̬͔̣͖̗̜̽͋́̆͒͂̑͗̌͛͆͂̽͘͝ͅn̷̩͇̙̳̫̬͓̓̃̾̆͂͋̃͌͆̚̚͜͝t̴͍͙͍̪̩̥̫̥͍̳͒̏̽̑̽̑̀̋̔̈̎̈́̎͊̾̆̑͆̂͂

That wraps it up! AND NO PROBLEM I HAD SO MUCH FUN ANSWERING THEM! and it helps me reflect on what other kinds of stories I should do with these two goobers ( or three! I really love Mario 💓) I hope I can get the next chapter up as soon as possible, if my work doesn't give me overtime again- ugh. I'm glad you love my work! It means that the ungodly time I spent drawing (still unpublished) and writing (also unpublished) wasn't a dud!

Thank you so much for expressing your interest and curiosity, anon! You made my morning a bit less bitter and a bit more better. (Incorrect grammar but this is nsrs). I hope I could deliver up to your expectations!

I hope.

(Might do a fan-fanfiction take on the BR AU a certain artist made though, I do like the concept. But I need permission probably lol so I'll work on that.)

Thank you so much! You really made me feel worth something :DDD

[writinghalstead]

Thunderstorm

Hi, it’s been a while since I last posted on here! I have been really busy with school, so I didn’t have the time to write anything new. But I do have some time now, so I will be writing again! So, please feel free to send me your requests. I will not write them out immeadiately since I have a couple of requests that I’m working on, but they will be posted eventually! 

Enjoy! :)

A halstead!sister oneshot

Summary: Y/n spends the night at her eldest’ brother’s apartment. She is fast asleep but wakes up from a loud crackling of thunder. She gets scared and runs to Will who comforts her during the storm.

Word count: 1382

Warnings: None

-----

Y/N was fast asleep, surrounded by all of her plushies. It was currently Saturday and she spent the night at Will’s place. Ever since her eldest brother got an apartment for himself, she spent almost every weekend there. Will wanted his sister to live with him so badly, but he knew that was impossible due to his job. His working hours were too irregular and he was barely at home; he couldn’t take care of a child. That’s why Jay and him decided that their little sister could spent every weekend at Will’s. They had also made a decision that Y/N could stay at Will’s longer during the holidays.

The youngest Halstead missed her eldest brother a lot. She had a great connection with him and he reminded her of her father, who sadly passed away when she was only four years old. Will and Jay took care of her as if she were their daughter and she couldn’t imagine her life without them.

This night, Jay brought her over to Will’s after school. Y/N had begged him to stay for dinner since he and Will didn’t see each other a lot, except for the weekends when Y/N came over. Jay didn’t stay long at Will’s for most of the time because both of them had to wake up early for work the next morning. Except this time.

The youngest Halstead had begged Jay to stay during the drive to Will’s apartment. ‘I don’t know if I can stay, munchkin. Maybe Will has already prepared dinner for just the two of you.’                                                              ‘We should ask him then,’ replied Y/N with a sweet smile. Jay only nodded, knowing that his sister wouldn’t change her mind.

When the two of them entered the apartment, and Y/N finished hugging her eldest brother, she immediately asked him if Jay could eat with them. Will happily told the two siblings that Jay could stay, glad that he was finally able to talk to his brother for more than ten minutes.

‘Look, I actually asked Hailey if she wanted to have dinner with me, I can’t -,’        ‘Ask her if she wants to come over then.’ Will interrupted him. ‘I haven’t seen her in a while either.’

And so the four of them had dinner at Will’s house. The three adults used this as a opportunity to inform each other on the things that happened at work and in their love lives (the topic was mainly Will’s love life.) Y/N just sat there throughout the evening, listening to their conversations and not knowing what they were talking about. She would sometimes interrupt them to tell them about a new drawing she made at school or about the book she was reading for school.

The night ended too quickly for the girl, but after Jay and Hailey left, Will luckily let her stay up later to watch a movie with him.                                                    

‘Which movie do you want to watch?’ he asked his sister. The girl thought deeply for a second and replied; ‘Shrek!’                                                                            

Will laughed at her enthusiasm, knowing this was her favourite movie. Every time they would watch a movie together they would watch Shrek.  ‘Alright, I’ll grab some popcorn and drinks. You can already put the movie on if you want. Do you want some hot cocoa?’                                                                        ‘Yes, cocoa!’ the girl jumped up and down from excitement. She always told everyone that Will makes the most delicious hot chocolate in Chicago.

After putting the movie on, the little girl cocooned herself in a blanket and sat down on the couch, waiting for Will. ‘Do you want to cuddle?’ she asked the moment he put their drinks and popcorn on the table in front of the couch.                                                                                                                                           ‘Only if I can sit under the blanket too,’ the redhead said with a smile. Y/N then lifted the blanket a little so that Will could sit under it as well. He put the blanket over the two of them and put his arm around his sister’s shoulders. She leant her head on his chest and melted in to his embrace.

Half an hour into the movie, Will noticed that his sister hadn’t touched her hot cocoa yet and that she was awfully quiet. She would often ramble about the movie if they watched Shrek together. She would say things such as: can we get a cat and give it boots too? Or: I want to be Fiona for Halloween this year!                                

‘Y/N,’ Will said softly. When his sister didn’t respond, he nudged his shoulder a little but the girl kept quiet. He looked over her and saw to his surprise that she had already fallen asleep. The redhead smiled to himself as he turned off the tv and lifted his sister in his arms. He carried her to her bedroom and after putting her in her pyjama’s, he put her in bed. Will gave his sister a kiss on her head before turning off the lights and closing the bedroom door softly. After putting her to bed he cleaned off the table and went to bed himself.

~

The youngest Halstead woke up from a loud bang. She sat up straight in bed, worrying that something might have happened to Will. She sat there for a while staring into the darkness until she saw a short flash of light, followed by a loud bang. It didn’t take her long to figure out that it was thunder that she was hearing and without thinking she got out of bed and ran towards Will’s bedroom.

Y/N’s fear of thunder started three years ago when lighting struck a tree next to her and Jay’s apartment. She was sitting behind the window, looking at the sky and adoring the shapes of the lightning. It was then when the lightning struck the three in front of that window, followed by a loud crackling of thunder making the window vibrate in its frame. Since then, her fear of thunder has only grown.

‘Will!’ she cried out as soon as she opened the door to his bedroom. Will being the deep sleeper he was, didn’t wake up and kept on snoring. The little girl jumped on his bed and shook him awake. ‘Will, there’s thunder outside!’

The redhead slowly opened his eyes and groaned. ‘What’s up, kiddo?’ It took him a while to notice that she was crying and when he did, he quickly turned on the lights.                                                                                                        ‘What’s wrong, sweetie?’ he asked her again, pulling her into his arms. ‘Why are you crying?’

The girl sobbed in his chest and answered with a shaky breath. ‘I-it’s.. there’s thunder outside.’ Right after she said that a loud crackling of thunder could be heard, making her bury herself even deeper in her brother’s embrace.

‘It’s okay, kiddo.’ Will rubbed her back soothingly and placed a kiss on her head. ‘You’re safe here.’

The youngest Halstead shook her head. ‘What if your house gets struck?’ her voice was muffled by his shirt she buried her face in.

Will pulled away and wiped away the tears from her red-stained cheeks. ‘What was that?’

‘I said: what if your house gets struck?’ the girl repeated as she sniffed.

‘It won’t.’ the eldest Halstead pushed away some of the hairs that were stuck on his sister’s wet cheeks. ‘The God of thunder will never hurt you.’ Jay and Will have always told Y/N that there was a God who ruled the thunder. That’s why she used to be so intrigued by it. She thought lightning was beautiful, but since she saw what damage it could do, she didn’t think it was that beautiful anymore.

Y/N sobbed as she furrowed her brows. ‘Why not?’

‘Because,’ said Will as he pulled her in for another hug, ‘he knows how sweet you are and how much you mean to me and Jay. He wouldn’t dare to hurt you.’

The girl smiled softly and nodded, feeling her fear soothe a little. ‘Can I sleep with you tonight?’ she asked.

‘Of course you can, munchkin.’ Her brother planted a kiss on her head and pulled the covers over the two of them. Y/N nestled herself in his arms and closed her eyes.

‘Goodnight, Will.’ She said.

‘Goodnight, Y/N.’ Will turned of the lights and they both fell asleep.

[pyrochoreia]

Personally, I don't think that Ratchet ever would have felt betrayed by Drift because the kid never owed him anything and he never expected anything of him, nor would he have felt any resentment in the common fanon way of 'I didn't save your life so you could go do a murder'...

One of the key things that stuck out for me was that after they reunited they literally shared no panel time and Ratchet's literal first reaction to Drift going MIA was to worry about him. The punk was either fucked up or fucking shit up instead of escaping with them and in need of a slap, let's be real. Ratchet spent the next however long before they ever spoke on panel was putting himself directly in Drift's space.

Another thing I noticed is that Ratchet is acutely aware that Drift does not know how to defend himself unless resorting to violence; there were a couple instances where Ratchet has either openly stopped Drift from reacting on that impulse, scolding him for having that impulse, and Drift yelling for instruction because he doesn't know what to do as he was specifically told not to stab people. Drift seems to be more passive and confused when violence isn't an option, and seems to shut down or quietly cooperate as seen with how he deals with Rodimus (although a good portion of that was him letting Rodimus use him to keep him on track, more on that another time, because I'm upset by it forever). They had literally like, one argument on the Decepticon topic which crossed a previously undefined line that did result in Drift drawing a sword, highlighting both facts; Drift responds to feeling threatened with violence and that what Ratchet is feeling isn't betrayal since not only does it never really come up again but going forward he seems to instinctively know how to handle and approach Drift. It was also very clear that Ratchet wasn't afraid of him in that moment, so I'm also of the opinion that Ratchet never felt threatened by Drift and believed he wouldn't actually hurt him, knowing that the sword was being displayed defensively.

What I think that anger stemmed from was the fact that Ratchet felt responsible for Drift -- that him turning to the Decepticons was a result of him failing him when he needed help the most. Ratchet sees it as a logical choice from Drift's perspective; he was around since before the war, knew what Megatron stood for and what was being offered. The very sudden flip in Ratchet's handling of Drift following that incident was realisation that not only did he unintentionally make him feel cornered and likely hurt him, but the understanding that the anger he felt was at himself for not doing enough and not at Drift for taking what he likely saw as the only option at the time. After all, weren't they trying to do similar -- didn't they have the same end goal? Wasn't that the original conflict between Pax and Megatron, that after a particular incident their approach on the matter clashed?

Not to mention, some of that anger was fear that Drift might feel betrayed by him; after all they stood for in the past, Ratchet still chose the side opposing them. Did Drift resent him in some way because he'd left him before even fully chasing him out the door - had he felt discarded in that moment?

Since Cybertronians only have one sparkmate I'm of the opinion that there's a pull, that bonding is very literal in the old-old fanon way. While Ratchet wouldn't have fully understood his feelings towards Drift until much later (unless in the dumb AU I was plotting for my Shockwave) there still would have been that draw, and I 100% believe that he would have gone after the idiot if there was room for any sneaky hookups. They never did explain how or why Ratchet got kidnapped in the first place and never really came back to that topic, and it wouldn't surprise me if that was entirely because he'd just found out where Drift had gone, was personally offended by the discovery and decided that he was going to go collect him and unfortunately was discovered by someone else first.

Ratchlock nonsense in the canon story would be a lot of Ratchet bickering with Megatron for custody, more or less, and Megatron just Not Having Time For This Shit and probably calling Orion.

To be fair, a lot of the headcanon bits are because I write some of the other characters very particular ways - Megatron who would have forbade harm to knowingly come to the medical class, for example, that they would have had more ties with/offering aid to particular anti-government organisations and the Decepticon sympathisers (including some ocs here- madam Fireshine and the Pedlar's Inn), and Rathet's relation to my Trepan and Rung...

..........diarchy!Ratch though would have had that boy if he could help it, Deadlock or no.

Whirl heckles him in both stories. She Knows, even when he doesn't.

[manuscripts-dontburn]

Julia and the Shark

Author: Kiran Millwood hargrave

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★★

One of the best middle-grade books I have ever read I think. Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a gorgeous writer and her use of language is simply masterful. She also chooses fascinating topics and it pains me that from time to time all that lacks a certain impact. But Julia does have it. The simplistic illustrations are captivating and perfectly enliven the story.

The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria's Youngest Daughter

Author: Matthew Dennison

First published: 2007

Rating: ★★★☆☆

If you have a truly deep interest in Queen Victoria, her family, or a life of nobility in the 19th century, this is a book you should read. Princess Beatrice never held any important political posts, never made a grand marriage, never had to make any momentous decisions, and is largely forgotten today. But Mathew Dennison put together a gentle portrait of her existence and through her introduced yet another layer to other, more famous personages in Beatrice´s life. However, if you are after a book that would somehow shock you, or give you tremendous new information or gossip, pass on this one. It is slow and the author does repeat his main points at almost every turn, which sometimes could be tedious. Also, prepare yourself for lots of assumptions that fill up empty places we know nothing about.

The Infinity of Lists

Author: Umberto Eco

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★★☆☆

A gorgeous and richly illustrated list of lists. I was surprised at how many things actually are "lists", some of the points were fascinating, and some went over my head. A difficult book to read to be honest.

Visions of Beauty

Author: Kinuko Y. Craft

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★★★

I was waiting to show the book also to my mum, who studied art at university and had never heard of Kinuko Y. Craft before. Today we spent over an hour going through the pages together and she said it was possibly the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. As for me, I have been aware of the artist because I came across her illustrations of fantasy book covers (Wildwood Dancing was a particular favourite of mine). When I, completely by chance, found the Visions of Beauty, I was greatly excited. What a stunning compilation of paintings and drawings! What I find particularly remarkable about them is that I can often clearly see the inspiration behind the picture (there is Da Vinci and my favourite Botticelli, there is some Mucha and Raffael, there are medieval altar paintings as well as portraits from the 19th century), but it is never a copy and always takes on the originality of its own. The pictures can be read, not just observed, with numerous tiny details incorporated into the portraits, so even when I think I have seen it all, I find more and more flowers, animals, symbols, and even human figures where before seemed to be just foliage. I cannot even choose my favourite painting, because there are way too many.

The Idiot

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

First published: 1869

Rating: ★★★★☆

I don´t think there is much need to write yet another review of this book when so much has been said by more eloquent readers than I am. To me personally, it was particularly interesting after reading a biography of Dostoyevsky and I could easily see the roots and traces of many incidents and thoughts presented in this novel. But ultimately I did find the story a bit drowned by too much that was said in ways that were simply too dragged out. And yet I still think about that ending.

Imitation of Mary

Author: Alexander De Rouville

First published: 1977

Rating: ★★★★☆

Very comforting for anyone with Catholic leanings and devotion to Mary.

Demon in the Wood

Author: Leigh Bardugo

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★★☆

I just really enjoy the stories Leigh Bardugo tells... this is a very nicely created graphic novel, but to be completely honest, I would have preferred it to be simply a written story.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

Author: Seanan McGuire

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I keep reading these because they are short and well-intentioned... but half of these books do not really have a story. This one is one of the storyless ones, not to mention I felt like it was by far the most filled with long speeches about points already made, conclusions already reached, dilemmas already introduced. Also, all the main characters seem to be the same.

Cleopatra: A Life

Author: Stacy Schiff

First published: 2011

Rating: ★★★★☆

Everybody knows the story of Cleopatra and yet, as this book lets you know in a very readable and convincing style, we actually know very little for certain. Stacy Shiff does for the Egyptian Queen what Robert K. Massie did for Catherine the Great: painting a vivid portrait of a woman in a position of power in an age when she was an anomaly. Her achievements have been tainted, her motivations misconstrued, her personality dragged through the mud. We arguably have a better grasp of the Russian empress than Cleopatra, but I imagine they both would have a lot to talk about.

Ruthless Vows

Author: Rebecca Ross

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Much like I enjoyed the first installment, I enjoyed this second one as well. Everything is still in it, from a swoon-worthy romance to some truly excellent use of language and very evocative scenes of being trapped in a war. Nice.

The Poisonwood Bible

Author: Barbara Kingsolver

First published: 1998

Rating: ★★★★★

This is a story of a family, where every voice is their own and their feelings are communicated brilliantly to the reader. It is also a clear-eyed look at colonialism in the 20th century, human arrogance and prejudice as well as familial loyalty and love. It is a heartbreaking read, perhaps a bit too lengthy once the pinnacle of the story passes, but I found it both engaging and in some ways also enlightening.

The Testaments

Author: Margaret Atwood

First published: 2019

Rating: ★★★★☆

While it lacks the shock factor of its predecessor, The Testaments offers a satisfying conclusion in its stead. Was it necessary? Not really. But in the modern world the dystopia once imagined by Margaret Atwood needs to be remembered. Our reality seems to be striving towards it, sometimes with terrifying speed.

The Book of Magic

Author: Alice Hoffman

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★☆

More than magic itself, this whole series is about being loyal to your family and the unconditional love that binds that family. The Book of Magic reunites the reader with all of the characters that we already love and now we see the end of their journey. And truly I mean all of them. Alice Hoffman yet again writes in a way that makes you smell the lilacs and hear the bees in the trees. Lovely.