#so this event was the highlight of the patch for me

[samudrarthaa]

i love the astral express trio so much, your honor...

[gallusrostromegalus]

My housemate reminded me of a flashbulb memory I have that I really wish I had a photograph of because it would be a magnificent image to inflict on the internet at large with Zero Context, but I'll try to describe it here, and then draw it after dinner.

Image Description:

As seen from about three feet off the ground: Interior, the den of an american suburban house built at the height of the atomic age and still decorated like it years later. There's dark wood paneling about halfway up the walls that offsets the almost neon pink-orange light of late sunset visible through the large window. Every object in the room is highlighted by the last of the sunlight. The only other light in the room is a TV set that was manufactured the same year Howdy Doody debuted on air, now broadcasting PBS Newshour in black and white.

Closest to the viewer, there is a small end table with a Nearly Full Martini glass, and a Half-empty glass Martini Pitcher, indicating that two of the five martinis it holds have been poured out.

Just behind it, an old man sits in a chair that was bright green and yellow when it was new but is now more Grellow. The man is in his mid-sixites, somewhat heavyset, with a full head of snow-white hair and thick glasses. He's wearing a dark brown tweed suit with leather elbow patches, and a white cotton button-up. He's watching the news with a calm and dispassionate demeanor. Tired, but still engrossed with the world's events. He's wearing dark brown penny loafers and garish argyle socks.

Behind him is a couch that is a matched set with the armchair, with the same Grellow chevron pattern, but there is a very large crochet afghan that has been spread out over the back to be decorative and maybe protect the couch from it's current occupant: a 120lb Wolf Hybrid.

She's seated lengthwise on the couch, like she had also been watching PBS Newshour, posed like a sphynx. She's close in wieght to the man, and definitely taller than him if she stands up, with a dark gray agouti coat and a bit of white countershading from the trace of domestic dog in her. She's turned her head to the viewer, bright yellow eyes focused on them, and the fur of her head and neck haloed with the sunset. She is pleased to see the veiwer, which means most of the teeth in her lower jaw are visible in her canine grin. The effect is very menacing if you don't know her.

Clutched rather neatly between her front paws is a second, identical martini glass, only not nearly quite so full as the old man's.

Title: "Oh, I didn't think you'd be back for another hour/GODDAMIT EDWIN"

[sirfrogsworth]

This is some speculative bullshit. I swear if these people saw me in 90 degree heat while wearing a suit they'd think I was a demon. My face turns beat red and I look like a damp naked mole rat.

I don't think some people realize how different you can look under various lighting conditions.

Specular highlights are direct reflections that appear as bright spots or sparkles. Think catchlights in the eyes or glare on the tip of the nose or glistening on freshly glossed lips.

Usually light obeys the inverse square law. It reflects much dimmer the farther it travels. But not *direct* reflections. So things like mirrors, glossy surfaces, or drops of water can all reflect light straight back instead of scattering and diffusing it. So that directly reflected light remains the same intensity as the light source.

Now imagine a powerful spotlight that is 50 feet away. It has to be super bright to light a person up on stage because it is so far away. Every time you double the distance, light diminishes by a factor of 4. But all of those little beads of sweat are reflecting the full intensity of the spotlight, so they light up like a Christmas tree on someone's face. And they kind of group together to create bright patches on his skin. Our brains have been trained to register that as sweating. And the brighter and larger those patches, the sweatier we assume someone is.

You can see just how bright his sweat was reflecting by looking at the catchlight in his eye.

Look at the exposure of the whites of his eyes compared to the catchlight.

So he looks red from the heat and the lights are making his skin look super clammy. And as a fun bonus, a small, hard light source exaggerates pores, blemishes, wrinkles, and skin texture.

What's interesting is if you move that spotlight closer, the specular highlights will start to appear dimmer.

This is because the light source doesn't need to be as bright because it is closer. And those direct reflections match the intensity of the light source. They also spread out and appear softer because the light source is larger. Larger lights are more flattering.

John basically had everything working against him in this situation and now people think he's doing coke again because the event didn't set up a lighting truss a little closer.

Also, everyone's memory of what John looks like is mostly from TV appearances. They don't typically see him right after a jog, so their mental image is skewed towards a single circumstance.

This was only a few months ago where he is wearing makeup and under professional studio lights.

And here he is... fucking yesterday.

Maybe the fancy lights and makeup are covering up his drug addiction.

Here he is in the temperature controlled SNL writers room under soft room lights. Again, yesterday.

Looks fine to me.

I know he is a celebrity and he'll be fine, but a bunch of people who struggle with addiction are going to see all of these people judging and speculating and being shitty because a person was hot. And that sucks.

[fuckyeahdindjarin]

Seams drabble: Patch

{ Part IV: Notch | Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist }

Rating: None

Summary: Ellie finds a Pride-themed sew on patch that leads to revelations.

Warnings: Pure fluff and love for this girl, some angst, coming out, total disregard of canon because I don't know how it goes in the game.

Word count: 1.3k

Notes: This idea struck me out of the blue many months ago, and I was waiting for 'the right place' in the series, until I mentioned it to a dear friend in passing conversation and then I just started writing it. Very lightly edited. Set at unspecified time frame after Part IV.

Ellie hums to herself from her spot in a cosy corner of the Outfitters, one watchful eye on the door. It’s an uncharacteristically slow Saturday, but she’s not complaining - she has her hands full.

A big canvas sack lies empty on the floor, its contents strewn haphazardly all over the wooden floor. The mess drives you up the wall, but you know better than to question her (very questionable) methods, so you’re ensconced in the safety of your studio while she sorts through the clothes and odds and ends that the patrollers brought back from their most recent outing.

Though infrequent - most settlements around Jackson have been painstakingly pilfered for anything useful over the years - it’s her favourite duty at the shop. Lucy is looser with the rules, but sometimes, you let Ellie keep little knick knacks that won’t sell.

The teenager goes through the pile thoroughly. Shirts go in one stack, jeans in another, followed by shoes, hats and scarves. Turning to the heap of smaller loose trinkets, she separates mismatched buttons, safety pins, shoelaces and zippers (as Maria always says, every little help), when something colourful piques her attention.

Plucking the piece of fabric out of the jumble, Ellie recognises it as a decorative patch that she’s seen sewn onto bags and shirts. It’s the size of her palm, cut in the shape of a rainbow, the colours still bright. Over the arches, bold white text outlined in black spells out NYC PRIDE 2003.

Tucking it into her pocket for now, she quickly finishes the rest of the sorting. Clothes go into the bin to be collected by the laundry, shoes for the cobbler’s, and accessories into a box to be priced and shelved.

Ambling into the back of the shop where you’re busy hemming a pair of jeans, Ellie plops into one of the rolling chairs, straddling the back of it, and the wheels screech as she careens across the floor to your sewing station.

Your lips quirk as you look up briefly at her. ‘Find anything interesting?’

‘Just this,’ she replies, flashing you the patch and reading aloud, ‘NYC Pride 2003. What does that mean?’

‘There used to be a big pride parade for the LGBT community every year in New York City,’ you explain. ‘They used to close down the streets and everything for it, it was a huge event.’

Ellie blinks, your answer taking her by surprise. She clears her throat, a distant buzzing at the back of her head as she turns the patch over pensively in her hand. ‘What - do you know what it was like?’

‘I’ve never been to one, but it always looked incredible. People used to line the streets in support, and everyone dressed up. There’d be rainbow flags everywhere, floats, dancing, music, and of course, it was an important way for the community to highlight and push for LGBT rights.’

‘You mean -’ she pauses, the unfamiliar feeling of stumbling over her words making her hands sweat. ‘You mean, people would just be out in public, like, being themselves?’

‘More than that - they were celebrating themselves.’

Ellie doesn’t realise she’s fallen quiet until you speak, ‘You can keep it if you want.’

Her head snaps up, disoriented. ‘Keep what?’

‘That.’ You nod towards the patch she’s clinging onto so tightly that her knuckles have gone white.

Panic prickles the back of her neck, an embarrassed heat suddenly making her want to pull at the collar of her flannel. But then you shrug and say, almost flippantly, ‘It’s pretty.’

‘Yes,’ she blurts out in hasty agreement, letting out a breath she’s been unconsciously holding. ‘It’s very pretty.’

Ellie is relieved when you turn back to the sewing machine, leaving her to retrace her steps to the front of the shop. The patch sits on the counter, where she leaves it, as she goes about her business for the rest of her shift.

Her eyes travel to the rainbow, and she thinks of how she wasn’t like the other girls at school, who fawned over dogeared photos of singers and actors long dead. She thinks of how she’s always known she’s different, but didn’t have the vocabulary to express it.

She thinks of Riley.

Riley.

For Riley.

When half three rolls around, you spot the teenager lingering by the studio doorway out of the corner of your eye, her backpack dangling from her fingers. Any other Saturday, you’d be lucky to catch the blurry shape of her shadow when she gallops out of the shop, throwing a see ya over her shoulder.

Thrown by her silence, you prompt, ‘Yes, Ellie?’

Scruffing the tips of her well-worn sneakers on the floorboards, she bites her lip in an atypical display of hesitance. ‘Pin, could you help me sew the patch onto my backpack? Please?’

You smile, eyes soft. ‘I’d love to. C’mon.’

‘You don’t have to do it now,’ she protests, feigning nonchalance, but her twitchy hands give her away. ‘Like, whatever, it’s no big deal.’

Wanting to put her at ease, you shrug. ‘No time like the present. Where do you want it?’

Putting her bag on your work surface, she points. ‘Guess right here under the wings.’

‘Perfect. Can you unzip the bag for me?’

You have Ellie hold the rainbow exactly where she wants it while you thread the needle, and you start sewing it in by hand, stitch by tidy stitch. It barely takes a couple of minutes, but time is of the essence - you haven’t heard the girl take a single breath of air since the anchor stitch.

Snipping off the thread with a flourish and giving it a once over, you grin. ‘There, all done.’

Ellie ducks her head, quiet as she takes the bag from your hands, running a thumb over the arches of the rainbow. Without a word, she suddenly throws her arms around you, hugging you tight.

‘Thanks, Pin,’ she mumbles into your hair.

Your heart swells, and you squeeze her back even tighter. ‘Anything for you, kiddo.’

On Monday morning, Ellie hovers in the hallway outside the kitchen, observing.

Joel is at the table, oblivious with his back to the door, her breakfast of two fried eggs over and easy and toast waiting at her usual spot at the table. Taking a deep breath, she bites the bullet and walks in, backpack in her hand.

‘Mornin’,’ grunts Joel, almost done with his own eggs, sunny side up.

‘Morning,’ she parrots back as she makes herself comfortable.

She usually just dumps her bag on the floor, but today, she pulls out the chair next to her and drops it into the seat. The unusual movement catches Joel’s eye, and he takes a good long look at the backpack.

Eventually, he points vaguely in what she assumes is the direction of the rainbow patch, and says, ‘That looks new.’

‘Yup, Pin helped me sew it on.’

He purses his lips, asking around a mouthful of egg. ‘You know what Pride is?’

She swallows thickly, and it takes a beat to unstick her tongue from the roof of her mouth. ‘Yeah, Pin told me.’

He nods, then turns his attention back to his plate with no fanfare.

Not entirely sure if he caught the nuance but her mind too in knots to care, Ellie picks up her fork and doesn’t think twice when he gets up to put his dish in the sink.

She nearly chokes on eggs when strong arms close around her shoulders in a vice-like grip, scratchy beard on her temple, Joel’s voice so thick that it makes her think if she turns around, she’ll see tears in his eyes.

‘Proud of you, baby girl.’

Later that afternoon, Joel finds you alone in the shop, restocking the women’s outerwear rack.

You toss him a smile over your shoulder. ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’

‘Lucy ‘round?’ he asks.

‘When is she ever?’ you quip with no bite.

Three steps and he’s spun you around by the waist, soft lips latching onto yours in a sweet kiss with just a hint of heated aftertaste that has you swaying on your feet when he pulls back.

A breathless laugh bubbles in your throat as you palm his whiskered jawline. ‘Why, thank you for that, Mr. Miller.’

The corners of his eyes crinkle, and he brushes his nose tenderly against your cheek. ‘No, thank you, sweetheart.’

Notes: I hope I wrote Ellie's coming out as sensitively as I hoped to. As I mentioned, I have no idea how or if she comes out in the game, but despite being such a chatty teenager, I think she'd find it difficult to broach the subject with Joel in conversation. For me, this was a fun way of weaving in her part-time job at the Outfitters and Pin into her coming out story that stays true to Ellie's character. I hope you enjoyed this - comments and reblogs appreciated as always!

P.S. I am not 'back' back, so I don't know when I will next update Seams. Thank you for your patience while I try to navigate my way back to some semblence of writing regularly, whenever that may be.

Thank you @firefly-graphics for the dividers ❤️

[mo-racca]

Portland Row as Taylor Swift’s “Lover” House

art I made for @lewkwoodnco as part of the @savelockwoodandco secret spectre event!

explanation under the cut (spoilers for the show and books!)

So I coordinated each room in the Lover House to a room in Portland Row. I tried to match it to what we know of PR’s layout from the show and book as best I could while staying within the constraints of the Lover House layout. Here’s a key:

Then I found a locklyle moment for each room and chose a coordinating lyric from the song Lover to go with each. Here's an explanation of the scenes and lyrics I chose:

Lucy's Attic

Lyric: "all's well that ends well to end up with you" Moments: - Lockwood gives Lucy the necklace before the Fittes Ball (Ep. 6, "You Never Asked") - Lockwood patches up Lucy and tells her he believes her about the skull (Ep. 4, "Sweet Dreams") - Lockwood welcomes Lucy to Portland Row (Ep. 1, "This Will Be Us") My Thoughts: there's so many moments that occur in the attic and notably, the scenes I chose span nearly the entire season and highlight the ups and downs of their relationship. I thought this lyric did a good job of enscapsulating that and representing all these scenes.

George's Room

Lyric: "my heart's been borrowed and yours has been blue" Moment: Lucy making heart eyes at Lockwood as he shares the plan to get Mary Dulac's book and the bone glass (Ep. 6 "You Never Asked") My Thoughts: I mainly chose this lyric because this is the "blue" room in the Lover House and the lyric has "blue" in it. But I also think that the two lines can apply to both Lockwood and Lucy very well.

The Forbidden Door

Lyric: "there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear" Moment: Lockwood shares with George and Lucy what's behind the forbidden door (Ep. 8 "Not The Eternal") My Thoughts: This may not be a locklyle specific moment, since it involves the entire trio, but I think Lucy plays a big part in why Lockwood is able to get to a space where he can feel comfortable sharing this with both his friends. This is another fairly straightforward lyric pick. Lockwood's is a very mysterious person to Lucy especially prior to him letting them into Jessica's room.

Lockwood's Room

Lyric: "and i'm highly suspicious that everyone who sees you wants you" Moment: From his bedroom window, Lockwood sees Lucy talking to Kipps and he gets jealous (Ep. 6 "You Never Asked") My Thoughts: I think this one is pretty self-explanatory!

Sitting Room/Living Room

Lyric: "have i know you twenty seconds or twenty years?" Moment: The very first moment Lockwood & Lucy see each other (Ep. 1 "This Will Be Us") My Thoughts: I think this moment has such a "love at first sight" feel and the lyric perfectly encapsulates that.

Library

Lyric: "can i go where you go? can we always be this close?" Moment: Lockwood and Lucy's first proper chat with each other (Ep. 1 "This Will Be Us") My Thoughts: Lockwood is basically telling this girl he's only known for a few hours that he knows she's meant to be a part of the team. He's already so committed to her! And if we go based off of the book, Lucy feels the same way: "it already pleased me to think of walking into darkness with Lockwood at my side" (The Screaming Staircase, Ch. 7).

Kitchen

Lyric: "and at every table, i'll save you a seat" Moment: Lockwood apologizes for his recklessness at the Winkman auction (Ep. 8 "Not The Eternal") My Thoughts: I picked this lyric more because of the room being the kitchen than for the scene I pictured. Even so, I think the way Lucy accepts his apology in this scene has the same sort of domesticity that this lyric has.

Basement

Lyric: "swear to be overdramatic and true" Moment: Lockwood gives Lucy a tour of the house (Ep. 1 "This Will Be Us") My Thoughts: This entire scene is just Lockwood being dramatic and over the top to try and impress Lucy.

Main Entry & Front Door

Lyrics: "this is our place, we make the rules" & "take me out, and take me home" My Thoughts: You could say that these two lyrics are like the thesis statement of the drawing! Portland Row is Lucy's home as much as it's Lockwood's because, really, Lockwood and Lucy are home to each other.

I had a lot of fun making this, so I really hope you enjoy it!

[violetsiren90]

Under the Hunter's Moon

Pairing: Yoongi x f!Reader (What the Moon Saw universe)

Genre: drabble; non-idol AU; friends to lovers; young love; autumn/harvest vibes, pure unadulterated fluff

Summary: A disappointment turns into something unexpected when Yoongi encounters you outside of your cliffside haven.

Content warnings: PG rating, but ALL my content is off-limits to minors; depictions of underage smoking; allusions to divorce; school bullying; Yoongi being a scaredy cat on rides lol; mentions of eating and food; allusions to a difficult home life; cuties at a carnival 💕; brief feelings of panic; riding in the back if a truck sans safety restraints.

Word Count: ~3200

Author's note: I spent my birthday today at a little pumpkin patch by the sea. I'd been wanting to go since getting the idea for this drabble a few months back. I felt like I got to ring in the next year with them, somehow. I felt them in the salty breeze and I heard them on the crash of the waves. They are so precious to me. ❤️

If no one has told you yet today you are loved and so worthy of it! 🧜‍♀️💜

He had found you sniffling under a sprawling valley oak that had tilted its way over the aged planks and posts of the two-rail fence and stretched out toward the naked expanse of the strawberry field and the last fiery rays of the late-October sun. He and Hoseok had broken away from the pack of boys he hung around with to find a quiet nook for a smoke. When he had seen you look up at him in surprise from where your face had been buried in your drawn-up knees, nose red and cheeks stained with tears, he had shoved a cigarette into Hobi's shirt pocket and sent the freshman packing. Now Yoongi was sitting next to you in silence, his back to the trunk, stealing furtive glances at you between drags. You heaved a sigh and leaned back against the tree, your shoulder brushing his. 

"I'm okay," you murmured, drawing the back of your hand a last time over your eyes, mascara that you rarely wore smudging across your knuckles.

"Yeah?" he asked, his gaze trained over the mulched land that stretched from the tips of his Converse to where the dying light strained out to bathe his soft, porcelain features in a golden sheen. "You here with somebody?"

"I...was...I guess," you muttered despondently. "Don't really know why I ever let myself believe they would want to hang out with me. Should have just stayed home like last year."

You kept your gaze from his, your eyes instead catching the movement of his slender, athletic legs stretching out in front of him and kicking up little clouds of silt that caught here and there as they dissipated over his light-wash skinny jeans.

"What are you doing here, anyway? You hate crowds."

You felt his shoulder shrug against yours.

"It's the Fest," he remarked, "Everybody goes."

Every year on the Friday before Halloween, your high school loaded its coastal-dwelling autumnally-deprived students onto busses for a forty-five minute drive inland and into agricultural territory to attend the massive Fall Fest for which its hosting county was acclaimed. It was the highlight of the semester - more anticipated than the winter formal - and for good reason. Tickets purchased upon entry (and sold in homeroom two weeks in advance) could be traded for carnival rides and games and seasonal attractions, while a little cash could afford attendees delicious treats and festive souvenirs.

You had never really seen what all the fuss was about. But, then again, events of such a nature were infinitely more enjoyable when one had someone with which to share them - a novelty you had never been afforded until a week ago, when Miranda Dallet and another girl from her posse had asked you to sit with them at lunch. When they asked you to attend the Fest with them you had been surprised, a feeling which had given way to one much less pleasantly anticipatory when Miranda had begun asking you about your newly-divorced father's house - the one just a few miles into town from the Fest grounds, and the one he had apparently told Jacqueline Peters' mother had a hot tub and a 50-inch flat screen TV.

When your father had agreed to let the lot of you stay over at his after the big bash, the reaction of your new acquaintances had you feeling the tiniest bit proud, even if you knew you were being used...you had never really had girlfriends before. Their squeals of excitement and insistent vows that you were the best had lit a little candle in your heart you hadn't even realized existed. Its flame had grown brighter over the days that followed as you planned outfits and borrowed lip gloss and let the others style your hair. And then, half an hour ago, it had been snuffed out when your father had called to cancel last minute, and the news had seen Miranda call you a liar and a poser, thereby revoking her friendship, her crew, and the white puffer jacket she had insisted you borrow, to leave you crushed and alone beside a candy-apple cart.

Your heart sank at the prospect of recounting your pathetic tale to Yoongi...but, he never asked. He merely finished his cigarette, tossing the butt into the upturned soil, and then standing and brushing off his jeans, shoved one hand in the pocket of his bomber jacket and extended the other down to you. You took it and let him pull you to your feet. As you swiped away the smudges your tears had made of the supposedly waterproof eye makeup, you felt Yoongi's gaze drift over you. You blinked up at him questioningly.

"You look...different," he offered, shoving his other hand into its corresponding jacket pocket.

You wrapped your arms self-consciously around the bare inches of your midriff. A trip to the local mall with Miranda and company after school the previous day had resulted in the purchase of your current attire: a light-pink spaghetti-strap tank that hugged your torso, ruched sides pulling it well above the studded waistband of your snugly fitting lowrider jeans, accompanied by a pair of hoop earrings larger than you had ever worn and which were nearly as shiny as your lip gloss. Temperatures remaining in the low seventies well into the late days of fall allowed teenage girls across your county to continue their relentless pursuit of getting dress-coded in the name of Brittany Spears. At events like these, however, the chaperoning staff were wise enough to let it be, as such efforts would likely result in wasted funds and totally empty busses. You had decided to take the plunge and wear something rather decidedly out of character.

"Well," you huffed, "I couldn't come the way I usually dress..."

Yoongi's brow creased.

"What's wrong with how you dress?"

"Ah...I don't know...I just wanted to look nice, I guess."

He nodded, eyes on his shoes.

"Do I look...bad?" You asked quietly, smoothing your hands down over the denim of your pants.

Yoongi looked a bit surprised when his eyes flicked up to yours again, and then they softened as he answered.

"No...no, of course not."

You smiled gratefully and his dark eyes went wide like a baby's as he tilted his head down, glancing about as he drew his bottom lip between his teeth and raised a hand to scratch behind his ear. If you hadn't known better, you would have thought he looked a bit shy. Was he shy? Something inside you preened a bit at the thought. Your bashfulness having dissipated, you moved your hands to clasp behind your back. Yoongi cocked a brow, a little grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he stripped of his jacket and held it out to you.

"Looks a little cold though," he remarked, a teasing glimmer in his eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you," you huffed, feeling a bit caught, and crossed your arms in indignation.

He shrugged, still smirking, and tossed the jacket over his shoulder.

"Suit yourself," he remarked, "But it's gonna be a lot chillier when it's dark."

"I'm leaving anyway," you sulked, trudging toward the low fence and clambering over it.

"Why?" Yoongi asked quickly as he followed, nimbly vaulting the wooden structure and coming to land beside you.

"Because I got ditched. I'm not gonna wander around here alone like a loser."

You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye, and watched him physically swallow the joke that had formulated on his tongue about it being too late for you in that regard. Instead he reached up and poked you on the cheek.

"So don't go alone. Come with me."

You blinked at him. You had never once hung out with him outside the ledge. There had been the occasional brief wave of a hand across a parking lot or small affectionate smile when passing in a hall, but never so much as a word between you when at school. It had been an unspoken mutual agreement, keeping the worlds of your lives and the ledge separate. It kept your shared hiding place a haven from the rest of it all - one that you both desperately needed. So, his proposition caught you off guard and feeling a little uncertain. Yoongi must have realized your quandary, because he draped his jacket gently around your shoulders and gave you that little hopeful raise of his brows you'd have moved mountains for, and before you knew it, he was ambling alongside you as you trotted towards the lights and laughter of the rides.

It was strange and new, being with him like this, and you began to realize that even though you could read his face like the pages of a book and stood gatekeeper to many of the secrets of his gentle, burning heart, you'd never seen the sweet little smile that cotton candy caused to bloom on his lips, or how quickly it could vanish at the prospect of riding the slingshot. This being so, you couldn't help but take him in like some lovely unknown creature as you sat beside him on the Ferriss wheel and watched him glance nervously toward the ground growing further and further below.

"You okay?" you asked in amusement, glancing at his whitened knuckles where they clutched the safety bar across his lap.

He hummed in assent, now peering down over the tips of his shoes. You followed his gaze, leaning forward and consequently causing the little bucket seat to rock as it climbed toward the peak of the structure.

"Yah, yah, yah, yah!" Yoongi hollered, eyes wide as saucers as he yanked you back upright and only succeeded in rocking your seat more violently.

You didn't understand what he said next - he had slipped into Korean - but you were laughing too hard at his terrified and exasperated expression and how he clutched your arm to pay any mind to what he had to say.

The Ferris wheel proved to be the sole ride of the evening, as Yoongi flatly refused to endure another, and you made your way into the stretch of grounds that smelled like cinnamon and grilled meats and sounded with booth attendants enticing festivalgoers to try a hand at winning their wares. You stopped to toss a few coins onto dishes, coming infuriatingly close with your third penny to winning a giant Pikachu plushie.

You then proceeded to toss and toss until you had nearly exhausted your change purse without luck - only pausing when Yoongi appeared at your elbow with a two corndogs, slipping one into your hand. You protested at him spending his money on food you knew, though simple, could not have been cheap. He ignored your indignation, however, leading you back into the bustle and sermonizing over the rigged nature of the coin-toss game.

You looked down with a small plaintive smile at the paper boat encasing the deep-fried fare in your hands. Yoongi, though sharp and driven, wasn't a good student. He had a reputation for slacking off on assignments and cutting classes that won no favors with teachers who would never know that he had been working two jobs under the table since he was thirteen. That without his help his family would likely lose their home. That he had bought his mother nearly every single earthly possession she had. That the dinner you were holding meant a hell of a lot more than just a few bucks for some carnival food.

He was still chatting on in an endearing, self-satisfied drone, eyes half-lidded and head tilted back pedantically, when you suddenly slipped your arm under his, squeezing his bicep affectionately.

"What?" he looked down at you, interrupting his own stream of thought.

You shook your head as you took a bite of your corndog and grinned up at him through full cheeks. He let out a chuckle, taking a bite of his own.

"Were you listening to anything I said?" he grumbled in lighthearted accusation over his own mouthful. 

"Of course not," you hummed, bumping his hip, and causing him to stumble beside you.

He grunted, the corner of his mouth pulling up just ever so slightly. 

"Fright walk!" you crooned, pointing at a structure decked out in campy cobwebs with a lopsided grim reaper standing wobbly attendance at the door.

"Nope," Yoongi shook his head, tugging you suddenly in the opposite direction.

"Chicken!" You whined.

"Korean. Fried." He deadpanned with a straight-lipped smile and you nearly choked on the last of your corndog as you snorted with laughter.

Yoongi grinned down at you. There it was on your pretty lips again, that smile that lit up his world like a beacon in the night. If someone had asked him if it was more important for the sun to rise in the east each day or for that smile to reach your eyes, he would have plunged the very earth into darkness every time, deny it as he might.

"Come on," Yoongi murmured.

Weaving through the booths, stray leaves crunching underfoot, he led you to a long line of festival goers queuing up to pile into the beds of big trucks loaded down snuggly with bales of hay.

You had only been in line a few minutes when you heard their voices behind you. You recognized Miranda's snicker and your stomach twisted into a knot. The brisk breeze suddenly tripping over you from behind carried with it their mirthless laughter, and you froze in place as your body and mind waged a war of priority over delaying your tears and moving your feet.

A victor was never decided.

Your swimming eyes blinked and saw him, his little smile and soft, determined eyes, as he moved in front of you, pulling up the collar of his jacket on either side of your face. He held it there, steady hands, the fabric brushing your hot ears as his eyes locked yours and silently told you to breathe, wordlessly promised it would all be alright. The sights and sounds of the festival faded and all you could hear was the soothing, rhythmic crash of the sea.

"Want to get out of here?" Yoongi asked lowly, after a long moment, gaze still holding your own.

You nodded and he took your hand.

Yoongi borrowed your cell phone to make a call and walked with you down the dirt road that opened into a rural highway from the mouth of the festival grounds. As you walked you told him about the girls. About your father's broken promise. About the not being needed, and not so not being wanted. He let you pour out and sift through your anger and hurt in the company of his gentle and receptive silence.

Half a mile's trek brought you to a tiny gas station, its aged, yellowing sign flickering to life as the sun finally yielded the dim glow of its last strains to the darkness beyond the strawberry fields.

Yoongi bought two cans of cola from a buzzing old vending machine, handing one to you as he sat beside you on the iron bench chained to the side of the building. The stars began to peep out and speckle the sky as the full moon tipped over the eastern horizon to find you, much to its surprise, quite far from your little ledge, though still side by side. It watched you curiously until its flaxen beams were joined by a pair of bobbing headlights as a truck rumbled up off the road.

"Thanks, hyung," Yoongi clapped the driver, a handsome older boy who glanced between the two of you with a sly smile, on the shoulder before gripping the edge of the bed and bracing a foot against the tire to hop into the back of the truck. He turned and held a hand out for you.

"We're riding back there?" You asked skeptically, glancing over the dusty plastic ridges of the bed.

"We never got that hayride," Yoongi said with a shrug, and your heart squeezed in your chest as you grabbed his hand and let him pull you in.

You scootched against the back of the cab, pulling your knees up to your chest. The warmth was quickly dispelling in the darkness, and cool air whipping around your body as it dipped through the bed made you shiver. Your eyes flicked to Yoongi's bare arms.

"Here, thanks for the loan..." you murmured, shrugging the jacket off and holding it toward him.

Before he could refuse to take it, your ride jostled on the unpaved road, tossing you across his lap. His arms caught you, and after a moment's hesitation, pulled you to his chest and over his right leg, fanning the jacket out over your bodies. Your back to his chest and his arms around your waist, he held you, as he had a dozen times before. A dozen times and your heart still fluttered - fluttered and then settled into safety as you settled into him.

An hour or so later, Yoongi reached up to lift you down onto the sidewalk. You didn't notice as your eyes caught his - sweeter and rounder - how his hands lingered a moment too long at your waist. The driver asked if Yoongi wanted a ride back to his place and he declined, thanking him again. The older boy said Yoongi owed him a fishing trip and Yoongi chuckled, waving him off as the truck rolled down the street.

Your house was dark, and Yoongi walked you to the front door, hands stuffed in his pockets. You turned the key in the lock, and then you turned to him.
You took him in as he looked down at you, his pretty, soft features concealing none of his affection. He swallowed, shifting on his feet.

"What?" he asked.

"Thank you," you murmured earnestly.

"For what...?" and he began to scoff gently, but your answer came too quickly and sincerely for him to protest.

"For tonight. For every night," you sighed a little breath full of aching gratitude. "For being my friend."

His lovely dark eyes widened and his lips parted and suddenly you found yourself raising up on your tip toes to press your mouth to his cheek.

You did it before you could stop yourself and you turned before you could look at him, and you slipped into the quiet house, closing the door behind you just a bit too quickly - so that he wouldn't see, so that your eyes wouldn't give you away.

In doing so, you had missed it.

But the yellow hunter's moon gazing fondly down through the dark, wispy clouds had seen.

It had watched you kiss the boy's cheek. It had watched you hurriedly take your leave. And while you sighed wistfully on the other side of the door, it had watched the boy raise his hand to touch his face, walk back down to the street, and quietly lose the battle he had been fighting all night - every night, in fact, since that first on the cliffside. 

It had watched him fall in love with you.

-Fin-

[azurestar]

Just for fun, some DC Christmas fic recs.

only you will have stars that can laugh by silverwhittlingknife (@silverwhittlingknife)

You coming over is possibly the only thing that’s gonna stop me from wanting to punch your dad in the face, Dick doesn’t say. My current Christmas Day plans are 1) pace around at home, and 2) try not to obsess about what Bruce is up to, so trust me, you’ll be an improvement, Dick doesn’t say. Tim's alone on Christmas Eve. Dick finds out, and fixes it.

A beautifully crafted portrait of Dick and Tim’s relationship; perfectly captures their dynamic and the love between them.

Christmas in Kansas by Unpretty (@unpretty)

Clark Kent invites Bruce Wayne and Diana of Themyscira to his parents' house for Christmas. It goes, in general, pretty okay.

A heartfelt exploration of the Trinity’s relationships with each other and with the Kents.

Season of Grace by shobogan (@shobogan)

Barbara decides to have a little Christmas gathering of her own.

Barbara invites Stephanie, Helena, Cassandra, and Jason over for Christmas. A well-characterized piece that highlights the similarities between five of the more isolated members of the Batfamily.

Good Tidings by Thistlerose (@thistlerosie)

AKA "How I Spent My Winter Vacation" by the Justice League

A lovely piece on the Justice League and the relationships within it. Sweet and heartwarming.

It's a Wonderful Earth-218 by BeatriceEagle (@beatriceeagle)

As Blüdhaven burns, Dick makes a wish that he'd never been born. He wakes up in a world where that's true, being followed around by a supervillain who just really wants to get back to taking over the world.

Inspired by It’s A Wonderful Life; an excellent character study of Dick Grayson, his relationships, and his impact on the universe as a whole.

Patches by ryoukootonashi (@junkoandthediamonds)

It’s Christmas eve, and presents are exchanged.

Tim and Kon exchange gifts. Cute and heartwarming, a testament to how much they mean to each other— even as Kon wishes for something more.

The Fundamental Things Apply by Thistlerose (@thistlerosie)

Well, thought Shayera, it's not Christmas if I'm not getting thrown out of some dive.

A bittersweet moment between Shayera Hol and John Stewart, as they start to bridge the distance still between them.

Jason's First Christmas, by lurkinglurkerwholurks (@lurkinglurkerwholurks)

It's Jason's first Christmas. All of them.

Jason Todd throughout the years, as his life changes over and over— and as he loses his family and regains it.

Desolation Row, by Havendance (@havendance)

“I won't stop you,“ Batman says. Jim shoots. [At the end of No Man's Land, Jim Gordon kills the Joker.]

A haunting portrayal of the aftermath of Sarah Essen’s death, and the weight of Jim’s decision.

I Saw Grayson Kissing Santa Claus by pupeez4eva ( pupeez4eva)

It’s Christmas time, and Damian is on a mission - to stop this ‘Santa Claus’ fellow from molesting his older brother.

One of the first Batman fics I read; still makes me laugh to this day.

Tea for Two by Zahri (@zahri-melitor)

Barbara Gordon and Sarah Essen are still learning what it means to be a stepfamily. Three Mother's Days and other family holiday events.

Barbara Gordon and Sarah Essen through the holidays, as No Man's Land approaches and arrives.

Tradition by shobogan (@shobogan)

Cass spends Christmas Eve with family.

Cassandra and the Gordons share Christmas dinner.

Don’t You Forget About Me by sohotthateveryonedied (@sohotthateveryonedied)

A mysterious stranger visits the Batfamily during the holidays. He remembers all of them, but they don't remember him.

A sweet-yet-heartbreaking piece that highlights how deeply important Dick’s relationships with his family are, even when they don’t remember him.

[eternalchiyo]

Everlasting Spark ~MANIAC 02~

Chiyo didn’t feel like going back to her room to sleep anymore. Living with the Mukami messed with her biorhythm, as they often were awake during the day, completely different from the Sakamaki who would usually sleep at that time, not to mention that she now was scared to get another strange dream if she drifted back to sleep. She really didn’t want to risk it.

Maybe a walk in the garden would help her think about something else.

Even though it was early in the morning, the sun was so bright she had to shield her eyes. Warm, spring sunrays tickled her skin. It was a strange experience, being out and about at this hour, the world looking so much different than at night.

Once her eyes had adjusted, she finally was able to walk around and look at the plants. There were several rose bushes, but she noticed that there were quite a few apple trees growing there as well.

Cursed fruits.

She walked a bit further and found that there were a lot of other vegetables and fruits growing there. A strange noise came from the strawberry field, and she couldn’t help but look, curiosity taking over. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Yuma crouching in the dirt. Hoping that he hadn’t noticed her yet, she turned on her heel in an attempt to make a swift escape. Every time she saw that guy’s face, she felt like she was back in that forest, watching Shuu cry out for his dead friend while the world around them drowned in flames.

“Oi, Sow! Watcha doing there, runnin’ away like that?!”

Chiyo stopped in her tracks, wincing.

“I’m not goin’ to eat ya, so don’t act like I’m tryin’ to do that every damn time ya see me!”

She turned around reluctantly and saw how he was walking in her direction. Great, she thought to herself. And she thought she was doing such a good job avoiding people too, especially him.

“Why do ya always do that?” he asked.

“Do what?”

“Lookin’ at me like yer seein’ a ghost!”

Chiyo frowned, looking up at him skeptically. He was tall and big and generally did not seem like that boy from long ago, well except for his face of course. That one looked almost the same, as if you transplanted it directly from one body to the other. Yuma himself did not seem to remember anything though, up to the point Chiyo started to doubt herself. They did say there was at least one Doppelgänger of oneself existing at the same time, after all.

“Yer actin’ the same way that NEET does, ‘s creepin’ me out to be honest…”

So, Shuu had managed to run into him as well, huh? Did he not remember him either? But if Shuu also acted this way, then maybe Chiyo was not going crazy. Or at least not because of this.

“You just… remind me of someone…” Chiyo said.

Yuma raised his eyebrows. “Must’ve been some guy, makin’ y’all react like this.”

Oh, you have no idea, she thought to herself.

“Anyway, if yer gonna just stand around here like that, make yerself useful and help me in the garden for a bit,” he said, turning towards the patch of strawberries. Chiyo thought that they would taste delicious in crêpes.

Without being able to protest, she soon found herself in the very same strawberry field. Sitting in the dirt was not her favorite past time by far. Good thing the dress she decided to wear wasn’t light colored. She looked at the tiny bushes bearing fruits, the vibrant green leaves in stark contrast with the deep red of the strawberries. When was the last time she saw such a natural looking fruit? Has she ever? All of the fruits over in this world were neatly packed in plastic and back at home she only ever looked at food that was already served on the table, on the rare occasion she decided to eat it.

Harvesting all of these seemed like a tough job. Not one she was particularly keen on doing either. Then again, she’d take whatever got her as far away from Ruki as possible right now; he did not seem like someone who would go crouching in strawberry fields. However, she hardly knew him, as recent events highlighted painfully, maybe he was a strawberry enthusiast; who was she to tell. At the thought of him she rubbed the side of her neck where she had been bitten before.

Yuma looked like he was fully in his element, doing garden work. It was as if he was still the same as he used to be back then. Shuu sometimes used to tell her a bit about the ‘adventures’ he went on with Edgar. How they would collect firewood in the forest and how Edgar would teach him how to properly use an axe. He would also share the apples from his own garden with him. God, she hated apples so much because of this! They sometimes used to be the exclusive topic of the day even! What a downer in her mood... and it hadn’t been that great in the first place.

She and Yuma collected strawberries in silence for a while until Chiyo decided to break it:

“Can I ask you something?”

“Huh? What is it?”

“How did you… end up with Ruki and the others?”

She tried to ask her question sensibly, not knowing what or if it would tick him off. Last time she saw him before his ‘death’ he was running into the village fire like the moron she thought him to be. And Shuu never mentioned Edgar having any siblings, that coincidentally also were Vampires, so this was not a natural arrangement. Chiyo had barely managed to hold Shuu back from going after him; Shuu was an idiot too. A kindhearted idiot-kid.

And she was a coldhearted monster, because she would have never run into a fire to save any of her family. But wasn’t that exactly what she had always strived for? Being like the Vampires back at home, who had little remorse for people dying? Would those four guys ever run into a fire to save each other? It was quite obvious they weren’t related by blood, yet they still called themselves brothers and lived like a family. What a curious thing.

“Aren’cha a curious one…” he said eyeing her suspiciously, gaze locked into a frown.

Chiyo shifted uncomfortably and shrugged; she had never liked being observed like this, much less when the person looking at her in that way was actually supposed to have been incinerated centuries ago. Speaking with ghosts had never been on her list of things to try, even when her actual house was haunted by them frequently.

“You don’t think four people that aren’t really related to each other, living in a big mansion, pretending to be a family is bound to raise this exact question?” she asked. She had no idea where her sarcasm came from, she really should have held her tongue. This guy was massive, her own small frame tiny in comparison, and she was sure that if he wanted, he could tear her head off and play ball with it easily. And she liked her head being located on her shoulders.

“Ya clearly don’t know shit ‘bout family if ya go on spoutin’ garbage like that,” he said. He picked a few more strawberries and placed them into the basket before looking at her again.

“There’s a buncha things that make for a way stronger bond than blood, ya know?”

Chiyo would have loved to say something in return, but the truth was… Yuma was right. She had no idea what a real family was! Her own father hated her, and her mother was dead. And if she weren’t dead, she would probably hate her too.

“So those things you are referring to…”

“Make us family,” he said.

So, he wouldn’t tell her how he met Ruki. Not that she was really that surprised, they barely knew each other, after all. It was worth a shot though, she really wanted to know how they came to be this way. How did they stay hidden in the demon world for so long? There just was no way they went undetected like that. Sure, there was no way to know every single Vampire, but Chiyo liked to think that she had quite good intel, with being invited to banquets and other festivities. This manor did not exactly make her feel like these guys were poor either, so it was unlikely that they just were unimportant like that. If they were unimportant, they wouldn’t be here interfering with King Karlheinz’s sons in the first place. Granted, the past few decades she had avoided any ball in Eden in fear of running into Shuu, so she might have missed some things. Though, the king’s sons were as clueless as her.

The longer she stayed here the more it added to her confusion. She came here with questions that she wanted answers to; answers apparently nobody was willing to give her. Why couldn’t she be more patient or menacing… she could probably get answers out of everyone if she were menacing and scary. Yet everyone kept comparing her to tiny dogs instead – even Yui.

“I think I’m gonna go,” she said standing up and patting at her dress to get all the dirt away as best as possible.

“Giving up already? Damn ya aristocrats are all the same, huh,” he scoffed.

“The sun is giving me a headache.”

It was true, her head suddenly was pounding aggressively, and her vision started to get blurry. Black dots started dancing in front of her eyes and she felt faint. She groaned, rubbing her temples in an attempt to make it go away. She heard Yuma in the distance, calling out to her as she lost her balance and lost consciousness.

The headache came before she even opened her eyes. Moaning she sat up in… her bed? And she was in her pajamas?

“Damn it… what happened?” Her hand immediately went to her head in an attempt to soothe the pain in her temples.

“Ya passed out cold, like some damsel in distress.”

Yuma put down a bowl of something steaming hot right next to her before slumping into the chair across the room.

“Wha… what are you doing here?” she asked. Chiyo felt like her personal space had been violated again. And by a dead man no less! The way he so nonchalantly sat in that chair, resting his ridiculously long leg on top of his knee, thrumming with his fingers on the armrest and looking at her with this scrutinizing look. Couldn’t he just leave?!

“Weird way of thankin’ someone for bringin’ ya a meal, after bein’ out for a whole day,” he said and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Chiyo’s head snapped towards the tray with the bowl that had been placed next to her moments ago. It looked like savory rice porridge, with a fried egg on top. It smelled delicious, although Chiyo wasn’t sure if it was because it was actually delicious or because she hadn’t eaten in a long while.

“I…” suddenly she felt stupid. He was showing her kindness, and she acted so hostile towards him. In no way was he obligated to look after her. He could have just left her outside, but he didn’t…

“Don’t look so suspicious about it, I made it, so it’s not as good as Ruki’s, but’s still edible,” he said.

Chiyo took the bowl into both her hands; it felt warm and comforting. She looked up at the man across from her.

“That’s not it… I…” she sighed, “…thank you.”

Saying these words was ridiculously hard for her. She felt so embarrassed she could feel her cheeks flush as she ate the porridge.

“The hell are ya blushin’ for? It’s not a romantic gesture, so don’t even think about me in that way! Ruki would kill me if that happened.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

She looked up from her meal in confusion. Quite frankly, she wasn’t sure which part of his statement she was more surprised about. The fact he’d think she would ever consider seeing him that way or the fact that Ruki would disapprove of it happening.

“Huh?”

“What do you mean Ruki would kill you…?”

“He barely allowed me to carry ya inside, took care of changing yer clothes and all himself. Honestly, I know that guy said you were important or some shit, but I think the way Ruki behaves is way too much.”

It seemed like he was thinking out loud more than he was actually talking to her, but it also raised even more questions. ‘That guy’ said she was important? Who? And more importantly, had Ruki Mukami actually dared to undress her while she was unconscious?!

Heat rose to her cheeks as a thought of the scene invaded her head. Clearly, she was wearing bed clothes, which meant at some point her other clothes must have left her body, and if she could trust Yuma’s words, it was Ruki who took over after she was brought to this room. The possibility that he undressed and dressed her with closed eyes was really slim.

Suddenly she flung the blanket out of her way and stomped out of the room after discarding the empty bowl on her bedside table. She could faintly make out Yuma’s yelling in the distance, but there was a ring in her ears that made every sound seem extremely far away, almost as if she was underwater. She made her way over to Ruki’s room and threw the door open without knocking.

“Ruki!” she yelled at the man who sat in a chair, reading a book.

He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow.

“Guineapig,” he said.

Chiyo entered the room, the door closing with a loud bang behind her. She was furious!

“How dare you just undress me while I was unconscious?! None of you have any decency, do you?”

Ruki’s expression seemed unfazed by her outburst, bored even. He shut the book with one hand and sighed before standing up, looking down at the girl.

“I understand you are upset. Fine, I shall take note that next time you end up ill and bedridden I will just let you sweat it out covered in mud and dirt. And after you recover you then can take care of the dirty bed sheets, if you have no regard for the hard work of others. How does that sound?”

Chiyo drew away from him. She had nothing good to respond to that.

“Y… you know that’s not what I mean…” she said. Why did she have to feel so small every damn time she talked to him?

“Do I now?” He took a step towards her, and she flinched.

“You cannot possibly be upset because I saw your body while I changed your clothes, because if you were…” he looked her up and down, “you would not have come here barefoot, wearing only that sheer night dress of yours.”

The girl gasped and looked down. The light fabric was slightly see-through, the realization making her wrap her arms protectively around her upper body. She felt like her face was burning up at this point, but she still looked up at Ruki with a frown. If anything, it was his fault for choosing a nightgown that was like this!

He made another step forward and she forced herself to stand still, pretending like she didn’t want to run away as far as she could from this man. The way he made her feel scared her.

“I do wonder,” Ruki said.

Suddenly his arm wrapped around her lower back and pulled her into him. Out of surprise she lost her balance and put her hands on Ruki’s shoulders instinctively. Her chest was pressed firmly against his now, the fabric rubbing uncomfortably against the sensitive skin.

“…are you pretending to be this innocent on purpose?”

His dark eyes were studying her, as if she was some sort of mystery to be solved. Analyzing her every move, her every action. She could feel the need to squirm under his gaze, yet she was also unable to look away. Her breath quickened and her cheeks felt even hotter than before.

“Lilith is a natural temptress after all,” he said in a low tone as he lowered his head, stopping right before their noses could touch. It was as if a magnetic force drew her closer to him. She wondered; how would his lips taste on hers? Would they be just as cold as Shuu’s?

Shuu.

She swallowed hard. There was something carnal in her that really wanted to push her over the edge. As if it was cooing sweetly into her ear to forget everything and just give herself to the man right in front of her. That man whose arms were wrapped to firmly around her, taking her breath away but also giving her balance.

But thinking about Shuu tugged on her heartstrings. She couldn’t kiss anybody other than him, could she? She closed her eyes, hoping to regain some sort of composure this way. Ruki’s face was still right in front of hers and she could feel his breath on her skin.

“Let me go…” she whispered eventually.

And he did.

She looked at him in confusion until she regained a sense of self again. When she realized what had just happened her eyes widened in shock. She gasped and took a few tentative steps back, panting heavily. Then she turned on her heels and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind her loudly.

Her feet wouldn’t stop running until she reached her room and was able to lock herself in it. She slid against the wall, her whole body trembling. Nervousness? Arousal? Who could even tell?

Oh, this wasn’t good at all!

[gracev0609]

I Can Be Myself With You

Josh X Danny X Y/N

WC:1.3k+

Join the Iced Chai gang at their first Pride!

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

Applying the last bit of your makeup before applying your rainbows you let out the breath you didn't even realize that you were holding. This year was going to be fun, you could feel it in your bones. You were going with your family to your town's Pride event. Your heart warmed in the previous days every time a package arrived, the package of pride pins, and the flag patches to attach to you and Josh's matching denim rompers, and Hazel's tiny rainbow tutu. Now you were all dressed in your gear, applying the finishing touches to your outfits. Your gorgeous Daniel had on his usual form fitting black t shirt, joggers, and backwards baseball cap. He attached pride pins to his hat and had multiple rainbow beaded bracelets on his arms. You and Josh decided to match, both wearing light wash denim rompers to which you attached pride flag patches to the back of, and placed pins on the lapels. Your darling Hazel had on an adorable smiley rainbow onesie, with a matching tutu. Looking down at your hands you smiled, rainbow glitter covered your nails. The previous night Danny insisted that you all had matching painted nails, Hazel included.

Walking towards your kitchen you found Josh cutting up fruit and arranging it on a plate for your daughter. Peering at his project your heart swelled, he was arranging strawberries, oranges, bananas, green grapes, blueberries and blackberries.

“A rainbow?”

He smiled, eyes crinkling,” It felt fitting for today. Want some blueberries?”

Without waiting for your answer he handed you a small bowl of your favorite fruits.

He placed the arrangement in front of his baby, watching as she dug into the snack. Moments later her face was tinted with red and purple berry juices. Once she was finished, he cleaned her sticky face and fingers. Day by day she grew into her features looking more and more like Josh. Her lips pink and pouty, her tiny teeth growing in had a large gap in between the front two. Her eyes were a beautiful brown, the exact shade as his, framed by thick strong eyebrows. The curls on her head were growing in fast, a beautiful light brown framing her small face. She didn't look like you in the slightest, but that was fine.

Danny made his way to where you sat at the kitchen table with your fruit, while Josh whisked Hazelnut away to get her in her outfit.

Danny set his armload of cosmetics down, a fun colorful array of rainbow sparkle highlighter, and rainbow rhinestones.

“Want me to do your makeup Danny?”

He smiled, his perfect smile peeking through,” Could you? And then I can do yours if you want.”

Opening the rainbow highlighter compact you swiped your finger back and forth gathering an ample amount of product. Swiping your finger across his cheekbone you smiled as a sparkly rainbow appeared. Repeating your actions you did it along his other cheek.

“You look gorgeous Daniel.”

He smiled, his dimple showing,” Okay let me do you.”

Waggling your eyebrows you made him giggle,” Not like that! Your makeup!”

He mirrored the actions that you did on your face, dusting your cheeks with shimmering rainbows.

“You're so beautiful baby… I love you.”

He leans forward placing a soft kiss to your lips,” I love you too Danny.”

As if on cue as soon as Danny finished your makeup Josh came back with Hazel in her colorful outfit.

Josh laughed, setting her down in your lap,”The princess is ready for her sparkles!”

Danny once again loaded up the product on his fingers, swiping it along her cheeks making her squeal. Next, Josh leaned in, silently asking for them too. Afterwards Josh patiently applied rainbow rhinestones to his, yours and Danny's cheeks, further accentuating the rainbows.

With the car already packed with her diaper bag, carrier and emergency change of clothes Daniel asked if you were ready.

“Yup! Let's blow this popsicle stand!”

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

The event was held in your local park, there were vendors, music, and places to sit under the trees. As you loaded up Hazel's bag on your arm you caught sight of Josh and Danny, you couldn't help but melt. They were standing by the side of your car, Danny was wearing Hazel's carrier on his chest and Josh was adjusting the straps making them longer since he was the one to wear her last. Once he was situated he plucked your sparkly baby from her car seat and secured her to his chest.

Josh gave her a little pet on the head and a kiss to her forehead before reaching up to kiss Daniel. Josh rounded the car grabbing the large blanket from your arms and grabbing your free hand in his.

As you walked to find a spot to set up under the shade he asked,” So what, this is called Pride in the Park?”

You hummed in agreement.

“I think it'll be good for us who've never been before, it looks nice here.” Josh motioned to himself Danny and Hazel. It was your loves first pride and you were so thankful to celebrate.

You all did a lap to scope out any vendors you would want to stop at before settling down in a lovely spot under a large shady tree. Settling in you chatted, reveling in the love all around you. Beautiful hues of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo swirled around the park. Everyone seemed happy and joyous, your eyes met Josh's, he leaned in, kissing you. When you departed from his lips you found Danny's, kissing him with the same passion.

Josh's voice was heavy, wet with emotion,” Thank you both. I can be myself with you.”

Danny pressed a kiss to Josh's lips, Josh's hand reached out his thumb rubbing softly back and forth across Hazel's head as she was still strapped to Danny's chest.

Danny spoke quietly,” I love you so much Josh. I'm so happy, for you two, for me. For us. “

Basking in the soft June breeze the four of you were quietly enjoying your time, watching and listening, holding your Hazelnut making her giggle.

Two familiar women wandered past your blanket, cloaked in orange white and pink accessories, you spoke up,”Ashlee, Megan?”

The petite woman with a short blonde bob turned towards you,” Oh my god Y/N?! How are you?!”

Standing you gave them hugs, these were the friends you had gone to pride with years ago.

“I'm amazing, how are you?!”

Megan held you tight, in a genuine squeezing hug,” We're married now!”

You give her another squeeze,” That's amazing I'm so happy for you.”

Shuffling sounds behind you drew your attention back to your loves,” These are my partners, we're also married, Josh and Danny,” you gestured to each man before picking up your daughter,”and this is our daughter Hazel.”

You watched your friends melt when they gazed upon your little girl, “She's gorgeous Y/N, oh my god look at her little baby rainbows!”

After they showered her with love your boys introduced themselves, your friends fawned over Josh, joking about how they understood why you picked them. Then they turned their attention to Danny, complimenting his beautiful eyes and gorgeous curls. After awhile you said your goodbyes, promising to meet up again soon and not let so much time pass.

Your family settled back down on the blanket, leaning into Danny you rested against him, taking a moment to enjoy the day. His fingers softly brushed up and down your arm, a small comforting gesture.

You sighed, gazing at him and then to Josh and Hazel who were both laying down on the blanket,” I'm really happy.”

Daniel kissed the side of your head, gently squeezing you into him,” I am too.”

As you laid there on the blankets on a beautiful June afternoon, you felt peaceful, total contentment and love. You were so happy for this life you had with your daughter, Josh and Danny.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

[wystaria-garden]

🍀 The Beauty of Eorzea: Gridania 🍀

Author's Note:

Heya! I want to start a little series for myself that showcases the beauty of places in Eorzea (and perhaps other places..!?) I Gpose a lot, so finding a lovely spot to take the perfect picture is very satisfying for me, so this will also help me remember those lovely spots haha! I thought I'd post since it may be useful for others. I will showcase main areas and highlight areas that I think deserve some more spotlight. Any further author's notes will be written like this!

☘️ Section One: New Gridania

New Gridania is one of my main hub areas! ☺️ I love hanging with my friends here. I'm a member of the Twin Adders and my WoL's first citystate was Gridania, so this place holds a special spot in my heart. That's why it's first in this series!

New Gridania is a lush rural city area surrounded by rivers and lakes. Important landmarks are the Archer's Guild, the Carpenter's Guild and the Order of the Twin Adder, one of the Grand Companies of Eorzea. You will find lots of green and flowery areas, along with natural wood and stone finishes. The Carline Canopy's interior is a sight to behold.

Upon exploring further into the citystate, you arrive at your next destination.

☘️ Section Two: Old Gridania

Another common area for me; I make great use of the Market Board and can be seen rushing from it back to the Inn in New Gridania frequently to make outfits. 😂

Old Gridania continues the lush, natural areas and is home to many important places. Be sure to stop by the Shaded Bower-- with the Rosewood and Ebony Stalls-- as they are filled with merchants that have any and every item a fresh-eyed sprout could desire! Other important landmarks include the Conjurer's Guild, Lancer's Guild, the Leatherworker's Guild and the Botanist's Guild, along with Min Khetto's Amphitheatre (which was rebuilt after the Calamity) where seasonal events are usually held.

In this area particularly, there are a few highlights that deserve to be seen.

✨ Section Three: Highlights

First off is... the Conjurer's Guild!

Nestled deep inside a large tree, the Conjurer's Guild is a perfect place to add a spooky or calming vibe to your poses! The glowing flowers in the main hall are a sight to behold.

Another highlight, in my opinion, is the Botanist's Guild.

The Botanist's Guild has a large area of farmland where you can find many flowers and crops! I absolutely love the green and orange pumpkin patches, along with the lettuce patch. The inside of the Botanist's Guild also surprised me with how beautifully decorated it was. There are some massive pumpkins in there!

That is all I have for the citystate of Gridania! I hope you enjoyed reading it. I just thought it'd be a cute idea to showcase some nice areas I found, and plan to do other areas like the Black Shroud and such later on. However, I am a disabled artist that rarely has free time, so the posts may be few and far between. Even so, I hope you enjoy them. 💖

[lazyscience]

DCC Challenge, Day 11

Time To Floor Collapse: 19 days, 5.1 hours (give or take)

Time for the recap episode!

Crawler @quartzandsundry

New Achievement! What's Going On?

When the chaos has ramped up to Threat Level You Better Run, the only place you want to be is ...not there. Or at the very least, not visible.

Reward: A gold Makes Me Wanna Holler box! Inside, an enchanted ring of Invisibility, a tome of Personal Shield (casts a sphere of radius 1.5 meters from caster's center mass, diameter can be extended 1 meter per 5 points of caster's INT with a corresponding increase of 30% mana cost over previous level) and a scroll of Moveable Feast (grants up to 30 party members/allies a full day of nutrition and Good Rest.)

Crawler @kathrynalexao3:

New Achievement! Spa Day!

Congratulations, it only took your party threatening to misappropriate Cairfrey's Yog's Special Chain and Oreniaa's heirloom William Shatner handcuffs to get you to address that Exhaustion debuff! You CAN take a hint! (when it's applied with a warhammer)

Reward: A gold Crime and Unwind box! Inside, an alchemical candle of Sleep (area of effect 1000 cubic feet, duration: 6 hours, scent: Authentic Common Scents Campfire), a Bed Upgrade to an Ultra-Stabilized, Size-Adjustable, Race-Adjustable Alleviating Sleep Apparatus, a really soft blankie in Mongoliensis Magenta, and a bottle of glitter Claw Polish in Purple Pain! give plus +5 to climbing and other skills related to navigating challenging terrain. And also raking people with them. Don't forget your toesies!

Crawler @king-ofconfusion:

New Achievement! Mass Extinction Event!

So that extremely elusive mob you were hunting? Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, they've realized that you're a walking expiration date? Good job, crawler! You have materially decreased the number of Curly-corded Earworm Ringers in the dungeon!

The reward for good work, alas, pretty much always involves more work. Keep grinding away in that training room on those Track and Locate skills, and maybe yet you'll find the alchemist - or at least, components - you're after.

Reward: A silver Tommy Tutone box! Inside, a tome of 8675309 - a variant on Ping, 8675309 keeps a location active on its target. Also includes scrolls of Angel Say No, a shield against Bless/Banish actions from hostile cleric-class NPCs and crawlers, and enchanted Gym Socks of Runnin' Down a Dream, allowing skills related to motion to train 50% faster when worn (on your FEET. No shenanigans to try and get your own Legendary weapon. We've patched that.)

Crawler @oreniaa:

New Achievement! Snake Eyes!

The lunar New Year of the Snake is a year of looking past unfortunate associations to the beauty and wisdom beneath, to see as an oracle does, what is true and beautiful in a world that very seldom values truth or beauty when it comes in an unexpected shape (snortgasplaughs "comes" gigglesuncontrollably).

Go forth and as an oracle, delight and amaze with the wisdom right before everyone's eyes, if they could only see (that's highlighted for your party, who may not have witnessed the oracle)

(ten YEARS, oh my god. someone get that guy a crate of Sliquid.)

Reward: A gold YEARNING box! Inside is a tome of Charm Critter, Enhanced Pet Biscuit x3, and the earnest hope that all your communications are received with the clarification you intended them. And a very short red A-line dress and knee-high black boots. While I tend to appreciate more the NATURAL beauty of the foot, unencumbered, I have to say, that's a LOT of boot. Mreow!

Crawler @cairfrey :

New Achievement! Gone Girl!

There's something so much more frightening about what people come up with in their own mind, when a scrape of a pebble, a breath of air current, a passing shadow. Everything looks more mundane in the light.

What you can't see has SO much easier a time of killing you. But goddamn, does it make coming up with the clip show a pain in the ass. People don't want to just see the mess left behind, they want to see the magic happen!

(it is hard to disagree with success though)

Reward: A gold Invisible Touch box! Inside, an enchanted Leather Hauberk of Silence, granting Dexterity +5 and additional 15% bonus to Pass without Trace and Stealth skills, and an enchanted Explosive Shrapnel bolt! Once loaded, until removed will continunously reload a crossbow/mangonel style shooting weapon. Targets will receive the Suffering Bleed and Blood Trail debuffs.

Crawler @deathdovesong

New Achievement! "One of our best surgeons. A real killer!"

While as has been noted before, I tend more towards disassembly than repair. But I do respect hustle. And still having the energy, and frankly the give-a-damn, after a long day grinding trash mobs, taking the time and your own Exhaustion debuff to get an allied crawler to treat their Curse debuff before getting yourself to a saferoom is good recap, crawler. Everyone likes a good nail-biter!

Reward: a legendary Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happy Hour box! Includes a Heavy Unicorn mount with tack and carrier in Army green, and enchanted patch of the M*A*S*H 4077th, granting an increase of 20% efficacy of any healing scrolls, bandages or potions used for yourself or fellow crawlers, and resistance to the Shitfaced debuff (warning: this does not, however, decrease the risk of the Addicted condition.)

Crawler @clearbrightlight

New Achievement! The Sin of Empathy!

Much as chainmail turns aside a stab, soft words turn away a blo--no, no they don't. Which means you need big, brass ones, a big stick, or both to be kind in the dungeon.

which is probably even more than the tumbling furry hordes cavorting on the beach in your vanguard the reason people should get the FUNK outta your way. Get blessed, idiots!

Reward: A Gold Love Hurts box! Inside, find Enchanted Fae Scale Chausses of the Fleet (Biped Edition, basically chainmail chaps), +5 to Dexterity, and enchanted Bracers of The Amazons (casts I Need My Personal Space when crashed together) Because the best armor? Don't get hit in the first place!

Crawler @lazyscience:

New Achievement: Delores Don't sPlAT!

So you made the rounds, checked on allied crawler morale, settled down to some grinding and just when you thought the PAT was defeated, it Cockroaches back up and you have to beat it AGAIN in a different form! Fuck! U Can't Touch This is still roaring up from the south!

Reward: Knock some shit out tomorrow, and do your taxes, and you can buy blitz sticks. It's a stupid thing to do, but who said developing better coping skills were a linear process?

ATTENTION, all partied crawlers! Don't forget to update me on mobs, quests, or parties (defined at link) so I can award you achievements! Please let me know either in the replies to this post, reblogging with additions, or hit my askbox/DMs!

(please, do this, even with small and silly mobs/quests, it makes giving achievements so much easier!)

[lemonmatronics]

So after watching a ton of restoration videos with objects that are super rusty it’s gotten he wondering if Mecha getting refurbished would really be that bad?

I’ve openly been against cleaning them up for 2 main reasons

1- It looks cool on all of them and that color of rust on Mecha is hot as fuck sorry

2- I feel like, especially for Mecha whose colors have drastically changed, getting them all back in tiptop shape and what they used to be like really takes away from the character growth.

Their physical appearances really highlight the changes they’ve been through and how independent they are now. Mecha looks less like Sonic than ever before, and is happy with that. I feel like they all hold pride with the bodies they’ve fixed and built, and that’s really sweet to me

But the reality of it is their bodies rusting is dangerous for multiple reasons, and you could easily play the “it’s fiction card” (I have) but speaking from a realism perspective

Rust not only makes it harder for moving pieces to,, well move, but it also makes metal deteriorate. Stuff like this is what put the thought of Spark actually outliving him in my brain instead of the robot outliving the breathing being but THAT’S for another day

So, it would do them all good to be cleaned up right? But it also would go against their character growth

well only if you do it wrong

I do think there’s a way you could have Mecha be refurbished and it work, and it boils down to some pretty simple things

-Let him keep the tattered cape after

-Eye/Brain is stil cracked (too dangerous to mess with that) and using its blast still knocks him out

-He keeps his replacement limbs, maybe put a casing around that saw foot at most

-REPAINT. Oh my GOD do not make him blue

You could follow every step above except the last and keeping him blue would fuck it all up. Let him simply be repainted into a nice rusty red brown color, maybe even cover up that blue patch to highlight ALL of Eggman’s (literal) control of him is gone after the events of the mini series

Making him blue, and look more like Sonic, would easily be the worst choice refurbishment wise. Replacing limbs right by it but doing that is kinda impossible anyways

So I’m now of the stance that I’m not 100% against fixing them up, but damnit if they do so they better do it right or else I will still riot

I am that scrapnik island bitch I’m not the one you wanna disappoint IDW

[scriberat]

tagging @thydungeongal since you're the one who got me thinking on it.

the post regarding severity of HP and hits and depth of damage on the body in ttrpgs has got me thinking about airships again (what doesnt)

SO

on a watership, there are a few layers of differing severity for an attack to land on: below the waterline, above the waterline, the masts, and the powder room. here, ive outlined how immediately fucked you are based on what gets hit. - mast, whatever, steering is screwed (also goes for the rudder, youre not done for but your steering is.) the bottom part specifically is highlighted because thats the part most likely to hit the deck and deal additional damage when it does - above the waterline, way worse as that is a hole in the ship itself. structural integrity is down but overall, it's not the end of the world and you can limp without really limping until you get to port to fix it, and things might collapse from above but youre still in good shape - below the waterline is... obvious. while it can be patched, someone has to be there to do so within a few minutes or youre going to sink where you are, and the larger the hole, the less time you have. a badly wounded ship means fewer fighters as you need to dedicate the bodies to fix the issue before everyone goes under - powder room. if you've got cannons you have a powder room which means an entire central spot full of explosives <3 one hit here and you're looking at a catastrophic event. best case scenario, you lose half the ship in a kaboom.

now, of course, not a lot of people are going to be aiming for the powder room, as a captured ship is a solid 40k in your pocket, 20k after repairs, and since most crews dont even number a hundred, thats a hefty sum in your pocket post-sale, or you can increase your own sea strength for higher payloads along the way. worth it to box the crew and save the boat.

airships, on the other hand, seem to have that in reverse, in which the hull itself is mostly expendable as long as you have the mode of locomotion and standing room. the integrity of an airship comes down to how it floats and how it propels. traditionally on that front, there are balloon types and sail types with engines. - with balloons, popping that balloon will result in the entire airship sinking. the balloon is "below the waterline." - with a sail-and-engine, the engine is akin to the powder room, a OHKO spot

THEREFORE

to roll this well, the dice master in question would need to roll a die per cannon. if the ship being attacked takes up 10 squares and you have 5 cannons, each cannon would have a chance of dealing damage. the cannonballs should be able to pierce about 50 feet, so the closer you are the further the cannonball can go. then you have to consider if the cannons are on the gunwhales or gundeck for the elevation, and the further they are away, the more likely theyll hit the next layer down, though the power is also reduced.

rambly

nat 20 roll on the cannon that's facing the powder room will cause an explosion. anything less won't as it's difficult to ignite powder with a lump of iron.

so basically: roll for each cannon involved, calculate based on map distance, account for any armor that the ship may have (plate the sides), and you can make the ships themselves into players in a battle, and each table player can handle a part of it, from steering to loading and firing, etc.

grappling and boarding are also a part of this, but i havent gotten to that yet. itd shrink the focus lens from the ships (environmental) to the decks (stage) though

[storycraftcafe]

How do you go about setting up a chapter? Do you plan ahead or just start writing and see where it takes you? Or do you do both?

Hey and congrats, you are my first anon and my first asker! Thank you~ Grab yourself a drink, this got wordy.

Short answer: I plan enough to have a guide for where I’m going and then explore away, so a little of both. 

Long Answer: Out of necessity I’ve learned to be a planner with my writing. Having a guideline to follow that tells me where I am in the story and where I’m going and what I need to do to get from story-beat to story-beat helps me stay excited, focused and avoid any kind of writer’s block. 

I think of it like a roadmap. The story’s end is my destination and in the meantime I have all the information I need to get there via landmarks (story-beats and character arcs) and points of interest (cool scenes that I’m excited to write). It’s not set in stone and allows me to be adaptable and explore while still giving me a framework to work with (think theme, structure, etc).

Usually this ends up being a big document of dot-points organised into story-beats (Inciting Incident, Point of No Return, etc) and then very rough groupings that make up the chapters.

 I do this for any writing project I tackle (including this ask) and apply the same process to my chapters. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve dived into a chapter with only a few details and found myself stalling or forgetting that I was supposed to foreshadow X or include scene or conversation Y. Let me know if you want me to talk about my planning process.

Also I’m a big believer in iterative writing and planning. I start with big broad ideas and refine until I have enough ideas, and write then rewrite until I’m happy. You'll see what I mean.

Here’s how I do Chapter Planning. 

As an example let’s say we’re a few chapters into a project. We have our protagonist Dan, a fairly badass hero with a dark past who lives in an apartment building next to Laura, a mysterious supporting character that eventually becomes his friend and ally.

In the previous chapters Dan has met Laura, learned a little about her, and noticed a few odd things like eyes that gleam in the dark and strange bruises. The last chapter Dan overheard Laura return home in the early morning via their shared fire escape, weapon in hand. Suspicions aroused, Dan has decided to follow Laura the next time she leaves by the fire escape and find out what she’s up to.

The first thing I do is check my outline which at its simplest form, looks like this:

Chapter 4  - Ben is suspicious and follows Laura - She is aware and they have a confrontation and are overheard by monsters - Fight - reveals they’re both not as they seem to each other - Decide to trust each other, return to Laura’s home to patch up and talk - Start of friendship. Reminder: Suggest Laura’s back story. Highlight character similarities.

The plan is for these two to become friends triggered by an extreme situation and the uncovering of secrets, and while this can be enough to start with, I prefer to have more detail before I start writing. How do these things happen? What time is it and what’s the setting like? Where do these events take place and exactly how?

At this point I have at least a scene in my head that I want to include, so I note that down and build from there, starting broad and elaborating as I go.

My notes end up looking like this:

Chapter 4: -Dan waits for Laura in a dark apartment, tipped off by the last chapter’s phone call. It’s 2am and cold. -Laura leaves and Dan silently follows at a distance through quiet streets that grow more empty. Dan gets a bad feeling. -Laura arrives at an empty boarded building frequented by squatters and seems to investigate, sniffing the air. She then enters the building and Dan follows. -Something is wrong. There are bad smells like urine and blood and rot. -Laura is waiting for Dan and she confronts him, telling to leave. They argue, Dan wants answers, Laura wants him to go. -Too late, they’re surrounded by monsters (Gaunts, skinny and human like at a distance but stretched and gangly with long limbs, claws and needle like teeth) -Laura passes Dan a weapon and they start to fight back to back and help each other. -Dan’s enhanced strength is revealed, as is Laura’s skill and yellow eyes. -Fight done, they have a stare down and lower their weapons. -“What the hell are you?” “... A werewolf.” “Wait what?!” -They dispose of remains and decide they need to talk and patch up. - Laura tense as they walk back and Dan muses on his options. - He enters her apartment for the first time, it’s warm, inviting and colourful. - Laura welcomes him and boils water for clean up and gets her advanced first aid kit. Many vials and things like suture and burn kits. - Talk - go over what they have in common, what his deal is and hers. Hint at Laura’s back story and trauma. Hint at Dan’s.  - They share some food (Laura is big on Old School Hospitality) and Dan realises he enjoys her company. - He offers friendship, she accepts, and he leaves.

 And this is usually enough for me to start writing. As I go I refer back to these dot points but I also give myself room to elaborate, divert and explore interesting ideas or things that make more sense than my guidelines. I let myself be very rough. I try not to worry about editing beyond fixing spelling mistakes and typos, and if a section isn’t working, I cut it out, go back a bit and try again. Afterall, writing is rewriting. You can always fix things.

Once the chapter’s been drafted, I give it a read, make a mental note of what I enjoy, what bores or confuses me and do some tweaking and rewriting. At this point if I’m on a third or fourth draft, I poke at my Very Amazing Alpha/Beta reader to try and catch anything I’ve missed.

And then I do it all over again for the next chapter, checking the story outline, adding any notes for future events or adjusting anything that needs adjusting and starting to write at least enough that it’s easy to pick up the next session.

Hope you got some ideas from this, anon! <3

[moesartblog]

Ok so here’s some of my (frankly embarrassing and based in no canon) thoughts about matter the events of ttd

First going through

And then arriving

And then random bulletin points

- Agrippa had already been there a fortnight before Danny showed up

- Agrippa and weyer are both physicians so they were able to patch daniel up pretty well

- weyer and Agrippa seem a lot younger than expected at first but bc of orb magic (🔮) they can literally rewind and fast forward their ages to the point there was blood offered to whatever particular orb (so like weyer could go back to his teenage years and Agrippa could go back to his mid 20s)

- they’re not on Alexander’s world at this point. Idk if I wanted it to be that they never were or that they left at some point. This is PURELY bc I don’t wanna deal with the drama of whatever the fuck was going on in Eden or whatever and also I want these three to live long enough to 1) tell a new fun story for myself and 2) maybe them helping a new amnesia protagonist

- over time daniel gains a weird connection to the shadow. Almost like a begrudging tolerance of it. I loved the theory that shadow had been aiding daniel in certain ways throughout the castle to kill Alexander and only fully lashed out once he throws agrippas head in the portal. The idea of it being a semi conscious being that sometimes doesn’t know it’s own strength is really funny to me

-I implied in a previous art that daniel has this ingrained connection to the orb he found, and the meta narrative explanation of him being able to see objects he needs highlighted is bc of the shadow or the orbs power gives so much potential for exploration.

- I’m still deciding the setting for this be world they’re on but I’m thinking it’s more secluded from any established place is there are any other humanoids there

- Danny gets a new not toxic father figure in Agrippa lol

[fallenrocket]

A Few Thoughts on Big Neurodivergent Energy Stories: Style Edition

Analyzing media from an autistic/ADHD lens has become a bit of a spin for me. As I was coming to understand my own neurotype, it floored me to realize just how many of my most beloved shows had that Big Neurodivergent Energy, like they'd been calling to me all that time and I hadn’t known. It makes me feel so happy and warm to revisit them now, and I’m having a great time discovering new shows that make my brain and my heart light up in the same way.

In all that watching and rewatching, there’s of course been a lot of thinking and pattern recognition, and I’ve noticed a number of commonalities popping up in these shows, films, and books. As I’ve said before, it’s more than just an abundance of ND-coded characters, although that’s obviously an important part of it. A BNE story feels neurodivergent in its bones and its wiring, altogether separate from its characters. On the face of it, some of these commonalities don’t seem inherently neurodivergent, and not every story like this displays all of them, but there’s too much overlap for it to feel completely random.

So that’s what I want to look at! This is going to be a short series, and today, I’m starting with the style elements. Take away the characters, take away the actual story: what are some stylistic choices that a lot of inherently neurodivergent stories share?

Side note: when I say "neurodivergent," I'm mainly talking about things that resonate with me on an autistic and/or ADHD level. Since that's what my brain is working with, that's the lens through which I view things. I can't always disentangle one from the other, so it made more sense to me to say ND rather than specifically autistic or ADHD. I know, however, that neurodivergence is much bigger than just those two neurotypes. Quite possibly, the qualities I'm highlighting in this series would feel relevant to other kinds of ND brains as well, or other neurotypes might have their own commonalities that are unique to their sorts of stories. I'm not trying to use the word in an exclusionary way, although I know my personal viewpoint of it is relatively narrow in the grand scheme of the whole ND umbrella.

Unique Visual Aesthetics

A lot of these stories show a loving attention to detail in the narrative descriptions of settings (books) or production design (movies/shows.) And this design is often offbeat and inventive. Think of Eleanor’s colorful bungalow on The Good Place with its clown nook, or the costume differences between the Good, Bad, and Neutral Janets. Think of the whimsical world of Amélie, the distinctive look of each kingdom on Maya and the Three, or the detailed pop-culture visuals woven into the homage episodes of Community, which capture everything from its source material’s costumes to its lighting to its camera work. It’s especially evident in stories that frequently give us new visual palettes. Pushing Daisies has iconic looks like The Pie Hole’s crust roof and Lily’s fabulous eye patches, but each new case brings brand-new designs—from dandelion headdresses to mysterious sewer roamers to corpses in snowmen. Similarly, the TV adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events reinvents its look every two episodes, bringing the vivid locales from each book to life in incredible ways.

Words, Words, Words

So. Much. Wordplay. Every Bob’s Burgers episode title and Burger of the Day is a pun, along with most of the shop names in The Good Place. Ted and Beard have literal wordplay with all their games on Ted Lasso, and both Pushing Daisies and A Series of Unfortunate Events have a particular love of alliteration, with A Series of Unfortunate Events also coming in hard with the anagrams and other word puzzles. On Doctor Who, one of the Doctor’s less-flashy talents is the way they can turn a phrase—plus, this is the show that gave us Raxacoricofallapatorius and its sister planet Clom. DuckTales has all its bird-based puns, and 3Below has plenty of fun with literal interpretations of English idioms.

Fantasy Sequences

Like all of these traits, fantasy sequences aren’t unique to BNE stories, but they’re more likely to be baked into the format of stories that have that neurodivergent vibe. The most obvious example here is Scrubs, where JD’s fantasies (and later, other characters’) are integral to every episode. Amina’s fantasies in the first season of We Are Lady Parts spread to other characters in season 2, and for another Nida Manzoor example, I have no idea how much of any given fight in Polite Society actually happens. In the TV adaptation of Ms. Marvel, some of Kamala’s daydreams are physically drawn onscreen, while others are acted out in her head. And while they’re not technically fantasies within the context of the shows, I put DuckTales’s assorted Scrooge flashbacks and Community’s extended pop-culture homages in this category too—blurring the lines of what’s really happening onscreen.

Music

Although virtually every movie or show is enhanced by its music, BNE stories tend to place a greater emphasis on it. There are shows with built-in musical numbers every episode, either through fantasies like on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend or happening within the world of the show like on We Are Lady Parts. Random singing pops up on numerous occasions on Bob’s Burgers, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and Pushing Daisies, and elaborate musical numbers is how AFC Richmond says goodbye on Ted Lasso. The first season of A Series of Unfortunate Events ends with a random full-cast number, and every season of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has a different theme song. These stories can be notable for their non-diegetic needle drops too—there are certain songs that immediately make me think of their corresponding scenes on Ted Lasso or Scrubs, and one of the most iconic scenes on Our Flag Means Death is impeccably timed to Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”