#some of these went for longer than i intended 😅

[monochromatictoad]

🤎 Gabarie, 💕 Gabastle, 💗 Macul :>

🤎 multiple kisses / kisses all over / kiss after kiss

Marie sat by the entrance of the sanctuary. The millennium long war was over. Gabriel and Trevor had defeated Satan and brought peace back to the world. She looked over at Victor, who was busy giving vaccines to the survivors, before looking back at the entrance.

A chill came over her, and she jumped up. They were back! "Trevor!" She ran to her son before he could fully enter the sanctuary. She presses a kiss to his cheek and hugs him close. Marie let go when her Gabriel stepped into the sanctuary. "Gabriel." She looked him over. The exhaustion radiated off of him. She couldn't contain herself, and threw her arms around his neck. The hug was tight and warm.

She pulls away to hold his face in her hands. The bags under his eyes made his face look hollow and bruised. "My love?" He whispers to her. Tears stream down her face. "I've missed you so much, my love." She whispers and presses kisses to his face. Those bruised eyes. The hollow cheeks. The crook in his nose from where it got set wrong when they were kids. Everything. She had a millennia to make up for.

💕 kissing somewhere other than lips

Dracul leaned back on his throne. Screams, flesh being torn, and metal hitting the stone flooring was the symphony for which he watched the Brotherhood knights get devoured by the Castle.

The last man falls, and those bloody tendrils twitched with excess energy. It wasn't satisfied with the battle and it showed this displeasure with it wrapping itself around its Prince. Dracul chuckles coldly at this display.

"I know. They have only grown more pathetic haven't they?" He purrs in a sickeningly sweet tone. The blood puddle hisses and bubbles. Pathetic creatures. They will never be able to hurt you, It growls in his mind. Dracul smirks, lifting one of those bloody tendrils to his mouth. He plants a small kiss to it, before showing how much he truly appreciates his guardian.

💗 slow kiss / gentle kiss / inevitable / soft

The sun was warm in the garden. Mathias was sitting on a blanket, eating some sliced apples with cinnamon and honey. He was engrossed in a book of alchemy The Toymaker let him borrow. Well, he would be, if the laughter coming from his left wasn't there.

Turning his head, Dracul was being swarmed by Mandragoras, who were determined to get the fruit slices from him. Mathias rolled his eyes playfully at the scene and laughed as Dracul finally managed to get the little plant beings off of him.

"Have some difficulties there?" Mathias chuckled as Dracul laid his head in his lap.

"No. They're never difficult."

"You're just saying that because you have a bias towards them."

Mathias laughs at the pout that Dracul gives him. After being around the Vampire Lord for so long, reading him becomes easy, like the book that was no longer in his lap. Dracul's pout deepens at the laughter. The alchemist shakes his head and leans down, the prince leaning his head up, and they meet in the middle with a promise. A promise for more gentle moments in the future. They part slowly, neither one truly wanting to leave the other.

[lily-alphonse]

I turned Mr Qi into a cat and…

Well, I didn't. Let me explain

So I've been going through Pelican Town transforming the residents into cats right? And @kellycataclysm suggested I should do Mr. Qi next buuuuut

he scares the shit out of me *cough*

What? the man cryptid thing(?) could kill me so easily I'm not fucking with him. So I asked if I could transform him into a cat and uhh

“What, like this?”

“Not really, I'd have made you like, a housecat”

“Oh, but this is far more fun”

“For you, maybe.”

“You wouldn’t happen to be doing this to get the attention of a certain wizard would you?”

“Heh, you aren't the first to ask me that.”

“And you didn't answer me, but that’s alright. Anyway you’ve got it. He’s onto you.”

“He’s onto me. You say that like I'm conducting some evil scheme.”

“Aren't you?”

“No! Its just harmless fun. I turn them right back, too. Usually.”

“Mhm. Run along now farmer.”

“Yep. Running.”

It went well I think! 😅

Did anyone guess he wasn't going to be any normal cat? Lol you know I HAD to do something special for him. And I'm using him to extend my NPCats adventure lore.

I had even bigger dreams for this portrait but I've now been working on it for much longer than originally intended so this is what we get. This is probably the only cat I will upload this week due to the extra effort I hope you understand ♥️♥️

Who should I transform next? SDV NPCats Masterlist here

@henarikat come get your man

[exo-raskreia]

hey.... i wanna know your honest Thoughts on the jjk ending? Give a rating out 10. Honestly i'm ranting. I mean the good things in the chapter were sukuna's conclusion, the flashback with gojo , queen utahime being alive yay and the nice art with everyone at the end. Usually i would wait for a story to finish before ranting/judging but my god this kinda sucked. I don't want to be too critical but god I am just disappointed and kinda mad. Overall it is an okay/mid manga ;). Gege is not worst writer but ughh. Aot or mha sure they have their flaws but my god..These should never be compared to THIS. so now we could really say that gojo stayed south. With the full chapter, this does not change my opinion cause it still kinda sucks overall even with the whole north vs south meaning. Nothing really changed in the society or lessons maybe except for yuji and sukuna. The kiddos all really went back to missions huh after everything. I have alot to say with relationships and bonds, wasted potential on many aspects but that is a whole other discussion. i totally understand we can't write a backstory for every single character but that is not what i am insinuating here and yes there should be room for a little literary interpretation . That a whole different topic... Anyways I agree with alot your rants. i would like to hear your opinions. In the end we never got to see a gjhm flashback unfortunately. Ok so let say gojo is dead dead I find it hard to believe no was like remembering or acknowledging not even his comrades ( examples shoko, utahime etc_ or the students (i mean i am pretty sure these characters would but i would like to SEE it you know) and so many hints were gearing for gojo's revival but it is meaningless... and was used for pr ngl that's sad. Maybe the anime would do better at some aspects but i will be salty anyways. i will see uta's dance ;) animated so that i looking forward to and ig the maki's massacre. it looks like it's open ending but really!? They are some loop holes but HEY FEAR not we will probably see answers to our questions in the q&a segment! sigh. I lowkey do not want a "jjk part 2" it is draining. Gege when i catch you. I think gege intended this story to be short oh well. I have alot to say but this gonna be a novel lol. Sorry for errors i was in a moment and i hoped you understood what i wanted to say. Hope the gojohime fandom would not die and looking forward to see some nice content.

Thankyou

I already went on a mini rant here. If I have to rate the ending, I'd say maybe 2-4 out of 10?

JJK really did turn out kinda mid. It has an easy anime to get into (the anime carries it mostly 🫣), to recommend for newbies, but that ending will make one hesitate to recommend it now. Maybe wouldn't even bother to.

I'm also disappointed & mad. I don't even wanna consider that Gojo is fully dead (cuz Gege went about it so terribly). Gege skipped Gojo's whole month after his unsealing then killed him off-panel a few chapters later. The north & south thing was pointless. We didn't even get to see Gojo make a choice. There were so many hints about his potential revival but they amounted to nothing.

Summed up in this image:

This Tweet sums up the terrible mishandling of Gojo's character too 😡. This other short thread pretty much says that his "death" didn't make sense for Gojo either; accepting to stay at the airport is him regressing to his teen self. It doesn't properly conclude Gojo's character arc at all. He was meant to MOVE ON from the loss of his "springtime of youth" & continue to strive for a better future with his comrades & students; the future that HE DREAMED OF 😤 (oof, don't wanna rant further on Gojo; don't wanna make this longer 😅).

Honestly, the fan theories made the story seem much better than it actually was. At least with this ending, people can finally start seeing & admitting that Gege isn't a great writer. I've certainly never thought he was 😒; I once went on a rant here about most issues with this manga, one of them being how terribly fast-paced it is. This story is the definition of wasted potential. So many missed opportunities.

Whatever Gege comes up with for the databook, it'll be infuriating. He'll try to fill in the plot holes but man, I don't think it'll be satisfying. He might not even answer the burning questions everyone has (just like Kub0 never answered everyone's burning questions about the Bl3ach ED, or more like, no one dared to ask. Maybe he himself didn't allow those questions for his interviews 😒). Hope ppl don't give him any more money, especially cuz he's still milking Gojo, such as with that Hidden Inventory movie no one asked for.

I kinda wanted a Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ending (lol) & then on to the supposed JJK part 2, esp cuz of this sketch here but Gege fumbled hard.

Wonder if Mappa could deliver but we'll see. I only care about GojoHime's 200% Hollow Purple now. Gege made me lose most interest I had for other things getting animated. Just thinking about that ending will mostly ruin my experience... 😞

I also hope the GojoHime fandom continues to thrive. We've always lived off of crumbs... Hope ppl continue to make headcanons, fanfics, fanart, etc... I wouldn't want ppl to leave such a beautiful ship with so much potential 🥺 (I've been thru this type of thing before with Bl3ach, so despite the disappointment, I've stuck around in my ship fandoms only. I don't engage with anything else in that series. Another beloved series of mine also ended terribly but unfortunately, the fandom kinda faded or became inactive cuz it's a manhwa 🥺; if it at least had a proper anime adaptation, then...).

Let's stay strong, GojoHime fam! 🥹❤️‍🩹

[drunkwithmouthwash]

There was something that made me think for a while: if she was first intended to be Anya's partner, how u came up with the idea of her being with jimbob at some point? I would like to know bc there's a big gap there n all. I mean, a healthy to unhealthy gap. It made me curious abt the reasoning! Also I didn't rb before your post sorry for that 😩

(Sorry for late response dear)

I guess that decision was affected by my own personal feelings towards the characters during the creative process :’) The first time I watched a let’s play of MW, I was left feeling very protective of Anya and I HATED Jim with a burning passion. So, originally, Sammy was gonna be an ex-military, roughed and kinda buff, and she was going to protect Anya (here’s a rough sketch I made of that, plz don’t mind the anatomy or flawed perspective, I was experimenting 🤣)

But as days went by… You know, I kept having MW in the brain, and started to realize that the one that had actually made a VERY PROFOUND IMPACT on me had been Jim. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, and thinking about him would make me so angry. Like, I really, REALLY FUCKING HATED him. But it got to a point in which I was like “…Wow. I don’t know how long it’s been since a character has made me feel something so intensely.” And then I started to appreciate him more for the character and the villain that he is. He is SO WELL DONE, like I bow down to Wrong Organ. So… little by little, love started to bloom from that hatred, and I wanted to use Sammy to express those feelings :’3 (Don’t be fooled tho, the love and hate I feel for him go hand in hand and neither replaces the other. I still hate him for his actions in the game and rejoice whenever I see fanarts of him getting what he deserves, lawfully or violently, but I love him as a character all the same, and who am I kidding? I do find him physically attractive, he’s my type lmao).

Now, in regards to Jim and Sammy’s relationship, I’m obviously well aware that Jim is not a sweet pea, and that if they were to be together romantically, it would be a terrible, terrible relationship. Since Sammy is a self insert, I decided to have her know better than to stay with him, and, well… that reminded me of a personal experience that I had with an ex boyfriend of mine :’) Thankfully, my ex was NOT NEARLY AS BAD as Jim (it would be like comparing a newborn tabby kitten to a full grown tiger lmao), but I still knew that he was no good for me and that I deserved better, so I broke up with him. However, I was still so madly in love with him, and stayed in love with him for around 10 years 🫠 I went to therapy, “got over him”, and then cried for him again the next time I saw him. Took me a LOOOOOT to finally get over him for good, but I was able to have closure. And, well… I decided to base Sammy and Jim’s relationship on that. She knows she deserves better, and she’s not afraid to hold him accountable for the things he says and does, but deep down she’s still very much in love with him (and those feelings will ultimately doom her) YwY

Anyway, I should probably wrap this up before it keeps getting longer 😅😅 I’m so sorry

Thank you for coming to my ted talk ❤️

[scrumptiousstuffs]

Hii, honestly feel free to ignore this because I know there’s been so much negativity in the fandom lately and I’m sure it’s exhausting for people to keep rehashing it but I’m just trying to wrap my mind around how this even blew up into something in the first place… I only joined the fandom back in maybe August? but I was here for fkt’s last solo fanmeets in china, and I’m struggling to see how this more recent one was any different and why this one made people think that fkt were like... headed for a breakup, or that something was wrong between them.

From what I recall, the 2 situations were almost exactly the same, except switched, I guess?

November FM: First and Dunk travelled together, Khao separate. No pics of firstkhao together at all. First and Dunk left together first after exploring/shopping and khao left by himself the next day after exploring a bit on his own/with staff? And the only thing people really complained about was the fact that fk couldn't be seen together due to censorship.

February FM: First, Khao, and Dunk all travelled there separately, and we actually got a pic of fk having dinner together. First got there a day early, explored on his own, and then left on his own, and Khao and Dunk left the next day after exploring a bit together.

So, I just don't understand at all why people were/are freaking out? To me, there's no difference, so if the november FM didn't bother you, I don't see why the february one would have.

I also feel like people are heavily latching on to, what is very obviously (to me), a lighthearted joke by First (the jealousy/old dog stuff) and reading more into it than what was intended. A lot of cps do the jealousy thing and their fans just love it and have fun with it, and honestly I do think a good portion of fk fans DO see it as some fun, but there is a growing portion of the fandom that are taking it way too seriously and writing angst fanfic in their heads instead of just having fun with it like First likely intended.

Sorry for the long ask (really moreso just a rant)! Ultimately it is what it is! All fandoms get messy and the block and mute functions are my friends for sure lol.

Rant away anon 🫣😅…I’m with you in the whole November 2024 FM and February 2025 FM being actually the same scenario.

The problem started when fans taking too seriously after First jokingly posted about “mommies and gfs” to queue because Q0 is no longer around (which he posted around when Dunk posted the video of him and Khaotung at the beach) [and remember, Khaotung didn’t really post anything when Dunk and First hanged out together!]

Now, if it was only one post - I think these fans may have just accept and go “haha, look First is jealous” but because the boys then had LOlFanfestLiveD2 press tour straight after - it got exacerbated when the whole Prem came up (poor Prem 😅 - he innocently just wanted to collaborate with KT)…and then, the whole old dog analogy came up (with Joong who brought it up and the rest of the boys teasing our boys after that).

I get the impression after that - First went, oh well - in for a penny, might as well go all in. And he (jokingly) just went on about the old dog analogy during the Dr Ally interview (which again happened soon after the LOLFanfestLiveD2)…

Like you say - most fans are very much aware it’s all just good nature teasing and ribbing by FK. But Idon’t think it helped when you have entertainment channels keep pressing about the issue (like during the Sudsapda press event, the same channels who already asked about the old dog thingy during Dr Ally asked variations of it to both FK again 🧐)

So, you will have some fans (who unfortunately hyperbola the situation) to the point you will think FK is divorcing and no longer speaking to each other —> and these same fans do weird TikToks video, IG reels or Tweets about how FK are no longer together?

*I am always bemused by how much the fans can turn even the most mundane thing to be something catastrophic. Like the latest on Twitter land is about a Spanish speaking anon who posted how irritating Soms are because Soms keep praising how well FK acts and the anon said they watch GMMTV to “escape reality” and not because of the quality (they basically imply GMMTV series as mediocre) - the same anon went on saying “who cares if Dunk can’t act and if Phuwin can’t kiss?”

- and as you can imagine….some Soms went all gun blazing 😑😑😑…I feel like this sort of anons should just be left in the abyss and if nobody responds to it, they will eventually disappear (it will be the same with the fraction of fans who keeps insisting FK are now in ‘trouble’).

(Mute and block are the best thing invented by Twitter, same with Tumblr - I can curate what I consume hehe) 😉

[nerdieforpedro]

A Certain Fae's Melancholy

Jack Daniels (Fae) x GN reader

My entire masterlist and blog are for readers 18+ MDNI. I do not consent to my work being used in AI, recommended on TikTok, borrowed or plagiarized.

Summary: You were lulled into a world you never asked for and the reason that Jack Daniels wanders.

Warnings: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Shifting perspectives, Drinking, Alcohol. References to Depression, Scheming, Stalking, Lonely souls, Mild Sexual Content, Aging, Sorrow, Character Death

Word Count: less than 3k

Notes: This is for the Monster (S)mash challenge hosted by @quinnnfabrgay-writes and @hauntedhowlett-writes. This wasn't this fic I intended to write, but it's the fic that I wrote. I certainly smashed something with this, just not what I expected.

Not Beta-read, back on my "shoot it out there and hope for the best" mantra. This is the first thing I've written in a few weeks so...could be why maybe? 😅

Main Masterlist/ Jack Daniels-Agent Whiskey Masterlist/ Challenges Masterlist/ AO3 Link

The low rumble of laughter rouses you from your slumber. You don’t remember falling asleep. Only that you’d come to these woods while it was daylight. The sun is setting, it must have been at least a few hours but you suspect longer. Looking down at your arm, your wristwatch is gone. No use trying to tell time now.

Taking a deep breath, someone is watching you, likely the same person whose laughter woke you. He’s tall wearing a tan stenson, tipping it toward you like a greeting with a grin as he steps toward you from underneath the shadow of one of the towering trees. It’s then that you realize two things: the first is that the trees look different from the gray-brown wood that are near your home; the second is that you know this man. Your conversations have been increasing in number and you found yourself coming to appreciate his appearances at your local bar. They weren’t too often, meaning he wasn’t there every time you went, but enough that he seemed to be a regular.

“Now that’s sweet of you sugar. You got that little rabbit’s foot I let you borrow for your interview. How did that go?” The observation and question don’t match the situation. You find that despite the unease you feel, you take his large hand as he guides you to your feet and steadies you. The grin softens into a smile and he pats your head, pushing questions that your should be asking him aside, you utter two words that bind you closer to him without realizing: 

“Thank you.” His hand glides from your lower back to the nape of your neck, his thumb stroking your exposed skin and it is warm at the friction, but cool to the touch. “Your hands are cold Jack. That old saying might be true, ‘cold hands make for a warm heart’ and all that.” It’s your turn to join him in making birds vacate the trees at the boom of your combined glee. 

Looking up into Jack’s eyes and they flash a bright shade of green and it catches your attention, to both the color and the direction that you both are heading. You don’t remember walking with him or him stating a direction. He takes one of your hands in his and interlocks your fingers. “Now, now, gorgeous. Don’t be scared. You’ve already given me so much, a little bit more won’t hurt.” Slowly making your way up the steps of an all white house. It appears almost brand new, everything is painted, the door is a crimson red with emerald ivy having overgrown and covers up part of the front of the porch. It’s a stark contrast, given that the shutters are a sienna brown as is the roof. Jack says your name and points down, your name appears after his on the doormat welcoming any would-be visitors to what you presume to be your shared home now. Once inside, Jack eases you down on the couch and pats your thigh. “Now. I’ll give you time to adjust, I see the wheels turning in the noggin of yours.” His rough palm cups your cheek and you place your hand on his, to remove you had thought but then you remember some of the conversations you’ve had with Jack at the bar. 

The first time you met Jack, you made a cowboy joke. He expected it given the form he decided to take on. He finds that many men and women are attached to the allure of a rugged cowboy and possibly being the one to tame them. Daniels had gotten this same sense and considered just having some fun romps in your bed and not thinking twice about it. Unlike many of the humans he’d encountered, he found you funny. Jack normally laughed when he’d perceived that it was socially acceptable to do so. Thankfully, being alive for five or six centuries, he’d gotten the hang of figuring out when to do so. The years blend together and so do the various humans, you stuck out to him. He genuinely laughed while the two of you drank that night. He was able to have the first two pieces of getting his next fix of companionship: deciding on you as his partner and your name. 

The second time Jack saw you at the bar, he was upfront and told you what he was, a fae. A creature that has seen empires and civilizations come and go, explored a myriad of cultures and experienced maybe that many lovers. Not many companions though. Powerful beings are typically lonely after all. You followed that up stating that you had Scottie beam you down and were going to give the humans in area fifty-one to talk about. You could make some of those probes happen with a tentacle or two and would ask to borrow some of Daniels’ fairy dust to sprinkle on a few of your friends to give them some good luck. Also to get a few of them laid, they whined about that a bit. While Jack did get a kick of what your plan was if you were an alien, he assured you that indeed he was a fae and not a fairy. “That’s some Disney horse shit sugar.” 

Subsequent nights were spent with you sharing different details of your life with Jack and him telling you different stories of his adventures. He knew you weren’t taking him seriously, likely believing him to be full of tall tales and bluster, but it was the night that you told him of your interview for a higher position at your job that his eyebrows raised. He’d been trying to think of something to give you that wouldn’t seem too out of the blue, something that you would accept with limited questions. He just needs it to be something of his, that way he can draw you further into his world. Most people would have blown off someone seemingly talking out of the side of the neck or giving so many false (to you) accounts of different events, but Jack knew that glint in your eye. He’d gotten you excited to hear what outrageous tale he would tell you next. “Next time I see ya, I’ll have a little somethin’.” You’d mentioned that your interview was next month, so Jack would take a week, maybe a week and half off. Distance creates longing and it would be less suspicious when he saw you the next time. 

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t still see you of course, you just wouldn’t know. That was how he discovered you’d spoken to someone about him. Actually that same friend group you wanted to use his so-called ‘fairy dust’ on. Daniels does appreciate that you speak of him in a positive light, it’s nice to hear, but the fact that you mentioned him at all is the third piece of his plan. One he hadn’t been counting on and he considers a happy accident. Encounters with fae are not to be spoken of, not that you wouldn’t have known. It’s part of the game and Jack is more than half of the way there. 

Feeling you embrace him in a side hug with a hand clasped on his shoulder, Jack Daniels can be honest with himself that he’s begun to care about you and that it may not be just a companion he wants - he may want a relationship. One of those give and take sorts that he hasn’t experienced since the Industrial Revolution, after a shot or three of whiskey is when he gives you a good luck charm - the rabbit’s foot. The very same that you hold in your hand as you sit on the couch. He’d wished you good luck on your interview then. 

Jack has taken to the kitchen and is making black tea with honey. Normally it would have milk, but as he mentions when he gives you your cup, he despises the taste of milk. “Only good in cereal, baked or cooked in something. Don’t want none unless it’s one of those three.” 

“So, am I just going to be here now, with you? I also didn’t get the job. Guess the charm didn’t work.” You look down at the tea, unable to meet his eyes. Your anger at the situation is starting to seep in at how you’ve been lulled into coming to a secluded house with this man and he’s clearly targeted you, but he’s being polite about it. “All of this is disconcerting Jack.” Your lips nearly touch the mug before he speaks.

“I was upfront with everything darlin’ and told you I’m a fae. We ain’t like them fairies in the story books or movies. We like entertainment and mischief. Think like that twiggy guy who’s always fightin’ with his brother but less daddy issues and no delusions of grandour.” Slurping his tea, he runs his tongue along his upper lip and smirks as you watch. “You can act like you don’t wanna be here, but I didn’t ask you to keep talking to me, give me your name, or to even come to these woods. You were trying to get promoted because your job is always putting the cart way before the horse and making you deal with it for less pay. You’re lonely just like I am and tired of it. Now if you wanna stay, you drink that tea and I can stay by your side until the end of your days. I’m a man of my word.”

“Is something in this tea?” You stare at it and it smells and looks ordinary. His words sting, you’d told him too much about how you feel about your life right now. His ochre brown eyes are fixed on you, matching them you see it. The emptiness that looks back at you when you ready yourself in the morning and when prepping for bed at night. “The void. It truly is the same for you isn’t it? But won’t be painful for you when I’m gone? My life has got to be a few blips in your lifetime. Wouldn’t I be getting more out of this?”

“One might see it that way, but I’m different from most fae. They’re fine being on their own for the most part, but allows those in who I feel I may be able to build a life with, even if it isn’t that long. If there’s one enviable thing about you humans, you match one another in time where I also seem to have too much of it.” Jack removes his stenson and lays it on the coffee table, sipping more of his tea with his eyes still on you. “Tea’s getting cold sugar. What’s it gonna be?”

Maybe you were swayed by his words, maybe it was your own feelings of someone who understood what it feels to know the pangs of heartache were, maybe it was the chance to escape everything and start anew on a curious journey that very few have had the privilege of. Gulping down the tea gave you your first view of a surprised Jack Daniels. His mug clattered on the table next to his hat and he grabs you by the shoulders. “Hot damn baby! Looks like you’re ridin’ with me for the long haul!” 

Slowly, food you had been used to eating lost its taste. Jack explained that because you were now eating food he prepared, you were becoming more acclimated to the fae world. About a month in, Jack showed you where he gathered the food he prepared. It turns out, it’s actually odd little berries that he uses magic to make them appear and taste like foods you’re more familiar with. Picking the fruits is a fun outing and leads to the two of you getting caught in the rain, where you had your first kiss with Jack. The only reason it took this long is because he was indeed a fae true to his word and wasn’t going to force you to do anything you weren’t ready for. He also explained after you kiss, that he may have had to initiate soon because his kiss or other intimate contact would protect you from the Fae Queen. It sounded like one of his many jokes, but by this point, all of them as they relate to fae have proven not to be jokes. 

Things progressed quickly after that, it seems having less of an appetite for substance led to other needs strengthening. At first you thought it was just Jack’s libido that was high as he normally sought you out around the house, but when you pushed him on his back flat on the dining room table and you riding him like one of the bucking broncos he normally joked about, it was clear that sex had replaced food for you too. 

Over the next few decades, Jack took you across the seas, continents, deserts, plains and more. In the span of ten years, you’d nearly crossed off all the places on a bucket list you’d compiled. You aged slower due to your consumption of the fae fruit, but time still marched on and Jack looked the same as the day you’d met him. Mustache still dark and bushy, all his hair atop his head and a beautiful shade of umber. His excitement and joy at watching you marvel at what he could show you kept him going. Jack knew he could do it as long as he had you with him, holding his hand and laughing like in that forest all those years ago. 

Daniels had also taken you to explore the fae world, it was on a different plane than the human one, almost overlapping at different points but also had fixed pockets of space. He told a few of the fae about your old joke about fairy dust and they did give you some. It was disappointing though, only made your hands itchy. The fae would come visit you both at your home as they found you quite interesting. Apparently, you’re the longest lasting human Jack has been with, usually they’re dead by now according to them. Jack hushes them but you wonder how many have been before you, it can’t have been that many but it does cross your mind sometimes, even when Jack it rutting into you or if you’re looking up at him as you help relax with your throat after spending another afternoon watching the sun set again in Aruba. 

With your advancing age, you and Jack travel less and he’s more careful with you. Almost like you’re made of glass which you assure him you’re not. Neither of your parents were glassmakers. Still with that humor that Daniels loves. He’s thankful that you’ve made it to your twilight years, well past your eightieth year. Daniels still sees that funny soul that keeps his heart feeling light with every touch and verbal exchange. A rather odd couple that draws many an eye when you’re out and about, such an older partner for this hearty cowboy, if only they knew the truth. It is not for them to know.

Just as it is not for anyone to know what Jack Daniels sounds like when he assumes you were asleep when he arrived home from gathering more fruit for the two of you. Your body, always so pleasantly heated when he’d rest his head in your lap or on your shoulder. Even the touch of your hand was a tepid treat against his cool skin, but today it matches his. Jack wants to toss the idea away and just carry you inside to warm you up by the fire but he knows it will do nothing. Your skin will remain cold as that humorous soul he loved is no longer there.

Jack Daniels finds that your death is the hardest he’s experienced thus far. He was able to have you with him for decades. His home is now barren and the fruit he has gathered doesn’t matter. The solitude he had eliminated with your presence has returned with such an abrupt embrace. Daniels fights it as he picks your body up and carries it to the backyard, though he did not stop there.

No one, fae or human has seen Jack Daniels since. It could be he has assumed a new form and identity, but most believe that he’s still wandering somewhere with the remains of the one he loved the most in both worlds: You.

A few people who may be interested in the sads 😭: @megamindsecretlair @soft-persephone @readingiskeepingmegoing @604to647 @lady-bess

@morallyinept @trulybetty @maggiemayhemnj @tinytinymenace @angelofsmalldeath-codeine

@guelyury @yorksgirl @fhatbhabiee

[voiidvagabond]

For the fandom asks - 1, 14, 15? Xx

Woo, hello! I didn't know which list you wanted, so you get a TRIPLE ATTACK! >:3

end of the year asks

1. favorite fic you wrote this year. I'll go by what I've posted, and I did post a lot! I'm so proud of myself :3 One fic I keep going back to and re-reading because it just gives me giddy giggles is "Better Without the Poison" which is a DS9 fics and a little on the darker side hehe.

14. a fic you didn’t expect to write. I had no idea that I would get sucked so completely into Dead Boy Detectives and end up with my most popular fic to date, "Like Knives Clattering to the Ground", which is also up there for my favorite fic.

15. something you learned this year. I got well-acquainted with the delicate balance of writing/finishing fics and doing my coursework for uni. I'm not sure why, but this term it was much harder for me to stop writing fic and work on my graded stuff 😅

author asks

1. How long have you been writing fanfic? I have been writing fic since 2016! I've been posting on AO3 since 2017. Almost a decade :D It's been such an amazing time and it has helped fuel my creative endeavors in all modalities and in original works as well.

14. What's the average word count of all of your published fics? I went and did the math with my stats page just now! My average count is 5,737 words. That's a pretty interesting number, because I often think of myself as a longer fic writer. I suppose the number is skewed though, because I have some illustrations that have 0 words.

15. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chapter fics? This is a difficult question. I feel like the answer should be multi-chapter but statistically I think I have more one-shots? I feel like I prefer one- or two-shots but sometimes I have trouble keeping my ideas short and I end up with longer fics than I intend. It really depends on the story, though. I bend to the whims of the story and format accordingly.

more fic writer asks

1. the last sentence you wrote. A sketchbook, three different models of comms, a loose diamond credit card, a tangle of multicolored wires, and a wide black box fell out.

14. where do you get your inspiration? The world! It's a cheesy answer, but it is the truth! Often I get inspired by moments in a respective fandom's canon but I do a lot of AU work and divergence so much of that will come from experience or some random strike of "Oh! That's what I want to say!" I'm fascinated by what characters will do if I put them in situations that they've never been in, be it physically, emotionally, or mentally. So if I'm reading something or I see something in life that clicks, it goes in the ideas bin. I also enjoy exploring disabilities, disorders, and variations on the human condition. Much of my recent work has included some facet of that which ties into my love for research. I also have a myriad of playlists for different fandoms/pairings/AUs that I can set to play if I need a jumpstart.

15. favorite weather for writing. Ideally, I love an overcast or rainy day because it's a perfect excuse to sit inside and write. I also love a day that's far too cold to be outside in but has that crisp, bright sunlight. I sit next to a window and get the slightly warmer sunlight on me while I type away! But let's be real, any weather is my favorite weather for writing if the inspiration is there!

ask me stuff!

[vikkirosko]

Can I request Prismo, Scarab, Fiona and reader who is the warden of Citadel Prison?

Character: Treats everything lightly, regardless of the severity of the situation. In battle, she is full of sarcasm, ridiculing opponents, not taking many of them seriously because of the huge difference in strength. You have never had much sympathy for your work, but you use your power: your ruthlessness towards enemies and the destruction you cause are caused by your wastefulness and the unbridled nature of your strength in battle - all justified by your divinity. You are also calm and cool-headed in stressful situations, for example, when fighting with enemies of equal strength. Sometimes you seem overly distracted, for example, chasing fleeing criminals, you put too much energy into a strike that destroys an entire city.But with all this, you have a weakness for children :>

I would like to add that in the past you were an auditor god, and the scarab was sent to you for an internship so that he could take your position, and you were appointed to the post of head of the Citadel. For a thousand years, you did your job flawlessly, but one day, when you had a lunch break, the Lich destroyed the prison and freed all the criminals, and when you returned, it was already over. Then you were put on trial, but they gave you a chance so that you could fix everything.

Here is a drawing of the reader's appearance and I apologize for the huge number of words😅

Thanks ♡

Platonic headcanons The warden of the prison

🐰 Fionna Campbell x fem!Reader 🗡

Having found herself in an unfamiliar world so different from her native one, Fionna did not expect that she would be chased. Scarab wasn't going to leave her alone, but even he didn't know that he wasn't the only one chasing her. This was your chance to make things right. When you were the head of the Citadel, you didn't really like your job, but you did it flawlessly, until recently. You only went to your lunch for a couple of minutes, and when you returned everything was destroyed, the criminals escaped, and the court was waiting for you. But now you had a chance to fix it

You followed the tracks until you got to a strange world where there was no magic. That's where you found Scarab. Only by that time your order had changed. Your bosses wanted you to calm him down, because Scarab lost his temper, after that you could be free. While you were teasing him, saying that you would destroy this world much faster, Fionna was looking at you with wide eyes. You were huge. You had wings instead of arms, and your legs were like a bird's. You were taller than some of the buildings and clearly didn't notice her standing next to you until Fionna also got into a fight with Scarab

When it was over, you wondered what kind of world it was. You've never heard of such a place before. And that's when you finally saw Fionna, who asked you not to destroy anything. Perhaps if it had been someone else, you would have done exactly the opposite out of some harmfulness. But she seemed like just a child to you, even though she was very capable. Compared to you, who were over a thousand years old, she was, she really was a child to you. You just didn't want to see her upset

You no longer had to stay in one place and keep an eye on criminals. You were free, and you decided to use that freedom by staying in the world where Fionna lived. She promised to tell you about the world where she lived and even introduce you to her friends, and you decided for yourself that you would look after her and her world. Considering your previous job, your current idea would be comparable to a simple vacation. You intended to have a proper rest for the first time in a thousand years, and Fionna had the role to keep you company for part of that time

🥒 Prismo x fem!Reader 🖥

You and Prismo knew each other even before you became the head of the Citadel. You used to spend a lot of time together. He was someone you could call your friend and your words would be sincere. But when you got a job, you saw a lot less of each other. Prismo missed you, but he understood that you couldn't leave your post, because otherwise anything could happen

He learned from his friends about what happened to the Citadel and that you were awaiting trial. Prismo found it hard to believe that you could really let the criminals escape so easily. He knew you for a long time and knew that despite the fact that you didn't take a lot of things seriously, you did your job flawlessly for a thousand years. Prismo hoped that you would be okay

He learned about what happened to you directly from you. You followed Scarab, intending to find him on the orders of your bosses. What Scarab did to your friend angered you and you promised Prismo that you would try to free him. You understood that in order to save him, you had to stop Scarab, and you hoped that you could do it as soon as possible

When Prisma was free, he hoped to meet you soon, and you really came. You were free and all charges against you were dropped, so you could afford to make up for the time you didn't see each other

🪲 Scarab x fem!Reader 🗡

Scarab thought highly of you. Once upon a time he was your protégé and since then he has had only a good opinion of you. At least until he found out that the Citadel had been destroyed, the criminals had escaped and you were awaiting trial. He doubted that this would have happened if you had done your job the way you used to, so his opinion of you worsened. He was too busy to figure out what really happened, but he understood that few people could defeat you to free the prisoners

When he sought to destroy a world that should not have existed, he did not know that you were following him. Your bosses decided to give you a chance to correct your mistake and you couldn't miss this chance

Scarab did not expect to see you, but even more he did not expect that you came to calm him down on the orders of the bosses. Scarab was very angry, but you didn't care about it. You deliberately provoked him without even taking your battle seriously. Scarab was too wrapped up in his emotions to notice that you were stronger than him

After the defeat, Scarab was punished for his act. He came under the supervision of Prisma and you. You no longer had your old job, but a new one appeared, which consisted of looking after a single ward. Now you've had a lot of time to put your former protege on the right track

[fireflysparks]

So, I haven't been around a lot. I recently had to have a tooth removed, which was extra medical stress on top of my other health stress on top of my normal anxiety. 🙃 The procedure went quite well and was only mildly traumatizing, all things considered. But I am still healing, and eating has been even less fun than usual.

Meanwhile, I've been going through my Sims 2 CC again. I never entirely finished my past cleanse of it. 😅 And in time, my "testing" folder became completely unmanageable, so that when I did have some major crashing a week or so ago, I had to take out that whole folder to make it stop.

Another major (but very pleasant) distraction has been playing Palia. I absolutely love the world and the characters. And now that I found myself in a great little community of other players, I am playing even more often. It's a very nice escape from reality. Which I really need right now. And I think (I hope) I've made at least one really good friend from the experience that will last longer than the life of the game. However long that may be.

All this to say, I've been busy with things other than playing and posting Sims. I'm still playing my game a bit, and I still intend to finish posting my backlog of (mostly Pleasantview) photos. But I am taking a bit of a break right now. 🙂

Hope you are all doing well! 💕

[wesavegotham]

Suprised by how much I liked the first issue of Batman and Robin (2023) considering how I could never warm up to Robin (2021) by the same writer.

The art is gorgeous, I just wish Damian would look more like Damian and less like Tim. Plus the fight scenes can get a bit confusing, I wasn't always sure where the characters were in relation to each other or what they were doing and had to look at the panels longer than probably intended.

After a short fight sequence to kick off the story we spent about half the issue on Damian moving back in with Bruce and them trying to figure out how they want to life together, with Bruce seemingly longing for a bit more normalcy after all the chaos they went through, but being unsure how to reach Damian like Alfred did, and Damian being fully focused on the mission (cutting his talk with Bruce short to get enough sleep for crimefighting, getting up on time to make breakfast, not wanting to go to high school to have more time for the mission etc.) and not overly enthusiastic that his father wants him to have the teenage years he himself didn't get to have.

I think spending so much time on this was the right decision after they barely got to talk in private in Shadow War and not at all in Batman vs Robin.

Damian also gets to talk a lot more in general than he did in Robin #1 and I feel Williamson really held himself back with Shush's introduction, making sure we focus on the titular characters first instead of some new characters.

I also liked that we got an entire issue of Damian being competent this time. I expect Damian to run into bigger challenges and problems in the following issues so it's nice to see him get a few wins first. In fact it felt like Williamson let Damian shine more than Bruce in this issue, showing that just because he's back as Batman's Robin he hasn't suddenly lost all his skills to elevate Batman's role in the book.

Actually I was a bit suprised to see just how chill Bruce was this issue. He praised Damian for his work in the field, let Damian cut their conversation short, let Damian teach him how to make tea and allowed Damian to drive them to the crime scene in Damian's own car instead of the batmobil.

I understand that Bruce is low on allies in Gotham right now and that he's probably just happy to have his son back with him and is thus probably willing to put up with a lot for the moment if it means Damian won't run away again, but...isn't Bruce completely losing his mind in Gotham War right now? This issue even makes several references to Gotham War, Damian talks about how Selina still has control over the henchmen in Gotham, but that there is other crime not under her control that needs to be stopped. So why does Bruce act so relaxed and happy in this?😅

And how did he regrow his hand?

Anyway, aside from my questions about how this fits together with Bruce's solo books I enjoyed this issue, I hope it continues to be fun.

[mistresscitrusslice]

I'm so sorry for asking but since I know you've got a thousand asks on this before but - There's still interest in your "Our glorious Evolution" fic, are new chapters coming? I've thinking about it ever since I finished it, it's so intriguing

Oh! I promise you that the Caitvi chapter wasn’t intended to be the last; far from it. It’s just going to be a larger gap between c5 and c6 because I had large amounts of c5 written at the time that I posted c4 and selfishly wanted to capitalize on the surge of fandom activity by posting c5 sooner despite not having anything of c6 ready.

The plan going forward is to follow every step of Jayce’s augmentation process and any interference that may occur, interspersed by the occasional Caitvi outsider POV (probably every five chapters). After the end of the long fic, I want to add some oneshots of Jayvik’s domestic life taking place post-evolution because I don’t think I will ever be able to leave this AU behind. I have these stupid comedic ideas that make no sense for the tone of OGE but I want to write them anyway, so into the oneshots they go!

I want to explore ideas like starting the commune since a lot of Zaunites are gonna understandably not want them in the Lanes and other neighborhoods so they’ll end up starting their own. It would involve Viktor warming up to the cult he’s accidentally started and I haven’t really thought farther than that yet 😅 I also have an idea for a oneshot centuries down the line since they no longer die of old age. Have they grown complacent like Heimerdinger or have their mortal origins kept them fighting for the betterment of humanity? Mostly, I want to write sitcom style comedy. If it doesn’t already get written into the main story, that’s probably where the Caitvi wedding will go, too.

Sorry, I went on a tangent, but it can’t hurt to get some of these ideas out there so I’ll have to hold myself to delivering those promises.

Anyway, I’m currently working extra scraps from c4 into c6, retroactively adding a whole paragraph of c4 that I totally forgot to put in, and desperately trying to make leg amputation sexy for either c6 or c7. OGE is still chugging, and strongly. I’m just also making Christmas presents, so writing is slower.

[artist-issues]

Hi! I have a question for you as I know how immersed you are in Disney lore and themes (just like me hehe): Which fairytales or myths do you think would be really fit for a Disney adaptation/retelling? This is if Disney wasn't in the state it is right now, creatively and thematically speaking, of course. I don't know if I'm the only one who has thought about this, but I've been curious about how they'd do an adaptation of The Little Prince, though, that isn't strictly a fairytale, but it's still fantasy and adventure and the protagonist is a prince, so there's that, or even an actual adaption of Romeo and Juliet, which is yet another story that isn't a fairytale, but I still think there's some interesting elements they could make content of and the story is widely renowed for the passionate romance between two young people, which is an area Disney has had plenty of experience for decades now, although I don't know how they'd handle the tragic ending given how Disney has always modified tragic and/or horrifying stories to seem more wholesome and happier, and because it's an extremely well-known story, perhaps more than most of the ones they've adapted, I don't know how people would take it if Disney were to modify the ending to suit their style. This went on longer than I intended it to, but yeah, I'm curious to read your take on this topic.

I love this question!

I’d genuinely love to see Renaissance Disney do a fairy tale like Brother & Sister (the Brothers’ Grimm version or the Andrew Lang version) or, still, Jack & the Beanstalk.

I think Brother & Sister has all the seeds of a great Disney story.

Sibling relationship instead of a solely romantic focus ✔️

But there still is some romance ✔️

‘Evil witch stepmother ✔️

Humans enchanted into animals ✔️

Some never-before-done elements that they could play with, like the Sister/Mother character getting turned into a ghost and haunting the family until her curse can be broken, that sort of stuff. ✔️

I’d also love to see an adaptation of The Princess & the Goblin, but even in their heyday, I don’t know if Disney could’ve handled that one with care. 😅 It had layers of themes and an ending that would only make sense if you took those themes seriously, and since they didn’t exactly take Lewis Carol’s themes seriously in an effort to simplify, maybe they would’ve had the same problem trying to adapt Princess and the Goblin.

But! I think something like Brother & Sister (or Hansel and Gretel, I’m not picky!) or the Jack stories would’ve been really cool.

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

The Big Itch Three 19?? Rock & Roll / Garage Rock / Novelty / Rockabilly

Welp, a few of these definitely have not aged well at all—just take a gander at this album's tracklist and you'll be able to figure out one of them immediately 😬—but for the most part, this third installment in the Mr. Manicotti label's Big Itch series of 50s and 60s underground rock oddities and obscurities is pretty great. It's not nearly as strong as the first volume, but it is leaps and bounds better than the second; and it's mainly because, just like the first one, Mr. Manicotti seemed to prioritize music that was well made rather than music whose chief concern was to be funny. Most comedy doesn't have a very long shelf-life as is, so if the music itself isn't very good or isn't itself inherently funny, then the likelihood a comedic tune's gonna succeed past the ephemeral moment it was made for is close to nil. Jokey lyrics may not stand the test of time, but if you sing them in a certain way, or the music you surround them with is captivating enough, you might have something longer lasting on your hands; and we've got a good handful of that on here.

So, favorite track of mine on this album is probably one-off act Mad Mike & The Maniacs' "Quarter to Four," which appears to have originated from the only thing that they ever ended up putting out. Released in 1961, and recorded in a party-like atmosphere, this one had to have been intended as a tongue-in-cheek sequel to Gary U.S. Bonds' own "Quarter to Three," a single that was similarly lively and went to #1 the same year, only soon to be ripped off interpolated by Dion for "Runaround Sue," which also went to #1. Largely instrumental, "Quarter to Four" leads with bawdy, loud, forceful, and totally unrefined rock & roll sax, and I am very much a sucker for that kind of thing in general. There was a lot of fun that was baked into those early and unpredictable days of rock & roll, when it wasn't totally clear if the guitar or sax or maybe even the piano was gonna lead the way as the movement's most important instrument. And it's hard to imagine a history of rock music without the vast amount of contributions that were made to it with the guitar, but it was a possibility at one point, and even in 1961, with rock & roll having been firmly established as a dominant force, this song seems to present a pretty good case for why the sax needn't be cast aside.

Plus, the 60s birthed a whole bunch of dance crazes and fads—the iconic twist, for example, the watusi, the mashed potato, and the monkey, too—but Mr. Manicotti dug up some other more eccentric ones for this album, like Glenn and Christy's "Wombat Twist" and Joe and The Furies' "Weasel," both of which are featured on the 'Dancin' Side' of this record. Not sure what these moves were supposed to look like, but the songs definitely make for some infectious rock & roll fun regardless.

So while Volume 1 of The Big Itch was damn near perfect and Volume 2 felt like a massive misstep, Volume 3 gets us back on the right track with a bunch of tunes that are both wacky and good, rather than tunes that are purely wacky but not necessarily good...as long as you stay away from the selections that are, at the very least, clearly problematic too 😅.

Highlights:

Glenn and Christy - "Wombat Twist" Gary Shelton - "The Trance" The Warlocks - "The Temper Tantrum" Joe and The Furies - "Weasel" Mad Mike & The Maniacs - "Quarter to Four" The Dinks - "Kocka-Mow-Mow"

[alfgifu]

Fic analysis 32. Hollow light

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51177379

Word count: 2,813

Chapters: 1

First posted: 28th October 2023

Summary: 

Lark surfaced into a body, breathing hard, triumphant.

It was not, alas, her body.

How and why this came about

For Halloween week in 2023 the prompt challenge was connected to a a specific book in the Greenwing & Dart series and focused on one specific moment that offers some relevant possibilities.

In general the prompt challenges got more responses when they were more open, and those responses tended to follow the pattern of fandom activity more broadly and be weighted towards Lays fic.

I had intended from the start to rotate around different series in responding to prompt challenges. I had always thought that I would write some G&D fic at some point. I probably wouldn’t have chosen to start with horror, but since that was the prompt…

The active G&D authors on discord at the time were very focused on the set of young friends at the centre of that series - the ‘Good Boys’ and their allies - and interested in polycule-building. As charming as Jemis et al are, that just didn’t grab me in the same way.

The G&D fic that languishes somewhere in the depths of my long list would focus on an older generation, and most likely on the intriguing relationship between Jack Greenwing, Olive Greenwing, and Mr Buchance - and on interrogating Jack’s role as an officer fighting in a colonial war, which the books never really grapple with.

Since this prompt wouldn’t get me anywhere near that without a lot more time and effort than I had available for a weekly challenge, I went instead to the best source of horror in the young set - Lark. She and her relationship with Violet are severely messed up in ways we only glimpse in the books (we see more of her abuse of Jemis). There’s something uncanny going on with her family. So what if they’re all psychically eating one another?

What worked and what didn’t

It is a great deal of fun to write the pov of a truly evil character who is happy murdering and torturing her way through those around her. Particularly when you can position her so that those who suffer are primarily her rivals for power so the reader can find it a little easier to root for her despite her absolute depravity.

The structure of the story works well to show Lark’s power and intent in other contexts before bringing her in to intervene in the canon scene. I had considered doing this the other way round and using the pov of one of Jemis’s friends to watch the impact of Lark piloting his body, but for a short horror piece this works better. It leaves the exact nature of the damage she’ll do entirely to the imagination but furnishes that imagination with a rich series of examples to give it extra weight.

Writing the prelude to the body snatching also saved me from having to figure out political and interpersonal implications which would have made this into a much longer story that I had no real interest in writing (huh, seems I was learning something after all!)

I wrote this fast and knew I wasn’t planning to come back to add any more. There are certainly places where I might tweak on an editing run to clarify what I had in mind, or two tighten up descriptions, but it works reasonably well for a Halloween offering.

What I learned from writing it

The lack of interest that I feel in a Good Boys polycule is reflected in the lack of interest the G&D polycule authors felt in Lark pov horror/darkfic. 😅 

This for me illustrates a broader point about fanfic, which is that writing any fic at all is a significant investment of time and energy and the choice of subject matter tends therefore to strongly reflect those places authors find compelling enough to sustain them through producing the words.

It is certainly easier to enjoy writing something when other people are similarly moved by it. It is possible, by sharing your excitement, to draw people towards writing more of what you enjoy where that overlaps with something they can find compelling. It is also possible to be discouraged when all the enthusiasm you see around you points in a different direction to what you want to write or see written.

What is not possible is to debate or swamp someone into finding something compelling. If sharing your enthusiasm and showing the reasons for your excitement doesn’t do it fairly swiftly, it’s probably a lost cause. There’s no accounting for taste (de gustibus, etc).

I don’t know if I ever will write the G&D fic I’ve been rotating. If I do I expect it to be in more critical dialogue with the books than any of my other fic to date has been, due to the unexamined colonialism aspect, which would be interesting for me to write but might not be so interesting for others to read. That reflection in itself is part of the reason the concept sits so far down my list - it’s just more fun to play with things that other people want to play with too.

(Also at this stage I’d need to re-read all the books for context, which would also require willpower. Maybe if/when another G&D book comes out.)

[rascalentertainments]

"Wish Granted" AU: Asha ✨🖌📝

All right, you voted for Asha and her family first, so here we go! (Above concept art by @ishadow246. Big thanks to them for making this reference sheet, they read my mind and captured her design beautifully!)

I based her design of these particular concept art by Bill Schwab. I felt it matched more with my version, and shows more of the African culture that was missing in the film. (Also, I love her jewelry)

Its very clear to everyone that I wasn't a fan of how they removed the entire concept of the Hamlet and made a "suburb" (which they admit looked bad in the film and said to excuse it for magic) and removal of the cultural clothing everyone had. With Asha's outfit, I combined the two outfits into one. (I NEDD TO REDO THIS, OH GOSH-)

And Asha can let her hair down, but rarely does it, so she keeps is tied behind her for convenience sake, with addition of her cap. She will let her down during her princess dress transformation sequence, as well as during "At All Costs". It'll be a parallel to Star's prince uniform!

Now for some facts about her, its long over due!

• Asha was raised partially in Rosas as a kid, but then after father passed, and some of the citizens learned of Magnifico's true intentions, her family and other citizens quietly moved to the Hamlet known as "The Enchanted Forest". (Basically reached age 12 in Rosas, and then 13-18 in the Hamlet.)

• Her birthday is Feb 15, as a reference to Lillian Disney's (Walt's wife) birthday! It coincides with Star's birthday, Dec 5th. (Walt Disney's birthday)

•She's an introvert who has trouble making friends at her current age, so she keeps to herself, mostly. Asha did develop a bit of sarcasm and sass though she tries not to be mean with it. 😅

•She swears a lot in her journal, but she can't swear on screen because its a Disney movie.

•As a kid, she was full of curiosity about the world around her, especially wildlife. She learned about how the stars guided people from her father Tomás, which inspired to want to see more of the world outside the Kingdom. When her father grew ill for seemingly unknown reasons, Sakina pleaded with the King to heal him. The man promised her this, but time went on and eventually Tomás passed. Maginifico had never intended to help.

•Because of this, Asha grew to be more pessimistic as she got older. She no longer believed in the impossible or anything good to happen relying on magic, or anyone else to solve her problems for that matter. Even so, part of her desire for excitement still lingered, and nobody knew this better than her grandfather Sabino, whom she grew closer with over the years and became a second father to her. With her wonder all but gone, she would end up getting help to save her family from the most unexpected source. For she wished on a Star, and the Star answered.

• Asha keeps drawings of magical artifacts she drew in her journal. She read about them as a kid and secretly still fangirls over magical items in history, leftover from her fascination with magic. So when she shows some of it to Star, she's very excited to finally share it with someone.

•Asha got along with other kids when she was little, part of that still stays with her, as she does read to the other kids there from time to time. (Think of this as a reference to Belle, who also loved to read) Even though she lost part of her childhood, didn't mean they had to lose theirs. So she enjoys reading stories to them.

•She's never dated and never had a romantic partner. There's been a few guys interested in her, but she's turned them down. Most people in the Hamlet think Asha and Flazino are secretly a thing, but that's not the case. Lord knows Sabino wanted his granddaughter to get a boyfriend so she'd stop being so serious all the time. They never really had feelings like that for each other, they just stayed friends. One part is because Asha has just sealed herself off from connecting deeper with other people, and on Flaz's side, he already has feelings for Dahlia.

•Star becomes her first crush and the first one she's falls in love with. And Asha falls hard.

•Asha was friends with Dahlia when they were both kids (as a nod to the art book and @annymation's take with the group growing up together) but after her family escaped, she didn't get a chance to say goodbye. She truly doesn't remember her when she sees her again.

•She learned how to draw from her father, who gave her a journal and a pencil (which he made himself) to create art with. She's been drawing nearly every day since then.

•Sabino and Sakina are very close with her ever since her father died. She learned to value them more as she got older and helps out in the Hamlet as much as possible. Sakina taught her how to sew as well!

•Asha is voiced by Diamond White (suggested by mom!)

•Valentino is a new pet, as she only got him three-four weeks before the story. But she cared and loved him so much that he acts more mature for his age! No, Valentino doesn't speak in this version. That'll be saved for the end, and he'll be voiced by an actual kid. (Disney, we didn't need a Donkey knock off, you do realize he was a parody right?)

•Asha's favorite thing to draw is Star—

Asha: "NO IT'S NOT, GET OUT OF MY SKETCHBOOK." *Stomps away*

Okay, I guess we're done here! 😅

Oh and just as an extra character addition, I'm also having Flazino in this AU, since many people pointed out he was originally part of the film and had a bigger role. He's closest to a human friend Asha has in the Hamlet, as he gives them supplies and updates about the kingdom as Magnifico's apprentice.

That wraps up my first character list! Next up will be Star and then the King and Queen. Hope you enjoyed reading this preview to the story, or have any suggestions in the comments! 🌟

[shakespearefreak]

🎂 Happy (Belated) Birthday, Virginia! 🎂

Virginia’s birthday was actually on the 2nd, but because I keep my Christmas decorations up until Epiphany on the 6th, and because I didn’t have all the parts of her present yet, we didn’t celebrate it till yesterday.* I surprised her with a tea party 🫖, an easel, a box of (real) paints with a brush and palette 🎨, and a bunch of doll-sized canvases I bought from Amazon. We drank our tea and watched the first couple episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix, which she loved so much it inspired her first painting with her new paint set!

*Yes, I did assign her that birth date, and I’m aware I could simply change it to a more convenient day after Epiphany if I wanted… but for some reason I’m convinced that Jan. 2nd suits her really well. It doesn’t even make sense for her star sign: personality-wise, she’s more of an Aquarius or a Pisces than a Capricorn (at least according to the little blurbs for each sign in the All About Us book; I know nothing about astrology myself 😅). All the same, my brain won’t stop telling me that she was definitely born early in the morning right after New Year’s, in the middle of a snowstorm, so I guess we’re sticking with that. 🤷 Writer’s Brain is weird.

“I bet you thought I forgot about your birthday, huh?” Marley grinned.

Virginia raised a wry eyebrow. “Well, considering it was on the 2nd…”

“I know I’m late, but I was still working on your surprise!” Marley said mysteriously, leading the way somewhere.

“Surprise?” Virginia echoed, following. When she saw the carefully laid table and the easel, complete with paint set and a brand-new blank canvas, her eyes widened with a small gasp. “Oh, my!”

“You like it?” Marley asked, a little anxiously.

“I love it! Thank you so much!” Virginia said, wrapping her arms around Marley in a soft but heartfelt hug.

(A better look at the paint set. I started with the box from Samantha’s Painting Set, pried the fake watercolor paints from the bottom part, then added a false bottom of cardboard painted to match to conceal the little white plastic bits that remained. The paints are from this miniature painting set on Amazon)

“We should toast!” Virginia said, then giggled. “A Tea Toast!”

“Alright! Let’s toast to you, it’s your birthday, after all… or well, it was a few days ago,” Marley amended.

“I can’t toast to myself! I shall toast to you, for putting together this wonderful party!”

“All right then, to both of us,” Marley raised their cup, and Virginia copied the gesture.

“To both of us!”

Virginia at first intended to wait a bit before breaking in her new paint set, but midway through the first episode of Bly Manor, she got so inspired she couldn’t be patient! She ended up starting this piece before the episode even ended, dividing her attention between the show and the canvas.

(In case anyone was wondering: yes, I really did paint that, and no, I am not a particularly skilled painter, especially on such a small scale 😅. Yes, that is real paint on the palette she’s holding, and yes, I was terrified that she’d get it on herself or her dress, but I was very careful and thankfully nothing went wrong. 😮‍💨)

(My part of the tea party! Earl Grey tea with honey and lemon ☕, lemon poppyseed scones, cucumber finger sandwiches 🥪, berries with honey and lemon juice 🫐, strawberry tea cakes, and vanilla bean ice cream with strawberry syrup and a strawberry wafer stick 🍨. It all took much longer than I expected; since I bought the scones and tea cakes premade, I didn’t think it would be much of a time investment, but the cucumber sandwiches were more of a challenge than I expected. It was all delicious, though, so worth it! 😋)