#thank you so much for the ask i love rambling about my ocs

[msschemmenti]

sing with me please

emily prentiss x singer!reader

prompt: reader and emily are dating and she’s a rising artist on her first small tour. she’s been gone for weeks but is back in dc for a show. obviously emily is there and reader begs for emily to come on stage and sing their song with her to close out the show.

a/n: au inspired by this picture of paget and this series i’ve been writing for myself about a singing reader/oc. also this is not proofread at all. let me know what you think— and if you’re interested in more stuff like this :)

song featured : juna - clairo

“God, i can’t wait to see you.” y/n breathed down the phone quietly.

“Oh trust me, I’m right there with you. I’m starting to think I should’ve just taken the time off and gone with you.” Emily groaned into the phone from her desk.

“Oh I don’t want to hear it, I tried everything I could to get you to come along. And I mean everything. But you’re married to the job.” y/n replied with a tease.

“Aw, come on. I feel like I haven’t been here long enough to take three months off to follow my pop star girlfriend on her first-ever tour. Plus, it’s not like the world knows who you write all those love songs about anyway. And stop saying I’m married to the job, you know I hate that.” Emily all but whined.

“Right right right. Well, none of that matters now, because in just a few hours you’ll be front-row being serenaded for a good two hours.”

Emily grinned at the thought of having her girlfriend’s attention in a room full of fans. “Having my favorite singer’s attention in a room full of her adoring fans, sounds like a dream come true. What time should I get there?”

“Looks like this shoot is going to run over, so I might not be able to see you before the show. Either way, DeeDee has your name on the list already so you’ll be taken to your seat as soon as you’re there. Are you bringing anyone with you? I can give DeeDee their names too.” y/n rambled in thought.

Emily eyed the bullpen curiously, she hadn’t exactly thought to ask if anyone wanted to go with her. It felt a little too personal and after all this time on the team, she feared Garcia’s reaction to her having a serious girlfriend without her knowledge. “No, it’ll just be me. I’m sure everyone has plans. It is Friday after all.”

y/n chuckled softly at her girlfriend’s words, “Okay, make sure you text me when you get to the venue so I can let everyone know.”

“Yes ma’am. And after the show?” Emily asked hopefully. She really missed having her girlfriend home.

“I’m DC based for the next three months.” y/n grinned.

“Oh thank God.” Emily sighed in relief causing y/n to giggle softly.

“You can thank DeeDee for convincing the label to let me write and record here.”

“Well DeeDee has a very expensive bottle of wine with her name on it.”

There was a bit of shuffling on the other end of the phone and Emily knew the signs all too well, “Listen Em, I’ve got to go. They’re ready for the next outfit. Remember to text me.”

“Okay, I will. I’ll see you later.” Emily smiled.

“Yes, see you later. Love you.” y/n whispered before ending the call and handing her phone back to her manager.

-

“Hi DC.” y/n spoke into the microphone with a bright smile. The room filled with cheers almost instantly as she spoke and her cheeks grew red under the praise. “Oh you all are too sweet. How are we feeling tonight?”

y/n scanned the audience waving happily until her eyes fell on the VIP area she’d requested for Emily. Her eyes lighting up instantly as she caught Emily with her hands cupped around her mouth cheering with the other fans in the room. Sending a wink in her direction y/n spoke in the mic, “You all look so beautiful tonight. Thank you so much for coming out to my final show on my first tour. It’s been so fun meeting and talking to everyone but I’m very happy to be home. With that being said, let make this the best show yet!”

-

Emily was on cloud nine. She was absolutely beaming with pride and she couldn’t think of any place she’d rather be. When y/n said she’d be serenading her all night, she really hadn’t been kidding. As much as she could without making it too obvious, she practically spent the last two hours gazing lovingly into Emily’s eyes. And Emily felt mighty special. Her favorite voice, just for her.

“DC you’ve been so amazing tonight. I don’t think I’ve felt this happy in a long time. My favorite city, in a room full of my favorite people. It’s so so good to be home.” y/n spoke as the band set up for the last song of the night. “As you all know, we’re on our very last song and as much as I hate to end this night– I’m so excited to sleep in my own bed.”

y/n sat on the stool center stage and shuffled some papers on her music stand with a smile. She looked over to Emily with a mischievous smile that had her heart trying to beat out of her chest.

“This last one is very very special to me. It’s my biggest song and the reason I’m even on this tour. But more importantly, it’s about the most important person in my life. My love, my light, my muse.” y/n spoke eyes trained on Emily the entire time. The room awed and cheered happily at the mention of their favorite artist’s secret girlfriend. “I’m lucky to have her here with me tonight and I know she’s going to hate me for this but I wanna do something a lil different for my last show. Em, will you sing with me?”

Emily’s face was beyond red. She was staring at her girlfriend in shock and awe. Not only had she just told this room of people she was the muse for most of her discography but now she wanted her to get up on the stage to sing with her. She was shaking her head in disbelief and fear before she could even think about it. And she looked at her girlfriend like she’d grown a second head.

This only made y/n smile more, “Please Em. You’re my favorite duet partner and I’ve missed singing with you more than anything.”

Emily was cracking. Between y/n’s words and the adorable pout she was sporting there was only so much more she could take from the woman she loved before giving in.

“Everyone, let’s give her some encouragement. Can we chant ‘Emily!’? y/n asked the audience and like the loyal fans they are, their screams filled the room. And there was really nothing Emily could do at that point. Throwing her hands up in surrender, she walked toward the stage looking extremely nervous as the room cheered.

y/n moved to help Emily up the stairs and onto the stage with a blinding smile. “I can’t believe you just did that.” Emily grumbled softly as she rested her forehead against her girlfriend’s.

“Kinda surprised you came up.” y/n grinned so hard her cheeks hurt.

“Well, you unfortunately know that i will do anything for you baby. and you sure know how to milk it.” Emily replied and smiled as y/n pulled her toward the stool. She sat Emily down and turned toward the crowd.

“Alright everybody, this is the last one. If you know it sing along.” y/n placed the microphone on the mic stand. She could practically feel Emily’s nerves radiating off of her but knew once this moment would live with them for as long as they lived. y/n stood between her legs and placed a kiss on her nose lovingly before cueing the band to start the song. “Just you and me, like at home.” She coaxed before she started singing the opening line of the song.

“Come to me slowly. It's when you talk close enough that I feel it on my skin, breathe it in.”

The room buzzed in anticipation when y/n nudged Emily softly and stroked her cheek in encouragement. Emily was nervous but she truly felt like she could do anything with her girlfriend’s eyes trained on her. “Most of these days I don’t get too intimate. Why would I let you in? But I think again.”

y/n smiled instantly, throwing in some of the background vocals while Emily sang. She started timidly but with the love shining in y/n’s eyes, she grew more confident with the words. Plus the cheers from the audience helped quite a bit. They joined together sweetly, Emily taking the melody and y/n harmonizing with her as they went. “I don’t even try. I don’t have to think. With you, there’s no pretending.”

When they got to the chorus y/n smiled and turned her head to the crowd, “Come on everyone, You know me, you know me. And I just might know you too.”

The smiles on both women’s faces were permanent as y/n pulled Emily up to dance with her across the stage. In a room surrounded by people who loved her girlfriend, she knew without a doubt that none of them could compete with her. They finished the song with the help of the crowd and when the music came to an end, everyone screamed their appreciation. y/n grabbed Emily’s hand and pulled her into center stage with a laugh.

“DC, give it up for the love of my life!” And despite y/n’s hand on the small of her back, Emily timidly tried to hide from the praise. The applause died down a bit and they wished everyone a farewell before heading backstage.

Finally in the quiet of her dressing room, y/n pulled Emily into a bruising kiss. Pulling away was not a priority, but when it became a necessity their foreheads rested together.

“DC give it up for the love of my life?” Emily teased.

“Yeah. That’s you.” y/n shrugged with a smile.

“Mmhmm, is that so?” Emily asked, squeezing her waist.

“It better be so. I’m sure it’s all over the internet by now babe.”

Emily groaned, “Of course it is. You are so lucky I love you.”

y/n shrugged with a smile and reached up to pinch Emily’s cheek, “Oh I know baby, and I wake up every morning so grateful. And lucky me, I get to wake up in your arms for the next three months.”

Emily sighed happily, pulling the singer into a hug. She mentally prayed for the serial killers of the world to chill out for the foreseeable future and kissed y/n’s head. “Welcome home my love.”

-

y/n

liked by prentissemily, and 9,000 others

dc, i love you. but not as much as i love em.

thank you for an amazing first tour. my heart is so full and i can’t wait for the next one. y/n 2 loading…

ps. whoever took that second picture— i owe you my LIFE

pennythegreat @prentissemily — rue when was this?

prentissemily literally what does this mean?

prentissemily my superstar xx

y/n my muse xx

[smokbeast]

genuinly feels really sweet when yall like my ocs or messy sketch pages;;

[dmagedgoods]

15 and 18 for all your boys~

15. How do they speak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do they rehearse it in their mind first? Rowley: Rowley doesn’t speak in lofty and sophisticated terms or only ironically, but he is witty, expressive, and creative - with his vocabulary too -, and has a very dark sense of humor. Usually, he finds the right words fast and without thinking about them much, and with the right words I mean the most terrible thing to say in any situation he’s in. People’s reactions to it are highly endearing to him. It amuses him and he shamelessly provokes. He may have saved someone’s life a second before, but you can be sure he’ll make them forget about it right away by offending them in unexpected ways or by painting himself in the most horrible light and even worse than he actually is. Usually, he doesn’t show emotions when he speaks. It’s mocking or teasing or factual or just some idle chatting. With him, it needs a certain level of friendship or other forms of closeness (like romantic relationships) to reach a point where he starts to let you see his feelings with words and in general. Once it happens, his way of talking becomes softer, even a touch warmer, and he provides insights that make you realize he listens and observes much more closely than one might suspect. He uses profanity a lot. Sometimes with a hint of irony to it, sometimes to insult or provoke, sometimes just a few swear words on the way when something goes wrong or casually interwoven in his speech patterns. He will make up new things on the spot, never-heard combinations and unique creations, funny in his better moments, utter nonsense in his worst.

~ Eneas: Eneas is eloquent and well-spoken; in most cases, he shows sophisticated, polished manners and his choice of vocabulary reflects it. Words are his strongest weapon aside from his magic, he uses them to charm and to captivate, to draw in and paint pictures. Furthermore, he loves to spontaneously recite poems or to quote from famous literature. He is a musician but also a storyteller and lives to entertain and to use words with utmost effect and accompanied by a dramatic flair. He rarely shows his true feelings, still his way of talking or telling little tales never lacks the needed emotion. His words often have a theatric element. While he most often has a clear direction in mind and plans his roles and performances and even his words to a degree, he only truly rehearses when it’s of utmost importance (or an actual stage play ahead of him). As long as he moves within the idea of what he’s representing at the given moment, he is capable of improvising the details. He can make his words simple but he rarely wants to. Speaking has the potential to become a form of art in itself after all. Usually, he still makes sure his sentences aren’t too complicated or confusing, he wants his audience to follow him after all, but it happens that his structures serve to hide a second meaning or a well-placed little lie. In other cases, he just enjoys some theatrics, the drama of his own statements, or obscures in the name of storytelling. Eneas almost never uses profanity and if so with a touch of irony to it. He doesn’t mind profanity used by others (or at least rarely does), but he himself refrains from all too rude expressions in most cases. Of course, when he plays certain roles, profanity might be part of it. Usually, though, he much prefers to insult in more subtle ways coming with a sharper sting. ~ Salvadore: Salvadore is very eloquent with strong rhetoric skills, educated, trained in diplomacy, and even studied speech patterns since he has a natural interest in and talent for words. He loves to talk to people, to convince them of his views, or to hold impactful speeches in front of an audience. While strongly passionate about his goals and for those he cares for, Salvadore rarely gives away many emotions in front of people. It needs a deep bond with someone for him to show his warmer and even surprisingly playful side or his possessive tendencies. (All of this even publicly to a degree with someone he loves romantically.) He makes his sentence structure only as complex as needed to convey an idea. After all, he wants to reach people with his words not to confuse them. His choice of words is sophisticated but he speaks clearly and not in obscuring, long-winded, or highly scientific terms. Sometimes he utters very short and strict orders or shuts something down with a well-aimed remark. Salvadore rehearses his speeches and prepares his arguments for important meetings and consultations or discussions, he likes to be prepared, but he also leaves room for spontaneous reactions. It’s more the whole plan for how things are supposed to go which he studies ahead (and sometimes intensely so) than every word he intends to use. He can easily improvise in his fields of expertise, and his confidence and eloquence usually help him when he’s out of his element. There may be audiences where stronger words are needed and he doesn’t mind going there, but in his usual speech patterns, he mostly refrains from profanity. If he uses it, then the rough, harsh sort. In sexual contexts and roleplays, he enjoys profanity here and there – though it depends on the words in question. If he means to insult, he will hit the mark in different and deeper ways (humiliating his target in eloquent manners) than by making up creative swear words.

~ Cian: Despite his affinity for bringing himself into the spotlight here and there and to present a small performance, Cian slightly prefers using the written word over using the spoken word. He has more control over ink on paper and time to think through any deep aspect of it before presenting it to an audience. He is not too fond of improvising completely freely and in important moments, he rather overprepares his words or repeats them in his mind before saying them out loud to make sure they’ll have the planned effect. Speaking is immediate and correcting mistakes or wrong impressions almost impossible once they are made. Still, he knows how to sell what he wants to make people believe in most cases, is a smooth talker, and quite eloquent, especially in his areas of interest and if he had time to prepare. He hates being caught not knowing something he is supposed to know (in his opinion or even worse: in the opinion of those around him) and struggles to keep his superior demeanor when embarrassed in this way. As soon as he's relaxed and actually feels confident instead of playing it, he will show a witty and teasing side that comes naturally and he doesn't need to rehearse. Cian tries to appear controlled and either charming or distant while speaking without giving away many emotions. This works well for him unless he is in a state where his feelings overwhelm him too much, then it becomes impossible for him to hide them. His sentence structure shows that he’s sophisticated and educated but he speaks clearly and not overly confusing. Nonetheless,  his way of talking has something slightly theatrical sometimes. He uses profanity here and there, mostly when relaxed and comfortable. – Rarely ever to insult, he has more effective means for that, but just to express strong approval or disapproval, for example. 18. What embarrasses them? This one is here. 💕

[itosh1teru]

Ur art is very cool! Tell me more about Nene and evil Nene please

oh my god thank you anon. thank you!!!! i love rambling about my characters so much. excuse me anon i just need to get the 6 page list of facts. ok i got it. im going to write this in like a big paragraph lol. also sorry if its super random im not good at keeping it in order.

evil twin rambling: nenes twin i usually just call evil nene or twin, but her real name is jörmungandr, after the midgard serpent from norse mythology. the twin was summoned by nene, who attempted to create a contract with the devil because of her massive debt, and the summoning went horribly wrong. the twin is a exact replica of nene down to every hair, but some of the colours are different. she cant feel any emotions at all. her insides are that gross yellow colour. her blood is also straight up mercury. twin nene was actually supposed to be nenes alter, but it didnt fit the lore so i changed it. twin nene is very sensitive to bright lights, so just shine a flashlight in her eyes and she’ll leave you alone. twin nene also isnt the smartest.

normal nene rambling: nenes a super shy and easily scared person, it takes her a while to warm up to someone. and i mean a while. shes extremely sensitive to loud noises such as fireworks. i havent decided on a actual age, but shes somewhere between 20 and 40 years old. nene has a high tolerance for poison. dont ask how. shes also aromantic. nene has a fear of lakes because of a childhood experience where she almost drowned. nene has had problems with drugs and alcohol, and they still come back sometimes. nene also has bad paranoia. nene was born in sapporo, japan.

[dragonbleps]

I can no longer hold my silence

who is dal? everywhere I go, I see his face. I've heard so much about the man and yet I don't know who he is. oc? sona? simply an incredible fictional character?

(aka I dont member but am intrigued so i'm specifically asking you to ramble about your guy. I need twelve paragraphs by noon tomorrow /lh)

you've activated mY TRAP CARD

MY BOY!!!

SO, Dal is my OC! Or, rather, Dal is the nickname for my TES OC, Dalamus Rex, but when talking about other AUs of him, I'll also use the name Dal often without clarifying, usually forcing people to either assume or figure out from context which version of Dal I'm talking about. A few of his AUs keep the Dalamus first name, or have a name that can be shortened to Dal, even if the name they actually go by is different (ie "Modern Dal" Damon Rex, whose birth name is Dalmatius). Sometimes, if talking about multiple Dalamus' in the same post, I might differentiate between them by using last names (Rex, Sarangerel, Strighym). Or sometimes I'll tag something as "Dal" because it applies to all of them, or vaguely makes me think of Dal even if it isn't entirely accurate to a specific version of him.

Clear as mud, right? WELL, allow me to go through the list!!! (All AUs are specifically AUs of Dalamus Rex. No weird permutations. Dalamus Rex is the origin of all and acts as the base.)

Dalamus Rex (he/him) is the original Dal, and one of two that can be safely assumed I'm defaulting to when I just say "Dal", (the other currently being Dalamus Strighym, and we'll get to him later). Dalamus Rex is a TES OC! He's a Dunmer/Bosmer (Dark elf/Wood elf) vampire who was originally intended to be a one-off antagonist for my other character, Thaerondil, to face. I felt I had hit a wall when writing Thaerondil, and needed something to force me to get him to mature a bit, so I started writing Dal. Dal was eventually supposed to just disappear or die and. Well. It's been 12 years and he's still here! And he's infecting the rest of my braincells.

Dalamus Rex started out life in Morrowind, to a family with a terrible father and a mother who tried her best but was treated just as awfully by her husband. I won't go into specifics unless asked, but you can search Dal's blog and find info (just mind the trigger warnings)! After his mother died, he ran from home and just kept running, eventually making his way into Skyrim at a young age. So while Morrowind might be his homeland, he basically grew up in Skyrim.

In Skyrim, he continued to use his stealth and thievery skills to survive, jaded and unstrusting, until eventually he caught ill with serious respiratory illness and collapsed outside the door of a Bosmer named Falin (fuh-LEEN). Falin took care of him and nursed him back to health with food, kindness, and herbal remedies because Dalamus does not trust mages or healing magic. In spending so much time together, they become fond of each other and fall in love.

Unfortunately, it would be cut short. At Falin's behest, Dalamus accompanies mercenaries to help clear a den of vampires, and ends up knocked unconscious and unknowingly infected with vampirism himself. Near the end of the week, Dalamus would wake a vampire in the middle of the night and kill his beloved Falin for his first feeding.

Wracked with guilt and shame, he runs and goes into hiding. For nearly two centuries he oscillates violently between ridden with guilt and starving himself, and succumbing to the Thirst and becoming a terror to anyone or anyplace nearby. He is stealthy, and wickedly fast, so god help you if you try to run, because he enjoys the chase. While not the strongest vampire, his agility and athleticism more than makes up for it.

Near the end of the two centuries, he finally evens off into a sort of homeostasis, emotionally speaking, allowing him to integrate himself into society if only to lure people to their death in typical Suave Charming Seductive Vampire fashion. This is where his blog canon takes place.

As he manages his Thirst better and can spend more time among people without needing to feed, he spends his time thieving from people and seducing them for more.. mundane needs. But it also means he has the time and ability and wherewithal to have conversations with people, and conversations often lead to connection. And he starts getting attached. (The next bit is going to be incredibly condensed and summarized because otherwise it's 10+ years of storytelling).

He starts building bonds with people. He learns to trust. He starts making friends, some to the extent of considering them family. He learns how to be vulnerable. He accidentally hurts friends. He learns how to apologize. He makes up with friends. He finally finds love again. He has a daughter. He cheats on his wife. He learns that apologies are not always enough. They get a divorce, and it hits him hard. But he has supportive people in his life now, his closest of which know he is a vampire and know of his past and that he has killed on his way here.

He learns how to change his behavior while still remaining himself, becoming ever closer to his friends and family. He finds love again, and is now in a stable relationship with an Agent of Mara, who also happens to be a Healer and a werelion. He has several close friends who he quite literally owe his life to, and for whom he would risk his life in an instant to keep them safe. Dalamus is not religious and is still afraid of Healing Magic but he occasionally reads about teachings of Mara when struggling, and he is slowly, slowly working up the nerve to be accepting of magic, although traumatic experiences and misunderstandings of how magic works are significant bumps in the road.

Damon Rex (he/it) -- A vampire in a fantasy Modern Earth who owns a jewelry store called Aeternum Rex ("forever the king", "forever king", "king forever", "eternal king", however you wanna think of it). CEO, owner, manager, boss, he's all of it. This is his store, and he uses it to swindle wealthy people :)

He's also a jeweler, gemologist, silversmith, gemcutter, etc etc. He's had time to learn it ALL. And he does make some of the available jewelry for the store. Some of it is stolen from the rich and altered to hide the fact. And some of it is synthetic jewelry altered to seem natural. The idea is that he steals valuables from the rich, changes them slightly, then sells them back to the rich when they come around looking for a replacement. Selling the synthetic gems at such a high profit margin also gives him leeway to give discounts to.. whoever he wants, really. But generally it is given to those who are not rich or wealthy, those looking for one-time gifts who will likely not be repeat customers.

He employs mostly teens and young adults from less-than-ideal living situations, or generally those who are desperate for the financial stability to get out of bad situations, buy necessities, etc. How he does this legally, who knows. But he pays them very generously for easy work, and time off is given on the honor system, assuming you will show up when you can work. See, with his speed and with how small the store is, he doesn't really NEED the help, but he wants to help others.

His own backstory is similar to TES Dal's in terms of family situation. But where TES Dal's mother died, Modern Dal became a vampire and returned to save his mother from his father. He then was able to live with and take care of his mother for the rest of her natural life, and this helped give him skills to integrate into society in a healthy manner earlier in his life.

Few people know he is a vampire aside from other supernatural creatures. His employees (who he eventually comes to see as his own kids, in a way) joke about him looking like one or dressing like one, but none of them actually believe anything out of the ordinary is happening. He's just goth, that's all. He's a little scary but he only ever uses his scariness on people who are disrespectful of his employees so it's fine.

Dalamus Sarangerel (he/they) -- FFXIV AU. A Xaela Au Ra who grew up in the Steppes in the Sarangerel tribe. His father is an herbalist, and his mother a hunter, giving him the chance to learn a well-rounded skillset for survival. The particulars of his tribe are TBD, but in my head they're more bestial than is shown in-game.

They were a peaceful tribe. His tribe worshipped the moon, Dalamud, as a guiding deity--Dalamus' was even named after it. But when Dalamud turned red and began descending, all manner of creature and people began behaving strangely. Dalamus' tribe was affected gradually, so gradually he hardly noticed, until they started treating Dalamus himself as a harbinger, and sacrificing animals for their deity.

When the Calamity happened, and Dalamud split open to free the dragon Bahamut, Dalamus got the wake-up call he needed to leave the tribe. Their violence continued, but Dalamus was determined to find a way to reverse their madness.

So, he left for Eorzea (where the game takes place), and discovered that the reason he was unaffected by Dalamud was this mysterious power called the Echo which he unknowingly had. And it meant he was a Warrior of Light. Out of one "prophecy" and into another. Chosen One for a different camp. But if defeating Primals will help him find answers on how to help his tribe, he is willing to do what they ask...

(I haven't played super far into the game, so, alas, his story is limited!)

Dalamus Strighym (he/him) -- BG3 AU. Dalamus Strighym, a Drow born simply as Dalamus, as surnames denoted nobility and a House, and he was born a commoner in the subterranean city of Menzoberranzan 200 years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3. (Disclaimer: Lolth-sworn Drow society in DnD is all kinds of messed up and potentially Problematic, and I'm well aware, but I'm not going to be the one to fix it; I'm mostly taking it as-is).

His family's trade was gemcutting, but neither of his brothers showed much aptitude for it. He had two older brothers. Orgoll, the eldest, a mean sonovabitch who delighted in harassing his youngest siblings. Orgoll became a military officer, strong and powerful, and most importantly, feared. Orgoll was jealous of what small amount of favor Dalamus was shown for his gemcutting skills, and would often sabotage his work.

And Nilaufein, second eldest, a weirdo by Drow standards, passionate about his job raising and training Riding Lizards and Pack Lizards, with a curiosity and fascination about the Surface. In private, he was kind, and hated the cruelty which ruled Menzoberranzan, and avoided being cruel whenever possible, instead using his wit and charm to diffuse situations and altercations. Nilaufein tried his best to keep his brothers from seriously injuring each other.

Nilaufein was selected to join a Raid on the Surface when Dalamus was 30. It was to be Nilaufein's Blooding, the coming-of-age ritual that would see him socially treated as an adult, if he survived. But he never returned, and is presumed dead. Dalamus' own Blooding was to battle a Displacer Beast with a handful of other Drow, and he survived, but not without massive scarring from a tentacle. To celebrate his success, Orgoll visited at the behest of their parents, but used the opportunity to mock both Dalamus and Nilaufein. Dalamus killed Orgoll later that night.

For a while, Dalamus had peace as the only child. He is excellent at gemcutting, one of the best. He makes good money for himself and his family. Then his sister, Taliira, is born, and immediately becomes the family favorite (Menzoberranzan operates under a Matriarchal Theocracy, where men are second-class citizens at best, and Priestesses of Lolth rule with fear and cruelty). If Taliira can undergo clerical schooling to become a Priestess, the family can be elevated.

And so, much of Dalamus' money becomes saved and dedicated to Taliira's teachings. While she is still small, Dalamus is often left to take care of her. He does not dare punish or discipline her, leaving her to do whatever she wants. At first, this meant hanging around him and curiously watching him work on his jewelry. She'd ask innocent questions, he'd give straightforward answers. But as she grew up and was encouraged to be cruel, Dalamus became target practice for her budding magic skills. Despite only being a teen, she was a hellion, and further compounded Dalamus' dislike of magic, especially anything that manipulated the mind or body.

She eventually was sent off to schooling, at which point Dalamus got a few years of peace. Until the minor noblewoman, Nedvyllanna Strighym, set eyes upon him. She thought he looked handsome, and interesting (his eyes and hair are not the typical Drow colors often selectively bred for), and his jewelry skills were second-to-none, and she wanted him for herself. And so she did. He became her personal gemcutter, jeweler, and favored consort.

I won't go into details what that entails bc again, messed up society (if you're interested then you can check his blog where I've written headcanons). But we will just say he is not treated kindly, and yet, because of how twisted the society is and the expectations for men, he thinks it's fine, even preferable in some cases. After 8 years, they have a son. He is not allowed to see or be around the son and does not get attached.

Two years later, he gets caught stealing from another noble (at Nedvyllanna's request), and his punishment is exile. She injures him with a whip and sends him out to wander the Underdark and hopefully die. But he survives, using his piwafwi for stealth, his knowledge of Underdark flora to stanch his bleeding, and a little subtle help from a Goddess he does not worship (and doesn't realize it's her doing). He doesn't escape unscathed, though, as an encounter with a bear-like creature called a Quaggoth gives him a back injury that'll prove permanent and be a source of both chronic and acute pain.

But he makes it to the Surface. And despite being blinded by the light and exhausted by the heat, he makes it to a town, and then a city, and commissions a back-support corset to be made. About a month later, he receives the corset--and the Nautiloid appears over Yartar and begins abducting people, Dalamus included.

So now he's got this mind flayer parasite behind his eye, his back injury is still healing, heck his face and neck scarring isn't completely healed yet, and now he has to work with strangers on the Surface where the sun burns his skin and blinds him, to try and figure out how to remove the parasites before they all become Mind Flayers.

It's been a helluva time the past few weeks for him.

Other versions of Dal I occasionally talk about but don't have specific blogs for:

Dalrex -- (Fallout) An odd, intelligent dark-colored Alpha Deathclaw. Seems to have a proclivity for finding shiny loot to try and decorate his hide with. Curiously able to speak, but not much more than a child. Extremely dangerous, and yet some say he's actually docile unless given a reason to be otherwise. Not many are willing to test that theory, though.

PokeDal -- (Pokemon) An adult pokemon trainer named Damon. He's gaunt, has bags under his eyes, is pale, and a Lampent follows him around. It's believed Lampent is a sort of emissary of death, appearing right before someone dies to take their soul, and yet Damon is still here. Some say it's because he's actually a vampire! But he's not. Probably. He's just a tired recluse who lives in a castle. He takes care of a sanctuary for pokemon who can't, won't, don't want to, or shouldn't become partner pokemon for trainers for various reasons. His team consists of mostly Dark types. Lemme see if I can remember... Houndoom, Corviknight, Umbreon, Zoroark, Lampent, Crobat. I think.

Stardew Dally -- (Stardew Valley) Dalmatius is a farmer who got tired of the monotony of working for a corporate entity. He's a bit pale and thin but surprisingly strong. He always wears his straw hat because he burns in the sun so easily. Just might be a vampire. He mostly keeps to himself, but holds respect for the townspeople.

MonHun Dal -- (Monster Hunter) An arrogant, tall Wyverian man named Dalakai. Unlike many of his people, who dedicate their lives to the study and understanding of the world around them through scholarly endeavors, Dalakai thrives being a Monster Hunter. He is considered immature and brash by his people, but his skills are nothing to sneeze at.

[faragonreblogs]

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but!- I was going through your Ridel art, and noticed that you color in his eyes during very intense moments. Is that just an artistic choice? Or is he part Qerel/Chaghan?

Hello there! And no, totally not a dumb question! It was a tiny bit of both, but definitely something I had in mind whenever I drew his intense eyes, so technically yes! His great-grandparents actually came from the Malaguld tribe, one Xaela (an exiled "Taken" from the Qerel) and the other a Raen! I am still working on the specifics of said background but that's basically it, heheh! Ridel himself unfortunately has no knowledge of his exact background, since his mother did not like to talk about it, but while he is usually very calm and kind, he does feel a sort of kinship/empathy with those who struggle with their inner rage. He had struggled a lot with it himself when he was a child, and the story definitely begins to poke at what bubbles beneath the surface quite a bit as he progresses...

When I went through the Warrior quest I didn't think I would enjoy it so much, and while I originally didn't think about Ridel coming from the Qerel or the Chaghan, he does have a bit of an uncontrollable ferocity that surfaces from time to time, and the warrior story going off of that coupled with the theme of love, it really fit with him as well as his interaction with the wols around him (My friend's ocs), so I ended up peppering that into part of his lineage, which thankfully fits!

Thank you so much for asking! I love talking lore and stuffs, and I hope you enjoy the boys!

[bat-the-misfit]

Ok, genuine question:

I suspect one member of the groups i listen to is the same type as me. Is there a shortcut or is it easier to know if someone has the same type as you? Like as if you had a radar to people of your type?

He's honestly so much like me I can't help but remember you telling me facts about my type 😭 I can't belive you're dragging me to the typology side of the force

But does he look like you when it comes to behavior or functions and stack? Bc you have to remember you can't type based on how someone acts - someone's functions are spotted when you ask the why and the how of their behavior.

If you type based on behavior you're not only mistyping the person but stereotyping the type in question. In you case ISFJ: closed-minded, very trustful, very caring, submissive, etc. These are NOT things that usually makes ISFJs be ISFJs, bc everyone of any type can be like that (even ENTPs, which are the opposite type.)

What makes ISFJs be ISFJs are using Si-Fe-Ti-Ne in their function stack. That's what you have to look for.

When you say he's "so much like you", is it because everything he does scream Si-Fe-Ti-Ne to you???

Does he look for comfort and security, staying is his comfort zone, having a large data of facts that are proven to be the best data, staying away from anything new and unreliable, chaotic and unreal because it's important for him to feel secure with what he knows it's more trustworthy (dominant Si - inferior Ne)? Or does he do that for other reasons? Does he do that bc of Ni reasons? Any other function reasons? See the motivations behind his behaviors.

Also check if his alleged Si is dom or aux. You have to see if his Fe is there as a tool and as a scale to the Si, not the opposite. See if he seeks out for the community (in this case the group he's a member of) to raise the sense of security and knowingness (Fe supporting Si = ISFJ). If he tends to repeat patterns proven to be the most efficient to make people get to social harmony, seeking the security and routine and physical things that bring "cozy" feelings bc he judges as more important to get that sense of "my group is feeling well" (Si supporting Fe = ESFJ), it's likely that you're mistyping him.

In case of an unhealthy type check if he seems to be in a Si-Ti loop as well. He'll completely ignore his Fe in this state. Same for grips. Look out for Ne grips as well.

Well any other questions you have you can come here and ask me bc you know i love to ramble :D

[snivel1]

!!

Teeheehee thank you for the oc ask!!!^^

Meet my boy Basil Killian(he/him; queer in every way)!!! Basically, he has the ability to blow up and rearrange himself again like no biggie, and travel around in a cloud of ashes and smoke! He can blow up whenever he wants, but can also accidentally do that under great stress/anger/overexcitement, and it affects the way he does that and regenerates! 0.0

More under the cut!!!!!

When he's overexcited his explosions don't hurt, maybe tickle a little, but overall he's harmless in that state, like a playful spirit! <3

But his other states of explosion are quite dangerous!! You see, he and other ocs that I work on right now live in a world where people have various superpowers of sorts, and they go to an academy where their powers are honed and where they're trained to protect people from evil! As I said before, he has the ability to blow himself up with no harm to himself and the ability to rebuild his body back together, but he can also take other forms as well, like a cat form, but his human form is the most established and polished!

When he's angry, his explosions are very... well.. explosive!!, big, fiery and destructive, but he's the most chillest person to ever chill, so unless you pose a threat to his friends, you won't ever experience his wrath!

When he's in deep despair though, there's barely any bang! or kaboom!, he just more or less disintegrates into the air like ash and smoke, and keeps low to the ground. His smoke is toxic to inhale in this state, so if you want to console him, you should be cautious about your own well-being first.

Now onto his lore and personality!!

He's always been a problem child, always trying to get people's attention by being a mischievous rascal and playing around. He's very well known in the city, but not in a good way, yet. Nobody has ever believed he'd be able to do any good in his life, he was just an annoyance for them, and a dangerous one at that: nobody knows when this explosive fiend will become a dangerous weapon against them, they don't believe he has any love for anyone other than himself! Which is completely untrue!! And he will prove it to them!!

He loves weird and colorful fashion, and sometimes outright refuses to make things work in his outfits! He's an eyesore in many ways! ^^

He's a free, fun-loving, chill, happy-go-lucky, 'who-cares' person, loves slapstick and looneytoons humor, tries to be helpful in any way he can! In other words, a very sweet guy who is just very silly!

He loves his friends very much(I'm working on the ref for them, which is where the first pic is from), and has a crush on this person below!!(please ignore that the wheelchair is a photo, this is a very old drawing😭)👇

I don't remember their name, so I'll call her Camellia Florence(she/they; nonbinary; demisexual, biromantic)! She has hibiscuses growing from inside out, but don't worry about it. ^^

They're very good friends and Basil likes to make them laugh with his antics!🥰

[despairforme]

What does he think of his name? Did kids find it cool or weird? Would he be fine changing his surname if he seriously were to marry in the future? Hypothetical scenario.

❝ I like havin' a unique name. Ain't never met nobody called Nnoitra before. ❞ It WOULD be cool to at some point meet someone with the same name as him. Surely such a person DID exist? If he ever met someone like that, he'd force him to become his best friend. Nnoitra had no idea what his name meant, or why his mother had picked it for him ( he sure wished he'd asked her while she was alive ). He knew that part of the pronounciation of his name meant tiger in Japanese ( n-o-i-t-o-r-a ), but that was about it. He'd always seen his name as a cool one. Masculine.

He didn't like that it was written differently than it was pronounced. It was pronounced: NOITORA, but written "Nnoitra", which was confusing as hell, and people never knew how to write his name. It had taken him a good while to learn how to write his own name. In the end he kinda liked writing it with the double N at the beginning. Made it more special.

❝ It's pretty common 'fer 'da guy 'ta keep his name, yeah? So I'd still keep my last name, Gilga. ❞ Again, the name had a different pronunciation to how it was written ( it was pronounced "Jiruga" ). He'd keep it if he married, because that was the traditional masculine thing to do. Not that he thought he WOULD marry. That shit was so unrealistic that it was not even worth thinking about. What kinda chick would want to be his wife? Who would he WANT to make his wife?

❝ I never got shit 'fer my name. More like 'da other kids thought it was a cool name, I think. At least a lot 'a people have told me it's a cool name. ❞ It was true, he'd gotten compliments on it many times. Which was nice. He'd never been made fun of for having a different sort of name. If the kids he grew up around had though it was weird, they'd never let him know. There had been plenty of reasons for them to think him weird so, his name was not something they'd needed to get hung up on.

[thefanciestborrower]

13 for James and Laura, 4 and 8 for James, 7 for Ben and Brick, 19 and 47 for Brick, 1 and 43 for Ben, 50 and 38 for Laura. Sorry if it's too much!

No no that’s not too much at all! Goodness I actually rather love getting so many numbers so buckle up we got a lot of ground to cover 

13.) Do they enjoy poetry? James and Laura

Both of them love poetry actually! For James, poetry is one of the few genres of writing he doesn’t have a hard time reading or understanding, so he devours poems like he needs them to live. He simply adores the cadence of old poetry and how you can use them to communicate very complicated feelings with just a few stanzas. His mom actually got him a book of poetry for his birthday when he was maybe ten and it’s his prized possession. The margines are filled with notes and scribble doodles and he brings it everywhere with him

Laura writes much more poetry than she reads, though she does a lot of both. She enjoys writing free verse the most and has journals full of her writing. Sometimes she’ll let James read them and offer critique if she needs it since he’s gotten pretty good at poetry analysis. He loves reading her stuff 

4.) Do they enjoy baking? James

Yes he does! James is actually a pretty good cook all around and baking is definitely something he enjoys quite a bit. I think a while ago I said he wasn’t very good at baking but that was a lie. He’s great at it. He’s that one kid who brings homemade dessert to every event and everything he makes is always gone within ten minutes tops. Also, because he’s a giant, the stuff he makes is giant sized so his human friends are always in luck any time he decides to bring treats.

8.) Do they collect anything? If so what and why? James 

I think he might collect wine corks or something, mostly because that’s something I used to do, and I think he’d probably collect them for the same reason I did. They just smell really nice and have a fantastic texture. He’s got a pretty decent sized box full of them and while he doesn’t know what he wants to do with them, he’s not about to get rid of them either. 

7.) Do they have any unusual fears? Ben and Brick

Hmmmmm good question. Ben is rather scared of spiders, which I guess isn’t exactly an unusual fear lol. I personally love spiders though so it’s unusual to me. He just hates their little beady eyes and all those legs. Nope spiders are up to something and can’t be trusted. 

Brick isn’t scared of much, but he absolutely hates ice skates. That comes from an episode of some ice skating show he watched once where a skater accidentally fell and her fingers were skates over by her partner. Safe to say he refuses to step foot in a skating rink after seeing that. 

19.) How easy is it to become their friend? Brick

Honestly? Not that hard. He doesn’t have many close friends just because of how intimidating and aggressive he can be, but genuinely he’s a pretty friendly guy so if you approach him and aren’t scared off by how physical he can be then he won’t turn down an offer of friendship. Just know that being his friend also means you’re on the menu. This is non negotiable 

47.) Would they lie to get someone else out of trouble? Even if they would have to take that someone else’s place? Brick 

I’m going to say probably not. It’s not because he doesn’t care about the person in trouble, but he’s under the mindset that if you do something stupid then you gotta be man enough to face the consequences. Simple as that. I think...if it were like, a properly dangerous situation though he might consider taking the fall, but that’s a big maybe. 

1.) Do they have any crafting hobbies? Ben

Oh absolutely. He’s not the most artistic person in the world (at least, compared to his brother), but he does love to make props for his little movies. He’s not half bad at it either and can be surprisingly resourceful when it comes to putting together low budget sets, costumes, and other things like that. 

43.) Can they handle stressful situations? Ben

Not incredibly well no. When he’s under too much stress Ben has the tendency to push himself way too hard to the point of pulling several all nighters within a week, and he’ll usually forget to eat during that period too. He just kinda pours all his energy into whatever is stressing him out and gets pretty bad tunnel vision to the point where he’ll whip himself up into a panic attack over the littlest thing and James will have to calm him down, usually by eating him. That forces him to actually, you know, take a break and sleep 

50.) What is your favorite thing about them? Laura

Oh man that’s a tricky question. I think my favorite thing about her is how sweet she is? Because she’s sweet in a very strong way. Like, for her being kind and gentle is 100% a choice and a strength, and she doesn’t let anyone walk over her just because she’s nice if that makes any sense. She won’t go out of her way to start a fight and in fact she’ll avoid that at all costs, but she also won’t hesitate to defend her friends 

38.) What are their dreams like? Do they have any recurring dreams/nightmares? Laura

Oh boy she’s definitely like me where she’ll have nightmares about late assignments and such haha, but her most common one is about having to speak on stage. She’s always a terrible fear of public speaking, which is probably one reason she loves performing ballet. It’s a medium where she can show off her talents for an audience without ever needing to open her mouth you know? Aside from those nightmares she generally has very light, airy dreams if that makes any sense. She’s one of those people who never lost the ability to fly in her dreams, and more often than not will also dream about whatever book she was last reading.

[crowdsourcedloner]

Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?

It takes a lot of persuading, but Nailah does eventually pursue G'raha's feelings - this being Nailah, though, her poor communication skills and hesitant nature leave a lot to be desired.

Where it all falls apart is when she opens her mouth. Even when she's not dancing around her intentions, her terse speech clips heartfelt complements to awkward non sequiturs, and her poor handwriting renders most letters or notes illegible scrawl. The few words she manages to get out are appreciated, but they're very prone to being misunderstood as friendly support rather than romantic interest.

Her actions have a little more luck, but her outward intentions remain murky. She collects trinkets and oddities that remind her of him - crystal pendants, ribbon bookmarks, tiny music boxes - and hides them in his belongings with little explanation. She sneaks warming enchantments on his teacups or accidentally leaves a scarf in easy reach of his desk should the weather start to turn, only to retreat when she's confronted on it. Add in how dense the target of her affections is and it's unlikely much will come about on her own...

[sharkneto]

the last post you reblogged about not being able to predict reader's reactions--how would you say shifting together has faired in terms of how you expected readers would react versus reality

My uncertainty with sharing Shifting Together was I did not know how they'd be received with how OC heavy it is. I was not expecting the Rob Love. Or Sarah love, but especially not the Rob love.

A thing that stopped me from sharing those fics for a long time was-- well, primarily that I needed to get orsumfenix's blessing to do so because they're very blatantly based on their fic. But after that was because they are OC heavy, especially JT. There's something much more vulnerable about sharing OCs rather than fic with just established characters. We already know we like the established characters - it's why we're reading fanfic in the first place, to get more of them and their dynamics and relationships. OC's throw homemade blorbos into the mix and they do have a bit of a stigma; an unfair one, I think, but a stigma nonetheless for being self-inserts and Mary Sues and generally disruptive to the characters and dynamics fic is being read for in the first place.

What I expected from readers was... a tolerance. An understanding of what I was doing with my OC's to use them as an outside POV for a specific lens with which to look at and explore our Hargreeves. I love outside POV for bringing attention to weird shit we've gotten used to, and then their step away from the Main Plot let us have a different angle on characters, what was happening, and the plot in general. I started with HIT specifically to minimize OC presence. We have our Hargreeves and we start in their (Allison's) POV, rather than diving straight in with Walters' POV, like JT does. I was hoping dipping readers toes into Rob and Sarah with HIT would get you guys to like them enough to be willing to read much more of them in JT to see what Number was doing the two and a half years prior to HIT.

What I didn't expect was the pretty immediate love and thirst for Rob and the warming to Sarah that happened in HIT. I will say - I get the Rob love. I adore Rob, he's my special little Just A Guy. And he really gets more of a chance to shine in HIT than Sarah does because of his relationship he develops with Five. JT is Sarah's show. So, in retrospect, I Get It. But it's also just Very Special that you guys embraced Rob and Sarah, and Number to a lesser extent, so much that there are people who want to write fic with them, who have drawn fanart of them, who think about them on their own. Those are my guys! I made them up! And yet! They're off existing in your guys' heads! Wild!

In general, I wasn't expecting Shifting Together to be as big as it feels like it is. I didn't expect there to be a community around it. Hoped, obviously, as I've spent over two years writing it all, but didn't expect it. It felt too a little too niche, being an AU fic of an AU fic, and, with JT, too... unstructured? with it being slice-of-life.

It was strategic that I shared HIT first and JT became a prequel rather than the first in the series as I had originally written it. It was strategic that I shared the first three chapters of HIT within a week. I was desperate to hook you guys. See? Allison and Luther are here! See? Five is here and he has a big fight! I'm teasing that we'll get Other Five later! Just begging and hoping you guys would tolerate my OCs enough to hang around and see this story I'd written and was very proud of.

Over a year later and almost finished with JT, I see now I didn't have to be that nervous and desperate about it.

Thanks for the love, everyone <3

[apileofmoss]

IHHIHHI I AM INTERESTED 2 KNWO MORE ABT UR OCS,,.,., .,. WOULD U LIKE TO TALK ABT ANY OF THEM :OO i am listeningggn :33

HI I forgot to answer this yesterday but ohghh this is so vague but.uhm ill talk about Brianna for now ^_^ for her being my main protag I don't talk about her nor draw her too much,,</3 When I first created her, her last name was Bahadur which I believe is an Indian ?name? I don't even know where I found it either,, anyways her last name is Beckend now ! She was a foster kid for a while until age 10 when she was adopted by her dad(Sam) who worked at the agency . After a couple years, she was introduced to his partner(Tracy) and his partner's partner(Zhao)! polyamorous parents! yippee !! Zhao and Tracy soon after had a kid as well ! i should draw them at some point all the younger kids in the story have banger designs if I do say so myself Brianna took up a fascination with sociology and psychology, going to college for the both of those and starting a counseling company with her friend from highschool (they had a gay thing at one point but it ended up not being a gay thing just a friend thing) . That friend is Ashwini and he's prrrobably going to be in my header for next months theme :D

[miraakulous-cloud-district]

glance and canvas for aedan? :3

THANK YOU SO MUCH, YOU MADE ME SO HAPPY!! The questions are from this ask game!

Also, Aedan is my Dragon Age: Origins oc! I'm playing the game for the first time and I'm having a blast! He is a human noble warrior!

glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC's appearance? What's their distinguishing feature?

I already had a faceclaim in mind for him, which is Aaron Taylor Johnson, especially this picture!

As for my own headcanons, he is quite tall (about 185 cm) and very muscular (okay, meybe these are not headcanons haha), so if the arms are exposed, those will certainly be noticed :))) Another thing that people immediately would notice would be how tall and intimidating he is. He is intimidating from a distance: big warrior in full armor with a giant greatsword, but his face is soft and kind and he smiles with his whole face. His mouth and eyes get wrinkled by his wide smile.

canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings? Do they display or cover them up at all?

At the beginning of his story, he doesn't have many scars, but towards the end, I imagine him having many scars all over his body. As a warrior, he is always up close and personal with his enemies. Also, I can totally see him get piercings and tattoos throughout his adventures, and this is definitely Zevran's influence :)) I can even picture him letting his companions doodle stuff on his skin that he will later turn into tattoos. He has no idea how much life he has left to live as a grey warden, so he decides to have fun and do whatever he wants, and that includes getting embarrassing permanent tattoos that remind him of his friends. It's a way to know that they will always be with him, in a way :')

[deadrlngers]

hey sorry if you’ve been asked this before, but how do vesper & fenix deal when the other’s hurt (either physically or emotionally)? who’s the more protective of the two? 👀👀

aaaa thank you so much for the ask sophie!! this is such an interesting question, i don’t think i ever spoke about this so i'll try to not ramble TOO much jskjfj

in general vesper is the more protective one, her mindset is literally ‘a loved one>i need to protect them from everything in the world’ (perfect example is how she constantly worries for her younger brother). while fenix is the kind of person that worries but doesn't show it, he keeps a watchful eye but he's not going to vocalize his worry like vesper would do. so yes, vesper is the most protective one but fenix is the one that freaks out the most if something bad happens.

if we are talking about physical pain then vesper is the one that reacts with a colder mind. she knows what to do and how to deal with it, and she especially knows that when someone is hurt the best thing you can do to help them is to remain calm. an anxious mind doesn’t help you to act. ofc it gets a biiiit more difficult if we are talking about very very serious injuries, she still tries to keep her cool but her hands might be slightly shaking. fenix on the other hand couldn’t care less if he’s the one hurt but if it’s vesper then he’s bound to act more foolishly. he knows she can perfectly handle herself but if we get to more serious business (for example they are in open fire and vesper gets injuried) then he FOR SURE would start very carelessly and end up injuring himself too 

the funny thing here is that they both know how to deal with physical pain but when it comes to the emotional side...they are such a mess. put two people that NEVER speak about their emotions and keep everything inside even to the point of fucking up relationships (theirs a few times fhdsjf) in a blender and you will have a cocktail of things left unsaid. vesper doesn’t speak up when she’s hurt because she’s too prideful, she gets angry a lot to hide the fact that what she’s feeling is pain, not anger. fenix simply...shuts up, doesn’t talk, maybe disappears for a while when he gets emotionally overwhelmed. if one of them gets hurt by the other then it’s going to take a while to work this out, they will avoid each other until someone decides to speak (FINALLY), they are working hard to improve their communication when it gomes to fights.

if the reason one of them is hurt comes from outside the couple then ofc vesper is still not going to talk about it and she will pretend everything is fine. fenix will try to ask her about it (he already knows she will not immediately talk, she needs 2-3 business days to process that) and then he will mainly offer comfort with physical touch, a hug, a lil cuddle session...just what vesper needs to ease her mind a bit and talk when she’s ready. fenix this time is a bit more open about his feelings, you can perfectly read it on his face when something troubles him and he’s hurt. vesper will ask him about it (she needs to pull the words out of him but in the end he WILL speak) and then try to cheer him up in any way, maybe he will drag him to do something he likes, buy him a little gift, do something fun together...fenix is such an upbeat man sometimes that you can perfectly see when he’s feeling down while vesper will simply keep on going with her life. that’s why fenix worries a bit more when there’s emotional pain, if you don’t notice vesper going through Things then she will never talk about it and just...suffer in silence </3

[tragedykery]

you wanna ramble about some of your visions of the little guys? because i would Love to hear <333 (also feel free to ignore this if you don't want to, haha!!!)

thank you so so much for sending this ask ily <333 and I am. so so so sorry this started out as just a short stating of facts but then it began to lead a life of its own (uh cw for animal death)

ok for background info I’ve got this post here with a character list doc etc but it’s not really necessary to understand this

anyway I’ll be talking about sita (tag) bc I love her <3

in the kyoshi novels it’s said that all air nomads are benders but I think that’s stupid. there definitely are air nomad non-benders but they’re uncommon and generally don’t live in the temples.

sita is one of those non-benders. as she grows up in the eastern air temple, she practices the katas and fighting style just as hard as the other kids—maybe even harder—but no matter how hard she tries, she cannot get the air to move as it does for her peers. she feels like an outsider. there’s one other non-bender girl there, but she’s a few years older. they play together a lot, and it helps, but when the girl leaves to travel the world, sita is left behind, and she feels more alone than she ever has before.

she knows it’s not the fault of the her friend or other nuns, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. so one day, when she just can’t take it anymore, she stuffs her bag with food and all the airbending scrolls she can find (she cannot kill the hope inside her that maybe if she practices hard enough…). she gets her bison and flies away.

(she’s sixteen.)

she tries to find her old friend, but she could be anywhere. so she explores the world, and she’s happier than she’s been in a long time.

however, one day, her bison gets sick. she’s camping somewhere on an island in the fire nation, but no one there knows how to help her. she sets out toward the eastern air temple, but as they’re flying over the sea, they get caught in a storm. she worries they’re not going to survive, but by some stroke of luck, they get rescued by a bunch of seafarers on a ship called the ziyou. they’re friendly, and the captain promises to take care of them for as long as they need, but sita was right about one thing. her bison doesn’t survive.

taituk, the captain, promises they’ll drop her off at the nearest port, but.

she has no reason to go to the air temples now. it would only stir up painful memories. and her chances of finding her old friend, alone in the earth kingdom, on foot, are practically zero. she thinks about it.

she knows the crew she had initially thought to be regular seafarers are pirates. but they’re not like what she has heard about pirates. when she experiences a raid (she isn’t expected to participate and can just hide in the room she’s been staying in) she listens anxiously. she can hear taituk give the crew a sort of pep talk, and hears them tell the crew, with the practised ease of someone who has given a speech a thousand times before, to not hurt anyone unless absolutely necessary. “surrender and no harm will come to you,” she hears taituk call out to people on the other ship. and when the merchant ship’s captain surrenders, they follow through on their word.

she gets to know the crew. she learns about their motives, how they’re all outcasts, how they only attack the ships of rich merchants or other pirates, how most of them turned to piracy because there was no other option, to feed themselves and in some cases their families too.

maybe, sita thinks, she can figure out how to make this work.

—

sita’s been on the ziyou for almost two years. she’s gotten good at incorporating the fighting skills she’s learned on the ship into the air nomad fighting style she has such extensive knowledge of. she learns she has a talent for using projectile weapons—though nisha remains the best with throwing knives, she’s easily the second best, and her handiness with a bow and arrows more than makes up for it. she’s decent with a spear too, though she’s more defensive with it than the girl who teaches her, aki, would like.

(the cook, chusak, offers to teach her his weird fighting style of throwing pans at people, but she turns him down. that’s just weird and impractical and more often than not leaves people with bruises, concussions, or broken bones. well, she doesn’t need to learn to use every possible projectile weapon.)

she might not be able to bend air like she had always wished (and still wishes) she could, but as she pins an enemy to the mast with nothing more than a flick of her wrist or the release of a taut bowstring, or feels the salty wind ruffle her hair as she stands in the crow’s nest, she finds she doesn’t mind her lack of bending as much as she used to. she’s made peace with it.

she’s still shocked, though, when one day during a raid (the captain refused to surrender, proud as the beifongs he works for), she looks over her shoulder and sees a woman floating several feet above the deck. her eyes are closed and her long hair whips in the wind, and while she’s wearing earth kingdom clothing and doesn’t have any tattoos, there’s no way she’s not an airbender.

“what’s an airbender doing on a ship like that?” she muses to taituk as they’re hauling boxes of loot onto their own ship. “she must be powerful. to lift yourself into the air and create a storm like that takes a lot of strength.” (no one knows, of course, that was the avatar state, and they don’t realise it for a long time.)

“well, whatever the case, we’re lucky chusak knocked her out,” nisha grumbles. she turns to show the two of them a nasty-looking gash on her shoulder. “she almost got me with one of her own knives.”

taituk pulls a face. “ouch. well, better go see mallik, then.” nisha rolls her eyes and grumbles something sarcastic before walking off, but before sita can tease taituk about being “romantic” (she doesn’t have proof yet, but she knows!), taituk says, frowning, “iraluq said they seemed scared, though. the airbender I mean. scared and confused, as they threw up their arms and knocked her ice daggers away. as if they didn’t know what they had what they done or how.”

sita’s still pondering that over a few hours later, when she hears shouting on the other side of the ship. she rushes there to investigate. she makes her way through the crowd that has gathered on the deck. “what’s happen–”

she falls silent as she sees the airbender standing pressed against the wall, terrified.

“everyone give us some space!” taituk calls. “go on with what you were previously doing. nothing to see here.”

“what happened?” sita whispers to nuvuja, who’s, for some reason, is opening all the crates they had gotten from the raid and checking their contents.

nuvuja’s reply is brisk. “xuan managed to accidentally kidnap a person.”

“how?!”

nuvuja slams the crate she’d been rummaging through shut and opens the next one. “he was supposed to help check the loot but got lazy. just carried crates onto the ship without checking if their contents were the same as the labels. and apparently the airbender fell into a crate of rice when she got knocked out by chusak. lid slammed shut. we just found out while getting stuff for dinner.”

she grimaces as she looks over at the airbender. taituk is speaking to her softly, and while she looks less scared than before, her eyes are full of tears. “poor girl,” nuvuja murmurs. “we’ve got no clue where her ship is now. stranded on a ship in the middle of the sea with a bunch of pirates. she must be terrified.”

sita thanks nuvuja, and walks off to join taituk. maybe she can help.

—

apparently the airbender—hira—does not, in fact, know she is one. or she didn’t, until now. she and sita become fast friends. sita’s a friendly presence, a reassuring constant in the scary period waiting hira’s caught in until they reach land.

“I guess I should go to one of the temples, huh?” hira says a few days after her arrival on the ship. she tries for humour, but sounds breathless. scared. “if I want to learn”—she hesitates for a moment—“bending.”

she’d been both scared and elated to learn she was a bender. apparently she’s grown up as an orphan with no knowledge of her heritage.

“I can try to teach you some stuff, if you want,” sita offers.

hira’s eyes widen. “you’re an airbender too?!”

sita tries to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “no.” she tries for a smile. “but I grew up in the temples, so I know a few things.”

(she knows more than a few things.)

—

it’s weird, teaching someone to bend when sita can’t herself, but they make it work. hira’s a prodigy, easily executing techniques sita remembers took the other girls at the temple months to master. (techniques sita will never be able to do.) sita can help her, teach her, in a way hira will never be able to do for her. you can’t give someone bending, after all.

they meditate together, and cook air nomad recipes with chusak’s help. she teaches hira to read, write and speak the most common air nomad languages, and hira teaches her her earth kingdom town’s language in return.

it would be so easy to be jealous of hira. and maybe she is jealous, just a little. but she doesn’t let that jealousy fester, doesn’t let it turn into resentment. she won’t ever be able to bend, but she can be proud of hira, can be happy for her. can laugh with her as they mess up the recipe for fruit pies and smile at her when she masters yet another kata. she can participate in her culture with another air nomad, one who she knows won’t judge her for being a non-bender. (she spent the first twenty-seven years of her life as one, after all.)

and it will be enough.

(she doesn’t know that hira is jealous of her in the same way, for growing up in the temples. (hira’s spent her whole life wanting nothing more than connection with her culture.) but much in the same way, hira doesn’t allow her jealousy to lead her. she and sita are both air nomads who will always be a little bit of an outsider, and they’ll have to stick together. it’s not just that, though. she likes being around this chatty, lively kid (“I’m eighteen!” sita always protests). she likes to gossip with her and sit in the crow’s nest together and play silly games and have competitions who have climb the masts the fastest. sita is one of the main reasons hira decides to stay when the ziyou reaches the port taituk had promised they’d drop her off at.)

(the rest of the crew notices, that since hira’s arrival, sita seems happier than she’s ever been.)