#the brainrot is so strong they managed to get me to WRITE

[missingmelody]

Gardening

[littledeathdove]

Aah those headcanons were so good! I'm having such Miri brainrot x3 could you maybe write some hcs about Crow Wife and a partner who is very fragile and sickly?

I have such a weak immune system I swear I'm fighting some type of sickness like every other day atp xP

𝐀 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐘 ᯓ★

Scenario; Miranda with a sickly and fragile lover

A/N; EEEK thank you so much, I’m glad that my headcanons for MM made you satisfied! Also I love this request because Miranda with any topic of sickness? Yes give me it cause imma make some good fluff or angst with it 🫡. I don’t know if your currently sick anon but if so I hope you get better, I’ll feed you some brain rot food to help ofc

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

*°:⋆ₓₒ• First off, the Miranda that everyone knows is not the one you have come to see daily. Miranda can be very cruel, dismissive of things that don’t catch her interest, and overall selfish with her time and energy — since obviously she has more important stuff to care about. All of this? Yeah, all of these features of Miranda just go out of the window when she is with you.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Miranda is very caring — as she can be — and attentive of you. While she already doesn’t have that much time to herself, she would sacrifice even that little bit of time to devote herself in watching over you and your state of health whenever needed.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Miranda knows how gentle she must be with someone as fragile as you, so she is overall very gentle and cautious with her actions throughout the relationship. But there is times where that rougher side of her can show, usually it only comes out in two situations. First one is that you go against her orders which could possibly cause you to get sick.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Miranda hates when you do this, definitely not because it reminds herself of her own stubbornness actions when the Spanish flu was going around which lead to a death you know very well about. Miranda is strong and confident in her abilities to make sure you never get too deadly sick, but she still has that lingering fear that you could end up in the same situation Eva was in.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• The second situation is when the frustration of her unsuccessful attempts to get her. This situation is always the worst to go through since Miranda would distance herself for a while but she will still take care of you from this distance. Now Miranda doesn’t apologize but she shows some subtle actions of apologizing, they are very subtle though.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Now there is times where Miranda could be seen as neglectful but that truly only when you are in a better state of health and she is able to spend more time in the laboratory thanks to that. Honestly you do have to learn to just get used to this since Miranda still is learning on how to manage her time wisely with this relationship. Plus, Miranda would automatically believe you would just understand her need to be in the laboratory for such extended periods of times from the get go.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Miranda would be very obsessed over keeping your health as perfect as possible. I swear that woman goes into a state of tension whenever you fall back under the weather. Is it because of Eva situation? Well yeah. Anyway, this woman will be doing daily checkups on your health almost as soon as she gets out of the laboratory/village and you into her hands.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• To just explain how obsessive this insane woman can get over your wellbeing, let me highlight a new change she caught.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• We all know by the state of her laboratory that Miranda is likely not the cleanest person, definitely not dirty but just likely to let shit clutter up. Well that is the second most drastic change in Miranda, cause now that woman keeps the place as clean as possible. She doesn’t even let dust stay on something for to long, it’s a crazy to see, but also so cute.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Miranda is a curious person I will say, so she is usually always questioning you about something over your health. Rather it be how you feel to predictions of when you could get sick again. So hopefully you’re ready to experience that cause she will make you answer every question to the best of your ability.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Trust these questions do come in handy to keep you from getting too sick since Miranda can usually figure out what’s wrong with your body just by simple answers and knowledge on small symptoms in certain illnesses. The woman is VERY intelligent after all and that smart brain don’t just come in handy for the mold.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• When it comes to your fragility Miranda doesn’t play when it comes to who you’re around. Honestly you will be staying in the house more just because of how paranoid and anxious Miranda could get over you getting possibly hurt. She knows first hand how someone fragile can meet their demise with a small slip up, and Miranda refuses to be in the situation of watching someone she loves experience the consequences of this slip up again.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Thankfully Miranda is a very devoted and thoughtful — enough — lover when she is in love, so she makes it her mission to make sure you don’t get too bored when she demands you to stay home for the sake of your health. She will have her crow’s entertain you with silly actions, she’ll buy you books from the Duke (that she of course looked over before she accepted that they were of approval), and maybe even get you a tv that only takes films/DVDS if your more of a watcher then a reader

*°:⋆ₓₒ• While Miranda is definitely one prone to brag and show off, she will show you off more vocally then physically. It’s not like she doesn’t want to, but she just can’t risk the possibilities. She might take you to a lord meeting or two, maybe even to some meetings with Alcina — since Alcina takes it very serious to make sure your health stays safe by making the maids clean everything spotless, all to Miranda request of course.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• The winter lasts more longer in the village, and Miranda treats winter as if it’s the end of the world when it comes to you. She would buy you so much clothing that will be suitable for the cold weather, and if she has to go to such extremes she will even demand ask Donna to make you any clothing you need to stay warm. This is especially when you want to certain look in your new warm clothing.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Soup season goes crazy with Miranda, I believe making soups is one of the top things Miranda is best at cooking. Miranda makes sure to make soups that will give you as much nutrients that you need to help you stay at least a bit more healthy.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Though Miranda prioritize your nutritional intake she will still wish to satisfy your preference. So funnily enough this will lead to you being sat down at a table and becoming basically a judger of the soups she plans to make for you in the future. And Miranda is pretty strict so she’ll make sure to milk out all of your opinions of the soups she’s feeding you. (Also a showing of her perfectionism, but you didn’t hear that from me) This leaves you no excuse to eat all of the soup when gives it to you later on.

*°:⋆ₓₒ• Now let’s say that you somehow caught something from someone like in the village. Crash out Miranda will be coming out as soon as she finds out, cause of course it would that woman is always one step off from doing some crazy shit. I don’t even have to tell you what she does, but just know it’s bloodshed that night.

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

A/N: Yelp that’s all I got! Loved making this little post, again it’s always interesting to have the trope of a sick lover with Miranda. Anyway,

I do hope you enjoy these headcanons anon!! 🫶🏾

[awriternamedart]

hades brainrot is so strong im thinking about zagreus' whole god of blood , physical and emotional thing and melinoes goddess of magick and nightmares thing and oughghg

i have a lil headcanon that zagreus' bloodstones (his casts if you arent like me and dont absorb every detail against your will) are like - literally made of his blood . like he does not store bloodstones on him he kinda just expells blood from his hand or smth and it consolidates and makes a bloodstone . as he begins to realize this is something unique to him he later can use it to form weapons and minor spell-like things on a whim, as he gains power from both practice and realizing what his domain is and what it entails, as people and mortals alike become aware of him as well his power slowly grows, and he eventually can get skilled enough to manipulate titan blood and stuff , blood that isnt his own . Its partially why its so integral to the aspects and the weapons btw.

like ive has this idea stuck in my head of zagreus pulling blood from a deep cut on his arm in elysium or something and momentarily using it to form a blade as a final strike of sorts - on complete whim , without much thought in true zag fashion - and using it to stab a shade and complete the encounter and only when his blood splatters to the grass does he realize what he just did . he proceeds to take twice as long to get to hades at the entrance (theyce done this long enough that they no longer really fight and its more of a sparring match while they converse about the underworlds security and whatever else they deem worthy to talk about) and upon getting questioned by hades about it zagreus pulls out a very shaky looking blood sword from his own blood and hades is just like how the fuck did you manage this one zagreus and zagreus just grins like 'toldja im the god of something'

mb ill draw or write it but that means i have to figure out how zagreus' hair works and i dun wanna

i have thoughts on melinoe as well but imma wait for full release so i can do more evidence gathering on it

[yanderes-galore]

can't wait to see more of your funger content. My brainrot for it is always so strong 😩

Can you write a scenario for Daan where he finds his darling injured in some dingy alleyway? To add some drama points... maybe another contestant attacked them? Or maybe darling accidentelly hurt themselves when they were running away from Daan? The possibilities are endless ;)

Sure! Here you go ^^ I hope you enjoy it!

Trusting Strangers

Yandere! Daan Scenario

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Overprotective/Possessive behavior, Violence, Blood, Murder, Stalking, Drugging, Forced companionship/relationship.

Your meeting with each other must've been some twisted form of fate...

Although, in this festival, when is it not?

When you met Daan, you were nearly at death's door. Obviously, not everyone was going to band together against Gods in this game. If you tell people they'll die within three days... They get desperate.

Desperate enough to kill.

Just as the Gods wanted.

The encounter had caught you off guard, yet you managed to fend them off. Unfortunately the encounter had left you running blindly with your wounds drooling blood. You could only think to hide yourself and try to recover.

As you sit down in the alleyway, however... you begin to wonder if there's a point. You're in pain... blood is beginning to stain the dirty ground beneath you. Maybe you weren't cut out for this festival...

A voice breaks you from your stupor.

"Woah, The hell happened to you—?"

It's then you feel a presence beside you, quickly checking over your wounds before rummaging through a bag. You're weak... you don't bother fighting him. The man beside you clicks his tongue, a singular gray eye glancing at you.

"You aren't going to attack me if I heal you, right? You owe me for this...."

You weakly nod, not having the strength to make a fuss as you close your eyes. You hiss when you feel a metal needle pierce and thread your skin together. The pain is the first step to your recovery.

By the end of it all, you're bandaged to stop the bleeding. With a little bit of Sylvian prayer, you're good to go. Occult and medical knowledge really seem to go well together...

With this man's help you managed to feel brand new.

"Thank you... You're right, I do owe you." You smile, only for the man to shrug.

"Let's start with names... You can just call me Daan, and you?" The man in front of you introduces, beginning a friendly conversation between you and your savior.

It's here you learn his name. You learn what he does and a bit of his skill set. In return, you tell him about yourself.

Due to feeling indebted to the man and not trusting yourself alone... You end up convincing Daan to travel alongside you. He didn't seem to mind much. He even dryly comments on you being 'unable to care for yourself'.

An odd comment... yet you agree with an awkward laugh.

This man did save your life, after all.

For that fact alone you trusted Daan. Was it naive? Perhaps... but who else can you trust? He happened to be there to help you...

Now you two are traveling together. He's been the only one you can rely on. If he's saved your life...

You must be able to trust him....

....

"So now you don't trust me?" You hear Daan taunt as you hide in the very same alleyways you found yourself nearly dying in. Blood stains your shirt as you run. The familiar burning of your lungs still stings even as you hide behind a building.

"I take care of the person who nearly killed you... and you run? You run from me like I'm some monster who's going to hurt you?" Daan scoffs as he looks around, his own clothes stained in blood.

"Seriously, get used to it... Isn't the whole point of this festival murder? You didn't want to be hurt again, right?" Daan asks into the air, frowning.

You hear footsteps approach, the stench of rot and metallic blood permeated the air as you curl up. You wish you could clean off.... You wish it was all a nightmare.

"Obviously, if one person attacked you... Then someone else could." Daan hums, carefully stalking towards your location like a cat. "So I was merely leaving your side to... deal with some other potential issues."

You can hear his shoes against the stone, the sound taunting you. You begin to think of potential escape routes. Only to hear Daan chuckle darkly.

"Remember... You can't take care of yourself, dear." Daan muses. "You need me... You'll die without me."

You shift to get up, only for Daan to appear around the corner and trap you. Your heart nearly stops with how fast he is. You yelp quietly as Dann holds you in place.

"Oh so this is how you were caught before, huh?" Daan taunts, soon managing to push you over and restrain you on your stomach. "You're only proving my point...."

You glance back, your heart rapidly pulsing. Daan hunches over you, straddling your back as he grins. He means to be teasing...

But it looks almost Cheshire.

"You sure you want to fight me?" Daan hums, using another hand to pull something from his bag. "You're better off resting... All worked up over me saving your life again."

You feel something stab into your back, a liquid seeping into your blood as you struggle. Daan hushes you, a bloody hand covering your mouth as you make a small scream. Daan clicks his tongue in annoyance, sighing softly.

"Quiet... No one's going to help you. They want to kill you, don't you know that?" Daan scolds as he sees your resistance fade. "You can only trust one person... the one who saved your life..."

Daan then leans forward, whispering in your ear as you succumb to the drug he somehow picked up along the way in your journey...

"You can trust me... and ONLY me...."

[spliqi]

lucy and/or sigma for the ask game!!

LENA hello!! <3

lucy maud montgomery - bsd

favorite thing about them: oh god. where do i begin. lucy’s character is one that i admit i didn’t examine too closely at first but i’m so pleased i did because she’s amazing. she’s such a brilliant subversion of so many romantic tropes especially in regards to her relationship with atsushi. the fact that she’s set up to be the conventional damsel in distress and a cut-and-paste version of him, but then throughout their relationship she turns all of that on its head. becoming the hero she needed when atsushi fails to save her, having her development pushed by a male character instead of existing solely to further his, her relationship with kyouka developing as a criticism of love triangles/rivals — instead of fighting with another girl over a guy it’s their mutual care for him that brings them together and keeps them strong. her and atsushi looking after each other in each other’s love languages — she risks her life to save him, an act which is so important to him he feels it’s his life’s purpose, while he is open and vulnerable with her — the one thing she struggles with most. yeah. also her design is gorgeous, one of the best in the series imo

least favorite thing about them: that she doesn’t play more of a central role in the story #tbh

favorite line:

i could write an akulucy thesis abt this

brOTP: lucy & kyouka! also mutuals have converted me into lucy & sigma brainrot

OTP: MONTCOTT ARGHHHH bashes my head into the wall repeatedly. also atsulucy if that giant rant at the beginning didn’t give it away

nOTP: lucy/kyouka. also not particularly fond of lucy/twain for a reason i can’t figure out

random headcanon: that she collects stuffed animals in anne's room and gives them as gifts to people she really likes

unpopular opinion: uhhh that she isn't one-dimensional. and her feelings for atsushi don't take away from her character just because they're a significant part of it. there are many characters in bsd who have heavy ties to another character (many of those ties much stronger than lucy's are) and none of them get the same flak as the female characters seem to

song i associate with them: BECAUSE LOVE GROWSSS WHERE MY ROSEMARY GOESSSS AND NOBODY KNOWSSSS LIKE MEEEE and also aint it fun by paramore <3

favorite picture of them: her early manga droopy eyes can be something so personal 🫶

sigma - bsd

favorite thing about them: his mysterious backstory... i love theorizing about him and what author he could possibly represent. his design is also absolutely stunning and i'm still mourning how much of it was sacrificed by bones studio

least favorite thing about them: his anime adaptation

favorite line: "It might just be a trick, but Dazai paid a price. An immense price. It's part of the casino's style to match the customer's stakes."

brOTP: siglai!

OTP: years of slander and mischaracterization and still nobody has managed to wean me off sigzai. you bozos will have to pry them from my cold dead hands. also kunisig!! also my guilty pleasure sigsskk (yes you read that right. no i didn’t accidentally type an extra s)

nOTP: sigma/teruko

random headcanon: not random at all and in fact very popular hc but sigma ur so transgender.... transmasc sigma = peak. transfem sigma = peak. nonbinary sigma = peak. honestly every trans hc can be reasonably supported by the text and i just love that about him. i love them all

unpopular opinion: he’s not dumb he’s not a baby he knows when he’s being taken advantage of!!! he knows when he’s being manipulated he just goes along with it anyway because he’s that desperate for somewhere to belong !!!!! that’s the whole point!!!! that’s why his relationship with dazai (and atsushi) is so important!! through them he’s learning that home is where the heart is and that it doesn’t have to be conditional or transactional

song i associate with them: skyfall is too obvious of an answer so i'm gonna say split by 88rising & niki 🙏 also coin by iu for the casino vibes. i used to have a sigma playlist but i’ve forgotten every song that was in it so that’s all you’re getting

favorite picture of them: LOL i have so many. he’s so expressive

character ask game

[stikybug]

The polycule brainrot is so strong.

I need to put some of these ideas down but i don't like making things pretty so this is just a braindump . All under cut to not clog

Stealing clothes between them would be so so so common. Mc is a menace and has 6 oversized shirts she totally swears are hers. Only one is

Second biggest offender is Ayn when staying at home , Alkaid stares at him for 5 minutes straight when he sees his missing sweater matched with cat earphones

It's so cute a photo was sent to the gc, obviously

They start sleeping at the sameish time, it's such a perfect excuse to go over to their cute partners and be tender before bed how could they not?

Because of this, Mc, Lars, and Ayns' shitty sleep schedule gets fixed

Cael isn't around so much but you know they get weekly texts from him that says the sweetest things ever

Lars pampers his stunning partners so well when he's finally free, candlelit dinners, gifts in the droves for all of them, even arranging so the place is basically empty when they get there since most of them don't like crowds

All of them are banned from playing ludo. This is final after the incident

Since Cael was officially the last one to get in Clarence planned a whole thing that was a celebration of him getting out of denial phase. And the announcement he also had a plus of four boyfriends

Confusion did not even begin to describe the expression the man had

Sometimes if people are nosy Ayn would start talking about different partners in the same conversation

"Oh you know my boyfriend's really cute with those doe-eyes"

"BOYFRIEND?"

"Yes, anyway my girlfriend the other day gave me this-"

Chaos ensues.

He doesn't care about the rumors though. He's noticed how his playing changed ever so slightly when thinking about his partners. In the span of a week after this noticeable change he found himself writing 5 different pieces for them.

He gives them the pieces by the time of their anniversary, mentioning he'd even play it for them if they wanted.

A private concert happened that day, it didn't need to be recorded to be engraved into their memories.

A while after that, the little painter and Emerald both released pieces that felt like they were overflowing with love and other warm sentiments.

Alkaid sends photos of the sky every time an observation night comes up in the astronomy department. He makes notes about which constellations remind him of his partners the most.

Obviously if any of them point a photo out or say one is pretty it's going to be printed out in the universal imaging studio

The starry photos are all probably framed and hung on a wall somewhere. Ayn has them in his hideout, Lars has the images upsized and on full display in his home, Clarence has one particularly sentimental one on the desk of the student council office, Cael has it as his phone background so he could see it wherever he went, and MC has it in her studio, always up to give her a boost of inspiration when she needed it.

William almost has a heart-attack every morning since Clarence has been looking the giddiest he's ever been since he and MC started dating.

He figures it out since Clarence is just so obvious. He's had the same reaction to two students that he has with the little painter. The way that his eyes light up whenever Ayn 'just so happens' to need to go to the student council so many times? And their conversations meander and flow too slowly for this to even be about their original topic anymore.

Or how he manages to write up an excuse to 'supervise' the Astronomy Department's viewing nights most of the time when he felt no need to previously, always found near Alkaid most of the time.

If one were to sneak a peek at his diary, it would probably contain paragraphs upon paragraphs of how pretty his partners were and things they did or things he saw that reminded him of them.

Cael was the most cautious about this entire arrangement. While he cared about her he had no idea if it would even be possible for him to catch feelings for the rest of them.

Unfortunately, the little painter has exceptional taste.

It was different for each of them, but it ended back in the same giant mess he has been dealing with for the past few months: He's so very attached to all of these charming men that he's caught himself blushing at the thought of them.

And these feelings came with the problems of someone like him developing such deep fondness for someone. The danger and chance of discovery he would give not just to the little painter, but the paragons of this world.

When he brings this concern up he's very lovingly shown how stupid he is by the sheer willingness of his boyfriends to love him despite knowing all of this.

Maybe this would be alright. They have each other no matter what afterall.

[blueberrysoaps]

Controversially Young Girlfriend | A Thunderbolts Drabble

M.list

Val is trying to improve the reputation of the Thunderbolts. So she hires a social media manager for the New Avengers.

A/n: me and my boo think this is funny. I might do more. I wanted this to be longer but I’ll just post this and see if everyone gets the vision.

Warnings/content: thirsty tweet, John gets bullied,

———

“Well, your resume is impressive. I suppose.”

You’ve realized Valentina is sort of… what’s the word- uh,

A bitch.

She’s a bitch.

And you don’t call a woman a bitch lightly.

This is the second most passive aggressive interview you’ve ever sat through. You did marketing for a startup that completely consisted of college dropout, drop shipping, dudebros, once.

Never again.

“Now of course you’ll be working with some sensitive information. So I’ve got everything you’ve ever posted publicly, on my computer here. I’d like to review a few things with you.” She looks so casual about that too, an intimidation tactic no doubt.

You’re a professional. You’ve been very careful to private any less than ideal posts, don’t post any stories of you getting hammered, etc.

“Of course.” Not your first rodeo.

“In 2017, you posted to an account titled “fussysoupfivesixty5” in response to an article on James Barnes presidential pardon.”

Oh shit.

She meant everything.

Which honestly also isn’t that bad. But there’s no connection with your name to that stupid burner account. Damn CIA.

“Oh right.” You felt your neck warm with discomfort. Honestly you have no idea what you said, so this could either be very normal or actually insane.

“I’ll quote it,” she glanced over and cleared her throat. Her look didn’t give anything away. Despite maybe a small amount of amusement. “‘Does anyone know if he’s looking for a controversially young girlfriend’”

And she took a pause to look you in the eye, hands together on the table. Official after literally quoting your own brainrot thirst tweet.

“Any comments on that?” She asked.

“I wrote that…? That’s soo crazy.” You of course avert your gaze and clear your throat.

It was very funny at the time. I recall it now. I wrote that then finished some essay I was writing for English class. Definitely controversially young. Is this actually gonna get me in trouble?

“Other than a few other spirited tweets about public figures, not much else of interest. Minimal digital footprint, not suspiciously so.” She trailed on in a casual manner, looking over the file again as if she doesn’t have it memorized.

Why did she even need to mention that, I mean of course she saw it in the background check, though it’s clear it wasn’t important, she didn’t care.

This must be that psychological warfare they’re talking about.

“Yeah, I figured employers could be.. thorough.”

There was more remarks, and very veiled threats.. you think? Until she shook your hand and announced the interview was over.

You were glad to be out of there. You figured it wasn’t too much of a loss if she doesn’t get back to you cause honestly, that woman freaks you out. Until you got the call from her assistant, you’d been given the job.

The next day.

She knew she wanted to hire you… she just waited. Kept you on your toes. More manipulation.

Of course you said yes, how often does one find a job with dental? Besides, you’ve done similar things before. The New Avengers’ reputations are tarnished, yes. But you’re on salary, so what’s the worst that could happen?

“No, Walker I did not take your shield. You can’t even use it anymore, it’s been origami’ed.”

Ava took it and hid it behind a wall. Cause he said he didn’t care about it and never even thought about how few things there are strong enough to bend it back into shape. You saw it with your own eyes, she stepped through your office with it.

“It’s not about that, Ghost. That’s solid vibranium. Frankly, it’s a security risk.”

They argue as you walk through the main part of the tower to the kitchen to get more coffee.

You’ve been working for nearly a month now, turns out the commute was a while from you ur apartment, Val wanted you to be able to be at the tower at a moments notice. So you’ve taken to the couch in your office (that still doesn’t have legs on it)

You didn’t expect them to be like this. So… comfortable. They’d address you when you walk into rooms with nods, not just when it pertains to work, they’d say hi and chat.

Or, unfortunately bring you into their squabbling.

“I mean you’re the manager, doesn’t tracking it down seem like the responsible thing?” Walker asks you as you walk.

You stop and look like your thinking, to humor him for a moment before doing what you’ve learned would be best, never agree with Walker. It’s a bit everyone’s in on.

“No I think it’ll be fine, probably just shoved it in a closet.”

“No, it was definitely in my room.” He seems genuinely stumped. Ava’s poker face is phenomenal.

Yelena walked by giving you a smile, before making a judging expression at John. “You keep that metal taco in your room? But it’s so ugly.”

“I don’t know how you lost it, Walker, honestly the thing is an eyesore.” Ava crossed her arms and played nonchalantly.

“This isn’t about it being ugly.”

You won’t incriminate yourself further. Snitches get stitches.

[charleslee-valentine]

Carbolic acid, and a poison face

wordcount: ~7,500

warnings: abuse, physical abuse like slapping and beating, verbal abuse, period typical ableism, incorrect disability terminology, mean-spirited, cannibalism, unknowing cannibalism (tricking into eating people meat), Drayton Sawyer is his own warning.

description: A bond between the Hardesty’s mother, and Drayton, on account of Franklin’s condition. Spina Bifida is thought to be influenced by certain nutrients, including liver enzymes. Let’s say she knew this, and came to the best traders of meat in town; her neighbors, the Sawyers.

Idea proposed by my buddy Leslie over at @pierrot-fish! Thank you for giving me permission to write this based on your thoughts!!

Also on ao3!

____________

The first time anybody realized the Sawyer twins had no sense of what spelled danger, was as soon as they started on walkin’.

First time Drayton found their little cots empty, he just ran. He knew damn well they couldn’t be far, little fuckers still toddling ‘round barely long enough to cross one room. Was halfway between impressed and scared shitless to find them outside. The stronger of the two trying to drag his brother on his knees to the sunflowers to play.

Took ‘em ‘til they were past toddlerhood to get that far, still babbling nonsense but easing into all the affairs usual for almost three year olds. Makes perfect sense the second they was mobile they’d take off for more fun than a couple cloth dolls and wooden figurines could give ‘em. Adventure. ‘Bout to drive Drayton plum fuckin’ crazy with their adventures.

That particular instance knocked his sense out with anxiety so bad he didn’t even beat ‘em for it, just took ‘em back to bed and blocked their door with a few railroad ties and a ratchet strap around the handle.

Give ‘em a few years and he’d take those diapered little bastards over the worse hellions they become any day. ‘Stead of runnin’ off for the at least fenced in backyard, they’s makin’ for the road by five years old.

Their daddy took the same high road and left, just as quick as Drayton’s had, but it don’t seem right, that it’d be instinct to run off in the street. ‘Bout then they hafta admit them boys in general ain’t right.

Drayton’s the first baby of the fam’ly, but he knows from the stories mama tells what they s’posed to act like. Knows better from watchin’ folks ‘round Newt with’n their little ones. Prob’ly seems all kinds ‘a wise, but he’s just the observer- “stay quiet boy!” more’n well instilled in him.

Damn it he knows he’s stubborn, won’t give up that strong arm he were raised up with, but he likes to think he’s easy on them twin boys. When one of ‘em starts screamin’ their head off ‘cause it’s too dark inside the house an’ their itchin’ at their arms an’ worse, they get these headaches ‘hind their eyes, he takes ‘em out to burn off steam.

Won’t never take an eye off them when he ain’t at work, the only time mama or grandma’ll take over that role. That’d just be askin’ for some kinda accident, endin’ in two tiny caskets. Can’t do that again. Bury another kid. Mama done that enough, all her unfortunate pregnancies.

Out front is where the boys like best, ‘cause it’s got room to kick up dust from the driveway. Nubbins is still unsteady on his feet, bumblin’ ‘round like some kind of a deer with brainrot, but his brother’s runnin’ ‘round him in circles, some made up game prob’ly.

In the corner of his eye, he sees movement, figures it to be mama at first returnin’ from wherever the hell she been off to ‘fore the sun shown itself this mornin’. Flash of blondish-hair tells ‘im it ain’t.

Got a good knife for skinnin’ next to him on the stoop, crawlin’ his hands toward it slow-like fore he freezes entirely. Just the neighbor woman, swollen up pregnant from the looks of it, creeps her way forward, ignoring the boys past a faint smile. Hard, when they’re both squealin’ like hogs, but she manages. She’s gunnin’ straight for Drayton on some mission she’d already decided.

“Mr Sawyer? I don’t hope to be a bother, intrudin’ and all-“

“Don’t call me that-” Drayton touts, on the defense, before he catches himself. Clearing his throat halfway through, he stiffens out, feigning pleasantries, “Pardon. My grandfather, he’s the man of the house. Ain’t got enough wisdom goin’ ‘round to be callin’ myself by no honor-ifics. You- You call me Drayton now, ma’am.”

Neighbor woman gives him a nod, but it’s soft around the edges, ain’t a commitment. “Alright, Drayton then. You might know me as your next door neighbor. Mister Enright’s daughter.”

Wary, Drayton tries to get a glimpse at her cards ‘fore she plays ‘em.

“I know your business anyhow. Was our meat kept Newt from sinkin’, but I figure it’s y’all with the- the wool trade and the plants y’all got, that’s what’s doin’ any good.”

Much as he might hate the playin’ nice with strange folk, he’ll always hate the killin’ worse, so he’ll keep doin’ it. Prob’ly makes him seem honest anyhow, talkin’ down on his own trade like that, though this Enright girl don’t know the details she thinks she does.

“Oh, it hardly brings money.” She waves it away, hand coming to sit at the junction of her belly. Guess he assessed it right then, that she’s with child.

“Don’t I know it. That slaughterhouse, it’s rotten work, miss. Cain’t never scrub clean of it. Don’t like it, but it’s gotta be done. Way of the world, I s’pose.”

“That’s exactly why I’m here Mister- um.. Drayton.”

Now that certainly gives him pause. Goes stiff as a bloated corpse himself, “No, no, no ain’t a woman’s- Don’t mean no disrespect- my grandmother, this business put her through Hell, workin’ her til’ her bones was as weak as the beeves after their bout in the freezer. Women-folks is good for that kind of ruin.”

“No, I’m not looking for work. You see I’m with child-“ If she heard Drayton scoff, on account of already knowin’ such, she ignores it, feedin’ him the explanation she’d clearly done practiced, “My baby, they’ve done all sorts of tests on me, and they think my little one’s gonna be brought up sick.”

Ain’t gonna lie and say that doesn’t remind him of his own brothers. The gaunt little creatures they always‘ve been. Mama’s mama took one look at the shape of her belly and knew they was tangled up in there wrong, and what d’ya know, nine months later one of em come out with the damn cord ‘round his throat. Figure gettin’ an actual hospital involved oughta be even more of a science by now.

“..That right?”

Frazzled woman she is, starts a ramblin’, “Yessir. There’s this curse on our family, been around since at least my dear great auntie. Spina Bifida they call it. I don’t want my baby to be that way. We bless the memory of the others with it and love ‘em every day but, it’s the pain I want to avoid for my little one. Oh Drayton, could you imagine the fear of losin’ your boys before you even knew ‘em?”

This time his scoff is more like a barely choked back laugh. “My boys? You think them rotten twins is my boys. Woman you’re mistaken outright, those are-“

“Your brothers. Yessir, I understand that much, but it’s you raised ‘em up so well. I remember hearin’ their wailing from down the way, look at ‘em now and you’d never know what they went through. That’s what I want for my baby.” She pleads with him, reaching both of her hands for one of his.

Drayton lets her hold ‘em there for a moment, before slipping out of her grasp. His arms curl into his body like a mantis, easing off the greasy feelin’ of skin to skin contact on his dry cotton shirt.

“I don’t s’pose you think I got some fancy medical degree.”

At first she seems baffled, until it hits her she never finished her explanation before lettin’ her emotions build up too far, “I’m here about the meat, remember? They say it’s something with the liver that’s low. My body is deprivin’ the baby as it is. Some essential parts from the meat might help. And I’d like to buy some from y’all here.”

“Well that, I can do. Yes, ma’am.”

Out of that little request comes a deal, and a friendship.

It surprises Drayton that she keeps comin’ back, after skippin’ off with her prize in crumpled brown butcher paper the first time. Figures it’s either helpin’, or she’s convincin’ herself it is, to come back and deal with his attempts at social interaction. Not like socializin’ is easy when for him, it usually ends in untimely demise.

As far as his expectations, this arrangement only gonna last ‘til the end of her nine months, and considerin’ she was halfway along when they first met, it ain’t too long now.

The hope is just that it ain’t too late, gettin’ these things in her body to save that little baby.

Next couple times she comes, he learns her name is Gloria. She crochets tiny sized blankets and clothes to decorate a baby’s nursery in her free time. And she don’t have any intentions of just takin’ her medicine and leavin’ well enough alone.

It’d damn be rude to turn her comp’ny away. Plus it don’t hurt to have a hand with the boys, since ain’t another Sawyer gonna lift a finger to do it. Only one that would is Gramma and she’s been gone, at least mentally, a while now, bless her heart.

Gloria wasn’t trained on dolls the way plenty of little girls is how to change diapers and mix bottles and all that, or maybe that’s her excuse to spend more and more time over the house and practice it on the twins.

Probably so, since Drayton clues in on a secret- This far along, she’s gettin’ antsy for peace.

A fine hair brush in her hand, she’s tendin to the twins’ hair after they got into the jagger bush and got it all tangled up. But she’s talking to Drayton while she works it through, “You sir, don't seem like you’ve ever been afraid of anythin’.”

“Missy, been afraid so long I don’t got nothin’ to show for it.” He kicks at little Robert’s tiny boot gently as he goes to sit down, but the boy lunges up to retaliate, wailing on Drayton’s shin with tiny toddler fists and screamin’ nonsense. The adults ignore it except for adjusting their volume, “‘Tween the boys poppin’ out with no heartbeats to fightin’ every day to keep ‘em goin’, jus’ don’t think I feel much at all no more.”

“Was hopin’ you’d say somethin’ a little less glum. Is that selfish?” There's these deep purple halos of exhaustion under her eyes. Drayton looks away from her when she looks up at him and downright pleads, “I just can’t do it alone.”

Feels wrong, somethin’ about bein’ civil with her at all, let alone bein’ her shrink. But the girl’s got a good heart and Drayton knows he’d be a damn fool to bruise it on purpose ‘stead of bein’ a friend. Still, a little distance is customary.

“Hell, now you got yourself a brother or two and a nice little husband. A mama and a papa too. You’re set, little lady, don’t wanna know nothin’ about ‘alone.’”

She sends Nubbins along and calls Robert back from his battle his big brother’s attention, brushing through his hair next. Each tangle that manages to undo is like another tug at the plug keepin’ all her worries welled in, “I’m still the only one carryin’ this little one. And when my baby is born, if this didn’t fix it... I don’t know.. I’m half convinced they’ll reach right on up in me and take away my chance at ever havin’ a second child if I mess this one up.”

An idea so ridiculous strikes Drayton he downright chuckles, “Get my mama as your midwife ‘n there’ll be shotguns up their asses ‘fore they could even try all that.”

Gloria seems to take it serious, “But she knows what it’s like. Maybe it could be for the best.”

“Mama don’t actually know a damned thing about parenting her own childr’n. Stand up for just about anyone, ‘cept her own little boys. Best you can do is promise me now, girl, you ain’t gonna treat yours that way.” Was it bitterness and anger that caused the wobble in his words, addin’ years to his voice that he ain’t even lived yet? That and a little bit of grief over what he never had.

“Not ever. I wouldn’t be livin’ off half raw beef livers and about ten glasses of orange juice a day if I felt that way.” When Gloria promises it, he knows it’s true. That girl couldn’t lie if she had to. “I really am tryin’. I’ll be honest and say, if it weren’t for the desperation I wouldn’t have bothered comin’ out this far. Long time ago your grandfather made it clear we wasn’t to trespass.”

‘Course he would. Don’t got much say on the matter now without the strength to get up outta his chair. Drayton waves it off, “Grandpa don’t know what he’s talkin’ bout neither. You jus’ keep on. Eat the soft parts, the fillin’s, ‘n your body gonna be alright. I always say the parts that goes to waste is the best of it anyhow, folks just like the feel of that other stuff.”

“Lord, I see why. how do y’all keep that down on the regular?”

“Well I could give you the recipe book… Or- Hell, woman you’re ‘bout burstin’, the hell’s I thinkin’- I’ll fix somethin’ special up for ya, get that little one strong. Don’t got long now ‘til it’s here.”

Her faint smile slips away further ‘til her expression is mostly a grimace. “Don’t I know it, God almighty.”

“You religious, huh?” Drayton wonders before his sense can kick in to remind him it’s inappropriate to ask that. His attention slips down to the floor, to the game his brothers started playin’ with their hands, to avoid looking at her, in the case that she gets all offended.

It’s well known the Enrights are Godly folk, probably why Grandpa was so curt with them those years back. The Sawyers seen it as a fairy tale all along, refusing to fill their children’s heads with such things. All they believe in is the power of the sledge, though miss Gloria Enright probably counts as a convert of that belief, since she’s the one eatin’ the gizzards for the sake of her child.

And it’s true she ain’t as devout to the Lord as the rest of her family, giving a bashful sort of shrug, “Not the way you’d think. Not the way the others is.”

“Smart girl.” He gives the faintest smile, voice lilted with a special bit of pride. Good to know she’s gonna hold her own even after this kid is born and she’s on her own again.

But it seems to shock her, when she ain’t bein’ talked town to after admitting that defiance. She questions, “You don’t believe?”

The twins get up and run off, losing any sense of interest in sitting around listening to this, even though the hairbrush is still tangled up in Bobby’s inky hair. Drayton hears one of them coughin’ through their laughter in the next room over, wheezin’ when he tries to scream with the other. Makes up his mind perfectly well, “Can’t. Could never grasp why any child would be afflicted that way if the man upstairs could help it.”

“Havin’ this sickness around us brought us together though.” She points out gently. Her stomach has gotten too big to lean over much, but she manages to nudge Drayton in his shoulder. It’s a friendly gesture, but it causes him to tense up anyhow, averse to touch.

His question is fittingly bitter. “That worth it?”

“I dunno. You tell me, Drayton Sawyer.”

Turns out it’s unavoidable. Worth it or not they gotta deal with what comes.

He gets the phone call in October.

“So it worked, heh? Don’t figure you’d be callin’ me up if the news were bad.”

Egotism aside, he should’ve noticed Gloria’s sniffles as he answered, the background noise devoid of a baby's cries.

She snaps him into that reality quick with a brutal sob, “You’d be wrong then. Oh, you got no idea Mr. Sawyer- Drayton- I can't call nobody else. I just can’t tell ‘em yet.”

Now that’s got him thinkin’ the worst, gone from leanin’ against the gossip bench to snappin’ bolt upright, spine stiff against the expected tide of grief, “Well? You gonna tell me then?”

At least her panic ain’t so severe she cain’t explain it, gettin’ some answers out between her anguish. “My baby. He got it too. I knew it as soon as they started pullin’ ‘im out ‘cause of the pouch on his back, got all caught up.”

“Don’t reckon I know ‘bout that, girl.”

“Lord, you don’t want to. It’s just horrific. The baby, his little spine is well- it’s formed wrong- that’s.. that’s what the disease does, the spine don’t fuse. Now there’s fluid on the outside like some God-awful vicious blister. But that’s his feeling; the movement in his legs, the nerves, it’s all bundled up in there and it ain’t able to work. They’s doin’ a surgery on ‘im now, won’t see him ‘til the morning.”

Well he can imagine it clearly just from that. For a long minute Drayton just sits there dumbfounded by it. Can’t imagine any world so cruel where a woman can know the probable cause and do her damndest to fight it, and still end up this way. And to be neighbors with a woman like his mother that goes around spreadin’ her sort of sickness on purpose. Makes him feel sick and shaky and clammy all over.

“I’ll send y’all my prayers.” He chokes out attempted sympathies, knowin’ that’s what she’d hear from her folk if she called them.

Only, she didn’t call them. She called Drayton and that was certain deliberate. “No. No you ain’t sendin’ nothin’. I need a friend. My only friend. To be here.”

Drayton knows already he’ll be there by the end of the night, but murmurs all the same, “See what I can do.”

Lucky Gloria can read him just as easy.

“...Could you bring the boys? They’d probably love to see the baby.”

Feels like another wave of the cruelty they been drownin’ in to remind her of their disease. Transferable, unlike some deformity. Normally he’d be agitated, but he can’t blame the woman for focusin’ on a different issue when it came and fell right in her womb the way it did.

“They’ll just get ‘im sick.”

“Oh that’s right... But you’ll come, won’t ya?” She sounds awfully hopeful through the static of distance.

He’s already to his feet and grabbing his hat with the phone held up by his shoulder, as he answers, “I said I’ll see.”

Of course he had come then, with leftovers from supper. Gloria never stopped crying that day even over chicken soup. Or for the next few months, for that matter. Could’ve gotten a diagnosis of her own for that, were she willing, but she didn’t leave her home, didn’t dare risk exposing her poor baby to a world that would be so cruel to him already. Not until his surgery scars healed anyhow.

Unlike Drayton with the twins, she couldn’t set that boy off on his own. Can’t roll over on his own, or kick his legs or sit up. Ain’t just walkin’ he’ll never do.

She names the kid after her father, but that seems about awfully cruel when the bastard won’t even hold the child. Drayton’s got the kid on his front porch ‘fore the rest of his own family cares to know him.

The twins are just about five now and a lot behind most kids their age, but they think the kid is a doll. Nobody knows it yet, but when their baby brother comes along in half of another year, they’ll treat him the same, except with actually bein’ allowed to hold him.

Drayton won’t let them close to the Hardesty boy, not willing to run that risk.

Gloria finds it terrible, startin’ when she witnesses him backhand Nubbins for snaking past him to get his sick little hands on that innocent little, already broken baby.

Her view of him changes from that day on.

Except whether or not he’s a good friend, or even a good person, he’s still a friend, and he’s the only one she can confidently say doesn’t hate her for havin’ a fucked up kid.

So they drink sweet tea in the dry heat and let their kids play together every Sunday, once they’re all old enough, when the rest of her family is at church and Gloria stays home with Franklin, on account of his little wheelchair not fittin’ in between the rows of pews. Might get away with sitting him in some corner if he weren’t such a sensitive kid. Wanted to be close with his mama all the time.

Little Franklin never did have a chance to not be attached to her at the hip. Fragile heart barely concealed by a crippled body, a family that turned their back on him all except a few. Despite his mama bein’ reserved with the Godliness in her time, that kid clings to it like a lifeline. Prays and prays over every little mistake and bump in the road under his wheels. Scared to death he’s gonna be struck down and cursed over nothin’.

Drayton wonders if he should feel responsible for that. Gettin’ his mama involved in the family’s business the way he did by feeding her that horrible meat. If maybe the kid was cursed and he’d been the one to do it.

At least he knows who’s protectin’ him. Won’t ever play for more than a few minutes before he’s he’s throwin’ looks over his mama’s way to make sure she’s got an eye on him. Smart as he is anxious.

“Don’t know whatchu was so worried about. Your boy's doin’ just fine in that new little chair.” Drayton encourages her, when the kid ages out of his first wheelchair into one he can steer all on his own.

Takes him a while to adjust to playin’ with the growin’ twins, but he manages it, somehow. They treat the front yard like it’s the size of outer space, just tearin’ the hell out of it while they run and run. Or wheel, for that matter.

Gloria narrows her eyes at Drayton but don’t turn his way, attempting to hide that grimace in her glass, “Mm. Well I’d say the same but it ain’t quite true.”

“I hear you there.” Drayton sighs too hard it hurts his bones, exhaustion settled deep in them from workin’ all the mornin’, all the while his littlest, but no longer exactly small in his toddler years, brother stays hanging off of him. “If it ain’t the twins fallin’ half-witted and diseased it’s the baby wailin’ his damn head off.”

Here comes the reason for the tension she’s been swallowing back with watered down tea. “You oughta get them checked, fallin’ behind so bad. Or at least the baby.”

“He’s fine.” Drayton dismisses the idea immediately.

Only he knows it ain’t true. Just don’t got the money to do anything about it.

Gloria, she had them doctors tellin’ her how to fix her baby all from a couple tests. Advice that costed her thousands, and the boy was still born wrong. Can’t go takin’ that risk when it would end them up in the poorhouse. The boys’d get treated alright, but they’d get turned over to the state if he couldn’t pay the bills for it. Maybe he’s a fool, but to Drayton, that ain’t even close to worth it, no matter how much it would help.

But they play just fine. They love each other just fine. Forget milestones and their speakin’ skills and all, so long as they ain’t brain dead completely it's a non-issue.

That ain’t the way Gloria sees it. She urges him, “Some problems is invisible to us. My Sally for example.”

Makes him scoff at her. Sally’s the baby of the group of ‘em all, still in her infancy. The others can’t learn how to speak or walk right, but she’s still too little for it. Givin’ up hope too early, he thinks.

“Girl ain’t got a thing wrong with her.”

“You’d think that. But she gets these night terrors, worse than any bad dream, just zoned totally out in her little crib. It’s like the Devil’s got her or somethin’.” Gloria gives a stubborn nod, watching Drayton shrink back, just a little, from being corrected.

He’ll keep it to himself that he still don’t quite believe her word for it. Just chides, “Lock her door at night. They start to wander when they’s like that.”

“So I’m right that the twins understand that.”

“Uhn. Just Nubbins. Don’t need a doctor to tell me he’s knocked sideways like his mother. Schizophrenic.”

Gloria clicks her tongue at him, earning a quick flush of shame. She scolds him like he’s one of the children, “Oh, I wish you wouldn’t call him that.”

“Schizophrenic?” Drayton knows he’s puffed up like a turkey, offended by the notion that yet again he’s doin’ something wrong.

Giving the tiniest flick of her eyes upwards, as frustrated as Drayton is now, she tells him, “No, that’s just his reality. I mean Nubbins. It’s cruel.”

‘Cause he’s stunted. At his age he’s half the size he’s s’posed to be, left behind by his identical twin when it comes to growin’ up. Guess that makes it wrong to call him small. But he don’t see it that way, so Drayton defends it, “Told you before. Chose the nickname himself! Don’t think ‘a himself a damn lick diff’rent than most. Stumped up or not.”

“But that would be like nicknamin’ my Franklin by ‘cripple’ or somethin’ worse.” Gloria tries to get him to see it her way, but that only makes Drayton double down.

She wants to get drastic, he can do that. He turns cold like a stone sinkin’ under water. “Maybe you oughta. Toughen him right up. Been whinin’ enough-“

“Alright, hold your tongue! You can’t make me regret lettin’ you and your brothers into my babies’ lives, no matter how hard you try it, damn it!” That woman can yell ‘til she’s pink in the face, voice strainin’ to not get too loud between each heavy breath. Her pearly pink nail on the end of her finger hovers inches away from the tip of Drayton’s nose, a warning. “I ain’t your mother, and neither are you, and we both know damn well you love those kids so you can stop pretendin’ it’s all an inconvenience to you!”

Don’t know how to put it to words, the way that makes him feel. Mostly irritated, but not by her. By his own shame. By his weakness, for even listenin’ to what she was lecturin’ him about. Shouldn’t let it get to him so bad.

To bury that feeling, he extends the olive branch again, without looking up at her, “Put some lemon in the tea today. Sweeten it up. Know you like it that way.”

“It’s alright. Apology accepted.” But she sighs. Don’t sound grateful.

Things get awkward quick these days. The kids don’t stop growin’, so their curiosity don’t either. Drayton thinks they’s playin’ too rough, racing Franklin back and forth in his wheelchair and jostlin’ him around. Little thing is laughin’ his head off, but all the same. Can’t say much though lettin’ the babes down in the yard too, on a quilt and right in the line of chaos. Already had to reprimand them for treatin’ the little ones like a couple ‘a dolls. Both keep a close eye to make sure they don’t get too close to the babies.

Now and again, his nervous glares shift to Gloria, tryin’ to see what she thinks without showin’ too freely he cares.

One time she catches him looking and interrupts the building paranoia, partly anyhow.

“We still on for supper next week? My brothers’ll be over after church, I’d really like for y’all to come by. I’ve told Boude about your kids some- he’s the particularly religious fellow. A ranger- I think he’d like to meet them.”

Drayton for one don’t like the sound of that. Charity from most folk just comes out soundin’ like torture, makin’ even feedin’ poor miss Hardesty those organs sound Saintly.

“Heard‘a exorcism killed some little girl. Turns out there weren’t no devil in her, just some family illness. Don’t want no maniacs like that around them.”

“It ain't like that. Sometimes when you pray for somebody, it’s to have someone in your corner through the struggles, not just to wish ‘em away.” Gloria spells it out for him.

“God left this farm a long time ago, Missy. You used to know that. Why you think all these kids keeps turnin’ out this way?” Drayton knows she still feels the same about the faith, only acting accordin’ to the plan her family’s got for her with raisin’ those two little ones of hers, but she pushes back anyhow.

“Look, I don’t believe it either, so maybe that’s just the fate of it. Maybe even God was the one that knew I’d need help from your slaughterhouse and gave our children a beautiful thing to bond over.”

“Right. ‘Cause it’s so nice they’ll never learn to read, or live on their own, or understand how really dangerous runnin’ in the street is. Thank your Christ Almighty for that. And while your at it, kiss ass about Bubba’s tongue-tie too. Been real helpful havin’ that little one half-starved ‘cause his own body won’t let him eat.”

There’s real hurt in her face. Like she’d been hit, or maybe worse’n that. She pleads, “Drayton. Enough.”

The guilt of snappin’ at her starts to eat him alive. He tries the tactic from before, the reachin’ out in simpler terms. “Added just a pinch of milk to the tea too. You’d think the lemon would curdle it but-“

She shuts him down with all the viciousness of a feral animal. Anger and somethin’ much uglier bubblin’ under the surface, tricklin’ out as a tremor in her hands she couldn’t hide if she wanted. “I said enough.”

They’re starin’ each other down like two rabid coyotes, deadlocked over which is gonna say somethin’ nasty first.

Gloria’s little boy takes the honor of breakin’ things up, wheelin’ hisself right over with a confident, and clearly rehearsed, question, “Mama, can I stay the night, please oh please with sugar daisies on top? Nubbins told me his room gots spiders, and I wanna see ‘em.”

“Honey, is his room up the stairs? You can’t get up there if it is.” She points out for him. The adults know it’s an excuse to put just a little more distance between them and the Sawyers.

“Oh..” Little’s Franklin’s curly head hangs with disappointment, ‘til he thinks of somethin’ new to ask. “But Mama, we got stairs over home and I get up them jus’ fine?”

Gloria breaks away from Drayton to lean over her boy, get on his level without crouchin’ down and makin’ an ordeal of it. “Because your daddy carries you, silly.”

“Mr. Sawyer could carry me.” He looks past his mama and directly at Drayton as he says it, in this same habit as his mama used to be with the formalities. Difference is the innocent little smile he gives, unaware of the cruelty that comes with the Sawyer name.

But in Gloria’s anger, she doesn’t give Drayton a chance to tell the kid he wouldn’t be carryin’ him anyhow, ‘cause she shakes her head, “I don’t think so, baby. Maybe some other time. It's almost time for supper anyhow, and that’d be just rude.”

That was just the start of them breakin’ away. Gone and fucked a good thing up, he did. ‘Cept it weren’t just the argument that done that.

When Franklin relayed the news to the twins they couldn’t have their friend spendin’ the night, they both threw a fit, up until Nubbins ended up hollerin’ at Drayton. Sayin’ some childish insult about not havin’ friends of his own to understand it. ‘Bout bein’ lonely all because he’s so ugly-mugged and half-witted and bitter about it all that nobody could stand to talk to him.

Hits a sore spot. Ain’t ‘cause he’s fragile enough to let a child weigh in on his self-worth, but he had to learn them words somehow. Knows damn well Drayton himself had said them things one too many times and rubbed off on the kid. Ruined his chance at normalcy too. And that’s what hurts him, is knowin’ he done that.

He lashed out about it. Drayton grabbed his bony shoulder and cracked him ‘cross the face, good three or four times in a row ‘til his cheek had a split and was bleedin’. Nubbins didn’t cry a bit. Franklin did. Oh, that boy wailed and wailed all the way back to the next door property- Sally in his arms and Miss Gloria pushin’ the wheelchair with them both- and then some more cryin’, from the sounds of it carrying in the air from next door.

Got the twins both snifflin’ too ‘cause now they’re realizin’ they’s s’posed to cry when these things happen. Drayton gets Bubba and goes inside, leaves ‘em out there to go where they please and feel as they want. Doesn’t care if they get themselves killed in the street right now. Deep down those kids hate him, and not requirin’ so much introspection, he knows clearly that he deserves it.

All together they only see the Hardesty family a couple more times ‘fore it’s their last meeting. Before it’s goodbye.

Gloria comes on her own, without any kids, just a gloomy expression, “I thought you’d like to know we’re movin’ up North. Now that Ma’s passed on, We’re goin’ with Boude. I think it’s for the best.”

He’s furious. Would like to take the broom he’d been using to sweep up the porch and smack her senseless over the head with it. Foolish, since he knows damn well the fault is all his. Drayton stays frozen in place, tryin’ to plead but soundin’ more just like he’s demanding, “You can’t do that to my boys. The twins, they’ll-“

“They’ll be alright if you’d just stop treating them so poorly!” She snaps, marching forward from the tense distance to downright growl in his face, all kinds of tension in her voice from the build-up of tears. “My Franklin, he talks about the damndest things! And I know he learnt it all from yours.”

“Well like what?”

“Things like knives, and blades, and horrible, horrible deaths!”

Ah. That was prob’ly inevitable. From the second she came along askin’ for his help, her and that baby were bound up in this whole mess. “Ain’t it the meat you wanted, woman? How you think we get it here?”

“But my Franklin, he don’t need to know all that! Now he’s fascinated with it, won’t stop scarin’ his baby sister describin’ the insides of cattle. Makin’ her cry.” Gloria sounds so defeated and desperate.

Drayton has to look away from her, thinkin’ of how she’d react if she knew that the blame should be tenfold. That the twins ain’t just witness to the dirty work of the industry, but they gots their own way of doin’ it when the times gets extra tough. Humans as beeves and all.

That’s a decision he’ll stand by, if only ‘cause his heart couldn’t bear the shame of bein’ so deeply wrong twice. “Sounds like you just didn’t prepare yours for the real world.”

“Or maybe you forced it on them boys too early. Maybe the way you hurt them leaves scars on the mind too.”

Now he knows his face is all angry red, gone from takin’ each blow with a side of sadness to just blind rage. Comin’ after the way he was choosing to parent them kids that ain’t even his own. Like he weren’t barely an adult himself when they popped out and became his issue to deal with, sick in the head as they were in their hearts. Drayton’s got every right to handle them rabid dogs of children the way kids like them, kids like he used to be for his Mama, oughta be.

“I don’t- That’s punishment!”

“And Lord have mercy the day your punishment comes, ‘cause I know it ain’t gonna be pretty!” She practically screams it.

Don’t got a clue that for Drayton, this is the punishment. The isolation. The family business. Mama and Grandpa’s teachings. Don’t take the pleasure in it, never did ‘til the day he could help that Hardesty kid in his mama’s womb. Should’ve been a sign, when his spine never finished formin’, that that bond wouldn’t be enough to save ‘em.

“We’ll see, missy.”

“No, we won’t. I told you. We’re movin’. I appreciate everythin’, but I’ve had enough- more than enough of my share of the violence. I don’t know what life is comin’ to anymore.”

“That’s gonna be no matter where you go.” He warns her. All over the world there’s killin’. Crueler people than him when it comes to the way her two kids are. That Franklin especially gonna be in for it when he realizes most kids ain’t as carefree as them twins.

“Worst part is, I know you’re right.” Gloria agrees with the sentiment, the cold damn reality, and it cracks her fragile disguise right in two. She caves from an overwhelming flood rush of emotion, and wraps her arms ‘round Drayton. “Give them hugs from me too. And from Franklin.”

Takes him a minute to realize that was a hug and not her tryin’ to squeeze him ‘til his ribs break. By the time he catches up she pulls away and he’s just holding her arm, careful with her like she’s made of bone porcelain. ‘Cause he knows he might be the one to hold too tight and break her. Accidents happen. And lord knows he’s been quick to violence these days.

Vulnerability reminds him, “Don’t them- Don’t the boys deserve a damned goodbye?”

“I’m half scared they’d stowaway in the movin’ truck.” Gloria laughs lightly, but it’s wet, and the tears start dripping’ down her cheeks and off her nose.

Finally Drayton can see the humor in it, and gives her a little chuckle himself. “Hell, you’re prob’ly right.”

And because she is, all Gloria has to say is, “I’m sorry, Drayton.”

“No you ain’t.” He tries weakly to deny. To him, it’s better without the padding. Just give him the blow directly, tell him he never meant a damn thing to any of those damned Hardesty’s and leave without looking back.

Gloria has no such intention, being genuine, real gentle but with purpose, after bein’ so tough before.

“I am though. I’m sorry for a lot of things.”

Before he knows it, the well bursts with frustration and Drayton’s got a flood of guilt pouring out of him.

“I’m the one that couldn’t help ya! One shot at redemption and I failed it, prob’ly fucked that kid up worse by interferin’ at all! And the little girl too! Damn it, woman, there’s a reason us Sawyers keep to ourselves! You’d think, the diseases of the mind ain’t contagious, but with us- with us they is.”

Either so unmoved the disinterest is genuine, or worse, hiding her feelings from him again, rebuilding the wall that keeps them contained after Drayton’s own outpouring beat against its hardening exterior. Whichever way, she stays blank now.

Gloria speaks first. “I should go.”

“You should.” He agrees, giving a harsh sniff to keep from crying for real.

But she never follows through. Just stands there. “I don’t want to.”

“Got to, girly.” It’s not as friendly as it oughta be. Dry and sad and bored sounding, anything to distance himself if that’s how she wants to play it.

Only, Gloria hugs him again, this time pressing her face to his chest, so she could try to melt into him. To leave behind responsibility and expectations and the pressures of life and sick children. She ain’t oblivious to the cruelty of meat. Consumers and Predators and who’s got the sharpest teeth. Seems like Drayton’s job is to do the hunting, and Gloria, she keeps the prey animals in line. Sharpens their teeth to give em a chance, gets ‘em wheels for useless legs.

Could’ve been all she wanted, if she didn’t settle in and have her babies. There’s a time for proving her worth, and a time for layin’ down the fight to keep her family safe.

“In another life.” She mumbles, refusing to let go of the hug she’s got him in for far too long.

“Don’t be so final. They’ll grow up and find each other when we’s old and bitter.”

“I think we already are.”

“Yeh. Prob’ly right.” His shoulders deflate. Hunch forward. Drayton can’t stand to do this. Never had to say goodbye before when someone was fixin’ to leave him behind. “Go on, then. Drag it out any longer and I’ll be the one sendin’ the boys in your luggage.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” In a playful kind of way, she tries to fix her expression into stern, but it just kind of crumbles, for a second showing her grief all over.

Drayton doesn’t bother adjusting tone when he plays along. An emotionless back and forth, knowing full well it’s wrong to keep going, “I might.”

Gloria huffs in frustration, this conversation clearly not going to plan. Probably wanted him to break down and cry with her. Plead and plead for her not to leave so she could heroically change her mind. Force Drayton to be somebody he ain’t.

That illusion is long over now. The helpful friendly neighbor. Never was quite accurate to who he is on the inside. Or the outside after he’s been up to butcherin’. Best she goes now, thinkin he never did care for her or her kids, rather’n have to put ‘em on the hooks later.

“Stubborn as a mule, I tell ya.” She shakes her head at him, no idea how lucky she really is that he’s so distant to her.

Nothin’ left to say, Drayton keeps his mouth shut, hopin’ that’ll be enough for her to lose interest and turn away now. His thoughts have made him sick to his stomach, doesn’t want to see her face any longer.

Taking a couple steps back, about to turn toward the path, she gives him a warning of her own, “Just be good.”

“Don’t think it’s me you should be tellin’ that to.” He hums, though he knows damn well his family business is bad. No such thing here. Only one of them remotely well behaved is Drayton, and he’s the one with his hands elbow deep in corpses most days, whether they’re cattle or the other kind of beeves.

“I’ll pass it along to the boys.”

“I meant you.” Big round eyes all desperate for one final plea to change her mind and keep them rooted here, she’s searchin’ Draytons face as she speaks to him. Hopin’ to see under the exterior.

So he stays silent again.

Pisses her off, cause now she turns her back to him. Raises her voice so much it wobbles, “I won’t see you again, Drayton Sawyer.”

“Alright.” Is all he gives her.

Her silhouette is shaking, the force of her sobs popping out of her like boiling oil. Sharp and unexpected and painful. The last thing she ever says to him is a curse, upon him now for pushin’ her away, and for leadin’ her on all this time. Makin’ her think her and her babies was like family.

“Damn you. God damn you to hell!”

Got a one way ticket already. Don’t get no worse than killing. Smackin’ the boys around, sayin’ things he shouldn’t, none of it compares to the killin’. Figure if he stopped that but didn’t change a damned other thing about himself, he’d still be welcomed up above, if he just repented.

That’s one thing he refuses to do. Drayton ain’t gonna beg the universe, or a frail woman from next door, in her pristine little house with her pristine little family, for forgiveness.

Things need done. Children need fed. She should know that as well as any.

[sea-lanterns]

Dragons??? Women??

Dragon women????

my two favorite things in one what?????

oh hohohohoooo

now I'd have an excuse to draw even MORE dragons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hehehe hohoho

*violently vibrates from excitement*

I can already imagine their dragon forms (at least for the ones prev anon listed)

Jean would be like an european dragon (cuz mondstadt is based off of germany) but she'd look elegant and majestic, but still visible that she fought countless times

Ningguang could be a Chinese dragon, but it would be more interesting if she was a Kirin, since imo they're the most majestic dragon spices there is

Prev anon said something about Sara being a wyrm but if we're technical, they don't have wings BUT amphitheres do, and I thing amphitheres are more often depicted with feathered wings than with the usual bat like wing

And Dehya!!! She's big and strong, like a drake!! She might not be able to fly, but you still shouldn't get in her way, but if you do manage to get on her good side, you'll be thankful in the future

And kokomi would either also a be a Kirin or she'd be a sea serpent. Or if you want to go the "crazy" route, an enormous leviathan, but instead of her looking scary and rugged, she'd look elegant yet fierce

-🦖

pardon me for the extra dragon brainrot, I just had to..

Oooooh very interesting ideas indeed :0

I don’t know much about dragons so I’ll trust your judgement on them, but based on the mini descriptions you gave all of them, they all sound perfect!

I am very interested in making this Dragon AU a reality, so look forward to February since that’s when the Chinese New Year would start! I can’t wait to write for Dragon! Ningguang especially 👀 you guys have been thirsting about her a lot, so Ningguang representing a Chinese dragon would be perfect for a fic idea <3

[who1ssheesh]

Xanxus brainrot

Note: I couldn’t even come up with a plot, I just wanted fluffy Xanxus. Hope you enjoy as much as I did writing this

Warnings: OOC Xanxus, nor proofread, English’s not my native language (ouch)

• Accidentally getting a promotion. Getting them way too often and being endorsed way too much. Going home and seeing Xanxus silent, which by the way is weird because usually this menace would have already said how dumb this is and your job is fucking dumb and you are du-

• Actually about “subtle”. No, he’s indeed not. But he thinks he is. And it’s funny that everyone in Varia thinks they are subtle, but you are the observant one. First several bouquets you got were flawless - especially calligraphic cursive handwriting (which now reminds you of Lussuria way too much). And then one time Xanxus fucked up so much, you got flowers with half of petals fucking burnt and the pressure is handwriting on the note so high it was almost ripped.

This dumbass got you flowers personally and still refuses to admit this.

• It’s funny how obvious he can be with small things. Usually he would call you dumb fucking ass and those flowers are dumb and the argument was dumb and you are du- but he stays silent. Xanxus doesn’t stay silence with the most sour face in the world. Xanxus shoots people, throws things around and shouts. He doesn’t stay silent and dart his eyes around the room.

Squalo has been shot several times after noticing this, but he thinks that was worth it cause that’s the funniest face his boss has ever had.

• That’s sad in fact. Xanxus thinks that’s…shameful. He’s bad in relationships. He’s bad with words, he’s bad with people. He’s been bad his whole life, in fact.

Just…just give him a smile, you know. You don’t even have to say anything, he’ll know it’s okay.

If you ever save one of those withered flowers - exactly the one he’s burned with his flame (and it smells like ashes to this day) or that angry written note with pen almost ripping paper, Xanxus will stop just for a moment - so quick, you won’t notice. He has always thought his heart to be frozen, but this time as if he heard a little crack. You manage to lose the most expensive jewelries he gets you, but you save that bullshit like your life depends on it, huh?

He tells you to throw this garbage away. You don’t.

• Xanxus finds you hilarious with your attitude though. The “she comes out in a dress so pretty and expensive, he falls in love even deeper” doesn’t happen. You walk out in a suit and your button shirt opened enough to see you boobs (which is dangerous around this horndog) and then you ask him to visit that pub near cause mafia black-tie events appear to be way too boring. You have probably fucked before running away to that pub

• Fun fact, Xanxus loves playing pool. A lot. No problem if you can’t, he’ll just stare at your ass to distract himself from your shameful attempts.

• Oh boy, will he appreciate you taking interest in his hobbies. Instant cupid arrow through his heart when you ask him to teach you how to shoot just like him.

• Kinda a curse and kinda on you - from now on Xanxus devour your life from you until you learn how to shoot GOOD. And he had high standards. At some point you will hate guns with passion

• He won’t be interested in any of your hobbies in return lol your loss deal with it. But if you are serious about something, he’ll gladly throw money in you he loves throwing things

• GOD WILL SAVE YOU if you accidentally appear to have a flame. Especially strong one (sky??? Even worse if it’s like Xanxus sky+smth??). Because he will devour the whole life from you to make you cool. He will show off you everywhere and everywhere. “Hey you see that one? This thing is mine btw”, so at least he will be proud….

• No romance in this relationship, your conversations sound like “Bitch I swear I’ll kill your family”, “NOT IF I KILL YOUR FIRST”

• Don’t get me wrong but…he thinks about children? Once in a blue moon. At those moments standing at the balcony at 4 am not even drunk thinking about wild shit. Would his life be ok if he never met Nono? That stuff.

• He wonders if his child gonna have your eyes, just like he has his mothers and thinks about it every time he looks in the mirror.

• Xanxus mostly thinks about it in a mocking way - he wants to be that cool badass dad everyone gonna be jealous of. He will teach his son (of course he wants a son) how to shoot his gun, he will laugh the first time this little shit comes home drunk.

• Xanxus has seen a lot. Also he has seen someone’s family being killed. Xanxus is not honest even with himself but he honest with one thing - it will break him. And it will break you first of all

• What if he himself dies? That’s a better option, sure (don’t get me wrong, he wants to die in a badass gunfight), but won’t his life repeat again in his son? He knows there will be people to watch after you both, even you yourself are badass enough (that’s why he dates you), but he doesn’t trust anyone with your life.

So no kids. But sometimes a man can dream, huh?

• My man is not jealous contrary to famous opinion. He likes to see anyone try to even approach you, unironically will find that hilarious. He is a bad influence and encourages you to act like a child - throw a tantrum, throw a drink at a poor fool, tell him you already belong to the bestest hottest man, and he will laugh out loud

• Wear his clothes. He will throw you out the window if you mention, but he starts buying too much clothing that he doesn’t wear. As if he does it for someone else, huh?

• You can hate varia members with passion but they without a joke are going to treat you with respect. You have THE character to keep in touch with their boss, that’s already a sign

• You’re so far gone you’ve probably once was so mad with Xanxus you tried to shoot him with his own gun. Probably ended with a sex marathon. Not that your tiny figure gonna be a threat to this big bear but hey, at least that’s hot

• Xanxus probably has a sweet tooth to this day. His mother could never afford candies, and Xanxus - being even a grown adult - sometimes acts as if he wants all the chocolate of the world.

He will shoot anyone who sees him devouring chocolates. You usually say it’s you when someone notices a pile of wrappers

• I’m talking from a big experience now: childhood in poverty is a trauma for Xanxus to this day and he tends to spend money on dumb impulsive shit. Please don’t encourage him, he’s already insufferable and Squalo has enough of a headache with his boss spending all the money. You appearing didn’t help actually

• One day you just gotta say your man that you don’t need expensive gifts or don’t like flowers, otherwise all the flowers of the world would go extinct. Like varia budget

• That’s his love language, he can’t show appreciation otherwise, don’t blame him?

Though with time he starts warming up to quality time together. He really enjoys your time at a shooting range, especially if you stars gossiping about Varia. At some point he even gonna start commenting your points. Hells, he even likes you just silently sitting in his office while he works

• A chair or a couch in his office, and everyone knows that’s where you’re usually are. Bonus point if there is your stuff all around

• Xanxus is a pig actually and makes a mess 24/7 (thank god he has maids) and it doesn’t bother him, but he will turn into a whiny baby if he ever stumbles in one of your things. Will burn it or throw out a window and have zero guilt about it.

• Has never had a nickname, so will be confused af the first time you call him Xus. Did you insult him? No? YES????

• Likes when you call him nicknames in public, has zero shame. Yes, he has a cool partner, losers. But like….badass ones, he has an image to uphold

• you wearing his feathers you wearing his feathers you wearing his feathers……….

•Xanxus has actually…never had a home. He can buy dozens of the biggest mansions a man can imagine, but that still isn’t home. Living with Nono was hell on Earth in his eyes and his mother he just doesn’t remember anymore after all those years. So the first time he hears your “Ugh, can we go home now?”, he looks at you with the most disgusted face he can make. You think you’ve done something wrong - you don’t see him till late night, when he comes utterly drunk (which means just a little more drunk than usual). But he just flops on a bed to you. “Shut up and go to sleep”. You obviously never get to actual conversation about this but everyone can notice Xanxus hurries back to you (he thinks he’s so subtle about it but this brute is not subtle about anything). He wants to go home.

• Maybe even seeing you around Varia headquarters at some point where you became comfortable around his guardians made something click in him.

Everything is its place. You’ve been the missing part of the puzzle

• It will take long years until someone notices how much their boss changed. Even throw an occasional smile.

• My man has never experienced love JUST LOVE HIM

[sushiisiu]

Lovely art! Huge fan of your works ❤️ Are there perhaps any artists who influenced your art style?

masashi kishimoto, hirohiko araki and jamie hewlett off the top of my head

i think the naruto influence is the most obvious. i'm really obsessed with the artstyle kishi had in shippuden with the clean and simple linework that still manages to convey semi realism. personally i've always been partial to seeing apple seed nostrils and pinprick pupils in styles so yeah also i looove spikey hair strands.

also a big fan of how he draws anatomy as it is even in fanservice-y gags like the sexy jutsu - again, simple and direct that still conveys realistic proportions even with the stylized character traits. super charming to me.

and then jojo. i sincerely think a jojo phase is like steroids to artists because araki's style really inspires you to study anatomy, fashion and colors like nothing else. at my peak brainrot i was studying renaissance art history while binging milan fashion shows and i literally have no interest in either other than wanting to get better at drawing giorno.

ik jojo posing is a whole meme but honestly it's a great example of what clean and strong pose silhouettes can do for your artwork.

jamie hewlett is kind of a similiar deal with kishimoto for me in terms of really kiki lineart with realistic proportions except his characters are significantly more stylized and just so interesting to look at.

another thing i love about jamie's characters is how diverse their wardrobe is - they never really wear the same outfit more than a few times but you can still get a sense of their personalities through their clothing choices and continuity in terms of style which is something so so important to me. just seeing a character have different outfits for different situations or choosing to wear their hair differently sometimes can help make them feel so much more real even without any actual changes to the writing.

also i think i just like details in outfit designs in general just because honestly? i think everyone accessorizes even just a little. most people wouldn't wear plain clothing. most brands wouldn't even make plain clothing without their logo somewhere. and the graphic/text/colors on the shirt can be indicative of so much in terms of their preferences and personality. also accessories just look cool and interesting. see: these naruto chapter covers

kinda got off topic but yeah these are the styles that appeal to and inspire me :3

[otaku553]

Hello! I saw your recent art of sabo, and in the tags you mentioned the big 3 of Shounen. I know it’s One piece and Naruto, but what’s the third? How come you like the character? Lovely artwork, it’s candy for the soul!! Thank you •u•

Ah thank you!!! The big three of shonen (for I guess the previous generation?) are Naruto, One Piece, and Bleach. Naruto and Bleach have already ended but it seems like One Piece is still going quite strong, despite the new generation of shonen anime (including Hero Aca, Demon Slayer, and the third spot is still debated! Probably JJK is my guess though that falls into its own sub genre of shonen dark fantasy I suppose)

Here are my favs! I’ll put the reasons why I like them in the read more because it’s quite long :)

Despite watching Naruto first I could never actually finish it because it was so long so I kind of just osmosed the later parts of shippuden through fanfics and other such media ^^; I think it’s pretty difficult to pick a definitive fav for Naruto because I feel like it tends to fumble a bit of its character writing? I think if I had to pick one maybe young Kakashi but still kind of eh. Maybe I just didn’t watch far enough to get attached

As for Bleach, I picked it up years ago around middle school and then dropped it after the first hundred episodes or so because filler got boring for younger me but then I picked it up again in high school and managed to at least get past aizen! And then I dropped it there because I wasn’t interested in any continuation after what seemed like an already pretty strong ending.

Toshiro is my favorite because he falls into all niches of character tropes that I enjoy including but not limited to: child genius who acts responsible but is still somewhat immature, cold personality along with ice powers but fierce loyalty to close relationships. I especially enjoy child genius characters for the contradictory dichotomy of what is expected of them in terms of maturity and knowledge and the amount of pressure these kinds of characters face and how they handle it! That said, I enjoy him more for the tropes that he falls into and my personal interpretation of him rather than canon writing for him. I think that though canon is an alright base, he doesn’t get much time to shine (character-wise instead of combat-wise).

And Sabo. Oh my goodness I am brainrotting so hard over Sabo right now. The ASL siblings in general have a vice grip on my heart and really are not letting go. There is so much tragedy in the way that they are written, that works because there are three of them. Ace and Luffy spend so much effort trying to save the only brother they have left in the world not realizing that if they go they’ll be the first to go actually because Sabo is still alive, and Sabo could have done so much and changed so much if only he had regained his memories sooner. Why didn’t he remember sooner? I can only assume it’s because he didn’t want to remember, because he grew out his hair to cover a scar he wasn’t proud of, because he was running away from his origins when he lost his memories and maybe that stuck with him. I don’t even remember when Sabo was introduced as a character because I don’t think he was mentioned during Marineford? But he’s such a compelling character because he does so much to save the world and yet is unable to save his own brother! And he’s written to fit with Ace and Luffy incredibly well, being the voice of reason where they can’t be.

[w1thered-roses]

OK SO BRAINROT CONSUMED ME AND I WANNA TRY MAKING SOME PURELILY ANGST AU

Get ready for a long ass wall of text of my random rambles + sprite edit

Fallen king au(?): after the events of beast yeast eps 1-2, shadow milk wasn’t fully sealed away, instead part of him managed to reside in pure vanilla’s mind (don’t ask how this part even works just bare with me vro). Over the span of a few months shadow milk would mentally torture pure vanilla in an attempt to get him vulnerable enough to be able to control him, starting off as just simply annoying him but overtime becoming more and more horrible and traumatic. In the beginning vanilla would continuously resist against him, trying to stay strong and refuse to let shadow milk control him. This would happen around the same time lily was very mentally fragile after the events of beast yeast, elder faerie’s death AND her guilt of being DE, so at first she didnt really notice vanilla’s declining mental state, as he would mask it pretty well and was busy trying to help her. As lily got better vanilla simply just got worse and worse, the lack of sleep, how little hes been eating out of stress, and the horrible anxiety he had caused by shadow milk was taking a toll on him, as hed start to isolate himself and become more irritable and angry. Lily had started to suspect something was wrong with vanilla, as he isn’t like this at all, but when she’d question him and ask if he’s alright he’d either just lie and say everything was fine, push her and others away or just lash out a bit. Eventually shadow milk gave vanilla a choice, either 1: keep resisting and shadow milk would keep up the mental torture, or 2: give up and let shadow milk fully take over, that he would stop the torture and vanilla could finally be “free”. Vanilla just couldn’t take it anymore and decided to just stop resisting, letting the jester take over his mind and body, resulting in vanilla getting locked away within his own mind. Shadow milk having finally taken over takes a few days to regain the body’s physical strength and then causes havoc in the vanilla kingdom, later he goes to beast-yeast to cut down the silver tree. Lily chases after him, confronting him at the tree and they fight it out, she tries her hardest to talk her way through to him, trying to reach vanilla but to no avail, vanilla isn’t there anymore. She later has no choice but to seal him away, seal away her best friend, her best friend that was there for her, her best friend who she knew from their school days, and most painfully the one she fell in love with. She succeeds in sealing him away inside the tree, and as shes doing so she doesn’t see him as the evil beast he has become, instead she sees the little vanilla from their school days, she sees her very best friend, crying as he’s sealed away. Lily later on builds a shrine in beast-yeast in honor of him, to remember him, as she misses him dearly and regrets not doing anything while she could.

Mind you this was inspired from LULLABY FOR A PRINCESS out of all things (yes that one mlp fan song, shut up its good)

Plus here is a corrupted pv sprite edit, unsure what to name him, i was considering vanilla extract cookie but dunno, if yall got any name ideas pls tell me 😭😭😭

This au is still being developed so its bound to change but this is what i have so far!!! I rlly wanna keep working on this i just need to think. I wanna try writing a fic for funsies, im not rlly a writer tho so who knows!

Probably later ill post more things regarding this au since i have more stuff i wanna share! Bye bye for now :D

[thatguywhodoesstuff]

Popping in to share some Levi brainrot I've been mulling over for a bit.

I noticed your idea of Levi making the Vees resentful, but I personally think the opposite is somewhat more likely, allow me to explain. Sure, Levi still has most of the market, but so do the other Sins, and they (or at least most of them) don't really have a concrete rival for their business, again, mostly *cough* Ozzie is shit at his job *cough*. Sorry...I've got a soar throat. Anyway, The fact the Vees are able to be an opposing monolith at all is enough to seriously get under Levi's slimy scales.

Speaking of his appearance, I have a rather ironic observation regarding Levi, given his nature, he's the most likely to be resentful of the other Sins' successes, he would also sometimes scheme against them. This made me think of the Divine Comedy and the treachery circle being a frozen lake. So I thought, what if Envy's ocean is distinguished by having a lot of ice in it?

Though everyone's heard his voice somewhere, Levi is generally more comfortable expressing himself through written means, this is partly due to it being easier to lie through writing, and partly because when people read a witty insult, it's easy for them to makeup the proper delivery for it in their heads.

Also relating to his work, Levi is a publishing titan and has an easy pattern for approval. 1- When someone submits a work, look for places you could insert discussion bait. 2- Tell them to add it in or you're not publishing their thing. 3- If they agree, go all out on promotion for like 3 weeks before release, if they don't follow their activities in the industry and crush them with a scathing review if they publish elsewhre.

Levi has 1-3 lairs of teeth, depending on what for he's in.

And that's it for Levi time, at least for now.

Really sorry for the late response, I’ve been pretty busy today and then I lost the original draft to my reply. I really enjoyed these ideas, so I’m going to address each point:

You raise a good point about Levi being the jealous one. Honestly, that opens the door for a really fun dynamic. While the other Sins don’t think the Vees, or any Overlord for that matter, are anything to worry about, and you’ve got Leviathan whose just seething in his custom built underwater mansion and ruminate over how a trio of dead people have managed to build up their own mini empire over a period of decades when it took him, a proper demon, centuries to get his publication business the way he likes it. Not to mention how they’ve got a hold over a good chunk of the Pride ring, while his influence is rooted in Envy (The fact that he has a pretty strong presence in the other five rings isn’t good enough). The other Sins have probably gotten on Levi’s case for obsessing over (what they see as) relatively minor stuff like this in the past, so he’s begrudgingly decided to settle on just trying to slander the Vees and their brand.

The Vees for their part see the fact that they caught the ire of a Sin as a mixed bag. On the one hand, one of Hell’s biggest names sees them as a big enough deal to try and slander them. On the other, they recognize they are in a precarious position given the possibility of Levi actually taking a more active approach to dealing with them. Of course, this doesn’t stop them from taking time to subtly aggravate him. Then of course, there is the possibility of the Vees actually being mutually jealous of Levi, if only for the fact they covet the power and status being one of the 7 Deadly Sins grants.

The idea that Envy is a massive ocean populated by frozen islands is really interesting, especially given how much it differs from all of the other locales shown in both shows, barring Andrealphus’ mansion.

Levi is definitely that relative that makes passive aggressive comments or backhanded compliments when you succeed and tells everyone when you’ve failed, and given his field of work, I do mean everyone.

You cannot convince me that Levi is not petty and selfish enough that he started complaining the second Lucifer and Lilith announced they were having a child, strictly on the grounds that it would take the public’s attention away from him.

Leviathan preferring nonverbal means of communicating is a neat idea, especially given how nicely it ties with him potentially being the “creepy one”. I mean, being in the presence of a massive sea serpent is bad, but being in the presence of one that just silently stares at you and covets what you possess is even worse. Then of course is the rare instance that he does address someone verbally, because that shows, without a shadow of a doubt, you have Leviathan’s full, undivided attention.

That abusive way of managing fits really well, but I feel he’d take it even further and pit those under him against one another, fostering a toxic work environment where all of his employees are at each other’s throats and jealously doing anything to make sure their work gets approved for publication.

I think Levi having multiple rows of teeth is really fitting given you suggested he looks like an eel, as real eels have a second set of retractable jaws and (it could just be me) how there have been some subtle hints that Envy has a subtle duality motif. But I feel that it would be neat if the concept was pushed even further and each row of teeth is actually an individual, nested mouth Levi could talk out of, both for added demonic appeal and the fact it would literally allow him to lie through his teeth.

Now, with all of that said here are some ideas I had after reading them:

I will die on the hill that Leviathan was once the smallest member of the Sins and used to be envious of the others for their greater statutes. Fast forward to the present, Levi has done a complete 180, because unlike the others, he can’t make himself smaller, only bigger than he already is. This in turn makes him envious of the more “normal” sized demons, as he’s now stuck as a big fish in a world that doesn’t always accommodate him.

While reading your Leviathan ideas, I actually had a Golden Goose idea. I imagine Mammon revealing he found love with Stella completely floored the other Sins (especially Asmodeus), as he had been married to his job for millennia. After Mam leaves the meeting the others talk between themselves about this development, which leads to Levi going on a tirade about how Mammon found love before he did (which he’s done every time one of them has taken a lover), which leads to this:

Leviathan: “What the fuck!? Mammon!? Fucking Mammon!? What does that green sack of shit have that I don’t!?” Satan: (Not even bothering to look up from his phone) “A girlfriend.” Leviathan:

Thanks for the ask, I hope you enjoy my ramblings.

[lausticzt-a]

random yearnings I have to write but mostly muse about and drabble about one day when my brain does the thing I enjoy; work:

survey corps pre-series is always a brainrot so that gets to be jotted down here.

I really want Laura to talk about Rickard and Norman but it's so hard with her she won't do it. But I need her to finally talk about it. I want her to confide. Have the strong urge for her to voice how she feels. How the stories of mothers protecting their children during the catastrophe is bittersweet. Let her break, for being a terrible would-be mother. And that it haunts her in a way she wouldn't have once imagined.

I am still brainrotted about muses meeting as children. I don't know how, or why, because Laura is locked away in her room most her days, but I crave. I want childhood and even pre-teen, any age setting before fifteen. Because she is so different.

I waaant misunderstood conflict that gets too personal and out of control and they are saying things that end up getting harsh, because Laura can be so vicious. But you say things that manage to get to her and she is beyond offended, pierced through the stomach, and will overstep. And I love that. I love the aftermath of things like that where everything is tense and everyone around them is uncomfortable by the energy they are bringing.

I do want to re-add and go into modern verses, because honestly, she be giving Caitlyn (arcane) energy in one specific verse.

I blame the Farlan obsession for wanting more underground setting, and my love for high-class prissy fucker to be in that setting because she is a danger to herself by opening her mouth at any instance. More so during her survey corps days, that specific age she is /worse/, but any age, any setting. It fuels me.

AU! setting for Laura who doesn't ever join the military. Not the training corps. Not the survey corps. None. Who never breaks free. She is so, so broken inside, she is the doll her mother wanted, and she is well versed in the game they play. She is fake. Her eyes are sad, but she will smile and say all the right things. Is so empty, that she doesn't care for all the men she attracts, because none can have her. She feels like a phantom. And it's the noble and military gatherings of this setting that also rot my brain. It takes a certain type to see through her mask, because her mother is a natural, and she learnt from the best. Tell Laura her smile is fake and she just smiles wider.

[n4giism]

⇢ ˗ˏˋ blue butterflies by jhin ࿐ྂ

blue lock x fem!reader

content: dancing kpop songs with them! or just dancing in general. i’ll include what songs, what bands/artists etc!!! i didn’t specify the characters that well so really just think of any of your favs!

ari’s note: this turned out more like a brainrot than an actual fanfic😭 sorry guys but hope u enjoy because this was so fun to write i actually kept giggling while writing

— super shy by newjeans

LMFAO can you imagine big buff strong characters like kunigami, raichi, and gagamaru dancing to super shy. it would be so funny. they probably didn’t even wanna do it but you forced them to and they didn’t wanna make you sad so.. dancing to super shy it is!

characters like them probably wanted to just sit and watch you dance, clap for you (kunigami), make fun of you (raichi) or maybe get up and do certain moves here and there (gagamaru), but to think that they’d end up doing the whole dance?????? the entire dance break, with the waacking part??? it was not in their vision to be doing this.. but oh well!

i can also imagine characters like yukimiya, karasu, iemon and kira watching you dance at first. but after seeing how fun it is, they get up and join you too!!! they don’t know what they’re doing and you’re both laughing but it doesn’t matter. bonus points if you’re dancing in the middle of the night and the whole neighbourhood is asleep!!!!

— can’t help falling in love with you by elvis presley OR unchained melody by the righteous brothers

these songs are LITERALLYYY made for slow dancing. characters who want to savour the night with you by holding your waist and having you place your arms on their chest as you both sway left and right.

the atmosphere is so loving, and it’s in this moment that you know how much he loves you and he knows how much you love him. the way he looks into your eyes and you can practically see yourself engraved in his pupil. i can imagine these with characters like barou, zantetsu, and eita.

barou, the selfish king has finally found his queen who’s worthy of his attention and love.

zantetsu, who sometimes doesn’t know left from right, can finally dance to the rhythm of the music with you. he even manages to not step on your foot!! (he probably asked reo and nagi for help. then reo made him slow dance with nagi to practice while reo sung horribly for them LMFAOAOA).

and of course! our dearest eita otoya. sometimes nobody knows what he’s thinking about; but the answer is obvious. what else would he be thinking about if not you? there’s only you in his head.

slow dancing with characters like shidou, hiori, rin, sae and others would be fun too.

now, imagine if the playlist suddenly goes from these romantic songs… to an upbeat song like call me maybe by carly rae jepsen!!!! it probably broke the romantic atmosphere.. but for the better of course! life is fun when you’re dancing around with your lover without a care in the world.

characters like rin, hiori and shidou would giggle a bit when the song suddenly changed and you broke eye contact. it was really like they were in a trance!

shidou would spin you around like a ballerina and laugh a bit. he’d do silly dances and pull you along with him. at the more upbeat parts he’d pretend to play the background guitar music while you grabbed a tv remote and pretended it to be singing into it. you’re both VERY off key… but with shidou it doesn’t matter.

NOW RIN probably wouldn’t know what to do. he’s awkward. you’re probably the one who has to spin him like a ballerina. and my god… it’s hard for him to spin since you’re so much shorter than him. he has to bend his back and at first he’s confused like “wtf are you doing y/n” until you go “spin!! rin c’mon! spin!” and he gets the hint and spins LOLL he’s so cute. you probably make him jump around and he doesn’t know what’s going on but he knows for sure that he is happy.

hiori… oh sweet hiori. he’s giggling so much at how you dance and drag his hand along for him to dance too! and he does!!!! hiori’s a silly boyfriend. he does NOT care that the windows are wide open. he doesn’t care that both your hairs are in a mess, both of you sweating like no tomorrow. heck, he’s probably even taking this dancing as a workout!!! but more importantly, he’s happy that you’re happy!!

— we are never ever getting back together by taylor swift

OR JUST any taylor song tbh. like lover, fearless, all too well (10 min ver), enchanted.

this with characters like nagi, reo, isagi, bachira, etc.

it probably just started off with karaoke. you were singing while he was working out on the floor and he used the songs as a timer.

“ok when taylor gets to the second verse i’ll switch to left plank.”

bachira probably listens to taylor. and reo is a swiftie. so they know all the tea.

they find you getting a little too into it at the songs. and he joins you. like imagine reo doing push-ups on the floor while going, “I WAS ENCHANTED TO MEET YOUUU!!”

he didn’t know when he stopped doing his workout. he didn’t know how he ended up singing fearless with you and dancing around. you’re both pretending like you’re in a music video. dancing and singing with emotion. you two are practically having your own concert!! (i will attend 100%!)

like just imagine the two of you getting emotional and singing like you’re getting into the worst heartbreak of your lives while singing all too well, knowing DAMNNN well that your relationship with him is healthy and strong.

reo and bachira would probably be the type to go, “wait let’s break up for 10 mins so we can enjoy all too well properly,” LMAO.

nagi and isagi probably don’t listen to taylor but they know the popular ones. and they know all the lyrics too because you always blast them at home, or he keeps hearing their friends (reo and bachira) playing it during soccer.

they find themselves unconsciously singing along and before they know it, they’re in the middle of the living room dancing with you.

— out of my league by fitz and the tantrums

ok let’s just say.. you’re both in the kitchen cooking/baking/cleaning while he had his speaker on the kitchen counter blasting music from your shared playlist.

and the songs go from like chill r&b to out of my league. and the two of you look at each other from wherever you’re standing in the kitchen. a small smirk appears on your face as you start singing and dancing. characters like chigiri and sae would be confused until you hype them up and they dance JUUUUST a little bit. ok maybe not a little.

chigiri would move his shoulders a bit. but SAE.. he’ll just admire and chuckle at you. but if you drag him along he’ll just follow too.

but, characters like nanase WILL smirk back at you and he knows what you’re thinking. you’re both dancing around the kitchen, the fire on the stove just bubbling as you both forget why you’re here in the first place. the kitchen has become a dance floor, a club, a party, whatever. MAYBE nanase will be sure to keep you safe in the kitchen. occasionally dancing, then pausing to continue cutting vegetables, then pour vegetables in the pot, then continue dancing again. bro gets work done!

end.

are some of these ooc?? yes probably. and there’s so many characters in blue lock i can’t keep track of them all so i definitely forgot some characters but PLEASE! these are all free hcs so u can imagine them however you want!!