#the group together again

[abyssal-ilk]

no more romance. romance is canceled. tell me about your warden/hawke/inquisitor's best friend and any info you want to add about their dynamic 🖐

[tinartss]

“Ordinary people and geniuses would be separated by various practical realities, and they did not have to force themselves to fit into a group they did not belong to.”

[idliketobeatree]

you know who is THE character ever? Niko Sasaki.

she's 16. she rents a single room above a butcher shop in Townwhoknowswhere, half a globe away from home. she hasn't spoken to her mum back in Tokio in years. she has no friends. everyone in the gang would wrestle demons in knee-deep mud for her. nobody truly gets her. she's an outstanding listener. she stands up for her boundaries, mantaining an inquisitive spirit. she keeps the parasites who wanted to explode through every orifice in her body in a little mason jar; they are nothing but explicitly mean to her. she tries to reason with them everytime. she shows the ghost boy from the 1900s Scooby Doo and bonds with him over mutual Kindness and Autism. being in her proximity makes people inherently better and more understanding. she arrives at the scene of the crime 45 minutes late banging pots and pans. she's a fashion colour-coding icon. she loves love. she's never kissed anyone. she's the wingwoman. the date she sets up for Jenny and Maxine ends in the serial killer woman getting her head split in half. she outtricks the Night Nurse with the power of excellent media comprehension trained on yaoi mangas, and saves the day. she acquired a small bear charm before she died and now she will live forever. nobody, nobody does it like her

[turtleblogatlast]

Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.

For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.

And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.

I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.

[gunstellations]

It all starts with this...

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlights cuddling for comfort, but also they're oblivious idiots who are pining over each other but thinks its unrequited

“Ugh,” Duke says, dropping down onto the bench besides Danny.

Danny nudges him with his shoulder. “Rough night?”

“Slept for like an hour,” Duke mutters, “This sucks. My head’s going to burst like balloon and my eyes are about to fall out.”

“Yikes. You know, you could have just canceled for today. I wouldn’t have minded.”

Duke sighs and presses the heel of his palms against his eyes. “Maybe, but I would have minded. We barely see each other anymore, man. I’ve missed you.”

“Oh.” Danny bites his lip, trying and failing to stop from smiling. Something soft in his chest glows at the words, a growing spark of happiness in knowing that for this, at least, the feeling is requited. It’s nice to hear that he was missed, and it would be even nicer if Duke wasn’t in pain, pushing himself just because he didn’t want to cancel. Carefully, Danny reaches for him and pulls his hands away from his face. “Here,” he says, “Let me.”

His hands are always cold. Most of him is cold, really — side effect of having an ice core. Sam told him once that his hands were better than an ice pack, and he’s hoping she’s right or this is going to be weird. 

Danny gently presses his fingers against Duke’s temples, his hands cradling Duke’s face. Duke is tense for a few seconds, then abruptly relaxes, leaning into Danny’s hands. 

“Is this helping?” he asks, voice hushed to keep from aggravating Duke’s migraine.

“Mhm. Yeah, it feels great. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke goes completely limp, leaning against Danny. They sit there for a minute in silence, the rest of the world feeling far away. As nice as it is to just exist together, he knows what Duke needs most right now is quiet and stillness. Gotham is very much not that, and every honking car that passes by makes Duke wince, trying to turn away from the road even more.

“Hey, let’s head back to my place. It’s close by, and a lot quieter than out here.”

“Are you sure? I know we planned to go to the arcade today…”

“The arcade can wait. You’re more important.”

Duke blinks open his eyes and looks at Danny with something soft in his gaze. Being so close together, barely any space between them, with Duke looking at him like that makes Danny’s cheeks flush red, unable to think anything but please kiss me.

Which is never going to happen. Duke is his friend, and just his friend, no matter how much Danny wishes they could be something more. It’s a pipe dream, something so impossible it’s almost laughable. 

Duke likes being friends with normal human Danny. He doesn’t want to imagine how he would react if he found out about Danny being half ghost, assuming this imaginary reveal happens without Danny being hunted down and cut open by GIW agents. 

He’s still in hiding, always waiting for the worst as he stays in the apartment his friends (living and dead) had set up for him. The building is for ghosts so it technically doesn’t exists, which means it’s the safest place for Danny while he’s actively being hunted by the US government. 

He can’t be honest with Duke. Can’t be as close to him as he wants to be. Duke deserves more than to be dragged into Danny’s problems and put in danger.

Even so, Danny can’t help but want him around, pushing his luck each time they hang out.

“Come on,” Danny urges, standing up. He pulls his hands away and Duke’s brow immediately furrows, his pain returning. “It’s only a few streets away.”

Duke sighs, then visibly braces himself before he stands up. Danny tucks himself into Duke’s side, taking as much of his weight as he can as he walks them down the street. It’s times like these that he wishes he could reveal his powers safely and just fly them to his apartment. But even without the GIW gunning for his head, showing off powers in Gotham is a sure fire way to get a target painted on his back.

“Almost there,” he says as they turn a corner. 

His apartment doesn’t have a fixed address. It doesn’t have a fixed location at all, drifting around, but it likes this street the most, so this is where it usually is. Danny takes them halfway down the street, then turns into an alley, following his ghost sense. 

Where there’s usually a dead end is instead a building, looking as if it’s always been tucked away in this alley. Danny keeps a tight grip on Duke as they climb the front steps, silently asking for the building to let him stay while he’s with Danny. The door opens easily, which is as good as an agreement, and they’re inside without anything going wrong. The small entrance lobby is empty, with an area for packages filled with clearly magical artifacts carelessly wrapped in bubble wrap. 

Danny drags them past that quickly, hoping Duke doesn’t notice, and calls the elevator down. It arrives silently, the doors opening to let another tenant out. Carefully, Danny positions himself in front of Duke, making sure he doesn’t see how the tenant, who nods at Danny, has a still bleeding wound in his stomach that has him nearly split in half. 

“Alright,” he says, ushering Duke into the elevator, “Just a little ride up and then you can lay down.” He hits the button for the fourth floor and they ride up in silence, Duke dropping his head down to onto Danny’s shoulder again, wrapping his arms around his waist as he stands behind Danny. He’s glad Duke can’t see his face; there’s no doubt that he’s blushing like crazy and if that doesn’t give away his feelings, he doesn’t know what will.

Thankfully the elevator ride isn’t long. If Danny had to go for more than a minute with Duke breathing softly against his neck, his warm hands on his stomach, Danny would have collapsed into a pile of flustered goo.

He opens the door to his apartment and kicks his shoes off. Duke follows in suit, still plastered onto Danny’s back, refusing to let go. 

“Come on,” Danny says, leading him to the couch, “Sit down and I’ll grad you some water and painkillers.”

Duke nods against his shoulder, then slowly detaches himself from Danny and makes his way to the couch. He drops onto it gracelessly, pressing his face into a cushion. 

Danny winces. He must be feeling really bad. He knows how bad migraines can be with sleep deprivation, having suffered through high school with only a few hours of sleep at night, if he got to sleep at all. Frankly, it’s a testament to Duke’s strength that he lasted the entire walk to Danny’s apartment without complaint. 

He returns to the living room with a full glass of water and a bottle of Advil, setting them on the coffee table to crouch next to the couch and place a cold hand on Duke’s cheek. “Hey,” he says softly when Duke turns to look at him, “Is Advil alright? It’s all I had.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke sits up and shakes out three pills, then washes them down with water. He drains the rest of the cup quickly, then falls back against the couch with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?”

Duke immediately reaches a hand out for him.

“Um?”

“Sit next to me. I feel better when I’m next to you.”

“Oh! Alright. Bet you’re only saying that because my hands are cold.”

“You caught me,” Duke laughs, pulling Danny onto the couch. He goes easily, tucking his legs beneath himself, and places his hands on Duke’s temples again. “Man, I owe you my life.”

“I don’t think my cold hands are worth quite that much.”

Duke hums, but doesn’t say anything else, so Danny settles in and focuses on keeping his hands a little colder than normal. 

The apartment is quiet. No sound from outside can reach them, one of the few ways the building looks after its tenants. Danny and Duke fall against each other, at ease with each other. There’s no need to fill in the silence, and with Duke’s eyes closed, Danny doesn’t have to carefully shove down his feelings and act normal. He indulges in the warmth of Duke’s body pressed against his, a hand on his knee and an arm around his waist. 

He keeps his hands as steady as possible as he looks over Duke, adoring all the little details he can see; a small scar on his chin, the fullness of his lips, the way his hair falls into his face now that it’s long enough to keep in braids.

“I can practically hear you thinking,” Duke murmurs, “What’s on your mind?”

You’re cute, he thinks, I feel safe with you. I want to kiss you. I wish I could be brave enough to be honest.

I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave.

“Nothing,” he says. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah. I might fall asleep though.”

“That’s fine. You know I would never say no to a nap.”

“Come here, then,” Duke says, and before Danny can do anything, Duke gets a stronger grip on his waist and pulls Danny down on top of him as he falls back towards the arm rest and gets his legs on the couch.

“Duke!”

Duke laughs underneath him, and Danny can feel it roll through him. Okay! This is definitely something he’s going to think about… forever. Wow, he can feel Duke’s abs tense up as he laughs, and has he always been ripped? Unfair. Also unfairly hot. 

“Is this alright?” Duke asks, voice soft and quiet. There’s a hesitancy around his words that Danny doesn’t like hearing, and he brings his hands down to sweep his thumbs soothingly over Duke’s cheeks.

“Of course it is, man. I’d never refuse cuddles.”

“Okay. I’m gonna pass out now. Wake me in an hour?”

Danny moves his hands back up to his temples and says, “Sure. Get some rest, Duke. You really need it.”

He feels Duke relax beneath him, breaths slowing down as he begins to fall asleep. It’s peaceful and quiet and Duke is warm in a way Danny never can be with his ice core. He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but curled up on the couch with Duke in the safety of an apartment that only barely exists has him drifting off in no time at all.

. . .

(Duke wakes up before Danny. Their legs are tangled together and Duke has moved during his sleep, turning so Danny is held tightly to his chest, his back to the cushions, while Duke is balancing very carefully at the edge of the couch. 

It’s been hours, and he should be heading home soon, but he stays as he is, enjoying this quiet moment for as long as he can have it. Danny is in his arms, safe and content with him, his head no longer hurts beyond a residual ache he can easily ignore, and he can admire how pretty Danny is without being worried about Danny catching his lingering stares. 

These moments are precious to him, rare as they are, and he wants nothing more than to kiss Danny once he’s awake and let his feelings be known.

But the Signal has lots of dangerous people after him, and Gnomon has started causing problems in Gotham again. So he’ll bite his tongue and keep his less platonic feelings buried under lock and key until it’s safe enough for Danny to be around him more often.

And when that time comes, he can only hope that Danny will feel the same way.

That’s all far away from the stillness of Danny’s apartment. All that matters is that he has Danny in his arms. Everything else can wait. 

For now, this is more than enough.)

[ringosmistress]

[zylphiacrowley]

Moonfire Faire 2024

[forgetriestowrite]

ok last post of the day

I still think Ludinus is delusional with this tape because like. He's trying to convince a dysfunctional family of fuck-ups that a dysfunctional family of fuck-ups isn't worth saving.

someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think his whole point is "the gods destroyed Aeor rather than destroying their siblings which would have been the easy solution that would've ended the war"

but the thing Ludinus isn't getting is that Bells Hells would understand the gods. They almost killed each other over a sword like two nights ago. Laudna has an evil dead lady in her head slowly gaining more and more control over her. Orym is destroying himself to get the job done. Imogen is a couple rock bottoms away from being a vessel for Predathos. Fearne's daddy issues might end the world. Chetney refuses to talk about his problems until they are staring him down. But they will not do the "easy" thing. They will not get rid of each other because the idea of that is so unfathomable that they would rather try and fail to save each other than succeed at anything less noble. So Imogen and Laudna try and make a relationship work. The whole group agrees to at least try to communicate. Orym protects them, even though logically he should probably neutralize at least some of them in the best interest of the world. Fearne relies on her friends to tell her the right path. Chetney makes them gifts and slowly unravels the hidden parts of himself.

it's not whether the gods are right or wrong. It's not "poor wizards" or "the gods should have just left". Morality has always been a shifty thing in this campaign, so at this point I think it's out of the equation. Now what matters is what Bells Hells see when they look at this tape. Do they see what Ludinus sees, a bunch of illogical decisions that ended a great (read: dystopian) wizard city? Or do they see themselves reflected in gods-made-mortal?

(and for the people who really want to talk about the morality of this, I'm now like 95% sure Predathos is not going to stop with the gods so we have the end of the world to contend with)

[otaku553]

I’m currently moving out of the dorm room I’ve lived in with 2 friends for 2 years and it’s…. very bittersweet? Unsettling? Kind of jarring? To see the room completely tossed up and deconstructed when there was so much about it that felt lived in before. So I drew some of the views I remember seeing and wrote down some memories about them.

I’ll probably have another comic about this. I don’t know. I’m feeling very sentimental.

[zehl0w]

Very messy scribble of a comic because they were on my mind (I doubt I’ll ever clean it up so I’m just posting it now so it doesn’t rot in my procreate files LOL)

[a-drama-addict]

ok non oc related bg3 art bc i was thinking abt wyll and astarion bullying gale (affectionately)

[ohitslen]

College (uni??) AU catering to my own interests as it should always be hehe :)

[harmonybarmy]

Ben coming back to the cabin to see yet another cannibalistic ritual

[turtleblogatlast]

Sometimes I wonder if Leo’s instant latching onto Señor Hueso is due to the fact that Hueso is an older adult man (specifically a father at that) who, while fed up with Leo a lot of the time, still deigns to give him a modicum of attention.

Considering Leo’s a Leo, he craves that attention from a father figure, even if said attention isn’t positive. As long as he’s acknowledged, that’s enough for him, since he’s already used to being his own biggest (and often only) fan as is.

Luckily, Hueso does come around and (reluctantly) forms a connection with Leo as well, but again, I have to wonder if Leo picked out Hueso for a reason.

[coffeeghoulie]

Mushy May Day 1: Cuteness Aggression

oh we are so back

Thank you so much to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together for the second year in a row <3

No warnings for this one, just 800 words of Aether teaching Aeon rhythm guitar and them being too dang cute lol

"Put your fingers right here, yeah, right on that fret," Aether says, gently adjusting Aeon's fingers on the fretboard of their Fantomen. They've been at it for hours. Aeon's still relatively fresh Up Top, and they have a lot of learning left to do before they get sent off on tour.

To their credit, Aeon's an excellent student. They soak in new information like a sponge, eager to learn just about anything that's put in front of them. They adjust their fingers so they're playing the right chord, straightening with a grin when they strum and it sounds much better than the discordant thing they'd done earlier.

"Just like that, pup," Aether repeats. "Take it from the first verse." He hits a button on his phone, and the metronome ticks about twenty clicks slower than tempo. Aeon nods, starting to play.

Aether watches as Aeon makes their way through the verse and chorus of Year Zero, and he's taken back for a moment, fumbling over these same chords with far less grace than Aeon has now, Omega kindly readjusting his fingers. He shakes his head, dispelling the memory to watch them.

He watches Aeon's face, watches as their brow furrows in concentration, eyes locked onto their hands as they play. Their tongue peeks past their lips, watching their fingers move over the fretboard. Their tail wraps around their thigh, the spade tapping in time with the metronome.

They get through the verse and chorus, playing through the bridge without a single mistake, and Aether whoops. "You're doing so good, pup, took me ages to get that right."

"Thanks to you! You're a really good teacher, Aeth," Aeon beams, grinning so wide their cheeks dimple, and Aether's fingers twitch, curling into fists. If it weren't for putting the Fantomen in their lap at risk, he'd have pulled them into a crushing hug about three minutes ago.

He still mirrors their grin, flashing his gold capped fang. "Oh, don't mention it, pup. At this rate, you'll be outplaying me by the end of the tour." Aether watches in delight as a violet blush spills over their cheeks, and they shove their two-toned hair out of their eyes.

"Aeth," Aeon says, dragging it out as the spade of their tail pads against the vinyl floor.

"I'm serious," he says, reaching over to ruffle their hair. "Now, I want you to run that again a couple more times, and then we can see about getting you up to tempo."

Aeon beams, settling their fingers back in the starting position as they go again. Aether watches and fights every urge to squeeze them as that look of complete concentration settles on their face again.

Again, they make it through with no mistakes, and no mistakes when they loop the section for the third time. Aether grins, reaching over and turning the metronome slightly faster.

A half hour passes and Aeon's only improving. Aether couldn't be prouder of the younger ghoul, honored that this is the ghoul who will follow in his footsteps. Aether gets them up to tempo, and they're crushing it, eyes bright as it finally clicks in their head that they're doing it. He has to fight another wave of squeeze them as tight as you can, half-heartedly making another excuse about the guitar between them.

Aeon eventually sets the Fantomen back on the rack, rubbing absentmindedly at the callouses quickly forming on their fingertips. Aether can't fight it anymore. He stands, bringing the younger quintessence ghoul into a tight hug, holding their head to his broad chest, his fingers carding through their hair as he squeezes tighter and tighter.

Aeon yelps as Aether manhandles them into the hug, squirming until they free their face, gasping in a breath. They blink up at him owlishly. "Aeth, can't breathe," they wheeze. "What're you doing?"

Aether laughs to himself softly, not letting go but loosening his arms around their ribs. "Sorry, pup."

Aeon settles now that they're not being actively crushed, chest heaving. "No, really, Aeth, what was that for?" they ask. "Not complaining, but that was outta nowhere."

"You're just cute when you're in the zone, the face you make when you're concentrating is sweet." He ruffles their hair, knuckles against their scalp."Gimme your hands, I saw you rubbing your fingers."

Aeon complies, letting Aether take their spindly fingers in his grip. There's a spark of quintessence between them, just enough to soothe the sting from playing. In time, the callouses will harden, making it easier for them to keep playing. But for now, a little balm of magick won't hurt.

"I'm very proud of you, pup," he says as he works, glancing up to meet their mismatched eyes.

Aeon beams, settling more into Aether's arms. "Thanks, Aeth."

"Of course. Same time tomorrow. I'll get you started on Square Hammer."