#the quarantine coloring book

[bogleech]

At the link above is a 45 page condensed PDF sample of the upcoming 300+ page Mortasheen TTRPG Core Rulebook. This condensed sample contains just the following:

-The Biotypes (player races)

-The College of Genetics location and its Dean

-The Runoff, a sample adventure locale in Mortasheen City

-An explanation of the "Green Goo" that Mortasheen runs on

-24 monster pages, some of them still never before seen by anyone but the original Kickstarter backers, from a planned final count of 152 monsters.

No gameplay instructions, but monster pages retain their statblocks for you to look at.

All full color artwork in this sample is by myself or by @revretch, while pixel sprites are by hashtag_underscore, beachboogyman, myself, and Pokemon: Quarantine Crystal's @latenightagain !

Any money from this zine-sized digital preview will go partially into everyday survival and partially into improving the print quality of the final book. Its kickstarter print budget is still with me, but only covers a just-average quality for the book's first run! There are still better paper weights and color options to consider! After that print run finishes and ships out to all 2020 backers, that final book will go up for public purchase, maybe by the end of this year (2024) if everything works out.

Boost and spread this if you can; I've worked on Mortasheen as a personal world building project for over twenty years, and the coming RPG release is a project that took multiple people at least fifteen years.

FIND OUT WHAT KIND OF MONSTER IS CALLED "SHARKITECT"

[mrs-hatake]

So~ I saw ur lad boys requests were open 👀🍵 and I was wondering if I could request their reaction if you were wearing a mini skirt and it accidentally rides up

a/n: sorry i'm late, anon! i hope you like it ^-^

Sylus:

April showers bring May flowers. As well as cool and sunny days. When one can finally shed off their thick winter coats and slip into something lighter, more colorful and maybe top it off by wearing a cropped jacket.

Y/N is strolling down the streets of Linkon, accompanied by children’s laughter and much needed heat after the long winter season. She doesn’t always spend her day off downtown, choosing to be lazy at home and recharge. But seeing how lovely the weather has gotten, she finds herself out of her pajamas and into a cute white knit top and black mini skirt. 

She doesn’t do much downtown; window shops for about an hour, grabs a late breakfast and stops by a flower shop.  When she enters the park to rest under a large tree with its leaves acting as an umbrella to shield her from the scorching noon sun, she spots an ice-cream truck. 

Happily eating her ice-cream, Y/N doesn’t notice a couple of boys chasing each other on their bikes. They rush past her, kicking dirt in their path and sending a strong gust of wind Y/N’s way. 

“Watch it!” Y/N yells after them, grumbling at how reckless kids are getting with each passing year. 

“Nice view.” Comes a comment, along with a satisfied whistle. 

Y/N turns, anger burning in her eyes and a stern talking to on her when she is met with a familiar handsome face, “Sylus?” She asks, her head tilting to the side. 

“In the flesh.” The man in question is sitting on a bench not too far from where the ice-cream truck is, a book between his large hands.

“What are you doing here-” Y/N cuts herself off when realization dawned on her that Sylus had seen her pale yellow underwear when those stupid boys zoomed by in their bikes, hiking up her mini skirt. 

A pretty blush dusts her cheeks and Y/N quickly averts her gaze from Sylus’ amused reds. 

Zayne:

Linkon’s Public Library is one of the city's most prominent buildings despite libraries being an outdated concept. After all, thanks to modern technology, everything is now digitized and an individual can gain access to billions of doors of information with a simple tap of their smart wrist watch.

Still, despite such conveniences, many still seek the warm embraces of a library. A place that feels familiar, as if reuniting with a relative after years apart. Even someone who has never been in a library before, can share this sentimentality. The aroma of book pages and the feel of the leather on the tip of the fingers, no modern device can replicate such sensations.

It’s why Y/N is spending her lunch break at the library instead of being at the cafeteria, eating and catching up with her colleagues. Although she loves them and would die for them, sometimes she needs a break.

And one of her favorite hobbies is picking up a book from the library and reading about previous generations, decades and centuries and their lifestyle.

She’s currently in the 21st century section, scanning the titles of various books when one at the very top catches her eyes; Surviving Quarantine and Covid-19. 

Y/N reaches up to grab it but the shelf is way too high for her to reach. Even when she stands on her tiptop, Y/N’s fingers still struggle to graze the book. She stretches and stretches to no avail. She tries to jump but that doesn’t help her wrap her fingers around the thick book. 

Just as Y/N tries to stand on the ledge of the book case to give her an extra boost, warmth engulfs her and an arm appears in her line of vision. Y/N is caught in a daze as a smooth looking hand easily grabs the book and pulls it out of the row of books. 

Following the arm, Y/N is pleased to see her doctor, “Zayne!”

Zayne isn’t someone who can show emotion on his handsome and youthful face but he has been trying as a small smile tugs the corner of his lips. 

“You should be more careful,” Zayne says as a form of greeting, “Your skirt was riding up. You never know who might be watching.”

Flushed with embarrassment, Y/N takes away the book, “Will do.” she chuckles awkwardly, unaware of the way Zayne’s gaze darts to her hips and back to her eyes. 

Zayne will take this to his grave but he was spending the past ten minutes watching Y/N trying to grab the book. Every time her skirt hitched, Zayne leaned further, nearly falling off of his seat, trying to catch a glimpse of Y/N’s underwear. And he would’ve been successful if he didn’t hear people making their way to where they are. After all, only Zayne is allowed to watch such a mouthwatering sight. 

Caleb:

Finally…Finally, after six long months, Y/N wakes up with excitement buzzing through her veins and heart thundering wildly. Today’s the day Caleb is coming home after his training program. 

She spends an hour and a half in her bathroom; washing her hair with jasmine scented shampoo and rubs honeydew scrub on her limbs and abdomen, shaves all the tiny hairs littered across her body and curls her hair just the way Caleb likes it. 

Y/N then spends another hour trying to choose the perfect outfit to greet Caleb home.

After three mountains of clothes pile up in her room, Y/N decides to wear a white off shoulder top with a matching mini skirt.

Just as Y/N is doing her makeup, she hears a car door slamming from outside her window. Eyes widened in alarm, she rushes to her window where she spots Caleb leaning into the window of the electric yellow cab. 

Oh, no! He’s home early!

As if on maximum speed, Y/N spreads peach colored lip gloss across her lips and pats a thin layer of powdered blush on her cheeks in less than twenty seconds. She takes the stairs by two and is out the door just as Caleb is waving off the taxi driver.

“Gege!”

Caleb turns at the sweet call of his meimei, her cute nickname at the ready when it dies on his tongue. 

Everything around him slows. The sounds become muted and his surroundings fade away into a blur. Except for Y/N who shines like the morning sun. 

She is running towards Caleb but at the same time, curls bouncing in tune with her breasts and her skirt swaying with the breeze. 

Every time Y/N comes down from the stone stairs of the entry path of their grandmother’s home, Caleb’s blessed with the sight of Y/N’s cute lace pink underwear.

How Caleb wishes he’s wearing his video recording lenses right now. He doesn’t ever want to forget this heavenly sight.

“Gege!” Y/N calls again before jumping into Caleb’s eager and greedy arms.

“I’ve missed you!” She smiles up at him, “Did you miss me too?” she pouts at him and it takes all of Caleb’s will power not to kiss her. 

“Y-Yeah…” Caleb clears his throat, hides his face in her hair and inhales her scent–jasmine and honeydew– to calm himself down, “I’ve missed you too.”

Pleased with his answer, Y/N beams at him, pretty eyes glowing with delight like the night stars. 

Y/N leans into the hug, unaware of how her warmth sends a thrill down her spine, how his heart is beating so loud he’s scared she might hear it. Heat pools Caleb’s in his stomach, a familiar sensation that he had tried not to chase after so he gently, albeit regretfully, pushes Y/N away.

Before she can pout at him–pretty eyes filled with unshed tears– and send Caleb into a frenzy, he rushes to say, “I got you a present!”

Grateful for the distraction, Caleb guides Y/N to their grandmother’s house. As much as he wants Y/N, wants her for himself, it’s not the time…yet.

[uwmspeccoll]

Milestone Monday

July 15th is national I Love Horses Day celebrated here with an original horse girl and author, Marguerite Henry (1902-1997). Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, Henry spent much of her childhood bedridden with rheumatic fever. While the illness kept her quarantined, it also provided time for Henry to hone her writing skills and explore her love of animals, particularly horses. She sold her first story at age 11 to The Delineator magazine, went on to study at the Milwaukee State Teachers College, and published over forty children’s books with great accolades including a Newberry Medal in 1949. 

In 1945 Henry began a twenty-year collaboration with American artist and illustrator Wesley Dennis (1903-1966). Dennis beautifully illustrated over 150 books in his career including Sewell’s Black Beauty and Steinbeck’s The Red Pony. Henry publicly described him as the “best horse artist in the world” and went on to publish twenty books in partnership with him.  

Album of Horses, published by Rand McNally & Company in 1951, is among their catalog of collective works providing “little-known facts, entertaining human-interest anecdotes, and superb pictures” about the lives and breeds of twenty-six horses. Dennis’s illustrations delight readers bringing Henry’s words to life through full color paintings in pastel palettes and graphite marginal pictures. If you are looking for a spark to ignite your love of horses today, Album of Horses is a great place to start! 

Read other Milestone Monday posts here.

View more posts with horses!

– Jenna, Special Collections Graduate Intern 

[bomberqueen17]

liveblogging the aubreyad 1: Master & Commander

ok so. i'm going to liveblog my reread of the Patrick O'Brian Jack Aubrey series of books, in potentially more or less detail, because it's something to do and it's funny. Starting with book 1, Master & Commander, copyright date 1969, which I definitely first read in like 1991 when I was waaaaay too young to understand approximately half the references. There will be spoilers. There may or may not be an accurate representation of the entire contents of the series. We'll see how long I keep this up. I wish I could write it in the entertaining style of my Wee Precious Flower Prince Geralt Witcher 3 playthroughs of yore but those were written under 1) quarantine confinement, 2) incredible amounts of gin, 3) after collaborative sessions, and I just can't make that happen solo.

But I will do my poor, reduced, older and more sedate best. I promise that while these books are not quite as dramatically crack-addled as Witcher 3, they are weirder than you think, which is critical.

OK so. We start off swinging with the meet-ugly. In fair Port Mahon we lay our scene, in the year 1800 (or 1801?? we also start off swinging with never quite having the tiny details quite laid down), we meet our fair hero Jack Aubrey, a six-foot, well-built, yellow-haired lieutenant in the Royal Navy, a cheerful high-spirited cove who immediately pisses off the unpleasant little man sitting next to him at this chamber music concert by singing along to the music. Relatable reaction by the unpleasant little man, to be sure. Aubrey is having a bad time, though— he has not been promoted and he doesn’t have a ship so he has nothing to do but get in trouble, and his spirits are too low to get into a fight with the unpleasant little man, though he briefly considers it. We soon find out that the sole bright spot in Jack's life is that he's fucking his boss’s wife, which seems like a bad idea but who are we to judge. But lo! He gets back to the inn where he’s staying only to find a letter informing him that he has been promoted! He is now the master and commander of his very own ship, which we are informed is a sloop. Also throwing us into the deep end of Listen Baby It’s Just Vibes. The nautical language and technical shit comes fast and thick and if you just sort of roll with it you figure it out. Don’t Worry About It. There Will Be Context Clues.

Now that Jack is professionally fulfilled he is happy, and so the next morning when he happens to see his unpleasant little man from the previous night, he shows his true colors: he immediately bounds across the street and wholeheartedly, unreservedly apologizes for being a dipshit, like the golden retriever he really is at heart. The unpleasant little man is so shocked by this that he loses all his unpleasantness, has a really nice conversation with Jack, and immediately gets distracted by the sighting of a rare bird. Stephen Maturin is now successfully introduced, exactly as he means to go on as well. He is a physician, but his patient died and he's stuck without money to get home, literally sleeping rough because no one will answer his letters and he's out of cash. Jack meanwhile has a ship with no surgeon on it, and a vacancy, and they like one another, so it seems a simple solution. And so Stephen shall go to sea.

I suppose, really, that’s the genius of this series. The characters are round, complicated creatures, with obvious and consistent surface qualities but also equally consistent, apparently-contradictory, deeper qualities. Even minor characters sometimes possess this level of depth. Even the cartoony-awful little shit Harte (sometime captain, then admiral, the boss whose wife Jack has been fucking but in Jack's defense so is everybody else) has depths. Unpleasant depths, but he's got reasons and motivations and you do really believe in him; this pays off in book 8 in particular.

We meet Jack's first command, the Sophie, the loveliest tiniest little ship ever, staffed by a pack of utter weirdos. TOM PULLINGS makes his first appearance (he is my favorite supporting character throughout the series, so he will be capitalized henceforth) along with his delightful henchman (the other senior midshipman) Mowett who is James in his first and last appearances and most of the others but for some reason becomes William for a while in the middle, most notably in book 8, and has thus passed into the movie as William. Those are our master's mates, or senior midshipmen. In O'Brian's typical fashion we don't get really concrete physical descriptions of them in the normal sense, but instead get really evocative but nonspecific ones. TOM PULLINGS is "a big shy master's mate", elsewhere specified to be sort of gangly, long and thin, young, with a country accent and foremast-jack antecedents (i.e. started out as a regular sailor and was promoted, instead of the more normal approach where a family of means sends a son to sea as a midshipman), who absolutely blossoms under Jack Aubrey's leadership-by-enthusiastic-example, and we will see him through most of the rest of the series continuing on this trajectory with great competence and charming humbleness.

James Mowett gets a great introduction. He's had a few lines prior to this, mostly repetitively described as (and shown to be) cheerful and generally enthusiastic about things, running around and getting to be the one to fetch Stephen from the shore, and later we find out that he is a prolific writer of somewhat-terrible poetry, which we'll get plenty of excerpts of over the course of the series. But his first real description is:

“James Mowett was a tubular young man, getting on for twenty; he was dressed in old sailcoth trousers and a striped Guernsey shirt, a knitted garment that gave him very much the look of a caterpillar."

There are also the youngsters. Meet my beloved son William Babbington, a miniature midshipman of between eleven and thirteen who has every venereal disease and gets drunk a lot. He also cries and swears a whole lot, mostly while sober. I love him immoderately and we will see him in several more of the books. He never gets much taller or less obsessed with womanizing. Adolescence was hard in the Georgian era. (Yes, this is the Georgian era; the Victorian era does not begin for another thirty years.)

“'I suppose you grow used to living here,' [Stephen] observed, rising cautiously to his feet. 'At first it must seem a little confined.' 'Oh, sir,' said Mowett, 'think not meanly of this humble seat, Whence spring the guardians 'of the British fleet! Revere the sacred spot, however low, Which formed to martial acts an Hawke! An Howe !' 'Pay no attention to him, sir,' cried Babbington, anxiously. 'He means no disrespect, I do assure you, sir. It is only his disgusting way.”

Throughout this series, O'Brian so so so vividly shows and describes the many phases of awkwardness that young men go through especially in military settings. It's incredibly vivid; the breaking voices, the smells, the idiotic capers, the weeping, the complete lack of foresight, the incredible cruelty and also loyalty and bravery, the sheer adolescent enthusiasm coupled with shocking laziness.

We also get some insight into contemporary social mores through the introduction of Marshall, the sailing master (a warrant officer)-- 1) he's gay and 2) Jack Aubrey is extremely his type. Different people's different attitudes toward this unspool throughout various points of the book, but the critical point is that Jack Aubrey himself has absolutely zero gaydar and while he has heard the rumor about Marshall's tendencies, he doesn't care about that stuff, studiously avoids enforcing any of the regulations against it, and he absolutely never at any point relates this to himself, and never ever realizes why the man is so driven to excel at his job. Not even when an injury to his head and face gives Jack a horrible haircut and worse appearance, and Marshall is horrified and dispirited about it; Jack never twigs just what's amiss.

To be fair to Jack, many many many of the men aboard also respond to him in a similar, though crucially different, way. This is a common thing in this kind of cooped-up little setting; you have a guy who's in charge and gives you positive feedback and like, immediately you'll die for that guy, which is kind of how the military works because you may in fact have to literally die for that guy and it's easier if you're intrinsically motivated in some way. And Jack is very, very good at this in most cases, at taking the measure of the people under his command and getting them to respond to him.

(We can return to Mowett for an explicit example: “'You may light up the sloop, Mr Mowett, and show her our force: I don't want her to do anything foolish, such as firing a gun - perhaps hurting some of our people. Let me know when you have laid her aboard.' With this [Jack] retired, calling for a light and something hot to drink; and from his cabin he heard Mowett's voice, cracked and squeaking with the excitement of this prodigious command (he would happily have died for Jack), as under his orders the Sophie bore up and spread her wings.”)

Anyway so back to the plot summary: a very good side plot throughout is that the ship's first lieutenant, James Dillon, is an Irishman, and he and Stephen Maturin were both involved in the Irish rebellion in 1798. When they meet, James recognizes Stephen, and cautiously sounds him out about having met before, and Stephen very coolly replies we've never met but you must be thinking of my cousin who looks just like me but uglier, *so* ugly, he has the face of an informer, and everyone hates an informer and james is like Ah. You Are Absolutely Correct Sir We Have Never Met. This subplot develops into a delicious meditation on divided loyalties and the agony of staying true to oneself while doing what one must do. Highly recommended, A++. Begins to give us some insight into the various depths of Stephen, who doesn't understand tides or wind and hasn't the sense to come in out of the rain but has a deep and complicated history and identity and above all an incredible capacity for ruthlessness, absolutely none of which Jack understands.

Stephen and James in dialogue when they're finally in privacy enough to discuss it (Stephen is the first speaker, James the second):

“I speak only for myself, mind - it is my own truth alone - but man as part of a movement or a crowd is indifferent to me. He is inhuman. And I have nothing to do with nations, or nationalism. The only feelings I have -for what they are - are for men as individuals; my loyalties, such as they may be, are to private persons alone.'' "Patriotism will not do?'' "My dear creature, I have done with all debate. But you know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either my country, right or wrong, which is infamous, or my country is always right, which is imbecile." ''Yet you stopped Captain Aubrey playing Croppies Lie Down the other day.” "Oh, I am not consistent, of course; particularly in little things. Who is? He did not know the meaning of the tune, you know. He has never been in Ireland at all, and he was in the West Indies at the time of the rising. [...] But as for that song, I acted as I did partly because it is disagreeable to me to listen to it and partly because there were several Irish sailors within hearing, and not one of them an Orangeman; and it would be a pity to have them hate him when nothing in the manner of insult was within his mind's reach.”

uhhhhhhh but meanwhile: Jack Aubrey and the Sophies wreak havoc in the Mediterranean and make a lot of money and enemies, to the point that the local merchants band together to commission a fairly serious ship expressly to fuck them up. They meet this ship unsuspectingly, manage just in time to disguise themselves, and Stephen hails the ship and asks them in bad Spanish if they know anything about treating the plague, could they send a doctor over, could they spare any medicine. This scares them off and they go away. But now the Sophies know what this ship looks like and what armament it has. So the next time they meet it, they fight it, and so the tiny 14-gun Sophie with 82 men and boys aboard manages to capture the 32-gun Cacafuego with 319 men aboard, and it's very gallant and dashing and probably should not have worked, but it does.

And a little later, the Sophie accidentally meets a pair of very powerful French ships and gets taken in return despite doing some really heroic evasive manoevers.

The French are super nice to them, and we meet a French ship captain named Christy-Palliere who becomes a recurring character, who has English cousins and speaks great English and is both charming and nice, saying things like gather ye rose pods while ye may and being generally gallant. Until some even more powerful English ships heave into view, and the tables turn, but even then Christy-Palliere remains gallant and well-behaved.

We end the book with the court-martial. Any officer who loses his ship for any reason has to go before a court of sea captains to ascertain whether he did everything in his power to avoid losing his ship. So all the officers of the Sophie, including the midshipmen, including the surgeon, have to testify about this. (I feel like the other warrant officers should also have had to testify? but they weren't there and i'm not sure why. TOM PULLINGS is also not mentioned in the scene which he absolutely should be present for, so it's possible that they were just omitted for time.)

“They had each received an official notification the day before, and for some reason each had brought it with him, folded or rolled. After a while Babbington and Ricketts took to changing all the words they could into obscenities, secretly in a corner, while Mowett wrote and scratched out on the back of his, counting syllables on his fingers and silently mouthing. Lucock stared straight ahead of him into vacancy.”

Spoiler: the jury decides that there's not really anything more a 14-gun sloop could have done against two French ships of the line, so they exonerate Captain Aubrey for the loss of his sloop, and thus ends the book.

[skriblee-ksk]

Adeline Ordelia

Summary:

[An elegant and diligent student who seems to know exactly what she wants. She has a strong sense of justice and an aptitude for efficiency. A girl who always strives to find the truth in the name of justice, she politely detaches herself from the students of NRC out of caution because of their questionable demeanors.]

[Despite her initial awkward air, she actually has a habit of delicately (yet strictly) taking care of those who need it with a crazy amount of patience. It’s like she has experience at this.]

General Info!

Name: Adeline Ordelia

Nicknames: Adelia and Silver (only used by Cynthia to annoy her).

Birthday: August 12

Pronouns: She/her

Sexuality: Straight

Dominant Hand: Right

Hobbies: Reading, Embroidery, Book binding, Journaling, and Scheduling the day.

Likes: Star Anise Tea, Victorian Styled Buildings and Outfits (or whatever equivalent in TWST), Solving Mysteries, and Chatting with Cynthia.

Dislikes: Celery and The nickname “Silver”.

Fears: Ghosts (and the specifics of after-death).

Traits: A natural talent for elegancy, Having a strong urge to do the right thing, and Dissuading people efficiently from bad decisions.

Extra Information: She has a sibling-like close friend who attends RSA, Her favorite color is a deep blue, She likes stargazing (casual), She's memorized half of Heartslabyul's rules by Year 1, and is attempting to memorize the rest by the end of this year (for fun).

“Reveal the site of what once was.” Snapshot Evidence: Adelia’s unique magic that can be used with any picture (physical or digital). To use this properly, she must think of a specific person and a specific time, and if that person was at the place she took the photo of during the time she was thinking about, the person appears in the photo permanently. It's a particular spell with a penalty system that creates more blot if she's wrong than when she's right. Thankfully, Adelia's cautious and meticulous, so it's rare for her to ever be wrong in the rare times she does use this power. Although her photos are generally known to be true through others' confirmations of events, it's not completely trusted by others because she can't solidly prove that these photo manipulations are an exact illustration of what happened. Unknown if it can accurately predict the future.

More about her under cut!!

Curiosity:

Housewarden Riddle’s overblot wasn’t the first one I witnessed.

The first one was just down my neighborhood, when I was about… Hm. 7 years old. I was coming back from a walk with my escorts when I saw Styx members quarantining the overblotted person. Mm, I guess I couldn’t call them a person anymore. I didn’t get to see much of it. I wasn’t tall enough. Still, I could see some of the damage caused to the nearby buildings, with pitch black ink dripping down and slithering through the cracks of the sidewalk.

Apparently, the sight wasn’t morbid enough since it didn’t pique my curiosity enough for me to learn about it.

Of course, until now.

Why, you may ask? Well, because I know about the basics of blot accumulation and overblots now, first off. But more importantly, because Housewarden Riddle wasn’t the last overblot I witnessed.

Doesn’t anyone else find this strange? Doesn’t anyone else find this dangerous?

Doesn’t anyone else want to piece together this awful trend? Or is it just a minor every day event for them? Are you aware of what’s happening?

It was merely sympathy at first. I respect Housewarden Riddle, and there must have been a great deal of trauma involved for him to get to that state. That’s what I told Cynthia.

But two in a row? Both of them are Housewardens. And so close in time, too. Aren’t overblots supposed to be rare? That’s why I’m curious.

Will this trend continue? And if it does, what am I going to do about it?

“What do you want to do about it?”

“I want… to help stop it.”

“I mean, you always have the choice of ignoring it, you know. Like most others do?”

“… Then why did you even ask—“

“Well, just in case~ Even though I already knew the ever-so-righteous Adelia wouldn’t just ignore it.”

“So that’s your goal, right?”

Gather data on the overblots and see if there’s any future ones.

If there are, figure out the reason.

Ultimately, help stop it, but keep others’ safe until I can find a way.

“Wow, that’s a lot. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Even if I don’t get to all of my objectives, it’s good experience. And you’re already invested in this potential mystery, aren’t you?”

“Ehe, correct!”

I want to help people. I can’t tell you the reason, but I do. I want to save you. Even in minor ways. Even in final ways. Even if you don’t want to be saved, I want to anyway. I’m sorry.

It’s just because I’m curious.

- - -

A/N: YAYYY basically done with the YAI to TWST pipeline!!! Here's Adelia, my other daughter and the other main character of Your Artificial Image that I missed so much.

In here, basically what Adelia and Cynthia do is just. Try and find out what's happening with the overblots, and try and stop them. Near Book 5, Adelia decides to pair up with (threaten) the Headmage and get more access to the student files. Anyways, that's how those two will get more and more involved within the main story!!! I will expand more on them, hopefully. While Cynthia does things for the sake of doing, Adelia always has a reason for her actions, and that's what makes them suit each other so well!!

AND NOW!! With them, I’ll be able to draw other characters I don’t draw as much because their personalities suit other TWST characters’ dynamics!! YIPPEE YIPPEE WHAT JOY!!!!!!

anyways. yeah. thanks.

[ask-cagestale]

How about getting to know the characters little by little?...Perhaps, with it you'll get an idea of ​​what this story is about.

Coach

Description: A hairy goat, with her honey-colored left eye, a lavender outfit that partially retains her logo, she has an Echo flower on her left horn and a hair band for her ears.

Summary of her story: After her determination to want to live, a common and flawed Toriel was afraid of her empty surroundings, Ink when he saw some things he quarantined her because something was not right. However, the more they got to know each other, their relationship was strong and healthy and since she did not have a home and purpose, he himself tried something, to give her one. Now Toriel, known as Coach as he perceived her, fulfills the role of motivating and helping others in a sanctuary that temporarily retains her defects.

Author's note: I prefer to detail so that you can better understand Coach's tragedy, but it will be later.

Relationships: She always treats others the same, sweet, calm, compassionate, empathetic, etc., that bond pleases others. But for those who long to see the death of a corrupt anomaly...well, some are confused, others angry, some are disgusted even knowing that she, with the pain of the world, told them that she would not be around forever. However, her "expiration date" can be brought forward but it is something difficult to understand...as for her, she continues treating those murderers with love and without any fear.

Some curious facts: She decided to create a fake disguise when she found out that her anomaly was capable of infecting others. She usually reads books that our ink friend brings her, not only to kill time, but to learn about its atmosphere. She has no powers, so she can't attack you. Her left eye teleports her like a Sans, she hates having it because she feels a strong pain not knowing how to handle it. The corrupted Echo flower reminds her from time to time of many conversations and that makes her nostalgic. She likes Carrot Cake.

(Remember, characters like Ink, Nightmare or Error are not mine and everything told is not part of their canon!! I would appreciate it if you support their original creators <3)

[rxttenbxnes]

Hello! Do you have any fun headcanons to share about Idia? Honestly, I just find it painful to see how badly this guy gets butchered in headcanons sometimes. People always forget that he is in fact a complete ass with a massive superiority-inferiority complex and not just a sad boi, or they overplay the weeb part and ignore how he has other interests like science and art, or they make him too pathetic by assuming he would still be a blushing incoherent mess like a year into marriage, etc. Anyway, it’d just be nice to hear the headcanons of an actual Idia fan since that’s the only way to get anything sane.

Omg totally, first I'mma do a little rant, I'll make sure to label where the HCS begin so y'all don't have to read my rants 😭

܀⊹ ིྀ🕸 ۫ ִ ׂ💭 ◟♡ ˒ ⊹ ݁ ִ  ۫���ೄྀ⊹܀

❱❱﹒⟡﹒𝑅𝑎𝑛𝑡﹢﹒🎮

Okay we gotta acknowledge the fact idia is indeed, an asshole you guys. 💀Well not completely obviously but he's not just gonna be nice to you for no reason. He's not just some depressed dude needing sympathy.

The way Idia is so Infantilzed by the fandom it's actually gets me tweakin, You guys this actually makes me mad, he's not some sensitive bottom uwu boy that stutters 50 times every sentence In fact I honestly cannot see him being submissive half of the time, this man is actually a asshole on the low. Most people get the fact that idia would be submissive from his shy and closed off personality which is just SO wrong to me.

Idia is extremely pessimistic and if we're being real Idia is actually not a good narrator for his own experiences, the constant self deprecation mixed in with his his thoughts about being superior to others is so fascinating to me, one moment he sees himself as nothing but a piece of trash while in the next moment he's boasting about how he's the only one component enough to be ignihyde's dorm leader. He's such a complex character I can Yap about him constantly

I get making jokes and stuff but some people genuinely think idia is some stinky incel creep that hates women and just purposely chooses to not go outside and be chronically online. Like yeah, he has nerdy and loser like hobbies but this man literally has trauma and chronic depression, along with an anxiety disorder, it's not something he can just make disappear. He likes science, engineering, art, anime, games etc which is all just cool, it's not like he's some creep that's afraid to talk to people, nor is he some super submissive guy that'll fold for you in a tiny interaction.

Had to get ts off my chest 💀

܀⊹ ིྀ🕸 ۫ ִ ׂ💭 ◟♡ ˒ ⊹ ݁ ִ  ۫🎮ೄྀ⊹܀

܀⊹ ིྀ𝐼𝑑𝑖𝑎 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑠 🎮ೄྀ⊹܀

🎧 Caramelldansen. Idia adores this song unironically. At first he had just saw the meme and quickly ended up falling into the whole thing, laying on the floor completely dazed out of his mind as the colorful lights flash in the background from the music video playing on repeat lol

🎮 I said this in my earlier post but Idia definitely draws his crushes all the time. Luckily he has a little self control and draws anime/manga characters in most of the pages, he's really protective over his sketch book due to 1.) His social anxiety and 2.) The fact that he doesn't want anyone to know that he likes drawing and observing people, especially his crushes.

🎧 Idia constantly has his headphones on, I know of a fact that Idia listens to Nightcore, anime OSTs, Vocaloid, animation meme music, Vkei, video game sound tracks and breakcore religiously. I think idia would honestly listen to everything he can get his hands on

🎮 I feel like he had a 2020 alt kid phase lol. I feel like quarantine would've been his time to thrive, his peak enjoyment of life would be set during this time lol. Being able to express himself like he wanted without others seeing??? Sign him up

🎧 Ironically, he's not super weak. I feel like he just sucks at physical activity, especially running since he doesn't leave his room much. His hands/fist are definitely strong, I feel like he has a strong hit.

🎮 That being said, I think Idia’s hands are large, thin and boney. They definitely have a few scars and calluses from all the machinery he works with, you can't tell me that his hands aren't pretty rough.

🎧 Idia is a fashion icon, in games. Not irl, he would never due to the attention it would grab him, though he definitely is into all of the alternative and Gothic fashion stuff. He'll give his characters the most perfect and pretty outfits and make sure everything is customized perfectly, not mind at all if it takes him hours to do so.

🎮 This man definitely collects figures. I feel like they're all anime and video game figures; he's even commission artist and such to make custom work of his favorite interest and brag online about it.

🎧 Has an habit of repeating words and phrases he likes over and over again. It doesn't matter if it's from an obscure meme that literally only 5 people including him know or if it's in a different language, he'll constantly reference and repeat it like no tomorrow.

🎮 He's a biter. He bites a lot of things randomly, he'd bite someone out of love if he got the chance. I'm telling you he'll just naw on random stuff, not caring if it's edible or not. It could literally be a plushy and he'll randomly bite it while he's hugging it.

🎧 Idia definitely finds confort in the rain and gloom weather. Really, he just enjoys typically gloomy things. It's extremely comforting and relaxing to him to just be able to sit on his bed with his headphones on while it rains harshly outside, making the world around him dark and gloomy.

🎮 Curses, like a lot. Gamer rage is real you guys and he definitely has it. If he loses a game too many times or gets too frustrated with his teammates, he'll curse like a sailor. His anger isn't directly to his teammates or anything, it's of him being frustrated with everything in general.

܀⊹ ིྀ🕸 ۫ ִ ׂ💭 ◟♡ ˒ ⊹ ݁ ִ  ۫🎮ೄྀ⊹܀

[murmiss]

Insane and brain-dead.

pairing-Simon 'Ghost' Riley/You. Very little John 'Soap' MacTavish/You

Chapter WARNING- Description of blood, cruelty, tin.swearing, partial description of decomposition, mention of suicide. My vision of the characters

Summary - 'There is no love'-that's what Simon thinks. BUT what if two traumatized and mentally wounded people meet in a hellish apocalypse and find solace in each other?Hundred what if what happens to them connects them?.

(the end will be good)

This is the first, introductory chapter.

Part one.

It is no secret that viruses and bacteria mutate at an amazing rate, either changing their genetic code and causing mutations, or changing so much that there is already a problem of a new strain. Today, viral mutation is a common phenomenon that does not scare people in the least. Many people do not even think that someday this microorganism can cause harm, ignoring all those stories of fatalities, great and terrible epidemics that have happened to mankind, naively believing that if it happened a thousand years ago, it certainly will not affect you.

How many people know about the Antonine Plague? Although, by the way, it was the most horrifying epidemic in history, which killed more than 5 million people, and according to records, killed 2 thousand Romans a day.And the bubonic plague? It's frightening when you think of the descriptions in books: fever, nausea, hallucinations, pus-filled buboes, death, and people in bird masks. So what? That's right, nothing. Remember when the coronavirus wasn't taken seriously? A lot of people thought it wouldn't reach the regions, states and cities, but it did.

Just like this time, no one took it seriously when dozens of reports were projected from a small town about a sudden outbreak of "rabies", forcing the sick to die in hellish agony within minutes, and then rising up like stereotypical zombies to bite everyone they came across, succumbing to the virus' natural call to multiply.

Really, who'd believe it? And for nothing. After the first newscasts, a wave of memes and jokes started among the schoolchildren, while the adults, lost in the cycle of work, family, and household chores, paid no attention as the small town of Corrins struggled to cope with the sudden and unknown threat. The town government was going crazy-people were refusing to work, refusing to go outside, and even the patrolmen were going on strike. But the infected were unstoppable. Even a hundred people were already tangible, and where there were a hundred, there were a thousand people, and where there were a thousand, there were two.The city was slowly dying until no one took it seriously. Why didn't anyone move out? The answer was simply that they couldn't. Corrins was quarantined, a total lockdown, no entry or exit. When did that ever work? There's not even a movie where a flimsy gate and guards stopped a horde of infected.

The infected huddled together, roaming the streets like mindless, attacking anyone they could catch.

The virus was spreading as fast as anyone could have imagined, and seemingly in ways never before recorded in history. In just a week, the city of Corrins had fallen into oblivion, along with three other towns in the vicinity, followed by the entire region.

Dim light shone through the thick navy-colored curtains, softly illuminating the room. Simon Riley, a former British mercenary who had just awakened from another night of nightmares, sat in the kitchen chair, leaning back casually, foot on foot and hand under his head, staring into the void. For the third time he was dreaming episodes from his past. Dreams about his goat father no longer frightened him, no longer made him nervous like the dreams about the team that Simon had grown accustomed to during his ten years on the job. Now, after the severe injuries, the difficult and sometimes deadly missions, the adrenaline that bubbled in his blood day and night, life in retirement seemed like hell. For the first few days he, like his guys, was in a depressed mood, not understanding why they were forced to retire so early, but none of the superiors explained anything, giving a completely stupid answer that was the same for everyone: "We changed priorities". That day was hard for everyone. but, nevertheless, the guys did not forget each other. Living in the same city, they often gathered in the bar "Ricky and Mickey", discussed personal matters, tried to rebuild their lives on a new way. And for Riley, worrying about what to cook, trying to build relationships, job hunting, and constantly changing activities were hated, so his thoughts often returned to the days when he and John and the guys worked together. When adrenaline was bubbling in his blood and his brain was working on emergency decisions and tactics. Being on the rope gave life an unrealistic drive, helping him forget the horrors of his childhood. Sometimes, however, he was afraid - those were the rare occasions when things didn't go according to plan and his companions could get hurt. Simon wasn't afraid for himself, he wasn't afraid of bleeding out on the battlefield, getting shot, or even losing a leg or an arm, but the image of a bleeding comrade made him shudder inwardly, still vivid in his mind's eye: He'd been shot in the head-unfortunate and nearly fatal, if it hadn't been for the plate in his skull-the miracle that had saved Johnny from certain death in this cold and filthy place.

That day Simon Riley almost died for the third time. The first time Riley had experienced such deep emotions was in his childhood, when his father, an alcoholic and deeply addicted to drugs, had mocked him. The image of his father with a viper in his hand and the devil-like image of his older brother would haunt Simon's dreams and visions for a long time. The second time it was the image of his mother. The fragile woman who was pulling the whole family on her own back, tolerating her abuser of a husband day after day, humbly going to hard work, trying to earn at least some pennies, couldn't stand it and put a bullet in her temple. She lay on the old and creaky couch for almost twenty-four hours before her husband paid attention. Simon remembers like yesterday her small, thin body lying stiff and stiff on the couch, with a humble face like a painting of The Death of the Virgin Mary by the artist Caravaggio. She was dressed in her pale pink robe, and her thin hand rested on her breast. Mrs. Riley tried her best to hold on for little Simon's sake, but she could not endure her eldest son's abuse and her husband's hatred, killing herself and finally achieving the peace and quiet she so desired. Little Simon sat with her all day, trying his best to wake the lying woman, covering her face with a damp cloth, gently stroking her icy hands. He was only six years old then, when he stood over the pit where the old wooden coffin containing the body of his beloved mother lay.

And then, when Johnny had been injured, Simon felt again like he did then at six years old, next to his mother. He, lost in emotion, grabbed Johnny's head, his hands trying to cover the bullet wound, roughly grasping like a child trying to help as best he could. The ghost doesn't remember Price dragging him away from Johnny's unconscious body, giving room for the paramedics to arrive.

John 'Soap' MacTavish was taken to the medical unit and underwent emergency surgery, Sitting in the dark and empty corridor, Ghost was out of breath as Gaz and Price tried to support him. "John's a tough guy, he'll get over it." And the this jerk turned out to be fucking resilient. And lucky too.

After that the band didn't last long-quite a couple months later they were dismissed, without reason or much explanation, taking them out of their positions. Of course no one expected it, but what was to be done?

Simon picked up his phone, checking messages, secretly hoping for another invitation to a bar, just to avoid the domestic routine, but instead of the pleasant words "let's go for a cognac," he came across a sweet and sweet message from Amanda, the girl Ghost had tried to meet at his leisure, when Soap was once again blowing his mind about the need for a relationship.Amanda was undeniably beautiful-blonde curls, blue eyes, and charmingly pouty lips, but the problem was that as soon as she opened her mouth, everyone wanted to shut her up. Amanda Hess was a meticulous Shopping Fanatic, and "miss fucking amazing ideas." In places, undoubtedly, the idea of going to fuck in the park at one o'clock in the morning excited Simon, but frankly, he lacked enthusiasm, and for the fifth time, hearing an unusual idea, his eyes involuntarily rolled with stupidity.

Simon and Amanda had been talking for about three months now, and he didn't know if he liked her or if he liked her ass, or if he even needed these dates.

"Honey, can you pick me up at eight pm?" -said the message, and attached to it was a nude photo of a girl sitting on the edge of a bed with her feet up and taking a picture of herself through a mirror, wearing only black lace lingerie. Beautiful, but unimpressive. When you see the same tits and hear the same things, you get used to it and the panties photo is no longer arousing. Inwardly Simon wished for soulfulness and some kind of domestic affection, maybe a cozy lady dressed in his huge warm sweater and striped socks, making hot chocolate.

"I'm busy," Simon answered rudely but habitually, but no sooner had he sent a message back than someone slammed the front door, forcing him to look up and away from the phone.

"Fuck," Soap said, panting and trying to catch his breath, leaning his hands on the walls. His eyes darted around the room, searching for the scowling lieutenant and finally seeing his comrade, Johnny rushed over to him, speaking quickly and nervously. "Hey L.T., did you see what the fuck is going on? We're fucked, we're fucked up a bloody fucking ass that can't be compared to Makarov's ugly face."

Simon grinned wryly as he listened to MacTavish and sat just as casually in the kitchen chair, watching Mr. Mohawk walk around his kitchen, looking for the TV remote and finally finding it, turning it on as he continued to mutter-"Fucking lunatics flooding the streets! I thought I'd never bloody get to you-the police are shutting down the city, ambulances everywhere!"

And as John spoke, Simon lowered his gaze to the phone again, wistfully noting that Amanda's message was from yesterday and apparently he hadn't noticed it. Soap snatched the phone out of Simon's hands, carelessly tucking it away on the table, speaking seriously, frowning his bushy eyebrows. "Buddy, can you hear me? I'm dead serious right now."

"You can't be serious about piles of zombies roaming the street," Riley replied, looking up at his friend again. Behind him, while no one was paying attention, the coffee was frothing, running off and dirtying the stove, leaving a bitter burnt odor that Simon sensed and immediately moved the coffee pot. "Bloody hell, John."

"Leave your fucking coffee, this isn't a joke, Lieutenant," John shrieked, finally turning his attention back to Simon.

On TV, a slender girl in a business suit with a serious face and a monotonous voice was giving an interview; in the background, behind her were several police cars, ambulances, and even a SWAT team flashed in the frame. Somewhere very far away there were shouts of people, special forces, passing information to each other. The girl's voice was steady and didn't even shake as she broadcast almost robot-like.

"Today, around six o'clock this morning, a group of unknown assailants attacked the locals. It's probably an outbreak of rabies. The patients have pale skin, cloudy eyes with red spots and gritted teeth, some cases of hemoptysis, poor coordination and slurred speech. If you find such symptoms in yourself or your relatives, call the number 'xxx-xx-xx-xxx'. We urge all citizens to stay in their homes until the next announcement. You are also reminded to lock your windows and doors and do not let anyone suspicious in."

"You heard her, it's just an outbreak of rage," Simon waved his hand nonchalantly, to which John, eyes wide, shouted again, trying to reason with his colleague.

"You don't fucking understand." -MacTavish clutched the remote tighter, rewinding the videotape of the interview to the very end.

"I don't understand what?" -Ghost raised his eyebrows skeevily.

"She's dead"-John said sharply, including the very end of the video, where a man in an ambulance corpsman's uniform comes at the journalist from behind. He sinks his teeth into her neck, biting off a large chunk almost immediately, his bloody hands grasping her shoulders as the girl screams frantically. Simon's eyes slowly open as his brain's mechanisms process the information. It's as if he believes it, but the other half of him screams "It's all a lie, a joke. April 1." Unconsciously he looks at his phone, checking the date and realizing to his horror that the first of April is long gone and it was June. The information and realization pressed on his brain, causing goosebumps to crawl across his skin. A slight fear bubbled in his stomach as he watched Soap's actions as if mesmerized. John frantically opened every drawer in the kitchen, looking for any canned goods and bars.

"Shit, LT, what are you eating? Don't you have any?!" exclaimed Soap, panic-rushing through the rooms while Simon came to his senses.

"Bottom drawer on the right"-as Riley answered mesmerized. John, opening the cabinet and seeing five cans of canned chicken and pork, exhaled, immediately pulling them out and placing them on the table.

"Don't delay, Ghost, get the damn things together. I was able to get a hold of Price, he and Gaz will be waiting for us on the outskirts of town at the cottage plots. Price is trying to contact Laswell and the department." Soap rummaged through the drawers, pulling out matches, knives, and anything else he thought might come in handy. Recovering and hearing shouts outside the door, Simon jumped up and immediately began grabbing his belongings and dumping them at speed into his hiking backpack. The screams were getting closer and it seemed like the entire apartment building was shaking with people running, panicking and screaming. Simon's apartment was right in the middle of the building, on the fifth floor, and it was damned inconvenient.

At last, Ghost jerked the curtains aside carelessly, peering out the window and watching in horror at the sheer chaos. He had never seen anything like this even in the army. From the neighboring apartment building, people were falling from the balconies, one was already infected, and the other, Simon's acquaintance, Edgar, a man with three loans and perpetually bawdy jokes, had thrown himself out of the window, not wanting to fight, nor to be infected and converted. Unwittingly, Simon remembered how they'd sat at the bar and the jerk with the black, curly beard would see any girl off with a meow, stretching out his catchphrase, "Your pussy's in danger next to me." Then, for Riley, it was a show, at the end of which Edgar was guaranteed to get slapped by some extravagant girl.Now he was dead. In the sky we could see helicopters crashing one after another, one of them crashing right into the house, partially destroying the building. The wreckage flies down where the crowds are, and at first glance it's hard to see what the crush is all about: screams and heartbreaking cries from everywhere, and the special forces are trying to get everyone out of the way, but they, too, the men in uniform and ammunition, suffer the same fate as the civilians - to be bitten. Suddenly Simon is yanked away from the window. Jonny, hearing something going on outside the apartment, realizes it's time to run. - "Damn! We're all going to die in here!"

The ghost followed Soap, and as the other opened the door, the growling grew louder. At the end of the corridor was a small flock of zombies - apparently residents of neighboring apartments that were infected.Without thinking long, the Comrades rushed to the stairs-an escape route. Suddenly, the door swings open in their faces and an older woman falls out into the hallway with a loud hiss. John reflexively shoves the old woman away from him, and Ghost reflexively hits her with the bat he'd brought just in case. "Oh bloody hell, I'm sorry Mrs. Ruzzet," Simon says nervously as he hurries forward, almost flying down the stairs, missing the steps. The zombie old lady lets out another clanking of teeth as she tries to crawl after them, but they've already broken away. Floor after floor flies by at speed, with only a door ahead. John pushes that one open, but it's like it turns out to be locked. "The fucking lock's jammed, Simon, help!" The sounds of zombies are coming closer, and Riley could swear she can hear them dragging their feet on the floor. Strike one. Nothing happens. Second strike. The smell of stinking zombies is getting closer and old Ruzzie is already sliding down the stairs with broken legs, dragging herself with her arms. Third strike. Simon stands behind Soap with bat in hand, the wooden handle cracking from his grip. Four. The door opens and John reflexively grabs Simon by the collar of his shirt, pulling him outside.

It's fucked.The smell of burning, blood and decomposition was everywhere, the dead trying to get to the last survivors who dared to go outside. A girl ran past Simon, clacking her high heels with a loud squeal while three well-fed zombies with bloody mouths with blood dripping from them, staining their clothes, almost ran after her. John rushed towards the cars, picking his way through them with a slight ducking, while Ghost followed behind him, looking back and keeping an eye out for single zombies. The path through the yard was relatively clear, if it weren't for a pack of zombies in suits crouching over a corpse and ripping apart their once office colleague. "That's what 'eating the boss's brains out' means," John grinned grimly, and Simon only chuckled.

"We can walk along the edge and hope the bastards are too focused on their coworker," Simon suggested, and John nodded, slouching, hunching over and almost pressing himself against the wall. The zombies, too focused on their food, wouldn't have noticed him if it hadn't been for John's sudden cry of, "Fuck!" With a snarl, they turned their heads toward the living humans, slowly rising, moving their hollow-headed bodies forward. Simon turned to John, who was swearing to himself as he tried to kill the crawling zombie: it was half a body, the upper half, and from the stomach on up, there was nothing, just part of the spine, but it was tough. Hurriedly, Simon grabbed his friend by the wrist and swiftly dragged him away from the alley.

They made their way to the outskirts of the city, but they couldn't stop there because all the neighborhoods were crawling with zombies.

"I'm damn glad your attraction to life on the outskirts cut us a hell of a lot of slack. It wasn't as shitty when I got to you as it is now," John tried to catch his breath. How many kilometers had they run? It wasn't clear, but it was a lot, though they were used to long runs, and their goal was to get to Price's country house as fast as possible, even if it was a hell of a long way.

[yanabeardoodles]

dude! your art is so delicious!!! how did you start drawing and who were your inspos and stuff?? you have a seriously unique and beautiful art style and i’m just eating SO good right now

I love telling this story!

I started drawing around 9 y/o and it was because my mom (who in no professional way is an artist. She works in law) was able to draw the cartoons me and my sister would see on TV.

I always looked up to mom as a little kid and wanted to figure out how to do that as well.

Time went on, I got into anime in middle school, checked out a bunch of Christopher Hart "how to draw anime books", and continued to draw all throughout high school.

Just to realize I didn't like how I was creating art.

I felt stuck and looking at the 7 years of art I did from middle school and high school I really felt I wasn't...changing.

Then I didn't change how I approached art for a few years after that. I was a workaholic so I never really dedicated as much time as I had wanted to figuring out how to change.

I tried branching out with different sources like studying Glen Keane gestures and loose western cartoon styles. Still felt stuck

THEN QUARANTINE HAPPENED 🗣️

Remember that workaholic life I mentioned? I use to work at least three jobs all at once before quarantine. Then I had no jobs. And I freaked out cause I saw my self-worth was connected with how much work I could do at once.

Not healthy, be better than me folks.

Anyway I needed a way to kill time and feel like I was accomplishing something. Then art reared her shiny ass in my face and said

"...draw, bitch"

So I did. All day. Every. Single. Day.

And there wasn't a goal to be a better artist this time. I just needed a damn project 😂. And it wasn't until the end of 2020 I saw improvement looking back to April

As seen below April vs December 2020

(Don't ask me why but the youth drawing is still one of my all time favorites)

Also I won't lie, I made a tik tok in April, it blew up outta no where in August cause of Rock (freakin) Lee of all things. And I liked the attention. Don't be like me. I burned out very quickly due to that mindset of "make art people want to see as fast as possible!" Not make art for myself.

Anyway, by then I was use to drawing everyday. Not even full blown illustrations but like doodling everyday. And I wanted to keep that routine. So I got jobs that would allow me to at least be able to sketch at breakfast before work.

Then I got a job as a paint and sip instructor, so I was able to try painting more often

As seen here

And from there I just started playing with art supplies all around. I treat art like math. My brain gets easily distracted and with that in mind, if I get tired of digital art, I go to color pencils or watercolor or gouache and then rinse and repeat.

I feel this is going on forever so to wrap it up

Current artists I'm inspired by:

For colors -

JC Leyendecker

@japhers on tumblr and twitter

For ink- Bruce Timm (worked on BTAS/STAS/Justice League etc)

Dan Mora (@ Danmora_c on Twitter)

Lastly character designs - A BUNCH OF ART OF THE MOVIE BOOKS

Spiderverse, Klaus, Maya and the Three, Luca, Dreamworks, Miyazaki etc

If the movie or show was cool. I went hunting for that art book to figure out what they were thinking when they made the characters.

And that's it.

The end of my spiel

[feferipeixes]

hi star :D

for the wip names ask game: what's Lighter Than A Feather? that's a fun title and i always want to know more about your tau wips!

hi book!! thanks for the ask!!

That fic is actually a Heavy Quarantine AU fic! The title refers to how traumatized he is from his years of isolation and being alone with his burgeoning demonness, and how, while recovering, it felt like every touch had to be lighter than a feather or it'd break him.

I only wrote a bit of this, and it's pretty evident that I'd recently read Pseudomnesia haha. Here you go!

===

“Dipper! So good to see you!”

“Hi there, Lazy Susan,” Dipper says. His frame is somewhat hunched <not unusual lately> and his fingers are trembling, but he wears a confident expression on his face. “I’m here for my job.”

“Of couuuurse!” she sings, beckoning him to come inside. “Mabel called to tell me you’d be stopping by to help!”

“That’s right.” He stares at his feet.

“Now listen here,” she says, trying to wrap an arm around his shoulder. Her touch feels like lightning on his senses, and a small fire erupts on his shirt at the point of contact. Lazy Susan jerks her hand back, and Dipper sees the panic in her eye <or maybe it's concern <he doesn't know when but at some point it got really hard to tell apart other peoples' emotions <despite the fact that his <awful> <unnatural> <new> eyes now blanket everyone’s bodies in emotional colors>> <and maybe emotions are dumb <he certainly wishes he could get rid of some of his own> but right now it's the difference between a gentle calming voice and getting coffee thrown in his face>>.

Thankfully, he gets the gentle calming voice. Or rather, as gentle as Lazy Susan is able to pull off.

"Well that's a wacky surprise! You're really talented!"

She sees Dipper <force a> smile, smiles back, and <almost> goes to wrap her arm around his shoulder again. She stops just in time, <though he can't tell whether because she understood <without him saying> that he <shouldn’t be> <can’t be> <doesn’t want to be> touched or just because she thinks he's hiding explosives in his vest>.

"Now this is food service so we've got some noisies, but you're on my good list, kid. If anyone in here's mean to you, say whatever you want back at em, I won't fire ya! Just don't bite their heads off too much!" She chuckles and spills a little coffee on the floor.

“I won’t,” he says – too quickly. He sees the confused look on Lazy Susan’s face and sinks a little bit into his clothing. “No, I- I’m sorry. I won’t do that. I wouldn’t hurt anyone. I’m sorry.”

Lazy Susan stares at him for a minute, then shrugs. “Okay! Good luck!”

[heymacy]

hello friends ✨ and welcome back to Weekly Tag Game Wednesday! i'm your host (this week), macy, and today we're getting Back to Basics with a good old-fashioned getting-to-know-you tag game!

(disclaimer: there is presently a glitch with tumblr that only allows you to tag 5 people per line in your text posts. to remedy that, you can separate your tags into different lines as i have at the bottom of this post to ensure that everyone that's tagged knows they've been tagged!)

let's get started!

**

name: macy

age: i am flirty and thriving

your time zone: CDT, or UTC-5

what do you do for work? i'm a supervisor at a major coffee chain

do you have any pets? three cats: penelope, winston, and julius pepperwood

what first drew you to this fandom? it was quarantine. a friend sent me a youtube video (a compilation of gallavich scenes) and said i think you would like this show, but fair warning, it's heavy. i'd given it a try in the past but only made it to 1x06 (a tragedy) and decided to give it another go. three and a half years later, here we are.

are you a morning person or a night owl? primarily a morning person, sometimes both

what are your hobbies? writing, reading, fandom-ing, making super niche playlists

how tall are you? 5' 5" or 165cm

if you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? ireland, probably. or that one greek island with all the cats

favorite color? green

favorite book? ask me again when i've made a better dent in my TBR

favorite movie? some like it hot

favorite fic? Love is a Ballfield, TIPDIG, or Old Rules

favorite musical artist: billie eilish + chappell roan

what is your average screen time so far this week? 3hrs 57min

what's the first app you open in the morning? discord (good morning pals!)

how long have you been on tumblr? 13 years

finally (and i know this one is hard) tell me a fun fact about yourself: i'm amazing at parallel parking. like, i am stupid good at it. and i taught myself how to do it because my parents refused to teach me how to drive when i was 15 because it was "too stressful" lmao

tags below the cut!

i'm tagging @gardenerian, @palepinkgoat, @deedala, @mybrainismelted, @jrooc,

@blue-disco-lights, @energievie, @michellemisfit, @tanktopgallavich, @vintagelacerosette,

@sickness-health-all-that-shit, @sleepyfacetoughguy, @whatthebodygraspsnot, @whatwouldmickeydo, @metalheadmickey,

@heymrspatel, @7x10mickey, @gallawitchxx, @howlinchickhowl, @the-rat-wins,

@mmmichyyy, @doshiart, @transmickey, @lee-ow, @callivich,

@deathclassic, @stocious, @too-schoolforcool, @darlingian, @sxltburn,

@sluttymickey, @thisdivorce, @grumble-fish, @xninetiestrendx, @creepkinginc,

@crossmydna, @y0itsbri, @captainjowl, @astaraels, @ardent-fox

@wehangout, @arrowflier, @iansw0rld

love you guyyyyys! 🌟

[johannesviii]

When did you start watching infinity train?

Ok, so. Let me break down the timeline.

February 1st, 2024: My friends' cine-club decides to watch all of Infinity Train. We watch Book 1. I'm in love. I immediately download it to show it to my s.o. I think about it from time to time for a week. Hell yeah, what a cool, nice, normal interest that won't spiral out of control

February 8th, 2024: Cine club again. We watch Infinity Train Book 2. I have kind of a visceral reaction to MT at first because it feels like watching 14 year-old me, and not in a pleasant way. But I really get into the story halfway through, and by the time the Tape Car happens I'm. like. screaming in chat about how cool the visuals are and how brave the metaphor is. I cry a bit. Hell yeah, what a great show and a new special interest with a normal intensity, and there's zero way it's gonna get worse

February 15th, 2024: Cine club yet again. We watch Infinity Train Book 3. I'm kind of hyped because I thought these guys were very intriguing in Book 2, and lo and behold: I fucking love these characters. I fucking love this story. It has almost every single trope that is garanteed to make me lose my mind over a story AND amazing character building AND it does incredibly brave things narratively. But also I relate to Simon way too much for my own good, for some very specific reasons (aka trauma related to 1) a toxic relationship with a friend in highschool, 2) my negligent mother, 3) and that phase where I was borderline homeless around 2007-2009 when I was about 20 y.o.) and this entire story basically holds a mirror in front of my face screaming "this is you if you picked every wrong choice in your life". It breaks my heart. It breaks my brain. How am I supposed to feel normal about this in any way

March 6th, 2024: Rewatching s2 + s3 on my own. Bad idea. Bomb countdown activates

March 7th, 2024: I need to talk about this shit. Infodumps and analysis start in a couple of discord servers. By this point we have truely reached the point of no return. Hyperfixation activates

March 12th, 2024: Full color fanart. It's too late. There's no cure. Quarantine the entire area

(and then we watched Book 4 and it was also very good but yeah)

So yeah I would like to congratulate this show for doing the impossible and destroying my brain harder than Doctor Who did all the way back in 2014

[fandom-friday]

Thank you so much to everyone that submitted recommendations this week! A comprehensive list of this week’s submissions can be found under the cut! Recommendations are organized by show/media, and any main pairings will be listed after the title.

❄️ = 18+ content

Fics:

The Clone Wars: New Beginnings (Corrie!Dogma x f!Reader) by @reader6898 Forbidden Masks (Kix x f!Reader) by @deejadabbles ❄️ Second Chances (Commander Wolffe x f!Reader) by @cyarbika ❄️ I Yearn, and so I Fear (Commander Wolffe x OC Kazi Ennari) by @enigmaticexplorer ❄️ Unwritten (Captain Rex x OC Mari Vontas) by @rexxdjarin ❄️ Captain's Log (Captain Rex x f!Reader) by @rexxdjarin ❄️ Invisible Barriers (Fi Skirata x f!Reader) by @the-rain-on-kamino The Clone Wars Gets a New Victim (Ahsoka Tano x OC Grim Kennet) by @chaosgod4life Even Though You're Gone, You're Still Around (Commander Bly x Aayla Secura) by super_heroine_addict (AO3) A Way Out for Two (Cad Bane x Obi-Wan Kenobi) by @feybarn ❄️ One Step at a Time by @wild-karrde Let Me Do It Right by TrickyTricky (AO3) Like Real People Do by Witless_clown (AO3) The Night Comes Down Like Heaven by @galacticgraffiti

The Bad Batch: ❄️ Same Heart (Echo x f!Reader, Fives x f!Reader) by @dumfanting ❄️ Doctor's Orders (Captain Howzer x f!Reader) by @grampsoninspace Happy Hatch Day by @eclec-tech

The Book of Boba Fett: True Rumors (Boba Fett x OC Seba) by @kimiheartblade On the Dome (Drash x Jo) by @btwxsixesandsevens

Star Wars Prequel Trilogy: A Murderous (and Talkative) Legacy by Dom_Avner (AO3) The Rising Darkness (Obi-Wan Kenobi x f!Reader) by @marierg

Star Wars Original Series: Stars In Their Multitudes by @jedi-valjean

Batman: In Another Life (Selina Kyle x Bruce Wayne) by @dlaugh Bouncing Baby Bat by EmpressGeek (AO3) Maybe with a Shift in Planets by @sunflowersandink Apartment Policy: No Dragons Allowed by Bricksheep (AO3) The Night Shall Call Your Name (You Must Answer) by Fandom_Trash224 (AO3) "And it's Cassandra with the Steel Chair!" by destiny919 (AO3) QUARANTINED: RED ROBIN'S TIK TOK ACCOUNT by @justthatonegirl1815

Marvel/MCU: Hopeful (Bucky Barnes x Sarah Wilson) by @philtstone

Fire Emblem Series: Kulning (Annette Fantine Dominic x Felix Hugo Fraldarius) by @Star_on_a_Staff (AO3)

Art:

The Clone Wars: Fox-Inspired Tooka Art by @st4r-t3ars Commander by @finpews It's Commander Cody with a steel chair! by @merlyn-bane Captain Rex Art by @pinkiemme Gregor, Wolffe, and Rex Art by @comradewolfe ❄️ Captain Rex and OC Mari Vontas Art by @rexxdjarin What was I made for? by @spicyclones79s Your Bodies Seed the Stars by @aliettali ❄️ In the Meadow by @the-rain-on-kamino Jet is Doing His Best by @for-the-sake-of-color Hogsteed Concept Art by @art-of-wackylurker OC Nihlus Meets a Hogsteed by @art-of-wackylurker OC Ayyshu Family Art (Chuckles, Arni, and Nita) by @ninjigma

The Bad Batch: Tech and Omega Art by @jedizhi Crosshair Art by @melymigo The Baby Batch: Shaak Ti Meets the Bad Batch Babies by @ladykagewaki

Bloodborne: Good Hunter by @artofchinara

The Legend of Vox Machina: ❄️ "We're going to start with the Courage" by @lyaholya

[violetlunette]

Runaway Chapter 13: So Close

Summary: The Disomnia family is reunited. And yet...

Previous Chapter

Master List

Ao3

Notes: *Twst spoilers for Chapter/Book 7

Lilia’s entire form trembled as he stared at the ruin scene before him, his mind trying to process what happened.

Sebek was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, with his arms torn to pieces and bleeding badly. Malleus and Silver were missing. No, they fell. They fell off a cliff after the blade--

“No. No, no, no, no!”

‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ This was all his fault, so why was he the only one left standing?

He went to Sebek first, as the teen was closest.

Sebek was still unconscious and appeared to have a minor head wound and some broken bones. He was pale and bleeding as well.

Lilia instantly worked to apply first aid to his student, tearing apart his clothing and Sebek’s to create gauze.

‘He lost a lot of blood, so he’ll need a hospital right away,’ he thought. Once he was patched, Lilia gathered the young man in his arms—an awkward sight, to say the least—and walked to the cliff’s edge to find the others.

A sharp breath sliced through his throat as he took in a new sight.

“No… Malleus!” Malleus lay atop Silver, bleeding heavily from the sword wound in his back. The prince covered Silver, so Lilia couldn’t even see him.

Lilia jumped down, calling Malleus’ name several times. Once at the two’s side, Lilia set Sebek to the side to focus on his ward.

“No, no… Fuck! This isn’t happening!” Lilia wailed as he pressed his palms on the open wound in the dragon’s back. “After the hell I went through for you to hatch... There’s no way in hell you’re dying!” He clenched his eyes shut as he desperately searched his body for any remainder of magic inside him—anything at all. Eventually, he found some, but he couldn’t be sure if it was enough. Even so…

Lilia focused what remained of his magic into the injury, calling upon some of his life force when that wasn’t enough. Anything to save Malleus.

Despite Lilia’s best efforts, the wound didn’t heal all the way. However, some color returned to Malleus’ skin, so Lilia allowed himself some relief for the moment. He gave a hollow chuckle.

“Heh. You said you wished you had never met Silver, and yet...” Silver! Oh, no!

Removing Malleus as swiftly—and gently—as he could, Lilia frantically looked at the form of his son. The sight turned the fae to ice.

“Silver! No, no!” Lilia cupped the boy’s face in his hand and called out to him. There was no response.

Lilia’s body quaked as tears flowed from him, along with his remaining hope.

“Silver…” All his strength vanished, and Lilia collapsed onto Silver’s body, broken and sobbing.

~*~

Lilia awoke with a start, his heart in his throat as he stared at the ceiling.

‘Where—’ then he remembered. He was at STYX headquarters.

Lilia wasn’t sure when STYX had found them. He vaguely recalled soldiers running around trying to separate them—and getting their asses handed to them for their efforts but the bat-fae who was in fight mode. Lilia couldn’t recall what he was thinking or feeling except the fear of losing something.

However, one soldier manged to get through to Lilia by pointing out his boys needed healing. That thought got Lilia regain his senses.

Once at the STYX HQ, Malleus and Sebek were taken to the infirmary while Silver was quarantined, which is where the two of them were now.

Lilia swung his legs out of bed and walked to the containment pod, which resembled a glass coffin in Lilia’s eyes. Apparently the unit was to cleanse the blot energy and help stabilize him.

Inside the tube, he was wearing a breathing mask as Silver wasn’t breathing on his own, and while they patched the wound on his chest, they were still worried about the damage. Thankfully, it started to heal as the blot energy started to vanish. Even so, they had no idea about the lasting side effects as of yet, so it was too soon to relax.

Lilia heaved a heavy breath as he dropped his head forward.

They attempted to separate Lilia from Silver, but Lilia fought like a bat out of hell. Perhaps it was irrational, but after what he went through to get Silver back, he wasn’t letting the teen out of his sight anytime soon.

His breath fogged the glass as he muttered, “So close, and yet...” His lips pressed into a thin line as his fingers curled against the glass.

He wanted to hold Silver’s hand, just as he did when the boy was ill as a child. Lilia would admit it, but it was for himself as much as it was for Silver. It allowed Lilia to feel like he was doing something. That he was somehow anchoring Silver to the land of the living, to him. He couldn’t even do that now.

Lilia closed his eyes and pulled himself away.

‘I shouldn’t be so silly.’ He folded his arms, brushing against the needle there.

For his part, Lilia mainly received treatment for dehydration and fatigue after weeks without rest. His palms were still burned and had black on them from the sword, but he was otherwise uninjured as Sebek and Malleus had done most of the work, something that would cause him grief at another time.

Speaking of which, Lilia asked about them.

As he thought, the damage they obtained was worse. Sebek’s arm had been so damaged that it nearly had to be amputated, and his spine had cracked during the fall. If not for STYX’s technology, which was vastly advanced, Sebek may have been paralyzed.

Malleus—thanks to Lilia and his dragon blood—was healing quickly, but they suspected there would be a scar from the stab wound due to the blot energy. Despite their injuries, they were expected to be fine.

They would all be fine, he told himself. He just had to be patient.

~*~

Lilia’s student woke up first. Naturally, the first thing he did was start bellowing and demanding to see Silver before rushing to the area. Lilia made sure to scold him for this.

“You just woke up, and on top of that, you’re still injured,” he firmly informed the other. “You’re going to have scarring, but if you keep flailing about, you’ll reopen those wounds, and you’ll lose your arm! What will you do then?” Sebek immediately turned into a puppy under Lilia’s harsh words. Lilia felt bad but held his ground. Forget about Baul, who would turn into a bawling baby once he learned what happened to his grandson; Sebek’s mother was going to tear Lilia apart for letting it happen. If the lad lost his arm on top of that, then Lilia would be joining Malenore and the others in the stars sooner than he thought.

Sebek dropped his head.

“I...I apologize, but Silver...” At this, Lilia softened. His arms fell to the side, fatigue coating his features and actions.

“...He’s still asleep,” he said, waving at the pod behind him. Sebek seemed to notice the pod for the first time. The sight turned him gray.

“He’s...in there?!” Sebek hurried over and had to be stopped from throwing himself onto the machine by Lilia. “What’s wrong?! Why is he in there? And those tubes... what are they doing to him?!” It was an admittedly terrifying sight.

The breathing mask aside, there were tubes stabbed into Silver’s arms for blood transfer and to provide nutrients, medicine, and other things. He was practically mummified in an enchanted gaze, mostly to handle the internal damage he suffered, including half his face. And on top of all that, Silver’s skin tone had taken on a grayish-blue hue. The color made Lilia feel like they were observing a corpse for a final viewing before burying him for an eternal sleep. As he thought this, Lilia cast a glance at the heart monitor, the beeping reassuring the man that his son was still alive regardless of how he looked.

Not taking his eyes from it, he answered Sebek’s inquiries.

“...Silver suffered a lot of internal damage. Including his lungs, hence the mask,” he explained. “There was also blood loss and broken bones. The pod... is for the effects of the blot.”

“But! None of the others needed such a thing, not even Malleus, who was under for a week.” Sebek pointed out, his hands flat against the glass. Lilia’s eyes fell as he held himself.

“Silver was under longer than any of them,” he mumbled. Three weeks at least, he was told. Possibly longer. “And he’s human. As a dragon, Malleus recovers faster than most people.”

“But… He’s going to be okay, right?” Sebek pressed, his face like a child looking for comfort. “He’s going to wake up.” Lilia’s smile looked drawn on, and his eyes were vacant. He couldn’t even part his lips to respond, though he desperately wanted to comfort the other. The lack of an answer made Sebek tense before his head dropped.

“That...That idiot!” he said, his voice thick with tears.

Silence fell—an odd thing when Sebek was around. However, the boy shook with emotion as he gnawed on his lower lip. Lilia knew he was only holding himself together for his sake.

“I’m going to check on Malleus,” Lilia said after a moment. Though he hated to leave Silver, he trusted Sebek, and it seemed he wanted to be alone with his brother in arms. Besides, as worried as he was for Silver, Lilia was worried for Malleus as well. “Watch over Silver for me till I get back, won’t you?” Sebek pulled himself as straight as he could.

“Of course!” Lilia couldn’t help but chuckle at his energy.

“Then I leave him to you.” He gave a wave as he turned and walked to the automatic doors, which opened and closed with ‘swshh.’

Alone, Sebek continued to stare at Silver in the pod, at a loss for words for the first time. He thought everything would be okay once they found Silver. After they talked, everything would return to normal. It never occurred to him that Silver would be injured or...

The young teen clenched a tightly wrapped fist.

“Tch! What are you doing, you idiot…” He grumbled, his body shaking as he held back tears. Then he cursed himself for insulting Silver. Yet even then, the words continued to roll off his tongue.

“I can’t believe you did this to yourself. You ran away. You abandoned us and even blotted over for what? For things that weren’t even your fault?! There’s no reason in the world to blame yourself for the actions of your ancestors! Why would you ever...” He trailed off. No, he knew exactly why Silver blamed himself, didn’t he?

“But that was because of me, wasn’t it?” Sebek let out an empty laugh as his throat tightened. His head dropped in shame. “I was the one who thoughtlessly put those thoughts into your head, didn’t I?” He closed his eyes, which were shining with tears, and was unable to look at his childhood friend.

“I always put you down, and I guess... I made you feel like you weren’t enough. You weren’t good enough to be Lilia’s son or Malleus’ guard. All because I was ashamed of my own weakness.” The last part came out bitter, and his head fell forward, hitting the glass. “And because of that, when the truth came out, you felt that all you could do was run, didn’t you?” It was his fault. It was all his fault. Had he been honest and not tore the other down every chance he could, then... Then...

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, okay?” His voice started as a whimper, then turned into a full bawl. “I’m sorry! I was jealous that you, a human, were stronger than me at sword play and could cast spells easier and more.” With a burst of energy, he pushed himself away and opened his eyes, red with tears.

“You have to wake up!” he commanded as he threw out an arm, as if directing an army. (A habit from his grandfather. “Don’t you remember our promise, our dream? We both declared that we would be Malleus’ guards together! And whether you believe it or not, you DESERVE to be his knight—maybe more than me! So! Don’t give up! Stop sleeping and wake up! Wake up!”

~*~

“...Wake up!”

Whose voice was that?

‘Sebek?’ Why would he be calling out to him? Why would anyone...

Silver sighed, dropping his head to his folded knees. He wished the world would just leave him alone. He was tired. And it was peaceful here. There was no pain and no regrets. Most of all, he couldn’t hurt anyone here. It was best to remain...

“We made a promise; remember! Wake up!” ‘A promise…?’ What was it?

What… was…

“When I grow up, I want to become a knight like my grandfather so I can protect Lord Malleus!” Silver, who was seven or eight at the time, tilted his head.

“Protect…?”

“Of course! Why else would you fight?” Silver never thought of it before. He was just doing it because his father told him to. However, he thought of everything his father and Malleus did for him. If he could do something for them, then--

“Okay!” Silver said with a firm nod. “I’ll become a knight too!”

“Ehh? You? You’re just a human!” Silver frowned stubbornly.

“So?” he huffed. “I’ll still become a knight. Then I can protect Father and Malleus.” Sebek opened his mouth to respond, then thought better of it.

Instead, he said, “Hmph! I won’t serve with just anyone! If you want to fight with me, you better stop sleeping all the time and become strong.” Silver nodded.

“Hm! I will! I’ll become strong and protect my father, Malleus, and our home!” he swore.

‘Home…’ He wanted to go home. Back to the place and people he loved. He wanted to go so badly...

His shaky legs stood, pulling the rest of him up with them. However, before he could take even a single step--

“My home is gone because of you.” Sebek turned and saw the pixie from Lilia’s memory—the one that had her home destroyed by the Silver Owls. “I can’t go back. Why should you get to go home?” Silver’s head dropped in shame.

“I…” She had a point. Why should he have a home when others lost their own because of him? How was that fair?

‘It isn’t.’ Besides, that place wasn’t his home. He had no right to that place when...

Drip…

~*~

When Malleus awoke, he flinched under the bright lights above.

“Malleus! You’re awake?” Head light and spinning, he turned his head towards the voice.

“Lilia?” Lilia let out a breath, relief shaping his features as he placed a hand over his heart.

“Thank the Seven! I thought—well, that doesn’t matter.” The bat-fae reached out a hand, but seemed to think better of it and pulled back. “How do you feel?”

Malleus frowned, trying to recall everything that happened.

He recalled leaving the college with Sebek to find Lilia, and--

‘Silver.’ Silver had overblotted and turned into an empty shell of his former self, intent on self-destruction.

That was when Malleus remembered the blade. He raised a hand to the spot where a wound should have been, confused.

“How am I still alive?” he asked. This time Lilia did touch Malleus, his smile soft and fond as his fingers brushed across the dragon’s cheek.

"Thankfully, I had just enough magic to save you,” he said, relief in his airy voice. Malleus’ eyes grew in shock as he realized.

“You gave me your magic? Again?” He confirmed, his voice quiet. “Why? After everything, I said…” Lilia moved his hand to hold Malleus’.

“Because regardless of how you might feel, I still care about you,” he told his ward. “You were the one who showed me I could love. That I could grow and change. Everything I have—” His grip tightened. “--is because of you.”

Malleus was filled with emotions that were warm and soft. It nearly overwhelmed him, and he had to close his eyes as they glistened.

“Lilia…” The name came out in a trembling whisper. What should he say? Despite all his harsh words and rejection, Lilia still...

The dragon closed his eyes and parted his lips. The words that came next came on their own.

“What… What of Silver?” He wasn’t sure why, but the boy was heavy on his mind. Especially as he recalled the hollow eyes looking at him when they should have been filled with life.

Lilia appeared to shrink as he slumped forward with exhaustion and unease.

“...He’s still recovering,” he answered. The hand around Malleus’ quivered, as Lilia was barely able to hold back his emotions. Malleus knew that Lilia was doing everything he could to not cry right now. “Sebek’s with him right now.” Despite his desire to learn more, Malleus turned away.

Then, after a moment, he spoke.

“...I overheard what you said. When you were trying to save Silver,” he said. “You said you... blamed Silver?” Lilia’s shoulders sagged with shame as his expression became pained.

“…I did,” he admitted, rubbing a hand over his face. “It was odd. I mean… I loved him. Kufufu... I was fond of that little baby the moment he began wailing for attention, but also... He squeezed his eyes shut.

“I couldn’t forget where he came from. I couldn’t forget that he was the son of Malenore and Leven’s enemy. And he was the reason the knight...” He didn’t finish. “But even so, I.. I wanted to become the person Leven thought I could be. I wanted to see if I could.” The memory of Malleus’ father seemed to pain Lilia, and he had to avert his gaze. Then he laughed.

“It was easier than I thought!” he chuckled. I was too busy trying to figure out how to care for a human baby to think of those thoughts. Trying to figure out what to feed him, trying to keep him clean, and wondering why he would sleep every other hour of the day except at night when he was supposed to. Then he learned how to crawl, and I had to work over time so he wouldn’t hurt himself—you were there; it was a whirlwind.” The smile Lilia had was so fond and bright despite the clear fatigue, just as it was when Lilia played with Silver as a baby.

“Then one day, I realized that—it didn’t matter where he came from. I loved him,” he said softly. “It wasn’t long before I didn’t even think about the past anymore. Just his future.” Lilia watched Malleus closely as he said this. Malleus didn’t react, so he continued.

“...I hope, in time, you can let go of the past as well.” Malleus closed his eyes but didn’t have time to respond.

~*~

Their time together was cut short when the doctors and science personnel arrived, the guards dragging a flailing Sebek behind them. After a moment, Lilia and Malleus were informed of the situation.

“We think he’s starting to blot over again,” the scientist informed them. The two were stunned as their hearts came to a stop. Malleus could only utter a small, “Eh?” Lilia, on the other hand, was screaming.

“Again?! But why?!” he demanded, the blood leaving his body. “None of the others...” The scientist shook their head.

“We’re not sure. We’re doing what we can to prevent it, but... Lilia’s fists tightened at his side as he shook.

‘Why…?’ He was angry. He could feel his frustration burn through him like a dragon's fire and into his soul like razors. But most of all, he was scared. He didn’t understand. Why? Why was it always, always something?! Why could they just--

Lilia screamed, his throat and eyes set ablaze by grief. He nearly toppled forward as he screeched.

“Arruughh! Fuck!”

--

A/N:

*Oh, what? Did you expect your pain to end so quickly? Nuh-uh. Not yet…

*But hey! Malleus and Lilia made up.

*I was originally going to have a dream scene with Lilia on trial, but I decided that as we’re nearing the end I should be nice to ya’ll. (Plus after my last little fake out, I don’t think anyone would have bought it.)

[maybankbae]

The One Where They’re Quarantined Together

June 2020

Gabriella’s been living with Luke since Los Angeles issued a shelter in place order for the entire state so he suggested instead of her commuting from Orange County from her apartment to his house everyday, just move her stuff in.

101 Dalmatians was playing as background noise for Petunia and her new cocker spaniel she adopted through a friend of Crystal. She named her Rowan. The two dogs immediately getting along the minute she brought her home.

Gabriella got up from their bed and slipped her feet in her fuzzy slippers, her feet muffling any sound as she made her way down the kitchen and making a pineapple açaí bowl she's been craving for the past 2 hours. She heard four sets of paws running towards her as she hit her leg and gave her best puppy eyes.

"You want some pineapple girlies?" She baby talked them. Their tails wagging back and forth.

Gabriella threw three individual slices of the fruit on the floor as Petunia and Rowan ate it and Petunia waddled to the couch while Rowan played with her turtle chew toy.

She heard the noise of a guitar and faint singing coming from the basement. Figuring she hasn't seen Luke in a while, she made him a glass of iced water. Whenever he’s writing music time isn’t a thing to him.

She trotted downstairs trying to muffle the sound her steps as she reached the dimly lit room, The Mac book being the only source of light in the space.

She knew about his life on the road from such a young age. He was constantly on the go and this is the first time in 5 years he's had a chance to sit back and relax. Except that's the farthest thing he was doing. Standing in the doorway he doesn’t even acknowledge her presence, way too focused on the guitar sitting on his lap and the voice memo he’s recording.

Gabriella likes to sit in the room with him sometimes whenever he's been writing and to give him some ideas or just company. It makes her feel peaceful and relaxed listening to his voice. He’s so creative and that’s something she admired about him.

She walked up to him and placed her chin on his broad shoulder. "Hey."

He turned around and looked at her, already smiling at her. "Hi."

"I got you some water." She stated as she put the glass down.

He rubbed his eyes and silently thanked her with a kiss on the lips and gesturing for her to take a seat next him.

She took a seat on the couch in the corner of the room being careful to not trip on any stray wires to sit next to him. Laying her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her back, fingertips brushing against her exposed spine.

“You okay baby? That sounds a little too sad? Even for you.” She asked concerned.

He smiles somberly and almost looked amused. “It’s not meant to sound that sad to be completely honest with you. It’s more of a look into how seventeen year old me felt as a teenager at the time y’know thick into the music industry. I have most of the lyrics but now I needed a guitar riff for it.” He explained.

“Can I hear the full song or whatever you have?” Bianca asked softly looking at him with pleading eyes.

“Course you can baby.” He smiled at her, picking up the blue guitar.

"All this running in motion time slips by till you’re lost in your mind,” He starts until he gets to the end of what he has. Looking up from his guitar he sees faint tears in his girlfriend’s eyes, making him concerned.

“What’s wrong?? Do you not like it.” He quickly asked.

"It's so beautifully sad Lu." She laughed through a sob.

"So these are happy tears right??" He questioned unsurely.

She nodded and threw her head back in laughter.

"But 3 days from now is CALM release day! Aren’t you so excited! " She shook his shoulders excitedly.

“I’m gonna be severely underwhelmed.” He joked making Gabriella slap his chest.

“You little shit.”

——————

Gabriella took the album release very seriously around the house as she bought a cake from Publix and noise makers in the color scheme of the album. She also delivered the noise makers to the other boys front porch’s and a little care package for them since they definitely all won’t be able to hang out as a group for a while.

She decided to be a good girlfriend and make celebratory waffles for all of the bands hard work that finally paid off. On her mind was also a celebratory blowjob for Luke, but he didn't need to know all her plans

Luke smelled waffles and groaned slightly as he pushed Petunia off his leg as she looked at him with a face that read 'I wanna murder you'

He slid on a t shirt and walked downstairs to see Gabriella listening to 'Vapor' as she cleaned the kitchen up in nothing but an oversized sweatshirt and some purple lace panties.

"I want to breathe you in like a vapor I want to be the one you remember." She sung to Rowan in her arms.

"Really? You couldn't have picked something from Youngblood to sing to her. At least thats two years instead of 5.” He laughed at her swaying the puppy who yipped at Luke to get his attention.

"Sounds Good Feels Good was the reason I became a fan so this album is special to me. Plus I went to Sounds Live Feels Live in LA with my best friend and that’s when I fell in love with you so don’t even." She defended.

“Whatever makes you happy.”

“Your voice is a blessing her puppy ears to the pop punk goodness that is Sounds Good Feels Good. I don’t think you should be treating me like this whenever I woke up extra early and made you waffles.” She pushed the plate towards him and a cup of coffee.

———

The band took shifts over their instagram live later that evening. First it was Ash by himself on an iPad, might add. Then Micheal and Calum, yet Micheal’s phone died before he could talk about Best Years. Now it was Luke’s turn.

Gabriella sat curled in a fluffy blanket on their shared bed rewatching Vampire Diaries while Luke attempted to join Calum on his livestream. He finally got it to work after 2 minutes of Calum struggling.

“How old are you Cal? 90?” Gabriella joked as soon as Luke joined Calum, the two yelling in excitement of seeing each other.

“Did Ella just call me old?” Calum’s laughter rang through the phone.

“Sure did dude.”

Luke shook his head slightly, reading the comments of people calling his girlfriend funny and asking where she is.

“Lemme give the children what they want.” He sighed in fake annoyance turning the phone to Gabriella who waved her hand with a smile. “Hi you guys!”

“What are you drinking, wait lemme guess.” Calum asked as he saw Luke’s tequila cup when he turned the phone back around.

“Ahhh tewqulia.”

“We ran outta beer so second best option here.”

“Bit of naughty water.” Luke said in a weird english accent that made Gabriella chuckle slightly.

At some point during their segment they started talking about cake flavors instead of the album tracks.

“How do you not like red velvet cake??” Calum asked in pure confusion.

“Well, it’s not the fact I don’t like it. I mean- you don’t go to a birthday party and they sing happy birthday and then they cut the cake, you’re like ‘eh red velvet cant wait to eat this one.’

Sometime during that conversation Gabriella ended up falling asleep. Luke gathered Petunia and Rowan so they could go potty before they slept anywhere near their room or in Rowan’s case on the bed since she always finds some way to sleep on Gabriella.

“Ella.” He whispered shaking her shoulder slightly. “How did you fall asleep that fast?”

“The sound of your annoying voice lulled me to sleep.” She laughed slightly.

The two laid together later cuddled up watching some random rom com but it was mostly background noise as they were heavily making out. Gabriella pulled on his lap as he took in her appearance. Black ribbed tank top and some blue silk shorts she got in some sale at La Perla a couple years ago.

Luke pulled back slightly and leaned his forehead on hers. “I think I heard something about a blowjob earlier this morning. I think I deserve one now that the album’s officially out.”

“Hm maybe you do for all your late nights and hard work.”

She quietly tied her hair up before moving down and kissing his waistband of his shorts, inflecting a groan from him. She pulled his dick from his basketball shorts as her eyes widened in excitement. Nothing compared when she got to suck him off.

“Shit.” He cursed when he felt her tongue kitten lick his tip.

She spit in her hand and slowly jerked him off. She slipped him as far as she could go and jerked the rest she couldn’t in her freshly manicured hands.

“Your mouth is so good.” He groaned as she made a choking noise.

She knew he was close by the way he was basically whining for her mouth as she widened her green eyes more making her look innocent as ever as spit covered her chin.

“Fuck, open your mouth.” He quickly said.

She obeyed as she stuck out her tongue waiting for his release, she felt it coat her mouth and some on her chest. Gabriella stuck out her tounge proudly displaying nothing.

“Good girl.”

He pulled his shorts back up his legs and grabbed a tissue, cleaning his release up off her chest.

Her hair clung to her sweaty neck due to the heat of the room as she had a dazed out look in her eyes.

“You okay??” Luke questioned noticing her dazed and confused look.

She nodded and climbed on top of him and laid her head on his chest.

“Happy album release,” She smirked grabbing a yellow noise maker from the bedside table and blowing it into his ear making him flinch.

“Jesus Christ.”

[this-is-where-i-hide-my-bullshit]

I feel like we should take time to remember the amazing masterpiece that is Frank's drawing he did for the quarantine coloring book.

This should be hanging in the Louvre.