#the reference image I was using made it look like she was wearing black boots

[sweetpumpkinmouse]

Man, they were such good friends.

[richea]

Inomata’s Design Notes & Memories - Destiny Cast

Some notes:

I’ve linked images of each thing she references below.

Unlike the first batch of Eternia characters I previously posted, these were in Japanese. And unlike the Destiny 2 ones I translated, she talks about her experiences with the characters in the game and not just her design processes!

The book in question is this one.

What I think about most when designing characters is their colors and the components to their look. The characters are displayed as such small sprites, so in order to be able to differentiate them from each other, I give each of them a specific color palette and unique accessories to each of their outfits.

Stahn’s thing was his scarf. I also made sure his shoulder pads, gloves, and boots looked huge.

Rutee is supposed to be a thief, so I made her look a bit like a ninja. I didn’t want her to look too girly, so I gave her shorts and exposed her navel. For colors I went with red and black, since that’s a distinctive palette. Whenever I’d do boss battles, she’d always be joyfully picking 2 gald off the ground instead of healing my very low HP characters (laughs). I thought about removing her from my party to prevent this, but then I’d feel bad, and it just made me think “this is all part of her plot” (laughs).

Philia is a priestess through and through. I went for white and green to give her an earthly feel (laughs). Her glasses and braids were a strong request from Namco. I came up with designs for her, but they didn’t have the glasses or braids, so they were repurposed for the priests in Straylize Temple. It was the basis for Philia’s design as well as Elraine’s in the sequel. Philia has her eye on Stahn, but he eats too much and he oversleeps. I feel like they’d work out better if Philia was more the assertive type herself (laughs).

Woodrow is an archetypical handsome man, so I didn’t have much to stress about when designing him. He’s a king, so I wished he had a stronger atmosphere behind him. I almost never used him when playing the game though (laughs). When you break into Dycroft, I thought, “it’d be really cool in a narrative sense to use him here, but he’s just so weak”. But you get special dialogue if you take him along, so I went “tsk” and brought him anyway. “Just stick to the backlines and don’t die” (laughs).

Leon’s really easy to draw, so again I didn’t have much to stress about when drawing him. He has a princely vibe to him, so I gave him white tights, but everyone was taken back by it! I thought, “is it that weird?” and ended up making them less tight fitting (laughs). He acts a bit snobbish, gets seasick easily and refuses to eat vegetables, so he really crosses off a lot on the “young master” list. He’s also really fun to use in battle (laughs). He has a really low defense stat but he hits fast, so it’s crucial that you string your combos together. When paired with Stahn, if you can isolate your bosses in the far side of the screen, they go down quite fast. Then I see the popup that Rutee’s picking gald off the floor again and I just use healing items on him (laughs).

I wanted to make Chelsea cute and small, so I based her image off of little birds. I gave her a palette of pink, green and blue, and made her hair look like a cockatoo or parrot. Her bloomers look like a paper lantern and I find them quite cute (laughs). Her life story makes me want to cry though. She’s fine and all in the first game, but in the sequel, she’s still wearing those bloomers from when she was a kid, living all alone on a snowy mountain. And if you go through her drawers, you can take something that Woodrow gave to her. I felt so bad, I thought “even though it’s so out of the way, I’ll go buy all the items you need!” (laughs). Then she makes all of these bows for you, but by then, I’d already enhanced my weapons a lot… But I felt so bad that I never Refined them and thought, “I’ll keep these on me forever” (laughs).

Johnny’s original idea was “troubadour,” but as the story progressed and I gave him his hat and all sorts of plumes, he came out a bit comical (laughs). He’s a really fun character to have in your party though, and I fell in love with him right away. I love that his tone-deafness does physical damage to the enemies (laughs).

With the Swordians, they have the will of humans and I wanted to incorporate that into their designs, but it didn’t seem to fit so I went for something more inorganic. Berselius alone has a creepy aura to him, and when Destiny 2 came around I thought “But his owner is such a nice person! Is it really okay for him to have such a creepy design?” but then I thought well, maybe Harold just likes things that way (laughs).

[ahotcutea]

Indie Sleaze - who I Think the original indie sleaze are- And my Thoughts about it

I've been thinking about indie sleaze and the thought process behind the movement - I know this may be something that's on my particular side of the internet but I feel like we're having a shift from coordinated intentional outfits that are very noticeable from the outside to very "un-noticeable" outfits that are extremely intentional. And indie sleaze is the embodiment of this ideology.

For example, American indie sleazes so Hollister hoodies, denim, grays, blues, reds, ( all washed out ofc) caps, worn sneakers, flip flops, and boots. These are all things I consider part of American indie sleaze because they are things that are seen every day in America (when I refer to American I specifically mean people of the US ) may it be in big cities or red-neck towns, they are very prominent but diverse. And this diversity is what makes some things indie leaves and others not.

the following pictures will visualize what I mean

When you see these outfits individually they are very intentional, the colors the brands, the silhouette, the textures, and everything presented is very intentional but when you see the last picture of the very American street all these outfits go unnoticed unless you are in the known or part of a niche that values a silhouette or a type of glasses or a type of style then you will spark with a sense of knowing. But if you are not then you are just normal, you go unnoticed.

So to quickly sum up I think indie sleaze is something that goes unnoticed, literally almost invisible in the sense of a collective, unless you are within the group, then you are analyzed.

One group of fashionistas that have always embodied my version of indie sleaze would be niqabis .

Niqabis are Muslim women who cover their selves and when I come across them, not much comes into my thoughts when I see their outfits ( unless you're ignorant and racist you would have your own battles to fight ofcs) however to me they are the most indie sleaze of all the indies, they go extreme un-noticed ( in the sense of their fashion ) despite being so intentional all ethically, socially, and fashionably. Islam has rules when it comes to the labor of how items are made and whether they are compensated fairly - and they also have rules when it comes to what materials are ethical - for example, strict Muslims often don't use syntenic fabrics as they are un-natural and hurts the environment to a point of no repair - so when you see these niqabis their fashion goes unnoticed everything is so put together intentionally.

I want you to look at these pictures and think - just think - or feel, how is their outfit made up

One thing all these girls have in common is the " un-noticeability" of their fashion but everything is very deliberate, the first girl choice to take a picture from the back, removing her face and hands from the image, and the choice of her dress is internal as it has layered pieces and a flowy hem, that mimics one of a wired hem, her scarf also has layers that fall in a U shape, but also is long, mimicking a wedding veil - while I don't know what fabric she used, it may be chiffon or silk or a tight weave string that is light - we never know. Her shoes look like pump slips, making her height taller than the hem, but not tall enough to tell the shoe types- similar to hovering. The second girl chose to show her eyes, she intentionally chose her makeup to be something black and smoky to match her dress, her scarf looks as if it loops, assuming it stops at her shoulders or upper back her dress is unnoticeable from the picture, and that too is intentional. The last girl wears florals and pink, but she still picks the black face covering, her picking a bright shoe, dress, and scarf but choosing a black cover and no make-up is one that was very intentional.

While separate all these girls have special things that stand out in their sense of fashion but in the mass, they would blend in similar to how the Hollister sleaze girl would.

Their reasons and the originals

Niqabis have existed since the 7th century... Hollister sleaze would exist when modern America had the working class form and capitalist name brands take over (think American brands that all people from all economic points own, Hollister, Polo, Calvin Klein)

In my opinion, they have the same ideology -things that are picked so intentionally and so meticulously that they go completely unnoticed. unless you are within the know of fashion of all colors but black face covering or all black but red fannel fashions then these people will go completely unnoticed - and unless you know their group philosophy then you wouldn't think of their fashion as grand but just choices from a caved box in the wall. but in reality, there is an ideology of black smokey eyes that match a dress or the ideology that comes with fishnets and shorts -

In my opinion, indie sleaze is so multifaced and to me, its the ability to go unnoticed but stand out in great measures when it comes to the people who are in your circles - and often these circles are either on the intent where they seem larger than actual or they are in person with a collective of maybe 3-15 people - and very outside factor has a huge role in this.

but how would I know - I'm not an indie sleaze niqabi or indie sleaze hollister girl.

Sorry for all the typos, this blog was a stream of consciousness ( plus the grammar isn't real)

here's a Pinterest board to visualize it all maybe seeing it will make more sense than reading it

XoXo ~ Z

[skarmoree]

(Rubs hands together) this is about to get long so I’m putting it under a read more

but in short: I made collections of various canon references and designs and cherry picked the best bits, or things that were unique and made them stand out when lined up next to the others

Robin I: dick grayson

the blueprint. The icon.

Dick was easy enough: traffic light colours, lightweight with fairly little in protection, and pixie boots. I know in recent (read, the last thirty or so) years they’ve been giving him actual pants or leggings or whatever but I’m not about that life. also what is up with his n52 design

I’m really fond of the elbow pads they gave him in the dcau TT flashback so he gets those and matching ones for the knees. Belt shape from YJ. the collar on his cape is popped up for two reasons— 1) to give him something different to any others later down the line and 2) did you really think I wouldn’t reference the discowing suit? It’s iconic. to me, Dick’s Robin suit is a leotard under a tunic, and I tried to let my shading show the texture of that. Overall, maybe the least amount of changes from canon to my design

Robin II: jason todd

here’s where things get fun. I knew I wanted to give Jay his own design, but it’s important to note in my mind this isn’t the first iteration he wears, and he does in fact, first debut wearing Dick’s fit. That being said;

He’s Very Red :)

something I learnt in the throes of this project is that Jay actually has a Really Really Nice n52 Robin design. I love how vibrant the colours are, and it introduced the neat little leg design that they carried into his wfa look. That being said, his wfa design has simply too much red and not enough green. Plus they got rid of his yellow cape entirely. I’m of the firm belief that it’s not until timmy comes around that they start doing black capes with yellow lining.

I like his cape length pre death, it feels shorter than dicks, very triangular. Plus, my fav Jason is when he turns into a ⚠️

Also! Important to note! Jason isn’t as athletic as Dick. He can’t dodge all those hits with the same grace. So, the logical answer is to give him more armour so he can tank some blows

overall I pushed his colours a little away from dick and more cool toned. While I adore the crimson it didn’t look as nice with the golden yellow I’d chosen :)

Robin: carrie kelley

first girl robin yaaaay!

Carrie once again has the same issue as early Jason, in which she just has the same look as dick. When you’re making unique looks, this gets in the way lol so she got a near complete rehaul

I really liked the asymmetrical cape so that had to be included— plus, just look at the sheer amount of fabric it’s made of. Oh, and the visor, of course!

I really like the texture of the batwoman look, so I found a way to incorporate that, plus the way it flares. She looks like a betta fish. The lower right panel has her complaining about the bright colours of her robin look, so I toned that down

you can see in the initial mockup I had that there was extra armour on the legs, but it felt too bulky so I dropped it. Overall, the bulkiness actually led to my cousin teasing me and saying she looks like a ninja turtle, and with the colours, yeah I’m not escaping those allegations. Still, happy with how she came out. I’m not well learned on Miller’s interpretation, but I hope she slots in okay

Robin III: tim drake

Tim was the first robin to be “reimagined” and given a “modern look”, but honestly? this boy has the most looks to date

my first must-have was the wings. They’re literally so good DC bring them back. But I pulled them back to robin instead of RR by making them yellow on the inside, and I think it looks super neat :) the holder for his staff comes partially from the rejected designs when they were first making Tim’s new look, and partially from (sighs) matt holt voltron. No reference images here but trust me when I say i riffed directly from that overall I think I just mostly used his current look? I’m really fond of it. I do adore his Gotham knights look, but it’s hard to mix with other aspects because it’s so baggy… but I did nab the texturing for the undersuit from that one!

unlike the two previous ones in the lineup, I went for Bright Primaries, so he’s very red compared to them. He’s a very bright yellow amidst a lot of duller ones

Robin IV: stephanie brown

Steph would’ve been so good as robin if she were written by people who liked women.

First things first, she HAD to have crazy wild hair. Is it practical? Absolutely not. But it’s important to me, same with her little bat-ear headband. also I gave her some fat to 1) vary my lineup more and 2) she deserves it. Also 3) she’s had a kid by this point. Bodies change

someone in the batfam big bang server endowed me with the knowledge of an alt world steph where she was robin instead of tim and the lower face mask?? Omg as soon as I saw it I knew I had to incorporate it. Especially because her current spoiler look has one. Also obsessed with the amount of belts she has as spoiler so those got used, too

steph’s batgirl look is really good, I find. I love the side panelling, so I nabbed that. While I did like her robin tunic being more of a dress than the previous iterations’, I squinted a bit at the manoeuvrability it would have and decided to give her a side split. Plus, it freed up a leg for the belt!

anyways how far can you push green until it’s not really green anymore? I wanted more of a nod to her og spoiler look with the blue, so settled for a nice teal hehe. She’s also very shiny. Idk the idea of her tunic being more reflective wormed its way into my mind and wouldn’t leave me alone

Robin V: damian wayne

damian damian damian…. Let’s seeeeee

he does in fact, have the hood in my design, I just didn’t want to hide features. I also really liked the LoA look they gave him in the dcau with the cape under the armour so used that instead of hiding his shoulders. Overall, I really like his various assassin looks, especially his lazzy tourney one. ADORE the gloves, but alas the pose I chose hides them almost entirely…

I also really do like his grey and black look, especially the shoes. And the green laces are cute, so I carried that green into his pouches too. I did keep him more cohesive with the other robins and leave him in red, however. And grabbed the little bird skull clasp because it’s something entirely unique to him and actually really cool

Also sword. While he does usually have it on his back I have two notes: 1) hard to draw when needed and 2) in way of cape. So I moved it to his hip.

We Are Robin: duke thomas

Everyone hoot and holler for the self-made robin!

I really wanted to include his helmet but I couldn’t make it work, so I settled on the goggles he has on all the covers but never in panels.

the jacket is ICONIC so of course I had to do it justice. Decided for the unzipped look to incorporate more yellow because this boy is the Signal, I had to have it

the shirt being a nod to signal’s armour is also fun. I chose to include the bat-symbol because while robin gear was banned, the didn’t ban Batman! I flipflopped for a while on whether to have it mostly white or black but decided this way. Also yeah his signal boots. While I love his red kicks I wanted more yellow lol

The hairstyle, belt and robin symbol are from another alt world but I couldn’t track down which. I liked how bulky the utility belt was, and it offsets how casual the rest of his look is

Robin of the Future: matt mcginnis

okay so I LOVED watching beyond and when I found out terry’s baby brother got a stint as Robin in the comics I ran over to find. He has so many designs?

The one I chose to mainly focus on felt right for next to terry because it’s sleek and doesn’t have too many details to complicate. I did like the way that one of the other ones (the centre image) lit up, so added that. Mostly I just wanted to lean into the futuristic vibes

Like steph, I once again pushed the colours and ultimately he ended up borderline pink. I added a tiny bit more green to his design on the shoulders and hid the cape so it only comes out when needed like terry’s, which I think is how it goes anyway, so for the most part I didn’t change much.

Bonus Robin: jarro

no notes. Just that giving him a hood is silly so I dropped that, and changed his colours to more pastel tones

No seriously I don’t have notes just that I included jarro to give me ten characters in the lineup

Robin: maps mizoguchi

so maps is brand new to this— like debuted-as-robin-sometime-in-the-past-year kind of new, but she’s fun and I’m enjoying seeing her various appearances as I jump around through the comics

I tried putting a domino mask under her visor for a stronger disguise but didn’t really like the look, plus it hid her freckles.

She’s once again got a very classic look, back to the first Robin tunic design. I decided to play with that and the fact we mostly see her in a school uniform and turned it more into a shirt than a tunic. Messed with the red and pushed it further and further into an orange. This is also partially a nod to how red-breasted robins are usually more orange lol

she’s also had a birds of prey appearance as Meridian! And I am obsessed with the cape you have no idea. I tried my best to give her robin cape the same vibes, so there’s some halftones and chromatic aberration happening to make it feel more holographic. Also took the side paneling and belt design from meridian too

there we go, that’s all of them! I might make this its own post as well at some point nghfjdskfh

thanks for giving me the opportunity to go on this ramble ✨ echo out

a veritable flock of Robins

clap and cheer for me pls this took 75 hours

[cherrykindness]

wild tweets |

pairing: Harry Styles x Actress!Reader

summary: as newlyweds, you and harry read thirsty comments for buzzfeed.

warning: it's thirsty tweets, so below there is adult humor 😳

"It's a bright, sunny morning in Los Angeles, and there's nothing I want more than to be on BuzzFeed and read wild tweets alongside my husband."

"Thirsty tweets, babe." Harry corrected, laughing out loud with the producers behind the cameras.

"Thirsty Tweets." You said quickly, putting your hand over your mouth to stifle a giggle. "I'm terrible at that, I'm sorry. Can we start over?"

"Let's take a break for one to two minutes. You've given us a great introduction, Y/N."

You shook your head, smiling shyly before turning to Harry, who was already watching you with that easy smile at the corner of his lips. You liked how his hand remained firmly on yours, making those circular movements with the thumb that always served as a natural medice for your anxiety.

"You look so fucking beautiful."

The pleated dress with flounce sleeves fit you like a glove. You had made peace with the various shades of white since the wedding and knew that Harry liked to see you in that color too.

"Thank you, you're not too bad either, Styles."

You intimately suspected that Harry would always seem far beyond that "not bad" that came out as a euphemism from your mouth. He wore nothing but a pair of bell-bottom pants in a strong shade of blue and a soft vest printed with fluffy little sheep on a striped American collared shirt - in your opinion, no one could look better in farm animal clothing than Harry Styles and Princess Diana with her red "Black Sheep" sweater in the 1980s. In contrast, you knew your husband well enough to know that he was arrogant and knew exactly how hot he looked - you also made your thoughts clear enough when you kept him backstage beyond ten minutes in a rather heated kissing session.

"Are you anxious?" you asked curiously, remaining with downcast eyes fixed on the strokes that remained assiduous on your warm skin. "To read about how the whole internet dreams of fucking my wife?! Of course." Harry joked, leaning over to leave a small one on your cheek. "We agree on that, don't we? Although I'm a little nervous, I'm really interested to know all the crazy things they say about you. Everyone knows you're mine at the end of the day, that's enough."

At the end of the break, you and Harry made a silent agreement that you should be the first to pick up one of the scattered papers in the red pot. There were quite a significant amount of tweets, and as much as you were used to reading rather sordid things about your husband on the Internet, the excitement was there as if you were wading into uncharted territory.

"I would be a good girl all year round if Santa guaranteed me a threesome with Harry and Y/N Styles on Christmas Eve." You laughed, Harry staring at the camera with an expression close to the meme of the surprised Pikachu. "You guys are incredibly nasty, I love it."

"If that was the first one, I'm really worried about the next ones." Harry commented with a little corner smile, picking the next tweet out of the bucket. "I have an entire folder on Pinterest dedicated to Harry Styles' hands, and let me tell you why: those hands are art, and art needs to be recognized."

"What- Guys, you promised you wouldn't post my anonymous tweets here." You quipped with false reproach, laughing at your own stupid joke while everyone else in the studio did the same. "But I can't blame her, honestly." Shaking your shoulders, you opened another piece of paper. "Harry Styles finally confessed that he wrote Watermelon Sugar for Y/N!!!! Are you guys imagining the same thing as me?!!!!!! 🥵🍆💦"

"Exhausted emoji, eggplant emoji, and water emoji?" Harry frowned, staring at the tweet you held up. "I imagine you're in need of a vacation somewhere refreshing and you're craving a fruit that everyone eats like it's really a vegetable."

"That reminded me of that story-" You laughed, hiding your face on the table as Harry continued to offer a poker face to the camera, struggling not to keep up with you laughter. "I'm sorry, lovie, I have to share this with the rest of the world." You stated, wiping a few tears from the corner of your eyes. "Harry always wears those fancy suits to concerts, right?! Right! Turns out he looks really hot in some, like his ass molds perfectly into those tight pants and everything. I was home that night because I wasn't feeling well enough to face the big crowds, but I was still following everything on twitter. It was a concert in London, not so far from where we lived at the time, so it was obvious that he would come home after it was over. I follow some portals that do really fast updates of pictures, videos, etc; everything that happened at Harry's concert was on my timeline in a matter of seconds. When one of these profiles uploaded a picture of him with his back to the camera in a heavily accentuated black and white suit, I quickly sent him the image along with a peach emoji and then wrote "looks good tonight". He didn't reply to me until a few hours later, of course, but I obviously didn't expect a "ready for a Fifth Avenue peach salad for dinner?" and numerous cutlery emojis."

Harry rolled his eyes comically, indulging in laughter as did everyone else who occupied the backstage area.

"I'm against the eroticization of emojis." He said between uncompensated breaths, shaking his head negatively. "Let's go to the next ones, please, I'm already feeling exposed enough here."

"I like your old-fashioned spirit, baby." You assured him with a smile, laying on the sturdy shoulder hidden under the fluffy fabric.

Harry chuckled low, leaving a little kiss on the top of your head before selecting the next paper. The fans would die when that video aired, everyone was sure. You two easily forgot the cameras when you were side by side, and the public display of affection had never been a problem.

"My life mission is to look at someone the way Harry looks at Y/N and be reciprocated the way Y/N looks at Harry, then I could die happy." Harry read. "That was very good and healthy, thank you!" He smiled. "But don't settle for death in that case, please. Just make sure to keep that person around forever."

"Awn, we got so sweet now." You made a pout. "Thank you for sending us something so cute! I really hope you find the right person soon." Sending a kiss to the camera, you moved on to the next tweet. "I wouldn't want to get a golden ticket to visit Willy Wonka's factory, I would like to get a golden ticket to actively participate in Y/N and Harry Styles' Honeymoon.

"That was creative, so I will disregard the fact that you removed my last name from my wife's name." Harry joked.

"I will always be an Y/L/N." You flashed the tongue. "We had a great Honeymoon, but I know you guys already know all about it because there are pictures all over the internet of outings that I don't even remember existed."

"Even though we chose a rather reserved city, many paparazzi still managed to photograph some of our nights there." Harry agreed. "There was one particular day when we opted to have dinner at a restaurant near the beach. Y/N had found it even before the trip, it was pretty laid back and we could spend the evening at karaoke. I don't really remember what happened, but we woke up the next day with a terrible hangover, still wearing the clothes from the dinner and with several headlines saying that I was cheating on my wife in the middle of our Honeymoon with a blue-haired italian girl."

"That wig made me sexy, man." You blinked, laughing as you remembered the situation. "It's a shame the paparazzi only got low quality images, but I swear I looked really amazing that night. Italy, I miss you."

"We're coming to the end and I haven't had to ask production for a glass of water yet, thank you to whoever selected these tweets." Harry raised his thumb to the camera, smiling before turning his gaze back to the small paper he had chosen. "Y/N could literally punch me in the face and I would just bow down and thank them for it." He laughed. "She has heavy hands, so I would rethink that choice."

"It takes strong hands to be a superheroine." You blinked gracefully, referring to your works as a Marvel actress. "I move around a lot during the night, so I'll take this lovely opportunity to say that twitter can dismiss all the malicious theories about Harry always show up with a new bruise all over his body."

"Please stop making indecent assumptions while Y/N is aggressive with me at night only unconsciously, her father has access to social media."

You laughed, clearing your throat before reading the next obscenity aloud.

"I would sell all my possessions to have Y/N sitting on my lap for ten seconds."

"Oh my God." Harry laughed out loud, throwing his head back. "I should have said that in our wedding vows."

You shook your head, laughing low as you set the tweet aside.

"That was pretty funny and cheeky, I approve."

"Okay, looks like we finally got to the last one." Harry announced, waving the paper in the air dramatically before opening it. "Harry could literally crush me with those boots while fuc- I need that glass of water." He said dumbfounded, hiding his face between his hands after throwing the tweet over his shoulder. You laughed out loud next to the organizers, and meanwhile Harry leaned his head on your bust, staring at you still with wide eyes. "Please promise that we will be careful with our future children on the internet."

[bokutoslittlebird]

Your Place

Akaashi x sister!reader

Author’s Note : This was originally gonna just be a short drabble but like.. I’ve thought of this before. So I changed it into a full fledged fic; Fukurōdani has a girls’ volleyball club ; Love hotels in Japan are pretty popular, especially in Tokyo, and happen to have kiosks to keep up the anonymity, while also offering options of staying overnight or for a few hours (generally 2-4). The rooms offer lots of options, including room service (including food and toys), such as jacuzzi, showers, massage chairs, King-sized bed, as well as a box of free condoms ; okay I don’t know if a butt plug can actually plug up a vagina and if it is even safe (it should be) so don’t take my words as fact! Please!

Warnings : Incest, noncon/dubcon, gaslighting, naïve and innocent reader, manipulation, alcohol, underaged drinking [legal age in Japan is 20], love hotels, Keiji wants lil sis to be his housewife, mating press, pussyjob, orgasm denial, overstimulation, sex toys [butt/anal plug, egg vibrator, hitachi wand vibrator], lots of Nii-sans used, breeding kink, no actual pregnancy (yet), fingering (f. receiving)

The roars of the crowd enters your ears as the ball bounces against the floor of the large stadium, the opposing players diving to receive the ball only to fail. Your team screams and cheers, everyone running to envelope the ace of your team, Akari, as she hugs everyone back. Screaming hurts your ears, yet you’re still doing it. Adrenaline rushes through you as the announcer claims your team with the victory and the announcement that you’ll be moving onto the next round, the finals of Nationals.

Your team lines up, shaking hands with the opposing team as congrats is shared between members. Once that is done, you all face the seats on both sides, bowing and thanking them for cheering you all on. When your eyes look into the stadium seats, they immediately catch the lidded eyes of Keiji, his hands clasped together as he smiles. The simple motion has your chest puffing with pride, tears sliding down your cheeks as you know you made him proud. With your position on the team, he’s the one who trained you to be the best setter the Fukurōdani girls’ volleyball club has ever had these last three years.

Once the moment is over, everyone is back at the hotel room and either on their laptops, phones, television, or asleep. When you exit the bathroom, your hair has been brushed and styled with a nice dress, accompanying the leggings and boots Keiji gifted you to wear. Akari whistles, her arm over your shoulder as she talks to you.

“Who you lookin’ so good for?” She pries, eyes tracing the lip gloss you put on.

“My brother. He requested me to wear something nice. He’s taking me to dinner,” a bit of heat is in your voice as you say that. Keiji’s always pampering you, he loves seeing you dolled up. It’s been like that since you were playing dress-up when he was 10 and you were 5. Akari’s gaze takes on a confused look, pursed lips as she processes your words.

“He’s always taking you somewhere nice after a good game, it feels like. Why don’t you ever invite us?” She finally says. Your head snaps up, looking in the mirror at yourself compared to Akari who is also looking at your face and outfit. It wasn’t glamorous in your eyes, but it suddenly dawns on you that it’s more than a brother should expect. The twist in your gut is ignored, your head shaking as you clear your head.

“He doesn’t know any of you guys. Plus, he’s an alumni. He’s always at our games,” your response isn’t what she was expecting, you’re sure of it. But the truth is, you don’t know why Keiji takes you out to nice restaurants or just on nice walks after games. It’s the few times he has off, always requesting off to be with you, cheering you on, his full support as your brother. Occasionally, he even brings along Bokuto, his best friend, who always congratulates you and asks to have you visit his own team someday. It’s a request that you always turn down, Keiji’s eyes taking on a dark glint that sends shivers down your spine at just the mere memory of them.

Akari leaves you alone after that, your time to get ready slowly coming to an end as your phone rings. It’s Keiji, of course, asking if you’re ready yet. “Almost, nii-san! I just need to get my coat and then I’ll head down.”

He’s at the lobby of the hotel, lounging in a chair as he swipes on his phone. He’s dressed as nicely as you are, black slacks with a nice white dress shirt, all under a large coat to keep out the cold. You bounce up to him, excited for the dinner. “You look beautiful, [Y/N],”

“Thank you! You know me so well, so it’s really all your doing,” you giggle, linking your hand in his offered elbow. It felt so right, being beside as you had been these past few years. Walking towards the restaurant, you didn’t even feel the ache in your ankles and balls of your feet from the heels nor the unmistakeable tension between the two of you. It just felt familiar and right to be in this position, sitting across from Keiji as he lets you gush about all the stuff going through your head during the match or even when you happened to be getting ready for the dinner. A shadow seems to settle over his face as you refer to it as such, just a dinner. You almost referred to it as a date, but quickly corrected yourself.

Tension hangs between you two, you having to force it away by breaking the silence Keiji brings. He’s usually much more talkative, praising you as he talks about what you did right and correcting you on things you did wrong, but never criticizing you too hard. Dinner ends, with Keiji paying the full bill without ever letting you know, saying that he simply cannot let a woman pay, regardless of situation. The champagne and wine he let you have a taste of lingers in your mouth, a burn in your throat from the bitter taste of alcohol. It’s not enough to get you drunk, but you do find yourself clinging to Keiji tighter, feet unstable and legs unreliable as he brings you back to the hotel.

He stops and even in your bubbly and hazy state, you can tell the hotel isn’t the same. “Come on, you need to rest,” he says, lips next to you ear as he ushers you inside. Upon entering the room, the lobby, you know it’s not the same. You panic, the alcohol making you less restrained in your actions as you go to tug on Keiji’s arm.

“Nii—”

“Ah, ah, Keiji, dear. Until we get back to your room,”

His usage of ‘your room’ has your nerves calming down, even as he uses his card to pay the kiosk and tap on the screen, buying something. A metal jingle comes from the bottom of the electronic, Keiji picking up the key to a room. Urging you along, you follow him to the elevator. The lack of people seems to enter your mind, confusing you as you glance around the spotlessly clean black elevator. A small voice enters your mind, telling you that the hotel’s elevators are supposed to be silver, shimmering in the light that shines down.

Keiji has to practically drag you into a room, the door shutting and clicking behind you as it locks. The room is spacious, a large tub in the corner of the room as the king-sized bed offers comfort and relaxation. Yet, you falter— unmoving, your voice seems to barely get out as you question your brother. “Where... where are we?”

“My room for the night, dear. You’re drunk, you need to rest,” his comforting words have you slowly shuffling towards the bed. The chair beside the bed seems too fancy for something in a normal hotel room, more adrenaline entering your veins as you panic from unfamiliarity.

“Nii-san, I don’t like this. Take me back to my room. Akari and Hana and-”

“Shut up, you little slut,” the venom in his words has you squeaking, your much smaller frame easily being pinned to the bed by Keiji’s much broader frame. “I’ve been generous this entire evening and all you’ve blabbered about is your team and your friends. What about me, huh? You haven’t even asked how I was doing the entire date,”

“Nii-san, stop!”

“Do I not hold the most importance in your life anymore? You used to be all over me, my sweet little sister that absolutely enjoyed being around me. Now you’re prancing around as if you have not a care in the world. That boy from the boys’ volleyball club seemed awfully close for comfort, don’t you think?”

“He-,” you once more falter, the brief images from after the game when the captain of the boys’ team congratulated all of you on the win. He wasn’t close to you, you were sure of it, but why would Keiji have been there? “He’s barely a friend, nii-san,”

“Not only that, but you always have that giggle and tendency to twirl your hair as you talk to Bokuto-san, your body moving closer to him as he would walk beside you. You barely acknowledge my existence anymore. Do you know how that makes me feel?”

“I’m sorry,” the tears spill down your cheeks, a hiccup as he continues to say mean things. “I’m sorry,”

“You’ll be graduating soon and then you’re going to live with me. You’re going to live with me and be my little housewife. I’m going to make you completely mine, inside and out,” his breath is hot as it fans over your face, his grip strong as he continues to squeeze and hold your face. You’re unable to do anything, the fear from his words and actions has you frozen beneath him. As his words settle in, ice crawls through your veins as you realize your gut feeling, the tension between you two, everything you ignored for the past hour and a half had a reason for being there. His entire plan was to bring you here, but you’re unable to do much of anything against him — he’s always been stronger than you. When you were young, it was comforting, his arms holding you after a nightmare or even when your first friend moved to America, but now it just served to bring more tears to you eyes, your body forced to let him do what he wants to you.

Keiji’s quick to undress you, your coat being shed as he pushes your fancy dress up, the leggings, shoes, and panties being pulled off and left to fall on the floor. Tears continue to fall, chest heaving as you’re powerless to do anything. Even if you could find the energy to move and attempt get him off of you, it wouldn’t bring anything to fruition. “You’re so dry, are you not enjoying this?”

“No, nii-san. I’m not,” you’re honest with him, yet he doesn’t stop. Sitting back on his heels, he lets his eyes trail over your form. Before a thought can enter your mind to move, he’s pushing his weight on top of you as he grabs something the table beside him, a long metal rod emerging from the miniature dresser. He keeps you pinned, moving the rubber head down to your clit, pressing a button as it begins to vibrate. “Ah! Nii-san,” your muddled voice comes out, the sensation sending an unfamiliar tingling up your spine.

“It feels good, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I’m going to make you feel even better. All you gotta do is relax, pretty girl,”

“I’m- I’m still- y-your—” your words die on your tongue, your gut twisting into a knot as the sensation turns pleasurable. You’ve never touched yourself, always being told by Keiji that only bad girls touched themselves, that whores and sluts did. Keiji-nii doesn’t like those kinds of girls, so you never dared to go against his wishes.

“Of course you are, baby. You’ll always be my pretty girl, even if I have to remind you exactly where you belong. I’ll remind you of your place,” his words stop there, but in your head his words continue. Silently, the words of ‘if you’ll let me’ enter, an unspoken question that asks for your consent. Yet, you don’t give him anything else. Your moans and mewls are all he gets, a hand grasping at the unbuttoned dress shirt still on him. A small smile paints along his lips, your vision going black as you roll your eyes. Before the knot can release, the vibrations are removed from your clit and you whine, aftershocks coursing through you.

Keiji’s voice is barely a whisper, under his breath, “I’ll give you something much better, don’t worry.” The vibrator is forgotten and discarded, his hands fumbling with his slacks as he pulls them down, along with the dark grey underwear. His cock springs free, hard and thick and long, you unconsciously scoot away as he strokes himself. “Don’t move away,”

“But it’s scary, nii-san,” you whimper, arms close to your chest as your head bumps against the headboard. He doesn’t say anything, using his hand to rub his cock’s tip against your folds. Contrary to earlier, you’re dripping wet as the wet smacks of his appendage against your skin has you clenching around nothing, more juices dripping out. Moving his hips back and forth, he adds another sensation on your clit as he thrusts in between your folds. His tip catches onto the hood of your folds, brushing against the overly sensitive nerves as you whine and mewl at each move he makes.

“You’re so nice and slick for me, it won’t hurt. It just seems scary, look,” he forces you to do just that, hand gripping your hair as he forces you to look at his cock. The underside of it is glistening with your slick, absolutely dripping with you as it slides down to his base and over his balls. “It’s just in your mind, it won’t hurt. Don’t you trust me?”

“But nii-san, I don’t want this,” it’s not what he wants to hear, you’re sure of it. Yet he says nothing. A sigh finally breaks the silent tension as he rubs his finger against your cunt, two fingers slipping in until they can’t anymore. You’re tight, you know you are, clenching around only two of his fingers.

“If you didn’t want this, you would still be dry. You wouldn’t be squeezing my fingers so snugly. This is your body saying it wants this, don’t you remember what I said?”

Of course you don’t, he says a lot to you, so you shake your head. Another sigh.

“You need to listen to your body. It knows you better than you know yourself. I know you better than you do, you know,” his words ring true, his fingers continuing to pump themselves into you as he talks. Eventually, the feeling is no longer unfamiliar, the sensation pleasing as you moan. He smiles at that, leaning to press a kiss to your forehead as his fingers retract themselves. Using the slick on them, he rubs them against his cock to use as lube.

Pushing his tip into you is scary, but it’s not painful. As he sinks further into you, it becomes much more painful. The room must be soundproof, since Keiji keeps pushing in without trying to make you stop your screaming. He does, however, lean down to press his lips to your tear-stained cheeks as you squeeze him. He groans, his hips rutting against you. “You’re fine, stop screaming. Stop being so pathetic,”

His harsh words have your screams silencing, tears and sniffles as your walls flutter around him. It still hurts, it burns, it stings, it’s more painful than anything you’ve ever dealt with before. Before you can manage to get adjusted, Keiji is pushing your legs up to your chest, somehow making himself feel deeper than he actually is. The feeling of being crushed is back once more, his hips rearing back only to come back down against your skin. The scream from your throat is more of a moan, nails digging into the back of Keiji’s neck and teasing the small hairs as he pistons his cock into your cunt.

It’s a tight fit, the way you’re sucking him in and squeezing him with every thrust. Keiji’s balls slap against your slick ass, cunt squelching with each pump of his cock into you as more juices are forced out. His own moans and grunts of pleasure are drowning in the wave of mewls, squeals, and moans spilling from your lips. The feeling from before is back, the knot in your tummy as he rubs his cock against the inside of your walls and instead of being denied once more, the knot finally snaps as you cream all around his cock, accompanying a squeal of his name.

“That’s it, pretty girl. Cum on my cock, let me know how good you feel,” he chuckles, picking up his pace as you continue to suck him in. A garbled call of ‘nii-san!’ leaves your lips, the sensation of his heavy balls slapping against you and his thick cock against your fluttering walls has you creaming around him once more. A sound akin to a growl comes from his throat, leaning even further forwards as he gets himself as deep as he can go, the hair at the base of his cock rutting against your sensitive clit. “I’m going to fill you with my seed and you’re going to have my babies, okay?”

“No, nii-san, I don’t want that!” You cries are ignored, your body continuing to clamp around his cock as he shoots his load into you. The feeling of being full and so warm inside has your eyes rolling, drool spilling from your open mouth as you gush around him, clear liquid splashing against his abdomen.

Once the high has passed, he removes his cock from you, keeping you in that position. You don’t dare speak, unsure you’ll be able to as your throat burns from all the screaming and cries. A metal object briefly enters your vision, the object being inserted into your pussy that drips with your brother’s seed, milky white and thick.

“If you keep it all inside, I’ll give you another treat, okay? You wanna be a good girl for me, don’t you?” He doesn’t wait for a response, but he does take out another object. “You need to keep having an orgasm, I’ll make sure you feel real good, okay?” A medium-sized egg-shaped object enters your ass, another stinging pain from the insertion. Another round of vibrations start, your legs shaking as you mewl, head thrown back as you feel another orgasm quickly coming on. “You’ll be a good little housewife for me, won’t you? Swollen with my child and your pussy will be all for me, you know this, don’t you?”

Of course you do, regardless whether your mind agrees with you or not. He’s your nii-san and he knows best.

[thereminzone]

I haven’t made illustrations in a while so in the meantime here’s some oc refs I’ve made!

[ID: two digital references for my characters, one for doc, and one for cyrille. Doc is designed to look like a humanoid leapoard seal. They are middle aged, with some wrinkles and long white hair. In one drawing they wear a labcoat, black collared shirt that is half untucked, an untied tie, grey pants, dark blue socks, and brown dress shoes. In the other, they wear a dark grey incomplete hazmat suit with the hood pulled down, white boots, and a face mask that has a piece that covers their neck. In both drawings they have one hand in their pocket and the other extended, showing it to be slightly distorted and bright white. A tect box is between the drawings that says: Doc, they/them, about 60. Design notes: hands are “warped” from long term magic use: slightly distorted and lack color. This efffect is spreading up their arms. Long hair, this is kept back in a loose braid. Designed after leapoard seals and silver tip sharks. Normal attire: feel free to draw their labcoat stained and such. Magic hazard gear: gear designed as PPE for dealing with magic (think like a hazmat suit or similar) that doc wears mostly incorrectly. Mask is comprised of two parts: a solid acrylic covering that shields their lower face, and a plastic sheet to protect their neck. Labcoat still worn over the gear, it’s the same labcoat. — the second image is cyrille’s reference: she is a slightly anthropomorphized secreatary bird, wearing a plague doctor mask designed to look like the beak and face pattern of a secretary bird, as well as a dark grey long coat with belts on it and an extra piece that covers her shoulders. She is very tall and thin. In one drawing she is facing directly forward with hands tucked behind her back. In another she is drawn from the waist up, facing the side and making an “aha!” gesture, with the feathers on the back of her head standing up. Text says: Cyrille, 55, she/her. Wears gloves and a mask at all times, very “holier than thou” energy, always very controlled and in perfect order. Text boxes in the middle of the image read “Keeps arms folded behind her back most of the time” and “feathers can move, use them to push more extreme emotion, since her face is covered. Otherwise, they lay flat.” End ID]

[cerastes]

I want to talk about W’s alt outfit, because Hypergryph broke into my house and replaced all the chemicals in which my brain floats and thrives with W Thoughts.

In general, alt outfits are flashier, distinct, sometimes festive, sometimes casual, always striking. A joke among fans of the game is calling Hypergryph a music company instead of a game company due to the various collaborations with established artists from outside the usual faces of the game industry for music for the game, and likewise, another joke is calling Hypergryph a fashion agency due to the grounded, stylish approach it takes regarding skins/alt outfits: The majority of them are outfits you could perfectly wear without anyone noticing it’s cosplay or game merch, stylish outfits that aren’t gaudy or “video gamey”. Even by this metric of realistic style, they are still striking outfits that bring something from the character, that draw something out pertaining to the characters and makes these aspects manifest: Ptilopsis’ autumn ensemble that shows her taste for quiet, leisurely walks alongside one of Mayer’s mechanical dogs, Specter’s winter dress with accompanying scarves and a cello case that pays reference to her artistic hobbies, Ifrit’s unrestrained summer fun outfit where she cooks with gas, a lack of self-preservation, and a lot of love for BBQ, to name of a few.

W marks a distinct visual departure from the usual alt outfits, while remaining thematically consistent: Out-of-uniform, regular life wear. W’s regular outfit consists of red and varying monochrome tones, almost like a Hanafuda card.

One can’t call it gaudy, but it’s showy, at the least, in particular the frilled skirt. Combined with her sardonic, playfully mocking demeanor and fancy manner of speech, it is clear that this ensemble, with its colors, is very “hostile”, “antagonistic” and yet “mischievous”, this last aspect in particular being seeing in her perpetual smile, the unlikely fluttering and frilly skirt, and her playful mockery of practically everyone she speaks of. Black and red are also casino colors, further giving her design an intentionally “dangerously playful” look, further corroborated by the names of her Skills, which all reference toys, games, and game terminology: “King of Hearts” (the card), “Jack in the Box” (the toy), and “D12″ (a move otherwise known as the Queen’s Gambit, one of the oldest openings in chess). All in all, what her design and character scream out is “this person is dangerous, she treats war and death as if they were games, and everyone is just a piece on the board to her”. Even when talking to Skullshatterer about how to kill Doctor, she’s always referring to it as “a fun game we could play”, one you can win instantly “if you take out the king”. They tastefully never make her say something too out there to the point where she sounds like a wacky game-themed villain, instead, they made it subtle but very much present, especially if you’re looking for it.

This is what W has been for us for a year: A velvet antagonist known to trivialize the death battles cause, a mysterious and formidable foe, someone dangerous.

And then.

And then?

This alt outfit. Instead of wearing something more striking, instead of busting out a pose, W is simply wearing a drab t-shirt, fatigues, and boots while peeling a potato by a camp’s pot, listlessly staring out into nothing. The very image of normality. Just a mercenary on her downtime, chipping in on dinner.

This goes against the rule of “something striking, something with style” that alt outfits tend to follow while simultaneously being true to the essence of daily life, of mundanity, of “a look into a casual moment in the Operator’s life” that alt outfits have.

It’s the very essence of W, momentarily shedding away all theatrical grandeur and all pretense. Discarding, for even one hour or two, everything that is going on with her, the role she has to play, the mask she has to wear, the objective she was to reach even if she has to claw her way there, so she can be, for even one second, alone with her thoughts and memories, so she can remember those she wants to remember, think about what she must, and just, for one second, be at ease.

Sarkaz have lived embroiled in civil wars fought between the many fractured factions of Kazdel, a land torn by politics and Oripathy. For someone like W, who was born and has lived all her life in the battlefield, a black t-shirt, drab fatigues and boots are her going-out clothes. The put-together ensemble with the frilly skirt? Those are work clothes. That’s for when she needs to put in the hours. “Stand-by” is equivalent to ‘rest’ for a full-time soldier like her, when ‘all’ she has to do is be attentive to surprise enemy assaults. When she can sit down, look into the sky. and peel a potato.

It’s when W can be the real W.

Even the Sarkaz in the background are telling: With the exception of allied Sarkaz Operators, all the Sarkaz we’ve seen as hostiles have always been in full battle gear: Black masks with no features, large swords, wicked staves, full body armor. They are an intimidating elite enemy that takes a few more shots that usual, and that hits harder than others. Likewise, we see them relaxing, unarmored, unmasked, humane, discussing how many potatoes should go into the stew and how much more lumber they’ll need to keep the flame alit in this particularly cold winter afternoon.

This is normality for the Sarkaz mercenary. This is the Sarkaz mercenary’s daily life outside of the battlefield, at camp, at the closest thing they can call a home, one that moves with them whenever they inevitably have to move away due to discrimination, due to an enemy attack, due to casualties, due to a promising new job, due to anything.

And in that, there’s beauty, the beauty of mundanity, the beauty of a moment to yourself. For some, that’s a leisurely stroll in autumn, for others, it’s being able to play the cello while the winter rain pounds the rooftop, and yet for others, it’s being able to hit the beach with friends and make some delicious BBQ while listening to rock.

For some, it’s the peace that comes with peeling potatoes.

[broadwayprincess98]

As you can probably tell, I’m not a professional cosplayer. I can’t sew and I didn’t exactly want to break the bank on the materials for my costume. But this past Halloween, I knew I wanted to take on the appearance of one of my favorite musical theater characters, Persephone from Hadestown. 

It all started last summer when I went shopping with my female relatives. I immediately fell in love with the jacket because it reminded me of Persephone’s fur coat. From then on, I tried my best to mimic the outfit she wears in act 1 in the Broadway rendition, but I had to take a few creative liberties. 

I couldn’t find an affordable dress that bore a close enough resemblance. So, I opted to go with a shirt and skirt I found at Goodwill. I couldn’t find any boots that looked good with the outfit, so I opted for sandals instead. I actually kind of like my choice of shoes because they have more of an Ancient Greece aesthetic. 

From the images I found, Persephone appears to be wearing a black necklace. However, I chose a gold chain instead because of the lyric in Chant (reprise) “If you wanna hold a woman, Son, hang a chain around her throat made of many karat gold.” I didn’t have a golden band, so I had to make due with my butterfly ring and my mood ring. 

Real quick tangent: The lyrics are most likely emphasizing Persephone’s desire for freedom and how the jewels are weighing her down. However, someone on Pinterest admitted that they didn’t know where they lyrics were from, but they noted that jewelry holds a great significance in history. Since women often weren’t allowed to have their own bank accounts, women often kept a lot of jewels so they could sell it if they needed to get away in a hurry. The reference was likely unintentional, but my personal interpretation is that the double-meaning could emphasize Hades’ inner struggle between what he wants and what he knows if right. 

I guess the reason I admire Persephone so much is because she represents who I wish I was. She’s funny, boisterous, and charismatic. Not to mention she’s got some killer dance moves! Meanwhile, I’m very socially awkward and I can’t dance for my life. But the more I think about it, the more I remember she’s not perfect either. Her character bio states that her wry sense of humor is part of her personality, but also something she uses as a coping mechanism. 

I also remember her verses in “How Long?” That’s the moment that really drew me to her character and made me realize there was more to her than I initially thought. It really shows a softer, gentler side to her personality that we don’t often see throughout the musical. That song shows me that I don’t have to be ashamed of being kind and gentle. 

Sorry for the rambling, I guess I didn’t realize how much I had to get off my chest. Anyway, I hope you like my contribution to @Sephweek for A suitcase full of Summertime.

[recurring-polynya]

[Renji Birthday Content] Renji's tie-dye koi hoodie. Where did it come from and WHY DID IT SPEAK TO HIM. (It speaks to me. In a big way.) What do his friends think about the koi hoodie?? Open to fic, art, meta/HCs, whatever!

Okay, I realize that I was supposed to wait until Renji's birthday, but I cannot, I cannot even wait twenty-four hours, I am going to explode.

Let me back up. So, I knew what you were referring to, but the koi hoodie pic wasn't one I had on hand, so I had to go fistfight Google Images for it. If you've ever tried to find a picture of a Bleach character wearing a very specific outfit on Google images, you will know what a pain this is, and my brain was a little glazed over when I found it:

The koi hoodie is Objectively Good, but my mind was just in such a state that the first thing I noticed was his pants, and as usual, I found myself muttered "Renji what the hell is going on with your goddamn pants?" Why are they brown on the top and teal on the... on the...

No, I said. Surely not. It cannot be. BUT IT IS. The tie dye koi hoodie outfit IS THAT FUCKING OUTFIT FROM OP 4: Tonight Tonight!!!1

LOOK AT IT. It is unquestionably the same outfit! The ombre hood! The black jacket, which is…a blazer, apparently! Same bandana! The pants are drawn a little simpler and the wallet chain is missing, but it's clearly the same idea! I had thought from the visible hem of the hoodie that it was maybe paisley print, but it's definitely just the bottom of this elaborate fish graphic.

In fact, it's very hard to tell because all of these shots combined take up less than 3 seconds, but Byakuya and Toushirou are also wearing their outfits from the above pic (mortician suit with kenseikan for some reason, and suit with pink dip-dyed scarf, respectively)

Back to Renji's outfit! Long-time Polynya readers will know that I have spent TWO YEARS shouting about this outfit. I used a frame-by-frame viewer because I couldn't tell if those were fur-fringed thigh boots, or bootie shorts with tights (I was pretty disappointed when they turned out to be cargo pants, and I habitually refer to them as "my old nemesis, Renji's cargo pants from OP4"). I did, in fact, draw this once. I think I once declared that if I could ask Kubo a single question, it would be "what does Renji's outfit from OP 4 look like from the front?" Not only do I know now, but it's actually even better than I expected.

Chester Whipplefilter, my beloved, I cannot believe we were independently obsessed with two of Renji's outfits that turned out to be the same outfit. You were probably already my favorite new person I met on the internet in 2021, but I hereby proclaim us Two Halves of One Whole Idiot.

Anyway, I promise you I will draw him in this outfit again, although it may take awhile because I want to do a really good job on it and also that fish looks really hard to draw. I have a feeling this hoodie is probably gonna find its way into one of my fanfics too, this always happens.

In the meantime, here is my koi hoodie provenance headcanon:

Obviously, this has to take place during the Bount Arc, because OP4 (Bount Arc haters can move this to the Advance Team Arc if you must). Rukia found it for sale while they were in the Living World. She wanted to get it for her captain, because koi, Renji, koi!, and she made Renji try it on for her, because Renji and Ukitake are built very similarly. (I am not making this up! Ukitake is 1cm shorter than Renji and Renji is a few kg beefier, but they're pretty close). It turned out to be extremely soft and comfy and it gets cold in the World of the Living in the fall and to make a long story short, Renji and Ukitake have matching tie dye fishie hoodies because Rukia loves them both (and has access to Byakuya's credit card, routed through Urahara's currency exchange).

[felassan]

Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 annotations & additional pages/art compilation

Dragon Age Library Edition Volume 1 is a hardcover collection of some pre-existing Dragon Age comics that was released in 2014. It comprises of all issues of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. In places, it includes additional annotations/commentaries by the illustrators and authors, as well as a few additional pages with additional art. iirc these additional annotations and pages/art aren’t featured or available anywhere else (in the franchise I mean; other people have probably put them online at some point I’m sure).

From what I can see at least, Library Edition Volume 1 is no longer in print, and as such listings for it on resale sites etc are.. price-inflated & prohibitively expensive (~£100+, which I’m sure we can all agree is just not reasonable or accessible to most people). Due to this, I’ve compiled the additional annotations and pages here in this post. Thank you and credit to @artevalentinapaz, who kindly shared the material with me. This post has been made with their permission. The rest of this post is under a cut due to length.

These commentaries are in the context of The Silent Grove, Those Who Speak and Until We Sleep. If you notice any errors or annotations missing, or need anything clarified, just let me know. I think the annotations are in chronological order. In places I elaborated in square brackets to help explain which part of the comics an annotation is referring to. A note before you proceed further: some of the topics referenced in the annotations/additional pages are heavy or uncomfortable. The quotes here are word-for-word transcriptions of dev/creator commentaries, not my personal opinions or phrasings.

(Also, I do recommend always supporting comic creators by purchasing their comics legitimately. I own each issue of these comics having bought other editions of them all legitimately. The reason I put this post together is because this specific Library Edition volume has been discontinued and the consequently-inflated cost is so high, rendering the additional material inaccessible to most.)

-----

The Silent Grove annotations

Illustrator Chad Hardin: “I used to be an environmental artist for video games, so I built a 3-D model of Antiva City using the program Silo. Many of the buildings are simple cubes, but a few are more detailed. Overall, I spent the better part of a day building it, but I used it again and again throughout The Silent Grove to maintain continuity in the backgrounds.”

Script Writer Alexander Freed: “Even working with David Gaider, it took me several drafts to find Alistair’s voice. His narrative had to convey his humor and self-doubt from Dragon Age: Origins while suggesting a newfound weariness earned during his years on the throne. For readers familiar with the character, he needed to seem like a changed Alistair - but Alistair nonetheless.”

Chad Hardin: “If you read a lot of comics, you might wonder why the majority of the heroes wear skin-tight suits. Well, I can tell you: they are easy and quick to draw. In video games, you build the model once and then animate it, so details don’t slow you down. In comics, everything has to be rendered by hand. Varric and Alistair’s outfits were quite detailed. It took me a long time to get used to them, and even longer to memorize the designs until drawing them was second nature - Varric’s knee armor in particular! Oy vey!”

David Gaider: “One of my favorite scenes in the entire series [when Varric and Isabela are disarming traps and picking locks together while Alistair looks on]. Isabela and Varric, doing what rogues do. I had a suggestion for how to put it together, but Alex managed to make it fit and did a great job with it.”

Chad Hardin: “I never used to keep any of the artwork I created for comics. I would just hand the pages over to my agent to sell. This page [when Alistair, Varric and Isabela are in a tavern together, with hookah in the foreground] I kept for myself. I love the hookah-smoking elves in the second panel and Isabela’s face in the last panel. I rendered the first four chapters of The Silent Grove in grayscale using ink washes, gouache and Copie markers.”

David Gaider: “For a little while, Varric [in these comic stories] was supposed to be Zevran from Dragon Age: Origins, which would have made sense, Zevran being Antivan and all. I know that some fans would have loved to see him, but the dynamics of the group just didn’t work as well. Then a planned cameo later had to be cut for space. Ah well, Zev, another time.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela at her most dangerous [climbing up the side of the cliff]. This scene - featuring a scantily clad, dripping-wet woman who tends to flaunt her sexuality - could easily have come across as exploitative, but Chad did a lovely drop portraying Isabela as purely focused and deadly.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela rising out of the water and scaling the cliff with the knife in her mouth is one of my favorite parts of The Silent Grove. It is one of those moments where the writing really inspired the art. Hats off to Alex and David. This is another page I kept for myself.”

Colorist Michael Atiyeh: “This is one of my favorite Dragon Age pages. Chad is such an amazing artist; I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love that this page [when a guard spots Varric and shouts ‘Intruder!’] made it in uncensored. So many times in comics, I draw something and some stuffy lawyers come out of the woodwork and tell me to tone it down. Dark Horse and BioWare always let me have fun, and this turned out to be one of my favorite pages with Varric and Bianca. Any guesses to which word he is mouthing in the second panel?”

Alexander Freed: “Note the simple decency of Alistair as he gives his cloak, without comment, to Isabela. For all his flaws, he’s genuinely kind at heart - a rare enough trait in Isabela’s world that I think it’s much of what she values in him.”

Chad Hardin: “I love the opening panel to this chapter [the opening panels to Chapter 3, when the team are on a ship at sea]. It’s the image I use on the homepage of my website. This page was a gift to my cousin Wendy, who loves pirates. Seascapes with sailing ships might be clichéd in fine art, but for me it was a first.”

David Gaider: “I wanted to have this story center on the group travelling to a Witch of the Wilds other than Flemeth, and originally I had set it somewhere else - until I remembered a Codex entry from Dragon: Age Origins that offhandedly mentioned a witch in the Tellari Swamps. Brilliant! It’d look like I planned it all along. I didn’t.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love opportunities where I can show a change in the time of day as you move from panel to panel [when the ship heads towards and the team arrive in the Tellari Swamps]. I feel the palette of each panel is very distinct and beautiful.”

Alexander Freed: “Why did Alistair choose two people he barely knows to be his companions on this quest? We never make this explicit, but of course Varric is on the right track. Alistair wants to surround himself with people who don’t know him and won’t judge him, yet it’s Alistair’s idealism that Isabela and Varric work to preserve.”

Chad Hardin: “Another page where the writing inspired the art [when the group suddenly encounter a dragon]. I love the dragon bursting onto the scene and Isabela’s stare. Some writers will try to cram six or seven panels on a page like this and the pacing just doesn’t allow the artist to give each moment the right punch. Can you imagine if the first panel was crammed into a single square inch?”

Chad Hardin: “Yavana was one of the only characters that we did no preliminary sketches for. I don’t know how that happened, but thankfully it worked out.”

David Gaider: “I love how Yavana looks like a cross between Flemeth and Morrigan. Flemmigan? She’s totally Chad’s design, and it’s great. Typical for these witches, she never says things straight. In my mind, this Alistair is the one who did the Dark Ritual in Dragon Age: Origins - and I was half-tempted to have him lose his cool in this first scene [opening panels of Chapter 4] with her. Too early, though.”

Alexander Freed: “Through this whole sequence [the page when Varric aims Bianca at Yavana], Yavana is dropping cryptic hints and Alistair is refusing to play along. He’s met Flemeth and Morrigan - he knows Yavana won’t give him a straight answer, and he won’t give her the satisfaction of asking needlessly.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Sometimes it’s the little things on a page that spark my interest. Here [when the team navigate vines and mud to get to the temple], the sunset panel came out great and the mud looks really thick and gooey. It’s fun to focus on these details and make them stand out.”

Chad Hardin: “I hated drawing this scene [when Isabela gets kicked] where Isabela gets the boot to the face. Call me old fashioned, but I was raised to believe that only a coward would ever hit a woman (even a battle-hardened pirate adventurer). I draw at home, and my girls often watch me work in my studio. This was a page I didn’t want them watching me draw. I do like, though, that Isabela gets up, yanks the arrow out, and then soldiers on (and later extracts brutal revenge).”

Michael Atiyeh: “Poor Isabela. It seems I gave her more bruises and black eyes than any of the other characters. [when Isabela is yanking the arrow out]”

Chad Hardin: “It’s always interesting to go back and look at artwork because it reminds me of what was going on in my life at the time. I inked this page [opening panels of Chapter 5] at a ‘draw night’ session at an anime convention in St. George, Utah. I was one of the special guests, but I missed the first day because I was at my grandfather’s funeral in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seeing this page brought back those memories.”

David Gaider: “‘Bianca says hello.’ [quoting the panels being referenced] I adore Varric. I was tempted to have him narrate the entire series [in reference to these three comics], but then again I liked the idea of having each series center on one of the trio’s viewpoints. This book belongs to Alistair, but that doesn’t stop Varric from getting all the best lines.”

Alexander Freed: “Claudio, of course, is not a terribly sympathetic figure. But I wanted to emphasize that he takes this fight as personally as Isabela - he sincerely loved Luis and blames Isabela for the man’s death. I think it’s important to give every character, even the most loathsome, some dignity. [when Isabela and Claudio are fighting]”

Chad Hardin: “Payback! Here is where Isabela extracts her revenge on Claudio [when Isabela stabs Claudio]. I never enjoyed killing off a character so much. I particularly enjoyed putting the look of shock in his eyes. He had it coming. There is something satisfying about killing a ‘made man’.”

Chad Hardin: “Every now and then when drawing comics, I wish I could animate some panels and watch them as a cartoon. It would be great to see this sequence [when Yavana catches Claudio’s soul] in full motion as Yavana snatches Claudio’s soul, makes it reenter his corpse and then extracts information from him until he bursts into flame. It was a very Hellboy-ish moment. I enjoyed the movie that played in my mind while drawing this scene. Hope everyone liked the result.”

Chad Hardin: “As I mentioned on page 17, I rendered the first four chapters in grayscale, which made the black-and-white art look great, but had a neutralizing effect when it came to colors. By the time I drew chapter 4, I had seen the effect it was having and decided to stop using the grayscale so the colors would pop. When I saw this page [when Alistair says to Yavana ‘And we helped you find it’] in print, it confirmed to me that I made the right decision. I honestly feel this art was the best of The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I practically painted these pages [when Yavana says ‘It is permitted. Tonight and only tonight’] in thumbnails hoping it would help me choose how to render them in ink. It is so hard trying to figure out how to get a full range of value out of just black and white. There are some artists and inkers that make this look easy. Mark Schultz comes to mind. Michael saved my bacon. Colorists really do so much work when it comes to rendering; this page came out awesome because of him.”

David Gaider: “Here we reveal the existence of Great Dragons (as opposed to High Dragons), and also that Yavana was the source of the return of dragons to Thedas after their departure for so many centuries. But why? There’s the rub, and not even Alistair can trust that she’s telling him the truth.”

David Gaider: “Here’s the controversial scene [Alistair killing Yavana]. I think some fans don’t like that Alistair did this, and have said they consider it out of character. I don’t. From his perspective, Flemeth and her daughters have been toying with the world for reasons that can’t be trusted. They dragged Maric away from his family, from him. One might think his judgement foolish, but considering what Alistair was capable of deciding even back in Dragon Age: Origins, it’s certainly not out of character.”

Chad Hardin: “[same scene as above] This was a controversial page, and there were a lot of people who thought it was out of character for Alistair to kill Yavana (I didn’t see it coming - I mean, you just don’t kill a Witch of the Wild), but here is the thing: this page is Alistair acting as a king. Yavana has been manipulating him, trying to play him like a pawn, and he just can’t allow that. There’s too much at stake, for himself and for his subjects.”

Alexander Freed: “The end? An end, at least [the trio walking off into the distance]. The series needed a note of closure while leading into Those Who Speak (which wouldn’t arrive until many months later). David tweaked the ending in the outline several times, and I did my best to balance resolving Alistair’s emotional journey without resolving the quest. It’s not as clean as I’d have liked, but fortunately, now it’s all in one volume...”

Those Who Speak annotations

Alexander Freed: “Capturing Isabela’s narrative voice was much easier for me than capturing Alistair’s - partly because I’d already written The Silent Grove, and partly because of my own writing proclivities. Rereading now, I wonder if I laid on the (mild) profanity a bit too thick. I’ll leave you to judge.”

David Gaider: “I like the additional detail Alex and Chad put in, letting us see more of Qarinus and more of Isabela’s crew. Alex wanted to give her crew more of a presence, and let her first mate have some face time, so they weren’t just parts of the scenery. Good call on his part.”

David Gaider: “I’m really fond of the formal getups Chad made for the party. Isabela’s actually comes from a concept we didn’t use from the cancelled Dragon Age 2 expansion, if I remember right. And Maevaris came from me asking for ‘someone who looks like Mae West’ - with the wonderful outfit all Chad’s doing.

Chad Hardin: “Maevaris. I love Mae. When David and Dragon Age art director Matthew Goldman spoke to me about designing Mae, they wanted her to be fully female with the exception of her biology. They told me to think ‘Mae West’. Well, when I think of Mae West, I think of her... womanly shape. So, drawing Maevaris was always walking a fine line between portraying Mae’s identity and her biology. The process endeared her to me.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Just like in The Silent Grove, we are introduced to another gentleman from Isabela’s past [when the team meet Lord Devon and Isabela threatens him]. As was the case with Claudio, he will meet his fate at her hands.”

Chad Hardin: “When I was drawing Titus, my kids asked me why I was drawing ‘angry Jesus’ or ‘evil Jesus’. I can’t remember which term they used exactly, but it made me chuckle. I was going for a mix of Rapustin and Joe Stalin, but ‘evil Jesus’ would do.”

David Gaider: “I’m not sure it’s apparent here [when Alistair says ‘I’d really rather not’], but Alistair was supposed to be using one of his Templar powers on Titus (that’s why Titus recognizes what he is on the next page) and disrupting his magic.”

Alexander Freed: “Isabela is witty and charming enough that it can be easy to forget that she’s not, in fact, a nice person. Even after finishing the outline, David was concerned about making her too unsympathetic - but I loved his approach in this series. The dark deeds Isabela commits - this murder included [Isabela killing Lord Devon] - are what make her guilt tangible and no easy matter to overcome.”

Alexander Freed: “I thought the notions of Isabela’s pride in her captaincy and dedication to her crew were some of the most interesting aspects of her character in David’s story. In scenes here [when Isabela is on her ship saying ‘Keep them focused and keep them sober’] and elsewhere, I did my best to emphasize their place at the core of Isabela’s world.”

Chad Hardin: “Most of the time I draw from imagination, but because of the complexity of this page [Qunari trying to board Isabela’s ship] I decided it would work better if I had photo reference. On this page are my nephews Jared (Varric) and Adam, my niece Melissa, my kids Erica, Tasey Michaela (Isabela) and Chad (Alistair), my friend’s daughter Amy, my wife Joy, and the neighborhood kids as Isabela’s pirate crew. (The crew member mooning the Qunari is out of my ol’ noodle.) I paid their modelling fee in pizza and root beer. Also, I had originally drawn cannons on Isabela’s ship, so if there are parts of it that look slightly wonky, chances are there was a cannon there.”

David Gaider: “Ever since the BioWare artists finally did a concept for female Qunari, I’ve been itching to include one in the game. It’s always slipped through my fingers, so I was going to be damned if I’d have a Qunari plot in a comic - without the same technical limitations - and not have one present.

Chad Hardin: “I had no idea this was the first time anyone outside of BioWare had seen a female Qunari.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I really like the lighting in this sequence [Isabela in her cell thinking ‘I haven’t eaten in days’], especially the strong white light and the characters in shadow.”

David Gaider: “The entire sequence of Rasaan interrogating Isabela was something I plotted out in detail when this series began. Here they discuss names - something treated in a manner peculiar to the Qunari, considering how much importance they apply to what things are called (and not called), because it forms the core of their identity. Isabela brushes it off, but as we find out later it’s also at the core of her identity. I liked that parallel.”

Alexander Freed: “To balance out the relatively static talking pages elsewhere in the issue, I hoped to make the interrogation and flashback sequences beautiful and full of information. I proposed an approach to Chad, and he wisely reshaped it into what you see here [the page with the scene where Isabela says ‘I’ve made a lot of stupid mistakes’]. Anything that succeeds on these pages should be credited to him; anything that fails is my fault.”

Chad Hardin: “Probably the most challenging spread I have ever done. My friend Stacie Pitt was the model for Isabela on this page, and my wife Joy was Rasaan. I saved these pages [around the scene when Rasaan says ‘Mistakes can be corrected’] for myself.”

David Gaider: “Sten from Dragon Age: Origins becoming the new Arishok of the Qunari was something we'd planned even during Dragon Age 2. This was a great opportunity to show that, and also to show that Sten didn’t acquire horns even despite the makeover the Qunari received in DA2. Hornless Qunari are considered special, and Sten is no exception.”

Michael Atiyeh: “I think that David, Alex and Chad handled Isabela’s flashback [to when she was sold by her mother] in an interesting way, and it created a nice flow to the story.”

David Gaider: “This was a controversial scene [what happened to the slaves Isabela was transporting], the end result of a lot of discussions between me and Isabela’s original writer on the team, and it went through a lot of revisions over that time. It needed to fit with the story Isabela told the player in DA2, but fill in the blanks of what she didn’t tell. We didn’t want Isabela to be someone who became who she is because she was ‘broken’ but instead as a result of her own actions - yet also not be completely beyond redemption.”

Chad Hardin: “These were hard pages [as above] to draw. It was difficult knowing that events such as this are part of human history, such as the Zong massacre in 1781, where the British courts ordered the insurers to reimburse the crew of the Zong for financial losses caused by throwing slaves overboard when faced with a lack of water. Horrifying beyond words.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Here, Isabela visits here crew, and I wanted to play up that she was in the light and they were in a dark cell. The light streaming through the bars gave me the opportunity to highlight Brand, who also had dialogue in the scene.”

Alexander Freed: “I struggled to find a way for Varric to contribute to victory without distracting from Alistair and Sten’s big fight. I’m happy with the solution: a brazen lie seemed appropriate to the character without taking away from the main show.”

David Gaider: “I believe my original plan had Isabela’s and Alistair’s fight scenes happening separately, but I like how Alex intertwined them in the script and I especially like how this ends up highlighting the differences between their characters when their fights are resolved. Isabela is defiant, revealing her name not because Rasaan demands it but because it’s her choice. In both cases, mercy is strength.”

Michael Atiyeh: “The brush I created for the clouds really gave them a nice watercolor effect here [on the deck of the ship, Sten calling Alistair ‘kadan’]. That brush has become a staple in my toolbox.”

Alexander Freed: “With the strong theme of names running through these issues, I liked the notion that Isabela had outgrown being, well, ‘Isabela’. When her name comes up in Until We Sleep, it’s largely played with ambiguity.”

Until We Sleep annotations

Alexander Freed: “The story of ‘Arthur’ is one of my favorite minor sequences [Varric infiltrating and fighting his way into the fortress]. It tells us something about Varric and it delivers plot information - and it’s also a reminder that our heroes kill an awful lot of people during these series and cope with it in their own ways. In general, writing Varric let me skirt the edge of metacommentary, which I greatly enjoyed.”

David Gaider: “Varric, as always, is my ‘voice of the narrator’. Here he’s expressing some of my own amusement at Alistair’s growing list of peculiarities [‘Your majesty is quite the special snowflake’]. To think, back at the beginning of Dragon Age: Origins he was just the player’s goofy sidekick who grew up in a barn.”

Michael Atiyeh: “By the third series, Until We Sleep, I really started to have a complete feel for what I wanted the final art to look like. As an artist, it’s important to continue to evolve and grow. The close-up of Sten’s face [same page as above] is a perfect example of how I wanted the rendering on the characters to look.”

Alexander Freed: “David’s outline called for a short, somber reveal of the Calenhad story by Sten. Fueled by my desire to avoid ‘talking heads’ sequences, I scripted it as a full-on storytelling flashback. David made sure the history worked (at least from the Qunari point of view), and Chad did a beautiful job handling it in a mere two pages.”

David Gaider: “Blood is important in Dragon Age, as a theme. Here we tie in the dragon blood that was mentioned all the way back in The Silent Grove and explain what it means at last. I was a bit hesitant to tarnish the legend of Calenhad the Great in this way, but I comfort myself with the knowledge this tale is but a viewpoint and not necessarily the entire truth.”

Michael Atiyeh: “Titus melting the attacker is a great example of classic comicbook storytelling and exactly what made me fall in love with the medium.”

David Gaider: “I was really happy with how Chad handled the reveal of Mae as transgender [the scene with Mae in the cell]. My worry was that Varric finding her disrobed might be potentially titillating, but I think he handled it nicely. I only wish there was more time to have Mae properly respond to being exposed in this manner, even to a friend.”

Chad Hardin: “I originally drew Mae as female [same scene as above], then changed her anatomy, so the psychological violation and humiliation she felt would be the focus. Hope that came across.”

Chad Hardin: “When in doubt, have Bianca shoot it [Varric shooting the artifact].”

David Gaider: “This scene [Varric and Bianca the dwarf] with Varric was one I wanted to do for a very long time. We’ve hinted that Varric’s crossbow was named after a real person, someone he never wants to talk about. Now I finally had the chance to show why.”

Chad Hardin: “Of all my Dragon Age pages, this scene was hands down my favorite, because Varric is my favorite. It was awesome to get to draw Bianca in her dwarven form. These scenes give you a glimpse of the love Varric and Bianca shared. It doesn’t tell you the whole story, but you can assume plenty from what is shown. You get to see Varric mostly naked (you’re welcome), but most of all you witness Varric’s heartbreak. I felt privileged to draw it. I got so obsessed with drawing this page I did an entire watercolor painting based on the last panel [Varric gets up to leave, ‘This isn’t right’ - ? or perhaps the scene where he opens the door to leave].”

Alexander Freed: “Unreliable narrators are always tricky - done wrong, they can just confuse the reader. But I’m fairly happy with Varric’s lies throughout this series, most of which are used to downplay the emotional cost of events rather than whitewash the events themselves.”

Michael Atiyeh: “This palette worked perfectly [Varric standing in front of the doorway/portal in the Fade proper], but I can’t take all the credit because BioWare provided reference for the Fade. I added the hot orange energy for the doorway, which looks great with the sickly green sky.”

David Gaider: “This scene [Isabela’s Fade nightmare] was actually inspired by a fan named Allegra who did a cosplay as a Qunari version of Isabela. I knew I wanted something like this for Isabela’s Fade section of the comic, but it didn’t really solidify until I saw the cosplay.”

Chad Hardin: “Isabela is more affected by her encounter with Rasaan than we were led to believe. A portent of things to come?”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love this shot of Mae in the fourth panel [on the page where Isabela is affected by vines]. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a great character she is in the series, and Chad captures her beautifully in this shot.”

Alexander Freed: “I saw this issue as a sort of downbeat victory lap. Over the course of the previous series, our protagonists largely came to terms with the inner demons the Fade confronts them with here. The fact they’ve come so far lets them win this last battle... but they still have scars that will never completely disappear.”

David Gaider: “Maric was in the first two novels I wrote for Dragon Age. Seeing Chad’s rendering of him as a regal, grown-up version of Alistair made me incredibly nostalgic. Some characters you just never let go of.”

Alexander Freed: “I feel Varric’s lines (‘tell yourself the stories you need to tell’ but ‘never live your own lies’) are the natural endpoint of all the exchanges he’s had with Alistair, starting from the end of Chapter 1 of The Silent Grove. And of course it plays off the story of ‘Arthur’, as well.’’

Chad Hardin: “I’m happy with the way Titus came off in these pages [Titus attacking and saying ‘The last magisters of Tevinter were so close’]. He looks threatening and powerful when fighting Alistair, Isabela and Varric, but genuinely confused by his inability to defeat Maric. Bye-bye, evil Jesus.”

Alexander Freed: “I can’t help but feel for Titus. He was unthinkably corrupt, but I see him as genuinely motivated by Tevinter’s glory. (The fact Alistair reads zealous ideology as a lust for power says a lot about both characters.)”

Michael Atiyeh: “I love the seamless transition of color from Titus’ magic to the dragon breath and then back into the orange remnants of his magic in the smoke. This was a really fun panel to color [Titus saying ‘Die by what wrought you’].”

David Gaider: “‘You are not the dreamer here. I am.’ I always have a scene or a line that’s in my head when I begin a tale, and this line of Maric’s was one I wanted all the way back when I started working on The Silent Grove.”

Chad Hardin: “I love this page [Maric and Alistair clasping hands]; Mike’s colors are spot on. We get to see all our heroes in an ideal state for the last time. This is the last Dragon Age page I saved for myself.”

David Gaider: “This scene kills me [Alistair destroying the Magrallen]. I knew it needed to happen; I knew I wanted it to happen even back when I began the story. Alistair lets Maric remain in the Fade rather than dragging him back to a world which has moved on. Alistair’s ready to move on, but forcing him to give up that hope... it makes me feel like a bad person.”

Chad Hardin: “Heartbreak for Alistair as he realizes that once again, as a king, he must kill: this time, his own father (granted, the Magrallen did most of the work). I really like how Maric crumbles away in the end. This was my last page, and the emotions on the page and in my studio were very final. Altogether, this was a year of my life in the making. On my last page, I wrote a thank you to everyone involved, the crew at Dark Horse and the crew at BioWare. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them again. It was a thrill. Finally, a huge thank-you to the Dragon Age fan community, whose support was overwhelmingly awesome.”

Michael Atiyeh: “As the story came to an end, I knew I was going to miss these characters. Writing these annotations reinforces the fact that I hope to work with this great creative team again one day. Many thanks to Dark Horse and BioWare for the opportunity to work on Dragon Age.”

Alexander Freed: “The tension between the art and the narration on this page [the one with Alistair sitting on his throne while nobles argue] is something you can only pull off in comics. Neither tells the full, bittersweet story alone. Similarly, these issues wouldn’t have been possible without everyone on the team; thanks to David, Chad, Michael, and everyone I lack space to list!”

Additional pages / art

Library Edition Volume 1 also came with some additional pages, with additional art and commentary. These are as follows (I’m including them for the sake of completion, click the links to see):

1. Alistair and dragon concepts

2. Rasaan and Maevaris concepts

3. Sten, Titus and Yavana concepts

4. A series of cover pages 1

5. A series of cover pages 2

In case anyone has trouble reading the notes that accompany these images, I’ve transcribed them below:

1. Dragon Age Sketch Book

Alistair Concept 

Dragon Age / Dark Horse

Chad Hardin: “The headshot of Alistair is from a finished sketch with a rejected armor design. In order to save time, the redrawing was completed on the computer, where tweaks and changes are quick and easy, if somewhat less glorious.”

[Dragon] Head #1 / Head #2

Chad Hardin: “Everyone liked this dragon sketch so much that Dark Horse printed it for signings at conventions. You can see I did multiple proposals for the dragon’s head. It was more effective than drawing the body over and over.”

-

2. [arrow pointing to Mae’s sleeve] concealed [I think that’s what it says anyway] daggers / shurikens?

Chad Hardin: “When designing Rasaan and Maevaris, I wasn’t exactly sure how their roles would play out in the series. Maevaris’ outfit was inspired by brothel madams of the Wild West. I thought it would be cool to have some weapons concealed in the formal wear. These never came into play in the series, but they were there in my mind.”

-

3. Chad Hardin: “Although we only see Titus in his battle garb in one issue, I really liked the design of his armor. The sketch of Yavana was done on the fly and served as both a rough preliminary sketch and as a panel layout. You have to work hard and smart in comics to keep up with the deadlines.”

-

4. Cover Artist Anthony Palumbo: “This was my first assignment for Dark Horse, and I was both excited and nervous. I drew pencil sketches of the main characters, scanned them and played with different arrangements, poses and color schemes in Photoshop.”

-

5. Anthony Palumbo: “Fellow illustrator Winona Nelson helped me by sitting for photo reference. I created the mock-jewelry with gold-painted Sculpey. That’s a quick photo of my own gaping maw, to help with the image of Varric.”

[thehouseofgrey]

what do you think about magnus in neons??? *eyes emoji*

Funny you should mention 👀

As a teenager I wasn’t allowed to be like,,, emo. Like our parents just wouldn’t let us wear all black. Probably an attempt to keep our mental health from tanking but 🙃🙃🙃. Point being, since I couldn’t wear black, I went the opposite direction. I wore exclusively neons from ages 11-15. It got me bullied a lot. But I don’t care cuz I loved it then and I intend to bring it back into my wardrobe now at first opportunity. All that said,,,

MAGNUS IN NEONS IS SO FUCKING GALAXY BRAIN YOU DONT EVEN UNDERSTAND

Okay okay organizing thoughts. The first thing y’all should know is that we’ve already seen Magnus in a neon. Electric blue is a neon. This is electric blue for reference:

[ Image ID: just the color electric blue]

I’ll put a note here that pure red is also technically a neon but it’s a neon I hate with a burning passion so we will not be acknowledging her further. Magnus rocks red so really it’s rather unfortunate that neon red sucks so fucking much

But there is, I would argue, a much better much sexier sister color to red that looks lovely in neon and would look so good on Magnus I’m getting lightheaded just thinking about it. NEON PINK! Neon pink, I would argue, is the god of all neons. Even if you hate neon green, blue, orange, yellow, purple... I’ve never met someone who hates neon pink. (If you do, no you don’t ❤️ /j) Magnus in pink lipstick or eyeshadow

[Image ID One: a close up of shiny neon pink lipstick on tan white skin

Image ID Two: a close up of a matte neon pink eyeshadow with black eyeliner and false lashes on a heavily airbrushed white woman

End ID]

Like the pink eye shadow with a black dress, pink fishnets AND a pink leather jacket. God sign me the fuck up. Magnus in a bright pink pencil skirt. Good shit. Chefs kiss. Mwah. Pink heels pink heels pink heels. Especially like a pump. Or like a chunky heeled boot. God I’m getting carried away. Okay okay okay.

Right.

Let’s also talk about a underrated babe: neon purple

[Image ID Left: a very skinny white woman with a handful of small tattoos on her arms. She’s wearing a short tight dress that’s purple with blue and green glitter.

Image ID Right: a mannequin in a knee length, holographic purple A line skirt.

End ID]

We never got to see Magnus in purple of any kind which feels like a crime. But neon purple would present such an opportunity for him to play with glitter and shimmery silvers. Neon purple was made for holo silver. You can’t change my mind. I’m right. And neon purple and holo silver were made for Magnus Bane.

Right okay my next points require addressing a bit of an elephant in the room. I love hsj with my whole chest and he makes a magnificent Magnus. But, Magnus would be dark skinned. He’s Indonesian. And there are just some colors, especially bright colors like neons, which look better on darker skin. None of this is up for debate.

That said, Magnus would also rock the fuck out of neon yellow orange or green. Like there’s no color this man couldn’t own. Dark skinned people are out here in real life inventing color all the time. Magnus has had hundreds of years and all the money to perfect this. And neons lend themselves so well to mixing colors and patterns in ways that regular colors, I’m sorry to say, just don’t.

[Image ID: a Japanese teen girl standing in a brightly lit parking lot. She has her hair in two braids which she’s holding, one in each hand. She’s wearing a neon pink baret and a neon pink button up shirt with big red, yellow, green, purple and black flowers. it’s tucked into a bright yellow and white checkered skirt held with a medium sized black and gold belt. She also has on pink socks and pink platform sandals. End ID]

This is what I mean by pattern and color mixing by the way. (And Magnus in a miniskirt? Inspired. Effervescent.) Fashion, makeup, jewelry, and generally self decoration is one of the most fundamental ways humans have always expressed themselves. Magnus knows himself. Knows what fits him. Knows his colors and patterns. I’m sure he could come up with combinations I can’t even dream of. And neons provide an excellent medium for it.

Magnus could inspire even more gender envy in neons tbh. He’s not androgynous in the way of like man plus woman or woman plus man. He’s androgynous in the way of like where you’d never doubt what gender he is even though he’s made gender his bitch, y’know? He’s fully feminine, fully masculine, and fully androgynous all at the same time. Idk what this paragraph is for actually now that I’m at the end of it.

Basically, Magnus is a bit of a peacock. He’s hot, he knows it, he flaunts it. The neon aesthetic just suits the mould of what we already know him to be. Neons is the next evolution of the glitter and matte orange or blue eyeliner.

Don’t let me get started on this shit or we’ll be here all day

[Image ID One: a close up of black and white checkered lipstick. The mouth is hung slightly open so you can see the front teeth.

Image ID Two: a picture of acrylic nails. Some of the nails are painted black with rainbow roses. Some are black with abstract rainbow ribbons. Some are painted rainbow tie dye with black drip lines coming down from the cuticle. The rest are clear acrylic with rainbow splatter lines.

End ID]

Neon Magnus Supremacy.

That is all.

[moonknightly]

blood red, baby : fo! poe dameron x reader (one)

Word Count: 2k

Excerpt: “There was something about him that made you want to give into your darker desires, and not only did you give in, but you indulged.”

Warnings: Blood, slight blood kink, slight pain kink, sexual references but no smut, a lil violence. Swearing. 

You hear him before you see him.

Hear his low, clearly amused chuckle. Hear his boots slap the ground beneath his feet, the timing between each step consistent, rhythmic.

Feel his hands grip your hips from behind and pull you back into his for just a second or two before he spins you around, and you’re caught so off guard you don’t even see his face when he starts to guide you backwards. Can only keep your gaze set on the collar of his stiff black uniform, on the little First Order pin he wears.

He doesn’t like that. He puts a finger under your chin while he continues to walk you backwards, doesn’t even try to tilt your head, and you hate that you look up at just that simple touch, how your eyes are instantly drawn to his. He smirks, and you’re not sure if it’s because he loves the power that he holds over you or if it’s because the submissive gleam in your eyes tightens his pants.

Probably both.

The brick is cold when your back hits it. Cold and scratchy and you lay your palms flat against it as he steps closer, effectively caging you in between his arms. He’s so close, his chest slides against yours with each inhale and exhale, and his eyes stay locked with yours, unwavering and holding a certain intensity that you can’t quite place.

“We really need to stop meeting like this, darling.”

Poe’s breath is warm when it hits your cheek, and you know your first instinct should be to push him away but it’s not. If anything you want to pull him closer, let the familiar smell of his cologne wrap around your body alongside his hands. You want to give into the insistent tugging in the pit of your stomach, the invisible rope that seems to almost tie you to him, pull you back to each other when you drift too far.

Does he feel it too? That pull?

You doubt it. Your run ins with one another is probably nothing more than a game to him.

So you decide to go with your second instinct, the one that’s telling you to push him away, but he’s already a step ahead of you, like he always fucking is, and he pins your wrists above your head before you can even think about bringing your arms up to shove at his chest.

Your third instinct. Talk back.

“Why? You like an audience?”

He laughs, forcing air out of his nose, and when he looks down you use the opportunity to swallow the lump in your throat, but you don’t get much of a reprieve before his dark eyes settle back on yours.

“I think you can answer that question for yourself. It hasn’t been that long since our last time together, don’t you remember?”

He keeps yours wrists pinned with one of his hands and brings the other to your hip again. His touch is gentle, and it sends a shiver down your spine. You’d missed his touch.

But he doesn’t need to know that. “I try not to.”

“Oh come on.” He moves that hand down to your ass, and you don’t flinch when he squeezes, when his nails dig into your skin. “Am I really that awful to you, sweetheart?”

“You held me captive for weeks. Three times now.”

“I’ve never hurt you, though. Everything I’ve done to you, you’ve wanted. You’ve asked for it, begged for it even.”

He smirks, and you’re sure he’s remembering you down on your knees.

You narrow your eyes, opening your mouth to bite back but you stop yourself last second, because he isn’t lying. He isn’t trying to manipulate you or gaslight you. There was something about him that made you want to give into your darker desires, and not only did you give in, but you indulged.

You’d wanted him, you still did.

When you stay quiet, he continues on.

“I’ve always given you a warm bed, clean clothes, good food. I fuck you every single night until you can’t remember your own kriffin’ name.”

The Captain takes another step closer, until his chest is flush to yours, until he’s invading your space entirely.

“Every mark, every cut, every bruise — you’ve always wanted that, darling.”

His hand travels from your ass back to your hip, and he tilts his head to the side. You swallow again, not caring that he sees your hesitance this time.

“What would General Organa think if she knew one of her best fucked a First Order Captain, let him ruin her and she enjoyed it, hm?”

Words still fail you. All you can do is gnaw on your bottom lip and watch him closely, images from when he had you floating through your head. You want to ask him to do it again, to do it all over again right there in that alleyway.

You want to ask him to take you away a fourth time.

But you push those thoughts away. There were more important things on your mind.

“Why don’t you kill me?” you ask him, more than happy with yourself when your voice doesn’t falter. “Why do you always let me go?”

He seems almost perplexed by your question, at the sudden shift in topic, but his expression turns neutral again before you have time to truly decipher it.

“Why would I kill you when you do everything I want and more?”

Your eyebrows furrow, and you slowly shake your head, confusion evident in both your expression and your movements. “But I don’t tell you anything. I never give you any information or, or-”

You were getting ready to say that you’d never answered any of his questions, but then you were suddenly struck with the realization that he never asked you any to begin with.

Dameron smirks again. “Like I said, you give me everything I want.”

You can’t tell if the way your stomach flips is good or bad, can’t tell if it’s butterflies and desire or nausea and disgust.

“Well, almost everything.”

His fingers are gentle against your skin when he pushes them underneath your shirt, merely letting them sit there and feel your warmth underneath him.

“I always hope you’ll want to stay.”

Definitely butterflies.

“You wanted me to stay?”

“You have so much wasted potential. Potential I could use.”

You freeze, can feel your heart rate rise in your chest. When you finally find the ability or maybe the courage to speak again, your voice is cold, something you don’t recognize straight away.

“You want me to join the Order.”

He doesn’t want you, he wants your skill. He was only screwing you in hopes that you’d become attached to him,  and fuck, you were actually starting to fall for it.

His hand flies to your face again, and this time his fingers curl around your chin, effectively holding your head in place, making sure you don’t look away from him. He knows what you’re thinking.

“Sweetheart, if that’s all I wanted you for, trust me. I wouldn’t have let you walk away from me the first time.”

His words make your hair stand on end, and you start gnawing your bottom lip again, drawing his attention to your lips.

“So the only reason you let me go is because I’m a good fuck.”

“You know, it sounds really shitty when you say it like that.”

“How else would you say it?”

He considers his words for a moment, tilting his head back and forth. “I would say I let you go because I know you have a secret”

You freeze again, forget how to breathe properly, and even without your tells Poe knew he was right. He leans his forehead against yours, and once again, you’re caught off guard.

“You like the darkness. You crave it.”

He touches your cheek, fingertips warm and still so gentle against your skin. He finally lets go of your wrist but you don’t dare move it.

“And you’re going to give into it, darling.”

His teeth graze your lower lip, and you can feel your heart pounding against your ribcage. You wonder if he can feel it too.

“I let you go because I know you’ll be back. Is it wrong to have a little fun while we wait?”

Dameron’s sentence is punctuated by his teeth sinking into your skin, and you feel your lip split under the pressure. Feel his grip on your face tighten. Feel that wet, warm crimson drip down your chin.

He pulls back before you want him too, before you can find his familiar taste over that tangy iron, but the sight you’re met with makes your knees weak.

Your blood coats his lips, and he doesn’t even try to clean them. He only smirks that damn infuriating smirk once again.

“You with me sweetheart?”

Your first instinct is to say yes. It’s the only word that seems to move through your mind in that moment.

Why deny yourself what you really truly want? Why deny yourself that power, that control? Order?

Why deny yourself him?

You want to say yes.

You should say yes.

You should give in.

But you still find yourself shaking your head, surprising both yourself as well as him, and you think you see a flash of disappointment in his brown eyes but you can’t be sure. They’re cold again.

He doesn’t argue, doesn’t try to push it further, and it’s something you respected him for — he had the reputation of being ruthless, brutal. Unforgiving. Never liked it when things didn’t go his way.

But he’d always been different with you. He was your enemy, and yet he’d always waited for you to say yes, would never let another person lay a finger on you when you were in his possession.

You figure it’s just because he’s so sure you’ll give in one day. And sure, that’s part of it.

Only part of it.

He isn’t about to admit that he feels that pull, that invisible rope too.

And so he only leans forward again, and you try not to make a sound when you feel his wet tongue meet your fevered skin. He cleans the blood away in one swipe and then his lips meet yours and it’s all you can do to keep yourself standing upright.

This time, it lasts longer. This time, you push past the iron and find his familiar taste, savor it against your tongue for as long as he’ll allow.

It still isn’t enough.

He steps away, and you finally, slowly let your arms drop back down to your sides, feel that smooth brick beneath your palms.

He doesn’t smirk. Doesn’t sigh. Doesn’t do anything but turn on his heel and call over his shoulder as he retreats down the alleyway.

“Later, baby.”

You want to chase after him. More than anything, you want to chase after him and beg him to take you with him. You want to give in, you want to.

But you’re frozen.

And when a pair of Stormtroopers come rounding the corner the second he’s out of sight, you think that maybe, taking you a fourth time had been his intention all along. So you don’t shoot, you don’t scream. You just wait.

It’s when you’re shoved to the ground and feel a swift kick to your ribs that you realize he didn’t order this.

He’d never let another person lay a finger on you.

[brinconvenient]

Green Egg and Fam

You know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and do this...

So a few years back, I was talking to another trans woman who is very familiar with the DC Universe and we were trying to figure out who is Actually An Egg, and after a few suggestions back and forth, I galaxy-brained the answer. She heartily agreed and we talked about it a bit: 1. Artsy 2. Serial Monogamist who is a Relationship Disaster (Big "Do I want to Be With Her, or Be Her?" energy) 3. Becomes best friends with every ex-girlfriend 4. Noted Respecter of Women in Very Terrible and Awkward Ways 5. Chronically allergic to self-reflection and introspection, but also addicted to it in much the same way lactose intolerant people talk about how they can't give up cheese. 6. Just a complete and Utter Messy Agent of Chaos. 7. All too willing to adopt Other People's Expectations and internalize them as a Sacred Duty. 8. Just constantly Marked By Tragedy - both external and self-created.

It's Kyle Rayner, kids.

Torchbearer,

Honor Lantern,

Erstwhile Ion/avatar of the power of will

Kyle "I will be the Last of the Green Lanterns and yet keep trying to ressurect this entire Corps of Space Cops that I didn't even know existed until some Blue Dude showed up to give me jewelry and I guess marry me into the Corps? Because I guess that's just my job now and that will become my whole personality" Rayner.

After the conversation, this - the only fanfic I have literally ever written popped out of my head fully formed. It's intended to really be Chapter 1 of Several which are basically conversations between Kyle and one Ex-Girlfriend per chapter as Kyle finally accepts herself and transitions.

Eventually she reveals that the name "Ion" comes from her real name "ImOgeN" because she read Nevada and Was Impacted and she's just that extra.

But, honestly, despite getting started on the Alex chapter ages ago, I never have drawn the energy to go back and finish and/or write more, so I'm just gonna share the first chapter of what I am calling:

"Green Egg and Fam"

Putting the actual content behind the Read More because I've already rambled too long.

“It’s just exhausting, you know? Every few years it seems like I have to pick up the pieces of my life, my memory, my self and figure out who the hell I am! Every time I get a handle on things, someone or something comes along and shakes up the snow globe,y’know? I’ve tried to talk to Diana about it and, like, she’s compassionate and cares and offers sympathy, but most of the time, my whole relationship with her is just one more flake in the globe and I never know who we’re going to be to each other. Somehow, though, you’re always my favorite ex-boyfriend. It’s weird, right?”

Kyle patted Donna’s arm reassuringly. He glanced from Donna’s face to the view over Lake Michigan. There was no more beautiful view of the lakeshore than the roof of the John Hancock Building. He could just about make out the lights of the small shore towns across the lake in Michigan, and he could see the industrial Indiana towns along the round tip of the lake.

“I’m not positive I like that descriptor of our relationship, but I am happy to be some kind of constant for you,” he said with a rueful smile. “Donna, you are one of my dearest friends and I always want to be here for you. I know you didn’t need my help with Dr. Psycho here, but I’m glad I was Earthside to help you out anyway.”

They’d taken the diminutive psychic menace to the Chicago Special Crimes Unit, who had training and facilities for telepaths and telekinetics. They found this perch when Donna said she just needed a little bit to settle down before heading back to the Titans Tower in New York.

“No, I had him just about handled - a Lasso of Persuasion is pretty useful, after all - but I’m glad you swung through, all the same,” Donna said. “I’m glad to have a friend here. Psycho was really messing with my head this time. He kept dredging through my memory, pulling out bits and pieces of lives lived and people lost. He made me relive the loss of Terry and Robert and Jenny, over and over, replayed the tortures of Dark Angel, dragged me through that whole mess with the Titans of Myth, and I’m actually not sure which of any of those actually happened in this reality anymore.”

Donna’s breath was getting ragged and tears were falling down her face, twinkling in the moonlight.

“You told me about Terry and the kids when we were dating, so since I still remember them, they must still have existed and they still loved you and you still got to love them. I’m a little fuzzy on the Titans of Myth, so I can’t be sure about that stuff. But you’re here now and that’s what’s important right now. Just take a sec to enjoy this moment, this view, this night and see how you feel, ok?” he said.

They sat in the quiet, next to each other, watching the waves reflect and distort the moonbeams. Donna’s breathing calmed down and she straightened her back, half a head taller than Kyle even while sitting.

“Thank you, Kyle. I’ll be ok now, I think. I appreciate you listening. You have a good heart. If you’d only learn to actually fight without that ring, you’d make a pretty decent Amazon. Well … if you weren’t a man, of course.”

Kyle coughed and thanked the stars that Donna couldn’t see him blush. Suddenly Kyle felt like there was lava beneath his skin and he couldn’t sit comfortably.

He didn’t want Donna to catch on, so he stifled his squirming and whipped up a quick construct of a miniature green Kyle in an Amazonian uniform, breastplate, Spartan skirt and calf boots. For added effect he made sure to widen his shoulders and used Hal Jordan as a reference for a jaw far more square than Kyle’s real life chin.

“I’m not sure I can pull off the uniform. Guess I’ll stick with green and black for now. Ha!” he said. He hoped it didn't sound as forced as it felt.

“Oh I don’t know. You’ve got great legs, Kyle! Maybe you should start wearing shorts when in uniform. Besides, you had those over-the-knee boots for the longest time. I think you’d be just fine!” Donna said, laughing.

“Give me a hug, Dick just texted me to meet him in Blüdhaven. Take care and fly safe back to Oa!” she said.

After a quick, warm embrace, she turned eastward and flew off over the lake. Kyle watched her fly out of sight. He looked down and saw little Amazon Kyle, slowly spinning in the air. He drew the construct up to eye level and returned the shoulders and jaw back to his more slender and softer reality. It didn’t look that bad actually.

He’d been trying to make Donna smile, and deflect from … something before, so he exaggerated those features to highlight the incongruence, but he didn’t hate this more realistic image.

He continue to finesse the construct’s features. Like most artists, he never really considered a piece finished, he just stopped working on it. He smoothed the musculature, narrowed the shoulders a little further, pulled the hips out just a bit more, and left the waist alone. The ersatz Kyle’s face got softer still, the brow less pronounced, the nose narrower, the chin just a bit more rounded. He watched the chest muscles soften and breasts form to fill out the breastplate better.

Finally, he lengthened the construct’s hair to shoulder length, adding some wave and curls like Donna’s somehow-always-perfect hair.

And there she was. The woman who’d been haunting Kyle’s dreams as long as he could remember. Slowly spinning in the air was a woman who could easily have been Kyle’s sister, wearing Amazonian garb (or at least what he remembered from seeing Donna’s while they were dating so many years ago).

He didn’t know how much time had passed since he started fiddling with the image, and he didn’t know how long he’d spent staring at the final form. Sister. Yeah, right.

With an angry wave he flashed his hand through the construct, dissolving and dispersing the light particles that he’d given form. He hastily looked around the roof to make sure no one had seen him or, specifically, seen the construct. The burning sensation of shame returned instantly and he immediately flew into the sky until the buildings looked like so many light-speckled building blocks.

He took himself through a calming exercise he learned from Kilowog to help him center himself and sling his ring “like he wasn’t a complete Poozer and deserved to wear it.” Kilowog had no appreciation for just how hard it was for other people to feel calm when he was around. Still, Kyle found it helped when the pink giant wasn’t breathing down his neck.

“My will is strong enough to carry the torch for the entire Green Lantern Corps, I can stop these feelings. I can make all of these thoughts go away. I can stop this. I’ve got too much responsibility to keep indulging this … this nonsense” he thought, trying to ignore the sting of the tears fighting their way free to fall down his face, ignore the pain in his heart.

“I don’t want to lose my friends - what would Donna say? Would she think I was a pervert, or making fun of her somehow? I definitely don’t want to lose Hal’s and the guys’ respect. I don’t want to lose my whole life just because I’m some kind of freak. Get it together, Rayner. No one else is feeling sorry for themselves because they don’t fit in.”

He pulled a hand down his face and pointed his right fist with it’s gaudy, shining green ring on the middle finger toward the Milky Way and flew into space. He hoped the cold solitude of the transluminal conduits would help him regain his composure before he faced Guy, Hal, John and Kilowog for the Honor Lantern meeting. For the millionth time, he wished he could just be more like them, have just a sliver of their easy and effortless masculinity. They made it look so simple.

“Bet they don’t spend half their life trying to figure out what is wrong with them,” he thought. He tried so hard not to envy them, but it was really hard sometimes.

Especially nights like tonight where his resolve had failed him yet again and he gave in to his most hidden thoughts. He entered the transluminal conduit between Saturn and Jupiter and closed his eyes.

He traveled faster than light, but it still took time to reach Oa, so he tried to sleep and hoped that his dreams wouldn’t betray him again.

[tsukikento]

Empathetic Chapter 12

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki x Reader

Summary: After your mom, the number 1 hero in America, gets offered a teaching position at U.A., you two pack up your things and head to Musutafu, Japan to start a new life. Pressure for you in America was at an all-time high, and now you’re in Japan, where almost no one knows you, or your family’s past.

This tale starts on your first day of class where your new teacher decides the best way for you to fit in is to fight against the strongest person in your class: Bakugou Katsuki.

Warnings/Genre: This piece will feature some angst and reference to an abusive parent, if you are ever worried about other tw’s feel free to send me an ask and I will let you know. There will also be fluff, slight angst, pining, and slowburn.

A/N: No clue how I got this chapter out hella fast despite losing it all, but it was so fun to write lol! I hope you guys like it, please send me asks with feedback! I’m really excited for the next chapters!

(masterlist)

Once you heard the click of your door gently closing, you released a breath of air you didn’t know you were holding. You looked to your ceiling as your heart raced with your brain actively trying to calm it down.

Your phone was still vibrating, but you knew it was a call this time. You didn’t have the nerves to answer it, however, and simply looked at the various texts Ashido had sent you. The first was from around noon today:

I’m on my date with Kirishima right now and I am freaking out!!

She vaguely narrated her emotions before a more significant one showed up at 2:00pm.

Where are you?? I want to tell you and Hagakure everything!!!!

You smiled, happy you were now included with her list of what you assumed was best friends. Just before you got home, she texted you a series of question marks.

????

Where are you!?!

And then the flood of texts when you came home.

Were you??

Omg

Were you really went on a date with Bakugou?

Sir explodey???

Why did you not tell me about your date with Bakugou!!

You smiled fondly at your friend’s jokes and knew the rest of your night would be filled with her and Hagakure. Genuinely, it was exciting to know you would spend you night with the two excitable girls. Not only were you ecstatic that you could hear about Ashido’s actual date today, but your stomach flipped at the idea of finally telling them about you and Bakugou.

If there was even anything between you and Bakugou.

It felt a little wild that your relationships with your classmates had grown so much so quickly. You spent a moment reminiscing about living in America and how much time you really spent by yourself. It definitely helped that you lived in a dorm with them too.

Drawing yourself away from your thoughts, you texted her back:

It wasn’t a date!!

But I am on my way downstairs rn

You hastily changed out of your nicer outfit and into shorts and a sweater, something perfect for the sleepover vibes you were hoping for today. Only for a moment did you debate taking out your earbuds; you did not want to become stressed by overthinking. They really were hurting at this moment and you were sure everything would be okay.

You took your earbuds off and placed them into their case that had been in your backpack. You then pocketed the case in the front pocket of your sweater. Just in case. You ears thanked you as you rubbed them and you tried your best to ignore the thoughts rushing into your head.

You can do this, you told yourself. Half of it was because of your classmates thoughts rushing into your head, and half was because of the nerves you still had from today. It had been quite some time since you went a long period without earbuds and you feared getting a headache, but the risk was well worth it considering how your ears were begging for a break.

You took in a deep breath and told yourself to finally go!

Slowly and quietly, you opened your door, almost afraid that Bakugou would be watching you.

With no one in sight, you rushed down the stairs, the adrenaline pumping through your veins made an elevator ride seem like the worst and longest possible thing. You fled down the stairs, running on the tips of your feet to make the least amount of noise.

Once downstairs you rushed to your friends with a beaming smile.

“Hi!” You exclaimed as you plopped down onto the couch.

“Well aren’t you smiley,” Hagakure immediately commented, making heat flush up your neck.

You couldn’t help it. You had a great day with Bakugou and a productive one to boot. That and you were about to spend the night with your current closest friends. Although you started out wanting to just forget your feelings, you could absolutely get used to the way he talks to you and time you spend together.

You replied to Hagakure’s comment by just deepening your smile and shrugging. “Ashido! You have to tell me how it went!” You looked to the pink girl, who had a grin just as wide as yours. That’s a good sign. That and she wasn’t currently crying in her room. “Should we get snacks and go up to someone’s room?” You suggested.

“Yes!” Ashido replied, “That sounds perfect!” The girl immediately stood up and practically skipped over to the kitchen which was still occupied by students.

Each of you moved around silently. You grabbed three cups and a bottle of soda while Hagakure and Ashido grabbed their desired snacks to bring from the pantry. You were still quite full from your late lunch, but knew that this night would go long.

As your hands held onto the cool glass cups and plastic bottle, you imagined how tonight would be going.

It will be great! You decided as Ashido and Hagakure walked out of the pantry with two bags of chips and a box of fruit gummies. You felt the giddiness in your stomach rise as the girls approached you. Silently, you all walked to the elevator, arms full and eyes shining.

“We can go to my room,” Ashido explained as she reached out to press the appropriate floor.

The same floor with Kirishima and Bakugou, you silently noted as the doors closed and the elevator began to rise.

When the doors opened to your and Ashido’s floor, the first thing you saw was Bakugou walking towards you. Shock ran through your veins as the three of your exited before the doors closed and then stood still. It must have been quite the sight to see the three of you, practically in pajamas with hands full of snacks.

If it wasn’t clear from that image that you three were going to be talking about boys the whole night, then Bakugou sure must be an idiot.

“Tch,” He scoffed as his hand found the doorknob to Kirishima’s room.

Wait, you thought and you quizzically stared at him. Were he and Kirishima also going to talk about girls?

At the very least, you were sure that they would be talking about Ashido.

Bakugou gave you a knowing smirk. Looks like those two idiots finally got together, huh? Surely you helped them.

Your eyes widened. No one had noticed you weren’t wearing your earbuds yet except for Bakugou.

Obviously I can see you without them, you idiot. I’m always looking. His eyes squinted at you and silently gasped in response.

The blond barked out a small laugh, before opening Kirishima’s door and leaving you three in the hall like dumbstruck idiots. You knew he was directing his laugh at your shocked face, but the girls probably just thought it was at their wild appearance.

“Weird,” Hagakure laughed as she became the first to start walking to Ashido’s room. You and the pink girl followed quickly behind.

Once inside, you all immediately dropped the snacks off on the bed and desk. Before anyone had a chance to speak, Ashido turned to face you.

“Before I get started,” She began, “I just have to say…

You gulped down the lump in your throat. From her thoughts alone, you could tell she was upset and hurt.

“How dare you not tell either of us that you were going on a DATE with frickin’ BAKUGOU??” Her anger roared through the room and you were sure Bakugou could hear his name being spoken.

“It wasn’t a date,” You responded meekly, knowing full well how it looked when you walked into the dorms, a smile plastered on your face and Bakugou held the door open for you.

Ashido scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Sure it wasn’t,” She accused, sarcasm dripping off every word. “We will get to you later, missy,” She promised before jumping onto her bed and grabbing a bag of fruit snacks.

“Anyways,” Hagakure spoke, breaking the silent tension that had formed. “Please! Tell us about your date with Kirishima!” She practically begged as she sat down at the desk and began pouring herself a drink.

“Well,” Ashido giggled, “If you insist.” The smile on her face that had been there since you met her downstairs was a clear indicator of the results. You, however, still wanted to hear every juicy detail she could remember.

You sat down on the bed across from Ashido, certain this story would be long enough to hurt your legs if you stayed standing.

“I asked him Friday night if he wanted to go out. Well,” She corrected, “I texted him. Let me show you.” She whipped out her phone and moved so all of you could read it. Despite this, Ashido read it aloud as well.

“Hey, Kiri! And then a cute heart emoji.” She pointed at the emoji on her phone. “I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch tomorrow or Sunday? I found this new café a few blocks away from school and really wanted to try it out with you!”

“Then he said…”

“Sure! I would love too! Sunday works best.”

“Then I said—”

“Ashido, we can read it,” Hagakure sassed. You sincerely didn’t mind her reading the texts, it was a cute commentary addition.

“Shush!” Ashido retorted before turning back to her phone, not letting Hagakure get another word in. She pressed her off button and the screen went black. She moved to be sitting normally again and continued, “So anyways we set up a time. And we were having great conversations on our walk. I had decided from the very beginning to bring up dating him after we leave the café. So, we just chat and it’s nice and he’s so sweet and cute and—”

“Ashido,” You interrupt, unable to hide your laughter and her rambling. The girl stopped and looked at you, her eyes wide as if unsure why you stopped her. “You were getting off topic.”

“Oh!” She exclaimed. “Sorry! Anyways, we get there, and it turns out it wasn’t just a normal café, it was a cat café! So, we buy an hour and get our drinks and snacks and it was so much fun. Seeing him with those cats was like, amazingly adorable.” She stops talking for a moment to eat some of the fruit gummies. “Also! He literally bought all the drinks and food and he refused to take any of my money which was so sweet. And I feel like he kinda knew? Like, he knew this was more than just two friends hanging out.”

“What do you mean by that?” You asked before getting up to pour yourself a glass of soda.

“Like, he seemed so nervous an quiet at the beginning, but luckily he started warming up after he saw all the cats. Except a couple times he would get super silent and just look at me with this wistful smile. It’s hard to explain, but yeah.”Ashido described. “Oh, and I wore this really cute dress and sneakers with some clips in my hair and he complimented me with this goofy smile on his face. Even he dressed up nicely in a red, short-sleeve button up.

“Oh, wow,” Hagakure mumbles. “So when did you tell him?”

“After the hour was up, we decided to not pay for another hour and just go,” Ashido explained, “They were also super crowded and busy. However, instead of just heading back home we walked to the nearby riverbank and sat on the grass hill. It was so amazing because it was covered in flowers and the sun felt so nice. Kirishima looked so great. Honestly, we ended up taking some photos because it was just a gorgeous time of day.”

“Okay? But when did you confess?” Hagakure repeated. She was getting quite impatient and wiggling around in the chair.

You laughed as Ashido shushed her. “Let me be happy!” She retorted with a glint of humor. Despite her tone, it was clear she didn’t mean anything horrible and you laughed even harder.

“Fine,” The invisible girl groaned and pouted in her chair.

You were tempted to retort and tease Hagakure about Ojiro, but decided not to change the topic when you were getting to the most interesting parts of Ashido’s story.

“So anyways,” Ashido began once more. “When we were done taking photos, we just started talking about this or that, it was very pleasant. Like, he was telling me about his goals after school and he seemed so excited and passionate, it was great.” She paused for a moment and looked at each of us before continuing. “All of the sudden,” Her voice grew louder and her wide eyes put you on the edge of your seat in anticipation.

This has to be the moment! You thought.

“A cart ran by with roses and Kirishima jumped up immediately and ran to buy a half-bouquet. It was like out of a movie!” Ashido exclaimed, her hands coming up to touch her cheeks as they grew a deeper shade of pink that her typical skin tone.

“Awww” Hagakure sighed.

“I know!” Ashido exclaimed. “So after he gave me the flowers, I was blushing so much and I could barely talk and when I said that the flowers were pretty he was like ‘yeah, pretty like you’!” I was literally screaming on the inside.”

It felt like you had butterflies on the inside of your stomach from simply hearing about Ashido’s date. It was so much sweeter than yours, despite you still being happy with your day. Ashido and Kirishima had known each other for years too, while you and Bakugou knew each other for a week. In fact, your day with him wasn’t technically even a date.

“Kirishima is so sweet!” Hagakure gushed while you simply smiled at your friends.

“So did you confess after?” You inquired while Ashido showed off the roses now in a vase.

“Okay, okay,” She fumbled and she put down the vase and got back onto the bed. “I basically didn’t have any words. I did not expect him to be so romantic so all I could get out was a small thank you. He was super red too which was a good sign. I was trying to get up the courage to say something more, but then he started talking.”

“Oh?” Hagakure added, her commentary working well with the story.

“He confessed!” Ashido practically screamed.

“He confessed?” Both you and Hagakure questioned. You stood up from your spot in shock and Ashido followed.

Her energy was at a high as she rapidly nodded, “Yes!”

“Oh my goodness,” You added, completely shocked that Kirishima could build up the courage and also happen to do it at the same time Ashido wanted to. You could not help but think about Bakugou currently in Kirishima’s room. You wondered what the story sounded like from Kirishima’s point of view.

Was he also nervous and getting of topic? Or is he already done with the story?

You were sure whatever the answer was, Bakugou was already over it.

“It was so sweet and I feel like I blacked out,” Ashido continued. “He talked about our friendship and how he admired me and how that admiration slowly turned romantic as we got older. He ended it by saying he wanted to finally be the manliest he could be and actually tell me how he felt.”

“So sweet!” Hagakure added. “Very Kirishima of him.” She giggled at the idea of the scene, but Ashido seemed as happy as could be.

“So what did you say after?” You asked, silently hoping that their date ended with a sweet kiss.

“I started stuttering, but I was eventually able to say that I like him back,” Ashido explained. “Honestly, it was a bit awkward. That was mainly because both of us were smiling like idiots though. He was so cute,” She said for almost the fifth time that night.

“That really sweet, Ashido. I’m glad you guys finally admitted it,” You encouraged. “I’ve only known you for a short time, but it was clear you guys are really cute together.”

“Thank you, (Y/N)-kun,” She smiled before reaching out to give you an awkward hug over the pile of snacks.

“How did the date end though?” Hagakure asked as you both broke apart.

“Ah, yes!” Ashido exclaimed, as if suddenly remembering something important. “We started talking about it all and agreed to go on another date soon but keep things pretty quiet. Like, we aren’t going to hide anything, but we aren’t going to sit everyone down to just tell them.” There was a brief pause, “Well, except for you guys.”

Both you and Hagakure laughed at that.

“And Bakugou,” Hagakure added, which was something you were thinking, but did not want to bring up.

They are accusing me of dating him and I would hate for these teasing jokes to get to him and hurt the small amount of friendship we currently have, you thought as you laughed at Hagakure’s addition.

“Anyways, we eventually walked home and just talked about random things. The conversation started getting back to normal, but halfway through he held my hand and it was so cute!” She explained. “I hope everything can stay normal, just with more romance.”

“Did he kiss you at the end?” You ask, unable to help it anymore.

Hagakure laughed at you and Ashido shook her head.

“No, there were a lot of people outside, so it just didn’t feel right. I think he kinda wanted to though,” She explained and shrugged. “I’m not upset about it,” She smiled brightly, “I’m just happy we finally admitted it.”

You smiled silently at your friend, not quite having the words to tell her how happy for her and proud of her you are.

Hagakure, however, had much to say. “Oh, my god!” She began her speech. “I am literally so happy for you guys! You are both so cute together, like literally from day 1 at U.A., you two have been the sweetest friends! I cannot wait to see you guys in public. Kirishima is already so red around you that a quick kiss on his check with make him turn as red as his hair!”

“That I help him dye,” Ashido interjected, a wide smile spread across her pink cheeks.

“Exactly!” Hagakure exclaimed while wiggling around in the seat from happiness.

As a comfortable and happy silence filled the room, you each took this opportunity to grab some food. You poured yourself and Ashido a drink while Hagakure opened a bag or chips and Ashido ate more fruit snacks. Once you sat down, you phone buzzed and Hagakure and Ashido glanced up at you. Although you couldn’t actually see Hagakure…

“Probably my mom,” You mumbled, hopefully answering their silent question.

They look away and you handed Ashido her drink before grabbing your phone off the soft mattress. You tried to be as silent as you could when it was Bakugou’s name flashing across your screen instead of your mom’s.

You looked up to the girls who were staring at their own phones and unlocked yours as silently as you could.

Shitty hair is literally running through a pros and cons list of texting pinky…I’m sure your night is just as miserable considering how loud pinky and whatever her name is can get.

You stared at it, trying to figure out just how to reply. You bit your lip, wondering whether to laugh and joke along with him or defend your friend.

You tested out a few different options before finally sending:

I think it’s cute…and I’m not the type to complain about having friends who actually talk to me.

You listened as closely as you could, not sure how this comment would come across. If you paid enough attention, maybe you would be able to hear his thoughts.

Is that a quip at me? You heard a voice that you hoped was Bakugou. It definitely matched to most compared to the other voices in this house you could currently hear. Or is she just trying to share more?

You heard a bit more of his thoughts before you pulled away, not wanting to intervene too much into his privacy.

Eventually, your phone buzzed once more.

I am.

Your heart dropped slightly at the short comment. But another text suddenly came in.

As far as I think, all those other extras share way too much about their personal lives.

Other extras.

Other extras?

What does that mean?

Testing the waters, you put something a bit risky.

I’ll make sure not to share my person life with you now lol

You felt so incredibly nervous about your text and the ‘lol’ at the end felt so cringey as you stared at it.

Nah, you’re fine. For now.

You smiled brightly, you couldn’t help it. That was definitely a good sign and you knew it. You felt like such an idiot as you began typing out your reply.

“Excuse me?” You heard a critical voice say from above you.

You looked up to see Ashido and Hagakure in front of you. You shockingly looked at them, wondering what they could need.

“You sure are smiling like a fool for someone who is just texting your mom!” Hagakure accused you.

“Uhh,” You stumbled, not sure what to say.

Before you could get any words out, Ashido snatched your phone out of your hands and ran across the room.

“Oh my god!” She gasped while reading over the short conversation. “Bakugou!?” She exclaimed while turning to phone to show Hagakure.

You didn’t even try to snatch it back because you knew full well that they would find out eventually.

“Oh my,” Hagakure finally spoke. “This is,” She paused and looked at you before looking at Ashido. “Is this?”

“L/N-kun and Bakugou flirting? Yes,absolutely” Ashido rapidly nodded before tossing the electronic device onto the bed. “I’m literally not even mad at him bashing us, especially me and Kiri. I’m just happy that he finally found a girl to like.”

“We should have known too,” Hagakure passionately added while you watched their conversation unfold. “They even went on a date today.”

“It wasn’t a date,” You finally interjected.

“Oh, it wasn’t a date!? Sure, it wasn’t,” Ashido replied with an overly mocking tone.

Hagakure was busting up laughing at this point and was unable to say anything else. Nevertheless, she was trying. “I can’t—I can’t—Oh my—"

“Guys!” You pouted, interrupted the two girls. You took this opportunity to grab your phone off the bed and take your place it into your sweater pocket. “Let me explain,” You pleaded.

Both girls suddenly stopped the smiles, giggles, and teasing. Silently, they sat in their respective seats and waited for you to explain yourself.

“So,” You began before taking in a deep breath, “Yes, I do like Bakugou—”

“I knew it!” Ashido exclaimed.

You squinted your eyes at her in critique. “You knew? Since when?” You questioned, knowing full well that she did not know. She had only known you for a week and only saw you and Bakugou interact once.

“Uhh, today?” She offered, “When you came home with him today?”

Hagkure snickered at Ashido’s response which received her a light smack from the pink girl.

“You guys ready to listen?” You asked, interrupting the snickering clients.

“Yes!” The replied in unison. They sat down and looked at you with anticipation.

“Okay, so,” You thought over your next words carefully. “I don’t know what it is about Bakugou that makes me like him. It’s kind of just everything?” You bit your lip, “Like, he’s super hot.”

“Ew,” Ashido groaned, “You can’t say that about him!”

Hagakure laughed even harder than before considering she wasn’t nearly as close to Bakugou as Ashido was. “He is pretty attractive, Ashido. You have to admit.”

“Stop!” Ashido exclaimed. “Bakugou is literally like a dad, he can’t be hot.”

You laughed at Ashido’s comment, her humor helping you relax more. “Just relax, Ashido! I’ll stop talking about how,” You paused, “You know, he is.”

“Thank you,” She replied.

You smiled before continuing your story. “I’ve talked to him a few times over the week, and it is obviously not perfect. Sometimes though, he just says all the right stuff and it makes my insides twist. Like today, we went to his costume designer’s place because I simply mentioned to him that I wanted to change my costume up a lot. And then he took me to one of his favorite food places.” You smiled at the memory. “It was a really nice day, but obviously not as cute or romantic as Ashido’s date.”

Ashido shrugged, “That’s just how Bakugou is though! Like, me and Kirishima have known each other for years! Bakugou is warming up to you after only a week while it took him months to even consider Kirishima a friend.”

“Very true,” Hagakure interjected. She was enjoying the story, but Ashido knew much more about Bakugou than her, making her opinions not as pertinent.

“I think,” Ashido continued, “You and Bakugou have a lot of potential. In fact, now that I know you like him, I can pay so much attention to your conversations. I’ll be like a spy, I can analyze everything!”

You chuckled at your friend’s excitement, feeling great about telling your friends about your crush on Bakugou. At the same time, though, it also felt silly having a crush on him. You bit your lip while telling yourself not to become too preoccupied with the blond when each of you cared more about becoming heroes.

“And those texts are the first thing I want to analyze!” Ashido explained, “So gimme your phone!”

“No, you don’t have to,” You bashfully replied, not sure if it would be right to allow them to see texts from Bakugou when he thinks it is just her.

“Aww, come on!” Hagakure pressured. “I saw some pretty flirty stuff in those texts!”

“Maybe,” You continued, “But Bakugou is a very private person, you know?”

“True,” Ashido spoke, “But he doesn’t have to know!” The grin on her face was wicked and you could tell she wouldn’t let this topic go.

“Okay,” You gave in, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.” You pulled your phone out of your pocket and unlocked it. The texts between you and Bakugou popped up and you passed the phone to her.

She began reading it out loud because it was difficult for all three of your to read it at once.

“First off,” She said, beginning her analysis, “Just him initiating a conversation like this with you is big! He almost never begins conversations.”

“Not only that,” Hagakure added, “But he was trying to find common ground with you. That can be pretty big for Bakugou.”

“And,” Ashido exclaimed, as if just thinking about this “He even said he doesn’t mind you talking about your personal life while he doesn’t like hearing about others.”

Hagakure giggled, “Ooh la la! Sounds like Bakugou is in love.” She emphasized the word ‘love’ and elongated it in a teasing tone.

Ashido began chuckling along with Hagakure while you felt your cheeks turn red. “You guys are just jumping into things,” You insisted while taking your phone back. “I’m just going to take things slow.”

Since their laughter had died down by now, the girls nodded along with you.

“I think that’s smart,” Ashido agreed. “It’s hard to know how he will react in a romantic situation.”

“You know what might be fun,” Hagakure begins. You each look to her, awaiting her thoughts. “Since we know Bakugou is still in there, we could try and sneak up to the room to hear what they are saying about you guys.”

Ashido immediately had a mischievous smile appear on her face. She almost looked like a Cheshire cat and you knew what was next. “Why would we have to sneak up to overhear them when we have L/N right here?”

“Oh my god, that is so true!” Hagakure exclaimed while shaking here arms in excitement. You could tell she turned to look at you and she asked, “So, what do you think?”

I think it’s a bad idea, but I really want to do it, you thought. You took a few beats to think over all the possibilities that could make it a good or bad idea. You looked to Ashido’s excited face and knew Hagakure must feel similar despite not being able to see her either.

“Okay,” You finally said, effectively giving in.

You almost talked yourself out of it. However, this wasn’t something you did often, it definitely wasn’t going to become a habit, and you were a teenager with a crush who simply wanted to have fun?

“Yes! Yes, yes yes!” Ashido exclaimed while Hagakure got up and began dancing around the room.

You laughed loudly at your two friends, enjoying their humorous actions.

“Okay, okay,” You sheepishly interrupted, trying to calm them down. “I’ll need you guys to chill a bit to hear.”

Ashido saluted you and Hagakure laughed before doing the same, at least you could tell from her moving clothes. The two girls then sat down and awaited your next words.

You, on the other hand, focused your energy on the voices surrounding you. Your head, at this point, didn’t hurt at all, and made you feel even more confident about your decision to take out your earbuds. You had gotten very used to hearing people’s thoughts, but not at all processing the words they were saying.

Suddenly, Kirishima’s prominent thoughts came into view.

Today was so great. I think I’ll take her bowling on our next date.

“Kirishima is planning your next date,” You mindlessly spoke, too focused to watch Ashido. You did, however, hear her shrill scream and the excited thoughts rushing through her head.

“What about Bakugou?” Hagakure asked.

You barked out a laugh once your were able to hear Bakugou;s thought clearly enough. “He’s thinking about how you and Kirishima are absolute idiots…but he’s still happy you guys got together.”

“That’s so sweet!” Ashido exclaimed.

“Aww, nothing about you?” Hagakure asked.

You shrugged your shoulders and focused more on your friends. “I really doubt that he talked to Kirishima about today.” You smiled to try and assure your friends. “I don’t need him to think about me all the time.”

Ashido smiled, her eyes filled with a kind of pity you weren’t sure you liked. Despite this, you knew she had good intentions at heart, and you grinned back as she patted your shoulder.

“Anyways,” Hagakure spoke up after a pregnant pause filled the room. “Let’s talk about something else, this conversation is totally not passing the Bechdel test and I am over it.”

You nodded in agreement and grabbed a handful of chips before sipping on your drink. “I could show you guys the sketches for my new hero costume,” You offered.

Ashido grinned widely, “Yes! You can put on your current one and show us the new sketches.”

“Oh god,” You exclaimed, “My current one is so ugly.”

“Well now you have to show us,” Hagakure laughed.

“Okay, okay! I’ll be right back then.” Happily, you stood up from your seat on the bed and made your way to your bed to grab your hero costume, computer, and sketchbook. A wide smile was spread across your face and you clumsily handled all of your supplies.

Today was a great day, you thought as another person’s own thought rang through your ears.

Fuck, why was today the best day I’ve had in a while? You heard Bakugou’s voice ring through your ears before you reopened Ashido’s door.

[demonwifey]

Mommy’s Kissing Who?🎄🎅🏻

Hey guys! Hope you all had a safe and amazing holiday! So this idea literally came to me right after listening to “I Saw Mommy Kissing Beetlejuice” and knew I had to post it for you guys to see. While you’re reading this just keep in mind I didn’t make the reader’s daughter Skye even though she was the one signing it. I’m bad at names so you’ll see the daughter go by she and her for the entire thing. Think about if you had a daughter and what you would name her. Hope you guys enjoy!💚💜🖤  

Beetlejuice x black+fem!reader

Warnings: cursing, hints of sexual themes

Word count: 3,688

“I can’t believe I’m gonna ask this but, Beej, just please try to be on your best behavior.” You practically begged, clasping your hands together near your chest for added effect. 

The demon man let out a hearty laugh before snapping his suspenders against his chest. His costume was like a mix between his normal suit and an actual Santa costume: red and white striped, his regular boots, and a Santa hat to top it off. You thought his overgrown green beard would’ve been a giveaway to your child at least. 

“Come on, babes. Give me a little credit! I’m gonna be the best damn Santa these twerps have ever seen.” He reassured you. His confidence should’ve made you feel at ease but it didn’t. No that it mattered, it was too late to turn back now. You both looked up as the Scout Leader announced his arrival from outside the small room you two were in, basically queuing him to come out. 

“It’s Showtime, babes.” He said to you and gave a flirtatious wink before walking out to the young girls yelling in excitement. 

You watched as they all scurried to huddle around him. You watched your daughter closely, thankfully she didn’t recognize Beej and the other girls didn’t notice anything off. Maybe he was right, you should’ve given him more credit. You straightened your dress and fixed your hair out before making your way over the other parents as they all watched with joy. 

“HO HO HO! Merry Christmas, you little shits!” You heard him yell loudly across the room. 

You stopped in your tracks and your eyes widened almost comically at the sentence you just heard. You prayed to any other worldly being out there that it was only your imagination. When you looked up at the other parents, you could see it wasn’t. Their faces matched yours and they quickly turned their eyes towards you. Yeah, this was going to be one long night. 

****

You didn’t know how you could’ve ended up in a worse position. You were in charge of one thing for the Girl Scout’s Christmas party: get someone to play Santa Claus and have him hand out the girls merit badges. All the other parent’s handled things like food, decorations, etc. It’s not like it was a hard task for you to do. Hell, you found and booked a guy at the beginning of the month. Everything was fine on your end, until two days ago. Your Santa Claus called saying he was sick with the flu. You’d already had a few mishaps with Girl Scout events in the past, so this was your chance to show the other parents that you weren’t a total screw up. Yet here you were on your laptop, scrambling through different websites to try and find a new person to play Santa. 

“Hey Mommy, which shoes should I wear for the party tomorrow?” You heard your daughter’s perky voice ask from behind you. As a reflex, you quickly slammed your laptop screen down and looked at her with wide eyes. She stood behind the couch with each hand holding one shoe from a different pair. 

“Hmm, I think I like the black ones better. They’ll match your badge belt.” You faked a casual tone. 

She looked at the shoe you chose, like she was thinking for a moment, before nodding in excited agreement and running back to her room. You strained a smile as you watched her go before letting out a frustrated sigh and once you heard her door close. You were doing this, not just for the other girls, but for her as well. Your daughter always got so excited when someone mentioned Santa. How shitty would you feel if you had to watch her face turn to disappointment when they were all told Santa wasn’t coming? The mental image alone made your heart sink to the floor. You leaned forward to drop your head into your hands and let out another sigh; this one being much louder. 

“Hey, keep making noises like that and I’m gonna get turned on, babes.” You heard a familiar voice coming from the side of you. 

You didn’t even need to move your head to know it was Beetlejuice. You loved the demon to death but right now, you were in no mood to joke around. You could tell he sensed that when you didn’t respond. You didn’t see, but he awkwardly scratched the back of his head before sitting next to you. He placed an equally awkward hand on your back and started rubbing circles on it. 

“Uh, you’re not gonna start crying are you? I’ve always been bad with that sort of thing. I mean, I had to watch The Notebook with Adam and Barbara one time and I had no idea what to do. They just started sobbing and saying “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird” to each other and it was the stupidest thing I’d seen-” And you stopped him before he could finish. 

“No, Beej, I’m not gonna start crying. But, God, do I want to.” You said while sitting up, his hand still rubbing circles on your back. “It’s like I had one job and it went straight to shit in one day. I’ve looked everywhere for someone to play Santa last minute but they’re all booked! And I don’t have any family members or friends that are free either. Ugh, as if they’d actually do it.” 

The room fell silent for a moment. There was no point in even opening up your laptop again. Not to say you gave up...but you basically gave up. 

“What about the kid’s sperm donor? Maybe the Christmas spirit has him feeling less like a piece of shit.” Beetlejuice spoke; half joking, half serious. You scoffed but then let out an actual laugh. He moved his hand to around your shoulder before and you laid his chest. Your fingers started absentmindedly playing with his tie.  

“If you’re referring to her father, he hasn’t been around since she was one. I doubt anything would make him less of a piece of shit.” You responded. You hated the guy for running out on you and your daughter but you’d never have him around Beetlejuice. You already knew Beej would have murder in his eyes as soon as he’d walk through the door. You moved your neck upward to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, showing that you appreciated his attempt to make you feel better.

“Well, at least this'll be an excuse to ruin Santa for her. Just walk in and say “SANTA ISN’T COMING BECAUSE SANTA ISN’T REAL!”. Rip the band aid off. It’ll be great.” He joked, looking down at you with a sinister grin on his face. There was no doubt in your mind that he wasn’t joking. 

You let out a defeated giggle before flipping his tie up to hit him in the face. You were about to give him another kiss before you heard your daughter’s voice again. 

“Beetlejuice!” She screamed before running around the couch to jump between you two. You both laughed at her sudden presence before Beetlejuice placed a hand on her head. 

“What’s up, anklebiter? Have too many sugar packets before bed?” He joked and her own laughter wasn’t far behind. She quickly climbed on top of his lap and pulled out two of her favorite scrunchies from her pocket. 

“No, silly! I need your opinion. Which scrunchie would look better for my hair tomorrow?” She asked, much like asked you about the shoes before. 

Beetlejuice was always so good around your daughter. Most guys you knew ran for the hills when they found out you had a kid, but somehow, this rude and crude demon didn’t. Maybe it was all the time he’d spent with Lydia but he fell into the ‘cool dad/uncle’ role very quickly. Not that you were begging to have that figure in her life, it was still nice to watch them interact so naturally. You laughed as Beetlejuice plucked the different color scrunchies out of her hand and examined them closely. 

“Nope, neither one will do.” He twisted his face at them before tossing them both to the side. Your daughter only blinked in confusion as she watched Beetlejuice reach into one of his jacket pockets. 

“This one is way more suitable!” Suddenly he pulled out a black and white striped scrunchie with a glitter covered green and black tulle bow at the center. You’d been with Beetlejuice for a while so thankfully the both of you were used to his magic. Your daughter squealed in excitement and grabbed the scrunchie out of his hand.  

“Beej, you can’t keep giving her presents before Christmas.” You laughed, still watching her as she gawked at her new accessory. The demon man ignored you, knowing he was only winning her heart more and more each day. “Alright, now what do we say?” You asked, giving her a knowing look.

“Thank you, so much BJ! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” The child didn’t hold back her enthusiasm as she jumped to give him a tight hug. Beetlejuice let out his usual scratchy laugh while giving her a few pats on the back. 

You watched their interaction before squinting, an idea popping into your head. 

“There’s no way...” You thought to yourself, but the image stuck in your head. Once you saw it, you couldn’t unsee it. From his perfect chubby body to his earthy laugh, you could tell he was the perfect fit for your idea.

“Alright, mini me, time for bed.” You shook yourself away from your thoughts and placed a hand on her head. She turned to face you with a large pout on her face. You stopped her before she could even protest. “Teeth and pajamas, now. I’ll be in to help with your hair in a minute.” You said softly but sternly. 

The girl turned to Beej for help but he only shrugged, already knowing not to protest against you. She dropped her shoulders in defeat before saying thank you one last time and giving him her own cheek kiss. She soon shuffled away to get ready for bed, still giggling about the scrunchie.

“Ya’know, doll. I like it when you get tough. It really does something to me.” The demon man wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. You rolled your eyes before making your way over to him. You swung one leg over his lap and straddled him, using your hands to hold and squish his cheeks together. Beetlejuice didn’t waste time using one hand to hold your thigh and the other to grab your ass. 

“Beej....” You started, staring into his golden eyes with a look that was nothing less than seductive. It didn’t take long for Beetlejuice to be wrapped around your finger. His hands started rubbing slowly in their respective spots as you moved down to pace soft kisses on his neck. “....how would you like to do me a BIG favor?” You asked.

****

Being the amazing boyfriend that he was, Beetlejuice said yes to your favor of him being the replacement Santa, at the cost of you being a wreck the entire event. Did you ever stop sweating? No. You were so used to Beej’s crass behavior at home that you didn’t think about how bad it would be to have him around other people. He started telling you all the ‘fun’ party tricks he had planned for the night. As soon as he mentioned giving the girls candy bags full of dead bugs, you realized the mistake you might’ve made. 

There were more lows than highs throughout the night. Beetlejuice would make crude jokes every chance he got. Most of these jokes went over the girls heads, but their parents didn't find them very amusing. Even in your panicked state, you would have to divert Beetlejuice back to his original task. God, don’t even mention when you got close to him. It’s like he’d lose track of what was even happening to openly flirt and make lewd comments about you, in front of everyone. You lost count of how many times you had to say “haha Santa I don’t think Mrs. Claus would like that” before pinching him and making him get back on track. When it was time for food, he ate the scouts’ precious trope hamster. He played it up as a gimmick but you knew the gruesome reality of it all. The glares and stares from the adults in the room burned deep holes into your back. If you had the option to let the ground swallow you whole, you would’ve taken it.

When it finally came time to pass out the Scouts’ merit badges, that surprisingly went with minimal ease. Again, he was making odd jokes but it wasn’t the worst thing to happen all night. When he got down to your daughter, he was a lot more kind with his words than he was with the other girls. You thought he would’ve blown his cover to her as he went on a 10 minute long speech about how great and deserving she was. He was eventually stopped by the scout leader who cleared her throat to get her attention. You weren’t sure if it was the anxiety you’d been feeling all night, the sweet gesture from Beej, or the look of joy on your daughter’s face, but you were just about on the verge of tears. Despite the craziness of the night and the emotions that were flooding your brain, seeing the two of them laugh together made it all worth it.

****

After a long night out, you were finally back to your apartment. You shuffled through the door with her fast asleep on your shoulder. As soon as you got her in the car, she was out like a light. Now all you had to do was get her into pajamas and put her to bed. As you tucked her in, you could already hear Beej calling in his invisible state. 

“Babydoll~ Told ya’ I was gonna be the best Santa ever. Come on, say my name. Say it so you can sit on Santa’s lap and tell him what you want for Christmas~” His scratchy voice echoed from behind you. 

It took everything in you not to roll your eyes. Thankfully your daughter was fast asleep so she wouldn’t hear anymore of Beej’s lewd humor for the night. You stroked her hair for a second before getting up to walk out of her room, making sure to leave a slight crack in the door. You weren’t free from Beej’s voice as you put some things away and tidied up your living room. He was practically begging for you to say his name. Sure, you were being petty but he put you through hell tonight. A little payback never hurt anyone. Especially when you knew it helped fuel a little feral anger him. Angry Beej was your favorite Beej. 

After about 30 minutes, you could feel the air in the room growing a little warm. You smiled to yourself, finally feeling as though you’d tortured him enough. You whispered his name slowly and sensual as you possibly could. As soon as you finished with the last syllable, you didn’t have time to swat away the thick green smoke surrounding your face before you felt his arms wrap around your waist. His nose was practically touching yours and you noticed the mischievous grin on his face.  It didn’t surprise you that he still had on the Santa costume and soon you felt him pepper quick kisses on your neck. 

“So tell me little girl, have you been naughty or nice this year?” He asked in between kisses. You let out a light giggle as the hairs on his beard tickles your neck. 

“Aren’t you supposed to know that already, Santa?” You asked with added sarcasm on the name. He ignored you as he started nipping at your neck. “Anyway,” You stopped him by grabbing his cheeks with your hands. The way his face looked squished between your hands was too adorable for you to handle. 

“Even though you were giving me anxiety all night, I still wanna say thank you for doing me this favor. It really means a lot.” With your words, you used one thumb to gently rub against his cheek. He didn’t even try to hide the goofy smile that filled his face. The only thing missing from his costume was the Santa hat so you could see the baby pink color that started to creep up strands of his hair.  

“Aw, don’t sweat it, doll. You know I’d do anything for you and the kid.” He said so nonchalantly. It wasn’t until you gave him a fond smile that he realized what he said. It was rare for Beetlejuice to be anything less than crass. Whenever he showed moments of sincerity, it made your heart feel warm. His hair only got pinker as you looked at him with hearts in your eyes. 

“I still want to show my appreciation. Seriously, what can I do to say thanks?” You asked, already knowing the type of answer he’d give. You watched as he acted like he was thinking for a moment. Just as his lip twisted back until an evil smirk, you felt one of his cold hands make his way down to your ass and give a gentle squeeze. 

“Wellllll, how about a kiss under the mistletoe, babes?” He leaned in closer to your face. 

You assumed he would’ve made one appear over you because you didn’t have one hanging anywhere in your apartment. A small puff of green smoke appeared in front of you but when you looked above, there wasn’t mistletoe to be found. Beej still had the arrogant smirk on his face as he watched you look around in confusion. After a second, it finally hit you. You made the mistake of looking down to see said mistletoe resting on the belt above his crotch. When you looked back at him, he wiggled his eyebrows. The annoyed sigh you let out could’ve been heard throughout the whole building. God, this guy was such a dumbass. 

“Well? You gonna thank me or what?” The demon man asked, giving your ass a harder squeeze. You ignored his question and reached down. He seemed to get excited, but you disregarded his expectations that when you plucked the mistletoe off of his belt and held it above your heads. 

“Don’t get too cocky, dweeb.” You saw that he was about to protest but you pushed your lips against his before he could. 

Kissing Beetlejuice was nothing new but somehow this was a little different. You just remembered how sweet he was to your daughter and the interactions they’ve had. You thought about how you loved seeing them together. You thought about how much you loved the three of you being together like a family, like the family you’ve secretly wanted for so long. You put all of those thoughts into the kiss. All the love you had for Beetlejuice, you put into your kiss. 

He was a little flustered at first, but eventually got in sync with you. He could tell you were putting your all into the kiss and was determined to do the same. You dropped the mistletoe to the floor and wrapped your arms around the man’s neck, pulling your bodies closer together. Beej let out a small grunt as you let your tongue slip it’s way into his mouth. You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into with that. Not long after did Beetlejuice shove his own freakishly large tongue until your mouth, and later down your throat. You tried your hardest not to let out a loud moan once you felt the wetness fill up your mouth, but you knew that’s exactly what Beej wanted to hear. 

Even though you wanted to go longer, it would’ve been easier to finish what you started in the bedroom. Your daughter never caught you and Beej in the act, thank God, but there have been times where it was a close call. You hesitantly pulled away from the demon man, and it took a second for his tongue to leave from your throat. You gasped for air as your hands rested on his chest. You could see the ready-to-go feral look on his face as he rested his forehead on yours. 

“Was that a good enough thank you?” You asked, letting out a slight laugh. Beetlejuice let out a heartier laugh as his golden eyes glowed bright like stars. 

“I think I could use a little more convincing.” His scratchy voice echoed through your ears as he leaned down to wrap his arms around your thighs. You didn’t have a second to think as he lifted your body off of the ground and threw you over his shoulder with ease; one hand rested on your thigh and the other held a tight grip on your ass. You tried not to laugh too loudly as he carried your to your bedroom, ending the night in hours and hours of lovemaking. 

With being so wrapped up in each other, you didn’t see your daughter peeking from around the hallway corner. Even though you thought she was fast asleep, Beetlejuice’s presence had woken her up while she tucked you in. She snuck out to watch in both joy and disgust as you two basically made out in the living room. She was glad to see you happy but it was still gross to see her parental figures kissing at all. With Beetlejuice still being in his Santa costume, she was able to put two and two together. She didn’t necessarily stop believing in Santa but she was glad Beetlejuice played the part for her. 

The young girl scurried her way back into her room and gently closed the door so you two wouldn’t hear. Boy, was she gonna have a story to tell her fellow Girl Scouts.

Thank you guys so much for reading! See you guys in the New Year!💚💜🖤 🎉