#they get passed into different hands

[xitsensunmoon]

You'd think after getting your dear daycare attendant out of the Pizzaplex you would live happily ever after, hm?

look who changed their mind to post the whole thing together oops

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Unsolved Mysteries.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[arsenicflame]

steddyhands modern au inspired by this post:

(1828 words, themes of kink but nothing explicit, established blackhands & gentlebeard-centric. Happy Pride!)

Stede picks up leatherworking in the wake of his divorce. He's not exactly sure how it ended up being such an important hobby for him, only that he had always admired the intricate designs on his horse's best bridles, and with little else to do with his time, he decides to give it a go.

It's rocky going at first, but he's having fun working with his hands for the first time in his life, and there's a sense of satisfaction in seeing the design come to life as he works. With practice, his skills improve, and he learns how to make things that are truly one of a kind.

He starts off posting his pieces online, as a way to reach fellow enthusiasts, but quickly finds himself with a rather large audience. Stede’s style is unique, and, after many requests from his followers, Lucius encourages him to make some more basic pieces he can sell. It's not about making money for Stede, but another way to meet new people who share his interests- as Lucius keeps telling him, it's sad that his personal assistant is the main person he talks to these days. 

So Stede sets out on a new adventure, and has quite the time designing a new range of patterns for the market. He makes purses, belts, bracelets, and, most importantly, dog collars- all still with his unique designs embossed into them, of course. He rents a booth at his towns monthly craft fair, and very quickly finds himself with a new group of friends in the other regulars- Pete, his usual neighbour, who sells an array of wooden figures he carves, Roach, who runs a stand for his bakery, and Frenchie, who isn't actually a stallholder, but is almost always busking near his friend Wee John’s stand of knitted goods, bringing life to the market even in the pouring rain. There's also Buttons, another regular at the market. Nobody is exactly sure what he does there- he doesn't sell things, or seem to buy anything either, but rain or shine, he's there with the birds.

Stede’s been doing this a few months by the time June rolls around. As he's setting up his stand, he notices that the area is much busier than it’d normally be at this time of morning. Lucius, who got roped into helping run Stede’s stall somewhere down the line (despite his protests that this is not what personal assistant means… But hey, he got a boyfriend out of it, at least), reminds him that there's the parade today, too- not realising that Stede had no clue there was a parade today, and especially not that it was pride. Stede immediately jumps to fretting about the amount of stock he’s brought, and Lucius takes the cue to escape, saying he’ll go and grab them coffee (but really, he's off to flirt with Pete)

Lucius is still missing when Ed stumbles across the little leather stall. Stede’s just ran back to his car to fetch his last boxes of inventory, and by the time he returns, Ed’s already begun to narrow down his choices. Stede greets him, starting to tell him that they're not actually open yet, but before he gets more than a couple of words out, Ed’s exclaiming “You're a Kiwi!!!”

The two of them smile at the shared recognition, and Stede says he’ll make an exception, just for Ed, and asks him what exactly he was interested in. Ed tells him that he's looking for a collar “for his boy”, and points out the particular design he was looking at. It happens to be one of Stede’s favourites from this latest run of work, a fact he mentions to Ed. It leads them into a discussion about Stede’s craft, and Ed’s Izzy, and then everything in between. Ed’s listening intently to the things Stede’s telling him, completely drawn in by the process, and by Stede himself. He watches as Stede stamps Izzy's name into the collar, and Stede even lets him have a go at one of the stamps. 

Lucius reappears sometime in the middle of this- only to immediately retreat again, seeing Stede engrossed with Ed. He sets up camp at Pete's booth opposite, watching this man flirt intensely with his boss- and Stede flirt back just as hard. Does Stede even realise he’s doing it? Lucius had known Stede was gay since before Stede even admitted it to himself, but this is on a whole other level.

The pair stand there so long that Izzy comes to look for Ed- the two of them are manning a float on the parade with their crew, and it's past time for them to get geared up. He's already worked up, frustrated to have been left to set up everything alone, when Ed had just gone to see if he could get them both coffee. So maybe he's a bit of a prick, approaching with a brash “where the fuck have you been, Edward”, to which Stede brings the same energy, giving a bitchy “Ed! Do you know this guy?” Izzy tenses, ready to snap, but then Ed cuts in, excitedly telling Stede that this is “his Izzy!” Which confuses the hell out of Stede. 

Forgetting his earlier attitude, he asks Ed if he “really named his dog after his friend”, only to be met with confusion right back from Ed at where the hell Stede got the idea he had a dog from. Stede gestures at the bag with the collar in it, to which Ed has to tell him, “oh, no, that's for him.” Ed tells Stede that they're here to run a float for their local leather society, and while Stede is certainly shocked by what Ed’s saying, he's not finding himself… uninterested. It's simply that he’s never even considered any of this before, especially not that people would use the things that he made for this, but Ed sounds so enthusiastic about it all. He tells him about how his friends would love to see Stede’s work, about how classic leather gear is always so fucking boring- but not Stede’s stuff, no, Stede’s stuff is “fresh” and “fascinating” and unlike anything Ed’s ever seen before. 

Ed's enthusiasm is incredibly infectious, so when he invites Stede to come back to see their float, he readily agrees. It’s a concept Izzy’s less than enthusiastic about. He doesn’t really want to bring this man who’s dressed like he just walked out of a HOA board meeting to their kinky little corner of the world, but he is having a lot of fun watching Stede squirm, so decides not to raise a protest. He does demand he gets his long-overdue coffee first, though (Stede pays for it- as “compensation for him distracting Ed from his job”, he says, not giving Izzy a second to process before he's tapping his card)

By the time they return to the float, Fang, Ivan & Jim are waiting for them, all already geared up. Stede is stunned silent at the sight for about 5 seconds, before he starts actually looking at the quality of Jim’s harness, and proceeds to go off about the poor quality of the craftsmanship, about how the hardware is tacky and completely the wrong choice with this leather, how his “ten year old daughter could do a better job!!!” 

There's complete silence from the group, until Izzy, of all people, bursts into laughter at Stede’s audacity (and, the fact he was staring at Jim's tits completely unabashedly, like he hadn't even noticed them in the first place). Izzy's laughter sets Ed off as he tells the group about Stede’s misunderstanding- “you didn't say he was a person!” “I mean, he's my dog”- and soon everyone's having a friendly giggle at Stede’s mistake.

It's somewhere in the middle of the retelling that Ed remembers that this whole thing happened because he was buying Izzy a gift. After a moments fumbling, he presents Izzy with the collar-  It's a rich, deep black, embossed with a rolling pattern that resembles waves. It’s made from a firm enough leather to take the tooling, and to remind Izzy that he’s owned while he’s wearing it, yet still soft enough for long term comfort. Izzy's eyes immediately lock on to it, an unreadable expression coming over his face, and Ed turns it; first so he can really see the design and Izzy’s name embossed into it, and then so he can see the small “Ed ♥” on the inside of the collar, right over his swallow tattoo. 

“I did the heart,” Ed says to him softly, intended only for Izzy’s ears. Izzy's eyes flick up to Ed’s, and he raises his chin to give Ed the room to put it on. Ed buckles the collar around his neck almost reverently, a test of the tightness turning into a caress of Izzy's neck. It's a perfect fit.

It's as though something comes over Izzy; so twitchy and abrasive earlier, now silent, staring at Ed with a look akin to worship in his eyes. He obediently tilts his head for a kiss as Ed's fingers move to his chin- It's a sight to behold, and one that has Stede intrigued. He wants to know more about this lifestyle, and these men in particular. He wants to be the one to put that expression on Izzy's face.

The moment breaks as Ed and Izzy pull apart, and Ed calls for the crew to finish the last bits of set up. Izzy shakes himself a little before running off to bark orders again, but even still, there remains a softness to him that wasn't there before. 

Ed turns back to Stede with an apologetic smile, already obvious that he has to get going. Before he can speak, however, Stede jumps in -“My business numbers on the card in the box… I'll be around all day”- Ed’s smile turns more genuine at that, promising to stop by if he gets a moment, and that he’ll send his friend's Stede’s way- “if he wants that kind of business.” Stede says that he does, actually- that he's seen a whole new world already today, and, while he was a little taken aback at first, he can feel the passion Ed and his friends have for this life. If there's one thing that's ever mattered to Stede, it's other people's enthusiasm. Maybe he doesn't completely understand yet, but he would like to try.

One year later, Stede’s back at the market on pride weekend again, far better stocked for the crowds this time around. Lucius is finally free to spend the day flirting with Fang & Pete to his heart's content, now that Stede’s roped his own boyfriends into helping him run the stall- and into modelling the merchandise. Ed loves that part, while Izzy needs a lot more convincing, but the puppy eyes Stede & Ed weaponise against him make a very good argument.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

POOR GABRIEL MONTEZ! YOU NEVER SAW THIS COMING DID YOU? ALL YOU WANTED WAS POWER. SECURITY. SAFETY. & THATS EXACTLY WHAT YOU GOT! JUST IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR BODY. LETS JUST HOPE NO ONE FUCKS THIS UP. LETS JUST HOPE YOU WONT HAVE TO CLEAN UP THE MESS.

[leporinelou]

hm. yeah ok

[lesbianjodie]

We need a detective Conan case where Jodie is there just...carrying around Conan literally. Literally just carrying him around on her shoulders or hip cause he has tiny legs and reaching things for him cause he has tiny arms and she's just smirking and happy and he's so damn tired of this shit but puts up with it.

SO TRUE BESTIE. She would totally carry Conan around Heiji style if the opportunity presented itself. God bless. Akai is not allowed to because he's too tall and Conan can't reach shit from his shoulders and bumps his head on all the ceilings. Jodie makes fun of him for it. Anyway,

The pookiessssss <333333333333

[askaceattorney]

Dear Nemo,

I know he can. When it comes to finding the truth, he will search for it and nothing or anyone can stop him.

And even while Manfred von Karma's methods were not... orthodox, in the right hands, he can change the entire country and the world.

- Lana Skye

[valiant-portabella-pirkko]

Alright know what here's a little Guild Wars 2 reblog game for everybody; what mounts (if any) do your characters have in their canon, do they have names? Personalities? How'd they meet??

Spill it all below, tell me about all your creatures!!

[funkbun]

stardust already being a million points ahead of seafoam is sooooo

[tkbrokkoli]

i wonder if arthur and john ever try to do smth w two hands but it's extremely awkward. like arthur is cold and they wrap their hands around a cup of tea and when arthur tries to drink from it it spills all over him. bc it's hard to coordinate when you share a body and each of you has one arm but only one of you has the eyes

[sukugo]

Do you think gojo jerked off in yuuta's body (possibly had him watch)

this is not even a question. YES he did (both things)

[tleeaves]

I'm really bad at law school 🧍‍♀️

[creativity-deficient]

Soooo what are y’all’s hcs on the Tweak family 🤔🤔🤔

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

watching fandaniel go is wild because he is just [vestibular stims] [vestibular stims] [vestibular stims] [vestibular stims] and yeah man that's a mood

[axewchao]

Space Orcs AU yet again, because I wanted to tweak Dal a little bit, wanted to draw his dog again, and draw B-Junes again, all in one go owo)b

And also wanted to make another space background, thanks to Mario RPG. Stars are pretty...

Anyway more tidbits under a readmore, here we go!

Bowser Junior

During an experiment that Iggy and Ludwig were performing in hopes of improving the travel speeds of their spaceships, an accident caused all eight members of the Royal Brood to be pulled into multiple wormholes and scattered across the cosmos. Junior ended up on a planet filled with Dino Piranhas, and struggled to survive until a trio of strange, squishy creatures found and seemingly adopted him.

While Junior tried keeping his distance out of fear that these squishy folk were actually kidnappers, it didn't take long for his curiosity and need for comfort to overpower any of his fears. He bonded fastest with the purple-maned one; often riding piggyback around the ship or curling up next to him and his fuzzy friend when it's time to sleep. He turns out to be a quick learner when it comes to their languages, easily figuring out short sentences in English and, by courtesy of the red-clad one, several curse words in Italian.

Dalex

A fifteen-year-old human who was snatched in the dead of night while taking his dog out for a late-night bathroom break. Despite his near-overwhelming fear, he teamed up with Mario and Luigi to hijack the ship the three of them were imprisoned on, successfully taking control of the newly-dubbed Starship Mario. It takes a while for Dal to actually warm up to the Bros., but regularly talking about their respective families helps him avoid cracking from under the stress and homesickness.

After rescuing Bowser Jr., Dal becomes the turtle kid's primary caretaker, along with some of the younger Koopalings once they too are found. Before meeting Iggy and subsequently getting a translator built, Dal taught Junior how to speak bits and pieces of English, and can understand his words better than Mario or Luigi. Think of it like "babysitter learning a kid's speech patterns while other people still hear gibberish."

Viridi

Dal's loyal companion and fuzzy baby child. He was abducted alongside his owner and stayed as close to Dal as possible during both their confinement and eventual starship takeover. 'Distraction' was the name of this dog's game, barking at their captors with varying degrees of success during the fight. Hard to tell if they'd never heard a dog bark before or they were actually scared by it, but they got an old-fashioned Mario Bros. Beatdown regardless.

Compared to all the other "crewmembers," Viridi's the most calm, even excited about what awaits them on their new journey. He likes the odd scaly child; those claws give the greatest scritches he's ever gotten in his life (sorry Dally). Of course, being excited and curious isn't always a good thing, as Viridi's go-to method of following his nose can lead to trouble. Of all the times to lose the leash, it had to be during a space adventure... =_="

[martyrbat]

one path i was debating, the one before bruce ACTUALLY breaks it, is he and khoa never have their snow fight or their rain breakup. they stick together, they train together, they STAY together because of the loop and the trauma bruce faced, the realization that he's in love. love has always fueled him and after losing minhkhoa again and again, after cradling his corpse again and again, he actually chooses khoa. he chooses to believe in his honey-promise of returning to gotham as men instead. and like.... that alone i want to write and but the time loop aspect can very quickly get sidetracked or forgotten about and like... NO idea how to tackle it with the skill it deserves lol

@martyrbat