#they look a little bit wonky but I guess that’s fine

[halcandrandee]

Tokucember day 9. Showa era, Ultraman Leo + Astra. I like these two a lot and I feel bad for them with everything that happened. I have not finished this show yet but I enjoy the relationship between Toruu and Gen and I think that he should just adopt him already.

[wihellib]

Mammon was voted #1 in the Favourite H Scene poll here. Not really surprising. His H scene was quite good. Satan was 2nd and Foras was 3rd. I am surprised by Foras. I think there might be a bit of recency bias in this case.

Under the cut is my completely biased, quickly-written, kinda summarized opinions on each of the H scenes.

Satan

Satan staring at you without blinking while kissing and sleeping still throws me off.

I like that Satan reassures you that he’s doesn’t just like you because you’re the descendant of Solomon.

I don’t like hair pulling or strangulation, so not very fond of this scene, even though I like Satan a lot.

The CG is nice. I like how he’s grinning and the glow of his eyes.

Only features a little bit of spanking even though that’s his kink.

It’s mentioned that we’re feeling the pleasure that Satan’s feeling. This is done in several scenes. I’ve never liked it. It feels like a cop out.

The scene ends abruptly with you blacking out. I much prefer when there a bit of follow up/pillow talk afterwards.

Sitri

Sitri gives you tea to calm your nerves that makes your heart beat a lot faster and louder because of the caffeine… but I don’t think caffeine works to this extent, so creative liberty I guess.

His kink, hearing heartbeats, features prominently in this scene. Keeping his head near your chest, mouth on your chest, feeling your heartbeat through your intimate connection, and moving in time with your heartbeat.

You’re feeling turned on because he’s turned on, similar to Satan’s scene, still not a fan.

You feel more aroused as your heart beats faster and you think it might explode… I don’t see what’s arousing about that.

CG was good again. I liked that he’s showing a lot more emotion than his normal sprite usually does.

He calls you Solomon throughout, which is annoying, but does call you by your real name at the very end (the only time he’s done so).

Some pillow talk at the end which is nice.

Zagan

Zagan blushes and turns away when he sees your naked body, which is cute.

He’s quiet like usual, but does speak when you ask him why he wanted to help you, and says he wanted to do it with you and give you devils energy, while blushing. Very cute.

You get to take a bit more of a lead, be a bit more assertive, in this one, you’re not just manhandled around, which is refreshing.

I like that he seems to have a praise kink.

He tries to increase his muscle use, get a better workout, increase movement, which is his kink, which arouses him more, which arouses you. Fine whatever.

The CG is fine. Your foot looks wonky with its finger-like toes but Zagan looks good.

Some pillow talk again. Zagan has been mostly silent, but does say it was a good workout and he wants to do it again at the end.

Leraye

Leraye is completely overwhelmed by pleasure from hearing thunder, which is his kink. He basically tackles you onto the bed and glues himself on top of you.

I’m pretty sure this is the first time one of them play with your genitals during foreplay.

You are getting aroused from the thunder too, so we’re keeping the trend of whatever the guy likes you also like inexplicably.

MC comments he’s more like a growling wolf and not his golden retriever self.

I really like this CG. He’s completely on top of you, pressing you down on your stomach, while covering your eyes and biting your neck. His presence is overwhelming.

The thunder goes away and Leraye comes back to his senses. He’s so happy that it wasn’t a dream, smiling, lays down next to you, wishes you good dreams and kisses your forehead. I very much like this wind-down to the scene.

Paimon

We go to Paimon’s room instead of ours for this scene, which is a nice change of pace. His room is full of mirrors, which feature heavily in this scene. His kink, which is blood, isn’t included at all.

We’re also not naked right at the very start, which I much prefer. I like the undressing phase.

Paimon rubs your genitals and forces you to look at what he’s doing to you in the mirror, which he continues throughout the scene. I was surprised how dominant Paimon was in this scene, but I wasn’t against it.

Paimon says he loves pretty things and looking at pretty things from multiple angles. He says that you’re pretty and a devilish human.

He makes you brace your hands against a wall mirror and stuffs your shirt in your mouth.

The CG is good. For the first time we are shown a different angle than us on a bed. Paimon’s face seems a little off to me, but overall it’s good.

Paimon throws the mirror on the ground, so you’re forced to look at a different, more revealing angle.

Just a little bit of pillow talk. Paimon kisses us and tell us to come him when we want to play more.

Mammon

Back in Minhyeok’s room unfortunately. Mammon comes out swinging by immediately commenting on how skilled we look in accepting devil’s energy.

Mammon says that it was obvious since he first met you that he had to have you, but he also realized that he would just be one of many that would try that tactic. So, he decided to do something he’s never done before and let you have him. You will be his first master. He also reveals that he wasn’t as close to Solomon as the other Kings. You ask if he only likes you because you’re the descendant of Solomon and he replies that he just fell in love with you at first sight. This affection is clear throughout this scene, which increases its rank a lot for me.

Mammon’s kink is all about bottoms, and this scene reflects that. You’re both grabbing each other’s butts and getting more aroused.

Mammon picks you up and holds yours buttcheeks open while you wrap your arms around his neck. I like that Mammon is showing off his strength here.

I do wish that they had spent some time on Mammon using his fingers or tongue to prep you to take him. He is very large, evident by the fact that your first thought when he entered you was, ‘I am going to die’, so it would have been nice to see him care about making sure he doesn’t hurt you. He does hold himself still at first to let you adjust, but I still would have liked some prep beforehand.

The CG is good. No complaints.

Mammon flips you around, so you’re in a standing 69 position, showing off his strength again, and you give each other oral.

Longer pillow talk. He lays you on top of him, it was very nice.

Bimet

Bimet changes his tune about you real quick when Mammon declares you to be his master. He kneels before you and informs you that you became the being that arouses him the most with that declaration. He cannot covet Mammon, but now he can covet you, the only one who owns Mammon, and he is ecstatic about that. He wants to serve you. Bimet’s kink is wealthy people and you’re the wealthiest of all.

I do not like Bimet and I do not like his reasons for favouring you. It is shallow and fragile. He would be back to contempt for you the moment Mammon lost interest. I’m not a big fan of this H scene simply because I don’t like Bimet.

He licks your toes, which no thank you. He does oral on you and puts his conniving tongue to good use.

CG is good. I like how wet his mouth is because of you.

Some pillow talk. He gives you the first thing he truly owned himself, a coin from Solomon, and tells you to give it back to him if you choose him. I would have preferred if the first thing he owned wasn’t from Solomon.

Belial

You go to wrap your naked body in a blanket like you usually do, but Belial stops you and says you’ll end up taking it off anyways. The immediate assertiveness was surprising but interesting.

Because of his throat injury, Belial talks very little and Jjyu is not there to help him, so he communicates with you by writing on your naked body, which is his kink. It is a very good, intimate solution. He writes lots all over your body while fingering you.

You are against the wall, facing Belial, while he penetrates and writes adorations on you.

The CG shows that everything he’s written is glowing red on you. It’s a nice picture, but I could have done without him licking your armpit. I think I would have preferred a kiss in the lips instead.

Some pillow talk, you fall asleep with him inside of you.

Valefor

We have moved on from Minhyeok’s room, which is great. I felt it was much too restrictive, and caused repetitiveness.

Valefor reassures you and you tell him he is kind and reminds you of Mammon, which he approves of. When you see that he likes it, you lean more into the comparisons. Valefor is turned on by being compared to Mammon because he respects him greatly. You talk about Mammon a lot, but I wish it was a bit less, because this is supposed to be Valefor’s moment, not Mammon’s. His kink is supposed to be hearing explicit narratives, so I don’t think this really relates to it.

Valefor praises you for how well you know how to please a devil. And tells you to run away if you want to only know him as the kind relaxed Valefor.

Then we start going into exhibitionism territory, with him leading you to the closed door, where Bimet is just outside keeping watch. This is also not his kink.

Bimet leaves to check something, so Valefor increases the risk factor and opens the door while you’re both naked and penetrates you.

The CG is fine. The way you and he are positioned are a bit odd. It’s hard to tell whose body part is whose.

Valefor basically taunts you asking where Bimet is, then puts you in an even more embarrassing position.

Some pillow talk. He lifts you up, kisses your forehead, and you admire his chest.

Leviathan

Levi decides to give you devil energy even though he doesn’t like you. He hangs you and insults Minhyeok in an effort to make you mad so you hurt him, which will arouse him. So that’s what happens.

The CG is my least favourite of all of them. You start stomping on his lap and dick. Your toes are oddly long again and you have an oddly muscled thigh. Levi is not even naked. This is the only CG that doesn’t take place during some sort of penetration.

You straddle him and start strangling him and enough clothes have been taken off at this point that he penetrates you.

Then you kissed him for so long that you were both feeling oxygen deprived. He is in awe that you showed him there’s another way to suffocate. He thinks you’re talented. Only very little pillow talk.

I don’t like Levi. The way he acts and talks to you. I don’t like it at all. I also don’t like breath control, his kink, or anything to do with strangulation/choking, or beating people up. So this H scene was not for me at all.

Glasyalabolas

Glasy’s kink is necrophilia, and they include his kink in the H scene by making you as limp as a corpse after kissing him. Oh boy. I’m not fond of Glasy and I don’t like the idea of not being in control of yourself and unable to move at all. So this scene ranks very low for me.

He licks your toes, not a fan. He plays with your chest and nipples. He spreads you open and just stares, then performs oral on you, while keeping you spread open.

He makes your limp hand jerk him off, then uses your slack mouth. This is the second time you performed oral on a demon. This is what the CG shows, though I would have preferred if they picked something else.

Then he manhandles you into position to penetrate you. He cums inside you. Then he moves to your throat again and comes there too. This is the first time the guy has come twice in an H scene.

There is pillow talk. He wraps you in his cape, holds you and kisses you as the limpness wears off. He tells you he’ll fetch you when you die, but it’s good you’re alive now.

Foras

You realize you need devils energy, but none are around you right now, so you start masturbating. You hear the door open, but don’t see anyone. Foras is invisible, which plays into his kink.

He starts playing with your genitals while invisible. You realize who he is and call out to him, but he ignores you.

Finally he tells you to take off your clothes, pose embarrassingly, and just sit there in silence while he watches while still invisible. The dominance he’s displaying is unexpected, but fine.

Foras puts his dick near your mouth and you suck him off.

He penetrates you, again while all the while being invisible, so it looks like you’re being fucked by a ghost.

The CG could be better. His expression looks a little wonky and you’re clothed in it even though you’re supposed to be naked.

Foras informs you that he was there for every H scene. He really liked that you never noticed him.

He doesn’t let you see him afterwards, which I think he should have. He gets your permission to keep watching you having sex. Then he inexplicably cums on your face after you fall asleep. No thank you sir. And for some reason you don’t even comment on it after you wake up.

Overall

I liked Leraye, Mammon, Belial, Zagan, Paimon, and Valefor H Scenes the most.

[minnlahzz]

amethio and silver with a kogal gyaru s/o.

requested

YEAH, YEAH! first time writing for silver in pokespe, a big roller coaster. this might be a bit ooc, also amethio's is set before episode 65. note this is strictly manga silver, not game silver! I apologise in advance if there's spelling mistakes i barely proof read.

— NOTE : LOWERCASE INTENDED

— AMETHIO

amethio is not one to judge, infact he's very supportive, because of his job he's seen many people with many different styles. he's seen many gyaru's before, so he definitely has common knowledge about why and how you guys do this style.

he'll try it, reluctantly and only once. you can put hair clips on him, and do his make up! he'll wash it off afterwards though, it's not that he doesn't like it, it's that he has a status to approve and the admins aren't really on friendly terms right now, sango would definitely love you if she found out you existed.

amethio likes to observe you doing your make up, he could watch you for hours and not get bored. and attentively too, he'd ask "what's that one for?" when curious what your make products do.

gives you random things at anytime cute key charms, hair clips, accessories, anything cute he's seen you look at before or bought. if you have pokemon yourself, he'll buy key chains of your pokemon to stick to your rotom phone. he'd use the reasoning "i saw this while on duty, and thought you'd like it" so sweet!

supportive, would volunteer to take your photos even if they look a little wonky... he's trying! he'll get better eventually and you'll have a portable camera director.

would jump everybody that gives you weird looks in his mind, judging is for ugly people.

— SILVER

when first meeting you silver did not judge or get weirded out, since its common around johto for girls to have this style. he found it pretty cool and charming.

please do geek out about your interests and things you'd want to do with your style, silver is interested and will definitely listen to your yapping spree.

tough to say, but silver would not try the style or would want anything to do with it. he doesn't hate it, but he's more comfortable wearing his own stuff. although if you give him something like a bracelet or hair tie he'll treasure it with his life.

he likes walking with you, and letting you go shopping! silver is technically a nepo baby so he has alot of money, and always volunteers to pay for you and your shenanigans. it's that whole scene you'd see a cute item and you ask him if he wants one. he'd go completely silent for a second thinking.

"hey silver, look at these silly phone cases!" you say, grabbing his attention. "a gengar phonecase?..." silver tilted his head, "no good?"

"If you want you can buy it, I don't really care." silver responds at you, as your pointing at the items. "but I wanna buy it for the both of us! we should get two, unless you don't like it?"

"no, no it's fine I don't really need one." he reassures, looking back at them and then your face second guessing what he said. right as you were gonna put the other one back to the rack, "you know what, I'll use it."

the sparkle in your eyes was so adorable, maybe he should give in once in a while...

silver wins the idgaf war, he'd use his phone in public with the phone case you bought! (with his money) even if gold asks him silver shrugs. "it's pretty cool." is his common response, another thing of winning idgaf war is that he's not afraid to approach somebody who was giving you weird stares.

[showtoonzfan]

Hey it’s been a bit! The Mammon episode finally came out, so here’s my review!

Pros:

- The sign language scene was cute. Kinda weird that a kid was seeing a show that was clearly for adults but I love me some representation so it gets a pass.

- Despite Blitz not really needing to be in this episode, I thank god he had little screen time and more time was dedicated to Fizz.

- The fish ladies (despite having wonky color palettes that made them EXTREMELY hard to look at) were cute.

Cons:

- Mammon is so flat and uninteresting but I don’t know what I expected from a creator who always hypes her characters up that always end up being one of the three go-to personalities she picks for her male characters. In Mammon’s case he’s just a loud mouth cursing bum so way to ruin another Deadly Sin and make them boring af, moving on.

- I don’t like how Mammon and Fizz’s relationship are similar of Val and Angel’s, Viv keeps recycling stories, characters and plot lines ect, it makes Angel’s story for Hazbin really predictable/underwhelming and not exciting to look forward too especially since we already have the “mafia bad daddy” aspect to him too that they pulled for Moxxie. I guess the idea of Mammon being a controlling ruler is fine on paper but not much is done with it, Fizz just quits in the end like it was easy with zero consequences so what was all that build up for.

- Fizz himself once again feels REALLY out of character, he’s just too soft compared to how he was introduced in season 1. He’s constantly nervous in this episode and insecure, as well as walking on eggshells, and even in Oops he wasn’t THIS sensitive. I’m all for characters struggling and being kicked down but it has to make sense and not feel forced, and once again it feels like Viv is trying way to hard to make the characters she once introduced as snarky assholes to uwu innocent babies. I refuse to believe Fizz was actually INTIMIDATED by this random geeky imp who insulted him, as well as the fish ladies whom he was weirdly nice and welcoming to. It’s also weird seeing how uncomfortable/nervous he was around his fans when I thought the whole point was that he LOVED praise and loved being famous, at least that was season 1 Fizz. Now he feels retconned. Seeing him say “I just need this gig” is weird too, the explanation to why he went through all of this makes no sense, Fizz still has Ozzie and is famous in the Lust ring, and I understand Mammon is his idle but to go through all that abuse for so long for something that could have been so easily avoided feels forced to fit the plot, but it also makes Fizz look dumb.

- There’s confusing lore stuff regarding Mammon and Ozzie, and it makes me realize that Viv should have picked ONE storyline aka ONE Seven Deadly sin to go with Fizz’s story because this is getting mixed up. Fizz acts like if he looses this completion, he looses everything, which confused the heck out of me because no he wouldn’t have? First of all, Ozzie is a fucking powerful sin, how would you loose him? Second, from what we know from season 1, Fizz is a jester who performs at Ozzie’s club. It was Ozzie who built the sex robots across the rings of hell, NOT Mammon, and in season 2 we see that Fizz is under Ozzie’s care and lives in his house. Yet for some weird reason Mammon also represents Fizz and uses him for profit, but it’s not really explained in a way that makes sense, like Love’s art had said in her Fizz redesign video, Fizz’s job is really confusing on what exactly he does. Having both Ozzie and Mammon represent him overcomplicates things and the show did a poor job at explaining how this goes.

- Once again Viv dumps trauma and struggle onto her characters without building it up first. When did Fizz ever give off the impression that he was being controlled or abused, or even that he was so insecure and constantly walked on eggshells to be perfect. In Oops he was happy to be in the spotlight and happy to get the attention, he bragged to Blitz about how successful he was. He seemed happy to perform for Mammon and talked of him highly, and now you’re pulling an Angel Dust situation where he’s expected to be perfect 24/7 and it gets to him emotionally, while also being someone who’s physically and mentally abused. Yet another season 2 episode that wasn’t planned, same as how Millie wanting to feel important wasn’t planned, same as how Stolas seeing Blitz as genuine love wasn’t planned. Different episode, same issues.

- I’m so done with the Hell lore bro, this place officially has no rules and demons can just do anything without consequences. There’s no class system, there’s no rankings, there’s no power dynamics, screw anything that Viv says. There was no fucking reason why Ozzie and Fizz’s relationship needed to be a secret. There was no reason showing Ozzie threatening his workers to not tell anyone about his love life if he was just going to admit it to EVERYONE THE NEXT EPISODE IN FRONT OF ANOTHER SIN ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME— what was the POINT. What is the point of Stolas and Blitz’s conflict. What is the point of Stella being classist. What is the point of these class systems and rules if you can just announce that you technically broke a hell rule and no one gives a fuck and you get off scott free. Mammon telling Ozzie “you’ll regret that” like a cartoon villain doesn’t do anything either. What is he ganna do? Tell Lucifer, the character that canonically won’t appear in HB because the sins won’t appear in HH? If Lucifer rules over the sinners, who the fuck is in charge for the rest of Hell. Where’s the authority? And Mammon is just ganna come back for another episode to give the gang trouble cause lord knows we don’t have enough fucking villains already.

- It feels weird that Ozzie would just sit back while someone whom he knows is a piece of shit is treating his loved one badly. I get he was concerned but you’d think one of the seven deadly sins would have more power and authority.

- I was expecting some big gross bug-like thing to appear when Mammon was transforming into his final form, only for it to the exact same design but with small extra eyes and a spider lower half that isn’t even visible in most shots….GOD VIV.

Watching this episode also made me remind myself that this is supposed to be Hell. Seeing Fizz feel better and stand up for himself was sweet but these soft lessons and morals don’t belong in a show like this, and it’s extra aggravating regarding Viv’s double standard, how she can just pick and choose which characters she wants to be evil and which characters are saints. Overall not anywhere near the worst episode of season 2, but I am officially done with Helluva Boss so-

[seriesxwriting]

Giving in to you

W stiles stilinski

𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮- 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 (𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫)

Series- tw (teen wolf)

Paring- stiles and McCall fem reader

Warnings- kissing, t-shirt removing, swearing, um cliff jumping??

Summary- you can’t tell stiles how you feel. He’s your brother’s best friends, surely he wouldn’t even look at you twice. But on the anual camping trip you realised that he’s struggling to not give in to you just as much as you are him.

———————————————————————

The anual camping trip. It was that time once again where me, my family and a few family friends all packed up the cars to the brim just to camp out in a cold, boring woods. Needless to add the fact there was no wifi or electricity, even working toilets didn’t accompany us on the trip. I knew it was going to be a weekend of my mum trying and failing to catch fish, stiles and Scott ditching me, made up camp fire stories and uncomfortable sleeping.

Still, i couldn’t get out of it. So here I stood with my hands on my hips biting my lip trying to figure out if my orange, wonky tent was supposed to be wonky or if it would fall down and suffocate me in my sleep. I guess that would be a way out of the trip. 

“Y/n- that doesn’t look right” my brother observed as he walked over holding his backpack with one strap on his shoulder. “Yeah.. I was just thinking that” “you didn’t pull the strings tight enough” stiles chuckled joining us, he began pulling the strings out the ground. “Pass me the hammer” he pointed to my hand with a smile. He was so cute.

Shut up y/n, that’s your brothers best friend don’t be selfish he wou- “hellloo? Earth to y/n” stiles called out pulling me from my day dream. “Shit- here” I passed him the hammer and using his strong muscular arms pushed it into the ground making my tent look somewhat normal. “Thanks” I smiled when he stood back up. “Well i don’t want it falling on us when we’re asleep” he laughed giving me the hammer back. When his hand touched mine I felt electric sparks fly off.

“Us?” “Yeah, my tent was wrecked so Scott said i could just crash with you guys” stiles explained looking down at it. “Not a- problem Right?” “N- no no not at all” I practically shouted feeling nervous, stiles looked at me with one eye closed. It felt like it was just us here, even though everyone was clanging around us. “A-are we okay? I dunno it’s just felt like you’ve been a bit off with me recently” stiles asked turning to look at me once more.

Yeah because I realised I liked you more than I’m supposed to, more than I’m allowed to. “Yeah we’re fine of course we’re fine” “good- good, your the last person I wanna fall out with y/n” stiles told me lowering his voice as if we were talking about some secret drug deal that was about to go on. You’d think Scott would be the last person he wanted to fall out with, right?

I couldn’t tell if he was flirting EVER. He was quite hard to read. It was stuff like this that he said to me that made me fall for him. I wonder what he was thinking. “No we’re- fine, Im just- I don’t really like these trips so I’m a bit off I guess” “why don’t you like them?” He wondered with a little laugh. “Because- I’m in the middle of the wood with no phone and I stick to my mums side like we’re magnets because there’s nothing else to do”

“What? There’s loads to do why don’t you ever come with me and Scott to explore and mess about?” Stiles jerked his head back in shock, my lips pressed together looking at stiles. “I didn’t get an invite” “yes you did, I always tell Scott to ask if you want to join us- always”. I took a second to swallow that information. Fucking Scott. I didn’t want to bate out my brother but that had really pissed me off. “Maybe I wanted an invite from you” I shrugged softly smirking still holding eye contact with the boy.

“Did you now?”. I hummed in response keeping my thoughts a mystery, stiles let out a breathy laugh breaking our eye contact for a second. His cheeks turned slightly pink almost as if he was nervous. “Well you’ve got an invite, trust me i wouldn’t turn down spending any time with you”. I watched his eyes carefully, so when I saw them flick to my lips I knew for a fact he was thinking what I was thinking. We gave each other a look both knowing exactly what we were both imagining right now.

“Stiles! Come help me with the air bed” Scott shouted over from the famous jeep breaking the tension between us. Stiles looked across at Scott and then back to me “you coming?” “No I’ll leave that to you men” my hands shot up in defence and a laugh tumbled out of my pink lips. “The quicker it’s done the quicker we can get away from camp” he wiggled his eye brows at me before his arms stretched out and pressed down on my shoulders.

Stiles turned me around and walked me over to Scott as I giggled and tried to escape his grasp. Us three on our own carried the bed into the tent and managed to blow it up to an adequate level of comfortableness. After that was done we filled the tent with everything it needed, that being the flasks, the cool box, blankets and pillows and our bags with some change of clothes and activities to keep us occupied. It was much more fun doing it with stiles and Scott instead of just my brother this time.

“It looks perfect, shall we set off?” Stiles looked to Scott who had gotten comfy in one of the chairs. He had a flask of tea and a pink flowery blanket sprawled across his lap. But that didn’t matter, he was the alpha he could do as he wished with no questions asked. “Yeah sure, let’s go that way” he pointed behind our tent “mum, we’re going off to have a look about” Scott called out grabbing his mum’s attention, she stopped her conversation with Noah to wave at scott.

“Alright hun, will you bring some sticks back with you for another fire” she pointed to the pan sitting on the chard sticks. “Yeah will do, here y/n you can finish my tea” Scott said clearing making the assumption that I wasn’t coming with them. “She’s coming, just leave your tea there it will still be hot” stiles explained pointing at the ground. Scott’s eyes flicked towards me. “Come on” I told him with a sarcastic smile knowing he didn’t want me there. “Fine” he muttered putting his drink down in the grass and bouncing up, heading into the woods.

Stiles turned his head to give me a soft smile and nodded me along. He waited until I got to his side and then we followed scott into the woods. “I shouldn’t have worn shorts and a crop too, these mozzys are killing me” i snarled slapping my leg trying to kill the blood sucker. “Gonna have to disagree, I like your outfit” stiles shrugged lightly looking down at me “this is just stuff I usually wear nothing special” I giggled shaking my head.

“I know, I remember when you wore that top to school because the boys wouldn’t shut the fuck up about it all day long” stiles rolled his eyes. What was going on. “I-m sure they were just- messing around” “i don’t care either way they shouldn’t have been saying it they shouldn’t have even been looking” stiles told me in a much more serious tone making my heart pound against my chest. “Stiles it’s really not that deep” I shook my head making my hair fall into my face. “It is to me” I heard him mutter under his breath.

“Why” “Because i couldn’t stop them- no one, I couldn’t stop their thoughts about you i couldn’t stop them looking at you” he told me stopping in his tracks making me stop too and look directly into his baby brown eyes. Was he jealous? No that couldn’t be it, couldn’t it? “Because you’re not mine and that felt shit”. I blinked at the boy towering over me as the air pulled its self out of my throat and my heart nervously pumped out of my chest.

“Guys! Come check this out!” Scott yelled from up ahead. “We should- go” stiles began walking putting a defensive wall up between us. I watched him walk off for a few moments before I made my own move. I was so confused. We trudged through the sky scraping trees before we got to a clearing and there stood a huge lake with a sort of waterfall coming down from some rocks. “Looks like fishing is on the table” Scott told us as we took in the view. “It’s beautiful” “yeah, beautiful” stiles agreed, but when I looked across at him he wasn’t looking at the view. He was looking at me.

“Let’s go see if there’s any rocks at the bottom of the water, if there isn’t we should be able to jump in” Scott wriggled his eyebrows up and down. He bagan to wade his way in after removing his top. Stiles copied throwing his top onto the the floor and removing his shoes. I had to grit my teeth together so my mouth didn’t hang open or I started drooling. Scott turned around splashing at stiles beginning a water bending fight. “There’s no rocks over here” stiles called out ten seconds before he disappeared under the water.

“And it’s pretty deep too” he yelled when he came up for air. His hands ran through his hair and the moment felt as if it was played In slow mo. “Come on y/n, climb up” stiles shouted as he began pulling himself out the water onto the rock formation. “I don’t really- like hights!” I yelled back across the water. “Don’t be a baby!” Scott cackled as he climbed up behind stiles. I let out an annoyed sigh before taking off my shoes. I went round so I didn’t have to get into the water.

When I reached the top the boys were lying on the grass laughing and panting. “I won! I beat the alpha!” Stiles howled out and he fist pumped the air. “You got out first” Scott laughed shaking his head while standing. He looked down at the water before backing up. “Your just jealous j-e-a…” Stiles chuckled sitting up with his legs dangling down. Scott whizzed past us cutting stiles off, taking a large leap into the air and then plummeting into the water. I gasped covering my mouth but relaxed after I heard a splash and then a very excited scream come from my brother mouth.

“Come On” stiles looked my way laughing a little. “I’m not sure sti” I chewed on my lip looking down. “Do it with me then” he told me pushing up off the floor. “You can close your eyes if you have to” he leant his head to the side playfully “come on I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, you just have to hold on” “fine” I rolled my eyes trying to hide my smile. “Get on” stiles tapped his back, slowly walking over I held onto his shoulders and then jumped onto his back. He caught me tightly holding me against him.

“You okay?” He asked gently turning around to me, my chin was resting on his shoulder so our faces were now inches away from each others. “Y-yeah” I gave him a breathy answer. “Good” he answered looking at the side of the cliff that we were edging towards. “Stiles i don’t….” And with that he leaped far off the cliff. I felt the air rushing past my whole body. I couldn’t breath. And then we hit the cold water. Letting go of stiles I splashed about panicking, but I felt a hand on my wrist pulling me up to the surface.

“You okay?” Stiles laughed attaching a hand to my hip bringing me towards him so I was sturdy until my memory of treading water was triggered. “That was fucking awesome! Let’s go again” I rushed swiping my wet hair out of my face. Stiles left out a laugh throwing his head back, I looked at Scott who was looking at us suspiciously. “You coming?” I quizzed pulling instantly away from stiles and swimming to rock wall. “Yeah” Scott nodded. And that’s what we did for what felt like hours. Messing around in the water.

On the way back we collected some stick for the fire but it was pretty hard as the moon was coming up and our source of light was no more above us. When we got back to camp our food was ready, apparently Noah got tired of waiting for us and went off to get sticks himself, so we now had a surplus of sticks. We told them about the body of water we found and surprise surprise my mum said we can go fishing tomorrow. And as if somebody was reading what I was saying, the camp stories began after dinner.

“Dad you didn’t see a ufo on one of your calls” stiles rolled his eyes laughing. “Were you There stiles? No, so how would you know what I saw?” Noah raised an eyebrow at his son who still didn’t believe him. “We dunno what’s out there” Scott shrugged looking up at the stars. “We’ve seen things that no one else would believe” “yeah but… aliens?” My mother chewed her lip nervously, clearly frightened of that idea. “I think I’m going to go and get comfy, if I don’t come back out Goodnight everyone” I smiled pushing up from the fold up chair.

“Night sweetheart” my mum beamed at me. I unzipped my tent, it was quite big it had two compartments one for sleeping and one for living in. I spent what felt like hours sitting in the corner with a blanket reading my book before I decided to get changed into my pjs for extra comfort. I climbed into some gym shorts and I was just about to put my top on before stiles stepped into the tent. “Shit- shit I’m- sorry” he swallowed nervously turning around quicker than I’d ever seen him move.

“It’s just a bra stiles” I laughed shrugging it off while trying to find the top I wanted. “No I- should have knocked” “we’re in a tent” I told him feeding my head through the hole and my arms after. “Where is everyone?” “Everyone’s in the car listening to some music, most of the adults are drunk” “as per, You can turn around now and stop complaining” i sniggered while zipping up my bag. “Oh that wasn’t me complaining, that was me respecting you- and boundaries” he said when he looked back at me. “Well next time Don’t be so respectful”.

Stiles watched my smirk from the floor as he tried to figure out what I meant by that. “Don’t start something because I will finish it” stiles told me as flick of excitement flashed in his eyes. “I don’t know what you mean by that- I don’t know what you mean half the time” I scoffed looking at him with my y/e/c eyes. “Stop it because I’m trying so hard here…” he sighed looking upwards. “Trying hard to do what” “keep control- but that’s not something I have when I’m around you” he admitted. I was bored of messing around.

I needed to know what he was thinking, what he felt. “Then give in, why are you trying?”. Stiles looked back down at me hungrily, I saw the exact moment he gave up the control. He darted towards me lowering to my level. I knew exactly what was about to happen. Stiles latched his lips onto mine holding my face close as if he didn’t want to let me go. I pulled myself up so my body could be closer to his and an arm went around his neck, my hand pleasantly found his hair. “I’m so fucked” stiles whispered against my lips.

I kissed him harder “Why?” “Because I’ve lost control now and I have no intention of trying to get it back” he told me pulling away for a second to look at me. “I don’t want you to get it back, this is what I want stiles” I whispered before pressing our lips together again. The boy pulled the top off that shouldn’t have been put on in the first place and then he lowered me to the ground kissing me again moving his tongue into my mouth.

“Stiles is y/n asleep i w…” scott pulled open the tent door. His eyes locked with mine before stiles’s seeing him over the top of me wearing no top. My face instantly turned red, stiles didn’t exactly get off me either because of my bra being on show.

Scott’s eyes flashed red.

———————————————————————

for more like this visit my⬇️

Masterlist

[toastedjeans]

Dungeon of Pizza characters part 2!

Part 1 -> here

AU Summary -> here

Continuing with Mr. Stick and Burton! Stick originally should have had a propeller hat, but i thought the mechanical wings made more sense for the setting. Also he's an inventor, so i thought he could have built these himself. His glasses and hat had to stay of course. Also, fun fact, i based Burton's clothes a bit on earth bender clothes in ATLA, but his silly tiny hat still had to stay cause i love it too much lol

Fake Peppino and Maurice are only next to each other cause they were the only ones who didn't really belong to anyone i guess? Anyway, for Faker i wanted to show off how he looks when shape shifting. He will always be a little paler and taller than the original, with way longer arms, and wonky eyes. He isn't as drippy as usual since here he isn't really a clone. Maurice is just there to fill the roster tbh. The mace is supposed to reference his sack of nickels, although he probably has that here as well. He doesn't use the mace tho, it's only for intimidation purposes. He mostly uses the knife on his belt.

Would you believe me if i told you this was my first time drawing both Gerome and John? Cause it was. For John i wanted him to get a big scar on his head after being freed from Pizzahead. Not sure if i want him to become blind on that eye where the scar is going through... Would probably be too dramatic. Not much to say about Gerome tbh but i like how he came out.

And finally, Pizzahead and Pizzaface. The color choice for PF was a bit hard to figure out, but all i knew was that i wanted him to be robotic. Obviously he doesn't look too robotic here cause he's got clothes on, but at least his hands were supposed to look metallic with wiring. Idk how much that comes across but honestly he looks fine to me. Does he have wings? Idk, probably. Or he just flies cause he can. I haven't figured that out yet. Oh and PH is here too. I don't have much to say about him. He has different gauntlets cause he's a special little boy idk

ANYWAY, that's all the characters! Some designs gave me a bit of trouble but all in all I'm satisfied with them!

[theetherealbloom]

UNEVEN ODDS — CH. 2

Chapter Two: Roll Up Your Sleeves

Summary: The Reader is dragged into the Last of Us universe and has no choice but to watch the events unfold or will she be able to change what was already written?

Paring: Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Age-gap Romance, Violence, Angst, Fluff, Guns, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Swearing, Reader wants to sacrifice herself, Zombies, eventual SMUT, MY SCIENCE IS WONKY, probable plot holes, rusty writing

Word Count: 4.8k

A/N: Holy shit there are so many of you sjdfhgsk AHHHH thank you so much for all the notes and comments, I appreciate it! Here’s a little bit of info for you to understand a little bit of my thought process. In my outline, the reader is an Enneagram Type 9: The Peacekeeper. (This helps me add a little bit of depth to you so I don’t feel entirely lost when writing) if she seems “passive” or “complacent” it’s cause she wants everything to go smoothly and be without conflict. I’d like to believe there’s a little part of us that prefer to avoid tension, due to the fear of loss and separation from the people or things you love. I’ll go a little bit more in-depth about this in the story as it progresses. Hope you enjoy!

Song: evermore (feat. bon iver) by Taylor Swift

Previous Chapter -> Next Chapter | Series Masterlist

TLOU WORLD – 2023

BOSTON - NOON

You walk along the ruins of a long-abandoned Boston with an overpowering sense of dread. It feels like the build-up of a song in which you know the tune, the lyrics, and the beat. Strings of violins, drums, and bells ring and thump in your mind, unwanted and uncaring of how you feel. This curse of knowledge you never asked for but which you carry follows you as the four of you approach the Bostonian Museum. Creeper vines and Cordyceps grow on the sides of the building, marked by conspicuous veins and all-consuming every red brick of this once-beautiful structure.

The four of you stand outside the entrance of the museum. Cordyceps consume every part of the foundation, Ellie tilts her head to look up at it appalled, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” You stand next to Joe, using your hand to rub your right eye, and mumble, “Shit.”

“Well, there’s a way across from the top floor,” Tess says while moving to place her hands in the pockets of her pants. Ellie sarcastically replies, “Well, then I guess it’s fine.” Tess reassures her by adding, “We use to take it all the time.”

Ellie answers, “Okay.” Joel leaves your side and approaches a dry vein of the Cordyceps, removing the rifle he stole from the FEDRA guard, he crouches and touches a part of it to check if it was still active. He swings downward, hits the vein with the butt of the gun, and a puff of dust releases from the dead fungi, he stands to walk over to Tess, “It’s bone dry. It could mean they’re all finally dead in there.”

Tess nods, then they both kneel to prepare their flashlights and weapons, just in case. You and Ellie watch them both rummage through their backpacks, “Oh, man,” the kid mutters.

Joel whips out a flashlight and waves it at Ellie, “Marlene pack you one of these or just sandwiches?” She removes her backpack, “Yeah,” and pulls out her flashlight. Joel looks to you, “Catch, hummin’ bird.” That was the only warning he gave you before tossing you the flashlight, “Luckily, I have a spare.”

You’re short of breath as you hear the nickname he gave you. Miraculously, caught it with both hands, and without even thinking you wink, “Thanks, cowboy.” Thankfully, no one says anything about your quip directed at him.

“Okay, so… more ground rules.” Tess announces and turns to Ellie,  “We’re gonna go slowly. If we come up against anything you get behind us and you stay there, okay?” The young girl nods and wears her backpack, “Yes.” Tess brings out her handgun and flashlight, positioning her hands in a way that she can use both. Ellie glances at the gun she’s holding, “I have a spare hand.”

Joel is unamused by what she is insinuating, dryly replies, “Congratulations.” He walks forward with determination, he pokes his head through the door to do an initial check before turning around to nod at the three of you to signal it’s clear. Reluctantly, you follow them inside, your mind has kicked into overdrive, trying to figure out a way to get past this with zero casualties. If you sacrifice yourself, would that change the ending? Would it buy Tess a little more time? This might be your grand attempt to do something right and kind without assurance, without the promise of an afterlife.

Flashlights dance and shine around the walls of the abandoned museum, you watch your step and try to calm the beating of your heart as you look at the artifacts left behind. You navigate through the hallways and come across a corpse of an infected deceased. Joel shines his flashlight on the fungi, “Yeah, cooked.” Tess exhales, “Finally, some fucking luck.” Ellie steps a little closer to investigate the remains of what was once human, Joel continues, “I guess we should’ve gone this way in the first place.”

You were so caught up in trying to ground yourself in the reality of all of this, that this is actually happening, that you forgot to at least warn them about the Clickers they were about to face in a couple of moments. Just as Ellie was about to turn a corner, you whisper loudly to her, “Ellie wait!”

Too fucking late. “Oh shit,” Ellie exclaims with wide eyes, and Joel makes a move to inspect what she found. A dead bruised, bloodied, young man slouched against the corner. Ellie’s eyes were full of shock, “What the fuck did that?”

Joel and Tess look at each other knowingly, and you finally decide to speak up, for her and theirs, “Whatever you’re about to say or hope for, don’t bother.” The three of them turn to look at you and you decide to continue in an audible whisper, “I wasn’t sure if I could or should warn you, but we need to stay quiet from now on.” You gather your courage to look directly at Joel with an unwavering stare, “It’s exactly what you suspect it is.”

“Are you saying an infected did that?” Ellie whispers to the three adults, and she resumes, “Because I’ve been attacked by one and it wasn’t like that.” Joel looks at you and he can see the way your face twists, your lips curled downwards, and your eyes show your remorse and guilt, he whispers to everyone, “Okay, from this point forward we are silent. Not quiet. Silent.” Ellie looks at him concerned and confused, “What?” But Joel shakes his head, “No. No questions. Just do it.”

This is it. You think to yourself as you will your feet to move, continuing, you follow Joel and Ellie up the stairs with Tess trailing behind. You remember when you could cover your eyes to the scary moments of the show, you could press pause, or fast forward, not needing to witness and feel the distress and panic.

The quiet creak of each floorboard of the steps as your boots land on the rotting wood, it groans all of your weight and dust falls from the ceiling. You all stop silently, waiting for any indication of an infected discovering that all of you were in the museum. After a moment, Joel looks back at you, a silent way of asking if it’s okay, you throw him a bone and give him a tiny spoiler, then you nod at him. And all four of you continue up the stairs.

As you make the first landing of the steps, you shine your flashlight to meet a horrifying view. Multiple corpses of people who were infected with Cordyceps lay on the wooden floors. It’s unspeakable and all-consuming, the silence overwhelms your system, there is a sudden tightness in your chest, and feel a part of your mask slip, your eyes shift and move to look at the pile of bodies. Organs and parts that were once human, were scooped out and transformed into fungi.

Your mouth opens silently, quivering as you do, and you lightly shake your head. Joel steps over the rotting fungi, just as you were about to grab Ellie and warn her about what she couldn’t see, you were too late. Again. A satisfying crunch could be heard throughout the building and you squeeze your eyes shut in fear for a moment then you reopen them. Joel whips around to look at Ellie with annoyance, the kid gives him an apologetic look.

Thankfully, you managed to make it up the steps with no more issues. Joel slowly opens the door to Independence Hall, and the wood gives a quiet creak. He quickly scans the area before deciding to nod at all of you, telling you it’s clear.

With your foresight and knowledge of events that had already happened in your time, you decide to act accordingly and give a hard shove to both Tess and Ellie inside the Hall and quickly follow after, gravity takes place and parts of the museum collapse, pieces of wood and cement block the doors. You were trapped.

Tess and Ellie push themselves off the ground, but you take a little longer to get up. You scraped your arms and hands, and the pain in your head came back. Joel quickly and quietly helps Ellie up then realizes you haven’t moved yet. He immediately makes his way to you, lightly shaking you to get up, you blink back the blurry black spots that are forming in your eyes and stand up with his help, both of his hands on the underside of your forearms.

You squint and slowly look up at him, and for what felt like a second, you see the worry that lines his face. Concern and need to protect you, even though you’re just a stranger. The moment doesn’t last long, you hear the familiar sound of screeching in the room adjacent to you. Flashlights shine in the direction of the noise and you hold your breath as all of you walk backward, keeping your eyes on the monster that emerges from the shadows. The twitchy movements are followed by the croaky noises of the infected, it tries to navigate, searching for its next prey. And on queue, the other Clicker screeches, indicating that there are two of them. This is no longer a museum, it’s a fucking horror house and all of you are in for the worst experience of your life.

You are now surrounded by predators, and prey, playing a twisted game of hide and seek. You press your back against the glass of the cabinet, Tess to your right, Ellie to your left, and Joel being the farthest left. He gestures to his eyes and ears, quietly mouthing, “They can’t see, but they can hear.”

The creature groans and croaks, clicking sounds from its throat. It’s right behind the glass, your eyes drift to the monster and see its jerky movements. You bring your eyes to look at Joel, he lifts his pointer finger to his lips, indicating to be incredibly still and silent. Fear is the darkness and the unknown, a hard-to-shake feeling, it overstays its welcome and leaves you panting.

Tess watches the monster make its way around the corner, limping and shaky. Ellie closes her eyes to try and control her breathing, and you get yourself ready for the fight you never wished for. ‘Why is it always so fucking dark?’ You wonder inside your head, The Clicker comes into view, and you hear an audible gasp come from Ellie. Shit.

The creature turns in your direction at full tilt, mouth wide open with its yellowing teeth, and gives the loudest high-pitch screech. Joel sprays bullets into the Clickers’ chest, but it fights back, he looks in your direction and yells out, “Run!”

The second clicker begins to sprint toward you and Tess shoots at it but the bullet misses. Tess grabs Ellie by the arm and drags her away, while you run with them. The four of you get separated, Tess trips and so do you and Ellie, she yells out to tell her, “Run… Run!”

Ellie crawls her under a table and finds her way out, while the Clicker runs after Tess. You are now at a crossroads, Joel is running at the other end of the exhibit while Tess heads in the opposite direction. You swiftly make a split-second decision and duck, right behind Ellie under the table, however, you do not crawl away, instead, you wait for the Clicker to run by you and quietly get up to follow after Tess. This is your chance to make things right, to ensure she doesn’t get bitten. Will this cost you your life?

You grab an ax hanging from the wall and run to the other side of the room, you hold it with both hands and feel the sweat coating your skin. You turn a corner and see Tess pinned up against the wall, the creature feasting on her neck, your heart drops to the bottom of your stomach, and you let out a scream, “No!”

The creature quickly turns and shrieks at you, angry for interrupting its meal, now it begins sprinting towards you, and the adrenaline pumps into your bloodstream and system. The anger starts to flare in your chest, the silence grows louder along with the ringing in your ears. You stand unwavering and with the courage that has been asleep for so long, it awakens at the right time.

Aiming directly at its head, you throw the axe with everything you have. It lands on a portion of its mushroom-infected face. Yet, it only slows the creature down a second, screaming and swinging its long mutated arms, and tries to locate you, but, it hears the commotion in the other room, loud pops of a revolver can be heard and you assume it’s Joel killing the other Clicker.

The abomination of what once was human turns and screeches at Joel and Ellie, it scampers towards them and you feel the pulse in your veins like a fighter, you fight the fear and let the rush take over, you sharply glance at the handgun Tess had dropped during the chaos and without hesitation, you pick it up and pray it still has some bullets in the chamber.

This was a skill you wished you never had to use. All those days in the range were just a precaution, the world is not kind to women, and you learned to protect yourself just in case. It meant only using a gun when you or the people you loved were in danger.

Using one hand, you swiftly remove the safety with your thumb, aim, and shoot at the head of the Clicker. With three loud pops and then a fourth one for good measure, the monster falls to its knees and on the ground.

Dead.

Blood oozes from the infected’s head, and you stand there watching the crimson splatter grow larger. Tess appears from the archway and takes in the vision before her. You turn to aim the gun at her, your fight instincts kick in, still high from the adrenaline, and you stand there breathing heavily.

Joel yells out your name. You blink once, then twice. A beat passes, and you don’t register Joel approaching you in a calm slow manner, his arm stretched out with his palm facing you, treating you as if you were a frightened animal, now he places his hand on top of yours, a touch so gentle you barely register it. Carefully and steadily he takes away the gun in your hand and turns the safety on before handing it to Tess, which she slowly takes, while you let it happen.

Your vision is blurry and tries to swallow away your guilt. You were too late. You couldn’t save her. Joel says your name again, he’s in front of you now, his frame covering and protecting Tess, but he has replaced the gun you once held, with his hand. Ellie watches the events unfold from the side, not wanting to create any more noise or movement. He squeezes your hand and whispers, “It’s okay… It’s okay.”

It’s not, but his voice brings you back anyway. You look to Tess, your eyes full of sorrow, and your voice quivers as you speak, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tess nods knowingly, she swallows her pride and sadness to say, “It’s okay. You tried… um, thank you.”

Her words completely snap out of your trance, and you see the world a little clearer now. You nod back at her, then bring your eyes to Joel, who is still holding your hand. His eyes dance around, observing and taking note of every detail of your face. You’re the first to break the staring contest, realizing that Tess doesn’t have a lot of time. You step back away from him, dropping his hand, “We should get going.”

Joel turns to Tess, “You all right?” She nods, “Twisted ankle, but yeah.” She limps over to Ellie, “You all right?”

“Well, I didn’t shit my pants, so…” Ellie says and pulls up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a bite from the infected. “You fucking kidding me?” she exclaims and turns to look at Joel, “I mean if it was going to happen to one of us.”

Tess stays silent at that, glancing at you to keep your mouth shut. You give a discreet nod in response, Tess calls out to Joel, “Hey. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Joel pushes the window up and opens, stepping out onto the roof, Ellie follows and you do too, leaving Tess for last, who plops down to rest her ankle, “Fuck.”Joel kneels and opens his pack to give Ellie a bandage, “Put this around your arm.” She takes it and says, “Thanks.” You watch as Ellie makes her way to a wooden plank, makeshift bridge, “Over there?” Joel glances over while continuing to fuss over Tess, “Yeah, I know it looks scary.”

“That was scary. This is wood.” Ellie states and proceeds to walk across the wood plank to get to the other building’s roof. Joel watches in disbelief and hollers, “Just wait there. Give us a minute.” He turns to look at you, “Can you go make sure she’s…” You only nod, knowing that Joel and Tess need to talk, you look at the wood plank they call a bridge and mumble to yourself, “If the way I die is falling from a high place, so be it.” 

You walk across with no problem and catch up to Ellie, “Hey,” you say as you stand by her and take in the view. “What happened to you back there?” Ellie asks, the wind blowing strands of hair away from her face. You huff, “I don’t know. The adrenaline took over, I guess.”

You both stand in silence now, then you can hear the heavy footsteps of Joel walking up to the right of Ellie, she merely glances at him and then turns back to see the State House in the distance, glittering under the sunlight. “Is it everything you hoped for?” Joel asks her, Ellie blinks but answers him, “Jury’s still out. But, man you can’t deny that view.”

You hear Tess approaching from behind, eager to keep moving, “Come on, let’s get there before it’s dark.” She turns and then climbs a ladder down, letting out a groan of pain no one question or brings up. Joel nods at Ellie to follow Tess which he does, you look at Joel as Ellie climbs down. And you held his gaze for a moment, then look to his broken watch, before climbing down after the young kid.

Leaves crunch with every step you take, Tess lightly limping ahead, she turns to look at you, and you could only stare back. Tess looks straight ahead once more, and you can’t help but wonder about the violence of the dog days and what could get you through this. You see the State House from a distance, a hauntingly beautiful sight, creeper vines growing on the pillars and sides of the edifice.

The group decides to hide behind an abandoned car near the state house, and immediately could tell that something was very wrong, “Where the fuck are they?” Tess harshly states, Joel, shakes his head and decides to go check the truck parked outside by the steps of the ruined State House.

Joel walks over cautiously to the door of the truck, he swings it open to aim his rifle at it, only for the seats to be empty. Joel sees the blood splattered on the sides of the door, and turns to mouth at you all, “Stay back.” He rounds the side of the truck and notices a recently deceased, he continues to the back of the truck, swinging the giant blue metal doors, to confront no one.

You follow Ellie and Tess as she demands, “Joel, what the fuck is going on?” Joel shakes his head, “I don’t know.”

No longer wanting to play along, you look down to see a trail of blood up the steps and into the State House, you hear someone call your name, but say nothing as you walk up to the doors of the building. You push your way through, briskly walking to the center of the structure, and you take a good look at the multiple dead people scattered on the ground. You shake your head and close your eyes, “Fuck.”

You hear the three come in after you and they notice immediately what happened, Tess goes into a panic, “Okay. I mean there’s gotta be a fucking radio or something, right?” She proceeds to open the kit boxes that contain nothing but supplies, searching for anything that could help them win.

“Who killed them? FEDRA?” Ellie asks, and you reply, “No,” you nod to the man on the ground, Joel rolls him over with his boot and you continue, “One of them got bit. The healthy ones fought the sick ones. Everyone lost.”

Joel’s nostrils flared as he stared at you, “You knew? You knew and didn’t even bother to warn us that this was all for nothin’?” You raised your chin, “They were already dead hours before we got here.” His jaw clenched while you stood, fists clenched by your sides, and rolled your shoulders back, glaring at Joel.

Joel calls out to Tess, “Tess, what are you doing?” She ignores him and approaches Ellie, “Where did Marlene say that she was taking you?” Ellie responds unsure, “Uh, I don’t know. Just west.”

“Just west. Fuck. okay. Well, I mean, one of them’s gotta have a map on them, right?” Tess then goes to search one of the deceased Firefly’s pockets, “Joel, can you help me?”

“No.” He fumed, “Tess, it’s over. We are going home.”

“That’s not my fucking home!”

You let the exchange happen, while you move to one of the kits to retrieve a handgun, some ammo, and a small first-aid kit, and steal a backpack sitting on top of the chairs to shove all your supplies inside. Then, you hear Tess say the words you knew would happen, “I’m staying. I mean, our luck had to run out sooner or later.”

“Fuck.” Ellie whispers, “She’s infected.”

Tess sighs, and Joel’s eyes hardened and narrowed into slits, “Show me.” She takes a step forward and whispers his name, only for him to take a step back. Tess then steps back, anguish splashes across her face, then pulls the collar of her shirt and jacket, to reveal the growing infection on her neck, “Oops, right? And don’t bother taking it against her,” Tess gestures to you, “She did everything she could to save me, but I guess fate had already cut my string.”

Joel takes in a breath of disbelief while Tess looks to Ellie, “Take your bandage off.” Which she does to reveal no evidence of infection, just a new scar on her forearm to add to her collection. Tess makes her way to Ellie and holds her arm, “Look. Joel? This is real.” She drags Ellie closer to him, “Joel, she’s fucking real.” Her grip suddenly becomes twitchy and she wills her hand to stop shaking and hides it behind her back, she stares directly into the eyes of whom she once loved, “I need you to get her to Bill and Frank’s.”

Joel is shaking his head as he replies, “No.” But Tess continues to speak, “They’ll take her off your hands. They’ll handle it from here.”

“No… I can’t. They won’t take her. They’re not gonna take her.” He says and you watch each part you knew to unfold, Tess whispers to him, “They will because you’ll convince them. Yes, you will. I never ask you for anything. Not to feel the way I felt…”

“No.” He stubbornly states, but Tess lets the tears stream down her face and exclaims, “Now, you shut the fuck up because I don’t have time.”

He grants her request and listens, “This is your chance. You get her there. You keep her alive and you set everything right. All the shit we did.” Joel shakes his head as Tess begs, “Please say yes, Joel. Please.”

Despite the somber mood, a screech from one of the corpses has come to life and taken its revenge on the living, Ellie screams out, “Oh, fuck!” But your reaction time is faster this time, and you no longer hesitate as you walk towards the parasite, remove the safety of the gun and shoot it point blank in the head. Joel comes up behind you, and takes notice of what you’re staring at, the Cordyceps patch has awakened the rest of the infected and you hear the croaks and shrieks from outside of the State House.

Joel runs up to one of the doors to check how many are on the way, he shuts the door and locks it after making out the horde approaching. “How many?” Tess asks, Joel walks past her, “All of ‘em. Maybe a minute.”

Tess takes one of the rifles off of the floor and uses the butt of the gun to remove the lid on the fuel barrels. She pushes it to the floor, and the clear yellow liquid pours out of it and coats the floor. You help and do the same to the other barrel, knowing how this will end for Tess. “What are you doing?” Ellie asks, watching you and Tess scatter grenades on the ground, “Making sure they don’t follow you.”

Tess then approaches Joel, breathless and shaking, “Joel. Save who you can save.”

He clenches his jaw and his nostrils flared, angry, confused, upset, everyone he ever loved leaves or dies. He stares at her, soaking in her image as much as he can, and then he makes his decision. He quickly grabs Ellie by the arm and drags her away, her protests can be heard as it fades away around the corner, she punches his arm to try and break loose but he’s much stronger, “No! We’re not leaving her! Get off me, you fucker!”

Tess says your name and you turn to face her, “You weren’t lying? About the whole different universe thing?” You can only shake your head in response, hoping she can see your heart breaking into pieces.

Tess hums and gives you a small smile, “Take care of them for me, please? Especially Joel. Stubborn as a mule but you’ll learn to love him, just like I did.” You decide to grant the woman her dying wish, you nod and whisper, “Goodbye, Tess.”

You turn to run and didn’t look back, pushing out of the wooden doors, while tears stream down your face slightly obscuring your vision. But you manage to catch up with Joel and Ellie, as you did, the blast from the State House is sudden and loud. The smell of burning kerosine fills the air and you turn to look back at the raging fire, Joel turns and points his rifle at the area, ready to shoot just in case, only to hear screeching and the infected burning on the steps of the building.

You stare and one-half of your senses silently wish Tess would walk out, but you can no longer rewind, she’s gone. Ellie pants, trying to catch her breath, tears rimming her eyes and Joel lowers his rifle to turn away from the roaring flames. You and Ellie turn to watch his lone silhouette walk away from you both.

A/N: WELL that’s the end of Episode 2! Lowkey was fighting invisible demons to get this chapter edited and out bcs I wanted to improve on describing movement, anger, sorrow, etc. IT WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT T^T but I hope I didn’t disappoint ya’ll <3 ALSO YEP MHM TAGLIST! Send me an ask so I can add ya! It’ll stay open for a tiny period of time so send away :D

I’m proud of you for doing the right thing by trying to save Tess! Even though we all know you secretly admire Joel and would have chased after him to ensure his safety with Ellie. hehehehehe 

Yes, the reader only knows everything up to Episode 3, meaning she has no clue about the rest of the show! She knows (most) parts of the video game but alas we know Television series like to change things so she’s lowkey fucked lol

I LIVE FOR YOUR COMMENTS ya’ll crack me up and have the best reactions. Thank you for your support and love. I’ll try and get the next chapter out soon!

-Grace

Previous Chapter -> Next Chapter 

Taglist:

@memento-mora @elijahssuit @tartiflvtte @lillylilly2 @kyuupidwrites @amethystwonders11 @syd-vixious @themysticturtles @kidkrow666​ @soulofapatrick​ @ponyboys-sunsets @superflymaterial @chaotic-imposter  @vainbimbo @eva-stark @loki-an-idiot @littleshadow17 @undermoonlightwalk @afternoon-evening @notmysunnydale​ @mac5323 @slurmp69

[poorlittlegreenie13]

how is ur quilt going???

quilter here!! the best thing that you can do u for yourself is remember that perfection is over rated and not worth it. any wonky-ness is part of its beauty!!!

in case you haven’t seen them - look at Gees Bend quilts. definitely made me appreciate/allow the imperfection.

good luck 🤠⭐️⭐️

Oh my gosh, this is the best ask ever. Thank you for caring about my quilt!! I have so much to say about this actually.

Currently it’s going bad 😭 cuz I am not good at cutting the squares out & I got a little bit stalled on that. I need to invest in a better cutting apparatus I think, at least a square ruler probably, but I started just using a 7 inch record to cut them all to 7 inches lollll. But they’re still uneven! But it’s supposed to be a rag quilt so I’m hoping that won’t be *too* much trouble?

I also started kind of hating my color palate lollll but I spent so much $ on that fabric so I’m not going to replace it… it’s just kind of bright I guess? And I wanted it to be more dark cranberry/blue. I was excited so I just went to Joanne’s & was like… yeah whatever this will be fine. But now I’m thinking perhaps I should’ve driven to another fabric store & tried to find more of the prints I wanted. I love like gingham & little tiny floral patterns that repeat? Like these were my primary inspo pics ⬇️⬇️

& then these are the colors I actually got ⬇️⬇️

Sooo it’s like very bright & chaotic lol but that’s okay ! Cause they’re still cute I think & I wanted kind of a mismatched look? I can always make a second one with different colors.

So yeah I haven’t actually started quilting yet loll, I had four days off, but I’m back in school now & very busy HOWEVER one of my best friends who is very good at quilting will be visiting me in three weeks & has promised to help me with the project if I haven’t figured it out on my own by then… so it will get done either way 😌. & I’m also constantly crocheting too so I’ve been quilting a little, crocheting a little, trading off yk?

And I had never seen Gee’s Bend quilts before but they are excellent!!!! I studied in Ireland for a while & at one point I learned about their fiber arts & the Irish would intentionally make mistakes in their tapestries to show that only god was perfect so when I make mistakes I try to think of the Irish nuns hehe.

Thank you for the ask!!! This made me happy.

[cabinet-man-colors]

my first ever animatic- and its gay lawyers. you know how it is.

siblings of mine who will see this! maybe dont watch yet? i know you guys havent seen the full trilogy and i dont wanna spoil it for you- i know i showed aloe the sketch version but thats bc i forgor and it also wasnt super legible so its fine probably.

uhhh spoliers for phoenix wright, ace attorney trilogy (including the last case of the third game. so be warned!!!)

a little bit of info about the process below, i guess?

this project was a bitch to work on, and yet i somehow made it in less than a month. i drew a rough draft on paper (ft: chibi phoenix and edgeworth lmao) before moving it into clip studio, where i dont have the ability to animate for more than a few seconds, so i drew each picture seperately, with 4 frames per layer, then slapped it into an editing software and cropped it so it was just one frame visible, then slowly matched the frames to the lyrics.

and then i decided "actually i wanna refine this more" and went back into clip studio and refined the sketches a lot more. and then i decided to color it. and that took a while. and then i had to replace each frame in my already edited version (that hadnt been exported yet thank goodness) and then i added subtitles.

this sucked to make but im like. okay with how it turned out tbh. im proud of it i think. i did get better at drawing these two nerds so- thats a plus! they change throughout the animatic because i made this over the course of a few days, and i changed how i was drawing them midway through, but i didnt wanna redraw them for some scenes, so the two frames before the last one look a lil wonky and the last frame doesnt match them at all but like its fine! i had fun and thats what matters.

i did it poorly but i did it. and thats what matters.

[lycanlupins]

┌─ “ „ EYES LIKE SKY ─┐

Roy Harper x F!Reader - Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Cam Girl Au! [+18]

Same warnings apply as Chapter 1 ♥️ ALSO!! This chapter is LONGGGGGG

Your blaring alarm had been going off for the better part of 5 minutes now and you couldn’t be bothered to wake up enough to turn it off. Fuuuuuck. It was so early, too early in fact, and you didn’t want to get up to start your mundane little morning tasks. But you had to, especially because this morning you were expecting your hot neighbor to pick you up. So you begrudgingly make your way to the bathroom, going through the motions of your normal routine.

You make sure to finish off your morning shower with an extra layer of perfume, the kind that you reserved for special occasions and the like. It wasn’t overpowering in the slightest, just a simple perfume that would turn heads if they were lucky enough to get close.

Knock, knock, knock. Shit. He was here just a tad too early.

“In a minute! I’m getting my shoes on!” You call from your room, struggling to tie your sneakers. You rush to the door, slightly disheveled but putting on a smile nonetheless. Opening the door you give him a quick once over. Jesus he’s huge.

“You ready to go?” He smiled, and by god it was infectious. He had the most gorgeous dimples you weren’t able to see the night before. You were floored, how was anyone allowed to look so effortlessly hot. And in gray sweatpants no less.

“Hello? You there?” He waved his hand in front of your face to try and get your attention.

“Sorry, I guess I’m not awake just yet.” You sheepishly reply.

“Yeah I can tell, let's go get you that coffee.” He moved from in front of the door to give you room, your mind barely processing how to move your legs forward. You locked the door to your apartment and took a deep breath, hoping the coffee would take your mind off of things.

In the time that you locked your door and turned around, you caught him staring at your hands. Embarrassingly, you hadn’t done your nails in a few weeks and they looked sort of wonky, chips on the polish and gems missing from the design.

“Oh god, I’m sorry, they look awful right now. I have an appointment to get them done, don’t look.” You quickly hide your hands away in shame.

“No you’re totally good I just…they look so familiar. I’ve seen that design recently somewhere and I can’t put my finger on it.” He shrugged after a few moments of deep thought and started to lead the way outside and toward the coffee shop.

Your face instantly lit up at the sight of the shop, you had been there so many times before, you even had a favorite barista. But alas, he wasn’t working that day, something about a family emergency. Oh well, you could still enjoy coffee with the hot man at your side.

“Shit, I gotta take this call. Can you order for me, I just want a black coffee.” He looked desperate to take the call so you obliged, a bit sad but you weren’t on a real date so it didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter, but it still did in your mind.

You ordered and waited by the pickup area, watching him as he excitedly answered the call. He even turned on facetime but you couldn’t catch a glimpse of who he was talking to, again not that it mattered…but it did. Once the call ended, you could tell he was a little sad when he walked back into the shop.

“You okay?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I’m fine!” He completely ignored what occured on the phone, grabbing his coffee once it was placed in front of him.

“Wanna get a seat?” He asked. You simply nodded, pushing his phone call to the back of your mind. The rest of the “date” went without a hitch, some light flirting here and there but nothing too serious.

You could sense tension on the way back home, what kind you weren’t sure, but you fully intended to find out if it was the kind you could get behind.

“It's still kind of early, don’t you think? Do you maybe want to come inside and hang out?” You unlocked your door, standing under the door frame.

“Uh…” he looked down at his phone, texts from someone undecipherable to you rolled in at a steady pace.

“Sure, I’ve got some time.” Something didn’t sit right but still, you pushed through. A bad feeling wasn’t going to get in the way of you getting what could be the best dick of your life.

The second you closed the door you rushed to your bedroom, forgetting the state of disarray you had left it in from last night.

“Give me a few minutes!” You slam the door, assuming he’d find something to keep him busy while you cleaned. And find something he did, he got to work fixing a few stray wires hanging from your TV.

Once you were done changing the sheets and packing your cam setup away in a bin, you headed back out to the living room where he had somehow managed to fix the TV connection.

“I’m not even going to ask how, but thank you. The repair guy was supposed to have come by weeks ago to fix the issue.” You plop down on the large sofa next to him.

“Consider me your new repairman.” He chuckled, handing you the remote and placing both arms behind his head. Oh Jesus Mary and Joseph his arms were massive.

You were practically drooling at the sight, they were perfectly flexed and distracting you from your task at hand. Not that it mattered anyways, you were just putting on a movie.

“Eyes on the screen doll.” He shook his head and smiled, not once did he take his eyes off the TV. How the hell did he notice you staring? You couldn’t think straight so you put the first thing that came to mind; a horror movie. Nothing in particular, something that just popped up on your suggested tab.

“Horror huh? I didn’t pin you as the type.”

“It’s the first thing I could think of honestly.” You scooted a bit closer to him, trying to gauge his comfort.

“I know what you’re doing, just come here.” He relaxed his posture, giving you room to curl up by his side. His smell was intoxicating, something akin to fresh rain and cold air was the best you could describe it. It comforted you deeply, enough to lull you into taking a quick nap.

When you came to, the movie was still playing and he was also fast asleep. Fuck he’s cute when he sleeps. You thought, his brows scrunched just slightly made him look like he was pouting in his sleep.

But, you didn’t stay for long, you had to get up and change into something more comfortable. You grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a large tee out of the clean clothes basket by the hallway closet. You figured since he was still sleeping you could quickly get back in and snuggle once you were done.

As you bent over to pull your pants back up, you heard a shift and a groan behind you. Shit. You froze immediately, what else were you supposed to do when you were half naked?

“Ain’t that a sight to wake up to.” He chuckled. You could feel your face heat up, trying to pull your pants up as quickly as possible.

“There's no use, I already saw everything. But, I’ll cover my eyes, scout's honor.” He immediately covered his eyes, giving you time to finish changing. But now you had a choice, two little beings on your shoulder telling you what to do. Take the safe route and finish changing, or…who were you kidding, you knew what you were going to do.

You quickly ripped off your top and immediately straddled him, taking his hand and placing it around your neck.

You watched him for any sort of reaction, a smirk playing on his lips. You could feel him getting hard under you and that only served to make you emit a light moan.

“Shit, you look good enough to eat.” He let his other hand ghost against your skin, grabbing and pulling at the mismatched lingerie you had underneath.

“Do you want to spend the night?” You could see his gears turning, his hand stopping at your ass.

“Fuck it, why not.” He picked you up with one arm, your legs immediately straddling around his waist. He only got a few steps before he needed to pin you against the wall. He was desperate, you could tell from the way his cock was throbbing through his sweats.

“I wanna be a gentleman, fuck you on your bed like a proper man should, but I can’t even think straight. I just want to be buried inside you like it's a necessity.” He growled in your ear, his whole weight pinning you against the wall, your breathing in sync with his. Both of you were taking big heaving breaths as if you had run a marathon.

He used one free hand to quickly undo your bra, sliding it off with ease. The sight of your exposed breasts was enough to send him over the edge. He slipped your underwear to the side and pressed a finger against your slick cunt. Your brain was going haywire, not one coherent thought forming.

“In…put it in please.” You could barely form sentences but it was enough to give him consent to touch you the way he wanted to. He slipped a thick finger inside and immediately you saw white. How the hell does his finger feel that good, not even your vibrator could do that.

“You still there princess?” He tried to bring you back to consciousness. When he started to pull his finger away you whined, giving him the okay that you were still there mentally.

“Had me scared for a second there. Thought I hurt you.” He chuckled, teasing a second finger. You wanted it, you wanted it bad, but he wouldn’t give it to you. He pulled away, bringing his fingers to his mouth and licking them clean, only to kiss you right after.

Fuck fuck fuck. Why was that so intimate? That was the single most hot and intimate thing you’ve ever experienced. But you couldn’t focus on that anymore, not when he was pushing his boxers down and exposing his cock.

“That’s not gonna fit inside me. There’s no way.” You said plainly. It's not that it was insanely huge or anything but you were used to 6 inches, that’s the size of your dildo anyways. He was somewhere far beyond the usual thickness of the plastic you were used to and you were afraid nothing would ever compare.

“We’ll make it fit, won’t we?” He lined himself up at your entrance, his head sliding in with ease, slowly pushing farther and farther until he was fully pressed against you.

“Oh my god.” That’s all you could say, your mouth wouldn’t allow for anything else. You could feel your walls stretching and squeezing around him, forming to his size. You fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and you both knew it. After sitting in silence for a few brief moments he started to move, slowly at first.

“Shit doll…you’re sucking me in.” He could barely pull out, not that he wanted to anyways, he was feeling pure bliss. Your plush walls felt like heaven to him and he never wanted to leave.

“Don’t…Don’t leave please. Stay.”

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m gonna stay right here.” He replied, his thrusts slightly speeding up. He wanted to fuck you relentlessly, it took all of his strength not to put you down on the floor and fuck you like an animal. But he resisted, he knew he wouldn’t last if he gave in.

Your hands found their way into his hair, pulling every time he managed to hit that lovely little spot that sent what felt like electricity through your body. The sounds in your apartment would put porn to shame, the skin slapping, his moans mixed with yours, it's surprising no one came knocking to tell you to shut up.

You felt his hips stutter for just a second, you knew what that meant. He was getting sloppy, he needed his release and you were damn sure you could feel yours brewing.

“I’m on the pill, you’re safe.” You reassured him. That only served to make him chase his release more, thrusting into you relentlessly. With every thrust you felt that coil within your lower stomach grow tighter and tighter until—

“Oh fuck! Roy!”

You felt your whole body tighten, his cock buried all the way inside you as his warm, thick cum coated your walls. It slowly dripped from you as he pulled out, leaving you empty.

“Let me uh…clean you up? Where do you keep your towels?”

“In my room, there’s a basket by my bed, just grab one from there.” You slowly slumped down against the wall, catching your breath as he ventured to find a towel.

Wait. Your cam stuff was under the towel by your bed. Shit shit shit. You quickly hop up to your, wobbly, feet and run into the room only to find him staring at the stuff beneath.

“You didn’t tell me you were into some kinky shit.” He said. Oh thank god he’s dumb.

“Ha, yeah. It’s just fantasies of mine really, nothing that would come into fruition.” You quickly pushed the basket under your bed and tried to clean yourself up the best you could.

“Shit.” He looked down at his phone, and sighed.

“Raincheck on the sleepover, I have to head home.” He kissed the side of your head and cleaned himself off before getting dressed.

“We should really get coffee again some time.” He said, just before heading out the door. You smiled, albeit a sad smile. You watched him leave as you changed back into your sweats and tee. Something in you wanted to watch his window, see what he was up to after what just happened. Complete and utter silence. No movement. Until moments after he got back home he bolted to the door, figures appearing as shadows in his window. A woman.

“Oh.” Was all you could muster before turning away from the sight. Surely he hadn’t played you right? You tried to put it out of your head, it was mid-day after all, there was no point in sulking for hours on end. You gathered yourself, turned on another movie and logged on to your cam chat. A new user appeared, someone you had never seen before.

[bigred]: hi there, i usually lurk around your shows but i decided to stop by and see if you were coming online today.

[seraphicsiren]: i'm not too sure i will, sorry.

bigred bought a private show.

Shit.

[mangoisms]

i'll be the dangerous ledge (you be the parachute)

━ chapter seven: you be the parachute | read chapter six

━ pairing: tim drake x f!reader

━ word count: 4.2k

━ warnings: none

━ masterlist

After making a hearty dinner — tomato soup and grilled cheese like he did when you were hurt — you change out of your work clothes into something you’re more willing to get dirtied and you advise Tim to do the same. 

You have a specific pair of jeans that have several paint stains on them, as well as one streak of dark clay that refuses to leave. The same goes for your shirt, though with less stains and more just ratty and old, something you don’t mind getting dirty. Tim does the same, changing into an older pair of jeans and an old t-shirt from his time in high school. Though the both of you need to don windbreakers for the biting winds and drizzles of rain, you shed them when you enter the class, hanging them up along with your belongings and pulling aprons over your clothes.

Hana, the one who oversees the class, waves at you. “I don’t think we’ll be getting many people, so just help yourselves. You know where everything is and what to do.”

You give her a thumbs up and lead Tim towards the back of the class. A few other people are here but they are already working on their own things, talking softly to each other, voices drowned out by the spin of the wheels.

His eyes take in the class curiously. Several wheels are near you, along with some modeling stands and other desks for glazing and painting. You go over to the shelving unit at the back, where in-progress projects are kept. 

You have a little figurine of a duck that you made for him that needs to be painted and fired again after that. You aren’t sure if you can do it without him suspecting who it’s for, though. It’s a joke gift, really, after talking to one of the science aides about the lethal geese that hang around the Reservoir at Robinson Park and the considerably calmer ducks. It’s a birthday gift, though you’ve been thinking you want to do something else in addition to it, something a little more meaningful. You just haven’t found out what yet.

“So?” you prompt.

“What are you going to do?” 

“Not sure, to be honest. But for you… I think just to be safe, we should start you off with the molding stuff.”

He narrows his eyes slightly at the wheel, then the molding table. 

You smile. “Or, let me guess, you want to try your hand at throwing?”

“It can’t be that hard,” he says. 

This is a not-so-familiar side to him but one you’ve noticed regardless. Tim can be a bit… arrogant. Or at least, come into things assuming he can do it without issue. This, you guess, is a byproduct of the rich boy upbringing, which makes sense. Truthfully, it is not so bad compared to some of the other breeds of rich boy in this city but still. 

“I know you were reading how-to guides while we had dinner —” he opens his mouth to protest but a raise of your brow silences him, a slightly sheepish look coming over his face “— but it really isn’t as easy as it may seem.”

“Well, I have you,” he says, which flusters you — the intended effect, you think, by the small, satisfied smile that tugs at his lips.

“Alright, fine,” you mumble. You don’t try to get him to just sit down and wait for you to collect things, spying the curious look in his eyes, so you let him shadow you as you collect everything you — he — needs to get started.

“I want to make a mug,” he tells you when you ask, since you need to wedge and weigh out the clay. 

“Alright —”

“For you,” he adds, and you jolt. 

“You don’t need to —”

He says your name softly, stopping you. You two are close, with him hovering right near your elbow, body heat palpable in the scant few inches between your bodies. 

“I know I don’t need to,” he says. “But I want to. When are you going to understand?”

“After you make me a wonky mug, maybe,” you say, lips twitching to fight off a grin, face heating again.

Tim smiles, too, the lightest you’ve seen him today, like a weight physically taken off his shoulders — for the most part. 

Your heart skips a beat and you look back at the clay, weighing out a chunk for a mug. 

At the wheel with a bowl of water, towels, and the clay, you walk him through everything. You pull up a stool on his right side, to give you control of the pedal and thus, the speed. You run through sealing the clay to the bat — the actual surface of the wheel that spins — then centering it. After you make a divot in the center with your thumbs, you are ready to push into it, to start creating the walls.

Well, he is ready. Under your watchful eye and careful instructions, of course. And inserted reminders about his stance. 

“Elbows on your thighs.”

“You didn’t do it like that,” he complains but does as you say, anyway.

“I’ve been doing this longer than you,” you remind him, grinning. “Okay, come on. We can start making the walls now. Use your index and middle finger to slowly push down.”

Your foot finds the pedal again, the wheel humming as you press it, making it spin once more. 

Tim, hands now covered with wet clay, hesitates.

Your foot eases off. “I promise you, this clay is more scared of you than you are of it.”

“I’m not scared,” he mutters, but you know him. Tim Drake is a perfectionist. There is little that escapes his sharp eyes. You would wager a guess that he doesn’t want to mess up. And how can you mess up if you just… don’t touch the clay anymore?

Yeah, you get it. 

“Think of our ancestors. We’ve been making pottery for thousands of years. They made mistakes, too. Those mistakes are treasured now, you know.”

“But I don’t want to make a mistake. This isn’t for future anthropologists and archaeologists,” he says, a little petulant. “It’s for you.”

Oh, wow.

Your breath hitches in your throat. You clear it. 

“Well, perfection is a false ideal, anyway. The nice thing about things like this is that it’s handmade and that it’s not perfect. So, here.”

You lean forward, inserting yourself into his space (for the sake of this clay, that’s it) and pressing your hands over his. Your hands are covered in wet clay by now but because it’s still wet, it’s not too unpleasant. His hand is warm, too, which is… not what you should be focusing on.

“Like this,” you say, folding your index and middle finger over his, tilting your head sharply to get a good look at the clay. Your foot finds the pedal again and the wheel hums, abiding by your wishes for more speed. 

You instruct his other hand to hold against the outside, to help shape it more. But he hesitates again, so you scoot further into his space, until your knee is pressed to his, your arms brushing, and you can place your left hand over his. 

“Sorry,” you mutter. “I know I’m in your space.”

“I don’t mind,” he says quietly, breath ghosting over your ear and you have to suppress a flinch at how close he is. Everything about it makes your pulse jump to unhealthy heights but you force yourself not to let it carry you away. Trembling hands won’t help anyone right now. 

“Alright,” you say, and together, you slowly, slowly pull the walls to dimension. Every motion flows into the next. Two fingers to lower the bottom inside with his left hand. Three on the outside from his right hand. Tim is pliant under your instruction, when ordinarily you might expect some pushback.  

But you can’t do everything.

“Three fingers inside, one thumb outside. Gotta keep going while I grab the sponge.”

He grunts quietly in acknowledgement, seeming to focus more now as he does as you say. Your hands are only away from each other for a short few seconds as you grab the sponge, lightly pressing it to the bottom, pulling excess water to prepare to pull up the walls even further. 

“Here,” you say, and he takes the sponge from you, holding it still against the bottom of the clay. “Good. Keep it there. We’re in the home stretch now.”

He lets out a slow breath. You can feel the exhale against your cheek and resist a wild shiver. His breath smells like spearmint, the gum he’d chewed on the drive here. 

You swallow, staring at his hands, which doesn’t really help your pounding heart, just cause… Tim has really nice hands. Long, slender fingers, surprisingly calloused but still soft, somehow. The knuckle of his left pinky is a tiny bit wonky and he says he accidentally broke it playing football with a friend when he was a teenager and it didn’t heal quite right. 

You should stop thinking about his hands. Too bad that’s kind of a thing with pottery.

“Four fingers inside. Keep your thumb out.”

He says your name. “Help me out a little.”

“You’re doing good.”

“But I can do better if you’re guiding me,” he says, a little beseeching, breath warm against your cheek in a way that has your heart skipping a beat.

Jesus. 

You think you might spontaneously combust. It’s not the weirdest thing to ever happen in Gotham. And no one could blame you, either. Frankly, you’d like for anyone to be in close quarters with Tim Drake when he asks you to do something for him and try to say no. Or retain full function of their brain. Impossible. 

“You’re doing good, way better than I did on my first try throwing a mug, but alright,” you mutter, sliding your left hand over his, forcing you once more into close proximity with him. His right hand holds the sponge as you instructed. 

With his left hand, four fingers press to the inside and a thumb on the outside, helping further lengthen the walls slowly. 

You feel the fingers of his left land part just a little, yours nearly slipping through the gaps, and you knock your knee against his. Doesn’t affect him, either, since, ignoring your earlier reminder, his elbows aren’t sitting there anymore. 

“Don’t start.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You don’t need to,” you grumble, face heating. 

You know what he’s thinking about. That stupid scene from that movie from the, like, eighties. You know the one — the one with the… weirdly sensual pottery scene. Hana told you all about it on your first day of class. That that wasn’t how things went and if anyone did want to do it, they could do it in the privacy of their own home. Not, you know, in class with all of you.

And, to be clear, that isn’t what is happening here, either. He knows better than that.

(You think.

Probably.)

“I’m sorry,” he says, in a tone that tells you he is not very sorry at all; it’s teasing, if anything, in a way that makes you want to catapult yourself across the classroom to get a little space between you. 

That is the unbearable part of this. 

You kind of want to shove your stools back, put your hands on his cheeks, and kiss him for, you don’t know, a really long time. Forever, maybe. Of course, that’s not biologically possible but it’d probably be a nice way to die and in Gotham, crime capital of the United States and of horrible, miserable deaths, that’s, like, gold, right?

 The thought shrivels something inside of you, reminding you sharply of what did happen today. That six people are dead. 

You shove the train of thought away immediately. Now isn’t the time to think about that and you don’t want to set him off, either. This is about him and you would hate for him to notice the shift and start comforting you.

It’s a two-way street, you know that, and it’s fine for you both to be equally comforted but thus far, you haven’t been able to do much for him. You want to, though. He seems to be handling everything that happened today worse than you, for reasons you aren’t sure of, and you want to be there for him. 

Luckily, it seems like he didn’t notice. 

“Have you seen it? Ghost?”

“No, and I am not interested in seeing it,” you say matter-of-factly. “I’d like to keep my experiences with pottery untainted, thank you very much.”

Tim laughs and the sound goes straight to your head. Literally. He’s still close to you, so you feel the warm exhale from his lips, spearmint tickling your nose and making you want to do inappropriate things. To him, preferably. 

Anddd you don’t need to be thinking of that right now. Okay. Alright. You’re chill. You’re cool. 

“Look,” you say. “We’re nearly there. Just a little bit more length…”

He focuses again, actually concentrating on lengthening the walls of the mug now. A minute passes before you nod and pull your hands back. He does the same. Your foot eases off the pedal. 

You grab a ruler, recalling the measurements you two had agreed upon, and measure the height of the walls and the width of the cup itself. It’s bigger than a normal mug, but since he insisted on it being a mug you didn’t have to baby, it’ll have to be high fired to get that durability, which will make the clay shrink. 

Tim waits as you work, seemingly bracing himself.

“Looks good,” you say, pulling it back and setting it to the side, sending him a small smile. It does look good. The walls need to be smoothed with a rib and there’s one part of the rim that looks… a little wonky but it’s not bad. Not bad at all.

When Tim scrutinizes it, reaching forward, you gently push his hands away. “It’s fine.”

“But —”

“It’s cute.”

“Not the word I’d use.”

“And supposed to be mine, so, I think I get the final call.”

“You know what you are?”

“The soon-to-be proud owner of this mug?”

He doesn’t expect that and you know he doesn’t expect that because he flushes, pink rising in his cheeks in a… decidedly tempting manner. 

But of course, Tim Drake is not one to let himself be overtaken so easily. 

“No,” he says slowly, leaning forward, into your space, holy hell, you think you might actually spontaneously combust now as he gets close enough for you to see the silver flecked in blue irises, thick dark lashes framing them, the sharp but not unpleasant scent of eucalyptus clouding your senses and, huh, you know, this isn’t very platonic of him, not very platonic at all but the thought of Tim Drake flirting with you is a laughable one —

And naturally, as you think that and promptly freak out internally because it unfortunately makes logical sense, you are an adult, you’ve never been in a relationship but people have flirted with you before, thank you very much — well… Tim takes advantage of your brief moment of shock. So, you don’t see his hand dip into the bowl of water, softening the clay on his fingers and then —

“You’re bossy,” he finishes, eyes twinkling in a way that tells you he doesn’t seem to actually mind and then you’re gasping, jerking away as he smears some of wet clay on your cheek, facade breaking as he grins, the force of it making his eyes crinkle.

“What are you?!” you hiss. “Twelve?!”

You would know. 

He laughs, of course, and you can’t truly be mad at him, no, not at all, even if it’s the kind of messing around that Hana would side-eye you for, but fortunately she has her back to you two, deep in conversation with the few pairs of people who came to class today. 

Absolutely no one is paying attention to you, so, you think it’s only fair that you return the favor and he lets you, well-aware of you dipping your hand back into the water and then smearing an even bigger streak over his cheek. (While you also ignore the feeling of the soft skin, warm to the touch, warmer than usual, his flush having not left quite yet.)

And the fact that he lets you, watching you with a gaze full of affection and a mischievous grin, has the rapidly-unspooling warmth in your chest become too much. Like you are a star about to go supernova. 

But with that comes relief. To see him back to himself, no longer looking so… haunted. You can’t tell the full extent of what you would do to protect it, to protect a small bit of happiness for him to have whenever he needs, but you think it’s a lot. Anything short of murder, maybe.

(Even that depended, though.)

“Here,” you say, shoving the rib into his hand. “Smooth it out. You’re on your own now.”

Tim doesn’t protest, still smiling faintly as he does as you say. You scrunch up the side of your face, feeling the clay on your cheek. 

He does an okay job — not the worst, anyhow — and then you guide him through taking it off the bat and centering it upside down for trimming the bottom. After doing so, you work on pulling the handle just using the molding stand; instead of waiting for it to dry, you apply a little bit of heat, then you apply it to the mug. 

“That’s it?” he asks, going to the sink to wash his hands. 

“That’s it,” you affirm, putting the mug in the shelving unit right beside it. “It needs to be fired once before you can glaze it. Then again after that. You can come in whenever, just tell them you were with me.”

“Are you going to work on anything?” 

You hum thoughtfully, glancing at the clock. You got here at seven and it’s about to be eight. The center doesn’t close until ten but if he has places to be…

“I was just wondering,” he adds, stepping away from the sink to let you take his place, drying his hands on a paper towel. Clay is still smeared on his cheek, grey standing out against the pale skin. “That way I can help. Or watch if you’re tired of my… amateur efforts. Either way. This is… nice.”

You soften considerably at that, glancing down at your hands, watching the clay fall away under the warm water and soap. After everything… you think you finally have an idea about what you want to do. 

“You can help me, then. Think I’d like to make a mug as well.”

Tim nods and tears another piece of paper towel, running it briefly under the water, presumably to clean the clay from his cheek. 

You finish washing your hands just as he finishes cleaning the clay off his cheek. Your hands will get dirty again but the clean feel is a nice break before you do. 

You dry your hands, then, still using the damp paper towel, attempt to clean the clay off your cheek. 

Tim snorts quietly. 

“Am I close?”

“No.”

“Aw.” 

He smiles and holds out a hand. You relinquish the paper towel to him and he dampens it under the water, then reaches up to press it to your cheek. 

You resist letting tension take hold of you as his eyes focus on your face. Like always, you are unused to the sharp attention he gives you but part of you is endeared, too, seeing him dedicate himself to the task. Tim doesn’t do things in halves. Only absolutes. It’s not great for your heart.

To distract yourself, your eyes stray to where his streak was once. The skin is clean, but this close, you spot a few leftover flakes of grey clay. 

“There,” Tim says, gently patting your cheek with the dry end of the paper towel.

“You’ve still got some,” you mumble, taking the paper towel from him and switching to a cleaner patch on the damp side, then gently dabbing his cheek. 

“Thanks,” he says, his eyes on your face, the look there making your heart pound out of rhythm. 

You pull back, not as gentle as he was about patting the spot dry — his cheeks are still warmer than usual; the thought of it being because of you is a dizzying one — then toss the towel. 

“Ready?” you ask, fixing your apron.

Tim clears his throat, rubbing the back of his neck when you glance at him, his gaze elsewhere. “Yeah. Yeah, let’s do it.”

“Right.”

You two spend another hour there throwing the mug. Tim is the one sitting adjacent to you this time, helping in the beginning but seeming to settle as you go on, apparently happy to just watch you do your thing. 

You… try to prod about any preferred glazes or designs, mostly by asking what he thinks would look good, and you get some useful bits of information that you’ll be able to use the next time you come here. Or, well, sometime after that. This mug requires a bit more work than usual. At least for what you have in mind for it. 

But it should be ready by the time July rolls around. 

The sun has set when you two step out. The rain isn’t coming down as hard as earlier but it’s still drizzling, making streets and sidewalks glisten under street lamps and traffic lights. 

In a considerably better mood than earlier, the two of you stop at O’Shaughnessy’s for a shake and fries, then return to Rose Oaks. You keep the food at your place while he heads up to change and you do the same. You check on the boys while you wait for him to return, finding Manny and Diego climbing into the little shelf on the side, while Sid dips in the saltwater pond.

You smile faintly and go back to the couch. On the coffee table, for once clear of schoolwork as you are officially caught up before finals, the bag of fries sits next to the drink carrier, holding two medium chocolate shakes.

Tim returns a few minutes later, letting himself in with the spare key he has, now dressed in sweats and a black t-shirt that stretches flatteringly over his shoulders. 

In the mood for something light and nostalgic, you switch on Ice Age, the two of you relaxing on the couch and eating your dessert. Sleepiness weighs down on you with more time that passes. 

Tim finishes his shake and fries after you, leaning forward to set them on the coffee table. When he sits back, he is closer to you, your arms pressed together. The warmth of his body and the faint scent of eucalyptus lulls you. It doesn’t help that you shut off the lights, the only light coming from the TV, showing the white snowscapes from the movie.

The sound of your name is a surprise but not unwelcome. Especially not from him and how he says it, syllables wrapped in a sleepy kind of warmth. He’s tired, too. You understand. Even if he may have been at his place for most of the day, it must’ve been emotionally draining to deal with everything else.

You lean your head on his shoulder, eyelids heavy with sleep. “Yeah, Timmy?”

His hand finds yours in your lap, slightly calloused fingers gliding against yours, a softer palm following. 

You feel his head lean against yours. “Thank you. For today.”

“Thank you for letting me do it for you.”

Tim squeezes your hand and you think he’ll pull back.

He doesn’t.

Instead, with some movement, you find the blanket thrown over the back of the couch now draped over your laps. 

With his hand in yours, the comforting scent of eucalyptus surrounding you in tandem with his body heat, you surrender too easily to the pull of sleep.

(Later, in the early morning when the sun hasn’t risen but is just about to break the horizon, you stir, not finding yourself in your bed like last time but instead held tightly in his arms, your legs tangled beneath the blanket which isn’t really necessary, with the body heat he emanates. In his sleep, Tim breathes slow and soft, warm exhales of air tickling the skin of your forehead as you two share a pillow. And too sleepy and warm to care, you burrow into his arms, which tighten around you in his sleep, close your eyes, and drift back to off to dreamland.

A few hours later, you’ll wake again, but alone this time, disappointment gnawing at you at the realization. 

At least until the bathroom door opens and Tim steps out, his hair mussed, pillow creases still on his cheek, and he bids you a sleepy smile and asks what you want for breakfast.

And this is when you will realize you are past the point of no return. But you don’t care that the chances of him returning your affections are so laughably low that it actually isn’t funny. You don’t care about any of that. You just care to keep him around. For as long as you possibly can.)

reblogs are appreciated!

[lost-my-sanity]

Where we were always meant to be

Hey guys! This is the first fic I’ve written in a while and I did it with the help of chat ai so that’s why the formatting is wonky.. but here we go…

*You watched as the girl Sanji pursued walks away from him. His sweet candy heart and a bouquet of roses smashed on the floor. He leaned on one knee as he took his lighter out of his pocket. He flicked it a few times with no result before he turned around to see you. His face growing embarrassed after noticing you saw his harsh rejection. He quickly plastered a smile that seemed fake to anyway who was watching.* "Haha! I guess she didn't like the gift huh?" *He say, trying his best to seem fine

“She’s a fucking fool…” I mumbled out

*His body stiffening at your words.* "...really think so?" *His body growing rigid as he asks this. Trying his best to hide his hurt behind a smile.*

“You are the sweetest man I’ve ever met. Anyone that doesn’t see it is clearly a moron and doesn’t deserve you” I respond, face stern and voice leaving no room for any argument

*Your words are like a warm blanket he so desperately needed around him at this moment. The warmth of your kind words, and how you view him, was soothing. His body relaxed, his smile becoming genuine. His voice sweet as you hear him speak.* "Thank you...you're so kind."

*I place my hand on his shoulder* “you just need to focus all that love you have on the right person… someone that will treat you the way you treat them… the way you deserve”

*He looks down at his hands as some tears slip past his eyelashes.* "...do you think I could find someone like that?...I think most girls just want to take advantage of my nice nature."

“… maybe she’s closer than you think.” I whisper out.

*He glances at you with a curious look.* "...What do you mean by that?"

*his voice growing a bit softer*

“I can’t open your eyes for you, Sanji, but i think it’s time you finally did that for yourself” *I say with a sad smile as I begin to walk away*

*He watched you walk away before he quickly follows. You hear him running to catch up to you.* "...Do you mean you?"

“… if you haven’t realized it by now I don’t think you ever will.” I respond back.

*With your words he stops in his tracks, your remark stinging him a bit. He sighs, trying not to show how much his heart was broken by this. His cheeks feeling a little red, growing hotter as he tries to get his emotions in check.*

*I start to slowly walk away again while he is paused

*He watches as you begin walking away again. His jaw clenching as his emotions continue to get the best of him. His cheeks growing red and his throat feeling dry. He speaks up* "Wait...can I ask you something??"

“What, Sanji?” I say, throat feeling dry.

"I know this might seem a bit much...but do you have a boyfriend?...or someone...like someone you're seeing right now?" He asks hopefully.

“ no… I don’t” I say, softly.

*He looks at you, his eyes widening a bit. A soft smile appearing on his face. His voice softening.* "...really?"

“It’s hard to date when your hopelessly in love with someone that barely registers you exist” I mumble out

*A soft chuckle escapes him as his cheeks grows red. His eyes widen in surprise at your words. Was she...maybe...?* "..me?"

“…yes” I respond quietly.

*His body freezing as a wide grin stretches from across his face. His eyes locking with yours as your words sink into his head. He tries to speak but all that comes out is a small squeak.*

“You’re so devoted to finding a woman to love you back that you don’t realize I’ve been head over heels for you since I first joined the crew… you barely even look my way, choosing to follow nami or robin or any pretty little thing that walks by.” I say harshly, wiping at my face.

*If his legs could give out now, they would. The words you spoke were what he wanted to hear for so long..but he never thought he was even considered for love. His face turning bright red as he stares at you.* "Are you sure...? You're not just joking with me..."

“Why would I joke about something like this? Putting my heart out on the line knowing I’ll be rejected.” I scoff at him.

*His face growing hot as he slowly shuffles in place. His body shaking a bit from the rush of emotions he's feeling. He clears his throat before he speaks.* "You...you..." *He stutters before he continues* "You genuinely like me?”

*I roll my eyes and begin to walk away again.*

*His body follows her.* "Wait...wait...don't walk away..I-I..." *His voice trembling as he follows behind her. His heart feeling like it'll explode any second.*

“I’d rather lick my wounds in private if you don’t mind” I grunt out, not wanting to look at his face anymore as my heart breaks further.

"No you can't just walk away...after saying something like that." *The tone of his voice shifts, sounding like a whine. His hands balling into fists in his pockets as he stops behind me.*

“Why not? Why would I stay?” I ask exasperated.

*His eyes widen as he looks at you shocked. A soft pout appearing on his face.* "...cause you admitted that you liked me..."

“Yeah…I do. For fucks sake sanji, everyone knows. Luffy knows. The only one blind to it has been you” I say through gritted teeth.

*His mouth hanging slightly open for a moment as he stares at you. His mind blown away by the sheer fact that his captain knew this whole time and never once called him out for it.* "Luffy knew..? All this time?...."

“Why do you think he comes over and cuddles me every time you rush after a woman? It’s because he knows my heart is breaking even further.” I admit

With a sad smile.

*His eyes widen at what she says. That would explain why her and Luffy have always been close. He would get a jealous look on his face everytime Sanji would run off after some woman he saw. His brows furrowing together as a small smile begins to creep on his face.* "So...you're sure you like me? Not joking?"

“If you can’t see how serious I am.. I was the fool for even saying anything.” I exclaim.

"Wait no, I do...I'm sorry it's just that..." *He stops for a second to calm himself down before continuing.* "You're the only female in my life who's ever seen me as a romantic interest... I just find it hard to believe...especially after what just happened. It's just so...sudden...after all this time."

“It really isn’t.. think back really hard about every interaction we’ve had, who do you think stocks the kitchen and cleans in when you are too tired to? Who was always there to pick you up off the floor when some witch stomped your affection to pieces…” I say, chest heaving.

*His eyes grow wide as the words sink into his head... all the moments you two have had together. All the things you've done for him. Even now...the way you stuck around to make sure he was ok after his rejection. His heart beating faster and faster in his chest as you speak.* "You've always done that for me....?"

*I scoff and start walking again.* “I

really can’t do this right now… just forget about it.”

*This time he doesn't hesitate to stop her. Placing his hand firmly on your arm to stop you.* "No...I need to know... I always thought you were just being helpful. Is that all there was to it?”

"Wait wait wait...come back." *He says before following your footsteps, keeping up with your pace.* "You're not serious right? After all these years, you finally tell me, and now you just want to forget and walk away?"

“Do you not realize how much this hurts me?… no of course not” I say, shaking my head.

"H-hurts you?" *He looks at you confused. His body tense as he takes a moment to process this. Could she have been hurt this whole time? Did he hurt her all those times as he chased after other girls?* "I'm sorry...I never knew..."

“Yeah.. that’s the problem.. just forget I said anything, soon enough the flavor of the week will walk by and I’ll just go back into the shadows again… “I spoke with tears in my eyes.

"...No, I can't accept that." *He says, his voice firm as he shakes his head. Catching up to you, he grabs your shoulders again.* "That's not fair...You deserve someone who sees how great you are. Someone who understands how wonderful and amazing you are...who truly understands you..."

“Yeah.. I see the candidates starting to line up now..” I said mockingly.

*The thought of you with another man made his heart sink. His stomach grew a pit as he pictured the scenario. A look of anger coming to his features. His hands becoming tighter as they stay on your shoulders.* "Are you joking with me..? Or was that sarcasm??"

“Look… just forget about it Sanji, seriously… I’m just gonna go get drunk with zoro and forget it even happened myself” I admit.

*He lets out a small sigh. His hands loosening to release their grasp on

your shoulders. His heart sinking as you turn to walk away. He quickly pulls you back one last time.* "Wait...just..." *He trails off before speaking up again with a more serious tone.* "Before we go our separate ways. I just want to ask one thing..."

*I sigh deeply* “What?”

"Do you promise me that you won't see another man for the time being?" *His eyes meet yours hopefully.

“I don’t think I should do that.” I said honestly.

*His eyes narrow a bit. He grits his teeth a bit, trying to control himself. his voice sounding a bit more demanding.* "That's not an answer. I'm just asking that you don't go chasing after other men. Just for a bit until I sort everything out. Can you do that for me?"

“No. I’m not going to promise that. I’ve waited long enough, it’s time to move on” I said holding my ground.

*The words hit him like a truck. The look of anger growing back on his face. His grip tightening on his fists behind his back.*

"You...you..." *His heart sank at the fact she would quickly move on already. Him being just another option for her. He clenches his jaw once again, his fists shaking a bit.* "Fine, then I'll do everything I can to make you mine. I'll make an effort to prove my love for you. Just don't go chasing around after other men!!"

“You’ve never cared about me before this. I’m just a rebound to you while you are everything to me.” I scream at him, tears blinding my sight.

*His eyes widen as the words sting him with a sharp pain. He feels like he wants to kick the nearest rock to vent out his anger out. His eyes start to tear up a bit.*

"That's not true!" *He says, trying to regain his composure* "I've always cared for you...just..." *He trails off, a soft pout appearing on his face as he hangs his head low.*

“Just never enough compared to anyone else. I’m not your dearest nami-swan.” I gasp out.

"No...you're more than that. You-" *He stutters before he takes a deep breath.* "You mean more to me than..." *The words die in his mouth as his throat gets dry from all the emotions he's feeling right now. His eyes still filled with that soft pout he always has when he's down.*

*I scoff at him* “you really expect me to believe that? You didn’t even remember my birthday because you were so focused on handing that girl flowers.”

*His eyes grow wide as you mentioned the birthday incident. His face turning bright red as he remembered that situation.* "I-I..." *His body shaking, his fist clenching back up as his jaw tenses.* "I can explain..."

“Save it” I respond.

"Wait n-no wait! Just let me explain ok?..." *His body trembles more as he feels another small wave of guilt. He feels like he's the shittiest person in the world right now.*

“I’m giving you one chance to explain and than I’m gone.” I state shaking my head again.

"Ok...ok...I-I was stupid...I-" *He stumbles on his words a bit before continuing.* "I was so infatuated with that girl that I wanted to see how she'd react to my gift... I forgot... about you in that moment... I'm sorry..."

“I’m sorry… but that isn’t a proper excuse. You expect me to believe that you’ve been secretly harboring feelings for me when you do things like that” I respond back harshly.

*He lets out a soft sigh, his body feeling like it wants to curl up in a ball. He looks away as your words hit him like a truck.* "Ok you're right...it is a shitty excuse." *He looks back up at you.* "But please believe me, I mean it...I have feelings for you... I really do...."

“You have a funny way of showing it… do you even realize that when you bring nami and robin drinks and faun over them that I’ve always been with them too? Not once have you offered me a drink or any semblance of an acknowledgment that I was there” I point out.

*A look of guilt grows in his face again as he hears those words. They reminded him of every moment he's ignored you. Every moment you stood there with him behind the corner. He never once acknowledged you when he was flirting with Nami and Robin like you say. He always overlooked you even if you were right by his side.* "Y-you're right...it's been happening so often that I never really noticed that it hurt you until right now." He finally admitted.

“And that’s why I’m choosing to move on. I’m tired of being hurt… zoro was right I should have never fallen in love with you” I state harshly.

*His eyebrows shoot up a bit in a mix of hurt and surprise. The words of Zoro cut deep, his whole idea of love being shaken to the core. He never imagined the words Zoro said would ever become the reason to him losing you.*

*Tears began to spill past his eyes as his jaw clenches once again. A look of anger, sadness and despair creeping on his face.* "You're right... You deserve someone better than me..."

“I just wish you would have seen me” I say with a sad smile.

*He closes his eyes and lets out a soft sob. He's never thought of himself as someone who deserves to be loved. After all he's done and all he's ignored. Never seeing you and only focusing on those other girls. Not once realizing what he was truly ignoring. He wanted to believe that if he could just explain that these were all accidents...you'd come back to him. He didn't want to believe that he had lost you forever.*

*I continue walking way tears streaming down my face and my chest feels like it’s going to burst*

*Seeing you walk away, tears in your eyes breaks him apart once more. He wanted to shout after you and plead for you to come back... to give him one last chance. But he knows you've heard this all before. He failed you and he knows it. For the time being... He wanted you to be happy, even if it wasn't with him. So he lets you go.*

*I head back to the ship and quickly make my way up to the crows nest where I know zoro is, I throw my self at him and sob into his chest*

*The moment you appear, Zoro's expression grows an empathetic look. He can instantly tell that something is wrong. He immediately wraps his arm around you, holding you close as he rubs your back gently.*

"What...what happened..." *He says in a kind and soft voice. His voice filled with worry as he comforts you.*

“I finally told him” I say in between hiccuping breathes*

*His eyes widen as he pulls you into a tight embrace. He holds you close to his chest as he rubs your back.* "And...? What did he say?...what happened?" He questions softly.

“It happened exactly how you would have expected. He said he never know and when I pointed out all I’ve done for him; how I’ve always been there he pretended that he loved me too” I admitted.

"He did?" *He says, sounding surprised at your explanation.* "He said he loved you and you still ran off?"

“He doesn’t love me. He loves the idea of being loved” I explain.

"What do you mean?" *he asks still rubbing your back. His expression growing a mix of concern and sympathy at this moment that you're going through.*

“Zo, he still won’t admit what he’s done wrong, he gave petty excuses like he hasn’t ripped my heart out of my chest and cooked it in front of me.” I cry.

*He nods slowly.* "I see... That's... Yeah that sounds like Sanji..." *He sighs, looking off into the distance.* "Still, how could you be so sure he doesn't love you?"

“How could he? He’s never given a single fuck about me before and now all of a sudden that I confess my love for him I exist?” I stare harshly.

"Hmm?..." *His eyes slowly give a look of realization as he processes your words.* "Now that you mention it... Yeah, your right." *He rubs your back gently as he looks over at the empty sea.*

"If he truly loved you, he would've noticed you were always right by his side. He would've felt something as he continued his flirty antics with Nami and Robin. He would've cared about how you felt..." his voice trailed off.

“You were right all along zoro” I said in a hiccuping breathe.

"I might be right about some things..." *He mutters before shifting his focus back on to you.* "But, you're still hurting... You love that fool still, don't you..." he asks.

“I think I need to forget him and move on finally” I say.

*He lets out a gentle sigh, his arm wrapping around you as he rubs your back gently.* "You would be better off forgetting him yes.. but the problem is...you can't forget him when he's always right in your mind. You can't forget someone if you truly love them..."

“Help me not love him” I plead with him.

"Hmm..." *He gives a soft sigh, his tone sounding a bit uncertain on what to do.* "Ok well... You love him because of who he is right? So the only thing I can think of is if we focus on his bad qualities instead. Focus on all the annoying traits he's developed over the years that you've witnessed..." he says calmly.

“Yeah… you’re right.. you always are. you’ve always been the one to have my back” I admit.

*He chuckles, letting out a small grin as he hears your words of praise.* "You're too kind you know that?'

"So I want you to do me a favor, whenever you remember Sanji...instead of the good times, remember the annoying moments with him. Remember all the times he's embarrassed you or has disrespected you. Think of how much it hurt you to watch him flirting with Nami and Robin. I want you to focus on all that everytime..."

*I cuddle into his chest further and my breathing hitches even harder*

*His grip around you tightens as he continues to rub your back gently. As he feels you cuddling him closer, he lets out a gentle sigh, closing his eyes. A soft smile spread across his face as he remembers how you used to cuddle with him often. He lets that feeling sink in for a while before speaking up to you again.*

"Do me one last favor ok...?" He asks softly

“Anything for you zo” I state softly.

*His grip tightens one last time as he gives you a serious expression.* "Promise me that you'll try your hardest to get over Sanji even if it hurts. Promise me that you won't chase after him again no matter what he does..." he begs of me.

“I promise. I mean it… I wish I fell for you first instead” I admit sadly.

*The words feel like a breath of fresh air as his eyes widen a bit. A small smile graces his features hearing that answer. He can't help but feel a bit...flustered, but he keeps his composure.*

"I wish so too..." he responds back in kind, rubbing soft circles into my spine.

“Maybe, maybe this is what we needed to happen… so we could have a chance” I say, looking into his eyes.

*The words hit him in an unexpected way. A part of him wondered what would happen if you hadn't confessed to Sanji and confessed to him instead...*

"Maybe you're right..." *His expression starts to warm and fill with a soft hope.* "What do you think? Should we try it? Should we...us two give it a proper go?"

“I’d really like that zo… I’ve never felt so safe as I do in your arms” I say honestly.

"Hmmm, I'd really like that too." *His blush begins to deepen as he feels his chest fill with hope and pride. For the first time, he was actually having the idea of being with you go smoothly without any drama or complications in the way*

"And, if it's ok with you. Can I ask you a favor?"

“Anything..” I respond back.

"Can I kiss you?" *He says softly as he looks to your lips. The blush on his cheeks grows even deeper as he waits for your reply.*

*I look up at him hopefully and stand on my toes to place my lips against his. Feeling my chest tingle in a way it never had before*

*His chest grew hot as he felt your lips press up against his. The words that were said before filled his mind as he embraced you tightly. His grip around you firm and strong as he gently pulled you closer into him.*

"Mmm..." *He mumbled against your lips, his own breath catching in his throat. His fingers curling gently as he held you.*

*for the first time in a long time the ache in my chest went away*

*Your lips felt warm and supple, your breath warm and soothing.*

*He pulled away for a moment to take a quick breath, his heart beating quickly in his chest. His mind in a state of pure bliss as the ache in his own chest went away with how happy he was right now.*

"W-was that ok?" *He asked softly, his breath a bit strained as he kept you close to his chest.*

“More than okay… you… I think we were always meant to be” I say at the realization hits me.

*The idea brought a warm smile to his face as his hold around you tighten.* "I think we were too. But... are you sure that there are no other lingering feelings for Sanji?" *He asks hesitantly, not wanting to find out if any other feelings might ruin what you two were having now.*

“No… I think I’ve finally been able to lay those feelings to rest” I say resolution set.

"So you're 100% sure that you are ready to be with me? To start this journey?" *He asks in a hopeful voice as his arms rest more firmly around you. His lips curling into another gentle smile as hope continues to warm his chest.*

“Yeah, I think we were always meant to be.. it just took me getting my head out of my ass to notice… I’m glad I did before it was too late.” I admit, mad at myself I was blinded by my own stupidity.

"I'm glad you did too." *His words were true as he continues to smile at you. His heartbeat slowing as he lets out a sigh of relief. Finally free of the idea that you'd fall back for Sanji the moment he'd come around.*

"Ok...but just in case." *He mumbles before leaning down and gently whispering in your ear.* "No more looking back...ok? No more missing Sanji. You belong to me now, Zoro...And I belong to you...ok?"

“I like the sound of that.” I say softly

*I link my hands with his, his thumb soothingly rubbing my hand*

*The gentle rubbing of your hand soothes him as well. The warmth of your hands rubbing against his reminding him of just how real this all is.*

"Hmm..." *He whispers.* "So...does this mean you wanna be my girl?"

“I think so, the great roanoa zoro, swordsman, pirate hunter, first mate of the straw hat pirates… and my boyfriend” I say with a big smile on my face.

*His face immediately lights up at the idea of those words.* "So this means I'm finally yours in public?" *He says in a teasing tone with a playful smile.* "That means I can finally have all those girls stop hitting on me because they now know my wonderful girl is standing behind me." *He flashes a teasing grin knowing just how jealous you get when it comes to him speaking with other women.*

“I get to sit in your lap and claim you now, and have it be real instead of just a rouse to get them to go away” I tease back

*He chuckles, his grin growing wide as he imagined such a scene. How jealous would they all be seeing you sitting on his lap after claiming it for yourself.*

"And I get to proudly say that *you* are my girlfriend with no hesitation..." *He says with pride.* "And if anyone tries hitting on you, I can tell them to back off because you're mine."

*I smile and bring him down for another kiss*

*He leans back into you, enjoying the feeling of your warm embrace once more. His lips pressing against yours again as he gives back to the sweet embrace. His hand running up and down your side as he feels his heartbeat quicken rapidly again. His blush growing as well as he pulls back from your lips to speak.*

"Mmm...~" *He sighs, taking in a deep breath and letting it run its course before speaking up again.* "I forgot how much I missed feeling your lips against mine. I've been so worried about Sanji coming back into your heart..."

“I can promise you That it’s all behind us now. No more drunken kisses to heal the pain… this is for us.” I say as I stroke his face with my hands.

*The memory of those drunk kisses still haunted him as he thought back on the words you just said. He sighs softly as he looks back at you, that same serious gaze in his eyes from a moment before.* "So... you promise there are no other lingering feelings for him? You'll never run back to him. You won't chase him when he runs around in your memories. You won't miss him? You won't think about him when we kiss?" He asked making sure I was certain.

“No. I won’t. That chapter is closed for good. Our story is just beginning and I’m going to see it through to the end. I love you zoro, I always have, it’s why I’ve always run back to you. You’ve always felt right, safe” I say lovingly.

Things were finally what they should have been from the start.

[adobe-outdesign]

YOU ENDED UP GETTING ME INTO NEOPETS NOW SO WHAT R UR THOUGHTS ON JETSAM(S)? IM A SUCKER FOR SHARKS LOL SO IM RLY HOPING TO GET ONE AT SOME POINT

Jetsams are sharks, and are meant to be kind of a counterpart/natural predator to the dolphin-like Flotsam; to the point where the two looked near-identical. Nowadays there are more differences, with the Jetsam sporting two fins, sharp teeth, slightly different markings, and an upright posture. Personally, I like to think of these two as a case of mimicry, with the Jetsam having evolved to trick Flotsam from a distance.

Visually, the Jetsam has a nice tough look to it that gives it a lot of personality, and the way it sits upright plus the two fins gives it a bit more uniqueness so it isn't just a normal shark. My only issue with it is that the gray underbelly is a bit too dark and low-contrast. Gray as the accent color is fine; it just needed to be a lighter tint.

The Jetsam benefited quite a bit from customization, as its old art was starting to get very dated and needed a redraw anyway. The new Jetsam looks a little less tough, but the smile is nice as it shows off their teeth, and it gives them a fun kind of mischievous look. The overall look didn't change much, but the head has been changed significantly to have a much better, less wonky shape to it, and the markings now stop above the mouth instead of near the eyebrow. The shape of the hind fins have also been improved, and they're one of the only pets who can make the customization fists look good.

Favorite Colours:

Maraquan: How do you make an underwater version of something that already lives in the water? Make it into a deep-sea fish, obviously! The overall design is easily recognizable as a Jetsam, but its been given a horizontal posture with bioluminescence and an angler fish light/teeth. The palette is great, using neutral browns and greys for the body and bright neon blues for the accent color. My only nitpick with it is that the teeth feel a bit busy and don't quite make sense if you look at them too long, but overall, this is a great design.

Pastel: The pastel Jetsam is just plain pretty, using a soft pink and turquoise palette. What really makes it work is that instead of using flat colors, it employs subtle gradients so the turquoise becomes blue in areas and the pink gets some subtle highlights. On top of that, it's also given a sunlight-under-water ripple texture, with a few small speckles on areas like the eyebrows and tail. A lot of effort went into this design compared to your standard pastel pet, and it really paid off.

Toy: Alright yeah, this one's just fun. The pool floatie idea is a great concept that works perfectly for the colour, and the execution is also really solid, including lots of raised plastic ridges, seams, and plenty of highlights to give it that plastic look.

My only issue with it is that weird handle on the side of the head. I guess some shark toys have these, but I've never seen one personally and it honestly just looks distracting and kind of out of place. Also, I do wish it was semi-transparent (think like the good Jelly-coloured pets), but that's not a big deal. Still a really good colour regardless.

BONUS: The robot Jetsam has a mostly red and white palette with a few black accents, and it works really well for this pet. I love the visor, and the patterning on the fins is really neat. Both versions are fine; the UC/styled version looks a bit more robotic, but the customized version reads a bit better overall.

[crayondestroyer]

I haven't even watched Hazbin Hotel and I'm not Christian but.... Let's talk about Saint Peter

From the clips I've seen + the screenshots, he was made into this kind of blonde, almost "golden retriever boy" archetype and that doesn't really scream "first prophet of God"..? Even if it is a satire character, why design him in such a way? Wouldn't it make more sense to exaggerate in his original depiction like in the painting I used as a reference? I know at the end of the day it doesn't matter and his design's not going to change no matter what my silly little Tumblr post says, but I just thought I would vent about the design a little bit :)

So I guess this is a redesign + rough concepts of what I meant by the points I was trying to make!

SO sorry it's not in the original style of Hazbin T^T I tried to replicate the style at first but it just looked wonky so I just did it in my own!

(No hate to the show!! My criticisms shouldn't ruin your enjoyment of the show! Don't worry about my opinion, if you like his design or you like him as a character, that's fine! Don't let me ruin your fun! ^⁠_⁠^)

[a-tale-of-legends]

When did Jude and Dante first meet Eternatus and what were they reactions?

So I'm still reworking a lot of characters, and by extension, how things play out via the timeline. So exactly when they meet Eternatus, I don't know. And their reactions are more wonky too bc I haven't gotten to that deep dive of their character and how would they react to things. But :

The duo shifts their eyes from Leon, to Eternatus, and back to Leon. The large dragon seems to coil around Leon a little closer, growling lowly before Leon goes to pet it.

" Easy..." He murmurs, before looking back at the duo, " ....So?"

Jude and Dante give each other a look. Dante, as composed as he's trying to be right now, looks sick. Jude can't blame him, not really. Everything about this thing feels.....off. They haven't even fully checked its aura yet.

" So...." Jude speaks up for the both of them, stepping forwards and Dante steps back- possibly to compose himself - " This.....Eternatus is a dead pokemon standing,"

" Yes. Chairman-"

" Chairman Rose played god and ended up creating a freak of nature," Jude cuts him off before he could explain. They sigh, " Between that, and this ' Cara-Liss' woman, you Galarians don't have the best track record for ethical revivification, now do you?"

Leon's face, once nervous under the scrutiny of both Jude and Dante, hardens. Jude knows he knew better than the outright glare at them, given his situation, but the look he was giving them was barely enough to count as one. It was impressive, admittedly. Must have been years of practice to master it. Eternatus doesn't growl like it did before, but from the way it leans into Leon's touch again seems to hint that Jude may have struck a nerve.

" We don't claim either of them," Leon states, his voice surprisingly even, " And....well. Desperation is a crazy thing,". Despite everything, Leon still tries to be compassionate.

Before going any further, Jude turns around to Dante behind them. The man has some fingers rubbing his temples, and looks like he's fighting back a massive migraine. Jude frowns, eyeing him up and down.

" Are you sure you're okay?" They call out, a bit softer compared to their tone with Leon. Though that only seems to annoy Dante, earning a swift glare from him.

' Fuck you too, I guess'

" I'm fine," Dante grits out, but the unamused look Jude gives him pause. He sighs, looking away bashfully.

" .....Xerneas is freaking out. Her presence is... Stronger than usual right now"

" Ah." That explains why he looks more sick than they do. Jude opens their mouth to offer a retreat -

" I'm staying here, asshole. I'd never hear the end of it otherwise," Dante huffs, ending the argument before it even began. Well alright then.

' Actually, why aren't you yelling my brain off right now?' Jude muses to Yveltal. The death pokemon responded almost instantly.

' Xerneas can speak for the both of us'

Jude hums, then focusing back on Leon - or rather, Eternatus. They use their aura more potently this time, taking in Eternatus' aura ...or at least, they would have, if the damn thing had a normal aura.

" What the..." Jude squints, " It's aura is around it's own bones". They look at Leon,hoping for an explanation.

" A-ah, well....from my understanding, the only way for Eternatus to really come back to life is...for it to possess its own body," Leon states carefully. Eternatus growls again, though there's a sadness to it.

" That's....not exactly unheard of?" They look back at Dante, who looks slightly better. Xerneas probably stopped yelling and backed off a bit.

" For ghost types, yes," Dante says with a nod, " Ghost types and Ghost type energy have the ability to possess things. I....never heard of one possessing it's own body but I won't rule it out,"

" Right. That's....that's what I figured..." A dark hole was forming in their stomach, " ....But Eternatus isn't a ghost type, now is it?"

Leon can only shake his head.

The weight of this realization is heavy in the air. Leon probably already knew, given his calmness about it. Or maybe it's another skill he picked up over the years. Jude doesn't bother using their aura sensing to find out. They could only think about the implications of Eternatus existence. Unethical revivification is one thing, but like this? Jude can only shake their head, a single word escaping from their mouth,

" Fuck."

[squibbles-gubwee]

Sgshsvsb Well!! It's been a slow day at work so i worked on this lmao. I hope you enjoy. @tmntredline @0ddbugs @coffinpal

"Who's this little friend?"

Cool eyes blinked and looked up, spotting a particular peachy furred mutant. She smiled at Rook, and he looked back down, studying the tangerine-coloured leg being stitched onto the green body. He pulled the needle through, before prodding the seam with thick fingers and frowning. He doubled back to take care of the too-large holes he left behind with messy stitches.

"Hello again, Master Splinter. I uh… It's a cattywampus..."

"A cattywampus?"

Splinter sat down, a chair's distance between the two as she watched the man pick up the needle back up and immediately poke his thumb. The mother had snuck off this way when she spotted the blue haired human, and…well, while she wasn't using him for his access to tea, she wouldn't deny her appreciation for it. 

Her eyes flicked over towards the two paper cups from the concessions full of hot water. One was already steeping with an oolong, and there were three tea bag sachets laid out for her to choose from. 

…Did he expect her to follow him? Or was this just in case she surprised him with a visit?

(Honestly, she was a bit surprised herself. She hadn't known their group was watching this competition as well!)

"Yeah! It's, um…well, growin' up, it was like…a mish-mash monster. A beast of broken parts. I had one with floppy ears and six legs that my grandmother made for me. Lots are made from old torn up stuffies, instead of throwin' em out." The wonky, unfinished plush was lifted up, and its boxy head flopped to the side. Rook's nose scrunched in thought. "Probably for the best that it's uh…kinda messy. I think the last time I'd sewn something was in my teens…"

"How do you keep finding these breakrooms you aren't likely supposed to be in, hm?" Splinter gave a wry grin as she slid a cup closer and grabbed the cinnamon rooibos chai.

The bulky man gestured vaguely to his faux leg. "I just say I need to remove it and people give me space. Mais…I, uh, do need it off for a bit. It's killing my hip. Are you alright with…?"

Splinter waved the notion off quickly, and the human sighed in relief as he released the prosthetic limb, removing it and setting the leg on the chair opposite of him.

"Thanks. I guess a storm's coming."

"It's no trouble, do whatever makes you feel comfortable."

The two lapsed back into quiet, the fawn-furred lady taking in the moment of quiet as the navy-haired therapist turned the toy this way and that. Tang Shen took a sip of her tea, frowned, and allowed it to steep a while longer. She wished she had a bit of milk to pair with it, but it seemed fine without.

Rook liked that about Master Splinter. Normally he was painfully awkward around other folks his age. Working with kids and teens all day every day did that to you. But she was quite easy to talk to. The silences weren't harsh, and he had no real pressure to talk. She laughed when he said something about rug time instead of sneering.

(It's why he decided to just keep quiet about what he saw in that hall. He hadn't meant to find her, and instead decided space would be what the distressed woman most likely need. So, he kept quiet, and he would keep quiet.)

"So, why a cattywampus?" 

If she were closer to the human, she'd tease him for the red that bloomed on his face. 

"Well…They're sorta like gargoyles."

Her whiskers twitched at that. "Oh? How so?"

"Well, gargoyles are supposed to protect places and ward off evil, no? It's why they're on so many old buildings and stuff. Catawampus are kinda like that. They're supposed to protect their owners by scaring off bad spirits because they're tataille- creepy little monsters."

"He's going to be a pretty poor cattywampus, then. He's adorable."

Rook snickered at that. "Eh, I think he'll do just fine. I also stuffed a satchel of lavender in his belly. Put a silica pouch in it to keep the buds dry."

"Oh my, I thought that was your tea!" She gasped, gingerly taking the little beast. "How cute. He's sure to make one of your sons happy."

The red haired woman heard a choked noise and looked back over, laughing a bit at how Rook seemed to get embarrassed again. "I-T-gh. Th. They are not my sons."

"Aren't they?"

"No. Heaven's sake, miss, I'm just their therapist."

There was a knowing look in the woman's eye, but she opted not to say anything. After all, no therapist she knew of would do something like let their patients take them on an interdimensional trip to watch a bake off or a hockey game. Instead, she acquiesced, and quietly sipped her tea, brushing a strand of ruddy hair from her face.

He'd figure it out eventually.

"Still. Whichever one that's for, he's sure to love it."

The human hummed as he doubled back and reworked another seam of the half-stuffed creature. He still needed to make sure to put the rest of the fillings in later. He'd hide the fill seam with the bat wings he did up. "I hope so. I worry it's a little too childish…"

"Well… I like him," Splinter hummed, the tip of her tail hooking around the strap of Rook's bag and pulling it closer to him when she saw him reach. "I think he's a charming gift! You put a lot of care into him. Besides, I don't think something is childish just because it's a cute toy."

Rook smiled a bit as he fished out the large buttons he found that he thought would make good eyes. "Yeah…I guess you're right."

Days later (Days? had it been days? time moved so strangely in these places...) while she was heading back to the locker room, Tang Shen spotted her sons behaving perfectly normally. Leonardo was reviewing dance moves, Michelangelo was talking about baking and ratios with Donatello, and Raphael was wrapping his knees. Perfectly normal.

Perfectly suspicious.

Narrowing her eyes some, the mother stared for a moment. Leo started bouncing his leg. Mikey smiled wider. Donatello's eyes widened a bit, looking more innocent. Raphael turned his head away and went to wrap his other knee.

Perfectly guilty. They were up to something. Shen would find out what it was after she changed into some clothes she could bake in-

She could smell lavender.

Deft, clawed fingers opened the metal latch of the locker-

…only for her vermillion eyes to lock with large, slightly skewed, butterscotch yellow ones. A smudge of red below each one made her think of the red lines she and her sons were so well known for (apparently), and the tangerine stripes on the thick plush tail matched the mismatched legs.

Delicately, Master Splinter plucked the cattywampus plush up, looking over the stitches that made up the zig-zag mouth on his mint-coloured head. He was much fuller, with a bit of a pleasing heft to him. Her heightened hearing could pick up the soft, rain-like sound of small beads tumbling over one another in part of his belly and legs. The floral smell was much stronger now, but not unbearably so. She opened the velcro hidden under his tiny wings and found where Rook had tucked away the pouch of dried buds.

How utterly sweet.

"I have the perfect name for you," Splinter hummed, lifting the creature up so she could look into those yellow buttons and jaggedy smile. The big eyes gleamed in the fluorescent lights, and her own crinkled from her smile.

"King."