#this is a rough one

[geothewriter]

Vermillion Seas Cardinal Skies: Chapter 24 - The South

The opportunity to finally release years of pent-up fury arrives for Katara. Will she still be herself on the other side?

--

Happy New Year y'all! I've been busy busy busy, so unfortunately, the idea of finishing posting the entire fic by Christmas is long gone, but we'll be reaching the endgame soon enough! Boy, it's 2025 now. I would have never guessed that I'd still be writing this fic, but you know how it goes!

This chapter is definitely long in coming. It's another of those that I've had in the back of my mind for how I wanted it to go for months, so it's great to finally get to share it!

As always, MASSIVE shoutout to Achillmango for her awesome editing <3 She's the bomb, and I couldn't have done this without her.

Now then, please enjoy Chapter 24 - The South!

The gentle rumbling of the airship engines almost lulls her into a sense of ease. Almost. The world around her and back home is so filled with problems– problems that she cannot avoid– problems that force her to refuse any sort of satisfying rest. After all, how could she relax? They’re en route to the Fire Nation. Her fate awaits her. She failed. Her men saw her failure and no matter the fear she’s put into them, they’ll surely speak of what the Avatar did.   As much as she hates to admit it, the only way she was going to survive that fall, she knows, was with his help. She recalculates the moments again and again in her mind. Blasting from the top of the ship, falling through the air, impacting the wall, losing consciousness, then–  Her only hope would have been to jab her crown hairpin into the rocks, but she failed even that. She doesn’t deserve to be here. To be alive. And yet.  I forgive you. She knows that from anyone else, this wouldn’t have any effect on her. That stupid naive kid meant it with all that he is. Zuko would’ve been lying. Anyone else would be obviously lying. But him. That stupid kid.  How can she make sense of all this? Can she even go back home? The burgundy reds of her room feel suffocating now, completely at odds with the feeling she had experienced atop the ship. Why is that voice in her head so intent on ruining her life? The voices she corrects herself. There are two. One younger, and one with depth of experience.  With an exasperated sigh, she tries to discount her imagination. They can’t be real. She’s just under a lot of stress, that’s all.  Azula, Zuko, promise me you’ll look out for each other.  The words come back to her, clear as any cloudless sky, and she’s struck then, by the clarity of her mind. She’s never generated lightning as quickly as she did when firing toward the combustion bender. Only someone with total focus could do such a thing. Someone like Father. Someone with a singular ambition. Someone who knows their place in the world.  Not even Father is that fast. Part of the clarity brings realization. The voice she heard begging her and reminding her of a promise made as a child. It is Mother’s voice. Why here? Why now? She’s long gone, never to be seen again. How could her voice reach her– it must only be in her mind. Does a part of herself want to keep Zuko alive? Does she lack the conviction to follow through with Father’s orders? She even allowed the Avatar to escape unscathed.  It’s what Mother would have wanted, she knows. But this isn’t what she wants. Is it?  Her goal always has been and always will be to be the perfect princess. To be the gem of Father’s eye. To be perfect in all she does. Why is she slipping up now when the journey is at its end? She clenches and releases her hands and watches as they tremble and shake uncontrollably. “There’s good in everyone, even you.” What’s that supposed to mean? Good in everyone? As if she isn’t good? She’s doing what’s right for her nation, for her people for–  The door cracks open and the wide-eyed captain of the airship nudges the door further. “Princess, by orders of Fire Lord Ozai, we are making way for Caldera City. Are we to make any deviations within reason?” He clears his throat meaningfully.

Continue Reading on AO3

[idyllghost]

Throwing hands with Dutch Van Der Linde on her behalf as we speak

Click for better quality and if you’d like more art from me/to support my work consider commissioning me!

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Next chapter of The Ashes at Thy Feet is up!

Content warnings: panic attack, trauma.

[vpyre]

This is rough. Watch out

Wow, I’m seriously impressed by how suicidal I’ve managed to get in such a short time. I just want all this to be over. Life has been nothing but a struggle for me, and I legitimately can’t see a way forward. Even if Kamala does still pull off a win, I’m not suited for working. I can’t do it. The job I have now is a once in a lifetime decent fit for me, but I make fifteen an hour. I’m not getting anywhere secure with it. I can’t handle a job with more responsibilities, no matter how much it might pay.

I guess I just have absolutely zero faith in my ability to be functional enough to feel safe and secure and stable at all. Ever. For fucks sake, I can’t even keep our goddamn room clean for more than a day, let alone the rest of the house, let alone handle actually important things. Everything in my life feels so inescapable and insurmountable, and I am too damn lazy to try.

I’m lazy. That’s why I think about killing myself so often. I’m too lazy to try for a better life. If it doesn’t fall right into my lap, I guess I’ll never try to chase it. Great. I’m a shit human being on top of everything. God, laziness is so unflattering; I feel like such a slob and a failure. I feel so entitled.

Ohhhh but those things only matter for me, you see. Anyone else could be in the same exact situation and I’d reassure them that they weren’t lazy, just tired or something. But me? I’m gross and awful. I’m unworthy of anything. Everyone else is justified in my mind, but not me.

[ionomycin]

my favorite pieces from 2024

[bisexualmadney]

the school episode is really getting to me man

[bloomeng]

core 4 magical girl set finally reunited

[do-you-know-this-queer-character]

Do you know this queer character?

Castiel is Queer and Agender or Genderfluid, and uses varying pronouns based on presentation!

[friedunicornstudio]

We painted a new Shiranui zodiac piece this year featuring all the brush god constellations!

(Shiranui themself is in front of the Hanagami, but we did paint them. They're still there. It counts)

[timethehobo]

Manfred aggressively shipping like-

[peachsukii]

The first thing Bakugo wants after a life or death fight with a villain is to fuck you.

Bakugo denies all medical attention, ignores his colleagues pleas to calm down as he barrels off the battlefield in a blind fury. He storms through the front door, still covered in freshly spilled blood and practically growling like a wounded animal while his eyes search for you in your shared home.

You rush downstairs at the sound, your eyes widening in shock when you approach him. “Katsuki? What the h—”

“Shut the fuck up.”

His lips are on yours in an instant, shoving you up against the wall in a desperate attempt to get closer to you. Dirtied gloves paw at your clothes, the salty metallic taste of blood and sweat coating your tongue from his split lip as he shoves his tongue in your mouth. It’s as if Bakugo’s body is moving on its own, his mind trapped in a haze of unknown need.

“Need you,” he groans while sucking your bottom lip into his mouth, one of his hands threading into your hair and holding the back of your head. “Shut up and fuck me.”

“Kats—”

You try to pull back, to ask him what’s going on, but he keeps cutting you off with harsher kisses and bites to your neck. Bakugo pants against your pulse point, licking the skin as his voice becomes uncharacteristically soft. “Please…”

That’s when you notice the tremble in his touch, how the hand on your waist is squeezing tight enough to leave a bruise. It clicks — this isn’t just about sex and he won’t say it, can’t say it. He needs you. Needs you to distract him, hold him and get the adrenaline out of his body, to not let the fear of almost losing you drown him.

One of your hands tangles in his hair as you kiss down his neck, your teeth sinking into the spot that makes his knees buckle. Bakugo audibly moans, a low and guttural sound that only you know how to pull out of him. You lead him to the couch in the living room, ripping off his hero suit piece by piece to give him exactly what he wants.

“Thank you” are the only two words that roll off his tongue repeatedly like a prayer, spliced between voracious moans as you ride him harder than ever before. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

[xxplastic-cubexx]

obligatory beach divorce doodling

bonus rough cover redraw of x-men #41 (1995) But Beach Divorce below cut

[catsharky]

Happy early Valentines day, have something completely out of my wheelhouse! I wasn't joking in my previous comic, Stobotnik has me in a stranglehold (though as a heads up to anyone who doesn't follow me: I don't expect I'll be making more, I'm sorry 😔This is definitely a one-off)

Going through some old art of mine got me missing doing stylized, cartoony stuff so I thought this would be a good opportunity to push myself to bring some of that back into my life. Unfortunately the universe had it out for this thing and tried to stop me with pneumonia (it failed HAH) and every time I got closer to finishing it, I got struck with a new, more hellish stage of illness. I had 2 other panels I wanted to do for this and just had to tap out early😭

TFW your evil gay uncles think they can fakeout makeout you but one of them is 6 ft+ and wearing bright red.

[aufredpratt]

What do you think of your f/o's exes?

& ur own if that's ur cannon

ohhh boy this is gonna piss some folks off

before me every relationship Spike had has been abusive on one side or the other.

Dru manipulated him because she knew he was down bad for her. She absolutely used him.

Harmony was barely a relationship she was a means to an end for him. (didn't stop me from bristling when I first saw her post turning)

Buffy...oh god where do I start. She emotionally fucked with him because she felt bad for herself. Blamed him for her conflicting emotions despite how, by s6, he had done more good for the whole btvs crew. I 100% do not think she ever loved him more than platonically. She was going through some rough shit sure but that's not an excuse. (we're gonna ignore seeing red cus fuck that)

As far as mine go, I didn't have any in my timeline. I know this because I see shipping gifs and I feel so alienated/disjointed. I took the time to heal from Pylea.

[oobbbear]

This took me an embarrassing amount of time but guess what it’s finished

[burquillos]

Zoro being yeeted and manhandled by Luffy is peak comedy to me