#this one well isn't Christmas obviously but it also was originally for an OC but I realised I could make it more general and it would work

[mindful-of-ideas]

“Don’t start it without me,” you shouted from the kitchen.

“I would never!” Fox answered.

“That’s what you said last week and still you started it without me,” you said, placing a bowl of sunflower seeds on the table in front of the TV.

“I skipped the intro!”

“You started it without me.”

“Alright, fine. But see the TV isn’t even on yet.”

You sat down on your end of the couch, on Mulder’s left, pulling up your feet and balancing a bowl of blueberries on the armrest.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready!” you answered, flashing him a smile.

Watching Unsolved Mysteries together had been your thing since forever. It usually always went the same way. You wouldn’t be able to see each other for a few weeks, so you would get together on a Friday night, order food and binge all the episodes you had missed. Tonight wasn’t an exception. And while devouring a pizza, you made your way through two episodes.

You wouldn’t admit it to him, but you were getting pretty tired. Usually, you went on watching mysteries all night. During the actual episodes, you were both awfully quiet but it’s only because you knew what was coming next. You would spend several minutes exposing your own theories and, to be honest, arguing when it came to the supernatural. It’s not that you didn’t believe in aliens or ghosts, it would actually be pretty neat if they were real, but you just didn’t have enough proof. And Mulder was Mulder. But this week had been way too long and you could already feel your eyes getting heavy.

And so the episode started. And as soon as they said ‘unexplained lights above Michigan’ you knew it was going to be a good one, although the argument could get very heated. You both sat there really quietly and attentively listening to what was being said. You made mental notes of stuff that didn’t make sense to you and of any interrogations you had left.

As soon as the credits started, you turned to face Mulder on the couch, sitting with your legs crossed under you.

“You go first,” you said.

“You can’t say that wasn’t weird!” he said, “So many people seeing the same thing and there’s no explanation.”

“I’m not saying it wasn’t weird, but… I could be something else than aliens.”

“How?” he said almost offended.

“Government conspiring to hide stuff from the average citizens. Just because they don’t have a reasonable answer it doesn’t mean there isn’t one.”

“But you heard the guy from the National Weather Service…”

“He couldn’t explain what he saw on the radar but that doesn’t mean it’s unexplainable!”

“But he ruled out everything!” he said, raising his voice.

“Everything he could! His point of you was just one of many,” you said, matching his tone.

“Even then, 300 people reporting UFOs, that can’t be just a coincidence.”

“Have you heard of the Dancing Plague of 1518?”

“Wait, is that… is that the one argument you keep bringing back,” he said sarcastically.

“Ha, ha.”

“You know I won this one,” he said, looking at you softly.

“I guess…” you conceded.

The tension that had built up suddenly disappeared.

You took the now empty blueberry bowl and placed it on the table, before curling up by Mulder’s side. As you went to grab his arm, he wiggled it out and wrapped it around your shoulder. Your head dropped on his chest as he pulled you ever so slightly closer to him.

“Ready for the next one?” he asked.

“Yeah…” you mumbled.

“Long week?”

“Something like that…”

“We can watch something else if you want, your ghost lads?”

“Ghost… lads…?” you asked, looking up at him confused, “Oh, you mean the Ghoul boys!”

This man.

“Lads, boys same thing, no?”

“The Ghost Files season is already over, we’ve watched everything. But it’s fine Fox, just play the next one.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” you said softly, shifting so that you were sitting more comfortably by Mulder’s side.

Again, he pulled you closer to him, your head now resting on his shoulder.

“Okay, but be ready, there will be a quiz at the end,” he said jokingly.

“Yeah… right…”

He grabbed a blanket from his right, carefully wrapped it around you and kissed the top of your head.

“I’ll let you copy on me don’t worry.”

[moonstruckdraws]

Plant Portraits

(pst- psssssst!- Hey, hey you. Yeah, you! Want to see something cool? look at this post by @hellishgayliath. It's about the characters shown here! They worked on it for a week straight, so check it out!) . . .

Hi, yes, hi, hello. Yeaaaaaah- steering away from the angst me & Helli brewed while I recover from crying. This was inspired exactly a month ago from this ask I made to Helli ask bout their oc's fav plants. I wanted to try out a new rendering style & thought this be a good opportunity + plant practice

Pico; He likes cinnamon plants/trees & likes to knaw on cinnamon sticks. So I did cinnamon plants! Specifically Cinnamomum cassia, or known as Chinese cassia, that is the most commonly sold cinnamon in North America (yes you are getting plant facts this took longer to research than to draw mainly because I like learning but that's besides the point and I wanna share knowledge) I really like how the leaves came out! Twas very fun. His plants are well maintained, healthy, & green (maybe too green lol) which shows his craft in gardening & care. Luci doesn't have teeth, so she can't really 'knaw' on things, so she didn't like trying Pico's snacks when she stole one. She was coughing on cinnamon for the next hour after. Pico laughed at her, obviously Ingenuity: the quality of being clever, original, and inventive

Bao; He likes wisteria flowers, the purple variation (my fav colour)! I loved loved LOVED coloring these plants, but it feels the most empty out of all of them (Clem is all over the place lmao) but I also kinda like it. Like it reflects their personalities this way, like he's the most upkept in society (despite his utter lack of gardening knowledge). Apparently, American wisteria is a host plant to native butterflies and moths! Add that to another reason Luci likes Bao lol. I feel like anytime she comes to the tea shop, Bao would bring her to the garden he & Pico would be working on. And everytime he's show her the plants he managed on his own they'd be drooping and dying lmao. Bao would be so confused & Luci is just unsurprised. And yes, I did think of & look at the wisteria in demon slayer Versatility: the ability to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities

Clem; She likes (take 3 seconds to guess) citrus fruits!! Like her name. So I of course did citrus fruits, lemons & oranges. She has my FAVORITE pose, her reaching for the fruit while juggling some in her other arm is adorable. And of course that cute face of hers! Her plants are just EVERYWHERE & is the only one to touch the ends of the canvas (that I wanted to avoid but oh well, it didn't look good otherwise). Besides, it shows her big personality and chaotic energy children have. Apparently, they're sometimes called 'Christmas oranges' because they're in season in winter months. I thought that was interesting. Does Clem like the cold, Helli or does she despise it like Pico lol? Apparently, they are also those cuties or halos oranges I use to devour as a child lol. And because of said memory, I say that Clem does too. I like to think Luci learns to share, like a child, from Clem, a said child. Luci sells back people's stuff overpriced all the time, and only shares things with Repo. She obviously isn't sharing anything with Pico & she mainly hangs out with Bao at the tea shop so she only buys things. She stole Clem's fruits in front of her once. Let's just say a bunch of sad faces and crying, not only bleed her earholes, but made her feel bad (but she'll never admit it). Does she share things now? Kindaaaaa- no. No, not at all. Only Clem & Repo Affability: the quality of being friendly and easy to talk to

aaaand my inspo board just cuz I was going to draw Vera, I really was! (I was so FRICKIN EXCITED to draw the plant with the braided stock next to the pink flower) but... one look at her head and the pose I chose, I said "No."

Bao was already troubling enough I don't need to build up hate to a character I barely know & already like by getting frustrated with their head (again). So no Vera, Helli, sorrys. Her descriptor was going to be 'nobility' btw

GO CHECK OUT HELLI'S POST IT'S SO GOOD (sad) BUT AMAZING!

[nephilimbrute]

show .us

I haven't drawn one of the two yet cuz i didn't have motivation. I'll show my evil circus ocs though

i made these ocs back in like 2022 and my art style improves at a rapid pace, so they're well over due for redesigns. here are the performers/workers though :3c

- cirque de lumiere / circus of light is a french circus upholding a reputation of it being one of the greatest in france, with performances consisting of a giant cheshire cat, world's tallest man, even one of the most spectacular magicians. though, more sinister things happen under the big top

fratellini / The Saint or "Saint the Fool" (knife-juggling clown, she/her). she's very silly and likes to mess with the other performers. montblanc is her best friend

françois / "François the Great" (magician, he/him). flamboyant fuck that does all the "mind-controlling" at the circus. he likes to bother aesop, working with him to steal other's belongings when they're not looking

aesop / "He Who Talks to Crows" (crow tamer, he/him). obviously, he tames crows. kinda like a lion tamer, but his crows steal jewelry from the audience when they are too busy being enamored by the show

^^^ this drawing was made 2 months ago, just haven't got to coloring it. it is a redesign for them though, the names on the bottom are their former names cuz i changed them (or their stage names)

montblanc / "The Cheshire" (cheshire cat, he/him). veery giddy kitty. his voice claim is of course, sterling holloway (voice actor of the cheshire cat in 1951 alice in wonderland). he loves surprises and often dismisses questions, liked by everybody in the circus

apollon / "Big Top" (strongman, he/him). i haven't got to redrawing him yet so the anatomy is off ^^; it's the original drawing. anyways he's cocky and a big show-off. yes he's half spider

as you can see montblanc is also a recent drawing which i haven't colored yet

cassius / "Cassius the Warrior" (stuntman, he/him). he isn't really developed that well, but he performs dangerous stunts for the audience, though he's very jumpy. works well with montblanc and jack

mister (or wilheim) / "The Living Nutcracker" (nutcracker idk what he does, he/him). he's also Severely underdeveloped. made him as a christmas special and revealed him on christmas day last year. he lives up to the whole british soldier thing, he does whatever he is told to do n stuff

vivienne / "Black Widow" (vaudeville/cabaret?, she/her). she's kind of a flirt, she puts on performances for the more mature audiences. i like her and this drawing just made me realize how tall she is

now THIS is old. vivienne is the only one i drew recently, i'll be putting her at the end. also cassius' design was designed by a friend:3

chono (ringmaster, he/him). he's the lead of the circus, very very evil

nato (he/him) is chono's assistant. he's on high alert a good amount of the time

jack (or jacqueline) / "Jack-in-the-Box" (surprise performer, she/her). she loves to surprise people when fratellini cranks the handle on her box and she pops out. she can be foul-mouthed and rude, always getting in people's faces n' such

...yyeaah this one is also old. though i made some adjustments to the colors a few months ago, the style and stuff is still old

vanitas (or nicolaes) / "Memento Mori" (puppeteer, he/him) is the nicest circus performer. he puts on puppet shows, when he speaks he adapts the personality of what puppet he's using, and he'll often make up a conversation. his puppets are commedia dell'arte characters. when not using any puppet, he talks normally + he's polite. his 'face' is a mask by the way

this drawing i made like 3 days ago lol. it's his redesign concept, his original one i just went head-first and i still don't like it >.>

and last but not least these two. first we have baroness (or marie-christine) / "Dangerously Yours" (singing entertainment, she/her). she also puts on shows for the more mature audiences, in which she'll sing on a stage. her songs are often quite dark, the audience never realizes it though. her design is also by the friend who made cassius

and on the right is primadonna (or marcel. mime, she/her) who is, of course, a mime. i think her face is her actual face. my sister helped design this one

i made these doodles like, a month or two ago. just concepts so i can get their designs down

that's Allll for the circus performersssss ^w^^^^ hope u enjoy them. Oh and there's this other one who's been stuck in concept stage (i haven't even drawn them yet), their name is El Lissitzky, based on the real El Lissitzky's paintings. think they're gonna be a painter as well

onto old/new pieces... wwweeew

^ here's that vivienne piece i mentioned. i posted her to this blog already...

the original designs and how they're supposed to look when colored:3c also this montblanc is a slightly updated version of his original drawing to make his fur look better

and finally vanitas' original design... yeaahh. wanted to go for a jester-like look, his design is somehow simultaneously too much and too little. i never really had a proper concept for him beforehand, just the silhouette of what he was supposed to look like. strongly disliking the colors thou

also recent apollon i did as a style test:3 all of these circus performers have a voice claim BTW :P

...I think this was a reaaaalllly long post