#trying to use this to get more practice making finished pieces even if its mostly digital focused so far

[monzabee]

viva las vegas - mv1 (+18)

masterlist ||

Summary: The one where you and Max celebrate his win in a way you’ve never done before.

Pairing: max verstappen x reader 

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: mentions of alcohol, having sex tipsy but there is consent?, manhandling, unprotected sex (are you even surprised at this point), oral (fem receiving), sex (duh), cursing, cockwarming (oops), minors dni!!

Request: “Hey babe! I’m obsessed with your last Charles piece, I’ve been wanting to read something like that for such a long time and you did it perfectly 😍🥹 I was wondering if I could request kind of the same concept with Max Verstappen? Like he always is pictured as a tough guy and stuff, but when you see him in videos he’s kind of a goof, so I imagine the first time he’s intimate with his gf they’d both laugh and have the sweetest time together” 

Author’s Note: hi, hey, hello!! is this my best work? no but it is something i managed to get done for the first time in like a month so here it is!! finishing this fic was a journey within itself, but i can honestly say that it was also kind fun? also, i saw a picture of max in his suit from vegas and that just inspired this whole thing, so i hope you guys enjoy! good morning, noon or night wherever you are, xoxobee

Please also note that all of my works are protected under copyright, and not available for reposting on other platforms. 

Max is buzzing with life, quite literally, you can feel him practically buzzing the whole time he’s trying to take you back to your hotel room as fast as possible. It’s most likely due to the amount of alcohol the two of you have consumed after the race. Honestly it is pure luck that you found your way back to your room, given your current state, but instead of joining you when you jump on the bed, revelling in its comfort, he chooses to stand at the end of the bed as he watches you with an entertained smile on his face.  

“What?” you ask, a laugh washing through you as you raise yourself on your elbows, “Why are you looking at me like that?”  

He lets his eyes wander over your figure, his smile becoming more boyish as he lets it widen on his face, “You look pretty,” he murmurs, bending down so he can lower himself over your body better, “have I told you how beautiful you looked tonight?” 

“Um, yeah, Maxie,” you giggle as you point out, “you’ve been telling me that the entire night.” Using your hands as support while raising yourself more so that you could be face to face with him, “I think you look pretty too, you know?” 

“Yeah?” Max murmurs, cradling your jaw in one of his hands, his thumb quick to caress the apple of your cheek, which causes you to lean into his touch. “What if I wanted to kiss you, would that be okay?” 

The smile you offer him in return is sweet, the way your eyes seem to shine at the offer of feeling his lips against yours makes his heart beat faster in his chest. “Yes, please.” Your voice is softer, almost comes out as a whisper due to you suddenly feeling out of breath.  

And who is he to deprive his girl? 

He doesn’t waste any time pressing his lips against your awaiting ones, in fact, the movement of his lips are rushed, if not almost desperate. It's as if he can't get enough, as if he's afraid this moment might slip away like sand through his fingers. The taste of alcohol lingers on both your lips, and normally you would be weirded out about it, but you realise it only adds to the intensity of the kiss you’re sharing with Max. His fingers gently tangle in your hair as he deepens the kiss, and you find yourself responding eagerly. You let him take control, mostly because it’s so easy for you to lose yourself in his kiss. He’s lost in it too, if you had to guess, because the way his tongue is fighting over yours for dominance is so different compared to the way Max usually kisses you. You whine at the loss of his lips when he reluctantly pulls away, and if he wasn’t already hard, the sound makes Max’s cock instantly harder. His head is thrown back, eyes closed as he lets out a groan, and he has to stop himself from pulling you in for another kiss. But you clearly have other plans as you drag your lips down towards his jawline, leaving kisses in a random pattern until you reach that one specific point on his neck that absolutely drives him crazy.  

And you know it’s only a matter of time until he stops you, again, as he has done for the past whatever months of your relationship. It’s not that you are not attracted to each other, because the attraction is as clear as day, and you have done stuff – not sex, but stuff. You’re not sure Max does that, but you also don’t want to be the one who pressures him into having sex with you if he doesn’t want to. Unbeknownst to you, the same goes for Max, who thinks you’re not ready to have sex with him and wants your first time together to be as special as possible.  

So no, you’re not surprised as he gently peals himself from you, causing you to whine again at the loss of him, but instead he gives you a small kiss on the forehead as he mumbles, “Why don’t you take a shower? We’ll go to bed after that.”  

“Is that your way of telling me I smell?” You ask in a playful tone, and he responds to you with a roll of his eyes. “What if I don’t want to go to sleep?”  

“No?” He asks, actively searching your expression for any sign of discomfort or reluctance. “We’ve had a long day, are you sure you don’t want to get some sleep?” The look you give him in return for his question is enough, and he knows this, but he also wants to actually hear the words, so he points, “Use your words, liefje.” 

A puff of breath leaves your lips in annoyance, but, nonetheless, you give him the best puppy dog eyes you can muster as you whine, “Please Maxie, you know what I want.”  

“Do I?” He muses, pulling you onto his lap as he ghosts his lips across your jaw. “I don’t know what you mean.”  

“Maxie,” you drag out his name, whining as your attempt at rolling your hips against his thighs don’t work. “You are being mean.”  

“Oh, baby,” he mockingly copies your pout, “I’m sorry. Can I apologise with a kiss?” To make his point, he presses a couple of soft kisses along your jawline.  

“Will you kiss me the way I like?” You ask, slightly out of breath, but his agreement that comes in the form of a hum makes you smile mischievously. His lips trail more kisses towards the neckline of your dress, and eventually through the valley between your breasts that is exposed by the lack of fabric. And you have every intention to let him have his way with you, you really do – after all, he won another great race. But a part of you also knows that making him suffer, even if just a little bit, in the process is so much more fun. So, just as he’s about to free of your breasts from the bustier of your dress, you quickly move away, slipping from his hands, trying your hardest not to laugh at the bewildered expression on his face. “On second thought, I think I’m going to take that shower after all.”  

“I—what?” Max mumbles, his slightly swollen lips pulled in a pout, and you can’t help but give him a small kiss.  

“I’ll see you after my shower, Max Emilian.” Sauntering over to the bathroom, you make sure to add an extra sway to your hips – and the sigh that Max leaves cause the smirk on your face to grow. 

It’s pure torture for Max to wait until you come out of the shower. Not that he doesn’t think about just joining you, especially after the show you just put on, but that would be giving into what you want – and though Max is a generous lover, he is also stubborn. He is more than happy to give you what you want, as long as it is on his terms. And so, he waits patiently, until you come out of the bathroom, a robe draped over your body, and he can’t help himself but let his eyes roam over your body.  

“How was your shower?” Max asks, trying to keep his voice as nonchalant as possible, a wolfish grin curving up on his lips. He rests his hands behind his head, relaxing onto the pillows behind him. He watches you give him a shrug, the soft-looking material sliding of your shoulder slightly as you collect your hair onto your shoulder. “Are you giving me the silent treatment, pretty girl?” 

There’s a coy smile on your face as you shake your head, once, twice, as your teeth press down on your bottom lip. Max wants nothing more than to release your lip, pull you into his lap and have his way with you, but no. No, because Max is nothing if not disciplined. “Come here,” he asks, straightening up in his place. You, being the ever-loving girlfriend you are, oblige his request. “That is a nice robe,” he murmurs, tilting his head as he grabs the towelette belt with the tips of his finger, “is it as soft as it looks?” 

“Mhm-hm,” you nod, “do you want to feel it?” 

“Do I want to feel it?” Max muses, “Sure.” His arms wrap around your middle so quickly that you don’t realise he’s pulling you into his lap at first. But he positions you with your legs on the either side of his. “You’re right, liefje, it is very soft.” His hands roam on your body over the soft material, but soon enough, his hands dipping underneath it to feel your skin. His eyebrows shoot upwards, a mischievous grin spreading on his lips, “No underwear?” 

“Well, I just came out of the shower, Maxie.” You give him an innocent look, shrugging once against as you rest your hands against his shirt-clad chest. “The shower pressure was great, you should’ve joined me.”  

He lets out a noncommittal hum, his hands roaming on your bare skin, revelling in the softness. “I’ll have to take your word for it.” He’s methodical as he slightly shifts you in his lap, tearing a gasp from the back of your throat. That gets a satisfied smile from him, “Something wrong?” 

“N-no,” you mumble, shifting again to get the same feeling, but his hands still you in your place. “Maxie,” you whine, silently pleading with your eyes.  

“Am I being mean again?” He asks, attentive eyes fixed on you, “I would offer to make it up to you with a kiss, but you seem to find ways to evade me when I do.”  

“No,” you whine again, lips pouted in disagreement. “I promise I won’t this time.”  

His eyebrows shoot up again with amusement, “Oh, yeah? Shall we test that theory, pretty girl?” The smile you give him is shy, but the way you nod is nothing short of coy. With a satisfied sound leaving his lips, he quickly presses his lips against yours. You sigh into the kiss, immediately, when you feel him deepening the kiss, more than happy to surrender yourself to him and let Max take the lead. Though, that doesn’t necessarily stop you from attempting to relieve the pressure between your legs by rolling your hips against his thighs. Your efforts, however, prove to be useless as he stops the movement before you can actually relieve any of it. He slowly pulls away, pushes a stray piece of wet hair behind your ear and tuts – condescendingly, you might add – “Slow down, liefje, I think I’ve had enough speed for one day.”  

Groaning at his words, “But Maxie,” you whine, dragging out his name as you let your hands wander on his chest over his shirt and receive a warning look from him in return, “I promise I’ll be good, please just fuck me.”  

“Baby,” he coos, his fingers working quickly to unfasten the belt of your robe and push the offending clothing off your shoulders, “I literally just told you to be patient, no?” 

You ignore the raised eyebrow, the look of faux-disappointment, and even the way his fingers grab your waist because you’re too busy trying to get him out of his shirt, suddenly feeling too exposed as you sit on his lap naked. “Please,” you whisper against his skin, peppering kisses across the column of his throat as your hands make their way inside his shirt, “I’ll be patient next time.”  

“I’m suddenly realising that I spoil you very much,” Max mumbles, pulling his head back to get a look at you.  

Pulling back as well you give him a mischievous grin, “Maybe, but you’ll give me what I want this time as well.”  

“Yeah?” He asks, “Why?” 

“Because I think I’m getting your pants very messy right now.”  

Max can’t help the groan that escapes past his lips, his eyes quickly following yours as he takes in the ‘damage’ your wetness has caused on his jeans. He takes a moment to assess the damage, drags his eyes up to look at you when he notices the way your eyes stay fixed down, as your nervously bite down on your lower lip. He loses all the composure he managed to muster up, and he finally gives in, quickly pushing you off him onto the pillows on the bed. The squeal that leaves you is followed by a string of giggles that leave your lips, and when Max looks at you, he takes in the darker look in your widened eyes.  

“I was going to be patient; I can’t believe you’re making me not be patient.” He mumbles, taking off his shirt and the rest of his clothes before starting to leave kisses on your feverish skin as he slides down your body and places himself between your thighs.  

You open your legs wider to accommodate his body, a breathy laugh escaping past your lips. “You mean, impatient?” 

That earns you a nip on your upper thigh and a warning look, but instead of commenting on your quip, he lowers his face, keeps his eyes locked to yours and gets to work. And it’s not that you and Max haven’t done stuff – because it’s the opposite; although you haven’t had sex, it’s safe to say that the two you have explored every option bordering on sex. But how he’s acting right now is much different than the way how he is usually with you. His movements are almost rushed, and the way he drags his tongue through your folds is just enough for your eyes to roll back as your moans fill the room.  

Normally, he would be extra careful and make sure he is being gentle with you; but right now, he’s just trying to savour you before he loses all his composure. A choppy gasp leaves you as you feel his fingers enter you – two at first, and the way he pumps them in and out of you makes breathing harder. The speed of his fingers matches his tongue, and for a moment, you think you’re going to pass out. With his free hand, he blocks any type of movement you try with your hips; his palm sneakily presses down on your lower stomach to keep you in your place, but it’s jokes on him because if anything, it just makes you feel even better, and you’re not shy to let him know just how much he’s making you feel good with your moans.  

“Max,” you say his name in a breathy whimper, fingers threading through his hair to guide him, “fuck, I’m so close.” You can practically feel the way his lips curl up, and suddenly, everything about his actions gets faster. His fingers are pistoning in and out of you in an unforgiving pace, in sync with his tongue that works your clit just the same. So, it’s no surprise when you find yourself coming on his tongue as his name leaves your lips for the umpteenth time like a prayer.

The smirk he gives you when he pulls himself from between your legs is sinful – he looks absolutely debauched with the way his lips glisten with your release, and he wastes no time before coming up, and capturing your lips in yet another bruising kiss. But this time, you taste yourself on his tongue and this time it makes you lose the whatever little resolve you’ve had left. So, you hook your leg around his thigh to push him next to you on the bed as you practically throw him next to you on the bed.  

Though he has other plans.   Of course.  

So, as you’re trying to fight the seventy-kilogram-something driver into staying under you on the bed, he has no problem manhandling you into rolling on your side. And as you’re pressed flush against his chest, you turn your head backwards to breathlessly whisper, “You promised, Max.”  

“And I am a man of my word, aren’t I?” He retorts, his hand that is splayed on your thigh positions it so that it’s bent towards your stomach, “Just needed to get you ready.” You can’t help the guttural moan that escapes you when you feel him pressing the tip of his cock into your entrance. The pleading look you give him must’ve worked, because this time it’s his turn to let out a guttural moan as he pushes himself into you. There is no sign of his mood from mere moments ago as you feel his hands caress your bare hip, an entitled smirk on his lips as he asks, “Out of breath?” 

“Fuck you,” your response comes out as a breathy laugh as you’re pushing your hips closer to his to take him deeper.  

“Lifje, you are fucking me.” Max giggles into the crook of your neck as he pushes himself in fully. You would be furious with him if it didn’t make you laugh also, and although the laughing decrease, the smiles remain on both your faces as he starts slowly moving his hips. 

It’s sweet, unbelievably sweet, considering the sexual tension that was in the room an hour ago, but the way Max is fucking you can only be described as sweet. His hands caress every part of your body that he can reach – your thighs, to your hips, to your stomach, to your chest and then wraps one of his hands around your throat; not in a way that is rough, but in a way that he can still keep you still as he captures your lips for another kiss. The movement of his hips is languid, almost lazy as drive into you, but he still manages to hit all the spots along the way. Breathy chuckles are exchanged when he pulls away for you to organise your breathing, but your smiles still stay on, even when he raises your bent leg and rests his on his own leg. The new angle makes your moans get louder, your hips to move against his faster, and you can feel your orgasm approach speedily.  

But Max is so in tune with your body that he knows what’s coming (or rather who) before you get a chance to actually have to say anything. His hand slides down your body so that he can press his fingers to your clit and move them in tight circles, and as if it was possible, his you can suddenly feel him fucking you even deeper. “You are going to come for me pretty girl, I can feel it.” He murmurs into your skin, and all you can offer as an answer is a nod and an affirmative whimper as you squeeze your eyes shut. “Come on, give it to me, come on my cock.” And though he is not the most verbal person to ever exist, except for when he’s in the mood to be an absolute yapper, his words urge you to let go of the feeling that has been starting to brew in your stomach.  

Your hips start moving to meet his in choppy movements as you seek any and all kinds of pleasure to reach your high, and he meets your every move with increasing intensity of his own. “Max, yes!” Your exclamation hits his ears as he hits that one particular spot, making you instantly become lax in his arms as he guides you through your orgasm. His name spills out from your lips in constant repetition, “So good, so good,” you keep mumbling in breathless whimpers, trying to press yourself further into his body.  

With all things considered, it doesn’t take Max long to reach his own high following your own, since you insistently move your hips in a way that makes you take his cock even deeper when he’s helping you ride your orgasm. So, when you hear him groaning your name in the crook of your neck and feel him spilling himself into you. “Fuck, you feel so good,” he croaks out, holding your hips in place with his hands splayed on your feverish skin. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” 

“How am I supposed to know, dummy?” You ask, throwing your head back to get a good look of his dishevelled state, “Why do you look so good after mind blowing sex?” 

“I don’t know,” he shrugs, pulling you with him as he lets himself fall back on the bed, “genetics?” 

“Mhm,” you murmur, trying to find a comfortable position on his chest as he is still inside you, “remind me to send your mother a flower arrangement when we get back, or something.” 

A deep blush covers his cheeks, as if he hasn’t been fucking you for the past hour or so, as he stammers, “I– I mean, yeah.” This time, it’s your turn to give a non-committal hum, followed by a satisfied sigh as you snuggle him closer and close your eyes. “Just go to sleep, baby, we can deal with it in the morning.” 

“’Mkay,” you mumble, feeling his hand draw soothing circles on your back. “But you’re still gonna fuck me tomorrow, right?” 

This gets another loud laugh from the driver laying down under you, and both of you know that he’s going to do just that when you wake up in the morning. 

[pigeonpeach]

Genshin men as cats!

Prompt: the genshin men are temporarily turned into cats for one day and you as their lover must take care of them and make sure they stay safe

A/n: idk what happened but apparently half of the post got deleted? I’ll have to rewrite it later ;(

Ayato

Oh he’s not happy. He’s probably a shorthaired white cat in terms of appearance. But he is quite annoyed with this predicament. No one is allowed to tell anyone that the Yashiro Commissioner is suddenly a cat. But being a cat is nice. He can lounge and nap all day. He’s probably demanding of attention though. He simply must have your eyes on him. He adores being brushes so lovingly too. Maybe he should have you brush his hair when he’s back to normal.

Al Haitham

Virtually no change. He may still try to read though he won’t be able to turn the pages as easily. He doesn’t mind a few pats but he mostly prefers to be left alone in the nice warm sun to nap the day away. He’s definitely a grey tabby.

Kaveh

He is so distraught! He meows a storm in fustration as he finds he is completely incapable of finishing his projects! You simply must take care of him! You need to have him strapped in like a baby carrier on your chest because he’s just so clingy. He needs constant reassurance and attention. He’s so needy but so cute. Probably a cute little cream colored kitty.

Kaeya

He is also probably a bit annoyed. While yes he gets a complete day off, he can’t do much as a cat. So he’ll probably try to find some entertainment if you don’t keep him thoroughly entertained. He will find a way to sneak out and go play with Klee or annoy Diluc if you don’t keep him in your grasp at all times.

Neuvillette

He is very confused but also curious. On one hand this form is verrrry different than he’s ever had before but its also very beneficial to him. People are far less intimidated and strangely he enjoys being coddled and pet more than he would. Of course miss Furina is teasing the crap out of him but he doesn’t really care. Sitting on your lap, small and warm. Its such a unique experience he will probably never have again.

Wriothesley

Once the dust settles he’s quite relaxed. This is temporary so might as well enjoy it. Sigewinnie has become very attached to him as she constantly makes sure he’s okay. But in particular he loves being held by you. He’s used to being the big strong man who lifts you all the time etc etc. its nice actually being the reverse here. He gets fed special fish from the cafeteria and gets to spend his day in your arms! The perfect break for him! He’s almost sad it’s temporary but he knows he can’t stay like this forever.

Childe

Oh he’s mad! Even when it’s confirmed to be temporary, he is annoyed! How can he improve his fighting skills if he’s a kitty! Sure he’s a adorable little kitty of course but he looks like a baby! Oh his ego is in shatters. It’s unfortunate too because it wasn’t even around his family so he could play with his little brother at least. He’s practically quarantined to keep him safe. He can’t go on kitty adventures. Therefore YOU must make it up to him. He spends his time sulking and trying to play with anything he can. Dangling uniform piece? New toy! Someone’s foot? New toy! He bites! He meows! He hardly naps. He does love cuddling with you though. Still he’s a ball of energy and he cannot simply sit still for long! No doubt will his office be trashed. You’re making him clean it up once he’s back.

Thoma

Stressed! So stressed! He has so many chores! He cannot hold a broom with two paws! You have to make arrangements for him to have the day off which was hard because everyone was upset by his sudden cancellation. Even so he tries to help. He tries to drag the broom but it doesn’t do anything unfortunately. Oh he feels so useless. You must pamper him. Lavish him with kisses and gentle praise. Call him the cutest little kitty in the world! Oh he’s such a affectionate boy too. He acts like a cat with separation anxiety almost. He cannot sleep if you’re not there with him. Therefore you end up spending the day with him, trying to dissuade him from trying to clean a mess and just making it worse, distracting him with a warm blanket and pets.

Zhongli

He probably did so on purpose actually. Perhaps he was a bit bored and decided to spend the day exploring Liyue from a different perspective. It was quite fun for him actually. He watched as people came over to pet him. Unfortunately they also tried to feed him seafood which wasn’t too good. But after the long day he returned home to see you panicked as to where he could be. He decided to come on over to you, still in his cat form, and distract you. It worked as he helped you relax.

You werent too amused when you found out that cat that broke in was him.

Pantalone

He is quite annoyed. Angry in a more agitated way. Don’t mess up his fur! Pet him properly! Don’t ignore him now! He is a demanding little feline. He is not content unless you are entirely focused on him. He even wants you to break up the fish ro serve to him. He isn’t going to eat like a animal! Oh but he is such s cute kitty. Entirely black with big expressive yellow eyes. Oh you can’t help but comply and spoil him a little more! And he has such lovely fur! He does like hearing your gentle praises as you pet him. He never knew how lovely it felt to be small, sleeping on a nice warm lap, being gently brushed, and told sweet little compliments. He may actually want to do this again sometime.

Diluc

Biggest drama king! How can he protect you or Mondstadt like this! Therefore you cannot leave his sight or he’s convinced you will immediately die. You must stay with him so he can protect you? He is a very warm kitty though so it feels nice to snuggle with him. His fur is a bit messy so you’ll have to brush it. Despite him trying to stay vigilant he ends up falling asleep quickly.

[anonymouslosersworld]

♡ Succubus♡

Prompt; Mc/reader armed with the teaching Solomon decided to mess around with magical creations and like Icarus flew too close to the sun before falling... in their case fell victim to horniness.

Fandom: Obey me shall me date

Characters: Beel, Belphie, and Asmodeus.

Genre: Smut (M)

Contains: dubcon, unprotected sex, dom reader, sex toys, voyeurism??, and corruption kink.

Credit goes to @asmology. They have wonderful blog and written pieces. I was so in love with their charmed series and just wanted to try my hand at writing it myself. Please don't hesitate and check out their blogs.

[Obey me masterlist]

Prologue; After you had successfully enrolled in the sorcerers' academy and become Solomon's one and only apprentice after a couple of months. He had encouraged you to explore magical items and such. Due to many lonely and hot nights, you settled on magical items. Using your knowledge you created a life-like magical dildo/vibrator of your love interest. Unknowingly to you {or maybe knowingly you did but wouldn't admit it}it was also charmed with your love interest feeling whatever you did to it.

Beelzebub

The water trickled down Beelzebub's achy body. He had just finished a late training session for Fangol. He had been feeling this empty pit in his chest since you had gone to the human world, and nothing seemed to fill it. It practically hurt him to be so far from you, even though he knew you would be back eventually. It didn't stop him from missing you.

The lathered loofa that he was using reminded him of you since you bought it on one of his many shopping trips with you in devildom. Just the thought of you brought some warmth to his chest.

Beel groaned as he felt the telltale sign of your touch on his body. Beel muttered your name as your hands roamed around his body. He found it comforting. He felt the warmth of your hands all over his body, stopping for a short while at his tits. Your hands moved to pat his stomach; he was sure you could tell that he lost a little weight while you were gone. He felt the wet kisses you seemed to leave around his body,mostly his face.

"M-mc?" he whines as he closes his eyes. If he really concentrated, he could pretend you were here. Your hands were so small compared to his. You could barely cup his tit or even fit it into your mouth. He can feel when you move to his cock, where you struggle to take him into your mouth. He smiles as you give him kitten licks all over his cock.

"Please more.'' he softly begged you as the water kept running down his body. it was almost like you heard him, and you finally took him into your mouth. His breath hitched as he felt your warm and wet saliva hit his cock. His cheeks go red as he realized you just spat on his cock. No matter how many times you took him, you struggled to take him. Your tongue danced around his tip and played with veins that ran across his cock.

"I'm cumming!~" Beel groaned as he felt his balls being handled with care. Beel panted, finally managing to catch his breath. His body felt relaxed, sore, and tired, but he finally felt at ease.

" I miss you, come home soon" he whispered into the wind, hoping you would hear him.

Belphie

Belphie's face was hot and flushed. If anyone had paid attention to the 7th born, they would have noticed he was awake and trying to keep from making any sounds. The pleasure finally was getting to him. His mind was in a daze, he felt dizzy and he could barely hold a thought in.

"N-no, please w-aah~" Belphie whimpered quietly as another orgasm was taken from him. His ass felt hot with all the cum; he was surprised he hadn't leaked all over his chair.

Belphie panted heavily as the thing wrapped around him finally stopped for a bit. He was growing weary, and he was tired. He just wanted to go to bed, but he couldn't ignore it anymore.

"Sss-sshiiit~'' he whined as he felt its walls contract around his cock. His cock twitched as you began to move again. He was so sensitive already; he didn't know how much more he could take.

"f-fuck!!" Belphie moaned as you moved. Getting fucked in class was one thing, but being fucked by nothing in class was another.

"Let me sleep," Belphie begged mentally, "it's too much now."

Belphie's balls emptied out whatever last cum it had into whatever little trap you made.

Asmodeus

"a-aah~" Asmodeus relished the feeling of his cock in something. He knew only two people were capable of doing this, and he was perfectly happy to let them use him as much as they wanted.

He could recognize that warm and sloppy wet hole-blowing technique anywhere, and it turned him on more than anything. You missed him so much. Your tongue swirled around his tip.

"Yes!!~ deeper please." He moaned with no shame in his dressing room. He had unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off to play with his chest. The clothes he was trying on were long forgotten.

"s-so dirty,~" Asmodeus whimpered as he felt something at his entrance. He bites into his hand as he feels your fingers inside him, warming him up to fuck his ass. "You must really miss me."

"w-wait! too soon!" Asmodeus whined as you worked his ass and sloppily sucked his cock. it was too soon for him to cum.

"p-please w-ahh~!" Asmodeus's back arched as you finally hit his favorite spot. You didn't waiver as you fucked your way into Asmodeus's hole. Asmodeus tried to withhold his orgasm but you kept screwing him like he was really there with you. You fucked him like -

"n-no faiir~" he exclaimed as he came.

Requests are open! Feel free to request!

My works are only posted here! If you see any of my work anywhere else please report it.

Do not edit, translate, or repost my work without my consent.

[gaptopiastri]

Some wishful thinking, hot takes, and out-of-left-field shower thoughts for the upcoming season. More thoughts under the cut

Rookie Podium Chances are one of them will do it; this is practically a free space.

Sauber gets 4+ points They're trying so hard, wishing them the best tbh

Ferrari WCC As a McLaren girlie I think this is mostly just me not wanting to get my hopes up. Team orders between Lando and Oscar will split the points again and this year they won't be able to recover it.

Aston Martin complete disappointment They seemed a mess in pre-season testing, and you know their plan for this year is just to maintain their current standing.

Race cancelled for weather There will either be a washout due to rain or a severe heat warning, and the new cooling systems will fail (as they're known to do).

No home race winners Sorry all :(

Red Bull are their own worst enemy Idk. I feel like something is about to give over there and Newey officially being AM now is the first jenga piece to be pulled.

Something political interferes with a race On track protest, or drivers protest, or threat of…ya know…wars…will put the status of a race up in the air. Either whether or not to continue the race, or if it should even happen in [location] at all.

Alpine Podium I think Gasly will surprise us all this year.

Mercedes have kind of a mediocre year They'll be finding their footing and I also think the weight of expectation is heavy on Antonelli and he will push too hard and crash out a couple of times.

Ferrari on-track drama (only on track) Charles and Lewis are gonna complain about each other on team radio a lot. But in press and off track they are too PR indoctrinated to say anything but the kindest words.

Lando WDC I'm just biased. Oscar is my guy but if it's a McLaren WDC to be had, it's gotta go to Lando.

FREE - Papaya Rules I am already sick of hearing Lando and Oscar talk about how they both want to win but team orders are team orders my god MEDIA THEY HAVE ANSWERED THIS STOP ASKING.

Yuki to replace Stroll Yuki deserves better than Red Bull. Is better Lawerence Stroll? Prolly not but AM is taking Honda engines next year so if a seat opens up, its gotta be Yuki's.

Unexpected driver signs to Audi Someone is gonna risk it all.

Doohan Replaced Flavio Briatore is a terrible man. He will absolutely throw Doohan under the bus the first chance he gets so PR darling Franco (affectionate) can step in.

Liam Aggression Meltdown I think Liam has a temper and its going to get him in trouble, especially with Max. Max is used to the second driver being there to help him win; Liam will absolutely say fuck team orders if given the opportunity. Drama will happen with those two. Hadjar Self Destructs He is SO HARD on himself, and it's going to determine his race results similar to Lando's 24 season but /worse/.

Ferrari 1-2 Monza When I said no home race winners, I meant just drivers. Ferrari can have their home race, sure why not.

Haas surpasses expectations then drop off Haas will have a great first half of the season, and then run into a bunch of mechanical issues and slowly slide back down the standings.

Stroll quits Idk, I've been getting the vibe that Lance really doesn't want to be in F1 anymore but his dad is like I BOUGHT THIS WHOLE ASS TEAM AND SIGNED THESE VERY EXPENSIVE PEOPLE TO STAFF FOR YOU. GET YOUR ASS IN THAT SEAT. Who knows if this is the year he breaks.

Hulkenberg podium PLEASE HE DESERVES IT. JUST LET THE MAN SUCCEED.

Williams multiple top 6 finishes I love an underdog. I love Alex Albon. I just want to see them do well.

Cadillac Controversy Something will happen that the other teams Do Not Like, and they'll make a last-ditch effort to keep Cadillac from joining the grid.

Perceived Hamilton Disappointment I'm saying perceived because this has been so hyped, that unless Hamilton gets that 8th WDC and helps Ferrari get that WCC, media will report it as his transition not living up to expectations.

[kings-highway]

do you have any tips for learning to edit? i have such executive function issues that it takes me so long to Start a writing project, let alone finish it. so out of exhaustion I tend to leave my work alone if I ever manage to finish it. I can barely muster the strength to spellcheck at times. this means my editing skills are... practically zero. I want to improve at it because I know that all the things that make writing difficult for me (getting stuck on not knowing every detail and plot point while I'm writing, so I just don't write) would be solved by becoming more comfortable with editing. What does editing look like for you? do you make a copy of the entire project and read through it, editing as you go? what does it look like to go from the second draft to a third draft, or so on? how do you know when its done?

WOW THIS WAS LONGER THAN I WAS PLANNING IT TO BE SO HERE YOU GO, MY EDITING PROCESS/ADVICE BREAKDOWN: 

Final Wordcount: 3838 (yikes! Proceed with caution)

Note after answering: this is almost exclusively about original novels. I… don’t edit my fanfiction. Sincerely. I don’t even reread it before I click post. So… when I wrote to answer this question I am mostly talking about novel writers and original works. I’m sure there’s significant overlap to fanfiction beta work and editing but like… couldn’t be me lmao.

First, to start, one of the most important things is to listen to other writers, read books about writing, treat it like an academic subject, because editing is a craft, it is not, like writing itself, an art in the same creative way. So try and treat it differently. While I am very against a lot of “writing advice” that perpetuates the same kind of cheap, overdone stylistically pleasing literature and am more in favour of people writing however they want, editing is a skill that is more akin to sculpting than writing, and therefore, you kind of do need to know how to hold the chisel right. 

This is, of course, going to be focused on what they call “developmental editing,” which is something that should be done to your first draft (and in my case, usually my third and fourth and fifth-) and is typically what people struggle with the most. Its point is to look at big, structural issues, develop the story beats and rearrange the timeline as needed to make the actual story, not the words themselves, the best they can be. I’ll drop some line editing + proofreading thoughts at the end. 

Now, I’m gonna start off by address something on tumblr that has been pissing me off for a long time. The “kill your darlings” phrase that literally everyone I’ve ever seen use has completely misinterpreted See, unlikely a lot of people (I’m assuming) I have actually read Stephen Kings’ memoir/writing guide “On Writing,” which is where that was popularized. Now, regardless of what you think about Stephen King’s writing, I know he’s not so popular nowadays (personally, I’ve never actually read any of his fiction, so I can’t speak to that - On Writing was recommended to me by my father as an excellent tool for learning editing and the writing craft), he is very, very good with story, and that “kill your darlings” piece is actually fantastic advice… but it refers to scenes and writing, not characters as I’ve seen literally everyone say. “Kill your darlings,” is, potentially, the best piece of writing advice you can have. What this quote means, and what “On Writing” argues is one of the most vital aspects of editing, is putting your ego aside, and focusing only on what makes the story actually work. This means that, even if a scene has some of the most beautiful, brilliant, magnetic writing you have ever written, if it is not what’s best for the story, you need to cut it. (Kill it.) The funniest jokes might be misplaced, the most beautiful, romantic scene might be interrupting the tension of the finale, the character building moments that show some of the most dramatic, incredibly rich backstory might… not matter. And no matter how much you love it, no matter how good that writing is, you have to kill your darlings.

It is my personal quest to make sure everyone knows that this quote is not, in fact, about killing off your characters when it’s needed for the plot. It’s about editing, and realizing you need to remove the character entirely. 

I’ve had to do this. It fucking sucks and sometimes I avoid editing for days just because I know the next thing I need to do is delete a bunch of my favourite stuff. But, usually, it makes it better. Editing is in service of the story - editing is for putting all those blue curtains in, for finding out where you can hide Chekov’s gun, for adding in a bunch of tiny, irrelevant references that make the worldbuilding pop, and giving each character a unique voice. 

NOW, off the soap box, how do I actually edit? Well, this is my process for developmental edits. Bear in mind, this is MY process. This is not the only process, and it’s probably not the best process. This is what I do. Take from it whatever the hell you want. 

1. When a rough draft is finished, the first thing I do I lock it away and do something else. You CANNOT do any kind of serious developmental edit to a story any time soon after finishing the first draft. What is the purpose of step one? The purpose is to HATE your story. I have never ever ever let someone read it at this stage. Lock it away, for… like, months. Typically, I write a lot of fanfiction in this time, but I take specially care to write something that is in a very different genre, or takes a very different tone. Or, switch to a new hobby! A good opportunity to work on that cross stitch you bought when you were fourteen. Or, like, clay modelling or something. Anyway, typically I try and lock it away for a minimum of like 3 months, usually it ends up being 6-7, if not longer. That’s GOOD. You’ll know step 1 is done when you start thinking about certain scenes you’ve written and cringing, and when you have a couple of floating thoughts in your head like “you know, I’d REALLY like that character to say that cool thing” or “man I wish I hadn’t timeskipped there I think I need more time before the reveal”. The Writer Itch will come back, and it’ll stop feeling like it’s “done.” If this starts happening early, like 2 weeks after you put it down, try your best to resist the urge to open that document until you’ve had enough time pass that the genre, themes, characters, all of it, have had time away from the centre of attention in your mind. This is really important, more important than you think, because to the best of your abilities you need to recreate your own ability to read it for the first time and see it more objectively. 

1.5. When you’re ready to edit, I always copy my drive folder (make a duplicate in whatever way you can.) I save the original rough draft in it’s own folder, and then move on to the new copy to edit. I will do that every single time I feel like I’ve completed a draft. This allows me to have access to all of my original thoughts and planning. And this is relevant, often times I have fully edited my story 3-4 times and think “god, you know, maybe that scene I cut before would work well here-” or “how did I write it before?” is so useful. I OFTEN end up adding back in things I cut, and having this copy makes it less scary to chop up the next draft. It’s all still saved!

2. Just read the story! Read the story with your fingers ready, and change anything you want as it comes up. Sentences you don’t like, spelling if you care, delete paragraphs that feel redundant. Just read it and go. The reason step 1 takes so long is because at this point, you’re pretending you’re a new reader. And if you reach a point where a scene doesn’t hit like writer you had expected it to… change it. Or make a note - sometimes if I'm feeling lazy I’ll just highlight and leave a comment for myself like “MAKE CHARACTER MORE ANGSTY NEED DRAMA HERE” and then move on. Sometimes between scenes I’ll just put big bold ADD EXTRA SCENE FOR EXPOSITION ON X HERE and then move on. Sometimes I’ll read 40 pages and make no edits. That’s fine. This read through is for refamiliarizing yourself with the story and getting a feel for it’s weak points.

3. Add and Delete like crazy. Pretend you’re trying to win an award for most words changed lmao. Seriously! By this point, you will have thoughts on how to improve it. In my case, I rewrote the entire climax scene and ending and changed most of the major moments. I didn’t change the events specifically, but I did change how they happen, and where. This is also the best time to start worry about things like “accuracy��� double check that that thing you describe a car doing can actually be done by a car. Double check you’ve accurately described which season you’re in, and you haven’t described an “early sunset” during peak summer. The reason I put these accuracy check things in place is because small errors like that can change huge chunks of writing. If you describe an “early sunset” which allows your character “plenty of hours to do something under the cover of night” and have a whole page dedicated to them sneaking around in the dark at 6pm when the sun should be blazing… yeah like make sure that’s not happening.

 4. Eventually you’d suddenly go… wait, fuck, am I done again? And you usually have a MUCH better story this time. Maybe whole characters have been added or removed, there’s 10 new chapters and 6 chapters deleted, you’ve carefully added in constant references to “things that happen in the summer” because you’ve written a story that takes place in an eternal summer and you really wanted to tighten the worldbuilding to feel less like a normal seasonal summer, adding in little cultural details for an ever-hot society… oh, god, you also got rid of that terrible cringey gross speech the love interest gave that… well we don’t need to talk about that. Now, you get to… LOCK IT THE FUCK AWAY. 

5. REPEAT STEP 1. AND STEP 1.5

6. Now you can repeat step 2. I highly recommend repeating step 2 if, like the first time, you end up 3-4 months later going eeehhhhhhh god that’s so cringe oh my god fuck- like I usually do. The reason you repeat step 1 before moving to step 7 is to give yourself a chance to catch anything else that you really don’t… like about the story. There may be more. There’s usually more. It is a never ending slog. Now, repeating step 1 should always come before step 7, but if you did repeat step 2… do another step 1. Maybe not as long, just a couple of weeks, but the point is that anytime you do any decent chunk of developmental editing, you want to put some breathing room between you and the next step. 

7. Let someone else read it. (Scary!) Normally, I give it to someone trusty. And tell them “don’t worry about spelling, grammar, or anything, I just want to know your honest first impressions, please leave comments as you read.” And get them to track their actual first impression of the story. Some people don’t write a lot,  but find someone at least willing to write smiley faces at scenes they loved, make notes when they don’t understand something, and, ideally, freak out and note things that make them very happy. This is really important, as… ego-fluffing as it can be, to ask someone to just shower your story in comments, it’s one of the most helpful things I get back. This allows you to track the emotions of your readers, and decide if you’ve done a good job. As an example, two scenes that completely changed in my current novel came from these early beta readers. 1) completely rewrote a major death scene + a lot of early character interactions because not one single person expressed sadness for that character dying. Either I had sociopath editors or was really, really underselling that moment. I assumed the latter. 2) Rewrote a really early reveal scene for a character backstory because a ton of people went “mmm… this mystery isn’t really fun if we learn it so early!” and I DID NOT WANT the reader thinking there was a mystery at all, that was not how I wanted them to experience the story. However, I did get, based on early reactions, that the name drop reveal in that scene works EXACTLY as intended it to, giving the reader the exact “oh shit” moment I wanted them to have. 

8. Once you get the story back from your editors, you can pretty much can stop repeating step 1, because in my experience step 7 (wait for someone else to read your story) takes anywhere from 1 month to 18. And ah. Yeah. You’ll do step 1 again no matter how badly you don’t want to. So, now repeat step 2! Except this time, you’re pay especially close attention to how you can start manipulating your reader’s experience based on those notes. Did they feel the right way during the story? I usually let one person read it first, get feedback, write a new draft (REPEAT STEP 1.5) and then send it off to more people. If you don’t have friends, the same person does work, but ideally new eyes who don’t know what you changed. Repeat steps of “get beta reader back, edit, make new draft, send to beta” as many times as it takes you to hate yourself and this story. (jkjk but like) if you can get a new beta each time, that’s ideal. If you can’t, make do. If it’s only you editing, just… take extra long step 1s and get really comfortable being very critical of yourself. 

9. Eventually you will have a copy that you’re fairly certain is actually done. You don’t feel any more EUGH cringe about it, you might not feel anything at all. You’re staring at a document, vacant inside, wondering if it all was worth it, if any of this is worth it, who you even are. Your main character is giving you the middle finger. And then. And then. I’m so sorry. You repeat step 1. 

10. The last time you repeat step 1 is going to be the longest, probably. Truth be told, this is the end of developmental editing. At this point, you absolutely can repeat the earlier steps and maybe delete entire chunks you still don’t like, but truly you should reach a point where that’s not something you want to do to the story. Unless you get hit by a stroke of brilliance and need to start over for some insane reason, eventually you have to put the story to bed. So take another break. A long break. Write something else. Something that you don’t hate. Knit. Cross stitch. Pet a cat. Long enough that you stop hating it quite as much. These long breaks are really important. I cannot undersell that enough - when i was in the middle of editing my last novel, I sent it off to one of my betas having been cutting and pasting and moving scenes and adjusting things and one of the notes I got back was “hey, this concept they’re talking about is really cool, but makes literally no sense until they explain it way later” and I realized in my blurry-eyed fervor, I have moved a reveal to later in the story, but kept a handful of conversations where they already known about it in earlier. You will, by step ten, have absolutely no ability to differentiate between your first, second, third, fourth, fifth - however many drafts. (I usually hit six. My current final draft is officially my seventh version. Some people only need to do this 2-3 times before they feel good about the final copy. Some people do it 15+ times. The point is to not stop until you’re sure that this is the best version of the story. And to not be afraid to keep fucking with it if you’re not quite there yet.) So you NEED to put it down. Look at some fucking clouds for a bit. Take a long enough break that it stops feeling like the words have no meaning. 

11. It’s time for line editing baby!!!!!!!!

Line editing is a type of editing focused specifically on individual sentences and paragraphs. When you pick up your story again, go at it with a scalpel. Be picky about word choice, make sure each character speaks in a dialect realistic for them (Go line by line through dialogue and make sure each type of character always speaks in their own voice.) fuck around with individual paragraphs. Does it sound better as “horrible” or “terrible,” or maybe you should go fancy and use “nightmarish?” MORE ACCURACY CHECKS. Pick that bitch apart. Should a comma be there? Should it be a full stop instead? Does this transition word make sense? How many times can one person use a comma in a sentence (it’s more than four! Get rid of them.) What even is a semi-colon, and should I be using them? Probably not, unless there’s a list involved. Hey, did I use hyphens in all the words that need hyphens? Did I capitalize the name of my fictional species sometimes, but not always? (should it even be capitalized? Probably not.)

What I do for this edit is to change the entire font of the story. If you use a serif font (corrent) switch it to a sans serif font. If you use a sans serif font (incorrect, evil) switch it to a serif font. This seriously helps your brain break out of it’s familiarity and catch a lot more of the spelling errors and weird little errors that you’d started missing. 

Yes this does mean that I read my entire novel in comic sans once leave me alone it works. 

You line edit until this story is as perfect as it can fucking get. Every word exactly as you want it. You’re a goddamn evil genius. 

12. IT’S TIME FOR PROOFREADING BABY!!!!!!!

Someone else is gonna catch all the fucked up shit you did wrong. 

Seriously. Don’t proofread your own work. I mean, you can, and you should, but at this point you will be so disgustingly familiar with your own work, you won’t even notice spelling errors bc your brain won’t even be reading it. It’ll just be glossing over keywords like “yes yes yes the cannibal scene I know I know- not even realizing you wrote the word cannibal as cannible. After line editing, if you’ve missed something (and you have) you won’t be catching it on your own.

 They will also do things like tell you “hey, like 90% of your character dialogue ends with the modifier of ‘yeah?’ as a question. Maybe don’t.” and “why the fuck do you describe your characters as chirping like 3 times on one page don’t.” and “all of your hyphens should be em-dashes actually uh…” and “remember how you explain the world is in neverending darkness? Yeah you just used the word sunlight here dumbass” and “jesus fuck do you even know what a verb tense is?” and “you keep using the same adjective twice in one sentence :/”

Those are all real things my proofreaders have had to deal with btw. 

Haru and Bookish thank you 🙏

I’ve been relatively involved in my own proofreading but really this is the time to listen to your editors and really work on making it perfect. They’re also probably gonna be line editing too, but it’s important for them and you to go slow during proofreading and catch every mistake, because eventually the story will be - literally - printed in ink, and this is when you make sure that it’s as good as it can be.

13. Profit???? Idk I guess it’s done at some point lmao. 

Concluding Notes: 

I am incredibly privileged that I have built a community online with people willing to help me. I had 6 unique betas during the developmental process, only 2 of which from my real life, and when I posted looking for proofreaders, I got 3 people raising their hands willing to help, 3 people who I don’t even know the real names of, or where they live. People doing it for free which is insane and I love them. A LOT of people will recommend, for books you want to publish, to invest in professional editing. Paying someone is always “an options” though, if you’re like me… not necessarily something you’re interested in doing. For any number of valid reasons. But if you’re at this point in your novel writing process, you’re probably doing this for love, because you want your story to be as good as it can be. And friends who simply try their best to catch all your stupid chirping mistakes are as good as you need (they’re certainly as good as I’ve needed.) 

But if you don’t have friends to beta for you, and I mean you really don’t have friends… I mean, it might be worth putting that post out. Or find a friend to find a friend they have that might be interested (that’s how I got some of mine!), or go slinking into their DMs like… “please… please…. Please…” People are generally kinder than you think. And most of them love to read stories. 

When I was in high school I didn’t have anyone to read my stories. Or, I had one person. So a lot of those repeating steps were spent alone. Editing without a beta - though much harder and not as fun - is doable. If you roll your sleeves up and be very critical of yourself, you can absolutely make it work. And maybe it’s not perfect, but it is practice, and you’ll get better even if you’re not doing it in the ideal format.

And, as this Anon clearly knows, you can always ask for help in other ways. Most writers love to talk about writing. It’s like… our favourite thing. You probably know that. So while you might not be able to coerce someone into reading you novel front to back, maybe you can find a person or two willing to voice their opinion on your biggest concerns, or give you advice for certain types of scenes you’ve hit a roadblock with and don’t know how to fix. 

I’m going to be honest. I want to end this little… big… answer with something like “and if you really don’t have anyone, ask me!” but the truth is if more than even just 1 person took me up on that I’d immediately have a backlog and not be a very good beta at all. But it is… sort of true to how I feel. Send me Anon asks if you want, or DM me if you have questions, I am just one person and I’m far from a professional or perfect but I’d love to be a potential resource if you find yourself alone and trying to make your story as good as it can be. I like editing, and I like YOU. And I like writing a whole ton. So.

[roseltheteacup]

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk: Headcanons, Red

Inspired by a couple other users! @mechanical-magician @dragonmarquise @robotredhead @hccupit

Major story spoilers under the cut.

The TDLR being: taking the postgame character select at face value; Red is reborn as a true cyberhead with Faux’s body. He still retains the memories of his journey due to his memory chip being present in the cyberhead that held Felix. In fact, quite a few of his systems were present in that cyberhead during the journey, minus an actual AI component. It was simply a matter of finding all the pieces of him and putting him back together.

His memories of the final confrontation are a little fuzzy, mostly because he willingly passed the reins to Felix during his last sit in DJ Cyber’s chair. It was then that he realised only Felix could finish things with Faux. Red was quite literally just along for the ride at that point, unable to influence or understand much of what Felix was saying and doing. Everything ended for him once the cyberhead was shattered. He still wishes he could've spoken with Faux.

He and Felix have agreed that the best way to describe their situation is: “He's me, but not really.”

He's maybe like Felix’s younger sibling? Maybe?? Red hasn't asked.

Technically, he's died about three times (four if you count as Faux.) Always being rebuilt, always coming back. It confuses him as much as it disturbs him.

He died two times in Mataan. He swears he felt what it was like for each piece of him to be scattered while retaining something akin to a consciousness.

Because of his lack of a human consciousness uploaded to his cyberhead system, he's basically a robot. All AI. And yet, he's still surprisingly human. DJ Cyber surmises that it's because he's based on Felix. That being said, Red has been having fun figuring out things he can do as a full cyberhead.

His eyes glow in the dark and turn off when he's asleep. He's scared the hell out of Tryce at 2am multiple times.

He has a habit of getting straight to the point when speaking. Not out of frustration, he just doesn't quite understand how to turn conversations naturally in a direction. He also tends to be a little slow to process things. Please be patient with him.

Red’s lack of a human consciousness also leads him to be fairly oblivious when it comes to understanding the rules of human society. It's one of the things Tryce and Bel noticed about him once he was recreated, but they're more than willing to help him understand things. A lot of the crew find it endearing.

The dreams he has are as vivid as he remembers, but a little different. He now has a full machine mind, so it's taken a while to get used to.

He finds it a lot easier to learn by doing. It's even better if it's a practical skill and he has something to touch and fiddle with and figure out the intricacies of.

Despite temporarily sharing a mind with Felix, a man in his late 20s, Red seems to be more naïve and youthful. He's also noticeably more enthusiastic and impulsive than Felix. This, combined with him using Faux’s body (being in its early 20s,) results in Red coming across as someone aged 18-22.

For someone so young to have experienced death multiple times, it does tend to bother him. He worries about wiping out or sleeping for too long and having to be stuck back together again.

Bel has been teaching him how to make beaded bracelets. He hasn't quite gotten it yet, but constantly wears the one Bel made for him.

Back when they were still searching for Faux’s head, Red would try to be as careful as he could with his body (though he wasn't always successful) and wouldn't allow any changes to it without Faux’s permission. Today, Red feels comfortable enough in his own skin and even likes to paint his nails with Bel.

He has a 3DS! His favourite games are Miitopia and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.

Whenever he gets flustered or stressed, the fans in the back of his head whirr quickly. Once you figure out when he's actually flustered instead of stressed out, it's really cute. His face also tends to be warm to the touch when this happens.

He was required to think of a legal name for himself for the books, and decided on Redmond. He knows it's not very creative but doesn't really care.

Back when he was first named, he took to ‘Red’ immediately and quickly designed a tag for himself, too. It always felt like him. Simple and to the point.

Faux’s body is scarred up because of the confrontation in Mataan. Red has been used to this body ever since he was created, but has to be reminded that it's perhaps a little more fragile than he remembers, at least until he's all healed up. He's also always had a neck scar, but finds it a bit more itchy now that he's been re-attached to a body two extra times.

His cyberhead is painted. By default, his model is white (like Escher.) Because of this, whenever he wipes out and gets scraped up Tryce and Bel are always offering to repaint his scratches.

Red has been getting into more installation-based artwork. He likes finding small trinkets and mechanical parts and sticking them together. He says it speaks to him somehow.

He sleeps like a rock. (It's not a cyberhead thing, it's just him.)

[nahisummerhold]

Not All Losses Are The Same

Wiping sweat from her face, Nahi made her way back to the camp. It was no wonder she got odd reactions from the people of Dornogal, she was the crazy woman running up and down stairs late at night. Sleeping was a luxury that had yet to grace the performer, so exhaustion was the next best thing, at least exhausted she could relax, trying to make herself sleep was an impossibility. Not only was she used to keeping bar hours but her life was turned on its head, and only bats could sleep upside down.

The evening had offered her a chance to connect finally with Fio, Dice and Kai, it made her feel a little less alone. It was odd, feeling alone, she spent years cultivating a lifestyle that had her excluding most people, and yet it was now that she was in a group of mostly strangers that she was experiencing the sensation of isolation. Meeting Stellan had been interesting, there was an edge of dark humor to him that made her a little uncomfortable considering the subject, yet she didn’t really mind it. Life around her wasn’t exactly comfortable in any way so it fit right in with all she was feeling. 

Dalaran had been discussed, but she wasn’t really sure how to work through all the losses in her life, so the topic was like a bee circling around her and she was standing perfectly still hoping it would just go away and spare her the sting. She was glad that at least some people she knew, like this group, were alive, the thought of all those she would never see again, or the things she would never see again, made a knot form in her throat that felt like she couldn’t swallow past iit. This had been a constant companion since Dalaran was lost. If she was honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable for a very long time. The decision to join the mercenaries was probably good for her, when the ground shifts under your feet sometimes it was best to just dance along with it. Everything was moving in her life and this was just another shift in trying to find the tempo of this new chaos. Maybe that was why she had latched onto those text exchanges with Pathyn, it was a bit of comfort, he had been a constant in her life for a couple of years, even if the relationship had shifted so very recently.

When she talked about settling the score in her mind and Fio had questioned it Nahi had stumbled in her thoughts. How do you explain that music was so much of your life that you thought in it? The score was the flow of it in her thoughts, right now it sounded like an orchestra of children on their first week of practice, and Nahi needed to begin to mold that into a piece that might not be beautiful, but it would be ordered at least. 

Once she was settled in and finished stretching she picked up her comm and made a nightly check in. Nahi to Iren: How is my favorite step-father?

Iren: Missing his favorite daughter. Nahi: When mother is more settled. Is that going any better? Iren: Losing home has made her swings more drastic. I don’t know how she sensed the fall but… Everything is safe, right? Nahi: Yes, I got everything out that I could. Wish I could have taken the house itself for you.

Iren: You did what you could Nahi. Stop feeling guilty about this, you didn’t cause the fall.You got us into a new home and have taken care of all you could prepare for, except the fall itself. Have you found some new places to work? How is the apartment?

There, there was separation she was trying to avoid in her life, except this time she was hiding her family from what she was doing. Maybe she would never be able to really reconcile who she was. 

Nahi: The apartment is great, I got everything tucked in that I could. Little pieces of home, you know? Found some work, but not much for me to do yet. It is hard, war and all but I am sure everything will settle into a new pattern. You should get some sleep.

It was so much easier to obfuscate through text.

Iren: Your mother is struggling with a day to night schedule, so I am up with her as it is Ysoli’s night off. 

Nahi: I am sorry Iren. I would be there if I could.

Iren: Stop it. You can’t fix this and we all agreed this was the best for her. Once you reconcile that in your heart you will probably admit this will be good for you too.  Nahi: I should get some sleep, I want to work on some dance practice in the morning. Iren: Go daughter, I love you. I miss you, make us proud. Nahi: I love you too. Give mom a kiss from me, just don’t tell her it was.

Some losses were not from the fall.

( @fio-renze @dicenne @kaisinasunblade @inistellan for mentions @themercenaries )

[minniethemoocherda]

Iridescent: Chapter 6

Summary: When Jazz is promoted to Head of Special Operations, the last thing he expected was to have to work with a face from his past.

Ao3

FF.net

If there was one thing Jazz regretted about becoming Head of Special Operations, it was the paperwork.

It had never been his favourite aspect of the job and now he had at least ten times the amount that he'd had to do when he was just a field agent.

Honestly how anyone in command had time to breathe after they'd finished all their paperwork, was beyond him.

And in the time between Blackout's death and Jazz assuming command, the amount of overdue reports and mission briefs had piled up. Literally. Jazz couldn't even see out from behind the desk thanks to the mountain of datafiles stacked on top of it.

It was odd to be sitting on the other side of Blackout's old desk. But Jazz was going to have to start using eventually so he might as well get it over and done with.

Plus he could use a distraction after yesterday.

Jazz started with the simple stuff first. Catching up with status of the rest of Spec Ops, most of which he was already familiar with. Sliverstreak had recently been loaned to their MacCadams base. Hound was still tailing Lockdown. And of course Mirage had been called back from their mission early.

The only name that Jazz didn't recognise was Bluestreak, a sniper who's been tasked with the elimination of a Decepticon scientist. Judging by her appearance, this Bluestreak couldn't have been much older than Bumblebee. She must've joined the Autobots as soon as she had gotten her final upgrades. Jazz hoped the young bot could handle the mission they'd been given. It looked like the cons had been trying to create synthetic energon again. Unsurprisingly Optimus and Ratchet had voted against the mission, stating that the creation of synthetic energon would be beneficial to their species as a whole especially as they were rapidly running out of the real stuff. But they had been outvoted which Jazz couldn't but felt bad for agreeing with as leaving the Decepticons to create a potentially unlimited supply of fuel and power would practically guarantee the Autobots to loose the war, even if it could be detrimental to the survival of their race. Anyway, Jazz would find out soon enough as the bot was scheduled to be coming home soon.

After that, the reports got a lot more boring. Mostly just repeats of what they'd gone over in the few meetings he'd been too.

Jazz had always struggled with paying attention to anything written down. And he really didn't want his mind to wonder.

So he hooked the data pads up to his desk computer, configuring them with an app, that he was forever grateful to Blaster for making him long ago, that would read the reports out loud.

The voice was a bit robotic and would stumble over abbreviations or call signs but it did its job. And Jazz no longer wanted to bang his head into his desk.

It would still take a long time to get through all of the reports though, so Jazz caught up with the leg stretches he'd been neglecting to do before moving onto some training katas.

Six hours later Mirage would find him sitting upside-down on the couch, fiddling an old piece of scrap into the shape of a crystal-tree whilst a disembodied voice proclaimed the reasons why the twins were no longer allowed within one hundred meters of the med bay.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mirage asked with a raised optic ridge from where he stood in the doorway.

"Only the desire to offline myself from boredom." Jazz replied, putting the sculpture to one side before allowing himself to collapse off the sofa into a heap in the floor. "Have you come to put me out of my misery?"

"Unfortunately not. Our communications expert has been trying to call you for the past hour, so he sent me to check up on you."

"Everything okay?" Jazz asked, dragging himself off the floor and onto the chair behind his desk so that if someone barged in demanding their overdue paper work at least he'd have some sense of decorum.

"Yeah, Blaster was just wondering what day he should book a babysitter for Bumblebee's final upgrade party." Mirage said, crossing his legs as he sat down in the chair in front of him.

Jazz groaned, dropping his head onto the desk with a thunk. Between everything else that had happened, he hadn't had anytime to dedicate to keeping up team morale.

"Can't you plan the party for me mech?" Jazz asked, looking back up with his best cyper pup eyes.

"You do know that the last party I planned was a five course gala right?" Mirage replied.

"Just ask Blaster to sort out the basics and I'll add some special Jazz touches later!"

"I can ask."

"Thanks mech! If I don't get these reports done then Prowl might actually kill me!"

"I assume the mission was a sucess then?" Mirage deadpanned.

"Urghh no! I've tried everything! But the guy still hates my guts!" Which yeah Prowl was far from Jazz's favourite person either right now but even if he didn't like Prowl he still wanted the former enforcer to like him! Rung would probably have a field day psychoanalysing him if he ever bothered to show up for his long overdue psyche evaluation. But Jazz already knew what his problem was so there wasn't any point bothering the ship psychiatrist when there were other who needed their help more.

"Look sometimes people don't want to be your friend and most of the time it has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. And you've just got to accept that." Mirage told him, the royal tone of indignance that he'd been raised to speak in failing to hide the hurt he'd been through.

Jazz winced with an apologetic smile. He should've realised this would be a bit of a soar subject for Mirage. When the former aristocrat first joined the Autobots there weren't too many rushing to be his friend and an outlier ability of turning invisible didn't exactly help to build trust either. It had gotten better now, mostly thanks to Jazz integrating him into parties and rec room drama. Now the only person who treated Mirage with an suspicion was Cliffjumper still didn't entirely trust him after the whole pretending to go traitor for a mission fiasco.

"Fair point. Doesn't mean he had to break my electro-base though."

"HE WHAT?!"

Jazz nearly jumped out of his seat at Mirage's reaction. His friend was always so composed, it was part of what made him such a great spy. Jazz could count on one hand the amount of time's he'd seen Mirage loose his cool. Well, he guessed it was on two hands now.

"That's not turning you down, that's being an arsehole." Mirage continued.

"Hey its no big deal. Its just a stupid intrument." Jazz shrugged attempting to act nonchalant. Which was pointless as Mirage was one of the few bots who knew him well enough to see through it.

The next thing he knew, Mirage was up on his feet and marching for the exit.

Jazz had to vault over his desk to catch up with him.

"Woah mech where do you think ya going?" Jazz asked, blocking the door.

"To give Prowl a peice of my mind." Mirage replied, that regal voice of his cold with anger.

Jazz let him pass, knowing that whilst if it came down to it, he could beat Mirage in a fight. But that even if he won that match that wouldn't stop the spy from tracking down his prey. Because if there was one thing that outweighed Mirage's strength of composure, it was his loyalty.

A/N: Yeah so I've switched Bluestreak's gender to a girl and as you can probably tell I've also done with some of the other characters too. I just felt as if I had so few female characters in this story and I thought this would be a good way to add some more. But let me know how you guys feel about it! Xxxxxxx

[pandabuy1]

Pandabuy Jordan Collection's Special Attractiveness

Fashion-forward people and sneakerheads have quickly come to love the Pandabuy Jordan collection. Any sneaker enthusiast should acquire this collection, which is well-known for its excellent quality and trademark designs. The Jordan line is unique in style, has a rich history, and is linked to basketball culture. Michael Jordan one of the best athletes in history offers a fashion statement and a piece of history with every pair of sneakers. The Pandabuy Jordan line provides something for everyone, whether you're searching for a collector's piece or a pair to finish your outfit.

Find the newest in shoe from Pandabuy Nike shoes.

Pandabuy Nike shoes are unique among sports shoes in appearance, comfort, and inventiveness. For decades, Nike has led the way in the footwear business, continuously stretching performance and design limitations. Whether you're an athlete searching for the most outstanding performance shoe or trying to make a big fashion statement, the Pandabuy Nike shoe line provides a great range of possibilities for any demand. From elegant patterns to robust construction, these shoes guarantee you remain comfortable wherever you go and make a statement. Every Pandabuy Nike pair distinguishes itself from competitors by combining form and utility.

Combining comfort with style: why should one choose the Pandabuy Jordan Collection?

The Pandabuy Jordan line appeals mostly to people because of its ideal mix of comfort and flair. Every pair is meant to be appropriate for everyday use as every pair offers not only a modern appearance but also excellent comfort. These shoes are designed to help your feet and improve your performance, whether your game is basketball or simply a laid-back trip. The Jordans are an excellent fit for sporty and leisure use. Their unique qualities air-cushioning for maximum comfort and premium materials ensure your feet remain comfy all day.

Durability and Performance from Pandabuy Nike Shoes

In the sneaker market, Pandabuy Nike sneakers have unparalleled performance and lifetime. Nike's use of modern-day era in its shoes ensures that each pair is meant for extended put on. Nike footwear are designed to face up to the roughest workouts and offer exceptional comfort, whether strolling or touring the fitness centre. These shoes are very long lasting because of their creative sole styles and modern materials, which offer first-rate aid and grip. Pandabuy Nike sneakers are a great fit for all your footwear requirements if you want shoes that look just as good as they feel.

Versatility and Style in the Jordan Collection Pandabuy

Still, another fantastic quality of the Pandabuy Jordan line is its adaptability. These sneakers are meant to be fashionable enough to wear practically anywhere, not just for basketball players. From streetwear to formal dress, the Jordans in shape well into many styles and are a must-have. You may additionally get dressed in them for a sport, a laid-back get-collectively, or maybe a night in town. The choice of colors and designs ensures that you could pick out the proper pair to supplement your fashion and persona, enhancing your fashion recreation to remarkable degrees.

Footwear's Future: Pandabuy Nike Shoes

Pandabuy Nike sneakers look to have an even more brilliant future than before. Nike always creates fresh designs that challenge the limits of what is feasible in sporting shoes. Pandabuy Nike shoes will provide even more comfort, support, and style in the years to come, given the most recent developments in materials and structure. Nike's dedication to quality and innovation guarantees that their shoes will always be a top option for everybody, regardless of your interests performance improvements or sneaker aficionado search for the next significant trend. Pandabuy has an incredible array of choices to keep ahead of the curve.

Conclusion

Combining design, comfort, and innovation, Pandabuy Jordan's collection and Pandabuy Nike sneakers reflect the height of sneaker culture. Both sets satisfy various tastes and preferences regardless of your interest’s sports or fashion. These sneakers are ideal for regular use or for improving your sports performance, as they provide practical advantages and style. These collections will not let you miss anything if you're looking for shoes that mix historical relevance, modern style, and fantastic comfort. Explore the whole assortment and locate your new pair of classic shoes by visiting the pandabuy.store. 

[lavenderofthelake]

I'm not particularly well versed in writing (this is my first finished piece), but I wrote this recently and I figured I would share.

I suppose content warnings for bullying and social isolation

constructive criticism is welcome! (please be nice)

---

It sits, watching, as people gather nearby. They are playing a game, maybe tag. They are having fun. It can tell by the sounds they make, mostly laughter, and screams of excitement. It observes them play, never getting too close.

“He’s watching us again” one of them says, and it knows they feel uncomfortable about it. It feels uncomfortable about them too. It decides to retreat further, and before long they go back to their excitement.

During the day it tries to keep its distance. If it ever has to get close to people it contorts its face into a pleasant facade. It knows that the mask isn't perfect, since nobody looks directly at it, and they hurry away from the encounters quickly. 

“It’s better this way.” it thinks “I can't hurt anybody if they don't get close.”

It tinkers with the machinations under its skin when it thinks no one is looking, feeling the tug of pulleys puppeting flesh. It wonders what people would think if they saw it doing this. Would they laugh at it? Would it even care?

“He looks uncanny.” It hears one of them whisper. “We should mess with him.” they say.

It doesn't know what to do as they approach, acting mockingly familiar with it. As they touch it and speak to it like a friend, It knows they are pretending. It doesn't know how to act in this situation and fear grips its senses. Its limbs feel numb and It retreats to its mind, disowning its body.

It stands, anxiously watching, as they grab its hand. It can't even feel it as it tries to orchestrate its muscles into a motion that it has seen but never done. It doesn't take long for them to start laughing at its attempt and leave it alone, seemingly pleased with the distress they've caused. It is left relieved to have survived the encounter, not knowing what it would have done if they had stayed longer or prodded it further reminding itself to keep further away. Though it is also disappointed that it didn't pay closer attention to how it felt to be touched. It is touched so rarely but has heard it is pleasant. Sometimes it wishes it could hold someone for real, feeling their life between its hands.

Its voice is also a facsimile, built out of many other voices, mimicking what it thinks is normal. It knows this isn't perfect either, the ways the words stitch together. It is grateful it rarely needs to use that voice. Some days it doesn't speak at all.

At night it hides in its cave alone. It wouldn't let anyone into the cave for fear they see what it really is. It is not hard to keep people away.

Every so often someone is foolhardy enough to venture to the cave, to try and get an idea of what it is. This is when it has to use that voice. Producing practiced lines of diversion to turn any would be intruders away. It always hurts, having to pretend that it wants to be alone, but it knows that if it lets them in it would hurt more. 

It watches from its perch nearby as the people play. It listens to their laughter. 

“Why don't you join them?” one of their guardians asks in a well meaning tone.

“I wouldn't have fun.” It repeats remembering all the times that it has tried and failed to join either by rejection or expulsion.

“Why wouldn't you have fun?” the guardian inquires. 

It doesn't have a response prepared, but manages to say “I don't like anything they are doing.” it doesn't know if this is true. It's never gotten close enough to find out, but hopes this will be enough to end the conversation.

“Then you should walk around and count all the things that you don't like.” they mock. “That will at least keep you busy. Instead of sitting out here by yourself.”

It doesn't know what to say, it doesn't even know what that means, so it leaves, approaching where the people are playing. As it approaches, it contemplates what it means to count the things it does not like.  It knows that trying to interact hurts but putting into words why seems out of reach. Maybe if it comes up with a number, it can prove that it shouldn't try to interact.

Once it gets closer it sees the place where once there was joy and playing is empty. Evidently while trying to come up with a number to justify its outcast it must have gotten too close. Everyone has migrated to a different field nearby, and It seems that even when it tries to get close it is left apart from the others.

It is reminded of the role it is assigned, to sit on the outskirts and watch. It knows they feel uncomfortable about it. It feels uncomfortable about them too. It thinks maybe it should have told the guardian that, but decided that its best to keep these things to itself. They wouldn't understand anyways

It goes back to its perch having counted to one.

[beardedmrbean]

How about Newsweek, both left and right can agree on Newsweek for the most part.

What To Know

An analysis of California's 2024 Budget Bill, which covers its budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year, by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office concluded it slashed $101 million from seven "wildfire and forest resilience" programs.

The California Analyst's Office is an impartial body that analyses the economic impact of proposed laws and is overseen by the state legislature's Legislative Budget Committee.

Cuts included a reduction of $5 million in spending on CAL FIRE fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by the California National Guard. This left the total available for this scheme at $129 million.

An additional $4 million was removed from a forest legacy program aimed at encouraging good management practices from landowners whilst $28 million was slashed from funds provided to multiple state conservancies to increase wildfire resilience.

Another $8 million was taken from monitoring and research spending, which had largely been given to CAL FIRE and California universities, whilst $3 million was removed from funding for an interagency forest data hub. A home hardening pilot scheme designed to make homes more resilient to wildfires had its funding cut by $12 million.

However despite the recent reductions the overall amount included in CAL FIRE's standard wildfire protection budget surged from around $1.1 billion in 2014 to $3 billion in 2023, with Politico noting there was a "sharp uptick under Newsom." ____________________________

gavin you piece of garbage, if we get another recall going I hope it finishes you for good.

Gavin is lying, because they absolutely cut the budget, we have the numbers from the state budget office to prove that.

I'm going to guess the bulk of the "sharp uptick" came after 2021 when his incompetent forest management almost got him recalled, played a part in it at least.

Let's go back a few years.

Back when gavin lied so bad even NPR couldn't find a way to make it look good. ________________________________________

Newsom has claimed that 35 “priority projects” carried out as a result of his executive order resulted in fire prevention work on 90,000 acres. But the state’s own data show the actual number is 11,399.

Gonna let someone else aggregate this article

IDGAF if it's daily mail, if you want to argue against them figure out where they lied and bring that into play.

Those outlets in 2021 accused him of misrepresenting his accomplishments and even pulling much-needed funds out of wildfire prevention. 

They found Newsom overstated, by an astounding 690 percent, the number of acres treated with fuel breaks and prescribed burns in the areas he had said needed to be prioritized.

Newsom had claimed that 35 'priority projects' carried out as a result of his 2019 executive order resulted in fire prevention work across 90,000 acres of land. But the state's own data showed the actual number was just 11,399 — some seven times less.

The amount of burnable fuel that Cal Fire was removing from the land increased in Newsom's first year — but then dropped by half in 2020, the investigation found.

Here's CalMatters covering the same stuff NPR did, if you need more backup. They just quote NPR mostly though.

Gavin is lying, there's nothing new or shocking about that.

Shocking part is people still believe him or will try and find a way to excuse the lies because overall spending has increased over the last 10 years.

Which still doesn't mean he didn't cut their budget by $100 million and change

🚨BREAKING: California Governor Gavin Newsom just released a new website to combat misinformation being spread about the wildfires in LA. This is huge. Please rely on this website and its accurate information—not Donald Trump and Elon Musk.

[kaeyazuha]

𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 (𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮)

ft. childe, diluc, kaeya

❝ s/o who always tries to help others and is always there for them, but can never get/accept any affection in return. They feel unlovable, alone, distant, lonely. They think no one cares about them and only exist to entertain others and then get thrown away ❞

; I’m sorry people have treated you so poorly, love. I hope this is okay!!

; 3/11/22

; Comfort/Fluff

; CW: physical touch, kissing, poor mental health

     𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲 '𝗧𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝗮'

✧ Why do people hurt you like this? How can someone so altruistic and kind receive nothing after giving so much? He’s completely baffled, watching you help person after person with that beautiful but forced smile when they leave without giving you more than a glance. It doesn’t take him very long to figure out just why you’ve been so tired and isolated as of late, distancing yourself without meaning to as your head drowned in swirling depths of insecurities and grief. At this point, Childe wouldn’t even bother to try and use his coy flirtations or overexaggerated cheerfulness to try and make you smile again- no, you deserve better than that. You deserve more than the happiness you’ve given out and away so willingly. 

✧ Childe’s love language is a strange mixture of physical touch and gifts, and you’ll see a lot of that. Anything you want, it’s yours. A hug? Done, he pulled you into his chest before you could finish speaking. A certain meal or snack? He’s either making it himself or he runs to the nearest restaurant to buy it for you. Anything he can give you, he will. He’d offer to give you the world, but the world can be a disappointing and corrupt place. No, even Celestia wouldn’t be enough for you, with its cruel ideals and lies. Instead, he gives you himself. It would take the Tsaritsa herself to drag him away from you at this point, he’s practically attached! He’s got to make up for everything those assholes didn’t do, he’d say. Now that you’ve got him, don’t expect him to let go. 

✧ From there, after he’s bought out every store in Liyue (and a few in Mondstadt), he mostly focuses on giving you little reminders. Most are reminders that he loves you and to take care of yourself, others are reminding you to be a little selfish; don’t throw yourself at people who will take advantage of you. It’s okay to say no, he’d remind you. If you can’t bring yourself to decline someone, Childe will happily do it for you. A little while later, a very excited Ajax would eagerly suggest you come to Snezhnaya to see his family- because if nobody else other than himself, he knows his family would accept you with open arms and shower you with the love and appreciation everyone else took from you.

- ✧ -

Tired eyes flitted from the clock to the setting sun shining through the window, your expression sullen and meek. Another day would soon pass, a new day…then why did it feel the same as all the others? Be at everyone’s beck and call, receive nothing in return, watch them leave with the piece of your heart you lent to them, and then wake up and do it all once more. 

How sickening.

“Angellll~.” A chipper voice greeted, the distant sound of a door closing urging you to sit up and plaster on your best smile. “Sorry I took so long, a few recruits needed more training than expected.” Childe slung an arm over your shoulder, resting his head on yours before narrowing his eyes- your expression hasn’t changed once since he walked in. 

“I’m sorry, any way I can help?” The words felt all too familiar on your tongue, bitter and vile after repeating it so many times. Gloved fingers moved from your shoulder to your chin, where he cupped it and turned you to face him. You found it hard to look him in the eyes; the piercing blue coaxing you to spill every secret you’ve ever kept, every emotion you’ve ever felt. “Hey, I’m missing your pretty face- look at me, angel.” Those same eyes came into view when he tilted his head to rest his forehead on yours before pulling away and opening his arms for you, a silent invitation. You debated on it for a moment, but ultimately leaned into his arms, and he held you tight to his chest- was his heartbeat always this fast? “Ah…they’ve got you at it again, hm? You really gotta stop wasting yourself away on selfish bastards, it’s just hurting you. Sure, it helped them, but they’re just going to need help again later on. It’s not worth killing yourself so they can have an easier day.”

A pause, then he spoke once more. “I’m grateful for you, (Y/n). I hate to admit it, but you’re my one and only weakness; just the thought of seeing you again is enough to get me through the day!” Ignoring the burn in your throat, you buried yourself further into his clothing to stifle the small sobs forming. “It’s okay, let it out. You deserve it.” His voice lowered into a gentle whisper towards the end, and he brought you closer to him. One hand protectively rested on the back of your head, the other hooked over your back and held you securely. “...I worry about you, y’know. Every day I leave and come back to find you in shambles, I don’t like it. You don’t deserve to feel like this…and it’s taking me everything to not become your bodyguard at this rate.” He laughed, finding solace in the way you clutched onto him and burrowed deeper into his clothing. “I’m trying to give a speech here, c’mon--” His hands guided you to look up at him, a surprisingly doting expression donning his face. “There you are~. Now then, I need you to promise me something.”

Hesitantly, you nodded. “Promise me you’ll take better care of my (Y/n)? They have a tendency to let themself waste away for the sake of people who don’t deserve it. Too kind-hearted for a world like this…” He sighed dramatically, and you stifled a laugh at how woeful he made himself look. Moving one hand from your shoulder to the space in between you, he stuck his pinkie out and grinned. You smiled warmly at the gesture, finding it much easier to breathe, and looped your pinkie around his. Slowly, a mischievous grin stretched over his face. “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.”

“Childe, no-”

“You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice.” He mused, holding your pinkie tight.

Playfully hitting at his chest, you groaned. “I get it! You can stop!”

“The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue offffff-?” Childe tilted his head, waiting until you reluctantly joined in.

“So you never lie again.”

     𝗗𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗰 𝗥𝗮𝗴𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗿

✧ Honestly, he doesn’t understand at first. He’s straightforward, blunt, and doesn’t waste time- especially not with selfish idiots; so why are you? Why are you subjecting yourself-- hurting yourself for the sake of someone who doesn’t need it? He’s a bit harsh with his words, but he means well. The mere idea of you handing out your heart to others only to have them toss it away, it’s infuriating. You, especially you, don’t deserve that. He reminds you of that with little actions for a while- fleeting touches, soft gazes, a kiss to the forehead, and the occasional hand on the shoulder. But it just…wasn’t enough. More, you deserve more, what can he do more of? From there, he doesn’t take long to notice how you lean into his touches or stare at him so longingly when he pulls away- and then the gears start turning.

✧ He’d take you by surprise, because it probably took him awhile to gather his wits and swallow his nerves before wrapping his arms around you from behind and resting his head on your shoulder. A moment of silence, then he starts whispering sweet nothings in your ear. It’s bold of him, but he keeps it up. When you come home, he’s waiting on the couch for you to tell him about your day. When you walk together, his hand’s either protectively resting on the small of your back or holding your hand- maybe intertwining pinkies if he’s more shy. Diluc’s not good with words, so he prefers to show his love for you through actions.

✧ However, he still sees the distant look in your eyes when insecurities and unwelcome thoughts starts to cloud your vision- instead, he tries to fill your head with words of adoration and reassurance. Granted, he’s still awkward and not very good at being suave or poetic with his declarations of affection, but every word he speaks is beautiful nonetheless. It’s beautiful since those words are about you, everything is beautiful when it’s about you, so please don’t pull away. He’s cold, he’s harsh, he’s bad at expressing things, but please d-

- ✧ -

“-don’t ever doubt yourself or how I feel about you.” Out of the blue, his words pierced the silent atmosphere. It almost scared you had it not been for the quietness, almost meekness of his tone. 

“Is…something wrong? Where’s this coming from?” Averting your eyes from his steel gaze, you set down your shoes and moved to sit on the couch. You found it rather difficult to try and focus when scarlet eyes practically burned holes into your very being; but it held no anger. No, his stare was pleading, desperate, confused, utterly bewildered- he stared at you so intently to try and pick you apart, figure out just what was wrong so he could help you properly. Despite your nervous smile, he still glared, even as he walked closer and sat adjacent to you.

“I can see it, you’re distancing yourself…I’m assuming because you’re starting to doubt. I’m not hurt, nor am I angry, I’m just…concerned. I don’t want you to feel this way, especially not because other people are incompetent and selfish.” Diluc sighed breathily, raking a hand through his loose hair before he hesitantly brought you to lean on his shoulder. Though he jumped and accidentally shook your head off his shoulder when he heard small sniffles from you- crap, you started crying, oh no-

“Wait, wait, I apologize, dearest. I didn’t mean to make you cr-”

“No! Nono, I’m sorry, I-I don’t know why I’m like this, I’m sor-” Then he was the one to cut you off with a quick kiss to the corner of your lip, then one to your cheek, and then your forehead. You bit down on your quivering lip, willing the tears to stay behind your eyes and praying he didn’t see just how close you were to falling apart. 

“Please, don’t apologize. You especially have no reason to apologize.” Diluc cupped your jaw, easing your lip out from between your teeth with his thumb before pressing you into his shoulder, resting his head atop yours. “If anything, I’m sorry. I apologize on behalf of all the selfish pricks that took advantage of you, of your kindness. I’m sorry I haven’t noticed just how distant we’ve both been…” He trailed off, taking a moment to brush away the nearly silent tears streaming down your face, then held your face in his hands as if he were holding fragile glass. Scarlet eyes gazed lovingly down at you, though they swirled with concern, sadness, anger, regret, and determination. 

“Are you…” You hiccuped, debating whether or not to continue when he nodded slowly, urging you to do so. “Are you going to leave me…? After I’ve done enough?” He flinched, eyes widening and shoulders tensing at your words.

“Leave you? Archons, no, I’d never even consider the thought unless it was you who wanted to leave me.” Finding comfort in the way he held you closer, you rested your head atop his chest and found solace in his reverberating heartbeat. “I don’t want you to ‘do’ enough for me, you are enough for me. I can’t get enough of you, I love you more than this city I’ve vowed to protect. I want you beside me, not as some sort of servant, but as my equal. You are my lover, and I fully intend to keep it that way…at least until you’re willing to become something more.” Diluc chuckled softly, pulling you into a full embrace and then running his hand up and down your back, trying to soothe the quivers running through your spine.

“Something…more?” He tensed once more, forgetting he’d started to speak his thoughts aloud. Stammering and tripping over his words like a clumsy teenager, Diluc coughed nervously and averted his gaze to the window just behind him. 

“Only if you’d want that, of course. Either way, I love you as you are…please don’t doubt that. I know I struggle to show it sometimes, and I thank you for being patient with me on that. Do me a favor, if you will.” You whined under your breath when he pulled away to look at you fully, missing the warmth of his embrace. “Value yourself more. Your time, your heart, value yourself as more than a vessel for others to use and then throw away.”

“Even if it’s just for tomorrow, allow me to spoil you; tomorrow is yours, as you are mine. We’ll do everything and anything you’d like, because that’s what you truly deserve.”

     𝗞𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗮 𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵

✧ Similar to Diluc, Kaeya also struggles to understand why you bend over backwards to help everyone. Can’t they solve their own problems? Or find someone else, someone less overwhelmed to help them?? Ah…but you’re too kind-hearted to say no. Even if it takes your time, effort, energy, you still take it all with a smile on your face. But for what, and to what end? He hasn’t seen you without that forced grin that practically begs for help. Then it clicks, and he practically shoots up from his desk while pondering all of the things he hasn’t done for you. At this rate, was he any better than those who’ve hurt you? Thinking about all the nights he spent away from you in favor of a few drinks, all of the times you had to take care of him after said nights, how you put up with his antics-- gods, why is he such an idiot?

✧ Kaeya would beat himself up for awhile after noticing just how miserable you truly were. But! It doesn’t take him long to swallow his self-pity and instead find ways to make up for everything. Less nights spent at the tavern, more spent holding you close in the comfort of home. More time dedicated to you, less dedicated to meaningless affairs. More and more, less and less, he slowly chips away at the holes in his schedule and fills them with time with you. Kaeya prides himself on the intricate and suave words that roll so easily off his tongue, but when it comes to real feelings, he finds his tongue tied and heart in his throat. Being vulnerable scares him, but if that’s what it takes for you to feel even a bit more loved, he’ll sit down with you and have a heartfelt conversation that leaves your heart beating rapidly and a giddy smile on your face.

✧ However, he also addresses just how easily you give yourself to people. He absolutely adores just how altruistic you are, but not at your expense. Not when every time you give a little bit of your heart to someone, they take and take until there’s nothing left for yourself. If you let him, he’d encourage you to be as kind as you are now, but to yourself. Treat yourself to a special dinner, lay in bed even when the sun tells you to get up, spend the time you use on others to spend time with yourself (and him please). From that point on, he reminds you daily of just how incredible you truly are.

- ✧  -

A puppeteer, tugging and pulling at strings thin as air and miserably guiding the doll day after day- waiting for the strings to snap and fall apart; that’s what you felt like. A puppeteer of your own body and mind. It almost felt like you were far away from reality, watching through a doll’s eyes. It hurts, you’ve helped everyone- you’ve given it your all, why are you still alone? Where is everyone? 

You sighed, leaning against the wall and stared off into nothingness with a faint ghost of a smile resting on your face. Time seemed to fade slowly, farther and farther away, and then a gloved hand rested on your shoulder and shook you back to reality. “No, no, this won’t do…” He sighed, taking a seat in front of you on the floor before leaning his head against the wall to look at you fully. 

…Gods you look miserable.

Kaeya inwardly frowned, scooting closer and cupping your cheek, pressing a chaste kiss to the crown of your head before speaking again. “I’m proud of you, y’know.” Your eyes shot up, words of praise falling so easily from his lips and sounding like flowers and honey into the open air. “You work so hard…don’t think I don’t see it, angel, I know you’re doing your best.” His gaze, usually unreadable and clouded, seemed to hold all the love in the world as he stared at you. Noticing the way your lip started to tremble, he wrapped his arms around you and held you close- close enough to hear his heartbeat.

“Why- Why does nobody care…? What am I doing wrong?” Heated tears flooded your gaze, small hiccups keeping your throat in a chokehold with the uproar of emotions. “Kaeya, why don’t they care…?” Kaeya did his best to suppress a tear or two of his own, biting on the inside of his cheek and stroking small circles into your back. He went to speak again, having to think his words ove- “Do you care?”

He tensed, pulling away with a bit too much force and cupped your cheek; his thumb brushed away the tears that continued to wet your skin. “Yes! Yes, of course, I care.” Eyebrows drawn tight, eyes widened into a look of desperation. “I care about you more than anything, my love. I care about you more than words can describe- sometimes it hurts, adoring you so much but not having the words to tell you. I can’t say the same for the lowlives who used you so cruelly, but never, never doubt just how important you are; to me, and everybody else.” You sputtered out a laugh, leaning into the hand that continued to caress your cheek. 

“Thank you…’m sorry, didn’t mean to melt down.” Your heavy sigh was muffled when he brought you back into his embrace, the fluff of his clothing tickling your nose.

“No, no, don’t apologize. I’m glad you entrusted me with this.” His gaze darkened, though you couldn’t see it. “...Please be more selfish, I can’t fathom seeing you hurt like this. I care about you immensely, so please care about yourself a bit more too. Those people will be fine, they can help themselves or find somebody else. But you, you need a break. Let’s take a few days off, yeah? I’ll make up for all of the heinous things those idiots did…” He pulled back once more, a small smile tugging at his lips and a mischievous glint reflected off his eye. 

“And do remember, I love you. Ah ah- no, don’t say anything yet. Just…let me appreciate you for a bit.”

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✧˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

Word Count: 3230

ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚✧˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

- Ky♡♡

𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧; 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻!

@storytravelled ; @irethepotato ; @paradise-creator ; @lordbugs ; @straymoon96​

[agbpaints]

2022, A year in minis

Well we're almost at the new year so I decided to drag everything I've painted out of its many boxes and lay it out to see what I've done. Overall I think this is the most productive year of painting I've had yet, with 123 figures finished in total. I crossed some big milestones with my admech, surpassing 1,000 and 1,500 pts of total painted models. I also started collecting necrons, started collecting battletech, and finished the last few stragglers from my cursed city box. My speed at painting increased this year considerably and I've definitely improved my confidence in my own skills- I've started using basic freehand and weathering techniques on my models and my airbrush is becoming a significantly more used tool even if my motor coordination isn't good enough for it to be a tool for anything more than monocolor base coats.

My favorite 2022 projects

Scrap-mech. Equal parts infuriating and awesome. Cawdor bodies have some of the jankiest connection points I've ever seen but their aesthetic is top notch and slots right into admech. This was the first project I did using citadel contrast paints, and while I don't think they're the one stop replacement for normal techniques they were billed as they work fantastically as like an 'extra thicc' wash.

Battletech. I really did not expect to have as much fun as I did with these big stompy murder bots. The models are appropriately chunky and gave me a lot of practice with panel lining. I also discovered how much fun flocking is!

Vargskyr: One of my favorite monsters that I've painted and my absolute most favorite piece from cursed city. I had a lot of fun getting the hair to blend in with the skin on this big chunky boy.

Tech-wraith Kitbash. This was an idea that came like a bolt from the blue while I was buying discount models that went from notion to build to done in less than 3 days. It's mostly bits and pieces from a kataphron kit welded into a cairn wraith but I'm super proud of it.

Flayed One Kitbashes. Flayed Ones are one of my favorite necron things period and after my initial spooktober idea hit a roadblock I fell into my backup plan, a flayer killteam. The lord is probably my favorite model I built out of the mix- he's mostly a primaris intercessor mashed together with an old warrior sprue.

Goals for 2023

Pile of shame busting: holy shit do I still have a lot of bare plastic to get rid of. My biggest goals for next year are going to be finishing my warcry and infinity starters that I've left to molder in their boxes and building/painting the rest of my admech backlog. In total I believe this is about 60 models

Spooktober project: last year I recieved a Seraptek heavy construct second hand that's been hiding in a box in my attic ever since. After reading twice dead king I've decided to make it the Seraptek from That Scene (you know the one) but life and the overwhelming size of the project meant I wussed out for spooktober this year. With another year of experience and time to plan ahead, it's gonna happen this time.

Advanced techniques: I've been experimenting recently with non-metalic metal and its absolutely nerd sniped me. I suck at it, but I see a glimmer of something I could get better at that I'm gonna try to claw towards. I'd also like yo try messing around more with various blending techniques in general.

Model photography: so far all of my models have had their photos taken using a desk lamp, a piece of calligraphy paper, and the phone camera on my Samsung. They're OK but I want to devote some time and resources into upgrading my kit and skills here.

[jade-parcels]

The genshin men: fatherhood edition

With: Childe, Zhongli, Kaeya, Diluc, Xiao, Venti, Albedo and Baizhu

—————————

Childe:

Ajax loves kids and he’ll make that known early on in your relationship

Like...This man wants five or more kids but he’ll settle for four. He dreams of a big family, getting to surround himself with you and your kids every night for family dinners, everyone getting together for big birthday parties or reunions! That’s his dream life! Plus, in Snezhnaya, most families have more than two kids anyways

He will cry so hard when his babies are placed in his arms for the first time, I mean he’s a mess. Nose is running, eyes puffy, lost of sniffling lmao he is so excited to be a dad!! Don’t you dare tell the other Harbingers how much he cried...What do you mean you took a picture when he wasn’t looking??? Hey??!?!

With his obscene amount of mora, he’ll buy a huge house that will accommodate everyone. Anything you want will be purchased that day or within 48 hours, the same goes for the kids

But they’ll all learn to be thankful for what they have. They’ll learn to fight, fish and speak multiple languages. He has high expectations but let’s face it, he’ll be proud of them no matter what

You’re gonna have to be the one to put your foot down though because Ajax doesn’t enjoy being the ‘mean parent’, he has trouble saying no to the kiddos which can create some tension between you and your husband. He has good intentions of course!! He doesn’t wanna say no to those cute, freckled faces!!

Zhongli:

Zhongli is nervous about having kids because he’s immortal. So this will go one of two ways. 1. You have the baby and the baby ends up not being immortal (or you adopt a baby who is not immortal) Then he loses you both. OR 2. You have the baby and it inherits his immortality and becomes an adeptus. Now he and the baby will have to watch you die while they both life forever.

Either way...It hurts him to think about because he loves you!! He wants to have a family with you!! He wants to give you that perfect family life every human desires!! But he’s torn

You two will just have to figure it out.

Zhongli will be a strong, male figure for your kid(s) and he will instill that traditional kindness and respect into their behavior. ‘Please’ and ‘thank you’ always, always offer to help someone who needs it, do good deeds and you will feel accomplished, be the best you you can be, alway try your hardest because that’s all that matters

He will be sure that your kid(s) always feel loved ALWAYS. Zhongli will tell them stories, cook for them, take them to school, anything that needs to be done. When you’ve had a rough day, he’ll step in to take over for the night without being asked. He shows interest in everything your kid(s) like and he will do his damn best to display every piece of artwork they make or every pretty rock they find

He...will make a great dad :’)

Kaeya:

Ooooh brother, at first Kaeya says no he doesn’t want kids but...Then he starts thinking about it

He observes the happy families that walk around the cobblestone streets of Mondstadt, how the kiddos smile and laugh with their parents. He’ll patrol in the afternoons, usually rounding the corner just in time to see the city’s kids leave school for the day, watching as they all run down the street to go home to their parents or play in the fountain together...Yeah, that really warms his heart

He’d want one or two kids, preferably two to avoid an only child being lonely. He isn’t on the best terms with Diluc but he can admit that they had a great childhood together, playing at the winery and running around as brothers do

Kaeya would be a very patient, understanding father. He doesn’t have much of a temper so he’d use the kids’ mistakes as learning opportunities instead of getting upset at them

He would be obsessed with the kids when they’re babies though oh man if you thought you had baby fever, he has it times ten! He loves holding the baby, watching with a twinkling eye as his baby grasps his thumb with its tiny hand... adorable

And if your kids inherited his eyes, his star shaped pupils that his ancestors passed down to him...He’s gonna get emotional

Everyone at the knights’ headquarters and the Angel’s Share will get sick of him REALLY fast cause he won’t stop bragging about how cute and smart his kids are lmao

Diluc:

Diluc would be such a soft dad don’t even get me started

He loves you so much of course he wants to have kids with you! Is that even a question?? He won’t be the one to bring it up unless he gets the feeling that you want kids but once you ask, he’ll agree so fast

He’ll be grateful to even have one kid with you :’) and he’ll be fine with however many kids YOU want. You want one kid? Perfect! You want four? No problem, the manor is big enough for ten! You...you want ten...? Time to hire some more maids then lmao

Diluc is a worry wart though, he’ll be afraid to hold the baby, feed it, bathe it, he’s terrified of hurting the baby or the baby suddenly hating him. So just help him out!! Cause when he gets comfortable with the baby, he’ll be in full dad mode

He isn’t embarrassed to walk around the manor, conducting business with a baby strapped to his chest!

Diluc is a very kind, gentle dad who will always offer helpful solutions to the kiddos’ problems. He’ll make sure all of their needs are met while also trying to avoid spoiling them... Too much... There will be a fair amount of spoiling...

His own father wasn’t too affectionate with him so that’s why he’ll be affectionate with his kids! Hugs and kisses when he tucks them in at night, big dad hugs when they get home from school, holding their hands in the busy streets of Mondstadt. His father was a great dad! He just aims to be better.

Xiao:

Like Zhongli, he worries about the mortality thing. Since he’s an Adeptus, his kid will certainly be an Adeptus too if you have kids together.

He also worries that his kid(s) will hate him. His duty is to kill demons which means that rain or shine, holidays, special occasions, day or night he’s gotta be ready to go slaughter demonic beings. So he’ll inevitably miss out on important stages in the kiddos’ lives

And admittedly... He’ll be scared of his kids lmao

They’re screaming, crying, barfing, pooping, laughing, screaming again...He can’t predict their behavior. It’s unsettling. All of that goes away one night when you sit him down and place your sleeping baby in his arms. His eyes go wide...And he just watches. This tiny, little baby...Feels no fear for him. It’s comforted by his presence. He almost cries...ALMOST

He’s still pretty much the same Xiao we all know and love but now he has a kid. “Slaying demons is what I do...Hey, go back inside and finish your dinner. Yes, even your vegetables. I don’t care that you don’t like them-...Fine. Don’t tell your mother, bring them to me. I’ll eat them” cute :)

He’s a protective dad and husband, he’d never let anyone or anything harm his beloved family

Venti:

Venti....does not want kids. He thinks they’re cute! He likes the idea of kids but he knows he wouldn’t enjoy actually having kids

You two already have so much fun together!! You don’t need a kid!! You guys have dogs!! Dogs are like kids! But they’re more independent and they’re cuter!

He’ll feel bad if you want kids and he doesn’t, he really will! But it’ll be nearly impossible to convince him cause he’s made his mind up :/

Venti’ll make it up to you somehow though, he’ll take you out more and show you all of the adventures you guys can have if there aren’t kids around

But for the sake of fatherhood headcanons, let’s pretend he gave in. Venti would be a very caring dad. He would cuddle the hell out of this kiddo and sing to them :’) the only problem is that Venti doesn’t like being tethered to one place for too long so he tends to take off and not come back for a few days... :(

Albedo:

Albedo wants kids mostly just to see what fatherhood would be like. He’s always been curious about what that part of his life would be like so why not have a kid

He’d be good with one kid, two at most cause after practically raising Klee, he knows how some kids can be and...He doesn’t have the mental capacity for more than two kids at a time lmao

He tries his best to show more emotion in his face. We all know he usually sits like this 😐 and goes ‘wow im so happy right now’. If you didn’t know him, you’d think he was bored out of his mind right? So he’s gotta work on that. And when he musters up a smile for the baby and it smiles back at him????? Yeah...He’s gonna try to smile a lot more now

He definitely softens up once he becomes a dad, he shows emotion more than he used to and surprisingly, he takes time off of work. Shocker, I know! He decides that he’s been in the lab long enough and that he wants to be able to be there for these moments with you and his kid(s) :’) :’) He trusts Sucrose and Timaeus to take over for him for a couple hours

He keeps a journal for each kid and writes down the date and time they have their firsts or just interesting things they do ->

- 8/4: Baby sees and plays with a cat for the first time

- 9/5: Baby smacked me in the face and laughed so hard she threw up

-9/12: Baby learns that pulling my hair gets my attention. She now continues to do so

-10/15: Baby stays at Aunt Klee’s house for the first time

Baizhu:

Baizhu really loves kids, he works with them a lot and he considers Qiqi to be his daughter anyway but in terms of you guys having a kid together, with his condition he can probably only handle one kid running around

He will do his absolute best to be a good dad. Even if he feels like death, he’ll help change diapers, feed the baby, care for it when you need a break. He isn’t contagious so when you’re sleeping and he feels gross, he’ll sit back against the pillows with the baby on his chest, the three of you resting together (though he doesn’t fall asleep...that would be dangerous for the baby)

Baizhu already tends to nag at you about your health and lifestyle choices but now?? He’ll be a menace. He’ll be constantly evaluating your baby’s condition, checking to see if a certain food is giving them a rash or making sure their skin isn’t drying out. He’s hyper aware of your baby’s health and will be the one to treat them if they get sick

He’s a busy guy since he runs the pharmacy but he will always do his best to be present for your baby’s big milestones! And when your kid cries cause Baizhu’s medicine tastes like shit, he’ll do his best to not be disappointed in their reaction lmao

When you leave him alone with the baby, he’ll wrap a scarf around himself to tie the baby to his chest while he works and...he looks so cute :) dad baizhu <3 <3 <3 <3

Bonus points for him buying the baby toy medical equipment so he can get your kiddo interested in medicine :)

[stitchnknit]

Personally as an adult learning to crochet I found looser projects easier. But I suspect that will be different for a 10 year old.

I learned to knit at that age but I always found the projects most adults picked out to be boring. I think as a ten year old I would have liked learning how to make a friendship bracelet. Or some other small clothing item like a cute headband. I'd teach em to do it flat then join it together at the end.

Also at that age it was all about how fun the yarn was for me. It was hard to get excited about a dull gray acrylic project, even though as an adult I realize that's more practical to teach with.

Every kid is going to be different, but I would ask them what they want to make! If they want to do something big, then maybe try to talk them into a smaller matching project first, so they can use the two items together when they finish. And if you can, not sure if its an option here, take them to a yarn shop, give em a budget, like $6 or whatever and let them pick out their own yarn.

Other projects I might have liked at that age (again I was knitter, but I'm sure some of these can be done in crochet too):

Doll/Barbie clothes

Maybe like a multicolored hackysack?

A little bow to sew onto a hair clip

Little colorful bags to hold small toys, a pair of headphones, etc

A striped hat

A Sampler where I just learned as many new things as possible no matter how silly the finished piece of fabric looked

I think it's important to remember that kids of that age get bored quickly still, so having variety within the project (increases/decreases, color changes, a variety of stitch types) is important. Unless the kid is a perfectionist they're not going to care too much if their stitches are wonky or actually understanding how to follow a pattern. When first learning (especially as a kid) I think its more important to keep it fun. So its okay to just fix problems for them without having to teach them what they did wrong everytime, you'll have to find the right balance. On the other hand a ten year old is capable of picking up a ton of complicated concepts quickly, don't shy away from teaching them more advanced stuff earlier than you would for an adult. The challenge of mastering the new trick can keep them from getting bored.

These are definitely based only on my own experience learning fibercrafts as a kid, so take em with a grain of salt.

Mostly I hope y'all have an absolute blast crocheting together!

My cousin (10) is coming over on the weekends and I'll be teaching her to crochet. My mom already taught her how to hold a needle and make a chain, and she's pretty confident with it.

I've been crocheting for sixteen years but have never taught anyone else to crochet. My own experience learning was quite unpleasant and I don't want her getting discouraged!

What are some beginner projects I could have her try?

[pancakeke]

Is it hard to make a hoodie from scratch? I kinda wanna learn to sew so I can make the cool outfits I see in games but as everyday wearable clothes

I've made jackets and hoods before but never together lol. But hoodies shouldn't be very complicated to sew. They don't have many pieces and the assembly is straightforward.

The only issue I really foresee would be that you probably want to practice sewing stretch/knit fabrics before trying to sew a hoodie. Newbies often have difficulties sewing knits due to the fabrics' tendencies to stretch out rather than move when a sewing machine tries to feed them past its needle. You need to make a few adjustments to how you sew as well to allow the fabric to stretch once it's sewn (otherwise you'll snap some threads when the fabric attempts to stretch). There are a number of resources on YouTube you can check out to learn about sewing stretch fabrics and get tips if you have problems . This video covers a number of them.

Also, I recommend sewing basic clothing before jumping into more complicated video game style designs. Once you're more confident in your skills and understand more about garment construction it'll be easier for you to understand wilder patterns (if the patterns you want even exist). If they don't exist, you can modify basic patterns to suit your needs.

For example: the jacket in that third pic is mostly the pattern for this regular hoodie, but I needed to modify the design to give it a sailor style collar since it was for an Omori cosplay. So I drew a collar on a big piece of paper (specifically a big cut from this roll of paper), matched it up to the collar of the hoodie, and trimmed the paper down until the shapes meshed well. That became the pattern piece for my collar.

The Squid Game cosplay was also made with an existing pattern (Simplicity 8722) but the hood from the pattern was stupid as hell so I had to draft a better one myself. I also had to modify the actual pattern to use a front zipper because it wanted to use velcro (??? bonkers). You cant really see but I made up my own pockets too.

The Disco Elysium jacket in the first photo has no serious shape alterations unless you count that I extended the zipper up the collar material. My real issue was that the original pattern didn't use a lining, which worried me the finished product would feel kinda cheap, especially since I wanted to wear it as a normal jacket. So I added a lining to make it feel comfier and better quality.

I hope that helps out!