#which unfortunately washed them out more than i'd like

[inbabylontheywept]

So: You have depression.

I'm 27 now. The last time I had a major depressive episode was when I was 16. I still have depressive episodes every now and then, but the worst tend to be a month, and most I can generally get through them in about a week. It took me a while to kind of figure out how to handle depression as a recurring thing, and so I thought I'd make a little welp-I-got-diagnosed-now-what guide.

So, first part of the guide: When I first got depressed, I thought that depression was the terrible, sad hopeless feeling that I had. It isn't. That terrible sad hopeless feeling is a symptom of prolonged depression. By the time I get to that point, I'm pretty well cooked and it takes a lot longer to bounce back. Avoiding getting to that point is a vital part of living with depression.

So what does depression feel like?

I am going to hammer this point home a lot of times while writing this: Depression is an anesthetic. It is not felt as a presence, but as an absence. The first absence, for me at least, is when life stops being fun. Every movie feels boring, I can't get more than a few pages into any book, and everything just seems... bland.

This is the best point to catch it at. I have found that consumptive patterns of entertainment do not do anything to help depression. Some people have told me that producing art at this time really helps them, but personally, I can't imagine trying. Instead, I just do tasks that I know inspire physical satisfaction. Which sounds like jerking off (I don't actually reccomend that route) but really means things like: Going for a walk in the sunshine. Working out. Cleaning the house in a fairly exhaustive way. Scrub the baseboards, wash the sink, clear the fridge, etc.

I recognize that doing those is really, really hard while depressed because depression causes physical weakness and exhaustion. The best I can do is, unfortunately, encourage vigillance. If you suspect you're getting into a funk, start on this before you get really deep into the mire. People that get into the mire can get out, but it's not self-help read-a-book type shit, it takes therapy and medication and patience and it is so much easier and cheaper and faster to just avoid letting it get that bad then crawling out once it's sunk its teeth into you.

I have found that for things that work almost by exposure alone, spending time in the sun and talking to people are borderline magical, with the caveat that talking to people about being depressed tends to make things worse instead of better. Talking about anything that cuts through the anesthetic of depression is ideal, or if it's sunk in deep enough that you're having trouble finding anything, talking to someone else about what they're passionate about. Ideally, you'd find someone passionate about a thing you know you're passionate about but are struggling to enjoy right then, and then you'd just let your mirror neurons run amok. Bonus Points

So, you're already depressed. Like, pretty fucking depressed, and you fucked up, and you let it slide. What then?

This is my I-Fucked-Up-And-Got-Big-Sad, Salvage-My-Weekend, depression routine. You'll need to make one for yourself at some point, and yours will work better for you, but this is mine and I think it'll work okay-ish for you. Until you get your own, at least.

I have to get up before 10 am. Staying in bed later than that gives the depression such a huge head start on my day that I just basically can't catch up. If I can't just brute force get myself out of bed, I will throw my blankets and sit cold on my sheets until that gives me the motivation I need. If I cannot work up the guts to throw my blankets, I will actually roll off the bed, flop gracelessly onto the floor, and then stare wistfully up until I can will myself to stand. It helps that every bedroom I've had either had freezing cold tile, or itchy coarse carpet. If you have a comfy floor, maybe buy a very scratchy rug? I cannot emphasize how important this step is. It's like, half of the whole thing.

After getting up, immediately go outside and sit in the sunshine. This provides free executive function, and getting it ASAP will make everything go much smoother.

Talk to someone while outside. If you have a roommate, they work great. Face to face conversations tend to be the best, but phone calls with loved ones are like at least 80% as effective. Calls to family members tend to be better than in face conversations with acquaintances or people you're mostly ambivalent about. Don't do chat messages. Worse than nothing.

This should have scrounged up enough free energy that you can clean something. I always start by trying to clear a part of my counter off. If that's all I got, that's all I got, and I still feel good about it. If that inspires me to do more, I'll run with it until a whole room is up to snuff. I don't do more than one room while I'm this crispy: The goal is not really to clean the house, but to work through a series of tasks that require some initial level of executive function but provide a larger amount back once completed. Life has a lot of these deals that are like, give me $10 and I'll give you $12, give me $12 and I'll give you $20, on and on, and the hard part is really just getting the $10. Some people wake up with $10. Most days, you will wake up with $10. But not when you're like this. You're gonna have to earn it. I'm sorry.

I am going to reiterate: This is what I do when I feel a funk coming on. My life and my schedule are not always this regimented. Living with depression doesn't mean never sleeping until 10, or having a weekend where you don't talk to someone, or take a break from cleaning. Living with depression just means never, ever, leaning into the depression when you feel it coming on. Even when it starts out feeling cozy. Even when you want to just snuggle into it and sleep and sleep and sleep. The first day or two will feel luxurious, and the next week will feel terrible, and the longer you wait the harder it will be to get out. You are always going to have to worry about that. Again, I'm really, truly sorry.

Bonus Bonus Points

I am not a psychologist, but I do have a theory about why depression exists. Remember how I said it's anesthetizing? I think that's what it's there for - getting rid of emotional pain when it isn't being helpful. People often get depressed after a major injury. Boredom is normally nature's way of punishing you for just curling up and doing nothing, but depression can be the emergency override on boredom. It makes sense for you to sit still and do nothing while your body is healing, so maybe nature temporarily removes all your motivation with depression and then just lets you be a limp noodle until you're healthy again. Maybe?

Back to the emotional level, though, depression might also be a way to muffle pains that would otherwise be so intense that people might not remain in control of the faculties. The pain of losing a parent is notorious for driving people so mad with pain that they ruin their lives, but depression is there to at least try and keep us sedated until the nadir has passed.

It is helpful to know what the purpose of depression is, because you will eventually get it from an "intended" cause, and reflexively fighting it then probably isn't good for you. And at the very least, knowing why this stupid thing exists makes the world feel like less of a cruel place.

There are a lot of interesting studies on the physical effects of depression - things like muscle weakness, increased pain tolerance, muscle relaxation, etc. that I won't go into, but it does so many things at once that it almost doesn't feel like a fuck up, but a feature that we just kind of lost the plot on. Not gonna deep dive on it, but it is something that probably shouldn't be confined to just a mental disorder.

[fics-n-stuff]

Steve walked into the Munson trailer one day to find Eddie in the kitchen singing, lightly headbanging along to the accompanying instrumental that was playing in his head while he washed the dishes. This was not unusual. What was unusual was that Eddie was not singing in English.

Steve shut the trailer door slowly and quietly so as not to catch Eddie's attention, and slowly moved forward while listening to Eddie sing. He didn't want to interrupt yet.

A couple of minutes passed before Eddie turned and noticed Steve. He jumped, letting out a small yelp, which made Steve chuckle.

"Jesus, Harrington! How long have you been there?"

"A couple minutes."

"And you didn't think of saying anything?"

"I was trying to figure out what language you were singing in."

"Oh." Eddie grabbed a tea towel to wipe his hands on. "It was Danish."

"You speak Danish?" Steve asked in disbelief. Eddie nodded casually.

"Yeah, my mom was Danish." He shrugged. He dropped the towel and sauntered over to Steve, draping his arms over his shoulders before pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "Did I never tell you that?"

"No, you never told me that. You're Danish?"

"Yeah." Eddie laughed. "I know I don't really look it. You know, dark hair and dark eyes aren't really the expected viking features. Unfortunately I look more like my dad. But my hair was lighter when I was a kid."

"You speak Danish?" Steve's brain was still catching up with all this new information.

"En lille smule." Eddie grinned. "Min mor talte dansk tilt mig."¹

"I don't know what you said but that was really hot." Steve muttered. Eddie laughed. "So what was that song you were singing?"

"Me and my cousin in Denmark write letters to each other. He sent me a tape with some music he thought I'd like and one of the songs got stuck in my head."

"Will you teach me some Danish?"

"Selvfølgelig!"² Eddie's face lit up. "Nobody's ever cared that I was Danish before. A lot of people literally didn't even know that Denmark is a country."

"I think it's really cool. I wish my mom had taught me Italian, I only know the things my nonna always said, which is mostly swears and insults."

"Hey, that's useful stuff. That means you can shit talk people without them knowing what you said."

"Yeah but it would be nice to have a functioning knowledge of the language too." Steve shrugged.

"Det er ikke så fantastisk."³ Eddie said with a shake of his head, though his lips were quirked up in a smile. "There isn't really much point when nobody else understands."

"Except that being bilingual is hot." Steve smiled.

"Er det rigtigt?"⁴ Eddie exclaimed amusedly, grinning again. He leaned in to press another kiss to Steve's lips, longer and more tender. He pulled back and rested his forehead against Steve's, letting out a tiny contented sigh. "Jeg elsker dig."⁵

------------

I just came back from visiting family in Denmark and I had the idea of Scandinavian Eddie so here's a teensy tiny ficlet. I was gonna make him Norwegian because Norway is more known for their metal music than Denmark, but I don't speak Norwegian so I felt uncomfortable writing any Nowegian sentences. I don't really speak Danish either but I could at least kinda know what I was writing, and I kept it pretty simple so almost all of it is stuff I know anyway. 💕

Translations:

¹"A little bit." "My mum spoke Danish to me."

²"Of course!"

³"It's not that great."

⁴"Is that right?"

⁵"I love you."

[finkinthisfrew]

Anything (pt.1)

A Matty Healy Fanfiction

cw: nightmare, boring plot set up (I promise Matty comes in, pls bear w me)

Chapter 1

I woke up shivering. Sweating. Stomach-churning. Sitting up and shaking my head, I grabbed the book from my nightstand and started reading to distract myself before I could register what I had dreamt and let the tears that had welled up in my sleep fall. I knew the pattern well and I wasn't going to let it ruin yet another morning. Thankfully these dreams happened less often than they used to, maybe once or twice a month now, yet somehow they never seemed to upset me any less.

After a few minutes of reading, I picked up my phone- 48 minutes until my alarm was meant to go off. 

Well, I guess it could've been worse. I sighed to myself. 

Trying to ignore my exhaustion, both emotional and physical, I tore off my sheets and hopped out of bed to start my day. 

Shuffling into the bathroom in my oversized sleeping shirt and thick knit socks, I turned the tap on and plugged the sink, letting the water pool. Splashing water on my face I tried to shake off the sleep that still bogged down my mind. 

The dreams definitely didn't help much with my terrible sleep schedule, though they weren't always the cause of it. I'd always struggled with sleep, ever since I was a child. I was always an anxious kid growing up which led to countless restless nights. I'd gotten better as I'd grown older, but my recurring nightmare set me back into my old habit of staying up too late and waking up too early. Unfortunately, it's something I've grown accustomed to.

As I looked up at myself in the mirror, I saw two green eyes with dark circles under them staring back at me. My dark brown curly shag haircut was messy from the tossing and turning in my bed, the ends dripping wet from the water I'd splashed on my face. 

Suddenly I wasn't there anymore, my vision was replaced with a flashback to my dream, black eyes staring back at me. 

Gone as quickly as it appeared, I once again stared back into my own green eyes, now filled with panic. I dove back into the basin to splash more water on my face. 

I took a deep breath and turned back into my bedroom. Determined to not let my recurring nightmare dictate the rest of my day, I decided I would treat myself. Today I would put on my favourite clothes, do up my hair and makeup and take myself to my new favourite coffee shop.

I opened up the door to the beautiful handpainted wardrobe I'd just bought last week and began to sift through all the hanging fabrics. Picking out my favourite jeans and a long sleeve shirt, I closed the door to my wardrobe and stepped back to admire my new apartment.

I had just moved to London a month ago for a six-month-long residency at an art gallery. I had been shocked when I was first offered it but jumped on the opportunity immediately. A six-month trip to London with free housing and endless hours to work on my art? It was a dream come true. 

The housing that the gallery supplied me with wasn't anything extravagant, but it was definitely charming. My apartment was on the top floor of a three-story walk-up, boasting giant slanting windows that brightened the single-room apartment even on the gloomiest of London days. I had found various charming vintage pieces of furniture and art to spruce up the bland basics I'd originally been supplied with, and it had finally started to feel like a home away from home. 

As I glanced one last time into the full-length mirror, I admired my outfit. My vintage light-wash perfectly worn-in Levi's fit me like a glove, and my new beige fitted long-sleeve mock neck looked effortlessly sexy, the semi-sheer knit material showing my black bralette in a casually immodest way. After I put my thin black sunglasses over my now brown smokey eyes and slid on my black vintage cowboy boots, I popped my AirPods in as I locked my apartment door.

Singing along to the opening lyric of an upbeat playlist, I started to get excited about my little trip to the coffee shop. I had just discovered it last week, finding out that they sold what I believed to be the best cookies I'd ever had in my life. Noticing the sun peaking through spotty clouds, I quickened my step down the stairs into the tube as I decided I'd take my coffee and cookie to a park to finish my book and maybe draw up some new ideas for pieces to make. 

Twenty minutes later I found myself saying "I'll have three cookies please" to the friendly barista, trying and failing to not blush at the fact that I knew that the extra two cookies I was buying for later wouldn't even make it home. 

Excited that they hadn't run out of cookies yet, I stood at the counter, humming and letting my toes tap along to the music in my ears while I waited for my iced latte. Considering how my day had started, I was positively chipper. 

I had already begun to daydream about some new pieces I wanted to sketch out as I stepped out the door of the coffee shop. I was about to turn to walk towards the park when suddenly something slammed into me and I lost my footing, falling straight to the ground. 

Disoriented, I gasped for breath as the air had been knocked out of me. Looking around to see what had hit me, I was met with a pair of chocolate-coloured eyes. 

"Oh fuck! I am so sorry! Are you okay, darlin'?" the eyes asked me earnestly.

I opened my mouth to answer yes before I noticed the searing pain that engulfed my entire chest. 

I winced, and then, I blacked out.

[grimalkinmessor]

Do you have any headcannons about omegaverse AFO and Yoichi? Because omega Yoichi takes up way too much of my brain space to be healthy.

Not until this moment I didn't! :D

Though tbh I tend to always think of them as either being both Omegas, or Alpha Yoichi/Omega AFO—just because their dynamic in canon is already so fucking unbalanced that putting them in the traditional set feels cruel to Yoichi 😭

But I think I'd like the traditional set (Alpha AFO/Omega Yoichi) more in literally any other universe than canon. Royalty AU? Beautiful. No Quirks AU? Let's GO. Roleswap AU? HELL YEAH. Just not canon, because again, making canon Yoichi an Omega to his Alpha brother is just grinding salt in the wound :') Not fond of it, unfortunately.

I can give you some hcs for it, however! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Omega Yoichi's scent is a mix of mint, white raspberries, and nickel. Alpha Takashi's scent is ozone and chemical sugar. Both of their scents are sweet and harsh in turns, but in different ways that clash when put together :3 They both love the way they smell together though, even as everyone else cringes and shies away from it because it's simply too much.

Though most people (in my version of omegaverse) present in their early/mid teens, Takashi either likely presented far later than his teens, or far earlier, due to their extenuating circumstances. Argument for earlier is that the stress on his body might've caused him to present early so he could have a better chance at protecting himself and his territory, and the argument for later is that he already has PLENTY of tools to defend himself and his territory with, so his body never hit that high trigger point of "need to protect/defend" that most Alphas experience before their first rut.

Yoichi likely presents normally, though with the distressing add-on of having nowhere to nest and nothing to nest with. Takashi would monopolize providing for them, and blankets and soft things likely wouldn't be a priority for him until AFTER Yoichi presents, so Yoichi's first heat is probably spent with Takashi holding him really tight to imitate an enclosed, safe nest while Yoichi whines and quietly panics the whole time. It's awful for both of them, but especially Yoichi—though afterwards Takashi does start bringing home blankets and pillows and things to go in their space, but refuses to let Yoichi have them until he's thoroughly washed and scented them.

Speaking of nests!! Takashi does not heed any of Yoichi's warnings about entering his uninvited, much less just barging in. Takashi gets bitten more than once doing this shit, but he refuses to stop. Yoichi took a chunk of his ear once too; can't teach this man shit smh

The first time they have sex is, again, likely Yoichi's doing. Just because there's a point after he presents where his instincts urge him to start providing for himself so he can venture out and find a mate (caveman inner omega-speak), BUT Takashi never allows Yoichi to venture out or start providing for himself. So all of those trinkets and clothes and books and food and blankets start to register as courting gifts reeeaaal quick :) Takashi goes from 'main provider' to 'potential mate' pretty rapidly, and Yoichi deals with this by pushing Takashi down in a frenzy during his next heat and sitting on his dick ✨

Depending on which route you took for AFO's presentation, that could be the moment he presents, or the first time he pops a knot. Up to you :3

Though there's also something to be said for All For One presenting as a full adult, either right after Yoichi is vaulted, right after Yoichi is rescued from said vault, or in that moment Yoichi fucking exploded right in front of him and Kudou :')

Alpha AFO definitely has a breeding kink the size of Jupiter, but male Omegas are sterile! Win for Yoichi—he dodged the biggest bullet of all! ....But that doesn't mean he doesn't also have a slightly smaller breeding kink. Slightly. Venus instead of Jupiter. Just by basis of Yoichi feeling nauseous at the actual idea of it but also being desperately horny about it in bed and in his head. Takashi's kink is definitely an IRL desire though, unfortunately.

[the-bjd-community-confess]

For anyone curious about resin printing prices, I just thought I'd share my 2 cents as a hobbiest printer.

Resin printing requires a lot of PPE (more than filament printing afaik, though that requires some too)! Protective equipment alone can run upwards of $100 dollars. I spent time hunting for good prices and my setup ended up being around $130. You need stuff like nitrile gloves to handle the resin with, masks (ideally a good particulate and VOC filter so you can sand with the same mask you use for fumes), ducting to vent the fumes out somewhere (and everything else venting involves), and so on. There's lots of little things, and they'll add up fast.

There's also other equipment you'll need besides just a printer. Resin printing requires post processing requires something to wash the print in (usually IPA) and something to cure it with (UV light). You can re-use IPA and cure in the sun, but how you choose to process the resin afterwards is still an up-front cost to consider. You'll need containers to store the IPA to save it in, and you'll need a funnel with a good filter in order to save extra resin from prints. (Up-front costs for long-term materials saving. if you skip those, you'll pay more replacing them in the long term.)

In order to have a setup that's comfortable instead of only functional, many people will want extra supplies for their battle stations, like mylar boxes (like indoor greenhouse tents) to contain fumes and hide the printer from sunlight, and silicone mats to protect surrounding surfaces from resin. And omg, you can see how this is starting to take up a lot of space...

That's not even touching the cost of resin itself! even really cheap resin is going to be over $10 a kg. and if you want more than one color, you're either going to need to buy lots of UV-proof chemical bottles to store your different custom mixed colors, or you'll need to buy more colors. (If you mix your own, you'll need dyes.) You'll need to acquire elastic to string the doll, and you'll usually want to purchase metal s-hooks. resin has many strengths as a medium (high detail, etc), but unfortunately, it is brittle, which makes it a poor candidate for tiny objects under a lot of stress. so, 3D printing the s-hook is usually not a good idea. (Unless you're paying extra for, like, some siraya tech tenacious, or something like that. but even then, I'm not sure it's the best choice.) And if you want to assemble the doll with magnets instead of snap fits, you'll need magnets too.

TL;DR Resin printing is a high-investment hobby. It might be cost effective if you're making ten dolls, but if you want one or two, it won't save you money or time. (I still think people should try making their own dolls if they're interested!! :) It doesn't have to be about money. Making your own custom dolls is a rewarding experience! But it's not a cheat code to avoid the cost of this hobby.)

~Anonymous

[krys-in-the-playhouse]

OC Brainrots #4: 'Bullying' Napoleon Hours

Haven't done a brainrot post in a while, so I thought I'd use this one to play along with Mo's (@xxsycamore/ @kissmetwicekissmedeadly 's) bullying Napoleon on his birthday prompts and see what my ikevamp girlies would do faced with the opportunity to 'bully' everyone's favorite former emperor.

For previous brainrots, check out the oc masterlist!

Thea

For Thea, I'd imagine her taking the imitating him route, more to tease him than anything. Like, maybe they're out doing shopping errands together a la that one story event where he's out getting groceries with Theo when they run into Shakespeare.

You know what, Theo can come get groceries with them too and he's a little jelly that Naps and Thea are having such a fun, silly conversation and he's feeling a little green-eyed that another man is chatting up his girl. Then, they happen across a handful of his students who asks him about this fencing technique they can't seem to get right.

Always happy to indulge his kids Naps goes to them while the other two are alone. Theo reveals about his jealous feels and Thea thinks it's cute and reminds him that she doesn't feel anything more for Naps than friendship, then proceeds to prove it by imitating him, deepening her voice, speaking in a bad French accent, and fencing with a stick she found on the ground, making Theo chuckle.

But don't think Naps will let this atrocity stand, oh no, as he sicks his students on her with tips on how to improve her form with a flourish of his cape not unlike a swooshy skirt twirl he's likely seen her do with her skirts on occasion, along with a cheeky little tease towards her in Italian (intentionally with his old Corsican accent) which makes her cringe. Theo laughs harder.

Abby

For Abby, she wouldn't be the type to intentionally bully Naps. She doesn’t wanna bully anyone, it's mean, especially someone as nice and cool as Napoleon! Would bullying even work on him? From someone like her? Surely not!

So, with that thought in mind, the best her teasing would come to is telling him something that he's been laughing at for the last five minutes isn't really that funny.

Like, she's a future person, so things in the past are going to be a little different than what she's used to in the modern day, right? Let's take laundry for example. Turn of the century France doesn't have automatic clothes washing machines and likely won't see them for a few more decades yet, unfortunately. Which means laundry day is an all-day test of strength and patience, especially when you need to wash for eleven people plus yourself. She has a personal vendetta against Arthur and his shirt fronts and collars because of the dried blood that refuses to come out and will glare at him every laundry day because of it.

On this thankfully perfectly temperate and sunny laundry day, Sebastian off doing a different chore (there's always a chore to be done in this huge mansion), but he had promised to come help her later on, so she was left on her own. And she gets to Arthur's pile of shirts that need to be cleaned and starched. And guess what she sees on the front and on the collar?

Well, she might have had thoughts of eviscerating him with a palette knife but the thought of cleaning his clothes again afterwards stayed her hand.

What she hadn't counted on was having an audience for the stages of wrath she went through as she looked at the offending white shirt. Namely one former emperor that happened to be passing by, returning from his adventures in town or something. He probably would have passed her unnoticed except he couldn't stop himself from laughing when he saw her face. First, the disbelief taking over her, moving quite rapidly to her clenching her teeth and clutching the fabric tightly in her tiny hands, to disgust, to finally letting a breath out and throwing the soiled shirt quite harder than necessary into the steel pot on the ground, splashing soapy water onto the grass. 

Napoleon laughed at the scene, loudly, making Abby jump and squeak in surprise, embarrassed that her little show had been witnessed. She wanted to go crawl into her room and hide in her shame, but laundry still needed to be done so she continued her task despite the red on her cheeks and ears making her look like a cherry tomato. Pouting, she also mumbles that she wasn't trying to be funny, making Naps smile sweetly.

He apologizes and takes off his jacket, intent on helping her to make up for laughing at her. He gives her some gentle head pats and took on the task of scrubbing Arthur's shirt for her. He then promises to threaten him for putting her through this arduous ordeal, his punishment to be to wash his own shirts if he does this again. Abby, finally, smiles a little, feeling a bit better, which makes Naps smile more, happy she wasn't angry anymore.

Thanks for coming along with me for this 'bullying' adventure with Napoleon!

[silmawensgarden]

Carrots make a strange bouquet

Maedhros x reader

Prompt: May I ask for a fluffy fic or headcanon, whichever is easier? Perhaps a young Maedhros back in Valinor attempting to court reader for the first time and he's a bit nervous about approaching due to his massive crush. Thank you in advance 🌻

Requested by @a-contemplation-upon-flowers

A/n: I attempted something fluffy and a little awkward to better portray his first-time-confessing jitters. It's a bit shorter than I'd like to deliver but I hope you like it!

Word count: 900 Warnings: none :)

Maedhros has been pacing around his room for the past two hours. He has something of great importance on his mind. This thing of great importance, would be you. For the past 50 years he has grown extremely attached to you. A fondness has grown in his heart. Like the lovely blooms in spring, these feelings are now waiting to unfurl. He just doesn't know how to breach the subject to you, let alone approach you confidently.

He huffs in annoyance, an emotion not often seen in him. He slams the paper back onto his desk and turns his back to it. It was a poem, he wrote it as a way to confess his love to you. Maglor advised him to do so. However after writing the poem, and reading it a few hundred times, it just doesn't seem to suffice anymore. Not at all actually. So he stops his pacing and changes his course towards the garden. He knows exactly who he is looking for to help him with this issue.

He races down the large staircase, nearly knocking one of his brothers off the stairs. A string of curses is hurled at him, but he doesn't hear it nor is he interested in hearing them. He has more important things to attend to.

"Ammë? How can I confess my feelings to them? I've been fond of them for quite some time now." He sits in the cabbage patch his mother cultivated. Prodding at an innocent cabbage rather absentmindedly. Nerdanel has quite the expansive garden, full of vegetables, fruits and even cutting flowers. It's close to the first harvest season, many things can be harvested already.

Nerdanel looks back at him over her shoulder and chuckles. "Maitimo, I think the best way to confess to them is to simply do it. I have seen the way they look at you, I am certain your feelings will be returned." Maedhros frowns for a moment and a light blush washes over his cheeks. Just the thought of having to approach you with this makes his stomach feel like he swallowed a beehive.

He is momentarily shaken out of his stupor when his mother asks him to collect some strawberries, and afterwards to check which carrots can be harvested. Nerdanel planted an early harvest variety, Yavanna had given her some of the newest seeds her maiar had cultivated in the previous seasons.

Maedhros trots over to the carrot patch, his nerves are getting the best of him in this moment. Despite the fair weather and the bright light of laurelin he still walks with heavy steps, as if he has lead tied to his legs. He is completely unaware of what is happening around him.

You were on your way back from the market and remembered that you had gotten an invitation from Nerdanel to come view some of her newest plants. The both of you had bonded quickly from the moment you met. You both enjoyed the arts and had a fondness for gardening. You smile and change your direction to the Fëanorian household instead. Curious to maybe see more than just the newest plants. Perhaps you'd catch a glimpse of Maedhros there too!

When you arrived you heard two familiar voices in the garden. Nerdanel's and that of Maedhros. You stop and hide behind one of the jasmine bushes. You know very well that eavesdropping is not exactly considered good manners, unfortunately your curiosity has overthrown your sense of reason in this moment.

Who are they talking about...?

You didn't catch whom they spoke of and decided that it would be better to simply make your presence known. You glanced up towards an oak tree that stood close to the road. Hearing a heavy rustle of leaves on a windless day. You were brought up properly after all, not dragged, unlike some people. These people appear to enjoy eavesdropping from oak trees.

You shake your head and walk out of your hiding spot. Walking towards Nerdanel and maedhros. Maedhros is sitting with his back towards you, he appears to be busy with the carrots. You greet Nerdanel, who seems to be surprised at your visit. Maedhros doesn't seem to hear you at all. Lost in his own thoughts, mumbling about something.

You talk with Nerdanel for a moment, attempting to figure out how that invitation came to you in the first place. Maedhros finally snaps out of his musings. "Ammë, I think I am going to visit y/n. I must tell them of my feelings before they consume me entirely!" He gets up to leave and turns around, still bent over, now nearly nose to nose with you.

His eyes widen in shock, the realization dawning on him that you heard his plan. More importantly overheard his feelings for you in such a flat way, no romance at all! His throat felt like it was being stitched closed. He could only stare at you with a wild blush on his face.

"I......don't think I've ever received a bouquet of carrots as a courting gift before....?" you say, trying to suppress a laugh from ripping out of your throat. Maedhros looks at you with pure shock and disbelief on his face. Slowly his eyes trail down to his hands, realizing that he was in fact holding a large bunch of carrots.

Indeed as if to gift them to you like flowers.....

[captmickey]

I'm going to post my Escape from Monkey Islan rewrite overview. And since I'm pretty much bailing (for now) the fic. Here's what was written so far.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll come back to it.

---

From the personal log of Guybrush Threepwood, 

Sometimes, when it’s quiet, I can still hear the monkeys. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a few years since I first washed up on the beaches of Melee Island, armed with nothing more than a goofy name and an overpowering urge to become a swashbuckling pirate. 

Who could have suspected that such a humble pursuit would lead me to cross swords with the evil Ghost Pirate LeChuck, the slimiest slug ever to plunder the seven seas? And who could have guessed that my battles with LeChuck would introduce me to the love of my life, Melee Island’s Governor Elaine Marley? Or that my efforts to win Elaine’s hand would repeatedly drag me to the mystery-drenched shores of Monkey Island? Or that I would finally end the scourge of LeChuck, burying him beneath a mountain of ice?

Not me, that’s for sure.

Back then, the only thing duller than my sword was my wit. Now look at me, I’m married to the most beautiful governmental official in the Caribbean, the entire Tri-Island area shudders at the sound of my name, and now my Plunder Bunny and I are returning to Melee Island, after the most incredible honeymoon in the history of--

“Guybrush, look out!”

The pen sharply skewed off the page, creating a thin black line across the sentence as Guybrush shifted himself away from the incoming projectile, hearing the whooshing of the hatchet fly over his head. He turned his head and spat out his pen to the side before looking over to his newly wed wife fending off a pirate with two weapons at once. “I could… really use your help right about now!” Elaine called out.

“Oh, I'd love to, but uh... little tied up…” Guybrush rattled slightly his restraints for emphasis.

Her eyes glanced over his way every few seconds before she pushed off the offender away, catching her breath. “Heh, you can't tell me that Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate doesn't have a trick up his sleeve. Speaking of which, any progress on the escape plan?”

“Ah… I’m working on it.” Guybrush admitted, pushing himself up the pole he was chained to. “Oh, on your left.”

“Thank you!” She quickly swung a fist at the enemy, watching them fling back against the others like a couple of bowling pins. “Alright, I'll fend them off a bit longer then. But do hurry, please?” She gave a smile before quickly gripping her weapons with renewed vigor to fight off the next round.

Guybrush watched in admiration as she went to fight two at once, a feat that he still could not comprehend how she was able to do with ease and began looking around at his surroundings. Okay, he thought, what is there to see. Well for one, there was a massive ship that was throwing pirates their way endlessly (and in fact dwarfed their own ship by comparison), there was a cannon with a cannonball lodged inside (at least, he hoped there was), and a brazier with some lit coal that was within range. As for himself, he was restrained rather firmly against one of the masts, his only movements around said mast was limited to just being able to move around and kicking his feet. 

‘Cool, so either I could spin myself fast enough around the mast to free myself from my restraint or I could trip any poor unfortunate pirate coming my way… kick if I’m lucky.’ Guybrush thought. He looked at the cannon aiming perfectly at the enemy ship, wishing he could just light the darn thing. But as it stood, there wasn’t much he could do. 

Light. Wait!

A thought clicked in his mind, he didn’t have to be the one to light the cannon necessarily, it just needed to be lit. He side eyed the burning brazier and grinned. Guybrush began shimming himself to face the brazier, giving it a bit of a kick once it was within range. He knew it could have gone one of two ways; either it would fall towards or away from him, but as luck would have it, it was the former. Quietly cheering to himself, he kicked a coal his way, balancing it slightly on his foot before feeling the heat begin to burn through his boot. 

“Ow ow ow ow…!” Guybrush quietly cried out as he kept kicking the coal back and forth between one foot and the other, shimming himself to face the cannon. “Please work…!” He kicked the coal far from him towards the unlit wick, holding his breath as he saw it take light and slowly burn down. It would be truly terrible if the cannon didn’t go off. But to his relief, with a loud and ear-ringing boom, the cannon shot straight through the opposing ship, most likely igniting the gunpowder as it erupted into fire before sinking into the ocean. He watched the enemy rush to the side, watching in horror as their means of transport vanish under the sea. The sounds of the safety being pulled back from various guns clicked quickly as Elaine and the crew all took aim.

While the crew gathered the remaining enemies as prisoners, Elaine walked over to Guybrush, sighing relief and smiling his way.

“Oh, my little snugglecakes.” She cooed as she brushed back some of his hair and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Guybrush, in turn, rested his head on the top of her’s, sighing with content that the ordeal was over. It was only the slight ache in his wrists from his shackles that brought him back out of his honeymoon bliss to his current reality.

“Um, hey Elaine? Could you untie me?”

“Oh! Right, of course.”

The sun had long since set as the ship made its way to port later that evening. The crewmate shouted from the crow’s night of the land approaching and the rest of the crew below helped the Threepwoods move their luggage from the hold to the deck (it wasn’t really luggage, Guybrush thought as he helped piled the packages on top of one another, they were more wedding gifts and other knick knacks they bought during their honeymoon). 

"And the way you just took them down with not one but TWO weapons! Elaine, that was incredible!" Guybrush gushed, regaling the tale the two starred in. 

"Yes, well, it would have meant nothing if you didn't cleverly think of that way to shoot down their ship." Elaine complinented, handing Guybrush a hat box. "Oh, make sure this goes on top, it's fragile."

"Right, of course." Guybrush nodded, taking the box and placing it with the rest of the collection. "By the way, are you excited to be back in Melee?" 

"Of course." She said, handing him a heavier box. "It is my home." Elaine chuckled and shook her head. "My apologies, our home."

Guybrush paused for a moment, letting those words sink in: our home. A smile graced his face. "Yeah… yeah it is, isn't it? Our home." He placed the heavy box in the pile, hearing a sudden crunch beneath the weight of the gift and winced.

"What was that?" Elaine perked up, looked over and saw the sheepish blond. She sighed. "You put the hat box underneath by accident, didn't you?"

He nodded slowly. "Sorry."

She shook her head. "It's fine."

Elaine climbed out of the hole, patting her hands of any dust and walked over to Guybrush who slipped an arm around her waist.

[soupandflowers]

Day 2 - Is it possible to die from embarrassment?

Another late entry, however I'd say this one went more smoothly than the other. It only took me about 3 hours to write! Anyways, I could've cut this one short, but I liked this idea too much and decided to pull through with it. So, yay me? Next few days will just be drawings though because writing is not my forte LMAO. This one features the Asian family because I wish we had the boys interacting with the others' families. Poor Hong Kong. Also prolly OOC loooooool. Also tried to write Korea as rather more super outgoing and enjoy meeting new people. He still has his clashes though. Hopefully I did a little bit of justice to him here. No beta we die like HRE. Word count is 2,548. @hongiceweek

Is it possible to die from embarrassment?

As Hong Kong urges Iceland- who has dumpling bits stuck in his hair and shirt- upstairs to his room, he can’t help but apathetically want to pack his things, hitch a ride to the nearest bus stop, take a flight to the middle of South America and formally live out the rest of his life under a brand new identity. Someone else can take over as the personification of Hong Kong, he thinks.

And that is saying something. Among the two boyfriends, Hong Kong is easily the more savvy between the two. He knows all the right moves and words to get his partner to flush and hide his face in embarrassment. Hong Kong is teasing, smooth, and witty, thus it’s not very often or easily to make Hong Kong falter to its knees. The point is the dynamic between them has always been consistent. When it comes to Iceland, Hong Kong rarely ever loses his cool.

That is up until now.

Hong Kong hurries Iceland to his room and slams the door shut behind him. Locking it and pulling a chair from his desk underneath the knob for good measure. As Hong Kong rushes to his drawer to find suitable spare clothes, Iceland stands by and tries his very best to reassure him. Hong Kong says nothing as he finds a suitable shirt and disappears into his personal bathroom, with running water that can be heard shortly afterwards. He walks back out.

“Here. There’s a warm washcloth and some spare clothing that you can use. Feel free to wash your hair and use any of the towels as well.”

“Gotcha. “, nods Iceland. “Thanks.” He disappears into the bathroom and quietly closes the door behind him.

Then, a breaking of glassware and shouting could be heard from downstairs . Of course, the loudest voices belong to Taiwan and Korea, only to be outdone by China’s, only to be outdone by Thailand’s.

Hong Kong sits on the edge of the bed and heaves a frustrated sigh. He places his fingers on the bridge of the nose.

Just what the hell even happened?

— It was another world meeting that was just supposed to be the two of them.

When the meeting called for the noon break, Hong Kong caught up to Iceland wanting to ask if they could get lunch together. As they were exiting the meeting hall, Taiwan just so happened to be in the area and being the only person to know about their relationship so far, she saw them and was teasing her brother in the distance.

Unfortunately, talking to her was South Korea, who followed Taiwan’s gaze and called out to greet the both of them. Not wanting to get Iceland involved with his family, he urges him to hurry out the door.

But one thing leads to another and Korea’s attention draws China’s and also wanting to greet his student, meets them just before they reach the door. Before Hong Kong could take off in the other direction, Taiwan, Korea, and now Japan caught up to them.

While initially wanting to greet the fellow asian, the family took interest in the Icelander as well. Having not many chances or reasons to converse casually with someone outside of Asia, they took the chance to get to know him. In which, while Iceland shyly returned the gesture, Hong Kong was starting to get peeved that Iceland was getting a little bit too involved with his family. When Hong Kong had to break the conversation that they were late for lunch, China brought this up:

“Oh! Well, we would love to get to know you more, Iceland. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight and I’ll treat you to some authentic Chinese cuisine!”

Hong Kong’s heart drops and he tries to pull his boyfriend out of there before he could respond. However, Taiwan and Korea blocked their way and pleaded for Iceland to visit. To Hong Kong’s dismay, his boyfriend agreed. He gazes at horror at his boyfriend as the rest of the Asians cheer and pull Iceland over to plan for tonight. Fast forward to China’s summer home in Beijing. For the past hour, the rest of Hong Kong’s asian siblings have been running around to prepare for Iceland’s arrival. In excitement to share their culture, China has been working on multiple dishes and cuisines all at once, Taiwan putting down homemade decorations around the kitchen and living room, Korea booting up the karaoke machine to put out his favorite songs to sing, and poor Japan just being pulled around by the previous three as they all demand for his help. The house was chaos.

Hong Kong could only stand there and watch in disbelief. He could withstand his family’s shenanigans, hell, he would often be a part of that too. But in the case of Iceland? Really? No way in hell.

Hong Kong palms his forehead as Japan passes by. Japan, sensing his frustration, assures the boy that everything will be alright and that the rest of the family is only doing everything in their power to welcome Iceland. Surely, his own family wouldn’t make a fool of themselves in front of a guest.

When he finishes that sentence, Taiwan calls for his help, grabs him, and pulls him abruptly to the side. This causes Japan to yelp and grasp the tablecloth as he falls with the rest of the tableset going down with him. Shouting ensues.

Hong Kong can only stand in horror. Just then, the doorbell rings.

It was as if a pin dropped. Everyone starts scrambling to fix the kitchen as Hong Kong quietly slips out of the room to greet Iceland.

Calmly, he opens and slips out the front door. Iceland is standing there before him and raises a shy wave.

Hong Kong only returns with a poker face.

He grabs his shoulders.

“DO NOT COME IN.”, he grits through his teeth. Iceland starts to tremble as his boyfriend looms over before him.

The door opens behind them and they both turn to find China standing there. China’s bright smile looks as if he was about to greet Iceland, however his face drops when he processes what he is witnessing.

Unfortunately for the boys, their faces were perhaps a little bit too close to each other.

An angry yell can be heard across the neighborhood.

—

When China finally calmed down and the boys explained what was going on, they made their way to the dining area. To Hong Kong’s surprise, the table was already set with the silverware and dishes set in place. The others come up politely to welcome their guest.

Despite the evening getting off to a rough start, the dinner itself began smoothly. Iceland’s mouth was already watering as everyone took their seats and gave thanks before digging right in.

If there was anything that at least went well today, it was the pride and presentation of the variety of Asian cuisine right before them, with each dish being of origin from each asian personification. And it made for great discussion too, as Iceland asked what each meal was, the asians took turns in explaining and sampling for him to try it.

What a great way to start off the discussion! That is until- China being a little bit too prideful of his homeland’s cooking- started sampling and piling food onto Iceland’s plate more than the others. Iceland, not wanting to be rude, could not bring himself to decline and he nodded nervously at the pile of food building up in front of him. Already annoyed with China’s meddling, Hong Kong stands up and forces his sensei to sit back down, in which he begrudgingly obliged.

Sensing the awkwardness in the air, Taiwan (once again, being the only one aware of the boys' relationship), started playing wingman and began doing icebreakers with Iceland. The topic started off general at first, but gradually, the conversation shifted in trying to frame Hong Kong the best way possible, much to his embarrassment. However, it only grew worse when Taiwan brought up their childhood together and accidentally slips in a story about her brother being so afraid of the dark that he needed China to sleep with him every night. Hong Kong was about to lose it again when Korea interrupted.

Wanting to join in the conversation, Korea opted in. Thankfully with the addition of Korea, the conversation shifts topics before any more embarrassing stories about Hong Kong could be revealed. Korea begins asking about Iceland’s home country, his culture, and the other Nordics, in which the Icelander happily obliged to answer. Unfortunately though, as Korea and Iceland ease into each other’s presence, his boyfriend found great difficulty to slip his presence back into the conversation.

Taiwan takes notice of this. In another attempt to assist her brother, she intervenes in their conversation, claiming that Korea is being inconsiderate to Hong Kong for barging into the discussion, with a tone that may-or-may-not sound a bit condescending.

Then, one thing happens and leads to another and all of a sudden, fighting ensues at the dinner table. Taiwan and Korea are fiercely throwing insults and shouting over Iceland before China intervenes, yelling at the both of them that they have a guest over and they are embarrassing themselves. Of course, this family has a long history of not taking shit from China and only ignored his intervention. Fortunately, the fighting moved on from the subject of Iceland, but unfortunately, the two started arguing about each other and personal matters that a guest definitely should not hear.

Offended by his disciples’ disregards, China calls out to Japan, who has been silently and anxiously watching the whole thing, to try and stop them. Japan stands from his seat and tries to mediate the two, but Taiwan takes advantage of the situation to claim that Japan sides with her. Mouth agape at offense, Korea takes a handful of food and aims it at Taiwan, in which she dodges and it hits Japan square in the face instead.

The tables ensues into chaos. Taiwan returns Korea’s gesture and soon enough, food is flying across the room as China starts screaming in rage as he witnesses his precious hardwork go to waste. In which both respond back by pelting him with rice and noodles, which only amplifies his shouting. Japan tries to crawl away but Taiwan pulls him to stand up, hands him a bowl, and orders him to start throwing.

For Hong Kong and Iceland, they take cover underneath the table. Hong Kong’s face is red in embarrassment and when he looks over to his boyfriend, his eyes widen at the sight of Iceland’s hair and upper shirt being covered in dumpling bits. He feels like he could bury himself alive underneath that table right then and there.

Suddenly, the front door could be heard opening and closing, followed by multiple footsteps growing near.

“Hey all! Philippines gifted us some pastries from his house! Whose down to try so-”, the voice is instantly silenced as a splatter could be heard.

The boys peer from underneath the table. As it turns out, the voice belonged to Thailand’s and he took a dumpling as well to the face. Macau and Vietnam were behind him in shock as they supported his balance from being smacked in the face.

The room went silent. Thailand was the best buddy anyone could ever have.

Unfortunately, he could be the worst enemy anyone could ever have.

Thailand roars and launches forward fiercely, but Vietnam and Macau struggle to strain him back. The shouting and food fighting resumes.

Hong Kong tugs at Iceland’s shirt and without saying a word, they both quietly sneak away from the kitchen. He takes Iceland’s hand and hurries him upstairs to his room.

And that, brings back to now.

As another shattering of glass could be heard downstairs, Hong Kong bends over and rubs his face, feeling absolutely mortified. He starts thinking of ways to get a new visa when Iceland exits the bathroom, his hair damp and wearing his boyfriend’s shirt. As Iceland sits on the edge of the bed beside him, Hong Kong pretends to keep his cool.

A moment passes, before Iceland places a reassuring hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder. Hong Kong avoids his gaze.

“You know my brothers are the same as yours, right?”

Hong Kong rolls his eyes. “Do your brothers throw food around as well?”

“Pfft, no… they throw dishes.”

“Even then, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t act like lunatics in front of a guest.”

“Maybe not", begins Iceland. He scoots closer. "But have you ever met Sweden? The guy doesn’t even do anything and you already have people throwing their wallets begging him to not mug them.”

Hong Kong tries to shrug it off, however a chuckle escapes.

Iceland grins. “Don’t get me started on Dan as well. One time, we had a diplomat over at Dan’s house and then a mouse ended up scurrying into the meeting room. The woman was freaking out so he pulled out his fucking battle axe from his display case. You know what happened next? He split it into a bloody half. I’m pretty sure she passed out right there.”

That got to Hong Kong and it sent him into a series of giggling. Iceland gently leans into him.

“And then you have Norge, who we keep telling him to stop talking to his trolls or whatever in front of others. But he keeps forgetting to do so everytime and everyone else stares at him like he is crazy.”

“And then you have Fin! You’d think he would at least be the one to know how to host a guest, but that guy is seriously weird on his own.”

Hong Kong‘s giggling turn into full-hearted laughter as Iceland’s grin grows. He leans into his partner’s side to plant a kiss on his cheek. Hong Kong smiles and returns the gesture by wrapping his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and planting a kiss on his shoulder and then placing his chin on top of it.

“Maybe I should come over to meet your family instead.”

“Yeah, well, wouldn’t you like to see how that would turn out?”

Just then, they hear Macau calling their names for them to come back downstairs. The boys turn to look at each other before getting up and making their way back down.

When they returned to the kitchen, it became a palette of wasted food staining the walls and the floor alongside with two broken plates scattered by the table. They are immediately greeted with Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan (who didn’t even do anything), kneeled over on the ground as Vietnam rants away at a lecture frenzy. To her right, Thailand’s smile has returned, but his eyes glare down at them menacingly as he rubs his cheek with a washcloth. To Vietnam’s left, Macau stands there and is the only normal-looking person in the room. He takes notice of the boys’ arrival and greets them.

Vietnam also takes notice as well.

“ALL FOUR OF YOU, APOLOGIZE THIS INSTANT TO THESE BOYS!!”, she demands to the four. They all lift their heads in the boys' direction. Just as when they open their mouths to apologize, it dawns upon them that Iceland is wearing Hong Kong’s shirt.

An uproar fills the house.

[drchenquill]

Find Lines Tag~

Thank you @kaylinalexanderbooks , @the-golden-comet and @inseasofgreen

A line about love, A line about fear, A line about water, A line about dreams, a line about a friend, a line about an animal, and a happy line. a line about hope, a line about the past, a line about the future, a line about food.

Found them from my story "The Monterosa Mansion".

A line about love

I let the day pass and was lucky enough not to be called upstairs, which is more than I could say for Robert. He had to go upstairs for lunch. The whole time Lily stood at the door, pacing restlessly. Robert seemed to have a big place in her heart and I wondered if he was her flame. How romantic it would be if you could find love despite the hell you've been through. Valerio. My face glowed, my heart pounded, my mind raced. Why had I been thinking about him? Why did I have his beautiful eyes in front of me? Why did I still feel his embrace? Why did I long for his smile? Was it because I had been thinking about love?

A line about fear

She was overjoyed to see me. I, on the other hand, felt a strong urge to run away, which I did without thinking twice. I turned and ran. I could hear her laughter behind me. Fear made me run faster than I'd ever run before. My legs hurt and I had to be careful not to run into branches or fall over stones or bushes. Unfortunately, I also had to focus on Sandra behind me. I was so afraid of being caught by her, so afraid of being near her, so afraid of her.

A line about water

My gaze then wandered to the small lake in front of us. The water glistened under the sun. The wind had died down, so the water was calm. I heard Valerio exhale loudly and I turned to him. He seemed to be feeling the same. He looked relaxed, he seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was.

A line about dreams

She turned to me. Her look, serious, frighteningly serious. "Luigi has dreams that he wants to realize, just like Valerio, but this family makes them suffocate in fear. They are, believe it or not, very human in their fear," I didn't understand. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked. With a sigh she explained: "Because now you're going to have more to do with them. You are going to get to know Valerio. I felt it necessary to show you that although they are vampires, they are creatures like you and me. Some of them are evil, others are very traumatized. This family has never been kind to them."

A line about a friend

“Why not?” he asked. “It's not fair…,” I said. My answer confused him even more when he asked, slightly irritated, “For who?” “For Lily and Robert,” I explained. The crease on his forehead deepened as he asked, “Who's that?” I could feel myself starting to get upset. “My friends who are rotting down there in the cellar,” I explained bitterly. “But they don't get abused by Sandra every day.” he tried to change my mind, but I remained stubborn. “You're right, but they're also treated badly by your family, just like everyone else down there. I can't just decide that I deserve better.”

A line about an animal

As I nibbled on my hot dog, I suddenly heard the sound of flapping wings, and when I turned my eyes back to the water, I saw some ducks that had landed on the lake. Joy washed over me as I saw these beautiful animals. Without thinking, I put my hand on Valerio's leg and excitedly pointed to the birds with the other.

A happy line

He ran towards me. I dodged him with a loud, delighted scream. Laughing out loud, I let him chase me around his room, which was bigger than it looked. He grumbled occasionally, but the smile never left his face. His hands tried to reach for me, but I managed to dodge them. I felt alive, it was the first time that knowing a vampire was chasing me gave me childlike joy.

A line about hope

This small act sparked hope in me, hope that fed my little flame that was burning for him. The more the flame grew, the more I could hear the crackling that told me that perhaps he also felt something for me, that Valerio also had a flame with my name. But I couldn't listen to the crackling, otherwise one day I would start to believe it.

A line about the past

Thunderstorms didn't bring back good memories, at least not for me. There was lightning as my mother put me in the car. When my little soaked feet pulled up outside the orphanage, it was storming. Thunder was the one that accompanied my parents' car as they drove on as soon as they realized I had knocked. Storms made me feel alone because they were the narrator of my abandonment. They were there when rain wasn't the only thing drenching my cheeks. They were spectators when the lady at the orphanage had to chase me down the street because I was trying to reach my parents' car. I wasn't afraid of thunderstorms, they only brought sadness.

A line about the future

"We talked about the future. Our future. I know it sounds impossible, if not stupid, but Luigi is working on being able to break away from the family without anything going wrong. And then…" She took a deep breath, a small smile growing on her face as she closed her eyes.

"Then we'll move away. To the mountains, near a pond where we can wake up to the sound of rippling water."

A line about food

“If blood fills you up in every way, why do you eat normal food?” I continued to ask. He was still smiling, as if my curiosity gave him joy. “Very simple. For us, normal food is like junk food. It's not ideal for our health, but it tastes good,” he said.

~~~~

That was a long one! Anyways, tagging with no pressure @paeliae-occasionally , @thecomfywriter , @theink-stainedfolk , @happypup-kitcat24 and open tag~

Your lines are:

A line about medicine A line about revenge A line about flying A line about misunderstanding

[syrupsyche]

Chapter 1 of "Even If There Are Monsters" Director's Commentary

I wrote a Dracula AU for @/feathraly a few months ago, and for this spooky season I thought I'd do a lil behind-the-scenes look at what was going on in my head as I wrote the fic in the 2-ish months I had :D I'll be publishing a chapter or so a day until Halloween!

Feel free to read the fic here before/as you read the director's commentary :3

To start off: I knew I wanted the fic to read as close to Dracula as possible, and so I decided to stick with the epistolary format. Marius's entries were tough to write, simply because he and Jonathan are quite different tbh. Marius isn't as spontaneous as Jonathan; in the brick he's constantly paralysed at the idea of having to Make A Choice, and so instead I focused as much as I could on Marius's overwhelming desire for Cosette. I feel like he would have done ANYTHING for her, which is the one thing he has in common with Jonathan, and so hopefully that would have realistically spurred him on.

As I mentioned in the footnotes, I replaced the English Pitman shorthand with the French Duployan shorthand. It was made around the 1860s, so a little later than Pitman but still likely to have been picked up by Marius by 1890. As for changing Whitby, England to Cette, France, I mostly just searched for cities in the south of France, where Enjolras was canonically from, and specifically sea-side cities so that the Demeter would be able to wash up ashore later on. If I were a better writer and researcher, I might find somewhere more geographically similar to Whitby but um...I decided Cette would be fine 😭 apologies to any Sète residents for any incredibly inaccurate descriptions of its location.

Speaking of replacements, I had Enjolras as Lucy mostly for the lols :p. I mean sure they have their physical beauty that remains untouched even in death or wtv, but mostly I just liked whumping Enjolras. Though, a very lovely commentor did point out that both certainly had their own fire, and fought as best they could til their respective ends, so I'm glad their similarities were still present!

Prouvaire as the Van Helsing-figure was inspired by a prompt Feathraly had about him teasing Marius for being afraid of horror. Well, Marius certainly is going through The Horrors now, and Prouvaire is only spooking Cosette a little :') I think Prouvaire's canonical kookiness lends itself well to him being a vampire-expert in the story! He would have enjoyed Dracula the actual Book.

One of the main reasons why I had Grantaire be Enjolras's love interest in this fic (other than the fact Feathraly ships it :3) was because I couldn't fathom the thought of Enjolras dying without Grantaire (as per OFPD). So he was at least going to be the Quincey figure, but then I was like...well I hadn't written any proper romantic exR yet, maybe I should let them be happy in one universe (not for long but still), so I had Grantaire be the Arthur figure too! Maybe in a different Dracula AU, Enjolras would have a different Arthur figure...Courfeyrac maybe? He and Grantaire already share a lot of the suitor trio traits between them.

And speaking of sharing traits, it would have been easy to just pick a few of the Amis to feature and then substitute them in but idk....I didn't like the idea of just rewriting the entire novel with name differences. Though the general plot is still the same, I wanted it to feel like it was The Amis and Cosette having to face the horrors of Dracula, rather than just the OG plot of Dracula w/name changes, which is why there are so many "new" scenes written: to establish how most of them were already good friends, to build up the Enjolras/Grantaire relationship, and of course to infodump about vampires. Hope these changes were good!

Additionally, me not wanting to basically just repeat the entire novel unfortunately means I had to cut out a LOT of scenes and characters too. I basically squashed Jonathan's nightmares at Castle Dracula to just a few days, but hopefully it was still enough to make it terrifying for Marius 😭 I also sped up Enjolras's illness, and the Amis's fear re: Marius' silence, as well as cut out the character of Mrs Westenra. I feel bad for that, mostly bc she informs alot of Lucy's own character in the novel, but Enjolras is a whole other person who wouldn't fit into Lucy's dynamics with her mother, so I removed her completely.

Around the end of this chapter was when I knew I had to make this multi-chapt instead of a long one-shot 😔 otherwise /I/ would have lost track where everything was, and I was the author of it! And so I decided to split it where Marius makes his escape from Castle Dracula, and just before the introduction of a new narrator-figure: Combeferre! Now here's where I have to confess that my only reading of Dracula was via Dracula Daily, so I don't even know where the regular chapter splits are in the OG novel, hence my weird cuts for the rest of the fic. But hey, we got to a Shakespearean five-act structure, somehow!

And that's it for Chapter 1!! If anyone has any other stuff they wanna know, feel free to send an ask; I love talking about this fic!

Check back tomorrow for the director's commentary on Chapter 2 <3

[blackbirdffxiv]

So I got this ask in my inbox, and though I was going to answer it in my asks, I think a little, actual post-tutorial would be best. But first, a disclaimer, as I like to cover my bases:

By no means am I an artist; my process is very much a case-by-case basis, and I edit as I need to for each picture that I do end up editing. My method is far from perfect but it is one that works for me for -my character-, so you may have to experiment on your own using these tips to find a method that suits your wants.

This little guide is using ClipStudio Paint, but you can get the same/similar results with really any photo editing program you choose that has brushes (GIMP, PaintTool Sai, Photoshop, Photopea (which is free), etc)

I'm going to use a painted over face texture as an example (basically a face diffuse I just painted over with it's base skintone), versus a full-on gpose shot (this way I can get a good swatch/an approximate measure of what skintone I'm used to working on).

Big Tip: ALWAYS WORK IN LAYERS, this way you can adjust everything accordingly without going back a million steps.

Use a basic soft-spray brush for your base, and pick a color a few shades lighter than the skintone you're working on (use your color-picking tool, it is your best friend). Set your first work layer to "add (glow), and make a little splotch like this. You can either leave it as is or blur it out/adjust the layer opacity if you desire, but again, it all depends on the state of your gpose/where you're adding it. I often blur out the edges to help blend it into the skin more naturally, on a low setting as to not erase it completely.

Before & after adjusting blur/opacity:

Next, you'll want a basic shimmer brush; there are dozens of free ones out there, so look around and experiment! Just like before, you're gonna want to make another layer, but this time, set it to white (or gold/copper if your character has medium/darker skintones, as it flatters them more and doesn't wash them out where as white is more for fair skintones).

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the source of the shimmer brush I use, but what works for me may not work for you so it would be best to look at what's available and what suits your tastes more.

Now, working in layers using the "add (glow)" effect, slowly build up the shimmer, first, adding a quick couple swipes, then build it up. Once you're satisfied, focus more on the center

TIP: If you want to make it look more natural, when building your layers, blur out the edges a small bit to hide any possible lines and creases.

And that's pretty much it! Adding shimmer effects is all about trial and error, and just simply adding shimmer where your character catches the light.

I'd post examples but a lot of my shimmer examples are on very much lewd gposes and I'm not trying to get tumblr staff mad at me.

And again, another disclaimer: this is not a one-size-fits-all-guide, I seriously cannot emphasize enough that the best thing for you to do is just EXPERIMENT, this is merely a guideline to give you a lil push in the right direction. Editing gposes is supposed to be fun, and the best way to get experience is to simply practice and learn your tools with your own hands.

I hope this helps, and have fun gposing!

[dooxliss]

I'D LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR SPLATOONS AND SOME BNHA OCS OF YOUR PICK!! also interested in dragon ball too ngl 👀

i hate tumblr so fucking much i was writing this up for an hour and it deleted

splatoon

i have a set of octolings since splat1 that i really like!

ringo, tako, octavia, mimi, quill, pan

but pan is gonna be revamped so i’ll figure out her deal soon

ringo tako octavia and pan are from octo valley

quill is from octo canyon

mimi is from the splatlands

i also have a budding splatband called out of shoal!

the lead is an octoling who came to the surface after hearing calamari inkantation and got paris syndrome so they made a punk rock band about it

there’s also a pencil urchin who is a vocalist and a shellback crab on drums :] might add a jelly as well

i want to make idols also. someday

bnha

here’s the main gang class 2-b!

(they were 2-a before horikoshi showed 2-a in the manga 💀)

my favorites of each row: atsuko kinzoku, koharu nakamoto, miku ueno, emiri abe

atsuko kinzoku (second to last, first row)—quirk melting point! with a touch of her hands she can melt any meltable object and consequently control that molten mess :] more extreme melting points are harder for her to do and cooling herself down can be an ordeal. she went to a dance school and was well versed in ballet before suddenly pivoting to u.a. and hero work. her hero name is tungsten!

koharu nakamoto (middle, second row)—quirk tear jerker! she can force people within a certain radius to experience certain emotions! she can do negative emotions much easier than positive, and these changes often make her feel the same way. she went to the same middle school as toga. she is also very into decora kei :^) did not give her a hero name oops but she is the magical girl hero

miku ueno (last, third row)—quirk sleepy sheep! her hair is actually clouds that when used makes the target extremely drowsy. as a drawback she herself is also rather sleepy most of the time :( her first hero name is bo sleep, with a themed outfit, but after she graduates and the nature of her work changes, she becomes somna

emiri abe (second, last row)—quirk animate! emiri has charcoal like pads on their fingers, which allows her to draw. once a drawing is completed, it can come to life and then be used as a tool. effectiveness is tied to how clear a drawing is. the medium is water resistant but can be washed away. emiri’s hair is naturally blonde but is more ash colored because of how often they put their hands in their hair 💀 in public, emiri wears gloves. hero name ani!

(bonus! hideyoshi maki + kanon katou)

hideyoshi (second, top row)—quirk lucky lottery! he has bands on his arms and marks on his face that appear when good things naturally happen to him. as its stored, he can then expend them to sort of force events to happen as long as there is a chance of it happening. less likely events requires him to spend more luck. it is also automatically used to keep him out of harms way. unrelated to his quirk, he has doll like limbs :^) he’s the lucky hero—chance!

kanon (right of emiri)—quirk stereo! she gains super speed and strength depending on the qualities of the music she listens to! she is also emiri’s gf :] kanon has vitiligo as well, which is being hidden at that point in time. she fails the hero license test going against her older sister kotone and partner chiyo, who go to seiai academy, but eventually gets her shit together and becomes the wabisabi hero—shuffle 👍🏽

dragon ball

i had several saiyan ocs (maiz, kohn, aspara, pumpki, etc) when i was in hs but i havent drawn them since so here are the ones i have!

nati (from naticidae, genus of moon snail) and kitsu (from tsuki, moon) are my namekian ocs! they are bonded in the same was dende and cargo were.

unfortunately they died in the namek saga, and were later revived on earth. during that wait for the namekian dragon balls to be used again, they explored earth and decided to then explore the rest of universe 7 to see what’s out there :D

nati is a dragon clan namekian! they have a shitty keychain esque set of dragon balls that aren’t capable of much besides wishing for the return of a lost sock. they think its cute but don’t use them often because of the hassle of collecting.

kitsu is a warrior clan namekian! he died protecting nati on namek and as a result has become very guard dog-y regarding them. you know how it is. was initially reluctant about not going to namek with his brothers.

i’m still waffling about who but while hopping from planet to planet one of them gets gravely injured to the point where fusion was the only option available to them. as a result this fused namekian has extreme survivors guilt and is reluctant to return to namek. (though they may eventually do to see if porunga can unfuse them)

since we know that zeno erased like 6 universes before the universe survival saga i wanted to make a set of ocs from one of those erased universes (god of destruction, angel, supreme kai). i did not get far in that all tho 💀 only designed the angel and i don’t think they have a name. but i probably wouldve named them kesa (from sake, doubleish meaning with the negative conjugation of kesu, to erase)

[tarnishedinquirer]

Case: Morne Massacre (Conclusion)

Unsurprisingly, there were more gallows in back, but they didn't have corpses stacked up under them like the gallows on the ramparts. So this is where the other gallows came from. Nobles get locked in cages, soldiers get hung, and commoners get tortured. All die to the Confessors in the end.

I jumped down to the shallows below. The entire area was filled with purple-black spirit jellies. They were different and somehow more solid than the blue-white ones I've seen elsewhere, but no idea what that could possibly mean yet.

The grace pointed towards a gate sitting alone on a sandbar, obscured by golden fog. Whatever answers I was looking for were here, and the fog told me that I'd have to kill someone to get them. I summoned Edgar and without a word, walked through the gate.

One of the chimeras, bigger than the others, and with a wild mane of red hair. The voice called it "Leonine Misbegotten" which I guess is what the chimera are actually called. Its chosen arena was a small spat of solid land on the sandbar, packed with grave stones and with bodies piled high beside them. It fought with both ferocity and surprising skill, but we had numbers and magic. It fell, and I claimed the sword it was guarding.

There are advantages to my prison mask. It means that Edgar could not see the anger in my eyes as he left to go rescue his daughter. He let me keep the sword, though it was useless to me and unsightly to boot. I briefly considered chucking it into the ocean out of spite, but I'm above such things.

I sat down to compose myself and focus the facts. The voice said this place was called the Moangrave, which seems a bit redundant. Unless... if you consider the root of the word, it could refer to a complaint or accusation. Therefore, this could be the Grave of Accusation, or maybe The Accused.

Is this what Grace wanted me to see? This strange keyhole grave?

I turned to the sword, far too heavy for me to ever use, to see if the voice could provide answers. It said

The storied sword of Castle Morne. A revenger's weapon, it is burdened with oceans of anger and regret. One of the legendary armaments. A lone surviving champion from a country now vanished was so determined to continue fighting that he claimed the swords of an entire clan of warriors.

So. It belonged to the nameless revenger. He claimed the swords of an entire clan—perhaps his own fallen, perhaps a rival's—and forged them into this massive sword. He assaulted this castle and fell at the hands of Godfrey. However, he gained enough renown that they were forced to build a monument to his courage.

And perhaps, buried him with honors... on a sandbar. So that one day his body and his legend would be washed away.

It felt right.

Only the grave had persisted. They built a gate to bar access to it, maybe even tearing down the outer wall's gate to rebuild here.

The only other thing I could glean was the crest on the grafted blade. It looked like a heraldic wolf, or perhaps fox, with a bushy mane. Was this the symbol of the nameless revenger and his clan?

Maybe it'll make sense one day, when I have more information.

Thoroughly grounded, I teleported away to check on Irina. Maybe her father had found her by now.

Unfortunately, he had. Irina was dead.

Edgar was inconsolable. He cursed the Misbegotten and vowed revenge. Said he would hunt down every last one of them for taking his daughter.

My grudge against Edgar aside, this hurt. Irina had done nothing wrong. I could have joined him in his vow and revenge, but instead I retreated into cold, hard reason. They had ignored her last time I was here. Her blood was fresh and wet, and her body hadn't even cooled yet.

Her killers ignored her until they knew that Edgar was on his way. Whoever killed her wanted him to find her body fresh. They wanted him to see the cleaver, stained with her blood. Perhaps if I had arrived earlier she would have been able to choke out last words, but no, that would've been too unpredictable. No way they could control what she said.

It occurred to me just now that Irina had described a "frightful howling from all around."

Misbegotten don't howl.

Conclusion: There were forces at work beyond my knowledge. Someone wanted to break Edgar. They wanted him to suffer. For his crimes? For the wholesale slaughter at behest of the Confessors? No... even that felt like a means to an end. So many, dying in suffering, seeking to purge some heresy or infection, creating the very environment for the sickness to spread... it feels ritualistic.

The Misbegotten rose up, perhaps to stop the slaughter, perhaps to purge the infection in their own way. They let Irina leave because she was an innocent, not knowing she could also serve as a capstone to the ritual. A final sacrifice.

Somehow, I know this ritual.

Questions

Why would Grace point me towards the revenger's grave?

Why did the red-maned Misbegotten seem to revere his sword?

Why must Edgar protect it at all costs, and why was it okay that I carry it instead?

What is the symbol of the maned wolf?

Who was howling?

What was the purpose of the ritual?

Who really killed Irina?

[desertfangs]

Armand and Daniel’s sexual journey is definitely fascinating (I don’t think we have as much info on another mlm couple in VC except maybe for Armand and Marius?), and something that should be explored more in fic! During the first years of the chase they merely talked about sex during their night sessions right? With Armand mentioning he had more than enough experience when it came to the “pleasure of the flesh”, but that eventually turned into a shared physical experience aka the threesomes with Daniel sleeping with the people Armand chose for him while he watched, and there was a “dual pleasure” in that, and then at some point they went from that to Daniel being an “expert” in Armand’s body and them being openly sexual with one another without the need of a third. Clearly stuff happened there. So many gaps to fill!

Anon! This is a great ask! Devil's Minion is a conundrum because it gives us so much and yet so little at the same time.

It's heavily implied that Armand doesn't bite him or drink his blood until Pompeii four years on, which I can believe. But for a long time, I also assumed they didn't get physical before then in any way. I don't know why I assumed this. It just felt like "Okay, Pompeii is where they come together" and I can be pretty literal, but at that point it strikes Daniel that they're "secret lovers" and have been for a while. He realizes Armand won't turn him but won't kill him either and Armand tells him he's grown to love him, of course.

This can totally mean they didn't really get physical until then, but it doesn't mean they didn't either. Like four years is a long time. Even if you think the first year was a wash of him freaking Daniel out and the second was them growing to have actual conversations, that's a long time to spend in each other's company with nothing ever happening. Especially when they're having deep, long conversations and Daniel is... well... Daniel. He's clearly captivated by Armand, who is coming into his hotel rooms and waking him up and jumping on his bed to talk about sex, war, and what he thinks happens after death. There's so much intimacy there! And no, you don't need sex for things to get deep and intimate, but there is definitely room for things to have happened.

(In fact, @apoptoses explores this beautifully in her Come Pull My Strings series which you've probably read but if not, uh... yeah... That was what made me really sit up and go 'You know, I think they probably did do these kinds of things, like why didn't I ever think they had before?? It makes so much sense???' I'd imagined Daniel maybe drunkenly going for a kiss or something but oof. That rocked my fandom world.)

And then yes, after they're together, they do have threesomes to explore intimacy:

Men and women fell in love with Armand, of course, "so innocent, so passionate, so brilliant!" You don't say. In fact, Armand's power to seduce was almost beyond his control. And it was Daniel who must bed these unfortunates, if Armand could possibly arrange it, while he watched from a chair nearby, a dark-eyed Cupid with a tender approving smile. Hot, nerve-searing, this witnessed passion, Daniel working the other body with ever greater abandon, aroused by the dual purpose of every intimate gesture. Yet he lay empty afterwards, staring at Armand, resentful, cold.

So it seems like in most cases, people were horny AF for Armand and Armand was like "Yeah, let's go back to our place" and he'd watch Daniel sleep with them instead. We don't know if that's the only way they arranged these things or if Daniel ever picked anyone out himself. I do think Daniel was down for it, especially at first, because I think he and Armand share a lot of kinks, including voyeurism, and the thing about him being aroused by the dual purpose of it really gets me. Like there's the physical pleasure, but there's also the fact that Armand is watching and possibly looking into his mind and maybe experiencing some of it too and that's clearly a huge turn on for Daniel. Also I jut want to mention that a lot is made in fandom of that last line about resentment, so I won't get off topic but I do want to say I think his resentment there is that he's sleeping with other people when he wants to sleep with Armand. It's Armand's hand/mouth/body he wants around him, you know? Not some rando's. And also possibly that he wants immortality and to be a vampire like Armand, rather than the mortal who's getting his rocks off this way because Armand cannot or won't. Probably both, to be honest. But I could write a whole essay on that!

Anyhow, at some point this shifts and Daniel gets what he wants because we do learn that "But he was an expert on Armand, wasn't he, he had studied every detail of Armand's youthful body and face."

I mean, again, there's a lot of room for interpretation and reading between the lines but every detail seems to point to like... every detail.

Which is a long way of saying yes!! You're right! So. Many. Gaps. To Fill. And so much space for how you read things or want to read them or want to imagine them. Which is why it's so nice to get a variety of fic and stuff from this era, because there's so much space to play!

[greenpaths]

ALRIGHT MY FRIENDS ARE WE READY FOR

A BIG CROCHET PROJECT UPDATE!!!!

I keep putting off posting about everything on here and instead of making a bunch of separate posts, I figured I might as well just get it all done in one shot!!

So first off, an update on the baby blanket I had been making!! As a refresher, my coworker and his fiance had a baby a few months ago in July, and I was asked to make a baby blanket for the lil one even though it was late into the pregnancy at the time. I took on this task with DEDICATION and it is NOW DONE

I used TL Yarn Crafts' Hexis in Springtime blanket pattern and Hobbii's Frutta + Lion Brand's 24/7 Cotton and I'm very very pleased with how VIBRANT it ended up being. I was initially afraid that the white borders would really wash everything out, but I think the Frutta yarn matched its energy and held its own. and it's all 100% cotton, so it should hold up over time and many washes!! I also made my own ruffly edges rather than using the pattern's, and I also sewed on a standard baby blanket fabric on the "wrong" side of the crochet (with my mom's help!)

honest to God I'm so proud of this one, and even though it's not perfect I am sooooo excited to have done it!! it's a blankie a baby can grow up with and I'm so happy to give them that 😭 I can't wait for the baby pictures I've been promised

AND THEN

this one is a bit of an oldie, but I made my best friend Madison a mushroom purse for her birthday gift this year!! I hadn't posted about it on here because she follows me on umblr and it was supposed to be a surprise, but she's now had it for a few months so it's free real estate

the pattern is this one from Bayou Self Creations on etsy, and I used Big Twist Value yarn in the colors cream, mustard, and toffee!! this pattern was SO fantastic and well detailed, and I found that I was comfortable enough w it to make some adjustments, so I did! For one, I bought purse hardware and introduced lobster clasps and a strap adjuster ring so that the bag can be easily taken off the strap, and the strap adjusted. I made a little tassel for some extra decoration and used a bead to create the little door knob, and I even lined the inside of the bag with white liner to make sure it can hold anything without the item slipping through the holes always created in crochet

this pattern was SO much fun to make and it really worked up so fast since most of it was done with worsted weight yarn held double. highly recommend!!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

one of my dear coworkers has always caught me crocheting and asked if I'd be willing to make him something small. after some pestering, he said he'd like mushroom boy keychains, and I delivered!!

I used the Chonky Mushroom Boi pattern by Chonky.Crochet on ribblr (which, tangentially related, is quite honestly the WORST app I've ever used ui/ux related. It is so HORRID). the pattern is super thorough and these little guys worked up very quickly and were a great way to use up some scrap yarn! unfortunately, they did get a little damaged already and I have to find a better way to fasten them to the keychain thing. I WILL though

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

another baby crochet project!! this time for my very sweet neighbor who is 6 months along. I really wanted to make her something without committing to the scope of something like another baby blanket, so I did some digging around until I found this pattern for baby loveys by theodoreandrose (hosted on the Bella Coco Crochet website). I made some adjustments (see: packing in more crochet stitches towards the last few rows in order to make the bottom ruffley, adding two extra rows otherwise, crocheting extra ear details), but otherwise the pattern itself was incredible (ESPECIALLY considering it's free!) and I managed to knock this one out in about half a month working on it here and there. It was also the first time I had completely 100% freehand embroidered a face onto a plushie I've made, and I kinda thing I killed it tbh. it looks so much like an old school toy and I love it!!

I used Berroco's Comfort yarn in the color Falseberry Heather. I wish I could have gone for something a lil more colorful, but the baby nursery follows a forest theme and I didn't want to stray from it. in any case, I think the tan yarn (scraps from WeCrochet's Comfy yarn, throwback to that monkey amigurumi I posted about ages ago) did a good enough job of breaking things up!!

And now we're all caught up!! I've got a few projects I wanna get done as Christmas gifts and I've already started on my next one, so 👀 I'll see y'all again soon!!