#winter rambling in his tags? its more likely than you think

[pickled-flowers]

It might be I have anti social personality disorder 🤨

[runningfrom2am]

the wedding // LTPF

summary: the wedding of the year, i can see it now.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.7k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: capitol brat!reader, maybe slightly ooc coryo, idk i tried my best. she's a bridezilla for REAL and i wish i included more of that energy, protective!coryo, idk people are drinking alcohol? (its a wedding, so duh), also TW for Livia and r's dad just existing p much.

based on this ask and this ask!

series masterlist // playlist

Everything was perfect. Absolutely everything you had dreamt of your whole life when it came to your wedding. Coryo had told you money was no object, and therefore, you spared no expense. You had a strong theory that your father was being sent every last bill, since you knew neither of you had anything more than what the Plinth's were providing for school, but that was the farthest thing from your problem. It was the least your father could do.

The hardest part of the whole thing, even before deciding who would give you away without your father, was deciding on your maid of honour. You didn't have many good friends, or friends at all, outside of your new husband. At one point, you wondered if had things gone differently, would you have chosen Lucy Gray?

Clemensia Dovecote was a fine enough choice. "Let me just say," Her speech began, hitting the side of her overfilled wine glass with a fork. "I have called this wedding for years, and no one believed me." She shot a smile over to you at the head table. "For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Clemensia. Y/N's Maid of Honour." She had just thrived on the title since you offered it to her which, while annoying, was good because she took her position very seriously. She was the perfect choice- she looked nice, presentable in a dress you had picked out, but the colour clashed with the yellow in the whites of her eyes and the few scales that were yet to fall off after the snake bite. She looked fine, but she also made you look better. "But like I said, I knew this would happen."

She was drunk, repeating things in a way that made you cringe internally but nevertheless, you had to watch. The lights spread across the large backyard of the Plinth's mansion lit up the night beautifully, bouncing off every white and red rose you had spread about. You were very grateful to them for allowing you to host the reception there. They had done a lot for you in the last year since you returned from Twelve.

Mrs. Plinth was very involved with planning the wedding- she loved the winter wedding and leaning into it as a theme. It worked out nicely because it gave her something to think about other than the death of her only child, and she was a tremendous help and support to you. You were truly grateful, but this day was hard on them without Sejanus there. She had mentioned on more than one occasion that Sejanus would have been the best man, and you only slightly doubted that. You wouldn't want it to be anyone else- but Coryo would have had different thoughts, you're sure.

"How much longer will this go on for?" Your now husband whispers in your ear, fake smile on his face as he also has to listen to Clem's rambling.

"I really don't know." You reply with the same fake smile, knowing that eyes were on you just as much as her.

"Some choice for a maid of honour." He chuckles.

You roll your eyes, a playful smile on your lips. "Oh, well, I would have gone with Arachne Crane but, you know..."

"Fair enough." He mumbles, sitting back in his seat. "Are you really the only woman in the Capitol who isn't insufferably annoying? You should have been your own maid of honour."

"Well it was her or Tigris, and Tigris is prettier than me so she wasn't really an option." You hum, grabbing his hand under the table as you keep your eyes focussed on Clemensia, not paying attention to a word she says.

Coryo laughs. "Tigris is not prettier than you."

"She's your cousin, your opinion is invalid." You shrug it off.

"Doesn't change the fact that I'm right." He argues, squeezing your hand.

You don't reply, and you let his hand go to clap once Clem is finally finished. You had already eaten, so now it was supposed to be the "fun part", as Clemensia so aptly put it in her speech. You found it rude, yes, but it wasn't a big deal and after tonight you wouldn't have to see her again for a while.

It was brisk out, being a winter wedding you should have expected that, but you still had another dress to change into so you excuse yourself from the table, kissing your husband goodbye as he gets up as well.

You hadn't allowed him to see any of your dresses, and this would be your third one today alone. He loved every one, and did not expect to be disappointed by the next. Or the one after that.

"Hey, congrats, Coriolanus." He tears his gaze away from your retreating figure to whoever was talking to him.

"Thank you, Hilarius." He nods, smiling politely at him and reaching out to shake his hand.

"I saw this one coming miles away." His classmate laughs. "You remember that though, right?"

"When you said that if I wasn't going to go after her you would?" Coryo asks, eyebrow raised. "I do remember that. It makes me wonder who let you in..." It's meant as a joke as he makes a point of looking past him toward the security they have at the entrance.

He furrows his brow when his eyes catch on your father standing there, arguing with one of the security guards, his wife by his side.

"If you would excuse me..." He says, walking toward them before Hilarius could even respond.

"Ugh, I know. Why did you even invite her, Y/N/N?" Clemensia complains as Tigris helps you step out of your gown.

"Who?" You ask, unsure what she was even talking about.

"Livia." She states, yet another glass of red wine in her hand.

"Oh, I kind of had to. Connections and all that." You shrug. You weren't Livia's biggest fan, she had a "greater than thou" attitude that drove you up the wall, but who in this city didn't?

"Ah, yes. Of course." She hums. "She had a lot of audacity to show up in that dress though..."

Your head whips around to look at her. "What dress?"

"You haven't seen her?" She gasps. "I thought you saw her! It's this white-based floral, really questionable for someone else's wedding. Looks like a tablecloth." She accentuates the statement with a sip from her glass.

Your jaw ticks and you look toward the door, already seeing red.

"Hey, Y/N, it's okay." Tigris rests her hands on your shoulders, prompting you to look at her. "We'll tell security, they can escort her out if that's what you want."

You take a breath, forcing a smile on your face. "Let's not bother them. I'll just go chat with her." You smile, stepping out of the dress in bare feet, quickly grabbing Clemensia's overfilled wine glass from her hand on your way out the door.

"Y/N, Wait! Don't!" Tigris calls after you, well aware of your notorious temper by now, but you don't listen.

You're in your white slip when you storm back out to the reception area through the back patio, immediately and quickly scanning the crowd for the guest in question. You know you have seconds before Tigris likely tries to stop you, but you know Clemensia won't. Then, you see her.

You're seething already. That's practically a wedding dress on its own. You would kill her.

You stomp across the ground, tunnel vision locked on her as she raises her glass to her lips, laughing, and talking with other guests, completely careless to what she had done wrong. Well, she would learn today.

"Livia Cardew!" You grin, walking up to her. "I don't recall sending you an invitation, but here you are!"

Immediately, she's taking in your appearance, giggling at your lack of appropriate attire and shoes. "Y/N! Congratulations." She says, eyes finally locking with yours again.

"May I have a word?" You ask, already grabbing her arm and pulling her away.

"Is there a problem here?" Coriolanus asks, addressing only his security as your father stands there, red-faced with anger.

"Yeah, they've got no invite." He nods, showing Coryo the list in his hands which he quickly pretends to look over.

"Oh! Sorry, yes. There you are..." He says, pointing down at the bottom and your father visibly relaxes. "Under the title there that says 'not welcome under any circumstances'... Well then." He looks at your father now for the first time, tilting his head at him.

"No, this is my daughter's wedding and we will be let in!" He demands, raising his voice.

Coryo clicks his tongue, slightly shaking his head. "No, sir, I thought we were clear on this."

"No, you said the wedding. This, if I'm not mistaken, is the reception. I made my sacrifice. Now, I'm here."

"And only about two hours late." Coryo hums uninterestedly, looking down at his watch. "Father of the year."

Your father's fuming, and it's hard for Coryo to not laugh in his face. "I paid for everything here! You can't deny us entry!"

"I can." Coryo says. "Well, actually, my apologies. Mrs. Y/L/N, you are welcome to come in, if you'd like." He smiles at her, polite demeanour flicked back on like a light switch.

Your father quickly pulls her back behind him. "It's both of us or neither of us. Go ask our daughter." He states, gripping tightly on her arm.

"Oh, no. I won't be ruining our wedding." Coryo shakes his head, firm in his decision. "I'll tell Y/N you send your love, Ma'am. Have a good night."

"No! You will let us in right now or-" Your father's tantrum is interrupted by a commotion across the yard, drawing Coryo's attention. People gasp in shock, and then he sees you, about to absolutely lay into Livia Cardew, who now has red wine all over her face and the front of her dress.

"I must be going, now." Coryo tells them, turning back to the security guard and adjusting the cuffs of his shirt to be able to roll up his sleeves. "If you don't mind, call for peacekeepers to escort him from the property. Thank you."

He doesn't have time to hear your father's angry disagreement as he walks away.

"So," You drop her arm, turning to face her. "I'm not sure if you are aware, but this isn't your wedding." You spit, gesturing to her dress. "And listen, I get it! You're jealous. That's fine, but it's extremely tacky and honestly embarrassing for you to wear a white dress to a wedding that's not yours."

Livia's lips fall open in shock, looking down at her dress before she laughs. "Y/N, come on. It really isn't that serious, you realize that, right?"

You stare at her for a moment, weighing your options. You could smash the glass over her head like you wanted to, demand that she leave immediately, or, you could 'accidentally' spill the glass on her. Before you complete the thought, you're throwing the contents of Clemensia's glass at the front of her dress, smiling as it splatters up over her face and in her hair, dripping down the front of her expensive-looking gown.

"Oops."

Livia gasps, wiping the red substance from around her eyes and flicking it off. "I thought that for one day you could be normal! God, you are vile!" She's practically screaming now.

"This is entirely your fault, you do realize that, right?" You tilt your head at her, a slight laugh under your tone. "If you wanted my husband just say that."

"I- ugh!" She groans in frustration and anger, swiping her hands over the liquid on her chest and flicking it all at you, staining the perfectly white satin of your slip. You look down at it, and then back at her. You were about to go through the roof.

The amount of people watching in the immediate vicinity is the only thing keeping you from grabbing her hair and shoving her head into the dirt. You decide to scream instead.

It turns into more of a wail, pumping angry tears into fake sad ones. Coryo is there in a second. "Darling, what's happened?" He asks, horrified as he looks between the two of you, grabbing your shoulders.

"I-" You sniff, pointing to the girl in front of you. "I just came to offer her something to change into because that is out of dress code and I tripped and-" You hiccup as he's rubbing up and down your bare arms. "It was an accident, and then she... It was just an accident! Now my dress is ruined and, and-"

He turns his gaze to Livia who just looks pissed while you ramble on about having had a little too much to drink, that was all. He's sure that's not what happened, he knows his wife better than that, but this show was not for him. He looks her up and down, visibly disgusted by her choice of dress. It honestly looks better now.

"Coriolanus that's not-" She chuckles with the shock of the accusation, shaking her head as she pleads with him.

"It's time for you to go." He tells her, looking toward a member of security who's not busy with your father, quickly waving him over.

Livia looks at the approaching security man in shock. "I didn't do anything!"

"That dress and causing a scene over it is more than enough." He states, wrapping an arm around your waist and wiping your tears from your cheeks. "Let's get you some water, Darling. It's okay..."

"It's not!" You cry, gesturing to the few small drops of wine on the front of your dress. "It's ruined! She ruined everything!"

Just as she's about to be escorted out, you make eye contact with her, offering a smug smile. She scoffs, which earns her a grab on the arm and a more forceful expulsion from the reception.

"Y/N!" Tigris is rushing across the lawn toward you, careful not to stumble in her shoes and bridesmaids' dress. "What happened?" She asks, addressing her cousin now.

"She's okay, there was just an accident with a glass of wine. We're just going to take a few minutes. I'll help her change." He explains to her.

She nods, looking worriedly down at the small stains in your dress. "I should be able to get this out, alright?" She assures you, rubbing a clean spot of the fabric between her fingers to make sure.

"Okay, thank you." You sniff, leaning into your husband's side as he guides you back up to the house.

You get inside and upstairs to what has become your dressing room and secondary bedroom over the last year. As soon as he shuts the door behind you, you can't hold your laughter back anymore. You're practically doubled over with it, and immediately Coryo understands. He chuckles, shaking his head at you.

"What a show..." He grins fondly, pulling you into a hug which you happily return.

"Oh, you liked it?" You giggle, coming down from your laughing fit.

"It was wonderful." He agrees, kissing the top of your head. "For a moment I was worried about you."

"Aw, really?" You look up at him, jutting your lip out in a pout.

"Definitely." He hums, kissing you softly. "Now come on, let's get you changed, huh?"

"Please." You nod, kissing him again before pulling back to pull your next dress from the closet. "I was supposed to wear this underneath, but now I can't." You sigh, hanging the full dress on the door before pulling the wine-stained one over your head.

"Just that will do, I suppose." Coryo mumbles, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind as you toss the slip onto the ground.

"Oh, you suppose, do you?" You chuckle, reaching up to pull the new dress from its hanger.

"Mhm." He nods, planting a kiss in the crook of your neck. "Makes my job easier later."

You laugh, blush spreading over your cheeks and flushing your chest while you unzip the back. You carefully balance as you step into the opening in the fabric, pulling it up around your waist.

"Don't rush, Darling. It will probably take you a while to recover before we can return to the party." He says, watching you adjust the skirt before you plan on zipping it up.

"Good point." You agree, but make no effort to stop until Coryo places his hand over yours.

"What should we do with all this time we have to kill, hm?" He's already leaning down to kiss over the back of your neck.

"I feel like you have an idea..." You mumble, tilting your head to adjust to his presence.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" He asks as he gently pushes the fabric back down to drop in a pool around your ankles.

"You may have mentioned it..." You turn under his palms as they land on your lower back, gently pulling you closer. "And I love you too. More than you could ever imagine, Coryo."

taglist: @totallynotkaibiased , @stelleduarte , @klplynn , @secretsicanthideanymore , @bejeweledreverie , @gloryekaterina , @andrewgarfieldsbitch , @queenofspades6 , @pepperonipastas , @ladybug0095 , @lunamothwrites , @sbrewer21 , @mus-tbe-a-weasley , @splxtscreen , @unclecrunkle , @karmaswitch , @coconut-dreamz , @nekee-lilac02 , @ooooglymoooogly , @riddlerloveb0t , @lovedbalances , @notyourwildestdream , @snowlandson-top , @too-lit-for-fanfic , @utopiakys , @deafeningballoonnacho , @roosterschanelslut , @chmpgneprblem , @cosmoetik , , @urvampgfsworld , @carolanns-world@nan-nie , @shakespearseclipse , @iovemoonyy , @notyoursweetheart-honey ,  @xyzstar , @eatpizzasass, @slytherinholland , @queenofshinigamis , @elodiebeau , @soulessjourney

[felicity0801]

whiterose duo art

rambling and bonus (Hannah + Mapicc) art under cut

@monachopsissssss @lady-hibiscus (my lssmp fandom mutuals i think, if you dont wanna get randomly tagged in the future pls just tell me)

bored and drawing things in class as usual

now i actually don���t watch like 99% of Hannah’s streaming due to my godawful time management but i think this was the vibe of them meeting up again after Leo’s revival?

anyhow i want to make a Leo design timeline but I have no clue at all what his pre-S5 lore was (all I know is that he used to be one of the top PvPers on the server).

speaking of design timelines, here’s some Hannah design stuff

…yeah I know she’s a S6 new member and I already have more outfits for her than some of the members who’ve been around for way longer. but she’s fun to draw so. :>

random thought/headcanon about c!Hannah is that she’s probably a lil cold sensitive. She is like part plant after all. Her style’s very hyper fem though, so she tries to limit bulky insulating materials and deal with the consequences in favor of something that “looks nicer”.

anyhow first fit for season start and her time with The Mice is literally her canon skin. The basic and purely pretty focused. Not quite ready/adjusted to the way Lifesteal works and its differences from say DSMP, bedwars, or competitions/tournaments/events.

2nd one is for solo Hannah between the Mice disbandment and CFG confirmation. Still mostly the same, but with some small practicality fixes as she’s more edge alone: no more heels, no more skirt because it’s totally unnecessary, and more layering- it’s August, the height of summer, so a tank top for outside (esp. warm/hot biomes) to not overheat and also photosynthesize, with a cardigan for cold biomes or going underground.

3rd one is CFG Hannah. Fancier, but in like a steampunk rebel sort of way. There is visible influence from Wemmbu as it’s more “elegant pretty” than “pretty pretty” if yk what I mean. Wemmbu and Kab got that outfit together for her, Kab got her the corset/torso brace thing, and that becomes one of her more prized belongings.

4th one is spawn war/post-Oct 18 Hannah. The server is in flaming, crater-filled ruins with constant battles that frequently go on for hours or even days. Her nice clothes from her CFG days eventually end up permanently ruined- she can’t fix them anymore after Bacon/Hannah/Kab betrays Wemmbu as the trio don’t have access to anything similar to the nicer fabrics and equipment they had gotten from Wemmbu- I imagined the long outer skirt thing would have a lot of tulle, which is a nightmare to work with even under good conditions. It’s also well October so the cold’s starting to set in. Bacon made her a quilted cape from scraps to help her stay warm temporarily.

5th one is Winter Hannah. Pangi got her a practical sweater and trousers to keep her functioning as part of “repairing the server after the spawn war”. She keeps what she can from her CFG era even though it’s getting a bit worn. Also I know you can’t really tell but she’s supposed to have gloves too. I’d like to think her flowers close up, retract, shrivel away, in the cold like real flowers, so the ones on her arm don’t get in the way and there’s less in her hair. She has a jacket too that Pangi gave her, it’s unclear who it belongs to but most likely Leo or Red- it’s a black blazer that doesn’t quite fit her. (I like to think Lifesteal teammates resort to sharing clothes in hard times as a sign of loyalty. Unfortunately it tends to not work for the girls because there’s like 5 of them so it’s harder for them to find clothes that fit.)

I am almost certainly going to give Hannah a Spring 2025 outfit too, but currently I think I should wait a bit, catch up on streams, and figure out more about where her arc’s going.

+ Leo design thoughts: post-revive Leo is a mess. A general Lifesteal headcanon for me is hearts exist in 2 rows of up to 10 each (same configuration as UI hearts) on the inside of the characters’ arms. But after a character’s revived, they have a blackened or otherwise obviously discolored patch where the hearts should be and the new hearts appear in it, as a sign that they’ve been at no hearts before. Normal Leo is a very fancy/elegant guy who always gets nice stuff, but post-revive Leo is kinda helpless. It’s the middle of winter (he was revived around Christmas iirc) and the server just went through a massive war. And when he and Red were banned, Hannah and Kab essentially had to take all of their possessions for themselves and Bacon and Pangi in order to survive and be functional enough to try to repair spawn and do their things. He has like literally nothing to his name because all of his gear and everything he’d had prior had either been taken by Pangi for his shenanigans (including the whole PMC bit) or split between the Bacon/Hannah/Kab trio. Sure Atlas and the Bacon/Hannah/Kab/Pangi squad are trying to take care of his needs, but he’s still on low hearts and they’re all destitute. He has a blazer coat and knitted vest instead of his usual suit, and also his hair isn’t as structured or “stylized” as usual- the side bangs/“L” piece doesn’t curl as much and he also just has his hair down instead of in a bun. Also unrelated but im sorry his hands look kinda scuffed im just bad at drawing hands.

+ unrelated S6 Mape design stuff

bangs in the main reference are unfortunately a bit scuffed, i unfortunately just forget how to draw characters I’ve drawn like uncountably many times sometimes.

also this is his Empire/S6 skin right? Because ysee I am planning to do LS!Mapicc for a cosplay and I actually drew this reference sheet for my textiles teacher (so she knows why i want to alter her hoodie pattern). I have picked this skin for the cosplay, that’s not changing, but I do want confirmation on what time/lore period this skin is for because I’m not that sure and don’t want to spread misinformation when it does matter. Oh and do not expect progress on the cosplay thing for at least like another 2 months. I’m going to be in China for like most of the next month to collect materials and I’m going to make a prop sword when I come back (which is also why I drew a sword design).

oh and i have so much LSSMP design stuff but i havent drawn most of it because again my terrible time management.

oh dear this is getting long lemme post it now

[fkinkindagauche]

Not A Fish, Out of Water

Another fill for @harringrovewinterbingo, square B3 - "a Santa outfit you shouldn't wear around kids".

Set in the Mer universe from the first fic in this series, The First Taste, but it can be read as a stand-alone.

Thanks to @dame-zoom-a-lot for continuing to beta, and continuing to egg me on with this AU.

Please check out their awesome Tumblr posts of Murray's field notes, set in this AU! Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Rating: Teen and Up | WC: 3,308 | Tags: Billy Hargrove Being an Asshole, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Enemies to Lovers, eventually

Ocean divider by @/saradika-graphics

Summary: Mermen Billy and Steve get sent above the water on a mission. The first order of business, finding clothes, doesn't go great for Steve.

Steve had never been this cold. He stood naked on the lake shore, trying to get used to the physical sensations of having legs and using his lungs. The frigid air assaulted his wet skin, now a strange peach color instead of its usual green. His only consolation was that Billy was shivering just as much as he was.

"Fuck," Billy exhaled, wrapping his arms around himself. "How is it this much colder above the ice?"

Steve knew the answer, because he'd listened to Dustin ramble one too many times. The water in the lake beneath the ice layer stayed a constant 4 degrees Celsius throughout the winter, a temperature their mer bodies adjusted to every year with the lake turnover. The temperature in the air could get far below that in the winter, and the wind made it feel even worse.

But he wasn't about to say any of that to Billy, who already thought he was enough of a loser without adding "nerd" to his list of shortcomings.

Billy shook his legs out and looked down at his body. "And why is our junk on the outside? This looks ridiculous."

Steve ignored Billy's question, though he did agree that having external genitalia was distinctly uncomfortable. "I thought Hopper said Murray was going to meet us," Steve muttered, teeth chattering.

"Hopper? You on a non-honorific basis with the King now? Figures." Billy turned away from Steve, looking down the lake shore.

Steve mentally castigated himself for the slip-up. Billy never hesitated to remind Steve of his privileged status as nephew to the King. As the two strongest and most attractive mermen in their age group, it seemed like Steve and Billy had been in direct competition for something for most of their lives. Every time Steve prevailed over Billy (which was, admittedly, a relatively rare occurrence) Billy claimed it was due to nepotism.

Steve sighed, looking the opposite direction from Billy for any sign of movement. There was nothing, just an empty stretch of sand.

"I don't think we can stay out here very long like this," Steve ventured.

Billy didn't reply, he just started to walk away from Steve. Or he tried to. He crumpled to the ground on his first attempt.

"Shit, you okay?" Steve asked, rushing to help him up, moving with more grace than Billy. Steve had been topside once before, a few years ago with his father, and was ready for the way the legs that Owens gave him would feel.

Billy shoved away Steve's proffered hand. "I'm fuckin' fine, man," Billy grumbled. "Not all of us have gotten a chance to practice walking with daddy." He stood up on his own and took a few shaky steps, getting used to the legs.

Steve followed as Billy wobbled down the shoreline. He scanned their surroundings, looking for Murray or anyone else. He knew people weren't actually allowed to walk around naked up here, something to do with the external genitalia situation, so he was really hoping Murray would be the first person to find them.

"I cannot believe I agreed to this," Billy complained as they walked. "Why should I have to freeze to death up here to keep the King's little twerp from tanking her entire life?"

"You seemed pretty excited about it when the King asked you to come," Steve pointed out before he could stop himself. Always poking the bear.

"That was before I knew you would be coming. And before I knew how fucking cold it was up here."

They trudged along the beach for another few minutes, Steve growing increasingly worried about the effect the cold was having on their human bodies. The sun was getting low on the horizon, close to setting. Steve knew it would get even colder then.

Finally, just as the sun was setting, they saw a figure in the distance - a man, bundled up in many layers of clothes. The man frantically waved his arms at them and shouted something. Steve couldn't hear it over the crashing of the waves. He quickened his pace, Billy falling into step beside him.

"Well if it isn't the fishy wonder boys!" the man announced when he was closer. "Or are you just a couple of crazy nudists out for a winter stroll?"

"Hi, Murray," Steve said. He'd met Murray on his previous trip up.

"Oh, Hop sent me little Stevie Harrington, all grown up?" Murray asked, recognizing Steve and clapping him on the shoulder. "And who's your hunky friend here?"

"I'm not his friend," Billy growled, pushing himself in front of Steve. "I'm Billy Hargrove, and I'm leading this mission." Steve rolled his eyes. The only way Billy had agreed to let Steve come as well was if Hopper said he was the leader. Hopper, only thinking about getting his daughter El back, didn't give a shit about Billy and Steve's ongoing ego competition, so he'd agreed in a heartbeat. Steve wasn't enough of a bitch to protest.

"Oh, great, he sent me a pair of warring adolescents," Murray said sarcastically.

"We're 19!" Steve protested.

It didn't look like that changed Murray's opinion at all.

"Alright, first step, put these on." Murray threw a large coat at each of them. "My car's just over this dune, so hopefully you won't get frostbite before we get there."

Steve hadn't known the frost could bite. He glanced apprehensively at the ground, then grabbed the coat and put it on. He relaxed a little once his core was adequately warm.

They followed Murray up over the dune. The walking immediately became difficult, sand shifting treacherously under their feet. The muscles in his newly formed calves started to burn. Thankfully, the dune wasn't high, and they crested the top in just a few minutes. They ended up on a brief forested trail that led to the concrete of a parking lot. A large sign at the head of the trail read "INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE".

"Is that a car?" Billy asked with something approaching reverence. There was one car sitting in the parking lot, which Murray approached with a set of keys.

"Yeah," Murray replied. "A really crappy one."

Billy didn't seem to care. Steve knew all about his obsession with cars. Billy had gotten hold of a book on cars from one of the clan's trips up top a few years ago, and hadn't shut up about it since.

The inside of the car was slightly warmer than outside, and Steve was grateful to sit down. Steve had ceded the passenger seat to Billy, not wanting to come to blows this early on in their mission. The car warmed up further after Murray started it and pulled onto the road.

Billy fiddled with all the controls he could reach from the passenger seat, pressing any button and turning any knob he could get his hands on. He pressed one knob, and music filled the car. They had plenty of human artifacts underneath the lake in their dry cave system, but they didn't have electricity, so the only music they were able to listen to was music they made themselves.

Billy's mouth dropped open. "This is the radio?" he asked, in awe.

"Yeah, kid," Murray confirmed, amused.

Steve stared at Billy as Billy stared at the radio. It was rare that he got to see Billy's face completely devoid of negative emotions.

"The fuck are you looking at, Harrington?" Billy demanded, catching sight of Steve staring at him in the rearview mirror. His face resumed it's natural disposition, teeth bared in a snarl. Steve looked away, but didn't give Billy the satisfaction of a response.

"So, what do you two know about what's going on with El?" Murray asked. "Hopper didn't tell me shit."

"Right, so," Billy began. "We got what we know about the whole situation from my dumbass little sister, Max, who finally spilled the beans on El now that she knows how much trouble she's in. Over the summer, El met some kid who was out kayaking on the lake, and claimed she fell in love with him."

Ah, to be fifteen again, Steve thought to himself, when you could fall in love with someone after just a few minutes of talking to them in a boat.

"El apparently wouldn't give it up, thinks she's really in love with this kid," Billy continued. Steve could hear the disdain in his voice. "Eventually she went to see Vecna, who agreed to turn her human. Apparently, if El can get this kid to tell her that he loves her before the winter's over, Vecna will turn her into a human permanently. But if she can't, she'll lose her human form, and be Vecna's thrall. Either side of the deal is not something Hopper is pleased about."

"Who's Vecna?" Murray asked. "Another witch? Wait, did Owens get canned? Is he alright?" Murray sounded like he was nervous for Owens.

"No, Owens is still there. Vecna used to be the clan witch, before Owens," Steve explained. "He got exiled after he attempted to kill a few kids for some weird ritual."

"Huh." Murray relaxed a little on hearing that Owens was okay. "Why doesn't Hopper just come up himself and get her?" Murray mused.

"He needs to stay down there to keep an eye on Vecna, make sure he doesn't try to interfere up here," Billy replied, "but he wants us to bring El back ASAP to make sure she doesn't somehow get turned into a perma-human before they figure out how to break the contract."

"Did Max have any idea where she would have gone?" Steve asked.

Billy shook his head. "Not that Hopper could get out of her. But this is the closest town to our village, so Hopper wanted us to start looking here."

Murray's house wasn't far from the lake, only about a fifteen minute car ride.

"Make sure your coats are zipped," Murray instructed before they got out of the car. "Can't have you flashing the neighbors. I don't need to give them anything else to call the cops about."

They followed Murray into the house, both of them looking around with wide eyes. It had been summer the only time Steve had been above the water before. Everything looked completely different now, the whole world covered in a layer of snow.

After Murray had given them some of his clothes to put on, Billy said, "Alright, let's go find the princess."

"Slow down there, cowboy," Murray said. "You're not gonna be able to do much of anything but attract unnecessary attention going around at night. Rest up, we'll start in the morning." Murray overruled Billy's many protests, refusing to be their guide this late at night.

His guestroom was small, with only one bed. Steve groaned when he saw it.

"You can take the floor," Billy announced, stripping off his clothes and sliding naked into the bed. He flung his arms and legs wide, taking up the entire surface.

"Seriously?" Steve responded, hands on his hips. "That bed's plenty big enough for the both of us."

Billy threw a blanket and pillow at him. "Oh? Too soft and coddled to sleep on the floor? Or you trying to get another round on the Hargrove love machine? I told you I only did that because anyone looks pretty when you've had enough lake 'shroom."

"Fuck you," Steve muttered, face flushing bright red. He'd thought they were agreed on never mentioning what had happened at the party on the solstice, but Billy couldn't resist the chance to needle him. Steve threw the blanket and pillow on the ground. He hated how easy it was for Billy to goad him into doing what he wanted, but he wasn't about to insist on sharing the bed after that.

He settled on the floor as Billy chuckled to himself, satisfied. Billy shut off the lights, and Steve heard him start to snore just a few minutes later.

The floor was hard and cold. Steve pulled the thin blanket up over his shoulders, huffing miserably. He missed the soft bed of algae covering the rock he'd slept on beneath the lake.

He could hear Billy's snores deepen above him. Billy was presumably very comfortable in the large bed after their first day of walking. Steve hadn't thought that legs and feet would hurt so much. They were made for walking, so why was using them for their intended purpose so painful?

Steve stretched out his legs, rolling over and trying to get comfortable. It wasn't happening. The floor was too hard, and he was too cold and sore. He sat up, peaking his head over the side of the bed.

He could see Billy clearly in the dark, his eyes used to piercing the darkness of the benthic zone. Billy was clustered on one side of the bed, not even using all of it anymore. Steve grabbed his blanket and crawled in beside him, careful not to move the bed too much.

"What the fuck are you doing in the bed?"

Steve was roused from his slumber by Billy's irate voice, and several very hard whacks on his shoulder.

"Ow!" Steve yelped, rolling away from Billy and falling out of the bed in a tangle of blankets.

He hadn't woken up before Billy. He rubbed his shoulder, glaring at Billy.

"The floor is fucking uncomfortable, and that bed could easily fit three people," Steve grumbled.

Billy rolled his eyes. "You can't even survive one night without a cushy sleeping situation, princess?"

"I didn't see you sleeping on the floor," Steve shot back. How did every conversation with Billy turn into an argument so quickly?

"Whatever," Billy mumbled, sliding out of the bed. He still hadn't quite mastered his legs, and almost fell over when he first stood up. Steve snorted back a laugh.

"Oh, fuck off, Harrington."

Steve's eyes were drawn, as they so often were, to Billy's broad shoulders and strong chest. It was truly a tragedy that Billy was so attractive, but such a fucking dick. Steve turned away, pushing himself up off the ground. Thankfully, Billy was turned away from him so he didn't witness Steve's own difficulties with his new legs.

Steve stared at the clothes Murray had given them the day before. They didn't fit either of them right, and they were scratchy and distracting. Steve had only had to wear clothes once before. It was a uniquely distressing experience. Judging by the look on Billy's face as he pulled a shirt over his head, he agreed.

Murray was waiting for them in the kitchen. "How'd you sleep, fish boys?"

Steve groaned. "I wish you wouldn't call us that. We're human-phytoplankton hybrid merpeople. No fish involved."

"Yeah. Fish boys," Murray repeated. "What d'you eat, by the way? Do I need to get you Miracle-Gro or something?"

"I don't know what that is," Steve admitted. "We can just eat like humans while we're in fully human bodies."

Murray got them something he called cereal, which they both ate after he showed them how.

"How are we gonna find the princess?" Billy demanded as soon as they were finished eating.

"Hold up a sec. Ol' Papa Hopper sent you up here totally unprepared for human life," Murray said. "Left it to me to orient you. So you're gonna sit down and be oriented."

That was unfortunately true. Hopper had completely lost it when he found out what El had done. He'd gotten his own lake witch, Owens, to give Billy and Steve fully human bodies. Then he sent them topside with no instructions other than vague directions to Murray's house and the demand, "Bring me back my girl."

Billy snarled at Murray. He hated being told what to do.

"First things first," Murray continued, ignoring Billy, "we're gonna need to get you some clothes that actually fit, so you don't stick out so much when we go looking for El."

Steve didn't understand what was wrong with the clothes they had on now, besides the fact that they were clothes, and they were rubbing horribly against his skin.

Murray pointed to the couch in the living room, where a huge pile of clothes was sitting.

"I pulled these from the donation bin at the church around the corner," Murray said. "Try to find something in there that makes you look less like you've been living on the streets."

"What the fuck does that mean? Don't you all live on streets?" Billy asked, face scrunched up in angry confusion.

"Just find something that fits," Murray said with a sigh, leaving them.

They dragged the clothes into the guest bedroom. Steve immediately started to dig through them, not wanting to let Billy get everything good. His eyes were drawn to a flash of bright red. He pulled out a pair of shorts that looked small enough to allow for maximum freedom of movement. They were a garish red color, with an attached white belt. He found another bright red garment to go with them - a vest with soft white trim along all the edges.

"Stop hogging the pile," Billy said as he shoved Steve away, but Steve had found what he wanted.

He retreated to the corner, taking off the baggy clothes Murray had lent him. The tiny red shorts fit like a glove, conforming beautifully to his human thighs and ass. He even kind of liked the way his dick looked, a nice lump in the front beneath the belt. The vest was also comfortable, exposing much more of his skin to the air than Murray's clothes had.

Billy threw another red object at him. It hit him in the middle of the chest. "I think that goes with your outfit," Billy said. Steve looked down at the red cap with a conical shape and a white ball on the end. He put it on his head, and moved to look at himself in the mirror.

Seemed like a good outfit. It definitely fit, so it should meet Murray's criteria to let them go out searching.

Billy had changed into a fitted shirt and a pair of the pants Murray had referred to as jeans. The blue of the shirt brought out the color of his eyes, brilliant and sharp. The jeans hugged his ass, putting it on display. Steve looked away, pushing those thoughts down.

"Oh, absolutely fucking not," Murray said immediately after he walked back into the room. He was looking at Steve with a sort of horrified fascination on his face. "You getting ready to go audition for the Chippendales holiday show?"

Steve felt like he didn't understand half of what Murray said, even though it was ostensibly in English. "What's wrong with it?" Steve asked, looking down at himself. "It fits."

"Yeah, it sure does," Murray said with a manic laugh. "But you can't go around looking like that. You're showing off a few too many of the goods. Need to cover yourself up more. Like him." Murray motioned to Billy, who smirked at Steve. Of course Billy had somehow completed this impossible task appropriately.

Steve sighed and started to strip off his clothing. "Whoa there, sailor!" Murray yelled, covering his eyes. "You can't just take off your clothes in front of people."

Steve groaned. "Why are there so many rules?" he grumbled.

Billy threw a pair of jeans at him. "Try these. Should fit your skinny ass."

Steve tried not to be insulted on behalf of the ass he hadn't even possessed 24 hours ago, and went back to the pile of clothes. He'd figure this out somehow.

Also on AO3.

[ghostlycoyote0]

Two fandom blorbos and two oc blorbos. Still holding that gun.

Oh, easy. Spoilers for the end of Skulduggery Pleasant book 3, and much vaguer spoilers for book 7 (just scroll until you see the Drow in the green cloak to skip them)

Fandom first. Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain, the main duo of my absolute favourite book series, Skulduggery Pleasant. I’ll assume you know nothing about them because that lets me ramble even more

At the start of the series, Valkyrie is 12 and her uncle just got murdered as part of a plot to bring back ancient eldritch gods (of course, they don’t know that from the get-go). She meets Skulduggery when a nameless henchman (who I later found out from the wiki is called Vindick Leather) breaks into her uncle’s house while she’s staying there for the night and attacks her; Skulduggery then uses air magic to blast the front door off of its hinges, sets the guy on fire, shoots him in the shoulder, and loses his disguise in the fight therefore revealing that he’s a skeleton

Long story short, she takes his hat hostage and threatens to trample it if he doesn’t let her tag along, and now she’s his partner in crime

Sorcerers choose their own names by the way, so Skulduggery literally named himself Trickery, and this happened before he became a skeleton and it also became a pun. Valkyrie named herself partway through their first case

Great, context and exposition out of the way! I LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC SO SO MUCH!! They shaped pretty much my entire sense of humour, I love them, I’ve loved them since I was 9 or so and I wanted to be like Valkyrie when I grew up. The way they bounce off of each other, the way they’re perfectly in sync, the little codes and recurring phrases they have that only have meaning to them (“the sparrow flies south for winter”, “doors are for people with no imagination”, and “until the end”). I just love them both so much

The fact that Valkyrie was willing to open the portal to the home world of ancient eldritch gods who despise humanity, just on the very slim chance he would be alive and have even the smallest shred of sanity left, after having been dragged there a year prior. The fact that Skulduggery was willing to go into complete and total isolation for eternity to protect her in the magic equivalent of cryogenic sleep if it came down to that. They would do literally anything for each other. I think I’m running out of ways to put how much I adore their dynamic into words, so I’ll sum it up as the ideal example of platonic soulmates. They’re very, very special to me

I mostly just talked about the serious side of their dynamic because I have no clue how to put the more lighthearted side into words without rattling off quotes. Rest assured, they are also hilarious

Skulduggery is also very quotable, too

Right, OC time. I have a limited selection; most OCs I made have been lost to time, either because they got attached to bad memories (like Kai Zoku, who I am only mentioning because I still think his name is great; it’s literally just the Japanese word for pirate and he was the Ultimate Pirate Captain. It’s an Ace Attorney level name pun, I love it), or because the D&D campaign they were made specifically for crashed and burned and I never found somewhere else for them to fit (looking at you, Myra.. at least I could recycle her name into my GW2 character)

Anyway! This is Kyrae, my Drow Warlock. Her campaign has been on a cliffhanger for two years and is officially coming back next month! This is a picrew, but I edited all of the colours myself. It’s not 100% accurate, but it’s the best I can do

Kyrae (no last name) is from the jungle region of Xen’drik, a continent where dinosaurs still roam and everything is shrouded in disorienting, cursed mist. Her campaign is in Eberron, a lesser-used official setting, and Eberron Drow are split into three main cultures; the Sulatar, the Umbragen, and the Vulkoori

Kyrae is Vulkoori, a culture of many tribes - some more nomadic than others - who all worship the scorpion god Vulkoor, all in different ways. In Kyrae’s tribe, he has the epithets Vulkoor the Hunter and Vulkoor the Wrathful. They honour him via skilled hunting, and when given a reason to, being so ruthless and brutal that they’ve gained a reputation as bloodthirsty. That reputation came from their enemies, but they’ve never corrected it. They’re mostly isolated, with a few good allies to trade with

Her cloak was a gift from her best friend, Ryzul, who was stung by a scorpion while they were out hunting together. He was dead before they got home. Kyrae overheard a discussion about what to do; this was clearly a sign that Vulkoor was angry with the tribe, so maybe a sacrifice would appease him. And who better, than the victim’s closest friend, who was with him at the time? It’s been implied that there was another reason for that decision, but that was said out of character, so she has no idea

She ran when she heard that, and didn’t stop until she bumped into a shadowy figure wearing a smooth, white mask, with nothing but three black crescents in the shape of a smiling face. An Archfey. He seemed surprised that she could see him, and they struck a deal. She clearly needed help, and he was incredibly bored, so he would provide that help and she would provide a good story to watch. He helped her find the only port, and she boarded a ship to Korvaire, the continent the campaign takes place on

Fast forward maybe 20 minutes after stepping off of the boat. Kyrae caught a goblin child pickpocketing her, which lead to a guard attempting to throw the goblin off of a ledge, which of course lead to combat. Kyrae wasn’t having that, no harm had actually been done. For her first turn in the first combat in her first hour of being on this continent, she had her familiar, Vanguard (a winged mongoose who was summoned on the boat ride, more on him later), barrel into the guard and send him hurtling off the ledge. The rest of the party saw the fight break out, helped her, and she just kind of started following them because no one objected. They’re her tribe now, and her entire sense of identity, morality, and purpose is based on them, what she thinks they would or would not approve of, etc

So, Vanguard. A winged mongoose. The wings don’t have much significance, I had a choice between a familiar that can fly or a familiar that can swim really fast. They’re feathered, but I was so indecisive about what they actually look like that I ended up deciding they’re from a different bird every time he’s summoned. Now, the other half of his description is way more important, and I spent SO LONG deciding on it. I didn’t concern myself with specific species because then I would have never settled on one and he’s technically a Fey anyway, but. A mongoose is not only an animal Kyrae could have reasonably seen before, but they’re known for resisting venom and fighting venomous animals. Kyrae just turned her back on a scorpion god. It’s simple, but I think I’m clever. This art is, as always, by @prince-frederic

LOOK AT HIM. I LOVE HIM. MY SON

I could also talk about everything Kyrae is now dealing with and the trauma that’s happened, but I think that’s enough paragraphs about her for now /lh

I’ve already explained Sigurd’s full backstory once or twice here, so I think I’ll pick Vivian for my next OC

This is Vivian Harker, a Bloodborne OC! The token is a picrew that I did the colours for again, and the art is once again by Milo

I’ll pull back the curtain a bit here; she was inspired by Hammerlock! More specifically, it went like this:

Hammerlock would be really fun to have in Bloodborne, but I obviously can’t just take an existing character and use him in this TTRPG. It boils down to someone having the time of their life fighting the horrible monstrosities and maybe writing things down about them - can’t take cool trophies when you need to stay mobile. How do I justify that in such a dark setting? Maybe their dad was a hunter and they’ve grown up hearing stories about it, but they have no idea what they’re actually getting themselves into!

The end result is Vivian, who’s thrilled to be playing out the stories she’s grown up with now, and is filling out a sketchbook (with suspiciously red ink) along the way. She became a 16 year old white girl because she was made for a TTRPG campaign, and I can’t change my voice very much. She has no idea that when her father told those stories, he left out the traumatic parts

Daniel Harker was a fairly accomplished hunter. I say was, because this time, he refused to leave home to hunt. That was the first sign that something wasn’t right. The rest were little things, like teeth that are slightly sharper than before, eyes that reflect light like a cat’s. Little things, that indicated some kind of transformation was coming

Vivian could tell. She knew that the monsters used to be people, that hunters get affected the worst of all. She couldn’t get answers, though. So she took his equipment - the clothes a little too big for her - and left only a note to explain where she had gone

She’s thrilled to be here, to actually be fighting these creatures she’s been told about so many times, to be slowly filling her book with sketches and notes, but time is limited. She just doesn’t know how limited

The other, crucial thing she doesn’t know, is that there are no happy endings to be had in Yharnam

AND THEN THE DM GHOSTED ME SO SHE NEVER HAD A CHANCE TO DEVELOP OR ACTUALLY EXIST. SHE WAS OLDER THAN ME WHEN I MADE HER. THAT’S HOW LONG SHE’S BEEN IN STASIS

Anyway. Two fandom blorbos and two OCs!