#with a doodle of a sword and a heart at the end

[spicyet]

fem!Shuro from that one panel

[steviewashere]

Mmm...thinking about a 5+1 fic of sorts.

Different times that Steve has sat in the driver's seat of his car, pulled down the visor to block the sunlight, and immediately getting smacked in the face by a paper note.

A note from Eddie.

They start out kind of stupid and silly. The first one literally just has a crude drawing of a dick on it with writing: Penis and a tongue-out smiley face. Steve just snorts at it and slips it in his wallet because it's funny and he'll probably look at it later and ask Eddie about it. But not because he wants it to stop. But because it honestly made his day start out a little bit better.

So the notes stick around.

One of them is a silly drawing of Steve as a knight, stick figure with a wood sword. Maybe one is just a simple sketch of a random bird that Eddie saw that morning. There's even one of Garfield with a joint in his mouth—which makes Steve cackle, he even suggests that Eddie gets it tattooed as a joke (to which he takes seriously and actually does.)

But the last one he gets is a super sappy note. Just lines and lines and lines of Eddie hoping that Steve has a good day, that he keeps smiling because that's one of Eddie's favorite features of Steve's. There's little doodled hearts all over the margins. Steve's name is written in the best cursive he thinks he's ever seen. It's practically a love letter.

And, yeah, Steve knew all along that he was tiptoeing a treacherous line between friendship and something more, but this note/letter is a great little first step towards that more he wants.

Though. When he brings it up to Eddie. Eddie gets red faced and realizes, "Oh, shit. That's the wrong paper. Oops." And he reveals the actual note he meant to leave was of some small goblin creature wearing a stupid Family Video vest.

The love letter-note was the one he ended up grabbing and sticking in Steve's car the night before, when he was tipsy and tired and getting a ride home.

So...more of a five silly notes and one sappy one? Not sure, though.

Oh! And Steve keeps all the notes in his wallet :). So that later, when they've confessed to each other and whatnot, Steve can show his eclectic collection of Eddie's notes. And he can just gush over how stupid and adorable and funny they are. It's a not so subtle ask that he gets more notes from Eddie, even the sappy ones. <3

[saquesha13]

Steve always keeps a pen on him.

Eddie is a fidgety jittery antsy guy, always tapping his knees, twisting his rings on his fingers, messing with the chain on his pants. But days when he doesn’t have built in fidget toys, Steve wordlessly hands him the black ink pen along with his arm and Eddie usually starts off with connecting all the dots, making a constellation out of Steve’s moles and freckles covering his tan skin on his forearm.

He’ll add doodles next. Every time there is always a heart with S+E in the middle, but he mostly gets swords, a penis and devils drawn on his skin, never admitting out loud to anyone just how nice it feels to have the pen trail along his arm. Always pretending to be annoyed when he isn’t.

One time at the Munson’s trailer they got so high off their asses, Eddie found the pen in Steve’s pocket which ended up with Steve shirtless laying on his belly on the living room carpet and Eddie doodling across his entire back, half straddling the back of Steve’s thighs with his crotch against Steve’s ass. It has Steve horny and nearly falling asleep at the same time. Probably because of the weed. Eddie took a polaroid picture of his work afterwords. There was the biggest heart shaped S+E so far across the back of his shoulder blade, the moles all connected together with a steady hand, a fire breathing dragon snakes across his entire back, it looked pretty damn cool. But what caught Steve’s eye the most was the fancy cursive writing under the dimples in his back that has Steve blushing. Eddie wrote Steve Munson.

They aren’t even dating yet.

[beansprean]

Colored sketches from Patreon!

Support me on Patreon or send a tip on Kofi!

(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: colored doodles of wwdits characters. 1. Full body of Nandor in his usual furred tunic sitting on the floor with his legs pulled up, elbows braced on his knees. His left hand dangles between his legs while he leans his chin into his right, staring blearily into the distance. A thought bubble by his head shows a dancing pink unicorn with a purple mane and tail. 2. Waist up of Colin Robinson wearing only unbuttoned brown cuords and reclining on a plush beige pillow, looking at the viewer with a flirtatious grin. His left arm is relaxed and laying along the pillow beside him and his right is holding a tape measure at his hip, four inches of it extended straight up. He has both nipples pierced and a gothic script tattoo across his chest that reads 'shrug life'. Next to his head float a heart with a question mark. 3. Full body of human Jenna in jeans, blue shirt, and brown knit cardigan with Nadja standing behind her in a dark blood-red gown. Nadja has both hands on Jenna's upper arms, pulling the cardigan off one shoulder as Jenna tips her head in the other direction, exposing her neck for Nadja to bite. Which she does, spilling blood down Jenna's chest. Jenna flinches but looks blissful, eyes closed. 4. Hips up of Guillermo in a brown sweater and green chinos sitting in a leather chair, half turned around with his left elbow braced on the back of the chair and his left hand gripping the opposite armrest. He looks behind him with a confused and judgmental expression. 5. Knees up of Nadja and Laszlo in matching blue and white outfits, standing close with their bodies pressed together from hip to cheek. Nadja has her left arm around Laszlo's shoulders and her right stroking his beard. Laszlo is covering that hand gently with his left. They are looking at each other and smirking with equal amounts of love and horniness. 6. Full body of Nandor in a brown tunic and orange furred kaftan, holding a sword in a tail stance - loosely in both hands from one hip, tip pointed down and beside him, his opposite forward to brace for an attack. His expression is hard and concentrated as he looks directly forward. /end ID

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 30

part 1 | part 29 | ao3

cw: Steve Harrington committing unforgivable thought crimes (besmirching LotR)

"Uh," Steve stammers as Eddie tugs him off the couch, because he just propositioned the guy while covered in snot and tears and wearing a blanket as a cape, and now that guy is holding his hand.

Eddie doesn't let go after he gets him to his feet. Their fingers lace together, and his palm is soft and warm, his fingers slightly callused. Steve can feel his own pulse pounding in his wrist.

"Simmer down," Eddie teases, "I'm not having sex with you. Yet," he adds with a lewd waggle of his brows when Steve puppy-dog pouts at him. "This is better than sex, anyway."

"If you're having shit sex, maybe.” Steve rolls his eyes and lets himself be dragged past a messy counter, where Eddie stops to grab a black lunch box and a cassette tape, a tissue for Steve’s face, then down the hall to Eddie's bedroom.

"My kingdom," he grins as he shoves the door open and waves Steve through with a bow.

His room is amazing. Awesome and terrible all at once: awesome, because it looks like someone put Eddie’s essence in a blender and ran the blades without a lid, and terrible, because the place is a fucking pigsty. There’s a bag of bread on the floor.

Eddie tells him to make himself at home, so Steve plops down on the edge of his bed, takes in the explosion of artwork tacked to the walls while Eddie buzzes around the room — swoops and swoons like a drunken bee, kicking shit into messy piles, sticking a cig in his mouth and forgetting to find the lighter, turning on the stereo. He pops in the cassette, and Steve lets out a surprised laugh when he hears the upbeat strumming.

"Rumours? Really? That's your 'better than sex' cure?"

Eddie cranks the volume. "It's workin’, ain't it?" he mumbles around the unlit cig.

Steve tries to frown and fails. "…Shut up."

Eddie snickers at him; gives him the cutest smile he's ever seen, nose scrunched up, eyes crinkled at the corners, then he tucks the cigarette behind his ear and shakes his hair out with a grimace. “Christ, it’s hot in here." His hands move to the hem of his shirt. "Look away or don’t, baby, I’m changin’!”

Steve smiles and averts his gaze, falling back on Eddie’s bed and looking at the ceiling with his legs dangled over the edge. In his periphery he can see Eddie hopping gracelessly around the dresser, trying to tug his foot out of the end of his skinny jeans, cursing under his breath; dropping all the ‘g’s off the ends of his words.

"I like your Southern accent."

"Do ya now?" Eddie throws it on thick, really hamming it up, "Well then, I reckon it's plum near the most attractive dad-gum thing y’ever did hear 'round these here pawrts."

Steve honks a mortifyingly stupid laugh, which makes Eddie laugh like a chime in a windstorm, which just makes Steve laugh even more, and maybe Eddie was right.

Maybe this is better than sex.

He wipes at his eyes, misty for a good reason for the first time all night, and when he looks up again Eddie’s dressed in his pajamas. Dark gray gym shorts, a black cut-off tank, the arm holes deep and loose to expose his armpit hair, his ribs.

Steve’s mouth goes dry.

Eddie’s wiry and pale, firm muscle wrapped around his string-bean frame, and he's covered in tattoos — black line art and gray shading, fantastical beasts and staffs and swords, a crazily-detailed set of serpent scales snaking up his side. But it's his legs that catch Steve's eye.

His legs are covered in words. Words and doodles everywhere, from his calves to his thighs, the lines wobbly and thick like Eddie put them there himself. There are quotes in sloppy cursive, longer ones in blocky print; a few stylized to look like comic book dialog, the words POW! and DANGER outlined in spiky bubbles above his knee. Steve wants to trace the lines; rehearse him like a poem, learn each ink stroke with his fingers until he can recite them all by heart.

Eddie catches him staring and gives a small, pleased grin. “Like what you see?”

Steve’s tongue feels too big for his mouth. “Yeah. I really do.”

The smile widens. Eddie clambers onto the bed, stepping over Steve’s head and plopping down beside him with his back against the wall, one leg drawn up, the other stretched out long and loose.

Steve shifts to lay the same direction, and his shoulder brushes Eddie’s leg, his wrist ghosting against his ankle bone. He doesn’t pull away; likes the look of their skin tones side by side — the smooth desert landscape of his inner arm, accented only by a few veins and moles; the riot of ink and art all along Eddie’s shin. Eddie’s feet are bare, and they’re wide, a little hairy (reminds Steve of Dustin’s nerdy ring book, and he almost says as much, but he knows Eddie’s even more obsessed with that shit than the kids are. He really doesn’t want the dude to pop a brain boner and spend the next four hours lecturing Steve about jewelry lore.)

“What are you giggling at down there?” Eddie nudges at his elbow.

“Nothing,” Steve says, and Eddie responds “All right then, keep your secrets” in a silly character voice. He stretches to the side and grabs a joint off the bedside table.

“Now,” he says, voice slipping into that deep, slow sing-song thing he does — his sales pitch tone, Steve realizes. “This part is, of course, completely optional, but. In my humble, expert opinion—”

“So humble,” Steve teases under his breath.

“—It really enhances the whole experience.”

“The Stevie Nicks Therapeu- thera-” Oh, screw it. “Un-saddening Experience?”

“That is correct.” He holds it out over Steve’s face, wiggling it in offering, and Steve thinks about his conversation with Robin over brunch:

"I can't believe you did coke.” "I can't believe you smoked weed." "I know." "Was it okay?" He hasn't tried weed since... "Yeah," she answers seriously. "Yeah, it was okay. It was nice, actually."

“Okay,” he decides. I trust you. “Let’s do it.”

Eddie puts the joint between his lips and lights it up.

—

part 31

listen i know it’s a quote from a movie that will not exist for another 16 years just let me have this. tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added tomorrow please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[brawlmetaknight]

if dark meta knight has been described as "the darkness inside meta knight's heart brought to life", then i tend to imagine he's basically just a more...well, DARK meta knight lol, as opposed to them being total opposites. and it isn't just those deep dark "unfavourable" traits like anger and pride he might personify, it's also insecurities. he knows EVERYTHING about meta knight, probably more than meta knight knows about himself. every secret he has, everything he's ever felt but held in and festered, that's what dark meta knight embodies. to me!

but i also like to imagine he's probably not as bad as he used to be, because meta knight himself has become a more heroic person and this has to "reflect" in dark meta knight somehow. which is perhaps why he was temperate enough to be doodling with the others in his star allies guest star ending pic, and also why he protected adeleine and ribbon in his character trailer. imo that spoke volumes not just for dark meta knight but for meta knight, implying that his chivalry still exists even in the darkest cockles of his heart (offering kirby a sword even though he was possessed by the jamba heart seems to point to that as well).

i'd say parallel meta knight is the most evil version of meta knight in my personal hc. he's meta knight if meta knight continued down a path of want for power and hatred of values other than his own. no friends, only subordinates. like, he (and phantom meta knight) are their own weird conjured beings, but dark meta knight and meta knight are kind of fundamentally connected.

[solidwater-arts]

[ID: Two doodles of Lizzie in her SOS SMP outfit, stylized to have a heart theme. In the first one she's holding a diamond sword over her shoulder and winking, and in the second one she's standing idly with a happy expression. Her name and the artist's signature "solid water" are handwritten in white text with a pink outline. /End ID]

I wanted to practice her outfit and I accidentally made her lovecore

[oneatlatime]

Sokka's Master

pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood

Strange choice of master but we'll see where this goes.

The meteor shower animation is quite meditative. I wouldn't mind it as a screensaver.

How to describe something exceptional to your blind friend: "You've never not seen anything like this." It's amazing the quality put into even the tiniest of throwaway jokes.

Are meteor strikes flammable?

I love how whenever Sokka's disappointed he gets noodle arms. A surprisingly consistent characterisation.

Momo butt skate.

Iroh. The fuck?

ok. So he's playing a part for the guards. Why?

Pretty.

Funny to think about, but as a former WWE character, Toph's probably had more hero worship than the Avatar.

Lots to say about this! First, I stand corrected! i honestly thought that Sokka would be immune to this specific insecurity by virtue of him not being a bender. I was wrong! Second, I love how, as soon as Sokka expresses that he feels that he isn't as talented as the rest of them, the others respond by listing his actual, invaluable talents, without which the group would be completely at sea. They don't respond with "no you're perfect!" they respond with "no one can read a map like you can" and how he keeps their spirits up with jokes. They're not using false praise. They are using specific facts. I love that an episode that looks like it's going to deal with a character feeling down on themselves establishes from the get go that the character is invaluable, actually. So often, the 'low self esteem stock episode' puts the affirmation of the character's value at the end. Which means the viewer spends the whole episode being convinced that the character in question might actually be useless. Here, we're told from the start that the character is invaluable - the problem is that they do not perceive themselves to be so. Quite on the nose for a show that deals so much with identity.

OMIGOD IT GETS BETTER!!!!!!!!!!

Validating Katara sweeps in and a) validates his feelings, while b) clearly explaining that his self-perception is not in line with how the others see him, which c) doesn't invalidate a) !!!!

Katara has such emotional intelligence when she chooses to use it.

Nuanced intelligent discussion of the complexities of emotions and self-perception in a Sokka episode I am so happy I am blessed the gods are shining on me today I'm sitting here twirling my hair and swinging my feet and doodling hearts on the corner of my journal

SHOPPING!!!!!

btw that's the same face he makes when he says SUKI!!!

"Reinvigorate my battling" this boy. just. this boy.

He lasted a lot longer than I would have with nun chucks.

Aang the Happy Meal toy.

Some say that Halberd is still spinning today.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present: the 45 degree Sokka.

Some Foley artist had the time of their life with this weapons sequence.

Why thank you for that exposition, Mr. Exposition. Now walk away and we'll never see you again.

Toph does NOT move ONCE this whole scene and it's ever so slightly freaking me out.

Toph tells you she learned from Badgermoles and no one wants to discuss this further?!? We're going to gloss over that?

So this episode has a training montage theme.

Sokka goes freestyle on those door knockers.

That's one hell of a castle. Must be dark in there though. Tiny windows.

Which explains the several hundred candles. This show. Set up with one hand; slam dunk with the other.

This guy's reciting Sokka's s1 introduction on Kyoshi Island.

Sokka: Actually. I am a dumb. The Master: Sold.

The face of someone who is definitely picking up what you're putting down.

It's been ages since I watched the episode, but is some of what the Master saying here about swords an echo of what Zuko says to the kid in Zuko Alone when he's decapitating sunflowers?

A Sokka-less Gaang. Depressing and they know it.

The way Katara's voice actor says "oh everyone's a critic" is gold.

Multidisciplinary education vs. kid who's never been within a mile of the box he's being told to think outside of. Fight!

Yikes that was a meaty hit. Does Sokka have a nose left?

They're wearing beehives on their heads.

Was Sokka always this short?

The greens in this episode are such a delight.

The way he says "I'm finished!" Sounds like "Am finished" and you can actually hear the smiley emoji he throws in.

He's good.

What do they FEED him?

Sokka's voice actor had a great time this episode. All the voice actors had a great time actually.

Sokka invents the La Z Boy

Katara inadvertently invents a fandom war by attempting a joke.

They're all so useless and it's wonderful.

That was all only one day? That's a lot of outfit changes for one day.

"You mess things up in a very special way." Compliment? Let's go with compliment.

Sokka is so very Sokka this episode.

A reason to live is coming!

*thundering herds of shippers in the distance*

That's clever. The inciting incident gets smelted. Haven't seen that before.

This whole Iroh gets buff montage has been completely dialogue free on Iroh's part. Crazy levels of inner peace, that he'd doesn't need to snark back at the guard.

Seriously. What are they FEEDING these children. Also how is that door that shiny.

Sokka really has it in for those door knockers.

Apropos of nothing, the clouds in this episode are all so yummy. All these soft slate colours and misty layers.

Meteoric iron is actually a thing, right?

Ok but aren't mold made swords crappy?

HI YUE

I love how they managed to made a crafting montage where the character who does the least work is the one who looks like he's working the hardest.

"I saw a heart as strong as my garden decor"

"No it certainly wasn't your skills. You had none."

Creativity, versatility, intelligence, meat, sarcasm.

You've known him like two days and you can already tell he's more worthy than any man you've ever trained? Sounds like you had poor taste in students.

"No. This is my fight. Alone." Bro you are going to DIE. The first time you held a sword was two days ago. You might need the avatar on this one.

Guard who never shuts up actually kind of has a point here. He's a dick about as usual, but it's entirely possible that the rank and file of the Fire Nation army view Iroh's actions as a betrayal. Does anyone remember in Star Wars movie number 7, or maybe 8, when that Trooper sees Finn after he's switched sides and yells "traitor!" and it's the best part of the movie? Yeah, like that.

This episode throws the concept of linear time out the window. In two days, Iroh gets swole and Sokka masters sword fighting.

Do you think Sokka's realised yet that this is his final exam?

Yummy yummy clouds.

One in a million pocket sand shot.

One in a million stick placement.

So this master is like a sword spirit or something. He can't be human. There's no way he could get the scabbard to fly on perfectly without seeing.

"Try Lee, There's a million Lees. There's a tea shop in Ba Sing Se that has a super cranky waiter called Lee."

This guy's just this side of committing treason and I love it.

I see this Master is a devotee of the 'Hakoda school of shoving outrageously over the top compliments into Sokka's thick skull in the hopes that 1% of them will stick.' I approve.

This last scene has gorgeous hills and skies but you'll have to take my word for it because I've hit the image limit.

Sokka's been inducted into the super secret boy band!!!

He saved space earth for Toph! He's so considerate! He's fuelling the ships!

Let's compromise and call it space dirt instead.

Final Thoughts

This episode every two minutes: Sokka, you are currently flawless and you're about to get better. Me: Yes. Yep. Yeah. Seconded. I concur.

I like it! It's great! It's 24 minutes of the writers and characters fangirling over Sokka! Of course I like it! It made me criminally overuse exclamation marks! What else can I say?

Hands down my favourite episode is Bato of the Water Tribe. For Sokka's story, this episode is Bato of the Water Tribe part 2. Of course I'm going to love it. This episode was lab grown specifically for me.

Now let's see if I can say something about this episode that isn't poorly disguised squealing.

I love how the characters respond to Sokka saying he's not special with an evidence-based refutation rather than blanket reassurance.

I love how shopping cheers up Sokka. I love how Katara knows that shopping will cheer him up. This must be something she's learned since the show started. I don't think there were malls in the South Pole. So Katara was paying attention when Sokka and Momo went through the bag saga.

I love how much the master is baffled yet impressed by Sokka. He seems almost charmed by this breath of fresh air. I think it's hilarious that, when Sokka first approaches him, he's expecting early season 1 Sokka. He'd better send Suki a thank you card.

I also really like "The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation." It seems obvious to us, but in a world where there are weaponisable skills that are quite literally inseparable from the nations their wielders inhabit, it's probably something no one in the Gaang has ever heard before.

Obviously the episode is a little rushed - half hour kid's show and all that - but it's still pretty crazy that you can apparently impart a solid basic knowledge of swordplay in two days.

Toph going all tsundere is funny, and makes Aang and Katara unapologetically desperate for Sokka's company twice as funny as it already is. Toph's like "whatever" and the other two spent the day making a welcome home banner.

I love how Sokka's happiness is always so loud and shameless. It makes it contagious.

This episode highlights what Sokka's actual strengths are, by instructing him in what he thinks his strengths are. If that makes sense? Sokka is brain, which he's finally starting to realise by attending brawn lessons.

He's also heart, and I'll die on that hill.

Iroh getting swole was honestly just a thing that happened. No comment really, except it was interesting to have a reminder from the guard that a character we perceive as the good guy is currently perceived as the bad guy by everyone but us. When the Fire Nation does inevitably get defeated, a whole nation is going to have to reset their worldview and that will not be an easy process.

More like this please!

[anonymous-dentist]

Merpepito au Cellbit is daydreaming about marrying Roier right now btw. He’s at the wheel of the ship entirely distracted imagining Roier in a full pirate outfit with a sword decapitating people wearing a wedding ring. The enemies are all Navy soldiers. The ring is custom made. He cuts off Cucurucho’s head and spins and kisses Cellbit.

Cellbit almost crashes the ship into a rock. Baghera takes over steering and bullies him back into his quarters, where he starts going over maps. But he just ends up doodling his and Roier’s names together inside of hearts in the corners of the map

They Are Best Friends (who sometimes also kiss)

[cutedice]

i could have a headcannon on the monster + ace trio with a s/o who died in the battle and when they come back in boat their kid comes up and says "where's mommy?? she said we'll be playing dolls when she comes back !!☹️"

((ooooh this one hurt. Thanks for requestin!!))

Telling Your Kid You're Gone

Characters: Warnings: Death (reader dies), angst, mentions of violence

Fem!Reader, Feminine Titles used "mama, mom, etc..."

LUFFY

- He watched it happen. 

- He watched the bastard that killed you commit the crime. 

- And he couldn’t do anything to stop it. 

- It was devastating. Flashes of other people he loved vanishing just out of reach filled his head. Sudden grief filled his heart, and he couldn’t hold back the brutal beating the guy had coming.

- He held your dead body for a while and made sure you had a burial. He wasn’t going just to leave you. He wanted to give you a proper one at sea, something beautiful. 

- He brought you back with him and Franky was quick to start setting something up while Chopper and Robin prepped you.

- He went off to do his own important task. He finds your daughter in the kitchen doodling at the table and singing. 

- She does look a lot like you when he looks at her.

- She looks over, excited for a moment before she pouts. “Aw it’s just daddy,” she stuck her tongue out. “I want mommy! Where’s she?”

- Luffy chuckled, walking over and pinching her cheeks. “Am I not good enough?” he asked her, pulling as she whine in annoyance. He stopped shortly after though and crouched down. Tears were already building in his eyes. And, he’s never been subtle, but he almost wants to try for her.

- Still, he tries to speak. Once, then twice, and finally he pulls her into his arms. “I’m sorry,” he says, still smiling just a bit, “(Y/N)’s gone away. She won’t be back.”

- The girl doesn’t mind the hug, but she leans back to take Luffy’s face into her tiny hands. “Quit crying! I don’t like crying!” she exclaimed.

- “It’s okay to cry,” Luffy argued as she stretched his face in revenge for the earlier treatment. “I just miss her a lot!”

- Your daughter nods and huffs. “I miss mommy too!” she decided with another nod before she squeezed Luffy tight. “Is she really nod gonna come back? Not even to visit?”

- It broke his heart to tell her no.

ZORO

- Damn.

- He sat on the ground, covered in blood, next to your motionless body.

- You looked so peaceful and content.

- He was all for going out in battle, so the fact you died fighting until the end made him unbelievably happy in one way.

- It also left him feeling empty and lost.

- ‘More than usual?’ 

- He could imagine you saying something like that, and it almost made him laugh.

- He cried a handful of times in his life, and he swore he wouldn’t ever again after the fight with Mihawk. But tears just kept falling against his will. 

- So, he sat. Silently crying and deeply wounded. 

- He eventually called the others with him over once the tears had finished and his aching heart settled for the time. They helped him give you a proper burial, something quick, but it meant a lot to him.

- Once he returned to the ship, he headed for the library in search of his daughter. Robin was left in charge, and he figured that’d be his best bet in locating her. 

- He asked Robin to leave, which she did after a moment, patting Zoro on the shoulder before she gave them privacy.

- “Dad?” your daughter asked, looking at him curiously.

- “Hey,” he greeted, walking over and patting her head before he sat down with a small sigh. “I’ve got some news.”

- He told her honestly what happened, sugarcoating a few things, but he let her know about you and your brave sacrifice. And he was there for her as she cried into him.

- If anything, he was happy she was still alive. He would give anything to keep her from experiencing that loss again, as she became his world as they lost you.

SANJI

- “(Y/N)!”

- He screamed your name. He watched the sword go through you in complete terror. 

- It all happened so fast, yet so slowly. The battlefield felt frozen at the moment. 

- He moved fast, kicking the man away that dared to hurt you. No one even saw where he went. For all they knew, Sanji kicked him hard enough to make him disappear. 

- That didn’t matter to the cook, though, not when he cradled your face in his hands and tried to get Chopper or anyone to help.

- But it was ultimately too late. You passed in moments, whispering your last words before going limp. 

- He was so full of grief immediately. The battle continued behind him while he mourned before he got up to help finish. And, when it was all done, the strawhats around helped put you to rest before they escorted Sanji back to the ship.

- He didn’t blame you or anyone on board, though he wanted to push it somewhere. He blamed himself in that steed, for being too slow, for not being strong enough. He blamed the stupid murderer as well and the gull of him harming you. 

- He dismissed himself from the group once they returned to the Sunny, and he quickly ran off to locate his daughter.

- He found her in the men’s cabin with Brook, the two playing dolls together. Brook could recognize the aura surrounding the chef, so he left the two alone.

- “Papa! Are you and Mama gonna play with me now?” she asked, holding up a doll towards him. 

- Sanji had to fight back tears, leaning down to brush her hair out of her face before cradling it much as he did yours. “No bugs. Mama won’t be able to play.”

- He carefully broke the news to her, holding her tightly as she cried into him. He cried with her, soothing her to the best of his abilities as well. 

- “It’ll be okay. I’m here, I’m here…”

ACE

- Needless to say, he was not okay when it happened. Not in the least. 

- He already struggled daily with his own worth, but losing one of the only people who made him feel worth loving hit him hard.

- The whitebeards were big on getting back at those who hurt their family, and given the fact you were not only his partner but the mother of his child, he was going to murder whoever dared hurt you personally. 

- His flames were hotter than ever, and the battle was over in minutes. He was left for a minute, cold despite the heat and afraid of heading back to the ship without you. But he did. He forced himself to walk to the ship and board.

- He felt like time was slow, and his reactions were late. He also felt suddenly as though he were a burden, like a curse that wasn’t worth living. 

- That was until he felt a hand tug on his. He looked down, and for a moment, he saw you. But then he noticed freckles and curious eyes, and he smiled tiredly. “Hey, Sweety.”

- “Pops said you were sad!” she declared, and she had this determined tone in her voice that ace would typically adore, but now he was just too beat to acknowledge it with anything but a sad hum. Which ultimately confirmed her suspicion. 

- She reached up, and Ace lifted her without complaint. She leaned in to wrap her arms around his neck, hugging him. “They said Mama’s gone,” she mumbled. “Is she really?”

- Ace’s breath hitched. She was clever, and he knew she could handle the truth, but that fact also hurt him in a way. He put a hand on the back of her head, gently patting her. “Yes… Yeah, it’s true,” he admitted quietly. “I’m sorry,” he choked out, trying to hold back a sob.

- But, to his surprise, she pulled back. And, with the strength of a child raised by pirates, she squeezed his face and looked at him sternly through her own tears. “Mama was strong! We gotta be strong for Mama,” she nodded and patted his cheeks. “Okay? Strong for Mama!”

- Ace stared at her, his tears falling, and he smiled a bit. “Right. We’ve gotta be strong for her.”

- It wasn’t much, but at that moment, he decided he’d live for her. He was sure that you’d want that for him, and he grieved hard, and sometimes it was… terrible. But, he kept going for her.

[abellarts]

[ID: A digital drawing of Nimona and Ballister from the Movie Adaptation of Nimona smiling and posing while surrounded by neon lights, with white doodles overlay-ed on top. Bal is winking with his hand in an horizontal L shape below his chin. Nimona has her dragon wings out while doing the sign of the horns metal symbol. The neon lights which surround them are: a red toothy smile, a yellow star, a pink heart, a green gem, and a blue sign of the horns metal symbol. The white doodles are mostly random with a few exceptions: a shark near Nimona, a cat with big eyes near Bal, fire breath near Nimona's mouth, an arrow-shot heart with the inscription "A+B", and finally a sword swinging across Bal's prosthetic arm. /.END ID]

i added a “it’s good, watch it” to my other socials when i posted this but this is tumblr and you somehow found this, chances are you already have

[ffruitsalad]

Fable SMP Commission Experience 7/7 + Bonus Images!

In this section, I'll be sharing sketches from what I call "Scene 6: Finale," which includes the moment Centross looks up at Fable up to the conclusion. Also included are some thank yous and some bonus images!

"Centross smiles at Fable. Centross pulls Fable close into a hug, stabbing through Centross' heart. Centross looks up across the cave."

In the colored version, I believe John was the one who added some purple in the eyes of Centross looking up! Very nice touch! It makes Centross look more like the one in control of how the fight will go.

When Centross gets impaled by the sword, I wanted to make sure to get a good shot of it going though his chest with some blood on the blade, especially the dribbling bits.

"The reaver is flung spinning across the cave towards both of them. It impales through Fable. A golden light glows around Fable and is sucked into the reaver. Blood begins to ooze from Fable’s wound for the first time ever. He is stripped of his immortality."

This is the big one! I was trying to figure out how best to portray the light absorbed by the Reaver. I settled for a crackling energy, kind of like Zeus and his lightning bolts!

In the final, I emphasized the impact of the Reaver through Fable with blood spurting from his mouth. His body is hazy near his waist because I wanted to show that the borders of his physical body were beginning to dissolve.

I'm not sure if this was an intentional part on the writers' ends, but I'm a big fan of how this scene is a direct contrast to Centross and the souls! The contrast between purple energy being given vs yellow energy being taken...cinema.

In the final, I snuck in a hazy image of a skull on the Reaver's gem as a little bit of a treat!

"Centross headbutts Fable, who falls backwards, stunned. Centross shakily stands to his feet..."

An unused close-up of a teary, bloody, sweaty Fable. He has been undone! He's never had to keep track of so many fluids before!

It completely slipped my mind to draw in the headbutt scene, so I mostly worked it in digital.

"A loud heart thumps as part of Centross becomes stardust... More of him becomes stardust..."

The doodles are a bit lackluster, but I knew that I wanted this sequences to be very colorful and luminescent with a hazy brush. The scene transitions back to the smooth brush in order to show that the action has mostly calmed down.

"He looks towards Icarus... He turns to Fable."

For the frame Icarus is in, I wanted to make sure to emphasize his distress, confusion, and sadness. Lots of tears and furrowed brows.

For the frame Fable is in, I wanted to emphasize the loss of his immortality and pride. He's on the floor, nursing a new wound and drained of power and life.

"His body is almost fully stardust...Blackness...Centross’ eyes flutter open, glowing violet irises and pitch black scleras."

His face was not at all legible in the sketch. I wanted his eyes to look like they were beginning to close, but it wasn't reading well in digital. I'm much happier with the final product.

Although Centross is inhabiting a void, I still wanted there to be a sense of space and emptiness, so I layered some thick black brushstrokes in an overlapping pattern in the final.

Last Words:

I understand that these past few posts have been very lengthy! I don't expect anyone to read ALL of my notes (but if you did, holy smokes, many thanks). These are just mostly here for me to practice explaining my creative choices.

This project had a pretty tight deadline (a little under a month), but I feel like our team was very efficient and responsible about getting the work done in time! A little pressure goes a long way.

I'm thinking of opening up commissions or a small print shop in the future! I'll be sure to make an announcement for when that happens.

I'm very open to any future Fable SMP projects or collaborations! You guys are all very lovely and creative, and I always like hearing about new projects.

And now, some thanks!

Thank you to Centross for the opportunity to create this cutscene! It was really fun showing you my sketches and getting your feedback on them. This project really helped me flex my art muscles, and I'm grateful to have met you and become friends!

Thank you to @strawberripine for keeping me company in the wee hours of the night as I was trying to finalize in digital! Your presence helped me to keep focus and not sweat about the small stuff!

Thank you to @sherbertquake56 for editing the scenes into a finalized product! It was really cool to see how the visuals and audio flowed together!

Thank you to @johnyyyyyboy, who put in a ton of work on backgrounds and lighting! It really helped to elevate all the action that was occurring!

Thank you to the Fable cast members for the kind words of support throughout the process! You all are a lovely creative bunch, and I'm sorry that when I met some of you in person, I was having a bit of trouble engaging in conversation!

Last but not least, thank you to the Fable SMP audience for enjoying the cutscene! A lot of work was put into it, and it was very gratifying to see everyone's reactions in real time! You all have a nice community, and it's so cool to see everyone's cosplays, fanart, fanfiction, etc.

Until the next time I crawl out from my cave,

Fruit 💙

[nyxlaufeyson]

Doodles

Winter Masterlist - Loki Oneshot Masterlist - Main Masterlist

POV: Second

Ship: Loki x Reader

Type: Fluff, tiny bit of angst at the begining, bit of suggestive-ish content at the end

Info to know: This is a soulmate AU where anything your soulmate draws on their body shows up on you.

A/N: This my secret santa piece written for @catsladen!!! I hope you enjoy this piece, and happy holidays!!!

Loki had no idea how to tell you that he was your soulmate. It didn’t take long for him to figure it out once you showed up at the tower, but at first he just ignored it. He thought that soulmates were stupid, anyways, so he just didn’t say anything about it. 

However, as he got to know you a bit better, he wasn’t as opposed to the idea of you being his soulmate. You were intelligent, beautiful, and best of all, not afraid of him. But while he was fine with it, he doubted that you would be. You might be friends with him, but surely you would be opposed to being more than that.

So he didn’t tell you. He wore long sleeves to cover up the little flowers, hearts, and spirals that you drew on yourself to conceal the fact he was your soulmate. 

It was hard to conceal, especially on summer days, because you were always drawing on your arms. Ever the artist, which he admired about you. He could have used magic to conceal it, but to keep up a near-permanent spell altering his appearance would have been taxing. He still was not entirely sure how he normally appeared Asgardian instead of Jotun. Odin never told him. Plus, the little drawings made him happy.

While he didn’t acknowledge the fact you and him were soulmates, he still flirted with you. It was a harmless way to express affection in a way that might not tip you off. He was known to be flirtatious, so he could get things off his chest without you questioning it.

You would walk through the kitchen, in your workout clothes, sweaty from jogging or training. He would make a point to look you up and down, smirking. “You look delectable today, darling.” 

He would send you a wink, and you would roll your eyes while you grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and flipped him off on your way out.

Harmless fun was Loki’s outlet, but little did he know how it affected you. While you didn’t know that you and Loki were soulmates, you still harbored a massive crush on him. But his flirting came across as just playful banter between friends, which hurt you.

You were sure that if you mentioned your feelings to him, he would laugh at you. So, like him, you would lose yourself in flirtations.

Back and forth the two of you went, completely ignorant to the other’s pining. Innuendos, pranks, and flirtations built up tension so thick that you would need a star-forged sword to cut through it.

Everyone else in the tower noticed it, too. They just rolled their eyes and walked away when they walked in on you being lightly pinned to the fridge by Loki. The only people who didn’t notice the clear yearning were you and Loki. 

The flirting was a regular routine. He would corner you against a wall, whispering something in your ear. You would act just a bit more sensually as you did workouts when he was around. He would flirt with other women to get you roused up. You would wear more revealing clothes to catch more attention from others, making him jealous.

Finally, one day, he got the courage to tell you about it. He set up a nice candlelight dinner and asked you to join him on the roof. When you did, you felt severely underdressed. You were in an everyday outfit, while Loki was wearing a suit. 

Your face went a little red. “Oh, I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to dress up.” You said, eyes trailing to the table beside him that was lit with candles. 

Loki looked you up and down, getting nervous. “You weren’t.” He said, softly. “You look perfect as is.” 

Something about his ‘flirting’ was clearly off today. It felt much more real to you, which put you on edge. Loki walked up to you, taking your hand, and seating you at the table. “So, uh, did you want to talk about something?” You asked, and he nodded.

“Yes, how about we eat first?” He gestured to the food laid out before you, lots of your favorites, and you agreed. It was paired with fine wine, which was greatly appreciated.

He had it all planned out. As usual, there were doodles on his arms, pictures that you had drawn on your own flesh. After you both finished eating, he took a deep breath, and took his suit coat off. Your eyes immediately recognized the drawings on his arms, and your breath hitched.

Was this some kind of cruel joke? You rolled up your sleeve, putting your arm up to his in comparison. Each doodle was there on his arm, exactly as you had drawn it on your’s. 

“Loki, if this is some kind of joke…” You said, trying your best not to cry. Loki took your hand up in his, planting a gentle kiss. 

His eyes poured into yours. “I assure you that it is not. I have known for a while, but I was scared of rejection, and didn’t know how to tell you. If you don’t wish to have me as your soulmate, though, I understand and I will-”

You laughed. The sound startled him, and he could see relief in your face. “If I don’t wish to have you? Loki, I’ve been in love with you for like ever! If anything, I was worried you wouldn’t like me.”

With this new information, Loki widened his eyes. Had he really been that blind? He brushed that away for now, tucking a loose strand of your hair behind your ear. “Darling, you are the most beautiful and exquisite creature to ever exist. No one could compare to your charm, and you have managed to help mend my broken heart.”

A single, happy, tear slipped down his cheek. “With you, I feel complete. I feel whole. I never believed in soulmates, but after meeting you, I do. I couldn’t imagine a life without you.”

You sat there for a moment, utterly stunned. When you collected your wits, you grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him in for a kiss. It was slow and sweet, but rapidly became more heated. You accidentally knocked your wine glass over, and it spilled all over you. 

You broke away from the kiss, the cold wine dripping down your shirt and onto your chest. Loki smirked. “Well then, we should get back inside and get you changed. We wouldn’t want you to catch a cold now, would we?” 

The both of you abandoned the table and took the elevator down to your room. During the short ride down, Loki couldn’t keep his hands off of you, trailing kisses down your neck. “Oh, darling, you have no idea how long I have fantasized about this for…”

You were sure he was leaving marks, but you couldn’t care less. As soon as the elevator opened, Loki picked you up and you wrapped your legs around him, letting him carry you to your room. Luckily, you made it there without interruption, and Loki stumbled into your room, setting you down on the bed. 

He locked the door, facing you and your dripping-wet shirt. “Now, let’s get rid of that shirt, shall we?”

Secret Santa 2023 taglist: @joyful-enchantress @mochie85 @muddyorbs @holdmytesseract @sailorholly @lady-rose-moon @superficialdomina @cultofcarter @coldnique @ijuststareatstuffhereok89 @smolvenger @loz-3 @catsladen @lokisgoodgirl @acidcasualties @divine-knight-hand @quirkiest-turtle @glitchquake @fandxmslxt69 @holymultiplefandomsbatman

My taglist: @iceeericeee

[siphisket]

Tumblr where is all the Willow art quick someone is filming one of your gay magic royalty au fics :0

Image ID below the cut

[Image ID: Image 1 features a silly doodle of Jade Claymore and Kit Tanthalos holding hands with a heart between them. They are both holding their swords in their free hands. In Image 2, Elora Danan can be seen in the distance with an arrow pointing towards her that reads, “Exhibiting non-baby behavior.” In the foreground, a frustrated Willow Ufgood says “Y she not baby” to Silas. Image 3 depicts Graydon Hastur in his clothes from the party in Episode 1. The text above his head reads, “Nervous,” and he is sweating and looking around nervously as he raises a fork to his mouth. In Image 4, pathetic fuckboy supreme Airk Tanthalos strikes a sparkly pose and looks over his shoulder flirtatiously. The text reads, “oh noo my sister doesn’t wanna arranged marry you? Bummer bro if only there was some other way to unite our kingdoms in marriage too bad we’re both dudes ahaha unless… 👀”Image 5 features the nervous Graydon again, who is now sweating more and avoiding eye contact with wide eyes and pinprick pupils. The text now reads, “Nervouser.” He is sweating harder. Even his crown is sweating. End ID]

[zarvasace]

So I know you stated you weren't going to share the writing for that darks verse au, but would you be willing to give a synopsis? (Perfectly fine either way, just have a special place in my heart where I cherish and LoZ darks verse style aus)

Was this more of 'they're all evil and the Links defeat them' or 'they all become some degree of friends in the end' kind of fic?

Yeah I can share a synopsis of what I had and what I planned! Part of why I dropped the project is that I hadn't decided whether to make the characters sympathetic or not, either, because they weren't meant to be, but..... I got, and am still, attached. XD I kind of want the darks to get little redemption arcs! Or at least not killed. Their version of happy endings maybe.

Anyway, of the two fics, one had Four's Shadow as immediately a good guy, and the other had his motives a little dubious at first. The following is the latter:

A portal jump dumps the entire Chain into Warriors's Hyrule, where they're ambushed by people with reddened eyes and little to no pain response. They quickly realize that these are civilians being possessed or something, and struggle in the fight to try to not hurt them. Due to portal shenanigans, Four is out of commission, and during the fight, he and Hyrule are picked up and kidnapped.

The two of them aren't given any explanations, just taken to a tunnel system and locked up in a dark cellar. They're left alone until one of the possessed civilians comes in to give them some food and water. Four gets a weird feeling about it. Then he and Hyrule officially meet the first dark: evil Hyrule, who proceeds to use weakened versions of Hyrule's spells to torment him, but doesnt touch Four.

After a while of this, one of the possessed people enters with a bit more animation than usual, and has a conversation with Four that leaves him moderately sure that Shadow is controlling these civilians somehow, and remembers him, but he isn't exactly sure that they're on the same side.

At some point, a new Dark (evil Sky) enters the picture, coming in to unlock Hyrule and take him just outside the cellar door. He heals someone out there, a little more than they wanted him to, and then Sky's dragged in. He was captured too, but on purpose, with garlic in his pocket. The Chain has been having a hard time finding out how to get into the tunnels, and this is their plan: get someone else captured and follow his scent.

Meanwhile, Shadow shows his hand and gives Four his sword back, so he splits and carries out a distraction plan as the Chain fights through monsters (Shadow is in fact controlling people but he keeps them away from the fight.) Some things go wrong, some things go right, Blue breaks his thumb to get out of shackles, Red goes tiny and drops pots on evil Sky's head, and eventually the two darks are brutally murdered and the three/six/seven heroes rescued.

Cue a bit of distrust of Shadow and the rumbling of a new plan: there are other darks out there in the dark world, waiting for their chance to come into the light and cause problems.

Dun dun dunnnnnnn

More installments would give them time to run into all the other darks, deal with some trials on Shadow's part, etc.

I have been spending some time doodling these darks and will write up a post later tonight (probably) about who they are and what decisions I made. :) I've changed some of the lore since this story, you'll probably notice it in Shadow the most.

[itsalwaysforyou]

the black sky and all those lights

a silly little something i wrote for jalentines!!

When Mal opens the dormitory door, Jay is standing in the hallway in his workout gear, hair tied up in a bun. He’s already grinning in that way he does when he wins a fight. Mal rolls her eyes at him. Grabbing her bag, she says bye to Evie, and joins Jay in the corridor. 

She scowls as they walk, her workout clothes tight on her skin. Jay had insisted they’d do things properly, and not in their usual leather. 

The hallways are decorated for Valentine’s Day, making Auradon Prep even more gaudy and colourful as usual. Pink and red hearts plastered across the walls, boasting the abundance of love here in Auradon. Jay’s had a thousand notes in his locker. Mal’s had none. Every morning, she watches Jay approach his locker like he would a target on the Isle. Weight forward, shoulders squared; ready to fight if needs be. And the paper falls to the floor like blood, only sickly pastel. Scrawled glittery gel pen. Words confessing passionate love, or asking him on dates, or doodles of hearts. Jay smiles the whole time. Greets and winks at girls. Scrunches those notes up in a fist. 

“Everywhere looks disgusting,” Mal says as they approach the sports hall. Heart-shaped bunting crests the doors.

Jay holds the door open for her. “It’s fun.”

“You would think that.”

The sports hall is mercifully free of décor. They drop their bags in the corner and begin to warm up, another stupid practice Jay insists on. His top rides up as he side-stretches. Isle rule: never show skin, especially to the enemy. Except, Jay loved to parade around in those stupid sleeveless vests. She’s yelled at him plenty of times about it—Are you insane? You’re a walking target. He would just grin and say, they’ll have to catch me first.

Jay laughs as he grabs the practice swords from their stands. “Here.” 

He throws it, and Mal catches. The weight in her hand is familiar. Already, her pulse is thrumming faster, and maybe if she closes her eyes she’ll be back on the docks, with the wind ripping at her hair, and the salt stinging her nose, and half a dozen of Uma’s crew jeering over the clanging of swords. 

Jay chucks her a mask too, before attaching one to his own face. The mesh turns her vision slightly hazy.

“Ready?” Jay asks.

Mal’s watched fencing practise a few times, mostly as an excuse not to do homework and instead watch her boys wipe the floor with all those prissy Auradon princes. Coach Jenkins appointed Jay captain of the team a few months ago, a role he takes more seriously than she’s ever seen him take anything. 

“Rassembler! Salute! Lower the point. Masks down. En guarde!”

Mal lunges first, which Jay clearly anticipates, parrying her blow. He circles. Strikes. Mal blocks it. He’s quick. Reflexes honed to a sword’s point; learned by practise and theory. Mal lashes out again, just catching his free arm before he jerks away. She grins underneath her mask. Her breath comes quicker. Jay’s blade arcs down, hitting her chest. Mal swats his blade away. She hears him laugh. She growls. Strike. Parry. Strike. Block. Strike. Jay lands another hit. Their shoes squeak against the linoleum floor. 

“Come on, Mal,” Jay teases. 

Mal lunges like a cat on its prey. Jay’s blade grates against hers like steel against flint. Jay may be quick but Mal’s smaller, and she weaves her way through Jay’s blade until they both have the sword’s point angled at each other’s chests. 

They’re both panting. Jay lowers his sword first. Takes off his mask. 

“You came in clutch at the end,” he says. 

Mal huffs, wiggling the mask off her face and wiping her forehead with a sleeve. “You actually get training.”

“And now I’m training you!” 

His hair has loosened during the sparring, spilling out at the seams. He unties the bun; flips his hair down and shakes it out. In this late-afternoon light, his hair could be made of gold. Hair longer than Mal’s ever had. 

He pulls his hair back into its bun, deft fingers making quick work. When he straightens back up again, his face is slightly flushed from the match. 

And Mal looks at this boy she’s known most of her life; this face and these hands; a boy that has held her at the end of the world and the start of a new one. And she snatches back down her mask. 

“Again,” she says, lifting up her sword. 

She’s swinging before Jay’s even had the chance to pull his own mask back down. Her blade slices against his chest, and she hears the breath escape from his lungs. 

“Fuck!’

Jay’s blocking her hits in no time. Mal grits her teeth. A boy who’s inhabited every place she’s ever been. The shadow along the street; a fixed point on the rooftops. Those long, quick fingers that know their way around bandage; around open flesh; around her own hands. Like a comet to Earth. Like an eclipse. Totally consuming. 

And here, where the sun shines brighter than they could have ever dreamed, she is left blistering. Those girls that fawn over Jay, professing their love with the same ease that Mal can hold a dagger to a throat. Jay’s clicking tongue, and that low fry to his voice when he’s chatting someone up. Everything is always so easy to him. He can wrap anyone around his finger with a wink. 

His blade slams into her stomach. Mal pants, the budding pain in her side clearing her head. Jay’s standing above her like some heavenly deity. 

“Best of four?” he offers.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“C’mon. Let’s take a break.”

Jay drops his sword and grabs his water bottle from his bag. Mal joins him, still gripping her sword, gulping down her water like a man in a desert. 

“We should do this again soon,” Jay says. 

“Tomorrow?”

“It’s the Valentine’s Ball tomorrow.”

Mal snorts. “Yeah, and?”

“I was gonna go.”

His words are coming too slow; too considered. Like when he used to talk about his dad, or a particularly bad Barge Day. Rehearsed. A guard dog who’s smelled danger, prowling at the sidelines. 

Mal presents her blade. “En guarde!” she shouts, and Jay ducks her swing before scrambling over to his own sword. 

“Really, Mal? Another sneak attack?”

“I’m keeping you on your toes.”

They waltz around the sports hall, the blades clashing and slicing and singing.

“We all agreed we weren’t going to go to the Ball,” Mal says, jabbing at Jay.

“We never agreed anything.”

Jay lands a blow. They are at the dockyard, with its rotting wooden pier and dead fish stench. The screeching of metal; the shouting; Mal’s heart hammering like the tide. Blood, and life. The roar in her ears. A dragon’s call. Body moving without a thought, as quick as a lightning strike. Not having to look behind her because she knows Jay is there.

“Exactly!” she says. “Why would we want to go to some stuffy Auradon ball?” Jay tries to say something but she ignores him. “Why would we care about Valentine’s Day? It’s corny, and over-commercialised, and a stupid excuse to make everything about love.”

Jay has her backed up against a wall. With no time to mount his mask, his lips are slightly parted, and his hair is escaping from his bun again. He looks just like he did on the Isle; none of his perfect prince act that fools Auradon. His sword hovers above her throat. 

“Do you yield?” His voice is low.

Mal stares at him. Those eyes that have seen every part of her. All the blood; every smile; her pale skin in the dark Isle nights. The boy that has beheld her every action; weighed it all against his own understanding of the world, and decided that they slot together as easily as a bullet in a pistol.

“Who are you going with to the Ball?” Mal asks. She’s still clutching her sword. She could claim the upper hand, if she really wanted.

A grin creeps across Jay’s face. All those notes and heart-shaped lollipops. The giggling girls at his locker. He could pick any one of them. All of them so beautiful, in their sunset-coloured dresses. He could have anything he wanted.

“Well,” Jay says. “I was going to ask you.”

The sword’s point makes sure they keep their distance. Never too close. All touches so light; so fleeting, as if you could’ve mistaken them for a dream. As if you could’ve imagined the whole thing. All those nights in the hideout where the barrier of the body seemed thin, and the world became so small: just two kids who wouldn’t even dare knock knees. 

So Mal shakes it all away with a laugh. “I’m not going to the Valentine’s Ball.”

Jay lowers his blade. Neither of them move. “Not even with me?” 

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other girls who actually want to go with you.”

“I want to go with you.”

His words echo through the empty hall. His word is as steadfast as ever, the only opinion Mal will ever trust. Compass, anchor: Jay does it all. 

Heralded here, Mal as real as the vast sky outside. Here, in his gaze, held aloft by trust where there shouldn’t be and compassion where there shouldn’t be and understanding where there shouldn’t be. A home for all her broken bones. 

Mal’s lips unfurl into a smile. This ache in her chest. In her throat. Jay always being able to disarm her. Jay in every place she’s ever been. Jay as her shadow; her skin; her second self. A reflection in the mirror. The line of separation is nonexistent. Like the sun, like the moon: one cannot exist without the other.