#I’ve been mostly using my iPad for a while

[samthehypotheticaldad]

Finally turning my multi-year creation into a comic. We’ll see how long I stick with it…

Side note: This tablet is fucking massive. It takes up most of my drawing desk… 😅

[sukioyakio]

'𝖄᥆ᥙ ᥙsᥱძ mᥱ 𝗍һᥱᥒ s᥆ ᥒ᥆ᥕ іᥣᥣ ᥙsᥱ ᥡ᥆ᥙ'-(__)

Paring: Sukuna Ryoman x SingleparentReader

Summary: You thought that after your visit with Sukuna that the gods hate you;Who you thought never would see again.But,He just kept on insisting on you about the deal.

An:I love all y’all comment on the last one,and this took time off my brain cells to actually do,the time I took to research the topics of movies I feel like Sukuna would do,I was low key thinking that I wasn’t writing Sukuna accurate enough 😕 The amount of times I made my best friend to read this was insane,but she deal with it and gave me tips.Love her for pro reading this.

Part 1 Part 2

@coolleftcollectorstrawberry-blog

Wordcount: 8.k (ik im sorry but give me a chance)

The next day,you receive yet another message from an unknown stranger,telling you the same thing from before,in which you blocked it and continue your day on.Then it repeats again with the same message but with a different phone address the next day,you go ahead and block it again. Then it begins to repeat until the end of the week. It was getting annoying to be constantly bombarded with reminders of his deal.

You were already stressed out on whether to use the money he gave to you move or get a car etc.But mostly on nova sake.You didn’t even notice someone following you when,you were leaving work;picking up nova;then going home.

It was now Monday morning and not bothering to look at your phone,because knowing your already going to expect the same god damn message from him or his manger you don’t really care at this point.You just needed to get you and nova for work and school.

“Sir ryoman!” Uraume announce with their voice being controlled and professional.As they knocks on this office door. As it was busy in the office,they had been having to remind multiple employees to stop slaking off.

Multiple employees walked by returning to their desks and multiple other employees walked by uraume.

‘Come In’ Sukuna voice could be heard as it signal for uraume to come inside.Uraume opens the door and closes it behind them.As they walks towards the his desks.

Uraume begins to talk as turns on their iPad and starts looking for a specific page on it.

“She still hasn’t answered so far but I’ve have got a complete report of her what she does, where she goes and walks just like you wanted.I already send it in your message this morning.” Uraume explained with a formal and politely voice.They turns off their iPad now looking at Sukuna for a response.

He simply nodded.Not even glancing at uraume as he just continued signing paper on his desk.

“Good,now leave” he answered with a simple wave dismissing them.He simply was exhausted from having to deal with the media and The paparazzi flashing those damn cameras at him.

Uraume nodded but slightly hesitated as they turned around,but stop halfway through their way towards the door.Uraume clear their throat and swiftly compose themself.

“Sir may I ask you a question?” They announce to him while letting out a sigh.Uraume be meaning ask him what all this new found interest was for.But they especially wanted to ask him if the girl-you- who was company with a young girl was his.The young girl did look much like him,but that isn’t their business to be In.

Sukuna rises his red eyes staring at the back of uraume head,particularly making holes in them.He scoff out as he raised his eyebrow towards what his assistant had to say.

“What is it” He replied with a harsh tone,now laying his head on his palm;eyeing uraume with curiosity. Uraume nodded before coughing up anything that might make them a fool.

“Why are all of the sudden are you interested into this woman.Ive never seen you this intensely interested in someone before,even you being an actor. Is . . that child is you-“ Uraume cuts their self up before butt-ing into something that wasnt there business.

“Never mind that isn’t my business to be asking.I’ll see you later to update you on the latest update of your schedule”

Uraume explains with a bit of more emotion than their usual professional tone.But they sigh quietly and gave a small shake to remind themselves that this is isn’t their problem,nor the time to try to discover the big history between him and you-now leaving the room.Feeling his red eyes burning holes into there head.

Sukuna watched as Uraume left the room, his eyes narrowing at uraume as they exited the room, leaving him alone with his own thoughts. He leaned back in his chair, a hint of irritation in his expression.

He couldn't help but feel annoyed with their questions . It was true that he had suddenly become interested in you, And especially for someone who had a busy schedule but he didn't want to admit it to anyone, let alone his assistant. Who was they to question him about his private life?

Nonetheless he pushed his thought away went back to working on his paper and other stuff to simply distract himself.But all it does is spark a idea in his mind;something he knows will grab your attention in a bad good way.

‘I should at least get to officially meet our daughter’

You already had drop off nova from school and now your at work,Just working hard though the rush hour of the day.

Running back and forward to get people foods and served it to them,and writing orders and giving it to the employee who gave it to the chef.

Every once in a while some boys will try to flirt their way of not having to pay.But their efforts will come to an end soon enough and paying for their food.Even so,the day was mostly spent on taking order for people.But while in break time you were going to relax and just watch a documentary on YouTube.

Until a text message from a teacher who was nova teacher that you texted once in a while to talk about nova behavior and etc but what she texted was something odd out the ordinary.

—————————-

{Ms apples}-“I didn’t know that you had such a handsome husband before.Just to let you know that he had picked up nova from school all her homework are in her bookbag.Im telling you this because your husband seem to be in a rush.” *delivered 3 seconds ago*

—Your face scrunched up in horrible confusion as you reread the text message.To Be sure that what you read was simply a prank or a lie,but it clearly wasn’t a joke.You started to overthink all the worst things unimaginable.—

{You}-“What do you mean by someone else picked up nova?How did He look like?Was he tall?” *Delivered*

{Ms Apple}-“He was tall and had tattoos on his face which looked very handsome on him and has red eyes but is there a problem with your husband,matter of fact I think I saw him from a video on the media?Would you like me to call the police??” *delivered and read*

———

Your eyes slightly saw red,but you quickly calm down.You rubbed your eyes,shaking your head in disbelief that the one man who you wanted nothing to do with,just happen to be irreverent in your life right now.You didnt like the idea of him being your husband;but you didnt want to explain yourself nor have to deal with more problems.So You quickly text back to Ms apples.

——-

{you}-“Oh no, thanks you for the suggestion but it nothing. Also he isn’t my husband he’s more like my my ex-husband, he like doing stuff without my permission, thanks for sharing this info though and have a great day” * delivered *

——

You turn off your phone and went back to work and went to the Manager and told them it an emergency that you need to go home quickly.In which they allowed you to go home since they never once had a problem with you.

Now walking out the front door,and honestly you didn’t have one idea where Sukuna would be at and You were more likely to kill Sukuna than.

”So what your name kiddo?” He asked in a casual voice while keeping his eyes on the road.As he stop at the red light to see the little girl face,as he look at the passenger seat to see her face now turn to him with a big smile.

“Oh!Well my name is Nova (last name) Ryomen!My first names means like brightest Star!But what your name mister?” She says with a wide smile showing all her teeth,Her pink hair perfectly places in pink tails.

Sukuna chuckled at Nova's cheerful demeanor, her bright smile putting a small grin on his own face. He pulled away from the light as it turned green.

"Nova” he repeated, mulling over the name for a moment before responding. "That's a unique name…I like it,kiddo”

‘What a perfect name.Of course she would pick something like that.’He thought to himself.Small pink specs of hair falling down onto his forehead.

He glanced away from the road for a moment to look over at her. "It' nice name Nova it fits well.And the name's Sukuna." He replied to nova. Nova smiles and then pauses to think for a few seconds before saying.

“I know i could’ve sworn l’ve seen you before…Oh my gosh your on that movie that Cole talk about” Nova gasp in shock and excitement,as Sukuna huff a laugh at her reaction.

As they reached to their destination that he promised her to come She wouldn’t go with him if she didn’t get to go to a mall and Sukuna didn’t have the ideal thought of arguing with her.

“We’re here,now Let go” He says as he parks his car,He opens the door and closes his door. And started to walk away from the car.Without looking back.

As he paused and turned around and Looked at the car.He forgot that nova couldn’t even go open the door since she was so small.In which he quickly run back toward the car while cursing himself for forgetting that.

It wasn’t his fault.That he just so used to his assistant being around him when he needs him.Without him having to check behind him to know that his assistant wasn’t there.

He opened the door to see an annoyed look on nova,who to him looked exactly like him when he was young.’She definitely at best five years old about to turn six with a very smart mouth.’

“Jezz Thank for forgetting me” she snarled with sass.A pout on her lips.He roll his eyes at the sight of her pouting.

He just grab her and carry her effortlessly with ease. Then closing the door and locking his car. ‘Yep definitely has a smart mouth’

Sukuna carried Nova effortlessly in his arms, a slightly amused expression on his face as he responded to her complaints. "Yeah, yeah. Don't give me that look. You're the one who wanted to come here in the first place."

"Besides," he continued as they made their way towards the entrance of the mall, "It's not like I meant to forget about you. I'm just not used to having someone ‘small’ for the ride."He said sarcastically. Nova crossed her tiny arms around her body,as she felt so small in his arms,and the fact that he only needed to one arm to carry her.

“Uh huh,whatever Pinky .”Nova continued as she see multiple stores.”Anyway why do you have tattoos on your face?” She says with a dumb huff trying to appear big,to him it endearing to see.

Sukuna couldn't help but chuckle at Nova's huffing and puffing, finding her attempts to appear big endearing.

"Pinky, huh?You have the same pink hair,You're full of witty nicknames," he teased, rolling his eyes. "And the tattoos," he explained, "They're just a part of who I am. I got them when I was a bit younger and was more reckless with my decisions.”

He didn’t exactly say the truth but not an exact lie about them. He walked into the mall, carrying her past a few different stores, each one catching her eye with their flashy displays and colorful banners.

They continue to walk through the mall and Sukuna immediately regrets not wearing anything to cover his face,as now he see countless people pulling out their phones and recording him and nova.Seeing that the jacket he was wearing wasn’t as effective his identity.

As people started pulling out their phones and recording him, Sukuna couldn't help but silently curse himself for not thinking ahead and covering his face with at least makeup to hide his tattoos. He continued walking, trying to ignore the constant flashes of cameras and phones pointing in their direction.

Nova, on the other hand, looked around with wide-eyed wonder, utterly unbothered by all the attention they were drawing. She was more fascinated by the colorful stores and lively atmosphere of the mall than anything else.

’Omg is that the actor who played from ‘die hard’,-Sukuna ryoman”

‘Oh my goodness he looks ten times hotter in real life then the films,wait but who’s the child??,the girl look like him somehow’

‘wait your right,that girl look so similar,or is it because they both have pink hair’

‘I can’t believe that’s him the same person who played ‘the hitman bodyguard’,God I really want a autograph with him’

‘God the films don’t do justice for him,I love you Sukuna!’

“Wow so many people are taking pictures of us,You sure are Popular” she says with a cheeky grin.He walk towards elevator so one he doesn’t have to deal with the people.

’well if anything I get from this is just more drama,and more attention from the fucking media,then I could fucking deal with’ He mentally groaned at the amount of bullshit this will make.As he feel the elevator starting to rise up.

And he knows it going to take some time before they get out.Since these elevators are so slow.

“Wait isn’t there a Claire’s here,do you know where it is?”Her voice lifted at end to signify the question,as she lay her head on her shoulders allowing her pink tails to tickle his neck.

“No crap” He simply replied to her,as he moved her pink locks away from his neck.He already click the putting onto the third floor.

“nO cRaP” she mimics back to him as little giggle falls out of her mouth.And he just rolls his eyes into the back of his head.“Soo” She began once again.

“Are you really sure that your mama friends,or your one ticket to getting myself grounded ” She explains with her voice becoming lower and more mature at the last words.Sukuna watches nova and ruffles her pink hair completely messing up the hair.Making her squeal.

“She knows me…” he paused,before thinking of a good word to use. “Well”

by what he meant by well,is one breaking her heart and two giving her a child to raise all by herself,and plus not being a good boyfriend at all to begin with but he wasn’t going to say that to a child.

“Okay I’m trusting you here mate,if I get grounded your coming down with me” She turns her head towards him with her eyes widened like she going do a stare contest with him,and then slowly shows her tiny pinky finger and then whisper to him.

“Promise?”

“I promise punk” He says with a seriousness glint in his eyes as he smirks at her childish attitude.As he interlocks his pinky finger with hers.

“ok then! You could put me down now mister! ” She says cheerfully.Sukuna putting her down as gently as possible,well more like just picking her up and then putting her down.

(you) It didn’t take her long enough to find out where they are from media outlets to find a source aka instagram.Where there was video showing proof of them interacting and walking around the mall;is what is says in the captions of the video.

With this in mind,She was able to get a location and found that somewhat the location was far from where she was and she knew that one she could just walk there or just get a Uber which is the obvious option she was choosing.

She already had ordered the Uber and now waiting patiently for the Uber driver to come soon,As you stand by the sidewalk seeing the citizens walk forwards and back to reach whatever destination they have.

As you scroll through instagram to see if they any other videos about the two of them.After 10 minutes or so you got a notification from Uber saying that they have arrived to your location,and with that a beep sound came from the street in front of you.

Walking toward the car with a fake smile on your lips,as the car passengers window rolled down asking if your the who ordered him,and you answered him saying yes and quickly got into the passenger seats.Feeling refreshed from the car Air-conditioning,you sat down right by the door finding a comfortable position.As you slowly calm down,as you could see the time of right now 3:30pm.

The whole car ride was rather more so quiet than so.The driver would tried to encourage you into having a small talk but you weren’t in any good mood to actually talk.

You just stared attentively at the window and watching the buildings pass by.You silently regretted not getting those trackers you saw online before.You wonder how’s your baby girl was doing.Was she even enjoying herself.

both Sukuna and nova were both very much enjoying their day,with so Sukuna and nova were arguing about which Superhero has a better outfit and-

Knowing Sukuna he wouldn’t want to admit defeat to a child at best and with nova the same thing but instead of saying over and over repeatedly like how other kids do.She says ‘you know whatever your too old to know what looks good on people,Spider-Man suit is still better then Batman’.

which Sukuna grunts in annoyance and replies back,‘That fucking outfit is just a mixture of fucked up goodwills donations mix together to make that suit,brat’.

nova look at Sukuna with a your tiny hand sticking the middle finger at him ‘Batman look like he collects black bed sheets from homes to make his suits’ Sukuna just grumble and just stick his middle finger back at him completely unbothered with people around them.Sukuna hiding himself with a hat he brought from a stores.

(You) The car was finally pulling off to a stop.

You glance up to see the mall come into view through your window, with the Uber driver informing you that you had arrived to the destination.You mutter a small 'finally' under your breath as you unclick the seatbelt.

You thank them for everything and walked into the large mall entrance,seeing how there were a bunch of people walking around,and you sigh defeated,It was going to take you some time to find nova.

Advancing inside the mall,hearing a couple of people talking about how their excited to see or meet Sukuna. You swear that if Sukuna went somewhere else you’ll fucking kill him.You walking into the elevator with other people joining as you get out your phone and open instagram to see if any update or anything.But nothing.You exit the elevator when it hit your destination. Which was the final floor of this mall.

You take a deep breath as you come to terms with the fact that you would have to walk around searching for her. After all the mall was pretty big and you were just one person in the middle of a huge crowd. You started walking around through the crowd of people, looking around at every corner of every store and section hoping to see even a glimpse of your daughter. Nothing so far. But you knew not to lose hope.

You probably look like a paranoid person who thinks there are stalkers following them. It doesn’t matter,You turn your eyes at every angle,seeking to see a glimpse of a pink headed girl or a tattooed man.Your lips straight staying still,your eyes hard and sharp.Walking into every store for a little bit while and staring for a few minutes before leaving and walking slowly to look through the hallways for nova or him.

Some people look at you with apologetic looks or confusion stares at you through out the way.You check the whole top floor and nothing.Not a damn pink haired around.You clenched your hand until they become white.You close your eyes and let out a heavy sigh of frustration.

Its going to take you fucking hours before you going to find her.

You can't help but curse under your breath in frustration as you search around.

So many people, yet no sign of your daughter or Sukuna. Hours ticked by as you searched every inch of the mall, your frustration growing with each passing minute.

You start to doubt whether you'll even find them at this rate. The thought of your daughter in danger or scared drives you to keep searching, determined not to give up.

After wandering aimlessly and asking around, your hope was starting to dwindle. Every corner and every shop you checked was the same - no sign of them. You can't help but feel a sense of despair creeping in.

There were just too many places to search and too many people to ask. You tried to stay positive, hoping that they were just somewhere you hadn't looked yet, but deep down, you knew the truth: they might be gone, gone elsewhere.

You felt too frustrated to even think about another place to go or even go on your phone to open instagram. You open your phone went through your messages to check your recent message, but you recall these messages from his employees or whoever so call.

After scrolling through the most latest blocked number with the same message to find that stupid phone number that has been messaging you constantly and just figured to just ring a call.Hoping that whoever on the line will answer. Tapping your foot on the ground as people walk past you,or bumped into you and saying sorry or don’t you didn’t care at the moment.As you hear that beep beep beep sound frustrating you with your patience after a few minutes,It finally answered.

Your breath let out a breathe that seemed like your body needed it.You cup your phone into your ear,hearing a sound through the phone.

“hello?” You announced,while walking towards a place in the mall where it was silent enough for you to hear the other side clearly.

No one answer in the other line,making you think that maybe that this idea was hopeless and stupid.

“hello..?” You answered again.And that time you heard someone on the other line speak.

“hello” Uraume said with professionalism. “I’m completely sorry for leaving you on the line like that,Ms.(____)” They said with a gently and steady voice.They knew your name and it should have bothered you but As a mother it your kid that comes first. “Listen here,You and your fuck ass boss took my daughter out without my god damn permission and listen I won’t tell anyone about this or report you guys but just give me my daughter back,and tell Sukuna-“ You breathe out and breathe in as you continue on.

“-that what his ass is doing ISNT doing anything but getting on my nerves and anger issues” You said with a sort of a desperate tone but fully lanced with anger and frustration spilling out of your body.

The end of the other line,whoever it was held the phone up to the ear and grunted and then heavy sigh followed by a mutter ‘Oh my goodness,fucking ryoman’ it made you slightly less angry.

“Um yes Ms.(___) I’ll tell him that myself and I’ll tell him that You would love to see your daughter back,I’ll hope you have a great day Ms.(___)”Uraume replied with a calmy voice that made your worry sort of disappeared for the moment. “Okay then please send me an update about her please” You said with your word being final word,as uraume hummed in response as you ended the call.You turned off your phone.

You put your phone back in your pocket, feeling an immense sense of relief that you were in contact with someone who knew where your daughter was.

Uraume's calm demeanor had helped to alleviate some of your worries for now, but you couldn't shake the feeling that you wouldn't feel truly at ease until you had Nova back safely.

You decided to take a moment to sit down and collect your thoughts, feeling slightly better knowing that they were aware that you wanted your daughter back.

Meanwhile you were that the mall,Sukuna and nova were in his car driving to an arcade after having brought nova multiple items at different stores. Sukuna could feel a headache coming as Nova played her music blast through his car's speakers. He had tried multiple times to turn it off, only for her to turn it back on again. He had begrudgingly given up, resigned to listening to Taylor Swift for the whole car ride.

Nova, meanwhile, was having the time of her life. She was happily singing and bopping her head along to the music, completely oblivious to Sukuna's mounting annoyance. She was thrilled to be playing her music in his car, even if it did annoy him.

Sukuna extended his right hand to turn off the speaker and quickly began talking.

“How about we listen to something with real value instead of this bull crap” He said without nova permission and just grab his phone back from nova laps and then go to his Spotify playlist and play on something that doesn’t have a lot of curses or sexual themes in it,which was bit difficult but he decided on ‘Ms.Jackson’ by OutKast.

As nova turned her head towards him with a pout,Her tiny hands trying to turn off the speaker. “Why would you turn of-“Sukuna hush her and as the music started to began playing making nova scoff out loud,rolling her eyes as she sit down and actually listen to it.

After a few seconds he glances at her to see her bobbing her head repeatedly,that sight makes him bluff with a sly smirk going on place of his lips. As he driving smoothly and stop at the red light,and singing to it.As nova tried her best to company him with singing the lyrics.But right before it started the ‘sorry,Ms.jackson’ part his phone rang off. His had two phones one for his work and the other for him,The one that rang was his work one.

He sighed in frustration as his phone rang, interrupting him and Nova's singing. He picked up the phone and saw that it was Uraume calling.

"Yeah?" he answered, his tone being his usual stern voice but lanced with a mix of annoyance and irritation.

They sighed over the phone as they heard the music playing in the background of car,and if they focus on the background a little more then they could hear nova little child like voice singing.

“The lady you requested me to text everyday has called me about five minutes ago asking you to bring back her daughter and if you like to hear our conversation then I already sended it to you sir” Uraume said professionally and steady.Sometimes making him hate how calm they were when stuff happens.

He immediately ended the call and started listening to the voice-mail. He could feel his lips turning up in a sly smirk as he heard the your voice on the other side of the phone. The way he knew that this wasnt the best idea of getting you to a agree on the deal.Huffing out a laugh,at least he got to meet his daughter even though he knew that she wouldn’t know that his is her father.

He quickly type back to uraume,sending them the address of the arcade his was going and continue the drive to the arcade with nova hearing or bopping her head down at his music playlist.Having at time to skip it the song cuz one he does not want to explain anything about sexual or anything to a child.

Sukuna finally arrived at the arcade and went to the parking lot and found a parking spot.

Nova notice how Mr pinky hair was rather more quiet and dazing off,after talking with someone on his phone and his face was looking like Batman face when he goes to fight bad guys.

But quickly forgot when she saw the arcade entrance before they got to the parking lot.

He got out of the car and walked around to the other side to open Nova’s for her. Sukuna leaned on the car watching her eyes widen and fill with excitement as she saw the arcade.

He smiled at her reaction before it quickly vanished and his usual stone cold look settled back on his face. He took her hand in his and walked into the arcade, watching her eyes brighten even more as the sound of loud kids and arcade machines filled the air.

Now advanced into the arcade store glancing at the bright colorful that were accompany by multiple music sounds.Nova jumping up and down with excitement as she babbles about how badly she wanted to come here. As Sukuna scoff out in a playful sigh. Here a comes a very Fun time to let out his stress. He gonna break a game for robbing his money off and his would be very stubborn to let it get in his way.

(You) Instead of waiting inside of a damn mall having to deal with a company of hundreds people around,you decide to go out of their and see that the sky was now turning into it fucking orangey glow.Frustrated enough that you unconsciously started to clutching down on your hands and knees tapping furiously on the ground.

You were constantly checking your phone and to waste time while your out of the mall you would walk back from one point to another point.Walking through the sidewalks passing people.

You were gawking the gound you walked,glaring at it as if it was the cause of making you anger.

You really missed your baby,god she made you feel so good about yourself,that you well a good mother.All you wanted to do was hug her and pull her into a bear hug.Seeing her little birth marks that was under her eyes bags.

She was your little alarm clock in the weekends when all you want to do is sleep.But seeing her big (your color choice) widened up with such an amazing well trained puppy eyes that you can’t resist saying ‘no’,no matter how hard you try.

And her beautiful giggles that would definitely make your heart melt from all this anxiety and frustration off you. No-one told you told that taking care of a child is as exhausting as it is rewarding to do.

You finally understood the feeling of those mother that overwhelmed their child safety.Because right now you were worrying about what the heck is Sukuna teaching her or talking to her about.It better not be about sex or how many times he had a night stand he having or even how many drinks he may of have whatever may be the case.God! It was 5:00 clock on the dot on your phone.Your phone was about to died,it was on 24% and your shoulder slightly down as you see an unknown message texted you right on 5:01 on the dot. As you quickly opened your phone standing in the middle of the Side walk not giving a damn shit about the people who were as tried as you and just want to go home. You press on the text message to see that they really did update you on them…very fucking slowly but surely at least they didn’t left you open handed.The only reason you called these people was because you had already removed Sukuna phone number from your phone and other apps.

———

****-‘ This is the phone number that you recently gave a call to.I have received information from his sir that there at this location xxxxx.If you’ll like me to pick you up,then please send me your address and I’ll try to get third at a approximately 10 or 5 minutes later.Thanks for waiting patiently Ms (___)’. *Delivered 3 seconds ago.* and read*

—————

You didn’t have the time nor the energy to wait for an extra minute for them to pick you up,and so you just copy the location of where nova was.And went on Uber and didn’t even look at the price of the damn thing and quickly ordered the car to their location.

He continued walking through the arcade, with an amused smirk on his lips as he noticed a few people occasionally glancing his way as they passed by. Some gasping as they take another look at him,since he was wearing a cap finding some what of his face features.

Nova was still excitedly babbling away about various things, her grip on his hand tight and unwavering. Despite the loud and chaotic environment of the arcade, Sukuna's attention was focused solely on the small girl next to him.

In the arcade Sukuna was quietly watching Nova run around and check out the various games, occasionally glancing up at the clock on the wall.While paying attention to nova speeches.

It was around 7pm and he knew you should be here by now but he couldn't help but wonder what would you say to him,maybe yell at him like the last time.He was so used to your old kind self,then your now self but people change.He shake his thought and focus on nova.

Nova had been having the time of her life, giggling and squealing as they played arcade games together, and Sukuna found himself slighty smiling as he watched her.

There was a small part of him that was curious about whether or not you’ll actually agree with the deal.His mouth just let out a scoff as he was reminded of the voice call with his assistant.

Yea no.

As Sukuna was lost in thought, Nova called out to him and tugged on his sleeve. "Mr pinky hair, can I play that game too?" she asked, pointing at a game that was clearly for teenagers and above. Sukuna glanced down at her and raised an eyebrow, not sure if he should let her play.

"That one's for older kids," he replied, shaking his head. "You're not old enough to play games like that."

Nova pouted and with her eyes furrowed down. "But I want to play too! It looks fun!"

Sukuna chuckled at her eagerness Rolling his eyes at her. "Trust me, you don't want to play that game. It's not as fun as it looks."

Nova frowned, crossing her arms in annoyance. "How do you know? Have you played it?" she challenged.

Sukuna huff out in bluffs.. "Maybe I have. And trust me, you're not missing out on anything. It's just a bunch of buttons flashing on a screen." 

Nova blows raspberry before talking again. He look at her with a big old eye roll,he hates kids,yet here he is with a cap on covering his tattooed face and in a arcade with his own daughter who has no clue that he was her father.

“Ughh,fine but can I do that one,please” Nova added as she points her finger out onto a dance floor machine with the foot pads show arrows on them with colorful patterns 

Sukuna scoff and nods,that makes nova smile radiating and runs towards over there.’She gonna get tired from all of this’ muttered sukuna.

Walking right behind nova quickly from his legs taking long steps.

Sukuna couldn't help but laugh as Nova clumsily tripped over her own feet only to quickly recover and keep going.

 "Jezz kiddo if I hadn’t thought that you were going to trip for a second I would’ve died laughing rightfully at you face planting in the ground" he tease his voice lance with a mixture of sarcasm,following closely behind her. 

"You're going to hurt your precious little mama face she worked so hard to give you if you keep stumbling around like that."

Nova just stuck her tongue out at him. "I'm fine, I'm fine.Pinky Batman,and plus mommy will always love me even if I get hurt. .I just got excited!," she shouts over her shoulder;her focus now completely on the dance game. He rolled his eyes as he stood back and watched her figure out the controls.

The dance game machine lit up with flashing lights as Nova selected a song and the music started playing. 

She hesitantly stepped onto the platform and pressed the start button. She began to move her feet on the various arrow pads.

Sukuna watched her as she stumbled and hopped around, trying to follow the instructions. 

He suppressed a laugh at her uncoordinated movements, but couldn’t help but find her determination a bit charming.

Nova’s movements were clumsy, but she was clearly enjoying herself. 

She stumbled and laughed as she accidentally missed some of the steps, but she kept going, determined to finish the song. 

Meanwhile, Sukuna stood to the side, shaking his head slightly at her antics, but also finding himself oddly endeared by her enthusiasm.

He can almost see your smile in nova eyes.That was a definite one.If there was anything that your genes fought against his was the color of your eyes;everything else gotten his.

But he can only remember the looks of sadness when you cross his mind.Only moment that was stuck in his head was the last time he saw you. 

It made him sighs and pissed at himself.Now really thinking. He probably going to be seeing an angry side of you.

But that for later.

Nova jumps in excitement and exhaustion to finally to beat the dancing game.She turned around to look at Sukuna with happiness and pride,while panting And sweat drip down her face.As she points at the score board lighting the colorful light on her face. 

“Look Pink Hair!! See!! I did it! I beat The game!!” Nova yelled out loudly with enthusiasm,Walking with a hop in her steps.

Sukuna Scoffed out a simple chuckle.A smile appear on his lips but quickly disappeared from his face. 

“Amazing Stuff out there kiddo” He responded with Light voice instead of his usual cold tone. 

Nova is now standing infront of him with a radiant smile,like the one in the dream.As he watches her rise her hand up high,making him slightly puzzled by her actions. 

She looks at him with a smile that was now turning looking at him with confusion.”What taking you so long to give me a High five” She said a little judgmental. 

Making Sukuna feel stupid not knowing.

“Woah your old,pink hair”Nova spoke out her mind. “Shut it punk” Sukuna replied as he gave her the high five back to her. 

Nova just laughs in loud cheers.Sukuna rubs his temples in annoyance,but not as much. 

“Pinky hair  can we try more games!” Nova joyful smiled at him. And now sukuna dont know if this is a sign of her being tried,but just from the look at nova; she seem more enthusiastic and energetic than coming here. 

sukuna looked at the time and his work phone.    It was rounding 9pm  ‘i just need to get nova  tired enough so we can go,or wait for you. .It wouldnt take too long.mhm’ sukuna told to himself.As he sigh and shrugged off.

“…sure why not kiddo” nova screamed as she runs off to another game. Sukuna following right after her easily.

(you)

You were this close to jumping into the driver’s seat just to make the damn car move faster than the snail pace this ancient excuse for a driver was maintaining.

You gritted your teeth as the car came to a complete stop—again—for what had to be the fiftieth time. The light was green, green, but he still stopped to let people cross the street like it was his personal mission to waste your time!!!

You dragged your hands down your face with a loud, frustrated sigh.

“Oh my God,” you muttered, low and deadly. “This old man has to hold a world record for slowest Fucking driver alive.”

Your patience had worn out about thirty minutes ago, and your body felt like it was vibrating with exhaustion and frustration.

Maybe you should’ve said yea to when the old man said if you wanted to head a story but no You were tired.

Not just physically—deeply, emotionally drained. And what was supposed to be a two-hour ride had become a test from hell because now, the sun was gone. The sky had dipped into night, and the soft orange hues had faded into a dark indigo canvas.

The headlights flashed across the road, but this man still couldn’t go over 20 mph. You clenched your fists so hard your knuckles ached. Your teeth were on the edge of turning to powder from grinding so hard.

You should’ve checked the ride details. If you had seen he was pushing eighty, you would’ve canceled the second it confirmed.

The map said you were ten minutes away. But it felt like you were stuck in an endless loop.

Your mind drifted back to Nova. Your baby. The only reason you didn’t cancel this entire trip and lock yourself inside your apartment for the weekend.

And then—finally.

The lights of the arcade cut through the darkness like a beacon.

“Thank God.” You exhaled, pushing the door open before the car even fully stopped.

The building was still lit up, flashing with neon pinks and electric blues, standing out in the quiet, dark street. You could hear faint sounds of machines and laughter leaking from inside.

As you approached the doors, you spotted a teenager with black hair peeking through the glass. You barely registered them. Your eyes, your mind, your everything was laser-focused on one goal: get in, get Nova, and leave.

You pushed the door open and walked into a rush of noise and color. Lights bounced off the walls. The chaotic melody of buttons, clinks, and muffled cheers filled your ears—but none of that mattered.

The constant loud trends of music filling each surface.

What hit you harder than the atmosphere was the anxiety.

It spread in your chest, like smoke curling into your lungs.

You’re fine, you told yourself.

But your body knew better. Your heart knew better.

Your mind, however, it didn’t stay quiet.

I’m scared of him… Five years have passed, and I still can’t forget how he left me. I don’t want to face him—

“No. Stop it. I’m here for Nova. Just Nova,” you hissed under your breath, pinching the bridge of your nose until your eyes burned.

You wandered through the first floor, weaving between kids and teens, searching for pink hair, that familiar birthmark—your girl.

After climbing the stairs and navigating a few tight arcade aisles, you heard it.

A laugh. Light and bubbly.

You froze. The sound pulled something out of you. Something fragile.

There she was.

Nova, pink hair bouncing, cheeks flushed, giggling uncontrollably.

And beside her… Him.

Black hat pulled low. Hood up. Sunglasses despite being inside. He could’ve been a stranger—except you knew. Instantly.

Your feet stopped working. Your throat went dry. Your heart twisted painfully in your chest.

Because right there, in front of you, was a future your younger self would’ve died for.

“Please don’t l-leave me,” your past self had begged once. “P-please…”

And he’d looked you dead in the eyes. Crimson red, cold as winter. Yet a color like those shouldve have been warm enough to melt someone yet it did was hurt you.

“I think it’s better if we break up.”

Just like that. He let go of your hand, turned his back, and walked away like it cost him nothing.

That memory struck like lightning.

Your heart pounded in your chest, echoing in your ears. Your jaw tightened as the storm built inside you. You squeezed your eyes shut and whispered inside your mind:

No. I’m not that girl anymore. I’m stronger. I have to be. He doesn’t deserve us. He never did.

You opened your eyes—just in time to see Nova spot you.

Her whole face lit up like the arcade lights had nothing on her.

“MOMMY!”

She ran, full speed. You barely got to your knees before she crashed into you.

The breath left your lungs. Her tiny arms wrapped around you like she was trying to hold the whole world.

You hugged her tighter, tighter than you meant to, but she didn’t complain. You could feel the sweat on her skin, the warmth of her body, and none of it mattered because—God—you missed her.

She was your light. The only reason you made it through. The only reason you kept going.

You were lost in thought,just enjoying the moment with nova.Until,you heard nova voice with excitement,as she remove herself politely from your embrace. 

Her smile never flatter while she speaks in a cheerful tone. Making your lips rise up in a soft smile;listening to what nova has to say.

Nova pulled back slightly, still smiling wide. “Oh! Mommy—I forgot to tell you! That mister said he knows you! Isn’t that amazing?!”

Your heart sank.

You didn’t have to look to know who she was pointing at.

You did anyway.

He was staring at you.

Expression unreadable. Eyes locked in. That same red stare that once saw right through you.

The lights cast him in a surreal glow, and for a moment, the world felt heavy. Like gravity was pulling harder between you two.His crimson eyes glow in darkness,as his face shine in the rainbow lighting room. Perfectly laying on top of his well structured face.His stern expression eyes set on your face. 

Your spine tensed. Your jaw locked.

You ripped your gaze from him and looked down at Nova. Forced a smile onto your face.

You didnt want to sound like a bitch and say ‘yea that man is fucking the father that left you and me for five years’ or ‘That man; nova is the what you call a dickhead and a good for nothing heartbreaker.’

But of course that would not be the word you’ll say in front of a child and so you grumble.

“Yeah… Mister and I go… way back,” you said, voice wobbling near the end.

You didn’t mean to make “Mister” sound like a threat, but it came out that way anyway.

Nova, clueless and happy, giggled.

The silence that followed between you and Sukuna felt suffocating. He was still staring. You could feel it. The way he always did—like he was trying to see your soul.

He finally looked away.

‘What was i thinking that she’ll agree to the idea’. His mind spoke.

He exhaled sharply, expression tight. His eyes said nothing. But something beneath them—regret?—flickered.

Sukuna cant helped but sigh and turned around,his back facing them as walking down the hallway towards the exit.

Seeing you was already making himself feel more like shit, the tried expression on your face, eyes filled with eyesbags, hair messy and sweat already buliding up.

You definitely have changed from all those years ago.

You watched him disappear, hoodie up, hat low. But you couldn’t look away.

Even as Nova talked beside you, telling you what they played, what she ate—you couldn’t stop staring after him.

you couldn’t help but click your tongue.

‘Old habits die hard,i guess- i can’t belive he wanted me to use him?’

You sigh in disbelief. Your jaw clenched with hidden anger.

But while you were looking at him,you didn’t notice that nova noticed how you werent looking at her nor focused on what she was saying but instead your eyes were staring at him.

“Nova!” you shouted, running after her. “What are you doing?!”

You caught sight of her as she reached him—just before he stepped down the stairs to the first floor. She yanked on his jacket.

“Mister! Why are you leaving us?!”

Her voice cracked. Confusion, hurt. That childlike honesty hit harder than any scream.

Sukuna froze.

His shoulders tensed. For a second, he didn’t move. Just breathed. Slow. Heavy.He shouldn’t feel like this,but his teeth grind against as he remembered how he used to act helpless when he was a child. 

Breathing to calm himself down,before he made another mistake.

He’d always shut down when things got hard. Even back then.

But Nova pulled again, harder this time.

And he turned.

His crimson eyes looked down at her—this little girl with his blood and your soul. Full of fire, full of love.

“Pinky hair!!” she huffed, stomping a tiny foot. “You didn’t even say hi to Mommy! MEANIE!”

Sukuna let out a low chuckle, raspy and soft. He ruffled her hair.

“Ah—my bad. I forgot,” he said, voice low. “Since your mom’s here, I’ll send the stuff later.”

Your breath caught.

In that moment, you saw it. All of it.

How much she looked like him. The laugh. The stubborn glint in her eye.

And how she glowed. Like he brought a part of her to life you hadn’t seen in a long time.

He wasn’t done.

“Besides,” he added, flashing a small smirk. “Now I don’t gotta worry about your clumsy ass getting hurt—with your mom here to babysit.”

Nova rolled her eyes so hard you nearly laughed. Then she raised her hand, signaling for him to bend down.

You stood still, trying to form words—any words. But nothing came.

Sukuna bent down, his face now level with Nova's, and he listened to her as she whispered into his ear. He couldn't help but notice your expression as he did so, his eyes locking onto yours. Your

The expression on your face was clear. You were still in shock from the events that just went down, and his playful banter with Nova did nothing to help the tension in your chest.

‘That wasnt the cold hearted man from before—not the man that destroyed you like you were an ant— because right there was something new’ Your mind banter with your thoughts.

His eyes met yours, and in that moment, you could see him studying your reaction, the way your heart was hammering in your chest. Nova whispered something in his ear, and he turned back to her, ruffling her hair once more.

As she giggled and swatted his hand away, he stood back up to his full height, his gaze falling back on you once more.

Then he stood, taller than you remembered.

His eyes lingered on yours.

You looked away.

“Nov—” you started.

“Mommy,” she cut you off quickly. “Can I see him again? Please? And again and again and again?”

Her voice was sweet, high with hope. It made your heart wince.

The one thing you didn’t want to deal with. Not now.

But it was late. And Uber would take forever. And the streets after dark?

Nova wrapped around your leg again.

“Please, Mommy…” she whined, voice barely a whisper.

Her eyes did that thing. That wide-eyed, chubby-cheek, heart-melting thing.You remember of how much joy she had in her eyes when you saw her. Something that you wanted to give her. A childhood she deserves—a chance. . .

And in your head, his words echoed again—

“Use me, then.”

You looked down at her. Then back at him.

And thought.

Should I? …Should I accept that offer to use him?

Nova kept tugging at your sleeve, eyes wide with innocent excitement. She had no idea what she was asking. No idea what it meant for you to say yes.

To let him in. Again.

To let him near the little girl who carried your heart in her tiny hands.

But she was looking at you like you held the universe. Like you could make everything okay with just one word.

And Sukuna?

He wasn’t pushing. He wasn’t smirking like the cocky bastard he used to be.

No. He was waiting.

A quiet patience in his red eyes. Like he knew what this meant for you.

Like, for once, he wouldn’t push you.

Your breath trembled as you exhaled.

You hated him.

You loved Nova.

And maybe, just maybe, you were tired of carrying everything alone.

So you swallowed, looked him dead in the eye, and spoke.

“…Fine.”

As she look at nova but more importantly at sukuna knowing he understands the underlying of her words.

It was quiet. Firm.

A promise.

You stared at him. He stared back.

Neither of you blinked.

IM FUCKING DONE LETT GOO IM SO TRIED OF WRITING

thank you for those who read this 😔 also i can already tell yall are going to say why did she say yes—and that would be talked in the next chapter also plus Im going to make this a slow burn that WILL HAVE SUKUNA IMPROVE and reader as well trust me this will take a while 😭

taglist: @ukininayu @mononijikayu @scoobysnakz @ciggrx @hayhaylovestowrite @lynxslokley @1-800-choke-that-ho. @manikosii @chillichopsticks. @ssetsuka @mangiswig @chrys23 @laraackerman @domainofmarie @axermanrenn

Comment if you want to be in the tag list for the next chapter

Made by @sukioyakio.2025

Like,comment (PLEASE I LOVE RESPONDING 😫😜) and reblog.

[janeyseymour]

Love Thy Neighbor

saw a prompt from @givethispromptatry

So... here we are... as usual, not edited in the slightest and hoping it's alright!

WC: ~3.45k

After your (not so amicable) split from your dirtbag of a husband, you packed your things and moved back to Philly. It was the city that held a special place in your heart, you knew the area like the back of your hand, and your parents still resided in the place that you grew up. It only made sense now that as a single mother to a six year old girl, you would move to be closer to your parents so they could help bear the load of being a working mom. Elizabeth, but you usually stuck with the nickname Ellie, was a rather easy child. But moving from across the country and leaving the life that she knew and loved behind was rather hard for her- and it was even harder knowing that Mom and Dad had split, and that Dad didn’t necessarily want anything to do with either of you anymore.

So, after about a month of living with your parents, making trips from Utah to Philly and back multiple times to gather all of your things from the house, show the house, sell the house, and deal with the divorce lawyers… the two of you have finally found a little apartment that should be an appropriate size for the two of you while still staying within your budget.

You had been granted full custody, not that your ex would fight you on that, but you also managed to get him to fork over a decent amount of child support- and you would need it. You still haven’t found a job in Philly, and while little jobs here and there were helpful (you mostly did DoorDash on your bike, Ellie’s bike trailer attached so you could bring her along and hold the food), you knew that you absolutely needed to find a job- and quick.

In between attempting to unpack all of your things, get Ellie settled, looking for a new job, and Doordashing, you haven’t been able to take a breath at all. You don’t even know who your neighbors are or what they look like. And you feel a little guilty at that, but none of them have stopped by to introduce themselves to you either. You remember though, that Philly folks aren’t nearly as kind as the people that you had surrounded yourself with in Utah… so them not introducing themselves to you isn’t the most unheard of thing in the world.

Today was brutal. You had signed Ellie up to start school next week, searched and applied for a few teaching jobs (one of which would be at your daughter’s school if you could land it), gone grocery shopping, and then done a nice load of Doordashing with your daughter in tow because your parents couldn’t watch her.

The little girl had missed out on the nap that she usually takes after a day at school, so she’s absolutely miserable the entire time that you bike around. You had tried to placate her by bringing along her iPad so she could watch videos while you navigated the city, but she wanted nothing to do with it. All she did the entire time was whine about the fact that she wanted to go home and cuddle.

After hours of delivering food, you’re satisfied with the amount of money that you made today.

“Okay, little love,” you turn and look at your daughter. “Are you ready for home?”

“I’ve been ready,” she grumbles, arms crossed and brows furrowed.

You give her a soft smile. “I know, sweet girl… but Momma has to make money so we can stay here.”

“Why can’t we just stay in Utah where I like it?”

You bite your lip. “I want to be closer to my parents, baby… and this way you get to see Gram and Pop more than you used to. I think if you give Philly a chance, you’ll learn to love it like I do.”

She huffs a little. 

Deciding that you probably aren’t going to get much more out of her, you turn and start biking in the direction of your apartment. As you’re doing so, you silently thank God that you’re in good shape. At least if anything comes out of this, your legs are going to look incredible.

You chain your bike to the bike stand in the garage of your apartment complex, only to remember that you had forgotten what you needed to make dinner tonight. With regret, you begin to unchain it- much to Ellie’s dismay.

“Momma!” she stomps her foot.

“I know,” you say softly, but you gesture for her to get back into her trailer.

“No!”

You take a shaky breath. You really don’t want to have to put up with a trademarked Ellie tantrum, but it seems that’s what is in store for you tonight. “Love bug, please. We just have to go to the store, and then we can come home, I’ll make dinner, and we can cuddle.”

“I want to cuddle now!”

“Well, we have to fill that belly of yours with food first,” you poke her stomach gently, trying to elicit a giggle out of the little girl. 

It absolutely does the opposite of that. She bats your hand away, and you raise an eyebrow before standing back up straight. “Ellie, you know we do not try to hit.”

“I don’t care,” she tells you defiantly.

A redhead that lives in the building comes into the garage, eyeing you and your child. You hope she isn’t judging you for the fit your child is currently in the middle of having. She climbs into her car and rolls down her windows, but she doesn’t quite pull out yet. She glances at her phone instead.

You blow out a breath, eyes closed and trying to ground yourself, before looking at her again. “Elizabeth, we need to get food for dinner. All you have to do is sit in your trailer while I bike us to the store.”

“Why can’t I stay home?!”

“Because you are six and too little to stay home by yourself.”

“This isn’t home!” you daughter stomps her foot and bursts into tears.

The woman that lives in your complex is still sitting in her car, and you know she can hear your daughter’s and your words. Why hasn’t she pulled out yet?

You soften immediately, crouching back down and opening your arms for her to hug you if she needs to. She does. She immediately curls into your arms and clings to you. “I know, love bug. I know it doesn’t feel like home right now… but no matter what, Momma can’t leave you in the apartment alone. So, I need you to get into your trailer so we can head to the store. The faster we get there, the faster we can come back and curl up on the couch together, okay?”

Your daughter clings to you a little tighter, but you feel her nod into your shoulder.

The woman pulls out of her spot and gives you and your daughter a small wave as she drives past. 

You hold your little girl until she begins to pull away, and then you wipe her tears with the pads of your thumbs. “I love you, Ellie.”

She climbs back into her seat before mumbling back the same sentiment.

You’re able to do your quick run to the grocery store, and Ellie refuses to walk but also refuses to sit in the cart like she usually does. So, you carry her on your hip the entirety of your walk through the aisles. As you’re strolling up and down, you see the redhead that you had seen in the garage earlier, and she gives you a questioning look at the sight of you carrying your daughter when she could be in the cart that you’re pushing along.

You just give her a little shrug and continue on your way. Ellie is getting heavier and heavier by the minute though, so you pick up the pace and are out of the store.

You make your way back to the complex, bags around your arms and in the trailer with your daughter. When you lock your bike to the rack, you look in, and the little girl is fast asleep. Shit.

“Ellie,” you crouch down and whisper. “Sweetheart, we’re back. You have to wake up and carry the bread and juice in for me.”

The little girl stirs slightly before repositioning herself and closing her eyes again.

“Baby girl,” you say softly. “Please wake up for Momma.”

You see headlights, and the car that has the redheaded woman in it pulls in. Great. You get to make a fool out of yourself in front of her yet again.

Not being able to hide your stress, you decide to grab a few of the lighter bags, put them on your arms, and then wiggle Ellie out of the trailer. She’s asleep on your shoulder as soon as she’s in your hold. You silently take a moment to pray that your produce won’t get stolen in the few minutes it will take you to get Ellie upstairs before making your way into the building.

The elevator is broken. Of course it is. So you’re forced to carry three bags of groceries and your six year old daughter up four flights of steps. By the end of it, you’re wheezing. You manage to unlock your door before gently setting her on the couch. With a sigh and a wipe of your now sweaty brow, you lock the door behind you and begin to head down to get the rest of your groceries.

There’s that woman again… and she lives in the apartment across the hall. You give her a friendly nod of the head and a smile that doesn’t quite reach your eyes before you continue your trek back down.

After your second trip up, your body is entirely exhausted. You hardly have it in you to cook dinner, but you dragged Ellie out, so you have to make the meal.

You’re able to wake her with the scent of her favorite meal, but as soon as she’s finished, she’s curling up against you and falling asleep.

After your daughter lays on top of you for quite some time, you know you have to put her in her own room. So, you silently make your way into her bedroom and tuck her in. With a quick kiss to the forehead and a soft “I love you”, you make your way back out to the kitchen.

Ellie is out for the night- she was exhausted halfway through your DoorDash shift- so you grab a glass and fill it with wine. The sweet drink helps to melt away some of the stress as you clean the dishes and settle on the couch for some much needed adult time.

That time is interrupted though when you hear a few rough knocks rattling your apartment. Instinctively, you grab the baseball bat that you keep behind the couch and make your way to the door.

Who the hell could be at your door at this hour? You don’t know anyone here, it wouldn’t be your parents… Could it be your ex-husband? No. He’s out in California with the woman he was cheating on you with. So who the hell is it?

“Who is it?” you yell, gripping the bat so tightly your knuckles turn white.

“You the woman that just moved in?” a gruff voice calls back.

You move a bit closer as you call, “What’s it to you?!”

“Saw you have a kid. Was wondering if you needed help with anything. You look real stressed.”

At that, you move closer to the door and glance out the peephole. It’s the woman that you ran into in the garage and at the grocery store. You open the door just slightly, still unsure of her.

“I ain’t gonna bite,” she teases. “You looked really stressed, so I thought I’d come over, introduce myself, and see if you needed any help.”

You lessen the grip on your bat as you open the door a little further. You take in the woman’s full appearance now that you aren’t trying to calm your daughter and aren’t terrified of being mugged. She’s… she’s really pretty.

You don’t realize that you haven’t say anything back until she’s waving a hand in front of your face. “Hello?”

You shake your head to bring yourself back to the present. “Hi. Sorry… today’s just been… a lot.”

“I could gather that. Can I help?”

You shrug. “I think I’m good at the moment, but I appreciate it.”

“Well,” the redhead purses her lips. “You ever need anything, I’m just across the hall.” 

She turns to walk back to her apartment, but she stops when you call a gentle, “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“I uh, never got your name,” you say quietly.

“Schemmenti. Melissa.”

“Nice to meet you,” you smile at her. “I’m Y/N, and the little girl you saw me with is my daughter, Ellie.”

She looks at you thoughtfully before nodding. She heads back to her apartment after that.

You run into her a lot in the following few days after that encounter. She sees you haul Ellie with you pretty much everywhere, and she has quite a few questions that she just can’t seem to work out on her own. So, one day after you’ve brought up Ellie and the groceries, she can’t help but knock on your door.

“Who is it?” you call, not bothering to move from your place on the couch with your daughter.

“Melissa,” the familiar voice calls back.

You sigh before making your way over to the door. “Hey. What’s up?”

“Just checkin’ in on you,” the redhead says. “I saw you hauling up Ellie and your groceries.”

“All good,” you chuckle. “Just about to make dinner for the two of us.”

“You haven’t had dinner yet?” She looks concerned.

“About to get the microwave pasta going now,” you admit sheepishly. “I was gonna have it made earlier, but El decided that she would die without Momma cuddles… and who am I to deny my sweet girl of such a request?”

“When’s her bedtime?”

“In about an hour,” you tell her. “Why?”

“Let me make youse two dinner,” she offers. “I’m a damn good cook, and I can make a pasta dish way better than the packaged sh-stuff.”

“Oh,” you say softly. “You don’t have to do that.”

“No, please,” she argues gently. “I insist.”

“O-oh,” you rub your collarbone nervously. “Are you sure?”

“I haven’t had dinner either,” she lies through her teeth. “So let me make us all a meal while you relax and hold your daughter.”

You finally manage to nod- she does not seem like the type of woman who would lose an argument.

“Just give me a couple minutes to gather some ingredients, and I’ll come back over?”

You smile in lieu of an answer. You close the door gently once she’s back in her apartment before making your way to Ellie.

“Sweet girl, our neighbor, Miss Melissa is coming over for dinner tonight. Can you be the polite little girl I raised?”

She nods, but she reaches for you. You pull her into your lap and hold her close until the redhead knocks on your door again. You pull yourself and your daughter off the couch to go open the door.

In her arms are a few different cans, some produce, and pasta that has clearly been homemade.

“Baby,” you tease the ends of you daughter’s locks gently. “This is Miss Melissa. Can you say hi to her for me?”

“H-hi,” Ellie manages to squeak out. “You’re really pretty.”

Melissa smiles at her, and when she speaks her voice has turned to butter. It’s much softer than when she’s speaking to you. “Thank you, hun. I’m Melissa. It’s so nice to meet you, Ellie.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’ve been talking to your momma,” the woman chuckles gently.

The little girl’s lips form into an ‘O’ shape, and you can’t help the gentle kiss that you plant on her temple.

“Miss Melissa is going to make us dinner,” you tell your daughter softly. “Does that sound alright?”

She nods against your neck.

“I’m gonna make spaghetti,” the redhead tells Ellie. “That sound okay?”

“You might become her new favorite person,” you joke. “Little girl eats so many noodles, she’s gonna turn into one someday.”

You girl giggles against you. “Nah uh,” she scrunches her nose and makes a funny face at you. “That’s not possible, Momma.”

“I know, my love. I’m just teasing,” you chuckle before returning your attention to the woman in your doorway. “Well, come in, come in. Make yourself at home.”

She carries her things to the kitchen before starting her prep. The way that she gets everything done so efficiently is mind blowing to you, and you can’t help but watch in awe as you continue to hold Ellie.

“Sit down, hun,” Melissa instructs softly as she stirs her sauce. “Take a load off. I got this.”

“Are you sure you don’t want any help? Maybe a glass of wine for your troubles?”

“I won’t say no to a glass, but you absolutely are not helping. I got it.”

You pour her a glass and offer it to her before quietly sitting down and continuing to watch as she makes her way through your kitchen effortlessly.

Dinner is placed in front of you before you know it, and Ellie is nearly wiggling with glee at the plate in front of her. She dives in, and her eyes light up.

“This is so yummy!” your little girl cheers as she takes another forkful to her mouth.

“I’m glad you like it, sweetheart,” Melissa smiles. She gestures for you to take a bite as well, and when you do, you can’t help the small sigh that comes out of your mouth.

“Wow,” you say softly. “This is… incredible.”

“Thanks,” she chuckles as she take a bite of her own creation. “It’s a family recipe.”

Dinner is pleasant. The woman does her best to ask Ellie all about herself, to which your little girl answers delightfully. She’s even able to ask Melissa a few questions of her own. But once her plate is cleared, Ellie climbs into your lap and lets out a yawn as she fiddles with the chain around your neck.

“Is my little girl tired?” you coo softly.

She nods against you.

“Why don’t you start getting ready for bed, sweetness? Momma will be in in a few minutes to say goodnight,” you tell her. She nods again. “Well, off you go. But first, what do you say to Miss Melissa?”

“Thank you,” your daughter smiles brightly before climbing off your lap. Surprisingly, she makes her way over to the redhead’s side of the table and hugs her. Melissa wraps her arms around the little girl gently.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Get some good sleep tonight, yeah?”

Ellie nods before wandering down the hall to get to her bedroom, leaving you with Melissa.

“Thank you for dinner tonight,” you say softly.

“Any time.”

“No, seriously. I usually cook, but I was not feeling it tonight. So, thank you.”

“I’m sure. I saw you biking all around today, starting with this morning when I was heading to work and ending with you coming back from the store.”

“Yeah,” you sigh. “I’m a busy woman.”

“Where are you always biking anyway?”

“I’m in between jobs at the moment, so I’ve just been DoorDashing with El until she starts school next week,” you sigh. “Hopefully I get a job soon… I need all the money I can get to keep this place and give El everything she needs or wants.”

“You’re doing great,” Melissa tells you honestly. “She adores you.”

“She likes you too,” you say quietly. “You’re really good with her.”

“Well, I have some experience with children,” she chuckles quietly. “I guess I should head out so you can get the little one to bed and get some sleep yourself, but I’ll see you around?”

“Next time, dinner’s on me,” you tell her.

“We’ll see about that one,” she laughs as she heads for the door. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to holler.”

“Thank you, Melissa. Goodnight.”

You see her out, and as you close the door behind her, you sigh. You lean against it for a second, a little confused with the way you’re feeling after this diiner. 

Maybe this new neighbor will become a close friend of yours… maybe something else. Only time will tell. But for now, you have to get back to your daughter. 

Next

[quibbs126]

So I’ve been making this

So basically last night, I was listening to some music, specifically Not Gonna Die by Skillet, more specifically a version on YouTube with the intro (because I’m not the biggest fan of Good to be Alive where the intro actually is). Anyways, when it’s night, my imagination tends to be more active and I tend to have more energy. While listening to the song, I eventually got this mental image in my mind of this scene with Dark Choco, and the more it crystallized the more I wanted to draw it. I was going to go to sleep and maybe do it in the morning, but I realized that I probably would forget the vibe and not have as much energy, so instead I decided to power through and draw the idea

It was a bit difficult since I had limited references for the pose I wanted, and I suppose I can admit the sword looks a bit off anatomically, but it looks good enough I think, and lets me keep the eyes revealed

I did eventually have to stop drawing, because my iPad had been worked all the way down to 4% (and it was at 30% when I started, the poor thing), not to mention it was around 11:30 already which is pretty late for me, and my earbuds had been running nonstop for over 2 hours (yes I was listening to the same song, it’s how I keep the vibe). I was at least able to get the pose, base colors and lineart done, and I’m still pretty proud of where I left things last night

Today was mostly just doing the background and lighting, which admittedly I may have fumbled. I’m not very good at backgrounds and I didn’t know how to draw lightning. I tried my best, but honestly I don’t think I got the image in my head. Didn’t help that my brain was playing the wrong Skillet song this morning

Oh yeah and by the way, the background is supposed to be from this. That’s what I used as reference

The lightning both feels like too much and too little. Like, it’s crowding the picture, and I can’t have more because it’d be way too crowded with it, but also at the same time, it doesn’t feel like enough, like there isn’t as much power as I wanted

Actually wait, maybe I can add some small particle effects to like, enhance the lightning feel. That was in the original sketch but I omitted it in the final. If you see one with that, you know I did that

Edit: I did indeed do that

To be fair though, I don’t think I have the art skill to properly convey the image in my head. Basically the scene is that Dark Choco is using absolutely every amount of his power for this final swing down, so much that it’s too powerful and the Strawberry Jam Sword completely shatters. But also it’s too powerful that Dark Choco’s body simply can’t handle it, and he basically ends up exploding. The scene depicted would be the wind up to that final swing that destroys the both of them

This isn’t necessarily the first time I’ve come up with this scenario, and the setup would basically be that he turned on the Cookies of Darkness slightly earlier, because he didn’t want to destroy his homeland again, and he tried to get rid of them while in the kingdom but not yet at the Citadel, but he ended up failing, so with nothing to lose, he chases after them and decides to put everything into destroying them, even if it likely ends in his death. After this he probably killed Pomegranate and crippled Licorice in some way (I don’t think he’d attack Poison Mushroom), so his final act did have some effect, but he’s still dead by the end of it. And he and his father never got the chance to properly reconcile because Dark Choco thought that could never be a possibility anymore and he had resigned himself to his fate

But yeah, I just don’t know how to convey that sheer overwhelming power and emotion that this scenario suggests. I tried my best though

I also want to submit this to the Dark Cacao Forever contest, but I’m not sure if it’s good enough for it. What do you think?

[rc-catalog]

It’s that time again—our Creator Of The Month celebration is back, and this month’s spotlight is glowing brighter than ever!

Please join us in welcoming the endlessly talented Lola, @malbontesmrs, to the COTM hall of fame! 💗

From Procreate to her keyboard, Lola is a true architect of imagination—and we’re thrilled to celebrate her work all month long! To help you get to know the magic behind the masterpieces, we’ve put together a short interview where she shares her inspirations, her process, and more! 🌸

💬 1) INTRODUCE YOURSELF! 

Hi, I’m Lola. And to be honest, I’m terribly boring.

💬 2) WHEN AND HOW DID YOU FIRST DISCOVER ROMANCE CLUB! What drew you in, and what made you stay? Were there any particular characters, stories, or moments that left a mark on you?

I discovered RC in April 2021, and played enough that when I re-downloaded the app after deleting it, I still had a profile. I actually more or less forgot about it, HS1 JUST finished fully releasing, and I remember reading up to where Vicky gave Bont the food from the school kitchens at least. I think I may have deleted the app shortly after that because of the CY Alexander scene . It’s also entirely possible that I just got too busy and didn’t put it on my new phone. When I redownloaded it in 2023, it was because an acquaintance suggested it, but even then I barely touched it until HS2 started releasing (though I did love SoS and probably played it like 3-4 times before then). I didn’t remember playing HS1 at all until after I played it again, so when I started HS2, and encountered Malbonte and Lucifer for the first time, all I could think was “omg, how could anyone like these jerks”. …anyway, that’s my husband and my other husband now, so I guess I figured that out. I guess all that is to say Alice’s HS brought me, kept me, and continues to keep me on this app.

💬 3) HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CREATING? Can be both RC related and in general! What first sparked your passion for it?

I’ve been creating (in general) for a long time. I won’t say how long, but I’m probably older than most of those who know me realize 😂. But for RC, I only started in early 2024. I also only somewhat recently started working with digital painting (late 2023). I’ve been writing since forever, but I only recently started publicly posting my work as well. I’m generally not very social 😅

💬 4) DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST EVER CREATION? Again, can be RC related or in general! What was it, how did it feel to bring it to life, and looking back now, how do you feel about it?

The first creative thing I did for RC was the first three chapters of my long fic, Lux in Tenebris. I’ll talk about it in question 7 though, because I don’t want to get too repetitive. The first piece of art I posted in the RC fandom was a picture of Bont that I posted from an old account. I loved, and still love that piece. It was the first time I moved out of a more cartoony style, and inspired the HS2 portrait series I ended up doing later. link

💬 5) DO YOU HAVE ANY RITUALS OR HABITS WHEN YOU CREATE? A playlist you always put on, a time of day you prefer, snacks or specific tools/software?

I’m still working on my HS long fics, and I have a playlist I use for those (mostly Rok Nardin songs because they feel very applicable and they’re instrumental, so random words I’m hearing don’t end up in my writing). I write on my iPad with the keyboard attachment because I’m more likely to carry it around than a laptop. I use Word (bleh) because I need it for work anyway, but Word isn’t really friendly for HTML markup and that’s how I write my fics, so I have been considering other options (Rok Nardin Spotify playlist for those who might be curious). I also keep my fics in the cloud so I can access them on my phone in case inspiration hits while I’m at the doctor’s office or something. I save each chapter as an individual file, and for these fics I’ve been posting them as I write them. If I ever do another series like this again though, I may consider a different course of action because it does get a little stressful when writers block hits. My fics are long, and I try to post chapters every week or two, so I’m writing a looooot these days. If I have writer’s block (which has been happening more and more lately), I use different strategies. My bestie isn’t a RC fan, but she’s happy to let me run thoughts by her (which has come to some entertaining results from time to time). Sometimes I’ll just put on that same Rok Nardin playlist I use when writing and go for a walk, because it helps keep me in the mind of it so I can brainstorm. If that doesn’t work… I step away. Close my iPad and don’t even think about it for a bit, or move onto a drawing for a while. For art: No rituals, no things I do every time. I draw when the inspiration hits, and draw until I’m bored of drawing 😂. I have surprisingly very few abandoned WIPs despite this though. I use Procreate, iPad and Apple Pencil. Sometimes I listen to audiobooks while drawing. Sometimes I don’t. Drawing is a very, very casual thing I do. Fun fact: most of my art only uses two brushes and a heck-ton of smudging. Any additional brushes are stamps. I wish I could tell you which brushes they are, but “Brush 4” probably doesn’t help 🤷🏼‍♀️

💬 6) IS THERE A PIECE OF ADVICE YOU WOULD GIVE TO YOUR YOUNGER CREATIVE SELF? Or readers in general?

1000% it’s that practice makes perfect. My art feels like a huge testament to that statement because (I think anyway) you can see the major improvements I’ve made in the last year alone. I have one CG that I like to practice new techniques by redrawing it, and I keep them in a row in my procreate folder so I can see the progression and my own improvement. It helps with motivation, but I find it also helps because I can take things I like from different versions to incorporate them into my style. I picked up a lot of technical skills and techniques by doing that. As for writing, I know it’s the most cliché advice ever, but write for yourself. Write what you want to read; chances are there’s someone else who wants to too. The nice thing about doing that, is that you can do whatever you want. And for both, don’t value your work based on its engagement. That was a tough lesson for me to learn, especially with my art, which hasn’t been getting very much engagement at all these days, and my new fic, which isn’t getting nearly as much in the way of comments as Lux in Tenebris did. What I’ve found though, is that every time I start to get bummed about the lack of engagement on BO&BR, someone pops up out of nowhere to tell me they’ve loved my stories and have been reading them for a while. The point is, just because I’m not seeing engagement, doesn’t mean it’s not there; sometimes people just don’t know what to say, sometimes they’re too shy to say anything, sometimes they mean to say something and it slips their minds. Either way, if you work on something you love, it doesn’t matter what other people think.

💬 7) CHOOSE 3-5 OF YOUR FAVOURITE WORKS AND RAMBLE AWAY! We want all the behind-the-scenes thoughts: What do these pieces mean to you? What inspired them? Were there any struggles you faced while creating them? What emotions or memories are tied to them now?

Lux in Tenebris – Malbonte x MC HS1 (long) fanfiction (Posted on AO3, rated E for occasional smut and canon-typical descriptions of violence / death)

I chose this one first for a reason, because it is by far the most meaningful project I’ve ever done (and to be honest, hopefully the most meaningful I’ll ever do). Lux in Tenebris is my entire 2024; I started it in January, and finished it in December— it’s over 255,000 words (1100 pages). I was (am? but it’s much better managed now) very sick in 2024, and I ended up in the hospital for over a month. Lux was my main project through the year, and it helped me get through the harder times; it is a tangible representation of my struggles that year. I love Lux, and I hope I always will. I know it’s not perfect, there were a lot of chapters I wrote when I was extremely unwell and could definitely use some editing, but I’m not perfect either. It was the first long fic that I ever fully completed, and it was the first project I’ve ever done that I legitimately made for myself and my own enjoyment; other people liking it was a very unexpected, and pleasant, bonus. (Though admittedly, I did at one point think how nice it would be if a non-Malbonte fan read it and became a Malbonte fan 😂. That didn’t happen to my knowledge, but I had a non-HS1 fan read it and enthusiastically love it, so I’m counting that 😄). It also wasn’t the story I planned in the beginning (I completely changed course around chapter 3, then totally committed to that change by chapter 7). I’m happy with the direction it took though. I poured my whole life into that fic, and I’m still working on the sequel. So yeah, it’s pretty important to me. I loved writing it, I love reading it, and I love talking about it. This fic is my baby.

2. The HS2 LI series

Similar to Lux in Tenebris, I worked on these portraits to distract me from being sick, and I wanted to work with a bit more variety of people. HS2 is (probably obviously) my favourite story on the app, and I wanted to honour it somehow, I guess. I actually want to do the series over, because I feel like I’ve learned a lot of new techniques and improved my art since then, but we’ll see. I have to finish the ABH series first. I actually find Dino and Lucifer to be two of the most difficult people I’ve drawn to get “right”, and those two portraits took the longest by quite a bit to do (Luci with his tattoos especially. Tbh, the more I look at it, the more I reeeeeally want to redo War and Astaroth too…) Anyway, yeah, it was a fun project that I did because I love HS2, and it was a lot of fun to work on. Of course with practice, as I’ve improved, I can see a lot more issues with these pictures than I could when I did them, but I’ll always love the project itself because it was a nice distraction from the things going on at the time. Dino / Lucifer / Mimi / Astaroth / War / Hunger / Malbonte

3. Black Obelisks & Blood Roses (Malbonte x MC HS2 fanfiction) – in progress sequel to Lux in Tenebris (Posted on AO3, rated E for occasional smut and canon-typical descriptions of violence / death)

I debated choosing this, but decided I can’t promote Lux without promoting the sequel I’m currently writing, Black Obelisks & Blood Roses. It’s only about 1/3 of the way done, but it’s already over 164,000 words (650 pages). I’m actively updating at least twice a month, but often more than that (and never less). I grieved Lux in Tenebris when it was finished. It literally felt like a piece of me died or something. I had started planning BO&BR very early into writing Lux, so I knew I was going to write a sequel, but I had every intention of taking a month or two between the two. I did not. I started this one earlier than I planned because I was so sad about finishing Lux that I had to. It’s been a lot more of a struggle to write, especially lately. I’ve got a lot going on in my life, and honestly, the subject matter is kind of a bummer sometimes. I’m only JUST coming out of Season 1 now in the fic. BUT, I still love writing it, and going back to my little world with Malbonte and Antigone. I just revealed my first major divergence from canon (and not-so-secret crossover), and I’m simultaneously nervous and excited. I’ve been planning this for months and I’m kind of freaking out that it’s already here. Anyway, my fics take a lot more of my time, so I tend to have a lot more feelings around them. I plot and plan constantly, readjust and rework plans as needed. Even still, I go with the flow while I write, and sometimes things happen that even I didn’t expect but they feel right, so it becomes part of the story. That’s my favourite part to be honest, when I write something and I’m like “damn, that wasn’t supposed to happen yet but it’s SO GOOD here”.

4. Raphael Portrait

I’m two characters (David and 🥰Cassiel🥰) away from finishing the ABH LI portrait series, but Raphael is the latest art piece I’ve completed, and definitely in my top 3 best pieces ever, I think (it could be #1, but I’m biased so clearly my best piece is Malbonte 😂). I’ve started experimenting more with open mouth smiles, which has been fun. I love Raphael’s smile, it’s just… ugh, so cute. I started working on pictures recently where I do the parts I don’t enjoy doing first, so that I don’t just kinda say “eh, it’s done enough”, aaaaand I’m pretty happy with that decision looking at this final piece. I’m really happy with how he turned out (especially his hair, haha and the light fixture in the background 😅). Unfortunately I’ve also been finding him a bit intimidating because I feel like he’s pushed the bar up. I haven’t even started the next portrait in the series (though I probably will the second I put this down because I’m suddenly feeling inspired) (update: I did in fact start it, but I’m still feeling intimidated by Raphael, so it didn’t get done by time of writing 😅).

5. Malbonte Portrait, CG Redraw

Last one! I wasn’t going to add this piece, but I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t because this is my practice CG! I have many, many, versions of this CG in my procreate folder, because I use it to practice, play with brushes, and teach myself new techniques. I keep them in a row at the bottom of my folder so I can see my progress, and refer back to things I like and don’t like about the ones I’ve done. This one is my favourite so far. I love Malbonte, so I’m always happy to complete Malbonte fan art. I think when practicing, especially if you’re going to do the same drawing over and over again like I do, it’s important to draw something that you enjoy doing. This CG is one of my favourites, and it’s a fantastic face-front portrait for practicing faces. I love it.

A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to read Lola's feature and celebrate her incredible work with us! And of course, thank you to all the amazing creators who submitted this month—we’re constantly in awe of your talent and passion.

Here’s to you, Lola—you paint stories we can’t stop reading and write pictures we can’t stop staring at. Congratulations, and thank you for sharing your gift with us! 🩷

[strangefa11]

what art program do you use, and what brushes do you use? they look yummy :)

I use procreate and an ipad pro!

As for brushes I use four main brushes:

This chisel brush by ringlov - I use this one for almost all my linework. I do have a version of it that I customized to get rid of the grainy texture that it comes with by default, but honestly I don’t use that version as much.

Sleeky Sketcher by alicetrijjet - this is the brush I mostly use for sketches although admittedly I sort of bounce between brushes when it comes to sketching. You can see where I’ve used this brush for the lines here and here.

Structured Paint from Liliyth’s starter pack- This is the brush I use for pretty much all my colouring and rendering. One of my favourite brushes of all time, it’s so versatile and it blends out really nicely

And then Very occasionally I’ll use the default marker brush from procreate’s inking pack when I want cleaner lines, like in this post.

Hope this is helpful! I tend to cycle through brushes pretty frequently but I’ve been settled on these four for a good while.

IMPORTANT EDIT: I was wrong about where I got the sleeky sketcher from... oops... I have corrected the mistake

[argumentativeaxolotl]

Hii, can you do random headcanons human au about lightning and doc? Like a father/son relationship?

Yes! I can do that for you! Thanks for asking ^^

LIGHTNING & DOC FATHER/SON HEADCANONS(HUMANIZED)?!? REAL?!:

Im so sorry there aren’t too many 😭 for some reason I’ve been struggling with concepts so if I think of any good ones later, I’ll add them back here! I hope you like these my friend!

- In my AU at least, Lightning never had a stable home-life, constantly jumping from foster home to foster home and sometimes said foster homes wouldn’t be the best. I’d assume thanks to his unfortunate circumstances, he never really had anybody take care of him until Mack and Doc arrived- even then there was only so much Mack could do or say in fear of getting fired or something.

- Doc loves Lightning(this is obvious), but the kid cannot cook for the life of him so whenever Lightning does something nice for Doc and makes food for him, and it ends up genuinely being shit or inedible, Doc will still eat it anyways because of how happy Lightning looks when he does.

- Lightning’s love language is gifts and making things for other people(even if he thinks he’s good at it, but really isn’t). I’d imagine Doc has a lot of random nicknacks and bracelets from Lightning lmao.

- I think that the first time Lightning accidentally called Doc Dad he got so scared and embarrassed that he fucking bolted out the door, ran to his 95, and raced outta town like a bat out of hell. He’s like “fuck I can’t go back and show my face! Doc’s gonna think I’m weird or something!!!!” But then doc’s like,”You think of me as a dad?! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰” and immediately goes out after Lightning and brings him home- possibly having a heart to heart or something.

- Doc will do very small things that mean the world to Lightning, such as taking him to the store with him, going on small trips with him, just generally making Lightning feel wanted and just spending time with him.

- This one’s not necessarily Lightning and Doc only and is sorta canon, but Doc is everyone’s father 💀💀💀. Doesn’t matter who you are, as soon as you step foot in Radiator Springs once and you plan to stay for more than half an hour, then you are his kid. You have been adopted.

- Doc gave Lightning a bedtime. And Lightning was not happy abt it 😭. Lightning, despite being a mostly functioning adult, was still taking horrible care of himself(likely due to Harv’s harmful teaching and shitty “philosophies”. Fuck that guy) and would go to bed at seriously ungodly hours, even during race weekends which was a no no for obvious reasons. There was also the fact that Lightning got snippy and short whenever he didn’t sleep and everyone on the team was simply too nice to say anything until Doc did. I’d imagine it was because Lightning decided it would be a good idea to mouth off to the man after a race that went awry and he said stuff he didn’t mean. Doc would likely then realize the kid needed to have a nap before he collapsed or whatever then magically after said nap he was a bit better. Doc then decided that the kid’s bedtime would be 10:30 on the dot. Lightning, deciding he was an adult, complained to the man to which Doc replied with how shitty the kid had been acting which led to Lightning having a realization and leading to him apologizing his team who were more than forgiving and understood.

- Lightning’s a fuckingn iPad kid and Doc knows it and uses it to his advantage 💀💀. Whenever Doc just needs a second to himself or wants to disappear without worrying Lightning(a note or two would be written and left on the counter as well) he’ll leave a documentary- likely about prehistoric animals or modern animals- playing on the TV that will invest Lightning until Doc gets back.

- While having a stable father figure is new to Lightning, having a son-figure is for Doc as well. After Lightning called him dad, Doc has been reading every parenting guide book and news article and children’s mental health guide he could get his hands on. He didn’t want to mess up with the kid and he was still young(Doc knew Lightning didn’t have an all-too stable home-life, why else would he never talk to his parents or family members if he even had any?) and decently impressionable- plus there was all that deep-rooted shit Harv fucked Lightning up with. Doc did not want to hurt the kid and so he did his best with what he could, but it was hard since Lightning wasn’t exactly a child. Doc does his best anyways.

- Doc always gives 101% of his attention to Lightning, even when he’s physically doing something else such as making coffee. Doc loves listening to Lightning’s sometimes nonsensical rambles and rants about dinosaurs(Lightning is 100% a Dinosaur kid I know one when I see one for I am also one) and will listen when he starts nervously rambling about them during a race as well. He’ll always listen to his rants and stories, doing his best to keep up with the youngster. He’s glad Lightning loves sharing his interests with him and everyone in Radiator Springs. Lightning himself loves that he’s allowed to just keep talking all he wants and so he does, but he doesn’t have to “make sure” they’re still listening like he’d have to with Harv or shitty old friends of his because they’d all be paying attention anyways, even while busy. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

- Doc teaches Lightning how to do DIY shit or how to fix things(aside from cars. I’d imagine they bond on that. Maybe this one can be changed to Doc taught Lightning about the insides of a car? Like “if you wanna race, you can’t just know the pedals and wheel. You gotta know everything about your car” or something. Little lesson yk?) like doorframes or putting together IKEA furniture(screaming and crying). I’d imagine he loves teaching Lightning how to do woodshop and Lightning loves making little sculptures.

- For his first Father’s Day in Radiator Springs, Lightning decided to get the entire town involved since he wasn’t entirely sure what Doc liked and didn’t like that he could get the man. With his little dilemma, he went to everyone in the town getting input from everybody- some ranging from getting Doc an entire new tool kit or some sort of organizer thing to a nice set of overalls Doc could wear when fixing up the Hornet or working on projects. I like to think that maybe the entire town also get him things and nicknacks since everybody realized how much of a father Doc was. I think Lightning would be like,”fuck what do I get him 😰😰” Sally would be like,”BRO JUST GET HIM SOMETHING. HE’LL LOVE IT EITHER WAY ESPECIALLY IF IT COMES FROM YOU!” And then he decides to get Doc everything the others said anyways to which Doc is surprised and proves Sally right by saying something like,”Kid, you’re the only gift I need.” Or something corny. Maybe even like,”Kid, these are all wonderful, but you didn’t have to get all of these just for me.” Or sumn. Doc 101% uses all of the items everyday tho.

I’m sorry if these are a little short I’ll add some more later if k come up with good ones lol

[sonicenvy]

So I started a new (very ambitious) embroidery project!

This project is going to be a doozy! I love this little figure from the Book of Kells, and I’ve been wanting to embroidery medieval miniatures from the Book of Kells for a long time, so why not now? I downloaded high quality images from the Book of Kells off of the Trinity College Dublin Library website, and located this little guy on Folio 27v. (Image 4) This figure is the Eagle meant to represent St. John the Evangelist and the ascension of Christ into heaven. I am not religious, but I did grow up Catholic (and in an Irish family) and I’ve long been a really passionate medievalist. I think that these illuminated manuscripts are super fucking cool, and I love medieval Irish art, so here I am.

I’ve only just started stitching (had to watch some very boring lectures for my least favorite grad school class of all time, so it was a good way to keep my hands busy!) I also at the last minute decided to do some metallic gold thread in some areas that I know are covered with gold leaf in the original image. I am choosing to use metallic thread despite the fact that I know it is Satan’s embroidery supply. I did one tiny cross with it already (see Image 3) and I am already regretting it, but it’s too late now lmao.

If I make it through this project maybe I'll do the other 3 Evangelists from Folio 27v. Will update as I go along!

Images:

Image 1: My embroidery set up laying on top of my bed spread. The bed spread is a quilt that my late grandmother made and machine embroidered back in the 1970s, when machine embroidery was hot and new. My set up includes:

Hoop

Project box that contains all of the threads I'll be using for the project, my thimble, my thread scissors, some tape to tape down loose threads on spindles, and my needles in a "pincushion" that's just a tiny ball of yarn.

My iPad for looking at the original image (and playing tunes!)

My color block reference image and my color sheet

Image 2: Close up on the color block and color sheet

Image 3: Result of my first 1:45 of stitching while listening to very boring lectures for my least favorite grad school class of all time.

Image 4: The original image, Folio 27v of the Book of Kells.

How did I get here (at the start line)? an extremely detailed step-by-step (under the cut because this post is already long af)

Downloaded the full size image of Folio 27v

Cut St. John out of the image using the pen tool in Photoshop and moved it to a new document with a clear background.

Pasted St. John into a blank high res procreate document.

Did a rough digital tracing of the image in procreate with my iPad and Apple Pencil.

Exported tracing back to my computer.

Opened tracing in Illustrator and made it into a vector. Took forever because I fucked up my procreate settings RIP.

Turned Vector into live paint object.

Opened original image in PS, and used eyedropper tool to select colors in original document. Compared those colors to the colors that I had in my stash (wanted to use mostly if not all from my stash rather than buying new floss).

Used threadcolors.com to get the hex codes for the selected threads. Made a spreadsheet of the selected colors for my reference. Printed out spreadsheet.

Colored the image using the paint bucket tool (and recolor artwork options) with the colors corresponding to selected threads. Saved Illustrator document.

Opened illustrator document in PS, gave it a solid white background and exported it as PDF.

Printed out initial copy of PDF image on blank printer paper to see if it was the right size. It wasn’t lol, so I made it bigger (super easy with vector images!) Printed test copy #2 and it was the right size.

Iron chosen fabric and stretch in Phillips head screw tightened hoop.

Printed the PDF image on Sulky Fabri-solvy, cut to size, and adhere to the surface of the stretched fabric.

Stitch, all single stranded….

total materials thus far:

Sulky Fabric Solvy

Embroidery Floss

Needles

Laptop with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Apple Numbers

The internet

iPad with Procreate and Apple Pencil

Printer

Cream colored fabric

Iron and ironing board

Scissors

Copy paper

[taeiris]

if I’ve already sent this ask before I’m so sorry, I’ve got adhd, but how did you find your art? (I’m in my questioning phase)

hihi!!! no problem! i think i have some kind of glitch with asks bc when i go look for them it says i have 3, but when i check it, there isn’t any so im sorry if any of u have ever sent asks and i havent answered them it’s probably bc of that😭

but anyways lets get on it!

finding you art style is not smth simple at ALL. ive been drawing my entire life!!! and ive had a bunch of different styles until now, they kinda used to change every few months or so, i was always happy with them but it never really lasted??? and i always had at least one part of the process of it to dread doing, for example, coloring.

it wasn’t until recently i FINALLLYYY found a style im 100% comfortable in.

it really takes experimenting and finding what elements of creating art you love and enjoy the most. for me, i used to mostly do traditional art, just pencil or ink sketching and i would OCCASIONALLY color them. so i really used to enjoy kinda the messiness of the pencil on trad mediums and stuff? and i never rlly found a way to translate that element to digital art which is the one i enjoy the most now.

brushes are very important! it depends on the look you like. since i like that pencil feel, i use a pencil looking brush! (softy from esbenlash’s procreate brush set) and i also got a paper feel screen protector for my ipad to enhance the experience🔥

i found i mostly enjoyed doing lineart and didnt rlly look forward to coloring, i didnt find my past styles enjoyable bc they kind of felt restricting in that area? since i didnt find a way to make it more abt the lineart and less abt coloring that i liked (ofc theres plenty! i just didnt find one for me)

so tbh i think what mostly influenced the style i enjoy the most now is film, and baroque art!

i had recently seen:

Crimson Peak (2015)

The Shape of Water (2017)

and ofc

Stranger Things DUHHHHH

and i fell in love with the way the lightning was, heavy dark shadows and moody lights, and tried to match my style to it and found that it highlighted all the things i enjoy doing the most while drawing! so thats where i am now

special mention to the one movie im obsessed with currently

The Crow (1994)

also has the similar style

all that + experimenting, studying other’s art i liked and finding elements to integrate to my art, ANDDD music also played a huge part in it. so as you can see for me its about kind of combining aspects of every single piece of media i like 😭

its not gonna be the same for everyone, but its always good to have a guide so i hope this was useful for you and anyone else! im always willing answer any art questions :)

don’t worry too much about speeding up finding your style, it’ll come to you eventually, so focus on enjoying the moment and learning, take mental notes of what you like and don’t like!

sorry this is kinda long as hell… but i like rambling

[archandshri]

9th feb '24 - [arch] characters, interactions and emotion - making a mini webcomic

Gahhhh Shri this has been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks!!!! Hope you are doing well :)) First of all, WOW! You have a lot of goals, and I’m sure you’ll get them done! I’ve worked a lot on my graphic design during the process of making Winter Wellbeing. If you wanna see a blog post dedicated just to that, I can do so! It would be cool to compare notes on the approaches we take for graphic layouts. If you wanna share your knowledge of camera skills when you build that up that would be awesome 😭😭

It’s been a tough few weeks, art wise. I have been reflecting on my process, motivations to create, the ego and all the baggage that’s lumped into the creative process for me. It turns out there’s a lot. I took some space from my illustration practise (literally for a weekend!) and began to realise how dysfunctional it is. I’ve been writing a lot about that so there may be a larger piece of writing coming about that at some point (no promises!!)

But for now, let's talk about little successes!

I’ve been playing with some characters for a while but I’d hit a bit of a block with the plot. I realised the expectation of having a finished project of high quality soon is unrealistic, and an unhealthy expectation to put on myself. I rarely give myself time to play with concepts for a long time and let the characters, plot and interactions evolve naturally. Maybe this in part came from sticking to the short university module turnaround. I noticed that that short turnaround was causing a lot of block, so I have decided to bench it as a comic for now and focus on using it as a playground - falling in love with the characters, creating stories and drawing them for fun. Maybe years down the line I’ll make them into a comic - we shall see! 

I *tried* to do hourly comics day this year and it didn’t quite work for me. I think I made 3 comics? And then got distracted with a bigger project that ended up taking a week or so to complete. Let’s have a look at it, shall we?

[you can find the full version here]

First of all, it’s based on an unfinished fanfiction I started a couple of months ago, which was mostly bad, but there was one nice scene that I liked and wanted to expand on. I started by having a look at the script I wrote and thumbnailing on the iPad. I’m away from home at the mo and usually would prefer to do most of my artwork traditionally, but because I don’t have access to a scanner, the whole process was digital this time. A lot of the pages got scrapped because the dialogue wasn’t necessary, and I’m not drawing pages that aren’t necessary.

some more development screenshots

I thought a lot about posing during the process, acting the scenes out in my mind and sometimes physically, really understanding the emotions of the characters, why they’re saying what they’re saying, their tone and how to convey that though their body language and expression (i find grian really annoying normally [affectionate] but I want this grian to step on me).

Pearl was hard with this because she’s quite erratic and unpredictable in this series, so I wanted her to switch from raw explodey anger to playful jabs at Grian. I’m hoping this comes across as somewhat insane, rather than tonally off and inconsistent. I did super enjoy drawing her and her explosive nature though, especially in comparison to Grian’s coldness.

I played with levels and monotone colour too - I’m not working with multiple colours much at the moment so I’m able to focus on things like values composition, characters and backgrounds. My skills limit the kind of stories I can tell currently, so I’m working to improve those foundations. Maybe when I’m back in the riso studio I can play with colours a little more.

Colours - despite the simple pallete it gets a bit nerdy here.I stuck to specific flat percentages for most of it - Pearl’s hair and Grians jumper are 60%, Grian’s hair and Pearl’s cloak are 20%. Then I added a 14% layer for shadows, using a ahrd blend eraser tool for highlights, making the images quite dark. I fill a layer with texture from Forystr’s riso brush for procreate, and turn it into a 40% opacity colour dodge layer. This gives it some much needed texture and makes the lighting feel low and nighttimecore. It also pushes the values to look really nice - I tend to be too scared to push them by myself.

I tried a few different colour layers to get a *vibe* but settled on a low percentage riso blue in a colour layer. All layers besides the riso blue are in a riso black, colour picked from a riso colour pallete. I learnt these tools - using percentages to get good values - from working with risograph. I really recommend having a look at these techniques and doing some monotone work. It's really improved by character designs, page layouts and compositions.

That's all from me today, though I have had MANY other thoughts over the past two weeks about creating, but perhaps we'll dive into them another time. If you (or anyone else) has any questions, hit me up with a reblog or an ask and I will get right to it. Lovely to hear from you! Hope your art is going great too :)) Arch :)

[felworthless]

Hai!! I’ve been a fan of your Outsiders fanart for a while since I first joined the fandom almost like a year ago, and will constantly binge read the mini comics, but I’m new to digital art, and recently got procreate pocket on my phone (trying to find a job to save up for a new iPad) so I was wondering what brushes you use for your sketches/doodles or even actual paintings??? And that recent Dalbit piece healed my mental health ❤️

hiiiii! I don't use procreate for art anymore but I think theres ways to make my clip brushes there! I mostly use regular hard round brushes or modified airbrushes for my lineart. For coloring the same stuff except I sometimes use a round mixing brush for a more painty feel.

[bryan360]

JSAUX Nylon Braided Cords (Micro USB/Lighting) - Part 1 (first half recorded) (Apr. 6th, 2024)

After going through my Fintie Slim Case review two weeks later, I’m now finally moving with the next one that me and to one of my closest friends are been waiting for. This here’s my two related items from Mar. 12th to the 24th (even after on the 25th that I’d eventually got my new tablet case as I’d mentioned).

⬆️ (1st to 2nd images; from March 2024 after obtained these packages from Amazon.com)

Say hello to my new charging cables of 2024. Guess you’ve never expected to have two new charging cable I’d asked my mom to ordered from Amazon.com last month. You see, I’d originally planned to have just one charging cable for my Samsung Tab E device; especially what happened to my original usb cable years later. Link Here

Though I was thinking of getting a second charging cable for my recent iPad device I’m holding. It wasn’t a bad suggestion or anything, but sure glad to save up both boxes as of this writing. On the left (Dated: Mar. 12th) was the first one to obtained, but also said that it only supported on Apple devices such as phones or tablets. Meanwhile on the right (Dated: Mar. 24th) is a second delivery I’d been waited for days later. At least now knowing that this is the one for my android device to set up with. Sure looks identical on both of their box designs, but doesn’t mean they’re in a same sizes when saving in comparison soon. Same goes when doing the unboxing part that you wanted to see.

⬆️ (3rd through 6th images; on Mar. 31st from 2:26 to 2:32 P.M.)

Saving it at the end of March 2024; during in the afternoon is where I’d made some comparisons with both boxes. As you might of guess, it was pretty much different in sizes as expected to be. Guess what I’m doing the unboxing part first? Though nevertheless, it was not bad from the beginning for each boxes I’d compared to.

⬆️ (7th through 10th Images; from 2:38 to 2:46 P.M.)

I’m now moving on with the unboxing part within seconds later. Gotta say, it looked unique than my other original cables I’ve been using for years. This time, they’re nylon braided colored red and blue cables in display. I’ve been waited to get one of those that promised for strength and protection, but also hoping that can work for any devices to charge well without error.

So anyways, the first one is the blue Micro-USB cable(s), but never expected of owning two cables in one box before. Sure, I can save the second cable if I’d possibly lost the first cable to find; at least not necessarily. That being said, I think having two cables for myself was an odd yet thoughtful choice to take. So I don’t see why not it was worth it.

Nevertheless, as I’d continued on is having a small booklet to mostly its elastic straps. That’s good news to see it came from the box. 😃👍 Now I can wrapped around them unlike some other original cables In tangled mess. Though I have been using bread ties as alternatives, but sometimes it might break easily if pulling it too much. Thank goodness now that I’d had some elastic straps for the first time. Same goes to my red colored Lighting cable; at least for just one strap made.

⬆️ (11th through 13th Images; on Apr. 6th, 2024 from 7:36 to 7:38 A.M.)

Now this here I've been saving for this month later, but finally got to test out with my blue Micro-USB cable onto my older Samsung device; during the afternoon. I'm sure everyone and mostly one of my friends are hoping to see; if it can detect while charging through my old tablet that is.

Before I can set things up, I'd loosing up those two white rubber bands that was secure from said usb cable packaging. As for how long does this item is? Just about 6.6 ft actually. Now if I can save some time to compared with my original Samsung cable later in extras. Also, another look of this elastic strap as I'd notice there's two of them sticking together. So that’s explained why I’d gotten two cables in one box/package, but should’ve show of myself taking each elastic straps off together before moving on. 🤷‍♂️

⬆️ (14th through 21st Images; from 7:40 to 7:59 A.M.)

Next up, I’d used this recent adaptive Samsung charger to connect with my new charging cable. Believe or not, this still works that I’d been using it for my older Samsung device years later. Until its original usb cable gotten worn down and aged you’d already seen before. At least knowing its adaptive charger still running well as I’d connected to my older device again. Nice! 😉👍

⬆️ (22nd through 25th Images; from 7:59 to 8:00 A.M.)

With that, I’d eventually turn on my android device shortly after taking some photos out of it. Looks promising so far, but it was odd that where the progress begin at 11% of battery life from the start. It should’ve been from the beginning at zero percentage after letting my device running dry days later. Nevertheless, at least that’s all according to my plans as of this recording.

⬆️ (26th through 28th Images; from 8:01/8:02 to 12:35 P.M.)

And now after waited through hours; while keeping an eye of exact timing, my older Samsung device now fully charged at 🔋100% of battery life. Good! 😁👍 I’m really glad to see it lit up again, but also with my 128GB SanDisk card that kept with my photos/drawings I’d been transferred to. At least it still there after few years later, but sure does felt like forever to be honest. Getting back to this review though, my new charging cable did an fine job albeit slightly than I would’ve hoped. You see when examining the time through with some photos; from 8 to 12 P.M., it took about 5 hours of charging up my older Samsung tablet device. Not exactly for quick charging results to have. That being said, it did tried its best of helping my device out without some issues. With having the nylon braided material for hopes of better protection, consider my original Samsung cable being replaced.

My Overall Thoughts/Impressions: ⬇️

As far as this first parter, testing out with my new micro-usb cable wasn’t too bad during this review. Despite having to wait around five hours or less, it still detect to my older Samsung tablet for the first time I’d connected with. At least now it helped fully charged up once more.

Hope you guys enjoy this review, but sorry if I’d been keeping this waited from weeks ago. Though stay tuned as I’m saving for the second parter soon. Until then, I’ll be taking some break time already.

Tagged: @murumokirby360 @shadowredfeline @alexander1301 @rafacaz4lisam2k4 @paektu

[rainyraisin]

2023 YEAR IN REVIEW!!!

My artstyle changed a lot this year, especially after my shift from ibis paint to procreate after getting my iPad (drawing on an iPad is the BEST btw 100% recommend I love it way more than a phone and it didn’t die after a month like my old wacom 💀💀). I’m relatively happy with where my art is atm and I hope to continue to improve in 2024!

Explanation of all the silly art down below! (Mostly so I can tell y’all who the fanart is for but also cause I like rambling)

January: A drawing of my Rise Leo human design I did to test out a pixel brush I found for Ibis Paint. He’s very fun to draw hehe I need to draw him more-

February: I wanted to learn how to draw the future designs of Leo and Mikey along with CJ so I planned to draw them all together! I struggled with Leo though so I just got rid of him. Sorry Peepaw 😞😞💔💔💔

March: Fanart for @beannary ‘s TLP au! I love it so much so I had to draw smth for it hehe 😈😈💥💥💥 which reminds me I need to draw more at some point- might redraw it at some point cause I’m not super happy with how it turned out but I do like the idea a lot

April: The month I created Reticent! April’s Fools was the first episode I came up with so I drew a chapter poster! It ended up being very different to the chapter cover I drew a couple months later but it’s still cool :D Leo is being weirdly affectionate to Mikey though what the heck that isn’t like him smh. Although I guess it was meant to be purposefully exaggerated sooooo 🥰

May: Reticent Casey!!! I don’t have much to say it’s just Reticent Casey HDKSGXKSHD this wasnt a very good art month

June: Krangified Donnie is literally my favourite concept ever thats it that’s all I have to say dbskdbwkh I adore Krangified Donnie and if the Rise brainrot takes over the Reticent brainrot for a while then I will probably be drawing Krangified Donnie during that time sorry not sorry

July: Reticent Chapter 3’s cover yippee!!! Still my favourite Reticent cover although Chapter 8’s is a close second (I can’t wait to post it once it’s been betaread yippee!!!). The scribble over Leo’s eyes is literally just because I was struggling to draw his eyes and i was getting annoyed dbskdbskdb it’s actually a very common issue with him (common Ret!Leo L). Also Mikey being reflected in the mirror is a reference to Mirror Man by Jack Stauber which I’ve basically considered his theme song since @aaronymous999 introduced it to me ebwjcbkwhd thank you Mr. Aaronymous! Also somebody said he was in the barbie box and I still need to draw that to this day because Mikey would’ve killed to go see Barbie.

August: RET DONNIE WOOOOO he’s being bullied again!!! I drew that piece for a colour palette challenge request and realised I got the prompt wrong so I just made it into its own thing 💥💥💥 it’s usually a flickering light gif but I chose to just use the version with the light on for this post. The photos in the background were really fun to draw hehe either April’s or Mikey’s is my favourite.

September: MY 500 FOLLOWER DTIYS YIPPEE (/my 150 follower DTIYS for tumblr). This one took me. Forever to draw and I love it to pieces hehe it was really fun to design Mikey’s room and figure out outfits for the sillies and idk the concept of a sleepover just seemed really fun to me dbskbdkdb- and all the entries I got were so so awesome I loved them all to pieces!!! I still look at them all the time hehe

October: FANART OF @endlesslogo ‘S HUMAN RISE LEO DESIGN WOOOOOO!!! This was the piece I started rendering on hehe it was so much fun to draw!!!! Although I did have a fight with rendering the hair for over an hour svsjegksbdk HOW DO PEOPLE DO IT FR!!!

November: Me and my friends were working on a crossover between our TMNT iterations so I drew all of our Karai’s together!!! Confluence Karai is on the left, created by Salem and Marine, New Stars Karai is in the middle created by Starla, and Reticent Karai is on the right created by me! All our Karais have such cool designs AHHHHH literally dead over them constantly/pos

December: Most of December I spent drawing Christmas presents so this was my present for Salem!!! Confluence!Jonatello my beloved….

[oldbooksandnewmusic]

Just curious! What program do you use to animate?

I’ve been using clip studio paint ex (the old none subscription based one) to animate all of the resent vids/ gifs I’ve been doin’ sometimes I’ll edit some things around after on capcut or wondershare filmora too, but that’s not super frequent because clip studio is really fantastic and pretty much has everything you could need! It is really well worth the money!

I’ve also used and like rough animator on iPad (I mostly just use it for storyboards while I’m out and about though) it’s actually really good for the price! For an example of that this was the og story board for the javert animation I did recently, this was done on my iPad while in town haven a coffee so excuse it’s shittyness lol

[chemicallyyourss]

Hey guys,

I’m new here and sort of wanted to introduce myself and ask for some advice/suggestions.

I’m somewhat new to tumblr- I’ve had accounts before, but never really fully understood how to work all the features, and still don’t, lol. So if there’s maybe a guide or something somewhere that would be uber helpful and appreciated for me!

I used to write quite a lot- both fanfiction-sorts and original works- mainly on Wattpad, Fanfiction.net, and AO3 (yes I know the distrust that comes with Wattpad users lol, but I was 14). I have always mainly written for The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer- my absolute favorite book series of all time and my comfort series as well- as well as some other fandoms like funny enough BBC Sherlock and Hamilton, and I had quite a lot that I wrote for The Lunar Chronicles. I’m really wanting to get back into the flow of writing and see about reposting my old works onto here in a master list and also working on some new ones, again both fanfiction and original. I’m also wanting to get more into drawing and such- fan art and other things. I never drew that much of fanart other than some sketches and designs and bookmarks that I mostly kept to myself, but I’d love to start making my own so that I can work more towards drawing specifically what I want to see, as I’m such a perfectionist and there’s not that much The Lunar Chronicles fanart especially for my favorite couple. I do do several forms of arts and crafts like crocheting, knitting, pottery, art, etc, and I especially did good with photography and realistic drawings and charcoal drawings, and I’d love to incorporate that and also get better at other types.

So I was looking into devices that could help me out and make it easier to do these things. I don’t really like writing on my phone, as the keyboard is so small and I like a wider view and such. I used to write on an iPad, but that was waaaay back in 2014 or so. It didn’t give me all the features I’d liked, but it was enough to do my main bit of writing. I’m not that informed about technology and such so I’ve been trying to look into what products may be best for what I want, like an iPad and keyboard, a MacBook, etc. I’m not that well off so I can’t necessarily just drop a thousand or so dollars on stuff, especially if it doesn’t work best for me. If anyone can respond or even message me with some ideas and resources and information as to what would be most beneficial all around for this sort of project, I would be so appreciative. Thank you so much!

**you can skip down to the other two asterisks if you don’t want to read all about me or get bored lol, please read below the bottom asterisks at the end though**

I guess I’d like to say a bit about myself as well. I know I don’t have my page strictly shown as a “The Lunar Chronicles” fan account, but that’s pretty much what it is, plus some poetry, quotes, landscapes, art, Adventure Time stuff, cats, and memes. You pretty much might as well view me as a Lunar Chronicles fan account lol. It sucks because I figure I may have a hard time getting seen and interacted with since I’m not broadly showing that I’m absolutely obsessed with the series, but I really want to get the word out while still maintaining my individuality on my page.

I started reading The Lunar Chronicles when Cress was coming out, I think right after Scarlet had been released. I was preeeetty young back then, which is a little embarrassing because back then most of the fans were in their 20’s and I was a teenager, but hopefully more people my age have found the series now. I won’t say how old I was back then, but I will say I’m 21 now lol. You can do the math yourself if you want.

My OTP is Kaider, Kai and Cinder. I legitimately adore them, like ridiculously so. They make me so giddy honestly lol. I wrote mainly for their ship, but rereading the series for maybe the 20th time, I am starting to adore Jacin and Winter as well. I just think Kai and Cinder are so underrated and overlooked a lot of the time. I loved writing for them and I’m an absolute sucker for their fanfictions, so if you find any or write any I haven’t already checked out, hit me up and I’ll devour it lol. And Id love to share my current works and hopefully future works! I was relatively young when I wrote them all, but I’ve always written quite a bit and been more talented at that more than anything else- not to brag, it’s just I’m mostly a one trick pony and that’s the trick lol.

So, I’m a 21 year old female from the USA, and have lived in a very small town for all of my life so far, but I’m trying to move to a midsize city with my husband soon. I’ve been married since May 2023, and I’ve been with my husband since 2019. We’ve known each other vaguely since middle school, but really started speaking maybe 2 months before we started dating lol. I have 3 pet cats, 2 calicos and a male tuxedo, all food names. I absolutely adore them lol. I used to take care of a feral colony, and got them all spayed and neutered and most rehomed to good families. I’m very passionate about TNR and animal rescue, and the fight against cat overpopulation. I’m a huge cat person. I do have a dog that I’m currently long term taking care of for a relative for the last year and a half, but none of my own.

I grew up a huge book nerd and was a gifted kid until about highschool, when I sort of burnt out and also started coming under some heavy struggles with mental health, stress, and issues at home. I grew up with a father suffering multiple issues including vascular dementia, which he’s now in the late stages of and is mostly bedridden. He’s a huge sensitive subject for me. I took care of him a bit growing up and my life was pretty much anything but ordinary and it was very stressful. I had to do a lot of things kids shouldn’t have to. We also struggled a lot with 2 disabled parents, so as soon as I was old enough, I got a job and started relying solely on my own income. I mostly worked 2 jobs in highschool.

My childhood is a whole wild story I could go on forever about and I’d be more than happy to if ever asked, but I’ll pretty well leave it at that for now.

I ended up joining a college program while still in high school to practice and study Culinary Arts. I then entered college with a major in Culinary Arts with a focus in Baking and Pastry Arts, and I also studied business and was working for a degree in Home Science Education. I wanted to teach culinary classes, probably in a highschool, and maybe have a cafe of some sort. Eventually I did drop out of college with no degree so far but quite a few certifications. I started to struggle with my mental health and physical health a lot, and I was very stressed and my father had declined drastically and I just couldn’t take it at the moment.

I worked in several fiends, including Food Service, Healthcare, Opticianry, Management, etcetera. I currently work in a hospital as part of Registration, but I really want to work towards a career in Human Resources, and maybe finishing my Culinary education.

Like I said above, I’m very passionate about cats and TNR, and I have supported tons of TNR programs and tried my best to help people out with resources and such so they can spay/neuter their pets and keep animals and stray/feral animals safe. I’m very against kill shelters and euthanasia. I’d love to either open a rescue or Cat Cafe of sorts maybe, or at least volunteer/work at one, and I’m currently trying to get involved in CASA work, as the struggle with my goddaughter and the rough custody battle against one absent parent was a lot and I really want to help out more kids like that.

I was actually raised Amish/Mennonite and converted out, which is funny. I always get tons of questions about that so feel free if you’re wondering. I speak English obviously, but I’m also semi-fluent in Spanish and I know just a little of Pennsylvania dutch, which is my areas dialect of Amish/Mennonite language (I’m not in/from Pennsylvania but we call it that). My husband and I are not Amish/Mennonite, and my husband has never been.

I identify as a cisgender queer woman, and I am diagnosed with OCD, PTSD, and MDD, and have always struggled with eating disorders. I’m very big on mental health advocating, as well as general welfare and health. I grew up without much healthcare and it’s been hard working to cover my bases, and I finally was diagnosed in 2021, the same year I was able to start taking care of myself without being held back. I also have some physical illness issues, including heart issues and kidney issues. The kidney issues were furthered from my mental health issues and consequences of long episodes and dark, sick times. I was extremely sick for a very long time but I’ve gotten a lot better, even though I do still have flare ups and occasional issues. I’m a pescatarian, for many reasons, including my eating issues, my love for animals, and namely my sister showing me a slaughter documentary when I was a toddler. I never really liked the taste anyways so it’s easy for me. I eat any seafood, eggs, and dairy, although dairy does make me bloat so I avoid it usually. I’m a coffee and caffeine snob and used to be a barista so I’m properly addicted and have a drink bar at my house for coffee, energy drink refreshers, and mixed alcoholic drinks. I support 3rd party politics, namely the Green Party.

I guess I’ll sort of wrap this up but going into what I like- my favorite color is black- haha- my favorite book series is The Lunar Chronicles as I said and my OTP is Kaider from that series, I like some other series like the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman, the original Sherlock Holmes series, and others, I love The Walking Dead series and I love Rich and Michonnes relationship from the tv show and Daryl and Carols relationship as well, I haven’t gotten to read all the comics but I’m working on it, and I’ve working through all the sister shows and spinoffs, my favorite movie/show genre is horror especially psychological horror. I love all of Jordan Peele’s movies and a lot of A24 horror movies. I never got to watch many classic or cult favorite movies and shows so I’ve been trying to work through them all. I watched Orange Is The New Black and adored it. I’d say my favorite shows so far are tied between BBC Sherlock (my comfort show) The Walking Dead and Adventure Time, which are both very personal to me. I don’t exactly have a favorite book genre, but I guess it would have to be dystopian/romance and comedy. Comedy anything is always good lol. I like quite a lot of music, mainly Classic Rock, Grunge, Rap, Trap Metal, Pop Rock, Underground, Alternative, Indie, and others. I was a semi theatre kid- semi because my school didn’t have drama or theatre and I couldn’t afford to go see many plays lol. I loved Hamilton, Heathers, Falsettos, Dear Evan Hanson, and others. I was a part of choir but I’m not too confident in my voice lol. I used to write a lot of fanfiction and original stuff as I said, and I also wrote and read poetry. My favorite poets were Charles Bukowski, Emily Dickinson, Robert M Drake, and Sylvia Plath. My favorite authors would probably be Marissa Meyer (though I haven’t read her other works other than TLC yet) and Neal Shusterman. Their writing style really appeals to me and I write somewhat similarly. I’d say my favorite bands are Queen, The Beatles, Hozier, SuicideBoys, and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. My favorite song of all time is Hey Jude.

I do have a tattoo, currently only one, but I’m planning more, one to commemorate my father and one to reference Adventure Time, and some for my cats. I currently have a geometrical and floral pattern on my sternum. I want more floral pieces as well besides the specific pieces I mentioned. I have several ear and cartilage piercings and I’m not planning on any body piercings besides my nose.

I am generally a big advocate for peace, equality, kindness, etcetera, and I mean that wholeheartedly. It takes a whole lot to get me messy and/or violent or mean. I’m very supportive and understanding and accepting of all things- besides legitimately morally wrong things that I don’t even want to name here. I’ll just say I’m lgbt+ supporting (and a member), BLM supporting, race issue awareness supporter, accepting and understanding of all genders sexualities religions backgrounds disabilities mental health issues etc, sexual assault and abuse awareness supporter and a victim, a mental and physical health advocate, against euthanasia and for TNR, am working towards HR work to better help the workforce and also working towards child advocacy and animal rights.

**

Aaaalllrighty, I think that’s more than enough. Thank you if you read much of any of that, feel free to inbox me or ask me anything, and please PLEASE if you have advice about the products I would need for writing and drawing please let me know!! I really want to get back into it and share my works.

Thank you!

Cat gif for tax (jammin)

[tonytylerdraws]

August Artist Blog (more under the cut)

For August I tried to make a vlog, not only to document my month making art, but also my attempts to overhaul my approach to making and sell art. However, I’m not experienced at making vlogs, nor do I have a quiet, dedicated space to record voiceovers. But I did post a video of me doing marker work. We’ll get to that in a bit.

Introduction

First off, in case you’re new here, my name’s Antonio Tyler. I’m a webcomic creator and illustrator. I’ve been making art most my life, but started drawing comics in 2003 with my first webcomic, Synaptic Misfiring.

I drew variations of Synaptic Misfiring for a few years, got married, had kids, worked two jobs (because California). Over the last 5 years, though, I’ve been focusing more on illustration and selling products, though o want to get back into webcomics. I did a 3 episode Webtoon called Only Human, but I haven’t done a comic in a few years now.

Mobile Studio Setup

I don’t have a dedicated studio. I know a lot of artists do. But it’s not impossible to have a setup that is portable.

I use a 4th generation iPad Air with 64GB and a 2nd generation Apple Pencil. I use IbisPaint X, and use the paid version. I find it’s most ideal for making comics. And it’s constantly updated. New features are added all the time.

I have an assortment of tonal markers by Tombow, and a couple of Copics.

I always carry my iPad with me, so I can work on sketches or finished art whenever or wherever. You can access IbisPaint’s cloud storage via internet if needed, but it also stores files locally. It’s great being able to draw on a lunch break, a bus ride, or at the library. Occasionally I carry a sketchbook and pens with me if I intend to do traditional art.

Rethinking websites and storefronts

A couple months back I looked into doing a website on a number of platforms, such as Wix, Squarespace, etc. While a lot of them are pretty affordable, and have good options, I don’t really use my website much. It’s mostly a hub for all my other sites and profiles.

Tumblr, having been purchased by the Wordpress folks awhile back, is really pushing itself as a website alternative, with their templates (which they always have had) and having direct sales of web address. I’m in the process of updating AntonioTyler.com while also keeping the functionality of a Tumblr page. Tumblr is notorious less functional as a mobile site or app. So choosing the right template has been a challenge.

One thing is making a Linktree/Beacons/Milkshake-style link page instead of just a text based link page. Including links to all my different store fronts.

Updating my storefronts happens to be another thing on my to do list. I have several, and they are all decentralized. I use several: Ko-fi, Threadless, INPRNT and BigCartel. Originally I was going to use BigCartel for my sole storefront, but issues with getting Stripe to work dampened those plans. And BigCartel was mostly for my international customers, since it uses Printful products. But since there was a less than enthusiastic response, I will keep all my storefronts, but make them specialty shops. Threadless will have the bulk of my products, BigCartel will be a seasonal exclusive shop, INPRNT will be my…prints, and Ko-fi will be my digital shop (though I’m toying with the idea of carrying my Printful items here).

September plans

Working on some new Wand-Slinger merch for the seasonal shop. Threadless will be getting an overhaul. The website will be wrapped up and relaunched.