#anyway this has been a fun project but I’m starting to run out of things to do

[nightmareonpeachstreet]

Sometimes u just gotta find things to distract you from Arlecchino until she comes out

Like decorating your teapot to be a family home for Arle, her wife Furina and their 3 kids, Lyney Lynette and Freminet

[leahwllmsn]

so high school

alexia putellas x reader

You know two things about Alexia Putellas.

Alexia Putellas is the school’s football captain and troublemaker. From showing up late to most of her classes, to getting caught smoking under the bleachers—usually when the name Alexia Putellas is mentioned, it’s not anything good.

That’s why the second thing you know about Alexia Putellas is that you have to stay far, far away from her.

You are the picture perfect high school student. Straight A’s, president of the student council, president of the debate team, all the teachers love you, and all the students envy you. That’s why you promised yourself that you’ll never associate yourself with someone like Alexia Putellas.

It worked out well for years. You’ve been in the same school ever since you were kids but you have never said as much as a ‘hello’ to the brunette.

You’re happy about that.

Staying as far away as possible from Alexia Putellas means you will never get in trouble.

So with the years of experience of avoiding Alexia Putellas, you don't know how you get to this point. Maybe the universe wants to teach you a lesson, maybe the universe just doesn't like you, or maybe you have simply run out of luck. Because one moment you're taking down notes and the next, your history teacher has paired you up with the person you swear you’ll never interact with.

When class is over and everyone rushes out, you go up to the teacher because this is unfair, Alexia Putellas isn’t even in class today. And when he answers your complaints with a shrug and a tone so final that you know he won’t change his mind, you know you’re screwed.

-

“I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Me neither,” your best friend sighs, unwrapping her lunch. “Can’t believe Ona is sick today and I have to put up with your ass alone.”

You roll your eyes. You’re sitting at your usual table at the cafeteria, the spot where Ona usually sits empty. “You would be nicer to me if you knew what just happened to me.”

“Did you get detention?”

“As if,” you scoff. “Now that I think about it, this is worse.”

Aitana turns to look at you, eyebrow raising in question. “What could be worse than that in your standards?”

“This stupid history project.”

“You calling an assignment stupid? That’s a first.”

You let out a sigh, placing your head on the table. “It’s because I got paired up with Alexia Putellas.”

“No way.”

You don't have to look at Aitana to know that she’s trying not to laugh at you. You grunt in reply, your friends always seem to make fun of you every time you’re miserable about something.

“You know, y/n,” Aitana nudges you, causing you to lift your head. “She’s actually not that bad.”

You furrow your brows. “You’ve talked to her?”

“Obviously,” Aitana looks at you like you’ve grown two heads. “She’s captain of the football team. I’m on the football team. Or did you forget?”

“Right,” you grimace as you remember that Alexia Putellas is Aitana’s captain. “Wait, but you’re actually friends with her outside of the field?” You shudder at the thought.

Aitana rolls her eyes. “You sound so dramatic right now.”

“I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that you’re friends with Alexia Putellas.”

“Stop saying her name like that,” Aitana laughs. “Sure, she brings trouble wherever she goes, but she’s not as bad as people made her out to be. And she’s a fantastic footballer.”

“She’s bad news,” you cross your arms. “Do you remember that time when she showed up to school one morning with her face so bruised up, all we could see were bandages?”

“Yeah,” Aitana says casually, taking a bite out of her lunch. “She got into a fight with someone from the men’s team.”

“Exactly!” you slap Aitana’s arm repeatedly. “She started a fight with the captain of the football team. She’s insane.”

“Men’s football team,” Aitana corrects your statement. “And was it the captain? I swore I remember it being that good-for-nothing defender. Anyway, I’m sure she had her reasons.”

You shrug. “She’s still bad news.”

“And she’s also your history project partner,” Aitana grins at you. “I have her number if you want.”

“No, it’s fine,” you sigh, once again placing your head on the table. “I’ll go look for her after school.”

“Cheer up, grumpy. I have a feeling you’ll like her.”

You scoff. “I think you’re way off, but sure.”

-

tana: oni, first day without you here and y/n is a grumpy mess

y/n: I’m in pain. Stfu.

oni: what’d I miss

tana: y/n’s on her way to talk to alexia

oni: ????

y/n: It’s not what you think.

y/n: I have to talk to her about our history project.

oni: ...goodluck?

y/n: Thanks, I need it.

tana: vry dramatic

-

You have never imagined yourself to be where you are right now. Everyone knows that under the bleachers is the spot where people go when they want to do things that they don’t want the teachers to see—like smoking, or maybe making out with someone. Or other things, you don't really know, because you have never been here.

And you won’t ever step foot in here if it’s not because of Alexia Putellas.

The second you step under the bleachers, the faint smell of smoke wafts up your nose and you have to blink back a couple of times because it’s not as bright as you expected. You figure it’s probably because it’s going to rain soon.

As you takes more steps forward, you realize that no one was there and that maybe you should’ve accepted Aitana’s offer of Alexia Putellas’ number.

You sigh and pull out your phone from the pocket of your jeans. You’re about to press the call button on Aitana’s contact when a voice startles you.

“Looking for me?”

You turn around and standing in front of you is the person you’ve been looking for.

(And you don't know why but the sight of Alexia Putellas in her leather jacket and messy brown hair is making your heart beat faster than it should.)

“I am.” you reply, walking towards her.

“The y/n l/n is looking for me? To what do I owe the pleasure?”

(You hate the way Alexia Putellas’ smirk doesn’t do anything to calm your racing heart.)

“You weren’t in history class today,” you cross your arms. “Why?”

“So you’re worried about me.”

“Why would I be?” you narrow your eyes at the brunette. “We’re partners for a project.”

“Cool.”

You want to scream at how frustrated you are at this whole thing. Alexia Putellas doesn’t care about her grades, she has proven that many times when teachers have always used her as an example of having multiple failing grades. You wonder if they’d expel her if she isn’t the superstar captain of the women’s football team.

“Look,” you rub your temple. “I’m not thrilled about this either—”

“Who says I’m not thrilled?”

“You’re Alexia Putellas, I highly doubt you’d be thrilled about an assignment.”

“Maybe for once I’m thrilled because I have you as a partner.”

“Whatever,” you roll your eyes. “As I was saying, you probably don’t want to do this, right? Which is fine, because what I’ll do is that I’ll get it done and I’ll still put in your name.”

Alexia gives you a confused look. “So you’ll do all the work?”

“Exactly. We don’t have to interact at all, problem solved.”

“You don’t want to hang with me?” Alexia pouts. “I’m sad, y/n.”

And you’re starting to feel the heat rising to your cheeks—no, it's not because of the pout on Alexia Putellas’ face showing just how plump her lips are and it's definitely not because of the sudden thought that flashes in your mind about how those lips would feel on your own. No, you will argue that it's not because of all that. It’s because it has started raining and it’s making it even stuffier under the bleachers.

“I’m going to leave now,” you announce. “It was good to talk to you.”

When you walk past her, you don’t expect her to grab you by the wrist (and you don’t expect Alexia Putellas’ touch to be so gentle).

“Wait,” Alexia starts. “We’re partners, right? I should at least contribute to something.”

You look down at your wrist, still seeing Alexia’s hand around it. “Uhm, I won’t tell anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Alexia lets go of her hold (and you would be lying if you say you don't feel the slight disappointment creeping in). “It’s not because of that,” Alexia clarifies. “I just want to do it.”

You still look unconvinced and Alexia must’ve noticed too, because she rolls her eyes and murmurs, “Is my reputation really that bad that me wanting to participate in my own assignment is such a surprise?”

“Yes? It’s a two-month long project. Even I’m exhausted just thinking about it.”

Alexia ignores your answer and proceeds to pull out her phone. She unlocks it and hands it to you.

You look at her questioningly and Alexia sighs. “Put your number in.”

“My number?”

“How should we contact each other about the project?”

You stay quiet for a moment, taking in Alexia’s face. She looks determined and it’s weird to you because you figure she would just accept your offer of doing all the work for her. “You’re serious about this.”

“Just put your number and we’ll figure a schedule out.”

You’re still looking at Alexia skeptically but slowly reaches out to take the phone and put your number in nonetheless.

And when you see that her phone wallpaper is a picture of her smiling (adorably) at the camera next to her dog, you don’t think that’s how a troublemaker should look like. You wonder just how much you know about Alexia Putellas.

-

Their first meeting doesn’t go well—you expected this.

You agreed to meet at the library after school the next day and you have been sitting there, waiting for an hour until you decide to give up because stupid Alexia Putellas is nowhere to be found. You are so pissed.

You get up and slings your backpack over your shoulder. You make it to the parking lot and are about to unlock your car when you hear a voice call out to you.

“y/n!”

You don't have to turn around to know who the voice belongs to. It’s the same voice you heard yesterday under the bleachers (and the voice that somehow made it to your dream last night, but you will never admit this).

You ignore the calls and keep on walking. You’re a few steps away from your car when suddenly Alexia catches up to you and jumps in front of you, making you jump slightly and halting your steps.

“Hey.” Alexia says, trying to catch her breath.

You cross your arms, scowling at her. “What do you want?”

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Ten minutes is late, an hour just means you never wanted to come in the first place.”

Alexia winces. “I do want to come, I swear. I overslept.”

You look unamused. “It’s 3 p.m.”

“I know,” Alexia flashes a sheepish smile. “I decided to take a nap while I wait for your debate thing to end, but I overslept.”

And you would have never believed that excuse if it’s not for the groggy voice and the pillow face she’s wearing. So you just sigh and motion for her to follow you as you walk towards the bleachers because that’s the only place you could think of going since the library is closing soon.

-

“I really am sorry for making you wait.”

You’re sitting at the top of the bleachers, you at the tallest step with your laptop on your lap and Alexia looking up at you from one step below.

“It’s fine,” your replies were short. You’re still a little bit annoyed at the whole situation. If you could’ve picked a partner for history class, it would be Ona. Ona will never be late and Ona will never annoy you this much.

But the way that Alexia keeps on apologizing every few minutes and looking away with a pout on her face when you don't respond, you’re also sure that Ona will never make your heart flutter the way it does around Alexia Putellas—and you don’t want to think of what this could mean.

-

After an hour of sitting uncomfortably under the hot sun, you figure out another thing about Alexia Putellas.

Alexia Putellas is incredibly smart and you’re surprised at how eloquent she is when she lists down everything she knows about the history of Catalonia.

“You fail almost all your classes.” you speak up.

“Yes,” Alexia nods. “What does that have to do with anything I just said?”

“I just wasn’t expecting you to say all that.”

Alexia grins at her. “Do you like surprises, y/n?”

“Uhm, I guess.” you stare back at her confused.

Alexia hums. “Then I guess I’ll have to keep on surprising you.”

You don't respond because you don’t know how to. So you focus your attention back to your laptop and try your best to type something down in order to take your mind off how Alexia Putellas is doing something to you and you’re not sure if it's a good thing or not.

-

Your next meeting starts off well. Alexia is early, you walk into the library to find the brunette already there, her usual leather jacket folded on the chair next to her.

It’s a week after your first meeting and you will never admit it, but you have been looking forward to this day for the whole week.

(It’s because you just want to get this project done, you would convince yourself.)

(Not because in the classes you have with Alexia, she always sits at the back when you sit at the front, so you never really get to see her.)

(No, it’s not because of this.)

“Hi, boss,” Alexia smiles at you. “I didn’t oversleep today.”

“That’s good to hear,” you say, sitting down and opening your bag to take out your laptop.

“I know you’re proud of me.”

You roll your eyes, a small smile on your lips. “Where do you even take your naps?”

“Under the bleachers.”

“Seriously?” you raise your eyebrows. “That must be uncomfortable.”

Alexia shrugs. “There’s a bed.”

“I’m sorry—what?”

“There’s this small mattress. I don’t know who it belongs to or why it’s there, but it’s there.”

You nod, a confused expression still on your face. “I see.”

“I can take you there sometime.”

You don't know if Alexia meant it in a flirty way, but judging by the smirk on her face, she did. So you just roll your eyes and type in the password to your laptop. “You should take me out to dinner first.”

“Okay, I will.” Alexia says it so nonchalantly and you wonder if Alexia’s stomach is filling up with butterflies too.

-

It’s not until the third meeting that you start to text each other with stuff unrelated to the project.

ale: did u know that chipmunks have 4 toes on their back paws but 5 toes on their front ones

y/n: No?

ale: well now u do :-)

y/n: Did you know that you look like you’re part of the chipmunk family?

ale: ???

ale: heeey

y/n: What’s up?

ale: nothin, just thinking about u

y/n: Why

ale: just because

y/n: Are you expecting me to say that I’m thinking about you too?

ale: you are? :D

y/n: No.

ale: whatever ;(

y/n: Why was the chipmunk late for work?

ale: did I miss a conversation somewhere

y/n: Because traffic was nuts.

ale: …

ale: I love it

And it’s not until the fifth meeting that you realize another thing about Alexia Putellas, and that is: Alexia Putellas makes you smile a lot.

You wonder what people think about when the stupid smile on your face appears every time you receive a text from her. Even Ona and Aitana have been pestering you non-stop about it and you’re running out of excuses as to why with every notification you receive, your lips seem to curve upwards automatically.

ale: u look beautiful

y/n: ?

ale: just stating what I see

y/n: Smooth talker. You’re not even here.

ale: I am, on ur right

y/n: Oh wow.

y/n: Aren’t you always out smoking under the bleachers during lunch?

ale: you pay attention :D

You stop once you read Alexia’s text because you do pay attention.

Suddenly, you can’t count on your fingers anymore about how many things you know about Alexia Putellas.

Alexia has a ‘resting bitch face’, that's one of the reasons why people are scared of her. She never smiles when she walks down the hallway, her face barely shows any emotion.

Alexia likes to intimidate people, she does that when people stare at her too long and she glares at them in return. And when they scurry away, she would smile in amusement.

Alexia likes to get into trouble, it’s like she purposely wants to get into trouble with how she picks a fight with someone every week and how she always talks back to the teacher.

Alexia Putellas is exactly how people paint her out to be—a reckless troublemaker who doesn’t care about anything and is always angry at the world about something.

But at the same time, you know that's not everything about her.

You know that Alexia is ridiculously talented at football. You’ve come to their matches enough to figure out that every time she touches the ball, it’s magic. You were there in support of Aitana and Ona, obviously. Not Alexia. (But your YouTube history being full of Alexia’s games may be because you were interested in staring at her. Not that you would admit it).

You know that Alexia is warm and gentle and she has different types of smiles. Alexia has a small smile every time she locks eyes with you in the hallways. Alexia has that smile that reaches her eyes when she laughs at something you say even though you’re pretty sure it’s not even that funny. Alexia has a wistful smile every time the day ends and you leave in your car and she leaves in hers.

You know that Alexia taps her foot repeatedly when she’s focusing on doing something. You know that Alexia has the attention span of a five year old because every five minutes, she would whine about how she’s hungry or how she’s getting tired of the library.

You know that Alexia is funny and she makes you laugh so much that you have lost track on how many times the librarian has told you to keep it down.

You know that Alexia is sweet and charming and she says things that make you want to run home and hide because your cheeks would always redden up.

You know that you like seeing a smile on Alexia’s face a thousand times more than the scowl she’s known to have.

ale: hey? why are u spacing out

And even though you feel that you now know everything about Alexia, you realize that you still don't know one thing about her.

You don’t know why Alexia is so different when she’s around you.

-

You are a problem-solver. That is one of the reasons why you’re such a good student—once you encounter a problem, you immediately think of ways to figure it out and most of the time, it’ll only take you a couple of hours to do so.

And so, you are baffled at how you still can’t figure out the mystery of Alexia Putellas.

You’ve spent most of your time together wondering why Alexia seems to smile more when you’re there or why no one but you sees the sparkle in Alexia’s eyes that is brighter than any stars out there, but the answer seems to never come to you.

So when your project has finally ended and you would no longer have your weekly meetings at the library, you should’ve noticed the dejected look on Alexia’s face and that should’ve given you a clue to the answer you have been so desperately searching for.

But apparently you’re not that smart after all, because once your last meeting ends, you bid Alexia goodbye and go home to spend the rest of your day watching Netflix.

And when Alexia doesn’t text you at night like she usually would, you don't think much of it and let yourself sleep instead.

-

You don't see Alexia the following week. She’s not in the cafeteria, or in the hallways, or even in the classes you share once you look to the back of the classroom where she usually sits.

Alexia doesn’t text you either and you know you should’ve text her first, but you figure Alexia is just busy so you don’t reach out.

And when you don't see Alexia in school for another week but Aitana and Ona see her at practice, you realize that Alexia has been avoiding you.

-

You have never been good with feelings. Especially if it involves someone who you have swore you would stay far, far away from.

So you have been ignoring all these feelings inside of you, ignoring the way your heart speeds up at the mention of Alexia, ignoring how your dreams are now filled with Alexia’s sweet face.

But it’s reached a point where you can’t ignore it anymore because the ache in your heart after not having heard from Alexia in weeks was getting bigger and bigger.

It’s that yearning in your chest that causes you to walk to Alexia’s spot under the bleachers in hopes that she’s there. And when you see her leaning against a pole, one hand in the pocket of her leather jacket and the other holding a cigarette, you finally admit that you might be in love with Alexia Putellas.

“Hi.”

You could see Alexia slightly jump in surprise at your voice. She turns around and her eyes widen when they lock with yours.

“y/n.” Alexia says, her tone clearly showing that she’s not expecting to see you.

“Are you avoiding me?” you jump straight to the point.

“What? No. No?” Alexia stammers, throwing her cigarette to the ground and stepping on it. “What makes you think so?”

You simply scoff and step closer to her. “I’m not stupid, you know.”

“I know, you have straight A’s.”

“That’s not what I mean,” you glare at her. “I haven’t heard from you in weeks.”

When Alexia doesn’t reply, you add in a whisper, “I miss you.”

Alexia still isn’t replying, she just keeps on staring at you with a look that you can’t comprehend.

A second later, when Alexia reaches forward and pulls your face towards her and you can taste the smoke on Alexia’s lips, you realize that the answer you’ve been searching for seems to be simpler than you anticipated.

-

Now you don’t remember why you promised yourself to stay as far away as possible from Alexia. And you don't know how you could be happy about never having spoken to Alexia before.

Because with the way Alexia picks you up in the classes you don’t have together just to walk you to your next class and the way Alexia always waits up for your debate club to end before driving you home, you can list down a hundred more reasons why you should always stay near to Alexia.

Because Alexia feels like sunshine and Alexia makes you feel like you’re always walking on clouds.

Now when the name Alexia Putellas is mentioned, you knows it’s everything good in the world all at once.

[silksongeveryday]

Drawing Hornet everyday until Silksong comes out - Day 700!

Choosing not to do anything fancy for this milestone since 2 year anniversary is coming up soon anyway and would prefer the big artwork be done then. Also I’m too tired to do one lmao.

Some general updates and announcements below the cut:

Hornet’s Strange Adventures:

While initially my plan was to have the whole base game done by January, life likes to get in the way. I have made zero progress since my last major update about barely getting things into the game engine I chose. Going forward, it’s possible this project will not be done any time soon but it will happen eventually. (I almost sound as bad as team cherry lol). Progress will be a lot slower than I want unfortunately since I’m kinda burned out at this point.

Continuing Hornet Journal Series/changes:

So I’m still technically on this project currently. While at the beginning it was fun and ambitious, I can definitely feel the burnout from it too. I do want to finish this project to the end, but I refuse to make myself post it every day because that’s made me more and more upset about having to just get it done instead of enjoying it. So going forward with this project, I plan to only post Journal Entries about once or twice a week with large batches of entries in one drawing until it’s done. Even if it happens after my two year anniversary. (Though it’s likely it’ll still finish before then I believe.) This is just so I don’t get absolutely exhausted from this again.

General life stuff:

So I meant to mention this on my main but I was too emotionally exhausted to explain it and didn’t feel like to afterward. I member of my close family passed away a few days after christmas. We already knew this was coming so it’s actually why I took a break from my big project with the journal series around that time and haven’t been able to really pick it back up until now. It’s also the reason a lot of general doodles have been posted late and/or are not that high of effort. I’m just tired.

And this kinda leads into my next thing.

Taking an actual break:

1 month left. That’s how long I plan to keep doing daily doodles for. Once my 2 year anniversary hits, I’m no longer planning to post every day. As you can imagine, posting something every day for two years can take a toll and life has changed a lot since two years ago. I really want to move on to bigger things now and keeping this blog running at constant speed hasn’t allowed me to do that. So I’ve made the decision that I’ll be taking a long break from that.

Will I return to daily doodles ever? Yes, technically.

My plan is start daily doodles back up only when a Silksong release date is announced (if it ever is.) Ptherwise my art/doodles will be posted very infrequently, especially at the beginning when taking my break. For sake of mental health and creative burnout with this blog, this is the best decision I could reasonably come too

—

But thank you all for your wonderful and continued support of this blog!! I look forward to the last official month of daily doodles!

[pearlescent-poppies]

Hello Hello Hello!!!!

And welcome to my 12 Days Of Christmas event!!!

What is this?

Well I’m so glad you asked!

I have four wonderful, incredible, and amazing friends (@theseusmc, @tazzomi, @valeriistars, @starrysilv3rse) I was trying to figure out how to give Christmas gifts seeing as they’re online and I came up with this: For the 12 days leading up to Christmas I’m posting a fic of one of their top three favourite (mcyt, because you know how we do it over here) ships! Each fic also has a “prompt” and they’ll get more and more Christmasy as time goes on!

I felt so smart coming up with this, and honestly I still think it’s brilliant. 12/4=3 after all so really it couldn’t have been more perfect! Whoever said gays can’t do math was clearly wrong (lol).

To my friends: I sincerely hope you all enjoy this, it was so fun for me to create and despite how absolutely suspicious I’ve been I hope you didn’t catch on too much. I’ve been excited to start posting this since right before Halloween when I came up with it on a call! I mean- it only felt right to give you guys a bunch of silly fics since I’ve become a much better writer thanks to your help. And- I know I say it all the time, but I really do love you guys so very much and I hope this silly little thing I put together can further prove just how much I mean it. You all mean the world to me <3

To everyone else: I hope you enjoy the Christmasy fics and the excitement of daily posting which is crazy! So crazy actually! Any support means the world to me and if you did enjoy, I would really appreciate either comments or reblogs on here or on AO3. Share your thoughts with me! I live for that.

Anyways, without further ado I give you:

GemPearl: Snowball Fight

For: @tazzomi

I hope you enjoy this Tazz! And if you don’t, don’t tell me /vsilly

(Fic underneath the cut)

“Pearl, Pearl, Pearl, Pearl!” Gem runs up to her girlfriend excitedly. The Christmas season is getting underway and Hermitcraft has just seen its first snow. Snow has always been the elf’s favourite weather, and she wanted to celebrate the first snowfall with her favourite person in the whole world.

“Yes, Gem?” Pearl giggles. She’s been waiting for Gem to come bug her all morning.

“It snowed! It finally snowed!” she shouts excitedly as she bounces on her heels.

“It did!” She matches Gem’s enthusiasm. Pearl watches lovingly as Gem waves her hands around in her elation. The avian thinks her girlfriend looks especially pretty in this moment, cheeks flushed pink from the cold and bundled up in her green coat. She’d foregone her usual skirt and swapped it for brown trousers, though she looks as beautiful as ever.

The red head takes a deep breath, the air cold in her lungs; when she breathes out it’s with a white puff. “Come celebrate with me?” she asks.

“Of course! I don’t think my base is the place for it though,” Pearl smiles and reaches out to intertwine their hands.

“My base then?”

“Sounds perfect,” Pearl agrees and connects their lips for a chaste moment before they begin their short walk.

———

They had been enjoying the scenery for a while now, hand in hand as they meandered down the paths of Gem’s little kingdom. It’s gorgeous like this in the snow but well- the peace could only last for so long.

Pearl gives her girlfriend an inquisitive look as she lets go of her hand. The taller watches with a small smile as Gem walks off the path and into a much snowier area. When she bends over, back to Pearl, and reaches down, she figures it’s so Gem could feel the snow in her gloved hands.

Colour Pearl surprised when Gem whips around and throws a snowball at her. It hits right in the dead center of her chest just as Gem doubles over in laughter at her shocked expression, “Ha! I got you!” She teases with a shout.

After she recovers, Pearl laughs and darts somewhere opposite Gem, “Oh you’re on,” She starts to make a snowball as fast as she can, but not quick enough before two more hit her in rapid succession.

Then comes Pearl’s first snowball, barely making her mark. It hits the elf’s arm and causes her to squeal. The avian’s wings flutter with her laughter, oh this is so much fun, she thinks; and quickly sets to making more snowballs.

———

They run around pelting snow at each other for a whole half an hour. Smiles never leaving their faces and bright laughter ringing through the area. It’s the best way to spend a day. In the company of their other half, causing chaos, and laughing so much it hurts.

They finally pause, looking at each other with eyes full of adoration as they come down from the rush of the last while.

Though- Pearl does have one last trick up her sleeve. She inches her way steadily towards her girlfriend, trying to will her wings to keep her inconspicuous, as she throws one final snowball with all her might.

Gem doesn’t notice till it’s too late, and the thing is making contact with her face. She falls to the ground, blinking a few times from the impact. It hadn’t been quite hard enough to knock her to the ground, that was the shock more than anything. She’s giggling again soon after though, laying on the ground and letting the cold snow dampen her hair.

“Oh stars! Gem! I’m so sorry!” Pearl shouts and runs over to where the elf is lying on the ground.

As soon as Pearl is close enough Gem pulls her to the ground with her. With Pearl now over top of her and looking more concerned than she should, Gem giggles softly as she cups her face in her hands, “It’s okay! You didn’t mean to. It was fun regardless.”

“But I-” the avian frowns, the tightness of her little headwings giving away just how sorry she is.

“Nuh uh,” Gem says with a fond roll of her eyes. She connects their lips shortly after, a much longer kiss than the one they’d shared over an hour ago. The contact is a warm contrast to the cold surrounding them on all sides. It’s nice, and they both melt into it until it’s broken by too broad smiles and… the trickle of something wet?

Pearl’s mouth forms an o shape as she takes in the sight of blood trickling from Gem’s nose.

“Oh my stars, Gem you’re bleeding,” she whines and wipes at the trail.

“I’m fine! It could’ve been from the cold too, my nose gets dry. You know that!” She brushes it off.

“I think that means it’s time to go inside,” she Pearl sighs and gets off of Gem.

Once they’re both standing and dusted off of snow, Pearl sweeps her into a bridal carry, ignoring Gem’s surprised squeak.

“Pearl! I’m fine!” She laughs even as she wraps her arms around her neck.

“Well what if I just wanna hold my girlfriend then, hm?” She inquires with a raised eyebrow and a partly mischievous grin.

“Guess I can’t complain then,” she sighs and tries not to wipe at her nose, knowing it’ll stain the white gloves she’s wearing.

“Your place?” The brunette asks as she begins walking.

“Mhm, that sounds good. Oh! We can have hot chocolate! Only way to end a snow day y’know,” she hums and lays her head on Pearl’s shoulder. Just because she’s a very strong woman, thank you very much, does not mean she doesn’t want to be carried around by her equally strong girlfriend. That would be silly when Pearl is so warm and comfortable, god she’s gay.

The red head giggles to herself at her own thoughts and winks when Pearl asks her about it. She mutters something along the lines of, ‘Oh just you’, and settles in for the short walk to her castle.

———

Once inside Pearl sets Gem on the couch, then briskly walks to the kitchen. Once there, she fills a kettle with water and sets it on the furnace (which had already been lit) to boil. She also dampens a towel before rejoining Gem who from the looks of it, had just taken off her coat and shoes.

Even with blood running from her poor nose she’s the picture of beauty and elegance. Red curls tied in a braid that falls over her shoulder just right and her off the shoulder shirt that shows off the milky skin of her collarbone and chest area. When she gets closer, she sees the little gold snowflake necklace she’d gifted her girlfriend a while before they’d joined Hermitcraft. She loves her more than words can describe.

“C’mere,” Pearl calls softly, still in the throes of her admiration as she sits down next to Gem. She uses one hand to cup Gem’s face, and one to delicately wipe the blood from her face with the damp towel.

They both sit there in silence, just enjoying the quiet and each other’s presence. Gem’s the one to break first, “Thank you,” she murmurs, “For hanging out with me today and just- well for everything really. I love you Pearlie.”

“I love you too Gemmy, and you don’t need to thank me. I do it because I love you,” she giggles and sets the towel down so she can lean in.

Just as their lips are about to connect again, the kettle starts whistling. Pearl groans dramatically and stands, “We’ll continue this in a second,” she giggles.

After re-entering the kitchen, Pearl expertly takes two matching mugs from a cupboard and pours boiling water in each. Next, she takes chocolate powder mix and stirs both of the drinks together. After topping with marshmallows, they’re good to go!

She takes the mugs in her hands carefully and walks back to where Gem is still sitting. Her girlfriend's eyes light up as she claps excitedly causing Pearl to smile wider. She hands her mug as soon as she’s close enough, and before settling in herself, her mug goes on the coffee table so she can grab a blanket. The fireplace is already burning strong, but the extra fluffy blanket will be a nice layer anyways, especially seeing as they were out in the cold for so long.

Pearl lifts Gem slightly as she sits down. Once her girlfriend is comfortable in her lap, blanket covering both of their legs, and limbs all tangled together, Pearl loosely settles her wings around the both of them. She places a kiss on her cheek and finally takes her own mug in her still cold hands.

Gem hums at the taste of her hot chocolate and melts into Pearl behind her. “This is perfect, I love you,” she says with a smile.

“I love you too, and yeah, it really is.”

They stay like that for the rest of the day, empty cups long discarded in favour of cuddling closer. Warm and safe in the arms of their lover.

[randomkduck]

catdow revival au chapter 5: Oh… Good for her.

Sorry for how long it took to release this chapter. Wound up sick and then life hit me with a brick (hey that rhymes!). Anyways! Here it is! And the rest of the fic has been finished, now it's just about posting it. Which might be over the course of a few days just so that I can remember to actually do it.

Anyways, please enjoy!

Shadow looked around the house. Boredom begging to be somehow released.

Red and Green were out of the house, likely for a few days. Vio was cooped up in his room with the door only a crack open and his nose buried deep in a book.

Blue was around. But he was a kind of typhoon of activity. Switching from making food to cleaning things around the house to reading to making food again to exercising. Never giving one thing more than 20 minutes of focus.

Shadow watched him for awhile, and then thought it would be fun to try and keep up with him.

~~~~~~

I started when he moved back to his corner. There was a yoga mat with various instructions on it for how to do different stretches, and various doodads around that seemed to be for muscle??? Maybe??? Blue made his way over, and I followed. 

He did a stretch, I did my best to mimic it while still a cat. He lifted one of the doodads, I lifted a book or something else heavy and within reach.

He didn’t really notice at first. Having not paid a single ounce of attention to me for almost the whole day.

He’d reach down and pat my side whenever I walked in front of him, but that was about it.

I didn’t really know what to do while he finished whatever cooking/baking (I don’t really know the difference) project so I just circled for a little while.

He seemed to notice that (and the intense eye contact I made) but didn’t comment on it beyond a grumble of “weird ass cat” and a soft smile.

It was when he went back to cleaning that the problems arose.

Oh mercy be upon the soul who decides to reveal all the dust under the chairs by accidentally becoming a feather duster.

I trotted up to Blue, feeling extremely grumpy because I knew there was no way I was cleaning this up by licking it. No way. I refused before I’ll refuse again!

At least until Blue tried to get me in the bath. 

Which, for 1: No. For 2: No . And for 3: NO !!

Are you kidding? Getting me all soaked and soapy and having to air dry like some rat crawling out of a sewer? No thanks. I’m good.

“Come on! I need to get you cleaned up before I can clean up the dust and dirt everywhere else! I will not stand to have you running around when you're all dirty.. And… UGH!!!” I managed to jump out of his hands, running from the room and up into Vio’s room. Where I hid under his bed.

Vio had a lot of weird stuff under there. Lots of books that I’m pretty sure he had room for on the shelves. Boxes of papers and notebooks and notes. Other boxes with other stuff I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to know about.

Okay, hiding under Vio’s bed was scarier than the bath by a long shot.

Vio seemed to agree with me, because he dragged me out from under the bed with a look of pure horror on his face.

“Blue! What are you doing to the cat??” He asked, sounding a little tight, like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

What the fuck does he have under his bed????

Blue at least looked apologetic as he lifted me out of Vio's grasp, He’s trying to give me a bath, that’s what! “rrrrrrowww.” He gave me a pointed look, I gave him a grumpy one back.

“Sorry! I was trying to give him a bath!” Blue apologized, an awkward smile on his face as he started to pet me.

“Maybe find a different way to do that then? Because I really don’t want him in my room.” Vio at this point had gone back to his usual calm, cool demeanour. Which was annoying. Be real damnit!

“Why? What’s in your room that you don’t want him getting into?” Blue asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes.

Vio froze up, and then glanced at his bed, not answering. 

Alright, setting that aside in my head as another thing for later.

“Vio-” Blue tried to ask again, looking about as suspicious as I felt.

“It’s nothing, okay? Green had it in his had to teach the little rat how to steal my stuff, I really don’t want him making off with my notes or research!” Vio spat out, like he had to get the excuse out before Blue could say anything.

Blue didn’t look impressed. “The research that keeps you cooped up in here more days than it doesn’t? The research that looks a heck of a lot like messing around with shit you shouldn’t be?” Blue accused, then shook his head. “You know what, have fun with that. Just make sure you’re room is clean, I’m deep cleaning the house today.” He ordered, carrying me out of the room. 

“Stupid jerk. I wouldn’t want poor Shadow in there anyways, he would just collect more dust and dirt and bacteria not even known by science in there!” Blue grumbled under his breath, bringing me back into the bathroom.

I was too busy thinking about how I was gonna break in there again to struggle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of Shadow’s day was spent with Blue. Who had stopped being a tornado of doing stuff, and had sat down to read a book.

Shocking turn of events, I know.

At one point he got this frustrated look on his face and set the book down hard beside him. Thankfully on the opposite side of him than Shadow had been snuggled up to.

He folded his arms, staring straight ahead in annoyance.

“Row?” Shadow looked up at him.

Blue glanced down at him. “I don’t need to explain myself to a cat.” He said.

“Mrrrp.” fine, Shadow set his head back down on his pause. Ears perking up as Blue decided he did need to explain himself to a cat.

“The main character is just… ugh??? She just makes me wanna-!” Blue gripped at the air like he could strangle this imaginary character if he believed hard enough.

“In book one, she wasn’t so bad. It was like reading my own thoughts on a page and the only reason I even continued through the book, and she got the cool ass reward for her good deeds with getting to actually have a more feminine- oh uh, she was born male but is a girl -not completely removing her being born male but she still got- and now in the sequel??? It’s like the author forgot everything about her character! He wrote her as being this baddass nuanced woman, and the moment she transitions fully she’s like… half the character she was before and-!” Blue slapped his hands over his forehead and dragged them down.

He nodded, not getting any of what he was saying but still wanting to be supportive.

“I miss the character who gave me my awakening, where did she go?” Blue grumbled.

Shadow paused. Blinking.

Wait what.

“You wouldn’t tell anyone would you? I’m not ready for them to know.” Blue grinned, knowing full well that Shadow couldn’t tell anyone shit.

BLUE’S A GIRL???? Shadow stared dumbly at him… her???

Blue just set, him down and went back to petting him. Seemingly not noticing the poor cat's brain frying.

He shook his head, causing her to flinch.

Blue’s a girl… good for her.

[delilaahh9]

Fictober day 14! 🤎

Flannel shirt - will smith

November 19th, 2022

8:49pm

Team USA ended up winning their game and y/n had gone to see her brother, she heard the cheers leave the locker room as the boys exited and Luke came out next to a boy with a mop of blonde hair.

“Hey I’ll see you tomorrow for practice” Luke says and walks to his sister.

“Hey Luke” she smiled and the two walked out, will had walked out and all he could keep his eyes on was the girl in the black and white flannel walking beside Luke.

October 6th, 2023

10:14 am

She was walking on campus looking at all the trees when she saw a blonde boy on a bench, he had a white and black flannel over a white hoodie and jeans which is almost exactly what she was wearing. he was cute, but she had no idea who he was.

As she walked by, will saw her flannel and smiled when he noticed they were wearing the same one, then he actually looked at her and noticed how beautiful she was. One problem, he didn’t know who she was.

They made slight eye contact as she walked past and a pink tint rose to both of there faces.

2:37 pm

Will was running very late to his next class, it has not gotten easy to navigate Boston college but he’s getting the hang of it. As he walked in, a couple people turned to look at him before he scanned the room and looked for a seat, then found the only open seat was next to y/n, the flannel shirt girl from earlier.

He softly smiled when he walked up and took a seat, then without him asking, she passed him her notes she took for him to copy down.

“okay class, i want you to pair up with the person next to you for the semester project, you will be selecting players from the nhl and on Friday we will do a draft, by the end of the semester, you will have learnt how to manage a team. You will also be getting a bonus 10% on your final if your team gets the most points.

Have fun!”

Y/n looked to her right, and saw the people had already paired up but the boy to her left was alone.

“Wanna pair up?” She asks, he looked unsure but nodded his head.

“what’s yo-” he started but the bell rang and she looked frazzled.

“Sorry I really have to go- uh- here’s my number” she slid him a sticky note and flew out of her seat.

*xxx-xxx-xxxx*

*xxx-xxx-xxxx*

Hey, are you the girl from my sport management class.

Flannel shirt?*

blondie?

Maybe : Will

Names will

But yes.

I prefer Blondie :)

Will 🦈

Then I’m calling you flannel girl

I’m okay with that

But my name is y/n

Will 🦈

Pretty name

Can we meet up tonight

Yea for sure.

Chipotle? It’s right by the library

Will 🦈

Sounds good.

4? I have practice at 6

Sounds good to me

3:50pm

She got there a little early, to get some dinner before they started their project. Will didn’t know what to expect, he didn’t know if she knew hockey or not.

But he also didn’t know that she grew up in a hockey family, so he arrived and had no expectations. The first thing he saw was her wallpaper, a photo of her and Luke Hughes, she was in a Hughes 43 jersey while Luke was in a suit. Will immediately thought she was a fan and got nervous, but just sat down anyway.

“Hey” she smiles.

“Hey, I’m just gonna go order something really quick” he says and retreats back to the counter. An ad of Jack Hughes came up on the screen because he’s recently done a brand deal with them, but as he looked at the screen closely, he realized that y/n and him looked similar, then it clicked, he remembered Luke saying he had a younger sister once but never mentioned her again.

He looked back and she was peacefully typing on her phone, so he decided not to bring it up.

8:49 pm

They had been there so long a chipotle employee had to ask them to leave, so they did but somehow they talked about skating and ended up in skates on the Boston college rink.

“Who taught you how to skate?” He asks when she comes to a stop infront of him.

“My brothers, they loved hockey since I was born so they wanted to teach me. My oldest brother was.. 9 around the time I learnt so he held onto me the most”

“That’s awesome, I kinda wish I had brothers. I love my sister, she picks on me though but I wouldn’t trade her for the world”

“That’s me with my brothers, I know I’m the youngest but I’m so proud of them”

“I’m gonna ask you something but I don’t want this to change anything” he says and slides in-front of her.

She freezes and knows exactly what he’s gonna ask. Silently nodding her head he takes a breath before asking.

“Your Luke’s sister?”

She smiles a little, but then realizes she remembers seeing him play with Luke.

“Yea- wait fuck your *that* will!” She laughs a little and he smiles but they continue to skate.

“I remember seeing you at the arena, once. You were in a purple flannel” he smiles at the memory, she cringes about her style a year ago.

“I remember seeing the boy with a mop of blonde on his head, parts of it was straight and parts of it was curly”

“Yea my sister made me a curl routine.” He sighs and they come to a stop again.

“Funny how every-time I have seen you, you had a flannel on”

“Well I might need to buy some more”

Okay so I know I’ve been late posting but I’m on vacation and can only get wifi at the hotel … :(

I’m also in a different time zone now so the timing will be weird but I should have todays and tomorrows our by 11pm EST

[chicago-pd-is-weird]

Hank Voight x Reader (Kinda)

So this is just a thing I wrote. Not sure what to call it. It’s not really a love story x reader or anything, it’s just that you’re the reader, yaknow? Anyways, trigger warning for violence cause we see the dark side of Voight in this one.

Have fun, and my requests are open if anyone has any other ideas. :)

“Voight.” The name rolled off his tongue like a hot knife cuts through butter. His demeanor was calm, almost stoic as he looked you over, up and down, reaching a hand out to shake yours. You reciprocated, giving him your firmest handshake, his gravely voice making your knees weak as it rung in your ears.

“(Y/N),” you replied. “I’ve heard your name around. Good to finally meet you.”

He hummed. “Then you know why I’m here,” he stated, his eyes meeting yours, staring into your soul.

“Yes,” you replied, sitting and leaning back in your chair. You were in your home office, with all your files around you. Files of people. You were the person who knew everything about everyone. You motioned to the files as you spoke. “You want to know about someone.”

“Not just anyone. I want to know about you.”

“Me?” You hummed, faking an expression of shock. You knew Sergeant Voight was there to arrest you. You just weren’t sure why he came alone. You hadn’t seen any other cars, undercover or otherwise, outside or around your house. Glancing to your security cameras on your computer, you still found only his vehicle outside your house. You hummed and looked back up to him. “And yet, you’ve come alone.”

He sat down in the chair facing your desk, taking out his pistol and messing with it nonchalantly, as if it weren’t a deadly weapon. He continued to look at you as he did, which made it even more eerie. “I need a file from you, first.”

“You know that my information is extensive, and it certainly isn’t free, Voight. So, the question isn’t if I can help you, but if you can do something for me.”

Hank hummed again, holstering his pistol and looking over you, as if debating two different scenarios in his head. His eyes roamed your figure, which was relaxed, your hands folded in front of you as you leaned to one side of the chair, elbow resting on the arm of it. Just as his eyes danced over your body, yours took their run at his. His arms, hidden by a light coat, were resting on his legs. His hands, tan from the fading summer’s sun, folded in front of him on his knees. He sat now with one leg up on the other, ankle on his thigh as he leaned back to examine you.

You already knew everything about him, and yet, seeing him in-person was so much different than you had expected. Your file on him had become your side project, of sorts, and was very large. Every witness report, every allegation, every case he worked. You had been building this file for months now, and had enough dirt on him to fill a small house. You knew everything about him. Yet, when your eyes came back to meet his, you were looking at someone unpredictable. Someone you couldn’t place.

“What would you want?” Voight asked, bringing you back to reality.

“My charges dropped. That’s the reason you’re here now, isn’t it? To arrest me in case I didn’t behave? I want my record expunged.”

He huffed a bit, putting his leg down so he could lean forward. “Your record expunged? Have you seen your record?”

“In fact, I have. My services aren’t free, Voight. And if you’re after the file I think you are, that’s just the start of my price.”

“You drive a hard bargain.”

“Yes, I do.” You stood up first, folding your arms in front of your torso. “So, that’s the first thing.”

“That’s going to take time.”

“I’m sure I can find another buyer who will be willing to work faster.”

He stood up to face you, leaning forward on your desk, looking you over again now that you were standing. You wore jeans that fit just right and a tshirt which showed off your chest and arms just the way you liked. Your lips pulled into a smirk as you leaned down on the desk to face him just the same. “So, what will it be, Henry?”

He seemed to falter as you used his birth name, but put his demeanor back the way it was. “(Y/N), we can do this the easy way or the hard way. It’s up to you.”

“I don’t play nice,” you hissed, walking around your desk to face him, pushing his shoulders. “Now, get out of my house.”

“I still have a warrant for your arrest,” he growled in reply, letting you push him, but immediately reciprocating by using one hand to push you back into the wall instead. “You’re going to come with me.”

“And I’ll spill all of your dirty secrets to your coworkers.” You pushed back against him, but he was strong. Stronger than you thought a man his age to be. He had you pinned against the wall, inching closer and closer with every word.

“Nobody will believe you,” he replied, shaking his head, but that notion only made you scoff.

“You’re bluffing. I could think of at least four people who want to tear you out of that position. They would listen to me. I’d give them everything.”

His body pressed onto yours, pushing you further into the maroon painted drywall behind you. You huffed, but his body pressed closer and closer until you felt like you couldn’t breathe. His face was mere inches from yours, your breaths mixing as they expelled from your lungs. Your heart raced, but you could feel the adrenaline pump through his body all the same.

“Sounds like we’re in a stalemate,” he growled again, leaning forward to your ear. “One of us will break, and it will be you. Or, you could just give me the file and this would all go away.”

“I’m not giving you the file, and you’ll never get to it,” you huffed again, moving your hands up to push his shoulders back. He pulled back at your silent command, just a little, so he could see your face again. His deep brown eyes met yours, and you shuddered, seeing his exact intentions in that moment.

“I tried to be civil.”

-

That was the last thing you remembered hearing before he pulled you from the wall, slamming you down on the desk. Your head throbbed in protest as you felt his weight lean over you again. He pinned your hands behind your back, gripping your hair and craning your neck backward. You cried out at the uncomfortable sensation, whimpering beneath him, but refusing to relent. Pulling you up again, he pushed you backward against the wall. You hit with a soft thud before groaning, trying to catch your breath as you used the wall for support.

Voight moved over to you, grabbing your hair again and pulling you up, pulling you to the kitchen a few rooms over. You fought as much as you could, but your strength was no match for his. His face was stone cold as he pushed you into a chair, grabbing some zip-ties from his pocket and tying down your wrists and ankles. You tried to protest before he could get all of them fastened, but he slapped you hard, then punched you in the gut, making you wheeze as the air expelled too quickly from your lungs. You felt like you couldn’t breathe for a moment, getting a little lightheaded. You looked up at him when you regained yourself, swallowing hard as you realized he had gotten a butcher’s knife from the drawer.

“Last chance,” he said, walking over and teasing the skin on your face with the blade. “Give me the combination to your safe.”

“You’ll never get it if you kill me,” you said, rolling your eyes at him.

He pressed the blade into your skin, slowly moving it along your cheek to draw blood. “Kill you? No.” He leaned down in your ear, pulling the knife away and pressing the tip of it against your thigh. “But you’re going to wish I had.”

Suddenly, he brought the knife up, then stabbed it with full force into your thigh, pulling away and leaving it there, sticking out. You gasped and cried out in pain, hot tears coming to your eyes. You swallowed hard, breathing rapidly. “F-Fuck you, Voight!”

“You wish,” he huffed in reply, getting a steak knife from the drawer. “You’re going to full of holes by the time I’m done with you. I’m sure one of them will satisfy me.”

You could hardly believe the audacity of the man before you. You’d known him inside and out, all of his dirty secrets were yours, but you could’ve never known how horrible he actually was, deep inside. How morbid he was. Yet, he still slept at night without issue. It was something he nearly bragged about.

He raised the second knife, bringing it down in your forearm. You felt it go all the way through and into the wooden arm of the chair. You screamed in pain, in which he hit you again in the face, grabbing your collar and jostling you, making it hurt worse. “The combination!”

You spat at him, growling in protest, and he took a small moment to look at you before pushing his hands into your face, forcing you to crane your neck back uncomfortably, not to mention his fingernails digging into your skin, leaving deep scratches. You cried out again in pain, trying to escape his grasp. When he finally pulled away, he moved around your kitchen, looking for something else.

He emerged from a drawer with kitchen scissors. If you didn’t fear this man before, you sure did now. The way his eyes darkened as he moved toward you, footsteps heavy, had you shivering. Your heart pounded in your ears, louder and harder than ever. Tears rolled down your cheeks from the pain you’d experienced thus far, but he had no sympathy for you. This was survival for him. You had everything. Everything that could burn him.

You watched as he came to you, flinching and wondering what he was going to do, but when he took your pinkie finger between the scissor blades, you panicked. “W-Wait, WAIT!” You screamed, panting. You knew Voight was serious enough to actually do it, which pushed you to break. “It’s 01-25-73!”

He looked at you for a moment before pulling back, putting the scissors on the counter. You let out a deep breath as he walked away, letting your chin drop to your chest in relief. “Fuck!” You cried, not knowing what would happen next. For all you knew, he would kill you anyways.

Voight left the room and walked into your office, opening the safe and gathering all of the folders. There were about ten thick folders worth of information. He left anything else you’d had in the safe, only taking what he came for. He came back and put them on the counter, humming and looking down at you. “You didn’t have to make it this hard.”

“Fuck you!” You screamed, pulling against the zip ties. “Fucking psychopath!”

Hank hummed. “Maybe.” He walked over, using the scissors to cut one of your wrists, then leaving them just out of your reach on the counter. He grabbed the files and walked out of the house. You could hear him get into his SUV, start it, and promptly drive away.

“Bastard!” You screamed, having to hurt yourself more to be able to grab the scissors, then cutting yourself loose. You pulled the knives from your limbs, limping to the bathroom to get your first aid kit, collapsing on the floor. As you patched yourself up, you couldn’t help but think of him, and how you’d just given up everything. He hadn’t taken your money, or any of the files on your desk. He’d taken only one.

His file.

[maggplays]

On the Wings of Ravens

This is the beginning of Killian's story, which I'm in the process of turning into a visual novel type mod.

FOC/MOC Stardew Valley Teen +

Read on AO3

Chapter 1: The Morel of the Story

WHUMP! Ohhhh… Mochi… I groan and pull the covers back over my head. It can’t be morning already… Delicate paws invade and pat my face, then… “OUCH! That was a claw, you stinker! Alright, alright, I’m up. Time for breakfast.” I throw off the cozy blankets and shiver when my feet hit the cold wooden floorboards. I really need to get a rug. Padding over to the dresser, I quickly throw on some jeans and a hoodie, wrangling my wild red hair into an approximation of a ponytail. Good enough. I bet Grandpa is chuckling in his grave, knowing his night owl granddaughter is being forced to arise at the (butt)crack of dawn to care for his old farm. Gift my ass! Sigh. I’ll admit this is so much better than the city, I’d take dragging myself out of bed early over working in a gray corporate cube any day. Mochi butts her head against my legs, purring and spinning, an adorable alarm clock. Awwww… it’s worth it for sure. I let my tuxedo cat lead me to the kitchen and flip the switch on the coffee maker. Bless Sebastian… I thank him every morning for giving me this old machine.

Mochi fed and contentedly snuggled on my lap, coffee in hand, I gaze out the window at the field outside. The sprinklers are running, water drops glittering like diamonds as they scatter over my crops. Beautiful. Ah, there’s Shane coming up the trail on his way to care for the chickens and other animals. He’s been such a reliable farmhand, ever since the day I hired him the stress of farm work has dissipated and I’ve been able to focus on my magic studies with Raz. Mustn't forget to meet him at the tower tonight, I better practice that monster repelling potion. I can hear him scolding me already. Hmmm… what should I make for dinner? “It’s always food with you, child,” Raz, get out of my head, it’s too early. Better get moving though, ingredients won’t forage themselves and I’m out of herbs. And mushrooms… mmmm mushroom soup…

Taking my last sip of coffee, I drop the cup in the sink for later, toss some supplies in my satchel, and with a final scratch under the chin for Mochi, head out the door. The crisp fall air fills my lungs as I step over the threshold. Shane gives me a salute from the chicken coop, he’s surrounded by his loving fans, heh! The path through the farm to the woods near Raz’s tower is well worn, I’ve added pavers over time and planted flowers along the way. Passing by the freshwater spring, I notice a gap between two cozy trees. The perfect place for a bench, maybe that will be my next project. A beautiful spot for two people to enjoy a morning cup of coffee… sigh… Don’t go there, Lil, you’ll find someone someday. Someone who can see past the wild red hair that’s always a mess, dirty fingernails, slouchy pants and military boots. I suppose I could actually try, but… then would I even be me? I don’t know. “Don’t worry about looking like a girl from a magazine, that’s so boring! Just be who you are. You don’t want to spend your life pretending, do you? If some stupid guy can’t see how beautiful you are, then he’s not worth your time.” Wisdom from Abby. She is a great friend, full of drama but definitely a lot of fun. And smarter than she knows.

The walk to the woods isn’t that long, but long enough to give me time to think. It’s not always a good thing, I tend to get caught up in random inner monologues and forget to keep track of time. Minutes turn to hours and the afternoon slips away. Mushroom soup… it sounded amazing this morning, but now I’m starting to regret my choice. I can’t find any decent morels out here anywhere and it’s getting late, the light is fading and I can feel the damp of evening in the air. I’ll have to wait for tomorrow to cook it anyway, I really should just give up and head back. Get a fresh start in the morning. I glance around at the trees and realize I haven’t been paying attention to where my feet are taking me. Nothing looks familiar, I must have wandered into a remote area without thinking… sigh. Well, it’s not like I haven’t camped out in the woods before, there’s nothing overly dangerous around here anyway. Only a few slimes and some cave bats, but I know how to keep them away from a camp. It’s a good chance to practice my potion-making skills. I can just see Raz rolling his eyes in frustration at my lack of attention leading to getting myself lost. “Lilith, you really must keep your mind on your task! Someday, you will need this potion and I’d hate to see you injured or worse because you weren’t listening to my explanation.” His deep voice, laced with frustration and concern echoes in my head. Yes, yes, I remember. I set my backpack down and start rummaging for the ingredients to mix up a monster repellant and hopefully a snack. 

Ohhh wait! What’s that? A flash of light buff color catches my eye from under the leaves… I swear it’s a— YES!! Perfect, a beautiful morel just asking to become a delicious soup. "Don't even try to hide from me, I know you're here somewhere... I just saw you…”, a strange sing-song voice drifts to my ears… what the hell? Frozen, my hand suspended in space above the mushroom, I hold my breath. I didn’t sense anyone here and I can always tell if someone is nearby, one of the benefits of being so closely connected to the earth and plants. Vibrations of footsteps travel to my feet from a great distance. Much to Sam’s disappointment, he’s never been able to sneak up and surprise me. “Come out, come out wherever you are…” That voice… the tone is so melodic and… Lil, you idiot, some psycho is out in the woods stalking you and you’re fixating on his voice like a ridiculous teenager! Just grab the damn mushroom, girl! 

“Oh THERE you are!” A rush of wind and flash of feathery black like... wings? Then... Hey!! My mushroom! It’s gone, just like that, snatched right out of my fingers… “Gotcha! Oh, nice! You're exactly what I need— Woah, sorry, I—"

Blink.

I look up into... crystal ice and fire sparking under long black lashes, ebony brows, silver strands blending to black... Damn— The forest seems to go silent, all I can see is the face inches from my own, his eyes wide in surprise, full lips parted, words hanging, suspended in mid-breath. "Hi! Um... jeez, I'm sorry, I was so focused on finding a morel that I didn't even see... You. Heh… Oh, where are my manners? I'm Killian. The guy who just snatched this perfect specimen right out of your hands. Here, take it. I'll find another.” He grins, teeth flashing white, still hovering a breath away, eyes shining with expectation and amusement. Abruptly, he steps back, his long black coat covered in feathers seeming to flicker around him. Now I can see him clearly, leaning casually on a tree in a wine red button-down shirt, gray pants, and tall strappy boots. Glancing down, I see the beautiful morel resting in my palm, whole and unblemished. Of course I notice my nails, covered in fresh dirt from the day’s foraging.

"Are you out mushroom hunting? Of course you are, why else would you be here in the woods with a satchel and a knife? I hope you're finding everything you need. Erm… are you planning to camp out here? It… might not be the best idea.” His brows knit together in concern. “This area of the woods is a little… odd. If you need a place to stay, there’s an old tower just east of here, only a few minutes walk, you can’t miss it. The resident is a cranky old prune of a wizard, but he’s friendly enough and will offer you food and shelter.” Killian smiles again, holding out a gloved hand. I realize I’m still crouching at the base of the tree, staring up at this incredible man. I reach up and clasp his wrist, feeling his fingers wrap tightly around mine, pulling me to my feet. Hsssttt… electricity pricks at my fingertips and I glance down at my hand… my fingers had slid above his glove and were touching the bare skin of his wrist… I’ve never felt anything like this, so… alive… he’s definitely a mage, I’ve only felt this kind of magic residue in Raz’s tower. This is different though, full of vitality and… something I can’t quite define… warm and— Wait… did he just call Raz a cranky old prune?? Heh! 

Killian chuckles as he gradually relaxes his grip and releases my hand, holding my eyes captive. “Well, how are you enjoying my forest… ah…”, he cocks his head to the side, biting his lower lip. Shit, I was so fascinated by his eyes, voice, lips… that feeling of his skin… Lil, get it together! Oh yeah, I forgot to tell him my name.

“Lil, it’s… Lil. I was just out foraging for ingredients… I’m making mushroom soup. I always make way too much, if you want, I’m happy to share seeing as this mushroom sort of belongs to both of us… I’m at the old farm…” What the hell? Why did I say that? No WAY he’s going to come over to some wild, bumbling girl’s house for frickin’ mushroom soup! You’ve really done it now, Lil. Talk about awkward… ugh…  

Killian pauses for a moment… “Lil… is that short for… oh, never mind. You know, mushroom soup happens to be one of my favorites, I might take you up on that offer. Don’t worry though, I won’t just show up at your door uninvited.” He glances down, long lashes obscuring the brilliant blue and warm brown of his eyes. “Ah, this area of the woods is… not exactly safe to be wandering about alone. I’d feel better if I walked with you, at least to where you can see the tower. Unusual things tend to happen here, and I’d feel responsible if you were to be found…” He turns and takes a few steps before looking back, his long, feathered coat swirling around his legs, soft evening glow shimmering over his dark hair, highlighting the silvery strands around his face. Grinning, he beckons to me, light glinting off a silver ear cuff in the shape of a raven. “I can always look for another morel in the moonlight, the tower is just over that rise.”

My lungs are burning... Gasp… did I literally forget to breathe? I quickly step up to join Killian and we head towards the small hill. “I often forage here, but I’ve never run into you before, I’d remember if I had… It’s unusual to find someone so grounded in this forest.” Grounded? I raise an eyebrow at him. “Oh! That must have sounded strange. I mean, someone so substantial. Erm… solid? Not… ephemeral? Hmm… I don’t think that’s helping… Ah well, here we are, the tower is just there. Stay on this path and you’ll have no issues losing track of it. That was quite a nice walk, it was a pleasure to meet you, Lil. If you happen to come here again, I hope you lose your way.” Killian chuckles as he strides back the way we came, his form seeming to bend and flicker… I blink and he’s yards further down the path… what…? "Where are you hiding? You know I'll find you, my lovely morel…” His voice drifts back to me on the wind as I turn and head to the tower. I glance down at the morel in my hand and pause. “Don’t tarry…” So close I feel his breath on my ear as warm air swirls around me; I snap my head towards the sound, but no one is there.

My feet carry me on the path to the tower, suddenly feeling irresistibly drawn to its solid presence, relative safety and… normalcy. Raz has some explaining to do, why has he never mentioned someone as unforgettable as Killian? Eyes of crystal and flame… What did he say? How are you enjoying my forest? So strange, and yet… somehow, he made perfect sense.

—----------------------------------------

I take a deep breath and trudge up the tower steps, pausing to lightly trace the vine carvings on the door frame before pressing my palm to the worn wooden panel. It swings silently open at my touch, Raz must be in. The air in the tower is inviting, smelling of spices, ancient books, and tobacco. The scent of safety, comfort, home. I drag the air into my lungs, after such an unusual evening, it’s nice to feel some familiarity. “Raz? Are you up here?” The words seem to fall from my lips to the floor, dampened by the plush carpets and shelves of books, but if Raz is here, I know he can hear me. The whistle of the teapot reaches my ears, bright and cheerful, calling me to the kitchen.

“Ah, there you are. Where have you been? It’s quite late, I was just contemplating sending a junimo in search of you.” Raz presses a cup of tea into my hands, the comforting warmth of the mug seeping into my skin. The fire crackles merrily in the fireplace, casting warm light over the room. “Sit, sit… I can see by your expression you have a story to tell. Come sit with me by the fire.” Shifting some old tombs from his worn leather chair to a nearby table, Raz takes his seat and I settle across from him. I stare into my tea, suddenly unsure where to begin. Nothing for it but to just start and see where the tale takes me.

“This morning, I had a craving for mushroom soup. The morels are beautiful this time of year and there’s something about a warm bowl of soup on a crisp fall morning.” I pause, looking over into the flames, as if for clarity. Raz nods patiently, his eyes glittering in the firelight. “Of course I had no morels in the cellar, so I set off in search of a few. The walk was absolutely lovely, the leaves are just starting to turn their reds, oranges, and yellows. The pumpkin patch is really coming along as well, I think I’ll have some beauties this year, Abby will be thrilled! She’s already come by—“

“Lil, do you think a point will be coming along any time soon?” Raz, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, takes a leisurely sip of tea.

“Alright. Back to the mushrooms.” Raz raises an eyebrow and strums his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Don’t get all huffy, the mushrooms are an integral part of my story, essential to the plot, most vital! You’ll see.” Raz noisily slurps his tea, expressing his skepticism. “I was walking through the forest looking for a morel for my soup, you see. They should be everywhere, but I couldn’t find a single one. Then, just as I was about to give up and go home, I saw it. The most beautiful morel ever to have sprouted from a spore, nestled under a leafy blanket. So I reached out to pluck it when—“ SLURP! I take a long sip of tea. “Ahhh, this tea is wonderful!”

“Hmph! You are a trial, what did I do to deserve a student like you?” He sets down his empty cup and crosses his arms, I catch a glint of amusement in his eyes.

“As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I reached out to pluck the morel when before my eyes flashed a feathered cloak and the mushroom was gone, vanished, snatched from my very fingers!” Raz’s eyes narrow and he leans forward in his chair. Now, this is intriguing! He never reacts this visibly to my stories. “I looked up and was caught by a pair of eyes, one icy blue crystal and the other flaming ember. A man I’ve never met before and as you know, I’ve met nearly everyone who lives around here. He laughed and gave me back the mushroom, and asked if I was planning to camp for the night. I admitted I had wandered further than I realized and didn’t think I could make my way home before dark, then he offered to guide me here. Oddly enough, the tower was quite close. It was strange that I couldn’t see it. Once he knew I was on the right path, he took his leave. I know it was silly of me to trust a stranger, but there was something about his mana… I knew immediately he was safe.”

Raz takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, grumbling as he leans back in his chair. “Curse that boy. Always a bother, no end of irritation.”

“So you do know each other, he did mention you. He said his name was Killian. He also mentioned that the forest in that area was odd, and that I shouldn’t tarry there.”

“Ah, so he’s going by that name again. At least he has some sense in his head. Lil, you mentioned you were turned around, lost. You weren’t lost. You were trapped in a dimensional pocket, one that Killian created.” A… what? I look curiously at Raz, I’ve never heard that term before. “Did you notice anything strange in the woods? Trees appearing that weren’t there a moment ago, traveling a great distance with a single step, walking straight on a path that appears to wind, hearing sounds that come from everywhere… or nowhere?” Peering at Raz, I slowly nod. “As I thought. Killian likes to play with dimensional magic. He thinks it’s… fun. You just happened to step into the rift before he could close it. Hmm… think of the visible world as a blanket spread flat on the floor. Then pinch up a small wrinkle. That’s a dimensional pocket. The world around it is normal, but once you’re in that wrinkle, things become quite odd.”

That does make sense, Killian did say some things that sounded backwards, but at the time seemed perfectly correct. And his voice warning me to not linger… “Is it dangerous? I didn’t feel any malice or ill intent from him. And when I touched his arm…” Raz’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, quite an unusual night indeed! “What…? He only gave me a hand up, it was nothing.”

“Dear girl, I’m… older than you, but even I can see it wasn’t nothing. What did you feel?”

I laugh, Killian’s voice playing in my head calling Raz an old prune. “It just felt like strong static electricity when my fingers touched his skin, that’s all. It was probably only from the long coat he was wearing.”

Raz sighs and nods, he knows I’m not being entirely upfront and I can tell I’ll be getting more questions from him later. “If you’re willing to listen to a wizard’s advice, stay away from Killian. He’s unpredictable, emotional, and not exactly… stable. The kind of distraction you do not need and would be unable to ignore.”

Now it’s my turn to lean forward in my chair. “How do you know him? Did he fight in the wars with you? Is he in the ministry? An old student?”

Raz clucks his tongue. “Look at you, fascinated by a man you barely met. Of course he didn’t fight in the wars with me, he’s but a child. Don’t let the gray hair fool you, he’s the same age as Lance, not even a century on this earth. I— Hmph. I should have told you he was a grizzled old man, tch… And to answer your relevant question, no, it’s normally not dangerous, but it is problematic. Or at the very least, obnoxious. I lost my favorite blackberry bush to one of his dimensional shenanigans.” 

I sit back in my chair, smiling to myself at Raz’s grousing. Killian… One thing is certain, I’m going to find out who you are.

[wizqevelynart]

Wow…I just came to check in and there are so many new people here…hi…

I mentioned before that I am shit at running multiple social medias, and that is still very true, but I should also add that pretty much since November 2024, I haven’t much felt like being online. (You can probably guess why…hint: I’m an American…)

I’ve been mostly keeping to myself offline, resting and “joymaking” with personal hobbies. I started stress knitting like crazy LMAO and I picked up crochet about a year or so ago, so I have mostly been doing that. Maybe I will share some of those projects one of these days here, but for now you can find a lot of it on my Bluesky.

Likewise, I got back into my doll custom hobby. Well…it’s more doll collecting at this point lol. It started because Smart Doll dropped the Pear Body and then I remembered Curvy Barbies were a thing and long story short, I have like 20+ Barbies now that I obsessively restyle. My hope is to move into actual customizing — faceups, sewing clothes, rerooting hair, etc — but I’m a long way off from that. But! I have combined my love of knitting with my doll hobby, so a lot of my dolls have handknit hats and scarves and stuff. So that’s fun! I hope to make more doll scale stuff in the future. Maybe someday I will share my work with that, here, too, but again, you can see some of it on my Bluesky lol.

Haven’t felt much like doing art or writing lately, tho. I think that’s okay. Trying not to feel overwhelmed and risk burning myself out again. I have been burned out for several years, to the point of being resentful and angry which led to a really unhealthy relationship with social media. I spent much of the late 2010s relying on social media for personal validation, and then spent the early 2020s doomscrolling. I’ve no desire to go back to either of those habits. I find lately I enjoy just watching YT videos or anime and tinkering with personal hobbies.

Getting into MHA has been kinda healing, too? It’s been awhile since I have been so excited over a series like this. I think genuinely the last time I fell deeply in love with a story was FMA. I really admire Horikoshi’s writing and art style, and Izuku is literally the perfect character for me. He’s the kind of protagonist I have always wanted to write, so I think I’m a little jealous Horikoshi created him first LOL.

Anyways…dunno why I’m writing this. Maybe it’s both sort of a Life UpdateTM for old friends and also kind of a “hey don’t expect a lot of activity here from me” to new friends. You’re welcome to hang out, but keep your expectations of me low is all I ask.

Hope y’all are doing well and taking care of yourselves. And that you are also finding little ways to make joy in your own lives.

-Evie 💖

[daily-momokarun]

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ MOD INTROS ! ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

we're almost on week two, and we haven't introduced ourselves yet!! so without further ado, here's our intro post!

˗ˏˋ MOD H ´ˎ˗ she/they - 20 - eng - 🛸

Hello!! I'm Mod H! I've never done a daily account before, but really wanted to try it out especially since momokarun is my main hyperfixation right now—and of course I had to drag my partner K into it ˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶ !

I love making all kinds of fan content, and have been known to make fanart, write fic, make edits, and even real life crafts such as scrapbook pages based on my favorite things! Some other things that I enjoy include music analysis/music theory, vocaloid (esp. vflower), and psychology. I'm currently working on a double major in music/psychology. Some of my favorite musicians include AURORA, Niru Kajitsu, Gregory + the Hawk, Gorillaz, and all kinds of other stuff!

In any and all cases, I just consider myself your local space alien from another planet <3

I'm already really enjoying running this account with K, and I want to interact with all of you! I hope that the daily momokarun vitamins can bring some joy into your day~

˗ˏˋ MOD K ´ˎ˗ he/they - 22 - eng - 🍊

Hey hey!! Mod K here!! :3 We’ve been running this account for a few weeks now and I’m excited to finally sort of introduce myself a little bit!! I can’t say exactly when this all started but these goobers have taken up nearly all the space in my brain as of late, so getting to run this page with my lovely partner and share your daily dose of the sillies has been really fun!! And I can’t wait to continue!! Especially the more we read about them/watch whenever the show picks back up!

As far as I go, I’m just your typical average everyday guy ;3 Honestly, it’s kind of funny. When I was younger I used to be super into gravity falls and such, and by proxy became a bit obsessed with the occult and have acquired a bunch of books like Okarun has about these kinds of things. I think it’s safe to say I’ve had a pretty keen interest of the paranormal for quite a while now, and it keeps coming back around full circle with my interests!

Some other things about me… I’m currently graduated with a degree in animation. I adore the production aspect of all things animation and character design, the depths of character design. I’m a super big fan of things like Project Sekai, Genshin, (obviously Dandadan) I used to be a pretty avid cosplayer but I haven’t in a little while due to being busy in my personal life but I might pick it up again. The desire to cosplay these goobers is strong as ever. Oh, and I’m a huge fan of mod H (💕💕💕) my very lovely lovely partner :3

Anyways, I’m super excited to continue this account! Keep posting the sillies and sharing them for all of you! Hopefully we can all interact and have a good time!

[tortoisebore]

Can you show an example of the tattoo that Sirius has, please???🥺🥺

i think ik which one ur talking ab but this is a great excuse for a sirius tattoo tour lfggg !!!

((some of these are from pinterest and some of them are mine bc we’ve already established that all of this is nothing if not me projecting !!!))

first, le pièce de résistance & the one i’m sure you were wanting—a couple of symmetrical black and gray vines in this traditional style low just inside his hips. thunderous applause !!! standing ovation !!! ((this exact tattoo has been on my wishlist for years but i’m scaaaared of how much hips would hurt & keep chickening out lmaooo))

next he most definitely has one of these cool black and gray daggers on his upper stomach, the handle starts maybe 3/4 down his sternum & the blade ends a few inches above his belly button. once again, roaring applause !!!

also someone somewhere gave him a “disgrace” tattoo & i will forever be indebted to them. whoever you are, we owe you so much. i imagine it as a little line of text just above the handle of the dagger, near the center of his chest in this kind of font

he fs has a scorpion somewhere too, and some moons and suns and planets and other celestial-adjacent things. also at least one mermaid on the side of his thigh & some matching birdies on his ankles

and then some little traditional florals on the back of his arm, maybe below his knees or on his ribs. just some run-of-the-mill roses and peonies and foliage, maybe throw in some blackthorn and ivy if we’re feeling fancy

and then ofc we have to throw in some stick & pokes bc he’s the type to get a kit & go through all the needles in one night bc he kept having ideas for fun stupid little tattoos (james asked for one & tapped out after the first pass so his turned into a faded gray glob on his knee that was supposed to be a heart but he shows it off anyway & makes sure everyone knows just how brave and strong he was about it)

[yosajaeofficial]

JULY UPDATE

Hey hey hey! Welcome back to the show, “The Monthly Jayce Myles Comics Updates!” Where I give obvious monthly updates to my followers about the progress for the hit series that hasn’t debuted yet, “ROTTMNT: The Jayce Myles Comics”! Sorry I haven’t posted this month, I was hella busy with college applications and other projects, but I’m delighted to get back into these updates.

Without further ado, let’s get the show running! I have some fun things to show ya!!!

The Comic

(W.I.P OF THE OFFICIAL DEBUT COMIC)

The month was way too quick for my own good, the comic’s slow. Again, I was busy applying to college and doing other side projects I’m working on. I’m gonna be attending college next month so the comic will have its hardships but I really wanna pursue my education as well, but the updates shall continue like always with all of its fun content! Anyways, the comic: the debut has 20+ pages and my god it’s just insane on how many there are when I’m not even halfway there. I’m impressed with how many pages go by just to tell the story, older pages will be fixed up so it either might be reduced or even more but that’s for future Jae to decide; I’m learning as I go! It’s also better that I show instead of say that I’m just “working on it” since it’s easy to lie to be honest.

The turtles haven’t been seen since I haven’t got to drawing their introductions yet, I’m gonna shart in my pants because I’m scared but I’m literally an artist doing a comic so I gotta do them sooner than later. Maybe the next update you’ll see them? Don’t hold me too much onto that but it might be a cute goal to set, let me know what happened when the August update comes!

Jayce is so silly with her coat huh? She’s just a girl giving it her best, even if they thrift at the worst shop known to man (they’re gonna learn someday…) We also got Rogelio and Jayce being all cool together, I was proud of that page when first sketching it out. They both are so sweet to draw out, hope to see their finalized pages to see their true potential!

Bonus Content: Hidden City Mystical Crystals

Silly reader, you’re scratching your nose and thinking, “what am I looking at?” You’re in luck! Cuz these babies are actually additional parts about the Hidden City’s lore/magic system. Magic system? Yes, a magic system. The Jayce Myles Comics is going beyond the original canon of Rise and creating many more original concepts and combining it with what was given by the canon. I wanted to show off more of the mystics from yokai because their potential was so much cooler to finally explore when drafting the ideas.

The Hidden City’s magic system is based off of the elements, not too complicated, but has some different rules when compared to other executions of the elemental magic system. That’s for another day, I’m only gonna talk about the crystals and show what they can do. You can reference this update and look into the JMC with this cool bit of knowledge! Let’s get started >:3

Origins of the Mystical Crystals

These crystals were created based off of industrial flaws people have faced. Basically, I learned about the 1920s construction workers and their working conditions where it made me think “what would the have wished for when they worked?” I referenced from real people, history books, and my own personal experiences to create functions, and help base the crystals off of what I came up with.

The Netflix show, “Arcane” was a great inspiration to combine mystics with technology, the brand was called “Hextech” and it’s system was hella cool to me and it helped a lot when I was working on the crystal’s concepts. The mystical crystals are meant to be used as “tools to help the magic user”, where they can enhance their power, gain a temporary ability, create spells, or use in technology.

The names of them are based off of the Latin languages like, English, Italian, Spanish, and a hint of both Chinese and Korean if you squint really hard. I will go through each of the crystals in a vague manner for ya’ll to see what they can do!

Fire Magic

Fire magic is actually defined as: “The manipulation/manifestation of temperature” instead of just heat, it can be fire or ice.

LA HEILMAQ: The crystal is based off of quartz in visuals and has the glow like a moonstone! La Heilmaq is the crystal that’s used to help air conditioning in modern homes and create weapons. They’re the most natural crystal to use to create weapons since it’s form holds up so well, it’s as common as bronze in real life! They’re pretty cold to the touch, so be careful and don’t hold them for too long if you’re 1. not a fire magic user, or 2. not wearing gloves. These babies are used for more attacks than defense since they’re pretty deadly if you’ve been penetrated by the crystal itself.

EL HEILMAQ: This crystal is based off of colored glass from old alcohol bottles, tainted windows, and the power of friendship because this is the one that isn’t the most realistic looking since I made the shape up. It looks like the “BOOM!” shape for a reason~ El Heilmaq is the crystal which contains heat, it’s sealed by the actual gemstone itself so you’re able to touch with your bare hands without getting burned. The crystal can be used for restoring heat in homes, making artillery, and/or throwing them on the ground to create natural firecrackers. Most yokai use smaller bits of the crystal as distractions and the bigger pieces to help the industry by keeping their homes warm, they don’t need boiler rooms or to grab coal because El Heilmaq crystals can already do that for them without causing damage to nature.

The word Heilmaq was based off the English word “Hail” which is Ice, which is to hammer the idea that this isn’t just heat based. The word Maq is gibberish that's made to be another word for "kaboom", which brings more of the fire elements to the word itself.

Air Magic

Air magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of oxygen”!

LA SENYÁR: The crystal is based off of diamonds and emeralds! La Senyár is a crystal that helps give the air magic user more of a boost, they can crash the crystal and it gives them a boost of air so they can jump higher, dodge quicker, or just blow a gust of wind at the enemy. The crystal itself is used by technology to give it more flight, used in planes, cars, and even shoes! Yes, shoes can also have the crystal, it helps the bird yokai give them a boost to use their wings to fly. The word Senyár is a word based off of the Spanish word, “Soñar” that translates to “To Dream”; it was named this way because the way how the pressure of the air isn’t as powerful or dense, it’s like if you’re walking on clouds, it feels like a dream.

Water Magic

Water magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of water and health”

LA CANTÉM: The crystal is based off of pebbles found in rivers, ponds, and on rock beaches; there’s also influence by the topaz gemstone with it’s beautiful orange color. La Cantém is a healing crystal, where you’re able to use it on yourself to cool down injuries where it helps heal the wounds. It works both as a numbing solution and healing solution based on the water magic user. With these crystals, you always have to hydrate them in fresh water so the water can absorb into the crystal and used as energy; if it’s dehydrated, then the crystal’s will be weaker. The word Cantém is based off of the Spanish word, “Cantar” where it translates to, “To Sing”. It’s because singing can calm people down, and the crystal helps calm down the injured and lets the healing process go smoothly, it’s based off of my bestie where their singing really was like fresh water to my ears, a great inspiration for this crystal.

Earth Magic

Earth magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of nature”

EL TERÉM: The crystal is based off of an amethyst visually, and yes, inside there’s a different color! El Terém is the crystal that most fighters use in order to manipulate rocks/boulders, build stronger architecture, or create rock shields when you throw them on the floor. It’s mostly rock based but still hella good to use in battle as a defense mechanism, the rock that’s formed is sturdy too, not weak for it to break easily. Shredder would have no problems breaking it but that guy’s insane. The word Terém is inspired by the word "tear" or "contain", any interpretation rocks! (no pun intended)

Yin Magic

Yin magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of darkness”

MIE SIÑE: The crystal is based off of titanium black tourmaline and onyx. Mie Siñe is the crystal that contains shadows inside, depending on what the spell is, it either can produce shadows or fog. The usage for the crystal is much more unknown since Yin magic is banned from being used in Witchtown, but the crystal itself has been documented to be used to isolate the enemy when being used. It's also been used to cover the enemies eyes with darkness in order to distract them/become vulnerable sight wise. The word Siñe is a word based on the actual word "Sign" and "Sin", which holds a lot of significance into the story so I won't spoil.

Yang Magic

Yang magic is defined as, “The manipulation/manifestation of light”

MIE PIRE: This dear crystal is based off of the Italian onyx, magnesite, and calcite. Mie Pire is the crystal that contains light inside, any kind of light, it's not just sunlight. It's a bit more tricky and dangerous to use since you can blind yourself with it more easily, so it's also not as used. However, Yang magic is also banned like Yin, but there has still been technological uses for Mie Pire like using it as an alternative for electricity (which saves the bills!) and also used as lamps for more conservative places like Witchtown. The crystal has proved itself useful as a light source, but it can still be used as a defense mechanism by blinding the enemies eyes for a good second of even minute. The word Pire is based off of the word "Pure" which means that this crystal is very raw hence why it's dangerous. Another word it's inspired by is the Latin word "Pyra" which means "Bonfire". Both interpretations are used for this one!

The word Mie is based off of the actual Italian word "Mie" which means "My". It doesn't truly mean mine, because it's also inspired by the Spanish "Mira" that translates to "Look". It can be interpreted any way you want!

Thank you for coming to this lovely update! I've been working really hard to get the comic rolling and to also balance out my personal life with it, but I'm proud of how far I've come in the span of a year! Lots of progress has been made and it's getting much more exciting to create for the JMC. Have a wonderful day/night and see ya'll soon.

[5and3nevermind]

Yoonmin Run Ep Project: Week 1

Welcome to Week 1 of our fun little Run ep viewing project!

This week, we watched Run ep 53. This was the picnic episode, which was released in 2018 (part 1 of 2). Please go watch it if you have time!

I don’t want this to turn into an episode recap, so I’ll just mention some things that stood out to me. I’d love to hear what you thought of the episode. Feel free to comment or send an ask. You’re also (obviously) more than welcome to write about it on your own blog. Let me know so I can make sure to stop by; I’d love to read it.

First of all, how cute that yoonmin sat together on the drive. They looked so cozy in that front row all by themselves.

Also…I just have to take a moment to appreciate how adorable Jk looked in those glasses!

Ok, back to yoonmin! I loved this moment when Yoongi and Jimin shared a laugh.

And then of course there was the egg-peeling incident. Jimin was so sweet to offer! Yoongi teased him, but we know that was also self-deprecating since he’d already said that he finds peeling eggs difficult.

For someone who was not directly involved in peeling that egg, Yoongi sure was curious! Cute.

The first stop was the grocery store:

That’s when we saw the back-scratching moment. Yoongi had been wearing a black coat, but he flung it low around his arms and lower back briefly:

Jin lost a game and had to complete the last part of the journey on foot. Jimin volunteered to go with him.

I didn’t catch Yoongi’s reaction until the second time I went back and watched the grocery store portion: start at 16:52 for context; at 17:00, Yoongi waves his hand dismissively and then says, “I won’t stop you,” I assume directed at Jimin.

This is a small detail and I don’t want to speculate too much. But…⚠️ Yoongi seemed a bit disappointed that Jimin was offering to do the punishment with Jin. The guys had been warned that it was an uphill walk. Maybe Yoongi was worried that it would make Jimin tired. Maybe he was already sore from dance practice or performing. ?? I found it interesting that Yoongi had an opinion on what Jimin does. And his comment—“I won’t stop you”—implies to me that Yoongi feels that he has the right to express an opinion on Jimin’s decisions. This seems, to me, to be inconsistent with typical friends and it’s certainly inconsistent with bandmates/co-workers. Would Yoongi have expressed his opinion if it was Joon or Jk who had volunteered? Perhaps not.

(The text next to Yoongi says, “I won’t stop you if you say you’ll do it!”)

Anyway, Jin and Jimin completed the last leg of the journey on foot, while the others rode in the van. We were treated to this adorable pic:

Could they possibly be any prettier?!?!

The members riding in the van arrived first. At one point Yoongi walked toward the window and asked, “When are they coming?” I thought he seemed a little distracted until Jimin and Jin arrived.

As Jimin approached, he made a sound like a crow, and Yoongi remarked that the bird sounded like “Park Jimin” (does anyone else love it when Yoongi calls Jimin by his full name?).

Yoongi couldn’t get over the fact that Jimin had been making bird noises and he brought it up again.

The picnic continues in part 2 (ep 54), but that is a topic for another day!

While watching this episode, I was struck by how often Yoongi and Jimin were together. However, they were pretty subtle. The back scratching is a perfect example. They were in the background and not at the center of the conversation. As you can see from my screenshot, Jimin wasn’t even fully in the shot!

So…those are my thoughts for now. I’d love to hear yours.

Yoonmin Run Ep schedule

Just a note: this is a yoonmin blog, so I’m focusing on them. Of course they also interacted with the other members. Of course Joon looked gorgoeus. Of course Hobi was pure joy. Of course Tae and Jk danced at the grocery store because they were excited about ice cream. Of course it was adorable when Tae fed chicken to Jin during the drive. Please watch the full episode so you can enjoy those moments too! 💜

[labyrinthofsphinx]

Statistical Outliers

Part 7 of drabble. I'm calling it. I'm just writing them long now. Also, this one has Valentino and Angel, just as a heads up. Nothing graphic but a warning. Also a little suggestive because, again, Valentino.

“Welcome to the show everybody! Hope everyone’s been having a marvelous week!”

Vox spun in his chair, greeted to the captive audience behind his televisions. The morning show was a fan favorite, always has been. Honestly, he takes a lot of pride in it. It’s just him for the most part, spouting off whatever relevant nonsense there was for the time. He gave a brief recap of what was going on in the world above, something he had to sneak in from sources that actually went up there. If he got a few details wrong, eh, no big deal. It’s not like anyone can fact check him down here anyways. For the newly introduced to Hell, it was a good way to grab their attention. And that only meant more viewers in the long run.

“Coffee’s done.”

The kid ran over into his monitor room, pulling his attention away from his cyber studio for a moment. The smell of warm coffee jumped up to greet him, and he gladly took it off the kid’s hands. Ah, as perfect as last time.

“Still a crap cup of coffee.” He said. The kid didn’t believe him anymore. He just swayed happily in place as Vox kept taking sips.

He kind of wanted to squeeze the ever loving hell of out him. He settled for roughing up the top of his fur.

“Hey, I just fixed that!” He tried to bat back the invading assault, but Vox had much bigger hands and a much longer reach. There was little he could do.

“Yeah? Complain to someone who cares.”

The programs went on, switching from news, to commercials, to the morning sitcoms. He noticed the kid paying attention to his spy drones’ footage, of his fellow hotel mates dragging themselves out to go look for him again. Alastor noticed the camera. He posed for it, the smiley freak. He flicked the footage away, switching it to the camera just outside.

Velvette was there, pacing. She was deciding how she wanted to start this, Vox knew. Was she going to try for the innocent act? Was she going to storm in raging? She had a hundred different faces for her followers, but Vox fell for exactly zero of them.

Delighted, he took another sip of coffee.

“Don’t say a word.” He told the kid.

Bang! Bang!

“Vox! Open the fucking door, now!” Brattish it is then! Wonder how long she’ll keep it up. “And fix the fucking Wi-Fi! It’s been buggy all day!”

“Be there in a moment, Vel!” He lied. “Still running some new security features into the mainframe. The Wi-Fi will probably be a little spotty for a while!”

“Ugh!” She screamed. “Is my toy in there with you? I couldn’t do my morning post without him!”

Vox rolled his eyes playfully. The kid had to cover a laugh with a hand.

“Yeah, he’s here! Not to worry, I’m taking good care of him until your done with all those projects you’ve got!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Give him back right fucking now! He’s mine! You gave him to me!”

“And I’m just taking him off your hands until you’re less distracted, Vel! If you have more than enough time for pranks, surely you can finish those clothes for Val, draw up plans for the next season, and throw out a few more ads for our products.” Act like a child, don’t be surprised when you’re treated like one.

His sharks have taken a special interest in the kid, and not in the ‘I want to eat it’ way. It was rare that Vox let someone into his space for long. Even Vel and Val were only momentary intruders. Sure, they saw them in the conference room, but they tended to ignore them since nothing fun ever came from the conference room. The kid couldn’t have been more enchanted by his vicious friends. He didn’t touch the acrylic on Vox’s orders, but he was getting as close as he could and ogling.

“Vee, come on! That’s not fair!” She called out, a little more pained this time.

Ah, already switched from ‘Vox’ to ‘Vee’. The Wi-Fi thing must really be bothering her.

“Can’t be helped! Not to worry, the update is almost done.” He lied again.

He gazed out into the sea of his audience. Many of them had those headphones of his, quite a few of them had the eared version. Some odder cases seemed to be trying to make the standard one look like those special editions, but the ears were wrong and didn’t glow right. He noticed though another new fad popping up. Long shirts and oversized hoodies with homemade designs on them, especially running up the arms. In particular, different tread marks seemed to be of interest. Huh. One look at the kid explained that one.

It wasn’t widespread yet, but he could see the pattern before it emerged. Velvette would pick it up in no time, patent it, and let it sell like hotcakes. Well, best let her get started on it then.

“Darling,” Velvette’s voice was much softer this time. He did always like being called ‘darling’. Something about it just rubbed the right way. “please open the door? The prank was just a stupid-”

The doors opened themselves. The kid gave him a look, a joke hiding behind his lips. Vox quietly shushed him.

“My dear, I’m sorry about the wait. You know how absorbed I get into things.” He said, swinging his chair around as she walked up the catwalk. “The update should be done now. Let me know how it works.”

She checked her phone for a second, then brought herself back to look at him.

“You’re not still mad? Right?”

“I wasn’t mad to begin with! Only concerned. Can’t have my best girl stressing herself out and pulling herself too thin. Next time, if you have an issue, just bring it up. You know I’ve got a fix for everything. Especially ways to de-stress.”

With that, he snapped his fingers. His former technician that had been dangling above the shark tank, paralyzed by a complete excess of volts running his system, was unceremoniously dropped. The kid pulled back in silent horror as the man was quickly ripped to pieces. He looked like he was going to hurl. That’s what you get for mistaking his sharks as friendly dogs, he wanted to tease.

Velvette watched with half interest. Then, from the blue, she jumped up and kissed the side of his face. Her black lipstick left an obvious mark, but she didn’t wipe it away. Must be feeling slightly possessive then, he assumed. She pulled him in for a quick pic, being sure to get the kid in the background looking around the room. She didn’t post it though, instead made it her new screensaver.

She was still for just a moment, then she stole his coffee mug and took a sip.

“Ugh, Vee, you have the worst taste in coffee.”

Velvette was the type to go to a coffee store and make the barista regret ever getting up in the morning. If she was at the bar, she was just as bad to the bartender, especially if the drink didn’t look good enough for Voxtagram. His tastes were a lot more simple. Nothing he drank ever made her happy. She still insisted on trying it though, almost every time. Lipstick stains on his mug and his face, she was finally content enough to head out.

“Cutie pie, come on! We’ve got work to do. Val’s whores aren’t going to dress themselves.” She called the kid over with a flick of her finger. He didn’t immediately follow. Instead, a silent exchange happened between him and Vox.

Yeah, go with her. She’s fine.

And he bounded after her.

When the door closed again, Vox took to his chair. Vel’s lipstick added a sweetness to his drink that wasn’t there before. He always liked how it tasted, but maybe next time not in his coffee. Before him, Hell kept turning. The morning news gave way to the TV specials and his reality shows. ‘Yeah, I Fucked Your Sister, So What?’ was showcasing a double feature, two sisters and one guy. He’s not sure if they were going to kill each other first or their so-called man.

Whatever the case, he scrolled through some of his other work in the meantime. A few inventors tossed ideas up to him, hoping to gain favor and get their products endorsed by the biggest tech name in Hell. Most of them were scams, and not even well-hidden ones. He put a special tab on these ones and set them aside. He had a special show for those types, one where he, Velvette, and Valentino sit in hotseats, picking apart people’s designs and ideas. Vox already did all the work behind the scenes. He knew which ones were worth the investment. It made for good television whenever all three of them seemed to agree that an idea was great, and it also was just as good when an idea was so bad that they dropped the presenter into the tank below.

It made everyone feel like they had a shot at getting a contract with the big bosses, if you were willing to bet it all.

And, personally, he always loved watching them squirm, even when he knew he wanted the product.

It wasn’t too long later that he decided that he really ought to check on Alastor’s loser squad. Now that the kid was gone and he didn’t have to see the sad eyes, he brought it back up.

He nearly had a heart attack.

Alastor’s malicious sneer was dangerously close to one of his drones, too close for the camera to survive the onslaught of his dark magic.  Symbols and green wisps of evil started to strangle the life out of the little machine. Al’s yellow teeth contorted like a snake and goblin shark hybrid.

“Hello, old pal.”

Vox disconnected the drone. He just completely shut it down, dragged the code from the mainframe. If he even tried hacking in, the whole system would fight to push him out, considering it the same as a virus.

Everything is fine, Vox. You’re fine. Deep breaths.

The kid’s still here. He’s fine. He’s with Velvette.

…but just to be safe.

He found him right by Vel’s side, holding a bunch of clothes in his arms as they climbed down the levels in the elevator. See? He’s fine. Nothing bad’s going to-

Wait. Were they going to Val’s studio?

He spat out his coffee. Vel? What were you doing? You can’t take him in there with all those…well, Val’s people.

It got worse. It got so much worse. Because Angel Dust was there early, already on set and already ready to jump into that sultry little dress Vel made for the movie poster.

Oh, no. No, no! Bad! Very bad!

Vel, do something! Get him out of there! Wha-! No! Don’t just walk away! That dime store whore doesn’t not need your attention as much as the kid does right now!

Vel walked off to dress the girls, leaving the kid holding a great big pile of clothes, in the middle of Val’s set. Angel Dust looked like he had the wind dragged from his sails. Even the makeup could only do so much to cover up too many sleepless nights. He dragged his feet and sat down in his studio chair, a sigh ripping from him.

“You know, I really wish on days like these that I wasn’t trying to stay sober.”

Apparently, those big ears weren’t just for show. Despite everyone else in the room, and the smooth music, and the re-wind of Val and his director’s cut of the film, the kid lit up.

“Angel?”

The spider reacted like someone just shot something hard straight to his brain, like he might be concerned he was going crazy. All eight eyes sprung wide as the kid put the clothes down on a nearby loveseat.

“Drift! Oh my God! You’re alive! Holy shit!” He leapt up, arms open wide to grab him.

Panic leapt into his chest. He didn’t know the specifics of Val’s deal. Did it only apply if Vox handed him over? Did it only mean they had to ‘try’ to find the kid? What did he specifically mean about the return policy? There were too many ‘ifs’. Far too many for Vox to let this go any further.

He tore into the wires, moving as fast as possible. Lightning could move almost as fast as light could. Even following the current, Vox made it in more than enough time to rip right out of the nearby camera and directly in between the two of them.

All around, everything buzzed. The lights flickered. His rush left a small wake of rumbling sound, echoing with the acoustics of this place. He kept a smile plastered to his face, but anyone could tell it was more of a threat.

Angel, surprisingly, jumped straight from shock to rage.

“You motherfucker-!”

“Now, now.” Vox started. “Let’s not do or say anything you might regret.”

“Ah, Angelcakes! I see you’ve met our newest little pet project.” Val sauntered over from his director’s chair, stepping up behind Vox. His four arms dipped down. Two of them grabbed the kid by the shoulders, keeping him snugly in place. The other two played with his face, grabbing his muzzle much too hard and forcing him to look up at him. “He’s just adorable. The perfect little plaything.”

The kid was shaking. He couldn’t struggle from Val’s grasp, and he’s not even sure how much he could breath with Val holding his face like that. Worse, how Val had said that. Even to Vox, it sounded wrong.

Which is so weird, because he knew that Valentino had no interest in kids, ever. Not because he was bothered by it or something, but more so because kids weren’t ‘sexy’.

That didn’t change the fact that, that had creeped the fuck out of Vox.

And if it had creeped Vox out, he can only imagine what Angel’s mind jumped to. Soul contract be damned, Angel looked ready to tear Val’s face off.

“If you touched that kid, I swear to god-”

“Val.” Vox interjected. His new speakers drowned out any other sound in the place, including the rest of Angel’s little rant, just in the nick of time. “A word. Alone.”

Valentino was a little too pleased with himself. He put the kid down slowly before directing Angel back to the set. The whisp of smoke formed a chain for a second, tethered to the spider’s neck.

“Sit right there and don’t move. I’ll be back in a minute.”

While Val was doing that, Vox leaned down to the kid quickly.

“You okay?”

“He can’t do that to Angel.” He argued, coughing as he wrung his hands by the harsh lines now imprinted on his neck.

“He can do whatever he wants to Angel. He owns him.”

“That’s not fair-”

“Fair or not, Angel’s an adult. He made his own decision.” Did he really believe that? Sort of, consent was always questionable with addicts. “But if you don’t want to get him or yourself into worse trouble, don’t move. Don’t go to Angel. Just stay right here until I get back.”

It destroyed him on the inside, Vox could see that. All he wanted to do was run over and check on his friend. But, thankfully, it seemed like he trusted Vox’s judgement enough to heed his warning. He stayed still, tail pulling between his legs as the surrounding employees just seemed to notice what was going on.

Vox gestured for Val to follow him to Angel’s dressing room. It was mostly soundproof, for obvious reasons, which made it ideal for what Vox had in mind. Val strolled in, but not before giving one last look between the two hotel mates. It made Angel’s skin crawl again.

“What is it, Vox? Can’t you see I’ve got things handled?”

Handled? That was what he counted as ‘handled’?

He slammed the door shut behind him, shocking Valentino.

“Oh, Val. What do you think you’re doing?”

Reflexively, the moth backed up a bit. His antenna flicked in alarm. Vox could be scary when he was angry. And when he was truly pissed?

“I was…I was…” The words seemed to die on his tongue for a moment. “I was securing an asset. I want Angel back and you’re getting too attached to that brat and-”

“You want Angel back?” His voice warped as he stepped too close to Val, where he had no room left to back up. “Is that really what you want?”

“Um…yes?” He sounded uncertain now.

Vox’s teeth bared too wide to seem friendly.

“No, Val.” He said, his voice coming back down. “You don’t want that.”

“Yes, I-!”

He grabbed his collar, pulling him down to Vox’s height for the time being.

“No, you don’t. You don’t want to force him back like that. You want to prove him right? That the only reason he is here was because he had to be? No. He should want to come back to you.” His harsh grip turned softer, claws combing through and dancing towards the line of his neck. Val gulped.

“You want him on his hands and knees. You want him begging to be back in your arms.” While his one hand teased, and plucked the first button off Valentino’s shirt, his other hand wrapped around. He dug into the flesh of his back, just by the base of his spine. Val squeaked and dragged himself closer.

“But…but the kid-”

He chuckled.

“Were you worried I forgot about you? You?” Vee tower was his plaything. It was all an extension of him. Like an arm, he could twitch the nerves to pull as he pleased. Holographic screens played across the walls. The whole room beamed with light, before flicking to different scenes.

Valentino posing for a shoot. Valentino with blood on his hands and fresh gun smoke in the air. Valentino stretched out across his lounge, counting his money. Valentino laid out on Vox’s sheets, inviting him over with a lick of the lips.

“You’re a star, Val. My star. You think there’s ever a moment I’m not watching you? You think that there’s another soul in this decrepit place as intoxicating as you?”

Valentino eating his chocolates a little too slow. Valentino ruthlessly tearing apart a rival. Valentino dancing around the room in the morning wearing Vox’s robes.

“There’s no one like you, Val. And there’s no one that can take my gaze off you.”

He pulled down, dragging him into a dip. Instinctively, Val’s legs flew up to wrap around Vox. His whole body shuttered with delight as poison dripped hungerly down his face.

“Oh, you’ve ruined me.” Valentino said, almost groaning. Vox knew he’d be thinking about this and only this for the rest of the day. His arms interlocked around Vox’s neck.

“Not yet. Maybe tonight. But I don’t want to hear any more nonsense about me not keeping my eyes on you.” Vox teased.

The way Val was looking at him now, the minute they started making out no other work would be achievable today. And, if Vox had it his way, Val wouldn’t be able to walk afterwards.

“Now, we really have to do something about yours and Angel’s new deal.”

“Oh, screw that. He can come back when he begs for it.”

That’s exactly what Vox wanted to hear.

…

Composing himself to look somewhat professional was harder than he expected. Val had messed up his jacket in his pursuit for purchase on his back. He’d also messed up his bowtie, something he’d unfortunately neglected to notice until after the kid gave him a funny look.

“Angelcakes, back to shooting.” Val directed with a wave of his cigarette.

Angel’s face dropped in panic.

“Val, the deal. What about our deal? You’re supposed to give the kid back!”

“Correction.” Vox interrupted. “The deal was if I found the kid, and I gave him to Val to give to you, then you’d come back to work, fulltime.” He went over the specifics with Val right before walking back in. He was a stickler for wording. “And I don’t feel like handing him over to anyone.”

He walked up behind the kid and, purposefully, put his hands on his shoulders a little tight.

“I think I’ll keep him.”

The spider’s eyes all focused on Vox, fury rising in his throat.

“You think that I’d just let that happen? Oh, Smiles has been wantin’ an excuse to knock your head off. Just wait till I tell ‘em.”

“Nobody is telling anyone, anything.” Val mentioned.

“Oh yeah?” Angel challenge back.

“Oh, yeah.” Val confirmed. “If you try anything, there won’t be a kid left to rescue, Angelcakes.”

The kid was being so well behaved, mouth zipped tight. Angel could assume from what Val said that Vox had his contract, and the kid’s attitude only played into it. Was it worth the risk of the kid getting his soul ripped apart?

Angel’s face fell.

Yeah, didn’t think so.

Then, surprising Vox, the kid ran over and grabbed Angel in a hug.

“It’s okay.” He swore. “It’ll be okay. I promise.”

A few tears slipped out Angel’s face, especially when they had to let go. Vox snapped his fingers, and the kid ran to his side again.

“We’re leaving.” He said. If Vel wanted him back, he could pick him up from Vox’s room again. Val blew him a kiss as they walked back into the lift.

When the doors closed, a weight pulled off his shoulders.

“Thank you.” The kid looked up at him, and odd truthfulness to his words that shook something in the core of Vox’s head.

“…for what?”

“For saving my friend. I’m not…it’s not worth the price he’d have to pay.” He pursed his lips. “And he never would’ve let me go unless you made him. So…thank you.”

Despite himself, a grin pressed to his face.

“I didn’t do it for him. Maybe I’m getting used to the annoying buzzing sound of your voice. It’d be a shame to get rid of it now.”

Oh, fuck me. The kid was happy now. Cuteness aggression was a bitch. He kinda felt like squeezing him until he popped.

“I like your voice too.”

He grabbed his muzzle and playfully closed it.

“Shut up, kid.”  

Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3/ Part 4/ Part 5/ Part 6/ Part 7/ Part 8/ Part 9/ Part 10

[thoselethalarts]

𝒮𝓉𝒶𝒽𝓁𝒾 ℋ𝑒𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓇 - 𝒫𝑒𝓇𝓈𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓎

(SR) Lab Coats (Part 1): “What a Better Opportunity Than Now!”

(NRC: Botanical Gardens)

Stahli: Hm~hm… Oh, there’s so many options to choose from! So many possibilities to explore! Stahli: I’m sure all of them would be positively delicious, but… shouldn’t I have at least one control group? Isn’t that normally what Crewel would have me do when devising a science experiment?

(BOOM!!)

Stahli: …Oh who am I kidding? Who needs a control group when you’re having fun! I’ll just mix and match them as I see fit~

Trey: Hey Stahli- (cough cough) Mind if I wait over here until the other side of the garden airs out?

Stahli: Not at all! What happened?

Trey: Rook happened.

Stahli: Oh ja, say no more. Stahli: Actually, while you’re here could you hand me those cotton-swab sticks please?

Trey: Oh yeah, sure thing. Trey: What’re you working on over here, anyway? You’ve been pacing by these berry bushes for the last half hour.

Stahli: Ah, well… I was actually considering cross-pollinating them as part of a little experiment of mine!

Trey: Cross-pollinate, huh? So you’re thinking of mixing the pollen from one of the flowering plants with a different one?

Stahli: Exactly! I was just thinking it would be fun to see what would come from mixing and matching different berries together and see what we get as an end result. Stahli: Plus, I would love to have something new and exciting to use for my baking this year~

Trey: That does sound like it could make for an interesting experiment. Trey: You’re bolder than me in that regard; I’d rather just stick to the types of ingredients and fruits that I know by heart. I find the results to be a lot more consistent that way.

Stahli: It’s easier to stick with tradition, sure, but I like to try new things and experiment with my cooking whenever I get the chance to. Stahli: That’s how cooking used to be once upon a time after all! People just mixed together all sorts of things and saw what came out of it. Stahli: Sometimes it was good, sometimes it was bad, and now we know what is what because they wrote down what came from all of their experimenting.

Trey: Well even experiments have to have somewhere to start. I’m assuming you know if any of these fruits are compatible with one another already?

Stahli: Ja, a bit! Some of these we grow at home, and my mother showed me how to cross-pollinate some of them for when we want them for a specific recipe. Stahli: I wonder if perhaps they will need any fertilizer to support the new fruits they will be making… there’s so many variables to consider that I’ve been hesitating to dedicate and actually start pollinating them.

Trey: You sure know a lot about plants, Stahli. I didn’t expect you to have such a passion for agriculture.

Stahli: Oh, well, I suppose it helps to have a mother with a passion for gardening and another for exotic plantlife~ Stahli: Her and my stepmother run an apothecary together back home. My stepmother is a keen alchemist with a great nose for potionmaking, while my blood mother has a passion for cultivating magical herbs and plants. Stahli: Our home isn’t the biggest since we have the shop downstairs and our living home upstairs, but because it’s a rural area we have quite a bit of land to grow our own ingredients! Stahli: The herb garden is by far the biggest producer since my stepmother needs it for ingredients, but my mother’s passion project is our fruityard. Stahli: She loves to find new fruits that she’s never seen before and try growing them for herself, but she also works to get what she wants through cross-pollination! She showed me how to graft trees together too!

Trey: Graft trees?

Stahli: Yes! It’s a process by which you sever a large branch from a tree and then place it upon a severed stump from another. Stahli: If you do this right, the severed tree will accept the new branch, like a living prosthetic, and it will keep living and producing fruit that doesn’t belong to it! Stahli: You can graft an orange branch to an apple tree, and now you have a tree that produces both apples AND oranges! Isn’t that fascinating?!

Trey: That is pretty cool! That would make it way easier to produce a lot of different fruits in a small area, I imagine.

Stahli: Exactly! It helps us to minimize how many trees we need in our garden to produce what we need. Stahli: But, well, I doubt that the headmaster would appreciate me hacking apart his trees on campus, so instead I want to try my own hand at cross-pollination! This will be my first time doing it on my own. Stahli: I hope that whatever I end up with will be tasty, I would love to use them as part of my baking!

Trey: You know if you want a hand with caring for them I’d be interested in seeing the end results too. Trey: Though I think I might wait to actually cook with them until after you try them out first and tell me how they are.

Stahli: Cautious as always~ Worry not, I’ll be sure to let you know how they turn out!

/ To be continued…

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Alternate A Family Matter

He knows the sound well.

A single, perfect manicured finger tapping on glass.

Midge used to do that on her way home from the market in the evening. She’d peek into the window at the diner, see Jess closing up, and tap with one finger to get his attention, and then wave before going home.

A little check-in.

It’s something he’s missed since he left Stars Hollow, and here it is again, except now, she’s tapping a fingernail on the window in the backseat of his car.

Jess sits up and rolls down the window. Midge looks older than she did before. Tired. Cold, because it’s really fucking cold out.

“What are you doing out so late?” Jess asks, bewildered.

“I heard you were back,” she shrugs. “I didn’t know you’d be sleeping in your car, though. It’s too cold for this, come back to the house, Lenny’s office couch still has your butt indent in it.”

“Midge.”

“You can’t stay out here, Sweetie, you’ll freeze to death, and that’d give Taylor too much satisfaction.”

He stares at her without laughing at the joke. “You’re not pissed at me?”

She shrugs. “I was. Now I’m just worried one of my kids might lose his fingers to frostbite. Come on. Grab your things.”

He finally agrees, and grabs his things, following her down Main Street towards Maple.

“How was California?” Midge asks.

Jess shrugs. “Fine.”

“Not so good, then.”

“It was fine.”

“So where are you living now?”

Jess doesn’t respond.

Midge stops walking and turns to him. “You’ve been back in New York this entire time, haven’t you?”

Jess huffs out a breath.

“You’ve been back in the city, and you couldn’t even be fucked to call and tell us you were alright,” Midge says. “Okay. Fine. I get it.”

“Midge-”

“No. I know. We’re not really your family, and family is a crock of shit anyways, and we never really cared about you, you were just some fun pet project we took on while we were bored and in Stars Hollow. It couldn’t possibly have been because Lenny and I cared about you, or that we wanted you to do well, and be happy. Couldn’t have been.”

“I’m going back to my car.”

“Like hell you are,” she snaps, and then points. “House. Now.”

“You know, I’m an adult now. You can’t treat me like a little kid!”

“I’ll treat you like an adult, when you start acting like one,” Midge counters. “Until then, get your skinny butt to the house.”

Jess stands his ground.

Or, he tries.

Which causes Midge to reach out, grab an ear, and drag.

*****

Lorelai stops at the front window, staring as Midge drags Jess by the ear up her driveway. “No way.”

“What?” Rory asks. “What’s wrong?”

“Midge just dragged Jess by the ear into her house, like some naughty third-grader,” Lorelai explains.

“I don’t want to talk about Jess.”

“But-”

“No.”

Lorelai huffs. “Fine.”

*****

“Congratulations,” Lenny mutters as he helps Jess pull out the bed in his office couch. “I haven’t seen Midge that angry since she caught her ex balls-deep in one of his cocktail waitresses in ‘66.”

They finish up and Lenny looks him over.

“You look skinny. You eating?”

“Sure.”

“You’ve really been in New York this entire time?”

“...Maybe.”

Lenny lifts a newspaper, rolls it up and whaps Jess upside the head with it.

“Ow!”

“You know, I get wanting to make it on your own, and be your own man,” Lenny tells him. “But that woman worried over your wellbeing all year, and you couldn’t even been bothered to make one phone call? Maybe knock on our door one time to let her know you hadn’t been run over by a truck somewhere?”

Jess looks away.

“You may shit all over the concept of family, but that’s the only thing that’s gotten her through the terrible things in her life,” Lenny says. “And you were apart of that. And considering the fact that she dragged you back here instead of letting you freeze, I’m gonna guess that you still are.”

“I never asked!”

“Real family - good family, like Luke. Like Midge? They make sure you never have to,” Lenny shakes his head. “Get some sleep. We’ll fill you up with coffee in the morning and cut you loose, and then you can go back to being a little shit all you want.”

*****

He doesn’t sleep.

He winds up in the kitchen, and he’s not surprised to find Midge sitting there with a cup of tea and some babka.

“Hey,” he says awkwardly.

“Hi,” she says softly. “Can’t sleep?”

Jess shakes his head and sits across from her, and she slides her the little plate of babka to settle it between them.

“So,” Midge says softly. “How have things been in New York?”

“Fine,” he says firmly, because deflating a little. “Well…hard.”

She nods. “It’s expensive to live there when you’re not famous like we are,” Midge jokes gently. “Do you need help?”

“No.”

“You were sleeping in your car,” she says.

“Luke and I fought,” Jess mutters with a shrug. “I didn’t have anywhere else to…” he stops when he sees the look on her face.

“Look,” Midge sighs. “I get it. You…you went to California to figure out if you could have a relationship with your dad and it clearly didn’t work out very well.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Jess grumbles.

“So you came back, and you felt like you couldn’t talk to anyone here because of how you left,” Midge goes on.

He averts his eyes. “Everybody loves Rory. And I hurt Rory, so by extension…”

“Everybody hates you?” Midge guesses.

He shrugs.

“Jess. Sweetie. You cannot be that dumb.”

“Maybe I am,” he rubs his eyes. “I screwed up so bad, with Luke and school and then trying to get to know my dad-”

“Let’s get one thing straight,” Midge says firmly. “Whatever happened with your dad? He’s the adult. You’re the kid. It’s his responsibility to try. If he couldn’t figure out how, that’s not on you.”

“I just showed up…”

“Still not on you,” she says, nudging the plate closer to him.

Jess hesitates before taking a little of the babka, eating it.

“So? What’s the plan now?” Midge asks.

"I'm working a messenger gig in the city," he tells her. "I have an apartment."

"Oh, very nice, classic six, upper west side?" She teases.

"Not even close," Jess mutters. "But it's a life. It's mine. I don't have anybody breathing down my neck to go to school or…or be better or anything."

Midge considers him for a long moment, eyes narrowed. "You're supposed to want better for yourself, you know."

He looks away.

"I know you know that," Midge comments. "I've heard Lenny tell you that before. And one day you're going to realize he's right."

The young man still stays quiet, poking at the babka a little.

"What do you want your life to look like?" Midge asks.

He shrugs.

"It's okay that you don't know," she says. "Lenny didn't know at your age. I thought I knew and, and it completely changed less than ten years later."

Jess finally looks at her. "Yeah?"

Midge nods. "Stay the weekend."

"Rory's here."

"So what?"

"So…"

"Honey, sometimes we have to face our shitty decisions head on," she tells him. "Sometimes all we can do is look them in the eyes, regret them and then try to move forward. And you owe that girl an apology."

Jess nods.

"Eat the babka and go to bed," Midge orders as she gets up. "I'll see you in the morning."