#Anyway I agonized what to draw for this and in the end I had to do something with Kogoro

[cartoonsbyandie]

HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY TO OUR FAVORITE LITTLE DETECTIVE!

Ran’s baking the cake next year.

[whorediaries-09]

Can I request a remus lupin x reader? Where they go to an autocinema and end making out

hi dear, thank you for sending in the request. hope you like it.

wherever i go

pairing- remus lupin x reader warning(s)- fluff, making out, suggestive. a/n- okay so i searched up what an autocinema is cause i had no idea what the heck is that 💀anyways i hope i did it justice.

the slut club valentine's day event

wherever i go there's a shadow of you

the beautiful pink and orange hues melt away to form the most beautiful sunset. but nothing matches the beauty of the hazel peripherals of the lanky male who sits near by you. his caramel brown locks reflect under the setting sun, his usually pale skin painted a dusted hue of red. he fiddles with his fingers, drawing your attention to the several rings on his long thin fingers. he's wearing one of his brown, oversized sweaters which made him look like a grandpa. a very handsome grandpa if you were being honest...

you shook your head. no you weren't supposed to look at his hands on his steering wheel. the ones you'd prefer intertwined with yours. not that you'd tell him. it would be heinous, truly, you thought if he got to know about your very inappropriate thoughts.

you slowly licked the vanilla softy you'd gotten prior driving into the autocinema. truth be told, you had no interest in the movie. the movie was a background noise, to distract yourself from your fluttering heart and your very silly thoughts.

about kissing him. about tangling your fingers through his fluffy hair. about wrapping your legs around his waist and-

'do you like the movie?' remus' voice startled you. you stared at him blankly. shit. you didn't listen to what he was saying.

'yeah yeah, the actress and actor were paired perfectly,' he stared at you, his eyes bluntly reading through you. it was no secret remus could read through people, and the quiver in your voice told him you weren't actually paying attention. it was a plain white lie, but you'd played your cards right.

but how he wished he'd know why you weren't paying attention. did you find it boring? he played with a loose frayed string on his sweater, not quite meeting your gaze. his eyes were averted towards the movie screen, but he wasn't watching. not really.

he could only think about how the sun painted your already beautiful eyes. how your skin glowed under the light, your lips smeared slightly with the softy. how the dress you'd chosen to wear hugged you in the right places, highlighting your assets.

if he could, he'd rip it apart, even though he liked how it suited you. he never liked softies, or anything more sweet than his dark chocolates and teas, but he'd love to lick the treat smeared on your lips....

'remus, you want some?' your voice caught him off guard. shit, he hadn't been listening.

'i think it's quite boring...' he drawled, trying to hide the flush that came with his shaky voice and white lie. your eyes bore into his, and he could swear his heart jumped out his poor chest. it was agonizing, too fast, when he felt your warm breath coated with the scent of vanilla and honey tingle his senses.

or maybe he forgot the ticks of the clock when you climbed onto his lap, capturing your lips with his. your weight pushed down on him, and he moaned as you grinded your hips against his, entangling your fingers into his hair, rubbing his scalp on just the right places. his felt his remaining breathes pound against his lungs when he heard your little squeak against his mouth when he squeezed your hips, pushing his clothed crotch against your core.

it was hot, dirty and filthy, a mix of teeth, tongues and saliva. he felt his soul crush, as his dreams and thoughts crushed into a realm of reality, an abyss of love and lust that made the both of your breathless. he tugged at the zipper of your dress, as he felt you push him against his seat.

he's doomed he thinks, when you leave his mouth. a string of saliva connects your lips. you're flushed, and he can feel the heat radiating off of you. but there's a haze of lust with bloomed peripherals, kiss sick lips and your heaving chest. you bite your lip, encouraging him to flick the useless metal of your zipper. you want nothing but him, to feel him, to feel his skin against yours.

remus lupin was always good at reading people, after all.

[barblaz-arts]

The Meet the Robinson AU also makes Enid waiting for Wednesday to even want a child that much more agonizing cause now she KNOWS they have one and she KNOWS Wednesday adores the kid and she really just wants to hold them already!

It can also explain one reason why Enid is so very attached to Vega. She had to wait so long to meet them again it gave her so much time to think about her and their family...

Yes! I hope you dont mind me rambling, but another thing worth noting is how much this recontextilualizes Enid for Vega

At this point, Vega and Mom!Enid have already grown distant because of the changes Vega is going thru as a person and the whole boarding school life style Nevermore have going on. (Although these events aren't canon to the main storyline, the distance between Enid and Vega as a teenager very much is)

So in this moment where Mom!Enid admits this, Vega realizes just how much her mother has longed for her, for more than one period of her life. Enid will always miss her no matter what

So fun fact! When I drew this in the second part, I'd envisioned their goodbye to be a little different: Enid recalls telling that Vega should feel free to hug her whenever Vega misses her, but Enid says she will miss Vega instead, so Vega urges her to stop being shy and hug her, saying, "You better make the most of this. Because you won't get to hold me again for about a decade!"

I changed it all so that the final part doesn't end up with like, 15 pages 💀

In the end what we got was the brief confession from adult Enid, which imo still works out in the end. Teen Enid wasn't there to hear it, so Adult Enid didn't know that was part of the loop, but she told Vega all that, because she understood why Vega gave her that parting hug.

There was supposed to be a scene with her hugging Adult Enid too, but yet again, too many pages and panels to draw...

Teen Enid is supposed to be the star of this AU anyway, so just assume that Vega makes more of an effort to spend time with her mom after this 😊

[crystallizsch]

Random Thought, please humor me.

SURPRISE: YUUSHA GAINS MAGIC (By absorbing the Magic around her & dealing with Overblots)! Even better, she doesn't need a Mage Stone to control it! What would Yuusha's Unique Magic be & how does she use it? How would Jamil react?

"Magic makes people feel too powerful. Too entitled."

"That is not what magic does. That's just your fear. Fear is what can't be trusted."

HELPPP anon your random thought sent me down into a rabbit hole and i was hyperfixated on this for at least a WEEK 😭

THANK YOU FOR THE ASK BTW I REALLY APPRECIATE IT I HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS 💕💕💕

anyways i also had an agonizing realization that yuusha is somewhat twisted elsa/anna because she has:

braid in front ✅

light-colored hair streak ✅

love interest that used her for his schemes ✅

desire to connect with people bc of years of loneliness (and emotional instability) ✅

unresolved childhood trauma in general ✅

(and probably more idk, these are the ones that stand out to me at the moment)

i haven't thought about frozen for YEARS and somehow it's still haunting me.

i have a lot of mixed feelings about this realization in general but the reason i brought this up is because i ended up basing yuusha's unique magic on frozen (not the ice powers part, but more the emotions aspect since elsa's powers work based on her emotions) while also still having aspects of yuu's own personality on it.

(also I'm sorry in advance i keep on dropping random lore about yuu and jamil's dynamic that only makes sense to myself hndsfhdsj)

I'm your friend. You don't have to hide. SHOW YOURSELF.

"Show Yourself" forces the target to say what's actually on their mind as long as she touches them. Since she's not particularly powerful and skilled with her own unique magic in the beginning, it's limited to skin-to-skin contact, and it only lasts for as long as she's touching her target.

If Yuu trained it more, it doesn't have to be skin-to-skin, just as long as she makes some kind of physical contact with her target; and it could last for as long as she wants even if she is no longer making physical contact. (But the longer she keeps it up, the more blot accumulates.) Yuusha would mostly just use her unique magic to mess with people. It'll only be rare that she chooses to use it for something serious.

To add more onto how Jamil would react to these magic shenanigans: They've both agreed on not using their unique magic on each other. To do so would be a breach of trust. (Of course there would be special exceptions but generally that's their agreement.) And since Jamil is still a scheming prick (affectionate), her "Show Yourself" unique magic would be useful. Plus, Yuu would not be against using her unique magic 99% of the time since she is also aware of the usefulness of her ability. Jamil would insist on helping Yuu out on how to use her magic because there was no way she'd get the hang of it immediately. And he knows she would refuse to ask any other (capable) magician for help.

An alternate idea that I scrapped was "Let It Go" where it's essentially Yuu telling her target to let go of their (usually negative) emotions. But those feelings can't just disappear so Yuu basically absorbs them so now it's her burden to carry instead. I scrapped it because I can't settle on how it works. (But it still had angst potential so I couldn't help but draw a bit about it anyway.)

(extra rambling below about yuusha overblot thoughts if anyone's interested hdlfhjgj)

this is a brief tangent from the original question because i also thought, "hey what if she overblotted, wouldn't that be fun"

i could see the overblot going in either two ways:

yuu accidentally hurts grim (or another friend) with her magic. she’s so distraught thinking that even with magic she can't protect those who are dear to her. and so during the overblot she will not actively try to hurt anyone but instead exhausting her magic reserves in an intentional attempt at self-destruction. (yes i also see the frozen parallels shhhh)

OR

something happens that was simply THE LAST STRAW. now she’s too pissed at everyone that she no longer cares about what happens to her or anyone else, going on a destructive rampage. which can also be considered an intentional attempt at self-destruction.

either way, basically, if she can’t go home she’s just going to take herself out and/or the school instead. the girl is not okay.

(there's actually nothing good she can home to, but she's convinced she'll be happy again if she returns. but she doesn't know that because she can't remember shit about her home. that's a separate lore dump post hgdsjfkld)

also the blot monster behind her would look something like marshmallow (elsa's snow monster from frozen) :)

(i also used to have a similar idea for yuusha. i planned to have her be immune to magic *because* she was absorbing it and she didn't realize. leading to an inevitable overblot) (but i scrapped it because yuusha became my victim for jamil x yuu stuff) (like if i can't have the excuse to have jamil use snake whisper on yuu then what is the point)

[writing-in-glitter-pen]

꒰ა If only I were yours ໒꒱

Kaeya, your best friend and only your best friend, admires you while you get ready to go out and wonders what could be of the both of you if only you returned his feelings.

bestfriend!Kaeya x fem!reader II unrequited love, nonmutual pining

“You know, you’re already the most beautiful girl in the world, you don’t have to do all…this.”, Kaeya cooed into your ear with his warm, saccharine voice, watching dutifully as you agonized over your makeup for your night out. “You might do the other women who have to share the room with you a favor and take it easy.”

You only rolled your eyes, continuing to apply your lip liner like you hadn’t heard him, as you always did when Kaeya chided you for your vanity—like he was one to talk.

You never took him seriously; his little remarks of "Darling" this and "Beautiful" that, it was just his way of entertaining himself.

You understood that fact, and you could see past his flirtatious demeanor for the man he really was; roguish, risky, but overall deeply caring and kind, funny and, surprisingly, introverted despite his natural charisma.

That’s what made you such good friends.

You could take his poking, prodding, and any other sort of teasing remarks he dared to dish out, and he could rely on you to understand him deeper than anyone else did, care for him when he fell apart, but also be the firm hand that could keep him in line when he went too far.

When what he mistakes as fun, casual flirting ends up breaking another girl’s heart, you’re always the one to smack him upside the head for it. When he orders another bottle of dandelion wine for himself while barely able to keep from falling off his barstool, you’re the one to drag him out of Angel's Share by his ponytail. Archons knew no one else would. And though he bellyached through your scoldings about the sensitivities of a pure heart or importance of a healthy liver, he'd learn and change.

"Whatever would I do without you by my side?", he'd hum with that dashing grin across his face, like you hadn't just ripped him a new one.

But being Kaeya's best friend wasn't all mother-birding, he had your back when you needed it too.

And you needed it tonight.

Tonight was one of those nights where you were expected to show up at an event per a friend's request. You weren't all that interested in going out tonight anyway, but what made the situation a touch more daunting was the fact that an ex of yours would be present, to which you called for Kaeya's aid in attending alongside you as your plus one and awkward reunion deterrent---an offer he was thrilled to accept.

"Why do you even go to such lengths to look good for some pinhead that broke your poor heart?", Kaeya murmured, taking it upon himself to pin up your hair with a pretty silver clip that rested in your jewelry dish.

"I'm not doing this for him, I'm doing it to spite him.", you corrected.

"Darling, that is the exact same thing."

You gave him a warning look to which he conceded with a shrug and snuck his way into your chair---forcing you to split the space with him until you were finished getting ready. He rested his cheek on his hand as he admired your process, wondering why you cared so much about what some goon thought. You were too beautiful for him anyway.

Truthfully, in Kaeya's eyes, you were too beautiful for any man to have.

Well...he could think of one man deserving of you, but he would never tell you.

The connection you two had was too sacred, too old of a growth to be slashed and burned by his own romantic interests.

You'd been inseparable since the day you met; of course, he found you absolutely stunning upon first sight, a catalyst for his initial draw and desire to be close to you. You took his flirting with a grain of salt, laughing off his musings like they were jokes. What he never would have expected was, after that first conversation, he was determined to stick with you until the end. An initial introduction turned into you two spending the rest of the day chatting about whatever came to mind, talking like you'd known each other forever despite being perfect strangers. You drew deep confessions and secrets from him without even asking, all you had to do was sit there next to him and vulnerable words he'd otherwise keep close to his chest fell from his lips like rainfall. And you accepted them in stride, giving him your own intimate details in exchange. Since then, you two were attached at the hip, unlikely and unexpected confidants.

He'd planned on asking you out, he really did, but he didn't want to do so after just meeting you, it was too fast. However, the more time you spent together, the more precious and irreplaceable you became. He had never met anyone else like you, and he'd never felt more at home.

So, the brief windows he'd get to finally ask you out came and went, and he remained silent.

When he said he wouldn't know what to do without you, he meant it, so he wasn't about to risk losing you over a rejected confession.

That didn't stop him from often looking at you with a twinkle in his eye saved just for you, or twirling a strand of you hair around his finger when he gets bored, or paying for your food and holding in confidence what you'd only share with him.

He was just happy being as close to you as possible while you remained blissfully unaware...though, sometimes, the dull ache of desire he harbored in his chest twisted in ways that felt almost unbearable.

Though he tried his best to keep you from dating, always finding something wrong with the guys you were interested in, crashing your excursions or meeting your suitors at your door when they came to pick you up to interrogate them about their intentions with you, you'd still slip out of his grasp and into the arms of some new interest.

But even as you'd take your brief leaves from him to be with someone else, you'd always return to his side by the end of the day.

No matter how someone else would touch and kiss you the way he burned to, you were still his, closer to him than anyone else, and he could find some small relief in that fact.

And when your heart would inevitably be broken, he'd take to patiently repairing it time and time again. He bought you flowers or new perfume, cut or dyed your hair the way you wanted if you claimed you needed a change; although he had little experience with cutting hair that wasn't his own, he didn't trust anyone else with yours, so he insisted on doing it himself. He'd shop with you and help you choose a new wardrobe, go out with you to drink or party your cares away, hug you for hours and listened when you cried.

He'd do so happily, because when his own inner turmoil caused his eyes to leak and the scars from his past to open and bleed, you were the person who'd hold him and close his wounds.

For that, he'd always be grateful, even if one day, your arms wouldn't be open for him anymore. Maybe you'd eventually abandon him, or maybe they'd end up belonging to someone else, he hoped with every wish he'd get that the day would never come, but no matter what, he'd always remember those moments as the most precious memories he had to his name.

He did everything he could for you, gave you anything you asked for.

If only you'd ask for him.

As you fixed the clip he put in you hair, he looked on through the mirror at those eyes he found so inviting and thought about how, if he was yours, he'd make you feel better than anyone else would. He'd love you more than anyone else could.

Well, he already did, but then you'd know it.

But that risk that you'd say no, that you'd finally hold his deepest desires in the palm of your hand and send them right back to him, kept him quiet.

He'd rather have you like this than not have you at all.

With one last spritz of your perfume---a spray that not only covered you in your signature scent, but him as well due to his proximity, you were out of your chair and walking through your bedroom door in the direction of the party, tugging him along by the hand.

"Thank you for coming, Kaeya.", you said, smiling softly up at him with reassurance in your eyes. An expression that filled him with warmth and satisfaction.

"Anything.", he confirmed, and followed you out.

[snowbaamgyu]

Hi, do you mind writing something about this?

Here it is! Sorry if it isn't that good, also I'm the worst with endings but I hope you like it after all.

A Freezing Burning Feeling

The final months of the year were the busiest in the kpop industry too, all idols having awards, presentations for Christmas or New Year's Eve, seasons greetings and much more, so it isn't a surprise that any of them get sick at some point, specially around those months where it's common for virus to be around.

TXT had to fly to Japan for their MAMA's presentation, all of them having a surprise for the fans there.

It was a busy schedule, and they were feeling tired from everything.

Before they headed to the airport Taehyun noticed the slight discomfort in his stomach after eating lunch, but he payed no attention to it, some sleep could fix it.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Kai offered, Taehyun accepted and it distracted him from his discomfort, they were heading to Japan so the flight didn't take that long.

When they arrived Taehyun felt so exhausted like that plane had taken all his energy to land, even tho he was sitting the whole time.

Some typical procedures at the airport later and they got to their hotel.

"Finally" sighed Beomgyu who was also tired, all of them agreed with him, wanting nothing more than taking a shower, put on some comfy clothes and sleep.

But of course before anything of that could happen Yeonjun said "Wait, let's eat dinner first, I heard there's a buffet tonight and it would be cool if all of us ate together" well, normally each one of them went to their rooms and ate something from room service alone, but this once, they decided it was a good idea. And it was, just Taehyun thought this was unnecessary because all he wanted to do was curl up in bed like a ball.

Halfway through the meal Taehyun's stomach decided it wasn't okay with what he was eating and started to feel queasy, slowly he stopped eating but it was too late, his stomach was now upset, gurgling and making weird noises that he wondered if the rest heard. Without wanting to draw any attention he slipped his hand under his shirt and started to rub it lightly.

"Are you alright?" Kai noticed after a while. Great.

"Yeah, just ate too fast maybe, my stomach is taking its time to process the food" it was more than that but Taehyun didn't want to make everyone concerned about him.

"Why don't you go to your room and rest then? It's kinda late anyway so we should probably go too" God bless Soobin. Without needing to be told twice, Taehyun stood up and wished everyone good night.

Taehyun was taking a much needed long hot shower, helping him relax and forget about his pain for a bit.

Tho at times he had to stifle some burps that tasted just like what he was eating, but in a disgusting way.

He put on his pajamas and turned on the TV, deciding to watch something in the mean time he got sleepy.

But he awoke not too much later, the lights off and the movie he had put on was already over and it automatically played the second part, but what was different was that he felt suffocated.

Everything was burning, it was hard to breathe and his stomach was cramping as if it was trying to squeeze itself.

Taehyun quickly took off the covers and drank some of the water he had left on the nightstand before he layed down.

But it wasn't enough, he was sweating, it was like he had a heater right beside him, and his whole body was hurting, his stomach specially.

He curled up more, embracing his middle as another cramp left him gasping for air, the cramps now turning into some nauseating feeling.

Not sure of what to do he went to the bathroom, not knowing how he made it but at least the cold tiles helped a bit.

His shirt was damp with sweat, and he was sure he was pale, he couldn't look too much to the mirror. Kneeling in front of the toilet, unsure of how long would it take to his very first meal there to re appear, but it was agonizing, and he didn't even have his phone with him at that moment, he could use some help but it's too late to move, with a shaky burp his stomach was finally expelling a its contents.

Taehyun was still trying to regulate his breathing when the second wave came up, much larger and thick than the first one, going through his nose too, he was left coughing and the third one was also the same.

It was like that for a while longer than he would've liked it to be, but for every time he heaved up some more sick, his stomach felt less heavy, though it was still hard to the touch, and was pretty much still vomiting, after a while it stopped. But Taehyun kept on rubbing it, the pain still there, and for the more pressure he applied, more burps kept on coming up and left him dry retching over the toilet. Too nauseous to move and being that exhausted, he finally fell asleep right there on the floor, he flushed the toilet and wiped his mouth, the cold tiles were somehow refreshing him from the burning sensation that made its way through all his body (or making it worse but he didn't care tho)

When Taehyun woke up, he noticed that the nausea had subsided so it was safe to move to his bed, the uncomfortable hot feeling was now replaced by all the contrary, if he fell like burning a while before now he felt like he was freezing.

As quickly as he could Taehyun made his way to his bed, seeking for warmth between the blankets. However, after an hour, his temperature changed again, and so, the cycle kept repeating.

It was a hell of a night, Taehyun had barely slept, not to mention his stomach was still in knots. By now the others must be awake, having breakfast and getting ready for their performance at night, Taehyun decided to call a manager and see what they could do.

"Hello, Taehyun-ssi, good morning"

"Hyung, I'm not feeling well, I had a rough night" Taehyun said with a tired sigh.

"What happened?" the manager was now concerned, if it was necessary they needed to cancel his performance and Kai had to do it alone.

"I don't know, before we got on the plane my stomach was feeling kinda off, I thought it was just the excitement or the nerves about all this, but after trying to sleep I threw up, a lot, and my body was either so hot or so cold and... I'm tired... but I still want to perform".

"Okay, I'll drop by your room with the medical staff, they'll give you something that hopefully will be enough to let you rest for a while and feel better to perform, but I want to let you know that if after that you're still not feeling good then there's nothing we can do, your health comes first, Taehyun-ah".

And Taehyun was aware of that, so when the medical staff arrived to his room and connected him to an IV of vitamins and supplements and a bunch of more stuff that were supposed to make him feel better, he fell asleep, finally relaxing. He didn't know it but all the members came by to check on him from time to time and then left for some individual schedules, Soobin was there when he woke up tho, almost five hours later since he fell asleep, confused about where he was until he remembered.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Soobin's calm voice, it soothed any of the discomfort that was left —even if there wasn't anything left—.

"Definitely much better than last night" Taehyun yawned, rubbing the sleep off of his face, Soobin stood up when some room service arrived, he put the tray of food on his legs and opened the containers, it was soup, and some other light dishes for his stomach.

"Eat something, at least just a little bit, but have something in you aside from those fluids, if you're feeling completely better manager hyung said you are able to perform, but if you're still feeling bad then you're also able to rest, they have an statement prepared and all".

Okay, Taehyun now was hungry, so he ate slowly until his appetite got bigger and finished almost half of what Soobin had ordered for him, not wanting to risk getting his stomach upset again, and when an hour passed and his body wasn't trying to reject what he ate he told everyone he was perfectly fine to perform, and started getting ready, giving his all on that stage with the support of his members.

[msfcatlover]

Death Mask Steph

Oh boy. This is the big one. I've agonized over this, and getting the design right has been... ugh. Nevermind. Here we go.

Death Mask needs to draw on Red Hood and Steph designs. (I would draw from Black Mask designs, but frankly Roman's designs are all kinda boring? He's a skull-head in a suit, and basically always has been; it's simple & effective, but there's not a lot to iterate on there.) Steph's suits tend to be armored one-pieces, but layering is so crucial to most Red Hood designs, that balancing the two has been... tricky.

(I've already shared the Stephanie Brown Costume History page. Unfortunately, the n52 designs page seems to be just descriptions with no pictures, and the page for her n52 appearances doesn't give you many good angles. So here's Steph's "Future's End" & "Future State" designs, as the stand-out missing designs, in my opinion.)

The absolute vital part of any Red Hood inspired design is, of course, the helmet. It's also been the biggest pain. Jason's had some good helmet designs and a lot of bad ones over the years, and (as I've previously stated) finding a full reference page for them is basically impossible. So here's what I'm going with.

Steph starts with a sleek, sculpted black metal base. Say something like this model of Jason's Injustice helmet. The primary difference would be that Steph's helmet opens up at the front rather than the back; the faceplate would be hinged at the top of the head, and it would swing up & forwards to reveal her face.

(Using the Injustice helmet as a base because it more than most looks like it really should open from the front. I'd also say the sides would also be able to open wider, so that it can still fit snug without being a pain to get in & out of. Not that anyone would ever bother to draw that detail, but I think it would look neat opening up in 3 directions all at once.)

Next, most of the face plate is covered by a sculpted skull. This is how she invokes the whole "Death Mask" idea, as well as purposefully stealing Roman's gimmick. Below the teeth are a couple understated tubs & valves, evoking a gasmask---something like this.

(Kinda a Red X look, I'm realizing now that I'm digging through my reference folders all at once... Anyway, this piece seems to be by Laura Sheridan, but her website seems to be down, you can only buy her art seemingly 2nd hand, and I can't find this picture listed anywhere but pinterest.)

The edges, mechanical bits, and any detail work added should be done in copper.

Within the eye sockets are two recessed glowing lenses, like Jason often has, though Steph's glow a dark magenta, casting light that borders on red.

(Obviously, these lenses change size & shape to show emotion through the mask, like you do. They're not designed to---in fact, logically all the bat-masks are designed like this in order to help hide the wearer's emotions---but that's comic logic for you.)

Below the helmet, Steph's suit is mainly made up of reinforced black leather motorcycle pants, a black undersuit, and an armored vest like this.

(But black. Obviously.)

However, she accessorizes. Steph has added a decorative metal ribcage to her armor, as well was plates mimicking a spine. The ribs should be copper-colored, while the spine can be either metallic or black.

(Depending on who's drawing them, the ribs could range from purely decorative to practically another layer of armor. And following the links from pinterest, both of those artists have apparently taken their rib-art down, which is once again very disappointing.)

Steph wears a chunky utility belt which sits crooked on her hips. I personally think it should be black (maybe brown?) with either copper, ivory, or dark magenta snaps/clasps holding the pouches shut (pick one for all pouches, not a mixture). She has a gun holstered on each hip, one on each thigh, a set of throwing knives (3-5) on the front of the belt, and wears her sickle-swords strapped criss-cross on her back.

The swords themselves are made from a copper-alloy, retaining their coppery color, and easily double her reach (are about as long as one arm.) They have a hilt not dissimilar to an Egyptian khopesh, but a completely different blade; Steph's swords have a much more exaggerated curve, and crucially, they're sharpened on the inside of the crescent, where a khopesh is sharpened on the outside. They legitimately look like a crescent moon sickle, stretched out to sword size.

(Khopesh hilt, and genuinely the best crescent sickle sword I can find for what I'm picturing. Steph's would be in much better shape, obviously.)

Steph keeps it understated-but-still-stated with knee-high, buckle-up, black leather motorcycle boots.

(These are mid-calf, but it's the closest I can find that aren't completely over the top. Also, any artist who figured out how to make the laces work without losing the straps would win my unending love for the symbolism of Steph clearly still mimicking her big brother but trying so hard to hide it.)

Steph’s sleeves are armored in black metal plates, ending in sharpened black gauntlets. I don't care much about the specific structure, I just really want that clawed look.

(Shorter would be more practical for finesse work, while longer claws could be worked into her fighting style. I am going back & forth on whether this should be both arms or just one of them, because I’m a sucker for asymmetric designs, but I think it might be a bit too much with all the other details.)

Finally, over top of it all, Steph wears an uneven ivory-colored hooded shawl made of layers of thin, wispy fabric. It hangs down her back to her waist, but bunches up in the front over her collarbones. It's purposefully designed to look tangled & messy, hiding her body shape with all its bulk & fly-aways, and is flimsy enough that grabbing hold of basically any part of it will just leave you with a fist full of torn fabric.

This is the hardest to find examples for, but... okay, so it's shaped roughly like this:

(If anyone can find the non-pinterest source for this one, I'd hugely appreciate it; all I'm getting is a dead twitter link.)

It's layered like these:

And it's made from material like this:

(This definitely gets swapped out for either a white scarf or a brown trench coat pretty regularly, just because those are easier to wrap your head around/draw. I think both could work & be cool, but Steph is trying to give off “undead vibes” with this original costume, and this gives her a more ghostly look which… okay, is heavily inspired by this Jason design.)

Also, Steph's hair is still long, but she ties it up in either a french or dutch braid before going out most of the time. Dutch is for going out in public or to the gym, where she'll lift it off her neck in a ponytail, french then gets coiled into a bun inside of her helmet.

(I am undecided on whether or not she also has an undercut.)

[elwolfen]

Alfred Molinathon Day 8

The Forger (2011)

Everly Campbell

His Role: When I first watched this a while back, I thought Everly was going to be a more kinder man who takes Joshua under his wing... boy, was I wrong. He is so full of himself and thinks his the most hottest artist in that town, which I can't fully say, I don't fully comprehend the intricances of painted works. But I think it looks nice (when he's not copying others). He does take Joshua under his wing, but for more unsavory reasons. Watching him explain the process of art forgery and take such care with this delicate work was very enjoyable, I would like to see him paint his own work.

His lies of wanting to take in ths lost kid just for the purposes of profiting off his artistic gift? Sly and devious, then to over exert this poor, abandoned, literal child? Even more unethical than just forgery. While what he said about his mother wasn't too far off, it was still a hurtful thing to say towards a kid dealing with abandonment.

It's absolutely twisted for him to keep telling everyone (including Joshua) that it's for Joshua's own good, that this will better his life, and how Everly wishes that someone would've been so grateful as to give him that same chance at honing in on his talent and become successful. While Anne-Marie reasonably calls out his bullshit of not nurturing a child from a terrible situation and profiting off his hard work for his own gain.

For Joshua to go from a physically abusive mother to a mentally abusive, possible father figure is a horrible thing for any kid to go through and I'm happy that he's with someone who truly cares about his him.

I very much enjoyed Everly and Joshua's dynamic beginning to end. Especially how it changed when Joshua hid the artwork and Everly started to squirm at the thought of losing this big gig.

Little tidbit: If I were Joshua and suddenly a very imposing man just walks up behind me very fast and knowing he was pissed? I'd leap from fear so high I'd get stuck in a tree during their little walk and talk scene.

And how did our dear Everly fall from grace? Beautifully. Presenting the totally "untouched" work he "found" to be examined to be a true piece at his birthday party!? What could possibly go wrong? Everything. First, Anne-Marie comes up and tears it with a knife she threatens him with and her announcing his crimes that she had help with a long time ago. That's a bad look already, but oh no, the final nail on the coffin? Underneath the paint was a drawing of Dennis the Menace, a piece of masterful thinking from Joshua. He wasn't ever gonna get away with this, and Joshua has no interest of staying any longer.

~~~

The Rest of the Movie: I did think Amber and Joshua were kinda cute, but slow down was right, Amber! 30 minutes, and this is their second scene together and Joshua is already asking for a kiss? Then, forcibly kisses her anyway? Hormones be damned. It gets a lot less cute when his jealous ass can't behave during the party. Look, I get it, I wouldn't have assumed that was her cousin either by how close they were. I wasn't like that with my guy cousins but to still attack someone like that? Jeez. He didn't even hesitate. And him just lying to Anne-Marie about what happened? Goodness.

Ryan (Amber's brother) really was the true wingman in all of this. Even after all the fights.

~~~

The relationship between Joshua and Anne-Marie was sweet. It's understandable why she took him in so quickly, this kid needs proper care and comfort. Then, to find out an accidental fire caused her only surviving daughter to need life-saving surgery; which she funded from her forgeries. Only for her to die not too long after? I'm sure it was overly agonizing for Anne-Marie to go through, something that finally made her quit that art world. Her seeing more of Joshua's dark drawings of his mother's drug abuse was saddening to know that's all he saw of her. Her final reveal at Everly's birthday was a delight, she had zero fucks to give about this art world. But if I were Joshua? I'd be a little pissed that my thunder was stolen, but still, good for her. Good for them! He finally has a home.

~~~

Ms. Reese going out and searching for his mother like that, is an extra step I appreciate. Just for her to find an absolute mess of a person and to later learn she was abusing him was heartbreaking. All she wanted was to help and finds the worst in parenting.

~~~

In that gif above? I swear I have that same exact flannel that Joshua is wearing under his sweatshirt!

~~~

The Poster Situation:

The first poster? Very obvious that whoever made this was trying to cash in the fact that Josh Hutcherson (Joshua) was in The Hunger Games and decided to use that font. Which is hilarious.

The second fits way more with the movie. I like the feeling it invokes.

And the third, I really like it. It slaps hard, but not for this movie.

[hotdogcabbagesausage]

HEYO, SEPHYYYY WEPPHYYYYYYYY!! HOPE YOU'VE BEEN GOOODDDD..

Anyways, *points gun to Keith in Galra form* 🔫🔫 tell me your angsty Voltron Team headcanons or he gets sprayed. with water.

HIIII ZEPHY WEPHY I HOPE YOUVE BEEN GOOD TOO!!!!!

you got it captain🫡

allura

allura and coran have nights where they talk about alfor and melenor. coran brushes her hair and tells her stories about her father and mother and she cries. she was so close to alfor and she misses him so much and having coran is the only thing she has left of altea and her family. she has only coran. and he tucks her into bed when it's finally over

when allura first got chosen as blue’s pilot, she would go down to the hangar at night by herself. talk to red, wondering why she wasn’t chosen. sometimes she would yell and sometimes she would cry but red never budged

allura mourns her people and her planet so much. everything she does, she does with them in mind. FOR them. she closes her eyes and imagines they can still see her. imagines they know she’s still fighting for them after all these years. sometimes it’s the only thing she can do to keep herself going and not let the grief crush her

keith

keith’s dad died on oct 18, a few days before his birthday. he avoided telling anyone his birthday or celebrating for so long because he didn’t want to celebrate when a few days before, he had just lost everything

keith avoided his dad’s grave after he died. he went once as a child and never again but after he met shiro, flowers started showing up on the grave that he would see when they drove around. he knew it was shiro leaving them. it meant more to him than he could ever admit

touch starved but also touch repulsed to a point. that’s why he always wears fingerless gloves. it gives him more control over who he touches and lessens the intensity of it. it’s why he stands so far from everyone else, to put a physical distance between them. to protect himself in a way

shiro

still has adam’s ring on a chain. adam may have said it would be over if he ever returned, but that never stopped shiro from wishing things had been different. never stopped shiro from loving him after years. he stays up at night playing with the ring, imagining a world where they could still be together

the nightmares got worse after he was placed back into a body. he spent weeks agonizing over how to fix things with the others after how his clone treated everyone the way they did. he apologized and distanced himself. he felt dangerous still. like he wasn’t in control. he had nightmares where that fight with keith didn’t go as well as it did. he wakes up and keith’s blood isn’t on his hands

he never felt gentle again after he had to watch his own hands try and succeed in hurting his team. he can’t look keith in the face on bad days. the scar haunts him

hunk

cooking is enjoyable for hunk, yes, but it was also his only way to feel closer to his family in space. it was always something they would do together, as a family, back home. sometimes he secretly hopes someone will help him with cooking so it can feel like home again

he’s not good at drawing but sometimes he tries to draw his family in case he forgets their faces. the page always ends up covered in tears and he tries to remember how they all sounded but he can’t

he puts everyone before himself. to him, his own feelings don’t matter if someone else needs help. he will always put himself aside and give as much as he can

lance

every time they go to a planet with a beach, he cries when they return to the castleship. it reminds him so much of varadero and how things used to be. he spends so much time reminiscing on what things would be like without the war

always thinks twice before he shares his ideas after shiro’s clone tore into him. it wasn’t the first time he’d been made to feel stupid but it certainly stuck. he gets a little self-deprecating afterwards

he thinks everyone knows he died and they just didn’t care enough to bring it up so he doesn’t either. he loves playing up small things but when it comes down to a real issue with himself, it feels so small and unimportant that he can’t imagine sharing it with the others

pidge

really bad at socializing. it’s why she loves animals and creatures so much more. they’re simple and they’re sweet and she can’t really mess up with them. she always feels like she’s messing up with real people so she avoids them when possible

she never tells anyone because she likes coming off as tough but she misses her family just as much as the others do. losing her brother nearly crushed her and she would’ve given her life just to make sure he was okay

not many know it but she’s insecure about a lot of things. her skills being the main one. she doesn’t think she’s cut out for voltron and it contributes to her trying to leave early on

coran

the reason he’s so happy all the time is to keep allura’s spirits up. he is genuinely a silly man but he couldn’t bear to see allura lose someone else. so he retains his spark no matter what. for her

he had children before altea was lost. he doesn’t talk about them ever but he loved them more than every star in the sky. his worst nightmare is losing allura too

his heart aches in the place that alfor used to exist in. he won’t ever get into it but he did love alfor and he felt like part of the family. he always made sure coran felt welcome and sometimes its hard to look at the team and not wish he was still back on altea

romelle

genuinely not used to having friends because she only had bandor for a long time and then she was on her own. little things surprise her sometimes like hunk making her favorite food without her asking (pie), allura offering her clothes to try on, keith wanting to train with her, lance introducing her to skincare, pidge asking to practice altean with her, coran telling her his favorite stories any time she asks, and shiro always offering to listen to her struggles

she gets anxious when the others go on missions without her. she’s got abandonment issues and she’s afraid they’ll get hurt or worse. she’s always on comms when they’re away

she feels useless compared to the others sometimes. she’s not a fan of fighting and she’s no good at diplomacy. she overcompensates on bad days. cleaning, cooking, organizing. anything she can get her hands on to feel like she’s as good as the rest of the team

krolia

after the war, she tries to make up for everything she missed by overcompensating. she looks up traditional things mothers do with their kids and even if it’s stuff for 5 year olds, she tries to get keith to do them with her. but nothing can change the past

she wanted to name keith “yorak” because it was her father’s middle name. they died in the war and it was why she joined the blades. she left keith and his father because she couldn’t bear for him to lose both his parents too. but he did anyway

keith’s father was the only man she ever loved. she didn’t dare to ever try again after him because she knew he was her soulmate and she would never love like that again. she likes to think he would’ve gotten along with her parents

[tomodachikun]

TW WARNING: attempts and mention of suicide, panic attacks, death, blood and more. Leave or block if unsuited for such content, thank you.

Fear. Anxiety. Vulnerability—hopelessness

His vision left in a blur faded to black. His mouth ran dry like a lake in a drought. His jaw aches, teeth clenched to stop the chattering—failing pathetically. He was losing himself, he could feel it. Demented, dehumanizing thoughts swirled behind his head; his legs give up in exhaustion, and Xiao hits the ground.

Where is he? He tries not to give in, but his world spins and tilts, is he falling? Is he flying? His persona, his identity: his mask, it falls off his face; the mask on the floor smiles at him, its taunting scowl now directed at him, he is no longer the hunter—he’s the hunted: the demon. Numbness reaches his fingers first, in response, he balls his hands into a fist, nails digging into his palms, and he draws blood. His ears start ringing and his vision has gotten worst. All he can do is close his eyes, yet white spots dance behind them as if celebrating his end. He fights and fights and fights; it’s not enough—it’s never enough. Shortness of breath, he can’t breathe properly. He’s on his hands and knees, his arms feel wobbly—they give.

His forehead rest against the foliage, his face pressed against wet grass. Wet..g..rass? He’s now aware of his mindless drooling.

He managed to heave a weak laugh. It’s dry and coarse, it hurt his chest and causes him to spasm. It held bitter humor, he looked pitiful. He knew this was going to be the way he died, he was ready for it, always was. Yet, it hurt—his karma was chewing his insides and gnawing on his mind. He couldn’t scream if he wanted to, his throat collapsed on itself ages ago. His sense of direction and time is severely distorted; his cognitive perception and awareness are gone—he can hardly recognize anything, snuffed out. His legs, arms, and lower body is numb; his abdominal muscles spasm violently. It’s over for him.

It’s his time to leave, and for some reason, a goodbye never felt so hard to him. There’s a small light flickering inside of him, it screams and begs: I want to live! He bites his tongue—it’s one of the only things he can do, yet he can’t feel the pain. Before he knew it, hot tears build up in his eyes. With a ragged, bone-weary exhale, his heavy eyelids open. He can hardly see, his world is black and gray—his tears m start rolling down his face.

With the last of his energy, he opens his mouth and a blood-curdling scream rips through him. Instantly, he coughs out blood in a concerning amount. He keeps screaming and screaming until he physically cannot make any more sound. The numbness has already reached up to his neck so he cannot feel the agonizing pain his throat is going through. His jaw suddenly tenses—it locks and forces his mouth shut. The force causes his teeth to dig into his tongue, nearly severing it from his mouth,

His gray-scale vision finally starts turning black. But before it finally falls silent, two feet appear in his view. They stand in front of him, standing completely still, it’s a shame he can’t look up, but it’s too late for that anyways—his world has fallen dark…

Xiao can hear his pulse beating into his ears, his head throbs and he can control his breathing. He’s weak, his eyelids flutter but fail to open, and he can’t lift a finger either. A heavy weight on his back had lifted—wait. He can instantly tell a lot of his karma is gone. What…what the fuck happened to him?!

Xiao is panicked; he has been scared before—but he’s never this badly. Fear creeps into his bloodstream and into his lungs. His breathing has quickened (his chest hurts from earlier—he assumes it’s from karma). Adrenaline makes his heart pound, nothing makes sense anymore! He can’t see, his eyelids feel glued shut. He doesn’t know where he is and he has no idea if he’s even alive or not! The vulnerability his situation makes him feel causes him extreme discomfort! He can only think of the worst—Xiao is ignorant of the fact he’s going through a panic attack.

Before it can escalate further, a warm hand is pressed against his chest.

“Calm down…no one is here to hurt you. I am here.” Their voice is soothing, he can tell it held no ulterior motive. The hand presses more firmly, and that’s when he notices he’s shirtless. The hand is soft, and warm with life on his cold body.

“Breathe in for me..” he obliged, his chest expands—he was expecting his chest to hurt, but it never happens.

“Now, breath out..” the stranger lets out their own exhale, they are also doing it. Xiao exhales, it comes out shaky but he starts feeling much better. The process repeats until the stranger stops. His heart no longer beats with vigor and his mind is clear. The stranger turns quiet and lifts their hand, Xiao can still sense their presence.

“Do you have enough energy to open your eyes, Yaksha?” He doesn’t respond verbally but the messy attempt to open his eyes answers. The sudden breach of light causes Xiao’s pupils to dilate and a noise he’s never made before slips past his throat. It rumbles in his chest…did he just growl?

One eye squints as the other tries to get used to its surroundings. His blurry vision starts clearing up; he’s in a room, it’s roomy and decorated well, but that’s not his goal. His eyes shift to the direction of where the voice came from. Next to him on a chair, sits a woman.

Her appearance makes him scowl instantly. Thick, burly horns curl at the side of your head, your eyes look normal until they turn slit because of the look on his face.

“Demon” he spat, venom laced in his words. You aren’t phased and sigh through your nose, you point at his forehead.

“Yaksha. You aren’t looking too good yourself either.” Xiao’s nose scrunches up in confusion, he hesitantly reaches to touch his forehead. Thin, elongated horns expand from his forehead, similar to an oni’s. His blood runs cold, his heart drops into his stomach.

“It would be rather hypocritical to judge me when you are no different..” you murmur and Xiao picks up on it instantly. His hearing has always been good but now they feel heightened. He doesn’t respond to you, instantly getting out of your bed. He doesn’t get far, once his feet touch the floor, his weak legs cannot support him and he falls. You’re quick on your feet, catching him with ease and picking him up in your arms bridal style.

Xiao hisses, his new claws digging into your skin and drawing blood. You wince but continue to hold him tightly.

“Do not touch me, demon! You did this to me!” He sounds frantic, trying to squirm out of your grasp but failing miserably.

“When I found you—” you let out a pained grunt at Xiao’s resistance as you try and place him back in bed

“You were already like this. However, before you died…I ate some of your karma.” You sit back down when Xiao freezes in his spot. He looks at you with shocked eyes.

“I feed on negative energy—negative life force, anything that causes harm. It’s my appetite, it’s how I live longer. In response, my body adapts to the change—to my diet. I am not a demon, I just look like one. You, on the other hand, are one.”

“It’s impressive how long you were able to live during the karmic takeover. But, unfortunately, you were nearly done with the transformation, making you more demon than you are adept—”

“SHUT UP! STOP!…stop talking.” He cuts you off, and his now new demon eyes rapidly dilate and expand. His expression is one of disbelief: denial; he looks at his hand, seeing how long his nails have grown, he covers his face in shame. His shoulders tremble and you can tell he can’t accept the fact he’s changed. Your urge to give him space is overwhelming, but you soon realize in the state he’s in it would do more harm than good.

“Disgrac..eful—” his jaw clenches unbelievably tense, a thick vein appearing from the side of his neck. The scent of blood tickles over your nose, you almost miss it—the scent is almost nonexistent, even with a your nose like yours. A trickle of blood slides from the side of Xiao’s closed mouth, you suspect he must have sliced his tongue (again) open with his teeth, no—fangs.

The fingers of his free hand, the one laying on the bed, twitches. Your eyes almost don’t pick up on it. It happens once more.

Again.

and again.

Your nose picks up on it before your eyes—the smell of karma. Despite being in such a low quantity, the smell is pungent; easily making your nose burn and mouth salivate, as much as you hated to admit it, the Yaksha was your prey and you hated playing with food. You push those predatory thoughts away, watching Xiao with a close eye.

“Wor…th..less.” he’s mumbling to himself, the smell of karma grows steadily intense—and before you knew it, desperation and self loathe sprung into action.

It happened quicker than your brain could comprehend, the summon of the polearm—the speed of your reflexes. You move out of the chair with reckless motivation, sending it crashing to the ground. The polearm—meant for the practice of conquering demons pierced through your hand. Xiao—who was wielding the weapon—was trying to impale his own throat, the tip of the blade imperceptibly sinking into his throat, almost ending his life where he sat. The implantation of your hand kills the momentum enough to prevent Xiao from ending his life by a hair.

Both of you are aghast. More Xiao than you. His trembling only worsens, and his figure sat speechless, staring at the scene he had caused. He feels warm liquid dribble down his Adam’s apple, he can’t tell if it’s his or your blood. The part of the polearm that pierced through your hand is covered in blood, the sickly smell of iron twists his nose. He swallows, the tip of the blade grazes his skin uncomfortably.

White searing pain flashes through your hand, and you see and feel the blood slither down your arm. Your other arm shakily grabs the weapon, slowly moving it away from Xiao without having you feel more pain.

“Yaksha..” you growl menacingly, your breathing coming out in shuddering breaths, adrenaline creeping into your lungs. His expression doesn’t change: motionless, eyes widen with pupils uncontrollably dilating, unsteady breathing. Yet, you’re not livid, you don’t feel the blood-boiling rage slam in, despite the blood-curling pain.

“You need to calm down. Not for the sake of me—but for you.” He doesn’t respond but you can tell he comprehended your words. His eyes—filled with horror—stares at your hand. It’s still skewed by his spear, regret pangs through his heart. He…he just needed to calm down, right?!

How. how. how. HOW. HOW. HOW. HOW—

“Breathe in.” As if sensing his panic, you take a deep breath in, as if re-teaching Xiao how to do it. He blinks away his foggy vision, watching your chest expand as you take air into your lungs. With a rugged inhale, he takes a long gulp of air.

“Now breathe out.” You exhale, it’s shaky as you try now to focus on the throbbing pain in your palm. Xiao follows along quickly, holding it in for a few seconds before breathing in. He does it without your help and in a few minutes, he’s calm, no longer panicking like before.

The weapon disappears from thin air, leaving behind a trail of karma and anemo. You nearly cry in relief, running to your dresser to grab a roll of bandages and other medical necessities. Xiao watched emotionless as you clean the wound and wrap it in bandages. Your arms strain as you work, clearly just as stressed out as him. He takes notice of your odd way of taking care of a wound, it would be considered foolish and deadly in the eyes of a mortal doctor. But, that’s exactly it, you aren’t mortal. He doesn’t know what you are—god? adeptis? Demon?

You finish, ears twitching, and turning to Xiao, spotting him stare at you with deeply furrowed eyebrows. You open your mouth to question him but he hears you to the punch.

“Why did you do it.” He’s curt, voice soft hardly above a whisper. His hands squeeze the sheets, knuckle turning white.

“Why.”

“Because…” you give a shaky grin, picking up the fallen chair and sitting on it, looking Xiao in his eyes.

“I was just like you before: disgusted, afraid and horribly alone. I can help you—” his eyes widen

“But I can’t guarantee it’ll work—you’re too far into your transformation. However, I refuse to help if you don’t promise me one thing..” your pupils dilate at him, waiting for his response.

“If there’s any way I can rid myself of demon’s blood, to continue protecting Liyue—I’d do it, even if it trades me my life.”

You sigh through your nose, pulling your head back to stare down at him, your large horns shadowing over your face, leaning into your chair.

“Well, I guess your out of luck—” you wince as you move your injured hand to point at him

“—cause in exchange for me helping you, if all fails, you continue to live your life with the blood of a demon.” Xiao stiffens, face scowling instantly

“A life lost is a life wasted, and I hate the smell of blood.” Your pointed hand slowly forms into an open hand, expecting Xiao to shake your hand to seal the deal.

“If we have a deal, why don’t you shake a poor sinners' hand, Yaksha.”

Tomodachi add-on!: “When I saw that one Xiao video that was shown on Mihoyo’s page, I was sent into the heavens. I had a small writers block, and when I randomly get inspiration, I write something new and stop half way—and the cycle keeps going. Now I have uhm…at least 12 drafts of so much writing..

But, that video sent me back up and running! (I hope)”⤺ “translated” with love! (*≧∀≦*)

I don’t know if I should make a part 2. honestly? I really really enjoyed writing this! So, maybe—who knows~

[cakeboxie]

I had to restart his save since it got corrupted- which means it’s time for a new ref!!

I’ve committed to the fact that this man dresses like an 80s dad in any modern au.

Tries very hard to read as the ideal paladin, good morals, strong sense of justice n what have you. He is unfortunately full of trauma and identity issues, fear of his god is a HUGE THING and breaking his oath accidentally is a perpetual anxiety too.

I’ve also decided he has the shittiest, patchy ass beard. Usually he’s clean shaven bc he doesn’t like having facial hair but he’s not quite adept enough with a dagger to shave with one and tries exactly once to shave (failing miserably, much to Astarion’s entertainment) before giving up until act 3 when he buys himself a new razor.

I really should draw him holding the blood of lathander more but that mf is agonizing to draw man there are, so many layers to it.

I finally remembered to draw his glasses on his ref, yippee.

I’m making him an actual dnd character sheet so I’ll probably attach that once it’s done

I’m side tracked I’m supposed to be talking about his lore huh

Whoops

Anyway, tw for abandoment (passing mention) emotional abuse, death (of a parent + en masse,) mental illness that’s being ignored, chronic pain and illness (also being ignored until he can’t)

His actual like- lore lore is below the break.

Born in the underdark, his mom fucked off with him bc the underdark isn’t a great place to live generally speaking, and she had the means. His dad decided last minute to stay in the underdark.

Taken in by the temple of lathander in elturel bc his mother was chronically ill and not expecting or able to be making this kind of journey on her own with a very small child. Ended up being moved from the temple to a hospital after it was determined that she probably wasn’t getting better.

Charlie ended up being mostly raised by the temple, went to school there and was taught how to read and write + basic math. But spent most of his free time working to pay for his mother’s (and soon his own) medication.

Turns out the of the myriad of issues his mother delt with (migraines, persistent nausea and dizziness, chronic joint issues) were genetic, so by time he hit puberty he was working his ass off to pay for it.

You may ask me “cake, didn’t that aggravate his joint issues?” Yes. Badly. He was not given any other options, the fact that they were alive at all was a godsend (I use the word godsend intentionally, he believes, strongly, that lathander is keeping him alive for some reason beyond his understanding, that is the root of his devotion.)

Did you order mommy issues? Hope so bc he has them in spades. You can only be hear your dying mom say she regrets saving you life as a literal toddler so many times before it starts fucking you up, and she said it (and other delightful(/sarc) things) plenty in the months leading up to when she died.

Shortly after her death, and suddenly needing to work way less (his medication was significantly cheaper than his mothers) he devoted himself to the temple, and was eventually approached bc some kids he went to school with to see if he wanted to join their little class thing. The temple liked to train their folks in groups of 4, in hopes of building strong teams should they choose to stay together.

He agreed, and found out that the temple would pay for his medication in exchange for dedicating himself fully to his training and his studies (and occasionally them using him as a scout, being small, naturally stealthy, and decently quick had its advantages.)

Took his oath with one of the other people he was trained alongside when he was 17, and they were collectively sent to continue their training at the nearby Fort Morninglord.

Things were solid, until he was sent along with a group of seniors to Baldurs Gate as a sort of test to see how he would do on a longer mission before officially joining the Order of the Aster.

He did well, all things considered. Unfortunately between him leaving and returning is when Fort Morninglord got eaten by the shadowfell for some reason. (That’s a canon event btw)

So, with all his friends presumably dead, maybe worse, and all his shit left inside a heavily guarded, very cursed fort. He did the reasonable thing, and fucked right off.

He ended up joining one of the seniors he went to Baldur’s Gate with in going to Waterdeep, while they didn’t particularly need another paladin. The temple of lathander in Waterdeep accepted them both until they were able to find stable employment.

Charlie mainly did small jobs for merchants, working as a guard for high value stuff, moving cargo on/off boats, mostly physical labour. It didn’t pay particularly well, but he could afford a little room above a tavern, and his medication.

That’s where he was, and how he lived for almost 130 years until he got wormed.

May or may not be blindly devoted to Lathander bc of… all that. literally any bad thing to occur to him is swiftly written off as a test of his faith, surprising to damn near everyone he is not one for converting people. (He definitely reads like he would though, it’s the theology special interest, there are few gods he won’t speak extensively on. He just defaults to lathander)

Fr though? Having trouble finding a god to worship? Ask him, he will give you an answer or more accurately- a list.

Yknow when you sprinkle random facts into your characters to make them less flat? Yeah my man collects maps, particularly outdated ones.

The only reason he’s not fucked post-worm is bc it fends off the worst of his usual symptoms. He has conflicted feelings about it (on one hand, being able to put honey in his coffee and not feel like his brain is exploding is nice, on the other, what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck.)

Post game he is left in a… state. He’s gotten used to life with less pain and is absolutely bedridden for a WHILE bc suddenly he’s being hit with his usual pain n symptoms but he’s not used to it anymore so it’s absolutely destroying him.

[lupucs]

Do you have any recommendations for character modeling in blender?

Ooh boy I never know how to respond to questions like that, but I'm gonna try my best and list some stuff which helped me personally, so hopefully this will be helpful to you guys too.

A lot of what im gonna say is probably gonna sound really generic but generally speaking just watching one tutorial series and calling it a day isn't gonna cut it.

Something that helped me a whole lot was having a clear goal in mind (like I remember the first thing I wanted to do was translate my OCs in 3D). Picking something I was invested in is what pushed me to do my own research (and now its Deltarune fan animations lol). Knowing how to maintain motivation and going in with the right mindset is the most important thing imo.

I use Blender for my 3D work, which is free and open source. I personally prefer it over paid software like Maya or 3dsMax, especially for modeling and sculpting (I remember I had to use Max and Maya for a while but overall it was a pretty agonizing experience to be honest, so I switched back to Blender, which just feels a whole lot easier to use for me personally lol, but really at the end of the day just pick the software you want. This is just my personal preference). If you have a potato laptop like me, I definitely advise you to use Blender tho as it is very lightweight compared to other 3D programs, plus it can do the same things and then some. Not to mention there are way more free resources on Blender stuff so it's easier to get access to the info you need. Anyways Blender-simping over, moving on!

Tutorials are always a great idea, but you're also gonna have to learn how to do problem-solving. 3D can be a really technical and rigid medium, so being patient and knowing how to do independent learning is very important. Take a look at box-modeling, sculpting, texturing and procedural shading. Unfortunately that's gonna involve a lot of annoying situations and moments of immeasurable pain, but once you're more familiar with how things work, it's super fun and rewarding!

Don't forget to have fun and experiment! It's easy to get lost and overwhelmed by the technical aspects of 3D but it's important to just let go and make silly things. Also talking to other 3d artists with similar interests helps a ton, especially more experienced ones but I am aware not everyone has access to that (plus not everyone might want that, esp when you're an introvert like me haha!)

If you gotta sell your soul to a corporation then focusing on one particular subset is gonna be useful for animation jobs, as this is what most studios want. Some artists might like specializing into just one area, and that's totally fine but for me who prefers to be a generalist, it just kinda ruins my joy for 3D to restrict myself to just one part of it. Plus if you enjoy doing what you do, you tend to learn a lot faster anyway.

This might be a bit of an uncommon take, but one of the most stifling pieces of advice I have received from industry 3D artists is to only focus on one thing (as in, only skill up your UV-unwrapping, or only do rigging, only do hard-surface modeling, only do organic environment modeling and so on). NUH-UH! Just do what you want fam. Make the spoingle-boingles pet cats. Focus on the things you like. Make barney the dinosaur destroy the whole set. Model, rig and animate them if you want. Really, just have fun. Obviously you gotta do some self-checks and see where you need to improve, and where your strengths and weaknesses are, and focusing on those areas can be very helpful. Just make sure you're having a good time doing it, and don't be too harsh on yourself. Definitely take a break if you're overwhelmed.

You don't have to be able to draw to be good at character modeling but making turnaround sketches helps me a whole lot whenever I make 3D characters. Knowing how to draw will also benefit your sense of design and shapes, as you can use your drawing skills for texturing and adding your own flair to your models.

Another thing I would do is look at other people's 3D models and study the topology and the way they model things. This also helps a lot with motivation. Obviously you don't wanna copy, just study the way other people model things and see what other talented artists come up with! There are a bunch of free Blender rigs you can download and study on your own, not to mention useful videos and streams on YouTube. The Rain and Snow rigs are pretty awesome. Some of this stuff is behind a paywall but I recommend checking out the free resources of the "Settlers" project for highly cartoony modeling and rigging (this playlist is very useful, I didn't watch all of it but some parts have been pretty inspirational to me). Also just following 3D artists you like and looking at their art for inspiration will help you stay motivated.

Hope this is useful!

[totowlff]

chapter ten — jackpot

➝ what are the chances of a dream coming true on any given friday?

➝ word count: 3,8k

➝ warnings: mentions of medical procedures

➝ author’s notes: i strongly advise you to translate the parts in german.

Cassie sat in her car for a few minutes, trying to calm herself down before she went into the fertility clinic.

She had come to find out if she could undergo her second attempt at in-vitro fertilization after the first round had failed.

She and Toto had made the decision together to proceed with a second round at her flat a few weeks prior. The following Monday, Cassie called the clinic to find out what the procedure would be like since they had some frozen embryos.

Her doctor explained that, although she would not need to go through the egg retrieval process like the first time, she would need to repeat the cycle of hormones she’d gone through before the first embryo transfer to prepare her uterus for implantation once more. Cassie had a feeling that would be the case, but she was still a bit frustrated when she found out that she would need to wait a month following the period she’d had after the first failed round. Her doctor had explained that it was important to give  her uterus a chance to recover from the first cycle. It was understandable, but Cassie was still anxious. 

Since she and Toto decided to try again, she’d started counting down the days on her wall calendar until she would be able to start a new cycle. It was agonizing — she’d have to wait five weeks to the day after one of the most depressing days of her life.

Finally, the appointed Friday arrived. Cassie woke up early to go to the clinic for a quick fasting blood draw before work to check her hormone levels so her doctor could plan the next cycle. She didn’t mind — it was a race week, so it was better for her to be at the factory early, anyway.

After her blood was drawn, Cassie was told to stop by at the end of the day to receive the results and figure out what her next steps would be. She thanked the nurse and left the clinic, unable to shake her looming anxiety.

The day felt like it was dragging on, even though Cassie was incredibly busy with her race weekend workload. She had also been dealing with her period earlier on in the week, and was still feeling a little fatigued. However, even the urge to go home and lie down on the couch didn’t stop her from going back to the clinic after work for her results, and to find out what was next.

Cassie took a few deep breaths bet getting out of the car and going into the building. She felt her phone vibrate inside her bag as she stepped into the clinic’s waiting room, but ignored it for a moment while she said hello to the receptionist. 

— Good afternoon, Miss Aldersey — she said.

— Good afternoon, Ashley, I came to get the results of my blood test from this morning — Cassie replied. 

While Ashley typed something into her computer, Cassie opened her purse and checked her phone. Toto had sent her a message.  “I'll answer him later”, she thought, shoving the phone back into her purse.

— Of course, Miss Aldersey. Could you follow me? — the receptionist said, while getting up to lead her to a private room. It was just like when she’d started this process and received her blood test results and instructions.

Cassie didn’t find the experience of having to go through all of this again very pleasant. She had hoped to go through this only once and only return to check on issues related to the health of the baby growing inside her. But fate, God, coincidences, chance, or some other entity ensured that she wasn’t pregnant after her first embryo transfer.

Upon entering the room, Ashley asked her to sit down and wait for the nurse to arrive so they could review her results. While she waited, she fished her cell phone out of her purse to check the message Toto had sent her. It was direct and simple.

“Is everything going okay? How are your blood tests?”, his message read.

Cassie wrote that she was waiting on the nurse and put her phone back in her bag as soon as she tapped “send”. As soon as she zipped up her purse, Martina, the head nurse at the clinic, knocked on the door and let herself in.

— Good afternoon, Miss Aldersey, how are you?

— I’m okay, Martina. How about you?

— I'm fine, honey. So, let’s talk about your results.

— Okay.

— Your hormone levels are very good, which leads us to believe that you’re making good progress so far.

— I'm glad — Cassie said.

— It is normal for these levels to double every two days, so these high numbers are what we expect to see — Martina said, pointing out some numbers on the clipboard she was showing Cassie —  They are within the expected range for the beginning of a healthy pregnancy.

Cassie blinked, stunned.

— I'm sorry, but did you say pregnancy?

— Yes, Miss Aldersey.

More silence.

— I think there's been a mistake, Martina.

The woman widened her eyes.

— Why makes you think that, Miss Aldersey?

— My first cycle didn't work out. I… I thought this blood test was to do a check for my hormones before another embryo transfer. Why are you talking about pregnancy?

The woman looked down at the test results in her hands, then back up at Cassie.

— Well, your results indicate that there are levels of hCG in your blood that are consistent with that of a pregnant woman.

She felt her heart skipping a beat.

— Martina, that doesn't make any sense — Cassie said — I did the tests before, nothing was detected, I had my period right after, and another period just finished. There must have been some sort of mix-up in the lab or something...

— Miss Aldersey, you were the only patient who had a blood draw today. There weren’t any other samples in the lab to mix yours up with.

Cassie blinked. She felt like the floor was disappearing under her feet.

— But... But... Is there a chance that there was some… Mistake… A false positive?

— It’s not impossible, but it’s not likely — Martina replied, looking again at the papers in her hand, reading the numbers printed on them. When she saw the look on Cassie's face, she looked thoughtful for a moment — Well, if I may ask... Have you had sexual intercourse in the last five weeks?

The image of Toto above her, his face contorted in an expression of pure pleasure as he came inside her filled Cassie's mind. It had been… 

Four weeks.

— Uh, well… Y-yes — Cassie stammered, a little dazed.

Martina smiled.

— Well, then I believe that there is a high likelihood that you conceived naturally since your last period.

Cassie was having a hard time wrapping her head around it. No, it wasn’t possible.

— But, my period just ended…

— Was the flow lighter than normal?

Cassie thought for a second, before tentatively nodding.

— It was probably implantation bleeding, which is quite common in the first few weeks of pregnancy. 

Cassie fell silent, and her heart was beating so fast she thought it would explode inside her chest. Her breathing was heavy, her hands had started to shake. It seemed too surreal to be true. “Am I dreaming?”, she wondered.

— Miss Aldersey — Martina said, crouching down in front of her and placing her hands on Cassie’s knees, a wide smile on her face — You did it. You're pregnant.

— I'm pregnant — she repeated, as if in a trance.

— You’re going to be a mum.

— I’m going to be a mum — Cassie repeated.

— Yes, there's a little baby growing inside you right now. And it is doing very well, Miss Aldersey, if your hormone levels are any indication.

Cassie’s head was floating, her body numb. It couldn’t be.

— Fuck — she muttered.

Martina laughed.

— I know this isn’t usually how women find out they’re pregnant, but it's a special moment nonetheless, don’t you think?

— What now?

The head nurse smiled.

— Well, in case of success at conception, we refer the patient to an obstetrician for pregnancy care. 

— But… What should I do?

— I'm sorry, I don't understand, Miss Aldersey.

— I mean, there’s so much to do now, like… do I buy maternity clothes? Should I start putting that… cocoa bu4tter lotion on my belly? Do I put in for leave at work? Do I already choose the hospital where I will give birth? Should I start getting the nursery ready? What about the name? — she asked, gesturing wildly. She knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t stop herself. It felt like all the pregnancy articles she'd read up until then started to jumble together in her head.

— I know it’s a lot to think about, but I think you could start by telling your partner that he's going to be a father.

The word 'father' made Cassie's heart skip a beat. Not only had she become a mother-to-be, but Toto had also become a father-to-be. He needed to know that he was going to have a child. He needed to know that they had done it, in more ways than one.

But Toto was in Spain. She couldn’t possibly tell him over the phone.

The rest of the conversation with Martina was a blur. Cassie received prescriptions, a referral to an obstetrician, and a pair of white crocheted baby booties from the clinic, and the well-wishes of the nurse and staff.

Back in the car, Cassie had no idea what to do. She felt dazed, lost, and a little scared. She had gone to start a second fertilization cycle and left the clinic with the news she had been waiting for months, something she’d wanted more than anything. Instead of feeling joy, she felt an almost-paralyzing fear.

Staring at the silver Mercedes logo on the steering wheel, resting her hands on her stomach, Cassie only snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the insistent vibrating of her phone inside of her purse. She dug it out again and saw Toto’s name on the caller ID. 

— Hello?

— Hi, Cassie. Is everything okay?

"You are going to be a father".

— Yes — she replied, in a thin voice.

— How did things go at the clinic?

"I'm pregnant".

— Things went… Fine  — Cassie said, hesitantly.

Toto was quiet on the other end of the line, like he knew something was up.

— Are you sure, Cassie? Any issues with the results?

"We are going to have a child".

— Yes. There was a… Change.

— Change? What kind of change? You weren't taking any medications.

"In our life, forever".

— I know, but… It's just… Toto, this is something I'd like to talk to you about in person.

More silence on the other end of the line.

— It is serious?

“Do you consider having a child serious, Toto?”

— No, not really. What time do you come back on Sunday?

— I believe I'll be in Oxford by early evening. I can stop by your flat before I go home. How about that?

— Perfect — she replied, forcing herself to smile. If she sounded more optimistic, over the phone, maybe Toto would worry less.

He said goodbye to her and hung up the phone. After staring at her own reflection on the screen for a few seconds, Cassie leaned her head against the back of the seat, letting out a long sigh, bringing her hand to her stomach.

She would lose it by then.

The weekend was agonizing. Cassie's effort to think about anything other than the fact that there was a human being growing inside her was futile. She seemed to sabotage herself at every turn, whether it was spending time doing research, browsing Instagram and looking at other people’s baby pictures, or watching free and qualifying practices, hoping to see a little bit of Toto.

“Does he have any idea what I'm going to tell him?” she wondered, staring at the image of him on the television, his jaw set in concentration as he sat at the engineering station. It made Cassie think of his expression when he was inside her, promising that he would give a child to her. He unknowingly fulfilled his promise that night.

Cassie was far more nervous on Sunday morning. She was so distracted that she couldn’t finish anything she’d started. She was having breakfast when she decided to take a shower. In the middle of the shower, she remembered something that she wanted to look something up. She left something out on the counter instead of putting it in the refrigerator. Her nerves were so bad that her stomach was twisting and churning, making her throw out the uneaten half of her breakfast. When she tried to put on her deodorant, she recoiled at the smell and became immediately nauseous. 

— Thanks for letting me know you're there, little brat — she muttered, getting up from in front of the toilet to brush her teeth and get the taste of bile out of her mouth.

After leaving the bathroom, Cassie went back for something she had bought at the end of the first fertilization cycle, when she still hoped she was pregnant. She dug through her bedroom closet, moving aside some clothes and a few boxes until she found what she was looking for. It was a small box. She took the package in her hand and sat on the edge of her bed to open the lid, revealing a small onesie nestled in some teal tissue paper, smiling at it. It had a race car and some text that said “Future Mercedes Driver” on it. Cassie thought it was too cute to resist ordering when she saw it online.

It was how she’d planned on surprising Toto with the good news the first time, but when the first IVF cycle failed, she shoved the box deep into her closet, because remembering she had it was too painful. But now it was real. The onesie had an owner growing inside of her, and the owner’s father needed to know.

At the end of the day, Cassie received a message from Toto, a heads-up that he was returning from Barcelona and that his flight would be landing after about two hours. She sent a thumbs-up emoji, for lack of anything better to say to him other than "you're going to be a father".

Those few hours felt so long. Not even the fourth episode of Girlboss managed to distract Cassie from looking at the little white box resting on her coffee table. Her eyes were glued to her phone’s clock, and she was practically praying for time to pass faster so her anticipation and nerves would be resolved sooner. She just wanted to be able to tell Toto so that they would be able to enjoy the moment together. Only when Toto, the man who had been dreaming of this with her, knew, would she be able to relax.

The sound of the doorbell made her jump off the couch and practically sprint to the button near her door that opened the building’s exterior door. A few seconds later, Cassie heard a knock on the door to her flat. She broke into a smile as she opened it, and could feel her heart pounding in her chest. 

— Good evening, Cassie — Toto said.

— Good evening — she replied, exerting a great deal of effort to appear nonchalant  — Come in.

He walked past her and toed off his shoes in the hallway as Cassie closed the door. She felt like her whole body was trembling. Taking a second to breathe, she followed after him, who had headed into the living room, where the episode of Girlboss was paused.

— Well, I was going to stop by today anyway, but you said you needed to talk to me, so I decided to stop by before I went home.

— Yes, I needed… I need to.

— Well, I'm here. 

Cassie stared at him in silence for a few seconds.. “How do you start this kind of conversation?”, she wondered. Her hesitation caused Toto to look concerned.

— Cassie, is there something wrong? Did something show up on your blood test?

— I think you'd better sit down — she said quietly.

He raised an eyebrow.

— Cassie, I'm not going to do anything until you tell me what’s wrong. Please, tell me.

The words got stuck in her throat. Her eyes filled with tears. Even before the first tear could run down her cheek, Toto got close to her, cradling her face gently in his hands.

— Cassandra, if you don't tell me, I won't know how to help you.

— Toto — she sniffed, placing one of her hands over his. 

— Come on, my angel, tell me.

She looked at him. Hearing him call her “my angel” sent a tingle down her spine, but it gave her the resolve to finally speak.

— There was… A change in the hormone levels on my blood test.

— What kind of change?

— The level of a hormone called ‘hCG’ is… Elevated — she whispered.

Toto blinked.

— Is that serious?

— Well, it depends.

— Depends on… What?

— How serious is a child for you?

Neither of them said anything for a few seconds. Toto’s face became puzzled.

— What?

— I'm pregnant — she finally managed to say. Tears were falling down her face in earnest now — We're having a baby.

After a few seconds, Toto cracked a smile. Not just any smile, a wide smile, the kind that went all the way to his eyes and caused the top of his nose to crinkle. His eyes were shining with tears too, but he could only laugh. Removing his hands from her face, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into a hug, spinning with Cassie in the middle of the room, their laughter echoing through the apartment.

— We're going to have a baby — Toto repeated as she held onto his neck, laughing and crying at the same time. She had never felt so happy in her life, not even with her professional achievements. And that realization was, at the same time, incredible and frightening.

Suddenly, he stopped, setting Cassie on the ground.

— Fuck, you shouldn't have done that, right? — he asked, in a slightly worried tone. — Did I hurt you? Did I hurt the baby?

Cassie laughed.

— No, I'm fine. And considering the baby is the size of a poppy seed, I don't think it cares too much at this point.

— But how? When? The first cycle failed — he stopped for a few seconds.

— Yes, the IVF failed, but, uh… The other method did not.

He blinked.

— We hit the jackpot — Cassie smirked, placing a hand on her stomach.

Looking down at her hand, Toto was silent. It was like he was trying to take everything in, trying to convince himself that it was real. 

He was trying to convince himself that he was going to be a father.

— Fuck — he muttered.

— Don't talk like that in front of our child.

— Sorry.

— It’s okay — she whispered, with a smile on her face.

After a few more seconds

— Can I talk to her? — he asked quietly.

— To the baby? — Cassie asked. She was a little confused.

— Yeah.

— Of course — she replied — It's your child too.

Taking her hand, Toto walked over to the couch and sat down, positioning Cassie between his knees. Then, he took his hands to the shirt she was wearing and lifted it a little, enough so that her navel showed, just above the line of the shorts she was wearing. There weren't any signs that could suggest a pregnancy yet, but Cassie started crying again anyway. Then he looked up at Cassie, as if he was considering a question he would ask.

— Toto?

— Can I speak German with her? I want to… Express myself properly.

— You can talk to her in whatever language you’d like. Even in Tengwar, for all I care.

He smiled again.

— That’s from Lord of the Rings, right? I don’t speak that, but I can learn. I'm good with languages.

— I know, mister polyglot — Cassie chuckled, rolling her eyes a little.

Turning his eyes to her belly, he took a deep breath.

— Hallo Tochter. Oder Sohn, aber ich bin sicher, du bist ein kleines Mädchen. Dein Vater spricht. Ich bin so froh, dass du endlich auf dem Weg bist. Du hast keine Ahnung, wie oft ich von dir geträumt habe. Mit dir und deiner Mutter. Du wachst neben mir auf, machst gemeinsam Frühstück, spielst auf unserem Rasen. Und jetzt, du bist hier, bei uns. Na ja, nicht gerade bei uns, denn du hast noch etwas Zeit im Bauch deiner Mutter, aber du bist in gewisser Weise hier.

Cassie was a little embarrassed that she only knew two modern languages, unlike Toto, who spoke five fluently, with only a slight accent. She had taken French lessons during her school years, but she hadn't actually retained much of it. In college, she learned modern and ancient Greek as well as Latin, which was of little use in the marketing world.

However, maybe it was better that Cassie couldn’t understand German. Toto was speaking to their child in his mother tongue, in the way he felt most comfortable. It was like seeing him for real, freed from the filters that other languages put on his words.

— Ich kann es kaum erwarten, dich kennenzulernen, Tochter. Ich kann es kaum erwarten, dich in meinen Armen zu halten und in deine Augen zu sehen, die wahrscheinlich der schönste Braunton der Welt sein werden. Ich kann es kaum erwarten, Küsse auf deinen Kopf zu pflanzen, der mit roten Strähnen bedeckt ist, wie der deiner Mutter. Du wirst so schön sein wie deine Mutter, da bin ich mir sicher. Und ich werde genauso verrückt nach dir sein, wie ich verrückt nach ihr bin.

Cassie thought she could puzzle out a few of the words he was saying, just because they sounded similar to words in English, like ‘tochter’, which sounded like ‘daughter’, and ‘sohn’, which had to mean ‘son’. She also recognized the word ‘mutter’, which she assumed was ‘mother’, which made her think maybe he was mentioning her, but that was the extent of what she could understand.

— Ich werde immer für dich da sein, meine Tochter. Für dich und deine Mutter. Ich liebe dich, Tochter, ich liebe dich, und ich liebe deine Mutter. Ihr beide seid mir das Wichtigste auf der Welt. Die einzigen Dinge, die zählen — Toto spoke softly, resting his head on her stomach. Cassie then brought her hands to his head, her fingers tangling in his dark hair.

— Thank you — she murmured.

He looked up, a little startled.

— For what?

— For keeping your promise.

Toto smiled as he stood up, embracing Cassie in a warm hug. He looked down at her with a fond look on his face.

— I will always keep my promises to you, Cassandra. Always.

[phiralovesloki]

Tagged by my love @optomisticgirl--

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason. <3

If you're not logged into AO3, the links might not work for you, since all of my works are locked at the moment. Sorry!

First fic: The Curious Case of Emma Cassidy. The very first fic I'd been inspired to write in years, and my first OUAT fic. I joined the fandom at the end of season 3 and was mildly obsessed with New York City Serenade, and wanted to explore what would have happened if Neal had joined Emma and Henry in New York (he didn't come over with the curse! Why would he have had to go back to the Enchanted Forest?). I think a lot of people skipped it because I was a new and unknown writer in the fandom (fair!), and because people mistakenly thought it was Neal/Emma fic (not fair, read the tags! Or as it was originally only posted to FFnet, read the pairing!).

Last fic: David Nolan Fucks Up Christmas. Written for OptomisticGirl herself! Goofy OUAT Christmas fic where Emma and Killian get snowed in at IKEA, because apparently people DID get snowed in at IKEA that year, although not on Christmas Eve.

Only once: Not totally sure here, since everything I have on AO3 is either Captain Swan or Captain Charming. When I used to do Kinky Prompts, I'm sure there were some pairings or groupings I only wrote once. But since that's not on AO3 anymore (and I don't have a copy, please don't ask for one), let's go with the divisive background Leopold/Regina pairing from With Affection.

Favorite fic from the fandom I've written in most: That'll be OUAT since everything I have on AO3 is OUAT. I have a lot of ones I like a lot, but I'd say my favorite might be Powerful Magic. I worked really hard on it, and I feel like it came together really, really beautifully.

Fic I wish more people read: Killian Jones, Concertmaster Extraordinaire. It's not perfect by any stretch, but I really like Killian's character arc and wish more people gave it a chance.

Fic I agonized over: LOL gotta be Falling Slowly. It took forever, and was very plot-heavy, and every time something changed on the show, I'd have to go back to the drawing board. I eventually gave up and wrote an author's note that was like, "Look, this is canon through this particular episode, I fucking give up."

Fic that sprang fully formed: You'll Know it's Him. I was spoiler-free after season 4 of OUAT, so I knew nothing about season 5B besides whatever people could guess from the finale of 5A. I knew that nothing I was going to write would come close to canon, but I just had this idea and had to get it down.

Work I'm proud of for any reason: A lot of them (particularly Powerful Magic; Killian Jones, Concertmaster Extraordinaire; and Falling Slowly listed above). But I think one that's not listed that comes to mind is Strange Bedfellows (which was a close second for "Fic I wish more people read"). I like the structure of the story, and while the twist is not really a twist, it was a lot of fun to put in anyway.

Lots of folks have been tagged already, yikes. So if I tag you and you've already been tagged or you don't want to do this, please don't worry about it! @eirabach, @lifeinahole27, @iverna, @unfolded73 and anyone who wants to do this but hasn't been tagged (like, this is me tagging you, you should do this and then say I was the one who tagged you)

[loveydovey-leviathan]

> reposted from my personal blog: @mee-op

belphegor x gn! reader // from belphie's first point of view

.

Many people call me cunning. They say they never really know what's going on inside my head or what I'm thinking, and I've never cared about that. I wasn't trying to appear all mysterious to anyone but that's how I come off to people, then so be it.

But then you come along and change my mind, and now I suddenly want to try and hide my thoughts from you.

I want to try and mask the way you make me feel. I don't want anyone to see the effect you have on me because quite frankly, it's embarrassing.

I've seen those movies where people act all flustered and blushy whenever they're around their crush, and I've always found it stupid and cringe and it reminds me way too much of Mammon.

I've never done that. Of course, I've had crushes and relationships before but you somehow make me feel different from the rest– and the only reason I can come up with as to why that is is that you're an exception. You're special, and I sometimes don't know how to feel about that.

But it's kind of hard to think about anything at all when you're currently on top of me straddling my waist, your arms caging my head like you want to keep me and call me yours (though I wouldn't mind that in the slightest).

The lights in the planetarium are hitting you oh so perfectly, and it's taking me a lot of my restraint to not reach out and tell you how ethereal you look. You're practically glowing.

The ends of my fingers are warmed by the softness of your thighs; squeezing ever so slightly as you come closer, closer, closer– until I could practically feel your breath on my lips. And I so desperately want to close the small space between us and kiss you, but a stupid part of me wants to keep this agonizing game between us go on for just a bit longer so I don't have to admit that I've fallen for you. Hard.

Your lips are right there, and I knew if I leaned in the slightest bit– I'd finally be able to do what I've dreamed of for so long.

But then you pull away, and I have to physically stop myself from letting out a whine as I try to hide my frustration.

But it seems like my efforts were completely futile as I see you flash me that smile. That stupid smile that makes my stomach feel like it's doing backflips.

I know what that smile means. I know you're teasing me. I know you think you've got me right where you want.

And you're right. You do. You have me wrapped around your finger. If you were the demon and I was the human, I would gladly sell my soul to you for absolutely nothing in return– and I know I would still be happy.

"You looked dissatisfied, Belphie," a mischievous glint in your eyes. "What's wrong?"

I say nothing. Despite the situation I was in and my deep, deep affection for you– I still had my pride. While not as intense as Lucifer, I was still a demon, and I was determined to make you break first.

For a while, there's only silence. Until you start to get off me, letting out a disappointed sigh.

"If you're not going to say anything then I guess I should-,"

I grab your shirt to pull you back down and before I could stop myself, I let out a pathetic "No!"

You give me a smirk. Like you know you've already won this stupid love game, and that alone is enough to darken my cheeks even more.

"No?" you say as you settle back to your original position. "You don't want me to go?"

My heart is hammering and the way you look at me is making me feel so inexplicably warm.

And- ugh... you're incredibly unfair. I don't know why I'm even trying to win anymore– I lost a long time ago anyway.

But I still struggle to get the words out of my mouth.

All of a sudden you're drawing closer to me, but stop just before you touch lips.

You sadist. You're an awful person. I'm not sure who's the demon at this point.

"Well?" you know what you're doing to me, but I'm not sure I care anymore.

I hurriedly crash my lips into yours before you even consider pulling away, and luckily your response is immediate.

You gently hold my face in your hands– like I was the fragile one, and I practically purr when you lightly tug my bottom lip with your teeth. My arms are around your waist as I pull you flush against me, tilting my head to capture your mouth for a deeper press of my love for you. Your scent fills the deepest corners and crevices of my brain, and I know I wouldn't have it any other way.

I pull away to say what I've been feeling ever since you invaded my dreams at night.

"I love you."

[minquiec]

min WHEN I CATCH YOU MIN‼️ MIN WHEN I CATCH U.gun pointed in your head until I see how u draw anatomy and how u color

Your lovely jia lover 😉

HI I hope ur the anon that asked it earlier cause I was dumb and deleted it by accident 😞 I literally had the whole thing written out to

But anyways

Disclaimer this isn't rlly a tutorial cause half the time idk what I'm actually doing so this is more what my art process is

1. Basic shapes (❓)

I legit dunno how to put it into words so have a visual interpretation

So like most of the body is broken down into shapes especially for the torso

Because I have crippling anime style syndrome the leg proportion are often longer than the torso

Also for the torsos, when I draw more feminine bodies the hips are usually as wide as the shoulders and for masculine torso the shoulders are wider that the hips

But in the end it really depends on the art style and the body type cause like I said I have anime style syndrome so I don't include variations in my art alot (even though I rlly should)

2. Poses n stuff

For poses I usually start with lines that vaguely look like the pose I want like it literally looks like this

I don't put a lot of thought into the anatomy at this stage because if I worry too much about the anatomy here, I end up spending too much time trying to fix it and never actually getting the pose out of my mind

The examples here are rlly shiet cause I literally sketched it under a minute but I then try the properly solidfy the shapes and only after that I start agonizing over the anatomy and correcting it

But I won't show it here for the sake of my sanity and hand

3. Refs + practice

I feel like a hypocrite saying this bc I don't use alot of refs but refs are rlly helpful

Like seriously

The only reason I don't use refs that much is cause half the time I can't find the one I want but when I do photo studies vs pieces that I don't use refs in, the art that uses refs definitely look more natural

And ik literally every artist says this but practice is such a big part like I literally drew everyday for 3 months after watching atsv and my anatomy was just so much better

Bc I drew so much

But yea idk if this is actually helpful cause I'm so sheit at explaining cause even now I still don't know wtf I'm doing so I just wing it and pretend the art looks good (ie. delusion)

I might make a separate post for colouring but idk how that will go cause once again, idk what I'm doing hehhehwhhahah 🤡🔨