#I WAS gonna colour this but I have other WIPs I want to work on/start so I'm just gonna slap this down and RUN

[tevintersnakes]

When I opened my 2018 playthrough saves, his inventory was entirely pre-war books and spare glasses

[michellemisfit]

✨Weekly Tag Wednesday ✨

Thanks for creating the game and for the tag @jrooc thanks for the tag @vintagelacerosette

Today we’re talking fandom. Come play!

Name and A03 handle: Michelle, michellemisfit

Current Location: Living room, surrounded by feathers, as I’m currently fletching some arrows

Favourite picrew: This one is pretty fucking spot on. Or at least it was at the time. Hair is very different now. But then, hair is always different… lol

Also this one is spiritually VERY me

What's one thing you want in a picrew? Ability to add coloured streaks! And a wide selection of scars, or alternatively the ability to move them around the screen. Either is fine. But mostly the hair thing. My hair is generally 4 different colours. Don’t try and limit me to one!!

Favourite thing you’ve created (or seen created) for the fandom? Erm… 3 way tie between Mexico Gallacrafts, Fimo Gallavich, and Cookie Gallavich? Maybe? Argh. Turns out, looking back at my art tag… I’ve created some pretty cool stuff. Huh. Yay me.

Why is it your favourite? I don’t really do photography, and I’m really proud of the idea behind and the execution of that photo. And while I LOVE drawing more than anything, I don’t think I’m exceptional or anything. But I’m damn creative when it comes to silly 3D craft projects, so both Fimo Gallavich and Cookie Gallavich make me happy and feel like something not just anyone could do… I dunno.

Did it come easily or was it hard to create? It was LONG to create. Both cookie and Fimo Gallavich took several days in total. And I think that’s the other thing I like about myself. I am willing to put in the work, and it usually pays off.

Last ao3 fic you commented on? Hah! You’ll be able to corroborate this, I’m not just sucking up!! LOL I’m currently reading Camp is a Battlefield by @blue-disco-lights, @jrooc, and @mybrainismelted, with artwork by @creepkinginc, so that’s the last one I commented on :)

Biggest WIP heartache you’ve ever experienced? I mean… every single WIP I have ever started reading, only to realise that maybe there won’t be any more of it… 😱 Every. Single. One. They’re all special, and they all hurt in their own special ways. And I will remain subscribed to all of them FOREVER, because you never know!!

Also? Comment on WIPs. Tell authors how much joy the story brought you, how much space it’s occupying in your brain, how much you would love to see it continue but how happy you are to have read as much of the story as there is because it’s changed your brain chemistry… do NOT comment saying ‘next chapter when?’, cause that makes you a dick bag.

Favourite trope or head cannon you like included in a fanfic? I’m a sucker for fake dating, only one bed, and a soulmate AU 🤷🏽‍♂️

Least favourite? …not a huge fan of kid fic, but hey, all it takes is a great author to make it work.

Secret or surprising kink or trope? Again, do not kink shame, because you’re only ever one good fanfic away from discovering something about yourself you did NOT see coming…

Describe how you feel after you’ve created something new? Exhausted and antsy. Is it good enough? Are people gonna like it? Should I even bother anyone with this? Why don’t I just go and hide under a rock forever?? I felt okay about this when I finished it, why is it suddenly the worst thing to have ever been created??? …I wish there was a sense of calm and accomplishment. There is not. Brains suck!

Top hype man you have that always helps you get across the finish line: @deedala - I so appreciate how we’re on a similar wave length when it comes to art as well as ‘everybody wants to hunt me for sport’ vibes. I know I can always count on you for kind but honest words, and that’s so important!!

It's been a bad day, you turn to the fandom and you _____? Read comfort fic. Probably Like Real People Do or None the Wiser.

Edit: Also? Go and read comments and tags on old art posts. That’s a sure fire way to cheer me up!

This was fun, and made the 15 minute wait between fletching each feather pass much faster. Thanks!!

If you are currently making your own arrows and need something to occupy your wait time with… how about completing a tag game? lol

@heymrspatel @loftec @creepkinginc @deedala @too-schoolforcool @darlingian @iandarling @iansw0rld @ian-galagher @mybrainismelted @palepinkgoat @crossmydna @mikhailoisbaby @sickness-health-all-that-shit @rereadanon @rutherinahobbit @energievie @junemermaid @francesrose3 @deathclassic @faejilly @rutherinahobbit @gallawitchxx @look-i-love-u @jessij1997 @callivich @celestialmickey @wehangout @doshiart @lynne-monstr @the-rat-wins @blue-disco-lights @suzy-queued @sleepyfacetoughguy @spookygingerr @burninface @gallapiech

[too-many-rooks]

Spoiler warning: Long rambly notes I took while watching season 3, disclaimer that a lot of this is just character moments/lines I found interesting and initial bones of an au idea for a burgeoning, extremely self indulgent slightly-darker-Alex in season 3 wip I’ve started.

Also it was the middle of the night and I was very tired and wired out of my gourd on some mix of cheap white wine and floods of hyperfixation-sourced dopamine. Also also I only started taking notes at ep 3?

Episode 3

Alex is SUCH a better spy this season than when he began even in the first few episodes prior to SCORPIA training he’s more careful and precise and the team feels better organised - he did so well on that boat I’m so proud of my baby

I’m actually enjoying Tom and Kyra fucking about more than I expected. Tom pulling Kyra together after the boat explosion suprised me by how emotive it was. But I do want them to.. go away. Alex should more isolated/desperate/have NO other choices than SCORPIA.

Everything in Malagosto seems so staged to just see how Alex will react to it all - here’s an unlocked door, here’s an Alex sized vent and a dead spot in the cameras, what are you gonna do about it? +Alex absolutely speaks French I think he’s just not giving that away yet

Oh yes yes lingering bad touch from Julia Rothman hitting the right notes even though that costume is a WILD kaftan moment. Evil carmen sandiago/noir femme fatale aesthetic where are you I miss you so much

Ohhhh Julia saying Ian walked away and abandoned him and that was what hit him worst oh my goooooooooood

(Outfit change from julie mean day change or is she just a multiple outfits a day kinda person. Believable, I guess)

Julia’s gaslighting I ssoooo crazy ‘we trust you. We want you.’ After having his closest people not trust him, and now maybe questioning if Ian even wanted him!

Julia fucking loved this, she’s totally thrilled by her own power. Queen 👸🏻.

God Jones and the department is going THROUGH IT THIS SEASON, just suddenly surrounded by corpses

Julia : offers irrefutable proof, upsets him, then presses him to continue believing what he did before and belittling his objections - very subtle but more firm tone of voice, less motherly/accepting, very clear that the noose around Alex’s neck is always there.

She’s so delighted at the prospect of making Alex into the perfect soldier

Julia: “I want you to meet your tutor”

Me: ‘here he here he comes here he comes.’ And then I threw of my blanket, pushed myself onto my knees, and started bouncing and palm clapping in sheer delight. I basically never happy stim like this but MY GOD the flood of dopamine is IMMENSE.

More manic laughter at the start of episode 4 realising I’m about to see John and young Yassen. Nicuragua! 18 years ago!

God nervous baby Yassen with a gun

HES!! SO!!! BABY!!!

Baby boy already got his colour scheme locked down

Baby Yassen has curls - is it just the humidity or maybe does he have naturally curly hair that he straightens so he looks less cute?

Johns actor has a real resemblance to Ian (and Jack Lowden) but less so to otto

Ohoho scar moment scar moment bc Yassen was nervous and fucked up two people one bullet

“Close your eyes” as I tell these people I’m going to shoot you and have faith

God cut to adult Yassen WATCHING ALEX SLEEP LOOKING SO INTENSE

“Leave the past behind us.” “Ian rider was a professional. It was not personal it was my job.” “Think of this as a school and your dead by the end of the day” (actual honesty for the first time)

Alex not committing to being able to work with Yassen is perfect

Yassen taking Alex TO HIS KNEES so easily besties not been slowed down too much by a bullet to the chest

Soaking wet!!!!!!!!

Alex shooting scene amazing, as was Yassen bursting into his room immediately after for a murder pep talk. Alex has no privacy privileges from Yassen

Yassen removing the humanity from his targets, names/faces/lives are irrelevant, they are just blank targets. “One day you’ll have to murder them.”

“That’s not gonna happen”

Yassen *be so ffr rn face*

Really interesting to see the other side of the department covering up an agent death and lying to the family - I like the department with more humanity/emotional resonance than pure ruthlessness

Shitty Malagosto communal dorm room and matching drab grey hoodies my beloved

Shame there’s no ‘your not afraid of a little prick are you?’ ‘I wouldn’t call you that’ line. (But switching out the ‘getting vaccinated will implant you with secret nano tech that will kill you’ plottline probs a good idea)

Ooooh Julia creepily poisoning him so excited making me think of her delighting in drugging him in a cocktail of ‘let me take care of you’ ways

Yassen pulling rank to break up the fight!!

Ooh Nile wants to take down Yassen so bad.

Toms film skills coming in clutch recording/ documenting things so Alex will be taken seriously, glad to see him be… less of a dead weight to the team

Begrudgingly-impressed-at-Alex Yassen, even with the “come on that’s a bad idea”, “yeah, but!” Teenagerisms

Yassen’s core (suppressed) emotions: fear, doubt, panic

Alex: love, hope, friendship (okay dear, 🙄 but remember you’re literally becoming an assassin why are you so niave all of a sudden?)

Alex insisting John saved him bc he had compassion and was his friend and that Yassen’s rejection of that makes him lonely oh oh my heart my heart

I LOVE how much fun Nile has being evil at his job of threatening children.

Episode 5

Oh my god HIT HIM ALEX where do you think you are? How do you think you’ll actually manage to get those trainees to trust you? Stop whining and hit the man with a wooden sword, christ

Smithers (in reference to Alex) “he’s out there being a teenager because of us” *cut to Alex, very much in danger, contemplating his capacity to kill*

Julia: “no one leaves,” [scorpia, me, interchangeable to her]

mission with Yassen!

Packing for the mission with Yassen!!!

Yassen can’t read his handwriting!!!

“You’ve put… lockpick?”

“I left my last one in Nile. “

Alex bitching about his meagre gadgets at point Blanc 💯

Matching tactical turtlenecks!!!

“I don’t want you to fail. I don’t want you to die.”

Alex and Yassen are a team but Yassen gives Alex command of them oh boysieeeee

Again glad they dropped the vaccine bit: vaccines aren’t dangerous, but vaping is!!

Of on a road trip with Yassen!!

A murder road trip!

Love Kyra seeing the shot and the body - I know why it didn’t happen but I do kinda wish for a more corrupted violent Alex coerced/bargained into firing it himself

That Tom confrontation was great - I do want to see it as like a ‘your getting in my way’ intentional cruelty to push him away and keep him safe when Alex is too deep in SCORPIA to be deluded about thinking he can go home

Alex rejects intimacy with Julia and she cracks down her authority ‘no one leaves’

Ep 6

Love Alex spooky in the cemetery, SCORPIA hot on his heels

Sharing a grotty safe house together god SO GOOD

“We trust each other. You should try it sometime.”

“If it’s not emotional why do you do it?”

“Because it’s my job. (Identity/life/personal connections/sacrificed everything for) I work for SCORPIA. I’m good at it. You could be too.” Olive branch of intimacy - wants alex to be more like him, so they can be equals, can share this life that he apparently finds satisfaction in, not thinking or making decisions beyond how best to achieve his goal/finish the task(/order)assigned to him/subject himself to feeling emotions/thinking about his life beyond his attempts to depersonalise himself as just a weapon - just a professional with no emotions, and that that is fundamentally who he is. Evidently having some inconvenient feelies about Alex tho.

Oh no his delivery disguise makes him look like a caveman. Glad he took off the accessories for the Jones confrontation, his hair actually looks great there all tousled. (Beginning to realise how important characters hair is to me bc I still hate Julia’s I want some dark perfect waves this Bob is ough)

I’m really glad they settled on Yassen NOT knowing about John - he twists it that John didn’t betray him bc he had nothing to gain from being kind to him, so it wasn’t false, but he is so 100% loyal to John, eager to twist any criticism. I do wish we’d seen more of their relationship, but expecting some Russian roulette bits was overly optimistic

“I know my place” he’s IMMEDIATELY off to rescue his boy (actually, where did he go? All of that last episode I was just WHAT ABOUT YASSEN? Was he just plotting a rescue that didn’t need to happen and waiting for his boy to show up?)

Dare I say… good for blunt? Stephen dillane is just so charming I can’t help but like him. And you see some flashes of his ruthlessness like when he talks to Greif but he’s not a 24/7 conniving monster. Also Jones in charge and Alex possibly (definitely) returning to spy work in a couple of years? I like that. Totally abandoning it would have felt unsatisfying.

Loved that moment on the roof - missed opportunity for them to awkwardly wave at each other, but I’m so happy I predicted wrongly and Yassen gets to live and walk away and put down his weapons. There’s so much space for how they can reconnect in that.

[an4mations]

Intro Post!

Hello hello! You can call me Anne [she/her]. I'm a young artist, aspiring to become a full-time (or at least part-time) animator/illustrator. Currently working on my AUs (fics and art likewise).

Other active socials:-

DeviantArt [All finished art]

A03 [AU Fics/Writings]

Twitter (X) [Not very active, only there to be upto date with a few of my fav artists]

Navigation Tags:- Art tags:- #anne sketches and #an4mations AU ideas/Drafts:- #au idea My writing:- #anne's writings 'Debating' tag:- #rambling anne Ask tags:- #ask anne and #ask an4mations Gifts and/or Fanart:- #save tag and #for me WIPs:- #art wip

Reference Tags:- #saving this for future reference (for referencing later) #gonna read this later (just good writing in general)

Side blog (for keeping track of all my art) :- @an4mations2

Original AUs:-

Basic storylines/drafts:-

Bloodied Fantasies (FNAF DCA)

CorruptTale (Undertale)

The Devil on your Shoulder (Undertale)

Haunting Remembrance (Undertale)

Tainted of Love (Undertale)

Original Concepts:-

ReaderTale (Undertale)

UniTale (Undertale)

★~ Art requests are OPEN ~★

General FAQs:-

★ What app do you use to draw?

I use Ibis Paint on my Android tablet!

★ Which brushes do you use?

For sketching and lineart, I use the Mechanical pencil #1. For colouring, I use the Soft Felt tip pen.

★ When and how did you start drawing?

From around 2020-21. My pops introduced me to BNHA, and I've been a fan ever since. I started drawing the cast of BNHA, and also designed my sona in their universe! I perfected my skills over the years, and that is how I am the artist you know today. And yes, I'm self taught. It's amazing how much you can learn on your own with the internet.

★ What is your [insert AU name] about?

The details have been sorted through the tags! For the basic storylines, please refer to the linked posts above. You can always ask me about anything regarding my AUs.

★ Are requests open? What are the rules?

Requests are always open unless I mention otherwise. The general rules apply, No hard NSFW, fetish or in general anything out of the ordinary. Gore is fine, I'll draw it to the best of my current abilities. Feel free to DM or ask me about the specifics.

★ Can I repost your art?

Yes, but you need to ask first. Reposting without permission is not allowed.

★ Can we be friends?

Yes of course! Everyone is welcome here, but please don't be weird since that would result in a block.

And! If I follow you, then that is a sign of me wanting to be friends and/or mutuals. So kindly bestow upon me the ray of friendship dear people. (lmfao social anxiety)

★ What are your fandoms?

Undertale/Underverse (currently active)

BNHA/MHA

FNAF and/or DCA

Hazbin Hotel

★ Who are your inspirations?

There are several actually--

Artists:-

Mr. Horikoshi Kohei [who inspired me to draw]

Vivienne (Vivziepop) [moderate influence on my art style]

Jakei [major influence on my art style]

and a lot of the people I follow ^^

Music Artists:-

Nyx The Shield Official

xXtha (also an artist)

SharaXofficial (also an artist)

StormHeart

CG5

Try Hard Ninja

Paranoid DJ

Silva Hound

Siwel

The Living Tombstone

I'll add more when I receive more questions.

[xoniarainforest]

Got tagged by @kiki-shortsnout and this seems fun, so let’s do it!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Great question! None! Mainly because I started using AO3 last year and I have natural anxiety towards the publish button.

(You may not understand, but that button… that button scares me.)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

I have a very prideful zero. My goal this year is to try publish at least a 1k word count fic? I think it’s a fair step towards conquering my fear with that publish button.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Various Minecraft YouTubers (MCYT). I’ve been in this fandom for years, wrote about lots of peeps, but my current obsession is GeminiTay o/ (and maybe a little bit of Ethoslab. I never watch the guy before and I’m finally discovering his charm whoops)

DanganRonpa. As in writing OCs in the killing game aspect. I barely written anything about the characters other than my top 5 favourites though.

Undertale and its AUs. Especially the AUs, I remember being so crazy about it. Still do, but a bit more tone down in these past years. I write them during my need of comfort days. I have this one incomplete story from the fandom that I intend to finish it one day.

Marvel. This is my current biggest obsession. Specifically FrostIronStrange, following up with the Avengers.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I’m gonna answer this based on other websites that I’ve published since my AO3 page is empty. I don’t normally publish my fics cuz I’m a bit awkward in sharing, but amongst the ones I do share to public (they are mostly taken down at this point):

Méng Yǒu

Five Nights at Team Crafted

Three Peaks Castle

Colours

Dream. Glitch. World.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Most of my comments are from my friends so yes!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably that one Marvel series about an immortal child entity who travels through the multiverse determined to help solve the universal problems/threats in every universe/dimensions that they visits. It’s a series of never ending one shots because she never stops travelling. Obviously there are bound to have some very angsty endings where they fail to save the whole universe. Or she saved the universe, but she had to make hard decisions that affects them deeply.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhm… the world is saved from not being converted into a coded game? If you don’t consider fluff fics about typical daily life. Now that I think about it, there’s never a ‘true’ happy ending with my fics. I usually write the ‘to achieve the ultimate win, you lose something along the way’.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Nope. My fics typically don’t get discovered by people. Let alone by haters.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

When I’m feeling horny. I write very questionable porn with plot fics. Don’t ask. I swore to never share them.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes! I love writing crossovers between two of my favourite fandoms! I think the craziest would be MCYT x FNAF. Cuz it’s my first ever crossover fic and it holds a special place in my heart.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. I think people prefer stealing works that are both great and completed. Sadly I’m neither great nor have I ever publish a complete fic to the public.

12. Does not exist apparently

Like my works? I have a ton that I have completed but never share to anyone.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Does co-writing a comic counts? I’ve co-written a short comic series with an irl friend before. It was only shared amongst my group of friends.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

FrostIronStrange is definitely at the top. It’s one of the very few romance shippings that I do since I normally do platonic or familial ships like Gemtho, SansxToriel, CharaxFriskxAsriel, Grian and Pearl etc.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Most of my long fics. Don’t get me wrong, I love all of them and I’m not abandoning them, but I have this problem where once I finish outlining the plot of my fics, my brain automatically files them as completed and places them at the easily forgotten corner even though I didn’t finish writing them. Plus I have a habit of jumping around between different stories… listen, I write for fun okay? I enjoy writing for the sake of writing so I don’t really care if it gets complete or not. Thinking about ‘must complete’ gives me stress and I don’t think it’s worth carrying that pressure when life itself is already stressful.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Worldbuilding, plot making, character backgrounds.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Grammar, dialogue writings, endings.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I constantly writes in both English and Chinese, so that’s not an issue for me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Team Crafted from the very old MCYT fandom

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I like all of my fic. Case closed.

(You are never gonna force me to pick one. NEVER)

Who to tag next for the game?

I’m tagging everyone who has seen this post and hasn’t done the answers yet. So TAG, YOU’RE IT!

[sxnshxnxxnddxxsxxs]

so i have absolutely decided to make a director’s cut version of my current wip that will be published when it’s finished because of that one post about making directors cuts.

so i’m just gonna post a couple of examples of the range of commentary you can expect from me when i’m not limited to ao3 end notes.

everything below the cut is from chapter 25 of and your heart love has such darkness so don’t read it if you’re not up to date on chapter 25 and care about spoilers.

This was bad. This was very bad.

*in the voice of eric effiong*: very bad, very very bad

Grandfather cut him off before he could get any further, “Cornelius, what in the name of Merlin, Morgana and Hecate made you think that an appropriate course of action was to not inform me that a member of my House, my previous Heir no less, escaped Azkaban, before running your mouth to the Prophet.”

this i think really highlights a clear difference in how wizarding society is organised as compared to ‘general western government’ or even than extent compared to other governments in the wizarding world though as of writing this i really haven’t fleshed that out.

but fudge is only the head of one branch of government even though he’s the head of state. but beyond that fudge is a new house. so technically it’s not disrespectful for arcturus to address fudge by his given name since arcturus is the very top of the social hierarchy. but at the same time there is a blatant disrespect considering the fact that they are in the ministers office and fudge just addressed them by their titles. it’s the fact that arcturus can do this and face no backlash that illustrates the position in society he holds.

Once he had accounted for everyone, he had summoned Lord Black engaged the wards of Black Manor making it so that no one could move beyond the perimeter of the dining room without his express permission. The silence broke at the realisation of what he had done, an eruption of indignance of complaints of how he had trapped them, Arcturus took stock of who had joined the three residents of Black Manor: Lucretia Prewett, Phineas Black, Callidora Longbottom, Cedrella Weasley, Cygnus Black, Marius Black, Narcissa and Draco Malfoy, Andromeda and Nymphodora Tonks. Merlin’s balls the state of his House, laden with Blood Traitors and the elderly and decrepit, it was disgusting.

this definitely wasn’t an original thought i had this is definitely a concept i’ve seen in fics over the years.

the duality of man guys. some of this is genuine literary analysis, some of this is just jokes, some of this is just me being like i read this concept once 10 years ago and now i’m incorporating it. some of this is just anecdotes from my life like i start waxing poetic about peafowl in chapter six.

so this is the type of thing you can expect from the directors cut it really is just my normal a/n’s but on crack and with colour coded line references. and i am writing this whether or not anyone wants to read it because i genuinely find literary analysis to be really fun but whether it sees the light of day is down to you guys as my readers letting me know if this is the type of thing you want.

and on the off chance someone who is not a reader of mine and has got this far and has decided that they want to read my fic from this:

obligatory fuck jkr for transphobia, racism, holocaust denial, anti semitism, misogyny and the rest of her sins the old bitch can do one.

[smashwolfen]

Eyyo, it's WIP Wednesday and I actually have something in the works I would like to share!

More so to see if I can actually do it but also to get practice with my nice new ink brush thing I bought the other day. There is a, hurdle, in obtaining the good Legends Arceus cards, as some of them in particular are uhhhhh... unfortunately VERY pricey for even most folks to consider buying one card a good idea coughcough SneaslerV alt art, pearl clan with ingo card, Iridas full art coughcough Or even just a card for a character doesn't exist yet!!

So I decided if I want something badly enough, I'll just, make my own unique cards!

So far the VERY rough prep and idea work on normal paper for 2 folks who DESPERATELY deserve their own full art cards.

Laventon has his own normal looking trainer card, but thats it for him. He doesnt even get new art for it either it's just the one from his release! If he had a full art card it would very much have to include the three P's. His Pokemon, Pokedex, and Potato Mochi!

Then the one I really wanted to do from the start when I had this idea a while ago, good ol' Warden Ingo, well before his appearance in V Star Universe with the Pearl Clan was shown. He may not be doing his signature pose, but he's with his Lady Sneasler doing Warden things.

Nothing exceedingly extravagant, but more so to see if I can go through and complete my ideas. These 2 will be on normal paper for now as practice with using my brush to line tiny details, and once done I'll pencil crayon them in with the colours I plan to use for my tried and true cards in the end, which will be watercoloured! That way I have a better visual for what I want the watercolours to be like!

So far my lining has been rather consistent in my first solid testing!

I decided to do my Legends OC Akiko as my first prototype card with the inking! The only thing I didn't use my brush pen for was the writing for the pokedex and the framing of the inside portion of the box, which I used a 0.05mm pen for, but literally everything else was with one tool! Along with Akikos card, I'm gonna do this tealish colour for the border of the others cards, since I used the similar colour to the "Legends" text on the title card for Legends arceus. Along with the border, im also making my own special backing of the cards im doing!

Instead of the good ol' swooshy blue backing with the cracked open pokeball we see in every card since the dawn of the TCG, these are gonna a have a Hisuian pokeball, calmly sitting in the grass with Mount Coronet in the distance! With a stylized "Pokemon" to go with it! And each back will inevitably be hand drawn!

To get an idea of why I want so much prep and practice done beforehand to the main watercoloured cards, I'm doing them to scale

They are all going to be made to be the size of the real cards themselves. Practice ones too! I gotta get good with a steady hand!! So many tiny details, so many thin lines, SO MANY WAYS TO MESS UP AND WORRY!!!

BUT

Like I said, if I want a card badly enough, I'll just make it myself! XD

Hopefully you'll all like the end results of my agonies, our boys need cards of their own, even if they're just gonna be for me XD

[chibi-pix]

Chibi Doodles!

$15 chibi commissions!

Heyo, lovelies!

So, I think I'm gonna try and finally get past my anxiety and open up to do commissions. Mama was helping me gauge prices and as a chibi can typically take one to two hours to draw, she feels $15 is reasonable.

As a note, though, while it can take me that long, it may look like it's taking longer due to other projects I have going for me or other things in life.

But, let's get going with some information, right?

To start, while you may have seen previous posts of mine, but these are examples of my chibis.

Examples!

Now, I don't know if I can legally do fan art for commissions. I don't know all the rules and conditions and whatnot for that. But I am more than happy to do OCs and even try to chibify you or a loved one.

In fact, the chibi with the bandana and pink and purple outfit is based on my sister. The green and black haired one next to her is an OC of mine. The bottom two are fan arts I've done.

Though, I possibly can do fan art. I think some commission artists do, too. Hmm.

Payment!

Payment is important. Due to a mutual hate between Paypal and myself, I am not (and kinda can not) use that. However, I am able to work with Venmo for payment.

If there are questions about other potential payment methods such as Zelle, feel free to ask me.

The price also covers ONE (1) chibi, fully coloured and lightly shaded (I think that's what people call cell shading?). If you are wanting two chibis together, we will need to talk about that to figure out pricing.

The Process!

It starts out simple. You contact me in messages. Easy. And you inquire about a character/person and send references. Picture references are preferable for me to work from.

From there, I can work on the base of it. Now, this is equivalent, to me, to what people call a sketch. For my works, it's like these examples.

And I will show you the base.

If you request specifically for me to not show you the base so you can be surprised by the end result, I will try to remember to oblige. Otherwise, by default, I will show you the base.

From there, I will line, colour, and shade the chibi.

You can choose to have a solid background (white or coloured) or transparent background.

You can also choose to have a "scenery" circle (seen in the completed examples) behind them or not.

If the scenery circle is chosen, please specify or give an idea of what you'd like and I can talk with you to see if that is within my ability.

All chibis are saved as a PNG file.

When I am done, I will inform you. It is then that I would accept payment; after the payment is received, I will send you your chibi.

You can choose to have your chibi sent here or to your email. If sent to email, please be sure to provide it.

Will and Will Not Draw!

Like many artists, there are things I will and will not draw.

This section is subject to change as needed.

Will draw:

Original characters

chibis based from photos (within reason)

Minimal nudity (butts and breasts; if you request this, for safety reasons, I will prefer to email you the results)

Minimal blood

Will NOT draw:

Full gore

Explicit nudity (genitals)

Overly detailed things.

These chibis are small and simple. Extremely tiny details are not easy; I will consider, if asked, to simplify, though.

May consider drawing:

These are things I may consider; please talk to me about them first.

Animals

Furries (I am not skilled, but I can attempt)

Some mech and armour (again, not skilled, but I can attempt depending on what is asked of me)

If you have any further questions about what I can and cannot/will not draw, please feel free to message me about them. And again, I do not know of the legalities of drawing fan art of existing fandom characters for profit. So, I don't know how to go about that.

The Recap!

So! Let's recap and summarize.

Payments are through Venmo.

Chibis cost $15 each.

A base WIP will be sent before continuing.

Payment is needed before I send the final product.

Refer to the list and ask any questions needed as to what I will and won't draw.

If you're unsure of something or curious, feel free to ask. It never hurts to ask.

This post and all guidelines and such are subject to change as needed.

As a final note. I am NOT obligated to accept every person who commissions me. I do not have to justify myself as to why I am declining the commission request.

Added note!

Due to existence outside of the computer, I do apologize if I do not respond right away. I may sometimes not be responsive due to being away with errands or sleeping. These things may also affect art timing. So, please be patient with me if I do not respond instantaneously.

Feel free to directly message me here on Tumblr. Or on discord, username " chibipixmama " about chibis, whether you're ordering or have questions.

If needed, you can contact me at chibipix@gmail.com, too.

With all that said and done, hopefully this is good enough and goes well.

Thank you for checking this post out and maybe I'll see y'all!

Until then!

[avatarskywalker78]

It's Work-in-Progress Wednesday and I have stuff to share!! First something from a new WIP even though I said I wasn't going to start any until I'd finished some but it turns out that's not how it works. The premise is this; in July of 2015, an interdimensional portal opens above Earth-3 and a man falls out, apparently dead of a gunshot wound to the chest - only when Jay Garrick gets him to the hospital he promptly bursts into blue flames and heals himself. Two weeks later, he wakes up, but he can't remember anything at all. Not his name or his history or - more importantly - how he got shot. Aside from strange dreams of lightning, everything is a blank - and yet when Jay talks about speedsters and superheroes it all seems strangely familiar...

Part of him has been hoping his appearance would spark something, even if it was just a snippet, but no such luck - blonde-ish hair, blue-eyed, square-jawed, about five-ten... Yeah, him and about 12 million others. He doesn't even have a cool scar or a birthmark - instead he's just...well, average looking, really. The blond hair is a little jarring, like he's not used to it being blond - maybe I dyed it, he thinks, but for the life of him he can't remember what colour. It's a minor point, given he doesn't remember anything else about his life, but it bugs him just the same. His clothes don't yield any clues either. Admittedly his t-shirt is gone - bloodstained with a bullet hole through it, so it was unsalvagable - but apparently that was a light blue. There's some black jeans and white sneakers but no accessories or anything, no pendants or bracelets or rings, so presumably he's unmarried...again, it's average. He's a single white American man with a boring taste in clothes. Yeah, that really narrows it down.

(This is titled the 'Thawne amnesia fic' but to be honest I feel like it's obvious which one this is so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ like it turns out this isn't going to be the core mystery in this fic)

I also wrote some more for my 'Tory is a Barnes' AU - this bit is from Mike's POV and he's having one of the worst times of his life.

A father was supposed to protect his children - it was, in fact, thier main purpose. He'd failed abysmally, and the guilt threatened to choke him as it wound its away around his heart - nothing would ever, ever erase the image of his little girl lying in a hospital bed with bandages on her body and bruising on her face. Everything he'd done to try to protect his children from Cobra Kai and they'd still gotten caught up in it. It made him want to hit something. Or someone. Johnny Lawrence, mainly, because the stupid bastard had brought back Cobra Kai for god knew what reason - teaching kids how to be confident? Bullshit. The moment those students of his played dirty in the AVT he should've stepped up and de-escalated things. Instead he'd done the opposite, brought Kreese of all people back and it had spiralled from there - finding out from his kids just how bad it had gotten was appalling. Hearing about Daniel LaRusso- God, he'd long felt guilty about all that, caught between wanting to reach out and apologise and not wanting to trigger the guy again, but he couldn't help but wonder how much he was to blame for this, for Daniel acting like he had. It couldn't all be about his beef with Lawrence, could it? And Mike had never known the extent of Silver's mind games - that wasn't what he'd been paid for - but between that and Mike's tormenting it must've fucked the guy up- It was perhaps a moot point. What had happened had happened, and in the end people were responsbile for their own decisions. Now Miyagi-Do was probably gonna be shut down, and Cobra Kai...well,he doubted Lawrence would stick around, which left Kreese... The paranoid old bastard who would probably try and bring his niece back into the fold.

Tagging (let me know if you want to be added or removed): @shrinkthisviolet @starstruckpurpledragon @forchrissy @dream-beyond-the-fantasy

[sparkywrites25]

Hi, I know people oftenly compare Rivetra to Levihan but I’m a fan of Hange soooo I don’t really like their fights 😭😭 what if a Rivetra au where in Levi introduces Petra to his friends and then Hange started crushing on her and Levi is just so annoyed and jealous because Petra’s obliviously reciprocating Hange’s flirts

Hi hi! I am so sorry that this was so late but I kept starting it and changing my mind about what I wrote. I was also waffling on way too much and, honestly, if I'd have let myself, and didn't already have a million WIPs, I could have easily turned this into a chaptered piece. It did turn out rather different than planned though but I hope you're okay with this.

I really love the idea and I absolutely support you in that I don't like seeing shippers fight over ships. Rivetra and Levihan are both awesome. As are most Levi ships, let's be honest.

---------

Summary: Levi tries to bury his jealousy when his new friend Petra is getting on swimmingly with Hange. But a game of laser tag leads to some interesting revelations.

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Petra Ral

Taglist: @youre-ackermine @lunar-rainclouds @captain-natey

Notes: If you like my work and want to see more then please join my taglist. Form is pinned on my blog.

“Leeeviiiii, Petraaaaaa!!!” Hange’s greeting bounced all across the bowling alley parking lot as they jumped up and down, arms wafting through the air like those of a windmill. 

Levi clicked the lock on his car keys, the answering click of the vehicle almost drowned out by Hange’s echoing voice. He pocketed the keys and reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. They were giving him the beginnings of a headache already. He could feel it beginning to sprout up between his eyes. 

“Yoohoo!!!” Hange continued as if a dozen people weren’t already staring at the spectacle they were making of themselves. “Come on slowpokes. We’ve got asses to kick! Right baby?!” they yelled. Levi didn’t have to ask who they were shouting at now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Petra laughing and waving back at the messy brunette. 

“Too right!” Petra cupped her hands around her mouth and called back as she and Levi headed over to where the group was meeting. “We’re gonna smash them!” 

“Damn straight we are!” Hange cackled back, equally as loudly. Some of the stares in their direction were turning to glares now, Levi observed. Hange really needed to grasp the concept of not showing themself up by being so loud. He and Petra were closing in on the group within seconds now. 

Irritation gnawed away at him as he looked between Hange and Petra’s laughing faces. He hated the feeling because he knew it made no sense, that he had no right to it. Petra could laugh and play around with whoever she wanted. It shouldn’t bother him. He’d wanted her to get along with his friends, hadn’t he? So why was he this annoyed that she had? Even Hange, for all their lack of volume control, was not irritating enough for him to want to keep Petra away from them all the time. They were an acquired taste to be sure but even so, their  relentlessly enthusiastic interactions with Petra grated on his nerves. 

“Bold words,” Erwin greeted, his voice carrying naturally without feeling the need to project himself across the parking lot. Dressed in his usual favourite colours - a baby blue short-sleeved shirt and beige shorts - he looked as friendly and harmless as he intended to look. It was all a front of course. Levi had seen the man plan many times by now and he couldn’t fault the man’s talent for still being underestimated despite repeatedly thrashing other people. That charming smile and enchanting blue eyes really did wonders for the man. Or he was just a natural-born deceiver. That was equally possible too. “But we’ll soon see who is going to be laughing at the end.”

“Not many,” Levi quipped, eyeing the rainbow psychedelic monstrosity that was Hange’s shirt, “judging by the headache that everyone’s gonna get from Hange’s shirt. Is that your latest strategy?” he mused. 

Hange grabbed their shirt and held it out with a puffed up chest and a grin. “Wha-? This ol’ thing? Of course not!” They declared in mock-outrage, only to grin at Petra almost instantly afterward which provoked a laugh out of the shorter, red-haired woman. 

“As if you’d ever do something like that, Hange,” Petra teased affectionately. As soon as Petra was close enough, Hange slung an arm around her shoulders and began to walk towards the entrance with her. Behind them, Miche and Nanaba followed, their hands linked quietly. Moblit and Nifa brought up the rear with Levi and Erwin. 

“I guess Hange had Skittles for fucking breakfast again,” Levi grumbled quietly.

“You can scoff,” Erwin answered. “But I saw them doing just that this morning. Quite a sizable bowl too.”

“Jesus fucking christ.”

Levi’s attention lingered on Petra as she snuggled into Hange’s arm, chatting animatedly with the brunette as they left the rising heat of the parking lot. Her yellow t-shirt clung to her thin frame, rising up above her denim shorts. She wore brown sandals through which her colourfully painted toes peeked out. There was no pattern to the nails. One blue, one green and three orange sat on one foot while the other boasted a yellow, a red, a pink and two browns. Levi had long since given up on questioning Hange’s design logic. 

He himself had opted for an outfit as low-key as always; he wore a plain black t-shirt, dark jeans and boots. Miche had offered for something similarly unobtrusive - a brown t-shirt that said “Everything smells great from here”  above a picture of clouds, paired with some sandy slacks and simple flats. Nanaba contrasted brightly in her baby pink shorts and t-shirt and matching sandals. It was an unusually gentle look for her and Miche kept smiling over at her. Levi wondered how attentive Miche was going to be in the match when he couldn’t stop looking at his girlfriend. Meanwhile, Nifa and Moblit had gone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, with matching red flanel shirts. While Moblit had paired his with some ripped skinny jeans, Nifa had opted for denim shorts that showed off her newly tanned legs from her trip to Marley recently. 

———————————————

The refreshing air-conditioning wafted over the group like a wave as they all stepped inside. Rows of colourful lanes and even more colourful balls, shirts and shoes greeted them. Hange was already pointing out a good lane to book only to stop and point out another one. Moblit, despite his years of experience arguing with Hange, was discussing it with them. Levi watched Hange’s gesturing become more and more dramatic, their eyes gleaming behind their filthy glasses. Levi would be amazed if they managed to get any pins down if they were refusing to clean their glasses even for this. 

It took them about fifteen minutes to pick a lane, agree (with much reluctance on Hange’s part) that they were not doing bowling shirts today, get their shoes and some snacks and settle down at their two lanes. Hange set up the two computers so that their teams were competing. 

“Team Captain!” they declared, punching their fist in the air. They faced little opposition. Miche and Nanaba weren’t particularly concerned, nor were Moblit, Nifa, Petra or Levi. Erwin watched everyone for a moment before offering his own services. Then he made the mistake of giving Hange first selection over their teammate.

“Petraaaaaaa!” they beamed instantly. 

Levi felt his mood plummet even more and inwardly cursed himself for that reaction. So what if Hange picked Petra? This wasn’t elementary school where such choices were usually personal slights towards someone else. What’s wrong with you? You don’t own Petra. So what if she’s on Hange’s team? You don’t want to be on Hange’s team. And yet, as he mused over this, he couldn’t help but feel that Hange’s team, even with the loudness that came from the captain, held a bit more appeal now. He shut down those thoughts for now. There was no point in them, especially with the way things stood. Anyway, he wasn’t entitled to anything like that from Petra and he wasn’t chasing it either. He was just being foolish.

Erwin looked around at everyone carefully before making his selection. “Levi,” he chose finally. 

There was a relief in Erwin’s selection breaking up Levi’s thoughts although the certainty that he definitely wouldn’t be on the same team as Petra now, lingered. Even so, the promise of trying to beat Hange’s team filled him with some satisfaction. He could feel his blood pumping at the thought of beating them now. 

Hange and Petra whispered together for a moment. “Miche!” Hange announced. 

There were some raised eyebrows among everyone since normally Moblit was next to be chosen by Hange. Miche was always on Erwin’s team. Still, he smiled and went to sit next to Petra. Levi looked over towards Hange’s team and caught Petra’s surprise on her face. She grinned across at him and Levi felt his own lips tug upwards into the briefest and thinnest of smiles before he looked away from her. Hange immediately threw their arms around Miche and Petra and Levi ignored the irritation burning away in his stomach.

“Moblit,” Erwin didn’t even hesitate once Miche had taken his seat with his new team. Hange spun round with an impressed smile and Erwin shrugged. “You surely weren’t expecting me to pull any punches if poaching is the name of the game?” he challenged. 

Hange clapped their hands once. “There’s my conniving rival!” they declared.

They eyed the remaining two to be chosen - Nifa or Nanaba. Their face contorted into annoyance as they eyed the two of them. By the way their gaze continually lingered on Nifa, the short redhead was clearly the favourite. But with Miche on Hange’s team now, Nanaba would be a double asset now too. But equally having someone’s partner on the opposite team could make a player ever more competitive. Which way did you play it? Keep them motivated by having them on the same team or raise the stakes by making them serve on different teams and risk competition improving or wrecking their games. Levi could understand the principle of this. 

Although he had no partner in that sense, he was quite looking forward to competing against Hange and their team. Especially Miche. Levi pretended not to notice the amusement that tugged on his lips whenever Levi stepped up to bowl. It was even more amusing to watch that smile dip whenever Levi’s natural strength gained him a strike. 

Just as it was quite entertaining to watch Hange peruse and debate their options in their own head as a few minutes passed. It was equally so when Erwin cleared his throat and prompted Hange to make a decision. She chose Nifa and so Nanaba joined Erwin’s team and promised her new teammates that they were going to crush their opponents.

“I don’t suppose you and Miche have a secret agreement that he’ll throw the match if Hange ever snatches him?” she queried with a grin. 

Erwin chuckled. “That would be poor sportsmanship,” he chided her although there was no real firmness in his tone. “But had I such an agreement with me, it would count for nothing now that you’re on our team instead.”

Levi huffed with a slight smirk. “Yeah he’s not gonna lose face in front of you,” he remarked and Nanaba chuckled, running a hand over her face. 

“Ahh well, I guess we’ll just have to play fair then,” she mock-complained and took one of the seats. “All right then, let’s take ‘em down.”

———————————————

Despite the teams switch up, the groups were still relatively evenly matched. Levi and Miche proved to be the better players on their respective teams. Erwin provided solid advice  to his teammates on maximizing the scores if they didn’t get a strike. Hange provided similar tips for their team although whenever they stepped up onto the lane, they played rather gung ho and their balls constantly slammed down on the lanes before they rolled. Moblit turned out to be something of a dark horse whenever he stepped up to bowl. He was a master at securing half-strikes each time even without Erwin’s tips.

“Hange, I don’t really want to be paying for any damage,” Erwin called over to them when one ball landed with a particularly deafening crack that had several members of staff looking over. Hange, to their credit, held up a hand in apology before continuing on with their game. 

Strategy-aside, Erwin was a considerably good player himself. He made a lot of good shots although his determination to play around with angles and muse over how much arm strength to commit poked continually at Levi’s patience. 

Petra herself wasn’t a bad player either although on most of her turns, Hange stepped up to speak to her. Levi would watch them gesture and enthuse about something or other. At one point they wrapped their arms around Petra and demonstrated posture and technique. As if the woman had never bowled before or been part of a winning team. More irksome was the fact that Petra seemed to let her. She laughed and patted Hange’s cheek then hugged her whenever their advice actually paid off. 

Levi knew it shouldn’t bother him but despite that logic, it did. Knowing that just left him feeling even more pissed off. So he focused on what he could control which was his own performance (as well as pointing out things that his teammates were doing wrong). Making quips whenever “the great Erwin” got less than a half strike as well as suggesting to Nanaba and Moblit that they imagine Miche and Hange’s heads on the pins did make for comfortable distractions though.

Regrettably Hange’s team claimed the first victory and then a second victory after lunch which consisted of fast food that Levi considered too fast to justify being cooked properly. Even so, he ate his meal for energy if nothing else. 

After lunch, Nanaba suggested they opt for something a bit more aggressive, throwing a smirk Miche’s way as she did. A lot of eyes lit up when she suggested laser tag. Even Levi had no objections to the prospect of taking aim at people and adding points to the team collection. Especially if it meant wiping Hange’s bragging smile of their beaming face. 

Hange drove Petra, Nifa. Moblit and Nanaba to the laser quest hall while Erwin drove Levi and Miche. The car journey was perfectly peaceful without Hange shouting and pointing at everything and punching people whenever they saw a yellow car. However the drive was not without it’s nuisances. This one came in the form of a very tall, blue eyed busybody in the driver’s seat. 

“You know, Levi,�� Erwin remarked as he navigated them around a roundabout, “I hate it to say it but you’re going to need to act faster this time.”

“Excuse me?” Levi grumbled from the back seat. Even Miche shot Erwin a curious look. 

“Speed doesn’t guarantee a win in bowling,” he remarked in some confusion. 

“I’m not talking about bowling,” Erwin explained and raised his eyes to meet Levi’s in the rear view mirror. “I’m talking about getting Petra on your team,”  he told Levi. 

Levi’s grumpiness quickly transformed into a scowl. “Did I say I wanted her on our team?”

“You didn’t have to,” Erwin replied. “The look you gave Hange’s team after Petra joined. Thankfully looks don’t kill or we’d be burying Hange soon enough,” he continued. He smiled and Levi wanted to punch it, to knock that smug look right off his face. 

“I was glaring at Hange because they’re too fucking loud,” Levi lied. 

“They’re always too fucking loud,” Miche laughed. “Today you were giving death rays out with those eyes of yours.”

“Smell that did you?” Levi grumbled. 

Miche shrugged and gave the air a sniff. 

“Please, Levi,” Erwin interjected as he pulled off the highway onto a quieter road that led to the outskirts of Mitras, “let’s not dance this dance. You care deeply about Petra.”

“That’s because we’re friends. Presumably you care about your friends, Eyebrows.” Levi argued. 

“I don’t get grumpy when my friends get flirty with other people.”

“I told you-”

“Spare me the lies,” Erwin sighed. “There’s no shame in liking someone, Levi. I don’t know why you’re fighting this so much.”

“You know, just because you think you can read into my head doesn’t mean that you can,” Levi folded his arms. “There’s a word for what you’re doing, you know.” He remarked, tilting his head slowly as if realizing something. “You know what… yeah, I think that’s exactly what you’re doing,” Levi’s tone turned taunting at once. “And you accuse me of lying.”

Erwin’s shoulders tightened a little. “If I knew what you were talking about, I might be able to answer that.”

“You’re projecting, Eyebrows. This is about Hange,” Levi pointed out. 

Miche snorted and side-eyed Erwin. “Is it your turn to play denial?” he asked. 

Erwin’s grip on the steering wheel had strengthened. “I’m not denying my feelings for Hange,” he finally said after a significant pause. “But I can admit it, unlike some of us. This isn’t about me not facing up to that.” He looked back at Levi in the mirror again. “I can’t project what I’m willing to acknowledge.”

Levi’s lips tightened and he exhaled through them thinly. “However I feel about Petra, that’s my business.” Levi kept his answer sharp. He averted his gaze to the window and watched the city thinning out into suburbs quickly. “Anyway I know a lost cause when I see one,” he mumbled, “even if I did have those kinds of feelings for her.”

Miche was back to looking confused again. “Why?” he looked over his shoulder at Levi before the shorter man’s meaning began to land on him. “You think Petra’s flirting with Hange for real?” he questioned. “I don’t know about that. Hange’s leading the way in flirting with her but I don’t know if Petra’s into it.”

“There’s only one way to find out for sure,” Erwin cut into the conversation once again, causing Levi to roll his eyes. 

“Let me guess. Wear my heart on my sleeve and see if she bites? Worst case scenario, I get my pride stamped but hey it’s all just personal growth right?” Levi drawled. “If that’s what you’re gonna suggest then that would be some pretty shitty advice, Erwin.”

“You’re right. That would be bad advice,” Erwin agreed, not taking his eyes off the road now as the speed limit lowered. “You should credit me with more sound judgment than that,” he added. “All you need to do is see if she’s interested in Hange. What happens next is up to you?”

Miche let out a short laugh. “You manipulative bastard.” Erwin glanced at his friend with a frown and, from the backseat, Levi scoffed too. 

“So I find out Hange’s situation for you at the same time?” the raven-haired man questioned. “Yeah, this definitely sounds like a you plan.”

“It has to be better than you stewing over there like a poisonous mushroom not knowing Petra wants to be with Hange or not,” Erwin argued. He slowed down once more as a sign for the laser quest hall appeared. He steered the car into a left turn, into a large retail park. In the middle of which, the laser hall was marked by a scarlet hall and the word LaserQ hanging in rainbow lettering above the roof. “But if you’d prefer to stew, that’s your business?”

“You’re assuming, in all this, that I actually fancy Petra,” Levi grumbled quietly. 

“If you want to stay in denial, Levi, that’s your business,” Erwin shrugged and pulled into a parking space.

Levi said nothing, abandoning the discussion in favour of leaving the car and waiting for Hange’s arrival which was not a long wait considering the speed at which they entered the retail park and swung into an empty spot a few spaces from Erwin’s. The parking lot for the retail park in general was fairly empty today, Levi noticed. Unusually so. Still, if it meant less of a cue and less screaming kids to contend with while waiting for their slot then all the better. 

“How do you still have a license?” he quipped as Hange and the others joined them. 

“I’ve been asking them that for years,” Moblit chuckled, shaking his head at Hange. “You drive like a maniac.”

“Like a maniac?” Levi smirked over at Hange. “They are a maniac.”

“And proud of it,” Hange snapped their fingers into a finger gun at Levi. “The world needs some good maniacs in the world. You’ll be thanking me when I make significant scientific advancements in pharmaceuticals.” They declared, chin raised high in determination. “I’m coming for you, Common Cold!” they added, pointing ahead of them. 

Petra fell into step beside Levi, shooting him a serene smile as she did. “I expect your ride was quieter.”

“You’d think,” Levi mumbled, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, “except I had Erwin yapping some life advice at me for the whole journey.”

Petra laughed again. The sound made Levi’s chest feel less constricted. It filled his eardrums with pleasantness. “That’s pretty deep for a Saturday afternoon,” she mused. “What was he trying to advise you on?”

“Just some general decision-making,” Levi answered with a shrug. “I can’t say his advice was that helpful.”

“Maybe you should pretend that it was,” Petra snickered, “otherwise he’ll keep trying.”

Levi huffed out a small laugh. “That’s not a terrible idea.”

Yet even as they continued their walk towards the laser tag hall, Levi couldn’t help but reflect on Erwin’s advice and the opportunity he now had to ask Petra about Hange. Hange was hanging onto Miche and Erwin up ahead while Moblit, Nifa and Nanaba were discussing game tactics just behind them. He could stop Petra for a few moments and ask.

He could do. It wasn’t the worst advice that Levi had ever received. It was fucking awkward though because then it invited the question of why he was interested in the first place. If he played it off as curiosity then she might smell a rat anyway. It wasn’t like he usually sought out any gossip about other people’s relationships. He, honestly, couldn’t spare the interest and the time to waste on such things. Which left very few plausible possibilities left and generally they lingered far too close to a result that he wasn’t going to like. That awkward rejection. After all, Levi considered himself a good reader of people. He was fairly adept at getting the measure of people and he was sure that if Petra did feel something then surely she’d have shown something of it by now. She wasn’t like him, a hider of emotions. She wore hers in a way that Hange would call “healthy compared to Levi”. So that only left the conclusion that Petra only saw him as a friend. 

With that in mind, why would he want to draw attention to it and make their friendship uncomfortable. Surely his feelings would eventually disappear. He would learn to ignore them. Better that than living with perpetual remembrance and awkwardness. So, no, he didn’t need to hold her back for a conversation about that. He could live with things like this and leave that unspoken. It was unusual for Erwin to not account for that when he gave Levi the advice although perhaps that just wasn’t something that would concern him.

“Are you all right?” Petra’s question surprised him out of his own inner monologuing. 

“Yeah,” he semi-lied. “Just enjoying the quiet while I can.”

Petra laughed softly. “Yeah, not a bad call. I love Hange to bits but they should really come with volume control.”

“Or a mute button.”

“Don’t be mean,” Petra elbowed him a little. “You don’t need to pretend that you don’t like them. They’re one of your best friends.”

“I can care and still think that they’re noisy as fuck,” Levi quipped as the pair of them walked through the doors into the facility. 

“Better hope they’re not on your team then,” Petra teased. 

Levi cringed as he imagined Hange’s tendency to whoop alerting the enemy to their whereabouts. “I can only pray for that,” he muttered. 

Petra laughed once more as they quickened their pace to join the others who were gathering at the counter. 

Hange was already talking with Erwin who briefly caught Levi’s eye for a moment. “As you and I were both team captains last time, Hange, perhaps others can take those roles this time,” he suggested quickly. Levi buried the satisfaction that was attempting to show itself on his face. If Hange wasn’t captain, they couldn’t choose their team members.

“Yeah, okay,” Hange agreed and stepped to one side with a grin. “So who wants it?”

There was a scattering of conversation between them all before Nifa raised her hand as did Petra, to Levi’s surprise. He eyed her with one slightly raised brow and it lifted even higher when she winked at him before looking away and gesturing for Nifa to make her selection first. 

“Hange!” Nifa pointed dramatically at the brunette who cackled and did a victory dance on the spot. 

“Dream team alert!” Hange declared before bouncing over to Nifa like a hyperactive five-year-old. 

Levi fought back an eye-roll and prayed that Nifa wouldn’t make him her second selection. He focused on Petra who was gazing around thoughtfully at everyone. Then, her attention snapped to Levi in a second. “Levi,” she declared. 

His heart did a strange motion in his chest and he pushed down the feeling, chiding himself for being ridiculous. He did, however, lean in to Petra’s ear as he stepped up next to her. “Appreciate it,” he murmured. She chuckled softly. 

Nanaba joined Nifa’s team next and Erwin joined Petra’s. Moblit was selected for the final member of Nifa’s team while Miche joined Team Petra. 

Hange evaluated Petra’s team as they all began to put on their battle vests. Petra’s team was lit up in purple light while Nifa’s team was lit up in green. Hange quickly unfastened their hair from the ponytail then shoved it all up again into one that was - to Levi’s frustration - even messier. “Y’all are going down in ways you can’t even fathom yet,” they cackled as they finished their own straps and began to help Nifa with hers despite the girl’s laughing insistence that she could manage. Levi was quite convinced at this point that Hange was just incapable of staying still. 

“We’ll see about that. You’re not the only strategist in the room, Hange,” Miche fired back with a smile. 

“No, but I’d watch your back. Who says he won’t throw one of you to the wolves to protect his own score?” Hange teased, wriggling their eyebrows. 

Moblit eyed them with some suspicion. “You jumped to that strategy awfully quickly.”

Nifa laughed. “Okay maybe don’t get too close to Hange guys!”

“Hey! I would never!” Hange slammed a hand over their heart exaggeratedly. “Tut tut tut, such little faith in your comrade.”

“That’s not exactly something that you would never do,” Moblit smirked at them. “I still remember the February 2021 incident.”

“I apologized for dislocating your shoulder,” Hange pouted with folded arms. “And I was not pushing you in front of me! That kid, Stephen, was all lined up to hit you. I just got carried away in moving you,” they recalled. 

“You think?” Moblit laughed and slung an arm around Hange. They leaned into his hug with a grin. 

“I feel like that is gonna be on your tombstone, Hange,” Nifa said in a loving voice. “They got carried away.”

Hange’s grin seemed to stretch even wider. “That would be a fun - and apt - epitaph for me. Although Saviour of Mankind from the Common Cold would also be good too.”

Laughter bubbled through the group as they stepped into their teams so that the attendant could lead them inside their room. 

“Good luck,” Nifa and Petra declared and shook hands. 

They were led into a darkened arena with multi-coloured lights projecting on different areas. Across the middle of the floor rose many tall walls, some of which had holes cut into them of various shapes. Lines of thin little lights illuminated the pathways around the walls. 

The two groups stared down at the layout as they began to descend the stairs leading into it. Nifa’s team walked ahead. Petra slowed down so that her team was held back a bit. Concentration burned across Petra’s eyes as she stared down at the arena. Beyond her, Levi could see Hange’s eyes scanning over it all. He didn’t doubt for a moment that they would memorize at least most of it with their impressive memory. They may be a noise nuisance but their intelligence was not to be underestimated here.

He focused on looking back at Petra who was slowly stepping down, observing as much of the set up as she could. He could see her lips pressing into a thin frown as she did. “Hey,” he said quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder, “just do your best. We’ll figure it out.”

“Yes, don’t worry. They only change the layout a finite number of times,” Erwin added as he leaned over Levi’s shoulder. “We’ve probably played in this one recently.”

Petra nodded and was silent for a moment before she exhaled. “Thanks guys.”

“I’ll be able to sniff those guys out no problem,” Miche added and Petra laughed softly. 

“There’s perks to having a sniffer dog,” Levi muttered and heard Miche huff out what sounded like a laugh. 

“Okay teams, take up positions,” the attendant called once they’d all reached the bottom. She pointed to a gigantic clock on the wall, glaring down with red light. “When the timer starts, the game begins and points will begin to count. You have three minutes to get yourselves into positions,” she added. 

Now that they were on ground level, everything in the arena rose up imposingly. The two teams began to move out along different pathways, spreading themselves over the space. Levi hurried swiftly along several paths before ducking behind a short wall that jutted out on two sides, providing excellent over. He crouched down and pointed his gun up, ready for anyone that might use common sense to check this space. He listened to the shuffling of feet as teammates and rivals similarly found spots in which to hide or launch their attacks. Staring up at the scoreboard that had now appeared below the clock, he tightened his grip on his gun. 

“Woohoo! Let’s go!” Hange cheered.

“Shut up!” Levi heard Nifa hiss although there was a giggle in her voice. 

He refocused on the clock again. 60 minutes was frozen to the screen. He steadied his breathing, waiting for that number to shift. 

Come on. Come on. 

59:59

There was a scuffle of movement from all sides and almost instantly Levi heard the first sounds of shots being fired followed by increasingly hurried footsteps moving around the arena. Here, there and everywhere they ran. He looked in the different directions, trying to focus on the immediate threat. His senses snapped into place, focusing on those noises nearest to him. His body stiffened and, tightening his grip, he remained in a crouch, waiting with baited breath. 

He rolled his eyes as Hange’s triumphant cheer accompanied a grunt of disappointment from Miche. However Hange’s cry soon turned into a yell as their vest beeped with the sound of a hit. By the sounds of the feet hurrying away, Levi would guess that Erwin had landed a hit. 

A blur of green light rushed past Levi’s spot and he wasted no time in opening fire. Moblit stumbled to a stop as his vest announced his hit. He glanced back at Levi and then rushed off again. Levi instantly moved away from his hiding place and crept around a corner. There was a long stretch of unattended space so he hurried along it. At the last second, Nifa jumped out and fired at him. He leapt aside just in time and took a shot at her. It missed and she darted down another path. He began to pursue when the hairs on the back of his neck tingled. He spun around only for Hange’s shot to hit him in the chest. 

Hange cackled and threw up their hands in the air in victory. Suddenly their vest lit up again and they turned around, fuming when they saw Petra appear behind them. “Traitor!” they exclaimed in mock outrage before rushing off once more. 

Petra grinned and strode up to Levi. “All’s fair in laser tag,” she called back to Hange. 

“Nice shot.” Levi said, pushing her back out of the line of sight they were stood in. He cast a glance up at the scoreboard which proclaimed that Petra’s team were ahead by ten points so far. However the sound of another blast quickly brought Nifa’s team up another ten points, signaling a draw. “Come on,” Levi urged Petra to follow him down a diagonal path that cut across the arena. 

They made it down the path and along another before they rounded the corner and came face to face with Nanaba who opened fire with a grin. Petra cursed, laughing, as she was hit but Levi dodged and fired squarely at Nanaba’s chest. 

“Nice one,” Nanaba smirked before dashing off down the way Levi and Petra had come. 

Petra and Levi quickly made their way up the path, with Levi following behind Petra in side-steps, keeping his eyes on anyone who might come up behind them. As they reached the corner, Petra looked around and raised her gun as blaster fire sounded. Across the room, at the opposing corner, Moblit was opening fire. The pair of them dodged each other with nimble side-steps. Levi stepped in next to Petra and joined in. As Moblit stepped side, he fell into Petra’s line of fire and she got him square in the chest. 

Petra cheered before her own vest lit up. She spun around to see Nanaba facing her back the way she’d come. The tall blonde took a shot at Levi who immediately began to pursue her. She laughed and darted away. Grinning, Petra began to chase down Moblit. Halfway down that path, another one opened out and Nifa sprung out firing her shots. 

Petra dodged but one of them managed to hit her and she playfully cursed. “Damn you ninja!” she cried out. Nifa gave her a grin back and half-bowed before scurrying off towards where Moblit had been, only to back away when Erwin appeared in the corner instead. “No, no!” she cried out as he opened fire on her and got her in the gun. 

“Vengeance is mine!” Hange roared from somewhere behind Erwin and he turned with a smile, opening fire on wherever Hange was. 

Petra gave chase to Nifa who ran into Levi as soon as she was able to shoot again. He shot her in her chest and she complained again and dashed off. 

Levi and Petra glanced up at the scoreboard now. 

Team Petra: 200  Team Nifa: 190

“It’s gonna be close,” Petra panted. Despite the fact that running wasn’t allowed, everyone was moving at a quick enough pace to tax themselves. 

“You okay?” Levi asked, turning his back and aiming his gun at the sound of nearby movement. Hange appeared at the end of that pathway and he shot at their back. They immediately flipped him off and he smirked back, watching them flee the behemoth that was Miche. 

“I’m good,” Petra told him and readied her own gun. 

She set off again, taking turn after turn, quickly growing suspicious when she didn’t run into anybody for a few minutes. She spun around, keeping her gun level. She jumped over a cylindrical obstacle and, as she was in the air, she spotted a familiar blonde head crouched nearby. She reached the corner and saw Nanaba with her back to her, crouched behind a low barrier and firing across a space at Erwin who was also ducking behind a barrier. Neither of them found it particularly easy with their height. 

Crouching low herself and keeping her body mostly hidden around the corner, Petra angled her gun towards Nanaba and, after a moment adjusting her precision, shot her in the back. Nanaba swore and fell forward from the shock. Petra rose up and backed away with a smile until her back hit a gun. She turned around with a yelp and Nifa grinned as she fired into Petra’s chest. 

“Nice shootin’,” Nifa teased and raced around Petra. She began opening fire on Erwin only to yelp when her vest took a hit. “Damn you Miche!” she laughed. 

Petra hurried back down the path she came down and then took one to the right. Halfway down that path, a hand reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into a small space, boxed off on three sides. She opened her mouth to point out the no-contact rule but Levi raised a finger to his lips and pointed towards the entrance to their spot with his gun. 

Petra was about to say that she didn’t hear anyone behind her but seconds later, Hange appeared and Levi fired as soon as they spotted Levi and Petra. 

“Damn you, Levi!” Hange cried out. Even so they grinned like a hyena and ran off cackling, making Levi instantly torn between suspicion and exasperation with Hange’s manic ways. Did they know someone else was coming along or were they just being insane as always? He stepped in front of Petra automatically.

“Levi,” she murmured but he hushed her. 

He stepped back, lightly pressing her against the back of the space with his back. Petra’s hand dropped from the gun, instinctively touching Levi’s side. She felt his taut muscles pressing lightly against her chest. She felt the movement of his body as he breathed and a flicker of pleasure shot through her like lightening. This close to him she breathed in the subtle aroma of his aftershave mixed with the ever-so-slight tinge of tea. The back hairs of his undercut were millimeters from her face. An odd thought that she could lean in and press her lips to his neck with very little effort came to her and so her already heating cheeks inflamed even more. She suddenly found herself with the itch to reach up and play with the longer strands of his hair. She pushed that urge away - she was getting good at such things by now. 

Her mind wandered, praying that nobody did come along to disturb this moment, that she could keep Levi here against her like this. There was no Hange to play along with and distract herself with now. There was no big group to hide the glances she gave Levi. There was no one she could gently nudge into telling her more about Levi. There was literally nothing between her and Levi and her heart recognized that, pulsing hard in her chest. Her brain was sending dizzying sensations all over her body in collaboration with her pounding heart. She wanted to kiss that jawline, to make her way up to those lips. She wanted to feel his arms around her, to be pressed against his lean, muscular form. She wanted her hands in his hair and to look into those perfect grey-blue eyes and see if what she felt was reflected in there. 

She wished it was as easy to hug Levi as it was to wrap her arms around Hange. She wished that she could hold Levi’s hand and snuggle into him. She loved Hange to bits and they were a dear friend but Petra desperately wanted to transfer that physical affection towards her and Levi instead. But Levi wasn’t very demonstrative about what feelings he had full stop never mind public displays of affection - if he even felt affection for her. 

Being pressed together in that space brought it all home; all the weeks of uncertainty since they’d met and never quite able to get a read on what Levi might feel. You haven’t made things easy for yourself, Ral, she mused. Yet, all the same, the situation seemed to offer itself up to her and, in those lingering seconds of silence and darkness, Petra felt every ounce of uncertainty slip away, to be replaced by sheer determination. I have to know, one way or the other. 

“Levi,” she whispered, letting her gun hang down her front from its straps. 

“Someone’s coming,” he muttered. 

To hell with this game. Petra thought as her hands took hold of Levi’s shoulders and pushed hard, turning him towards her. His head jerked around, eyes confused and annoyed as they sought out her own. Before he could object, she moved her hands and pushed him against one of their hiding spot’s thin walls. Barely a breath left him as he hit the wall. 

Petra leaned in before he could snap out some sarcastic comment or whatever. Her lips touched his in a second, soft but firm, pressing against his. He stiffened beneath her, or at least his body did. His lips seemed to relax under her touch. His eyes widened for a moment and then his lips lowered. He breathed out, moving his lips against hers with no effort to shove her off. Instead his hands, which had let his own blaster dangle between them, found her shoulders and clutched onto them. 

Seconds later, his lips began to move against hers. He was kissing her back! Euphoria and victory danced together in Petra’s chest as she leaned into Levi, feeling his hands move to the back of her head and her lower back. The sounds of hurried footsteps and blaster fire disappeared under the heavy drumming of her own heartbeat against her ribcage. 

His hand on her lower back moved to her right hip so that his arm rested at her back. His fingers on her head began to stroke her hair and Petra hummed into the kiss quietly. 

He held her like she was precious. Like they were in a real war zone right now and he just had to keep her safe. He stepped forward and, for a moment, Petra expected to be pushed off. Instead he turned them so it was her with her back to a wall and it was Levi’s body protecting hers. She gasped a little and pulled away only for his hand on her head to move to cup her cheek instead. She lifted her soft amber eyes to his and began to smile up at him. He brought a finger up to touch her lips. 

Behind Levi, a figure rushed past their hiding spot, apparently too intent on where they were running to or from to notice two hits they could have landed just not. But even so, right now Petra wasn’t concerned about hits or scores or hiding. Her thoughts lingered on the feel of Levi’s mouth on hers and how much she wanted to feel it again. 

She reached her hand up to cup his cheek and jaw, pulling his face back towards hers again. He leaned in a little and they were kissing again and everything was sweet and simple. The world beyond them blurred into the darkness they hid in and Petra’s hands held his sides, their guns pressed against each other in a clatter of plastic. 

The sound snapped Levi out of the kiss and for a moment he appeared dazed, looking into Petra’s eyes and then down at the guns. The remembrance of where they were seemed to hit them at once. Petra glanced up at the scoreboard and then the time above it. 

35:27

Nifa’s team score was 60 points higher than theirs. Petra remembered that she was supposed to be the captain of this team after all. 

Levi’s hands gently moved to cover hers, his eyes staring into hers for a moment. “We need to-”

“-get back to the game,” Petra finished for him. He stepped back from her and regret filled her chest at the absence of him. However, she stamped it out with the reminder that their teammates needed them and 35 minutes was not really a lot of time to unpack what had just happened and still try and win the game. 

Levi nodded and picked up his gun. “Ready?”

Her head was still in a daze but Petra concentrated on the part that was still thinking logically. “You go one way, I’ll go the other,” she said. Already, Levi moving away was forcing her mind to clear which could only be good for their team in the long run. But they would talk about this. They had to. 

The pair of them returned to the game quickly, racing through the arena and making use of obstacles and hiding places to defend themselves and launch sneak attacks. 

The scores for both teams continued to fluctuate with each team taking the lead at different points. Hange’s amused reactions were so loud that most people had a good idea of where they were. Occasionally Nanaba would cuss out either Miche or Erwin. At one point Moblit was chasing Hange down accusing them of being a maniac. Petra and Erwin chased down Nifa and Hange until Nanaba and Moblit arrived as back up. Levi took the least amount of hits and his record of hitting his targets before they could respond to his presence helped him to continue this streak. Nifa and Hange managed to ambush Miche until Levi arrived to balance things out. 

He and Petra bumped into each other only a few more times during the rest of the game. He placed a hand on her back to slip past her and, for a second, she was distracted by the tingling sensation that flowed through her. She barely managed to snap herself out of it enough to dodge Moblit’s next shot. 

Those 35 minutes flew by and with a final shot by Miche to Hange, the game was claimed by Team Petra by 10 points. 

Sometime between removing the equipment and heading for the exit, Hange slumped sleepily against the wall. There was laughter all around as Erwin lifted them into his arms and carried them out of the room. “The perils of having a big bowl of sugar for breakfast,” he remarked with a smile as Nanaba held the door open for him. Chatter lowered in volume for the sleeping Hange’s sake as the group made for the doorway. Replays of the best and worst shots were followed by ribbing about tactics and sneak attacks. 

Levi and Petra hung back from the rest of them and the dissection of the mask. They walked in silence throughout the building and across a fair stretch of the car park. 

Petra looked over at Levi with a thoughtful expression. Her lips parted as she tried to summon up something good to say in this situation but then remembered the audience of whoever was going to be in the car with them. She lowered her gaze and began to play with her fingers. Nerves crawled all over her body. This wasn’t something she wanted to sleep on or ignore until the next time they saw each other. 

Meanwhile Levi was staring ahead of him, mostly anyway. In the corner of his eye, he could see that Petra was fidgeting. He could feel unease creeping around inside him as his thoughts were dragged back to that moment in the arena - the pleasant pressure of Petra’s lips on his, twice. The way she’d held onto him. The way she looked at him. It was like she was staring into his soul and that should have been something of a red flag. It was troublesome to have someone know you so intimately wasn’t it? That’s what his childhood self and his teenage self were screaming. But something stronger and deeper inside him was saying something else. It said that Petra was different. 

Up ahead, Hange was being laid across Moblit and Nifa’s legs in the back of their car while Miche took the wheel with Nanaba next to him. Erwin turned to Levi and Petra. 

“I’ll drop you two off.” His eyes looked between the two of them, his expression unreadable. If he detected anything, he made no comment about it. Levi simply nodded and Petra murmured a quiet thank you as they both climbed into the car with Erwin. 

It was a long and mostly quiet half-hour journey back to the neighbourhood where both Levi and Petra lived. As Erwin began to pull onto a street several blocks from their apartment complex, Petra leaned in and asked him to stop. 

“We’ll be fine from here, Erwin. Thank you so much,” she insisted as Erwin slowed to a stop. 

Erwin smiled at her then at Levi. There was knowing gleam that Levi didn’t entirely like. “Okay if you’re sure. I’ll see you both soon.”

“Sure,” Levi said as he followed Petra out of the car. They waited for Erwin to drive off and Petra slowly began to walk with Levi moving quietly alongside her as she did.

“I thought we should talk about before,” Petra admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. “I don’t want this hanging over us and I just want to be honest.”

Levi fought back the emotions that were trying to show on his face. She regrets it. She thinks it was a mistake. His brain began to ramble. She’s trying to let me down gently. Well, let’s just stop that right here, shall we? Sourness flooded him. He should have pushed her off not allowed himself to wonder. This was a stupid fucking mistake. “Then just say it,” Levi shrugged, his tone hard and he hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans. Get it over with. 

Petra faltered, stopping immediately and staring at him. “You- you knew?” she asked quietly. 

Levi stopped a few paces ahead of her, his tired eyes looking back into her pretty ones. “Yeah, it’s pretty obvious,” he told her. 

Pink blossomed in her cheeks and spread over her face rapidly. “I…” she murmured as her brow pinched in annoyance, “I thought I was hiding it pretty well.”

“Well it’s crystal clear now.” 

Petra bit down on her lip. “So… I guess you don’t… I mean…” she huffed in impatience at herself. “Is this you making your point without actually saying the words? Cos I kinda need to hear you say it, Levi. I can take it. I’m an adult. You don’t need to soft-soap me on this.”

Levi fully turned to face her, unhooking his thumbs and lowering his hands by his sides. “What the fuck are you talking about?” His brows lifted and some of the sharpness of his frown softened. “You’re the one stumbling over telling me.”

Petra looked baffled. “Eh?”

Levi lost patience with this little back-and-forth. “You’re trying to tell me that you regret the kiss. Don’t pussyfoot around it, Petra.”

“I don’t regret the kiss,” Petra answered immediately, silencing Levi. “If anything I regret not kissing you sooner,” she added, her hands grasping her elbows. Caution was clear in her eyes but her lips pursed with determination. This conversation had to happen one way or another.

It was Levi’s turn to wear confusion all over his face. “But you like Hange.” As he said the words, his mind was already flashing through images of the two of them together and the way it had made his stomach burn to watch that easy affection, to feel resentment for the fact that that affection wasn’t being displayed to him. He had tried to logic his way out of such thoughts and when that didn’t work, burial was always something he had made a half-decent job of. Now he was stood here being told that he’d gotten it wrong?

“I love Hange,” Petra agreed, “as a friend.” She began to smile again although he could see some unease gathering in those perfect amber eyes of hers.

Levi pursed his lips. A feeling of utter stupidity began to weigh down on him. He should have considered that this was just an affectionate thing between Petra and Hange. Hange was always hanging off their friends and hugs were their favourite way of greeting. He couldn’t remember them ever flirting with any of them though. Well, perhaps Erwin and Moblit but honestly those felt more like play than anything else. Of course, clearly his detection for such things wasn’t as good as it could be so perhaps he was just wrong about that too.

“Does Hange know that?” The question was not the thing Levi had intended to ask and yet it slipped out far easier than anything else he was thinking about asking. 

Petra lifted her shoulders a little then lowered them as her smile widened. “If it comes up, I’ll put them straight.” She stepped closer to Levi. “I’m more interested in you… how you feel about me,” she confessed. “I’ve liked you a lot since the day we met at your mother’s garden party. Since we spent the whole afternoon talking,” she recollected with a reminiscent smile. 

“The afternoon that you mostly spent talking,” Levi retorted although his lips twitched into a smile. 

“You could have walked away. You’ve never been shy of doing that before,” Petra began to grin. 

“I never said I was bored listening to you.”

Petra shifted from one foot to another, tilting her head with a bolder smile. “You let me kiss you again.”

“I never said I didn’t like you kissing me, either.” Levi argued. 

“I guess there’s a lot that you’ve never said,” Petra mused, stepping even closer now, lowering her arms so they were almost chest to chest. “I’d much rather listen to what you do have to say,” she told him. “Because I don’t make a habit of crossing that line and I just really need to know if there’s something there for you too or… if I just need to forget this.”

Levi lifted his hand and inched his fingers towards her face until they slid over her smooth, round cheek. The words he wanted to say but had struggled with for so long rose to his throat as if summoned by some spell-caster. He leaned in a little until their noses were touching. “I care about you, Petra,” he told her. “You’re not just my friend.”

Petra exhaled softly and her hands lifted to hold onto his hips. “So… you…?”

Levi’s smile turned teasing. “Do you want me to spell it out for you?” and with that question, he leaned down to kiss her lips. 

She smiled into it, and once again the world melted into the blazing golden light of sunset and the blurry shapes of an empty, quiet street.

[creativename100]

WIP of padpa that I drew YESTERDAY. Yeah you heard that right. I drew. But the prob is idk how to move forward. I wanted to break away from the whole 'sketch then lineart then colouring' process and now I'm stuck here. I put on a song and just went with the flow.

I feel like this might be a little bit weird but I haven't listened to a song in weeks before this. Like I just go through phases ig of just not wanting to listen to anything. Even as background noise. I feel drained and tired (?) just thinking about it. I don't really know how to properly explain it.

Broo I feel like since I don't interact with anyone that much I'm starting forget all the languages I know. Even the one I speak at home. I tried to say something, stumbled and stuttered and mom got confused. I'm not really sad or ig I don't feel bad about it. Just worried about what's gonna happen when I have no other choice but to interact with people. I mean like in uni and work and all. I have a few friends and I love them to death. I'm comparatively more comfortable with them. My family too to some extent. Everyone else I just don't know how to be around. It's like I just don't what to say or what I should say to keep a conversation going.

[agentplutonium]

WIP Wednesday

I haven't done one of these in forever, and once again haven't been tagged. Either way you guys get the littlest update on what I am working on so that I am held responsible for what I do. ANYWAY

(if ya'll wanna do something too you should tag me! I love seeing people's works :D)

This week I wanna show y'all two snippets, one from my OC work and one from a fandom I rarely talk about on here. I'll start with the fanfic stuff first (all is gonna be under the cut because I think it looks cooler that way)

So, here I present a part of my Cher & Sherlock character study. These guys are from NeXus (created by the one and only @mr-laveau which can be found on their youtube channel). This mostly is just me seeing how my Characterizations of these two listener characters play out with one another. That and I have been itching to write something NeXus related since the second video on the channel. Anyway:

The clock ticked on the wall. There was the occasional shout from outside the apartment. Cher sat at the table, shoulders rigid, fingers tapping the wood beneath them impatiently. The wood was smooth under their arm, the back of the chair digging into their shoulder blades. They wanted to keep moving. They wanted out of here. They wanted to keep everyone safe. Cher was dropped off at Alonzo’s and his partner’s place to be babysat, despite what Uriah told them. He said it was for their safety but they felt Uriah didn’t trust them, or that he thought they couldn’t take care of themselves. It was humiliating. Not to mention this was probably putting the lovers out of their way just to be there with them. They did not want to do that to them. They were not worth the amount of effort the two vampires were putting into them.  Suddenly, a mug was placed before them, snapping out of their thoughts. Owl, what Cher has taken to calling Alonzo’s partner, took the seat across from them, a matching mug in their hands. They were silent, not looking at Cher. Their presence wasn’t… unwanted, but Cher still felt on edge. Their fingers stopped tapping. They couldn’t help but analyze the situation, Owl’s body language, the way they kept their eyes on the mug in their hands, the mug that was left suspended between the two of them. But Owl just fucking sat there. The silence lasted for a few more moments. “It’s just hot chocolate, I’m not trying to kill you,” Owl said, those eyes finally glancing at them. “Thought you might like something to do than just sitting here.”

(You will probably be able to find this fic soon on my AO3 :D)

And now my favourite part of this: the part where I get to show off my OCS. If you haven't seen anything before these two are my god characters. They are the sole reason why in my world anything exists. They are literally my heart and soul you guys i don't know if you understand. ANYWAY, snippet of the creation of the Strix:

Terra had been messing around with different designs for a bit, shaping and reshaping the clay in her hands in an almost bored manner. None of the designs were sticking out to her, and weren’t exactly how she was picturing things. Normally, this wasn’t such a problem. She was usually able to perfectly recreate what she was thinking. However, each time she did just that she found that the design was impractical, or didn’t look the way she imagined it would. In all honesty it was starting to irk her quite a bit.

She was about to give up on the design, but tried one more time. This one was also imperfect, but… Terra thought it had potential. It was a small, winged creature that Terra was going for, but there were a few things that she fixed or added. One of them was a short, curved, needle sharp beak. The other was sharper talons as well. After messing with the colours for a bit, making them a clash of green’s and blue’s, Terra brought the prototype to life. It slowly became mobile, turning it’s head from side to side, watching Terra curiously. Terra held out a finger to it, and it readily hopped over onto it, turning back to Terra and giving a small chirp.

Terra grinned, mouth stretching wide as she watched her creation. “Well, hello, little one,” Terra said gently. “You’re not as big as some of your cousins, but I think you look absolutely adorable.”

The creature chirped in response.

Terra only smiled wider, nose scrunching in the process. “Well then, what shall we name you and your siblings? Hm? Any ideas?”

The creature didn’t respond, only tilting it’s head in the other direction. Terra pursed her lips as she thought.

“What about… finches? No, that’s a bit to human sounding. We need something different.” Terra hummed, reaching up to gently stroke her fingers over the creature’s feathers. She had gotten an idea, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, what about Strix? That’s a fun sounding name. What do you think?” The creature chirped again, and Terra smiled. “I’m so glad. We’ll have to tell Caelus next time we see him, I did promise I’d keep him-”

“Tell me what?” Caelus asked, beside her all of a sudden. He settled next to her on the ground, eyes immediately falling to the Strix. “Never mind. I figured it out.”

Terra gave a sheepish smile, holding out the Strix. “Don’t you think he’s cute, though?”

Caelus didn’t seem like he did. He was never very good at hiding his feelings, especially not from her. “He’s… something,” Caelus said.

Terra swatted at his arm playfully. “Be nice at least. He’s technically yours too.”

Caelus looked spooked by the prospect, however he didn’t have time to comment on it before the Strix was hopping onto his knee. Caelus held as still as possible, eyes not leaving the thing.

“Aw! He likes you!” Terra gushed.

“And, uh… what is he, exactly?” Caelus asked.

“I call them Strix,” Terra said matter-of-factly, but she was already getting distracted.

Caelus stayed like that, staring down this creature. If he was honest, he actually didn’t mind this one all that much. It was a bit of an eyesore, but he was a bit smaller than the others. It was roughly the size of half his forearm in height. A manageable size. The creature chirped at him, and Caelus couldn’t help but give a small smile, reaching forward to cautiously stroke the feathers on the creature’s head. It looked like a freaky bird, he commented to himself.

Terra’s words caught up to him then, and he snapped his gaze to her. “I’m sorry, them? What do you mean them?”

“There’s more than one,” Terra said, like it was obvious, “I just haven’t had the time to make them. But-” She trailed off, taping the ground in front of her, at the feet of a few dozen more. They came to life in a blink, all staring at their companion and at Caelus. It was only a second more before Caelus was swarmed in a flurry of feathers and wings. Terra gasped, watching as the creatures settled and Caelus was covered with the birds.

Caelus did not look happy. Terra tried to keep her giggling subdued.

“Get them off,” Caelus said through his teeth.

“I don’t know, I think this look suits you,” Terra snickered.

“Terra-”

“Okay okay,” Terra said, though her amusement was still evident. She rose to her knees, hands reaching for the creatures, fanning them away or moving them herself. “Come on guys, you heard him. Shoo. Go.”

Caelus was relieved when they were all gone, but he was still grumpy. Terra giggled again.

“Oh come on, It wasn’t that bad! Stop being so grumpy. I saw you smiling at the first one, I know you secretly like them,” Terra teased.

“I do not,” Caelus denied.

“Uh-huh, okay, whatever you say big guy.”

Terra’s amusement was cut short when one of the Strix flew over and pecked at her neck.

“Ow!” She cried out, hand flying to the spot. She frowned at the creature who fluttered in front of her, looking up with that curious gaze of theirs. She pulled her hand away, only for it to come back smeared with blood. Her frown deepened even more.

“Are you okay?” Caelus asked, concern in his tone, half reaching toward her out of habit.

“Yeah,” Terra said, more mystified than in pain. “They shouldn’t… they probably don’t know better. They were just created after all.”

Caelus still seemed wary, but Terra didn’t allow for the conversation to continue. Instead, she started herding the birds up to place in a temporary home until she felt like they could join the rest of the world. It was going to be a while before they were accustomed to their new world, and Terra also had to train them on a few things to keep them safe.

This will be fine, Terra could feel it in her very core.

If you wanna read more, I also have this story about Terra and her realization that Vampires exist.

that is all I have, but but I love talking about my things and am open to any questions, and like I said i'd love to see y'alls work too!!

[bosskie]

WIP spam and octopus men

Hey! All o' ya! Commere, gonna show ya some stuff:

Yes, a Gluk-tastic start, just had to do it for fun. Haven't posted anything for two months and probably won't do it much either for now since I'm too busy to do my own stuff and gotta try to relax too, have some other stuff than work to do; I mean, doing artworks is work for me too. This makes me wonder if Molluck can forget his work... I bet that he still can, somehow at least. But yes, even if I'm busy, I still keep Molluck on my mind since I do still love that Gluk so much...

But as the title suggests, recently, I have also gotten a new interest, thanks to my dear friend. You might have heard about the game Baldur's Gate 3 but I only got into it because of the mind flayers, more specifically because of the Emperor... It still took me a few weeks to get into it after seeing it but now, I just love mind flayers too! Yes, octopuses are my favourite creatures in our world, so it's quite logical that I love Gluks and mind flayers, though Gluks got me into octopuses... Um, I love Glukkon-like creatures then!

But the reason why I'm telling you this is that I have planned to draw some stuff about Molluck and the Emperor (but this game has also taken my time significantly...). This blog will still be focused on Molluck, so 'no worries'. I have done some WIPs, saved or not, but it's not an easy task to draw them together. Here's a WIP I'm willing to share:

It's quite rough still and I'm not sure if this is worth of finishing but I'll see. I got other ideas too but it's much easier to draw them inside my head... I'm also not totally sure of their height difference but both are quite tall... And yes, I said 'willing' on purpose since, like I have told you earlier, I'm not into posting NSFW stuff online, just cropped mild stuff, though mere nudity is just natural. And this is one rare case I feel like doing so since I do really like how Molluck succeeded here, still a WIP though:

The only context I give you is that I call these two as 'octopus men'; I do not ship these two but can do some stuff about them together for fun. These two are interestingly similar but different too. One thing is that they both do not have genitalia but frankly, I don't mind, they already got the stuff, though I'm still not really into the Emperor in that way; he is more like just cuddly! But yes, I have found another character into my life but Molluck is still my precious Gluk and cannot be replaced. But this is my taste for 'men'! Bright eyes, big brains, sharp nails, dangerous looks, octopus-like... Yeah, this feels like the stuff I have been looking for years! Oh, and Molluck doesn't scare me and I feel like he won't do anything bad to me but he is just so big and he could eat my whole head with one bite if he wanted... But it only fascinates me! Oh, why I got an idea of that Molluck could eat 'Mudokon Pops' just straight away... I mean, they look like Abe's head... Maybe it's his plan with Abe but who knows but Molluck himself!

Molluck is still the 'perfection' for me, so let's keep going with Molluck stuff! You might still remember those two Molluck WIPs I showed you about two months ago. I didn't wanna show you the full WIPs back then but now, I feel like I could since I have no idea when I'm gonna get these done or am I getting these finished but I truly hope so! Just been too busy with my stuff... But let's start with this one:

Yes, this is the context for that angry Molluck. A pretty rough WIP but the colours, it's rare that I use them like this, so I feel like I have improved with my art! But yes, this is like the Soulstorm Molluck version of Molluck being pissed off while seeing the camera footage of Abe's deeds. But the Sun does shine to Molluck too:

This one is quite close to be finished but still needs a lot polishing... Yeah, Molluck and his Slig chauffeur are having some beach fun at the Yaymans!

Oh, and here's some sketches/WIPs from the beginning of this year:

But yes, I wanted to share these with you if I ever finish these but also let you know what you can expect. Molluck is still 'my baby' but you might see me drawing him with the Emperor. And yes, sometimes I do call Molluck 'my baby'... He is just so adorable and I love him so much... So no, nothing has changed with Molluck. I have never had two characters like this at the same time... But it must mean that I have finally found out what I do like the most: 'octopus men'! But I'm still not into every kind of octopus-like creatures and it's rare that I truly get into anything... It wasn't love at the first sight with Molluck either but then, after I saw myself in him, I just fell in love with him...

But yeah, I guess that it's enough rambling for now! Just spreading some Molluck love again!

[tjandersonart]

Been meaning to ask, since you seem to be one of the few artists using the same process as me. I'm a uni student on my way to become a pro character designer and storyboarder, though I prefer doing most of my works on paper with every tool I have. Whether it is a pencil, a marker or even ink.

My question for you is, what are your primary techniques when drawing? I'm trying to learn new ways to improve, and your art is my main inspo when it comes to shading and coloring.

Hello! Thank you so much for the message, I’m sorry it took me a while to respond - I was thinking about how I wanted to answer. I’m not the best at explaining my art making especially technical aspects, but I’ll try my best to answer and hopefully it will be helpful for you!

So for colouring and shading - I honestly spend a lot of time drawing by just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks - lots of pieces turn out muddy or not quite right and it helps me become more familiar with what colours I have available, what I might be missing and how they’re all gonna interact. I suppose I always start having a clear idea in mind of what sort of emotion I want the piece to have, and from there try to narrow down my colour palette to the essentials. So if I know I want a piece to be primarily red and purple, I focus on those - any other colour I add is used to compliment or accentuate what overall colour tone I want focused on. the more complex the colour palette the more important I find it is to have colours carry throughout the piece and help guide the eye around so nothing stands out awkwardly where I don’t want it to be…

I also try to have a good repertoire of different mark making for colouring and shading. I personally don’t like pieces that look highly rendered and incredibly smooth, I like being able to see the mark making. So adding in different strokes, textures, strikes, swirls etc. creates more interesting effects and I’ll use those to layer up colours, create shadows, highlights n depth etc. I also just like playing with dramatic shapes for shadows or colour blocks that draw the eye to certain points of the figure or composition. even if the lighting doesn’t make sense in a realistic sense, its drawing focus. I guess I kinda treat it all like dramatic stage lighting and makeup - too bold to make sense in an every day context but with the right combination it works within the piece if that makes sense…

ANYWays I hope thats kind of helpful or interesting - I’m not the best at documenting WIPS as I’m working because I hate breaking focus while working on a specific step of a drawing fjkdfd… Best of luck with your schooling and your future art endeavours!!

[celestialtitania]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

thank you @kasienda for the tag!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

The current number is 51 and honestly? it still blows my mind.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

151,239, made up almost entirely of one shots lol.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

There's a lot of them but in recent years, it's mainly been miraculous ladybug, my hero academia, and the occasional percy jackson.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'M HIS BEST FRIEND (no, it's me!) (MHA)

A Preposterous Predicament (ML)

Mind Outta Body (FT)

Ma Douce Souffrance (ML)

my colours on you (ML)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I'm really good at responding right after I publish a fic. It's afterwards that I sometimes forget to respond, or simply don't have enough time to respond. I always appreciate every comment I get though!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Angstiest ending huh? A bunch of my fics are angsty but the one that I think ends in the most angst would have to be dance with the devil, drink with the demons, without it being outright whump lol.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Happy? Happy. Um....I'm gonna say party like it's your heroes' birthday just because there's a party and it's sweet and yeah lmao. It also has the wholesome family/friend vibes that keep me from forever being confused about the correct fluff to angst ratio.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've been extremely lucky and have been able to avoid it for the most part. That's not to say I've gotten no hate ever, but it was minimal enough that I pretend it doesn't exist. Fervently hoping it stays that way!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

No. Maybe. No. The idea has crossed my mind but I haven't been able to write it as of yet. Maybe I never will. Who's to say really?

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Kind of? I did it exactly once. But not in the traditional way, it was more of a, "take the world-building idea of percy jackson and put it into a fairy tail quest" so I'm not sure if it actually counts.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so. Or at least I hope I haven't!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I was asked once, many moons ago, but then they never got back to me, so I assume they dropped the idea.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No? Unless we're counting those fic fights/telephone things where one person starts and another takes over. There was also this one time, I was writing a fic with a few others but we never managed to finish, so I don't really count that one.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

All time? And I'm only supposed to pick one?? Next time, give me a tough question, will ya? Wow uh, I don't know if it's my favourite ship, perse, but it is the ship I've shipped the longest + one I've actually written for, so I'm gonna go with lovesquare. *shrugs* probably typical of me, but it was the only ship to get inside my head so badly that I've written over a dozen fics for them, instead of more gen stuff, which is my usual go-to otherwise.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Well, if we look at my gigantic list of unpublished fics, there's probably plenty of WIPs to choose from there. As for published, well I don't want to say I never will but yeah Forsake the Divine (If You Can) seems to be a pretty solid choice, if only because there are only 1 chapter and a half left to go and it's all outlined too, but I've kind of fallen out of the fandom (it's very dead) so idk if I'll ever manage to put it together.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Characterization is definitely a strong suit. And judging purely from my comment section, I feel okay assuming that I'm pretty good at making the emotional beats land too.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Description definitely. It's been pointed out to me more than once that I'm so focused inside the characters' heads that I forget to interact more with the world around them. Nature wants to be incorporated and I'm working on that.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I hate it. It feels so strange to me to have a few words in a different language and then abruptly switch back to English. The only thing that I feel I have to do in another language though, is honorifics. Whether it be -san, -kun, or Madame, I think I get super extra about it. I once delved into such a rabbit hole trying to figure out what honorific even a side character uses, just for a throwaway dialogue!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Ooh, officially? Fairy Tail. Unofficially, hidden in the depths of my laptop? Yeah, it was Percy Jackson. My childhood favourite that still haunts my thoughts to this day.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Ironically? This is the second time I've been asked that today and the choice is still just as difficult. Or maybe it's that my actual favourites are still unfinished and hence unpublished. For now, I'm going to say Enduring, it's the fic that was most different genre-wise from what I usually write, and I'm very proud of how it turned out. If I ever manage to finish it though, my favourite will probably be a life unlived or maybe I'm just doomed to never have a favourite, because there will always be something new I'm looking forward to reading (meaning I have to write it to be able to see it). Tagging (no pressure!) @shortmexicangirl @rosiesared @ck2k18 @heartfulselkie @coffeebanana @mdelpin @kiliinstinct @lady-charinette

[bluberimufim]

Happy STS! 💜💌 What role does symbolism play in your WIPs, if any? What symbols relate to certain characters, events, or emotions? How do you decide what symbols to use, or what these symbols mean? Are they intentional, or do you notice them after they've appeared in the story? :) - @liv-is

Happy STS!!

Sorry to have procrastinated this ask but I wanted the answer to be good because of all the different parts the ask has. I'll split it into parts. The answers are about "Black and White", my beloved main WIP.

This is gonna be Lengthy.

What role does symbolism play in your WIPs, if any? What symbols relate to certain characters, events, or emotions?

Colours are very important in B&W. The whole circus is like a colour wheel with a big black and white tent in the center (each colour zone has a distinct Vibe but that's a post for another day). This mirrors how the story has a lot of pieces, with each side character being represented by a different colour, but they all ultimately revolve around Darius and Diedrich, the two protagonists, represented by black and white respectively.

In truth, Diedrich (white) is the original here, and Darius wants to define himself by contrast, while also being a foil to Diedrich, his kinda-mentor. Diedrich carefully guarded the secret of having sold his soul for his magic, while Darius tells everyone he did the same, despite no one believing him. Diedrich took Darius as an assistant and, in turn, Darius says he'll never take on an assistant in his life. He wears black suits and Diedrich wears white suits. But there's still many similarities between the two: their names start with the same letter, they use similar-sounding intros for their shows, and, when Markov joins Darius later on, he can't help but think of him as "his" Johann (who is Diedrich's best friend and travelled everywhere with him).

The Thing I wanted to get to is that both of their love interests are associatedwith the colour red. August (Darius's (ex)boyfriend), wears red almost every day as part his costume, and Lucille (Diedrich's wife), says her favourite colour is red. Hugo, who is Darius's other ex-boyfriend, also has slight associations with red. This is because all these lovers have one thing in common: they are tossed aside by their significant others in exchange for success. Although it's much more prevalent in Diedrich, on account of him being in the story for 38 years, Darius also does this. Diedrich has abandoned his wife three separate times because he just can't quit being a magician. (One of these times was when their son had just died, something indirectly but kinda directly caused by Diedrich, and he just didn't want to be with his wife bc it was depressing.) In the very first chapter, Darius leaves Hugo to go work under Diedrich, knowing full well this will probably land him in poverty. Then later, he basically says to August "come with me or we're done" (slightly better than straight-up abandoning, I guess, but still messed up), and August says "let's break up then".

How do you decide what symbols to use, or what these symbols mean?

The use of colour came to me very easily. I'm an artist, so I give it a lot of importance. For me, it's always one of the things that better defines a character's design in my mind. I'm a very visual person, so it ends up being the most obvious symbol for me, more than actual images.

I also have a Thing with Veera and Alexis's colours in the dystopia WIP, but I feel like I need to develop that more, but also because this post is already enormous. The dystopia WIP has a lot of colours.

Are they intentional, or do you notice them after they've appeared in the story?

Mostly they're accidents. Like the tent thing? I just realized that while writing this. The red thing has been around for a biiiit longer but it was also accidental.

But when I do notice a nice parallel or symbolism, I double down on it.

There's this parallel I completely accidentaly established between Anna (Diedrich's sister) and Johann's romance and Alphonse (Diedrich's son) and August, and I only noticed because I repeated a sentence in two dialogues (it was along the lines of "I want to love you in the sunlight"). Johann and Anna are obviously straight but their romance is taboo just as much as Alphonse and August's (which is gay) because Johann is married, but the marriage was forced upon him by his parents - kinda like, for queer people, society decides what your love should look like with no regard for what you truly want. Johann and Alphonse have just as much fear of disappointing their families, despite their difference in sexuality, because they've been told their love is unacceptable.

Aaaaaaanyway this was a very fun ask! I love rambling!!

It was also huge tho. I went off the rails.