#I don't know what to do with my tablet!!!!!! it needs to be visible not shoved in a drawer or I will just never pull it out

[chloemew]

The constant raging battle in my head between "too much clutter makes me not want to do things" and "if I can't see something I'll forget it exists"

[ikimaru]

Hi. Okay so I know this is probably annoying, and a lot of people have likely asked you this a lot. But i kinda look up to you as an artist. So um, for me, it has to be you who has to answer this.

Here goes ig.

First off, ive loved your work for a while, and im really not active on any social media, but i just had to send you this. Your art makes me feel warm. Cozy, even. Like im sitting next to a fireplace. Your klance artwork has always made me visibly smile. And i admire you artstyle a lot!

Ive even tried to draw like you, (not trying too replicate ofc, I just found my own artstyle as i tried to mimic yours :). But i have never tried digital art. I reallly wanna. But the question is, how do i get started?? What tablet do i buy?? Can i attach like a pad thingy to my laptop? (I dont have an ipad) What kind of stylus?

How much time do i dedicate?

My art isnt exceptionally good. Noone knows i even like to draw apart from my sister. Its just, im surrounded by people who are SOO GOOD and super creative and artsy. And when i look at my own art, i sometimes just wanna crumple it up. Im a teenager, and I'm in my board year. (Ill be picking my stream next year)

Should i even bother trying digital art? If im not exceptionally good? Would it just be wasting my time?

Sincerely,

A big fan, and a lost person.

Hi! omg it's ok, and thank you that's sweet of you! 🫶 I really appreciate that it makes you feel that way :')

as for the rest: you can attach a drawing tablet with or without screen to a laptop, the stylus is included and is usually only compatible to your tablet model, if you buy a an ipad or the android version of that you won't need a laptop so that might be redundant tho it depends from the use you plan to make of it, some like to draw away from their computers (the apple pencil is sold separately)

tablet model: if ur just trying it out there's no need to get something overly expensive, you can get a good tablet within the 60$ range even secondhand, larger tablets are mostly for ease and comfort especially if you're drawing many hours every day but aren't a necessary starting point esp as they are pretty pricey!

how much time: it's up to you! if it's for fun and you don't expect fast results you can just draw whenever you feel like it, but there should be some sort of consistency and structure IF you want to see results in a more timely manner, but I think it also has to come from enjoying it or it's just gonna become a drag, ofc u can also set like.. 1 hr whenever you can to do studies if you're into doing studies?

personally I was just drawing in every spare moment but it's bc I just wanted to be drawing ALL the time lmaoo

and no one is exceptionally good when starting, I think starting drawing as a teen is a great time tbh, all u really need is the drive to do it! if you enjoy it, even if you end up dropping it later, at least you still had fun hopefully 👍

[yan-lorkai]

"Hello Lorkai! I've got an idea for a headcanon and would like to request it!

Yan!Idia (maybe with platonic Yan!Ortho too if you like) with an extroverted male reader who somehow gets placed in Ignihyde Dorm by the dark mirror (students from other dorms like to joking about the dark mirror putting him in the wrong dorm or something). The reader kinda becomes the mom friend of the dorm, always helping and taking care of everyone, assisting Idia with his Housewarden's work, you know, like the friend who orders food for their shy friends. Thank you very much <3

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ A/N: Uh... I've might misread the fact that you wanted headcanons. And so I did hcs and a few little drabble 🥺.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You are Ignyhide's mom figure, fixing everyone's hair and shirt. Everyone know that whoever is sorted into this dorm is somewhat of an introvert or ambivert. You, though, is an extrovert. You can talk freely, you know how to make friends and enjoy helping others around the campus. Yet, the others don't have this same capacity. And they need someone to take care of them, whence the title of mom, which was just a joke but slowly spread thought Ignyhide completely.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Idia was the most difficult person for you to get closer. He just seems to push away anyone that tried without even realizing but you persisted till you make friends with his brother and him. Taking care of Idia though... Sure, it's difficult sometimes.

"Let's go, Idiiiiiiia!” You tried to pull the antisocial Ignyhide dorm leader out of his bed, wanting to take him outside to sunbathe and eat in the canteen. You've been trying for a while now. Sometimes Idia was a lot like a younger brother to you. Stubborn, obstinate. His hair burning bright in a frightful color as you pulled him and he pushed you.

"Do you hate me, Yuu-shi? I didn't do anything wrong." Idia threw himself to the ground, a scream of pure terror escaping his throat as he struggled against you.

"Listen, either you walk out that door of your own free will or I'm going to throw you over my shoulders and we're going to leave the same way." You threatened him. You had tried every tactic you had on your sleeve today and still none of them were working. Regardless, he felt light enough for you to carry around.

"Yuu-shi wouldn't dare." Idia murmured back, he tried to sound confident and sure of what he is saying.

Yet he didn't stop you from pulling him to his feet this time, even though his legs were visibly tense and he had an annoying expression on his face. Idia knew that you meant what you said. And he wouldn't survive a day if someone saw you carrying him around. His shame would be too big to bear. He would be dead by the end of the night if that was to happen.

He gave you the best puppy dog eyes he could muster, but it was of little use. You opened the door for him and offered him a soft smile, trying to ease all the fear and anxiety he felt. Still, you had good intentions when trying to bring him out of his shell. There was tons of people you want him to meet, tons of things you wanted to do with him, outside from his room where you usually spent your free time. Without talking with him through a floating tablet.

You were working to make him realize that it was not healthy to stay cupped inside of his room all day. It was a slow process but in a few months, you know he'll be fine making phone calls and sending emails.

"C'mon, dude. We don't have all day." You teased him a little, watching him fumbling. He squeaked, hands founding yours to hold, to ground him, cold finger lacing with yours.

Idia didn't like this idea at all. There was so much that he could do at his room. Gaming, bing watching something, reading, studying. So why he have to abandon the comfort of his room?

He wanted to ask your intentions. But you are a mischievous guy, always so secretive, only the sevens may know what passed through your mind this week. Either way, Idia doubt that you would tell him where you're going or why. Sighed, he followed you outside.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ No matter how difficult he was, Idia was still your best friend. Your brother, if you will. Nobody could see one without the other nearby, even if most of the time it was just you and his floating tablet. It was a sweet friendship, most thought. And Idia deserved it. As did Ortho, the young robot was so funny to have around and he was as curious as a child, always asking you questions, even if he could have his answers with a snap of his fingers.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ While you make friends with Idia because you noticed how lonely he was, Ortho just latched onto you when he realized what you were trying to do, helping you in your mission to be Idia's friend. He was like a younger sibling, following you around, sometimes messing with your homework or phone for fun. He was mischievous. And you could never get angry at him because of his very cute puppy eyes. Often times, though, he includes you on his pranks.

"How things going, Yuu-shi?" Idia asked, voice tired and dark circles under his eyes as he stared at his computer. He knew it was you just by the sounds of your footsteps on the carpet.

Ortho programs are special, designed by Idia himself. They are not supposed to malfunction but sometimes errors happen and this is one of those times. Idia told you he would pull an all nighter so he could fix his brother and you, like the good friend you are, scold him for losing sleep. Yet, you brought with you some snacks and soft drinks, and you got to work with him.

The panel located on Ortho's chest glowed red, emitting a high-pitched sound that broke any and all silence that might exist, in addition to Idia's heavy breathing. You knew how to fix Ortho, you'd seen him do it a thousand times.

"I don't think that it's a systemic error, pass me the screwdriver so I can see something, Idia." Idia mumbled something, drinking one of your drinks as he lent you a screwdriver so you could taste your theory before turning back to his computer and start typing something again, running another bunch of tests.

"Be careful!" He advised. You huffed, of course, you were going to be careful.

You slowly began to unscrew the nails holding the panel in place, carefully placing it on the bed next to you. You observed all those wires and pieces, the fire on his chest burning even brighter now, you tried to remember for what which wire was for. Ignyhide was after all known to raise students to be the best in mechanics.

"Actually everything's normal," You murmured to Idia, there was nothing wrong with Ortho that you could see. Red light still emanating from somewhere below his artificial heart. "C'mere and help me, Idiaaa."

The older Shroud laughed at your tone but he complied, crouching down by your side. "Let's see..." Just as Idia reached out to inspect Ortho’s chest panel, the younger Shroud's eyes suddenly lit up, glowing a vivid yellow.

His previously limp body jerked upright and his voice, eerily robotic, boomed through the room: "Error 375, host unable to respond, initiating reboot sequence."

Idia yelped and practically jumped out of his skin, scrambling backward in a flurry of blue flames, his ears hurting from loud Ortho's announcement was. "W-what, error 375, what even is that? Ortho? What did you do?" He stammered, looking between you and Ortho in sheer disbelief, lost.

Then, just as suddenly, Ortho broke into his usual chipper grin. "Just kidding, Nii-san!" The younger Shroud chirped, a playful glint in his eyes. "Got you!"

Idia’s expression was a mix of shock and exasperation, his face and hair bright red from embarrassment. "You little—!"

Ortho giggled innocently, while you couldn’t help but burst into laughter. The prank had been a success.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ Aside from moments like that, you also help them with simple things, helping Idia with his dorm leader's duties in general, and playing with Ortho, helping them with laundry and making breakfast. And when you three go out to buy things or something, you always team up with Ortho to tease Idia. It's funny.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ You and Ortho incentives Idia to be more sociable, though that's still not possible so often you three just spend time on the gardens or somewhere more secluded. At least, Idia can leave his room if you and his brother are by his side the entire time. He still have a long way to go to overcome his shyness but you're proud of him and you let him know at every opportunity.

.⁠｡⁠*⁠♡ It's common for you for you to order for you and Idia but if you're tired or unwell, Idia will crawl from his shell and stutter out your favorite order. It's the only time he'll try for real to overcome his fear of talking to other people.

[aspenscore]

Artist: Aspenscore

Title: Don't Be That Guy

Don't Be That Guy © 2025 by Aspenscore is licensed under CC BY 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Size: 512 x 384

Skizz gets in trouble with the law for leaving floating trees… he really shouldn't have Been That Guy

Process TL;DR:

Skizz has played two different law-adjacent roles this season and I thought it'd be funny for them to come after early season Skizz for making all those early game mistakes

The hardest part of this process was the composition, as it was hard to balance storytelling with visual appeal

I switched from Sketchbook to Medibang Paint for this one and the timelapse recording went so much more smoothly (video imminent!)

One of my favourite things about Skizz's HC10 season is how much he commits to his various character roles on the server. They are all unique and entertaining in their own ways, and I thought it'd be funny to put those strong personalities all together in one scene. Since his two main roles have some sort of involvement with the law, it only made sense for them to come after his early season self (Don't Be That Guy Skizz) for breaking some basic server etiquette. My initial plan was to have POE Skizz writing up Don't Be That Guy (DBTG) for leaving floating trees and Lawyer Skizz coming in to defend DBTG, but it was hard to make it clear who Lawyer Skizz is actually coming after, so he could also have teamed up with POE Skizz to bring down the (literal) hammer on DBTG. It's entirely up to your interpretation. I just like his general threatening aura.

The main thing that made Lawyer Skizz's intentions difficult to portray was the fact that I needed to balance storytelling with visual appeal. I needed to make it clear what was going on and why, while making sure all the characters' faces were visible, and ensuring the overall positioning of everything looked good and visually flowed well. I probably sketched at least ten different options for this piece at work (to save time), narrowed them down to about five strong ideas, and then got many people's input on the composition and posing (shoutout to my partner, various friends with degrees in media design, and the spoonies discord server). I finally landed on this one, as it was one of my favourites composition-wise. It was the most interesting to look at, everyone's face is visible, and it communicates enough of the main story elements to at least give a general sense of what's going on. The only issue I had with this one was figuring out how to make the floating tree obvious without upsetting the visual balance of the rest of the piece. I'm not sure I really fixed it, but there wasn't much I could do without starting all over, and I figured the story is still clear enough even if it's not immediately apparent what DBTG's crime was.

Tech-wise, I have way less to say about this one than the Joel piece I did a few weeks ago, and that's a good thing. The main issue I had with the other piece was recording the timelapse, because my main drawing program (Skechbook Pro) doesn't have a timelapse feature. After all the problems I had last time, I decided I was willing to switch to an entirely new drawing program if it meant I was able to avoid all that mess, and luckily for me, the drawing program I used to use before Sketchbook (Medibang Paint) has a timelapse feature! This was a huge relief, because I already know how to use it and I know my tablet can handle it. Everything went smoothly and I am so relieved to have a solution (I even fixed that problem my monitor started having back when I was troubleshooting the Joel piece recording setup!). You might notice, however, that this piece is still rather low-res. Unlike last time, that was not an unfortunate accident; I just didn't scale up the dimensions. Don't know why. Sorry about that lol

Since the tech side of things went so well this time, I'll have a timelapse video coming out shortly and I'm very excited to share it with you all! I am also considering doing timelapse videos of some of my other art (most likely my video thumbnails) now that I've got a reliable recording setup for that. (Is that something y'all'd be interested in? Please let me know!)

Overall, I wanted to say a big thank you to Skizz for making such wonderfully entertaining videos. I look forward to the rest of the season, and I can't wait to see people going through the finished pyramid!

I also want to thank all of you reading this for your time and support! I know this isn't usually the sort of thing I post, so it makes me happy that people seem to enjoy it just as much as my regular content. I hope you all have a wonderful day!

[steddieas-shegoes]

Drabble idea for the ask thing: Steve works at a tattoo shop and Eddie works at a flower shop, they both get odd looks when they tell people about their job. Bonus: Eddie gets a tattoo of a flower from Steve and that's how they meet.

This is like if you took call me sunshine, send me to space and made it cuter with a flower shop and made Steve the tattoo artist instead. I'm just gonna write the bonus scene because that's a lot to keep 500 words or less and we all know how I go on 😂 Don't @ me over the super sappy ending, someone with spoons please write another 50k of this.

🌷🌼🌻🌷🌼🌻🌷🌼🌻

"You want a wildflower bouquet in the space of your full sleeve?" Steve stared at the fully tattooed man over his glasses, brows raised in disbelief. "I'm not one to judge tattoo choices but you seem to know what you're doing and I'm a bit confused as to how that fits with...anything else on your arm."

Steve had definitely done some wild tattoos. He was actively part of so many bad decisions made by people who would live to regret getting their girlfriend's name on their neck or the face of their best friend on their thigh.

But this one was different in that this guy had clearly meticulously planned out every tattoo on his body, and that was a lot of tattoos, and now he wanted to add...wildflowers. In between skulls and guitars and some metal band logo. Right.

"Yeah and if it's a problem, I can go somewhere else, man. I just heard a lot of good things about you and my flower shop is two doors down, so-"

"Wait. You're Eddie? You're the guy who owns the flower shop." Steve perked up, face relaxing more into a smile.

"The one and only. You been by?" Eddie didn't remember actually seeing Steve before.

He'd been shocked to walk in and see a barely tattooed Steve sitting behind the counter. Assuming he was the secretary, he'd said he was here for an appointment with the guy in charge, and Steve smiled and explained who he was.

"I haven't. But someone brought me a bouquet you made when I first opened and it was beautiful. Managed to keep it alive and thriving for almost two weeks, which is a record for me, and then someone said it was because of the way you take care of them before they're sold and the minerals you use in the water and I'm turning into Robin. Jesus."

Eddie was endeared.

Steve was looking down at his tablet in front of him, a barely visible sketch on it.

"Is that what you've come up with?" Eddie asked as he leaned over the counter to get a closer look.

They could talk about his love of the bouquet Eddie made later.

"Yeah, but. Now that I'm looking at you...I'm not sure it's right," Steve sighed, closing the app and looking back up at Eddie. "I can redesign at no charge and set up another consultation."

"Can I see?"

"Sure."

Steve pulled his tablet out and opened the picture back up.

It was beautiful, actually resembled a bouquet Eddie had done not long ago for his friend Jonathan.

"It's perfect. Can it be done in one long sitting or do we need to break it up?" Eddie smiled at Steve, pulling up the calendar on his phone to make an appointment.

"Uh. Well." Steve cleared his throat. "I guess you could probably handle the pain so all in one is fine with me? It's probably gonna be six hours with breaks every hour. Are you sure this is what you want?"

Eddie looked at the tablet again, tilting his head as he thought back to when he'd made this bouquet.

"Do you know Jonathan Byers?" Eddie asked, not looking away from the picture.

His eyes focused on the coneflower that he'd only been able to use in one bouquet before his part time employee found out they were allergic.

"Yeah...why?"

"He got you that bouquet, right?"

Steve nodded.

Eddie didn't really believe in fate or destiny or whatever type of miracle people tended to wish for. He also didn't believe in soulmates or the perfect partner.

But wildflowers grow anywhere, and sometimes love can too.

[jakeyp]

Hey guys!! Here's a tutorial on how to create those little animated doodles for your gifs so that you don't have to look for the exact overlay you want for hours 👍 This tutorial was requested by @fabines :) It's a long process but it's not too difficult, you just need to know the very basics of gif making! The steps are below the cut :)

1.

First we're going to have our gif ready, and make sure you know how many frames it is!! It should preferrably be an even number! (or a divisible number)

2.

Now we're going to make another gif, which will be the lil animated doodle. Go to file > new or press ctrl+n. Create a new document that's going to be 300x300 px, and we'll make the background black:

3.

Now we're going to use a brush to paint the doodle! We're gonna set the size to 4px-7px depending on how thick you want it to be (here i used a 4px brush) and the hardness to 100%, and we're going to trace our doodle on a new layer:

It does not have to be perfect!! It took me a while to get that crown and it looks half assed 😭 if you can use something other than your mouse like a tablet or something i definitely recommend you do it :)

Now we're going to click on "Create Video Timeline":

Now the bottom of our workspace is gonna look like this:

We're going to click on those three little boxes on the bottom left to convert to frame animation:

And there's that! Now for the slightly tricky part.

4.

We're going to set the layer where we drew the doodle to 40% opacity:

And on a new layer, we're going to trace the same doodle:

As you can see it doesn't look the same and it's because it doesnt have to be, that's how we're going to make it look animated!

We're going to repeat that process a few times! What i do to not get confused is that for examples when i'm going to draw layer 3 i first make layer 2 invisble, and then for layer 4 i also make layer 3 invisible and so on

My gif here:

is 40 frames, which means i can make 8 different variations of my doodle and duplicate each 4 times. This is why it's important that you know how many frames your gif is! And it's even much easier if it's an even number.

But what are we going to do to make it look animated? Well, it's all about using the timeline! First, make sure that the frame delay is set to the same as your base gif. I usually set it to 0,05:

Now our first layer can go back to 100% opacity, since we're going to use it too:

So this is what we have so far:

Only layer 1 is visible. So what we're gonna do is click this little plus icon:

It duplicates our frame. And on our layer section we're going to make layer 1 invisible and instead make layer 2 visible, and you'll notice that now our first two frames correspond to our first two layers:

And we're going to do the same thing for each layer! Add a new frame, make layer a invisible, make layer b visible, and so on! Here's what my crown looks like after doing this process with my 8 layers:

As you can see it's too fast, so that's why i'm going to duplicate each frame 4 times, so each variation has 5 frames on the timeline, and that's how we're going to get the same amount of frames as our base gif:

So once we have our animated doodle it's very easy from here! We're going to click on the bottom left again to convert our frame animation to a video timeline:

And we're going to select all of our layers (ctrl+alt+a in windows or just go to select > all layers) and convert them to a smart object (right click > convert to smart object):

So we're going to select our doodle and copy + paste it on top of your base gif, and we're going to set it to lighten or screen, whichever you prefer:

So now we place our doodle where we want it, make it whatever size we want, rotate it... and we're freaking done!

I hope at least half of this made sense akdhsk if you have any questions feel free to send an ask! 💙

[everlastingdream]

Part 1 - Part 6 - Part 7 - Part 8

"Look, it's not like I didn't believe you, but woah", Winn said, gaping. Alex silently nodded in agreement.

"Thank you all for helping me", Lena smiled warmly, still a bit shy now that everyone suddenly saw her.

"Em, yeah, sorry, Lena, there is a catch", Winn winced, rubbing back of his head sheepishly. "We kinda can't hear you. Because you speak so quietly that only Kara's ears can catch it, so if I make you loud enough for us..."

Lena tilted her head, thinking for a bit. She signaled Kara to relay her words.

"But it's not like all sounds are deafening for Kara", it was strange to talk about herself like that, "So it means there is some biological adjustments for her hearing".

"Of course, but I didn't want fo experiment with something that could potentially end very bad".

Lena and Winn traded ideas back and forth, already creating precautions, when Alex interrupted them, looking amused.

"Sorry to stop you both from nerding out but J'onn said we can just talk in the red lamp room. It will solve all your problems, no?"

Two geniuses meekly nodded.

"This way, miss Luthor". J'onn smiled and gestured to the coridor.

/ / / / / / / / /

Winn (with Lena right behind his shoulder) inserted some new parameters into his tablet, once they settled in the red sun lamps' room. And when he nodded to Lena, she said tentatively:

"Thank you all for your help", she smiled.

"I'm glad to help fellow genius", Winn happily answered. "Now we just need to..."

"Find my body, yes", Alex and Winn winced. Kara stared at the floor, trying not to see Lena's face, as she was talking about it.

"Yes, that. But we need to do one very important thing first".

Everyone glanced at each other with confusion. J'onn seemed to know what's that already, but he still looked relaxed, so Kara and Alex just waited till Winn's desire for dramatics was satisfied.

"We need to introduce ourselves!" Lena laughed, and wobbled in the air a little. It seemed that being visible didn't take away her ghostly powers. And while Winn was listing all his accomplishments, Kara found herself thinking.

Lena looked much more real now. Even without her powers Kara could see tiny freckles lining up on the side of her neck. Red lamps gave her green eyes mysterious glow, making Lena look ephemeral in a way that didn't have anything with the her status of a ghost.

It pained Kara so much to see her like that. Like she would be soft and warm to the touch, like she could really hug Kara or pat her cheek, like they need to just save her and not to retrieve her body.

Still Kara couldn't help but reach out hoping against everything that the fact that everyone can see Lena meant she can touch her.

When her hand went right through the edge of Lena's jacket, Kara tried very hard to hide her disappointment, but she still caught J'onn's sympathetic smile.

"So... You are the woman my sister is seeing", Alex asked strictly, and Lena chocked on the words she exchanged with Winn.

"I- Well, technically... I guess I am..?" It was adorable to see Lena suddenly fumbling with words, and Kara decided to play the knight despite her own embarrassment.

"Alex", she shook her head, exasperated. "Don't mess with Lena".

"What? She is," Alex shrugged, but finally smiled. "It's not like I said anything wrong. And here you are, already nagging me".

"This is Agent Danvers, Supergirl's foster sister", J'onn intervened, when Kara opened her mouth to bicker. "We are currently in DEO, department of extra-normal operations. And I am its Director - J'onn J'onzz."

"It's good to meet you, sir", Lena nodded.

"Likewise. I promise, that DEO will do everything to secure your body and will protect it until we can hand it over to miss Arias".

"I... appreciate it."

Room grew somber. When Winn's tablet chimed, he scattered to read it, if only to avoid awkward atmosphere.

"Miss Arias send us the information".

"It was fast", Alex said, already scanning the data from behind his shoulder.

"Well, she had a password. I will put it over our map".

They gathered around small tablet, looking at the area north of National city. Lena's coordinats, the green dot on the screen, was constantly changing as the map adjusted, only to stop right above the red mark.

"It's a Cadmus base", J'onn said grimly and stood up, already giving out commands to the agents by his communication device.

"This one is Lilian Luthor's", Alex sighed and joined her director in getting ready. They didn't seem hurried, since they will have to wait until Kara restores her powers.

"I guess she's one of my relatives?" Lena asked carefully.

"Your adoptive mother, to be precise", Winn was already putting dossier up front.

He started to recount his files to Lena, but Kara, tense after mention of Cadmus and as attuned to Lena as she is, felt that something was wrong.

Lena was pale. She always had a bit of white hue when Kara was the only one to see her, but now even with Winn's invention she was almost transperent.

"It's her. This is the woman I talked with, when my car crushed". Lena's voice was detached and angry, her hands clenched. When she turned to look at Kara, her voice cracked in the middle. "She wanted to kill me".

[swiftmorgan13]

ESCAPE — mafia!billie eilish x fem!oc

SERIES MASTERLIST

⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟

November 2, 2029

The hospital café was filled with murmurs; the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and toasted bread lingered in the air. Morgan sat at a table by the window, reviewing some reports on her tablet while sipping hot coffee. The day's routine was just beginning, but her mind remained split between work and thoughts of Billie.

At that moment, AgentTorrance appeared in front of her, her gaze as firm and cold as ever. She stopped by the table, crossed her arms, and spoke in a neutral tone.

"I didn't see you the other night on the overnight shift, Dr. Shepherd."

Morgan raised an eyebrow, responding with a hint of curiosity.

"I was away on personal matters. And you? Why weren't you there?"

Rachel hesitated for a second, then looked away before answering.

"I was on another case, one that needed my full attention. Nothing related to Billie."

Morgan watched her, sensing the evasion.

"Really?"

Rachel remained silent for a moment, then shifted the conversation to a question Morgan had been expecting, but dreading.

"When do you think Billie will be discharged from the hospital?"

Morgan took a moment to answer, fully aware that the question wasn't simple.

"It depends on how her recovery progresses. For now, she needs complete rest and constant monitoring. It’s not just her body, it's also her emotional and mental stability."

Rachel nodded, crossing her arms with a mix of impatience and respect.

"She's not an ordinary patient, doctor. The FBI wants her in custody as soon as possible. National security is at stake."

Morgan sighed, staring into her coffee as if searching for answers in the cup.

"I understand. But as long as she's here, her health is my top priority. The rest is out of my hands."

Rachel nodded slightly in farewell and walked away, leaving Morgan alone with her thoughts.

In a large room with windows covered by thick curtains and visible security systems in every corner, Finneas sat with a group of private security guards. The atmosphere was tense, heavy with concern and urgent plans.

"We can't just sit on our hands," Finneas said, eyes fixed on the screen showing images of the hospital. "Billie isn't safe there, and every minute she spends in custody is a risk."

Elijah, his face serious, nodded slowly.

"We know that, sir. But getting her out won't be easy. The FBI has a tight grip, and one wrong move could put her in more danger."

"What are our options? Any way to get in without raising suspicion?"

One of the guards, a burly man wearing an earpiece and in direct communication with other agents, responded.

"We could plan a transfer during a shift change, when security is more relaxed. But we'll need a specialized team and a solid plan to avoid a confrontation."

Finneas clenched his fists, his mind racing.

"I don't want Billie to suffer more than she already has. She needs to get out as soon as possible, but under safe conditions. We can't risk an ambush.'

The guards exchanged looks. Elijah raised his hand to calm them.

"First, we need to know exactly what condition Billie is in. From what I've heard, she's stable, but the situation could change quickly."

Finneas took a deep breath and looked at his parents.

"I won't rest until she's out of that hospital. No matter what it takes."

The team gathered again around maps, communications, and blueprints of the hospital. Night crept on, but urgency outweighed exhaustion.

Night had fallen over Seattle with its usual curtain of rain and reflections from streetlights shimmering in sidewalk puddles. Morgan arrived at her building after a grueling day. Her soaked coat dripped as she crossed the lobby and climbed the stairs, too tired to wait for the elevator. In her right hand, her keys jingled with every step. In her left, her work bag.

As she reached her apartment door, she noticed something odd. It hadn't been forced. Nothing seemed out of place. But the moment she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, she knew.

She wasn't alone.

Two figures sat in her living room, waiting silently. One was tall, slim, with tousled reddish-brown hair and piercing blue eyes: Finneas O'Connell. The other, more solidly built and with a watchful expression, was Elijah, the same man she'd seen bloodied and in handcuffs days earlier. He was clean now, but his gaze hadn't lost a trace of danger.

Morgan didn't panic, though her pulse quickened. She let the keys drop onto the entry table with a soft click, still holding onto her bag.

"How did you get in?" she asked calmly, not raising her voice. "I'm guessing making an appointment wasn't an option."

Elijah said nothing. Finneas stood up slowly and took a step forward.

"We knew that if we knocked, you wouldn't let us in. We needed to talk to you. You're the only one who can help us."

Morgan removed her wet coat, hung it up, and walked toward them with steady steps.

"Help you with what? A jailbreak? Because if that's what this is, you've come to the wrong place."

Finneas shook his head, tense but composed.

"We don't want you to risk your career. We just need information. To know if Billie is actually well enough to leave the hospital, medically speaking. And when would be the least dangerous time to try. We won't move until we're sure it won't harm her."

Morgan narrowed her eyes.

"And if I say no? Are you going to threaten me?"

"No," Elijah spoke for the first time, his voice rough. "But we don't have time. She's vulnerable. And the FBI… we don't know if they're protecting her or just waiting for her to weaken so they can crush her."

Morgan took a deep breath. The weight of the dilemma pressed heavy on her chest. Billie was her patient, and that made her a responsibility. But she was also the key piece in a much larger power game.

"I can't tell you anything compromising," she finally said. "But I can assure you Billie is still stable. Physically fragile, but strong. If you try to move her before 72 hours, it could cause complications. Beyond that…"

"Beyond that?" Finneas pushed.

Morgan lowered her voice, staring at him.

"Beyond that… she might not resist going."

Silence fell over the room like a wave.

"Has she said anything to you?" Elijah asked.

"Not in words," Morgan replied. "But some things you just feel. And your sister wasn't made for cages, even if she carries scars no one's ever seen."

Finneas nodded slowly.

"Then we'll wait the 72 hours. But I want you to call me if anything changes. I'll leave you a number. Just you and me."

Morgan took the slip of paper he handed her. The night, which had seemed like any other, had transformed. In her apartment, surrounded by shadows and impossible decisions, she knew there was no turning back.

The echo of the rain still danced against the windows when the apartment door opened again. This time, it wasn't quiet or tense. It was confident. Familiar. Heavy with shared history.

"Morgan?" Karev called from the entryway. "You alive, or have you fused with the hospital already?"

Morgan turned from the kitchen. She'd left the light on, but hadn't touched the tea Finneas had made. It was cold. Like her. Like everything.

"Here," she replied, trying to sound casual.

Alex walked in without waiting for an invitation, like always. He wore jeans, a leather jacket, and carried a bag of Chinese takeout. He set it on the table, then gave her a look only someone trained in reading bodies like sheet music could give.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," he said, lighthearted but with a raised eyebrow.

Morgan forced a smile.

"Tough shift. Trauma. Two collapsed lungs and an emergency hysterectomy."

Alex nodded. It could be true. He also knew when someone was lying.

"Night shift mafia again?"

Morgan let out a soft laugh. "If only it were that simple."

Alex opened the takeout containers, and soon the air filled with ginger, soy sauce, and something that maybe used to be chicken. She sat across from him, gripping her chopsticks with a trembling hand. She hid it.

"How about you?" she asked.

"Still breathing," he said with his mouth full. "Dealing with interns who think they can change the world with an MRI and a quote from Grey's Anatomy. Nothing new."

Morgan nodded. She was grateful he was there. Alex always showed up when things were about to collapse. But this time, she couldn't tell him what had just happened.

She couldn't say a mobster and his armed bodyguard had been in her living room. That the woman under her care at the hospital was one of the most influential criminals in America. And least of all… that this woman made her feel something she couldn't quite name.

Alex leaned toward her, his expression more serious.

"Does this have to do with your VIP patient?"

Morgan tensed. "What do you know?"

"What everyone knows," he replied. "That she came in with gunshot wounds. That the FBI's watching her day and night. That no medical report leaves without being checked five times. And that you were the one who operated on her."

Morgan looked down.

"I shouldn't have."

"But you did."

"Because no one else was there. It was my shift."

"And now?"

Morgan swallowed hard. She thought of Billie's blue eyes, of the hours she'd spent reviewing her post-op charts when she didn't have to. Of the way her breathing changed when Morgan was nearby.

"Now I just want her to recover and get the hell out," she lied.

Alex nodded. But his voice was low, almost a warning.

"Be careful, Morgan. That woman's not just another celebrity with legal trouble. She's gunpowder. And you're way too close to the flame."

Morgan didn't respond.

Because deep down, she already knew.

Billie Eilish wasn't just a patient.

And she, though she wouldn't say it out loud, was no longer just a doctor.

[shepscapades]

*rotates dbhc!Xisuma and Doc in my head*

I'm sorry but I absolutely lose my mind over them ( I have literally no one who I could ramble about this to and I need to get it out). I want to analyse stuff, so let me just:

*breathes in*

It's visible that they are good friends and have been since the time when Doc deviated, research partners doing... research? Or whatever researchers do *shrugs*.

But there's one thing to it, X created Doc and most of other androids. He understands what is deviation because Doc explained it to him but his friend is still an android after all. We also know that X always calls Doc "Docm" but in previous comic he calls him "Doc" and it is stated that it's the first time he ever called him that. In which moment he calls him that? In the moment when he realises that Doc is more human than android now, I may be delusional about this all but I just feel like: the moment when he sees Etho overpower Doc, shove him and break him and stuff, Xisuma sees that Doc isn't a fearless machine but a someone, a human, he got overpowered by Etho and suffered consequences, he felt fear like a human not a machine. Also he lost his arm because he was trying to stop Etho from hurting X as we see in the second part of the comic, which only adds to that. So, this is the moment where X fully realises that he means something to Doc, not as a creator, but as a friend, and that's why for the rest of the comic he constantly makes sure if his partner is alright by talking to him, glancing at him. You know stuff. He grew closer and closer to Doc as time passed and I think this was the climax - the moment he called Docm77 "Doc".

While Doc is doing the most stoic stuff ever and trying not to self destruct and stuff, he cares about X too, very much even, he's protective towards him and shows it by jumping into danger he could have avoided [ Etho attacked X because he's an admin and probably knows where's Grian - Etho wants to hunt down this pesky bird for killing Bdubs] just so his partner won't get hurt how sweet <3 RIP arm you will be remembered...

Anyways I feel like they should talk about stuff and maybe cuddle and maybe I don't know LIVE?? NOT DIE??

Yeah, I think that I don't even need to explain for how long they've been spinning in my head.

Also wanted to thank you so much for so many kind words on my fanart !! I'm glad I can make someone happy with my cheap, old drawing tablet and some self taught skills lol sorry for flooding your ask-box again so so sorry but those comics make me go AWOOGA holy shift, and also DOC AND X CONTENT !! They are so underrated that you almost can't find anything good relating to them as a duo! [personally I think they're great, just two dudes that do things together and care for eachother <3]

So, yep. Prepare yourself for things like that after every new part comes out I WILL make memes and I WILL analyse block men.... sorry not sorry :)

[how to get me into an AU- tutorial: Xisumavoid must be in it- the end]

WE ARE ROTATING THEM. WE ARE WATCHING THEM ROTATE!!!!! you freaking GET me

(THERE ARE SOME INTERESTING THOUGHTS HAPPENING HERE!!!! None of which I’ll confirm but Eye Emoji :3 I love love love these theories they make me so happy ehehehehehe)

(ALSO YOU’RE SO WELCOME!!! That art made my day fr LMAO I love and appreciate it so much!!! <3)

[nuggetofthesea]

Iris and Animal HRT Part 2

EDIT: Part 1 is Ashe's comic linked below. Sorry for any confusion. I wrote this as a sequel to that comic.

Content Warning: Mentions of Death and heavy themes.

The doc closes the door, his last patient having left again. He looks discouraged as he had to sign off on a bunch more "crossroads" patients. He is tired, and as he closes the door he lets out a long sigh.

"You know… I have a door for a reason." He says before turning around.

A clear distress in his voice. He looks over to the back of the room. There he sees the witch, hat as big ever and looking through her notes. Her name is Iris.

Iris previously visited Dr. Erian in regards to her notes. Warning the doc to not tamper with the spells used for animal HRT.

Iris continues to read the notes. Not looking up at the doc or even giving any form of acknowledgement.

The doc speaks up again, saying "So what, here to threaten me again?"

Iris barely looks up at Dr. Erian. Her expression unchanging. And answers "No."

The calmness in her voice sending chills down the doc's spine. But the lack of acknowledgement and clarity get to the doc. He starts to get angry and shouts at Iris.

"Your friends… They are losing years of their life to your spells! I know as a medical professional you need me to distribute them. But I also have to follow procedure! And you keep threatening me if I don't sign off on this for them!"

The anger rising in his voice as he continues

"Do you even care about the harm this is causing to them!? How many years are being taken away from them? Do you even-"

"OF COURSE I DO!" Iris interrupts. Shouting furiously back at him and scaring the doc into silence.

"How do you think you found my notes in the first place, Doc? I needed you for this. I knew the risks of introducing this system." Iris proceeds to calm down, taking a deep breath as she continues.

"In the case of some of my friends, it literally saved their lives." As she thinks of Sophie's conditions that led to her taking mouse HRT. "And this isn't without hardship. I know it is hard for them. I know it means potentially losing them…" Considering Eris and Sabine's directions.

Iris begins to choke up a bit.

"…But you should have seen how it was before. They weren't happy. They came to us at wits end not feeling like they were where they wanted."

Iris closes the book slamming it on the table next to her.

"They wanted me to do a transformation spell on them. But I couldn't. My transformation spells are superficial at best. Mind stays the same, and is no different from putting on a suit. It doesn't fix the problem. So, I wrote the formula for the tablets."

She looks at the notebook with a sadness on her face.

"But the city deemed that that was a magic induced medicine, so I needed a licensed doctor to distribute them. So left the notes here. With THAT supply of charged crystals."

Iris points to a storage crate filled with glowing gemstones and crystals illuminating a corner of the room, but slightly faded. And losing their charge, slowly.

Iris speaks up again.

"I know it isn't a perfect solution. I know they still suffer so much with trying to adjust, and with JERKS that feel they can look down on them for this choice." As she slams her fist on top of the book. An injury previously unnoticed on her hand. Bruised knuckles, looking like she had punched someone or something on the way over.

A deep breath again as she collects herself and calmly states

"But you should see when they leave this office. Some of them the very idea has them smiling for the first time in a while. First time I've seen a genuine smile from them in a long time.

And besides…"

She begins to visibly calm down as she reassures herself.

"…most stop before the point of cutting down their life. And even the ones that go the full way, the tablets are designed so that as long as they keep up taking care of themselves, once the changes are far enough their health will be peak for the species they've chosen. While there are complications in the transformation process, even if they go all the way and end up with a shorter life span, they'll be able to live that remaining life to the fullest."

Dr. Erian begins to show concern, but has calmed down. Hearing the witch out this whole time, and taking her words to heart.

"So why then are you here now? I haven't experimented with the quick versions, and haven't gone against your notes."

"Though I do wish people would stop breaking into my office" He grumbles under his breath.

Iris points back to the crystals required to charge her spells.

"Those crystals are losing charge. I'm here to help resupply. You're going to need it."

Iris begins walking over to the crystals.

"And hey, let's keep this chat between us. I don't want to jeopardize the progress My friends have been making towards their happiness. You understand?" Dr. Erian nods, a little nervously.

Iris holds her book and holds out her hand in front of her. Magic then spreading from her fingers into the crystals below. The crystals react by bursting with light once again.

-Part 2 End-

This is my first piece of writing and it was based on all the Animal HRT. I was seeing others comics on it, but all I can do is write and Ashe said she was stuck on how to continue. This was fun to write as a sequel to Ashe's comic involving Iris. (@iristhedarkwitch comic by @darkmagenugget)

Outside of this, I am probably going to do more transformation, cyberpunk, and fantasy stories. But just wanted to test write something. Feedback is appreciated. Glad to exist. ^-^

[copperbadge]

Hello, hello, could you please say more about how you use Microsoft OneNote in your professional life? I need all the help I can get to stay organized & on top of things, so I would love to know.

Sure! I use it less than previous because there's less randomized stuff I need to do now, so I don't need such robust management, but I can talk about how my use began/evolved. I started using OneNote because it was less finicky than Word but still had an autosave function and basic formatting, so it was useful for initial drafts of documents, taking notes on meetings, and keeping track of information I needed at my fingertips frequently.

OneNote's largest "unit" is the Notebook. You can have multiple Notebooks but I've never bothered; still I can see how if your screen was public a lot, you'd want to put some things in a separate Notebook. The Notebook then breaks down into Sections which look like tabs, which I would assign to broad things like "Meeting Notes", "Assignments", "Templates", "Personal" and "Excel Hacks". Sections break down further into "Pages"; each page is a document stuck into place, which you can title so that you can have a list of "pages" on the sidebar and find the one you want easily. Text in Pages can be formatted to some degree, and if you copypaste from websites, it'll tag on the URL of the site you pasted from, although you can also turn that off if you want. You can drag and drop Pages from one Section to another pretty easily.

So, for example, I'd have a "Meeting Notes" Section, and when I clicked the tab for that section I'd have a list of Pages, each of which was notes from a meeting I'd attended. Every time I went into a meeting I just made a new page, gave it a meeting title and date, and took notes on the meeting into the page window. The "Meeting Notes" Section thus became a fully searchable record of meetings I'd attended and what was said. When meeting notes were no longer relevant I'd drag them to an archival Section to retire in peace.

Here's an example of my Excel section:

You can see "My Notebook" up in the left top corner, my current Sections as tabs at the top, and the pages list on the left (I think more modern OneNote skins put the pages on the right, I moved mine back). Each line on the left is a separate "page" that tells me how to do something in Excel, something I need to do a lot but can't commit to memory (or couldn't but now have, it's a trifle out of date). So we're in My Notebook, section Excel, page Formatting Stripes, and on the right you can see how to format an Excel sheet so that it has alternating colored rows (there are other ways to do this but this way the stripes always stay alternating no matter what moves where). In theory I could dump all this stuff into one Page and call it "Excel" and put it somewhere else, but I liked having an easily-visible list so I don't have to scroll a single document to find what I want.

There aren't nearly as many tab/sections as there used to be; "Assignments" covers "all work that is not excel formulas" and includes stuff like instructions for how to pull a query in our database, a list of what everyone does at our company, a yearly guide to our events program, a few other things. I don't have a "Personal" section any more but I do have 2-3 pages in the Assignments section that are personal notes.

There's no inbuilt tagging function but because the entire notebook is searchable, if you're really into tagging you can simply add keywords to the top or bottom of a page.

I have OneNote pinned to my taskbar in Windows, and it's basically always open but it autosaves, so adding stuff is super simple; if I find a bug in our database or a quirk I want to remember I just click over to OneNote and add it to the database file, or similar.

I don't use it on my phone or tablet, because if I'm at work I have access to my laptop generally, but OneNote does sync across devices as long as you're logged in, so if you have OneNote and a Microsoft login you should be able to access it in multiple places.

[meirimerens]

how do i get into drawing more? i've enjoyed drawing since i was a child but i never really practiced it that much and as such most of my stuff is pretty rudimentary from a technique standpoint. i only have physical supplies and i cannot afford an ipad or a drawing pad any time soon

there is no need for an ipad or a tablet if you don't already draw something expansive you don't even have to worry about that. I (and i imagine many/most artists who began drawing young) got my start on normal paper sheets the one they call "printer paper" because it's thin and textureless. Actually that might be a lie because I think that even before that I was drawing on walls so truly full circle of a thing.

The only stuff you need to draw are something To Draw With, whether it be a pencil or a pen; if it is a pencil also have an eraser, a no-bullshit rectangular eraser, I've literally never understood what the good was in the pink & blue ones beyond making holes & stamps in them, just get a normal good eraser, slightly squishy so it doesn't pull at the paper like a maniac when you use; And paper to draw in. I'd say get a sketchbook for the convenience + the chill of it all. Doesn't even have to be thicker "drawing paper" it can just be a random, lineless notebook. I like mine to have a spiral spine so I can take full advantage of the page but don't even need that. Genuinely for years this was my drawing material (+ whatever paper I found, including my school supplies)

(Staedtler eraser very good actually I've been using it for 10yrs among the better I've used if you find it get yourself one. This shit was like 1.50€ at my local papeteries and then again they mightve inflated the price)

Now I'm gonna tell you about my life because I think it colors the way I approach drawing and as such the advice I'll give you: I started drawing really young (like pre-dates knowing how to read or write) and never stopped. That means I, technically, have some 20+ years of drawing, but I still struggle with what are kinda "fundamentals". I only quite late, technically speaking, gotten into trying my hand as perspective & naturalistic anatomy. That's because I had, at the start, nothing but passion.

And that's gonna be the one piece of advice I have for you:

Get really, really into something, and start trying like the devil to get good at drawing it.

When I was a wee lad I loved horses so much (and I still do.) and all I wanted to do was get good at drawing horses so I could draw stories with horses, so I practiced drawing horses from the horse magazines i had. Around 11, I got really into manga and all I wanted to do was get good at drawing manga so I could draw my own (a lot of my actually like Formative Years of drawing was manga, and I think it's still visible especially when I draw cartoony faces these days), so I practiced drawing manga from the how-to books their were at the library (and we had actually good ones, including Japanese mangaka's translated into french). Around 14, I got really into Video Game, and all I wanted to do was get real good at drawing the characters, so i practiced from youtube tutorials & other internet finds. Nowadays I'm into art history & archeology, and go out of my way to see and grasp and understand #whateverthiswas and try to pepper it (or sometimes dump the whole bag) in my images.

If you're starting "from nothing", I feel like practicing anatomy for the sake of anatomy (for example) will just piss you off. When you get more into the groove of things, and actually want to Get Serious, you'll sit down to Actually Practice, but I personally have always found that Learning for the Passionate Goal makes the whole thing more interesting than Learning To Learn To Then Attempt The Passionate Goal.

It's gonna suck for a while. It truly will. You'll see every improvement so drastic you'll be like ewww what was that 2 months ago. But you will HAVE HAD FUN DOING IT!!!

Tldr

1) get into something. Whatever it is.

2) collect tools and tutorial to serve whatever it is you're into, and not try to get into the tools: that will come later, once you're already in the habit of drawing.

3) you don't need fancy material

4) never underestimate the power of the humble ballpoint pen and clicky pencil

5) train your brain, the muscle of your brain, to conjure up images until there is nothing you can do BUT exteriorize them lest they poison you

6) you don't have to post anything online btw. In fact, I attribute the fact that I have always loved art so much to the fact that for the first 15yrs of my life I could truly just enjoy the process and vibe. I still do, don't take me wrong, and truly I draw for myself and you're all trapped in here with me. Looking at the slop i feed you. But there is an inherent, new dimension added with Being The Blogger. So have fun and vibe.

7) the heart is the horse, the hands are the rider

[wolfjackle]

Today I needed to get out of the house for a number of reasons, mostly related to current events.

I hadn't slept well, mostly because I live with my Nana and she doesn't realize how loud her TV is when she falls asleep. Usually I can sleep through it, but not last night.

So I stayed in bed later than I like to. Woke up at a reasonable enough time, but stayed in bed on my tablet and phone for a while trying to fall back asleep before giving up on that.

And I really needed to get out of the house.

So I drove the thirty minutes or so to a hiking trail I like. There's two places I can park, and I chose the one that gave the longest walk. Didn't arrive until about 3 in the afternoon.

Well, where I live, it's full dark by 5:30. I knew I'd be cutting it close. But I wanted to do the full walk. All the way to the beach. Sit by the waves for a few minutes after some time alone in the woods.

It was glorious. I didn't care that I was wearing jeans and sneakers. That sand got all over me.

But, like I said. This was the long walk and you can already see night is setting in from the picture. I still had about a 2 mile walk through the woods to get back to my car.

Gorgeous woods, let me tell you. But still. It's getting dark fast.

I realized I probably messed up when I saw how dark the path was getting. When the sun was no longer visible above the trees.

So I sprinted down sections of the path until I was out of breath. Do you know how long it had been since I'd sprinted for no real reason but to do it? It was so much fun. I started by trying to get to the car faster. I kept going because it made me laugh.

There was no one around. The birds were singing their evening songs. And I was running down the trail in the growing dark.

The moon, visible the entire walk, kept getting brighter and brighter. Only half full, but shining bright enough to help with the setting sun.

I get near the end of the trail. The sun has fallen below the horizon, but you can still see it's light just above. And across from it shines the moon. It was breathtaking.

And standing on the edge of the water was another person. They don't see me, but they're watching the sunset and I want to pause and watch as well.

So I called out. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

She's surprised, but happy, to find someone else out just enjoying nature and a sunset. We watch together for a few minutes. Casual conversation about the view and the place we live. Compare different walks and places we like to go.

Then I go out on another limb. I say, "Current events are making me rethink some life choices."

Two hesitant sentences confirm we're both scared of the future with a Trump presidency. She's 84 and looks back on the past and is ashamed that this is what she's left with. But she grieves with me for being young and having to navigate the world we're about to enter.

Not in so many words. We talked around the issues mostly. Just wanting to luxuriate in a beautiful sunset, the knowledge that the ocean is unchanging and eternal, and that there will be life after this, no matter what happens.

But our anxieties sneak in.

As we walk the quarter mile or so back to the parking lot, it gets darker and darker. But the moon is bright enough to reflect of the water and cast shadows if you look.

(My phone brightened the photo. It was so much darker in person. And the moonlight reflecting on the water so much more beautiful.)

An owl hooted in the distance; she couldn't hear it (she spent time in an orchestra sitting next to the tympanis).

We never exchanged names. I considered it. Considered saying "I'm Wolf, by the way." But I didn't. I'm not sure why. And I'm not sure why she didn't either.

But it was beautiful. Standing next to a stranger. Watching a sunset. Discussing the big topics. And the small.

I spent maybe half an hour with her, but I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Nothing was fixed. The world is too big for that. But that moment of connection? It helped. It really, really helped.

[soupedepates]

Hanko belongs to @noa-de-cajou

"I say this to you, Hanko, but if anything bad happens, I might poison someone."

I am an old woman now, and I am not as able as I used to be. That cerebrovascular accident almost put me in a wheelchair for all my life. Which doesn't mean I won't fight.

And I've grown quite fond of this child.

Almost my grandkid when you think of it.

"Here, here, take a piece of the kremówka I've baked. You'll feel better with a full stomach... I'm hearing a door getting slammed, or is it my imagination?"

I've heard it too, he types on his tablet.

"Dima is usually a good kid. Frankly, I can't understand why he is so mean to you. Yes, yes, he is only six, but still. You didn't try to burn your classmates' hair when you were a kid, did you?"

Hanko types a "no". I pour him a bit more of tea, serve him a bit more of kremówka.

"Not having two parents together don't turn you into a monster. Look at me or Zuza. Or he is starting to take after his mother. Would be a shame. One Idalia is already too much so a second one..."

I don't hear many noises coming from downstairs. I don't like this.

Then someone knocks on my door.

Who could it be. Oh, surprising. My... daughter-in-law. Fantastic. I can almost hear Hanko flinch at this horrible sight.

"Where is he."

I close the door, just for her to try again. She knocks, and I answer.

"Why did you..."

I close it again. She knocks for the third time, looking more puzzled than angry at me.

"Hello Idalia, what is bringing you there?" I say with a smile. You won't get anything out of me with that attitude, young lady.

"Herm... Hello Danuta, I, uh... I am looking for Hanko", she answers, visibly confused. "We uh... we need to talk."

I never was a fan of this girl. Never. I know her father. Bad man. Tried to give a chance to his offspring, got my Zuza crying over her coffee in some of the worst meltdowns I've ever seen since she was a child. So logically, I just slam the door shut.

"So, Hanko, what do you want to eat for dinner?"

[cc-cobalt-1043]

The day we found you (a bad batch modern au)

Chapter 3: A Fateful Meeting

Ages:

Hunter: 9

Wrecker: 8

Cobalt: 6

Crosshair and Tech: 4 1/2

Echo and Fives: 9

Trix: 10

99: 50

Date: June 20th 2001

The five brothers all relaxed visibly as the train pulled out of the station.

"Man, I'm so glad we're out of there." Wrecker said.

"You're telling me." Hunter nodded.

"Ok, I can't believe it's taken me this long to realise this but what pray tell do we do when we arrive at the station." Crosshair said.

"We need to find somewhere to lay low, where she can't find us." Hunter said.

"I'm sure we'll find somewhere, but we should try and relax, we have a few hours we need to disembark." Tech said.

"He's right, we should probably eat, personally I'm starving." Hunter said.

The others nodded in agreement and pulled the food from their bags and tucked in.

After a bit they'd finished and the leftovers were packed away in their bags.

Cobalt was on his way to the bathroom when he accidentally collided with someone.

"Sorry." A boy a few years older than him apologised.

"Sorry wasn't watching where I was going." Cobalt said.

"It's alright..." The boy said holding out a hand.

"Cobalt." Cobalt said accepting the hand.

"My names' Trix, nice to meet you Cobalt." The boy said.

"Nice to meet you too." Cobalt said.

"Look after yourself." Trix smiled before walking off.

Cobalt smiled before heading to the bathroom.

Trix went over to where his adopted father 99 and his younger twin brothers Echo and Fives were sitting.

"Everything okay Trix?" 99 asked as his eldest son sat down.

"Yeah, just bumped into someone on my way back." Trix nodded.

"Who?" Fives asked looking up from the tablet he was playing on.

"No one special, just some kid, one of the five over there." Trix said.

99 couldn't help his curiosity and saw Hunter, Wrecker, Crosshair and Tech sitting together.

"Where do you think their parents are?" Echo asked.

"I don't know Echo, I didn't see anyone who looked like their parents." Trix said

"Weird, they look younger than us." Fives said.

"Yeah, who'd let them ride the train by themselves, at this time of night too." Echo said.

99 was silent, thinking everything over in his head.

A few hours later the train pulled into the station.

99, Trix and the twins made their way through the hustle and bustle of the station and managed to get outside.

99 was checking over Trix and the twins when he notices something

Those five boys Trix had mentioned were standing together, 99 kept an eye on them for a few minutes but no one appeared to collect them, in fact no one seemed interested in them whatsoever.

Unable to bear the sight anymore 99 went over, the kids following.

He approached the five boys who looked up at him nervously.

"Are you boys alright?" 99 asked.

"umm yeah, we're just waiting for our...mother." Hunter lied.

"Is she nearby, young boys like you all shouldn't be out here by yourselves, especially at this time of night." 99 said.

"She should be close by, but we can't see her." Wrecker said eyes darting around looking for a possible escape route.

"Well how about you all come over to my house and get some rest, and I'll try and call your mother so she can collect you." 99 offered.

Hunter shook his head.

"We may be kids but we know not to go off with strangers." He said.

Echo spoke up.

"99 is a good man you guys, you can trust him." He said.

The five looked at them skeptically before huddling together and having a muttered conversation.

"Do you really think we can trust him?" Crosshair asked the others.

"I dunno, he seems okay to me." Cobalt said.

"I think we can trust him." Wrecker said.

"Wrecker, we don't know him." Hunter said.

"We don't know anyone here Hunter, but I read him, he's not like mother." Wrecker said.

"He's a stranger Wrecker." Crosshair hissed.

"Again I know, but whenever we sneak those movies when she's out I'm always the one judging the characters, seeing them for who they are, and I'm never wrong am I?" Wrecker asked.

"No." Hunter shook his head.

"This guy, we can trust him." Wrecker said.

"I'll take your word on it." Hunter nodded.

The five looked up at 99 nodding.

"Okay Mister, we trust you." Hunter said.

"Alright, my name is 99, this is Trix, Fives and Echo." 99 said introducing his kid.

"I'm Hunter, this is Wrecker, Crosshair, Cobalt and Tech." Hunter said introducing the others who each waved shyly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you boys, now come on, it's been a long day and I'm sure you must all be exhausted." 99 said.

"You got that right." Wrecker said stifling an almighty yawn behind his hand.

99 just smiled and led the boys along.

The walk was mostly silent aside from the occasional yawn from either Trix, the twins or the five boys with them.

99 was certainly curious about this kids, he had never seen them around town before and he certainly hadn't missed the muttered conversation they'd had before agreeing to follow him...he just couldn't help the feeling that they were running from something, but what.

They soon got to the house, a modest 4 bedroom house but the way the boys looked at it, it was like a mansion.

"Wow, you live here." Wrecker said in awe.

"Yes I do, it's not much, but it's home." 99 said.

"It's lovely." Wrecker said, the other four nodding in agreement.

"Thank you Wrecker." 99 said opening the door and allowing the boys to troop in.

Echo switched the lights on and even Crosshair was in awe at how cosy the house looked.

"Wow, this is cosy." Crosshair said blushing slightly in embarrassment at having saying that out loud.

"Thank you Crosshair." 99 smiled.

A very loud yawn from Cobalt made 99 chuckle.

"Sorry." Cobalt apologised embarrassed.

99 just chucked fondly and addressed them all.

"Ok everyone, time for bed, you five may as well get some sleep too while we wait for your mother, do you have pajamas?" 99 asked the five boys.

The boys shook their heads.

"That's alright, could you three lend them some Pj's?" 99 asked.

Trix and the twins nodded leading the other boys upstairs.

99 pulled out the phone book and looked through the names trying to find the surname Hunter had mentioned to him although for some reason he couldn't find it.

After the boys had changed into pajamas 99 set up some sleeping bags for the boys, Trix sharing his room with Cobalt and Wrecker, Fives sharing his room with Hunter and Crosshair and Echo sharing his with Tech.

99 tucked in each of the boys and changed into his own pajamas.

After searching for a while longer and finding nothing he decided to head to bed himself.

On his way he checked on each of the boys and they were all sleeping peacefully.

99 then headed to bed himself.

[some-internet-stranger]

dude How do you Draw rito people? i would actually Love a detailed Tutorial

Hey!! Thx for the ask!

I can't do a very detailed tutorial right now because I'm Not home and dont have my Tablet with me. But I will try anyway.

(In all honesty, I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing most of the time and I am not the best person to ask for a tutorial ah)

I struggled quite a Lot trying to figure Out how to Draw rito, the thing that I Had the Most problems with was the head. I usually just draw human characters who all Sort of follows the same formula.

First, I Draw a circle, then I add this face cross thingy to know where everything should be... And then I Just add everything else 👍

((this is Not supposed to be a Tutorial for drawing humans, I know that this wasnt helpful in the slightest. Im Just trying to Show the head shape.. process))

Alright! So for drawing a rito, you need to use a different shape as your base. (Well... You don't need to, its Just something that usually helps me)

Here's the shape!

You add the face cross down here, because thats where the face is

Then you place the eyes, only one of them is fully visible.

Then you... Somehow do the beak

And then U add details

Um, yes. And there you go! You Just Draw a rito head, congratulations! NOW the Body is a whole Other thing... But Tumblr only lets U add so and so many pictures to your Post so I'll probably do another one. (Or Not)

In the meantime, Go Look at this post ny @udog they seem to know what theyre doing

(Live footage of me drawing, because I dont really think about what Im doing. Ever)