#I'm gonna make pictures of the shirt and draw on it digitally to see what works

[danikatze]

I have one (1) irl friend who loves Critical Role and she can't come with me to the live show in London, but I'm going to try to get a ticket anyway and go by myself!

Also also, I'm learning to screen print on fabric in a week and a half and if I manage to get a ticket I'm going to print one of my own CR drawings on a hoodie to wear to the show 🤩

[microwavetoaster-selfships]

hihi its me, the anon from ur other blog (yknow, the selfship questions one) and i'd like to kmow bout ur f/os,(u can gush nd stuff, idk)

and also, i'm curious as to how they look like cuz you said that theyre humanised! :>

Eeeekk!!! Screams!!! I love sharing how they look so this is...very good question for me. This is a bit of a...long list so I'm putting it under the cut, though I'm going to try and not type more than like three sentences or less for each of them so it's mostly just gonna be pictures. But I'm just showin my humanized ideas for how my primary F/Os look, but I do have humanized headcannons for...I kid you not everyone in the franchise.

!!!Not all the art here is mine!!! For the art that is not mine I will be writing their respective credentials and what social media platform it was originally posted on. I tried to stick to using my art as much as I could but I don't have a lot of digital drawings of them, nonetheless ones I'm ready to reveal to the world haha(though some I'll gladly share)

Some of them, to try and keep this to my main F/Os that I've been exploding over lately and to try and keep this from getting lengthy, I intentionally left out, ex. M.ater, L.eland, R.od, S.trip, C.hick, the- the rest of my F/O list, you get the point!😅

I also used this as an opportunity to mention what I headcannon their heights to be >:)

If anyone would like a version of just the images and without the descriptions 100% let me know, won't be a bother one bit!!!

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For L.ightning I imagine something like this:

By @/Laoian on Twitter. Except I picture him to have his hair closer to a shoulder-blade sort of length and him not quite as fit.

I'd imagine him around 5'6-5'7

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For F.ranceso(forgive me for the full-body one looking a little more messy/wonky, it's a lot older than the other one and is.. im quite nit picky about that drawing but its what I got. The other drawing is leaning towards a doodle/being really simplistic and quick) basically this:

Ignore the color picks and whatnot, that was before I was smart enough to put those on a seperate layer JDNSJSJSJS

I'd say he's like 6'ft.

I had also posted a drawing of F.rancesco quite recently as well, I just didn't put it here cause he's got his helmet on and it's a close-up shot so you can't really see how he looks too well(it's one of my proudest drawings though!)

Also, this and this

please. PLEASE I cannot stress this enough this is just. THATS HIM!!

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I'm pre-appologizing(/half joking) for not having any normal drawings of F.inn, I don't know how all my digital drawings(that are colored) of him ended up being incredibly self-indulgent, I didn't even realize I did that till now! So I'm just doing this one for now(though I recently posted the art of me and him snuggling a bit ago on my blog. I'm quite stinkin proud of that one too!! One of my proudest, i think)

F.inn :)

He's like 5'4, same height as me(Except I'm a liar and I'm really like 5'3 and a little bit).

I'm not good at drawing Grey in hair quite yet but. That. He's got salt and pepper hair(or whatverr you want to call it) except it's the Grey mixed in with. Whatever blue-ish haircolor that is that he's already got JSBDJAJDR.

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A.xlerod!!!

I actually don't have a lot of colored drawings of him, which surprised me a bit, but I do have a tonnn of doodles of him aufbsifnskffj

He has a big overcoat and stuff :) and his button up shirt thingy is supposed to have a plaid-like pattern but I have no clue how to draw plaid quite yet 😅

He's basically the same height as me though! His facial hair is just kinda whispy fuzz, if that makes any sense. Kind of like a kiwi.

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G.rem and A.cer together! Cause they're inseparable JFNDJSN

I adorrreeeEE this drawing of G.rem and A.cer, I take very much pride in this drawing I love sticking it in people's faces. G.rem on the left and A.cer on the right.

G.rem is like 5'6 and A.cer is 5'1.

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Annndd J.ackson!!

By Jeno0305 on Twitter (I don't know what the writing says in the first image. I'm assuming the drawing of the person he's with in the first image is the artists version of G.ale, his driver/hauler)

I headcannon him to be 6'ft and pale as hell cause he just sits in his room all day and plays videogames(which is also canonical)

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Anndddd that's all!! I'm trying not to hyper apologize for the length😅 when I spill the beans everything in the can comes out!! But really thank you for the ask, really was tons of fun to answer :) I appreciate it! Felt good to get to ramble and babble a bit!

If anyone somehow read through all of this then I'm sending you a life time supply of your favorite food

[bluberimufim]

Oh ho ho, now I'm curious, do you have any refs for anyone that might want to draw your OCs? Pictures or specific descriptions or anything of that sort? Just curious...

Thank you for the ask! I'm so glad it interests you!!

Well You See: I'm an artist. I should have references lying around. But if I were to present them, it would be some super sporadic stuff bc I never got around to drawing MOST of my ocs, for some reason...

That being said, I have a few things lying around. I'll post it here and maybe update when I make more.

(Also, I know the digital drawings suck. I have 0 experience with it. I am Trying Very Hard)

This is gonna be Long, so buckle up.

Dystopia WIP:

This WIP was originally concieved at a graphic novel, so I have a few drawings - especially a few rough sketches mapping out outfit shapes and colours. Let's go through the main cast:

Veta, Vi and Veo (aka the Communist Polycule):

Veera:

Alexis Ivanik:

Cristover (left) and Nester Kalenev (right):

I have a post explaining the significance of most of the colour palettes of the 3 WIPs here

Notes on the characters:

Nester, Cristover, and Vi are all guys. They're wearing skirts bc they're Fashionable. Vi has a beard

Vi's outfits are inspired by traditional portuguese costume

idc what you do with Alexis, they NEED to be wearing extremely over-the-top eyeliner at all times

Devourer of Souls:

So here is the Thing. Most characters in this WIP being female is a very recent development. Almost all except for Flick used to be guys. So the only pic of Seth is her as a man. Literally just picture her with longer hair and it's almost accurate.

Seth (very zoomed into a drawing I once made):

(pls don't forget that she's a cane user)

Flick (the people on the sides are Allana and Hunter, the two souls their body houses):

Notes on characters not pictured (Jane and Theo):

Theo and Jane are technically twins, and they have a Snow White/Rose Red motif

Theo has bright red eyes long white hair in a huge braid. She wears all white tends to prefer overalls

Jane has short red hair and white eyes, the inverse of Theo

Black and White

Considering this WIP is my main one and the one I've had the longest, I have shamefully little material on it that I like. And also, I've already reaches the limit on pictures I can post.

I mean, my icon is a drawing of Darius, and there's also the Great Reyna Picrew Show-Down, but otherwise? Almost nothing. When it comes to descriptions, it's kinda vague ig? But let me kinda compile a little bit. Here's the most relevant characters in order of appearance:

Johann:

[...] He was significantly older and dressed much more presentably. His deep black suit had a refined and expensive-looking cut. He carried an old walking stick, which might have been in fashion in the previous century, to complete the look. Besides that, he had a box-shaped camera hanging from his shoulder. His hair was almost completely grey and perfectly combed, which made him look organized and important. When he walked closer, Darius noticed the strange shine in his eyes, his crooked nose, his lively smile. There was no doubt. He looked like all the pictures he'd seen. [...]

August:

He would almost be a perfectly normal person if not for his height. He wasn't a giant, but he had a considerable advantage over most people, although not at the expense of any muscle. His hair was longer than one would normally see in a man, almost shoulder-length. Otherwise, he looked pretty average, dressed in a half-opened shirt and very tight trousers. He couldn't decide if he should categorize him as "weird" or not.

Extra note: he wears a glove on his right hand that he never takes off. I once made a joke about the glove staying on during sex and it's 100% true.

Reyna:

[...] The girl was absolutely enormous. He'd never seen anyone so tall. She was taller than August, who was almost a giant himself. Even without heels, she was taller than anyone he'd ever met. And besides that, she was dressed quite scandalously. Her red dress barely reached the middle of her legs, leaving part of the knees exposed. The skirt was made of various layers of light fabrics, like chiffon and tule, all of them ending in excessive frills. It looked like a flower upside down. The dress had no sleeves, being held in place solely by two thin straps covered in glitter, reflecting the light of the sun. All of her seemed more suited to a burlesque show than a circus.

Diedrich:

His red hair, tied into a ponytail, fell down the side of his neck, like a small flame. He wore a crisp black suit, like any common man would. [...]

I can't believe I never actually described Diedrich. I know he's a POV character but still, wtf??

I mean, I guess there wouldn't be a point in describing him from Darius's or Reyna's POV because Darius spent years collecting pictures of him and Reyna has seen him every day for the past 5 years. But if you want an age range, he's 50 in the main story, just like Johann.

You know what? Hit me up if you want a drawing or better description. I'd be happy to do it for you, if you wanna actually draw him.

(if you're wondering why the descriptions are so weird about fabrics, it's because this is narrated by Darius and he's a tailor - he's really into sewing)

As for Darius himself, he's only ever described as "looking like Alphonse". And what does Alphonse look like, you ask? Johann describes him in relation to Diedrich (a description we don't have), and Diedrich feels no need to describe him because he's literally his son and he's known him since he was born. I need to fix this, holy shit.

Anyway, I hope this gave you better insight into how (some of) my ocs look! And I hope you had fun looking at sketches, zoomed-in pictures and 1 (one) fully fledged illustration of Flick.

Also, feel free to ask if you need more info! I can add it here to paint a more complete picture.

[tekni-kali]

Day 225

09:57p, Saturday, June 09, 2023

Uhm....soooo 176 days since I typed out a post for the blog. Coooooolll.....I made my way back...eventually? Let us see how long I stick around this time. I would like to try my best to make something somewhat consistent.

We'll see...

I revived my iPod Mini today. I took a picture of my desk and thought it looked neat, so that's kind of what brought me back here...Here's the picture:

Things I see:

Apple iPod Mini

Left Nintendo Switch Joycon

Nintendo 3DS XL

Laptop

USB Extender adaptor thingie

Cup of Pens

Digital Pen for computer graphic drawing doodles

Christmas lights plug

My Cup!

4 stickers of my art

Hollow Knight stickers from amazon

The desk mat

the hdmi splitter button

Warm ikea lamp

Monitor stand!

Okay...thats enough of the things I see in the picture. I like the idea of using the iPod mini again. I wore it on the walk to 7/11 and it worked out really nicely clipped to my shirt and holding the bag in place....I didn't have to fiddle with it at all!! The one thing I may try to investigate to replace for improvement is the headphone/earbud situation. These hot pink jlab beauties were on clearance for eight fiddy at the local wal greens. The bass is distorted but the noise isolation is nice.

Now I am curious as to whether there is a bluetooth adaptor that I can connect my earbuds to then plug the 3.5mm into the ipod to play through it....

That's what I'll look up next. I'll come back in a bit maybe.

-10:05p

10:25p -

Well...that was fun. I didn't look that up yet but I did want to come back and write a bit about my day...so maybe I'll try to do that?

I washed the dishes. I did a driveby someones house to pick up free chairs from their front lawn. I panicked and drove away....then came home and re-arranged my music files and revived the iPod. I collected Behb from work we'd made plans to go to the state park again....by the time we left the house we would've gotten there at 4 and the park closes at 5:30.....traffic was very bad because of all the holiday events. They had every turn around closed so I essentially just spent 30ish minutes driving around what normally should be a 5 minute square. I was very annoyed.

When we got home I boiled two eggs, fucked up peeling one of them and just threw it away. Then Behb suggested an idea for an activity...popcorn and movie night! He didn't think we had popcorn, I told him there was some in the pantry....it was too expired to eat so we walked down to the gas station and bought a bag to pop deciding along the way that we'd watch Die Hard....cuz...christmas movie - holiday festivities and what not.

I strung up lights last night! First I stuck the command strips to the glass on the window and they didn't stay....then I stuck them to the wall and clipped one of the three wires in there and they haven't fallen down yet! I also strung some over the picture and hung up the two christmas arts his family gave us last year...those combined with the christmas tree wax warmer and we're officially festive!

But newai....

When we returned home, we learned that Die Hard isn't streaming on any of the streamy services we have, and we didn't want to pay $3.99 to rent it once.....so I started scrolling....and suggested: Scooby Doo Movie (2002ish) or Jumanji (1995 w/ Robin Williams).

Behb popped the corn, brought a beer, and picked Jumanji. Turns out....ITSA CHRISTMAS MOVIE TOO! At least...Christmas was in it....so...that counts. I honestly don't think I'd seen it before...but it was a good watch and I was entertained so I'm glad it worked out.

Tomorrow is Behbiversary! It will be 4 years since we swiped n started conversing. I am glad we are progressioning together. I'm going to look for strawberries and chocolates for us to make after he's off tomorrow. He got me roses ^_^. Okay...gonna go click around...I think I'll be back soon...I think I want to add some more...but a break now would be nice. So...ye...brb

-10:34p

10:35p-

You know...I just thought...I can probably use the 3.5mm aux cord to plug the Mini into the JBL Flip....then I get iPod muzik on loud speaker....that will be a tomorrow try...I do want to get up for my earbuds now though....IDK, it just seems silly using it in the apt.

10:45p-

I got my earbuds! and found sum muzik:

I think I'll get some screenshots off the switch to post up here. I think I decided I don't want to put pictures in this post...but I"ll work on organizing them to post separately like I did before....but...ye...this seems long enough...so...I'm gonna post it now.

Catch ya later!

-10:46p

[deepseavibez]

A Star In Your Sky || JJK

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-> Picture Source - Pinterest

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A Star In Your Sky [Jungkook]

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Genre - Dad!Jungkook; Angst; Sadness; Melancholy; Drabble:

Summary - Helpless as he was, 'what you didn't know couldn't hurt you'... it would have to do. There was nothing else he could do.

Warning - Angst; Sadness; Major Character Death;

Word Count - 1.7k

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Jungkook woke up with a start at the blaring alarm. 5am - his phone flashed in red numbers. Snoozing it, he left it back on the table.

The fog on the windows signifying a cold morning, the dreary grey clouds overcast, the edge of dawn.

Wiping the sleep out of his eyes he righted his shirt, pulling his sleeves over his cold hands, ruffling his hair as he stretched his limbs and swung them over the couch.

The cold hit his bare feet as he stood up and started his way down the hall, switching the lights on as he walked, to navigate his way to the room right next to his.

Door slightly ajar, he pushed on it, the slight creak a normal sound, a part of the surroundings, the many years behind the action of tuning it out.

His eyes fell past the threshold, items he knew by heart, colors he had committed to memory, the scent and the surroundings - his home.

The curtains in this room were purple, deep purple, the hue something akin to indigo, silver moons and stars shone at the catch of even the tiniest bit of light.

There were posters of cartoons, drawings in crayons and paints, a basket of toys in the corner of the room, and Cooky, the pink plush toy staring back on the made bed.

Eyes scanning the toy he remembered the day it came home.

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'Dad, look what Uncle Jinnie got me,' Moon ran up to him, as she giggled in excitement, eyes lighting up at the plush toy in her hand.

Turning toward the sound of his daughter, he bent down on one knee so she could hop into his waiting arms. He held her easily, her form tiny and stable in his muscled hands.

Her momentary glance to the tattoo on his skin, a second nature, something that made her smile, as her name had been carved into his forearm, stars surrounding it with a Saturn ring.

She was Daddy's little girl and she loved every moment of it.

Meeting her fathers eyes, she held up the pink bunny in her arms, a prize worth every drop of attention he could give.

Smiling bemused he asked her, 'What about all the other teddy's in your room, babygirl?'

He nosed at her cheek as he teased her.

Her eyes went as wide as saucers, 'Dad!' she exclaimed in a mock whisper, 'They aren't Teddy's, they all have names.'

'Yeah, Jk, how can you call them Teddy's,' Jin played along, just as scandalized at his dongsaengs choice of words.

Mouth twitching, the mole on his chin, shifting at the movement, he raised an eyebrow at his hyung, 'I'm surprised you didn't get her the RJ.'

'Now, now, I did explain the perks of having RJ, but she is Daddy's little girl.' They smiled, endeared with the toddler between them.

It was the last proper, happy outing they had, ice-cream, feeding the seagulls, playing in the sand, her best days with her father and her Uncle Jin.

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‘I don't care what happens to me, I don’t care about the money! Just please save my baby, please!’ Jungkook was enraged, angry at the world, helpless, desperate.

Stage 4. She was only a child, her tiny body fit in his arms, her form only half of him.

It came out of nowhere, severe bruising and bleeding when she fell down, or got cut. Trouble breathing when she ran, nausea when she ate and sometimes not wanting to eat at all. Waking up to her cries in the middle of the night, sniffling quietly, at the pains in her body.

Too many symptoms, too many blood tests later, too many restless, sleepless nights, she was diagnosed with leukemia.

There were weeks of waiting for results, test after test, of having to sit her in his lap, and explain why she needed to see countless doctors and that things would get better, that it was just for now.

But as he stood opposite her doctor, his hyung holding his shoulder, he had to go home and tell her he lied. He lied.

He'd have to tell her that there was no turning back, and if it was too late for his daughter, the love of his life, the very center of his world, for him, there would be no way forward.

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He stood at the doorway of her hospital room, having just gone home to change up and get her favorite mac and cheese. The sight he met every single time, not something he had gotten used to, despite the number of weeks he’d been at the forefront of it all.

The tubes along her face, her nose, in her arms, something a baby should never have to go through. A parent should never have to think about outliving their child. It wasn’t the cycle. It wasn’t fair.

She deserved, to hit double digits, to find love, to have him fight the need to protect her from every mistake, to always be there for her, she deserved friends, memories, the chance to discover hobbies, she deserved more time.

The saddest part was that she was too young to think of any of those things, and yet, maybe it could also be a blessing.

What you didn’t know couldn’t hurt you, right.

Blinking back tears he plastered a fake smile on his face, the brightest one he felt he could muster. ‘Hey, babygirl.’

She looked up, a small smile, slowly making its way up her cheeks, her face pale. Opening her mouth to speak, he shook his head at her. ‘No, no, shh, baby, don’t hurt your throat.’

Making his way over to her bed, he gingerly climbed in next to her, the nurses used to his presence, the doctors having no objection considering the care he had with her as he slotted himself protectively over her.

Pecking her on the head, he took note of the scrapbook in her hand. She looked at it everyday, pictures of her six loving uncles, Taehyung plaiting her hair, Jimin showing her tiny jewelry pieces, stick-ons for her ears, Namjoon with a bunch of block letters, a tower of it clearly having collapsed around them. Her Uncle Hobi always made her smile, as he had her on his back and his neck, walked her around the apartments like he was her personal chauffeur, Yooni holding her as she slept, light music playing in the background, and her Uncle Jin, her favourite Uncle Jin, always around, choosing school bags, spoiling her with anything she wanted, anything that caught her eye, especially morning blueberry waffles and her dad, Jungkook, her dad, the youngest, the one with the most time, the most allowance to make reckless decisions, the one who adapted his whole life around her inclusion in his life.

‘Hey, remember the story of your first birthday,’ His voice exuberant at her cake covered face,’when you didn’t want to wear the red jacket Uncle Tae gave you, and you cried for his instead,’ he petted her head as he searched her face for recognition.

She pouted at the mention of it, the story recounted so many times before,’Uncle Tae’s jacket was purple, Dad. How could I not want it,’ Her cheekiness earned her a light flick to her nose.

She upturned it crossly, a little zest in her eyes at the familiar chastising.

They paused, looking at each other, before the smile slowly disappeared from her face, the reaction apparently contagious as Jungkook sat up in concern. ‘Dad,’ she started softly, her eyes trained on the blanket covering her legs, ’are you gonna forget me?’

Jungkook’s breath caught in his throat at the innocent question, striving to show no reaction on his face. Moving swiftly, he worked his way around the cables and maneuvered her into his lap. They tried, he tried, and she had been so strong but even at her tender age she knew it, he knew it, the time for sugar coated words, and false hopes were over, acceptance was all that was left.

‘Close your eyes,’ he prompted, wiping tears he could no longer hold back, away from his eyes.‘Can you see me?’

‘My eyes-,’

‘No, keep them closed, can you see me,’ he reiterated, beside himself.

‘No, I can’t see you.’

‘But you can hear me right,’ taking note of her face, her nose, her cute cheeks, he waited for her answer.

‘Yes, I can hear you.’

‘Well,’ he sniffled, head falling against her forehead lightly, the contact needed, ’that’s what it will be like. I will always be here for you. I will always talk to you, and I promise,’ his hand found hers and squeezed it, ’I will never forget you. You may not see me and I may not see you, but you will always be the biggest part of me. And I promise, I will never, ever, forget you.’

He broke at his last words, pulling her into his embrace, holding his Moon, wishing with everything he had left, he would never have to let her go.

Moon passed that night, in her sleep, in his arms, as painless as it could possibly be. Knowing what was going to happen, couldn’t have prepared Jungkook for the real thing. But he knew he had to let go of her lifeless body, he knew he had to call the one person who could handle him or whatever came next for him, and as soon as he saw his Jin hyung, the one that named his perfect girl, he fell into his arms and cried, as his heart shattered into pieces.

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Standing at doorways were his thing these days, he thought, everything he did was not enough, not too much, like sitting on the fence, falling in the middle.

It had been a year, but he couldn’t clean out this room, he still woke up at 5am despite his flexible job because he had to take care of her routine, maybe someday he would have to stop coming in here, but right now, the made bed, the unused room, the stillness of it all, would remind him that even for a time, he had something beautiful, something worth all that pain, a human that he would meet someday again.

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[dyscrasia-eucrasia]

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Part 27

"If Elaine asks, we went to the festival," Demie said as they headed back to the car, pulling his shirt back over his head. Angel was a little disappointed at that, as he had been enjoying the view. He was being honest when he said that he wasn't going to jerk it to the photo he'd taken, but he could still appreciate a good hairy chest, and Demie's fit the bill. 

"Got it," Angel replied. 

"Seriously, I don't want to hear her say that she told me so." 

"I got it, really. I won't tattle on you." 

"Thanks." 

They walked a little further without saying anything, but then Angel asked: "She really worries about you, huh?" 

Demie frowned. "Yeah, but… I wish she didn't. I mean, I know she's just looking out for me, but… I have you with me, it's not like anything was gonna happen." 

Angel's stomach turned over. He hadn't realized Demie placed so much trust in him. He wasn't sure he deserved it - he wasn't that responsible. But hearing that Demie thought that much of him made him want to live up to that expectation. He cared about Demie, after all. He wouldn't have stuck around this long after being friendzoned if he didn't. 

The only problem was, he wasn't sure if he only cared about Demie as a friend. Demie was sweet, and handsome, and had a godly voice, and Angel kept wanting to bottle moments up so that he could go back to them whenever he wanted. He wished he'd recorded Demie's singing - no car karaoke had felt as intimate as that drive. 

He was glad that Demie had let him keep the photograph. Well, photographs. He wasn't sure which one he liked more, the candid shot of Demie eating or the posed shot on the bridge. They showed two versions of him - the vulnerable, awkward side, and the seemingly ancient, wild side. It was like Demie offstage versus Demie onstage. 

He'd already made up his mind that he wouldn't share either photograph with the internet. He hadn't planned to share any of this day with the internet, even if they had gone to the festival. Even if Demie were okay with being a public figure, Angel wanted to keep him to himself. 

As he was thinking this, Demie came to a halt. Angel paused too, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong, when he heard it. There were footsteps drawing near from behind them, and the sound of voices talking. 

"You okay?" Angel asked. The veins in Demie's neck were bulging, and his legs were tense. He looked ready to spring into action. 

"I'm… I'm okay," Demie said, but he didn't sound like it at all. 

"If they ask, we're just here to take cosplay photos, right?" Angel said, waving the Polaroid camera in the air. It had been Demie's idea, but it didn't hurt to remind him of it. 

"Right," Demie said with a little nod. 

"Here, let's just keep walking, and if they catch up to us, they catch up to us. We'll deal with it then, okay?" Angel said, putting an arm around Demie's shoulders. As he touched him, Angel realized just how tense Demie was. 

"Okay," Demie said, letting Angel give him a little push. 

Demie walked awkwardly, with stiff legs, at times taking very fast steps and getting ahead of Angel, then pausing and turning partway to wait for Angel to catch up to him. Despite this, the voices eventually caught up to them. 

"Whoa, holy shit," a guy's voice came from behind them. Angel turned to see two white guys with camping backpacks round a corner. They both looked young, maybe college students. They had scruffy faces, like they hadn't shaved in a couple of days. 

"Dude, nice costume," the one who had spoken said. Angel glanced at Demie, who had stopped and was also turned to look at the two guys. His eyebrows were bunched up together and his mouth had become a thin line. 

"Are you guys, like, shooting a movie…?" The one guy asked. 

"Ah, no," Angel said, trying to keep his voice upbeat and casual. He felt nervous, so he could only imagine how Demie was feeling. Better for him to take the lead, then. Demie clearly thought that Angel could take care of him in public, so it was time to put that to the test. 

"No, we're just doing some cosplay pictures," Angel continued, holding up the Polaroid. 

"That's cool," one of the guys said. They were now just a few feet from Angel, and stopped. "Is it for like… Lord of the Rings, or something?" 

"No, Narnia," Angel said. 

"Oh yeah, I remember those movies," the other guy said. "There was that dude who worked for the witch, and like… hypnotized the little girl." 

"Mr. Tumnus," Demie said, just loud enough to be heard. 

"That's cool," the first one said. 

"Yeah, we just finished up, we're headed back to our car," Angel said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. 

"Us too," the second guy said. "We were camping. Mind if we walk with you guys?" 

Angel glanced over his shoulder. Demie still looked tense, but he nodded his head very quickly. 

"Yeah, sure," Angel said. The two guys started walking, and Angel hurried to catch up to Demie. Soon, the four of them were walking in a group, with Demie at the front and Angel and the two campers behind him. Angel could see Demie clenching his fists until his knuckles went white. 

"I'm Kyle, this is my brother Dylan," the second guy said, holding out a hand. Angel grasped it, then moved on to the other one. 

"I'm Angel," he said. "That's Demie." 

Demie lifted a hand and gave a short sort of wave without turning around. 

"You guys make it out to the creek?" Dylan asked. 

"No," Angel replied. "We weren't sure how far it was, and we don't have any water." 

"Good call," Kyle said. "Plus the trail would be pretty hard to handle in those shoes." He nodded at Demie's feet. 

"That's a kick-ass costume, by the way," Dylan said. "Where'd you get it?" 

"I made it," Demie said. His tone was clipped and terse, but the campers didn't seem phased by it. 

"That's so dope," Dylan said. "How do you walk in those shoes?" 

"Practice," Demie replied. 

"He's in a band," Angel added. "It's part of his act. So he does it a lot." 

"No way," Dylan said. "What band?" 

Demie glanced over his shoulder, giving Angel an angry look. 

"They're called Bacchus," Angel continued. He wanted to keep Demie to himself, but he knew that was probably selfish. Demie clearly loved performing, even if it was just in the car. It felt wrong to keep that all to himself. 

"Never heard of them," Dylan said. 

"They're pretty underground," Angel replied. 

"That's cool," Kyle said. "What kinda music do you play?" 

Demie looked back at Angel again. Angel raised his eyebrows and gave him a little smile. 

"...Heavy metal," Demie said after a moment. 

"I could see that," Dylan said. "You got the whole Satanist thing going on." 

"Um… more like fantasy metal," Demie said, pausing just slightly so that the three of them could catch up to him. 

"You got stuff up on Spotify?" Kyle asked. 

"No."

"Ah, too bad. I'm always looking for stuff to play during D&D." 

"You play Dungeons and Dragons?" Demie asked. 

"Yeah, we do it online," Dylan said. "It's easier that way, means we don't have to schedule around travel." 

"You guys travel a lot?" Angel asked. 

"Yeah, we have this Youtube channel where we go to abandoned places," Dylan said. "We came out here because there's an old school house deeper into the trail. We've been to a lot of places across the US, but we're planning our first international trip to Italy and Greece." 

"What… what's the name of your channel?" Demie asked. Angel shot him a surprised look. He didn't even think Demie watched Youtube, considering he didn't do anything else with technology. 

"We're called Space Invaderz," Kyle answered. "We're still pretty small, but, y'know, we're growing." 

"Do you have an Instagram?" Angel asked. 

"Yeah," Kyle said, "it's Space_Invaderz, with an underscore between the words and a 'z' at the end instead of an 's'." 

"I'll give you a follow," Angel said. "When we're back somewhere that has service, that is." 

"Cool dude, thanks. Appreciate it." 

Angel could see the cars through the trees now. "Cool meeting you guys," he said, once again holding his hand out to shake the brothers'. 

"Yeah, you too," Dylan said. "Hey, actually, before we leave, could we get a picture of you?" He said, turning to Demie. 

Demie froze. He looked at Angel, his eyes wide. 

"Up to you," Angel said with a shrug. Obviously he had a few pictures of Demie now, but he wasn't going to put them up anywhere. He wasn't sure about these guys, but at the same time, he didn't want to speak for Demie, considering Demie had started to open up a little. 

"It's okay if you say no," Dylan said. "We don't put anyone in our videos or on our 'Gram who don't want to be." 

"I, um…" Demie looked at Dylan, then back at Angel. "Okay." 

Angel blinked in surprise. He had been sure Demie was going to say no. 

"Cool," Dylan said. He set his backpack down and pulled out a camera case. He unzipped it and pulled out a DSLR. 

"Do you… want me to pose, or something?" Demie asked. 

"Nah, just act natural. I like candid shots." 

"Um… okay." Demie stood stiffly as Dylan took a few steps back and took a snapshot. 

"Cool," Dylan checked the digital screen on the camera and approached Demie again. "You mind if I get a close-up of your horns? They're so realistic." 

"Uh… yeah, okay," Demie said. Dylan stood to Demie's side and took a couple photos of the horns that curled down around his ears. 

"Can you… wait a couple days before putting those online?" Demie asked as Dylan shouldered his backpack again. 

"Oh yeah, I figured you'd want to post your pics first. If you send us a DM on Instagram we can tag you in our posts." 

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." 

The brothers said their goodbyes and climbed back into their truck as Demie and Angel got back into his car. 

"You doing okay?" Angel asked as he started up the car. "You could've said no to those guys, I don't think they would've been offended or anything." 

"I'm fine. It's fine." Demie said. 

"Alright. Just checking. I can probably DM them and ask them not to post those if you want me to." 

"No, it'll be fine. They didn't seem like that guy who made the video near my house." 

"Yeah, they seemed pretty chill." 

They were both quiet for a few moments as Angel turned the car around and pulled onto the dirt road that would eventually lead back to the highway. 

"Angel?" 

"Yeah?" 

"Could you show me how to do Instagram?"