#also i had to flip my canvas so much BECAUSE i do not know how to have that vertical thing goodnight besties

[explicit-tae]

ik it would be very out of character but i’d LOVE to see ungodly hour’s jk react to oc admitting she likes (or loves 🫣) him!! knowing him he’d cry

thank you for your amazing work !!!! ly<3

honestly let me just write about it

Ungodly Hour

Word Count: 3.413

Warning: dirty talking, oral sex (f), alcohol intake, intoxicated/unprotected sex, fingering, creampie, overstimulation, riding, love confessions,

“Okay,” Jungkook enters the living room hastily as you arrive, a gift bag in your hand. “I finally finished it.”

“You know you didn’t have to make me wait until you were done.” you tell Jungkook as you sit on the couch. “I’ve had the gift for weeks now.”

“We couldn’t exchange gifts until mine was complete.” Jungkook says.

Jungkook had insisted on waiting to exchange gifts. You knew he was making you something - he kept it hidden in an extra bedroom that he locked to assure you didn’t peek. He also refused to look at whatever gift you got him and prompted that you take it out the house so he himself would be tempted. 

“Well,” you hold out the gift bag - it’s medium sized and a sparkly blue. “Merry Christmas.”

Jungkook notes that you’re nervous as he takes the bag and he isn’t sure why. He would be happy with whatever you gave him - even if he was surprised initially that you told him you got him a gift. He would often think about what it was.

Jungkook opens the gift bag and takes out the rectangular box. He sees the bottom first - it’s a solid yellow color. He flips it around to inspect it, the rest of the sides being black. His eyes capture the name on the top of the box. His eyes widened. 

“Y/N…?”

Now Jungkook understands why you’re nervous. His eyes flicker to you in disbelief. “This camera is expensive!” he gasps. “How did you know-”

“I saw it on your wishlist.” you say, licking your lips. “When you let me borrow your laptop, you left a few tabs open.”

You weren’t going to admit that you were snooping for answers. Jungkook seemingly had everything there was to get and buying a gift for him was becoming difficult. 

Jungkook opens the box gently, his eyes softening at the camera. “You must’ve spent a lot on it…” he says, trailing off. He knows the exact price and knowing that you spent thousands on a gift for him pulls at his heart strings. “Thank you.”

You give Jungkook a smile. “I can finally quit my job now that I’ve spent a few checks on a gift.” you say, joking with Jungkook to lighten the mood. 

“You can!” Jungkook smiles back with a nod.

“Just kidding.” you sing-song. “Don’t be so gullible.”

Jungkook rolls his eyes and snorts. He places the camera beside him. “Always teasing me with a good time.” he murmurs. “Now for yours.”

Jungkook had wrapped the canvas neatly. It’s a decent size, you noticed, maybe 11 inches all around. Your heart is beating with anticipation as you unwrap it.

Jungkook awaits your reaction, his own nerves hiking. “Do you…like it?” he murmurs. You haven’t said anything and instead have been analyzing the painting silently, expression unreadable.

The painting is full of life, emotion. The scenery is what you initially noted, a mountain of flowers that seemingly went on for miles by the way Jungkook had painted it. The flowers are colorful, different shades of yellow, orange and pink. The sky holds bright gray clouds, covering the sun that appears to be setting. What captures your attention fully are the hands. Both pairs of hands are connected by the pinky with one wrist sporting a gold watch and the other a bracelet while the arms are painted to appear out of the canvas frame.

“This is us.” you say aloud, glancing up at Jungkook. It was a picture you and he had taken a few weeks back. You recall telling Jungkook that it was one of your favorite pictures of the two of you together that didn’t showcase faces. 

Jungkook nods. “It is.” he agrees. “You said it was your favorite picture so I painted it.”

Your throat tightens at his words.

Fuck Jeon Jungkook, you think, because this was entirely too much for you to handle. Your mother didn’t raise a weak woman who felt like she was seconds away from crying tears because of how happy she felt.

You blame it on your period that must be nearing - even if you never cry on your period. 

“Thank you.” you murmur to Jungkook, glancing away shyly to avoid his gaze. “I love it.” you say sincerely, and the admission causes Jungkook to smile.

“You’re d-drunk.” Jungkook snorted before full on laughing as you stumbled through his bedroom door.

“Fuck you.” you retort, plopping yourself down onto Jungkook’s large bed. “So are you.” you slur back.

Jungkook doesn’t deny it.

This is what happens when you drink with friends - more importantly, Jimin. It was nothing new, Jimin always insisted on going into the new year buzzed - this time, they all just went a little overboard. Luckily, Jungkook had agreed for the party to be at his apartment so he could just walk down the hall to his bedroom.

Of course, Jungkook would soon come to regret it because that meant that he would have to clean the mess they made in the morning - but you were with him, so that was a plus.

“Not as drunk as you.” Jungkook closes the door behind him, along with the loud music and laughter of everyone just down the hall in his living room. “Told you to not challenge Jimin.”

“Fuck Jimin…” you murmur to yourself, more so because Jungkook was right.

However, you wouldn’t say you challenged Jimin - he was the one who came to you with a whole cup of alcohol declaring that you were, in his words, too much of a coward to drink.

It was a complete set up, Jungkook knows this, but the only thing he could do was assure you had water and a lot of greasy food ready for when you were going to need it - and luckily he was there to do so. You’re sure you would’ve been passed out long ago.

Jungkook squints his eyes at you, an attempt to get a look at your lying figure. You and he had matched tonight - an idea that was yours. You wore a long sleeved-black dress with a deep v cut that stopped mid thigh while he wore a compressed black shirt (by your request ) and ripped jeans. 

“Do you need to throw up?” Jungkook asks, stumbling  closer to you when he hears a low moan-like whine. “I told you not to drink so-“

“Shut up,” you sit up and look directly at Jungkook. “Can I sit on your face?” 

Jungkook stops in his tracks, his doe eyes widening slightly. Yes is what he wants to say - he loves the act of pleasuring you. However, he’s unsure if he should be doing anything with you in your intoxicated state. 

“You’re drunk-“

“We’re drunk.” you correct, eyes narrowing at him - and also focusing on him all of the same because the room was still spinning. 

“True.” Jungkook murmurs to himself, trailing off. “Still, I don’t want to take advantage-“

“Save the theatrics, Kookie.” you’re already tugging your underwear off, the lacy material falling right by his bed. “Unless you…”

You don’t finish your sentence and Jungkook titls hisnhead. “What?”

“…unless you suddenly don’t like me anymore.” you whisper, and slowly, your eyes widen as if you had figured out the biggest secret. No other world conspiracy was important - not the Bermuda triangle, not whoever the fuck Jack the Ripper is or whether if Atlantis was ever real. No, not even your favorite cold cases could be as important as this new revelation of Jeon Jungkook not liking you anymore. 

“Now you’re extremely drunk .” Jungkook cackles. “Of course I like you!”

It brings Jungkookk back to when you were convincing him that you liked him, now it was the other way around. His heart swells with your drunken ramblings and overall cute appearance. 

“You don’t.” You cross your arms over your chest. “You refuse to have me sit on your face.” you say, and Jungkook realizes that he truly spoils you like everyone claims he does - you never got told no to mainly anything. 

“So who gets to sit on your face?” you ask with narrow eyes. “I bet-“

“Don’t say that girl's name.” Jungkook cuts you off before you can get started. “You know you’re my girl, Y/N.”

“So you hate me.” you deadpan, saying the words matter-of -factly. “All of a sudden you aren’t obsessed-“

“I am!” Jungkook interrupts, raising his voice. He couldn’t believe that this was a conversation that needed to be had and if he remembered this sober, it’s something he was definitely going to tease you about. 

“Hm.” you uncross your arms and stand to your feet. “I'm going to go party with Jimin.” 

Jungkook steps in front of you. “You aren’t wearing any underwear.” he states. “That and you’re already had enough to drink-“

“If you aren’t going to fuck me,” you wave your hand in his face to stop his speech. “then I’m going to go out there and drink with Jimin.”

If Jimin knew that he was the person that would be used against him it would cause ultimate chaos in the groupchat and in his friend group. 

Jungkook licks his lips. He doesn’t have time to entertain his and your friends any longer. He can only imagine how it would look if he chased after you because you wanted to be drunk and petty. The room is already spinning for him as it is for you and he knows that it wouldn’t be a good idea. 

“You’re such a bitch…” Jungkook murmurs, tone low. It’s a tone that you’re all too familiar with - and you know that you had Jungkook where you wanted him. “Get on the bed.”

You do as you’re told, laying on Jungkook’s bed and open your legs, dress hiking up entirely. 

Jungkook drops to his knees and hooks his hands beneath your thighs. You yelp when he snatches you closer to him. His lips place themselves onto your inner thigh and he presses a kiss. “I spoil you too much.”

Jungkook kisses closer and closer to your heat and he does so to tease you. “You looked so good tonight.” He couldn’t help but cave, wanting to give you whatever you wanted of him. 

Fingernails dig into your skin as Jungkook speaks against your skin. 

“You did, too.” you hitch your breath when you feel Jungkook's lips directly against your clit. 

Jungkook kisses it gently. “Thank you, baby. So needy.”

Your back arches when you feel it, wet tongue sliding directly up your clit. He dips it between your folds, holding you directly still so he can pleasure you like you desperately wanted him to. 

Eyes flickering up, Jungkook grunts. So beautiful, he always thinks of you. You couldn’t help but grow spoiled because he never told you no for anything. However, it wasn’t something he could help - you don’t ask for much to begin with.

The room continues to spin, but you no longer care. Your body erupts with arousal and it clouds your being entirely. You should’ve never drunk as much as you did, but there was no taking back the past. Besides, you cannot remember being filled with lust when you would drink prior - you’re unsure why you appear so insatiable.

“Feels so good, Kookie.” you moan, hips buckling against the rhythm of his tongue. The top half of the dress constricts your body entirely and you cannot wait until you can get out of it. “So, so good.”

Jungkook's eyes are as dark as can be and he’s positive he is a man starved right now. The alcohol runs through his system and causes his movement to be sloppy, but capable. His tongue completely savors your arousal, suckling on your clit to dipping between your folds and now, plunging it inside of you entirely.

“You must want me to fuck you.” Jungkook disclosed. “Your pussy’s clenching around nothing.”

How correct Jungkook was and you’re far from sober, so there was no snarky remark for you to retort with. You were beyond your regular self - you weren’t going to deny anything because you truly, desperately wanted Jungkook.

Your sober self would surely be screaming at you when your intoxication wore off.

Jungkook would lean back a bit every few minutes, his lips and chin fully coated in you. His tongue would still be flicking against your swollen clit and he’s truly doing this as an act to tease you further. He likes when your breath - that you’d be holding - would release when he gave you a bit of a teasing break, all before he devoured you once more.

“Kookie,” you moan Jungkook’s name so lovingly - it’s hard not to want to be between your legs for hours. His hand is bruising the skin of your thigh to hold you against his tongue. “wanna cum.”

Jungkook’s eyes stare into yours, a silent telepathic moment that tells you that he wasn’t stopping you from cumming. But he is also not a fool when it comes to you or your body and soon, you feel your pussy - so greedy to be stuffed and full - stretched out with his fingers.

Jungkook loves your whimpering and moaning - more so when you don’t hide them from his ears. There’s a party right outside his door where people are all huddling to celebrate the new year, and here the two of you were forgetting about them entirely. 

Jungkook plunges his fingers deep inside of you. He hits the familiar sweet spot he knows so well, your thighs quivering in the process. His tongue licks circles around your clit, fingerings thrusting rhythmically. Your moans bounces off the walls and louder than the muffled music in the background.

Jungkook doesn’t mind when your hands grip his hair tightly because he just knows that you’re going through it - and he has no intention of stopping until you’re cumming on his tongue. It’s close, he notes, the way your walls are clenching around his fingers greedily and your cries grow louder and louder in contrast to the way your fingers grips into his hair.

Jungkook allows you to ride against your own high, laying his tongue flat against your clit and allowing you to grind against his tongue, fingers plunging deep inside of you. Your high comes hard, body twitching and Jungkook allows it all to happen, determined to make sure you are satisfied completely before he stops.

You feel dizzy when your high slowly comes down, your forehead lined with sweat and your body completely flushed. Your body molds itself against Jungkook’s soft sheets, your breathing slowing down.

“Where are you going…?” you ask Jungkook when you no longer feel his presence before you. Your eyes flutter open. 

“Nowhere.” Jungkook responds sincerely. “We should get you out of this dress for bed-”

“Bed?” your senses peak and you jolt upright, eyes narrowed once more. “I want to ride you first.”

Jungkook snorts and stumbles back a bit at your sudden action. “You’ve already came so hard, baby. Are you sure-”

You aren’t listening to Jungkook in the slightest. You’re tugging the dress off of you entirely and getting naked right before his eyes. 

Jungkook is but a man and there isn’t much convincing he needs - especially not when you’re tugging him towards you needily. You connect your lips to his while pushing him against the bed. Jungkook loves how needy you are - how much you express that you want him. Of course, he knows that you do any other time - but this time it’s different; getting to witness just how much you want him is a feeling he never knew he craved.

Your fingernails dig into Jungkook’s clothed shoulders as you slowly feel him inside of you. You push him backwards so that he’s laying on the bed, your hips rising and falling.

“Fuck,” Jungkook groans, hands firmly on your hips. You’re going so fast, fully determined to cum once more - and Jungkook couldn’t be upset. Your face displays just how good you felt in this moment. “your pussy feels so good, baby.”

Your pussy clenches around Jungkook as if responding to his words. By the time the pair of you were done, you were going to be bruised entirely with Jungkook’s hand marks. 

Jungkook finds it hard to look at you - not when you looked so completely fucked out and beautiful. He’s unsure where your stamina appeared - maybe you were just that fucked out and drunk; that you didn’t care that you were overstimulating yourself (and him). 

Jungkook clenches his eyes shut to get the image of you out of his head, but all it does is follow him in his thoughts. Your naked figure using him to pleasure yourself, your bouncing breast to your creaming pussy dripping all over him and making a complete mess.

Jungkook is so hot - so beautiful himself. He’s hissing to himself with clenched eyes, experiencing pure bliss just as you were. His forehead is covered in sweat and a few strands of hair are sticking to it. 

Jungkook feels a hand upon his cheek and his eyes open. They're so dark and full of lust - similar to your own. Your eyes connect to his and Jungkook swallows, adam’s apple bobbing.

“Drunk Y/N is so needy.” Jungkook jokes, voice deep and raspy. “Drunk actions are sober intentions.”

Jungkook begins to thrust upwards, matching your rhythm. His thrusts are brutal, fully determined to satiate your hunger for him. His eyes never leave yours, the pair of you stuck in an intimate, lust-filled moment.

“I-I’m gonna cum again!” you mewl, breaking eye-contact first to shut them tight. The familiar sensation bubbles into you again and Jungkook only fucks into you harder, pounding with all his might; how the both of you could be drunk and full of stamina is beyond him.

Your walls are squeezing around Jungkook and within seconds, your juices squirt around Jungkook entirely, fully coating his abdomen. “I-I-” Your body is twitching, your head pushed back when Jungkook hears your words. “I love you.”

Jungkook is still for a moment, completely silent. He’s contemplating if he heard you correctly and before he can speak, you repeat yourself. “I love you.” it’s low and a bit slurred, but Jungkook hears it entirely.

“You’re drunk.” Jungkook laughs it off, cheeks flushed and heart beating out his chest. He doesn’t want to call you a liar - you wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true. However, you’re drunk and maybe you meant to say you loved the way he was fucking you -

“Shut up,” you say, walls tightening on Jungkook’s cock. “I do love you.”

You yelp when you feel your back hit the soft mattress, all without Jungkook removing himself from inside of you. The room continues to spin for you two, but neither of you could bring yourselves to care. 

“You’re going to forget you said that.” Jungkook begins to thrust, holding you close in his embrace. “Gonna deny it until the end of time.”

“I love you.” you repeat and Jungkook’s pounding only increases. Skin slapping echoes off the wall and the two of you are so entranced in the moment that neither of you notice the music dying down outside the room. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” Jungkook whimpers with a shake of his head. His thoughts are consumed by your words - the love confession. 

Jungkook could never get tired of hearing it and at this moment, you don’t get tired of saying it. You repeat it over and over again as Jungkook continues to fuck inside of you. You’re creaming his cock, a white ring forming around the shaft and Jungkook couldn’t get enough of you.

I love you.

I love you.

You love him, Jungkook’s thrilled at the revelation. His head drops back as his body tenses up, his thrust becoming sloppy. “Say it again, baby.” he pleads with a choked whimper. He needed to hear you say it again, as selfish as it was - he’s unsure how long it’d be before he could hear it again.

“Fuck,” your pussy is seeping with arousal and staining his sheets, your clit swollen and pulsing. “I love you, Kookie.”“Oh, shit…I love you, too, baby.” Jungkook continues to stretch your pussy completely until he’s shooting hot cum directly inside of you, a hand directly on your stomach as he does so. He’s panting, the both of you covered in sweat and bodily fluids.

[mooncrestedwaters]

Been thinking about Rafayel and how he shows his love (especially after his newest card trailer).

On the surface, Rafayel seems like he's an open book. He's witty, affectionate, chatty ect ect

But once you dig deeper you realise that he's that way...but only with the person he loves. He's actually quite reserved and doesn't enjoy being the center of attention, even going so far to say his job is a thing of self expression rather than something he actively strives to make money off of.

With the upcoming new 5* card of Rafayel's, I wasn't shocked that we didn't have a kiss or one where he tried to kiss us (and tbh his sweeter form of affection in wanting to cuddle us and snuggle into our neck made my tummy do flips and had me having a near breakdown from how much it made me gooey)

I feel like Rafayel is a yearner to his core, even his interviewer noted as much that he gave an air of 'romance' to him.

The best way I can describe it is; His love is like his profession and his EVOL.

Art takes time, it takes an observant eye and mind. I've grown up with artists my entire life and to make a painting is much more than slapping some acrylics onto a board and calling it a day. It takes tempering, to prepare the board, to build up layers upon the canvas to correct any mistakes without an eraser or undo button.

It's gentle, tending to the whims of the canvas to make a happy compromise of your own.

Onto his EVOL, Rafayel treats a relationship like a firepit. He wants it to have longevity, keeping himself and the fire alight. So instead of chucking a log onto the firepit he nourishes it with kindling, giving it a poke here and here to check on its status while being warmed by the flames.

Rafayel is also horrifically traumatised from previous encounters with love.

Think of it this way;

He was a Prince. Set to be throned as a King and live with his beloved forever.

He set out to find a devout follower to sacrifice their heart to him in turn found himself giving them his own heart and betraying everything because he wouldn't let a pre-destined prophecy rule himself or his beloved.

When he got his love back, in another timeline they were brainwashed and ended up killing him. The absolute agony you must go through, to be maliciously murdered and know that it's by the person you love but not their intention to do so and in your last breath you grant them mercy to die alongside you by singing them to death.

Moving onto Abysswalker Rafayel, the weight of being told you have to kill your love to resurrect your hometown, taking the love of your life on a wondrous journey to know you have to kill them in the end and instead erasing their memories of you permanently to protect them and keep them alive, rewriting a tome for their sake and thus dooming his beloved kingdom and people to be tormented for eternity of his peoples damned screams of death and agony.

Do you ever wonder if he has sat with himself and laminated over this horrifying fall from grace?

Yet he still does it, for them.

After ruminating over this; I wouldn't be as forward as the other LI either.

I think Rafayel is immaculately brave and loyal for even trying again, for still searching for his beloved over years and years.

He has his insecurities, they show when he gets bratty or needy. Quipping at his beloved for not having their sole attention on him, he's meant to be worshipped after all, doted on, praised for having put in so much effort.

Alas, his love doesn't remember, doesn't see the accumulation of sacrifices and things hes done for them.

So he hints, he prods and pokes gently and he starts having them warm up to him again. Braving a tender word here, a lovingly gentle touch there and moving up and forward until he can see that his beloved has fallen in love with him again.

Rafayel is a love that doesn't burn bright, it burns with stability, it burns with loyalty, it burns with truth and gentle care. He would never want to scorch his love.

Rafayel makes accommodations for them, weaving them into his life in any way, if that may be employing them to inviting them on little excursions. Even keeping a watchful eye over them, noticing when they're in need, hurt or just simply making his presence known as a comfortable 'You can come to me'.

He's a gentleman, a romantic...with a little edge (Rafayel audios I'm looking at you, hard)

Anyways, I should not drink copious amounts of caffeine within a short allotment of time. I hope my ramblings have been enjoyable 🤍🪽

[vesora]

do not be envious of others

“You are every thing, every being, every emotion, every event, every situation. You are unity. You are infinity. You are love/light, light/love. You are. This is the Law of One.” ― Ra, Law of One: By RA an Humble Messenger

speaking from experience, i used to have a huge problem with envy. i constantly would compare my life with others. i never wanted others to fail but i wanted to be like them. which now that i think about it, it’s fucking stupid isn’t it? i constantly gave my power away because i felt i had to be perfect to be loved, so i would ignore what my body and soul were telling me and attempt to curate the perfect image of myself. thinking about it, it was also probably due to the south asian tendency to want to look the best in front of everyone haha

anyways, everyone around you is real but they’re also a projection of you and your beliefs and your assumptions. if you feel everyone is destined to live a life better than you, then you will find external evidence that they are. you have the power to create the best for yourself, yet you experience envy when you can live the exact way someone else is living. they’re not lesser or better than you, they simply are you. they are a state that you can either choose to occupy or not.

everything around you at this moment is caused by you, namely your assumptions. you would be doing yourself a disservice by envying what someone has or is feeling, because you can have exactly what they have; you can feel exactly what they feel. it’s not lost on you.

by envying and feeling lesser than, all you’re doing is perpetrating the version of you that doesn’t exist in this new reality of yours. i’m not judging you, i went through the same thing (although even if i didnt, i still wouldnt judge you)

what to do when you do feel envious?

scenario: your friend on your story posted a new chanel bag that was bought by her boyfriend who loves her so much and would do anything for her. so now you feel envy because you want someone to spoil you too.

firstly, i must say you shouldn’t rely on others or material possessions to make you feel happy but it’s still okay to want it, just don’t be dependent on it.

so, recognise what you’re feeling. are you feeling sad? lonely? poor? unlucky? how no one would love you like that? how you can never be as rich?

once you recognise, we can flip the thoughts.

know that anything your friend can have, YOU can have because the world is a blank canvas for you. all your wishes and desires are MEANT to be fulfilled.

no matter how shit you feel in the moment, it will pass.

most importantly, view the subject of your envy with love. they’re just you pushed out. you should feel happy for their happiness. you should rejoice when they’re overjoyed. you should cheer them on. your fellow man is you and you are the fellow man. once you transmute the energy from envy to love, you will feel so much lighter, because being filled with love is how you’re supposed to be and function.

don’t be envious. you can have anything you desire. want the best for everyone around you, because everyone is you pushed out. we are all consciousness.

here’s a post i saw:

[tsururoach]

EXCUSE ME I RECENTLY DISCOVERED VOCALOIDS AND IMMEDIATELY FELL IN LOVE WITH OLIVER /p

thank you for blessing us with ur Oliver art <3 he needs more love fr. and more happy songs.

i just got here so im not sure if you've mentioned it before, but do you have a fav Oliver song? :3

I'm glad you like my art of him! I've been drawing him for 9-ish years now, but it's always nice to hear other fans of his also like my art! I don't actually talk to a lot of Oliver fans haha.

I always really really admired Dappleback/Lawlietlk's designing skill, and I had a whole presentation how much I appreciated his character design and how it lead back into why I think as a vocaloid he has one of the best designs.

Like don't get me wrong, Vocaloid (and other synths) have really good designs, just sometimes they aren't necessarily as good as Vocaloid designs y'know?

Like hear me out, I feel like the biggest appeal of vocaloid mascots is this: They can be whatever you want. Now on one hand you can argue that 'no mascot' is even Moreso freedom and should have worked better than mascot, but what's missing is the intrigue. There is a breeding ground of creativity hidden beneath restriction.

Like, often enough what people need most in order to create something is just a guideline, and for me that's what Oliver offers. Like, sometimes, too much canon is a bad thing, and people need to remember that.

The #1 selling point of Oliver's design is the intrigue his design offers. There's so much of it that once changed loses that 'space of expression.' And yet, no matter how much you are able to change, he also is able to maintain that 'constant' that lets you know that yes, that is still him, even if you change it. I don't have it anymore but it's been years, but I had a whole chart explaining it.

Over the years Oliver has gotten a lot of motifs and concepts assigned to him, that only derive from smaller aspects of his designs, for example: His bandages.

While you may argue it's not entirely unique, that is exactly the beauty of it. It's because of that so many different concepts stem from it.

One of the biggest themes correlated with Oliver is a monster/horror theme and you have the bandages to thank for it. The amount of concepts I've seen born from the sheer mystery of his bandages were so vast it's crazy. Whether it's because he's a cryptid/monster/cursed or otherwise, people are forced to make an effort to use that "why?"

And on the flip side, there is other mysteries people find from his bandages that aren't horror, they're instead going for something else: A poor waif, a vigilante, a witch, and etc. Through the simple [why], Oliver becomes limitless.

And while we're still discussing his bandages, there is elsewhere you can find beauty in his design. I know a lot of his fans are or were children when they became fans of him, and I know for a fact that some of them related to his design. It's not like he had much to go against them in thinking that-- and it's not just because of his song. For me as a child I projected onto him as a (character) as someone I could relate to. That's uh, probably why a lot of people tend to use him for horror or darker stuff. I know that some people are... unsavory, but that's why I don't really like when people hate on horror content made from him. I know a lot of people are weird about him, but it's a form of self-expression all the same.

Even aside from his bandages, his design still manages to offer intrigue. While Miku allows herself to be a blank canvas (being a mascot with very little ties, a digital idol who represents exactly that) Oliver is more like... a puzzle? Except there is no wrong answer and every time you put it together, it's always different.

There was a lot of misconceptions around his design, but Oliver was based off choirboy outfits-- not that everyone knew that. A lot of people interpreted it as a sailor outfit with nautical themes. That's why you can often see Oliver with sea-themed artworks or songs and/or if it's still around, sea-side waif depictions of him. But on the other side, there were quite a few interpretations of Oliver as a time-traveler- a noble- or hell: a literal bird boy.

Had he been given a more generic design, a more modern one, a more idol-esque version of himself, most of these interpretations of him would not exist. There would be less incentive for people to create that answer without the "why."

I don't really have a proper ranking on a more 'objective' ranking of designs as vocaloid specific mascot designs, but I feel like it's somewhat similar to... actual popularity?

Like... If i had to separate them, there's three categories in a venn diagram: Just straight up Good design (though I'd argue a lot of the other two would still fit in here), Fill-in the blank design, and blank canvas design.

I would say the OG Miku fits in all 3 categories but has been erring into just good design or her own category: too engrained into pop culture to fail.

Fukase is a good example of a Fill-in design, because he also has the classic "why" to his design. (Why is his coat like that? why does he have scars? is he human? is he a robot? Is he circus themed? Who knows?) You can see a lot of exploration of his character through that.

Vflower I feel like is primarily in the blank canvas design, because she more-so encompasses a certain fashion style and is able to attract the blank canvas of gender expression as well.

At the moment, to be honest, I can't really think of someone who only fit's in the straight up good character design but doesn't offer any mystery or fluidity, but that might just be my personality.

To be entirely clear, this venn diagram is probably closer to just a single circle instead of 3, but I'm mostly talking about which part of their design they align most with. (and the most common consensus of how to interpret them.

To be honest this is probably why I feel a bit like a Fake Oliver fan, bc I care more about his design more than his voicebank itself. (Sweats as I look at the vocaloid editor on my computer)

Man. Favorite Oliver song is tough.

Favorite Usage

I'll only be mentioning the publicly released songs using him, since it's a bit unfair if I recommend you something you either have no access to or I'm unable to find again.

To be honest I'm not a huge fan of some of Oliver's most known producers, mostly because I know they're not great people and refuse to support them. It's none of my business if you still listen to them, but I'd rather not. But, It's nice going down my old masterlist of Oliver originals.

I really like Rawbeans-P, if you ever heard her usage of Oliver, it's crazy stunning. Probably some of the best usage of him you'll ever hear.

Cat in a raincloud I know is relatively popular among my friends that I've pushed Robyn's music onto.

I feel like high up there is also Corasundae, who is honestly has a pretty refreshing (?) song-making style. I'm really not a music guy- meaning I never learnt a lot of terms properly and can't describe a lot of things to you, but I really like the general sound that corasundae uses in her works.

I think T.V.V.S is a pretty iconic song, but I'm emotionally attached to Other Side.

One of the songs I see people rarely talking about is Requiescat in Pace- I get it's probably because it's an older song, but I've always liked how it sounded and was a staple for me as a kid (and still fairly fresh into Vocaloid.) I don't think PARADIGM really released much else, but this song is sooo cool, I think about it a lot!

I'm not sure if you don't like horror, or just disappointed that it's a majority of his songs, but I don't think it's leaning too much into horror? It's really good though!

Another one of my favorite Vocaloid producers (the one I bought a keychain from as well!) is Veran Kuriensu! I found them originally from their original Lay, and it's possibly still one of my favorite Vocaloid Oliver Originals still to this day. While it's my favorite, I do know that they've improved drastically and their other works with Oliver is crazy good, but Lay has a special spot to me and makes me feel especially Nostalgic.

I've always liked how the lyrics sounded as well. I think otherwise my second favorite song from them is 星をあつめに. It's really good I Promise. Please please do give their stuff a chance!!

I feel like another producer I'd recommend for similar reasons to Rawbeans-P is Baggagelizard. He's always forever been kind of a legend to me! He's a super cool guy, and he has really good usage of Oliver's voicebank as well. One of my favorite songs he's done is Song for the forgotten, which was even my Oliver Collab piece back in like... 2016? That's honestly a bit crazy to me seeing how long it's been.

Baggagelizard tends to have such a special sound to the music he makes, I think it's kind of... a morose wistfulness? If you're into this one, I genuinely hope you check out his other works as well!

Actually I'm adding this one, because I really like the atmosphere of it! It's called Tavern and it's a really fun song using Big Al, Oliver, and Kaito and I think it's such a fun song! Apparently other Oliver fans I've recommended it said it wasn't their cup of tea though (′д｀σ)σ.

OH and how could I forget: Childhood Bye-Bye is honestly borderline a classic for me! I think it's a really iconic song, but it always surprises me that it's not as popular as I think it is. The producers other works are also really good!

Oooh, another Producer I can recommend is Compasscat! They use Uni, SeeU, and sometimes Oliver (maybe other vocaloids but I'm actually writing this in class (lol). You should try checking them out! I think I enjoyed it but I've been told the things I like are... different from how other people like things.

Actually, on the thought of not-so dark songs using Oliver, I hardly see any Oliver fans (or Yohioloid) fans talking about Yellow Card. I hadn't listened to it for years, but I still think it's pretty fun to this day, you could try checking it out if you feel like it. While we're at it, I'll add a bunch of special mentions for songs I knew were fairly liked enough when I was deeper into vocaloid but never see people talk about anymore as well. To be honest, I'd have a lot more to add to this list, but a lot of Oliver Originals I really liked are deleted or missing.... I understand it's at the producer's own discretion, but it's a little sad.

Unfortunately, A lot of the Bilibili/Niconico songs that I really liked were deleted or really really hard to access/find, but I'll reblog if I find them again.

[humanmorph]

Lye „Lyke“ Lychen as a sacrifical altar (to Aterika’Kaal) (but he's also kind of the sacrifice)

my @secret-samol gift for @bronanlynch! for the Aterika’Kaal/Lyke prompt of „what if things had gone differently and Aterika'Kaal was still with Lyke“.

notes on this under the readmore!

AU

In this scenario Lyke would succeed in getting the heart of the Motherbeast in Episode 47 and while Alaway would notice & probably still call out to Aterika’Kaal the way he presumably did in canon, Lyke would be there and get to make a compelling case to Aterika’Kaal the likes of „If you stay with me I am going to feed you. I’ve taken care of you until now, I’ll keep doing that“ (argument supported by the fact he’s currently holding the heart of an incredibly powerful dead god). Aterika’kaal agrees and they barely escape through the Sanctum of the Stone Chorus portal. I think it's fun if Lyke then stays there after the hour described in the move is over, maybe knowing he can't convince Pickman & the others that what he's done is actually good, and fine, there's not even anything to worry about he has this totally handled, But yeah he then sets out from whereever in Sangfielle Aterika'Kaals domain is (Austin did say it was an actual place somewhere), and the rest of the Blackwick Group is left to wonder what the hell happened since Lyke just vanished! Alaway has possibly fucked off too after losing the heart. And them getting fired, the Carnival of Moted Light etc. would still happen (and I guess Chine would succeed at what they were doing since Lyke isn’t there?) and who knows if they’d take any action in finding Lyke after that! All that aside though, Lyke basically offers himself to feed on (through blood and/or energy) and to sustain that he keeps consuming(not literally eating) powerful objects/artifacts/resources and possibly eventually living things (I’d imagine he'd still take work as a „please deal with this weird shit for us“ person and when he has to kill a cursed beast or whatnot... might aswell feed Aterika'Kaal?) (What also plays into that decision, and is part of Lyke justifying this to himself, is that without him, Aterika’Kaal would become too powerful. So he aims to function as kind of a conduit & control the power intake so to speak. I think this probably doesn’t work for very long.) I think this eventually goes bad for him because it’s super taxing on his body and the whole deal kind of flips with Aterika’Kaal feeding/keeping HIM alive. He starts finding bodies in the domain again (alternatively, Aterika'Kaal gets better at hiding them because it knows Lyke doesn't particulary like it when it does that). Lyke probably gets stronger due to this power/magic wise, but also way more fragile (he's constantly anemic!). („I love you. I want us both to eat well.“ - Christopher Citro) („When I write of hunger I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and it is all one.“ M.K. Fisher) Notes: I put some resources Lyke’s canonically had in-game + some extra stuff in this picture (the arrow is a reference to Marn’s epilogue, the bugs are bugs (with possibly sinister connotations. If you want them to have those, it’s optional) and the fur is from the Ravening Beast). Another detail I came up with I might aswell tell you because otherwise noone might ever know: the ring with the blue stone is a gift from Es. Sketch Notes: 1. Lyke turning his head to kiss a rose / exposing his neck was one of my very first ideas/sketches I made while working on this, and I liked it too much to not include it. 2. This is supposed to be Aterika'Kaal giving Lyke a blood transfusion but it rather looks like it's feeding on him instead...! I like how the relaxed pose turned out. 3. I wanted to draw something smaller in a simpler style to fill the big canvas I was drawing these on (even though now I put them in separate files anyways...). The day I drew this I saw a tweet about a medieval monks sketchbook, so I was still thinking about that. I didn't even plan to color it originally but I ended up getting invested, haha

Inspired mainly by these 3 quotes: „KEITH: I’m a walking- I am a shrine to Aterika’Kaal.“ (Sangfielle 12: The Secret Ledger of Roseroot Hall Pt. 4) „KEITH: There's a version of dealing with Aterika'Kaal that ends with Lyke being satisfied that he rehabilitated a god or at least it looks […] like what he thinks Aterika'Kaal would have been before the YVEs showed up. That's probably his main retirement path, but it also might kill him instead.” (Sangfielle 47: Wax, Iron, and Ichor Pt. 4) „AUSTIN: As you’re fading, the last thing that you do is make this blood sacrifice to Aterika’Kaal. Your own blood.“ (Sangfielle 52: Six Travelers: Lyke)

[megidonitram]

Everyone's Running From Something (ch.3)

A Baldur's Gate 3 University Professor AU

Rating: M

Quick Summary: Astarion and Gale are two University English professors precariously mentoring a troubled 19-year-old and falling in love.

💖Main Pairing : BloodWeave,(Astarion/Gale) 💕Side Pairings: Shadowheart/Nocturne, Karlach/Dammon, Wyll/The Dark Urge, Tav/Tav 💔Past Pairings: Gale/Mystra, Astarion/Sebastian, Astarion/Tav

<=Previous Chapter | Master List | Ao3 | Next Chapter =>

**Please see Master List Entry for Full Content Warnings**

⏰Chapter Warning⏰ None

Astarion took a lap around the building to cool off before returning to his office- The last thing he needed was Gale asking him how he was doing after that little shit-show. Korrilla had also given him something of a runaround after he left Raphael’s office. She accidentally printed his requested forms on legal-size paper (because she forgot that she didn’t restock the printer before break) and then wasn’t sure if being in the wrong formatting would invalidate the paperwork, so Astarion had to wait for her to go get a fresh package of printer paper from the supply closet in the basement, which made him feel like a dick because she had to climb four flights of stairs to do that.

The problem with Korrilla was that Astarion never knew if she was in on Raphael’s torment or if she was just making a series of human mistakes because he made her nervous- though neither answer made the interaction any less annoying.

When Astarion got back to his office, Gale was still there. He was flipping through a heavily marked-up handbook on technical writing for business communications, staring at the pages as if he were either heavily engrossed by the reading -unlikely- or trying to light the damn thing on fire. It only made sense once he stepped into the room and saw Xenia posted up in the corner on her phone.

“Ah, Miss Bellona. Exactly who I was hoping to run into.” Astarion said, snapping the tension in the room like a loose thread. Gale nearly jumped out of his skin. “You look terrible.”

Xenia looked up at him with narrowed eyes, chewing one of her nails on her good hand. “I’ve had a rough few months.” She replied in that flat, desperately-trying-not-to-care tone that made her so fun to tease.

“I’ve heard. What do you need help with?” He slapped down his stack of paperwork on his desk and sat at his computer. Astarion saw Gale watching him wide-eyed, and he wondered how much Gale had pried while he was gone.

“I wanted to get the assignment sheets for my missing work from Survey of Gothic Literature,” Xenia said. Gale casually turned in his chair and pretended to rearrange the books on his shelf, giving them the courtesy of at least pretending to check-out of their conversation. “I thought I should get started on finishing that before the rest of my classes start…”

“Of course, you dropped off around Project… 4, was it? I think I kept a folder with your missing assignments somewhere.” With a few keystrokes, Astarion’s computer lurched back to life, fan buzzing as the machine recalibrated after being shut off for a month straight.

“I think the last thing I turned in was the 2nd character study…” Xenia replied. “…or maybe I just finished it- do you recall reading a paper from me about Miss Jessel?”

“I don’t, but I’ve read nearly a thousand bad-to-mediocre composition papers since then, so it’s likely I just forgot.” Astarion clicked through the expired Canvas shell to skim the grade book and determine which assignments he needed to pull.

“Oh, so my writing's mediocre?”

“I’m sorry, your 1200-word sophomore-level essay demonstrated a pure mastery of your craft. How foolish of me to forget when the beauty of your words brought me to tears.”  Astarion scoffed. He found the file folder he was looking for and printed it off. “Gale, I know you’re terribly busy, but could you grab those papers from the 2nd floor breakroom?”

“Absolutely!” Gale was on his feet and heading for before the request had fully left Astarion’s mouth. He gave Xenia a friendly smile. “Back in a flash!”

“Take your time.” The comment came out a lot more passive-aggressive than Astarion meant it. He watched Gale leave the room and listened for the stairwell door to open and close. Astarion turned back to Xenia. “What did you say to him?”

Xenia shrugged. “He asked about my dad, and I told him that I stabbed him to death.”

“Did you happen to… elaborate on that?”

“No, he didn’t ask.”

Astarion sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You know, if you want people to stop treating you like a freak, you’ll have to stop acting like one.”

Xenia crossed her good arm in front of herself and pouted. “It’s not like someone wouldn’t have told him anyways.”

“Probably, but even a complete stranger would make you seem at least a little saner,” Astarion replied.

Xenia went quiet for a moment, her lips twisting into a disgruntled snarl. Her eyes drifted to the water-stained ceiling tiles. Astarion sort of understood her twisted logic. There were a lot of people on campus who treated her like a ticking time bomb, regardless of whether they knew her exact circumstances or not. If people would be convinced that she was a monster regardless, perhaps it was better if she was the one doing the convincing- at least then she was in control. It hurts less to meet someone's rotten expectations than to try your hardest and fail to prove them wrong.

“I suppose you want to know what happened last semester?” she muttered.

“Tell me or don’t.” Astarion shrugged. “I could not care less.”

Xenia rolled her eyes. “You’re such a dick.”

“What I am is a mandatory reporter, so think carefully about what you want to tell me- unless you like filling out copious amounts of paperwork,” Astarion said. “Do you need the reading materials? I could just lend you my anthology since you’re the only one left in the class.”

“I’ve still got my book from last year…” Xenia replied, mind still very clearly elsewhere. “…Do you have siblings?”

Astarion paused. “Yes. 6 of them. Why?”

“How do you refer to them… like in your mind? Do you call them your siblings?”

“I don’t think of the much anymore, honestly. But I suppose when I do, I think of them as their first names.” Astarion sighed. “Is there something you actually wanted to talk to me about?”

“I’m having trouble figuring out how to think of my sister,” Xenia admitted. “I guess she was never really my sister, and she was never really to blame, but…”

“You’re allowed to be angry at her,” Astarion replied. “I think you should be, frankly.”

Xenia mulled over his words for a moment, and Astarion could see her run her tongue along the inside of her cheek, absent-mindedly tracing the contours of her scar. She opened her mouth to say something, but the door in the stairwell creaked open, and she clamed up, wary of being overheard.

***

Gale felt horribly selfish for wanting to bolt out of the office as badly as he did. He wanted Xenia to feel comfortable and safe around him -the poor thing seemed like she’d been through enough- but he’d locked up. It wasn’t difficult for Gale to surmise that she probably didn’t commit patricide for the fun of it- those kinds of actions are usually born out of extreme desperation. However, whenever he thought about trying to relate to her or lift the mood, the impulse was killed by some strange insistence that he was being too personal, too forthcoming, too intimate.

He envied the ease with which Astarion had struck up a rapport with her- it seemed that despite his posturing, Astarion did, in fact, have a few soft spots. Gale told himself that it was because Astarion had leagues more experience in these departments than he did, but still, he worried. This was the first time he’d been on a college campus purely as a professional, and it felt a lot more daunting than he’d ever imagined.

It took Gale a hot minute of wandering around on the wrong floor to figure out Astarion meant “second floor” in the standard British English sense of the phrase, and the break room was actually located on the third floor. He collected the small stack of orphaned papers from the tray next to the copier and returned to Astarion’s -his- office.

Xenia was still there, Idle chatting about the books she’d read while in involuntary hold. “Do you teach V.C. Andrews? She’d gothic lit, isn’t she?”

“I’m not much of an Americanist,” Astarion replied. “If I’m forced to teach Southern Gothic authors, I tend to gravitate towards Falkner.”

“Not Poe?”

Astarion gave her a derisive look, but Gale handed the stack of papers before he could respond. He flipped through to ensure everything was in order and handed them over to Xenia. “You’ve got two more plot summaries, a thematic analysis, and a comparative essay for the final. Work on them at your leisure.”  

Xenia took the papers and tossed them in the tattered messenger bag she’d brought without a second glance. “Thanks!” She said. “Is there anything else I need?”

Astarion put a hand on the paperwork he’d brought in with him, thumbing over the corner before he shot a scrutinizing look over at Gale. “Yes… but we’ll talk about it later.” He said.

“Alight, see you around then.” Xenia shrugged and slung her bag over her good shoulder but didn’t quite get it, and the strap slid down her arm, catching hard in the crook of her elbow. She let out a frustrated groan.

“Here, allow me.” Gale stepped forward and looped the strap comfortably over her shoulder.

Xenia cocked her head and gave Gale a thoughtful look, her dark eyes piercing right through him. “Thank you…” she muttered before she turned and hurried out of the office.

“She seems…” Gale trailed off. He wasn’t sure what Xenia seemed like; he’d never met a murderer before- at least not to his knowledge.

“Shorter than you’d thought she’d be?” Astarion asked flippantly, reclining in his chair. That was fair; Gale had a hard time imagining how someone as little and frail as Xenia could overpower a full-grown man, boxcutter or no.

“Did she really-”

“Self-defense,” Astarion answered several questions ahead. “I don’t suggest asking her anything else about it. She didn’t have a particularly pleasant home life.”

“I’d imagine not,” Gale replied, sitting back down at his desk. He tried his credentials again- still nothing. “-do you know how long it should take for me to be put in the university’s system?”

“Surely you should be in by now…” Astarion replied. He moved to look over Gale’s shoulder. He was so close Gale could feel his breath tickling the back of his neck- he had to suppress a shiver.

Astarion said something, pointing at the computer screen. He had such striking eyes, such a warm brown that they were almost red.

Gale completely missed what. “Sorry?”

“Try logging in without the server address,” Astarion repeated a slight edge in his voice. “Everything after the ‘at’ symbol.”

“Right.” Gale deleted the back half of his username and tried again. The computer loaded and loaded and loaded.

“That’s typically a good sign. Computers on campus take forever to log you on the first time.” Astarion said. He picked up the picture of Yenna and examined it dispassionately. “Cute kid, is she yours?”

“Ah, no… that’s my niece.” Gale felt suddenly and incredibly self-conscious. “I’ve always wanted my own, but it wasn’t in the cards, I’m afraid.”

The admission shocked him slightly, but he supposed it was true. Mystra had never wanted kids, and Gale wanted to keep her pleased, so he went along with that. But Gale had always loved kids. He’d been so excited when Yenna was born that he could hardly put her down. Still, when people asked him and Mystra if they were planning on having kids, he’d just nod dutifully while she explained that he was too focused on his career to think about kids.

“Shame,” Astarion said, setting the picture frame back down.

Gale’s computer screen went black, and then an empty Windows desktop appeared. Success!

“Just in time to log out for the all-hands meeting!” Astarion exclaimed looking at his watch.

“Naturally…” Gale sighed.

[thevviitchinghour]

PAC - msgs from Hurricane Nicole

I'm in florida before anyone gets mad at me, I'm also shocked at how striking these messages are.

PILE ONE

Keep pushing and manifesting because you guys are on the verge of bringing peace into your lives. For those of you trying to manifest justice it is beginning to ground itself into the physical realm. Be aware that the situation may erupt in a way you did not expect. This is nothing to feel bad about though, you simply pushed for the scales to be balanced. So expect just that. Stop dumping out your cup the moment it refills, like take a moment and chill out. A lot of you need to relax more and allow others to nurture YOU. Okay you need a fucking breakfast in bed or some shit. The way you are always there for others. You are more than a shoulder to cry on and a soothing voice. Remember to be grateful, because when you forget to be grateful and be active in your life & pay attention to the good you are fumbling your own manifestations. Like dumping paint on your canvas and just smearing it all over these intricate creations and desires and self expressions. Journal more often, be on top of self care, you might get to have a mani pedi soon!

PILE TWO You guys are really masterful artists and creators, perhaps you've putting an abundance of energy into creating something. Or cultivating some type of success, I feel like something is being hidden from this pile, it's going to soon be revealed to you. You might be frustrated about the delays but the point of these delays is for you to be present in the moment and just fucking enjoy yourself. Listen to throwbacks, look at old pictures and laugh, you might have an old friend or acquaintance reach out soon. It's always good to reconnect, but remember that just because you knew them doesn't mean they need full access back into your life. Slater was my shit in highschool, and I just feel like you guys need to draw more inspiration from your inner teen. You had tons of ideas and concepts that you threw away because you thought it wasn't good enough or you just forgot about them as a whole. Get to know your teen self again, have fun, go play in the woods, skate, go do something you haven't done in years and cherish the entirety of it. Your inspiration comes from your experiences, you rely too much on your intuition. While your intuition is an extension of you and you are an extension of spirit you are literally an amazing force of creative energy and hope for others. Get to know yourself again. I heard " Feels amazing"

PILE THREE This is a warning for you my Pile Three's. You are fucking up your own blessings with your messy nonsense. The manipulation, the lies, the confusion you orchestrate. End it now, "break that curse for sweet relief". Before you do something you can't take back. Communicate with people, you don't always have to treat people like this to get what you desire. Keep fighting for your desires, but stop harming people in the process. Those of you manifesting love or a long term relationship may be shooting yourself in the foot with ur flightiness. Ur so picky but you don't even fit your own standards. Like you would flip the fuck out if someone was on the shit you're on towards you. I don't care if it pisses you off, you know it's true. If you desire freedom then carve a path full of freedom for yourself. Quit playing these weird games where you are skirting between lines and stay in your own fucking line. A new beginning is coming your way, don't be the fool that falls off of the cliff and lands on his ass.

[finn-m-corvex]

Jaya Week 2023 Day 6: Sunset

It is 1:30 A.M. but I finished it! Today was busy or else I would've had it out sooner, sorry about that everyone. This one was a lot of fun to write though! I took the idea that I had for Day 4 and put it here, and I mixed it with a scene from Day 1, so if you haven't read Day 1 go to my masterpost and check it out! Not a lot of dialogue in this one, but I've noticed that most of the stuff I write from Nya's perspective lacks dialogue because I think of her as an observer more than a talker. These also just keep getting longer and longer, geez.

Words: 3.6k

No TWs!

[REUPLOAD!]

Nya exhaled, leaning on the ledge of the lighthouse to look out at the rolling sea hundreds of feet below. The breeze blew away the loose strands of her hair that she hadn’t wrangled into a short ponytail, and Nya shivered despite the heavy sweatshirt on her shoulders. She always forgot how cold the breeze was that came off of the sea.

Despite being the water ninja, Nya had never felt a large connection with the sea. Ignacia was too far away from the coast to ever visit when she and Kai were kids, and even if it were closer they still would’ve had to manage the shop. The funds most likely wouldn’t have been there either. She had gotten to visit the ocean once they had joined the other Ninja, but her experiences there had been…less than pleasant, to say the least.

Instead, Nya found most of her comforts in the sky; it was why blue was her favorite color. Every day she would look out of her window at the shop, watching as the pale sky would gradually go from blue to orange to red until night finally fell. It was a comfort to know that some things in the world would never change: the sun would never stop rising, and the moon would never stop trailing behind in an endless chase.

Part of the reason she was out here freezing her fingers off instead of staying inside was to try and take some comfort from looking at the sky, a canvas of vivid warm streaks that made her happy to look at. So much of her life had been upended by that stupid djinn, so much of her life changed. But some things were never supposed to change, right?

She would be lying if she said there wasn’t another reason. She was worried about Jay.

The blue ninja had promised her only a few days ago that he would be okay, mere hours after they had skipped town and left Ninjago. His ruined gi still lay in the corner of their shared room, waiting for her to sit down and mend it as best as she could. Nya was thankful that she had the foresight to pack him several changes of clothes in their few duffle bags; Jay had certainly been making good use out of them. The sweatshirt she had on now was his, a medium blue with little lightning bolts on the sleeves with the word ‘ZAP!’ emboldened across the front.

It was the only hoodie she had been using whenever she went outside to watch the sunset. She would grab it up from the small pile of dirty clothes she kept on her side of their one bed, slipping it out before walking up the stairs to look outside. Nya would stay out there for hours, sometimes sneaking back in to check if Jay had gone to bed or if he was staying up late trying to fix things downstairs.

Jay wasn’t okay, despite promising that he would be. 

Her first clue was how quiet he had been since they had arrived. Jay was never soft-spoken, but it was like his time on the ship had flipped a switch hidden deep inside. Nya struggled to make him say more than three words at a time, and even when he was by himself he was quiet. Usually Jay would be whistling, beatboxing or humming or even singing to himself to do anything that filled the silence that he couldn’t stand. But now it settled over the lighthouse like a dense fog, and Nya wasn’t quite sure how to navigate it.

Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t her Jay.

It pained her to remember that he wasn’t hers anymore; if she didn’t allow him to hold onto her, then she couldn’t keep him either. That would be quite hypocritical of her, and Nya hated being a hypocrite.

Part of her was worried about how little sleep both of them had been getting. Logically, they had to start establishing some sort of consistent schedule for their nighttime routines, and while Nya herself had always been plagued by issues of insomnia, she never knew Jay to have the same issues. But Jay’s problem wasn’t so much of not being able to sleep: it was the nightmares.

Nya knew he had them, but she didn’t say a word to him about it after their first night. The sun had gone down long ago, Nya retiring to find Jay fast asleep already. It had barely been a couple hours since she had fallen asleep when she was woken up by the sounds of someone sitting up, the rustle of the sheets loud in the quiet of the night.

“Jay?” Nya had said, turning over and blinking awake.

He was shaking. Nya reached out to gently lay a hand on his trembling back, rubbing in small circles while he buried his face in his hands.

Frowning, Nya almost cringed away from how sweaty his sleepshirt was, before she reminded herself that she had, in fact, touched much worse. Jay’s breathing was stuttery, starting and stopping as if someone kept pressing a pause button. “Nya?”

“I’m here, Jay,” she affirmed, propping herself up on her elbow. “Everything okay?”

Everything was very clearly not okay, but Jay deserved the privacy. She watched as he started reaching back he suddenly froze, hastily retracting his hand before it could complete its journey.

Jay had been reaching for her hand.

A part of Nya wished that he had taken it.

Shuddering, Jay shrugged off her touch, standing up and running his hands through his hair in an achingly familiar pattern. She had seen him do it countless times whenever he needed to calm himself down, and now his hands were raking through his curly locks with a vengeance. They were longer than Jay normally allowed them to get, covering his ears and the nape of his neck, and Nya would be lying if she said she didn’t like the new look.

With a small sound of frustration, Jay bent down to grab one of his discarded jackets. “I need to check on the door downstairs. I’ll be back.”

“Is that a good idea?” Nya asked skeptically, and she saw Jay flinch from where he stood in the doorway. The moonlight filtered in, shrouding him in a dark silhouette and making his features barely distinguishable. His jaw tightened, illuminated by the sparse light, and the movement made the fresh scar over his eye stand out.

She hated it. Everytime she got a glimpse of it, she had the insatiable urge to run her finger across it, feeling the anger bubble up from deep inside of her on his behalf. Nya didn’t hate it because of the way it looked: Kai’s had prepared her for pretty much anything.

But this was different.

Whoever had put that scar on him had done so deliberately, trying to gouge out his eye and hurt someone that she cared about. Seeing the skin puffy and red around the wound when they had first arrived on the Misfortune’s Keep reminded her of the sun setting; it was a sign of your world going dark.

Jay wasn’t blinded by the injury, but he may as well have been. They had tested it before they had left Ninjago City, and Nya had been more than dismayed to discover that everything Jay saw through his left eye was pretty much a colored blob. Recently though, she was worried that his color vision was starting to go too; she had to stop him from cutting a red wire when he was supposed to be cutting a blue one while he was trying to repair one of the machines.

All of it made Nya’s insides twist with concern that she knew she shouldn’t have. She kept telling herself that it was over, and that eventually she was going to have to let all of her feelings go. Her independence was more important to her than anything else.

So why couldn’t she let go?

“I’ll be fine, Nya,” he said, but it was clipped. Nya recoiled internally; that had definitely been an overstep on her part.

Even though she hated the idea of him trying to make his way downstairs in the dark, she couldn’t really stop him. “Just be careful, okay? Come and get me if you need me.”

“Will do,” but Nya knew he wouldn’t come. Their door closed with a soft click, and Nya listened for the tell-tale sign of creaking wood as Jay stepped down the stairs. She stayed alert for the first sign of a fall (even though she knew that if he did fall she would never reach him in time), and Nya promised to stay awake to see him walk back into back.

Nya was out like a light not even five minutes later. When she awoke the next morning, the spot beside her was still cold and empty; it hadn’t been disturbed since the night before. Jay had never come back to bed.

That night, Nya heard him step out of the trapdoor while she had been doing her usual vigil outside. The sunset was still out but it was quickly dimming as the sun drifted further and further beneath the crest of the sea.

“Do you want to watch the sunset with me?” she asked him, turning away from the beautiful sight just to look at another one.

Jay looked apprehensive, the wind blowing his hair to the side and making his unzipped jacket flap in the breeze. His good eye was focused on her, but his bad one was quite dilated, clouded over with a film that Nya was scared of becoming permanent. Mouth twisting into an odd smile that didn’t quite fit his face, Jay shook his head. “Sorry, Nya. Gotta keep working on this stuff.”

He patted the side of an old toolbox, but it wasn’t the one that she always knew him to carry. That was still on the Bounty, wherever that had ended up at this point. Did he miss it?

“You’ve been working a lot lately,” she said softly, hesitating. Maybe she shouldn’t be saying anything. “It’s okay to take a break, you know?”

Shrugging, Jay turned away. “If I need one, then I’ll take one. For now, though, the plumbing isn’t going to fix itself.”

The trapdoor closed behind him, and Nya growled in frustration before reminding herself that she had to be patient. Navigating this situation was going to be tricky for both of them, with boundaries that definitely had to be reestablished and rules discussed. Yet somehow, Nya didn’t find herself as quick to draw a line in the sand as she had been before this whole mess had started. It was a weird position for her, because Jay was normally the more patient one out of the two of them, but Nya could pick up the slack every once in a while.

Both of them tiptoed around each other for the next week, with Nya making sure that she was giving Jay the proper space to figure his stuff out. She knew that trying to force him to talk about his time on the ship would lead nowhere; Jay could definitely match her strong will with his own. However, that didn’t mean Nya was going to switch up her routine. Every night she would stay outside and watch the sun wind down, smelling the salt from the sea on the breeze that blew through the open top of the lighthouse.

And every night Jay would check up on her like clockwork, making up a flimsy excuse that she could see right through. He had never been able to hide anything from here.

One time she watched as he deliberately left a wrench on the single table to give him a reason to come up the next night. The night after that he came up with a bucket filled with water, claiming that the downstairs had flooded from the high tide that day and he needed to dump it out. Nya had seen him down at the shoreline just beforehand fighting with the bucket and almost throwing it in frustration before he finally managed to fill it. The other reasons were just as faulty; she knew for a fact that Jay didn’t leave his toolbox that one time, and that he hated doing laundry when he claimed he was letting their clothes dry, and that his camera had run out of batteries on the first day they arrived when he told her he wanted a picture of the sunset.

Nya was a little skeptical of the last one, though, because she was fairly sure she heard the sound of his camera shutter when a particularly loud wave crashed against the rocks below.

Part of her was frustrated with how standoffish he was acting, but it was really her fault that he felt the need to be so far away. She had been quite abrasive before, so she couldn’t blame him for being too careful, especially if he had just acquired a brand new trauma that the rest of the team was going to have to explore.

You just need to be patient with him, Nya reminded herself, he’ll come to you eventually. He always does.

She didn’t mention the nightmares to him either, even though her chest tightened whenever she woke up to him gasping for air and clutching at his chest. Nya could feel his gaze on her every night, checking if he had woken her up, and she pretended to sleep every time. Her suspicions were soon confirmed: Jay never came back to bed after he woke up from a nightmare.

Patience is all it would take.

Finally, after around a week, Nya’s efforts paid off.

Jay crept up through the trapdoor, but something was different this time. Still adjusting the hoodie over his shoulders, Jay’s hair was out of control and coming alive with static, and his cheeks had small sheet lines from where he had been laying down. He was napping on the bed when Nya had seen him last, his lack of sleep finally catching up to him. Did he have another one?

“Hey Nya?” he asked hesitantly, and Nya’s heart clenched painfully. She turned around, pretending that she hadn’t been listening for his arrival.

“Oh, hey Jay,” she gave him a small smile that she hoped came off as inviting, “what’s up?”

Shuffling from foot to foot, she watched as Jay’s hands started twisting themselves together in a familiar nervous habit. “C-Can I watch the sunset with you?”

Here we go, Nya thought. “Sure! Come on, there’s plenty of room to watch.”

He chuckled, moving to stand next to her, mirroring her position of leaning on their elbows to look out. They stayed quiet, although Nya kept sneaking glances at the blue ninja at her side; she still had the ability to appreciate a good view when she saw one.

Despite being well-fed for the past few days, Jay’s jawline was still hollower than she remembered (and she remembered quite well), and she had to clench her hands into fists to keep herself from running her thumbs along his narrow cheekbones. All of the ugly black and blue bruises had faded into slightly less atrocious shades of green and yellow, but Nya knew they still hurt him. His scar wasn’t visible from this angle, and Nya was at least a little happy about that. She wasn’t sure how well she would’ve been able to keep it together if she had to look at it the whole time.

Jay sighed, and Nya quickly darted her gaze away to the horizon. He didn’t notice, only starting to tap his thumb on the back of his other hand. “I’ve been having nightmares.”

“I know,” Nya said quietly, and she could see Jay whip his head around to stare at her. Hopefully she had made the right choice.

“You know?” he asked, and she nodded. “Have I been waking you up?”

“Yeah,” Nya said, turning to look into his eyes, a pretty blue lacking the vividness they usually held, “since the first night.”

Muttering a soft curse, Jay turned away, and Nya could see his face twist with shame. Well, that just wouldn’t do.

“Hey.” she said, moving closer to him. Nya could feel the tantilizing warmth under his sweatshirt, his skin buzzing from his element. The familiarity of it made Nya want to curl up against his side, snuggling close; the breeze had been particularly rough that evening. “Stop it. I know you’re feeling guilty, so stop it.”

Jay didn’t say anything for a minute, and then he exhaled. “I’m sorry for waking you.”

“It’s okay,” Nya told him, and she was surprised by how genuine it was. Honestly, she was a little disappointed when he would only walk away every night instead of going to her.

He looked at her with a questioning look. “You’re not mad?”

“No, I’m not mad.” Now she was the one feeling guilty, the feeling settling in her stomach like a stone. “Jay, you can talk to me about anything. Why would you think I would be mad at you for something you can’t control?”

The irony of her statement was not lost on her. Jay bit his lip, tapping his foot against the wooden floor. “I-I’ve been trying to respect your boundaries ever since we got here. I didn’t want to overstep.”

“I wish-” she paused when he flinched, and she quickly corrected her wording, “I was hoping that you would tell me, so I could help you. I-I don’t like seeing you in pain, Jay.”

“They don’t hurt anymore,” but he had said it a little too quickly, forced it out with a bit too much bite. Nya could tell he was lying.

“Stop lying to me.” she said sternly, taking the plunge and touching shoulders with him. “I don’t need you to be tough for you, I need you to be honest with me. You hiding things from me is overstepping my boundaries more than you needing help ever would be.”

He flinched, and Nya heard a tiny voice inside of her telling her that she was being unfair. Every time Jay seemed to get close to the finish line, she would move the goalposts, changing what she had expected of him at the drop of a hat. And yet, Jay adapted every single time to whatever she demanded; he may not have always gotten it right, but the effort meant more to Nya than she let on.

“Okay.” Jay said, and Nya watched him take a deep breath, steeling his nerves. “Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.” Nya said firmly.

The small smile on his face made her heart flutter in a way that she had missed, and for the first time in months Nya let herself bask in the feeling. She never could stop loving him, no matter how much she shoved him away or convinced herself that she was over him.

Some things never changed, just like the setting sun.

Most of the things he was telling her made Nya’s blood boil with indignant rage, and by the time night had fallen Jay was done with his story. The two sat in silence for a while, before Nya’s eyes started to close and she knew that it was time to go to bed.

“Jay?” she whispered, amused to see that he had started falling asleep as well. “I think we should head inside.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” he yawned in the middle of the sentence, his scar stretching and morphing in the dim light of the candle that Nya had lit over an hour ago. She blew it out, following behind the blue ninja as he made his way inside.

Getting ready for bed was a quiet affair; Nya kept her hoodie on and was basically done after she slipped off her socks, while Jay changed out his shirt and put his hoodie away. All of the lights were turned out, and Nya was surprised at how little time it took before she heard the lightning ninja’s soft snores on her other side.

One of the cutest sights she had ever seen greeted her when she finally turned over: a sleeping Jay with drool leaking out of the corner of his mouth onto his pillow, his face finally free from all of the worry lines that had been making their homes there recently. Even his scar looked a little smaller from this angle, like it had somehow shrunk now that he wasn’t stressing about everything under the sun.

Nya indulged herself, letting her hand drift upwards to slide between Jay’s cheek and the pillow. Jay made a soft noise, and Nya was surprised to see his eyes blink open, still hazy with sleep.

“Thanks for letting me watch the sunset with you,” he murmured, and he must’ve had a lapse in judgement as he leaned into her touch and pecked her palm. Nya’s thumb stopped from where she had started stroking his cheek, but she restarted when his eyes slid shut and his breathing truly evened out.

First Master, how could she ever let this go?

In her own lapse of judgement, Nya leaned forward to kiss the tip of his nose, moving closer and molding her body to fit with his warm one. She smiled, keeping her lips pressed against his forehead.  “Anything for you, Jay. We’ve got all the time in the world to watch as many sunsets as it takes for you to feel better.”

[noisyghost]

Your colored lineart is really fantastic! What software do you use? Any recommended brushes? Are there other tricks you are comfortable sharing? Thank you so much!

i use photoshop! I have used CSP as well, and i recommend it, ive just gotten so used to my work pipeline in photoshop and havent had the time to learn a whole new software lol.

my number 1 brush that i use for sketching and lineart i got from me-za-me-ro about 100 years ago. They updated their brushes recently, so i'm not 100% sure this is the same brush, but here's a link to their brushes if you would like (i think the brush i use is the line brush). I do also occasionally use loish's brush set for painting, but other than that I mostly just use photoshops default brushes for everything.

as far as tips go, it's not really a matter of what im "comfortable" sharing (i will give tips always as best i can!) i just genuinely think art tips are a case by case basis and youre best bet will be to like. google stuff as you go lol. theres lots of stuff i still dont know how to do and will have to look up tutorials mid drawing (i have to google "how to draw magic effects" at least once a week)

actual genuine only "tricks" i have to offer at any given time are:

flip your canvas frequently while drawing because it makes wonky anatomy way more obvious

anatomy is important to learn but sometimes impossible poses just look better

just take a picture of your hand and trace it. why waste half an hour struggling to draw a thumb when you could not do that, just trace your hand. seriously just do it.

[theromaboo]

The Ninth Day of Britannicus

Today I'm doing the Horrible Histories books. Britannicus has to be in the Rotten Romans movie but I haven't watched the movie or found any picture of him online, so I don't know for sure.

Ah, Horrible Histories. I think I read every single book back in sixth grade. I also think I watched every single episode of the show at least twice. Even though Horrible Histories isn't the best when it comes to historical accuracy (fact check fact check before you believe anything you hear!), it still holds a special place in my heart.

@athelstan-anglecyning, who sent me this, said:

What do you think of horrible histories britannicus?? he looks 40. and kind of dead

I do agree that he looks 40. It's giving...

And he certainly looks kind of dead. Perhaps it is because he is dead. We will never know...

I honestly don't have much to say about this one. I love the artstyle. It's a very nice cartoony style that's always had a spot in my heart. The art itself is also kind of cute and derpy (do people use that word anymore?)

He does look quite old. He was definitely drawn with the artist assuming he was an adult.

I don't hate this one, but it certainly isn't one of my favourites.

I think what @just-late-roman-republic-things said about drawings is true. There's so little information that if I try hard enough to fill in the blanks with good information, I actually really quite like how he looks. He is starting to feel like Brit.

Uh oh. Now I really like how he looks and I think he looks like Brit. I literally unintentionally sabotaged today's post. I have made myself so biased towards this drawing that I am unable to continue. Note to self: don't do that.

But don't worry, when I go and rank them, I'm sure it would've worn off. And if it didn't, I could always just flip the canvas.

[liz-allyn]

how can I get my fics to get attention like yours do? working your ass off and then getting 20 notes sucks. and I’m trying to become a better writer and honestly crave the validation like you get from your followers. hopefully you’ll see this! Obsessed with S&V

Hi my fellow 🖋️!

Thank you so much for your comment, and thank you for thinking so highly of me!

answers for fic writers after the cut

So honestly? I don't know how to get followers. This blog has been running since 2021, and I only started writing fic < 1 year ago. I've become so much more well known (ha) in the TASM fandom because I've hung out here a long time. I don't have a secret to engagement or understand how tumblr 'works' that well (ie the algorithm that social media sites use to decide what to put in front of you). There are still people I freakin' worship on this site who don't interact with my fics at all, haha. AND flip side, some of the best writers I've ever seen are on here and their fics have less than 100 notes. I have learned that persistently I'll look over into other peoples' yards and be like "fuck. how did they get 4K followers?" or like "wow, she just posted this yesterday and it has over 1k notes."

as for working your ass off and getting 20 notes—CAN CONFIRM: that sucks. some fics I wrote for fun. some fics I wrote for the creative challenge. but pretty much on all of them I've left a little piece of me, of my soul and the lessons i've learned in my meandering partial journey. blood on the keyboard. and those fics? the really great ones (or ones just as good as sugar and vice)? they still don't have many notes.

But I will acknowledge that my following dramatically increased when I started posting S&V. I think I had ~900 and that blew up to 1.5k. There are a few factors in this:

Always post fics with fic art (with gifs! if possible) - This is the number one thing that draws me to read fic. I like art that looks cool. I also have been playing around with Canva Pro for 3-4 years (it's my fav) and I'm animation-adjacent as a day job, so pushing myself to think about graphic design has been really good for me. I find it fun to come up with a whole aesthetic for your story, whether it's a mood board or a color scheme (I usually have 'branding' on the brain). If you don't want to play with fic art, at least find an appropriate gif. Use the actor's face. I also think the gif search on Tumblr sucks balls but it's really worth it to have the right gif.

Pay attention to the hashtags of other popular fics in your fandom - when I started paying attention to notes, this was the best advice. I was using all kinds of tags that made sense to me, but weren't effective. In the web version of Tumblr, I can search for a tag and see how many followers it has. It's significant if #peter parker x reader has way more followers than #tasm!peter x reader. Also trends come and go, tumblr has their hotboy of the month and it rotates. there have been months were TASM Peter was non-existent in the last year, and months where we're getting *fed*. Pro tip with tags: I have a separate Google Doc with a list of hashtags that I copy and paste to save time. After a while, you should try reblogging with different hashtags

Use a spelling or grammar checker - I'm not a grammar fac*st but if I open a fic and everything is misspelled, almost no punctuation is used, and I have to work really hard to understand your story, then it's not going to go far. (With respect to writers who post work in English, and it's their second language). I never pay much attention to the occasional misspelling or grammar mistake, but when it looks like you sent your fic via text message or tinder chat, I just can't. I personally use Grammarly, but I also hate it and think it's buggy and overpriced. If anyone else has a better option that works with Google Docs, let me know!

Never write your fics in Tumblr's post editor. That has nothing to do with engagement but that shit is buggy as hell.

Avoid putting too much text up front before the fic. I put author's notes at the end. I try to keep summaries short. I try to focus on what someone absolutely needs to know to understand this fic, and I *mostly* try to avoid apologizing to the reader ahead of time for what they're about to read, for it being too long, for it being weird, bleh bleh bleh

If you're writing a series, make people reblog to be tagged. I've seen lots of people do taglists and then they give up because it's a pain to manage (and it is), plus you have a bunch of people that go "add me to the taglist!" or "next part, when?" and they didn't even reblog what you've already written. I think that's been one of the really big factors behind S&V's success

Make navigation as easy as possible - this is web design 101 (which I flunked repeatedly), but a masterlist is good to have. If you're in a series, a link back to the previous chapter + next chapter is good to have, I've also recently started putting a link back to the masterlist. people that know more things about stuff than me told me that you want to make things as simple as possible for viewers to get from one page to another. (that's why youtube links are shit on tumblr, even videos are meh, but GIFs work so well and attract so much attention). this is a visual site, so big images or headings or links with color help to draw the eye's attention.

Write what you want to write. Because you really need to gain enjoyment from writing, and it should never feel like you're a content factory. Do this 9 out of 10 times. The 10th time, write what people want to read. My first mob fic was These Violet Delights which I thought was so smart, and I was so proud of, and I planned this whole series out for. But also I tag things accurately, and some people (even my moots) are uncomfortable reading about those topics. Then when I started S&V I was extremely self-critical because I didn't want to write something filled with tropes and cliches. And then I sort of got off my soapbox and let S&V be its own thing, full of tropes and cliches, because they're popular for a reason, and they're fun to read, and it's okay to have candy for dinner every once in a while. And I've been able to pivot my plans and create something I'm pretty proud of.

It does help to stay consistent in the fandom you're writing for. Either by writing or reblogging other writers. Just don't make yourself feel like you're a slave to Tumblr and you must stay active at all times f o r e n g a g e m e n t. Everyone should take breaks when they need to.

Don't listen to my advice because no one knows how to hack tumblr. There are some posts that have sooooo many notes and I'm like 'why?' Meanwhile, my heart's been ripped open in LED pixels on screen and sometimes it passes by.

I hope that this was useful! And if not, I'm sorry for the long post. I look forward to reading your fic (whoever you are), and feel free to tag me when you write your next thing!

💜

[ratherchaseamouse]

Tantomile’s First Heist (1/4 ish)

In which Tantomile volunteers as a replacement for Mungojerrie

Nothing explicit just feelings :)

“What do you want to do today?” Sighed Rumpleteazer, plopping down next to Tantomile.

The mystical cat paused her stretches to ask a question back,

“Don’t you and Mungojerrie have big plans? You told me the Livingstones were rotating their staff this weekend.”

“You have no idea how much I want to get in there and wreck everything,” Rumpleteazer said, gesticulating wildly. Her arms and face fell as she lamented, “But he flaked out on me! Something or other about a boy, I don’t know. Don’t know, don’t care. He’s dead to me forever… til tomorrow at least.”

Tantomile had resumed her stretches, but was still listening. Rumpleteazer wasn’t sitting still either. When she wasn’t talking with her hands, she was kicking her feet, or sprawling out to make dust motes, or half-attempting handstands. She automatically moved to spot Tantomile when the mystical cat put her feet over her head against a discarded bed frame. She didn’t need it, not really, but she wasn’t going to argue against Rumpleteazer’s hands on her hips.

“Can’t you pull it off without Mungojerrie?” Asked Tantomile. Another deep groan from Rumpleteazer on this.

“That’s exactly what he said! ‘Can’t you do this one without me, Teazer? Girl power and all that?’” She said in an exaggeration of his cockney accent, which didn’t have the mocking effect she thought it did because it was also her cockney accent. In her normal voice she continued,

“I love my brother, but sometimes he’s dumber than a barrel of fish,” she chuckled, “Not that I’m any better, mind you.”

“You’re not dumb,”

“No, it’s okay, I’ve made my peace with it,” she said, “I am not the brains of this outfit.”

Tantomile considered. Her schedule was free. A light blinked on in her head. She flipped back right-side-up and stuck her paw out to Rumpleteazer.

“Could I help you?” she offered, “I’m no master thief, but I don’t want you going in there without some backup.”

The other queen was clearly not expecting that. For a moment, she just stood, eyes wide and mouth small, glancing between Tantomile’s face and outstretched hand. Tantomile began to feel self conscious and lowered her paw. Before she could turn away, though, her hand was snatched up in another.

“Of course!!” Rumpleteazer squealed bouncily. Tantomile was nearly yanked off her feet by Rumpleteazer pulling her in the direction of her and Mungojerrie’s slapdash junkyard residence. They never stayed for long, it was more a place to dump excess loot than anything.

Rumpleteazer chattered as she dragged Tantomile inside.

“Agh, there’s so much to do! First, we need to go over the layout of the house and where all the people will be—” she cut herself off grabbing a fat, rubbed-down pencil to write with, gripping it in two hands over a scrap of canvas sack on the floor.

“And then I’ll teach you where all the shiny stuff is kept, they’re bound to have some nice big jewels, ooh, just the thought of nicking a coupl’a’ nice emeralds from those bigwigs makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!” she didn’t slow down, listing all the steps of her criminal process. Tantomile was content to simply watch the expert at work. As she talked, Rumpleteazer sketched out a big rectangle on the canvas, then divided that rectangle into a bunch of smaller, uneven rectangles.

“Those are rooms,” she explained, pointing to each one and saying “Here’s the kitchen, here’s the larder, here’s a closet,” Tantomile wondered how she could keep all of it straight in her head, and asked her as much.

“I don’t know, really,” answered Rumpleteazer, “when I get this excited about something I guess I just remember it more.”

Tantomile knew the feeling, having memorized every freckle on Teazer’s cheeks, every orange stripe on her head, how every couple of steps she liked to switch it up and do a cartwheel or a handstand for a second.

Rumpleteazer, lost in thought for a beat, shook her head and gasped.

“I nearly forgot!” She cried, dashing into a corner to scruffle about in the detritus, “we need accessories!”

“What?” said Tantomile.

“You know, accessories! Accoutrements,” she clarified, “That’s French.” She rustled about a bit longer and pulled out a wide black velvet ribbon and a string of pinkish-white pearls. She held both up next to Tantomile’s face, then tossed the ribbon aside.

“These pearls are my favorite to wear, they clatter around and make quite an impressive ruckus,” She said, “And they look pretty besides.” Rumpleteazer looped the string around Tantomile’s neck and arranged the pearls just so. Tantomile’s face felt hot as she met Rumpleteazer’s eyes. The feeling didn’t go away when she looked anywhere but the other queen’s face.

“What do I need these for, anyway?” She asked.

“Confidence! And style,” said Rumpleteazer, tying the black velvet ribbon in a fat bow around her tail, “I like to feel a little fancier when I’m trashing a mansion.”

Tantomile ran her hands over the smooth beads around her neck admiringly, “Are you sure? I don’t want your favorites to get lost, or broken, I can find something else to wear,” she said.

“Of course not! They’re your color!” Rumpleteazer said, tail-up in a bin of flotsam. She had said it as a throwaway comment, but for a moment she turned around to look at Tantomile. Her eyes widened a fraction of a degree before she coughed and resumed her rummaging. She emerged with two gold circles studded with green dots.

“I nicked these off some napkins at the Ritz last month,” she said. She put one around her own wrist, then grabbed Tantomile’s paw and slid the cuff around hers.

“We match,” Tantomile said with a small smile. Rumpleteazer giggled. The two of them leaned over the map of the house spread out on the floor. Rumpleteazer took two earrings, one gold with a silvery stone, one bronze with an amber pendant, and placed them at the far end of the floor plan.

“This one’s you ‘cause you’ve got your silver and gold eyes,” she said, tapping the first earring, “We’re both gonna get in through the cellar door. There’s a fence around it, but it’s no problem to squeeze through.” She paused, gave Tantomile a meaningful look and said,

“Never go looting after lunching with Bustopher Jones.” Tantomile nodded sagely and replied,

“I’ll make a note of that.”

“So we get in through the cellar door, they keep bottles of wine and stuff in there, but we can’t take any of that because it’s glass. From there, we can go up the steps to the larder, and we most definitely can swipe stuff from there...”

Tantomile listened with the front of her mind, but the back of her mind wandered, analyzing her and Rumpleteazer’s interactions. She was not going to deny her own feelings, but the question remained if the other queen felt the same way. Tantomile was going to err on the side of caution. If her desires were unreciprocated, Rumpleteazer would never be cruel about it. She would let her down kindly, and they would remain friends, but there would never again be that easy coexistence between them that Tantomile loved. She couldn’t bear the thought of her friend looking at her with apology, or worse, pity. Better to say nothing until she had solid evidence, Tantomile decided. She turned her full attention back on the debriefing.

“…and from the master bedroom, we can make our escape out the window and down the drainpipe! Easy!” Rumpleteazer grabbed two pillowcase sacks and handed one to Tantomile.

“What if something goes wrong?” Tantomile asked. Rumpleteazer scrunched her nose and said,

“What would go wrong? I’ve done this a thousand times and never gotten caught, we’ll be fine.” Rumpleteazer held out her paw.

“Ready to go?” She asked, beaming. Tantomile nodded and took her hand. Rumpleteazer, to her surprise (always to her surprise, she thought) raised their hands above her head and spun Tantomile in a wobbly pirouette. With Tantomile thrown off balance, she dashed out the door.

“Last one out of the junkyard is a smelly Pollicle!” She crowed behind her. Tantomile laughed out loud as she grabbed her sack and took up the chase.

~~~

Disclaimer: I’ve never planned to write anything this long before so I have no idea how long it may take me to finish.

[twin-books]

I mean younger version of Chat Noir from "Mini menace" who wears black hat with cat's ears!?

Hello! Sorry, this took a bit. Life got busy and I was trying really hard to figure out how I would tackle this... So I decided that I wanted to respect the history of the Mini Menace covers and used some heavy reference to get the dynamic poses I wanted to sort of match the covers. Though my art style is really not much like Astruc's beyond just sketchy. I did trace the title cover and little stamp in the corner and barcode at the bottom. I just want to make that clear. I wanted those to be as accurate as possible. Though I did change the little Ladybug stamp to look less like she is flipping the bird and more like it's just her pointer finger. That just isn't my style. I pulled the red directly from the Mini Menace comics because it needed a little spice otherwise it kind of blended together. I also resized the canvas to match the size of the Mini Menace covers. I think I sort of figured out Marietta's hair but I don't think I figured out the skirt at all. Anyway, hope it's to your liking:

And, you may not be able to tell, but yes, I did give her Ladybug spotted nails. It's a reference to another cover. I imagine their dynamic is over-protective big sister and rather annoying but caring little brother. I like to think the Le Chat Noir (the mentor) she used to know is gone either due to passing away or stepping down. And some new kid took up the mantle and much like Le Chat Noir with her, she thinks of him as immature and completely out of his element. I also like to imagine Marietta is not one to just stand idly by even in civilian form. She has to do something to help even if that's risking revealing her secret. Thank you so much for the ask! I had so much fun! I hope you are having a wonderful day, afternoon, evening, night, or whatever time it is where you are!

[marshmallowprotection]

ray being self-conscious about his scars makes me wonder... how would he react if I wanted to show him mine? (thinking mostly about VAE Ray, ray during his route, and GE saeran bc I'm always thinking about ge saeran) Part of it is, I'm very open about all mine and will jump at the opportunity to tell the stories behind them, but I also want to reassure him about his own. He doesn't really want to talk about or show off his--okay, that's cool, everyone has their own feelings. But I don't want him to be afraid of how I might react to his. I have plenty of my own; most of them from injuries or medical stuff, ranging from almost invisible to the big pink one running halfway down my arm, and they're scattered all over.

I dunno, I feel like there'd be a sense of intimacy in, if he'd be comfortable with it, taking him through every mark on my canvas one by one, and maybe some sense of reassurance (even if it's a small one) about his own. scars aren't ugly, they're just proof that you've lived, and i want him to know that

VAE Ray is insecure. I think it largely depends on what kind of MC you are. Did you know him before or after the explosion? That might make a huge difference in the name of what he went through. That's the difference between something being easier or harder for him. For example, if you knew him before, he would want to hide his scars as much as possible.

Largely it has to do with the fact that he subjected you to listening to his miserable sobbing just as the bomb came to a head.

He thinks that it was traumatizing for you to have witnessed that. To him, it seems like his scars might be a reminder you weren't capable of saving him. There is a part of him that feels like you might feel a sense of survivor's guilt for not being able to save him. Even if there hadn't been any time for you to save him or to understand what he was feeling at that moment. He would feel at fault. Seeing his scars must be hard for you, he thinks.

However, on the flip side of that, if you didn't know him before that happened, it would be a different circumstance. You don't know the depth of what he went through so seeing his scars wouldn't be that strange for you. You only know him as a person that went through something traumatic. You don't know the details of what happened. It doesn't take away the fact that he's insecure about what happened to him but it does change some of the dialogue around it. 

The scars are a reminder that he failed to get rid of himself at the lowest moment of his life. They are a reminder that he hit rock bottom and he had nowhere to turn but the most drastic option. Every day of his life is now filled with extra steps to cope with his survival.

Sometimes it's hard to get up in the morning because his body will be unable to regulate his temperature and he'll be too overwhelmed to get up. His scars might be healed but the phantom pain is there. He can't go out in the cold. He can't go out in the heat. When he goes out, it has to be done with precaution and care because his body is sensitive to all the elements now. His scars are a part of him that he can't avoid. He can't run away from them.

He doesn't want to talk about it. He is in therapy now and he has a safe place to talk about all of his feelings whenever they come up, but that doesn't mean he wants to casually discuss the details of what happened. No matter what he chose to do at that moment, it was a traumatic situation and there are things about it to this day that he'd rather avoid. It's obvious that he would rather dance around the subject than confront his scars.

He wouldn't be upset with you for having questions but he would gently tell you that if he does want to talk about it… It'll take some time. 

Perhaps the easiest way for you to have this discussion with him would come by talking about yourself. Don't make it a big deal or anything, just casually mention to him the story of one of the scars if he happens to stare at one for too long.

Even if he apologizes profusely and says that you don't need to talk about it, gently take his hand, and tell him that it's okay. You're not ashamed of your scars. You don't think they're ugly things. The scars you have are a reminder of things you went through, good and bad, and they make you who you are. You wouldn't be yourself if you didn't have scars. 

After the accident, he became far quieter than he was before. You might not be able to know what he's thinking, but do understand that he's listening to every word that comes out of your mouth like it's a lifeline. It will put a spark in his head that says: Maybe his scars aren't so bad, after all. They come with a lot of terror and dread, but maybe one day he'll be able to look at himself the way you look at yourself.

Or maybe even the way that you look at him. 

You might not know what he's thinking for quite some time, but what you will know is the feeling of his hand pressed against yours. You don't care how worn and frayed they feel. You just want him to know that he is worth loving no matter how many scars he has. Just don't feel too tongue-tied if he whispers "you're more beautiful than I'll ever be... and I'm okay with that. As long as I'm beautiful to you... maybe that's enough for me to feel better."

[freshthoughts2020]

DON'T GET GREEDY AND WAX FOR NO REASON

DON'T GET GREEDY AND WAX FOR NO REASON

August 21, 2023

I.EVERYDAY I’M HUSTLING

In these survival days, hustling is all that really matters, and people hustles varies from person to person. No matter what hustle it is, don’t get greedy and start being super tax man, this is mostly in reference when dealing with celebrities.

You may have saw the video where Meek Mill is attempting to purchase the Nike SB x Air Jordan IVs (man those are some beauties) and the guy on the video wants to charge Meek the tax price. Meek urges that he can get the sneakers at retail from the store, so why would he pay him the tax price plus if he would’ve showed love, Meek would’ve been incentivized to shop even more with the young bull.

First, Meek is capping, you can’t get those sneakers at retail, maybe a lower price than what buddy was selling them for but they will be above retail, too much hype around them. These days everything work off hype. If you don’t get them at release you ain’t getting them without paying the resale ticket, unless the shoe sat on the shelf, you might get an under retail price.

Secondly, his point still stands and he’s absolutely correct in theory. Taking off shoe guy and putting it on general hustlers for a minute. When you are selling a product and its fire and consistent, eventually you will catch the eye of a celebrity, maybe multiple.

II.SHOW YOU HOW TO DO THIS SON!

I can attest to this personally multiple times, I’ll just use one example for now. Some years ago I drew a pic of YG and Kamaiyah. YG dm’d me about purchasing it you know of course I was excited. This was in early corner days too, so I first started getting celebrity attention/recognition. Before I could respond you know I told some of my people.

You know what they said instantly after I told them the news. “You need to charge him a band”, “Oh yeah he gotta at least drop 4Hunnid on the pic”, and other nonsense.

No disrespect to the people that told me this but this is why people can’t scale up because they wanna do stupid stuff like that and tax for no reason.

III.CAN’T TEACH NO ONE HOW TO HUSTLE..

Just because someone’s a celebrity do not mean you charge unwarranted high prices, it instantly throws smut on your name and can close doors that you ain’t even noticed that was opened. Let me explain why I didn’t tax YG in the first place.

1) the picture was only 8” x 10”, 2) that is a small picture , and 3) it was a sketch without much detail. It was colored and great in my style but my pricing is always on what I would pay for it. Also, the bigger the size the more it is reasonable to charge high prices.

I wouldn’t pay over a few hundred for a small picture unless it was by an artist whose work was unattainable, if it was to personally support an artist I know, or if it is extremely detailed but the canvas chosen is just small.

This particular picture did not fit my laid in criteria, if any normal person wanted that same picture I wouldn’t have charged them more than $50 at that time. Now he never followed through on the purchase but imagined if I would’ve came at him saying give me a rack for this. If he’s smart with his money, he would’ve instantly been off put and possibly stopped any other doors that could’ve been opened.

When it comes to celebrities you have to think more than the money, they carry an audience. Why do you think they get so many free items in the first place? They are walking billboards plus they can actually employ if you’re actually dope enough.

That YG interaction I had could’ve went a thousand ways, now it didn’t go anywhere but I definitely wouldn’t had helped if I came out the gate thinking “get as much money as I can out of him.” That’s short sighted, fast-money, flip everything thinking. You may get a payday but you lose out on the long term. I couldn’t play myself like that in life I think in long term for everything!! Its how I maintained the patience and faith to become a lawyer and run this website because there are extreme peaks and valleys!

So if you got a hustle going on learn from that vid with Meek and this article. Think about the bigger opportunity, think about what is attached to a person with clout, how doors can be opened if you treat this rare interaction the way its supposed to go. Don’t lose out your blessings beloved, Get money..

visit gettothecorner.com

follow me on Twitter (X) twitter.com/onlyonejaevonn

[emeritiii]

Heck do all the asks

I had two more cups of coffee while working on these and my nervous system is undergoing a transformation

1. Art programs you have but don't use

I bought Clip Studio Paint on sale but still haven't dragged myself over the learning curve. I also have FireAlpaca downloaded and only use that for cropping images.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

I find forward the easiest! Left and right are about the same for me, but I also do a lot of canvas-flipping, and about half the time the angle I start drawing is not the angle I end up with.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Project-wise? I still kick around character designs from when I was a kid. In general, I think the brightest constant is that I do pretty much exclusively character art and not scenery, still life, or real-world living subjects because all my ideas are related to fiction.

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

I love monsters and extremely complex character designs, but they're hell on my stamina.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

Right now, I post maybe ten percent of my art? Most of it is just for me or for one other person.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

I guarantee there are still remnants of anime influence in my art, since anime and manga were what really cemented my identity as an "artist" (insofar as I can cal myself one, which is probably up for debate). One bit of evidence that comes to mind is my love of like... knockoff chibis? I don't think I can call them chibis, but funky lil guys.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

*Watercolor.* My sister works mainly with watercolor and it's something I have never been able to grasp.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

At some point I wanted to make a collection of group pictures with the main characters from all of my comfort stories.

9. What are your file name conventions

You need to see the thumbnail if you're going to have any idea what the file contains. I drew a three-part series of doodles and the filenames are "BEE," "too," and "tree." I'm also fond of variations on "HELP" and "ohno."

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Tailcoats or long, flowy dresses

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Whatever I'm feeling! Music, a podcast, an audiobook, a YouTube video that doesn't require me to look at it, a stream if I'm on a call with ~Geoffrey~ while she's playing a game. I'm not picky but my autistic ass (affectionate) needs the sensory input to focus

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Lukewarm take, I know, but eyes. Or eyebrows if I'm allowed to be a smartass

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

I don't know anything about this person so it's purely from an artistic standpoint, but I respect how wildly recognizable the JJBA art style is (the actual art, the expressions and poses, the character designs, all the things)

14. Any favorite motifs

e y e s and also bones and time-related symbols

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Almost entirely at home at my desk, but sometimes I doodle during downtime at work

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

*U h* I don't think I'm good at a wide enough variety of things to have an answer to this

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

I need to have a drink nearby at all times or I will Die. Flavored water, soda, and coffee are the big three, but I also like sweet tea and assorted fruit juices. I don't love eating while drawing for sensory/cleanliness reasons, but sometimes I'll have something crunchy

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

Not too many! I do tend to mangle colored pencils because I'm too rough when sharpening them, but I don't use a lot of materials that are easy to break and I'm neurotically careful with my tablet because I can't replace it. The closest I've come to breaking that was keeping the cord in a drawer my kitten learned how to open

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

Anything That Glows

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

Armor, mechanical parts, and bones. I'm not saying I don't find them difficult, mind you, but I love it

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

Slowly grasps Cinder's sleeve. Also Fern's. Also ~Geoffrey's~. If I have to choose someone I don't know personally, crow-caller

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

This is a thing I definitely *should* do :)

23. Do you use different layer modes

YEAH I abuse Multiply and Screen

24. Do your references include stock images

Oh naturally. AdorkaStock is my go-to

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

Nothing that I can think of? I think that's mostly because the art communities I used to participate in heavily discouraged comparison, so I haven't heard any variant of "Your art reminds me of ____" in at least five years.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

I don't have anything specific on hand, but I had a friend in middle school who jumped to sexualizing everything I drew, if that counts. There's not a lot to interpret in my art, though. It's. How do I put "shallow" nicely?

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

This is another thing I should really do!

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

I used to do Art Fight.

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

Most live-action media! I also don't generally feel artistic inspiration from podcasts—the exception would be TTRPG podcasts, but even those don't tend to do it for me unless the characters have canon designs.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I don't have it anymore, but there was a drawing I did a few months ago of two characters of mine. It came out to about twenty hours of work (which is a lot for me) and no one really seemed to like it, but I attribute that in part to the fact that I drew a lot of it in a stream, which kind of desensitizes people.