#also this outfit was for some reason extremely difficult to draw

[ilguna]

☼ lovestruck, lovesick, lovelorn pt3 (Finnick Odair) ☼

summary; it turns out finnick has a lot of pent up thoughts that he’s having a hard time showing properly. at first, it seems like he can’t get enough time with you, then he begins to retreat back to his original demeanor, the one you know the best.

warnings; swearing, death mention, torture and strangulation mention, prostitution mention.

wc; 4.5k

notes; highly requested!!

part one, part two.

--

While District Thirteen seemed to be perfect by the way it was described to you, it has got to be one of the more frustrating places you’ve had the displeasure of visiting. You understand their concept of total equality to ensure fairness, but with it being taken to this extreme—you’re being driven up a wall.

To start, there’s no such thing as individuality, it’s basically a crime to suggest it. And it’s becoming a difficult pill to swallow with each rejection. You come from a Career district, one that’s known for its diversity. As you were growing up, especially in your teenage years, you were taught how to stick out just enough to make heads turn.

You’ve been using it to your advantage for years now, mainly in the Capitol. You tend to tone it down at home, because there’s no reason to stir the pot and draw attention to yourself when you’d like peace and quiet. It’s almost crazy how quick people jump to conclusions when there’s nothing going on.

It’s almost the same here. With how secluded Thirteen is from the rest of the world, all it took was you and the three other victors arriving for conversation to begin. You can’t remember how many times you were stopped your first time out of the hospital by curious minds.

Anyway, in Thirteen, you’re not allowed to wear anything besides the grey jumpsuit they’ve provided. Unless, of course, you’re a patient in their hospital. Then, you get to wear one of their itchy white gowns you also can’t take off. It took hours of begging the nursing staff for them to finally relent on the rule. And the best they could do for you was the jumpsuit. 

At this point, you’d give anything for a simple outfit. As well as a meal that isn’t pre-portioned based on your age, height, weight and muscle mass. There’s been countless times where you’ve asked Greasy Sae to give you a bigger portion on your tray, only to be told that what you have is what you get.

It doesn’t matter who you talk to, everyone refuses to believe you when you tell them you’re still hungry. They’re so set on trying to take away free will, they forget you’re not used to living this way. It’s not normal to have your entire day’s schedule printed on your forearm for you to follow by the hour. It’s weird.

They didn’t have you start with a schedule as soon as you arrived, though. After being rescued from the Capitol alongside Johanna, Annie and Peeta, you were immediately taken into the care of the hospital. Almost a month later, they still haven’t fully released you from their custody.

It might have something to do with your adjusting period, and the fact they’re comparing you to the other three. With Annie, she was able to communicate they didn’t harm her, so she was given the option to leave the hospital first. As for Johanna, she’s the same person she’s always been, the aggression just threw them off, so they kept her for a week longer than they should’ve.

As for Peeta, he’s on the extreme end. Upon seeing Katniss, he tried to kill her, which put the doctors under the impression that not everything is what they seem. That’s why they insisted on keeping Johanna until Haymitch could confirm that’s just her personality.

When it comes to you, the bright lights of Thirteen’s hospital were almost identical to the ones in the Tribute Center. They had you strapped to a chair underneath a big light in the middle of the room. It was shining directly into your eyes, all hours of the day. The only time you got a break from it was when you’d pass out from the lack of oxygen.

It took some convincing, but eventually the doctors got through to you that you are safe in their care. All lights in your room were promptly changed from white to yellow, and then they were either dimmed heavily or off completely from then on. 

As soon as you started showing signs of normalcy, you were given the option to wander the hospital wing. And when they wanted to start implementing you into their way of life, they tried to give you one of those arm stamps. You followed it for… maybe the first three days before Katniss told you it’s a bunch of bullshit.

You didn’t care for it much after that.

Honestly, that might be one of the main reasons why they continue to keep you in the hospital, instead of moving you to one of their pods, like they did with Finnick and Katniss. Apparently, they were both kept here for a while following the arena rescue. Finnick couldn’t function properly from the shock, so he wasn’t in any shape to be making decisions about his care.

The same goes for Katniss, just worse. Haymitch caught you up on her behavior, because you were curious about how she was compared to Finnick. From the sounds of it, the weight of everything that had happened hit her hard. Including the fact Peeta was no longer around for her to fiercely protect, he was in the hands of the Capitol.

You can’t imagine how painful it was for her to get Peeta back, only for him to be unrecognizable. In the few times you’ve talked to him recently—because he doesn’t have a violent reaction when he sees you—you can tell by the way he holds himself that there is something severely broken in him. 

He does not have the same softness he used to. The Capitol was successful in breaking him. 

Peeta seems to be getting better over time, though. He’s not nearly as violent as he used to be when he talks about Katniss now, but it’s still nowhere near positive. It’s just tolerance. Plutarch has been working over calls with scientists in Three on ways they can reverse the hijacking.

Every time you sit in on a meeting in the Control room, he can’t help himself when he makes jabs at you when it comes to Beetee’s death. As if you were the one that missed blocking the knife, not Finnick. And you don’t say that to blame Finnick, you’re just confused on how that was your mistake, when you couldn’t have helped prevent it.

You never feel the need to defend yourself with Plutarch, he’s not worth your energy, you did everything they asked of you. Besides, if you’re sitting in on a meeting, so is Finnick. He’s jumped to your defense plenty of times, he has no issue shutting down Plutarch when he’s making shit up. 

Speaking of Finnick, it’s a weird adjustment with him, too. If you had told yourself last year that Finnick would be defending you to other people, instead of helping them tear you down, you might’ve peed yourself from laughing so hard. Finnick swore to you, and Mags and everyone else who would listen that he would never change his mind about you. It’s funny how things have worked out.

You’re really glad you two have been able to move on from that point. You’ve known Finnick for a long time—ten whole years. If he hadn’t been so set on making you an enemy after your Games, you’re sure that the two of you would’ve been best friends. It makes you curious on how the Capitol would’ve perceived you in that case, would it have made your situation with Snow worse?

Either way, your feelings about Finnick have been the same for a while, even years before the Quarter Quell. You’ll admit there were times where you lost your patience, and dropped down to his level of disrespect. Which definitely didn’t help with the way he decided to treat you, only justified it.

All it took was Mags telling him the truth about how you’ve allowed the Capitol to treat you, something you confessed to her ages ago. You can still remember the look of horror on her face when you got into the details, and the way it smoothed over when you said you’d made an offer to Snow to take more nights for Finnick. 

Mags was truly a sweetheart. Besides Finnick’s family, she was the only other person who was able to see things correctly. And she was incredibly wise when it came to important secrets. When you told her about the Capitol, you said she could do what she wanted with the information. You assumed she would go and tell Finnick when she got the chance, a part of you had hoped it would shake him.

Nothing came of it, of course, until a couple weeks ago when Finnick told you she’d finally told him your secret. You loathed Mags for at least a week, all you could think was, “A little too late, don’t you think?” But as soon as you had a conversion with Haymitch about it, he reminded you that she did it on purpose. 

Mags waited for the perfect time to tell him, and you suspect it had to be on the night of the interviews, before you all went to bed. It would make him hesitate in the arena, see your opinion from a different angle. It made him trust you, despite the years of hatred that had been leading him prior. 

What really sealed it for him was when you risked your life to make sure his family was safe in the Capitol. Finnick’s told you countless times since you started talking to him, that he’ll never be able to make it up to you. You don’t know how many times you’ve told him that you don’t want him to. 

He’s doing enough now. In fact, he’s doing more than you expected from him. At first, it started with the two of you hanging around each other, going around District Thirteen, getting lunch and dinner together. You thought you’d be friends at most, until the two of you got caught in your feelings.

Johanna’s been making fun of you ever since she found out.

She’s currently laying backward on her hospital bed, using the pillows to keep her legs elevated and feet pressed against the wall. The hospital is beginning to drive her crazy, especially the nurses. It doesn’t help that the doctor she was assigned refuses to discharge her. She’s stuck here, like you.

Johanna’s gently rubbing her head, a habit she picked up recently. It’s not that she necessarily misses her hair, she just claims that it helps her think. She hasn’t been talking as much as she first did when you got here. It’s probably because she was able to get all of her thoughts out when she was talking to you while you were unable to respond. Everything she had kept bottled inside was let out over the course of three weeks.

It was actually fairly interesting to get inside of her head. She has good advice when it’s not clouded by anger. You’ve been meaning to ask her some questions, regarding Finnick. You’ve already picked the brains of Katniss and Haymitch, and they gave you answers that weren’t exactly thrilling to hear.

Lately, Finnick hasn’t been acting like the person he’s grown to be in Thirteen. In fact, he’s starting to revert back to how he used to be. The mean, distrustful man that could barely stand your presence in a room. But he’s inconsistent about it. Sometimes he’ll brush you off and make snide remarks, and others he’ll be kind and loving.

Haymitch wasn’t helpful, asking you if you were sure he wasn’t getting closer to Annie, like he’d been before the Quarter Quell. You told him that it couldn’t be possible because Finnick has never had feelings for Annie. It has something to do with the fact that she was too focused on her health to consider a relationship with anybody. Let alone Finnick, who had a number of problems from the Capitol. Not to mention, her parents are strict about her life.

Annie is out of the question.

Katniss had a better idea, mostly because she’s going through a similar situation with Peeta right now.  She suggested that Finnick could be acting like that because he’s confused. He had a wave of euphoria when he saw you were okay, after sacrificing so much for him. He’s been given the opportunity to make things right, but now he’s confused because he’s not used to these types of feelings about you.

This could be why he’s acting out.

The only other person you want to hear from right now is Johanna. Finnick still talks to her as much as she talks to you, which is almost all hours of the day. You’re hoping he’s said something to her recently that might give you an idea of what’s going on in his head. Or even the answer entirely.

“Hey, Johanna?” You ask.

She hums, hand pausing. “(Y/n), if you try talking to me about breaking out of this place again, you better fall through with the plan this time.”

You roll your eyes. “In my defense, I asked Coin to clear us to go outside, but she said that only Katniss and Gale are allowed to go. They hunt.”

“Sure they do. I bet they think of ways to escape, too.”

“It’s Katniss.” You agree, playing with your shoe on the floor. 

Thirteen’s shoes are unsurprisingly uncomfortable. If it were allowed, you’d walk around in your socks. You tried once, and then you got sent back to the hospital to get them. You were escorted the entire way here to make sure you wouldn’t disobey. 

“What’s your question?” Johanna asks.

You press your lips together briefly. “Have you noticed that Finnick’s acting kinda weird lately?”

Johanna doesn’t move for a second. “Weird how?”

“I mean, he’s not acting like he normally does. I think…” Your face screws. “I think he’s going back to how he used to treat me.” You look up to see her. “Has he talked to you about how he feels at all?”

Johanna doesn’t respond, so you take this as her thinking.

“If it helps, Katniss said it could be because he’s confused.” You offer, shrugging. “Haymitch said it was Annie, but that can’t be true, right?”

She looks impressed, rubs her head once or twice, and then turns to look at you. “Of course brainless is smarter than the drunk.”

“Katniss is right?” You ask.

Johanna sighs, “No, she didn’t get it exactly.” She rolls her eyes. “Listen, I told Finnick that he’s being stupid about this, but he didn’t care. He’s caught up in his head.”

“What are you talking about?”

“(Y/n), he’s told me that he doesn’t think he deserves you after the way he treated you. He said that it’s clear that you’re the better person, and he’s nothing but an asshole.” She shakes her head. “He wants to end things with you.”

“What?” You ask, getting to your feet. “When did he tell you this?”

“Last week, I think.” Johanna stares blankly at the ceiling.

“Why didn’t you tell me? We see each other every day.”

“I thought he wasn’t going through with it. If he did, you’d bring it up to me.” She makes a face. “I’ve been trying to tell him to knock it off.”

“Johanna, what did he say exactly?” You sit back down on the stool, trying to calm down.

She sighs, closing her eyes. “He said it had something to do with your generosity. You know, the whole Capitol thing. He’s hearing a lot of good things about you from Haymitch, and I think that’s freaking him out.” She starts to pick at one of the scabs she refuses to let heal. “I think he said that he didn’t understand the way you worked, and now he feels stupid about it.”

“The way I worked?”

“Like your ulterior motives.” She explains. “How you do one thing and it benefits you later on, but it looks bad from the outside. Finnick said that you have a heart of gold and it took you getting tortured for him to feel that way. He feels selfish.”

Your eyes dart to the clock, wondering what time it is. The hospital’s curfew will go into effect in a couple of hours. They don’t like it when their patients are out past a certain time, they have a routine when it comes to gathering vitals.

“I’ve got to go.” You say suddenly, bending down to pull your shoes on.

“Where?” Johanna asks, twisting to sit up.

“I need to talk to Finnick, now.” You tell her, standing up. “I’ll see you later.”

You leave her room before she can stop you. You’re a few steps down the hall when you hear the automatic door swish shut. Finnick could be anywhere in the bunker, but he’s been hanging out in the Control Room a lot recently.

You go there first. Down the hospital hall, up six floors on the elevator, down a muggy hallway and up to the door. When you knock, no one answers. It isn’t until you’re pounding on the door, does it swing open, to a very irritated President Coin.

“Can I help you, miss (L/n)?” She asks, eyebrows turn down. “We’re in the middle of a meeting.”

“Is Finnick inside?” You ask. “It’s urgent.”

“No, I have not seen him. Try Heavensbee.” She goes to swing the door shut.

You place your foot in the crack before she can shut it entirely, and regret it almost instantly from how hard she was going to slam the door. Coin opens the door wider, lips pressed together.

“Where would I find him?” You ask.

“The basement. He was working in the weapons shop.”

She then kicks your foot out of the way, pulling the door shut. You roll your eyes at her behavior, she hasn’t been the kindest person to you since you arrived. You think Plutarch’s convinced her it’s your fault Beetee’s dead. One day you’ll give him a piece of your mind, but today won’t be it.

You leave the hallway, finding the elevator again. It’s old, which means it moves slowly. It takes almost fifteen minutes for it to go all the way down to the basement, because of the other people getting on and off. 

By the time you get there, Plutarch’s locking the doors. “Have you seen Finnick?”

He looks over his shoulder to see it’s you, and then goes back to fixing the lock. “I haven’t. I’ve been on a call with a scientist for the past hour working on weapon plans because we don’t have any experts here.”

You suck in a breath, reminding yourself not to react. “Do you have any idea who might’ve seen him? It’s important.”

“Did you try Haymitch?” He suggests lamely.

“Where would he be?” 

“The rehabilitation center. Where else?” He shakes his head.

You don’t say anything back to him, because all responses would be rude. You leave him there, heading back to the elevator. By the time you get it programmed for the rehab center, Plutarch is in sight. He holds out his hand to tell you to stop, but you press the button while looking away, pretending as if you didn’t see him. 

Maybe he should be nicer to you.

The rehab center is closer, and their curfew is stricter. If Finnick is here, then he’s only in the visiting area. It’s a shame that Haymitch is still required to stay here instead of a pod, but he really pissed off Coin. He was joking about smuggling alcohol from Greasy Sae, and she was having none of it.

When the elevator stops, you program it to go up a few floors before being allowed to go back down. Anything you can do to inconvenience Plutarch. When you get inside of the center, they have you sign a sheet, and then they put you in the waiting room while they call out the person. As soon as they have you sit down, you know Finnick isn’t here, either, because they would’ve just directed you to the visiting area.

Haymitch comes out, as messy looking as ever, with a beanie pulled to his eyebrows. “Hey, kid. Curfew’s soon.”

“I know. Hey, has Finnick been here?”

He shakes his head. “Peeta’s a good guess. Finnick’s been trying to do exposure therapy.”

“At the hospital?” You ask. “I would’ve seen him.”

Haymitch blows air out from his cheeks. “Katniss?”

“That’s a better idea.” You nod, “I should’ve tried her first instead of Coin. I’m sorry I can’t stay, the hospital’s curfew is in an hour.”

Haymitch waves his hand. “Good luck.”

You wave, leaving out the waiting room door. The lady at the office bids you a goodnight, and then promptly shuts off the office lights. There’s a click that fills the air from the locking system, making you let out a quiet laugh. What a passive-aggressive way to tell you that you were overstaying your welcome. 

On the elevator again, you take it up to where Katniss’s pod should be with her family. Just her, her mom, Primrose and their cat. When you get there, you knock on the door. It’s only a second before Katniss’s mother opens it with a warm smile. 

“Oh, hello (Y/n).”

“Hi.” You smile, “Is Katniss here?”

“No, I believe she’s down in the cafeteria with Gale and Finnick.” 

You hum, eyebrows drawing together. “Thank you.” You begin to back away. “Have a good night.”

“Is there a message you’d like to leave?”

“No, I’m actually looking for Finnick.” You shrug. 

She nods. “Have a good night.”

The door shuts, you turn around and get back to the elevator, where you’re forced to wait twenty minutes. The clock on the wall isn’t helping the rising anxiety in your stomach, you’ve only got enough time to check the cafeteria before you have to get back to the hospital. He better be down there. 

You guess you could try again tomorrow, but you want to have a conversation tonight. The longer you wait, the more it settles into his head. What if he spends the entire day dodging you?

The elevator arrives full of residents trying to get back home. You step on, and being the only one inside, you’re able to head straight down without any disruptions. It’s a quick trip down, but you have to go down the hallway to even get to the cafeteria. 

You push the swinging door open with your hip. The room is illuminated by the few tv’s on the pillars, they’re stuck on the Capitol logo. In the daytime, Thirteen usually will let the Capitol broadcasts play. The people here see them as a comedy.

Sure enough, Katniss and Gale are inside, and they turn at the sound of the door. There is no Finnick in sight, but that doesn’t mean he’s not nearby. 

“Hey, (Y/n).” Katniss adjusts her body to turn halfway so she doesn’t have to crane her neck. “Looking for Finnick?”

“Yes, actually.” You nod. “Have you seen him recently?”

“He just left and took the stairs up to the hospital to talk to Johanna before the curfew set.” 

Your face twists. “Johanna?”

“If you take the elevator, you might be able to catch him.” She says.

“Right.” You agree, “Sorry for interrupting.”

Gale opens his mouth, Katniss speaks first. “It wasn’t even important. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.” You wave, leaving the doorway.

You jog back down the hall to get to the elevator quicker. As soon as you press the button, the doors peel apart, allowing you to get inside. You’re briefly hopeful this trip won’t take longer than a minute, except you run into the same problem as earlier, with people stepping on with every passing floor.

By the time you get to the hospital, it’s past curfew. Finnick always leaves on time.

A wild goose chase for nothing. It’s like Finnick knew you were coming, so he avoided you at all costs. You don’t want to go back to how things used to be between you two. It was painful, knowing there was nothing you could do to fix it. You just had to let it go, like you will now. Except, you’re stuck in this stupid bunker with him, meaning you’ll never get away. 

Tears appear in your eyes. You suck in a breath, holding it, tilting your head back to force the tears back to where they came. It doesn’t work, they slide down the sides of your eyes, traveling down your cheeks.

You let out the breath, and take in a shaky one. It isn’t long before the crying starts. You have to stop in the hallway before you enter the hospital wing, because if they see you upset, they’re going to put you on medical lockdown. This thought alone increases the hysteria.

You slide down the concrete wall, burying your face in your hands while you cry. Ten years you’ve waited just to be his friend, and he’s going to take it all away on the thought he’s not a good person? When it’s clearly not true? He’s sacrificed just as much as you have to get here.

You’ve told him this. Why won’t he listen?

“(Y/n)?” You whip your head up to see Finnick, a frown on his face. “Oh, honey.”

“You—” The word is strangled as another sob overcomes you at the sight of him, finally.

Finnick rushes over, coming to a crouch in front of you. You jerk forward, throwing your arms around him for a hug, squeezing him tightly. Finnick pulls you closer, placing a hand on the back of your head to keep your face in his chest.

“I’m so sorry.” He murmurs, shushing you gently. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not!” You protest through your tears. “You want to leave me!”

He doesn’t say anything, his grip only tightens.

“Finnick, I don’t care. I don’t care that you were mean to me in the past, because it didn’t bother me. I wouldn’t be talking to you if I didn’t want to be with you. How could you have known better if no one told you? It’s not your fault.”

“I should’ve seen the signs. If I had gotten to know you better, maybe I would’ve realized. I was so mean to you.”

“We were mean to each other.” You tell him, playing with his hair. “We did good things on our own time. You’re a good person, Finnick. You’re not bad for what’s happened between us in the past.”

You push him away from you to see his face, finding tears in his own eyes. You cup each side of his face, pulling him to your lips. Finnick’s hand slides its way to the back of your neck, holding you against him for a few seconds longer.

When you pull back, you wipe a tear from beneath his eye. “Let’s just focus on us right now, okay?”

“Okay.”

[fireproofheart]

I'll tell you where the real road lies Between your ears, behind your eyes That is the path to Paradise Likewise, the road to ruin

[syrupyyyart]

finally, finally finished the ~definitive~ designs for my main Motley girls :’)

Extensive design notes under the cut (mostly for documentation purposes, but also because i like talking about my ocs lol)

In my last post, I introduced the idea of giving each character multiple colors, rather than being one uniform color throughout the design. The idea is that the characters can earn up to 3 new colors as they age+experience new things.

For each color they earn, they’ll wear a new ‘evolved’ version of their previous outfit.

For comparisons sake, here’s the initial pass I took at trying to give my characters more colors:

(euhg. theyre really really ugly. im honestly embarrassed i ever posted these at all lol)

Fact: it’s actually incredibly difficult to design monochrome outfits for characters without the designs looking extremely unfinished (to me, anyways lol). In an attempt to break up the monotony of the monochrome outfit designs, I found myself over relying on the outline colors to fill in their outfit pieces (cherrys pants, limes turtleneck, etc). This hypothetically works, but it ended up causing a lot of confusion as to how many colors the characters had actually earned, especially when the outline color was vastly different from the intended color. Basically, the tl;dr is that over relying on the outline colors felt like cheating, looked bad, and caused a lot of issues.

All of this explanation is to set up the 2 design rules I gave myself for the New Definitive Designs:

1. Outline colors MUST NOT be over relied on, and should be used as sparingly as possible

2. Nothing is sacred. If it looks bad, throw it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also decided to shift around their body types slightly, since I realized that practically every character had the same build with a different height (with the exception of Banana). Marshmallow is a bit curvier, Watermelon is slightly more muscular, etc. And, while you cant really tell because of their baggy outfits, Lime is much boxier and Blueberry is lankier and has wider shoulders than the others.

Finally, here’s some specific design notes for each character, how they changed, and why:

Cherry Pit - Cherry may not have had the most drastic changes, but hers were definitely the most important. She’s had the same hairstyle ever since the first time I drew her (back in ....... middle school lol), and as attached as I was to it, it caused a LOT of problems. It gave her an ugly silhouette, the sharp edges kind of ruined her circle motif, etc. So it had to change. I decided to give her a fluffier hair style to incorporate more round edges into her design, and I truly cannot tell you how many hairstyles I cycled through before I landed on that one. It was major development hell. But I think the new style is much much cuter! Due to story reasons, I also decided to give her 2 outfit colors instead of just one, and she seriously looks so much better because of it. Big fan of Cherrys new design lol

Blueberry Cobbler - Ohhhh where to start with this one. Blueberrys design has always been a headache to me. I found it difficult to draw consistently, and even when I got it to look how I wanted, it still didn’t look very good. So, my goal for her redesign was to overhaul her design while keeping the general idea behind it; most importantly, she needed to be Fun To Draw. So, I changed the silhouette of her sweatshirt by giving her a more exaggerated hood, replaced her bulky zipper with the hanging ties (idk what theyre called lol), and Changed Her Ugly Ass Tights into baggier pants. I also crimped her hair to make it more angular. In the context of this universe, cold colors have naturally colder body temperatures, so they have to wear insulated clothing to stay chilly; the overall baggier clothes really just fixed all of my issues with her design honestly. Better for her personality type, prettier silhouette, in-universe reasoning, etc. Scrumptious.

Lime Pie - I decided to swap out her cargo pants for a long skirt, and let her hair down. This was mostly because, with the monochrome outfit she needed to wear, the turtleneck+cargo pants combo just wouldnt work without looking Pretty Bad. It also helps her outfit stand out a bit more, as she’s now the only character in the main cast that is wearing a skirt. She’s meant to be an inversion of the “nerdy girl lets her hair down and puts on a dress and Now She Is Popular” trope, so the idea is that when she earns her 2nd color, she will start wearing her hair up again, and the cargo pants can come back. Maybe.

Marshmallow Fluff - I honestly hit the nail on the head with this one in the initial batch of concepts I did, so I didnt change much lol. The biggest change is that I made her hair light again. This was because shes obviously meant to have a cloud motif, but her sister (who I rarely post about lol) has a thundercloud motif-- basically, I’m just saying that the darker hair is gonna go to her sister instead.

Banana Pudding - Again, she looks almost exactly the same. I just changed the red outline of her original dress to be less contrasting, since I got a lot of people asking if she’d earned two colors or not. Hopefully, its more clear now that she’s only earned one.

Watermelon Sorbet - As much as I liked her original design, many many people told me she looked like a ‘cool yoga instructor’ character. Which, while not terrible, wasn't exactly what I was going for; she’s meant to be more of an ‘edm dancer’ kind of character. So, I decided to change out her pants for bigger legwarmers that I’m hoping make her look a bit more hyper active.

Thats all my notes lol. I have no idea if anyone is gonna read this far, but if you do, thanks :’) I fully realize that making so many notes about this looks silly, considering theyre OCs and not like ..... widely known characters. So Im sure a lot of what Ive said just sounds like gibberish. But its fun to ME!!!!!!!!

I’ve got more character designs to post over the next week or so; namely, the 3 Antagonists (Grape Soda, Orange Custard, and Angel Cake) + the parents (which includes 2 characters Ive never shown before, but Im very excited to share lol). Those posts wont be accompanied with longwinded notes like this one is; Im just the most excited about these designs and wanted to talk about them.

[karis17love]

opinions on the previews?

Okay, let's go!

My previews ranking • part 3

1. Whenever, Wherever

So I give it the first place because I didn't expect to like the preview at all. I knew this song would be added to the game and for some reason I had a feeling the map wouldn't be good, but surprisingly the choreo actually looks amazing, as does the coach. I like it, it's cool and also a big plus that we got another Shakira song!

2. Exes

EXES IS SOOO GOOD, omg I love this choreography, it's so sassy! ​​Sora created a masterpiece! Also, Jennifer's new look is great, I really like it!

3. Stop This Fire

Guys, I know this choreo is very easy, but I honestly really like it? I mean, I love the coach, the background, and especially the song (it's amazing) and the choreography (especially after watching this preview a few times) go together so WELL, it will definitely be one of the best cool-down maps.

4. You Love Who You Love

Okay, this song is a banger! I'm very curious about the lore (the drawings, Eva's shadow?!?). In my opinion, the beginning of the preview is the best - I love both the song and the choreography here. I like the choreo overall, but I'm not sure about some moves (like the moves at the end) idk if I like them or not.

I adore the coach's outfit! Honestly, after the teaser I expected a different color of it, like blue or purple.

Enemies to lovers👀

5. Sleigh Ride

It's adorable, imo this Christmas map is better than last year's, I know not everyone agrees, but I love stop-motion maps, they are usually very cute and perfect for playing the game with family and kids.

6. Move Your Body

Alright, well...

I don't really know what you think about it, lol I guess I could call it a bit of a troll map, but only a bit. Honestly, this preview surprised me less than The Lion itself, so...

I think it's a cool, silly map to play with friends, the choreo looks fun and... I don't know what to think about the song.

But I feel I will love this map, I had that with Chacarron - I didn't expect after the preview that I would even like the map - but here I am...

I love Chacarron.

7. Basket Case (Bathtub Version)

and the last map, I expected that Basket Case would get a different alt version like extreme or don't have any. But if you think about it, it makes sense, considering that the classic version, regardless of which coach you choose, is difficult and can be tiring. This is why the sitting version is perfect for people with disabilities or who simply do not have that much energy. I think it's a cool alt, every time I see such maps I admire the creativity + the duck is cute. The choreography is okay, it's just nothing wow...

I have one more thing to write - I never can guess what song will have an alt! I didn't expect that Basket Case would have an alt or Lovin On Me is actually Moo Version and not just classic version, I never get alts right, lmao

Overall - this week previews - 10/10

[nayialovecat]

The Ink Demonth 2023 - Day 12. Angel

Day 12. Angel Crossover: W.I.T.C.H. (comics) This could be true, if it weren't for the fact that Joey is probably canonically gay (but I'm not sure if it's a fact).

And now a bit of history. Comics W.I.T.C.H. in Poland were published for about ten years from 2002 and were extremely important to me. I bought this newspaper from the first to the last issue - I skipped maybe 3-4 issues when I was on vacation and couldn't find a shop that had the current press (I'll fill these holes someday). For me, this series was extremely important and played a big role for many reasons - firstly, it was how I learned to draw human figures and my style still somewhat resembles the style of W.I.T.C.H. Secondly - reading this comic coincided with the moment when I first started to suffer from depression and reading about magic, about friendship that works and that friends don't stab you in the back - made it easier for me to cope with reality. Finally, thirdly - I was then very into magic and I was looking for it in a more interesting form than the one presented in Harry Potter (where magic, by the way, is very boring and monothematic). In each issue, apart from the next part of the comics, there were interesting horoscopes from different parts of the world, methods of fortune telling and interesting facts about various magical things. This was the beginning of my collection of myths, spells, creatures and magical plants. But then the comic stopped being published, and then that nasty French series came out, which is one big abomination - and I completely forgot about W.I.T.C.H. for many, many years... But then, some time ago, my dad, who was cleaning out my old room (where he has his "office"), found a huge pile of my magazines and decided to bring them to me - among them were all my issues of W.I.T.C.H. magazine. When my daughter saw it, she was immediately delighted and asked if I could read it to her. Reading comics is difficult and unattractive to the listener, so I thought she would get boring quickly - but no... we're halfway through the first saga (about Merdian) and Ursa keeps asking for more. And when I read it to her, I take a sentimental journey back to my childhood, I'm moved again by the stories, I laugh at the jokes, I discover that I look at the characters differently, but like them the same, although for completely different things.

That's why I decided to include such an important element that made me who I am now in this year's Ink Demonth - and the slogan Angel seemed more than appropriate. Interestingly, the previous entry also fit here, and in order to include the Phantom of the Opera, I had to find another place for it, because - yes - it lost to W.I.T.C.H. However, this inconspicuous comic book for teenagers had a greater impact on me, my character, interests and who I am today - than the musical I saw several years ago or the book I read only this year. Sad but true.

I must admit that I had fun drawing and colouring this. And if someone asks: my favourite character is Will - not only because she is redhead and is (like me) a Capricorn, but many threads from her story were similar to mine. This hasn't changed. However, today I look more kindly at Cornelia, whom I once disliked, and a little less favorably at Irma, whom I once liked very much (the way she treats Martin at the beginning is terrible). While drawing them, I realized how unfairly Hay Lin is treated - her guardian outfit is the worst and least highlights her charms. However, after upgrading the outfits, she gains the most, while Cornelia's and Will's outfits are terrible. By the way, Taranee, what did they do to your hair, tell me? By the way, it was even fun to do something similar to the SATIM comic - was this comic always so electric yellow? It was very difficult for me to adapt to this...

Bendy and the Ink Machine (c) Joey Drew Studios Inc. W.I.T.C.H. (c) Disney Italy Sammy and the Ink Machine (c) Nayia Lovecat

[localsimpissleepy]

.....

Okay, I was planning to release this on Wednesday, but i forgot, oops, mainly cause i was a bit busy with school and stuff, but i'm free now-

So, let's get into these previews again-

JD 2025 Previews: Week 3

I'll be honest, i got spoiled on this song from the Just Dance Wiki (since some random store leaked this song)

I personally don't listen to Shakira, but i thought this map was good (I'm a sucker for pirate like characters so yeah-)

Idk if this is actually Shadow Rider (since the hair is very similar) I personally don't think it is but since the JD team has been reusing alot of coaches this game, it could be her but i don't want to jinx it

She just came out and i already have lore ideas for her (idk if i'll actually post it here lol, who knows though)

Another stop motion map! And this is a cute one!

For me, these kinds of maps are easier to dance too, so its nice to get an easier song after playing a few difficult ones lol

The coach is cute, and i love all the details in the background (another reason I love stop motion maps)

Don't got much to say, but i think this map is very cute, can't wait to play it!

This map seems very cute and fun! I love the coach's costume (she's giving off fairy vibes lol, she might aswell be a fairy since she's so small so)

The choreography seems fun, and i love the way they made the background seem bigger and making the coach smaller in comparison

Overall, this map is my favorite out of the previews, can't wait to see it all next month!

Uhhhhhh

....

Okay

This comment on insta explains this map very well-

Anyways, moving on-

Our lesbian detective is here-

I honestly thought the detective mentioned in the Eva Chase lore short was Inspector Thomas Dance (from The Master Blaster) since he was the only detective coach at the time

I love her and Eva's relationship already (judging from the drawings in the background), it would be cool to see Eva actually appear maybe towards the end of the map (just to tease her lol)

This map is great

...i just have one criticise-

This is just me but...her outfit is hideous, there, i said it

I know this is a classic detective outfit, but i'm just not fond of the orange color scheme (i thought her outfit was gonna be purple when i saw the teaser post, mainly cause of the purple highlights)

I would just perfered if the JD team gave her a different color scheme, but that's not gonna happen

Overall, i like this map, i just don't like her outfit (idk if i'll get used to it in the future...)

Jennifer is back!

She got such a glow up! She looks amazing!

The background is also cool, i love how the ground moves below her (i do think it is a bit weird for a map like this, but i still like it)

Don't got much to say, but it's nice to get more lore on Woodcrown High School and the other students there (speaking off, can't wait to see Ari's map)

Okay

Basket Case didn't really deserve an alt, the original map was good enough (i wouldn't have mind for an extreme in my opinion)

Don't get me wrong, i love seeing accessible maps like this, i just don't think this song fits with the whole bathtub theme

I like the vibe of the coach i guess, but they could have given this alt a different song in my opinion

AND there you have it, for me, this preview list was kinda...meh (which is weird for me cuz i really didn't have much of a negative opinion on any previews from 2023 or 2024)

I guess i just don't get mych of the hype for these songs (the only songs i've heard were Poker Face, Unstoppable, Yeah!, Sleigh Ride, and Party In The U.S.A)

But despite that, i can't wait to see next weeks previews (hopefully a SKZ song pls🙏)

[morethanwords0475]

March TC Challenge

1. If you could change one thing about your TC, physical or personality-wise, what would it be?

I don’t know, sometimes it sounds like he hates life a little? I’m not delusional that everyone must love their job, but it hurts whenever he expresses too much relief that a holiday is finally coming up, or, especially, when he doesn’t have to teach us for whatever reason (like when we eventually go on exam leave).

2. Are they “your type”, or was falling for a person like them completely unexpected?

I think he is my type in that he’s beautiful, teaches really well, and is super good to our class, but last year I actually didn’t find him that attractive so he probably wasn’t exactly my type, appearance-wise, not when T was still here.

3. If they were an ice cream flavour, what would it be?

I think he would be a fruit flavour that is naturally sweet with a hint of sourness.

4. Imagine you have a whole weekend to spend with your TC. What would you guys do?

I would love to walk his dog with him, go out and eat something nice, maybe have an afternoon coffee date and read together, walk around the lake and just talk…

5. What’s their biggest talent?

Not sure about talents – teaching?? I know my man used to do music though 🥰

6. Be honest: would you guys be a power couple or not?

Probably not 'power' in the traditional sense, but I just feel like we’d probably make each other better people and that’s good enough for me.

7. If they knew about your feelings, would they confront you about it or ignore it?

He probably suspects by now, I think if it got too obvious and was making him uncomfortable he might confront me about it. He’d try to be indirect and gentle about it, though it would definitely be scary.

8. Are they a good singer?

I am very curious, I love his slightly hoarse, raspy voice, but idk if it would sound good singing.

9. If you could choose an outfit that your TC had to wear every single day, what would it look like?

This is very difficult to choose, my inherent love for white shirts says that, plus a vest maybe, though I also love seeing him in casual clothes like hoodies.

10. Are they more academic, artistic, or athletic? What about you?

Incas Lily is probably 70% academic, 10% artistic (we don’t get to see his artistic side so it’s hard to tell), and 20% athletic (he works out more than do sports), I’m probably 75% academic, 15% artistic, and 10% athletic.

11. Do they inspire you as a person?

So much, he is so much goodness and cares about genuine things and forms solid connections with people, he is so good and so loved.

12. Are they an early riser or a night owl?

Early riser most likely, he said on school nights he usually goes to bed at like 22:30 (I wish TAT).

13. Have you ever made each other angry or upset? If so, how did you reconcile?

I’ve always been good in class even before liking Incas Lily so I’ve never made him mad, and he only gets a bit upset at people who don’t listen or do work. There must have been times when he was annoyed with me but didn’t verbalise it, though. I was upset with him for making fun of subjects I like – other than Biology – and felt hurt, we kind of reconciled when he conceded the value in some of those subjects after I pressed him on it.

14. Do you ever find yourself imitating them, either consciously or unconsciously?

I definitely don’t imitate him as much as I did T, the only things I can think about is subtly adapting his sense of humour or hand gestures. I did steal his way of drawing bullet points, I don’t remember ever seeing another teacher draw it like that.

15. What do you think their love language is? What’s yours?

This is extremely hard to tell, not least because I don’t even know if Incas Lily is in a relationship, let alone seen it displayed at school. I would guess quality time and acts of service will probably be high for him. Mine are physical touch and words of affirmation - the latter works very well with having a TC, the former not at all.

16. Have they taught you anything that isn’t school related? Valuable life lessons, insights on how you feel about yourself, etc.?

That time we had a talk about my mental health and stuff, he tried to boost my self-perception and made me see some of the maladaptive thought patterns I had. Especially when he was helping me prepare for my interview, we mostly focused on questions about myself, he helped me think of some of my qualities that I didn't know I had or couldn't admit to. Occasionally hearing his opinions on life during our lessons has also been very valuable.

17. What would they have to do to make you lose feelings for them?

I think anything that compromises his basic identity as a 'good' person, a good teacher – in terms of like moral standards and being a decent human being and all that. That’s the core of my attraction.

18. Are they introverted or extroverted? What about you?

His MBTI is introverted, but he is definitely quite social with many teachers as well as students. He seems more extroverted than me, I’m probably the more introverted of extroverts.

19. Who’s more likely to start rambling about their interests while the other listens?

He’s done it sometimes in lessons and I always love it, I also do on some occasions when talking about the subject I want to major in. 

20. Do you feel guilty about having feelings for your TC?

A bit, sometimes, he’s so good to us it feels like I’m preying on that kindness. Like, he deserves a normal life without some girl semi-obsessing over him, although I mostly don’t actively inconvenience him with these feelings. At least this time he’s not married (😭)

21. Are you insecure about them liking another student more than you?

Always. I always said I loved T before any of his other students did, but I didn’t have feelings for Incas Lily until a year after he started teaching us, so I’m sure he likes a lot of other students better than me. I might be getting the highest grades in my class, but he doesn’t just want grades. Man, and I’ve seen him have really casual dynamics with some of the students a year or two below us and it sucks.

22. What kind of hairstyle would you love to see them in?

His current one is super pretty, it's curly and thick and frames his facial features beautifully. I miss when the top was dyed silver, though, that was the utmost beauty.

23. Do you think they trust you?

We don't ever really get into an emotional level of trust, but for any academic setting he must do. He let me self study a unit, he said he thinks I'd never be able to cheat, and he let me finish up an experiment alone in his lab when we were still doing experiments.

24. What’s the most comedic moment that’s occurred between you two?

It's hard to say, but it was quite funny when he used to give me quizzes for his lower year groups to do, especially when I sometimes get inexplicably caught up in them.

25. Have you ever drawn them or written about them to vent your feelings?

I write about Incas Lily often – usually in diaries and on this blog, sometimes in imagines.

26. How do you feel when you’re around them? Are you so nervous that you can’t concentrate, or do you just feel happy that you get to spend time with them?

I used to almost always be really happy around him (he was my comfort teacher before I really had romantic feelings), it turned into nervousness maybe a few months back, and now a mixture.

27. Do you guys have any inside jokes?

There's one where I told him off for not teaching us something and it comes up in exams, but I think it also annoys him a little.

28. Do their morals, principles, or political views align with yours?

Maybe less so than it was with T, but with basic things like political inclinations, support for gender equality/the LGBTQ+ community/etc., being pro-choice, we are very similar on.

29. Have you ever tried to get over them?

Some days when it gets really bad, like during Mocks in January or sometimes this month, I have wondered whether I should or am meant to get over him, but it's so hard when seeing him makes my heart clench every time.

30. If someone nice your age showed up in your life and you caught feelings for them, would you move on from your TC?

We have so little time now, I doubt I could catch feelings for someone my age or move on from Incas Lily. Hopefully, I will after I go to university.

31. Have you ever said or done something that, in hindsight, might have been hurtful to them? Have they ever done the same to you?

Like for the inside joke, I (jokingly) complained about him not teaching us something, which might have been a bit hurtful, but I have truly tried to always be careful and good around him. I was hurt when he made fun of some of the subjects I like, especially during times when I was feeling really tense, and I do wonder whether he knew it affected me, even though it was all done jokingly.

[alterwriting]

primary - on penacony - au possible - she / her

* // robin headcanons

I write Robin as a young adult in human years, around 23 to 25 years old.

For Robin, since music has evolved from her hobby into her job, she carefully tries to balance singing professionally and for herself. There had been times when singing did not bring her joy anymore, a condition she seeks to prevent from occuring again. Therefore, she kindly rejects performance requests if it feels like her schedule is overflowing; when she is alone, she mostly hums to herself instead of singing.

Being followed by reporters every single day caused some form of paranoia within her. She will always lock her door if she seeks some privacy, close the windows and shades, and check for hidden cameras. It is quite exhausting at times.

As a famous person on Penacony it is quite difficult to form proper bonds or find friends. Whereever she goes there are people asking her for autographs, for song requests, or interviews. It is like they are only seeing the songstress, not the person. This is mainly the reason why she specifically enjoys the company of people who treat her like Robin first and foremost, and not like a celebrity.

When producing a song, for Robin the most important part is the feeling she wishes to convey. Second comes the message, and only after that the commercial success. It is a privilege she can enjoy due to her already existing status and The Family's support.

She is able to play the piano, violin, cello, flute, guitar, and has minor skills on the drums and trumpet. Some insturments in her songs were also played and recorded by herself. Aside from that, she is also familiar with a couple of different types of dances, such as ballet,

Robin likes collecting songs. If traveling to a different planet, she will try to visit a town or village and collect melodies or songs. When she feels a sense of anxiety about her responsibilities, she finds listening to the songs of others very calming. It also means that she has an ever growing and already too big collection of tapes...

Her singing teachers were always very strict with her, which is the reason why she may sell herself short if met with extreme praise.

The wound she got from a bullet on Kasbelina-VIII is always well hidden under a scarf. She has a variety of colors in order to match her outfit. If it was her decision, she would not hide it, but she was asked to cover it as to not raise concern from her fans.

Although it can be fun at times, Robin doesn't really like all the work that doesn't include her singing. Posing for magazines, smiling for commercials, or the like don't really interest her. She does enjoy playing roles in movies, though.

The type of person who can hear a horror story and still draw a positive message from it. Her favorite genre are romance novels and movies, though. She is not one to fall in love easily, but she enjoys watching people feel the warmth of love.

for some references on which kind of movies she has already played in, please refer to the following examples: ref 1 | ref 2 | ref 3 | ref 4 | ref 5 | ref 6 | ref 7 | ref 8 | ref 9.

[greaterstolenlandspolycule]

Wardrobe, glance and motion for Liesel

glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC's appearance? What's their distinguishing feature?

Funnily enough, a lot of Liesel’s design is centered around the fact that (at least as of the beginning of Act 2–their presentation is going to significantly change over the course of Kingmaker) they don’t stand out! This is very deliberately cultivated; they really don’t want to look eye-catching or out of place in any way. Due to fey magic bullshit, though, they do have a  slight supernatural charisma that draws attention to them regardless. 

motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?

Liesel is exceptionally light on their feet, and has a very good sense of balance (in game terms, they are immune to difficult terrain due to the Woodland Stride fey bloodline feature, and they have proficiency in mobility). I imagine their flexibility is pretty average, though; they’ve not really put any time or work into it. They are (unlike me!) quite coordinated. 

While as of the beginning of Act 2 they mostly wear typical “feminine” clothing, they specifically cut slits into the front of the skirts of their dresses to allow for a wider range of movement (they wear a pants layer underneath, which I imagine all dress-wearers in the River Kingdoms do because it can get COLD there and skirts allow for an awful lot of exchange of heat with the environment).

wardrobe: How big is your character's wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

Liesel has an extremely limited wardrobe, as they grew up in a not-poor-but-certainly-not-close-to-wealthy farming village, and spent the years after they left home as a traveling mercenary who didn’t own anything they couldn’t carry. While they are a baron now, they’ve not settled in to having a stable home base in Tuskdale, and also are juggling learning how to govern and do politics with an extremely informal education, so they still don’t have many outfits. I would imagine all their outfits are quite similar, except for some fancy dress they got for the banquet at the end of Act 1. 

Liesel is quite skilled at fixing their own clothes, which is especially important for them because they are very particular about texture—it’s one of the main things they are very sensitive about, sensory-wise—and a messily stitched hole would be intolerably itchy for them! Part of the reason they spent so much effort on making fabric and such in their home village was to ensure they had clothes made out of fabric they could actually tolerate. They also just have a lot of difficulty asking for help from others, so it would have been a necessity anyway, especially during their years on the road.

[leggerefiore]

Emmet gets triplets and goes to whine "I can't even be mad!" before scooping up one or two of the babies and cooing with tears in his eyes meanwhile it's always about Ingo having a single son I'd love to hear some details about Ingo having fraternal opposing gender twins the dream he never knew he had

Ingo about cried when he heard he was getting twins. It was from joy and terror. His precious children would never have to bear being alone, but the future sleepless nights were going to be all the more difficult with two babies to comfort. He's happy to share something so precious with his children. It increases when he hears they're fraternal twins of the opposites sexes. A little girl and boy. Ingo is enthusiastic.

Of course, the little boy comes first and is now deemed older brother, so Ingo will instill his son with the ways of handling a possibly rambunctious and weird younger sibling. The little girl is so strangely precious to him. He loves both equally, but it's fairly obvious just how excited he was for the girl. After they both lie asleep in your and his arms, he speaks. "I never understood Emmet's fascination with having twins. While I enjoy being one, I saw no reason to want such a thing. The strain it puts on whoever is carrying them and how exceedingly rare they are..." he draws a finger down the side of the sleeping infant's face, "I understand it now. I'm ever so grateful you have given me such wonderful children, my dear. I will take care of you all to the best my abilities."

He dresses his son in some of his childhood outfits and the girl some of the cutest outfits that you and Elesa would allow. He shows them off to depot agents and everyone he's friends with in excitement. They also make Ingo roll back completely on his overtime, which Emmet support him on. He would never leave you alone for so many hour with two infants to manage. Of course, you would never be alone between Elesa trying to 'aunt it up' and his parents cooing over their new grandchild. Ingo often comes home to you and another person handling the twins. He's happy to see it.

As they get older, he discovers the variety present in twinhood. As both opposite sexes and fraternal twins, their relationship is separate from that of his and Emmet's own. It's a constant learning endeavour for him, especially with a daughter. Poor Ingo tries to learn every single thing he can about girls, but it doesn't help when he can't physically understand existing as one. He tries his best, however. He's noticeably more protective over his daughter than his son. Not that he isn't over his son, because he is, he just fears more for her.

Oh, Emmet is extremely envious of this because: he wants twins. Why did Ingo get them first? It's so unfair. He's whining about to anyone who will listen. Ingo gets everything first: he was born first, he caught a pokemon first, and he spoke first. He's huffing.

[jediknightjameslunagazer23]

@theblueskyphoenix @dreamstormdragon

I hope it's okay to show this as fanart given Chapter 9 has been completed and out for an while now, but decided to draw Dr. Tyler Chase for this fanart, using his flashback design, as I felt it would fit, I could honestly see Tyler just having an moment like this where he just breaks down in guilt and prays for forgiveness of taking so many lives just to give them peace.

Tyler was kinda difficult to draw, but I managed somehow the tears were the hard part along with what colour glow I wanted to give to his sigil, decided to mix things up with red and grey, honestly this could work for an What lies within drawing for Tyler.

Also did an James Lunagazer in redesigned Ancient Greek outfit for once he learns that he's got Apollo's powers, trust me, this drawing went through the most changes as I struggled to figure what colours would work, as I didn't want to completely lose the blue for James, so decided to mix both blue and gold together with some silver here and there.

James was going to have an headdress like Tyler, but I figured it would be overused so I chose to go with an sun inspired headdress, and I know that this Apollo design might not be what the manga depicts depending if someone has Apollo later down the line, but I have the idea that maybe the God's appearance changes depending on the user as an way of explaining it.

As for the sigil, I wasn’t completely sure what to give James, as even though Apollo is Asclepius' father, I didn’t want James to have the same sigil Derek and probably Naomi have, so I went with the devotion to Apollo symbol and gave James green as his eye colour for his powers, sort of like mixing his clothing colours, and it symbolically adds to him slowly making steps to reconciling his painful aspects of the past and moving forward into the future.

For James' actual powers, I'd figure it would be something to do with an lyre motif in terms of sound, an possible name being the "Soothing Choir" like for example, say James was dealing with an extremely anxiety filled patient, his voice would change tone to an soothing aura and it can calm said patient and relieve their pain for an time.

Another possibility considering I'm going with the idea that Apollo has multiple powers being the father of Asclepius and healing, is that James can possibly hear certain "melodies" in an patient's body, allowing him to find problems faster by detecting "discords" in the melody, sort of like Mood Matrix from Ace Attorney pretty much it would be heightened hearing, one such draw back could be that if overused James could risk going deaf for an time along with sensory overload.

And another could do more with the bow and arrow, like James could find certain weak points in G.U.I.L.T strains and then accurately strike them like an arrow similar to Derek's healing touch and references plague arrows from Apollo, except it would be used to save lives.

Pretty much James could be more leaning to an support type kind of role, but he can attack if required, the reason I paired him and Tyler together is that I feel that if I did an fanfic exploring James' side story in the manga verse, these two would mesh as they are similar in someways, like both have an little sister that falls ill but their methods in those scenarios are different and that could lead to parallels along with clashes, but ultimately they come to an understanding and form an brotherhood.

Also just an funny idea I've thought of is if the Greek gods were able to interact in the astral plane, Asclepius and Apollo could possibly have an bit of an father and son moment, as James and Derek are both bewildered and weirded out by.

And that's mostly my ideas and fanart at this time, hope that some of it sounds good with what I've thought of!

[beyfantasy]

Redesigned Majestics from my BEYBLADE AU “Beyfantasy” in 2010.

The Majestics were my favorite team in BEYBLADE so I always had a lot of fun and motivation working on their designs. I've been in a rather tough spot in terms of workload as times got difficult on our end so I had to balance a queue of due commissions I work on everyday, and the Beyfantasy Majestics. Each of them were the artworks that gave me joy and pleasure in the midst of the grind. Thank you for being there for me, Majestics- I made sure to honour your assigned birthdays with their design releases. My ideas for their Beyfantasy version were already pretty solid, but I had to change their writeups a bit.

Ralf Jürgens The basis for making him a Summoner was because he was extremely proud of his notable holy beast- Griffolyon. In the old concept- he could only summon the Ewig Gryphon. For this new one- I made him able to summon his knights and servants on his beck and call. As I was typing the character description, I feel there is still so much to say about his design. Ideas would include having his summoned knights based off on chess pieces, and his cane turning red when he summons the Ewig Gryphon. He is familially close to his butler Johann, who is the only non-summon-piece residing in his castle as he took care of him growing up. I thought of a concept that perhaps his Castle is alive in a way- that it is a summon in itself. I'm taking this from the time in BEYBLADE when the bust statue changed its eyes and Takao fell into the row of guillotines. Ralf is basically a loner but not exactly, in this way. 

His old outfit looked more like a lightweight magician's outfit. One of the difficult decisions I made before for his design was to choose more fabric over armor. For this new design, I wanted to incorporate an armor feel into it by giving his clothes more structure. My favorite addition are the feathers on his shoulder pads. His outfit’s color is also more gray than contrasting in the remake. Given he has a very pale complexion, I did not want him to appear with a goth/vampire aesthetic (distinguised from Blood, and King and Queen) and I need to have him stray from a necromancer (keeping his pieces as “summons” than the undead.) The Spade design remains on his outfit based on when he pulled the Ace of Spades card in the anime.

I found difficulty in balancing his design. I wanted him to go for more form and function so it should not be too elaborate or gaudy, but at the same time- I wanted to decorate him some more. Chains were mandatory for his design and I wished I could add more on him. In the end, I think keeping it with a certain degree of simplicity was the way to go. I also loved his pose in the first art, but I had to change it to show a lot of his outfit. I wanted to express him with more dominance than elegance, since he was always about intimidating others and having a huge presence. His cane stays almost the same in design- with the top part bigger to match his physique.

Summoner Ralf was one of my favorite Beyfantasy designs, and it still stands with this redesign. I am particularly fond of his sleeves- they’re twisted like that to express the winds from the Ewig Gryphon.

Johnny McGregor I changed Johnny's title from "PyroKnight" ot "Knight" for this one. I didn't think there was a reason to include "Pyro" in the title and keeping it simple made it better classy. Of all the Beyfantasy designs, Johnny's was the most difficult for me to work on. Armor was never my specialty and he would always have a lot of variation sketches for when I designed him. I took redesigning him very seriously and carefull as it had to make sense with his movements and comfort. Working on this piece involved me having to draw him scantily clad with the kind of athletic physique I wanted for him, then drawing on the body suit, then armor pieces on different layers. The Heart shaped designs remain on his outfit and his weapon based on when he pulled the Queen of hearts card in the anime.

His weapon definitely had to be changed. My first idea for him as a Pyroknight was he would ignite his axe and swing it around to make a ring of fire on the ground. For this new design- I changed his weapon from an axe to a javelin- closer to his design in BEYBLADE. I wanted him to be a little more mobile, with his Javelin still igniting as he pleases. My favorite part would be the fauld on his lower area. One of the criticisms and frustrations I had with his old design was the discomfort around that part, so redesigning that area to give him better comfort and protection gave me a lot of contentment.

With his weapon change, comes a pose change. I wanted to give him a simpler pose to show his armor better. At the same time, I did not want it to be devoid of his deeper aspect of his personality. I thought that his head tilted up while having a softer expression looking to the side is a good representation for this, while the entire of his body showed an arrogant and hostile warrior. Unlike Ralf, who is mostly inherently secure with his character, Johnny seems to have unresolved issues and internal conflict.

The bandanna did not suit the armor, but I could not give him a helmet since his hair was iconic. I gave him a crest on the bandana instead, and I think it worked out pretty well.

I feel so much redemption from the first design- it's like I was able to execute his costume the way I've always wanted to. I made his character written in this way because he was one of the BEYBLADE characters that had a kind of problematic attitude with little to no explanation. He also seemed tougher than he looked. I wanted to give him a brief history for why he turned out like this, to also distinguish him from Ralf's more conclusive writeup.

Giancarlo Tornatore Gladiator Giancarlo was the easiest to redesign in this group. I was already satisfied with his old design, but I had to fix some parts to have it make better sense. The Diamond shape is included throughout his design based on when he pulled the 7 of Diamonds card in the anime.

His leg guards were changed to make more sense- with the front/shield side having a bigger guard compared to the back leg. The leather straps with diamonds along his waist were also elongated to protect his lower area. His sword was changed to something simpler to refocus the attention to his shield. I also covered his right arm with thick leather for protection.

His old pose had its own charm, but it did not express his personality too well. I imagined Giancarlo Tornatore to be strangely eccentric and seemingly carefree, but with another bloodlusty and unmerciful side to him. I think that this duality is what characterized him in the anime, as it goes with his holy beast's theme. Making him spread out his pose in the redesign gives that cocky attitude, ready to swing at anyone in the coliseum as he claims his fun. I also wanted him to puff out his chest to express a "macho" that was going on with him being fond of women. I just love how the cape flowed with his arm, as well as his grin.

I think I was able to portray Gladiator Giancarlo better. I really wanted to emphasize his eccentric side and bloodlust when donning armor. I'd picture he would look more relaxed when in ordinary clothes though, appreciating the pleasures in life. His character has a lot of duality going on.

Olivier Boulanger My favorite character in the BEYBLADE series so he gets a lot of affection. Olivier's original design was good, but I felt it did not compliment his relatively shorter and slimmer physique too well as it made him look short and stocky with the shape. I thought his outfit needed a lot of fixing and restructuring, and then I realized that I had to scrap the old one entirely and start over.

I took different days spread throughout months in planning his outfit so it was not stressful or crammed in. I took note of the best parts of his old outfit which were the colors, the plume, the white pants, and the hat. I made sure to incorporate these favored elements in the new design.

I said that he had to have the most elaborate outfit among the Majestics, or even among the other Beyfantasy characters without being too gaudy. I put a lot of details, and changed the cut of his top so that it shapes on his torso properly- making him look taller and have broader shoulders. As I work on the sketch, I said "I will not stop until I can look at it and say 'It is truly beautiful.'" Beauty and elegance were things that Olivier held important so I had to practice them here.

For the colors, I wanted them to be as close to the original as possible. But after rendering it- I think a bit of vibrance suited the new design better and gave him more vertical size. Prussian blue and Cadmium red were mixed with off-whites and white gold. I had to be very meticulous on these details.

His weapon had to be redesigned entirely as well. I had a hard time designing this because it had to match his outfit, but it also had to be special. There had to be a Unicorn design on it too- so I integrated a unicorn's shape on the guard, and made the blade shine pink towards the end when wielded since his sword can heal wounds.

It is not very noticeable, but he had a trim for his haircut. I made sure that his hair isn't too short, but short enough to look neat and form a good silhouette with the entire outfit. I considered giving him longer hair tied in a low or side ponytail, but it did not look very clean-cut for the appeal that I was going for. Since his shoulders looked broad, I had to shift the weight of the hair upwards or it will look too heavy.

His footwear was changed from boots to shin guards and shoes, again to better compliment his stature and physique. I felt like a professional stylist just working on his redesign, Musketeer Olivier occupied my thoughts all the time.

His pose was changed into something more elegant overall. The petals were mandatory for his character, and I had to make sure most of his outfit details were seen. Just like Johnny, I wanted to express Olivier's character on a deeper level through his facial expression. In the anime, he would make a kind of smirk in some frames and his character seems to be more manipulative than innocent at times. In this new piece, you can't tell if he's smiling, being playful, or evil in intent.

Unlike the other three characters, Olivier's writeup did not have to be too elaborate as his character is clear if you pay close attention to him. My favorite part in his redesign is his cape at the back- I thought it would make him look more graceful.

Those are the designer’s notes on the Majestics Beyfantasy Remake! Despite not being as close with each other, their poses were planned carefully as a group. For every one in this team, I wanted them to not have much angled shots unlike the other Beyfantasy art. They were to be standing tall and showing off their entire outfit- occupying as much space as they can to express dominance. It was surprisingly hard to compile them all into one image without resizing them much. 

Olivier had a more tucked-in silhouette since his very elaborate outfit is already most expressive. Giancarlo and Olivier were posed so that it looks like they're looking at each other when put together, or looking at opposite directions about to battle alongside each other. Johnny could either be looking at Ralf, or facing towards him while looking away. Ralf is the most static in the team as he usually only cares for his own thing. Since these character artworks are barely angled, I had to pay even closer attention to their body builts/proportions and height. If you put them together, I would say they're pretty much height-accurate.

Thank you for reading ^-^

[curioskitty]

THE・Rarest Bakugou

Given Bakugou-kun's description as a "juvenile delinquent" (Horikoshi sensei uses the term 不良少年, or furyou shounen, meaning juvenile delinquent boy), it's expected that he wouldn't conform to standard. So obviously, it's not possible to find Bakugou-kun wearing a tie properly................

What is up with this perfectly tied nonsense right here?!

Bakugou-kun, I thought I knew you!!! THE LIES! THE BETRAYAL!!!

But, it's probably just a fluke. You didn't mean it, right Horikoshi-sensei?

WTF?! WHY?!!! Horikoshi-sensei?!

Yep. Contrary to expectations, Bakugou-kun wearing a tie correctly only ranks at Ultra Rare status: difficult to find, but not impossible.

So, what's rarer than a tie-wearing Bakugou-kun? Go Beyond, Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In fact, it's even harder to find Bakugou-kun wearing a tie improperly. Given proto-Bakugou's loose tie design, I would have expected that to be the likelier delinquent-esque tie option. But I've only seen Horikoshi-sensei draw him like this once:

(Horikoshi-sensei's one year celebration illustration. This is still fairly early in the publication.)

On top of that, Bakugou-kun consistently wears his uniform tie-less and with at least one button undone on his shirt collar. His pants are always slung low on his hips and legs bunching up at his feet (except when he had to wear jeans for Best Jeanist). You can even see panels where Horikoshi-sensei drew in the rips at the hems near the heel where they drag on the ground.

So why the inconsistency, Horikoshi-sensei? I see you over there, stop pretending you didn't notice. I know you're paying attention.

Horikoshi-sensei gave proto-Bakugou a loosened tie, so what is the reasoning for taking Bakugou-kun's tie away?

Some No-Tie Theories

Fan Theory #1: HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW

//Like Midoriya-kun, Bakugou-kun came from a middle school with gakuran uniforms. They never learned how to tie them. Midoriya-kun messes up his tie, while Bakugou-kun doesn't even bother to try.//

I actually think this is the least likely reason. Bakugou-kun was designed to be a naturally talented genius. I think this applies to anything he wants to do. If he does something, it's always perfectly done.

Bakugou-kun can (and does if you look above) tie it perfectly when necessary.

CONCLUSION: If Bakugou-kun doesn't do something, it's completely out of personal preference or because he doesn't see a reason to.

Fan Theory #2: REBELLIOUS NATURE

//Bakugou-kun is a delinquent and maintains that image because he thinks it looks cool. Or maybe he is rebelling against fashion designer parents. Either way, because of his family background he knows how to tie a tie, but wants to be a rebel.//

I'd give partial points for this one. I'm pretty sure he wears his pants loose at least partially because he thinks it looks cool. However, Bakugou-kun's parents were noted to be designers and not specifically fashion designers.

Despite appearances, this is the kid that sleeps at 8:30pm, doesn't break school rules, and yells at his friends for smoking.

He zips up the collar on his gym track suit all the way. Both the summer and winter versions get the same treatment. He doesn't feel the need to "make a statement" by wearing his track uniform incorrectly. Outside of class, he can and does sometimes wear his track jacket unzipped, but during class he always wears it properly.

So then why does Bakugou-kun refuse to wear the band T-shirt and Christmas party Santa outfit? Because he isn't cooperative. In Ultra Analysis, his Cooperativeness Stat was the lowest rank: E.

CONCLUSION: Bakugou-kun may be non-conformist and uncooperative, but he isn't a rebel.

Fan Theory #3: TRAUMA/PTSD

//This is one of the more popular theories. Between Dabi grabbing his neck, the Sludge Villain and being restrained at the School Festival, our boy has been through the wringer. As a result, he just doesn't like stuff around his neck because it gives him anxiety.//

The Western Fandom is definitely concerned about the mental health of the kids. But I don't actually think this is the reason. Not that I don't think they all need some therapy and self care, especially right now, but there just isn't evidence for this specific trauma in Bakugou-kun.

He wears scarves and even turtle necks without a problem.

On top of that, Bakugou-kun ALSO unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and gakuran in middle school; even from before the Sludge Villain incident. There isn't any evidence Bakugou-kun changed his dressing habits due to trauma. He wore a scarf to the entrance exam for UA, too.

CONCLUSION: Bakugou-kun has ALWAYS worn his shirts with the top button unbuttoned.

These 3 theories are inadequate, too. Even if they did explain the reasons Bakugou-kun doesn't wear a uniform tie, they don't factor in the reasoning for why he DOES wear his other ties properly sometimes.

HC#1: Bakugou-kun's preference

Bakugou-kun doesn't seem to care about his image and how "extras" see him. Even during the press interviews after his hero debut, he wore the same style of open collar look. He's not shy about being nude or taking his shirt off.

But what he hates is being uncomfortable.

He is "explosively brawny". Just look at how thick Bakugou-kun's neck is when compared to Midoriya-kun's. It isn't just that Midoriya-kun is supposed to be scrawny, but also that Bakugou-kun has a thicker than average neck.

Bakugou-kun doesn't like to button up his shirts all the way because it's uncomfortable. It's reasonable that he zips his track suit and everything else up because those are looser at the neck or made of stretchier materials.

As for why he doesn't wear the uniform tie at all... Don't forget Bakugou-kun is a perfectionist and a bit of a neat freak.

He always tucks his shirt in. For the band performance he wore a collared black dress shirt. From what we saw of his room, it's minimalist and clean. I don't see him wanting to look like a slob.

A sloppy loose tie would probably irritate him more than just not wearing it (which is even funnier when you think about Midoriya-kun's chonk tie. It probably makes him want to strangle Midoriya-kun, or maybe just tie it himself...)

Bakugou-kun has difficulties compromising when it comes to his high standards. So if he has to wear it, it's going to be either 0% or 100%.

HC#2: Explosiveness

Why draw Bakugou-kun with either 0% tie or 100% tie? If Horikoshi-sensei is going for a delinquent image, wouldn't the 50% tie option make more sense?

Taking a look again at Bakugou-kun's profile page, Horikoshi-sensei describes him to be explosive in every way. That includes his whole body being "explosively brawny", but also adds a note that he looks slender in clothes.

Horikoshi-sensei put an effort to make every element of Bakugou-kun's character in some state of either fully compressed or explosive.

His slimming clothes, general appearance and even his speech patterns are highly compressed (blunt/terse) and loud. The extremes of his attitude are compressed too; if Bakugou-kun is not loudly raging, then he's quietly observing.

This contrast is key to his character. You can't explode if you aren't compressed first. It's supposed to be shocking to see how brawny he actually is under his slenderizing clothes. And I always feel shocked whenever I see this kid compressed into a tie.

HC#3: Deku & Kacchan

These two are set apart from the class by design and very much on purpose. Horikoshi-sensei designed them to be at opposite ends of the same spectrum.

If Bakugou-kun has muscular arms, then Midoriya-kun needs muscular legs. If Midoriya-kun buttons up his shirt all the way to the collar, then Bakugou-kun's collar has to be loose. Their designs reflect their connection.

So if Midoriya-kun has a poorly tied tie, the opposite of that is either non-existant or perfectly tied. If it's perfectly tied, he'd just blend in with the class.

The no-tie option just makes more sense.

Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou

Horikoshi-sensei only ever draws Bakugou-kun with a tie in specific scenarios. Costume events that require the neck tie as part of the costume or "fancy" events where everyone is in formal wear. And even in those, Bakugou-kun manages to not wear his tie 90% of the time.

So, I just imagine that when Horikoshi-sensei makes Bakugou-kun wear his tie, he's super grumpy! Just look at his face in every illustration he's wearing a tie in. He's probably hot, uncomfortable, and really not enjoying himself at all.

Ultimately, the "Plus Ultra Rare Bakugou" is a Bakugou-kun who wears the tie and SMILES while doing it.

(Yes, I know that's NOT actually a tie. Shut up Bakugou-kun. You're only smirking in this one because you won the Popularity Poll for the 5th time in a row...)

(Well that's random, you say? Welcome to my blog. Considering the stuff going down on canon, I figured I should give fans, and myself, a break from angst to talk about something silly.

Please note that this applies only to the manga. I've found that the anime isn't quite so strict about how Bakugou-kun looks.

Regarding the headcanons, I just want to clarify that everyone is free to think whatever they like. I enjoy all headcanons and support your right to have them.

I wrote this a while ago and then debated posting it because it's such a huge meta about... Bakugou-kun's tie. I had regrets. But now it's become my new years post. Regrets were for 2020, it's already 2021!

Demons out, fortune in!!! I know it's not setsubun for another month, but 2020 was such a demon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!)

[flowerflamestars]

okay i’m still obsessed with your idea of nesta and tarquin together!! would you mind giving us a little more on that, like how would they first interact, what would nesta think of him, all of that? thank you so much!!!! 💚💚

I would love to!!!

The important thing to remember about the Tarquin Draft is that is has the same main story as Daylight: Nesta in Day, Nesta the Library, Helion’s grumpy best, best truest friend ride or die companion.

So Nesta doesn’t actually meet Tarquin again until she’s halfway to okay. It’s plotwise timeline closest to where she is in the most recent chapter- feeling at home in her body, really hitting her stride as Librarian, gaining a reputation as just an absolutely formidable force who helps anyone who asks.

There’s been correspondence between the Library and Summer- Nesta, acting as a go-between for Kallias- but remember, no one uses her name. 

So it’s a big surprise when the Librarian arrives in Summer, pulls down her black and gold hood and...there is Feyre Archeron’s face, like a nightmare. Except not- wearier, sharper, older, devastation and salvation like the sunrise after a storm at sea- Nesta, who laughs in Cresseida’s face when the Princess of Adriata calls her a Night Court spy.

Nesta: wouldn’t that require belonging to the Night Court? Try my baby sister, if you’d like to yell about idiotic plans. Where are the books that keep eating people?

Cresseida is so wary, but Nesta, of course, isn’t actually going to leave before handling the cursed trove some Summer sailors pulled from the sea. She’s the Librarian.

Tarquin just...doesn’t want this. Doesn’t want to be proved inexperienced, that he can’t act for his people’s good by a beautiful woman again. But Nesta aggressively wants to help, and ultimately, he lets her.

And Nesta acts nothing like Feyre.

She takes off that cloak of office (listen, I’m picturing like, the coolest wide-legged, sleeveless white linen jumpsuit that has EVER existed, chic but functional), puts on a sunhat that she...magicked into her hand? and stomps into the shallows. Starts pulling sailors souls out of the treasure and hauling them to shore.

It’s terrifyingly efficient. And listen, Tarquin doesn’t give a shit about rank, so he, after some very blushy surprise because no, he did not know he had a competency kink and Nesta Archeron has tiny adorable little freckles on her shoulders- gets in the waves to help.

Nesta doesn’t even look at him.

What she does is save the lives of twelve of his men, pick up the faintly hissing, utterly cursed chest of books that started all this, and ask Cresseida is there’s a room where she can work. 

So they take her to the palace. 

The beautiful ambassadors rooms, windows and silk and the sound of water. 

It becomes clear that the curse is in fact, just a curse, but one that can only be broken under the full moon, which is two weeks away. So Nesta stays, being the only person who can keep that magic from spreading. The only payment she wants is to take the books back when she goes which leaves Tarquin, arms full of the traditional gift of pearls, VERY embarrassed.

But he gets over it. Tarquin is genuinely chill- he has baggage from the weight of his responsibility, of being fooled by the Night Court- but he’s also so, so young. Kind. Curious. He doesn’t want to judge Nesta on the actions of people related to her, and once she proves herself, he doesn’t.

And meanwhile Nesta is like, cool. Cool, cool, cool- I can’t sleep while I’m here, I can’t winnow home and sleep because the Library can’t suppress a curse from hundreds of miles away, I’m not going to steal the books like a fucking thief in the night like Feyre-

So Nesta does a lot of exploring. 

Tarquin comes into the harbor one morning, pink still streaking the sky. He’d been up in predawn doing Manly Boating Things with his navy- he walks through the harbor, lets the sounds his happy people sooth the rush of magic that still surprises him- to shape the sea, to cease the waves, to bend the world, to call the tide- and goes looking for breakfast.

Instead, he finds Nesta.

In line a line waiting for fresh bread and pastries, in another insanely attractive white outfit, looking at the sky. She’s alone- he’d given her guards, servants, knew damn well Cresseida was watching her- holding a basket, drinking coffee with her free hand.

So Tarquin joins her.

It cannot be overstated how genuinely charmed they both are with how normal it is. No death and war between them. No magic drawing them together. No real history- Nesta isn’t Feyre in the slightest- just a man with salt drying in his hair and a beautiful grin, asking if he can buy Nesta breakfast. 

Just Nesta, and the only High Lord she’s ever met besides Helion who isn’t aggressive. As she says, Nesta has as many problems with High Fae men as they tend to her- the siren song of power, challenge called to challenge by her very primordial being.

And listen, Tarquin is a huge, very physical dude. Summer faeries are touchy, in a friendly way. But he also, like Helion, is smart enough to pick up on how screamingly uncomfortable men make Nesta. He doesn’t know why, and noticing it made him feel a little sick- but he’s careful. Kind, funny Tarquin, whose managed in knowing her just a few days to figure out how to approach her without triggering her.

So Nesta says yes. Nesta probably says something snarky as hell about his High Lordly hospitality.

And Tarquin laughs- genuinely, beautiful.

He’s still laughing when they get to humble little window, and Nesta goes still. 

Tarquin clocks it- handles what they’re doing, gets Nesta out of the line of people without unnecessarily touching her. He sort of thinks she’s having a panic attack?- finds a nice quiet bench under a tree. He’s also pretty sure he’s making it worse just by being present, but he’s not going to leave her alone like this- so Tarquin just like, sits on the ground.

Which startles Nesta. She looks up- he doesn’t know her well enough to know what’s going on, so he’s extremely confused when Nesta goes: why is she here?

Tarquin: ???

Nesta: the HUMAN

There’s part of Nesta thinking the worst possible scenarios- what her past and the Night court taught her. 

But Tarquin just like, blinks? Sets down the pastry bag on the bench for Nesta and is says well, she was shipwrecked. A whole passenger ship from the continent last summer- she was going to the North, to start a new business. But she liked it here, and decided to stay. 

Nesta: that human woman, owns a business? Here. 

Tarquin, who’s starting to get what is happening here: Yes. She’s a Summer Court citizen.

Nesta eats a pastry. Nesta, face wry, eventually hands a pastry to Tarquin, who’d seemingly decided she needed them more than he did. Tarquin wolfs it down in three bites, just enough time for Nesta to grumpily confess: I’ve never seen a free human, above the Wall.

Tarquin, haltingly, shyly is like: well, I want it to be different. We all share the same world. Acting like we’re not all the same is how Hybern almost took over- 

By the end of the sentence he’d managed to look up. That was the voice a High Lord, a man who had power and would use it.

So they have this truce, a spark of very real, pretty damned charmed interest. They walk back to the Palace across the whole city, talking.

The next day Nesta is deep in working Librarianing while she’s there- and Tarquin just pops up. Draws as little attention to himself as possible to be like, here. I noticed your hat blew away yesterday? So I brought you a new one. And some coffee. Do you like it cold? Don’t let me get in the way, what you’re doing is important.

What he means by important: incredible. 

It had taken him ages to find her, because Nesta is apparently spending her spare time- does she sleep??- winnowing all over his territory, solving any problems anyone asks of her, bringing books to schools. Talking to regional leaders about what their educational needs are. Chatting with sea monsters so the fishermen understand they’ll be totally safe, so long as they always throw back in that one kind of crab that the baby krackens exclusively eat.

And look, it is a coping strategy. Nesta CANNOT rest by the sound of the sea- but she’d also realized this kingdom her sister had fucked with had been hit so, so hard by Amarantha, and then the war. That she can help, so she will.

But she just kind of stops. Tarquin left as quickly as he came she’s just there like- coffee. hat. BEAUTIFUL RESPECTFUL MAN. It’s not the vibe of her and Helion. It’s flirty but not...pressing? It’s nothing like how any faerie man (see: Cassian) who wanted her has ever, ever treated her and it’s just...so, nice.

He’s nice. Gorgeous. Easy to be around, which Does Not Happen to Nesta ever.

Nesta breaks the curse and leaves. 

Keeps her promise to the schools, visits to sit on the shore and talk to sea monster babies, so much more prodigious now that they have enough food.

Tarquin thinks she’s amazing, and he starts writing to her. For real Lordship reasons, but also just to see what she’ll say- he wants to know how humans live. How his cities could integrate them. Can they use magic? Will they, if it’s available to them?  

Tarquin finds someone- witty, beautiful, so intriguing- who believes in the value of his most difficult dreams. Nesta finds someone who looks at the most fraught, hurt parts of her- humanity lost, a terrible human life, that she still, even now, asks herself sometimes if she can belong, and treats those things as important and integral.

And they fall in love.

It’s a story about a lot of things- Nesta, who drowned to become, learning the whole seas of world will still for her, protect her. Tarquin who does revolutionize his kingdom, and spend centuries counting Nesta’s freckles as they peel and disappear. 

Love of choice. Nesta, in the sun, being adored. Tarquin, who so many people think is foolish, a reckless dreamer, defended by the most loyal person on earth. 

There’s small details i love so much it makes me want to go to the extremely troublesome work of writing them their own story- Nesta inviting the mermaids from the Night Court waters to live in a place no on is afraid of them. Tarquin who is both sort of a golden retriever but ALSO a proud, petty bitch when tried, draping Nesta head to toe in rubies for inter-court events. 

With Tarquin the story really embraces the idea of eternity- of possibility. They’re young, they’re equals in this eternal life. There’s so many years ahead of them, so many things they can do: they have time to go slow, to make changes, to learn each other inside and out as they become the people they want to be.

[shoichee]

Hello! Can I perhaps ask for no. 28. “Make me” from your prompt list for my beloved Imayoshi? It's so nice seeing him here on your theme and avatar and that pERFECT url, it feels like I finally found my people.

HELLO HELLO, and YES I WAS SO SURPRISED THAT NO ONE TOOK THIS URL... considering that it was just an alternative spelling of shoichi and its a rlly short handle too mwehe // im sort of a particular person when it comes to how something looks, whether itd be outfits, drawings, coloring, and the UI of a blog, u name it.... i may have spent hours trying to have the perfect colors for this theme PLEASEEEE, but without further ado here is our man, our little shit, Imayoshi

@knb-kreations howdy! another new work posted here!

Imayoshi x Reader

28. “Make me”

Word Count: 2331

prompt list here

»»—————　☼　—————««

Imayoshi doesn’t exactly know how he feels about you.

Scratch that, he does know. He’s quite amused at the shenanigans you pull on others around you, and a lot of times, you actually elicit a few dry laughs out of the guy. Other times though, he’d wish that you would just shut the fuck up, especially when all he hears amidst his studying was your loud “whispering” and “hushed” jokes. How you were always nearby no matter where he is was still a mystery that he casually ponders about from time to time. Perhaps your natural tendency to project your voice creates the illusion that you were near when you really weren’t?

No matter, such trivial thoughts can’t occupy his mind when college entrance exams loom closer. Then again, they weren’t particularly difficult; they were simply a hassle to secure near-perfect scores, especially when his chances of admittance rely critically on how well he does.

“That’s an awful drawing of a samurai,” Susa comments, snapping Imayoshi out of idle thought.

“Ho? Is it really terrible if you were able to tell what it is?” Imayoshi chuckles. “The point of a drawing is to convey the right idea or emotion. It seems that my drawing skills hit a bulls-eye with this sketch, no?” He playfully spins his pencil around, patiently waiting for his reply to goad him.

All Susa does in response is to roll his eyes before he turns his full attention back to his notes. He knows better than to try a comeback against Imayoshi, who can easily make it backfire against the person with a pleasant close-eyed smile. Imayoshi, seeing Susa’s nonverbal resign from engaging further banter, also looks down back to his book of scribbled notes and chicken-scratch drawings before he exhales an inaudible sigh.

School just doesn’t cut out to be mentally stimulating for him. It’s a little too repetitive and mundane for his taste.

“Argh!! Oh no!” your voice rang out, despite your poor attempt to be reasonably quiet. “I forgot applications for the Coca-Cola scholarship are due today!”

Coca-Cola… what?

Everyone looks up to warily eye you, and your few friends, who are currently rushing to pull you down and slap their hands over your mouth to mute you, were panicking at the new attention you managed to garner. Even still, your mind seems more fixated on whatever was on the laptop’s screen, rather than what they were doing to you.

Imayoshi can’t help but stifle his audible mirth from how you manage to change the mood of the entire library within seconds.

“How do you even forget something as important as a huge scholarship like that?” Susa says in dismay. “Makes me kind of wonder how (l/n) would handle life after graduation, to be honest.”

“Well,” Imayoshi begins. “I wouldn’t worry too much. It’s best not to underestimate (l/n)-san. Surely we’ve learned our lesson with Seirin?” He toys with the pencil grip before he sporadically draws some lines loosely resembling another sketch.

“Drawing again?” Susa raises a brow. “Have you even been studying?”

“Well,” he replies. “There’s still plenty of time before exams—months to be exact. Could you even study with the current distractions in here?” At his own words, he nudges his chin in your direction.

“It’s not just any exams though, it’s—”

“Whether they have more importance or not doesn’t really concern me. After all, standardized testing isn’t worth stressing out for when we’ve taken essentially the same thing all our lives.”

“What most are worried about is the content inside the exams, Imayoshi,” he said, carefully treading into dangerous waters with Imayoshi’s tendency to take all replies as mind-game challenges for his own amusement.

“‘If you have been paying attention consistently throughout the year, you wouldn’t be having much trouble…’ that’s what you once oh-so-wisely said to Wakamatsu yesterday, hmm?” His mimicking tone drips a hint of arrogance. “Unless you mean to tell me my ears do not work? But by all means, please feel free to correct me.”

“That’s different,” he sighed, his face clearly evident that he was done with Imayoshi’s shit. “That exam only tested content for the past year, not your entire academic repertoire over the courses of middle and high school.”

“I’d like to think that the logic still applies the same way.”

“Well,” Susa heaves with a languid stretch. “You generally score better on the exams than me, so you’re probably right. Still, don’t neglect your studying.”

“Right, right, Susa-senpai~”

“... Please don’t call me that again.”

“... If you say so,” he said, but his smile blatantly showed his real intentions of never stopping his irritable quips. Susa gets ready to pack up his book bag before he heads out the door with a friendly wave. Imayoshi half-heartedly returns the gesture with a casual wave of his own. He immediately notices you also packed up and about to leave with a worried frown, and of course, while audibly mumbling your concerns and makeshift schedules to accommodate time for last-minute essay writing. By now, all of your friends have left for home.

“Ah, biology lab due next week, kanji worksheets due tomorrow, hmm, um, how would I finish this on time… ah, calculus test is tomorrow too, ah shit… should I ask someone to tutor?—ah, but it’s super last minute, and there’s still that scholarship… argh, fuck!” Your voice peaked in volume at the end, and the librarian immediately shot daggers at you.

“Shhhhh!”

“A-Ah! S-Sorry, sorry!”

Imayoshi was watching you with his chin on his arm propped up on the desk, unable to control the smile that escaped his lips. You really were entertaining to watch, and you never cease to bore him.

He turns away to crack his neck and roll it around before methodically packing up his writing utensils and notebooks. Soft shuffling filled the air as he rearranged the items inside his bag. As he turns to pack the last thing on the table, which happened to be the notebook filled with his idle doodling, his face slightly softens at the drawing he did after the samurai. Yes, the one Susa chastised him for when he could’ve been studying. Yes, perhaps he was right when he was terrible at drawing after all; your panicked face and wild hand gestures didn’t really translate well into paper, and it looked a little too much like a horror comic and less than a sketch of you. Still, he’s oddly proud of it.

Imayoshi promptly pushes the chair in and leaves the library, but when he rounds the corner of the adjacent hallway, he bumps into you.

“Er—hi! I mean, please, uhhh… if it isn’t too much to ask—canyoupleasetutormeforthecalculustesttomorrowbecausemyfinalgradedependsonthat?”

Imayoshi winces at the sheer volume of your voice and plugs his ears in out of habit to block out some of the decibels. Wakamatsu was eerily similar to you in that regard. Only difference between the two of you was that you were deceptively intelligent. Extremely so.

“My, my, if it isn’t (l/n)-senpai!” He fakes a surprised look, earning him an eye roll on your end. “You need someone like me to teach you the works?”

“I—what? We’re literally in the same calc class, Imayoshi,” you retort. “Besides, drop the ‘senpai’ honorific. It feels so slimy when you say it so disingenuously… Aren’t we both 3rd years too?”

“I’m so hurt,” he mocks. “What if I was really genuine with you?”

“Look, right now, no remarks from you, Evil Glasses,” you say. “It’s really, really urgent and I don’t know how to grasp the material for the class lately, plus my essay, ugh…” You rub your fingers against your temples in an attempt to make the stressful headaches disappear while Imayoshi simply watches with his eyes slightly open.

“... You usually do well on all your exams, no? Unless my eyes and memory fail me.” It was true; even though you were as loud-mouthed as Wakamatsu, you would often shock a lot of people when your name always appeared in the higher percentiles of exam results. Apparently most students and teachers associate your rowdy personality with an expected subpar academic performance. He has you to thank for when your score reports always cause reactions of utter disbelief from the teachers. You really do liven up the school and make it a lot more unorthodox.

“I guess…” you mumble. “But I really wanna do especially well for this one because math is my weakest subject, and you always score the highest for these types of exams, so…”

“It may be my best subject,” he says, leaning slightly closer to your face. “But I’m not the one with the highest scores in any math subjects throughout these years, and we both know that quite well, don’t we, (l/n)? Why don’t you come clean about the real reason why you’re here?”

“Oh my literal fuck—Imayoshi, you’re one of the best students in calc right now regardless of exam results,” you petulantly huffed, not backing down from his intimidation. Imayoshi notes your cheeks reddening, and he figured it was either because of the close proximity between your faces or the fact you were frustrated… perhaps both. “And you’re the only one around here on campus who I could ask!”

“Really now,” he chimes, moving closer to whisper in your ear. “Are you sure?” With incoherent stammers, you backed away from him, slapping your hands against both of your ears to protect them.

“W-W-What the fuck are you doing?!”

“Looks like I won this one, (l/n)-san,” he purrs, relishing the fact that only he could render you this quiet. “Ho? What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”

“I—Shut up!” you lamely shoot back. “You can just say no if you really don’t wanna do this—urgh, I’m leaving, I’m not gonna waste any more time—”

“How hurtful,” he dryly remarks, standing up straight again after leaning for a quite a while. “It’s almost as if you’re rejecting me~” He knew you would always take his bait and quip back (unlike Susa), regardless of whether or not you tell him that you weren’t going to engage further.

“As if,” you snorted, making another exaggerated eye roll. “You’re the last person who would ever be hurt from this.”

“Dear me!” he exclaims. “Have you ever considered that perhaps I don’t help out people for free? Did you think I would be a gracious, selfless person who would help you like a saint?”

“Okay, fine! Perhaps I didn’t think that far ahead, okay? You just were the first person that came to mind, and I thought asking you wouldn’t hurt.” His smirk widens almost maliciously at your words, lips already opening to deliver another irritating quip before you immediately spoke again to stop him. “Okay, Imayoshi, you little shit, just shut up—I don’t wanna hear anything from your mouth right now.”

“I don’t see any reason why I should listen to you at all,” he muses. “Why don’t you make me?” He has a shit-eating grin plastered across his face, eagerly eyeing your next move, and as he expected, you let out a frustrated noise that prompted passerby students to shoot pointed looks towards the both of you.

What he didn’t expect was for you to take a huge step towards him, unceremoniously pull him down to your level, and press a reverberating smack on his lips. His eyes are immediately blown wide open to look at your embarrassed, but determined face. His fingers unconsciously move to touch his warmed lips.

“... That was quite romantic, wasn’t it, (l/n)?” he dryly says, recovering almost immediately from the shock. All the other students fled from the blatantly bold scene to save face. Not that Imayoshi really cared.

“Okay, you know what? Bye, I’m not gonna play anymore mind games with you,” you grumble. “Essays and studying aren’t gonna be done by themselves—wah!”

Imayoshi gently tugs you back to reciprocate back a kiss, meticulously slipping his hands behind your head and on your waist to accommodate you. Your eyes are completely open from the shock that the Imayoshi Shoichi was actually kissing you. You don’t close your eyes from the sensation, completely entranced when you make eye contact with his half-lidded eyes watching your every reaction closely. The kiss ended all too soon, and Imayoshi separates himself from you, secretly admiring your dazed look.

“That was quite a strong reaction to just a simple kiss.”

“I—that was not just a ‘simple kiss!’”

“Now would you like to tell me the true reason why you approached me?”

“You’re… insinuating that you know something.”

“Well we wouldn’t know unless you come clean,” Imayoshi purrs. “I can sometimes be wrong too.”

“Ugh, what the hell—fine, I am quite enamored by you, and uh, I… find it infuriating to be with you, but it also gives me butterflies… so I thought I could be with you more… if I asked you—don’t get it twisted, though! I still need your help to study!...” He covers his mouth to suppress a laugh at your honesty.

“Was it really so hard to say that in the beginning, (l/n)-san?”

“Okay, that’s it! I’m really, really leaving! Fuck off, Imayoshi, I swear to—”

“Ho? Just a minute, darling~” he tuts, reaching to hold your hand. “Perhaps if you offer more kisses as an incentive, I’d be more inclined to offer my expertise.”

“How quaint,” you dryly reply. “It’s almost as if we’re in a relationship.”

Imayoshi can’t help but bark out a genuine laugh. You even managed to pick up some of his mannerisms so quickly.

“That’s an interesting proposal, (l/n),” he murmurs. “Should we try that?” You tut at him irritatedly as you tug your interlocked hands while speed-walking ahead.

“Hurry up, or I’ll consider breaking up with you right now.”

“Ah ha!~” he chuckles at your attitude. “How mean, (l/n)-san! Too bad that we both know that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”

[faffreux]

I mean, personally, just comparing them a little, some of the differences between your fawfuls then and now would probably be that he's a little more detailed? I can see where the brow is, and the teeth have a whole thing going on there, but I know what you mean about the accuracy thing. As cool as the detailed teeth are, his tend to be more like chatter teeth - they're cartoony! - and his face is more round, so you wouldn't see a separation for the brow like that.

YES! And my natural style does tend to add that sort of detail to everything. One of the reasons learning to draw Fawful was so hard for me is BECAUSE he's so simple! People severely underestimate how difficult simple, cartoony styles are to learn. Literally some of the artists I admire the most are those who are able to create extremely simple but VERY visually appealing images.

I think oftentimes people just see detail and immediately go "that's better" but anyone who's done both... we know differently, lol.

In my experience, the simpler a character design is, the easier it is to get wrong. This is also a thing I found true when I used to cosplay a lot. Say you're creating a Mario costume and you mess up Mario's overalls, EVERYONE is going to notice! All the pieces have to line up to make the character.

But if I mess up a few things on a Final Fantasy character's outfit? It won't matter much at all as long as everything comes together in the end. Complicated designs are a lot more forgiving.

I draw this character as a pure labor of love because I can promise you this has not been easy for me. I struggle with almost every single drawing I create of him but I love him so much that I just keep doing it anyway lol. If I felt any differently I would’ve given up a long time ago.