#also this was meant to be just sketches but then i got carried away

[eskititgay]

fengqing + pork soda - glass animals

[theroseyhues]

Updated baby designs! A lil Sunny with a crown and Pepito with a duck hair clip for big Q :D

Design details under cut!

Sunny:

I’ve changed her color palette to include pink. They now have pink gradient hair! Her sun shirt reflects her mood. Layered jewelry made of precious stones and amber star earrings to reflect their Christmas outfit . Also here is their old design in color!

Pepito:

not tons of special stuff for Pepito design but Pepito does have a clip with a duck face to match Quackity and I plan on adding a gas mask bracelet since Pepito wears one. (Pepito also has some has some scuff marks er, because ya know.. Roier)

[heartcereql]

am i the girl that you dream of?

✩ xavier thorpe x f!reader

SYNOPSIS- all over the summer, xavier has been having dreams of a certain girl, who, much to his surprise, arrives at nevermore for the new school year. 

CW- lowercase intended, cursing, bianca and xavier don’t have any history, also divina may be a bit ooc since we didn’t get much of her. 

A/N- i know it doesn’t really follow pretty when i cry (the song i got the prompt from) but i loved how it turned out. sorry in advance, it’s pretty long LMAO. also feel free to send request for wednesday characters! :)

moonlight bathed her features. her eyes glistened, reflecting the stars. hands delicately mused, fingers interwinned, softly caressing the other hand. her chest rose up and down, inhaling midnight air, fueling her lungs with the pure atmosphere that surrounded her figure. 

dreams always felt surreal. but when she was in them? they went beyond that. xavier stretched his hand towards her. slowly, his fingertips grazed her shoulder. and then he saw. 

his vision suddenly flooded with flashing memories. dazzling blue lights, very muffled chattering, hands, lips, figures, were all his senses were taking in.

4:39 AM

xavier woke up covered in sweat once again. the sun wasn’t up yet. dim light from the stars came through his window. 

he hadn’t been thrilled about going home for summer holidays. he thought he’d be staying at ajax’s or be sent to a summer camp. he would’ve liked that. but his father had kept him home. all. fucking. summer. and then the dreams started to appear. the first one, he doesn’t even remember. he just brushed it off. but then they continued appearing. and he found himself enhanced. for almost two months, he’d drawn the girl from his dreams. wether it were only sketches of herwaist, or doodles of herparted lips. he even had an unfinished painting of her moonlit face in a big canvas. anybody who had seen his latest pieces would’ve thought he was a stalker. he was just trapped in his house. it only conforted him  how close the beginning of the new school year was. 

back at nevermore, xavier felt at ease again. getting back on track carried an euphoric feeling for him. settling everything in his dorm, catching up with ajax and rowan, cleaning his art shed, it all gave him a sense of belonging that he wouldn’t change for anything. the dreams even went away.

and, in one of his conversations, he found out. about your arrival. though, at first, he paid no mind to it. ajax had said something about two transfer students incorporating this year.

“yeah, one of them will be here in a couple days. i heard the other’s application is still pending or something like that” rowan added. 

“damn, does everyone know but me?” he said. he meant it as a joke, but, deep down, he was worried he’d been living under a rock the whole summer.

“it’s not that big of a deal” ajax shrugged “but most likely.”

xavier groaned and mentally face-palmed himself. he could’ve checked enid’s blog. idiot. 

✩✩✩✩

meanwhile you were talking to principal larissa weems alongside your parents. the woman before you had an elegant and intimidating beauty and her words came out graceful and confident. 

she’d explained how the school worked, what the classes consisted in and the insitute’s norms. your parents were delighted with weems, relieved she would be in charge of your security and safety. she seemed trustworthy. she inspired comfort, but also discipline and respect. 

“now, now, y/n, it is time for you to meet your roommate and she will give you a tour around school. i’ll leave you sometime with your family to say your goodbyes” weems spoke with a warm smile. 

your parents nodded and thanked her as she escorted you out of her office. 

✩✩✩✩

as you were seeing your parents’ car drive away, a presence approached you. you turned around to meet a girl with chestnut, shoulder lenght hair and pale blue eyes. 

“hey! you must be y/n. i’m divina, your roommate” she gave you an enchanting smile as she offered her hand.

“charmed to meet you” you smiled back as you shook her hands.

“i think your belongings have already been moved into our dorm, so let’s take a look at the school first, shall we?” she asked, linking your arm with hers as you nodded, delighted. 

✩✩✩✩

xavier was working on his latest project very near the quad. it had been half his and half weems’s idea. a mural adorning one of the walls adjacent to the quad. his mind ran free as he painted some details in a crow. 

as he changed some of his used brushes for clean ones, his eyes scanned the quad. some girls chatting in a bench nearby, a group of gorgons in the back of the quad, and then his eyes made their way towards two moving figures. 

was that divina? she indeed was. and she was talking to a girl, who was looking for something in her bag. she was not wearing the uniform. she must have been one of the transfers. xavier stopped whatever he was doing to take a proper look at the pair. 

as the new girl found what she was looking for, her face now exposed, xavier realised. it was you. the girl he’d been dreaming of all summer. too shocked to react, he could only watch you walk away towards thelxiepeia hall. 

✩✩✩✩

september passed by faster than everyone had wanted. 

you and divina had become quite close and she’d introduced you to bianca, yoko, enid and kent. you’d even thrown a slumber party at your shared dorm; the girls helped you settle in and decorate your side.

xavier, on the other hand, had been thinking of how to approach you, if he even should. he hadn’t wanted to be affected by it, not wanting to start the neverending cycle this past summer had been, filled with incognitas about you. but the dreams came back. and they were different. you actually spoke to him in this new dreams. nothing that he could comprehend though. sometimes you spoke in unsolveable riddles, sometimes in a language he couldn’t understand. 

“it is time for you to make the very first project of this semester” professor Cross, horror literature’s teacher anounced, earning a groan from all the students. “it could’ve been an exam, no need to be so dramatic. the couples assigned and the book assigned for each are displayed on the classroom door. have nice evenings!” and with that, he vanished from the class. 

you and bianca made your way towards the door. she was the only one from your friend group who had horror literature in this period. 

“i’m up here and you, oh here!” she pointed at your names.

she got paired with a girl named iris. your name was written nexto to ‘xavier thorpe’. 

“it’s perfect that i got Lovecraft. i mean, i’ve loved him since i was merely in the womb. i spent all summer reading-” bianca was rambling about lovecraft before you interrupted her.

“hey, b, who is xavier thorpe?” you asked her, fidgeting with a sticky note in which you’d written his name along with ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’. 

“you know that kid who’s painting a mural in the quad? that’s him. i think he’s super good at literature , so you’re gonna ace this” she responded, walking you to the quad.

as you and her were about to start a conversation as to which outfit you should choose for your girls’ evening out, someone catched up to you. 

“hey, you’re y/n, right?” a tall boy, with sharp features and long hair, asked, locking eyes with you.

you felt a sensation of déjà vu run through you as you could only nod, enhanced by his figure. 

“i’m xavier” the boy smiled. “we are partners for this project, so, um, maybe you want to schedule for some days to work on it?”

“sure, sure” you reciprocated the smile, taking in the way his made you feel. “i’ll catch you later, bi” you said to your friend as she nodded and walked away. 

“so, uh, when are you free?” he asked as you turned back to him. “for the project, i mean”

“i think i have this afternoon free, and next one as well, if it works for you” you spoke.

you sounded exactly like what he’d dreamt. your silk soft voice reverberating in his ears, sending goosebumps down his body.

“sounds perfect. library, 4pm?” xavier said, observing your features in the sun, rather than the moonlight, admiring you. not a product of his imagination. just you. 

✩✩✩✩

xavier got to the library at the very time he’d told you. scanning the place, he finally found your figure. your bag was placed in a chair, and you were browsing through the shelves, looking for some books. 

“hey” he greeted. 

words caught up in your throat when you looked at him. he loved the way your eyes fluttered around, finally settling down on his.

“hi” you responded. “so. i’ve been collecting a few books about poe, you know, so we can make a deep analysis on the piece”

“cool, cool. i feel like the old man has a lot of connotations-” he started.

“wait you’ve read the tell-tale heart?” you asked, smiling. you loved poe’s works.

“yeah, everyone should” he chuckled. “i find poe inspiring. all of his horror pieces itch all the right places in my brain” he shrugged, licking his lips.

“i love poe too. i went to a summer camp this summer about him and it wa...” 

xavier let your words run through his mind as he focused on your excited expression, talking about something you were so keen on.

both of you sat now next to each other, rambling about nonsense, enjoying the other’s company, your assignment long forgotten. 

✩✩✩✩

and so the two of you had to meet again the next day and over the weekend, rushing your assignment.

but neither of you minded it. you grew closer, learning about each other. xavier found out about your passion for astronomy and your connection to the night. and you learnt about his relationship with his dad and his coping mechanism: painting. you’d even seen some of them, and you were captivated by them.

 he showed you his ability and he’d swear your reaction was his favorite thing ever. how your eyes widened in suprise, lips parted slightly, an amazed smile making its way.

and he told you about his visions. he trusted you enough. 

✩✩✩✩

“and, you know, sometimes i have dreams, but they’re real. the people, the creatures are real” he said, almost a whisper. 

you two were walking around the school’s surroundings, october’s cold breeze hitting your rosy cheeks. 

“like visions?” you asked

“sort of. the scenarios are barely real, but the people i see are. and lately, this girl has been appearing”

“is she a sleep nymph? i heard of them once, they’re pretty cool” he could feel your eyes piercing him as he looked forward.

“no, no, i don’t think she is. at first i thought she was just something i imagined, but then i saw her” he looked down at you as he spoke. 

“what were your dreams like?” you softly posed the question.

“i saw her, laying down under the stars. i could only see her in a blue palette. and then, i saw her memories. and i just can’t get her out of my head” 

you went quiet. he feared he’d scared you, and he was about to start rambling apologies when you stopped walking and took his hand. 

“xavier?” you looked up at him “am i the girl that you dream of?”

his heart skipped a beat. he wanted the ground to swallow him. he couldn’t scape.

“how’d you know?”

“i’ve been seeing you too. in the stars.”

he stared at you blankly. so he hadn’t creeped you out. he finally reacted, smirking.

his hands made his way to your face, holding your cold cheeks. you looked up at him, hands around his neck. he wanted that moment, that sight to last forever.

he leaned down and kissed you for an instant. he pulled away, just to watch your features before you pulled him down and kissed him again, loving the feeling of his lips on yours, like they were made for each other. 

[airborneice]

gonna just d r o p some extremely rough sketches here bc my sketchbook I’ve had on the go since 2020 is almost filled up and once it is I probably won’t go revisiting any of the sketches in it, so I may as well share some of them here

I’m incapable of shutting up abt my art so ramblings under the cut

1-3 - mattie sketches :) the last ones are recent and the 1st is one of the first drawings I did of her, back in 2021. idk I just think it’s important y’all know she’s been on her tide mouse shenanigans since the beginning

4 - I think I drew this back in last march and meant to move it to digital and clean it up there but things got busy and I never did :( they’re based on @randomwords247’s wonderful mermaid designs bc I love them

5 - unrelated to the last one, but while I was working on one of my little mermaid au drawings I tried to think how I’d approach the sequel if I got that far & ended up w. this. something something mermaids having human familiars being frowned upon

6 - I think. this is a drawing of @blaithnne’s pony!lauren that I never finished oops

7 - forgot I had this!! year before last me and @bubblekidaesthetics were planning to cosplay these two at comic con, and I got super hyped and doodled this. we did do this cosplay and it was awesome <3

8 - slightly more recent design stuff for freyja, still based on hilda-fanblog/rhombus’ design ofc but figuring out if I wanted my take on her to change anything like how many legs she has lol. also some pony!mountain king doodles on the next page

9-10- something something centaur au. somewhere in my notes app is a whole list of hilda chars and horse types/colours bc I started researching them and got so carried away. johanna’s supposed to be a bay and hilda was gonna be a shetland I think…? (the hilda one is a lot more recent and I think it shows lol). rip to dee who had to watch me talk abt this au so much and barely actually draw it

anyway tumblr won’t let me add any more pics which is probably a good thing 🤷‍♀️ I hope literally everyone feels better as an artist for seeing what an absolute mess my drawings start out as 😌 now I gotta buy a new sketchbook

[ego-osbourne]

Velehk Sain Revamp

//click for better image quality//

I’ve slowly slowly been accepting the fact that I shouldn’t be afraid to get more detailed with my art, especially in regards to outfits. Fairly, I’m still afraid! But also still going through with it :]

I think my first few dives into extra-detailed outfits were Miraak’s Apocrypha clothes, then Rakell’s full Daedric armor, and most recently (besides Velehk) Ancano’s dual-tone outfit. The more I started to lean into complicated outfits, the more I realized some others weren’t holding up — Velehk’s og outfit, namely, just didn’t feel like it belonged to the Pirate King. So, I had to change that :]

Along with a new outfit, he also gets a stealthier outfit for quiet thieving purposes. ALSO also, I changed the colors of his hair and eyes to be more blue instead of teal.

Sketch concepts + a slightly raunchy full piece for what Velehk has beneath his clothes below

As I get more into different dremora types, I wanted to lean further into the notion of Velehk being from Coldharbour. The first sheet was all the concepts I could think of, and the only thing that stayed from the sheet were his back fins, which are showed in the second pic.

I also. Only really meant for the second pic to show his fins but I got a little carried away ,:3

[saradiation]

i would love to see Sollux in your art style! like a grungy never leaves his room type college kid you think?

Oooh-- Anon you had me at grungy Sollux ;) but also! I know I never ever mention it but I love Sollux! I usually struggle to draw him as I picture him and every time I try it ends up buried in my drafts though.

I wasn’t sure if you meant human Sollux or troll Sollux so here, have both! :D I was planning on doing just a small sketch or something but got carried away haha

[zinzabee]

How do Leo, Donnie, and Mikey feel exactly towards Sharron?

Okay, firstly, I am SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER OMG T~T ...This is such a great question I wanted to make sure I drew stuff for it to go with the explanations. But I never got around to like, cleaning up the sketches I did to look nice and clean, and I got buried in so much other stuff that I dont think I'll ever get around to it. So I'm just gonna include the raw sketches, I'm so sorry! ;n;

LEO

Leo has a lot of respect and admiration for Sharron, and this comes from the fact that the first time they met, she literally gave him and Mikey (who were two complete stranger to her at the time) her mother's cloaking necklace in order for them to save Raph & Donnie. That kind of trust and good-hearted nature made Leo come to like Ronnie right off the bat. This...however, also meant that he was a little too eager to play matchmaker for her and Raph when they started hanging out more. But once Raph put his foot down, Leo backed off, and he and Sharron became great friends.

As he often does with the people he cares about, Leo likes to tease Sharron a lot and will take any opportunity he can to pull silly little pranks on her, just because of the fact that she's gullible enough to fall for them. She takes them in good stride though, and will get him back at a ratio of...probably 5:1 I'd say. One of Leo's favorite things to do is call her "Sherry" when she least expects it, because she tends to have a knee-jerk reaction to the nickname. She absolutely hates it, and he knows that. She would never actually hurt him over it, but she does fake out punches or push him over or light heartedly threaten him every time he does it.

DONNIE

Unlike the rest of the brothers, who came to like Sharron right away, Donnie took some time getting used to her. Not to say he hated her or anything, but meeting someone new and having a change in atmosphere with her around took time for Donnie to get comfortable with. He wasn't instant buddy-buddy with her like the other were, and Sharron didn't take it personally.

Eventually, once Donnie did warm up to her, they formed their own unique relationship. Since Sharron lives down in the Hidden City, he'll ask her to be his guide when he wants to sneak down and buy up merchandise he can only acquire there. She enjoyed showing him around and keeping him company while running errands. Sometimes they even get lunch. (Dee reminds her a lot of her own younger brother, Trevor, who's also a big geek interested in STEM.) Additionally, Donnie will often ask Sharron to "test" some of his new equipment as he upgrades it. Sharron has teeth, claws, and high animal instinct, so getting her to demolish a prototype in order to test durability is very helpful.

MIKEY

Out of the three, its safe to say that Mikey is the one who bonded with Sharron the quickest. Mikey was also there when Sharron gave them the necklace at first meeting, so he instantly liked and trusted her, same as Leo did. When he found out that she was into sewing & music as hobbies, he begged her to do collabs with him, which she was more than happy to agree to.

Sharron works a full time job in the Hidden City, so their projects aren't anything too elaborate. It's all for fun and the joy of creative process rather than rushing to finish. Everyone loves when Sharron bring her guitar when she visits the lair, but Mikey especially loves performing with her, freestyling lyrics while they dance around together. Mikey also treats Sharron in a similar manner that he treats Raph; in that he likes to climb on her back or cling to her in scary situations. While Ronnie doesn't normally like to manhandle others normally (out of common courtesy, of course), once Mikey gives her permission to, she is more likely to be seen throwing him over her shoulder to carry him, or picking him up by his shell and whatnot. She doesn't do this with the others though, only Mikey, because he told her she could.

[that-lame-ghoul9000]

Maybe a shower smut with eddie ? 😗

April Showers 🌧

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: Its the beginning of track season at Hawkins High. And while your boyfriend is super supportive(from under the bleachers) of your athletic choices, you can't deny practice has taken up way to much of your time. And Eddie intends to make up for lost time.

Word count: 3.3k 😳🥲

TW: SMUT 18+ MINORS GO TOUCH SOME GRASS, DONT INTERACT, established relationship, Shower sex, semi public sex (girls locker room), its a quicky that feels like forever because im a slut for getting carried away rambling. Im sorry. swearing, Unprotected sex it's not stated but reader is on birth control. Just pretend. (don't be silly, wrap your willy. A pregnancy test is one Etch-a-sketch that can't be undid homeskillet) -Oral- (m receiving) Spit. He spits in readers mouth. Pet names(baby or babe i can't remember, princess & sweetheart) probably forgot something. If I did please tell me.

This is so unedited. And written. Late at night.

A/n: 1.) Thank you so much for requesting this. I was so exited exited write it.  With that said:

This is my first published work containing smut. Use lube and go easy on me I'll get better I swear. Give me feedback. Give me all the feedback.

2.)I never ran track. I don't know track season. So I'm sorry if this isn't accurate. I Googled HS track season and it said (training began oct-nov, with actual season being feb-may) and I just REALLY liked the title I picked. So sue me 🤣 and let me live in my fantasy world where after i had a choice I stopped participating in sports. Okay love you byeeee 😘

I do not give permission to have this posted anywhere else. (You'll only find it here and on my AO3 which is the same username) Please don't take my work. Ive worked hard on it and I'd like to continue doing it.

You were a good student. Reliable. Trustworthy. Responsible. Just a few adjectives thrown around by the faculty at Hawkins High. Which is why your guidance counselor and track coach had absolutely no problem giving you a spare key to the school gym and locker room only asking you clean up after yourself and lock up when you're done. Something you've been doing since last school year. You had a tendency to practice in the early hours of the morning. It was cool out. Quiet, with no one there to bother you. No overly horny teenage boys with way to much time on their hands and nothing better to do than yell scandalous risqué remarks at their classmates of the opposite sex simply because their little under developed, sex riddled, cavemen brains couldn't comput farther than: "Girls" "Shorts=ass" and running in a tee shirt was the closest half of them would ever get to seeing boobs bounce. Give them a few years. They may grow out of it.

For that late reason alone you preferred morning runs on the track. Reserving the after school evenings for team practice. Where you'd still try hard. But not hard enough to elicit said comments.

It's almost the end of April and most, if not all, of your time has been spent on this track. You began as soon as the leaves started falling in mid October at the indoor gym at the request of your coach. But it was a drive. Which is what prompted you to ask to use the gym in the mornings last year once it got semi warm enough to begin using the outdoor track.

If you weren't on the track you had your nose shoved in some AP class workbook. Grades were very important to you. Just as important as sports. As they went hand in hand. This unfortunately meant skipping out on plans with your friends. Often.

Which also meant having to "rain check" dates with your boyfriend. Claiming

"Unless you're going to throw 'Study' in front of that 'date' word, we're going to have to give it a rain check."

Now you'd think most guys would love a good 'Study' date. Not your boyfriend. It's as if the word itself was dipped in holy water and burned him simply thinking about it. Which is funny considering who he is. That's right. Little Ms. Straight A's Sporty McSportsPants boyfriend was none other than the infamous Devil worshiping, master of the occult, every parents worst nightmare for their sweet baby, friendly neighborhood bad boy.

Eddie. Mother fucking. Munson.

And although his chocolate button, puppy dog eyes were so close to making you say "fuck it" and toss your books in the air. You had to be the level headed responsible one of you both. Easier said than done. You'd not hadn't had much time together in months. Aside from the half hour at lunch, Mrs. O'Donnell's class (which she conveniently had you both on separate ends of the classroom) the few minutes after practice you got before having to rush home for dinner, and a night filled with homework. Your time together was really few and far between. And while it made you both sad, Eddie would still find cute ways to keep you from getting discouraged. From cute notes of encouragement in your locker on days you'd have track meets. (Especially the ones you were nervous about) Throwing rocks at your window after your parents had gone to bed to get some time in with you till you fell asleep. Even if it was only 10 minutes. And sometimes if you looked real close you'd see him under the bleachers cheering you on. You really couldn't understand why everyone thought the awful things they did about him.

On this particular morning it was cool out. Slightly windy. And very overcast. The gray sky looking like it would give way to rain at a moments notice. You almost opted to not practice this morning. But you had a big meet coming up this Saturday and there was no way you were losing. You pulled your Hawkins High Tigers hoodie off exposing your skin to the cool air. Letting out a shiver you jogged to the track. Looking at your watch

5:30am (this should be illegal)

Setting your alarm for 6:30, giving yourself exactly one hour before you needed to head to the locker room and hit the shower. Kids would start arriving by 7:30. This would give you the perfect amount of time to Shower, dry your hair and drop your clothes in your locker before grabbing a muffin and heading to class.

You begin running your laps and time just runs away with you. Though you're not racing a physical person you feel a sense of competition. You're racing time. And time is racing you.

~~~~♤~~~~~♡~~~~~♤~~~~

You made it 30 minutes in before you heard it. The soft low rumble of the incoming thunder announcing the imminent approaching storm. The wind began to pick up as well. Not that you'd complained it helped keep you cool for the most part.

Deciding not to chance it you run off to the bleachers and grab your bookbag along with your duffle that had your change of clothes, shampoo, towel and all important keys that granted you access to the areas of the school you needed. And with that you jogged to the school building.

As you reach the girls locker room you head into the shower room and turn the water on allowing it enough time to heat up. You exit back to the locker room and begin to remove your shoes and socks. But just as you're getting to your shorts you hear the door open. Causing you to pause.

"Hello? This room is currently being used."

Nothing.

"If there's someone in here you have exactly 3 seconds to make yourself known or I'll borrow Bethany's softball bat. And ive been told I've got a pretty good swing." You yell out.

"I'd love to see you swing a bat. Bet it be hot as hell."

You jump, turning on a heel to face the intruder. He's smirking at you from under that beautiful mess of hair.

"Edward Alan Munson, I can and I will if ever do that again. What are you doing here?" you ask confused. Knowing this man isn't known for getting up early.

"Firstly, just because Wayne let it slip the one night he came home early and saw us making out on the couch, doesn't mean my middle name is available for public use. Even if it's from someone as cute as you. And it is super cute when you use it in your 'I'm so serious tone." he boops your nose.

"Secondly, I knew you'd be here even if a tornado threatened to rip the school down to its foundation because you have your meet against Greenwood on Saturday and, for reasons I'll never understand in the world of sports, you'd rather die than let them win this year."

You rolled your eyes with a smile at his comment. It was a true statement.

"And thirdly, I'll take any time I can get with you." He smirks dropping his jacket and vest all in one go. "You just say the word. It's always better to shower with a friend. Conserve water you know. Great for the planet. Wouldn't want you to slip in there." His brain thinking of more excuses. But he's cut off as soon as he sees you slowly walk backward toward the showers pulling your shirt off and winking at him before dropping your shorts, grabbing your shampoo & body wash and walking through the door. And he's so quick to shed the rest of what's in the way almost falling and breaking his neck trying to get his jeans off. With a final tug his shirt falls to the ground and he's running after you like a kid in a candy store to the showers.

You were already under the water, in an attempt to try and at least was your body before all hell broke loose, when you feel his hands slowly snake around your hips a he pulls you closer to him. Until you feel his skin against yours. And his very prominent hard on pressed against your back. A shiver of excitement pulses through you in every direction as he slowly sweeps his hands across your body. Agonizingly slow. You lean your head back against his chest and he let's out a chuckle.

"Someone seems a little stressed." He says into your ear in a breathy voice that has your legs turning to jello. His hands feather light skimming across your breasts. So light you might have missed it if weren't for him adding the slightest of weight to his hand as he circled your nipper.

You felt yourself begin to relax under his touch. A breathy moan as you say his name,

"Eddie."

The verbal action making his cock twitch against your back.

"Yes Princess." He teased.

"Touch me, please."

"I am touching you." He laughed.

What he'd give to take his time with you. He'd have you so relaxed to the point you'd forget your own name. Only remembering his because he'd have you screaming it repeatedly. But he knew you were both on borrowed time so he cut to the chase.

"Okay sweetheart but only because you asked so nicely." He kissed the side of you temple as his hands moved lower and lower. Till he was still semi teasing you by gently rubbing your legs.

"Edd-" you didn't even get his name out before he said

"Let's see just how excited you are for me" and dipping his middle and ring finger to swipe through your slick folds.

Eliciting a moan that could only be described by Eddie as what the heavens must sound like.

"Jesus baby, even you can't play this one off as shower water. You're absolutely soaked." He said softly biting your ear. You're a mess, as he slides his fingers up slowly till he finds your clit and begins running soft figure eights into the little nub. Not enough to do to much but enough to get you more worked up.  If it wasn't for Eddie holding you up right now you'd fall to the floor.

Which gives you an idea. Since you're kinda on a time crunch. You pull his hand away, even though it pained you to do it. Turn around, and grab his face before he can protest bridging the gap you've caused between you two for the most intense kiss to ever exist at 6:48 in the morning. A clashing of teeth and tongue but only for a brief moment.  Because before the boy in front of you could register the series of events unfolding in front of him you drop to your knees looking up at him through wet lashes (which he's now moved to the top of his list of 'hottest images of my girlfriend burned into my brain to date')

Giving a slight devilish smile before running your hands delicately over his things in almost the same slow, agonizing pace he was teasing you with not moments ago.

Throwing his head back you hear him mutter a "fuuuuuck me" to which you replied "oh trust me i plan to" as you grasp his length in your left hand and begin stroking a few times. Making sure to run your thumb over his aching tip that's beading with pre-cum to gather it and as he looks down you stick in your mouth to suck off. A sort of pre-warning. One that he can barely handle. And with a pop you remove your thumb replacing back on his aching cock, pumping once. Twice. Thrice before giving the prominent vein under his cock a lick from base to tip finally taking as much of him in as you possibly could. Thank God for the wall behind him because he throws his head back and becomes one with the wall thrusting his hand into your hair and gathering it to keep it out of your face.

"F-Fuckin hell. You are so damn good at that. God's baby who knew such a good girl could have such a bad mouth."

The moan you release sending sweet vibrations to parts of him he didn't know existed. Its all going to his head. And rather quickly. You begin pumping what you can't fit as you continue bobbing your head up and down at a pace Eddie has deemed 'fucking perfect'.

"God baby if you keep up like this I won't last much longer." He looks down.

You look up at him with doe eyes through lashes coated in tiny water droplets. He's died and gone to heaven. He feels his release nearing and he's quick to remove himself before he does. Lifting you up to your feet.

"As much as I'd love to cum down your throat. Let's I don't know rain check it," He jests, 'because right now I want to fuck you up against," He paused looking at the 3 available walls in this shower wall eliminating the one with the knobs and shower head, "that wall. But first open, since i know you were so looking forward to having my cum run down your throat. Here's a substitute." He quickly takes his middle and ring finger, swiping them up your soaking cunt, returning them to his mouth to quickly suck and savor how you taste on his tongue. He taps your jaw and your quick to open for him. As he spits a mixture of your slick and his spit into your mouth.

"Swollow." He doesn't have to ask twice. And because he can't help himself his mouth is quick to seek out yours in a passionate kiss filled with teeth, tongue and the fact this will be way faster than either of you want it to be. Suddenly he's tapping your thighs signaling you to jump and you do. Your back is met with the cool stall wall as Eddie is quick to line himself up with your center. There's no slowness anymore. You've all but run out of time, students would start arriving soon. And from previous moments with Eddie you both came to the realization, you weren't quiet. And you couldn't be even if you wanted to.

As he slides in you let out a pornagraphic moan and let your head fall back against the wall. Legs wrapping around his waist, one arm half hazardly drapped around his neck the other holding his shoulder. He stretches you out perfectly. And you fit him just as well.

"F-fuckin hell you're so goddamn tight. Just sucking my cock in. God I can feel you tightening around me."

You rock your hips a little to signal he's okay to move. And boy does he move. He slowly begins to piston in and out of you. Breathing heavy as the shower water falls down like the impending rain. It's probably raining right now. He begins kissing down your jaw to your neck getting to your collar bone where he begins sucking and biting, just a small mark. He likes looking at them later.

You're a moaning, swearing mess. Praying no one hears anything and decides to come looking to make sure a student isn't hurt. Which would be very awkward and extremely frustrating as you can feel that coil in you winding up, so close to snapping. And as if on cue Eddie snaps his hips up in such a way he hits that magic button and just like that his name tumbles out of your mouth. The only name you'll remember for the rest of the day.

Eddie.

RIGHT THERE

Eddie!

EDDIEEEEE

FUCK EDDIE DONT STOP

IM GONNA CU-

He continues his pistoning into that spot with everything he has in him. He's chasing his high and yours. His free hand snakes down to rub on your bundle of nerves in such a perfect way that he has you coming undone in seconds. Following behind you moments later. He slows his thrusting down as you ride out your highs. You rest your forehead on his as you both try to slow your eradicate breathing.

After a moment he pulls out of you slowly, trying his best not to make you uncomfortable. Still holding onto you because you currently have the legs and dexterity of a newborn deer. He kisses your nose as he reaches over and puts some shampoo in his hand returning to massage it into your hair.

"God he's perfect." You think to yourself with a small giggle.

"And whats, pray tell does the lady find funny." He smirks.

"You give me an mind altering orgasm. And now you're washing my hair. It's just cute is all."

"I'm making up for lost time. I believe you have at the very least 30 more coming your way in the near future. Not all at once. But I'm sure I can pull a few out of you with each of our upcoming 'Study' dates. I do need to pass Mrs. O'Donnell's class if i want to walk that stage with you. And I fully intend to." He winks. His statement making you're eyes widen and a blush fall across your cheeks.

"As long as we actually study first Edward Ala-" He cuts you off with quick kiss tilting your head back enough allow the water to wash the shampoo away without it getting into your eyes.

"I recall mentioning the ban of using my full name. But I'll excuse it this time as your brain is still probably a bit to fried." He smiles giving your forehead a quick kiss. And then you hear it. Your watch alerting you that it's 7:30. Fuck you'd have no time to dry your hair. Both mentally cursing the beeping noise, Eddie turns off the water.

"I'll go out first. And quickly get dressed. I'll set your clothes in here on the bench." You give him a kiss as he nods at your plan.

You grab your towel and quickly wrap yourself. Walking fast into the locker room. Pulling your clothes out. Sliding on all the articles. As quickly as you could without paying attention.

Trying to use the towel to dry your hair as best you could before running a brush through quickly and tossing it into a ponytail.

You run to gather all of Eddie's clothes and then set them on the bench.

"The towels a bit wet but it's here too. I'll see you in a minute." You smile as you hear the stall unlock.

Grabbing your bag you make sure the coast is clean before waiting outside the girls locker room door. A few moments later Eddie emerges.

"Hey sweetheart, come here often." He winks at you. Making you giggle.

"Occasionally. Do you?"

"I sure as hell might start coming more often." He grabs your backpack from your shoulder slinging it over his are before throwing his free arm around your shoulder.

"What do you say we go find our rowdie band of weirdos. They can't be left alone for too long. Especially not with Henderson.

"Okay let's go find your freshman children." You say, lacing your fingers in the hand draped around your shoulder. "I'd hate to think what weird heated conversation topic Dustin has Mike and Gareth. Kid gets a level over passionate about many things." Causing both of you you break out laughing.

"It's his tone. I swear it's his tone." Eddie breathes out. As you approach the cafeteria you look outside.

Just like you thought it's absolutely pouring out.

"Eddie." You whisper into his ear at a sudden realization before finding everyone at the table.

"Hmm" He looks at you puzzled.

"Eddie. We're both wet. They'll know why I am. But you never this awake this early. This," you look him up and down before finishing, "wet. They're going to know."

As he looks out the window.

He looks back at you with a smirk.

"I'd blame it on the rain. But I doubt they'd believe me."

April Showers is an understatement.

[cephalog0d]

WIP Whenever

Tagged by @outtoshatter for WIP Whenever

Here's some magical shenanigans being investigated by the best/worst Batkid team, who are definitely not going to strangle each other before they figure it out. (Somewhat longer than intended but I got carried away writing these two being bitchy because that's just who I am as a person.)

"What the shit," Jason said flatly. Instead of the symbol he had just drawn, his photo showed a completely blank piece of paper. 

"Told you," Dick said with a shrug. "I tried a bunch of approaches and none of them would digitize the image. Analog only, apparently. I had to sketch them all by hand." 

"So that's why you made me go way the hell to Bludhaven for your shit." 

"Wha- Yes! I told you that!" 

"No the fuck you didn't." 

"I said I had physical case documents I needed!" 

"How was I supposed to know that meant 'undigitizable magic sketches'?! I assumed you'd just been too lazy to upload stuff!" 

"Seriously?" Dick's glare was deeply unimpressed. Jason just rolled his eyes, refusing to feel bad about the very reasonable assumption. 

"Hey, I still went and got them, didn't I?" 

"After blackmailing me for a future mystery favor that I'm definitely going to hate." 

"Technically that was extortion." 

"Jason." 

"I'm just saying. You should really know the difference."

Dick pressed his hands over his eyes and took a deep breath to reset. Point to Jason. 

"If we've established that I'm not actually lazy or incompetent-" Dick said once he had collected himself. 

"I didn't say anything about competence, don't put words in my mouth." 

"-can you please find those sketches so we can evaluate if they're also affected?" 

"Fine." Jason decided he could be magnanimous in his momentary victory and yanked the box towards him. "Just tell me this is in some kind of order." 

"Well," Dick said in a deliberately mild tone that Jason did not like one bit, "they were before you threw them in the trunk upside down." 

Perfect. Fuck you very much once again, past-Jason. 

[molagboop]

Been toying with the concept of cosmetic ocular flourishes (eyeliner, eyeshadow, etc) as a threat indicator in Chozo warrior spheres and got to thinking about how I typically style eyelids/corners. And Big Commander, of course, because my brainrot is eternal.

I could have sworn somebody else made a post about the same subject, but I can't find it. I vibed with it because, well... same hat. I remember a headcanon regarding Samus wearing eyeliner/eyeshadow not because of human beauty standards, but because of Chozo cultural interpretation of eyespots, large eye structures/markings, etc being intimidating.

In light of that post, here's a sketch dump with a few more bits on Chozo eye makeup re: intimidation tactics from my head + an additional cosmetic alteration, starting with a Mawkin historical figure and their features.

Hethepsu the Perpetual Storm had naturally long lashes (hereditary secretary bird swagger ftw). Not many Chozo morphotypes have lashes in their DNA: they were a boon to her desert-dwelling ancestors. She and her father adorned the tips of their lashes with beads of viscous wash: they'd take the thick, soupy solution, carefully set a drop on the tip of a lash, and wait for it to dry.

Hohara of the Twin Blades was a master of the Black Claw Lattice: swift (occasionally under-handed) strikes were his domain, and he wore flashy, distracting colors to gain an edge over his opponents. His daughter adopted this habit during her apprenticeship to the Greater Ward of the Ghiska fellowship.

Hohara the Elder also engaged in scar embellishment, wherein a Mawkin warrior paints or tattoos the area around a prized scar to emphasize its presence (occasionally adding geometric flourishes because it looks cool).

Raven Beak is not exempt from adorning himself in the name of aggressive glamour.

Raven Beak ft. the ceremonial suit of mirrors. He looks miserable, but he really doesn't mind wearing the big headdress (give him a break, he's got RBF).

I meant to show off a few different ways in which warriors doll up their eyes in the name of threatening fashion, but I ended up just studying eye shape and color. I got one bold flourish in there mid-bottom, but I got carried away with the rest of it. Oops.

A bit hard to dole out your vision when you've never touched makeup in your life, but I'll figure it out.

Another attempt before I got distracted thinking about Mother Brain's extremely one-sided hate-boner for Raven Beak this afternoon. She fancied herself his eternal nemesis while he just thought she was a Problem. Iconic. Girl, slay. Think of all the ways you could position his heart on a platter.

dumb joke i thought of immediately after finishing up that first page full of eyes.

[marquisegallery]

Oh yeah before I forget! I made this to demonstrate a headcanon, basically just that Vinyl has dimples when she smiles. I just think it'd be cute. :3

This was originally meant to be just a sketch but I got carried away with cleaning it up lol. Also looking at it again, I am not 100% happy with how I drew Vinyl's hair here... well, I'll have more chances in the future to try again!

[middleearthpixie]

Better Days ~ Chapter Four (was Human Touch)

A/N - I changed the title because I think this fits better. Sorry for any confusion. 😁

Summary: Frerin Durin had the perfect life, until he found out his wife was cheating on him. Now, he’s navigating uncharted territory as an about-to-be divorced single dad. Dating is a mess, he’s dealing with the fallout where his kids are concerned, and really, he would just love a vacation away from all of it. 

Elena Madison is new to Sidleburg, new to the history department at the high school, and also navigating life as a newly single parent. The last thing she needed was for her daughter to come down sick, when she hasn’t even had time to unpack the moving boxes, never mind find a pediatrician. And the last thing she ever expected was to meet a man like Dr. Frerin Durin…

Neither Elena nor Frerin were looking for anything, but fate has a way of messing up even the best laid plans. However, both have been hurt and both aren't at all sure they trust themselves, never mind trusting someone else...

Pairings:  Modern!Frerin  x ofc Elena Madison

Characters: Frerin, Flynn, Maura, Jake, Elena, Alyssa

Warnings: None

Rating: T

Word Count: 6.9k

Tag List: @mrsdurin @i-did-not-mean-to @lathalea @linasofia @fizzyxcustard @legolasbadass @kibleedibleedoo @xxbyimm @arrthurpendragon @exhausted-humxn-being @rachel1959 @laurfilijames @sketch-and-write-lover @sherala007 @enchantzz @knittastically @notlostgnome @myselfandfantasy @medusas-hairband @guardianofrivendell @jotink78 @sorisooyaa @ruthoakenshield @frosticenow @quiall321 @dianakc @buckybarnes-thorin @glassgulls @evenstaredits @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @albionscastle @absentmindeduniverse @way-too-addicted-to-fandoms @sazzlep

If you’d like to be added (or removed) to the tag list, please just let me know!

Previous chapters can be found here. 

Frerin yanked off the black mock turtleneck he’d just pulled over his head and hurled it toward the hamper. Christ, it’d been two decades since he’d had to worry about making a good impression on a first date and he’d forgotten what a pain in the ass it could be. And while this wasn't his first date since he and Toni split up, it was the first one where he was this concerned about making a good impression. The last time he’d had to worry about it, he was a cocky nineteen year old more concerned with figuring out how to get into Toni Francetti’s jeans than he was with making a good impression. 

Of course, he found his way into those Guess jeans and ten months later, he then found himself newly married, staring down at his newborn son, wondering just how the hell he was going to finish college and support a family at the same time. Toni wasn't supposed to get pregnant. They’d only been out a couple of times and he was seeing a couple of other girls on campus as well, and neither one of them had said anything about being exclusive. Never mind being young and stupid. Young and stupid and drunk at a frat party when they got carried away. But, her family had money and her father made it clear to him that walking away was not an option. So, thanks to Toni’s family, he was able to finish college, and medical school, while she stayed home first with Flynn, and then with Maura, and then finally with Jake. 

He was far from a perfect husband. School, residency, working his way to an attending position meant time away from home, away from the family. He’d come very close to having an affair with a charge nurse, but stopped it before it went beyond a steamy kiss in the parking deck. He’d come clean to Toni and they tried to salvage their relationship, deciding to try for their third and final child, but in the end, it was Toni’s affair with a boy only slightly older than Flynn that delivered the final blow. 

He had to admit, it was for the best for all of them. The kids were adapting to their new lives and with far less tension in the house, they were all better for it. If he was absolutely honest with himself, he and Toni never should have gotten married in the first place. They were too young. Too selfish. Too immature. 

Of course, at the same time, he wouldn’t trade those kids for anything. 

He sighed as he tugged open the door to the walk-in closet and flipped the light switch. The closet ran the length of the bedroom, and was almost a room in itself. When Toni still lived there, they divided it half but since she’d moved out, he’d taken it over and had more space than he really knew what to do with. Suits and trousers and shoes were on one side, more casual clothes on the other. He peered out the window overlooking the front yard to see it was snowing lightly. Maybe they’d have a white Christmas. It’d be the first one in years. He and Flynn spent the previous weekend putting out the Christmas lights, while Maura and Jake took care of decorating inside the house. They did their Christmas baking last weekend and they would spend Christmas Eve with him, but Christmas Day with their mother and he didn't want to think about that. It wasn't the first Christmas he wouldn’t see them, after all when he was an intern and then a resident, his schedule included nights, weekends, holidays. Now that he ran the department, he had a bit more say in his schedule, but he also made sure he pulled his fair share of crappy shifts along with the other docs on his service.

Frerin frowned as he flipped through the rack of button down shirts, then moved to the stack of cubes where he kept tee shirts and long-sleeved shirts neatly folded. He chose a black henley and tugged it over his head, then moved to the mirror in the middle of the closet. Better than the mock turtleneck by far. Why did he even still have those stupid mock turtlenecks? He never wore them. Toni’s mother bought them every Christmas for him and they remained folded and unworn all year long. 

He flipped off the light as he left the closet and closed the door behind him, then moved to the chair under the dormer window in the far corner to pull on his favorite pair of shoes—brown Doc Martens Crazy Horse boots. 

The kids were in the family room, and he paused in the doorway and just watched them—Flynn and Maura were watching The Mandalorian, Jake was doing his homework. “Okay, guys, behave. I’m heading out. Jake, Maur, Flynn’s in charge and don't give him any trouble.”

As Flynn offered up a smug smile, Frerin was quick to add, “And no abusing your power, or else I put Jake in charge next time.”

“Nice,” Jake said, offering up his best impression of an evil smile.

Maura looked over her shoulder at him. “Have fun on your date, Dad. Be careful.”

“It’s just dinner, I doubt I’m in any danger.”

“Still, be careful.”

“I will, Mom.”

That earned him a smile and she turned back to the television. “Have fun.”

“I will. I won’t be too late and I’ve got my cell on.” He lifted his jacket up from where it lay across the back of the sofa. “Jake, bed by nine.”

“Dad, can’t I stay up a little later?”

“No. Bed by nine.”

“Man…”

“I’ll see you guys later. Like I said, I won’t be too late.”

“Don't hurry on account of us,” Flynn told him with utter seriousness, “especially if she’s cute.”

“That’s enough.”

“He’s right, Dad. You have our permission to have fun.”

“What kind of fun can they have over dinner?” Jake asked.

“You’d be amazed,” Maura told him.

“Enough.” Frerin dug his keys from the jacket pocket, and moved to the front door. As he pulled the door shut behind him, it was as Jake was asking one of them to explain what kind of fun they meant.

A sigh touched his lips as he walked down to his car. In the year since he and Toni separated, Maura and Flynn seemed okay with the few dates he went on, but this was the first Jake really paid any attention to it. And while he’d been out a few times over the course of the last year, he hadn’t slept with any of the women he’d dated, and he had no intentions of bringing any women home to spend the night unless there was actually a possible future, and since that was something he was not looking for right now…

He sank into the leather seat and turned over the engine, then got the heat going. As he backed down the wide drive, he tried not think about how quiet the house would be in the coming days. He didn't like it when the kids were at their mother’s, when the house was too quiet for his liking. He and Toni had worked out visitation with only a little fighting, and while they’d been doing this since the summer, Frerin still wasn’t used to the silence that came with an empty house.

The only good thing was he’d be able to get his Christmas shopping done before his shift began Saturday. Of course, that meant he’d have to wrap everything, which he did not look forward to doing. He sucked at it and as a result, Toni usually wrapped everything but her own gifts. 

“I’ll worry about that Saturday,” he muttered as he eased to a stop at the end of their street and peered into the mirror. He scowled, raked his fingers through the dark hair that would be curly if only he’d let it. That was how he knew when he needed a hair cut, when it refused to lay in any way that wasn't bushy. “I should do like Thorin and just let it grow out.”

He was just pulling into traffic when his cell rang. Leda. “Hey, what’s up?”

“I’m sorry to bug you, Frerin,” she said. “And I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, but Andrea’s temp has gone up.”

He shifted into Drive. “What’s it gone up to?”

“One-oh-one and she’s really cranky.”

“She’s most likely uncomfortable from the fever. Have you given her anything?”

“Some Tylenol about half an hour ago.”

“Give it some time to work. Do you want me to come by and take a look at her?”

Leda hesitated. “Are you home?”

“On my way out, but it’s no problem to swing by.”

“Are you on call tonight?”

“No. Believe it or not, I’ve got a date.”

“What?”

He grinned. “Yeah. But, she’ll probably understand if I call and tell her I’ll be a little late.”

“No, God, don't do that. I’ll give it another half hour or so and try her temp again.”

“Leda, it’s not a problem if—”

“No, Frerin, please don't change your plans. I know I’m just being a nervous mom, but—”

“Leda, it really won’t be a big deal. If it’ll give you some peace of mind, I’ll call Elena and tell her I’ll be a little late. She’s a mom herself. She’ll understand.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.”

“Okay. But only if you’re sure.”

“Leda.”

“Bye, Frerin.”

He grinned as the call disconnected and he pulled up Elena’s number, smiling as she said, “Hello?”

“Hi, Elena, it’s Frerin. Durin.”

“I know it’s you,” a smile came through in her voice, “your name comes up with your number, remember. What’s up?”

“Uh, I’m going to be a little late. My sister-in-law, the one with the twins, just called. Her daughter’s temperature’s gone up again so I told her I’d stop by. I know you were planing dinner for six, so if you want to do this another night, I’d understand.”

“I’ll keep a plate warmed for you.” She hesitated, then added, “Unless you’d rather do this another night.”

“Whichever is easiest for you. I don't usually do house calls, but it’s my brother’s kids, so—”

“No, you don't have to explain. Family comes first.” She cleared her throat. “So, if you still want to come by—”

“I do, Elena. It shouldn’t take me long.”

“Okay. Then swing by when you’re done. Unless it’s really late, that is.”

“It shouldn’t be. But, what do you consider really late?”

“Eleven?”

He grinned. “I won’t be that late. I promise you that. I’ll let you know if anything changes, but I think my niece just has a cold.”

“Take your time. Chicken isn’t going anywhere.”

“I’ll call you when I’m leaving Thorin’s, okay?”

“Sounds good. See you later, then.”

“You will.”

 She clicked off and he drummed his fingers lightly against the steering wheel as he made a left onto Willoughby and headed out toward Route Seven. Thorin and Leda lived on the northwestern side of Sidleburg, in a dark gray Victorian with Pacific blue trim on three acres of land. A silver Honda Accord and a white Jeep Grand Cherokee sat in the driveway, with Thorin’s antique Mustang most likely in the detached garage, and he eased to a stop behind the Jeep. Snow began falling as he climbed out and made his way up to the wide, wraparound porch. 

Leda must have been watching for him, for the door opened before he could even reach for the doorbell. Her eyes were heavy-lidded, with dark circles smudging beneath them. She wore no makeup and her long blonde hair looked like she had a permanent case of bedhead. “Hey, Frerin, thank you so much.”

“No problem, Leda.” He stomped the snow from his boots before stepping over the threshold. “When was the last time you slept?”

“Uh… what day is it?”

“Leda.”

“I know,” she rubbed her face with both hands, then lowered them to add, “but Thorin’s got his hands full with the Dunraven and neither James nor Andrea is sleeping much, so…”

“I told her I can handle it,” Thorin thumped into the room, his screaming son in his arms, “but she’s fucking stubborn.”

“Thorin,” Leda spun around to glare at him, “that doesn’t help anything.”

Thorin rolled his eyes, gently bouncing James against his shoulder. “Neither does you being a zombie, Leda.”

“I am fine!”

“Okay, guys, don’t start fighting just yet. Let me take a look, okay?” Frerin cleared his throat as he reached for James. “Hey, little man, shhh… giving Mom and Dad a hard time?”

The baby let out a cry as Frerin laid his hand across James’ forehead. “He’s warm. What was his temp last time you took it?”

Thorin rubbed his forehead. “Uh… just below a hundred, I think.”

“Have you given him anything?”

Another shrill cry rang out, this one from the living room to his right and Leda tripped over her own two feet as she went to fetch Andrea. 

“Thorin?”

“No. Not yet.” Like his wife, Thorin’s eyes were ringed with bruise like smudged and his forehead furrowed as if thinking was hard to do. “I’m sorry, Frer. I’m so fucking tired, I can’t even see straight right now.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling well.” Frerin sighed. “Get the Tylenol and let’s give him some and see if that helps.”

“I thought fevers were good?”

“They are. It means their immune systems are working, but they’re miserable, Thorin. There’s no reason for any of you to suffer if none of you has to. Give them the Tylenol and hopefully they’ll sleep. And you and Leda both need to get some sleep as well.”

“Yeah, tell me something I don't already know,” Thorin growled as he thumped toward the kitchen. “How did you do this and get through med school and residency? How do you work those shifts still?”

“Toni took care of the kids when I was a resident and now? I’m used to it, more or less. And trust me, it will get easier. Sooner than you think and faster than you can imagine.” Frerin smoothed a hand over James’ hair, which was thicker and even blacker than his sister’s. The baby quieted against him, while his sister’s screams made up for it, and Leda looked ready to cry as she came back into the family room. 

Two pack’n plays were set up by the sofa, and Frerin carefully set James into the first one, then turned to Leda. “Let me see her, Leda.”

“She feels even hotter now,” Leda told him, rubbing one eye after he took Andrea from her. “Maybe we should just take her back to the ER.”

“Let me see first, okay?” He moved to the sofa to set Andrea on one of the cushions and unbuttoned her fleece sleeper. Andrea began fussing again, shoving a fist in her mouth to chew on. “Shhh, mimûna,” he whispered, laying his hand against her forehead, “You need to let Mommy and Daddy get some rest, too, honey.”

She let out another cry and Leda sank onto the cushion above Andrea’s head. “Shhh… baby… please stop crying…”

Andrea quieted for a moment as Frerin looked her over. “Get me the thermometer, please?” he said without looking up.

“Sure.”

“I got it.” Thorin came back into the room with a tympanic thermometer. He handed it to Frerin. “It’s got the little ear condom on it already."

“Thanks.” Frerin took the thermometer and gently slid it into Andrea’s right ear. She squirmed slightly, but then the thermometer beeped, so he eased it back out. “She’s at ninety-nine, Leda.”

Relief swept across her face as she sank against the arm of the sofa. “So, why won’t she stop crying?”

“When did she eat last?”

“About half an hour ago.” 

“She might have reflux. It’s fairly common in babies her age. Are you still nursing?”

She shook her head. “No. It was killing me, Frerin. We put them on formula a few weeks ago.”

“You might have to switch it up, try a few different ones and see if that helps.” He refastened Andrea’s sleeper and scooped her up to rest against his shoulder. She snuggled up against him, with a soft, tired sigh, and continued chewing on her fist. “In the meantime, I can give you a prescription for something, but honestly? I’d try an over the counter gas reliever like Mylicon first.”

“I can just get this at the store?” Leda asked.

“Yeah. It should be with the children’s cold medicine and cough syrup and the like.”

Thorin sighed. “I’ll go pick some up.”

“It should help. If not, let me know and I’ll write you the scrip.”

Leda let out a long sigh as Thorin clumped into the kitchen and grabbed his car keys. The kitchen door opened, then closed and a few minutes later, the Accord purred to life. 

“I’m so sorry I pulled you away from your date,” Leda told him, rubbing her eyes once more. 

“It’s okay. She understood.” He carefully got to his feet to rock Andrea gently as she cooed and gnawed away on her fist. “She’s got a kid herself, so she knows.”

“Tell me about her.”

He grinned. “There isn’t much to tell, Leda. I met her the other night in the ER and—”

“You dirty dog,” Leda let out a laugh, “you hit on a patient?”

“No. I’m not a grown-up doctor, remember? My patients are all under eighteen and I don't hit on any of them.”

“So, a sick kid’s mother? I’m not sure that’s better, Frer.”

“I didn’t hit on her in the ER. I just met her there. Remember the woman who came in to ask me about the discharge papers? The one you told me to hit on.”

“Oh, so you did take my advice. Then it’s all good.”

“I sort of took it. I didn't hit on her in the ER, though. I actually hit on her in the gym, instead. Her daughter is down with the flu, and she invited me over for dinner.” He smoothed his hand along Andrea’s back as she drifted to sleep. “And when I told her what was going on with these little ones, she understood.”

“Still… she’s the first one since you and Toni split up, isn’t she?”

“No,” he moved to the other pack n’ play and bent to carefully set Andrea in it, offering up a silent prayer that she remained asleep, “I’ve been out a few times, but they never amounted to anything.”

“Why?”

“I just… I’m not really looking for anything serious and most of the women I’ve met so far are hearing wedding bells instead of the restaurant’s daily specials.” He moved back to the sofa and sank onto the cushion on the far end opposite her. 

“At least tell me you’re getting hot sex out of it.”

He couldn't hold back his laugh. “I wish.”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not?”

“I’m not. And that’s okay, because I haven’t really been looking for that, either.”

“What?”

“I know, Thorin thinks I’m nuts, too. But to be honest, I don't have the time, Leda. Between work and the kids and boring-ass dates with women who don't really do it for me? Sex has fallen pretty low on the list of priorities.”

“It’ll happen again. Maybe with this new woman.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He raked his hand through his hair. “But if not, I don't even think I’d care a whole lot right now. I’ve got enough going on and this is only dinner. I’m not thinking much past it right now.”

Leda glanced over at the fireplace. “What time were you meeting her?”

“She’s cooking for me.”

“What?”

“Yeah. I mean, she’s not cooking for me. She was making dinner and just invited me to join her and her daughter.”

“Wait, she is cooking for you and you stood her up? Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head. “She isn’t cooking forme, Leed. And she understood.”

“Oh, Christ, Frerin, get out of my house and go have dinner. Thorin will be back in a few minutes and they’re both asleep, so get out while you can.”

“You sure, Leda? I can wait until he comes home.”

“Yes!” She laughed as she nodded. “I’m very sure. Go.”

He smiled as he rose from the sofa. “Call me if either one of them spikes another fever, okay, Leda? Don't worry about what time it is or where I am. If you need me, call me.”

“I will. Now, go.”

“What time is Dr. Hottie supposed to be here?”

Elena shot Alyssa a look. “I thought you weren’t going to call him that?”

“I said I wouldn’t to his face. And I won’t.” Alyssa didn't look the least bit contrite as she pushed her chicken around on her plate. “But, what time?

“He was supposed to be here for six, but his niece is sick and he was making a house call.”

“Mom, how cool would it be if you and Dr. Hottie got married? I’d never have to go to a doctor’s office again.”

Elena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Okay, first off, Dr. Hottie and I are not getting married. We haven’t even gone out yet and I’m not looking for a husband, besides. I had one of those, remember?”

“Dad is an ass. It doesn’t count.”

“Watch your mouth, Alyssa, and whether or not he is an ass is immaterial. I’m still not looking to get back into any serious relationship right now. I’m fine with this—” She gestured between them. “And even if, by some crazy twist, I did end up with Dr. Hot—Durin, you would still have to go to the doctor’s office because you’re almost old enough to no longer see a pediatrician if you really didn't want to, not to mention, it would probably be weirdly uncomfortable for both of you and I can’t imagine he would be willing to treat you as a patient anyway.”

“Yeah,” Alyssa’s nose wrinkled, “it wouldn’t be cool to have to get undressed in front of my stepdad. Or,” she amended as Elena shot her a look, “my mom’s boyfriend.”

“Exactly. Even if your father was a doctor, he wouldn’t treat you, most likely.”

Alyssa set down her fork. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m just not that hungry. I kind of want to just to back to bed.”

Elena bit back a smile. Alyssa did look utterly exhausted, her face still pale and her eyes still on the heavy-lidded and sunken side, with faint purplish smudges ringed beneath them. “Okay. Go get into bed. Do you want some tea or hot cocoa?”

“Maybe some tea?”

“Okay. Go get settled and I’ll bring you some.”

“Okay.” 

Alyssa pushed her chair away from the table and made her way down the hallway to her room. Elena remained where she was for a minute, just staring at the empty chair in the tiny dining room that was really more alcove than room. It was a far cry from the five-bedroom beach house where Alyssa had spent her first thirteen years. The two-bedroom, first floor apartment was a fraction of the size of that house, and yet they’d both adjusted with relative ease. It was amazing, how the absence of constant friction, of constant tension, and of frequent fighting rendered the size of the living space perfect. Elena found she didn't jump at creaking floorboards the way she used to, she didn't hear a car drive by and have her stomach twist into knots. She didn't have to worry about strange voice mails or why Dan was suddenly so protective of his phone. 

From where she sat, she could see the microwave on the counter beneath the cabinet that held their plates and bowls. It was nearly eight o’clock. Hopefully, Frerin’s niece was all right. Unless, of course, the niece was a ruse to get out of seeing her. That made her wince. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy lied to get out of seeing her, but she usually made it past a first date before being stood up.

Then the doorbell rang and a hint of shame swept through her. Not all men were Dan. She had to unlearn all of the self-preservation tactics being with him had left her with. 

She stood and made her way to the front door, smiling as she peered through the peephole to see Frerin on the other side. She’d forgotten how cute he was, and for the first time in what felt like a lifetime, her belly felt alive with butterflies as she unlatched the chain, flipped the deadbolt and tugged open the door. 

He jumped, but then smiled. “I know I’m really late,” he said by way of greeting, holding up a narrow paper bag, “but I brought wine so I hope that scores me a few points.”

“You’re late, but a sick baby is a perfectly good reason,” she pulled the door open wider, “and wine helps.”

“Good. I hope chardonnay works for you. Or did I just lose those points?”

“Chardonnay is fine, but the chicken might be a little cold.”

“Cold chicken is good.”

“Come on in.”

He stepped into the apartment as she said, “How is your niece?”

“She has a cold and probably reflux. She’ll be fine in time.” Frerin shrugged out of his black leather bomber jacket and draped it over his forearm. “Her parents might not survive it, though. Neither one of them is sleeping much and I’ve never been so thankful I didn't have twins.”

“That’s got to be rough on them, especially if they’re both sick. Here,” she reached for his jacket, “let me take that.”

She moved to the closet, pulling the door open as he said, “Yeah, their kids are not quite six months old, teething, and sick. The first year is always the roughest when it’s one baby. But two? No, thanks.”

“Right?” The jacket was heavier than it looked, and as she slid it onto a hanger, a softly spicy scent wafted from it. Frerin’s cologne, most likely. She couldn’t place the scent, but it was a nice one, whatever it was. 

“How’s Alyssa feeling?”

Elena closed the closet door and gestured for him to come into the dining room. “She’s feeling better, but tired.”

“Yeah, the flu knocks you for a loop, even kids.” 

“Sit down and I’ll fix you a plate.”

“Elena, just point me in the right direction and I’ll fix it myself. Sit down, have a glass of wine. You don’t need to wait on me.”

She smiled. “It’s only a plate.”

“I know.” He winked. “I can manage.”

“Okay. Then manage.”

“I will.” 

“Would you like a glass?” She held up the bottle of chardonnay.

“I’d love one.”

She retrieved the corkscrew and two glasses, then came back to pop open the wine and poured it into both glasses. Then, she sank back into her chair and watched him fix a plate from the dishes on the table, then went into the kitchen. “Where do you keep your waxed paper?”

“Top drawer underneath the microwave.” 

“Got it.”

A few minutes later, he settled in Alyssa’s chair. “See? I managed.”

Elena stiffened at the steam curling away from the potatoes and chicken on his plate. “Oh, damn… I told Alyssa I’d bring her a cup of tea. Excuse me a minute.”

“No problem.” He speared a bite of chicken. “I’ll be right here.”

She hurried back into the kitchen to set the kettle on the stove and turned on the burner, then came back to her chair. He smiled, lowering his fork. “This is delicious, Elena.”

“It’s just a roast chicken.”

“Yeah, but I do most of the cooking now and I am not a good cook by any stretch of the imagination.”

“Are your kids starving?”

“Jake might be.”

“How many do you have?”

“Three. Two boys, with a girl sandwiched between them. My daughter and Alyssa are in math class together. My oldest is a senior and my youngest is in the fifth grade over at the intermediate school.”

“Are you a weekend dad or full time?”

“Full time.” He lifted his wineglass for a sip. “My soon-to-be ex-wife gets them every other weekend for now.”

“For now?”

He lowered the glass, and sighed softly. “Our divorce is dragging out. She’s fighting me for custody. She should only know how I have to insist they go with her on her weekends.”

“How long have you been fighting over them?”

“Since day one.” He traced his finger along the glass’ stem. “They don't want to live with her. They’re in the house where they grew up and they’re old enough where I think a judge will ask them as well. But, Toni is stubborn, so…”

Elena didn't miss the way his jaw tightened with his words, the darkness that seemed to come to his eyes with them. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Sure.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing earth-shattering. Married too young. Kids too soon. We kidded ourselves we could work out all of the problems, but that was a lie, and then she had an affair. With a kid only a few years older than our son.”

Elena didn't know how to respond to that. What could she say? He said it bluntly, with almost no emotion in his voice, but at the same time, it hit her far harder. “What?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his bearded chin with one hand, then lowered it to reach of his wineglass. “She was a stay at home mom until about two years ago. Then she decided she wanted to go back to school and finish her degree. Like I said, we got married way too young, and Flynn came only a few months after our wedding, so she didn't get the chance to finish college. The kids were old enough and I thought it was a great idea, so she went back. Then she gets paired up with this kid as her lab partner and the next thing I know…”

“An affair.”

“Yeah.” He met her gaze then, and offered up a humorless smile. “The kid’s younger brother was in school with Flynn. On the baseball team with him.”

Elena pressed her lips together at the soft words, at the pain that flashed in Frerin’s blue-gray eyes. “I can guess what happened,” she said softly.

“You’d probably be right. Flynn defended his mother and nearly found himself off the team as well.”

“Nearly?”

“Yeah. He got a two-day suspension, but the coach knows him, and knew what happened and let him stay on the team. It was a mess, but it’s all behind us now, thank Mahal. He’s doing a lot better than he was last spring.” He lifted the wineglass, took a sip, and lowered it to add, “And that’s a lot to drop on you and I’m sorry. You can just kick me under the table to shut me up.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said with a smile, shaking her head. “I appreciate the honestly. Too many guys would be all she’s crazy and fucked up and any other excuse they can offer to make themselves look good.”

He paused his chewing and just stared and for a moment, Elena wondered if she’d said too much. Then, he swallowed and with a shake of his head, said, “So, I shouldn’t tell you how you’re not like other women, then?”

“Only if you want me to toss out of my apartment.”

He smiled then. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

The kettle began whistling, so she said, “Excuse me,” and went to switch off the burner under the kettle and moved to grab the box of tea bags from the overhead cabinet. She set one in the cup she’d taken out for Alyssa and poured boiling water into it.

As she waited for it to steep, Frerin came into the kitchen, plate in hand. “I didn't freak you out, did I? I mean, I know my sad life story is really fascinating and all, but you didn't need me unloading like that.”

“It was fine,” she told him, leaning back against the counter. “And it’s not unloading. I asked because I wanted to know.”

“Yeah, but still…”

“No, no but still.” She smiled up at him as she took the tea bag from the cup with one hand and reached for the bear-shaped bottle of honey with the other. “I did want to know. And I’d like to know more about you.”

“More? Like what else?”

“Well, how long have you been a doctor? How long have you been at the hospital? What do you do when you’re not putting worried moms’ minds at ease with your incredible bedside manner?”

He chuckled. “I graduated med school ten years ago. Finished up my residency and boarded five years ago and I’ve been at the hospital for the entire time. I matched there out of med school, and they offered me my current position two years ago.”

“And what is your current position?”

“I run the pediatric department. So, when I’m not covering the ER or putting worried moms’ minds at ease, I’m stuck in budget meetings and buried under paperwork.”

“Poor Dr. Durin.”

“Hey, you should see what my in box looks like. I’m lucky I get out of my office alive some times.”

As he spoke he stepped closer, looming over her, all broad shoulders and wide chest. He was almost a foot taller than her, and seemed to block out the light from that single overhead fixture. 

“It’s a good thing you’re surrounded by doctors then, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded, bending toward her. “It is. At times.”

He hesitated, but then leaned closer still. Her heart sped up, a thousand butterflies going wild in her stomach at the thought of his kissing her. 

His lips were soft, his kiss gentle, and as he eased an arm about her waist, she did the same about his neck, and let her fingers creep up into his soft, wavy hair. His hand splayed across the small of her back, heat from his palm seeping into her as his lips parted, as his tongue eased between her lips to slick slowly along hers. 

His beard scratched lightly against her skin. The arm about her waist tightened, the edge of the counter bit into her hip as he pressed her up against it. For the first time in well over a year, Elena’s body hummed with desire, her fingers twisted of their own into his hair, her back bowed and as her breasts pressed firmly into his broad chest, she didn't miss the way his breath hitched. His kiss deepened further, his tongue tangling with hers now, slow and thick and teasing, and the hand on her back slid down over her left butt cheek to cup it and gently kneaded it. 

“Mom?”

Frerin pulled away, somewhat breathless as he nuzzled her and whispered, “The tea…”

Her head spun from the fire in that one kiss, the one that left her breathless as well, with a delicious heat swirling through her. Her face was warm as she cleared her throat and whispered, “I should probably take that to Alyssa.”

He drew back, his eyes heavy-lidded, his grin on the boyish side. “Probably.”

“I’ll—I’ll be right back.” She slowly pulled away from him, reaching for the mug with one hand, drawing her index finger along her bottom lip with the other. It had been a lifetime since anyone kissed her with that much fire, that much passion, and a hint of shyness swirled through her as she moved to the doorway. There, she paused, and smiled as he turned toward the sink and with a light whistle on his lips, ran hot water into the sink, then tackled the dishes in the basin. 

“Where do you keep your dishtowels?” he asked, smiling at her over his left shoulder.

“The bottom drawer on your right. But, you really don't have—”

He winked. “Alyssa’s tea is going to be cold.”

She smiled back at him. “Well, far be it from me to stop you washing dishes.”

“They’re in good hands. Trust me.”

She ducked her head and made her way down to Alyssa’s room, which was dark except for the glow of the television on her tall dresser. “Did you get lost, Mom?”

“Funny. No, I didn’t. I had to let it steep, remember.”

Alyssa narrowed her eyes. “Why do I not believe that?”

“Lyss.”

“Okay, okay. You were letting it steep.” She sat up and flipped on the lamp on her bedside table. “Did Dr. Durin make it or are you still waiting for him?”

“No, he’s here. He’s doing the dishes.”

“What? What guy does dishes willingly?” Alyssa took the mug and sipped, then added, “Aside from one who’d probably hoping for a good night kiss.”

“Lyssa.”

“What? You should totally kiss him, Mom. I bet it feels weird because he’s got a beard.”

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never kissed anyone with a beard before.”

“Well, maybe tonight you’ll find out.”

Elena smiled as she smoothed the comforter across Alyssa’s lap. “Don’t you be worrying about that. You try to get some sleep.”

“I will, Mom.” 

She took another sip of tea, then her expression grew serious—serious enough that Elena said, “What is it, Lyssa?”

“Well, I think you should let him kiss you. Then you can tell me if it’s scratchy and weird or not.”

“Why do you need to know this?”

“A few of the boys at school have beards, like Grayson Markham, and I don't think I’d mind it if he kissed me, but I think it would feel weird.”

Elena bit back a sigh. Her mother always described Alyssa as an old soul and more often than not, Elena agreed. However… “You’re not even fourteen years, honey. You should be thinking about school and homework, not kissing boys with beards. And how old is this boy, anyway?”

“He’s a junior. He just got his license on Monday.” Alyssa sighed softly. “And it doesn’t matter anyway. He’s got a girlfriend and even if he didn’t, he doesn’t know I’m alive.”

Thank God for small favors. But, of course, she could say that out loud, so Elena patted her through the covers. “Your time will come, honey. I promise you. Don’t be in such a hurry.”

“I know, but still…”

Elena smiled as she bent over to kiss the top of Alyssa’s head. “I know. Thirteen is a tough age. But, you’ll be grown up before you know it and I’m not at all ready for that, so let’s not hurry it along, okay?”

“Okay, Mom. You should get back to Dr. Hottie. He’s probably wondering if you’re ditching him.”

“In my own home?”

“You never know.”

Elena ruffled her hair. “I’ll come check on you in a little while. You should try to get some sleep.”

“I will.”

“Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

Elena flipped off the light and after a last look in over her shoulder, left the room, pulling the door by as she did. As she rounded the corner of the kitchen doorway, she smiled at the sight of Frerin stacking the clean plates in the cabinet. 

Dr. Hottie, indeed. 

“Tell me I’m not putting things in the wrong place,” he said without turning around. 

“No, you’re fine.”

“Good. My former mother-in-law used to move things in my kitchen—would put them where she thought they should be instead of where we actually kept them, and it drove me insane.” He closed the cabinet and turned toward her, leaning back against the counter. “So, if I did that, please yell at me.”

“I’m still deciding where things should go, so I don't think there really is a wrong spot just yet.” 

“Even so. Tell me, okay?” 

“I will.”

“So,” he draped the towel over his shoulder as he towered over her, “I was thinking we should go out sometime, Elena. You free Sunday night? I know it’s a weird date night and ordinarily, I’d suggest something on Friday, but I’ve to work Friday.”

“I’m free most nights, so Sunday would be fine. It just can’t be too late, since I have to work on Monday.”

He smiled as he dried his hands on the towel. “Sunday it is. Dinner? Movie?”

“What’s playing?”

“I have no idea. I don't even remember the last time I was in a movie theatre.”

“Me, neither, so why don’t we skip the movie and just do dinner then?”

“Dinner sounds good to me.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Dinner it is.”

“Good.��� His eyes glittered in the soft glow of the single overhead light. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“No, I’m sure.” 

“Okay, so do you need to get home or do you want to maybe see what’s on television?”

“If you’re not throwing me out, I’ve got no where else to be.” He folded the dishtowel and laid it on the counter. “Do you watch The Walking Dead?”

“I thought that was on Sunday nights?”

“It is, and that’s why God invented On-Demand.”

“Oh, is that why?”

He nodded. “Oh, yeah. So, do you watch it?”

“No, but if you don’t mind my asking questions, I’m game.”

“I don't mind.”

“Then I’m game.”

[anima-virtuosa]

i had ideas for my dream game and did silly sketches

.. then got carried away a little making a design draft

(like this post if you would play my game & i will turn you into a creature)

(long ideas ramble below)

all of the following would be optional additions to the base game (above) . a lot of this is just taking the entire gameplay of OHOL but instead of being crafting+farming based is more about abilities/mutations & fighting.

Different elements represent different types of players, each creature/clan is assigned a base element.

Player can choose which clan they want to be born to using karma, a metacurrency (awarded whenever any clanmember successfully reaches adult or dies of old age). Or with a big expense create a new one.

This naturally congregates experienced/dedicated players into high quality clans which have the most successful children; it also helps players who are good-intentioned newbies because (like OHOL) the nicest players would act as guides.

Each clan/color of creature has a different UI art-theme, a set of abilities (on a hotbar), and their own set of voice/gesture noises

Green Clans - survival and growth. the easiest 'basic' element with abilities of movement/defense and gathering+farming food from nature. Voice noises: windy flutes

Red Clans - power and aggression. Red clans are the antagonist PVP team meant to kill other players, including themselves. Voice noises: scary heavily distorted power tools & engines

In contrast to the usual karma system, they are instead awarded karma for murdering any other player (except for their own direct children)

Being born to (or creating) a red clan only happens by spending a large amount of karma; roughly the amount from 2 successful normal lives. This Red karma-cost would be tweaked and possibly dynamic-reactive based on how peaceful the world is; so Reds would be rare to see, but not overly costly to play.

It is like an intense gamble where player could lose their karma investment instantly, but if they manage to live then they can get a significant amount through killing other players. Only the most skilled and ruthless PVPers would be able to exclusively play as Reds.

They are obligate carnivores & are required to eat the bodies of other players, getting negligible satiation from NPC animals; however, killing a player also increases their hunger-rate exponentially, so that especially murderous Reds will only get a singular rampage before dying.

The gameplay loop of Reds is entirely different from the typical colors and involves roaming around looking for player-groups, then waiting for the best opportunities to attack (alone players or children). Often that involves scouting and using a 'sense' ability that points to the nearest off-screen player. Typically they work as solitary hunters but, if they are diplomatic, can team up with others of their clan & share corpses; betrayal is inevitable though because at some point one of them would get too hungry. Similar vibe to DS3 Mound Makers working with invaders (& entire game is Dark Souls multiplayer vibe in general)

When you are a cool-color creature and see any Red player you know it is a big deal because they invested their karma to come there and personally rip you open. Teaming up to kill/avoid Red players is really important because if they get enough kills then they just become nigh-unstoppable terminators, in general the biggest threat to the survival of your family.

Violet Clans - optional addition clan 1, about healing and empathy. special magic abilities of healing, protection, and buffs for other players. very weak on their own requiring clans of other elements to live, but can be highly valued. Voice noises: windchimes & bells

Violets have unique powers of psychic projection where they merge with the mind of another cool-color creature, leaving their body in a temporary coma; while in the projection-state the Violet player knows the status of their main body but that is it. The Violet's inactive body has to be fed and protected to maintain the mindlink. While the mindlink is active, the Violet player gets access to special abilities/magic which originate from the body of their host; also a single host can have multiple Violets (who appear as a tiny holographic eye orbiting the creature.) Mindlinked Violets are, along with fully-leveled Reds, the most powerful entities in the world; a host with many Violets is theoretically the most powerful.

Violet powers are the most varied and include the following; targeted powers can target the host or any other creature; also these cost chromaharmonic energy (mana) which generates over time.

- Mind merge; base ability of Violets, they can project into a host through touch as described above.

- Heal; only way for creatures to heal combat damage, Violets are needed everywhere for this reason.

- Protect; creates strong defensive shield

- Possession; temporarily takes over full control of the host w/ strong buff to attack and defense.

- Paralyze; laser-beam that stuns another creature

- Astral project; usable without a host, the Violet enters a coma and temporarily becomes a spirit for a random amount of time; possibly getting directional hints towards things like food-sources or Reds. Really powerful scouting tool for clans if the Violet uses gestures to communicate the info.

- Uplift; temporary unique buff that allows the host and Violet to talk in a private anonymous text chat; the only point in the game where language can be used.

Blue Clans - optional addition clan 2, about crafting and building. only clan that can create structures & machinery . still cannot farm their own food and must rely on Greens for that. entire elaborate system of technology progression & crafting based on tiers of items would be designed later; they would have potential to be the most powerful creatures if they teamed up with others for long enough to progress to the end of the tree, a process taking several generations. Voice noises: computerized beeping

–

Families would generally last only short amounts of time (<10 generations) due to the whole difficulty of the game & the presence of Red players.

The entire goal is to try to invest in helping your family/clan group overall, earning karma, so you can then respawn in it and keep your family alive; hoping it will grow into the strongest/largest family. Family lives & death counts are tracked and can be viewed from the menu, so that you can keep track of how well your family is doing even after you die.

There is no ingame chat/usernames, but there are gestures (corresponding to number keys) that produce a single word + an animal noise + a pointer to your cursor, serving as a simple language.

Words marked with * are Magic Words, which are unique and have some in-world effect

- SQUEAK (unique; the only noise that children can make. usually used when their food meter is low.)

- FOOD

- DANGER

- *LOVE

- *CALL (makes loud noise; only gesture visible from off-screen & gives everyone a directional pointer going to the source.)

- NEED

- FOLLOW

- STAY

The 'LOVE' gesture has a unique magical property. Adults get a stat buff (a little satisfying ding) whenever saying LOVE to a child or to the corpse of any dead Clan member.

This is part of the central design motif where players are rewarded for doing good roleplay/creature behavior (like with little dopamine treats.) Other examples are the entire karma system & the Reds' language (below). The meaning of LOVE gesture still holds true because if someone uses it multiple times you know it's ~real love~ and not just for the buff.

–

The Red Creatures, being inherently destructive beings, have a different set of gestures:

- ATTACK

- FOLLOW

- *GROWL

- *BLOOD

- *KILL

The Red magic words, when activated, make a unique visual effect and scary noise. GROWL debuffs movespeed of a targeted player; BLOOD buffs all nearby Reds; KILL adds a permanent buff to the user if said over a corpse, only usable once per corpse (how Reds grow more powerful)

[optional fx] An adult Red creature is like a terrifying horror-monster cryptid thing where, in addition to looking like a demon, it dims the saturation of the world, causes spoopy/tense music to play, and makes creepy glitchy effects if it is near you.

Red Clans would (presumably) exist in states of chaos due to players being hyperaggressive. Due to the karma rewards + player-food requirement, a lot of the time the Reds would just end up fighting their own clanmates without ever finding anyone else; the immense power-potential of Reds is naturally balanced out this way. (notably they are the only clans that have friendly-fire. literally they can just kill eachother at any time, even the children can bite)

–

Map is composed of different procedurally generated sub-realms; like Niche but far more simplified; tiles with landscape & randomly placed objects/creatures on them; simple to implement like just a roguelike with stuff placed in tiles. The world is dynamic and zones disappear/respawn after no player visits them for some time; also there is a very limited number of zones, all contained in a square. This gives a constant gameplay impetus to keep moving & gathering, and forces players to face challenges in the form of 1. food scarcity, 2. NPC predators, and 3. other player clans. Blues if implemented would have a unique structure/ability that makes a zone static, letting it function as a hub for building & crafting.

–

i don't think i will ever make this but it was fun thinking about it anyway

this all sounds like a 'science-based 100% dragon MMO' moment but as someone with years of uni-level gamedev study it actually would be doable if i just made it my entire life for a year... i already made the base game for it years ago w/ the procedural world creature-walkaround roguelike thing. no screenshots of it sadly but send $50 mil to my patreon anyway thx. public beta of the game would need none of the features except just spawning as a creature in tile-based world, going around clicking on berry bushes, and pressing buttons to make weird noises at eachother. very fun

if multiplayer/server programming wasn't such a nightmare then i would be working on this already.. (maybe in roblox someday or as an .io type game)

realistically might make this (initially) as a singleplayer version with a central focus being an elaborate dynamic AI which would replace the need for players; the AI creatureminds already existed in simple form in the alpha version where they would walk around looking for food etc., just could keep adding features to them over and over. that would be fun in its own way though i ideally would want it as a social-experiment type game like OHOL or Journey, seeing how players act like creatures.

as i write this though i realize the appeal of simulating AI creatures as actual people having feeling/mood variables, personality & relationships so they could be your friends/rivals/mates, lots of potential for that like with semiprocedural dialogue trees etc. like it is the sims.. and then my brain goes in a different direciton wondering if that would be too much power and i would feel bad watching them suffer and bleed. i have to stop writing this post at some point lol or maybe not

(nope) i realized i could just make them feel pain as pleasure or some sort of sedation like a 'tingle' variable so they can just be ripped apart but its ok.

pictured: creature brain https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*FHsbUXsJFg8xt5U2c-6y1A.png

//

extra design notes:

clan& player names would be decided by players; chosen from a preset list of various nouns/adjectives like how Warrior Cat names/clans are.

Clan name: XClan

Child name: XKit

Adult name: XY

Elder name: XSage

[tomiyeee]

how long does it take you to draw and colour? since you post everyday which is great for me :D any tips for colouring cause Im still tryna figure all that out

hmm welllll, i don't exactly time how long it takes to draw but my partner said that sometimes i'll be working on a piece when they go to sleep and i'll still be working on it when they wake up 7 hours later so...my guess is anywhere from 3-8 hours each depending on complexity? at least for the art that i normally post, most of which is relatively simple.

not entirely sure what kind of tips you were looking for, but i'll just throw out some of my thought processes and stuff i try to keep in mind whenever i color. i'm gonna try and keep these relatively to the point so i won't go into much detail on art terms n whatnot, BUT i am also pretty terrible at explaining things so if you need clarification on anything, feel free to ask!

(sorry it's so longggg, i got carried away. i am...very wordy when it comes to art lol)

i like to block in the colors during the sketching stage before i do the lineart, especially for pieces where i know i want to do something funky with the color palette. you can see this in a lot of my process shots. doing colors in the planning stage just gives me a lot more freedom to focus purely on the colors and shading and how they work with the composition, without having to worry about the minute details like making sure the colors are inside the lines.

in order to save time while coloring, i'll usually just select the negative space (after making sure all the lineart is closed) > expand selection by 1 pixel (to make sure the edges are hidden within the liineart) > invert selection > fill bucket, then use clipping layers above that to color individual areas.

layer modes are your friend! i use multiply, overlay, and glow dodge (this one may be specific to mangastudio?) in almost every one of my drawings, but it's definitely worth playing around with all of the modes just to familiarize yourself with them if you haven't already.

color is honestly SO subjective. i'm never a fan of color picking (from source material or my own refs or whatever) bc while it may have its uses when it comes to consistency, imo it's much more fun to make them up as i go. you get a lot more variety from piece to piece while also familiarizing yourself with the character's palette that way. usually i'll start by deciding on the overall mood/palette (cool/warm, de-saturated, neon, pastel, etc), filling in the background color, then picking the characters' colors based on that. like with this venti pic, i started with a purple background and based my colors around that purple so they all fit the specific look i was going for. i could maybe get a similar effect by starting with the normal colors and using filters, shading, layer modes, etc to get the funky colors, but it will be much harder/more work and doesn't get as drastic of an effect imo.

on that note, don't be afraid to use shades/colors that may seem odd! you'd be surprised how many times i've used gray in place of blue, orange, purple..basically any color. in the above example, you can see just how different the colors ended up being from the original. after i decide on my palette + bg color, i'll just throw down the color i think will work and then (bc that first guess is usually wrong and meant only as a ballpark estimate) see if it needs to be warmer or cooler/darker or lighter/more or less saturated/etc and adjust accordingly. it's like mixing paint or tuning an instrument! it takes a little bit of practice, but after a while you start to get the hang of what colors will look like in which color palettes. white is usually the easiest to start with bc it will always just be tinted whatever color your palette is (like how the "white" in the above example is just a light purple).

this and the next point are more about shading but i include it as part of the coloring process: the easiest way i've learned to do shading is to darken the entire image/character/part you want to shade (usually with a solid color multiply layer) then add in the lighting either by erasing parts of the multiply layer or by using a separate layer set to overlay or glow dodge (or a similar lightening layer mode). it works a lot better than drawing the shadows imo because it kind of mimics how light works in real life; things are dark by default until you let light in and it hits what it can while leaving the rest still dark.

if you want to blend shadows, i usually still use the above method, but just blur certain areas of it and when i'm deciding which parts to blur (bc i don't just do so indiscriminately) i'll mentally sort all of the shadows into 2 categories:

shadows created by light being blocked by an object: like putting your hand in front of a flashlight. these shadows will retain their sharp edge, but can transition into the 2nd category if they are far enough from the obstruction, like how your hand's shadow will become blurrier the further you move it from the flashlight. the more distance between a light source and the surface it's projecting onto, the more chances for the light to scatter = softer edges

shadows created by light "rolling" off the surface: like the shadows on a ball or rounded surface. these will get blurred and i usually like to put a little bit of color along the blurred edge (a different and usually brighter/more saturated color than the rest of the shadows) just to add some life to the shadows.

here's an annotated version of this mikey pic with just the shadows so it's a lot easier to see :) sorry im bad at annotating..

aaaand this post has probably gotten way longer than you were hoping for so i'll cut it off here 😭 hope this has been at least somewhat useful, and good luck with your art!

[thatringboy]

Okay time travel and selective amnesia in bg3 is so good but is there a way to make it even WORSE??

Perhaps there is. I mean, Astarion does wonder if his path has crossed with the young woman’s before. He could often find her staring at him from across the campfire and the way her hair - whiter than snow - almost glowed in the moonlight was too familiar to ignore.

Was she related to an old target of his? Oh gods, she moved and spoke with such Upper City poise and her handling of a rapier put Wyll to shame… was she a descendant of his clan?! Every time Astarion got close enough to ask her about her family, she would shy away and change the subject. In her defense, she got like this whenever anyone else asked her, not just when Astarion got curious.

But, the woman was bright, cunning, and a master Arcane Trickster. She worked astoundingly well with the party in and out of combat, and she did not hesitate to help Astarion hunt for blood alternatives when he nearly bit her in the night. She was also stubborn and cheeky, never shying away from getting the last insult in when it was time for friendly jabs but also made sure Shadowheart spent her spells healing everyone else before getting to her.

When Shadowheart changed her hair as a signal of her change in diety, she and the woman celebrated in being white-haired half-elves together. Astarion found it cute and decided to ask her which side of her family she inherited her natural pale locks from. The woman said without thinking that she got her hair from her father, who was a magistrate in the city. And Astarion felt his undead heart explode until he remembered that he was a starved vampire spawn, there was no way he could have sired a child even if one of his targets did manage to escape him. It was total and pure coincidence.

Until they got to the city proper and someone called her name from the bustling crowd. The woman shouted that this newcomer was her parent and rushed to embrace them. Except this parent didn’t have white hair, nor did they dress like a magistrate. Astarion, along with the rest of the party, introduced himself and watched the parent flinch. Astarion also noted that the woman’s parent looked to be the same age as her, if only five or more so years older. The woman and her parent whispered to each other before the parent left, promising to return when it was time to confront the Absolute. Astarion didn’t understand what was going on, but waited until he and the woman checked into an inn room for the night to ask her.

She got quiet and listened to his impassioned rant about the impossibilities and plot holes in her backstory before she nodded and apologized softly, like a little girl freshly scolded. She said she never meant to lie to Astarion about anything, and she used his name specifically, not referring to the party at whole. She said she wanted to see if there was a way to “correct” what had happened, to somehow fix the past so the future would play out as it was supposed to. Astarion demanded to know what she meant and she showed him a locket she had been carrying since the day they were abducted by the Nautiloid.

Inside the locket were two expertly sketched portraits. One was a family portrait of a little half-elf girl sitting between a familiar looking elf and someone resembling an older version of the parent they met on the street. The other portrait was of a large group of familiar people, some older than others. Astarion nearly collapsed into a chair as his immortal eyes made out the faces of Wyll, Karlach, and Gale among others all looking at least ten years older than he knew them now. And he looked at himself standing behind a little girl who sat prim and proper in fine clothing. He was smiling with his teeth. They were not fangs.

Astarion asked her softly how old she was. She said she was twenty-two. Astarion asked her when her birthday was. She named a date almost five years from that morning. And the vampire spawn fainted on the spot.

[nateezfics]

Artist/fashion school HongJoong AU where you hate how he smokes cigarettes at first but you grow to associate that smell with him and you love the way he tastes like blue raspberry jolly ranchers and cigarettes when you kiss him 😫 ~ 💜🥀🌙

Bestieeeee I like the way you think —

Imagine being in fashion school with him, and starting out you absolutely despise him because he’s cocky, always wears flashy clothes, smells like cigarettes, and is way more attractive than you’d like to admit. He always pushes your buttons at first, and always seems to get under your skin despite your best efforts to not let him get to you.

He’s the most talented designer in the program, and it’s obvious he was meant for this. So when you get paired with him for a project, you’re annoyed but also inwardly excited because you’ve seen how amazing his creativity is. You’re guaranteed to do well in this project. Except, you clash in every way, and his bad habit of smoking gives you a major headache. Not to mention he’s always sucking on blue raspberry jolly ranchers whenever he doesn’t have a cigarette in his mouth, and the sound of the hard candy rattling against his teeth always has you on the verge of a meltdown.

But somehow you find yourself sketching outfit designs that would maybe or maybe not look perfect on him in your spare time, and you may or may not grow an affinity for the color blue that resembles the blue hue left on his lips after he eats a jolly rancher. And maybe, just maybe, your eyes might linger on his fingers when he’s sewing fabric, taking notice of how delicate his manicured fingers are, black polish always chipped. Ha, you certainly do not fantasize about all the things those fingers could do, or what smoky blue raspberry tastes like on his tongue, or what the expanse of his rich skin would look like exposed to your sight…………

And neither of you see it coming — in one moment you’re nagging him about getting the smell of smoke on your newly designed clothes for the project, and the next his tongue is in your mouth and his hand is around your throat. It’s a mess of teeth, blue raspberry with a hint of smoke, and falling clothes. His cock is in you within a split second, plunging into you so abruptly that all you can do is claw at the skin of his back.

You both don’t expect to work so well, but you do, and you find yourself with the same man you once strongly disliked. And suddenly, blue raspberry mixed with smoke is your absolute most favorite scent.

I’m sorry I got carried away but god I wanna write this in an actual fic so bad