#and also i had a BLAST drawing graffiti

[inlocusmads]

quick nora graffiti because she should be allowed to vandalise the walls of a school that expelled her for all the wrong reasons.

(just the artwork below)

I love how baby Nora was like "the world doesn't want me here, my dad's dead, my mom's dead,the school hates me, im gonna puke neon on everyone's walls. Fuck everyone and everything, get rekt son"

[blood-injections]

show pony hcs?

WOO SHOW PONY YEAH OF COURSE

They're Dr D's actual nephew and grew up visiting him and being a little helper at the radio station he's had since the nineties.

No sense of self preservation honestly, okay so this is like my favorite headcanon for them just because its silly and they're a badass. So they grew up visiting LA but dr d took them away from it before the and of the wars so they never lived in it while it turned into battery city, and they've never been captured, but they have indeed been to battery city. Because they've broken in. Solely to be gay do crime. They sneak into the city to graffiti shit and flirt with pornodroids and recruit them to throw bricks into windows with them(not of apartments or townhomes, just the research and bli buildings and occasional business). They wear their skates or bring a skateboard, they dont drive, half the time they bring a boombox, blasting the fucking beastie boys or something in the middle of the night while they skate around the city, and somehow theyve never been noticed by bli or had to fight their way out, theyre crazy and i love them

Punk as shit, you don't grow up with your cool uncle that was openly gay in the nineties without learning that capitalism sucks and cops aren't your friends. Its a big part of why they sneak into the city and be a nuisace, becuse they want to do more than just fight from the zones, because that city was their home once, before bli took it over and put up the walls, and unlike most joys who hate battery city and just want to burn it to the ground, pony wants to save it. They want to cause a more direct change, something physical thats there in the morning, so that the juvie halls and city folk can see it and see bli working to scrub away grafiiti and fix shattered windows and they'll all know theres someone else out there that doesn't agree with bli, fighting for them and maybe theyll be inspired to do more too. And its why they recruit the droids or juvie halls they come across and put a brick in their hand, because the power that comes with that, the inspiration, it spreads, because Pony's read the stories about the Stonewall riots and knows that if enough of the city could unite to fucking fight from the inside, they could make a real change.

Cherri's their older brother, not biologically but they dont care, they were both too young to fight in the wars but thats where they met, when dr d was looking after them and took cherri in when he lost his dad, who was dr d's friend. They grew up in the zones together, learned to shoot together, figured out out who they are together, they're fuckin siblings.

Their gender is whatever annoys you the most at the moment, it also depends on who theyre around around, like with Poison they're like im ur girlfriend vs with Cherri like yeah im your brother. They dont care what people call them.

Childhood best friends with Newsie but you'd never know it. They fight like siblings but they're thick as theives. When the wars started they were kids that thought theyd never see eachother again, but they reunited years later as killjoys

They're crazy friendly, like terrifyingly outgoing. They love everybody and everybody loves them but they manage to stay pretty humble about it

Theyr'e super dramatic and LOVE to gossip

Horrible artist, cant draw for shit. Great at collages though, they make all the zines and posters for radio shows. You can tell when they made one because there's glitter on it.

Has a helmet. Never wears it.

Proud polycule girlfriend of jet star and party poison

[soursugxr]

I went slightly insane during my history class

Separated AU? Kinda? Except all of them are completely different from their actual ROTTMNT iterations💀

I’m gonna be honest I’ve never loved drawing Donnie for whatever reason so of course I had to make him pretty so I would actually want to draw him.

Storyline below!!!

Essentially this entire AU is: would if Draxum’s lab exploded and it messed up the turts?

So the story I’ve formulated in my head is like:

Basically the same until like. The whole “Lou Jitsu destroys Draxum’s lab bc fuck that guy” thing. The lab very much explodes.

Raph, being the biggest, shields his siblings (specifically his twin) from the blast to the best of his ability, which absolutely massacres his shell. Leo is the only one who got away without any serious injuries, Donnie straight up lost his arm, and Mikey’s legs are permanently messed up.

Splinter (understandably) thinks Raph is just straight up dead after that (he is not), and takes the other three turts so he can get them help, gets mutated in the process.

Raph is (somehow) not dead, and (somehow) manages to survive on the streets of the Hidden City on his own. His shell is absolutely fucked, but thanks to growing up around magic, he can use it pretty well. He ends up meeting Sunita, who teaches him how to talk, and her family takes him in for a while, but he’s so used to being on his own that he doesn’t really adjust well to being part of a family.

Meanwhile, the other tots are (mostly) safe with Splinter.

Because of the whole “twintuition” thing, Leo has grown up being super anxious all the time. He barely has any memory of having a third sibling, but there is A Feeling that he can’t shake. They’re constantly feeling super guilty about not being injured in the lab explosion since her siblings were so badly injured and it effects them every single day, so he becomes the leader to protect them. She’s super serious about all the ninja stuff, simply because he doesn’t want his little siblings getting hurt again, and this entire time they’ve been holding on to a tiny piece of red fabric that he’s had since the Incident. They don’t know why, but they’re very attached to it.

Donnie, being the absolute genius he is, managed to build himself an entire high-tech prosthetic arm. Because of course he did, he’s Donnie. He doesn’t come out of the messy ass garage often, usually only for missions or when Splinter tells him to. He’s been working on something to help Mikey with his whole leg situation for the past god knows how long. He hates getting dirty until it’s his garage/lab, then he’ll go crazy and get covered in oil and grime.

Mikey’s situation is a lil unique. He can walk around on his own most of the time, but sometimes his legs Do The Thing (his words. it just means they feel weird and hurt a lot), so he’ll need a knee brace or crutches or something for a little while. He loves graffiti, which is how he met April, and he’s also the one who goes out on his own most often, despite Leo constantly worrying about him. He’s the one who found Raph :)

Sunita is honestly just The Best. She’s been Raph’s best friend since they met, and has tried to help him at every opportunity. When he left the hidden city after finding out about that Draxum is on the hunt for him, she was worried sick, and ended up sending Mayhem after him, just to make sure he was okay.

April has been The Red One for a long ass time, because she thought green was lame since “all of the turtles are green” (ignoring the fact that Donnie is a painted river terrapin and therefore not green) and she wanted to be cool. Leo never really liked that whole thing because of the Hey I’m Super Attached to This Red Fabric thing, but they got over it eventually. She’s very much a big sister to the turtles, even though she was slightly weirded out when she first came across Mikey.

Cassandra is the other reason April wanted to be The Red One, she just wanted to match her girlfriend. Casey’s honestly just The Gayest person on earth, and does she care? No. She can kick ass and kiss girls and that’s what matters. She’s aware of the turtles but doesn’t hang out with them super often, so most of what The Guys know about her is just from April gushing about her favorite person.

Splinter has been trying to dad this entire time :,) he’s riddled with guilt and severe trauma, but he’s trying and that’s what matters. Every so often he thinks about the fact that he just left Raph in the destroyed lab and he cries a little bit (a lot actually) because his train of thought is “I could have at least buried him.” Being a rat isn’t the greatest either, but again, he manages. He doesn’t have any “visible” injuries from the Incident, but mentally he’s absolutely fucked.

Draxum is a bastard piece of shit (in this au) and I hate him (in this au). He went into hiding for a lil while, but then came back with a whole “I want my creations back” thing going on, which drove Raph out of the Hidden City. Raph remembers the most about the Incident, oddly enough, and the mere thought of being put back in a test tube makes him physically ill. Drax kinda gets his redemption arc but it’s in that really awkward “why the hell would I ever forgive you?” sense, like an abusive parent who realized they fucked up and tried to apologize, but you’re never going to forgive them because of what they did.

Raph actually got a cloaking brooch so he could blend in on the surface, but kinda hated it because he felt out of place anyway (because people are judgmental of people with scars/visible disabilities). When Mikey found him, he was alone in the sewer with the brooch off, shenanigans ensue.

And by shenanigans I mean Donnie and April now owe Mikey so much money because they were betting on whether or not Leo’s whole “guys we have another sibling somewhere I swear” thing was true or not.

Raph is very unwilling to talk at first, but eventually he’s like “I mean this is my brother so I may as well talk to him yk?” But also doesn’t want to be found just yet.

Sibling bonding time :)

Raph is very concerned about Mikey’s legs giving out and tries to heal it with magic (it doesn’t work). Mikey is very concerned about Raph’s shell, but it’s healed now, just weakened and misshapen.

At some point Draxum’s bounty hunters find Raph, but unfortunately Mikey is there, so Raph’s first instinct is to protect him. Raph gets very injured, Mikey manages to escape the bounty hunters and drag Raph along with him.

Everyone is now freaking out

That’s all I got for now. So here’s some lil notes n stuff about The Guys

Raph

Alligator snapping turtle

The tallest and (technically) oldest

Leo’s (slightly older) twin. They’re from the same clutch of eggs

Doesn’t really care to define his gender identity or sexuality. Truthfully he doesn’t even care about what pronouns people use for him, but he just tells people he/him to keep it simple

Instead of sais or tonfas, he uses improvised brass knuckles

The team medic! He’s good at improvising if need be, and is very no-nonsense when it comes to his brothers’ taking care of themselves. This man singlehandedly improved Donnie’s abysmal sleep schedule

Still talks in third person sometimes, mostly when he’s having a bad day, a panic attack, or dissociating

Fight or flight is almost always on, he has a problem with hoarding food because of how he grew up

Never really learned any proper fighting techniques, he just goes for whatever opening he sees

Very quiet. He still has pretty bad anger issues, but he bottles it up until it’s too late and he gets a little silly in fights (Leo has called an ambulance for a Foot Clan soldier at least twice now)

Leo

Alligator snapping turtle

The second shortest, but also second oldest

Raph’s twin

He/they/she. They spent so long worrying about her siblings that he never stopped to figure out her gender. They don’t know what to call himself, but defaults to “man liker” because that’s the closest thing he can come up with

Classic two katanas(?) I don’t actually know what kind of swords Leo has outside of the odachi in Rise

So incredibly the leader. She takes it very seriously, since his siblings getting hurt is his biggest nightmare

Insanely anxious, constantly. If they hadn’t gone through so much meditation training they would be having nightly panic attacks

The last time they had a meltdown it was because Mikey’s chronic pain acted up so bad that he couldn’t walk for about a week, and Leo was terrified that he would never walk again

Makes the shittiest dad jokes to try and cope, but it doesn’t work. Humor is Mikey’s thing. Tries to distract herself with projects instead. Doesn’t work either, that’s Donnie’s thing. Meditating for hours and hours doesn’t work very well either. That’s Splinter’s thing. He can’t figure out what his coping mechanism is, and that just adds more stress to their life

Freaks out over the tiniest stuff

Hates eating mushrooms because of the texture

Donnie

Painted river terrapin

Second tallest, only a few inches shorter than Raph

The middle child

He/him, much like Raph though, he doesn’t really care. Sometimes he calls himself “triple A” because he’s agender, asexual, and aromantic. He doesn’t care about relationships but thinks it’s kinda cute how happy April is when she talks about Cassandra.

High tech bo staph and his tech, specifically his prosthetic left arm

The smart one. He hoards bits of knowledge that are probably useless, but also ones that are very useful. His toolbox looks like a nightmare mess, but it’s actually perfectly organized in his mind

Very quiet and slightly antisocial

He’ll obsess over the tiniest detail of a project and then never finish it

His prosthetic arm actually has five fingers so he can better work with tinier objects. It also has an added bonus of any handprint-activated things made by/for him only working for him, so it keeps his siblings out of his stuff

Ambidextrous

Mikey

Western painted turtle

Shortest. Tiny lil baby

Youngest and acts like it. His siblings know no peace

He/they. Turns out being stuck in bed because your legs hurt so much gives you a lot of time to think about your gender, and this lil fella figured out he was transmasc.

Still has his nunchucks, but now they’re bedazzled

Tries to walk even when his legs Do The Thing because “it only hurts after like 5 minutes guys I’m fine”

Sews patches onto the fabric parts of his knee braces, doodles on the plastic/metal parts

Tries to be super agile and do cool tricks while fighting, but leg pain is unfortunately a bitch

Very serious about safety when it comes to graffiti. He gets upset when April doesn’t wear a respirator mask when working with spray paint

I wanna get this writing right someone please tell me how chronic pain affects people I crave knowledge

That’s basically all I have so far. I’ll make lil notes like this for the non-turtle characters at some point

More stuff:

Ref sheets

[charaofthedead]

ITS D O N E

I WAMMIE VON WAMMIE PRESENT MY NEW AU

now i know what your thinking ... wammie what in the ultimate grilled cheese are you talking about?! ok so ill explain the origins of this.

so one day i was watching an undertale cringe cop re-living the early days of the fandom with my boyfriend when i saw a woman sans and i had a brain blast and ran to ms paint and drew what isaw in my head and then i drew a chara n marph and then i drew a frisk then a papyrus then a flowey then an alphys but i decided to line, rework and color the first 4 but while i drew and lined i was listening to an old song from my childhood days .. lil johns get low and then i had an idea why not make the au about things i had when growing up and then listened to another song called oh oh oh sexy vampire and then transparent soul (the song) and more and more and i just let my imagination loose on this one! i really hope y'all enjoy what i have so far i really let my autistic obsessions came out on this one

plot summary

the aftermath of a world where everyone came together to fight off and end a genocide route a reward is given to those who fought a choice is given a choice is made to keep the underground safe it must be hidden.

sans

MOTHERLY LOVE

so yes sans is a girl i wont explain in lore reasons why but just know it was cuz of sans fan girls potentially LMAO this sans is quite different from your typical sans she enjoys ice fishing she loves to tinker with things and is even a professional gunsmith shes also a bit of an artist doing graffiti so shes more MOTIVATED than a normal sans but their still lazy but lazy with a mischievous child to take care of aka chara yes in this world chara is sans'es kid this does have lore explanation but i wont say it for now abiltys:{redacted]

chara an marph

DORKS

chara is strange to cuz im not sure what they are i mean i like to think their a bizarre vampire but also more of a devil this chara loves to cause may/ham cuz their a they/them who was revived 8 years ago and was taken in by sans the one who gave them life chara is of course and oddball creature of chaos but chara is also righteous and has a heart of gold their also a mega lameo dork

chara loves to spend time i with their best friend marph! they love to draw they think cars are super cool they also have a shared interest with sans and that's guns and art and they both love animation but chara hates ice fishing but still goes to spend time with their mamma

(also eyes may change color depending on mood idk)

abiltys:{redacted]

nickname:rose

now marph is marph he is a box who marphs around he is just a lil guy where he comes from no one really knows marph loves chara their best pals and they like to run around and mess with people marph loves pizza its their absolute favorite! marph can also store items he has infinite space within his box self

frisk

GAY

ok so frisk is also an oddball they LOVE vampires to quote their favorite son "Oh oh oh sexy vampire I'm falling in love ..So just bite me baby And drink all my blood (oh yeah) Sexy vampire I'm falling in love with you" as you can see frisk dresses a bit oddly well see i was trying to make them as 2009 internet fashion as possible while adhering to my own design philosophy they look fine but it may be remade but its fine for now but any way frisk is also a big dork nerding out about sonic or invader zim writing fanfics drawing ship art of their favorite ships they also love old technology and their really good at DDR their a total nerd who wont apologize for being them self and encourages others to be them self too well along as it doesn't hurt anyone this frisk is a pacifist to a point they will defend them self abiltys:metal hand

SNOWED UP TOWN

snowed up town is like snowed inn but bigger more advanced more monsters more buildings some with sans'es graffiti on them and then you have the train on the save roof i just think its neat it shows how big this underground is

SNOWED UNDERCITY

snowed undercity is a big downtown area of snowed up town its like an old 80s anime kinda city pop place lots going on never a dull moment there the light's, the music, the coziness the new have to get ridge leading to it it's the only way to get there and yes its by train and then below you have the void stream of hope and dreams (temp name maybe) it is bottomless and doesn't to feel like water and yet you can float if you have hope

THE RAIL RUINS

the ruins of a long lost rail yard..? but why does it have a sky? how are the fields so long and unraveling how does it have life...truly a bizarre place as the train does not move and there are multiple cars filled with different items... monsters seem to live nicely here..why don't they just go through the door? the sense of hope hear is intoxicating the feeling of adventure is alive a sense of FUN is very alive here

MUSIC

sans's theme funny name cuz they a mamma who wanna protect their family

i would like to say that i used a melody from a song i like in the first half its from a klaatu song called were off you know and i used a zelda song too, song of storms too

extra art i did

you may draw these characters if you wish there will be more designs soon i h o p e

im unsure if this should be a comic or not or maybe it should be something else im unsure i have alot of ideas for it!

[mooifyourecows]

i've seen this girl on tiktok lately who is japanese and she's spending time in america, idk if she's just visiting or has moved here or whatever, but she's just excitedly doing things that she doesn't do in japan, and its so cute

like i saw one where she's just giggling and waving at strangers and getting waves in response and like yeah! that's so adorable! and thats one of the things that i personally really like about american culture too! the random waves or smiles or even full on conversations with strangers thing. i have anxiety and am terrified about talking to people but even i love that stuff so much

my partner is a super friendly and approachable guy and there are times when he comes home from work and is like "so i was talking to this guy i met at the grocery store and he told me about his divorce and [other personal things you wouldn't typically speak to a stranger about]" and i find it so endearing and funny. like i know he's an easy guy to talk to but still

even antisocial me has had some random conversations with strangers and i just thought that was normal and that people were like that everywhere

one time i was in a dispensary and a guy started talking to me telling me he liked my shoes and then went on to have a conversation about how people got their drugs in the hood in NYC, like he was all "you just walk up to your plugs house and they slip it through the door and you just leave, ain't that wild? it's the same in this place but like, official" like yeah random man standing in line behind me at the drug store, that's super interesting and i'm glad you decided to give me this information!

farmers that pass me when i'm on my walks will pull up beside me and say hello and point out how fun it is that the neighborhood dogs will join me

there was a guy that worked at the walmart where i lived in idaho and every time i'd go shopping he would start talking about his life to me like "my wife just had a baby and i love her so much, i can't wait to go home and play with her" or "my wife and i went to a metal concert and it was wild, got so drunk, had a blast" like YES tell me MORE!!!

my sister and i were driving around the city one night and we saw a guy who i'm pretty sure was doing some graffiti behind this building and my sister just hung out the window of her car and was like "hey what are you doing?" and he told her he got hired to paint a mural on the building and she was like "sick, whatcha gonna draw? how much did they pay you? you do it at night?" and they had a full fuckin convo and then when we were driving away my sister was like "he's totally lying lol"

if you got tattoos showing, people are gonna ask about them, wonder at their meaning, ask if they hurt, tell you their own plans for tattoos or show you the ones they got

the chatty cashiers are gonna ask about my plans for holidays and tell me theirs and also what they bought their grandson and everyone EVERYONE is gonna talk about the weather and it's always the same conversation but it's always so friendly and ends with "well, have a nice rest of your day!" and i dunno man i think it's cute

i have a LOT to complain about when it comes to america, like i genuinely believe it's hell on earth sometimes, but there are times when i see a video of buskers on the street getting passersby to dance and sing along with them, or a crowd of young people stop to watch a stranger pull off a sick move on his skateboard and they all surround him with cheers and hugs, and i see ladies stop each other to compliment their outfits and shower each other in praise before continuing on their way with a big smile and i remember that there's so much good too man idk it just gets me. i really like these people🥲

[designresearchiipjnsem2]

Further Basquiat Research

https://www.artnews.com/feature/who-was-jean-michel-basquiat-why-was-he-important-1234579679/

In May 2016, one of his “Head” paintings sold for $57.3 million. The following year, Untitled, a Basquiat from 1982, sold for $110.5 million at Sotheby’s, setting a record for an American artist. The dealer Jeffrey Deitch, who gave the eulogy at Basquiat’s funeral, said after the sale that the artist was now in the “same league” as Pablo Picasso, meaning—maybe—that Basquiat’s prices were buoyed by a similar alchemy: limited supply, raw talent, and a fascinating biography. And his work is getting the major surveys it deserves, too—one focused on hip-hop and his paintings is now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Basquiat said anti-materialist Samo was born as “a tool for mocking bogusness” and found it hilarious that the “uptight, middle-class pseudos” in Manhattan had fallen for his ruse. “They’re doing exactly what we thought they’d do,” he said “We tried to make it sound profound and they think it actually is!” 

experience of living through New York City’s economic blight in the 1970s. 

He described a large space lit by a skylight and assistants who restocked his supplies. He blasted hip-hop while he finished one or two paintings a day.

Race explicitly entered his work for the first time, reflecting a growing consciousness of his own position within the New York art world. Created during that period, Irony of Negro Policeman offers a biting critique of those who serve the powers that oppress and exploit them

Spooner draws a direct connection between the music’s volatility and Basquiat’s turbulent canvases filled with gestural brushwork, anguished figures, and crossed-out words. “Basquiat’s art looks the way no wave sounds: an untrained raw expression,” he says.

Basquiat also had roots in the burgeoning New York hip-hop scene, from his early graffiti work with Al Diaz collaborating under the name SAMO (Same Old Shit), to his sleeve design and production for Beat Bop, a 1983 single by Rammellzee and K-Rob. (In 1981, he also appeared as a DJ in Blondie’s Rapture, the first music video with a rap to appear on MTV.)

In the third film, Dr Todd Boyd likens Basquiat’s use of text to the way a DJ scratches a record, using previously recorded material to make a new sound. “When I see Basquiat crossing out text, crossing out words, it, for me, has often implied something like scratching,” he explains, “particularly what this means in terms of early hip-hop, this concept of the remix comes through quite strongly when one looks at how often Basquiat would use this device.”

In the third film, Dr Boyd links the seemingly chaotic, confrontational style of Basquiat’s paintings to the layered, intricate production of hip-hop producers like the Bomb Squad who created Public Enemy’s signature sound. “The music doesn’t necessarily go out to the listener. It expects that the listener, if the listener is going to understand, will come to the music.” In a similar way he notes, “you can’t view Basquiat’s work passively, it requires that you actively engage with the material.”

This was a great source these were some of the really interesting point I found that have really given me understanding into how Basquiat creates and his backstory. 

[nostalgiahan]

Still Into You

genre: songfic, fluff, smut

pairing: graffiti artist!changbin x afab!reader (gender-neutral language)

word count: 2k

warnings: drug use (cannabis,) trespassing, oral sex (f,) car sex, little dialogue, changbin and reader run from the cops lol

a/n: i was listening to still into you by paramore and this just kinda. came into existence. it’s also very song focused so if you’ve never listened to 2000s alt rock... i’m sorry lmao. the sugarmill in the story is also a real place that my friends and i used to visit and smoke take pictures at, although the cops never found us there haha. anyways enjoy folks.

Your nails had been tapping on the windowsill enough to wear them down to nubs by the time Changbin pulled up in front of your house. When his beat up Subaru pulled up next to the curb, you just about jumped out of your skin from excitement. Today was your fourth anniversary, as well as Valentine’s Day, and the adrenaline rushing through your blood was a sign that you were more than looking forward to whatever fun plans he had up his sleeve.

Compared to most couples on Valentine’s day, your outfit was pretty plain and not at all glamorous. Practical boots, jeans, an old band hoodie and Changbin’s dark green parka were your clothes of choice, but you knew that your boyfriend wasn’t going to take you to some fancy restaurant. No, you two were going adventuring.

As soon as you hop in the passenger seat of the car, shoving a couple of receipts into the foot well, Changbin reaches into his hoodie pocket and gives you a card. It’s crude, made of a folded sheet of printer paper and hastily scribbled on in pen but it’s very fitting for him.

“You better enjoy the card,” he says with a smirk, “because it came to me in a dream. This is pure, undiluted Changbin, packaged for your enjoyment and convenience.”

Giggling, you open the card. Inside is a barely legible “i love you so much y/n” surrounded by hearts, and in the corner is a drawing of a cow dressed in a lab coat and holding a beaker labeled “Moorie Curie.” It’s perfect, but what else did you expect from him?

“Happy anniversary, my love.” When you look up at Changbin, he has the widest smile on his face, cheeks dotted with flecks of paint and eyes crinkled up into little crescents. He’s dressed similarly to you, hair sitting in a pile on top of his head, clearly not having been paid attention to before leaving the house. It doesn’t matter, though, since the both of you will be wearing hoods over your heads anyways. You lean over the center console to give him a quick kiss, although it takes a couple of tries to get his lips since you’re both smiling so hard.

Changbin kicks his old car into gear as he sets off towards his destination. He’s explaining where you’re going, but you can barely hear him over the car speakers blasting Simple Plan and Green Day.

“So yeah, it’s this sugarmill that caught on fire in, like, 1910, and they never renovated it. There’s a bunch of cool abandoned shit around there, too. I think there’s, like, three fucked up couches.”

As you listen to him talk, you stick your fingers through the gap at the top of the side window. It’s permanently cracked open like that, and you have vivid memories of trying to throw cigarette butts through the gap when the two of you were bored.

After a while of listening to pop punk and playing with Changbin’s fingers over the gear shift, you arrive at your destination. Several charred brick buildings sit in the middle of a field, dead trees framing an open area in the center where someone has set up some logs and rocks to form a makeshift circle. Your boyfriend’s eyes scan the landscape, looking for his next canvas. Eventually, he tugs your arm and leads you towards one of the buildings, smiling back at you. “C’mon, let’s go explore this place.”

The two of you wander for a while, over rickety walkways and up staircases, taking pictures with your Polaroid and holding hands the whole time. Eventually, Changbin finds a stretch of wall big enough to start his work. Setting his duffel bag on the ground, he beckons you over and crouches down, inviting you to hop onto his back.

He pulls out a can of white spray paint, shaking it and popping the cap with his thumb. As he starts to paint, making large, sweeping motions with his arms, you really wished he had worn something sleeveless, however impractical. After lighting a slightly crushed joint you’d fished out of your pocket, you nestled your nose into his shoulder, holding the joint up to Changbin’s lips. He takes a few pulls as he works, the previously bland wall turning into a beautiful blend of blues, purples, and whites. It’s always fascinating to see how he works, seemingly not thinking before laying down a line of paint, yet each stroke seems to perfectly fit in with the others.

As he’s switching colors, Changbin lets you off his back, settling his hands on your sides. He stares at you for a bit, trying to study every bit of your face that isn’t covered by the oversized hood of his jacket. After a while, he smiles, pulling you close and kissing your forehead. Changbin always called you his muse, but you never expected him to take it as literally as he did, often staring at you or asking unrelated questions when he was stuck with a piece. He sways gently back and forth, pressing little kisses to your head, as Good Charlotte emanates from the tiny phone speaker in his back pocket. Occasionally, he’ll pull back just a tiny bit to really study your face, kissing you softly and muttering something along the lines of “i really can’t believe how fucking incredible you are” or “i love you so much it’s unreal.”

It’s not until a few more songs have ended that he pulls away, inviting you back onto his back as you light another joint. The piece is almost done, the tag “SPEARB” painted in blobby letters, shining artificially. All he has left is the outline, but his work is cut short when you hear the faint sound of sirens approaching and the light creeping in from the broken windows flashes a faint red and blue.

What happens next is like clockwork. You hop off of Changbin’s back, putting out the joint on the wall and throwing it into his duffel bag along with the other cans of paint he’s left out. What you’re supposed to do next is grab the bag and run, but Changbin is trying his best to finish a really specific detail and the more time he has that can in his hand, the less time you guys have to get the fuck out. After what seems like an eternity of whisper-yelling and (gently) stomping your foot at him, he caps the can and throws it into the bag. Finally, the two of you are off. As he’s picking up the bag, however, you notice what he was taking so long to finish. In tiny lettering, in the bottom corner of the piece, 4 words. “fuck cops” on one line, and “for y/n” on another.

As the two of you clamber over wooden planks and piping, pulling your hoods over your heads and your masks over your faces to hide your identities, Changbin grabs your hand and squeezes. He lets go almost as quickly as he grabbed it but the sentiment is still there; i’m here, i’m gonna keep us safe. It’s a welcome sentiment when shouts of “police,” and “show yourselves” echo through the abandoned hall.

Fifteen minutes of running and one chain link fence climb later, you’re back at the car, cops nowhere in sight. You’re panting heavily as you throw off the parka and throw it into the backseat, and Changbin doesn’t look any better as he’s gulping water and fanning his face. Right as you’re about to climb in, he grabs your arm and spins you so you’re pressed between him and the car, holding your cheeks in his hands and grinning at you.

“God. Fuck. Wow. You’re unreal. I love you so much.”

You’re unable to do anything but nod. The two of you are still breathless and in that moment you realize that’s what your love was like. In the four years of you dating, your love never went stale, you never settled into a routine. You were always doing new things, like going on spur of the moment road trips or fucking around at playgrounds in the early hours of the morning. You never thought about the future, just did your best to enjoy your time in the present and bask in the glow of each other’s affection. You expected that after such a long time together you’d at least feel a little duller, but everything still feels as fresh and new as when you were teenagers and sneaking out to make out on park benches when no one was looking.

As you’re lost in thought, Changbin pulls you impossibly closer and presses his lips to yours, hard. Music is still playing from his phone as the kiss becomes more heated, and you make sure to add 1985 by Bowling for Soup to your “running from the cops” playlist later. Almost every memory you have with Changbin is attached to a song, and this one is no exception.

Changbin pulls away to wrench open the back seat door, guiding you to sit and kneeling on the dirty floor. He heaves the duffel bag on the seat next to you and you dig through it, searching for the joint you threw into it earlier. Once you’ve gotten to My Own Worst Enemy, you’ve lit it and Changbin has gotten your jeans halfway down your legs and your thighs over his shoulders.

Your boyfriend wastes no time in burying his face in your heat, licking hot stripes up and down and moaning loudly into your core. He pulls away to rest his head on your thigh and take a few puffs of the joint, and in that moment you remember your Polaroid exists and manage to snap a picture of him blowing out smoke, with your hand in his hair and his face squished between your legs.

Changbin pays it no mind and gets straight back to work, sucking on your clit and easing his tongue into your hole. Your grip on his hair tightens and you arch into his mouth, fucking yourself back on his tongue. Picking up on this, he hooks his arms under your thighs and pulls your towards him, close enough that you’re afraid he’s going to suffocate himself trying to pleasure you.

It’s hot and sticky and perfect, and the atmosphere combined with the weed and the fact that Seo fucking Changbin is eating you out is too much for you and you cum all over his tongue, which eagerly laps up your release, taking long, languid strokes to make sure he gets every drop. As you come down, Changbin is stroking your thighs and sucking hickeys into the soft flesh, and you register that Misery Business needs to be added to your “dirty car sex” playlist.

After basking in the yellow glow of the car’s overhead light and the thrilling afterglow of just having done something you shouldn’t have for a while, lazily finishing off the rest of your joint, the two of you get your things in order and begin the journey to Changbin’s apartment, speeding down the highway with the windows cracked the whole way. He carries you into the building like he always does, setting you down gently on the couch before heading off to the kitchen so you can make some blueberry muffins together. You do, and they’re terrible, so you heat up leftovers instead and watch reruns of old James Bond movies, cuddling on the couch. The night ends with Chasing Cars and you laying on Changbin’s chest, naked and sweaty and anticipating lots of aches in the morning, whispering tiny i love yous into each others’ skin and it’s perfect. But everything is always perfect with him. What else could you possibly expect?

please let me know if you guys enjoyed this!! feel free to send an ask, i always love receiving them🤌🏻🤌🏻

[kyndaris]

Revitalising an Old Town

In our modern day and age, it’s often easy to forget that there is more to society than the big cities. Small towns, steeped in history and devoted to industries that have fallen to the wayside as huge conglomerates have sought to make a profit, make up a huge chunk of the Western world. Many of these places used to be bustling centres of industry. And even when they’ve been gutted, there is often still a population of people that live there. Struggling, perhaps, but still present and who call such places home. In Concrete Genie, the small town of Denska takes centre stage. It perfectly encapsulates the idea of a dilapidated ghost town, with its rundown factories and a gang of children vandalising what’s left. And much like Ash and the wonderful chalk drawings that are brought to life, Denska is its very own character. By painting all over its walls, throughout Concrete Genie, Denska becomes more than just background setting to be used as a canvas for one’s artistic expression. Its tragic history and the Darkness plaguing are pivotal to the central narrative and gave me a healthy appreciation of what life might be like far away from the streets of a major city.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s rewind a little. 

When Concrete Genie was first announced, it piqued my curiosity. Here was yet another indie game that could tell an interesting story, I thought. It was not until another flash PlayStation sale during a period where big releases were few and far between in 2020, that I bought the title.

Concrete Genie casts players into the role of Ash. A quiet, artistic boy that is often harassed by a gang of bullies. Zack, Froggy, Janie, Chuck and Beatrice. As he sits over the town, his precious sketchbook is snatched up and torn to pieces. Before Ash can do much of anything, he’s sent to the ‘haunted’ lighthouse that watches over the rest of Denska. It is here that he meets with Luna: one of his creations and tasked with restoring the town to how it used to be.

The narrative throughout this early part is simple and straightforward. The objectives were clearly marked and the puzzles, I could have done in my sleep. There was no combat during the first two thirds of the game as Ash went from the cannery to the electricity substation, and finally to the sewers beneath town. Along the way, the group of bullies hound him - dismissing his works of art with black graffiti or taking out their frustrations to free themselves from their own pain.  Most of these instances involved one or two of the bullies snatching away Ash’s paintbrush, before he tries to wrest it back. As they tussle, players are given small snippets of backstory for Zack, Janie, Chuck and Beatrice.

By doing so, Concrete Genie allows players  to emphasise with the ‘villains’ of the game. It’s a little ham-fisted, true, but it didn’t feel as disingenuous as the change in perspective with The Last of Us Part II. Knowing that the bullies are human, too, is further reinforced when the game takes a darker turn as, when the final mural is painted, the bullies catch up to Ash one final time. They snatch up his paintbrush and snap it in two. Hurt, the magic in Ash - along with the Darkness plaguing the town - creates the Dark Genies. 

With Froggy (the friendliest of the bullies, though I totally caught the vibe that Ash might have been attracted to Beatrice) by his side, Ash rescues the people that had tormented him earlier. In so doing, they are able to look past their differences and become friends. It’s an important message Concrete Genie tries to impart. And it does it quite well.

Of course, not all bullies on the playground will have tragic home lives, but Concrete Genie proved great at showing that a little empathy and understanding can go a long way. Art, as well, if one can get the malcontents distracted from deriving pleasure from seeing others in pain.

The controls were decent. While I had initially feared what would happen if it was all freeform painting, Concrete Genie surprised me with the use of certain stencils. This made it easier to create masterpieces because - and let’s be honest here - I’m rubbish at drawing. I can barely draw stick people. And that’s saying something. But even with motion controls, I felt like it would have been easy to plonk down my totem poles or cover the wall in a sea of stars.

Combat, too, was easy to grasp - though the change was a little jarring. Yet, within moments, I was paint skating, throwing out my elemental paint to damage the rogue genies that were now more 3D than 2D.

Denska, while also being an interesting character all on its own, also proved to be a fun place to explore. I liked collecting all the newspapers and seeing colour being infused into the place whereas it had been mostly grey and brown. The ripping of Ash’s notebook at the start of the game also meant quite a lot of collecting of the missing pages - with some hiding in areas that were difficult to reach. Though it did feel like a bit of a collect-a-thon, the short nature of Concrete Genie kept me engrossed in all the side activities even when the narrative had ended.

During my playthrough, Concrete Genie proved to be a delight. It succeeds (mostly) in the story it tries to tell and the themes it explores. While the Darkness (with a capital letter D and reeking of Kingdom Hearts) was a little on the nose, I appreciated what is represented. Having studied criminology, I know that there’s more to abandoned old canneries than just oil spills. Petty crime and children vandalism, too. Without parental oversight, when all the windows are smashed and hooligans run rampant, places can become bogged down by negative associations. By dedicating myself to cleaning up the grime of Denska, it felt like I was making a difference. That, and Ash’s easy artistic style made the game a blast.

[fuckinuchihas]

Congrats again on 300 followers Kel!!! 💖💖💖🌸🌸🌸 I just got home and all those cotton candy favours sound very interesting 👀 so I was thinking... maybe I could request a little bit of blueberry blast with Bokuto, if the booth is still open ✨

Muah, for you! ANYTIME!

I love Bokuto..LOVE HIMMM but homeboy is definitely this type. 

He’s wearing a happy, eager expression and he’s dressed in all black with a beanie on for some reason, also black…when he comes out of your shared bedroom and hands you an outfit. 

“Hurry up and go change, we’re going out.’ 

“But why?” 

“Just do it, baby owl...for me?” he asks, with those big golden eyes that are your weakness. 

When you get changed and walk outside he opens the door for you and asks you to get into his jeep. 

You follow along even though he won’t give you a clue as to what's happening. There’s a tarp in the back and if it wasn’t for his entire personality you’d be worried he’s trying to murder you somewhere. 

Instead he drives through the streets until the buildings get further and further apart and then he pulls into the parking lot next to a small business and helps you out of the jeep before letting down the hatch and showing you what has to be at least a couple hundred bucks in art supplies. 

“BO!” 

“Go ahead, make your mark...nobody’s watching. And you like to draw right?” 

“Yeah but I-I can’t just graffiti a building it’s illegal!” 

“I promise, you won’t get in trouble, just go crazy. Leave your mark on the world and by the world I mean just this building but still…” 

You aggressively do not want to do this, but he insists in a way that just makes it impossible to turn him down. 

So...you start painting. 

You get lost in the moment and he gets so fascinated watching you that he doesn’t even hear the cop car pulling in beside him until the siren goes off. 

“Shit-” you hear him mumble under his breath. 

Dread pools in your stomach but Bokuto quickly waves you off and says he’ll take care of it. 

“Do not try to bribe the policeman, Kou!” 

“I’m not an idiot, sheeze!” 

You don’t comment further on that but your mind is not at ease to say the least. 

Bokuto sighs and with the officer’s permission he reaches into the backseat to get his bag and then pulls a large manila envelope out of it. 

The police officer reads it over, flashlight in hand and eventually leaves. 

“What the hell, Kou?” you hiss, after finally getting him alone again. You rarely ever lose your temper but you can’t believe you let him talk you into this. 

“Well, I didn’t want to ruin the surprise but I guess Officer McStickUpHisAss had to show up,” he says, pouting a little. 

“What surprise?” 

“I uh,- well...Happy Early Anniversary?” he says, handing over the same paperwork. 

It’s a lease. 

He leased out the building. 

The building you’re currently tagging. 

“I thought you could use it as a studio or something, y’know? Or like a mini gallery? Just something for you to work on your art and let people see how amazing you are!” 

You melt into his arms. 

“I love you, Kou.” 

“Aww, I love you too!”

[yulmoldauer]

its better not to say such things out loud (Tyson Jost/OC): Chapter One

part 2

Story summary: Mason Wright was recently traded and because an Av. Sometimes a fresh start with a new team across the country is what a guy needs, right? It seems to work out, going to a place where no one truly knows you. That is, until someone finds out what you’re desperately trying to hide.

Chapter 1

Summary: Mason’s had a rough game, to put it simply. It was never the best idea to get into a fight with someone bigger than you. They won even with him taking a five-minute major for fighting halfway through the third period. The team goes out to celebrate his 23rd birthday post-win and Tyson takes care of getting him home and to sleep safely.

Warnings: None, I believe! Just some drinking mentioned and there’s a drunk character if that makes you uncomfortable. There’s also a slur against lgbt people used.

Words: 1,968

Notes: The title is from The Stigma (Boys Don’t Cry) by As It Is. This is the thing with the LGBT main character that I’ve had a few different people tell me they’d be interested in :) I’m having a lot of fun writing and plotting this so far, so let me know if you enjoy!

There were perks to being smaller than most other people in the league. Being an extremely fast and skilled defenseman was one of them.

Being outmatched in every possible articulation, being compared to a chihuahua yapping at a pitbull, everything like that. Which is how he ended up in the penalty box for five fucking minutes, the asshole in the box next to him chirping him the entire time, it seemed like.

“What are you, a fag?”

That was what Mason heard fly by him, aimed at Jost who wouldn’t get into a fight to draw a penalty. Mason knew for a fact that’s what the guy was trying to do. He still took the bait when Tyson didn’t.

Mason was smaller than nearly every player he knew. Watching him get into a fight was exciting yet painful at the same time for anyone with a brain. The other guy was at least six-foot compared to the five-foot-eight Mason. To say it was outmatched…

Mason was going to be lucky if he didn’t come out of this with some scrapes and bruises. A broken nose was pretty likely as well, once he thought about it.

But hearing that word ignited something in him that overtook the reasoning section of his brain and both of them were dropping gloves. Sure, he’d definitely have a black eye tomorrow, but he’d gotten a few good licks in as well.

They still won the game, which was nice.

“Dude, you gotta at least get into it with guys in your weight class.”

“You’re funny, Landeskog. Whole fucking league is out of my weight class,” Mason huffed as he stripped his padding off of his lean torso.

“Yeah, kinda the point,” Zadorov shrugged. “Not your fault you’re smaller, just the way it is.”

“I get it, I’m short,” he ran a hand through his wavy helmet hair and reached down to unlace his skates. “Z, you can fight for me, then. I’ll run my mouth and you can do all the hitting.”

“With you? Don’t take it, man, Wright can go on and on for hours,” Tyson chirped from across the room. That earned him a glove chucked at his face.

“Fuck y’all. I don’t even have a good comeback.”

“Because it’s true!”

Okay, maybe it was true. Mason was just a talker, it’s how it was.

Tyson gave him endless shit about it, but really he didn’t mind. He actually enjoyed just being able to turn his brain off and absorb whatever stuck from what Mason was going on about. Usually it didn’t even matter--ranting about how a show got robbed of some award that doesn’t even matter, spewing information about whatever book he was reading, going off about whatever asshole did something stupid during his day-- Tyson would just let him go until he ran out of steam. Conversations were nice, too, when he was in just a talkative mood as well.

Mason did know how to shut up, though. Sometimes. (Hint: that’s what made him the favorite out of the Wright/Zadorov best friend duo. He could be quieter than Z. They’ve threatened to separate the two on multiple occasions, though.)

“What’d that guy even do to rile you up? You looked pissed,” Nate broke Mason out of his train of thought.

“Just called someone something stupid. I’m not gonna repeat it.”

“He called me a fag because I wouldn’t take the bait for the penalty,” Tyson said soon after. “He’s just a fucking moron because he got a longer penalty than any of us.”

There was an uncomfortable moment as that sunk in, then a few “what the fuck” or “that’s gross” phrases before people moved on to heading to the showers.

Mason was about to sneak away when Tyson called out his name.

“Hey, I wanted to catch you before you hit the shower. You got a second?”

“Yeah, sure. I just have to do some pt kind of stuff before I shower. What’s up?” he offered with a friendly smile.

“I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for me. You definitely didn’t have to, but calling him on it drew a ton of attention to it. I think it’s really important to start weeding that shit out of the sport, y’know?”

“Yeah,” Mason smiled. “I--thanks, man. That means a lot to me.”

“‘Course,” Tyson gave a nod. “And you know if you were, like… y’know, gay or… anything, really, I wouldn’t care. And neither would anyone else on the team. It’d totally be okay.”

Mason wanted to give him a reassuring “I know” but couldn’t. Hockey was definitely not the environment known for welcoming lgbt kids and turning them into well-adjusted, accepted adults.

“Thanks,” Mason murmured. “Really, that means a lot.”

“Of course,” Tyson breathed, like he was getting a huge weight off his chest. “Um, yeah. I’ll let you go do your physical therapy stuff now. I’ll see you at the bar after everything’s done here?”

“Yeah, I’m not gonna ditch you for my birthday, idiot.”

With an excited smile, Tyson turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Once he reached an area to chill out while waiting for the showers to clear out, Mason sighed, plopping into a chair and resting his head in his hands.

Obviously he knew why Tyson brought up starting to call out homophobia and other bigoted shit they were all used to just overlooking. But why did he bring up the whole ‘we’d accept you no matter what’ thing?

The thought of ‘he was very sensitive to a slur so maybe he’s gay’ never crossed Mason’s mind. That would simply be too easy and rational.

Did Tyson know he was different? What exactly did Tyson know? There was no way Tyson would out him, but still. Trusting people to keep a secret was hard. It was just easier to bottle everything up.

God, he needed to figure this out.

Maybe he’d get drunk enough tonight to just forget for a little while. He didn’t get drunk or even drink all that often, he could let go every now and then.

At the beginning of the night, Gabe took his keys, promising that he’d give them to whoever would be driving Mason home. They all knew for a fact Mason wouldn’t drive drunk, it wasn’t even in the realm of possibilities. Honestly, they were more worried about the newly twenty-three-year-old losing them or putting them somewhere so he’d ‘remember where they are later’, which was proven ineffective at the last gathering Gabe threw.

“If you can’t figure out where the stupid keys are, he can come get them in the morning or I can drop them off to him or something,” Gabe rolled his eyes.

“You’re sure you don’t remember where you put them?” JT triple-checked. He’d been the designated driver for a few of them, including Mason, Tyson, and a couple others who had already gotten out to the car.

Mason shook his head. “I’m not even that drunk,” he insisted.

“Uh-huh. Gabe, just let me know if you find ‘em and we can work something out for him in the morning.”

Twenty minutes later, Gabe sent a picture and “anyone know who these belong to?” in the group chat. It was, without a doubt, Mason’s keys, adorned with a keychain reading “DETROIT” in graffiti lettering. He was from Detroit, and everyone knew that he refused to take that keychain off until it literally fell off for some sentimental reason, most likely.

‘Lol where’d you find it?’ someone texted back.

‘My dishwasher. His wallet was there too’

Mason has still never heard the end of that. No matter how hard he tried to explain that when he put them somewhere, it meant that he wouldn’t lose them or buy something stupid online (last time that happened, he bought a thing to hang on a window so your cat could sit on it and sunbathe. Mason has not owned a cat at any point in his life.) and he’d remember where it was once he sobered up.

Of course he still gets relentless shit for it. He wouldn’t expect any different.

Currently, Mason and Z were arm wrestling over a table in the back of the bar, people beginning to call it quits and going home. And with his pride hurt that he could not beat Z in an arm wrestling match, Tyson stole the other’s keys and wallet from Gabe, saying goodbyes and forcing Mason to as well.

“You are blasted, man.”

“Mmph,” he shrugged and laid his head against the passenger window. “I wanna lay down and sleep.”

“You can when I get you home. Gimmie your seatbelt so I can buckle you in.”

Mason followed the order with a small pout, not drunk enough to the point of incoherence but… definitely a little fucked up. Tyson had done this before: dealing with the mopey friend at the end of the night. Mason was definitely one to get mopey or clingy once they left the main event.

“My face hurts.”

“That checks out, buddy. I’ll get you some ice for it back at your place. What?” Tyson continued to ask when Mason stared out the windshield all angsty.

“Still can’t believe I couldn’t beat Z.”

“That guy could slam most of us through a table, don’t beat yourself up.”

“Can’t. Someone already did.”

“You’re full of jokes, huh?”

Mason just grinned sleepily as they pulled into the apartment complex and Tyson had an arm wrapped around his friend to keep him steady. Getting a drunk person to go to bed was usually one of the hardest parts of the night.

“Would you just--”

“I got it,” Mason huffed, fumbling with his keys near the lock of the door.

“Dude.”

“Shut up, you’re gonna wake up my neighbors,” he grumbled, finally getting the door open with a triumphant “see? I’m an adult.”

“I see. Go be an adult and get ready to go to bed,” Tyson rolled his eyes, taking the keys out of the door and locking it behind them.

“I don’t wanna sleep,” he replied quickly.

“You’re drunk, what do you mean you don’t want to sleep?”

“Not tired,” he flopped down on the couch.

“At least get out of your clothes. That way if you fall asleep it’s in pajamas.”

Mason was sprawled out, already clicking through Netflix.

“Fine, I will go get you pajamas. Here,” Tyson pressed a cold compress to a bruise on his face and headed to the bedroom.

“Thanks for driving me,” he heard from the other room.

“‘Course,” Tyson called back. “Here, put these on,” he tossed the clothes at Mason.

“Are you staying here? You can take the guest room, if you want.”

“Sure. Probably easier than trying to get home this late,” Tyson shrugged and headed for the kitchen. As he heard the rustling around of what he assumed was his friend changing, Tyson got a glass of water and painkillers for when Mason woke up.

“I can drive you home tomorrow,” Mason slurred even more heavily as he began getting more tired. He’d managed to get his jeans off and a pair of shorts on before moving onto the shirt. He’d just pulled his shirt off when Tyson walked back in the room with the water.

“Woah,” he said quietly, stopping quickly.

For whatever reason, he’d never realized that he had never seen his teammate and friend shirtless. That was weird, especially when you played sports together for a living. He assumed it was due to the faded scars along his chest, almost in a u-shape under each pec.

He didn’t even know what kind of injury would cause that kind of surgery.

“When did you get surgery?”

Fuck was all that ran through Mason’s head.

[illustration-ammuntion]

Cursed Inc.

I enjoy writing comic book scripts, but found that I don’t have the patience to illustrate them.  So I’ve decided to upload my latest one here.  You are free to do what you want with it.  Draw it, critique it, sketch characters from it, whatever.  Just tag me.  If you do critique it, it sucks isn’t a critique.  Reasons it sucks and how I can improve is a critique.   

Cursed Inc.

 Page 1

 Panel 1.

We are looking through binoculars at 4 individuals coming out of a door at the end of a dead-end neon-soaked alley, there are air conditioners, pipes, and wires everywhere.  Anything happening in the alley should be lit by the harsh neon lighting until otherwise noted.  The one in front, (looking like the security he is) is a large green orc covered in runic tattoos and wearing lots of bone jewelry with symbols and runes carved into them.  On his lower half he’s wearing fatigue’s and boots, on his upper half he just wears a plate carrier.  He carries a military looking rifle thar can be based on a real rifle or something made up.  Behind him is a being in a trench coated. His head is a flaming skull stuffed in a fishbowl helmet.  There are tubes and wires coming out of the back of the helmet running down to boxy satchel slung over his shoulder like an oversized purse.  You can’t see his hands in this shot, but when you do se them they are robotic.  Behind him are two individuals.  A chubby man (Dwane) with long hair that’s been dyed blond, the dark roots are starting to show.  He carries a very basic rifle with a wood stock and scope.  There are runes carved in the stock.  Next to him is a dumpy looking female (Halley).  She also has died blond hair.  We can see that they have elfin ears, but if they are ever shown close up, you should be able to see that the ears are bad plastic surgery that are pretty scarred. They are both wearing what looks like Adidas track suits, but instead of the three stripes running down the sides it’s one solid white with intermittent arcane symbols.

Andi (OP):  There here.  Looks like 4 of them.

 Panel 2.

We are up on a rooftop looking down at a sniper who’s looking down through her scope.  She has blond hair, a nice red jacket with tight black pants.  If we can see her ears, she’s an elf with delicate but aloof features.  

Joni:  I see them.  The heavy looks like he’s wearing some serious runic protection.

 Panel 3.

We are inside a dingy hotel room.  There is a girl, Andi, looking through the monocular holding a walkie-talkie.  She has a short pixie cut and is wear jeans, a hoody (hood up), and a black pair of Chucks.  We may or may not be able to see it, but she has a 1911 strapped to her right hip.  She is facing left looking out the window in front of her. Off to her right sits a large shadowy figure we only see in silhouette.  This is Ed.  He has a massive shaggy head.  He’s definitely not human.  

Ed:    I can take him!

 Page 2

 Panel 1.

Andi looking over at us with a serious look on her face.

Andi:  Not yet.  I need you to concentrate Ed.  Do you remember the plan?

Ed (OP):  I remember.

Andi:  Good.

 Panel 2.

Andi talking into the walkie-talkie again.

Andi:  You think you can take him out?

Joni (OP):  Possibly.

Andi:  …sigh…  You ready Matthew?

 Panel 3.

On a back-alley balcony. We see what looks like the moth man with a mohawk dressed like an 80’s punker.  His wings stick out of the back of a jean battle vest covered with patches and pins.  He wear’s no pants or shoes.  Definitely a guy who’s down to talk about how The Man is keeping him down.  He’s holding a mechanical device about the size of a bowling ball that has a satchel sling that he wears over his shoulder while he talks into his walkie-talkie.

Matthew:  You take out the heavy and I am.

 Panel 4.

Close up of Andi talking into her walkie-talkie.

Andi:  10-4.  Joni, take the shot.  Ed, get ready just in case.

 Page 3

 Panel 1.

Side shot of Joni looking through her rifle. She is very put together.  Flashy earrings and her nails are manicured.

 Panel 2

We are looking at the orc through Joni’s scope.  The cross hairs are on the orc’s forehead.

Joni:  Damn…

 Panel 3.

Glory shot of the orc.

Joni (OP):  …you are a big boy.

 Page 4

 Panel 1.

Close up on Joni’s finger pulling the trigger.  

Sfx:  tkk

 Panel 2.

SFX:  BOOM  

The sound effect is attached to the previous panels tkk sound effect to show they are happening almost simultaneously.  

 Panel 3.

The orcs head being slammed back from the impact of the bullet.   Mouth open spittle flying.  No blood.

 Panel 4.

Close on Joni squinting through her scope.

Joni:  He’s down.

 Page 5

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi looking through her binoculars out the window.

Andi:  But is he out?

 Panel 2.

The orc angrily siting up.

Andi (OP):  Nope!  Not out.

 Panel 3.

The orc is getting up pointing back at the skull guy.

Orc:  Get him out of here!

 Panel 4.

Andi yelling at the dark shape that is Ed while she gestures at the window.

Andi:  You got you’re wish.  Go!

 Page 6

 Panel 1.

We finally see Ed.  He is leaping through the window to attack the orc below.  He is surrounded by shards of glass that glitter and reflect the surrounding neon.  He has a large muscular man body with head of a maned lion. He is wearing jeans and boots.  Around his neck is a large green crystal on a heavy gold chain.  

 Page 7

 Panel 1.

The blonds are grabbing skull head escorting/dragging him back towards the door.

Guy 1:  Come on boss, let’s go!

Skull:  I am not running from his goons!  Dwane, take care that sniper! Halley, give Orson some focus!

 Panel 2

Ed landing in front of the orc

 Panel 3

Skull head has his robotic hand on the female (Halley) blond in the track suit’s shoulder as she shoots blue bolts of energy at Orson the orc.  The Dwane is aiming up and off panel firing his AR looking rifle.

Panel 4

Joni is taking fire from street level.  She is grabbing her rifle backing away from the bullets pinging around her.  

 Page 8

 Panel 1

Ed flying towards the Orson the orc who looks like he’s more muscular than before as he’s being energized in blue lighting from off panel.

 Page 9

 Panel 1.

Caption:  The day before.

We see Andi sitting in a very nice office.  Behind the desk in front of her is a goblin (Heezer) in a suit.

Andi:  Absolutely not. The job is worth twice that if not more.

 Panel 2.

Close up on a smug mockingly apologetic Heezer:

Heezer:  I’m sorry Andi.  Maybe last year when you had a reputation.  Now… well, you’re welcome to go find employment somewhere else.  Maybe someone else is willing to take a risk on you without Ed.

Panel 3.

Close up on an angry looking Andi.

Andi:  Damn you Heezer!  Ed is still part of the crew.  

Panel 4.

Smug looking Heezer.

Heezer:  Tell you what, bring Edward in here and I’ll double the price.

Panel 5.

Close up on a furious Andi.

Andi:  Damn you Heezer!

Panel 6.

Close up on a sneering Heezer.

Heezer:  Rebuild your reputation.  Bring me the artifact.  

 Page 10  

 Panel 1.

We see Andi running down some stairs.  The walls are covered in graffiti.  She is screaming into her walkie-talkie.  

Andi:  Matthew, get down there and shut the artifact down!

Panel 2.

Matthew fiddling with his doohickey as he talks on the walkie-talkie.  

Matthew:  I’m not going down there you have Ed clear the way.

Panel 3.

We se the Orc who is in full on hulk mode giving Ed an uppercut that is knocking him straight up into the air.

Panel 4.

Andi bursting through a graffiti covered door into the alley.  

Andi:  Damn it Matthew, we need that him down now!

Panel 5.

Andi running towards the battle between Ed and Orson.  

Andi:  Nobody get’s paid unless we turn in the artifact!  Do your damn jobs!

 Page 11

 Panel 1.

We see Matthew talking into his walkie-talkie looking off panel.

Matthew:  It’s way to hairy down there for me.  At least have Joni take out the sniper.

Panel 2.

Joni crouching behind a larger roof mounted air conditioner that is taking in coming fire.

Joni: Incoming fire always has the right of way!

Panel 3.

Orson is on top of Ed just beating the hell out of him.

Panel 4.

Full body shot of Andy pulling off her hood. She looks pissed.  We see tentacles starting to manifest through her clothing.

Andi:  Do I have to do everything myself?

 Page 12

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi’s hands she is flexing it into a claw as a tentacle starts to appear from her wrist.  This can be one or two panels showing each hand and tentacle set. Depends how artists feel the overall page should flow

Panel 2.

Andi now has tentacles coming out from each wrist one from each thigh lifting her off the ground. The tentacles ignore clothes and where the state from the body they are semi-transparent.  She is reaching out with her tentacles grabbing at Orson. Pulling him off of Ed by the throat.

 Page 13

 Panel 1.

The flaming skull points off panel ordering Halley to attack Andi.

Skull:  Stop her!

Panel 2.

Halley is firing Red bolts of lightning from her hands now. Skully still has his hands on her shoulder.

Panel 3.

Andi who is holding Orson in the air is being engulfed in red lightning from off panel. It doesn’t feel good to either her or Orson.

 Page 14

 Panel 1.

Close up on Andi’s face as she wears a grimace of pain from electrocution.

Andi:  Damn it Matthew!

Panel 2.

A bloody looking Ed looking of panel with furry in his eyes.

Ed:  Grrr!

Panel 3.  

Ed rushing towards Skully and Halley.

Skully:  Dwane!

Panel 4.

Dwane now firing at Ed.

Ed getting hit by rifle fire.  The bullets ripping into Ed aren’t going to kill him, but they aren’t making him happy.

 Page 15

 Panel 1.

Joni popping up from behind the shredded air conditioner starting to aim off panel.

Joni:  Finally!

Panel 2.

Andi has released Orson and has brought all four tentacles in front of her to use as a shield to block the red electricity from Dwane.  

Panel 3.

Orson who no longer looks like he’s in Hulk mode without the blue electricity, has recovered from being strangled by Joni is rushing back to grabbing a shot up and bleeding Ed.

 Page 16

 Panel 1.

Close up on Joni looking at us through her rifle scope.

Joni:  Se ya poser.  

Panel 2.

Dwane getting blasted back by a shot to the chest.  It’s lifting him off his feet a bit.

Joni (OP): Gotcha!  You’re up Matthew!

Panel 3.

Matthew finally getting up off his railing, palming the doohickey like a basketball.

Matthew:  Fine.

Panel 4.

Matthew flying down towards Skully.

 Page 17

 Panel 1.

We see Orson and Ed locked in battle. Orson is definitely on the losing end of things.  In the background is Skully and Halley throwing electricity.

 Page 18

Panel 1

Matthew landing at Skully’s feet who still has his hand on Halley who is firing electricity of panel. She doesn’t notice Matthew, but Skully is looking down at Matthew.  

Panel 2.

Matthew looking up at us pressing a button on the doohickey.

SFX:  click

Matthew:  Hi.

Panel 3

Mathew leaping off panel leaving the doohickey at Skully’s feet. Skully is watching him leave.

Panel 4.

Skully looking down at the doohickey.

Skully:  What the-

Panel 5.

SFX (big

bold lettering): CLICK!

 Page 19

 Panel 1.

All neon light is out in the alley.  It’s not completely dark, but there isn’t much light anymore.  Skully is collapsing next to a surprised looking Halley.

Skully:  Damn it!

Panel 2.

Andi is pulling out her .45 as she runs past Ed who is literally tearing out Orson’s throat with his teeth.

Andi: Damn it Edward! You don’t eat people!  We’ve talked about this!

Panel 3.

We are looking up at a blood-soaked Ed who looks sorry.  

Ed:  Sorry Andi...

Panel 4.

Andi standing in front of Haley aiming her gun at her. Halley stands there her hands out like she might shoot more electricity of them, but she looks very unsure.  Skully lays in a crumpled heap at her feet.  

Andi: Stand down.  If you get your boyfriend to a hospital now, they might be able to save him.

 Page 20

 Panel 1.

We are behind Halley looking down at Dwane who is clutching his chest laying in a pool of his own blood.

Halley:  He’s… my husband.

Andi (OP):  Well you’re gonna’ be his widow if you don’t get a move on.

Panel 2.

Andi looking down at Skully talking on her walkie-talkie.  Behind her is Halley who is trying to deal with her husband.

Andi:  Everyone, re-group on me.

Panel 3.

Andi is reaching down on us as if we were Skully.

Andi:  For what it ‘s worth, you were worth a lot more than 500 credits.

Panel 4.

Andi is now holding the fishbowl helmet that holds the helmet.  Ed is approaching off panel.

Skully:  500 credits!?  Heezer is a cheap bastard, but that’s ridiculous!

Panel 5.

Andi handing Skully and the satchel he’s connected to, to Ed.

Andi:  Take him to the truck, I’ll be there in a second.

 Page 21.

 Panel 1.

Joni and Matthew walking up to Andi.  In the background we see Halley trying to drag her husband off by the armpits.  

Andi:  Ed and are taking the artifact in for payment.  Meet us back at the shop for payment.  I want an itemized list of expenses from both of you.

Panel 2.

Andi pointing at Joni.

Andi:  I heard two shots, don’t bill me for anything more.

Joni: Whatever Andi. I’ll bill you for the shots I took. Just like always.

Andi: Yeah.

Panel 3.

No Andi is pointing at Matthew.

Andi: We are a team.  I expect a little quicker response time out of you.

Panel 4.

Close up on Matthew.

Matthew:  Pay me what I’m worth and maybe you’ll get a team player.

Andi: I pay you according to what I get payed.  Step it up, and maybe we’ll get payed more.

Panel 5.

Both Matthew and Joni walking away in separate directions leaving Joni to stand there.

Matthew: Whatever.  Don’t blame us for your problems. I’m not taking a bullet for this outfit.  

 Page 22

 Panel 1

Ed is carrying Skully as he approaches a very banged up A-Haul moving truck.

Skully:  Huh, haven’t seen that in a long time.

Panel 2.

Ed lifting the door to the back of the truck. Skully is looking at the crystal that hangs from his neck.

Skully:  The amulet of Oondar.

Panel 3.

Ed sitting down sulking in the back of the truck.

Ed:  It’s the Crystal of Skoor.

Skully: Skoor must have stolen it from Oondar.  I should know, I made it for Oondar.

Panel 4.

Close up on a sulky looking Ed.

Ed:  Shut up.  You don’t know jack.

Panel 5.

Close up on the grinning skull.

Skully:  If you say so my good Guardian.

 Page 23

 Panel 1.

A confused looking Ed.

Ed:  What did you call me?

Panel 2.

Andi his getting into the drivers set of the truck now.

Andi:  Edward!  Quit chatting with the artifact.  Are we good to go to Heezer straight away, or do I need to stop off at the infirmary first?

Ed:  What?

Panel 3.

Close up on an annoyed looking Andi.

Andi:  Payment or infirmary Edward!  Which is it?

Ed:  Oh… Uh payment is fine.  I’m healing ok, I guess.

Panel 4.

We are looking through the windshield of the truck.  Andi looks like she is in a really bad mood.

Andi:  Well that’s something at least.  

Panel 5.

The truck driving off.

Andi (OP):  Maybe we’ll even break even on this one.  

[takaraphoenix]

For the fake exes prompt, Hijack with the house egging prompt?

‘im egging your house for a dare but your parent is a cop and they’re yelling at me so i told them that you were my ex and you wronged me and now you’re coming outside and please go along with this i don’t want to go to jail’ au

It was Halloween. Not necessarily Hiccup's favorite holiday, it was just too loud. He had never been much of a fan. So he was laying on his bed, sketching dragons while his younger step-brother was pacing the room, trying to put on his costume.

"You're a... marshmallow?", asked Hiccup curiously.

"What. No. I'm a robot", grunted Hiro offended. "You know, that big thing Tadashi is building."

Putting his sketch-book down, Hiccup took a closer look. "Right. You kind of do look like Baymax. Heh. That's adorable. Somehow, I expected something... less adorable from you."

"Why? He's our adorable little baby brother, Hiccup."

Hiro turned to glare fiercely at Tadashi as the oldest Haddock-Hamada brother was leaning against the doorway of the bedroom. Hiccup smiled faintly at them and picked his pencil up again. He loved his brothers very dearly. They had met through Hiro, who kept getting into trouble and kept getting himself and Tadashi, who always tried to bail him out, arrested. Repeatedly. Stoick Haddock, Hiccup's father, was the captain of the police station. Him and Cass Hamada started talking, about being single-parents, about their nerdy sons. And then they started talking outside of the police station, started dating. Now, Hiccup had a loving mother and two brothers.

"But you're not using Halloween as an excuse to go to another one of your bot-fights, right?"

"Tada—ashi, have some faith in your adorable little baby brother!", exclaimed Hiro offended.

Both Tadashi and Hiccup gave him an utterly unimpressed look at that, until he cracked. "Okay, okay, your accusations are not unfunded, however I actually do have plans with my friends."

"Friends", echoed Tadashi in disbelief, shaking his head. "My little baby brother, finally having friends. What are your plans then, Hiro?"

"Miguel is having a karaoke party at his place. Ever since his grandma stopped hating music, it's always a blast at their place", replied Hiro excitedly, bouncing a little.

"...Who's all going?", asked Hiccup curiously, exchanging a look with Tadashi.

"Well, Cupcake's coming. And Pippa. Monty. The twins, Caleb and Claude...", drawled Hiro.

"A—and Jamie Bennett?", asked both Tadashi and Hiccup at the same time.

"I mean, of course he is", grumbled Hiro, trying to hide his blush. "Whatever. I have places to be and cool people to hang out with. You two... stay here, be nerds, whatever."

His older brothers laughed while Hiro stormed out of the room. Teasing him was most definitely the most fun. Tadashi tilted his head as he looked at Hiccup, until Hiccup put his pen down again.

"What is it, Dashi?", asked Hiccup.

"Nothing. Just... wondering what your plans are", replied Tadashi casually before sitting down on the edge of Hiccup's bed. "Fred's throwing a costume-party. Everyone will be there. You could... come along too, you know. They'd be happy to see you."

"They're primarily your friends", grunted Hiccup and rolled his eyes.

"Okay. And why aren't you doing something with your friends then?", challenged Tadashi.

Hiccup paused at that. He had friends. But... if he was being honest, contact with them had kind of... run out, a bit. All his friends – Astrid, Snotlout, Tuffnut and Ruffnut – had gone to the sports-college. Astrid even had a boyfriend now; Eret. Hiccup should probably spend more time with his friends, but he felt like they were drifting apart; different interests, different colleges. As happened a lot with high school friendships, guessed Hiccup. Fishlegs, he was attending SFIT. The two had always been best friend, but nowadays Fishlegs was quite distracted with his new girlfriend – Heather, a girl Astrid had befriended in college. Hiccup... had a crush; one that wasn't going to lead anywhere anyway either so that wasn't an issue.

"C'mon, Hiccup. You can't spend all evening cooped up here", prodded Tadashi. "It's Halloween."

"You say that like it means something to me", drawled Hiccup dryly. "I am... not a fan of this day. You, go and dress up and have fun with the others. I'm happy right here."

Tadashi heaved a defeated sigh. "Okay, okay. I give up. Enjoy your solitude."

Hiccup rolled his eyes as Tadashi finally left. He was perfectly fine being right here. He didn't need to be among many people. He knew if the twins were there, there was going to be a lot of alcohol and nonsense and also it was kind of a frat party... which... especially when one wasn't even from that college, didn't seem very appealing. His mind wandered a little. His kind of crush had asked him to go trick or treating, but Jack was going with his own friends and Hiccup would feel awkward being kind of a fifth wheel there. Still, the idea of seeing Jack in a costume – any costume...

Hiccup blushed and glared at his drawing. He had been drawing Jack. Again. He kept doing that. It wasn't his fault; Jack was... amazing. Jackson Overland-St. North. The adopted son of their newest teacher at SFIT – Nicholas St. North, an absolute genius inventor. Jack was attending the art-college, where Honey Lemon was going too (and Cass insisted Hiccup should go too, but Hiccup focused on his education at SFIT, dual studies seemed just too much).

Jack was breathtaking, with his sparkly brown eyes and messy hazel hair, that mischievous, impish grin of his. And oh, he was so talented. And cheeky. Whenever he came over to SFIT, mostly to visit his adopted father and bring him lunch. They talked. Sometimes, Jack and Hiccup. And Hiccup, he had developed the biggest crush on Jack, only that he didn't know how to say it.

His pen scratched sharply over the paper as he heard loud noises from downstairs.

/break\

"I dare you to egg the house."

"Eugene, no", sighed Rapunzel, shaking her head at her boyfriend.

Eugene just grinned broadly and kissed his girlfriend's cheek before turning toward their shared best friend. "C'mon, Jack. It totally is your turn. It'll be fun."

And Jack allowed himself to be dared into it. Only that when the owners noticed and came out, there was a brief moment of utter terror overcoming both Jack and Eugene. That was the police captain, Stoick Haddock. Not only captain of the police station where Jack and Eugene may or may not be semi-regular guests for entirely unjustified reasons (minor pranks! And graffiti should not count as vandalism in Jack's opinion), he was also a wall of a man, so tall and broad. His upper arms were the size of Jack's head! Absolutely terrified did the boys stand there.

"What is the meaning of this?", barked Stoick out.

His wife, Cass Hamada (oh no. She was friends with Toothiana. Jack was never going to hear the end of this!), was right behind him, looking both concerned and disappointed. Eugene winced and tried to hide behind Jack, who just rolled his eyes at him. This was a problem. It became even more of a problem when Hiccup Haddock joined them outside – and oh. Maybe Jack should have seen the relations between Captain Haddock and Jack's crush... Jack winced.

"Did you brats seriously just egg the house of the police captain?", grunted Stoick unimpressed.

"I... I... I...", stammered Jack in distress. "I did it because Hiccup broke my heart."

Everyone stared at him in utter surprise at that, especially Hiccup. Jack tried to convey his intention to the other boy. Maybe Stoick would have pity with him – Cass certainly would – if they thought this was about a bad breakup. Please. He couldn't be taken to the precinct again. Nick and Toothiana had a limit to how often they were willing to bail him out...

"What? Hiccup!", exclaimed Cass, sounding very disappointed. "Why would you-"

There was silence for a moment as Hiccup stared at Jack pointedly, before he caved. "Yes. I... broke up with him because there was this... big project I had to work on. I had no time for distraction."

"Distraction?" The disappointment seemed to grow. "Hiccup Haddock, you will go and apologize to this boy and right that. I know your studies are very important to you, but you can't keep neglecting your social life. I expect that boy to come over for dinner next week!"

She ushered Hiccup outside before, impressively enough, dragging Stoick back inside before he could put his two cents in. Hiccup looked kind of lost as he approached Jack, Eugene and Rapunzel.

"That is one way of getting a boyfriend", noted Eugene surprised. "I mean, she definitely expects the two of you to 'get back together'. Come on, Raps, let's check on Lance and leave them to it."

Rapunzel smiled amused at Jack before the couple left. Blushing, Jack ducked his head when he noticed how much Hiccup was staring at him. And okay, he did look different. White-dyed hair, blue contacts, make-up to make him look paler than normal.

"Who... are you?", asked Hiccup softly. "I mean, the costume."

"I'm... Periwinkle", muttered Jack embarrassed, tugging on his fairy-wing. "Jamie's little sister wanted to be Tinkerbell but she didn't want to do it alone. My little sister dressed up as Bobble. You know, from the Tinkerbell movies. Periwinkle is Tinkerbell's snow-fairy-twin."

Hiccup nodded, his own cheeks red too. "That's... really cute. I mean, of you, for the girls."

"Yeah, we took them trick or treating. They're with... Eugene's friend Lance", nodded Jack slowly. "So... all of that was very embarrassed. I'm sorry, that was the first thing that came to my mind."

"It's... okay. I don't know how to explain to my mom that we 'didn't make up', but..."

"I mean we could just... you know...", suggested Jack with a daring look on his face. "Get together."

"...What", whispered Hiccup stunned.

"Do you wanna go out with me?", clarified Jack, cheeks red. "I... uh... like you."

"I like you too", replied Hiccup, ruffling his hair. "I'd... heh. I'd really like that."

Smiling brightly, Jack leaned in to kiss Hiccup's cheek before taking his hand. "C'mon. We're trick or treating and afterward, we're meeting at Moana's."

"What? I'm not even in costume, I-", protested Hiccup, just to be tugged along.

"Why? You're dressed as Hot Nerd. It's one of the top costumes of the year", teased Jack.

Hiccup simply sputtered as he was being pulled along, unable to argue with his boyfriend.

[sibilantwhisper]

My full piece for the @blackguardfanzine ( Which you can snag a free copy of here ) Had a blast working on it; not only did it involve drawing my best girl on her worst behavior but a lot of impressions I wanted to give off from the graffiti on the shutters to the acid in the drum, even the palette of colors - I’m hella pleased with the results. Hope you fellow Mina fans enjoy. I also wrote a fic for the zine, called Viral Valentine on Ao3. Check it out if you love a good hostage and torture situation.

[landeg]

31 Days of Apex: A Retrospection

I participated in the incredible #31DaysOfApex challenge hosted on Twitter, where fans created new content for every day of July based on a one-word prompt. I’ve signed up for/started lots of similar challenges in the past but always ended up having to drop out or trail off before the end... but this time, I managed to complete something for every day of the challenge!

My only goal was to make something by each day’s deadline, and it was a really interesting exercise both in technical skill and also in my management of not only my time, but my expectations and energy. Below, I go into more detail behind each piece.

To preface; the beginning of this challenge coincided with the beginning of a new personal time-management exercise where, for 5/7 days a week, I would only go on the computer at night. Combined with the deadline, this had an interesting effect on my time management and the quality of certain pieces.

Day 1 - Memory

From the start, I wanted to use the challenge as an opportunity to do more studies and to push myself wherever possible. This was the first piece I did and I had more time to work on it, so I used it as a digital painting study. I still think it’s a strong piece and it’s probably my favourite of the month. Symbolically, this character’s backstory doesn’t match up with her own memories, so the idea is she’s missing information she can’t quite place or remember, and this both scares and comforts her.

Day 2 - Blood

Another digital painting and lighting study that didn’t work out as well as the first, mostly due to time constraints meaning I couldn’t scrap it and start again. While I don’t like how it turned out, I did learn a lot. The character on the right is a field medic, and my intent was to show the calm after a successful rescue.

Day 3 - Mercy

Some days I relied more on the humour of a piece’s concept than the skill of its execution, though I also liked how this piece turned out artistically. After two days of intense studies, though, this was very quick and easy for me to turn out as it relied on existing skills.

Day 4 - Prize

This one thankfully came together very quickly, which I credit to the two previous painting studies making it much easier to achieve what I wanted. The character is searching for the disembodied head of the man who killed her parents, who is now acting as a robot, hence the vaguely half-machine-half-human silhouette in her hand.

Day 5 - Family

Another quick, simple illustration under a time crunch. The character framed by the nameless foreground figures has no memory of herself or her family.

Day 6 - Noise

For some pieces where I was under a time crunch, I experimented in an opposite direction; instead of studies, I played loosely with different techniques/brushes/etc to see what came out. This was a lineless style I ended up employing a lot when short on time. The piece pictured here was just one of four alternate colourways, presented in a pop-art style. The character is almost always depicted with thick coverings over her ears, so I thought she might be sensitive to auditory overload. This particular piece was retweeted by the character’s voice actress!

Day 7 - Mask

More relying on humour for lack of time/a better idea. A fun experiment in colour, though.

Day 8 - Healing

Another technically “easy” piece but with a stronger concept. It was actually pretty hard to get the reflection & condensation elements balanced right. The character pictured has a narrative thread relating to an old ex he has trouble moving on from.

Day 9 - Weapon

While obviously another joke, and made to be finished quickly, it was surprisingly difficult to get the duct tape and knife to read clearly without over-cluttering the lineless image. This little ‘bot is a drone used by one of the playable characters to hack areas of the map; it’s not NORMALLY an offensive weapon. This image was promo’d in a video stream by the character’s voice actor!

Day 10 - Truth

I only had less than an hour to finish this one by the deadline, but I still tried to experiment with silhouette and colour. It was surprisingly hard to get the interior silhouette to be legible. The outer silhouette is a playable character (not easily readible unless you’re familiar with his design) and the inner silhouette is his sister, whose disappearance he is trying to investigate.

Day 11 - Shield

A fun, self-indulgent one. Had a blast simplifying the game’s characters down into little caricatures. The character in the centre has abilities related to shields and protection, so many other people were drawing him for the prompt; I wanted to try and flip it, so I picked other characters he would be friendly with, and picked a non-lethal, lighthearted setting.

Day 12 - Ruins

Short on time so did a quick lighting study. A recent game plot has changed one of the areas of the map, submerging it in water and leaving it to “ruin”.

Day 13 - Hero

Another painting study. Really didn’t like how this one turned out, but had to turn in something, and I did learn a lot in the process. If I’d had more time I probably would’ve scrapped it and started again. This characters had recently been revealed to have been manipulated by another character who used gas-based offenses, whom she admired.

Day 14 - Rest

I was going to be away from mt computer until after the deadline, so I decided to make a traditional piece. I ended up enjoying it so much I tried to take the time to do a few more traditional pieces later. This piece was sort of a comedy of errors; I had to do it while I was out, and the pen I had brought with me to ink my sketch ran out, so I had to make do with a blue ballpoint pen, and I was missing several colours of coloured pencil. I think the finished piece reflects how rushed it was, and it did’t meet my concept, but I do still like it.

Day 15 - Skull

Another quick one but I wanted to experiment with a different line style. Wanted a sort of “graffiti” effect. One of this character’s skins includes a skull-shaped mask.

Day 16 - Growth

Extremely quick play on words because I didn’t have the time to work on anything meaningful and couldn’t think of anything better!

Day 17 - Home

Another traditional piece, this time by choice and with more time. Markers. It looks extremely like some janky art school homework on 2 point perspective because it extremely is. Perspective and backgrounds are very difficult for me - they just don’t “click” - but I had a lot of fun with this one. I kept my mistakes intact because I didn’t want to edit it too much. A lot about the technical perspective is wrong, but I think I achieved the “mood” I wanted. This location is a bar owned by one of the player characters where many of the other characters are shown to meet.

Day 18 - Sky

Very happy with how this one turned out, even though there are still lots of problems. Markers again. There’s a lot I would fix next time, and I think technically it’s lacking, but there are some specific areas I feel happy to have achieved, such as the almost brushed texture of the curved metal above his shoulder and the values of the shadow/reflections on the underside of the head piece. I’m also happy with how I was able to draw from my shoulder rather than my wrist when inking the curved lines, something I struggle with.

Day 19 - Target

An experiment in pushing the lineless style I’d already been playing with for a stronger likeness. The pose and expression in this could both be pushed more but I like the result. This character had just learned that one of the other players, whom she had trusted, was actually sharing her secrets with her enemy, and she didn’t know which one it was.

Day 20 - Friendship

I had this one concepted from when I first looked over the prompts. It was a fun challenge trying to simplify all the elements into the lineless, blocky style while being legible. This character has a strained relationship with one of his friends, and finally pushed her too far with his selfishness, and she now no longer responds to him.

Day 21 - Scar

Quick joke. This character was introduced briefly as a red herring for another character before being killed off. He was stabbed through the chest by another character’s hand, hence the scar pattern.

Day 22 - Dream

I wasn’t sure about this one while I was making it but I ended up liking how it turned out. I wanted to capture the character’s robotic legs bent at an unnaturally straight 90 degrees, like a Barbie doll. The flat background and lighting make it feel like an indoor stage. The little “electric sheep” are inspired by iDogs.

Day 23 - Meal

After a few days of not having time to really spend on any piece, it was fun to get to spend time on concepting and composing this. I always admired these kinds of watercolour-like food illustrations and this is the first time I’ve had any success in creating one myself. I concepted and sketched out the individual items traditionally before working out the composition within the box digitally. Each food item/utensil is inspired by the different characters’ design elements. Only two of the now-current characters are excluded due to plot reasons. In particular, I like how one of the character’s dome-shaped shields acts as the base and cover of the box.

Day 24 - Hobby

Wasn’t a fan of how this one turned out. I think the likeness is a bit off, and his facial anatomy is skewed. But I also like how the general composition, tone, and bee turned out. This character’s concept art originally imagined them as a beekeeper who would use smoke to fight.

Day 25 - Fear

An incredibly rushed piece that I intended to go back in and add more detail to, similar to day 4, but I actually took a step back and decided I liked the blocky, flat-colour version. This character is the youngest of four, all of whom are MIA or worse, along with his father, and his mother is losing her memory. He’s talking to her through a handheld holographic device. This piece gained more traction, most likely thanks to the subject matter since this is a popular character.

Day 26 - Holiday

I didn’t want to do a religious holiday like Christmas or Easter. A lot of other people also interpreted the prompt as a vacation, but I had already done a sort of “beach vacation” piece for day 11, so I instead went for a “public holiday” and chose NYE/NYD. This was fairly quick but the lighting was an interesting experiment. I knew this one wouldn’t be as popular because it wasn’t as “flattering” but I personally really like it. The girl on the left is kind of goofy and completely un-self-conscious and I think it’s captured here.

Day 27 - Music

Really didn’t like how this one turned out. I don’t think the likeness is good at all, the lighting is poor, and the gold detailing feels lazy. But I liked other elements, such as the pose and the clothing.

Day 28 - Treasure

This is my least favourite of the entire month, but I also had the least time available to work on it before the deadline so I had no opportunity to scrap it and start over, which I sorely wanted to do. The likeness is terrible, but more than that the base anatomy is off, the pose is stiff, and the lighting/colours are cheap. I wish I could’ve done better by this character; but, I am glad I had something finished at all.

Day 29 - Skin

This was probably my third attempt at this picture and I’m still not happy with it, but again, I had to finish something. I almost considered scrapping the concept entirely and choosing something easier but ended up seeing it through. The concept itself is actually recycled from an older piece of mine for an entirely different fandom, because I didn’t think I did it justice then, either. Would still like to revisit this concept with this character and take more time.

Day 30 - Trust

After a few days of feeling really dissatisfied and uncomfortable with the art I’d been making, I finally more time to dedicate to a piece, and I’m overall happy with how this one turned out. I decided to go for a different medium entirely with pixel art, which also gave me the opportunity to try and animate it. I started off confident and then started to get worried towards the end, but all the elements came together when I added the portal colour effects. This is an alternate reality version of one of the player characters, who appears through a portal and allows that character to escape the facility she’s being kept in, encouraging them to trust the “voices” she hears which are actually versions of herself trying to help her. This piece was retweeted by the official Apex Legends Twitter account!

Day 31 - Freestyle

I had this planned out early in the challenge and I’m really, really happy with how it turned out. It’s probably tied with my favourite along with the very first piece (how fitting). I was worried about how I was going to capture the movement without over-complicating the lineart, having so many people in one image, etc. before I realised the focus was entirely on gesture, and then everything clicked. I went for a thicker brush, which forced me to conserve my lines, and tried to simplify each character down to the bare minimum needed to recognise them. They’re also all wearing new non-canonical outfits so I used their familiar colour schemes for the same purpose. It’s not perfect, but I love it, and it’s everything I’d hoped I’d be able to end the challenge on.

I really, really enjoyed the entire month and the way it tied in with my new time management schedule. It gave me some achievable short-term goals which added up to this long-term achievement I can now look back on; I learned a lot both about balancing my energy and about technical skills, I found ways to stay motivated, and most importantly I learned to not get caught up on the individual slip-ups and pieces I didn’t like as much and to instead focus on the bigger picture. Thank you to everyone involved in organising and supporting this event! I found so many other incredible fanartists, writers, and content creators through this challenge and I can’t wait to see the bonus content released over August!

[kathyprior4200]

Hazbin Hotel: That’s (Alastor’s) Entertainment!

“The Pilot is here! Follow Alastor, the Radio Demon as he pursues his goals of taking over Hell and messing with demons to keep his reputation intact. After seeing Princess Charlie announce her plan to rehabilitate sinners at her hotel, he arrives at the hotel to assist her. Along the way he meets porn film star Angel Dust and Charlie’s devoted girlfriend Vaggie. While Alastor seeks out new forms of entertainment, he also seems to have more sinister plans in mind.”

 The scene started with black curtains opening to a silhouette of a city. The words SpindleHorse Presents was written in white cursive before fading away.

 The building shadows were against a gray background with eye designs on it.

 A man with a radio voice sang a song.

 “At the end of the tunnel, there’s craziness.”

 A figure of a person was falling downwards through the darkness until ending at a tunnel of light. Shadows of demons falling into Hell were shown: Baxter, Angel Dust, Sir Pentious, Niffty, Robo Fizz, and others.

  “And to meet me, how often one dies…”

 A silhouette of a human man with glasses and short hair looked to the left, speaking from a microphone with one hand while using a knife in the other. To the far left were cowering human silhouettes.  A white smile shape was shown were the man’s mouth was.

 The man turned to the right in a running motion where a shadow of a policeman, a hunter and a growling dog were staring at him. The dog bared its shadow teeth and the two men aimed long shadow guns at him. Black splatters appeared from near the shadow man’s head and the figure collapsed to the ground.

 “Yes my life is a game

 Just a quest for fame…

 And my foes all smashed up like flies…”

   White spinning silhouettes of Exterminators, weapons pointed, flew around the shadow city, as a glowing pentagram was created in the center.

 The shadow of the killer man appeared again, this time growing shadow deer ears and little antlers. His eyes were glowing red and a shadow staff appeared in his hand.

 The killer stood small within the towering shadow of a man with large antlers and glowing red eyes: his father. A woman wearing a dress and her hair in a bun stood off to the side with a hand on his shoulder: his mother.

 “Why have I always been such a killer?”

 “What can the reason be?”

 Tentacles and sharp mouths overtook the scene.

  “I wonder if the world’s to blame

I wonder if it could be me…”

 A spinning globe was surrounded by large watching white eyes. Rising up were silhouettes of the Exterminators, grinning faces, xs over their right eyes, stained with blood, holding swords and spears. One Exterminator grinned as its white face, eyes, smile, and halo glowed in the darkness before fading.

 In Hell, a small planet had a glowing pentagram on it in the crimson colored sky. “Fuck you Heaven!” and “cleanse!” were written in red graffiti by a broken window. A paper with an Exterminator drawing blew away. Other red signs read “Punishment” and “Your days are numbered,” in big letters. Spears stuck out of dead demon’s mouths in the street. A light spun around from a tower.

 Another Extermination had ended. Dead bodies of demons and horned creatures littered the streets. Some of them had spears through their open mouths. Charlie had sadly strolled on her balcony and shot fireworks from her finger to signal that it was safe. Everyone gradually emerged from inside buildings and other hideouts. Already, turf wars were in full swing as demons fought over new territory. Other denizens disposed of the bodies while the more sinister ones ate them.

 One sinister demon was tall and slender, with grayish skin. He wore a red suit, red dress coat and wine colored pants. His shoes were black with red hoof prints on the soles. The dress coat was dark red and decorated with small vertical lighter red stripes. His undershirt was lighter red with a black upside down cross design. A black bow-tie with a red center was below his long neck. Finally, his thick hair was red and black, with fluffy deer-like tuffs poking from his head like ears. Two small black antlers were between them. He even had a red and black deer tail, which was hidden under the fabric of his suit. An oval monocle was under his right eye, connected by a chain. His large glowing red eyes and smile of sharp yellow teeth was enough to scare even the toughest demon away…and for good reason.

 He was Alastor, the Radio Demon, one of the most feared and powerful overlords in Hell. Possessing supernatural abilities and shadow manipulation, he had conquering many areas of Hell and defeated overlords who had been in power for years. Using a red vintage style microphone staff, he could broadcast his carnage and victories at will, hence why sinners called him the Radio Demon. He thrived on domination, trickery, and deceit…always in search for the next entertaining event. Alastor’s dark qualities were balanced out by his love of music, dancing, singing, and the finer things in life.

 Emerging from his underground lair in the shadow spirit realm via portal, Alastor sang a merry song as passerby cowered when he approached. It was around the same time when Charlie sang her lament.

   “At the end of the tunnel, there’s craziness

And to meet me, how often one dies

Yes my life is a game

Just a quest for fame

And my foes all smashed up like flies”

  “Why have I always been such a killer?

What can the reason be?

I wonder if the world’s to blame

I wonder if it could be me?”

  “I’m always seeking power

 Basking in light, for the show

 My schemes match up to my dreams

 No one else shall know”

 “Some people mope and find sadness

 I always laugh and show my grin

 Some people fail and rest in their sin

 With that I’ll always manage to win

 Believe me”

  “I’m always seeking power

 Waiting to hunt the gullible brown deer

 Again”

  Several signs read “Welcome to Hell: population, a fuck ton.” There were advertisements of drugs, food, casinos, weapons, and porn everywhere. Demons of all shapes and sizes roamed the streets, one flying demon caught a smaller one in its talons. Vox, Valentino and Velvet sat together in a Porn Studios building. A scientist and a wild haired demon picked up weapons to sell on the black market. Rosie crossed out the name “Franklin” on her emporium sign with a grin. It was now Rosie’s emporium. More demons picked up the dead remains and put them in shopping carts.  

   The clock tower rang out as the counter changed from 0 to 365 days until the next purge.

“Next cleanse” was over the counter in fancy letters.

 Against a black screen, the title “Welcome to the Hazbin Hotel” appeared on a pink sign. A black winged key made up the letter T in “hotel.” A red eye was in the circle of the key.

  Sadly, the other characters didn’t get as much screentime as they did in the original episode. Instead of Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb fighting Sir Pentious in turf wars, we see Alastor and Vox in an intense argument before blasting each other with electricity, moving wires and tentacles and exchanging insults. The scene cuts to Angel Dust fighting Sir Pentious and the Egg Bois in the background as Alastor shakes his head.

 In fact, the blue demon that says “I’m alive!” gets immediately run over…but by a different vehicle owned by the self-proclaimed main character.

 And it’s not Charlie.

 Yep, the Radio Demon did have a car. A blood-red 1929 Packard modified and slightly modernized. Thanks to magic, it could go at fast speeds and even morph into shadow. It had regular tires instead of the typical wheels for the model and a metal step to get inside (though Alastor didn’t need it). The round headlights in the front hummed with bright red light, making them look like angry eyes that could stare into your souls. At high speeds, black radio dials would appear and move in the headlights. Since Alastor was so tall, there was no square roof overhead, just nice leather seats inside and of course, a car radio. Small Voodoo symbols decorated the sides of the vehicle and sometimes glowed in the dark.

 There was a metal grate in the front between the headlamps and below that was a row of sharp yellow teeth, reminiscent of Alastor’s smile. A little gold metal deer head was displayed and attached over the grate. The license plate in the back read “RDO DMN 666” for Radio Demon 666.  The car could also morph into newer vehicles as illusions. It wasn’t uncommon for demons to grow envious when they spotted the Radio Demon cursing around in a cherry colored convertible, sneaking around in a burgundy limo, or racing around in a crimson Porshe.

 That is until they saw the headlights and the Radio Demon’s grinning face before facing a harsh crushing impact before seeing darkness.

 Alastor would smirk like a bigshot with Rosie, Mimzy and several demon women in their seats.  Of course, he would hold open the door for them when stepping in and out. He would take them to clubs for dancing or to theaters at night. Other times, his shadow would appear in the seat next to him and shoot people from the shotgun spot. It was one of his classic jokes he liked to make.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m opening the first of its kind! A hotel that rehabilitates sinners!”

 The audience stared in stunned silence after Charlie had finished talking. Not even the flesh-eating crickets were chirping through the awkward quiet.

 A bloodstained logo “Radio Hack” was displayed above a window which provided a stack of dozens of TVs inside. One demon watching had deer antlers and a flaming blue face, one of the many cruel overlords. Crymini, the 90’s hellhound, stood with a little demon wearing a jester hat upside down. Two hellhound twins stood nearby, one with dyed red hair, the other purple. A neon sign nearby read “Bar” “Klub Kanji,” and “used TVs.”

 In a bar, dark demons wearing cowboy hats were playing pool, not even paying attention. The lead demon wore a cloth over his grinning face and had a large barrel gun for an arm. His friend looked like a demonic bug, and another looked like a mustached villain from an old film. Meanwhile in a bar, purple and blue dragon-like demons sat and drank while casually watching the TVs overhead.

 Charlie stuttered, “Ya know…’Cause hotels are for people passing through…temporarily…”

 A tattooed dark blue reptile demon stood up and let out a loud laugh.

 “Is this girl for real? She thinks, you hear what she thinks? She…heh, heh, heh, oh she’s nuts.” The demon walked away with a small lavender creature and a tall maroon being wearing punk rock clothing and crazy neon hair.

 Charlie added, “I figure it would serve a purpose…a place work toward redemption!” She weakly added, “Yay.”

 With a tapping of his shoes, Alastor walked and stopped right behind Crymini, the flaming deer overlord and a demon with eyes and a couple mouths on his face. Hatchet, the white skinned red-haired Zoophobia dragon, smartly left the scene.

 He had heard of the demon princess before, but he wasn’t expecting her to appear on TV. He certainly never heard of an idea so crazy before. Making sinners good people was even less likely than making pigs fly (which was one magic trick he could do on occasion).

  Charlie stared around her, concerned. “Look, every single one of you has something good deep down inside. I know you do.”

 A light bulb went off into her head as she smirked. “Maybe I’m not getting through to you…”

 Vaggie face palmed, knowing what was coming next. “Oh no…”

 Charlie snapped her fingers and her bodyguard demons appeared. One sat and began to play a grand piano.

 Alastor stood behind two hellhound twins wearing crop tops and a hanging jester. Next to him was a poster that showed him in his demon form terrorizing the circus, demons trapped within flames inside the tent. His army of voodoo horned imps carrying knives and skulls on pikes surrounded the tortured sinners. The words were bold and full of warning: “BEWARE HIM!” “DO NOT FUCK WITH HIM!” In tiny letters off to the side on the wall read: “for a good time: 666-373-9494.”

 Alastor tilted his head to the side in curiosity. His shadow appeared off to his right, morphing into a snarling wendigo deer-like creature. He couldn’t help but tap his foot and hum along as she sang.

 He even started to sing to himself, making his own version of the song.

 “Inside of every demon is a lost cause

Inside of every sinner is a foolish failure

Inside of every godforsaken drug addicted manic…”

 Dude,” moaned a stupid demon with a boar head, “I’m trying to watch the show.”

 “Here’s a show I’ll give you,” Alastor thought as he snapped his fingers and sent the boar flying through the air and into a lava pit.

 “They’ll turn around

Dead in the ground

With just a little time

Down at her crappy hotel…”

 He did feel a bit unnerved at the part where she cuddled with a dog and then threw the dog away.

  After Charlie had finished singing, Alastor laughed out loud. That was quite the performance he had seen! He particularly enjoyed Charlie’s demon transformation and her conjuring of fire for the special effects. And he had to admit that she was a good singer too, despite her ridiculous idea.

 But his favorite part came up next.

 In the blaring red lights, Charlie and Katie fought each other on the desk. Katie was in her insect demon form, crawling on her hands and limbs. She briefly held Charlie down, who dodged and then leapt at Katie, knocking both of them off the table.

 “She’s pretty and has a feisty spirit,” Alastor thought.

 “Why won’t anyone help me?” Tom Trench yelled as flames rose from his body.

 “You’re on fire, Tom Trench!” Alastor exclaimed, while laughing at his own joke.

  Befriending the princess, and doing something different seemed like a good idea. He glanced over at a faraway Happy Hotel building.

 He knew where he would go next.

  After following the white limbo to the hotel in his car, he got out and made his way up to the double stained glass doors with the apple designs on them. Upon further inspection of the hotel, he noticed it was a unique design if not a bit under wear and tear. From the Titanic-like ship off to the side to the hanging carousel that made up a balcony…and perhaps his favorite part, the circus tent overhang in the front decorated with eye designs.

 He had never actually met Charlie before but he heard that she was powerful and different among the demons. For one, she was born in Hell, and two, she was the daughter of Lucifer and Lilith, king and queen of Hell.

 He would have to tread carefully around members of the royal family. Though he thought of them as amusing, he knew how powerful they were.

 Sweat formed on his forehead and he found himself glancing around.

  Why was he suddenly…nervous?

 Somebody like him couldn’t afford to let any sign of weakness show. Of course He wanted to make a good first impression, plus he was sort of curious as to why she would pursue this rehabilitation idea. His nervousness faded away when he imagined Charlie as naïve. Maybe he could easily trick her and not have to be caught by anyone?

 The best thing he could do for the moment was be polite and offer to help. As any good charmer and manipulator knew, first impressions and the process were everything…

 And a nice big smile was the crème de la crème.

  Puffing out his chest, he knocked on the door.

 It was a very slow “Shave and a Haircut knock.”

  The knocking from outside interrupted Charlie’s thoughts. She opened her eyes.

  An ice cold feeling of dread spread through her veins. No other demon would ever do that kind of knock.

 Unless…

 She tentatively reached out her hand to the door handle, and quickly pulled it open.

 Sure enough, the most feared demon in Hell was standing right outside her door. A couple of shadow spirits poked their heads through.

 Charlie’s face morphed into sheer terror, eyes wide as saucers.

 Yes, there she was, right in front of him. Alastor opened his eyes as they glowed red, a radio sound emitting from him. His eyes dilated playfully as he raised a finger in greeting.

 “Hell…”

 The door abruptly slammed shut.

 Brief silence.

 Charlie opened it again…

 “…oooo!”

 Slammed it again.

 Alastor could hear Charlie’s muffled voice from inside.

 “Hey Vaggie!”

 “What?”

 “The Radio Demon is at the door!”

 “What?!”

 “Who?” asked Angel.

 “What should I do?!” Charlie asked.

 “Well, don’t let him in!” Vaggie said.

  A growl formed in Alastor’s throat.

 He stood there, shocked in front of the stained glass door, smile still plastered on his face, hand and curved claw in the air.

 “Well… that was…rude,” he thought. “Usually people are too sacred to answer when I come by. Or they rush to try and please me because they know I could slaughter them at any time. I’ll just wait here then…or maybe break this door down…”

 He had been turned down not once but twice by her! If she had been an average demon, she would’ve been a bloody heap on the floor. The princess should know better than to reject anyone like that, especially a prideful demon like himself.

Any offense to his pride would not go unnoticed.

 Charlie opened the door again.

 “May I speak now?” Alastor asked, hiding his anger.

 “You may,” said Charlie.

 Alastor held out his right hand to her, which briefly glowed. He half expected her to reach out and shake it right away…which would’ve proven her naïve nature…but instead she just stood there.

  “Alastor, pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart, quite a pleasure.”

 He eagerly grabbed her wrist and leaned his face close to hers before strutting inside. Charlie stood, dumbfounded, her hand still out.

 “Excuse my sudden visit,” he went on, “but I saw your fiasco on a picture show and I just couldn’t resist. What a performance!”

Audience cheers came from his staff as he turned around.

  “Why I haven’t been that entertained since the stock market crash of 1929!”

 He bobbed his head side to side and burst into laughter. He glanced back at Charlie who was by the door. “So many orphans!”

 A sharp spear was suddenly pointed at him. He froze in fear, his smile still on his face.

 “Stop right there!” It was Vaggie.

 She swore in Spanish under her breath: “Carbon hijo de perra! (Son of a bitch!) I know your game. And I’m not gonna let you hurt anyone here, you pompous, cheesy, talk show shitlord!”

 Alastor’s eyes narrowed and glowed. He made a low noise of warning.

 “You have a lot of nerve to stand up to me like that, girl,” he thought. “You don’t know anything about me, and you certainly aren’t going to stand in my way.”

 Alastor merely laughed slightly and nudged the weapon away with his fingers. Charli and Vaggie were in front of him.

 “Dear, if I wanted to hurt anyone here…”

 He added in a low creepy tone, “I would have done so already.”

 His red eyes briefly turned to red radio dials and radio static filled the room. He tilted his head slightly, letting his chaotic magic roam. Vaggie and Charlie were frozen in fear as they caught glimpses of red Voodoo symbols, static, and warped reality.

 Then just as quickly, the noise and magic ceased and Alastor shook his head, eyes back to full red. For a brief moment, they had been small red pupils inside black sockets.

 “That scare should teach them to remember their place,” he thought.

He bowed. “No, I’m here because I want to help!”

 Charlie was sure she hadn’t heard him right.

 “Say what now?” she asked, eyebrows raised.

 “Help!” he responded with another laugh, leaning in close before moving back.

 He held up his microphone staff.

  “Hello?” he asked with a laugh. “Is this thing on? Testing, testing…”

 He tapped it and a glowing red eye appeared in the center. “Well, I heard you loud and clear!” the microphone responded, eye shaking in fear.

 “Um…you want to help?” Charlie asked.

 Alastor appeared behind the demon girls, hands on their backs, switching from a shadow to his regular self. Both Vaggie and Charlie flinched.

 “With…” he mentioned in an imitation of Charlie’s voice,

“…this ridiculous thing you’re trying to do!” finishing in his normal voice. “This hotel!”

 Charlie could hear the call bell ding twice on the table, even though no one was there to ring it.

 “I want to help you run it.”

 “Uh…why?” Charlie asked, confused.

 Alastor laughed again. “Why does anyone do anything? Sheer absolute boredom! I’ve lacked inspiration for decades!”

 He placed his elbow on an annoyed Vaggie’s head.

 “My work became mundane...lacking focus…”

 He then shoved Vaggie aside. She was clearly an inferior little doll he could push around.

 “…aimless!” he continued. “I’ve come to crave a new form of entertainment!”

 He laughed again.

Charlie looked downcast. “Does getting into a fist fight with a reporter count as entertainment?”

 Alastor laughed again.

 “It’s the purest kind, my dear! Reality! True passion! After all, the world is a stage! And the stage is a world of entertainment!”

 Charlie brightened a bit. “So, does this mean that you think it’s possible to rehabilitate a demon?”

Alastor help up a hand and laughed. “Of course not. That’s wacky nonsense! Redemption, oh the non-existent humanity! Nononono, I don’t think there’s anything left that could save such loathsome sinners!”

 He glanced at Vaggie and Angel Dust sitting on the sofa, mischief in his eyes. They would be fun to mess with.

  “The chance given to them was the life they lived before; the punishment is this!”

  He spread out his arms, turning away. “There is no undoing what is done!”

 His eyes glowed red, pupils constricted. There really was no way to change the past. All the sinners were destined to suffer in a matrix of pleasure, illusion, and the threat of a second death. For Alastor, every demon was a lost cause…and paradoxically, that also included him.

 He had dealt with authority figures before in his previous life…those racist religious folk who believed that God and the elite had complete control over his fate and the fate of everyone else. Now here it was again, in the form of God, the angels, Vox, Lucifer pretty much anybody he hated. It wasn’t his fault he killed and ate all his victims. If certain people hadn’t pushed him over the edge…

 He glanced over when he heard Charlie’s voice.

 “So then, why do you want to help me if you don’t believe in my cause?” Charlie asked.

 Alastor smirked and looked at Charlie over his shoulder. “Consider it an investment in ongoing entertainment for myself!”

 He pulled her close to him with his arm and twirled her around in a quick dance. Charlie narrowed his eyes at him and gave him a look. He ignored her. “I want to watch the scum of the world struggle to climb up the hill of betterment! Only to repeatedly trip and tumble down to the fiery pit of failure.”

 His eyes glowed red and his left eyebrow raised slightly. Just the thought of having the fates and lives of demons in his hands was enough to get him excited…or perhaps even aroused.

“Right…” Charlie began, slowly removing his clawed hand from her shoulder. Alastor’s hand flinched at the sudden touch.

 Alastor chuckled and took her aside for a walk. “Yes indeedy! I see big things coming your way, and who better to help than I.”

 He impressed her further with some charm and making his staff appear in his hand.

  Vaggie walked up to Charlie and pulled her aside.

 “Charlie, listen to me. You just can’t believe this creep! He isn’t just a happy face! He’s a dealmaker, pure evil! He can’t be redeemed! And is most likely looking for a way to destroy everything we’re trying to do.”

 Alastor drummed his fingers against his palm, listening in on their conversation with a grin.

 “I…” Charlie began. “…we don’t know that. Look…I know he’s bad, and I know he probably doesn’t wanna change, but the whole point of this is to give people a chance! To have faith things will be better! How can I turn someone away? I can’t. It goes against everything I’m trying to do. Everything I believe in.”

 Alastor stared in fascination at a family picture on the wall. It showed Lucifer dressed in white, Lilith in a dark purple dress, and Charlie as a little girl wearing a brown and white dress in the middle. The picture border consisted of branches and yellow eyeballs and a dried rose in the upper right hand corner.

 “Such a lovely portrait! A picture of perfection! It’d be such a shame if something awful were to happen to them…”

 “Just trust me,” Charlie added placing comforting hands on her girlfriend’s shoulders, “I can take care of myself.”

 Charlie,” warned Vaggie, “Whatever you do, do not make a deal with him!”

 From a distance, Alastor opened up the palm of one hand, claws curled inward, hand glowing. From his viewpoint it looked like he was grabbing onto both girls. They glanced in his direction, worry on their faces.

 “I’ll have these two in the palm of my hand…”

 “Don’t worry, Charlie replied to Vaggie. “I picked up one thing from my Dad…” she spoke in a manly voice, “Ya don’t take shit from other demons!”

 Gathering her courage, Charlie marched over to the Radio Demon.

  “Ok, so…Al. You’re sketchy as fuck, and you clearly see what I’m trying to do here is a joke. But I don’t.”

 Charlie turned away. She was so close and so vulnerable.

 Red Voodoo symbols floated around Alastor as his eyes glowed.

 “If you could stay turned around so I can knock you out…” he thought.

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously and the symbols vanished.

 “So close,” he thought in frustration as she turned around to face him.

  Charlie continued. “I think everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better. So, I’m taking your offer to help. On the condition that there be no tricks or voodoo strings attached.”

 Alastor twirled his cane and held out his hand. “So it’s a deal then?”

 Flashes of eerie green light surrounded him, electricity snaking up the walls.

 “Nope!” Charlie yelled, holding out her hands. The energy stopped. “No shaking! No deals!”

 Alastor’s eyes constricted. “She rejected my deal,” he thought. “This will be more challenging than I expected.”

 He walked forward a step.

 Charlie continued.  “As princess of Hell, and heir to the throne, I uh, hereby order that you help with this hotel, for a long as you desire.”

 A moment of pause…he brushed his hair back.

 “Sound fair?” she asked.

  “Hmm. Fair enough. Cool beans.” Alastor shrugged, walking on and making his cane disappear. Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and even did a thumbs up.

 Alastor stopped and spotted Vaggie off to the side. How pathetic she was, frowning like that. He smirked in a way outside observers would describe as lecherous. He tickled her under her chin with a finger.

 “Smile, my dear! You know you’re never fully dressed without one!”

 Alastor hummed happily on his way, while Vaggie growled in disgust and rage.

 “So…where is your hotel staff?” Alastor asked.

 “Uh, well…” Charlie began. Alastor peered at Vaggie through his monocle. “Oh ho ho ho, you’re going to need more than that.”

 He walked over towards Angel.

 “And what can you do, my effeminate fellow?”

 Angel grinned. “I can suck your dick!”

 Alastor could almost scream in disgust after hearing that.

 “Ha! No.” Alastor deadpanned.

 “Your loss,” Angel said with a slight laugh. Alastor summoned his cane.

“Well, this just won’t do!” Alastor exclaimed. “I suppose I can cash in a few favors to liven things up!”

 The spell came easily in his mind: “dife sèvitè, reveye.”

  He snapped his fingers and a fire sparked to life in a small circular fireplace. Animal skeletons decorated either side of the wall. The wall and fireplace were repaired.

 A dark figure plopped down onto the chimney floor.

 Alastor walked over and picked up the creature with his hand. A large single yellow eye was revealed. Angel, Vaggie, and Charlie peered at the creature. In a puff of smoke and a squeak, the creature revealed herself. A cute cyclops girl was wearing a pink dress with a poodle on the front, her short wide hair dark magenta with a streak of yellow.

 “This little darling is Niffty!” Alastor introduced, before dropping her. She landed on her feet. She was an adorable little thing.

“Hi! I’m Niffty!” she greeted with a wave. “It’s nice to meet you! It’s been a while since I’ve made new friends!” She laughed slightly and her pupil grew smaller, darting in circles.

 “Why are you all women?” she asked. “Have any men here?! I’m sorry, that’s rude.” She missed the fact that Angel was male, for obvious reasons.

 She briefly picked up Charlie, while Vaggie held her spear defensively at her.

 “Oh man, this place is filthy!” she exclaimed, running around and lifting up couch cushions. “It really needs a lady’s touch, which is weird, because you’re all ladies, no offence.” She chewed on a black spider she found, then rushed toward some stained glass windows.

 She darted around, using a dust ruffle to clean them. “Oh my gosh, this is awful! No, no, no…Nope!”

 She raced around, removing cobwebs, then poking at a piece of a voodoo doll. Well, it was actually a live blue beetle doll that Alastor had stabbed with a clothing pin for Niffty to play with. Alastor looked amused, while the others stared in disbelief.

 “So fortunate of me to have met her in Hell. A former chimney sweeper in the 20th century. Heard she died from too much smoke. Services are still good! Though, I didn’t give her much of an option to begin with…” he thought.

   Meanwhile, at a casino, a cat demon placed a joker, an ace, a 2, and a fourth card down on the table. He had black and white fur, wore a black top hat and had red wings with card suits decorated on them. He also had long red eyebrows and wore a red bow tie.

 “Ha!” he declared in triumph. “Read ‘em and weep, boys!”

 He suddenly felt himself being forcefully pulled out of the room through space and time.

  “Full…whoa!”

 “Transpòte ganbadeur la.”

 He ducked as a curtain of red energy surrounded the existing space. Voodoo symbols flashed in the background along with eight yellow eyes, a creepy voodoo skull and a purple skeleton of a worm-like creature. Another voodoo skull with horns appeared for a moment not too far from tan ghost-like spirits with creepy faces and a row of jagged teeth.

 The cat demon figured he must have had too much booze to drink.

 “…the hell?”

 As the images faded, he soon found himself at the hotel bar, not in the previous room at the casino. A large “Come and play Blackjack” sign took up much of the wall behind him. Most peculiar, the gray wood walls were missing halfway up, replaced by the red themed décor of the hotel. Husk was sitting in a portion of the casino he was in. It felt like he was in a house with no roof surrounded by the outside world.

 “What the fuck is this?”

 He saw Alastor and pointed an accusing claw.

 “You.”

 “Ah, Husker, my good friend!” Alastor cheerfully greeted. “Glad you could make it!”

 Husk could have at least been polite for once, but Alastor decided to let it slide.

 Alastor’s head briefly had the appearance of large antlers sticking out from either side. When he moved it, it was revealed to be an antler skull with glowing green eyes hanging in the background. Snakes were wrapped around one of the white curtains supporting a bar stand. “Big Booze,” “Welcome” and “Big Soul” signs were placed overhead on the stand. Neon green card suits consisted of the designs at the bottom of the stand.

 “Don’t you “Husker” me, you son of a bitch!” Husk spat, and swiped Alastor’s hand aside from his shoulder. “I was about to win the whole damn pot!”

Husk stared in anger as the stacks of money and chips on the table vanished in static.

 “Good to see you too!” added Alastor.

 Husk face palmed. “What the hell do you want with me this time?”

 Alastor grabbed hold of him, startling him so much that cards fell from his hands.

 “My friend, I am doing some charity work, so I took it upon myself to volunteer your services! I hope that’s okay.”

 Husk was taken aback. “Are you shittin’ me?!”

 “No, I don’t think so,” Alastor replied. He casually brushed off his sleeves.

 Husk shoved the Radio Demon off him. “You thought it would be some kind of big fuckin’ riot just to pull me outta nowhere? You think I’m some kinda fuckin’ clown?”

 “Maybe.”

 Audience laughter emitted from the microphone.

 “I ain’t doin’ no fuckin’ charity job,” Husk protested.

 Alastor appeared next to him, startling the cat demon. “Well I figured you would be the perfect face to man the front desk of this fine establishment.”

 He pointed toward the bar stand with the staff. The sound of audience clapping came from his radio staff.

 “With your charming smile and welcoming energy…”

 Alastor spread the corners of Husk’s mouth upward into a demonic smile of yellow teeth. Husk frowned seconds after he let go.

 “…this job was made for you!”

 Alastor strutted over toward the bar stand, the soles of his shoes revealing red hoof prints as he walked.

 “Don’t worry, my friend,” Alastor continued, “I can make this more welcoming…if you wish.”

 With a curve of his fingers, a green bottle of cheap booze appeared on the counter.

 Husk stared with wide eyes, suddenly very thirsty. He swore he could hear the sound of a slot machine.

 “What, you think you can buy me with a wink and some cheap booze?!” He took the bottle on anger. “Well you can!”

 He immediately guzzled it down and walked away.

 “Too easy,” thought Alastor.

 By this time, Charlie, Vaggie and Angel Dust had arrived to see what the commotion was about. Vaggie rushed toward the bar, furious.

 “Hey, hey, hey, hey!” yelled the moth demon. “No, no bar, no alcohol. This is supposed to be a place that discourages sin! Not some kind of…mouth, brothel, man-cave…”

 Angel lunged himself into her, knocking her to the floor.

 “Shut up! Shut! Up! We are keeping this.” He pointed at Husk with multiple gloved hands.

  He slid up to Husk. “Hey,” he said in a flirtatious voice.

“Go fuck yourself,” Husk deadpanned, drinking his booze.

 “Only if you watch me,” Angel retorted.

 To make matters worse for Husk, Charlie leaned in close to him, excitement and red stars in her eyes.

 “Oh my gosh! Welcome to the Happy Hotel! You are going to love it here!”

 “I lost the ability to love years ago,” Husk replied, gulping down more booze.

Alastor walked in, an ever-present grin on his face.

 “So, what do you think?”

 Charlie ran over to him. “This is amazing!” she beamed.

 Alastor’s eyes blinked rapidly at the sweet sight of Charlie rubbing her cheeks and smiling at him. He could watch it all day.

 “It’s okay,” Vaggie said from nearby, arms crossed.

 Alastor laughed and pulled the two girls close to him. “This is going to be very entertaining!”

 He shoved Vaggie again and his laughter mixed with the sound of an old radio.

 Alastor conjured fire in his hand…Charlie stared in wonder at the flames and the voodoo symbols. He threw the flames in the air, distracting Charlie from him shoving aside her friend hard. Alastor then changed his attire with magic. He now wore a fancy red suit with a white undershirt and a black bow tie. A red top hat appeared on his head, complete with small spikes along the black band and two needles sticking out from the top. He twirled Charlie around in a dance, the princess looking stunned. Pointing his finger over her head, he transformed Charlie’s outfit. Her blonde hair was now short and wavy. She wore an elegant black and red dress, black gloves, a pink hat with a small black bow and black heels. She looked like a dapper lady from the early 20th century.

 Charlie stared at her conjured clothing in amazement.

Vaggie was on the floor, fuming.

 Alastor began to sing as he danced with Charlie, a new spring in his steps.

 “You have a dream

 You wish to tell

 He turned to the fuming Vaggie on the floor, letting her know that he thought Charlie’s idea was silly.

 “and it’s so laughable…”

 He turned back to Charlie.

 “But hey kid, what the hell!”

 Alastor picked Charlie up and threw her into the air. She yelped in delight and landed gracefully next to him. Two glowing apples and a skull with deer horns flashed in the background.

 Reality had been altered to the Radio Demon’s liking. The entire room was lit in psychedelic colors. Voodoo symbols and shapes were etched in every nook and cranny, including a pair of pink claws reaching for the door. Alastor and Charlie waltzed in the spotlight as electro swing music began to play in the distance. The all-encompassing noise, though, was the signature radio-static sound.

 Charlie found herself sliding down one of the apple-etched railings, Alastor leading the way. They landed on the lower floor as Alastor continued his reprise.

 “Cause you’re one of a kind

A charming demon belle!”

 Deer statues and painted antlers were everywhere.

 Back at the bar stand, Husk sat looking bored. Vaggie hissed at Angel grabbing onto her shoulder, while Niffty stared in wonder. Alastor snapped his fingers and their outfits changed as well.

 Angel was wearing a neon pink suit, Husk a pink bow tie, Vaggie a dark dress, with her hair now smooth and long, and finally Niffty, with a cute top hat with small flowers.

 “Now let’s give these burning fools a place to dwell

(Take it, boys!)”

 Alastor snapped his fingers once more and shadowy imps rose to life from a hole in the ground. The happy spirits played a trumpet, a tuba, and a drum set. Charlie snapped her fingers to the beat, while Vaggie watched with worry. She reached out to her friend but was pulled away by Alastor. He enveloped the group into a tight hug with a laugh, followed by glowing images of dark spirits staring at them. Niffty watched in amazement, but not the other three.

 “Inside of every demon is a lost cause…”

Alastor pulled Husk and Angel close again. He rubbed Angel’s head with a white hat and went on his merry way. Husk gave him the bird as he left.

 “But we’ll dress ‘em up now with just a smile!”

(With a smile!)

  Vaggie stood, annoyed in the spotlight. Using his cane, Alastor added a feathered peacock hat and a white fox fur to her outfit. She looked ridiculous. Then out of nowhere, he slapped her butt.

 Vaggie seethed in rage after he walked away.

 Alastor danced some more, kicking a horned skull to the side. In the background, Niffy happily swept up the bits of bone.

 “And we’ll chlorinate this cesspool

With some old redemption flair

And show these simpletons some proper class and style!

(What’s in style? Oh!)”

 He made his way to the circular fireplace, where he waved his staff. Shadows arrived to join the party, including a shadowy version of himself, with large antlers and fangs. He made it disappear in a poof, then snuck toward Charlie. He led her in an upbeat dance, spinning her around, helping her match her steps to his. Charlie blushed when Alastor toyed with her cheeks. As Charlie was led away, Vaggie stood in the background, horrified and disgusted. What was happening to her friend?

 Charlie and Alastor laughed as they danced, the princess locked in a happy trance. Alastor was in his element, his pupils dilated, a joyful demeanor.

 Maybe this could turn into something more? Could it even be…love?

 “Here below the ground

I’m sure you’re plan is sound!

They’ll spend a little time

Down at this Hazbin Ho…”

  Alastor was about to finish his song, when an explosion burst apart a window behind him. He stood frozen, pupils constricting, his body going alert.

 Whatever, or whomever had interrupted his song was going to pay dearly.

 Niffty stared in amazement, shouting “Whoo!” before she was blasted backwards, the door hitting her in the face.

 Alastor’s spell soon wore off and everyone was back in their regular clothes. Alastor, Husk (still drinking), Niffty, Charlie, Angel, and Vaggie, peered out of the hole to see what was going on. Vaggie had her weapon at the ready.

 Looking skyward, the group saw a cracked blimp in the air. It had a small random band aid with a sad face on it along the rim. A familiar snake villain popped out of his hideout.

 “Ha!” Sir Pentious laughed. “Well, well, well, look who it is harboring the striped freak! We meet again, Alastor!”

 Apparently, he was also rivals with Alastor.

 But Alastor simply asked, “Do I know you?”

 The snake boss looked disappointed. Then he said in anger, “Oh yes you do! And this time, I have the element of…surprise!”

 The villain raced toward his pink velvet chair and pulled a lever. A metallic cannon lowered to the ground. The cannon fired up with pink energy as pink smoke appeared around them.

 “He laughed manically. “I’m so evil!”

 Then he added, “I have an Egg army!”

 “Well, we have an Alastor,” Charlie responded.

 Alastor snapped his fingers, red tendrils of smoke rising from his hand. The weapon froze in mid fire and a fiery portal opened up below the blimp.

 A horde of black tendrils rose from the hole, latching onto the ship. One tentacle ripped off the cannon and threw it into another smaller portal, causing it to explode in pink smoke. One of the tentacles had already smashed a hole in the large round window.

 Sir Pentious looked on in shock as his Egg Bois slammed against the wall (one of them read #Ouch.) One of the eggs cracked open, spilling out yellowish brains and small organs among the stains of yok. Sir Pentious and another minion were thrown against the wall.

 “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he screamed before he was slammed against the ceiling by a black limb.

 “Oh, that hurt!” he cried.

 Sir Pentious screamed as he was dragged along the floor and lifted up slightly. He was held in place, surrounded by the wrapped up tendril. At once, the tendril shrunk and squeezed the helpless snake. The Egg Bois ran around screaming as black cracks appeared on the floor and walls.

 From the outside, more black tendrils were closing in. Red voodoo symbols appeared around the blimp.

 “Ede m 'sèrviteur.”

 Four horned shadowy spirits with red auras floated around, wearing toothy grins.

 The tendrils were now wrapped around the entire blimp, holding it in place like thick black vines.

 Red radio waves filled Alastor’s eyes as he circled his fingers and worked is magic. Voodoo symbols appeared all around him as he altered the state of reality. Radio static consumed the air.

The vines thickened and completely enclosed the blimp. The spirits swooped around it in excitement, with echoing shrieks. The aura around the tendrils glowed a fiery yellow, the same color as the portal rim.

 “Kalfu! Destriksyon pa bra nwa.”

 Alastor closed his four-fingered hand which began to glow. A red drop of blood fell from his glowing hand. The tendrils proceeded to crush the blimp. Pink rays of light shot from the center and the blimp exploded in a loud BOOM!

 Pink smoke spread everywhere as the spirits sped away. The tendrils broke into severed bloody pieces that rained down to the ground. Alastor smiled victoriously, while behind them, the group of five stared in utter terror and shock. (Save for Niffty who had a small smile on her face).

 Alastor’s angry, bloodlust eyes spoke volumes.

 “And stay out of this hotel and from my friends you pathetic excuse of snakeskin.”

A sharp pain throbbed on his hand and bags appeared under his eyes. Magic had taken some work from him…and it also made him hungry.

 “Well, I’m starved!” Alastor exclaimed, turning around to face the group, happy again. “Who wants some jambalaya?” He spread his arms out. “My mother once showed me a wonderful recipe for jambalaya! In fact, it nearly killed her!”

 He laughed as he led the way back to the hotel. The others followed.

 “You could say the kick was right out of Hell!”

 He added while laughing at his own joke, “Oh, I’m on a roll!”

 From up above, the hotel looked like a mashed-up haunted house. An old dark train was perched on a balcony, with some monstrous faces carved in. A ship, reminiscent of the Titanic, was leaning upwards against the building as part of the structure. An old carousel served as part of the upper balcony and windows. Skull designs decorated the small windows in a row. Finally, on top of a giant yellow eye, was the sign “Happy Hotel” supported by pillars of worn wood.  

Alastor continued, “Yes, sir, this is the start of some real changes down here! The game is set! Now…”

 He glanced up and pointed his finger toward the sign. Pink electricity shot out and made contact with the sign.

 The sign now read “Hazbin Hotel.”

 “Stay tuned,” he finished with a low sinister laugh.

[fluidityandgiggles]

Dalton Big Bang day 43 - Valentine

Writing Masterpost, AO3 Link

Notes: Also known as: Gigs tries to write jogan giving their son The Talk and failing miserably due to being a useless asexual.

One day. One fucking day. I'll write a full next gen fic, with all the kids, because y'all know by now I have headcanons for everything. And then y'all would get to see just how chaotic AJ Sotto and Parker Willis can be. But for now, this is about Johnny and his adorable Hanover boyfriend.

If there was a truth everyone in Dalton could agree on, it was that history teacher and Warblers coach, Mr. Wright, was a man you didn't want to cross. The unfortunate ones who were asked to meet with him privately refused to speak of what was told, and whether it was for good or bad reasons, nobody wanted to ask.

And then there were the students who visited his office without even being called. Johnny Larson-Wright, AJ Sotto, Parker Willis. Parker's older brothers graduated from Windsor and Stuart a few years ago, so that brand of crazy would make sense coming from them, but the others…

Well, Valentine Moore always thought people were crazy for assuming their teacher was such a bad man. He made Warblers practice enjoyable every time, gave people solos in a very fair manner, and yeah, maybe he was a bit strict. But he seemed nice enough.

But who was Valentine to say anything? He's never had a conversation alone with him. Maybe they were just exaggerating things!

Yeah, that had to be it!

...until the unfortunate day in late February when he was called in to Mr. Wright's office.

It was all everyone talked about the whole day. Johnny didn't make a fuss about it, unlike most of the others, which was reassuring and even more stressful in equal measures. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, straight-A student Valentine Moore must see the monster, maybe he fucked up real bad this time. Maybe they found out that he contributed to Johnny and AJ's bullshit—

No, wait, no. He does draw, it's his one coping mechanism, but no way they used his art for graffiti. Maybe… maybe it had to do with the homework he didn't turn in for history class? No, but he did it all, he just forgot his notebook by accident, Mr. Wright would probably understand! He must understand, it's not the first time, it's just—

"Stop pacing by my door, Moore," the teacher called, making Valentine freeze in place and start shaking. "You're not exactly invisible."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Wright." He just lowered his eyes and walked into the office, closing the door behind him. "Won't do so again."

"It's all good, I get that you're nervous. But there's nothing to be nervous about."

"Is it about the homework I forgot to turn in last week…?"

"No. I care less about the homework than I do about this subject." The teacher started tapping on the desk with his fingers, making Valentine shiver a bit more. "I understand you're seeing my son."

His stomach fell as his shaking stopped.

"I don't… what? No, you got it wrong, I just—"

"Wrong? Unless Johnny is dating another Valentine Moore, who goes to this school and boards in Hanover, and is a member of the Warblers, I have no reason to believe I got it wrong."

"I… I'll break up with him, sir, it's okay. I know I'm not…"

As Valentine started feeling tears fall down his cheek, he also felt a large hand take his, as he started a silent prayer in his mind.

"I'm not mad at you," Mr. Wright — Logan — told him. "In fact, I'm relieved. It seems like he's very serious about you. His father and I are very proud of him. But I'll tell you this. If you hurt my boy—"

"It's the end of me, I know. I'm so sorry, sir."

"...yeah. That's… yeah." As Valentine raised his eyes, he saw his teacher start to fumble a bit. That was unusual… "I didn't actually think I'll get this far, if I'm honest… I'm not allowed to hurt you, as your teacher. But do expect to have a talk again. If either of you get hurt. It's not just about him in this relationship, it's about you too."

"O— okay! Okay, thank you!"

"Now, about that homework—"

"Dad!" Interrupted a call as the door flung open, and in ran Johnny, red in the face and wholly amused. "AJ broke Ramsey's window by accident, we're gonna get killed! Help! Oh, hi Val!"

"Hi!" If Valentine smiled at that, it wasn't his fault. This was the best thing that happened today.

"I swear, when we got you into Stuart we hoped you'd do better than this," Mr. Wright sighed, getting up from his chair. "Excuse me, Moore, it seems like something more... urgent came up."

"Oh no, it's… it's all fine. I'll leave! It's okay!"

"I apologize, Moore."

As Valentine rushed to get up and leave, Logan put a hand on his son's shoulder, trying to make him calm down. The redness still persisted, but his smile cracked, and the twinkle of joy in his eyes teeny off as a blanket of disappointment fell on him.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?"

"You're not. AJ, though, is in so much trouble. Now show me the damage. I'll talk to Ramsey."

————

"So how are you guys doing?" Julian asked through FaceTime, watching his family eat dinner while he had his lunch break on set. Jerry, their newest cat, was also on the table to eat his own dinner. Natalie was paying more attention to him than she was to her dinner.

Johnny kinda wanted to poke her to answer him.

"We're all fine," Logan told him, ignoring the kids to a degree. "Did you watch the regionals video?"

"I did. So did half the cast. Good job on that. Nice song choices too, Squid."

"Thanks," Logan snorted, then turned to nudge Johnny. "Did you hear your pops?"

"I did." He went bright red. "I… I chose the second one."

Julian chuckled at that. "Yeah? No shit, Johnny. Was it inspired by someone special?"

"Yeah… I mean—"

"It certainly looked like it. Reminded me of the Hummel-Sottos back when we were juniors ourselves. Ugh, I can't listen to Raise Your Glass anymore without wanting to gag."

Johnny tried to hide. His dads were great, he never thought otherwise! Pops was the more lenient one, the more open one. The one with less dignity somehow. Probably from growing up in the spotlight and being in the public eye for so long. Dad was stricter, less… open, about all the embarrassing stuff, but he was also home more. Less absent than Pops. So he… knew more, about the kids. Pops was the one to go to with love problems, Dad was the one for any other issues.

Johnny loved them both equally. But they were both equally embarrassing, and that was a lot of embarrassing, and he really didn't want to talk to them about his love life.

"So who's the special someone?" Julian kept on teasing. "Who were you singing You're My Best Friend to?"

"Just…"

"Val," Natalie answered for him, making him choke. "He totally likes Valentine."

"Nat, shush."

"Well, did you tell him yet?" Julian raised an eyebrow, laughing a bit. "He doesn't seem like the guy to get… subtle flirting."

"He's my boyfriend now, okay?" Johnny snapped. "I… I told him. After the performance ended. And then we were together for Valentine's day and now we're together. Is that what you wanna hear?"

"...actually yes, that is what I want to hear. Honey, that's great! Does he make you happy? Do you two talk through your problems or do you keep them inside until you'll burn out like what happened when you were in fifth grade? Do you two fuck yet?"

"Pops!"

"Daddy! Ew!"

As Johnny pretended to gag, and Natalie ran off from the table to wash her mouth, Logan rolled his eyes with a smile and turned the call to face him more.

"They're doing alright, J. They're actually doing better than we did when we started going out. At least with the whole… communication thing."

"You assume we communicated ever," Julian joked, making Logan smile more. "I'm kidding… I'm just happy they're doing well. He seems like a good kid."

"Who, Valentine?"

"Yeah."

"He's great… a bit shy. Reminds me of Reed back when."

"Sounds like a blast. God… I miss you guys. I wanna be there, I wanna meet that kid honest and proper… would it be too weird to give them the sex talk through face cam?"

"I think it would be… a terrible idea, Jules. Please wait until you're back home."

"You forget I can still hear you guys!" Came the groan from Johnny, followed by a call from someone to remind Julian he needs to get dressed for his next scene.

"I love you too!" Julian called to Johnny, receiving a loud groan in return. "Lo, I love you so much."

"I love you too, J."

"I'll see you guys in a month, okay? Not too much left to wait. I'll try to find some of those Japanese kitkats you like."

"Thank you. Have a good day, Jules."

"Good night, Lo. Good night, kids!"

Logan hung up as Johnny mumbled a "yeah, yeah" and Natalie came back to the table, still gagging. 

"...okay, but did you?"

"Nat, I'm not answering that question!"

"Okay, sorry! Jeez!"

Yeah… this was his family now. Logan still struggled to believe this fact. But this was his family now.

————

"How about this argument stops now?" Johnny called right as Julian walked through the door that Saturday afternoon, to catch his husband and daughter standing on one couch and his son comforting a redhead stranger on the other. "It doesn't fucking matter who's a better partner for Mark, he's in a fucking coma. And besides, your screams are making him uncomfortable."

"Do I even want to know?" Julian asked as he dropped his bags, pulling Logan down from the couch so they could kiss. Much to the gagging noises coming from Natalie. "Hello, love."

"Hi, Jules."

"They're listening to The Bright Sessions again," Johnny tried to say, getting somewhat ignored. "It's just—"

"I'm going to my room!"

"Okay! Hello to you too, Natalie!"

That was all about an hour ago, and as things were now, Julian felt far more awake. He took a shower, unpacked his bags, made himself a cup of coffee and now got to cuddle with his husband and their three cats on the couch as their son tried his best to make his boyfriend feel comfortable. The boy didn't look the most reassured though, but at least he didn't seem like he's going to stress himself to death, so he figured it was okay.

"You met my pops before," Julian heard Johnny tell Valentine quietly. "Why are you so scared now?"

"Because I met him as your friend, and now I'm your boyfriend, it's not the same type of meeting!"

"He's right, it's not," Logan told the kids, laughing a bit. "It's scarier than meeting as a friend."

"Dad, you're not helping."

"It's also more relieving than you think, Moore. Trust me."

He sniffled and nodded, trying to calm down more. An uneasy feat, but one Logan and Johnny were sure he could accomplish.

"So… how are you?" Julian asked after a moment of silence, winking at Valentine. "I saw your regionals performance. You did good."

"Th— thank you!" He started blushing at that. "I… I'm good! I think, at least… How are you?"

"I'm very good, thank you for asking. So…" Julian chuckled, taking a bit of a shaky breath. "You're dating now, I heard."

Valentine could've died then and there.

"Dad had to tell him," Johnny tried to explain, but it didn't exactly work that well, as he watched his boyfriend try to hide as his pops kept on smiling.

"I'm not going to make fun of you, I just want to talk to you two. Make sure you know what you're doing, so you won't end up, you know…"

"Like your pops and I were when we started going out," Logan filled in for him.

"Exactly."

"If you want to tell us to use protection, it's okay, I think we know that by now," Valentine managed to say through his weak voice and high anxiety. "At least I know. My parents had our pastor give me that talk when I was thirteen."

"I use protection every time, it's nothing new."

"I'm sure you both know we're very proud of you for practicing that part of the relationship, but there are many more things I'm sure you don't even think of. For example, do you two communicate?" Julian received a very tired side-eye from Johnny and a nod from Valentine. "I'll ask a more specific question. Do you two talk about your feelings? About how certain things the other person does make you feel?"

"What do you mean…?"

"Before Logan and I started going out, I used to be really jealous about things. He used to have a crush on Kurt Hummel, good god, just remembering that hurts me…"

"Does it hurt because Shadow is literally on your rib cage?" Johnny suggests, watching the cat in question curl up defensively.

"No, she's good. It's another kind of pain, honey. But it… you remember when we told you about Adam? Back when Nat was being stalked?"

Johnny nodded, and Val just stared for a moment. "Stalked…?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Adam was my stalker when we were in high school," Julian explained, feeling Logan's grip on him getting tighter. "He forced me to tell Logan I love him. Neither of us were ready at the time, and I wish Adam no harm. I hope he managed to build a normal, semi sane life from those ashes. But he forced Logan and I to have a conversation neither of us were ready for."

"Okay… Pops, why is this important?"

"Because that's what happens when you don't communicate, honey. We didn't communicate until we were forced to. Please don't do that, okay? Can you promise me you'll talk about your feelings?"

"...Dad, what is he talking about? He's scaring Val."

"You're asking your dad and not me? John, I am deeply—"

"Communication is the key to any relationship," Logan said, cutting Julian in the middle and leaving him to play offended. "Consent is just a form of communication."

"One day, you two would decide that now is the right time to start having sex." Johnny started gagging at that. "When that day comes, we both want you to be ready. And it goes far beyond just knowing how to have safe sex. Having a healthy relationship is all about talking, because if you keep it inside, you heard what'll happen. Now, do you two communicate? Do you talk about your feelings, your fears? How far have you gone physically? This is a judgement-free zone, so don't feel ashamed."

"Just… just first base… Val is… uncomfortable with sex… Pops, why are you like this?"

"Because I love you and want to make sure you're safe. You know, some people might not want to have sex ever in their whole life, and that's okay too. A relationship isn't defined by how many times your dick has been in your partner's ass."

"Jules, that's… maybe overstepping a bit. You're scaring the children."

"So let's go back to the talking part. How many dates have you gone on yet? Where to?"

————

Johnny drove the two of them back to Dalton the following Sunday evening, and Natalie had a sleepover at her friend's place, so Logan figured he could make something nice happen for Julian's return. They didn't exactly get to do much yesterday, but it didn't mean they couldn't do anything now. So he ordered some Italian food, he got a bottle of wine, he picked a movie for the two of them to watch before regrettably falling asleep on the couch…

"Well, hello," Julian called as he came down the stairs, seeing Logan fretting over his phone. "What worries you so?"

"I'm waiting for takeout to get here… Michelle says hi."

"Well, when did you order takeout?" He got up to kiss Logan's cheek, hugging him under his arms.

"Seven twenty-three."

"And what time is it now?"

"Seven fifty."

"So they're not late, you're just anxious."

"I guess…" He put his phone down, instead hugging Julian. "I just… I don't know, I got excited. We get to be alone for the first time in…"

"Yeah… you said Michelle said hi? How's her and John's vacation in the Maldives going? Do they miss us too much yet?"

"I don't think they do. Michelle always misses us."

"True… oh, she'd love Valentine."

"She already does."

Logan nodded, then buried his face in Julian's shoulder. He was gone for too long this time. Or maybe they'd just gotten used to spending more time together without any projects getting in the way.

For Julian, three and a half months in New Zealand were also getting too much, and he always got jealous that he couldn't see Johnny compete or be there for Natalie while she auditioned for her own tv shows. He felt like he was missing too much. Sure, he took a break after the whole… stalking situation happened, but that was years ago. His return to mainstream just made him tired.

Both of them had their qualms about the direction their lives were going, and both of them were cut off by the doorbell, and Logan letting go for one moment so he could get the bags and tip the delivery guy. But soon enough it was both of them on the couch, eating their pasta and drinking wine and trying to decide if The Favorite was really the right movie to watch right now or if they felt like something less serious.

"The boys really remind me of us," Logan said in the middle of it all, making Julian choke a bit.

"Really? I can see how Johnny reminds you of you, but I don't think—"

"When we started going out," he finished his sentence. "We were awkward at best…"

"Your friends wouldn't let me off the hook."

"Hey, okay, that was mostly Dwight, and he's your friend too."

"He still wouldn't let me off the hook!"

"You know he only did it because he worries for us. Both of us. He did the same to me too."

"Okay, sure… do you think I just went full Dwight on them yesterday?"

"You… didn't. Not really. I think you did okay. Maybe a bit TMI on some details, but…" Julian made a scene of hiding his face in a pillow, trying to suppress his embarrassment. "Jules, I love you, but I don't think talking about my personal relationship history with our sixteen-year old son and his boyfriend is such a smart idea. Especially since it was mine. I'm not the average, I'm the exception."

"Was there any other way I should've gone at it?"

"I don't know, but I don't think two of my own students can look me in the face anymore."

"I think we should both be grateful we didn't talk about Derek's history at least."

They shared a look, their faces bright red and struggling to hold back a smile, before bursting into laughter. 

"I worry for Valentine if you would have talked about Derek… Jules, that poor kid is terrified of everything, let's not traumatize him even more. I'm still his teacher."

"I worry more for what Johnמy would've said… or Nat. Oh, imagine if Nat would've heard that… you know she and Emma talk about everything, right? And I mean everything. She would've told her, and then Derek would've known, and then we'd both be dead."

"Let's… let's just be grateful that this talk is over with and that we don't need to advise them on more just yet…"

"More like what? Marriage, having children?"

"I know you're joking but yes, that is a very real possibility for us in the future."

"So let's just… fuck, I can't breathe…"

"Oh, shit! Your inhaler is here, come on…"

"...Logan?" Julian asked after a few moments, his breathing calming down now.

"Yeah?"

"Let's keep the marriage counseling to the future, okay?" He smiled as Logan nodded, leaning over to kiss his cheek again. "I love you."

"Jules, I love you."

"I know. Lucky me."