#and like ACTUAL writing inspo

[mangoisms]

[crabussy]

asian glossy starlings are severely under utilised Scary Birds. I see crows and ravens and vultures where is the love for these freaks

oohhh you want to put them in your art so bad oooohh

ID: three photos of iridescent black-green birds with bright red eyes and small black pupils, with long crow-like beaks. END ID

EXTENDED ID: three photos of glossy iridescent dark green birds, feathers almost black asides from where the light makes them viridian green. They have bright red eyes with jarring black pupils set into their head like precious stones and seem to be staring directly at the viewer, and their beaks are similar to crow beaks. The first photo shows a group of six starlings clustered on a wooden pole, presumably on a wharf. The second photo is two of the birds perched on branches, and the third photo is a close up of a starling's face from profile view. END ID

[solfinite]

hello finally putting my au stuff down on paper after several months.. also finally chose a name for it !! it's called Sonic Aeroventure :)

(+xtra traditional sketches below)

[kiwibongos]

horrible gift for @hajihiko based on their fic 'salt the earth' bc it broke me and i need a way to cope

read it here :>

og:

[averlym]

fairest of the fair

[daigina-3]

Steve comes home to a sacrificial ritual being set up in his living room.

Or that’s what it looks like.

He kicks the door closed and chucks his keys and wallet in the little bowl by the door like always, pushes his glasses up- they always slip down when he fiddles with the lock- and rounds the corner to head for the kitchen via the living room.

Except there’s a bunch of candles, a mix of black and cream colors, set up in the living room. Most are in plastic candelabras- bought from the DollarTree, maybe- and a big black blanket is spread in the center of the room, the couches pushed back from their usual center placement.

“What the fuck?” Steve calls, knowing exactly who’s going to answer because only one person could have done this-

“Steve!” Eddie rounds the corner from the other hall, his arms full. “You’re home early.”

“Uh- yeah-“ Eddie side steps past him, sparing a quick kiss on the cheek, which Steve returns, confused. “Are we.. sacrificing something? Or is this like a dark-themed romantic surprise because you know how I feel about wax-“

Eddie laughs and starts laying the things in his arms down on the blanket, forming a perfect semi-circle on the floor in the center of the room. A little plastic axe, a fake plastic branch, a mini ukelele, a toy sword, among others.

“No, definitely not-“

Steve cuts him off and, realizing something is missing, whips his head around in minor panic. “Where’s-“

“Heeeeeere she comes!” A voice calls from the same hall Eddie appeared from a moment ago and Steve recognizes the voice before he sees who it is, heart unclenching from his momentary panic. He’s relieved to see Gareth- a chubby little baby in his hands, held high above his head like he’s Rafiki taking Simba to Pride Rock. “The lady of the hour!”

Behind Gareth, shuffling and staring up at the baby he’s holding aloft are Dustin, Will, and Jeff, looking like occultists following their sacred baby-leader to the altar.

“Hi Gareth- hi guys,” Steve pushes down crazy helicopter dad mode and reaches up. When she sees Steve, Sam’s eyes light up with recognition- a smile breaks out on her round little face, all dribble and just one or two teeth that recently started coming in. She screeches in excitement m and reaches back to Steve with her tiny, tiny little hands- tiny little hands that might as well have Steve’s heart in a vice grip.

“Hi hi hi, Sammy,” Steve coos, taking the squealing, arm flailing ball of excitement from Gareth’s hands.

Steve will literally never get tired of how excited she is to see him, how even when he goes for a two minute bathroom break Sam screeches at the sight of him returning- will wiggle out of Eddie’s arms or bang on her high chair until Steve picks her up.

(Much to his husbands dismay- Eddie jokes that he’s nothing but a source of bottles to Sam and while they both know that’s not actually true… Steve can’t help feeling a little itty bitty bit smug when she kicks her way out of Eddie’s grip and reaches for his nose or glasses to tug on in delight).

Steve settles the smiley little butterball on his hip, rubbing little circles on her side as she grabs at the collar of his t-shirt. It only takes a couple seconds for Eddie to drift toward them both, attaching himself with an arm around Steve’s waist and Sam tucked between them.

Steve leans into the warmth of Eddie and the way he’s wedging Sam close to them both.

Around them, Gareth and Jeff light the candles around the room while Will and Dustin find a spot to set up Will’s phone.

It dawns on Steve- “Oh! Is this the Gundam and Gadgets thing for Sam’s first birthday?”

Eddie can’t hold back his laugh and he knocks Steve’s head gently with his own. “You know it’s Dungeons and Dragons, you old coot,” he says lightly, his breath tickling Steve’s cheek.

Steve smirks. He knows, but he likes to hear Eddie’s exasperated laughter when he calls Orcs “Shrek guys” or asks if the scores work like golf. He bonks Eddie’s head back lightly.

Eddie had mentioned it- said he’d seen a thing online but Steve had imagined picking papers out of a hat or something, maybe spinning a wheel.

Eddie twists a finger in Sam’s curls, his mouth pursed. “Paper in a hat? That would hardly be appropriate for such a tremendous occasion.”

Sam slaps at Eddie’s finger, grabbing it and yanking it down to her mouth. Eddie lets her slobber on it with the indifference of a man who’s had way, way worse than baby slobber on his hands.

“Our little Samwise is choosing her class- her lifelong craft that she’ll work to perfect. You can’t choose that with paper.”

Steve glances up from where he’s watching Sam gnaw on Eddie with her little ridiculously tiny hands wrapped around his. He knows the rings are non-toxic, made Eddie get them all checked, but still wonders if the metal is good for her teething gums.

“Isn’t that right, Sammy-fries?,” Eddie wiggles the baby- still gumming on his finger- into his arms. “This way she gets to choose what she gravitat- OW, fff-“

“Language,” Steve chides.

“-forks, Sammy, those teeth are deadly! Jesus, what’re you gonna do when you have a full set?” Eddie shakes his hand, inspecting his finger where two little red indents mark where Sam had bitten down. Hard.

She never touches her expensive doctor recommended teething rings, but biting on hands and fingers til they bleed? Her specialty.

Sam giggles as Eddie shows her his boo-boo and pretends to be fatally wounded.

“Candles are all done,” Jeff announces. “And Erica texted. She wants us to Skype her in after.

“Oh- Lucas and Mike made us promise to record it, too,” Will finally steps back from where he and Dustin have carefully propped the phone against a teddy bear elevated by books on a side table, looking like it could fall any second and angled perfectly at where Eddie is setting Sam down, equidistant on the blanket from each of the symbols surrounding her.

Steve recognizes some of the things- the sword is probably fighter, the little branch is probably meant to be a mage staff? Or maybe the other magic class, Druid? There might be more classes that use staffs or branches though. The ukelele is easy, that one’s a bard- Steve knows it’s Eddie’s favorite class- and a few other things that are obviously to do with fighting or something but he can’t really tell what’s meant to symbolize what.

Behind him, Gareth dims the lights just a little and saddles up next to Steve “This is gonna be so fuckin-“

“-Language!” Chorus Will and Dustin at the same time-

“Sorry- fricken awesome.”

The excitement among all the guys is palpable and Steve finds himself getting wrapped up in it too- they’re all sitting down around the special little blanket, Dustin and Jeff leaning across Will to make bets (Jeff’s money is on fighter but Dustin’s heart is set on Rogue) and Eddie sets Sam up, smoothing her hair down and gently explaining to her the sacred ritual they’ve set up for her. She barely understands much more than “yes” “no” or “dinner” but she looks up at Eddie with the biggest, most interested eyes a baby can have. Steve gets it- that’s probably how he looks at Eddie too, most of the time. Wide-eyed and love-struck.

A little ‘ping’ sounds softly as Dustin hits record on the phone and Eddie holds Sam up.

“Today,” he says like he’s making a speech to a crowd of several hundred rather than a living room of five dudes and a baby, “marks a special day in the young life of Samantha Munson-Harrington. Also known as Sam, Sammy, Spammy, Samwise, Samfries or Spud. She has reached the end of her first calendar year and it is time to choose the path down which she will walk for the years to come.”

He sets her down carefully equidistant from all of the symbols and scoots back among light cheers from the guys- including Steve, who gives a little ‘woo!’

“Aaah-oo,” Sam claps.

The guys start beckoning Sam this way or that- Gareth trying to get her attention towards the little axe and Will tapping the floor in front of the little play sword.

After a lot of looking around the room at all the crazy grown adults yelling at her, Sam surveys the items in front of her. Gareth’s little calls of “over here! Sam! Sam-erino, look at the cute little deadly weapon!” get more insistent and Will’s tapping is almost drowned out by Dustin making weird bird noises, as though cawing like a raven is gonna do anything but weird the kid out.

Finally, she crawls forward and reaches out her hand-

She grabs the ukelele.

Everyone goes wild.

Steve laughs at the way they all cheer anyway, even though Sam didn’t choose what they wanted, and Eddie scoops her up with the ukelele in hand, smothering her plump little cheeks with kisses.

“A bard,” Dustin bounces from where he sits cross cross applesauce. “She’s a little bard!”

They Skype Erica in- after, of course, they spend some time passing the baby around so they each get their turn cooing and snuggling their new little bard. Jeff holds Sam and plucks the ukelele in her arms, making her eyes go wide at the sound it makes. They laugh as she searches for what made the noise and aww appropriately as she discovers that instruments make sounds, slapping her little fingers against the strings with Jeff’s help.

Erica’s busy with her life as a new lawyer, as always, but never too busy for Hellfire. She answers on the second ring.

“Okay, nerds, I have a case in about fifteen so don’t waste my time-“

“Bard!” Eddie announces, holding Sam up to the phone so Erica can see her. She still hasn’t let go of the ukelele- it has, as all things must inevitably, ended up in her mouth. She’s chewing on the frets and smiling at the phone like she knows the camera’s on her.

(She always smiles for the camera. She’s a little show-boater like that.)

Erica makes a couple snarky comments about how she knew Dustin’s as gonna lose their bet- which, not surprising; they always have some kind of bet going and Dustin’s always losing- and she blows Sam a few kisses before she has to head out.

Will sends the video off to the group chat Hellfire has and spends the next few minutes laughing over Lucas and Dustins responses.

Sam ends up in Steve’s lap, doing her new little tick where she stands and bounces up and down. Steve keeps his hands on her arms for support and showers her with little kisses every few minutes- both as a little congratulations and because he can’t help it.

Jeff breaks out the beers. Eddie takes up the little ukelele, which definitely still has some Sam-spit on it- and plays a couple songs. He starts with her current favorite- one he and Steve play around the house for her to make her smile.

“I wanna rock n’ roll all night, and party every day-“

Sam goes nuts, squealing and dancing until she falls back into Steve’s lap and gets up to do it again.

The guys join in- all six of them singing (at different stages of off-key) to this bright little light, the center of Steve and Eddie’s whole world, of all of their worlds, really, who’s pulled them all in and made their lives a little warmer. Made their rag-tag family a little bigger.

“Happy birthday, Sam.” Steve whispers into her curls. “Little bard baby.”

[rogueonestan]

close call

summary: after a close encounter with an Infected, the only thing that calms you is the comfort of your partner. 

word count: 5.4k

content warning: tlou-type violence (not too graphic), mention of guns, minor language 

authors note: inspired by opening scene of this fic 

masterlist | ao3

Everything had happened so quickly. One moment you were treading through the depths of the forest with Joel, trying to find a decent spot to rest before nightfall came, but the worst thing happened when you drifted away from Joel for a few moments.

A twig snapped. 

It was a rookie mistake. To bring attention to yourself over something as minuscule as a tree branch breaking underneath your feet, but the simple action caused your heart to beat repeatedly against your chest. 

You mentally scolded yourself for the dumb mistake you made, hoping you didn’t gather the attention of anyone nearby, or even worse, an Infected. You check over your shoulder to see if the noise got your partner’s attention, but when you see that you’re still alone, a deep sigh leaves your lips. You’re not sure if it’s relief that the loud noise hadn’t gained anyone’s attention or if no one approached you because it caused your anxiety to swell up. 

Just when it seemed like the coast was clear to make your way back to Joel and forget any of this happened, to tell him you found a suitable place to crash for the night, the undeniable sound of a Clicker makes the thumping of your heart even faster and harder than it was less than a minute ago. You’ve dealt with Clickers in the past, it’s the reason why you’ve been able to survive in this hell hole of a world for nearly twenty years now, but the sound of them alone would terrify anyone. If it didn’t, the sight of them did. 

Your hand instinctively reaches for the gun you have resting on your hip, but your hand just gently pats the area. Another sigh leaves your lips when you realize where your gun is- in your pack. Whenever you travel with Joel for long periods of time, you usually put your weapon away during the night because you know you would be safe with Joel’s protection. You know he would never let anything bad happen to you. 

Just your luck, you forgot to put your gun back in its holster when you and Joel continued your travels in the early hours of the morning. Maybe it was because it was so early in the morning and you simply weren’t thinking straight or it was lack of sleep or it just wasn’t your day, but regardless, your gun is in your pack and the only weapon you have on you at the moment is the knife that rests on your right thigh as the clicker’s calls keep getting louder and louder as each second passes. 

The simple sound of your knife clicking open is what finally sets the clicker in your direction. The only sound that could be heard from miles was the echoing of the clicker’s screech. The disturbing figure was approaching you at an inhumane rate.

Fuck.

Before you could even prepare yourself against the upcoming attack, the creature lunges itself towards you. The heavy weight easily knocks you off your feet and it feels as if all of the air is knocked out of your body when your back collides with the cool, soft grass. It was a miracle in itself that you didn’t loosen your grip on your knife (probably the first sign of luck you’ve had all day) as the horrifying face grew closer and closer towards yours. It nearly took all the energy you had left to take a calming breath. 

The echoing sound of its snarl makes your ears vibrate with how loud and up close the creature was at this point. You could see the vine-like infection growing out of its mouth. The sight in itself is enough to keep you up late at night with how horrifying it looks. You’ve had a handful of encounters with Clickers before, but you’ve never been close enough to see the tiny details that litters its face and you hope to never come in contact with one this close again. 

One of the Clicker’s hands grasps the arm that isn’t wielding your knife, possibly another sign that things could begin to go in your favor tonight, as your opposite hand lunges at the creature's throat. The creature on top of you lets out another blood curdling scream, the sound bouncing off of your eardrums for a second time with a pain you never wish to feel again. You let out a scream in response as the pain in your ears gets to be too much. When you glance at the creature’s throat, believing that you stabbed it in the area that would kill it with one swift movement, you find that you missed the side of its throat by mere centimeters, the stab revealing itself near its collarbone. 

Of course. You missed.

The stab you managed to get in seemed to have inflicted some pain, but not enough. When the creature let out that blood curdling scream, its grasp on you loosened, just barely, but it was enough for you to shove the creature off of you with your forearm. It took all of the strength you had, but the Clicker flew a foot or two away from you. This gives you the spare moment you need to get up on one knee, preparing yourself to swing your arm in the creature’s direction but before you can lunge another attack, the sound of a gunshot echoes in the forest.

Then… silence. The sound of local birds cawing as they fly in multiple directions is the only sound that could be heard for the next few seconds as the thud of the now dead body falls only inches away from you. Your eyes instinctively close shut at the loud noise, out of fear of the whole event that was going on, but you were surprised at the sight in front of you once you had reopened your eyes: the unmoving body of the Clicker. 

Hell, you were surprised you were alive. 

Letting out a shaky breath, you look at your surroundings to see what the source of the clicker’s death was. 

Joel.

A shaky breath leaves your lips as soon as you see him and it only takes him a few seconds before he joins you at your side. 

You were half expecting Joel to scold you for the dumb mistake you made, telling how you need to be more careful and how you’re not supposed to leave his side (something he’s told you multiple times in the past), but you’re surprised by the 

feather-like touches his fingertips have on the outskirts on the palm of your hand as it still tightly grasps the weapon once he kneels besides you. His fingers gently begin to grasp yours, silently encouraging you to loosen your grip you have on the blade. Without saying a word, your fingers begin to unclasp their grip until the blade simply rests in the palm of your hand. Joel doesn’t waste another second to gently take the weapon from you, slowly retracting the blade back into its rightful place so that it can’t harm anyone else before he puts it in his back pocket. 

His hands cup your cheeks as his eyes scan for any life-threatening injuries you may have gotten. 

“Baby, are you hurt?” He asks you. 

A shaky breath leaves your lips, still trying to wrap your head around what just happened. You muster enough strength to shake your head. “No, no. I’m, uh- I’m okay.” You manage to say.

“What happened?” Joel asks you, the only sign of his worry was the look in his eyes as he looks over for any injuries for the second time.

Events of what just happened from the past few minutes leave your lips faster than you can recall. You tell Joel you don’t know how it happened. You remember being by his side, telling him whatever came across your mind during the moment when he told you should probably begin to settle down for the night, when the next thing you know you’re face-to-face with a Clicker.

You didn’t mean for any of it to happen. You didn’t mean to wander off. You didn’t mean to step on that branch. You didn’t mean to get the attention from the Infected. You didn’t mean for any of it to happen.

It was all your fault it happened. A bunch of ‘I'm sorry's’ leave your lips immediately afterwards. At some point, tears run down your cheeks and onto the palms of Joel’s hands when they never stop cupping your cheeks. 

The sound of his voice sounded like background noise at first, a distant sound trying to lure you out of the awful thoughts that began to circulate within your mind, but eventually the familiar sound of his deep voice helped lure you out of the dark clouds within your mind.

“Hey, it wasn’t your fault.” Joel calmly reassures you as his eyes never broke contact with yours. 

“Yes, it was. It-“

“It was not your fault. You didn’t mean for any of it to happen.” It took everything within him for his exterior to be as calm and collected as he appears to be. 

The sight of you only inches away from death nearly terrified him, his worst nightmare about to come true, but he can’t think about ‘what if’s.’ Not now. He has to be calm. One of you has to be.

“If I hadn’t, then…” You trail off.

“If you hadn’t then it could have found us in the middle of the night. It was a good thing that you found it. Really.” He reassures you.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive.” He promises you. 

When he sees the fear in your eyes never faded for a single moment, his eyes soften, trying to ease your nerves within you. It’s worked in the past. Somehow he’s always managed to comfort you when something awful like this has happened in the past, but not this time. Rather than finding comfort in his words or his presence, your eyes wander to the corpse that lies not even a few feet away from you. 

“Oh, God, I-I could’ve…” You trail off as your eyes never stop staring at the body. The nerves within you only worsen as the thought of what could have happened go through your mind. 

When Joel notices what your glance is fixated on, the grasp he has on your cheekbones quickly leaves, the warm sensation of his skin quickly being replaced by the cool wind, as his arms wrap around your frame and guides your head in the crook of his neck. A vain attempt, really, a way to shield you from the horror of what is right in front of you. The familiar scent of his and the steady heartbeat of his helps with the erratic beating of your own heart. 

“I’ll always be there to protect you.” He whispers in the shell of your ear. The soft words of his only helps with the growing feeling that was growing inside of you just moments ago. 

In the past you would have asked for further confirmation, asking why or if he’s sure, but after 

being in each other’s lives for a few years now, you know that Joel is a man of his word. He wouldn’t say something that isn’t true. You trust him with every bone in your body. 

“I could’ve died.” Your body physically twitches at the realization of that, but Joel’s grip on you only tightens. A silent promise to you that he would never let anything bad happen to you. Thoughts of how you, not the Clicker, should be dead roam within your mind and the only reason you’re alive in the first place is because of Joel. 

“That’s not going to happen as long as I’m around.” He promises you as silence falls over you.

Nothing else has to be said between the two of you. The feeling of you in his arms is a physical reminder to him that the safest place for you is to be in his arms. It tells him you’re still here and alive, and the thought of that alone helps with the nerves that made its way home in his bones. The feeling of your hot breath fanning against the crook of his neck only helps with the calming feeling beginning to reside within him, replacing the levels of nerves that lived within him only moments ago. The sight Clicker directly above you, so close to infecting you, was a sight enough to haunt his dreams at night. He couldn’t shake the feeling of losing you that way, not when he’s lost so many people over the years in the same exact way. He doesn’t know if he could handle losing another person, especially someone as important as you.

You were inches away from death. If he hadn’t heard you, if he hadn’t found you in time, you could’ve- no. He can’t let his mind go there. If he does, he may never come back from that state of mind. He can’t lose himself over meaningless ‘what if’s.’ The only thing that matters at the moment is that you’re here and safe.

The words ‘I’m so glad that you’re safe’ and meaningless rambles die on his lips. He wants to tell you just how relieved he is now that you’re okay, that he doesn’t know what he would do if you weren’t his life. Saying those kinds of things don’t come easily for Joel, the last time he allowed himself to be that vulnerable with someone else only ended in him being hurt, so he settles for the feeling of you in his arms.

The grasp he has on your waist only tightens while the arm he has wrapped around your shoulder gravitates down to the biceps of your arms. They’re covered in the material of your jacket, but rubbing up and down your arm helps keep his mind off of things. He rubs countless circles and random shapes to take his mind off of things. It gives him something to focus on for the time being. A soft moan leaves your lips in response and a shadow of a smile appears on Joel’s lips as he continues the action. He can feel the way your lips curl upwards in satisfaction as you bury your head impossibly deeper in the crook of his neck. 

When you curl closer towards him, an inch of exposed skin reveals itself when your shirt slightly rode up. Joel didn’t waste a single second to adjust the grip he has on your waist so that his fingers can feel the warmth of your flesh. Just like he did with the grasp he has on your arm, the feeling of his fingers on your bare skin, rubbing indestinguable shapes, sends shivers down your spine. His movements seemed to be never ending, not that either of you would complain. The intimate moment didn’t have to last this long between the two of you. A simple hug, a short reassurance, would have sufficed, but intimate moments like these were rare in your relationship. 

The physical embrace reminds you both everything for the time being is okay. When your body fully relaxes against his, to find full comfort in your partner’s grasp, a sigh leaves Joel’s lips. 

You’re okay.

You’re safe. 

He saved you.

It’s been such a long time since either of you found comfort in someone else’s arms. That tends to happen when you’re living in a world as messed up as the one you’re currently living in. It’s a great comfort to know that someone cares about him as much as he cares about them- to have his feelings reciopcrated for the first time in what seems like a lifetime ago. 

The small smile on Joel’s face only grows at the thought of that. He’ll tell you someday, hopefully sometime soon, but he needs the time to figure out what to say. He wants to say the right word at the right time, but he settles for the growing warm feeling he has in his belly as he allows the feelings of pure love and adoration to run through his veins- a feeling he hasn’t felt long before the outbreak happened nearly two decades ago.

“I’ll always be there to protect you.” Joel promises you.

“And I’ll be there to protect you. You know that, right?” You ask.

“I know.” 

A moment of silence fills the air, only the local ambience could be heard for miles until Joel breaks the silence. “But we should probably find some other place to spend the night. It’s not safe here.”

As much as you hate to break the short yet tender moment between the two of you, you know Joel’s right. It’s very unlikely someone else or another Infected didn’t hear the sound of the gunshot that echoed not that long ago. You probably brought even more unneeded attention to where you currently are and need to find someplace to stay until the sun rises in the morning.

A soft grunt leaves Joel’s lips when he begins to stand up from the soft grass, silently offering his hand to you. Without hesitation, you accept his grasp and allow him to pull you up from the ground. As the two of you move deeper and deeper within the forest, the feeling of Joel’s fingers firmly (yet gently at the same time, a perfect presentation of himself) intertwines with your hand, never leaving your grasp for the remainder of your walk together. The only time his grasp slightly loosens is to gently squeeze your hand, a physical reminder to himself that you’re here and safe with him. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Joel hadn’t kept you out of his sight since you found a spot to rest for the night. Even when he was preparing dinner for the two of you, every so often, he would look up to make sure you were still nearby.

Hardly anything was spoken when you were eating, mainly because neither one of you knew what to say. The most you’ve said all evening was how surprisingly good the food was or how beautiful the night sky looks, both of which Joel agreed, then nothing else was spoken. You would feel Joel’s eyes on you every so often and when you would look in his direction, his eyesight would go in the direction of the lit lantern that sits in front of you guys. 

Neither of you knew what to say- you felt like you should probably apologize once again for what happened earlier on in the day and Joel wanted to say something, anything, but no words formed on the tip of his tongue. Based on the way your eyes were looking off in the distance for so long, he could tell something heavy was on your mind, but he didn’t know what to say. 

Then, the silence was broken.

“Hey, is everything okay?” He asked you when he saw your eyes were now fixated on the stars littering the sky above you.

“Oh, yeah.” You answer as your eyes go from looking at the night sky, back to him, then back at the star-filled sky as you contemplate on your answer. “It’s just… it reminds me of when I was a kid. My parents would take us out camping when I was younger and it was always something I looked forward to.”

You then continue to tell him about the camping trips that seemed so normal and perhaps a bit boring (being a teenager would do that) but the normalcy of something like that is something you crave so much and you would do anything just to do something like again. Spending the night in the middle of the forest with Joel is probably the closest you’ll ever get that feeling of normalcy again.

You recall of the cliché camping activities you cherished doing with your family over the years: going swimming in the nearby lake with your sister, trying to catch the frogs near the lake with your mom but you were never able to, the hot dogs and s’mores that would be roasted on the campfire at the end of the day, and finally, finding comfort in the night sky above you as you tried to make yourself comfortable in the thinnest sleeping bag ever. 

All of those things gave you a warm feeling in your stomach in the same way you felt when your mom tucked you in at night as a kid- the same way it feels as the warmth of the nearby lantern feels on your skin at this very moment.

“It’s the simplicity of it all that I miss. Just knowing I could drop everything and drive to the same spot that I spent countless summers with my parents, the familiarity of it all is what I miss the most, I think.” You admit with a soft smile.

The same expression reflects on Joel’s face as well when you admit all of this to him.

This was probably one of the stories you told him about your childhood in a long time. It was such a simple confession, one that rolled off the tip of your tongue with such ease, but seeing the way your face lit up with such a child-like joy after the awful day you had was what caused the butterflies beginning to form in the pit of his stomach. Seeing the way your nerves were beginning to lift off of your shoulders, how you were beginning to go back to your old self, helped ease Joel’s mind a bit.

“That sounds nice.” He tells you.

“It was.” You admit, the smile on your face beginning to grow larger as images of times with your parents during your childhood emerge in your mind. “Did you ever do anything like that as a kid?”

“Fishing with my dad.” He admits. “My dad would always wake me and my brother really early on random Saturday mornings and take us out to the closest lake he could find. Tommy always hated it. Waking up so early on the weekends when all he wanted to was sleep in, just to spend it with near silence with my dad for a few hours then to spend another hour or so back on the road, but those times with my father is what I miss the most. The simplicity of it.”

“I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Oh, yeah…” He pauses. “Tommy.”

The subtle nostalgic look on his face tells you so much about his brother than words ever could. The way he spoke about him told you they had a falling out of some sort, maybe they eventually went down different paths during the pandemic at one point or even worse, his brother was killed as a result of the infection, you’re not sure. It’s not often Joel speaks of his past, so you don’t question him any further. If he wants to tell you more about his previous life, he will. If not, that’s okay with you. As long as Joel is in your life, that’s good enough for you. 

Then the subject matter is dropped for the remainder of the night as the two of you reflect in the good times in your lives- you were reflecting on the happy times you spent with your family when you were a kid and Joel simply glances at your reflection as you look up at the night sky above you, thankful for having someone like you in his life.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

“I wouldn’t have been there to protect you.” Joel says after you both had finished cleaning up the mess you had made from eating dinner and you were finally about to head to bed for the night. The only item remaining is the lit lantern that acts as the only light source for miles. 

His words surprise you as you glance in his direction. “I’m sorry?”

“I thought I had lost you earlier.” He confesses. 

 “You would blame yourself if something had happened?”

“I almost wasn’t there to protect you.”

 “It would've been my fault anyway, I should've been more careful. If I hadn't wandered off, it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.” Before Joel could reassure you and tell you it wasn’t your fault, you continue. “I know you think it wasn’t but it was. I'm okay with that because I know you’ll always be here for me. You’ll always be there to protect me.”

“Always.” He promises.

“Besides, you’re the one I should be worried about. You’re the one that's always in danger, not me.”

“You know you don’t have to worry about me.” He reassures you.

“But I still do. I worry that every time you leave, you won’t come back. That you’ll leave the QZ one day, or a deal goes bad, and then I’ll be alone, that I won’t have anyone and that thought terrifies me.” You admit.

“I feel the same way.” He softly admits. 

“You do?”

He nods his head. “Earlier today, I was so scared of losing you and I didn't know what I would do without you. The idea of life without you seemed meaningless and I-I couldn’t bear the thought of that.”

"Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I don't know. Guess if I had said it outloud, then it would’ve…”

“Would’ve seemed real.” You finish his sentence for him. He nods his head. “Oh, Joel, you mean more to me than you know.”

“I know.” 

A soft smile appears on your face when his hand reaches for yours- his way of telling you how much he cares for you and how he couldn’t bear to lose you without saying anything. You know how much Joel cares for you, possibly even more than anyone else in the entire world, and the thought of that makes the smile on your face grow even larger.

“I love you." He tells you for the first time.

“I know, I love you too.” You tell him as you gently squeeze his hand. The reflection of the lamp in front of you being the only source of light and heat around you.

There were only a few moments of silence between the two of you when the sensation of a pair of warm lips resting against the top of your forehead. The action itself caught you off guard at first, but you eventually caved in, letting your body slump over as Joel’s hands gently cups the sides of your cheekbones. Tender affections like these are rare from Joel, but not uninvited. You’re always taken back whenever they occur, but you always found comfort in the simplicity of his affections.

It’s been so long since you’ve received attention and affection as gentle as Joel is giving you right now, so you’ll take any kind of physical contact you can get.

As soon as his lips come in contact with your warm skin, a soft sigh leaves his body as his eyes shut in relief. The stresses of the day finally escaping. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if something as awful as losing you were ever to happen. The last time he allowed himself to feel this way for another person, they ended up leaving, so he’s willing to do everything in his power to make sure that doesn’t happen with you. If it does, he doesn’t know if he can forgive himself. This world is cruel and unforgiving, and he’ll be damned if those he loves aren’t protected.

Surviving on your own for so long also took so much from you. You’ve managed to not suffer the level of loss as Joel has dealt with over the years, but fuck is it numbing. You’ve lost so many people over the years because of this cruel and awful world, you’ve managed the pain that comes along with the death of someone close to you. You’ve just… existed. When things seemed the darkest, that’s when the beacon of light returned in your life in the form of a man. 

It took a while for Joel to trust you and you’ve never blamed him for it. If you’ve suffered half the amount of loss he's dealt with over the years, you would be the same way, but over the years, you’ve managed to gain his trust. Eventually, he’s revealed parts of himself he hasn’t shown another person since the outbreak occurred. 

Working together was difficult at first. He only spoke to you only necessarily. Traveling to the location of your next job was often filled with sounds coming from around you, sounds often coming from the gravel underneath your feet or the sounds of birds chirping. Over time, the two of you began to grow closer. At first, you traveled together because going out in the open along was dangerous, suicidal even, and going out in pairs was highly advisable because there’s less of a chance you’ll end up dead.

Protecting you from danger was only part of the job at first, to make sure that neither of you got hurt as you were sent out on a job Tess recommended you both for, but those long hours spent together eventually developed into something more. You began to reveal parts of your life before the pandemic, what everyday struggles that seemed life altering really seem minuscule now. Joel usually didn’t have much to say, only letting a few comments out to let you know he’s listening as silence falls on you again, but eventually, he began to reveal parts of his past life to you as you had done to him on so many occasions. They seemed like minor things at first, but it wasn’t until one random night traveling together that it dawned on you just how vulnerable he was being, like the story he told you earlier of his dad. 

“Thank you, Joel.” You tell him.

“For what?” He asks.

“Just…thank you. I don't know what I would do without you.”

 “I’ll always be there for you.” Joel promises you. 

After a few moments of silence, the distant sounds of crickets being only the thing that can be heard, Joel speaks again. “We should probably go to bed.” He says as he guides you to the area where you’ll be sleeping for the night. 

It’s not the most comfortable area, but it’ll do. The feeling of the soft grass on your skin helps give you the minimal comfort that can be found in an area like this. The feeling of Joel’s arms wrapped around your frame helps bring the added comfort you needed in order to feel sleepy. If he hadn’t been there, you probably wouldn’t have been able to fall asleep because of the day’s events.

This isn’t the first time you’ve slept in each other’s embrace, no, you’ve done it plenty of times in the QZ in each other’s apartments, but this time it felt different. Maybe it’s from the intimate confession that was said just a few moments ago, or it’s the calming ambiance of the forest, or it’s a combination of the two, but the feeling of being wrapped in Joel’s strong arms at this very moment is the closest feeling you’ll feel in this world of falling asleep next to your significant other. 

Silence lures over the pair of you. You’re about to drift off to sleep when a question pops up in your mind. Before you can try to push it to the side until morning, your mouth moves faster than your brain. 

“Can I ask you something?” You ask.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you always saving me?”

“Because you’re like family to me.” He tells you as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Hearing those words bring tears to your eyes immediately because you haven’t been able to see your family since the night the outbreak began.

“You’re family to me too.” You tell him.

Then nothing else has to be said. No ‘I love you’s’ or anything like that. You both just know. You both know how much you mean to each other, how you couldn’t possibly imagine life without the other, how life would see meaningless, just having each other gives life meaning since you both nearly have lost everyone else.

“Goodnight, Joel.”

“Goodnight, baby.” He tells you as you both drift off for the night. 

[starrysharks]

evolution of starsaints kiddos. first was from around 2021 . i wanted to give them a greater difference in color pallete and shape. my least favourite iteration of them is the 2nd because i can't get over the fact that they literally look identical, my same face syndrome was terminal back then

[i-have-no-enemies]

Me because I need the Miklagaard arc. I needed it and I STILL need it! I need to see Thorfinn’s and Gudrid’s relationships develop I need to see them struggle and see them become prober merchants and I neED TO KNOW WHY THORFINN AND EINAR WERE THROWN IN JAIL.

YUKIMURA PLEASE YOU CAN’T KEEP THIS FROM US.

[sleepanonymous]

Something extremely funny and not at all annoying about writing Sleep Token fanfiction is when the fake names you’ve chosen for the Eepy Guys— names that you’ve actually grown fond of and have trained yourself to use when writing so that it comes naturally and you’re no longer accidentally writing the forbidden Real Names™— end up being names shared by less than savory people in this fandom.

I’ve literally never had a writing crisis like this before. Like, I’m half tempted to just ignore it and be like “Do you eepy babes wanna read a oneshot that's almost finished about Vessel and III and attraction panic?” because I’ve been using these names for almost six months now.

[milobyelo]

I like to think that in Maverick’s down time from taking names and kicking ass in the sky he goes on walks to get himself to slow down and back to life’s regular speed instead of the adrenaline rush of flying. And it’s like a whole thing for him, he has a designated bookbag he brings with him if a sketch book and snacks etc. But most importantly his favorite part of the park is the pond, because there’s so many ducks. And the ducks remind him of goose so he just gets a little melancholic and sits down under a tree by the pond for an hour feeding the ducks.

The thing is he’s had the same house he inherited from his dad in Sand Diego by the base for decades so he’s gone to this pond in his downtime whenever he gets back in town for decades. And he always feeds the ducks. Hes brought Bradley and Carole to feed ducks with him before and later played catch with Bradley for practice by the pond, it’s a whole thing for him.

Well after Ice’s cancer scare and the two of them get their shit together (in this I imagine they don’t really get in a relationship until a couple years pre-canon) and Mav takes him to the pond because it’s his special place and he wants to share it with his boyfriend.

So he brings a blanket, they get settled, and Maverick grabs the food out his bag to go feed the ducks. He looks at Ice with such a soft look because they’ve been through so much but they can still find time in their life to sit down and feed the ducks in Mav’s special place.

And everything goes perfect until Iceman looks down at the food Maverick brought and offhandedly says “You know you’re not supposed to feed ducks bread, it’s bad for them. Did you bring anything else?”

And Maverick is just horrified. Because he’s been feeding these ducks bread for like 35 years and “oh my god Ice how many ducks did I kill”. And it’s a whole thing and Ice had to help him through the heartbreaking news but starting next week he brings seeds instead and thoroughly apologies to the ducks that just stare at him in return.

[dejwrldarchived]

aot fics will give me a bit of a giggle if they weren’t filled with white characters speaking aave and being characterized as if they’re fresh out a wattpad urban book. like you can do so much with eren’s character and his canon characteristics in a modern verse, so much.

[isjasz]

yes this is yet another block people drawing blog

hi im jas! she/her, adult o777

I draw grian a lot and also scar and yeah desertduo and

Multifandom! (focused on life series hermitcraft and adjacent atm) (+ AUs scattered around)

I have an INPRNT SHOP if you would like to buy prints of my pieces!! :D

Other socials: Twitter: isjaszzz ; Instagram: isjasz_

I FORGOT I ALSO HAVE YOUTUBE LMAO (animatics and PMVs!)

Asks are always open with anons but try to follow this!! 🫶 I reply in a bulk a lot so sorry that the responses are typically late as hell KASJDKA

I use these brushes (ibispaintx)

Using my art as banners/pfps/wallpapers/personal use is all good, with credit ofc! (in fact i lose my mind when u guys do that /pos go ahead A)

!! There's the occasional hermitshipping. They will be properly tagged ofc!

I have a kofi now too! Any support is appreciated :D -> kofi

tags are down below ↓↓

[bizarrelittlemew]

Madonna as Susan in Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

[3584-tropical-fish]

i simply must know what rokc is

Yessss my relentless rokc posting has worked!! >:]

The ROKC is a radio show I do with a friend of mine! It follows Nick and Mallory, two grad students in the town of Kullerluk, who soon come to realize that there is Definitely Something Up with the disasters that never stop plaguing their world. There are two main portions to the show:

1.) The horoscopes. Read by Nick each week, the horoscopes seem pretty normal at first, but eventually he shares with the class that he basically blacks out while reading them. They’re usually fairly ominous, and definitely a little prophetic.

2.) The disaster report. Read by Mallory each week, the disaster report details whatever crisis has befallen their town that week, ranging from floods to earthquakes to really dense fog. She usually writes her reports clinically, but every time she reads them she ends up going a liiiiitle off script.

Eventually, they come to realize that their horoscopes and disaster reports are definitely supernaturally attached to the disasters that are happening, and after a lot of arguing back and forth and one minor character death they feel like they’ve maybe figured out exactly what’s going on (they have not).

Aside from that, there’s also the perpetually impassable route 80, Mallory’s one sided beef with local author/film-maker/musician Naomi Beech, and a handful of stupid puns for random places in our fictional town.

That’s like a Very broad overview of what’s going on. My rokc inspo tag is basically anything that I feel I could incorporate in some way to the show, or just has the vibes of it in general! Also some fun quotes from our script for you:

But yeah those are my guys!! I play Mallory and write the disaster reports, my cohost and I tag team the dialogue sections. It’s a pretty fun time. I’d share it here but it’s through my college so uh. Would prefer not to doxx myself. But if anyone’s curious I can and will ramble more about these fools forever and always!!

[elementary-my-dear-daddy]

Born to write about Virgil spoiling sugar baby Logan forced to write about complex ancient civilizations