#bUT thank you for indulging me <333

[suusoh]

johan and Anna together would be The worst combo ever

exactly. THE worst. you're not escaping them. If we're talking Johan and Nina then at least it's like a good cop bad cop thing where Nina is at least trying to keep things at a level. The classical yin and yang balance. She genuinely wants you to enjoy their presence without any stress or discomfort while Johan could not care less if you're scared or not, since he knows you won't truly escape them anyways. He finds it amusing even— both on how visibly unnerved you are, and how much lengths Nina will go through to keep you in the dark of their obsession. He almost finds it like a game: how uncomfortable can he make you and how good of an excuse can Nina make this time? But if we're talking Johan and Anna, on the other hand, the Anna Liebert I have in my head (the one who's objectively WORSE than Johan): There is no pleasantries. Nada. They want you, they have you. That's it. They don't even bother to hide their freakishness (well maybe at the start, just to lure you in. They have to be on their best behaviour after all). But other than that, no chance at things being normal. Zero. You have two traumatized blonde twins touch starved for affection and connection and they will get exactly that from you. No matter how unsettling you find them. Not like you could do anything about it anyways.

[ruporas]

hello hello! I hope you don't mind me dropping by but I just want to say I love your art so much, the way you draw vashwood is just so sweet and tender but can I just ramble about the way you draw Vash especially? More specifically, the way you draw his expressions when he's looking at Wolfwood???

I just LOVE the way you draw Vash's expression because the way you make him look at Wolfwood is so soft 😭😭😭. There's just something about it that's so tender, like whenever I look at Vash's expressions in your art I just think "that is genuinely someone who loves another person with all their heart" and it just mends and breaks my heart at once, you capture Vash's love for Wolfwood in ways I can't explain 👏

It's unbridled love mixed with the fear of hurting Wolfwood in their relationship. It's wanting to spill so much affection but holding back in fear of messing up. He looks at Wolfwood like he's longing for him so earnestly be it pre-relationship or even when they're already dating it's just so??? 💕💕💘💞💖💖💞💕

There's just something so tender and heart wrenching at the way Vash looks at Wolfwood in your art, it gets me really emotional and I hope you have a lovely day/night for real <33!!!

ouuuuu thank you so so much for your kind words and for taking the time to tell me this T_T !!! i'm glad my expressions for vash's longing gazes at wolfwood is well done enough to have this sort of response to it…

he's the kind of person that has to hold back in both words and touch when it comes to love, when it comes to wolfwood, but i think it's a difficult emotion to restrain, especially when wolfwood is kind enough to let it be.

ultimately, what they're allowed to have is the inevitable shared spaces during their travels, it's the other's physical presence, being next to wolfwood, being able to take him in through the way he simply exists. smelling smoke, seeing smoke, seeing the cigarette between his fingers, seeing the crosses littered across his person, the rosary snug around his neck, his scruff at his chin, messy bangs, messy hair, tired eyes, the canine that peeks when he speaks, and a voice carrying heavy words, but honest, and kind, and one vash could never get tired of hearing, like how he'd never be tired of just looking at wolfwood.

it's of gratitude, it's of sorrow, it's of grief, it's of love, praise, adoration, it's desperate and it's full of yearning. at first, it's a gaze he feels he has to be satisfied with until he's learned that he's allowed for more and at that point, when wolfwood has given him so much, how could he look at him in any other way?

in any case, i def like to make it known and parade around vash's deeeeeep deep deep feelings of love towards wolfwood, so i'm very happy to know i can express that clearly through his expression alone. i Also just love wolfwood so maybe the projection goes from the heart of the artist to the heart of the art.

i ended up collecting a few caps of his expressions just out of curiosity for myself :3 i have much to improve still, i'll keep on drawing vash's loving self until i can get the ultimate loving expression down!!

[u3pxx]

anyway heres my bad omens sillies contribution

NO FREAKIGN WAYYYYYYYY

[inkykeiji]

hihi! your rb with the tags about your profession had me intrigued and I wanted to ask, what DID kill the Hollywood system? if you don't mind me asking >u<

HI HI HI HEHEHE first of all i hope you’re doing well!!! seCONDLY OMGGG thank you for indulging me waaaaah i love talking about golden age/classical hollywood and the studio system!!!

beware: i rambled on and on below the cut >.< apologies for the mini essay in advance waaah

OKAY SO. first, a little context. the classical hollywood studio system originally utilized a practice called ‘vertical integration’, which basically means they owned and operated ALL channels of production, distribution, AND exhibition—aka, they controlled literally everything in regards to the films they made, which was like 90% of american filmmaking at the time. this, naturally, made it quite difficult for any film that wasn’t a film made by the Big Five (warner bros, paramount, 20th century fox, RKO, and MGM) or the Little Three (columbia pictures, united artists, and universal) to be screened at a theatre, because the studios owned a decent chunk of the theatres.

furthermore, the theatres the big studios DID own always got first run of their films, meaning that their movies were exclusively screened at the theatres they owned first, then were passed off to second run, third run and fourth run theatres. it’s important to note here that the film prints being distributed and passed around theatres were the same all throughout a film’s run—so by the time a print reached a fourth run theatre, the film stock was all scratched up and low quality. who wants to go watch that? (no one! audiences flocked to the first run theatres owned by the studios!).

the antitrust case between the supreme court and paramount pictures (aka ‘the paramount decrees’) was the first, and heaviest, nail in the coffin of the studio system. the paramount decrees did two things. first, they forced studios to stop a practice known as block booking. block booking was a practice where theatres not owned by the big studios were forced to buy a huge block or batch of films in advance. usually, these films included one A-list film and then a bunch of B-movies and other less desired films. second, they forced studios to cease owning theatre chains, which allowed for indie directors to begin screening their films, AND it allowed for more international films to be shown (which in turn helped break down the production code & replaced it with the ratings system).

this began the end of the system! it was then further impacted by consumer culture, car culture, and suburbia. after world war two, many people moved out of the city and into the suburbs, where they began to start families. car culture was booming and it was hip to have a car that you could use to commute to work (from the suburbs into the city!). disposable income was abundant, and many families were buying fancy new appliances for their new suburban homes—including televisions.

it’s a common misconception that TV killed the studio system. it was, in actually, only one of several nails in the coffin. television at the time was pretty crummy; it was low quality, the screens were small, and it only had about three channels (not to mention studios began allowing television networks to begin screening older films that no longer ran in theatres). but evidence proves that moviegoing attendance had fallen drastically several years before televisions became a fixture in the home. to combat TV and capitalize on car culture, studios began erecting drive-ins, to little avail!

anyway, i could go on and on and on but basically, in a nutshell, those were the handful of things that broke down the classical studio system and gave way to ‘new hollywood’…which then gave way to the blockbuster.

[angeart]

I am so in love with Mumbo taking up sewing and making everyone outfits and things. And making Grian his sweater, my heart. And just, everything about the two of them, I love them. T-T Also something about Grian going to find Mumbo in the rain, and now Mumbo is trying to find him after a fire... (also also you keep saying 'if you want' Ange I always want, I love Ange rambles)

-🎀

something about sewing actually requiring long hours of sitting still. his hands are moving, though, and there is progress constantly! he's learning to calm himself and to stay put in a way, while feeling productive and useful. it's a bit of a struggle at first, but he settles into it, finding that it helps him feel calm and grounded <3

and he likes figuring things out! whether it's tailor cuts or patterns or, you know, the redstone for the stage. it puts him at ease to have a problem to solve (a harmless one!!)

and and and. yes!!

him and grian together are so precious to me. so important.

i know boatem circus au fics so far have focused on mostly scar and grian, but this is behind the scenes, and grian had more than just scar to rely on. mumbo's done a lot for him!! and he is so attached, he did his best for mumbo too!

... and. mmhm. mumbo's now trying to find him.

thinking what if he won't? what if this is it? what if he failed?

[wat-zu]

bada bing bada boom hits you with a broom aka your ocs

thx for letting me borrowing them grabs them in my pocket and gives them back to u

Pinkie by @mary-games-and-arts

Avion by @thedancingartist

Cross by @nzn43

Emerald blue by @applesaucify

Dorado by @toon-melody

Alvia by @flairya

[presiding]

What is your favourite thing about Billie Lurk?

(Answers are obvious possibly but i love when people talk about her👍)

thanks for the ask!! YEAH ME TOO I love when people talk about Billie! I can't say I have a favourite thing specifically, but I can explain why she's my fav. apologies for not taking this qn literally, but -

short answer: she’s really cool

& you can stop reading there, or, for the maybe 2 mutuals who might have time to read this my thoughts on her as a character, her meta, and her character as raw potential...

long answer:

i considered making this entire thing a gush so you could read a gush about Billie. but, part of what draws me to her is that she’s not always well written, and in fandom she’s underrated for a literal protagonist.

since you ask...

billie is a cool character

when I played Dh2 (hadn't played Dh1), I was excited to see a black woman with disabilities who was captaining a massive ship by herself. wow.

then I discovered Billie’s backstory with Deirdre, the way she responded to that, then having to survive while living on the run, and her bisexuality. as well as her history with daud & delilah. fascinating!

she’s an outsider who has so much to lose, and knows what it's like to lose everything - having lost everything not once but three times - but nevertheless speaks truth to power. she's so brave! she went and helped Emily & Corvo and she must have known they might kill her! plus, she’s smart, she’s funny, she gets shit done, she’s gorgeous.

but... the meta

mild critique of fandom & arkane incoming.

skip this bit if you want - you've been warned twice now - jump to tired Hayao Miyazaki and read from there if you'd like my thoughts on writing her.

i thought Death of the Outsider was going to be amazing and then... well. *sad trombone* i've written about that before so i won't keep banging on. i figured others must be disappointed too, so I joined a few fandom spaces in hopes of finding camaraderie.

most people with complaints about DotO didn’t like how the Outsider and Daud were handled. which is valid & I agree. but it seemed like most paid no attention to Billie; when people talk about her it’s with respect to Daud, as opposed to in her own right. you could argue for fandom misogyny because people don’t talk about adult Emily Kaldwin that much either, but in Billie's case, it’s misogynoir (compare & contrast with the popularity of thomas, particularly the popularity of thomas portrayed as a white man for no particular reason that i've been able to discern - i keep asking around, is it in the books???).

i think this is a LOT better now than it used to be, which is fantastic. or perhaps i have found the correct echo-chamber? ha.

ultimately, The Fandom is a fraction of the entire picture, and not even the important bit since The Fandom is not who these games are made for. you can't make money relying on only your hardcore fans even if all of them spent a fortune on merch, this is true for any AAA game.

while it's true that Billie is underrated from a fandom perspective - but Billie as an underwritten protagonist is squarely Arkane’s fault.

it was reasonable when she was a side character - the lack of info in Dh2 makes perfect sense (if anything there was more lore in Dh2 which is kind of wild)-

- but as a protagonist in Death of the Outsider?

.... there’s lousy writing, and there’s whatever is going on with Billie Lurk, a black woman who mostly exists as a foil or saviour for light-skinned characters. In her own game there’s barely any of her own lore except where it's relevant to saving two dudes.

lore hints at, but barely touches on what race means in the Dh universe (xenophobia is stronger in Dh1; separate essay i guess), but Arkane has patted themselves on the back for portraying non-white characters, which feels like the same thing as the aesthetic of diversity we're seeing in advertising currently because it’s in marketing trend guides. it's self-congratulatory and it's a missed opportunity for deeper storytelling.

you can see an example of diversity at its most shallow in the way that Billie’s written: there’s little engagement with her as an entire person with history & wants & preferences, and the world she walks through in that game feels like it has nothing to do with her. you could make a case for alienation as a theme, but then, how do you handle the titular premise of 'Dishonored' without ever letting Billie make changes in an environment without a chaos system? it's disappointing from that angle too.

in my opinion, whatever it's worth, it was an accident Arkane created such an awesome character - they needed someone to betray daud. congrats billie.

all this said, it makes her an underdog as far as characters to enjoy & create art & stories for. it's nice to find so many like-minded, switched on people! <3

billie's character potential

she’s got a wealth of unexplored lore, being deeply intertwined with both Karnaca & Dunwall’s fates & criminal underbellies, as well as her connections to the witches & whalers, and three Empresses.

she’s lived a few distinct lifetimes and in the games we get to meet her at two peaks (KoD & DotO) & a low (Dh2 as Meagan).

her voice is very distinct, her dry & often dark humour is entertaining & fun to write. her perspective is really interesting - she’s had the widest variety of void-powers of anyone canonically, and she’s also lived through the highest highs and lowest lows.

she's got everything going for her :) i couldn't really pick a fav thing!

[itsjaywalkers]

not sure if i actually ship bartylily but i am very intrigued by them….would definitely read if u ever wrote anything for them 👀👀

how do u think them and jeg would interact?? i feel like the existence of bartylily would throw james & reg off so much lmaooo

CASS I ADORE U AND I’M KISSING U SO HARD FOR THIS it’s such an honour to hear that you’d read them if i ever write anything for them <3 (which i definitely will, they’re in my mind too often)

OOOOOOH I JUST GIGGLED OUT LOUD i think their reactions would be . very fun and wildly different. like reg would be surprised at first and i don’t think he’d get it. like barty, he has this specific view of lily in his mind and he doesn’t understand how barty could’ve fallen for her in the first place and viceversa. they don’t make sense to him but he isn’t . mean or judgemental about it, i feel like none of barty’s friends would be (they’d tease him and take the piss out of him all the time tho, bc that man is Down Bad). after he actually Sees them together a couple of times he starts to get it. they shouldn’t make any sense but they do and they work surprisingly well together so . he stops questioning it at some point and is just supportive

james however. is Appalled. Baffled. Disgusted even. this might just be one of the worst things that’s ever happened to him. it’s not even about jealousy, he’s with reg (sorry it’s the jeggy obsession) and only sees lily as a friend but barty is his Least Favourite Person in existence. he already has to spend too much time around him bc he’s reg’s best friend and now??? now he’s with lily??? bc not only they get along but they’re also dating??? yeah no Fuck That

don’t get me wrong i feel like almost all of lily’s friends wouldn’t take kindly to the news at first (obviously this depends on how u portray both friend groups and their opinions of each other but to me . they never truly get along u know) but i think that they’d grow to accept it at some point. even if begrudgingly. marlene and mary at least. the jury is still out about sirius + remus + peter

but james??? oh he Hates it. and Hates it forever. he’s happy to see lily happy, yeah, but that’s about it. he’s the man who gets up in the middle of the wedding to try and oppose even if he knows there’s no stopping them (reg is incredibly embarrassed and hating his life choices and trying to get him to sit back down) (barty finds it absolutely hilarious and is delighted to know he’s causing james this much turmoil even after so many years) (lily is very much Done and this is exactly why she didn’t want to invite james) (but barty needed reg there and everyone knows that reg and james are a package deal) (anyway i digress)

[that-was-anticlimactic]

you have some of the nicest titles ever. but i need to know why chuuyas throwing shoes and cursing

omggggg i am 🥺

tehe so. idk if know, but i have a mini fic series (that i have actually yet to name so it isn't Technically a series on ao3 yet lol) that just involve dance mom pyramids being done in bsd organizations (lovecraft dance moms/reality tv fan real)

and this is the port mafia one iuyfgyhui there's a scene in dance moms where jill is wearing like a cowboy hat and is yelling stuff like, "i'll pack my bags and go home right now! is that - would that make you all really happy? bc that's what i'm doing! i'm sick of this s.hit! i'm done! good for you!" and she's packing and throwing shoes while abby is like "no that would not make me happy. i-" and keeps getting interrupted.

then it cuts to an interview with christie and she says, "jill's throwing shoes and she's cursing and all i can think is you are so hard to take seriously wearing that hat" and i saw that and instantly went: chuuya.

so, the fic is basically tachihara roasting the port mafia while occasionally mentioning his "armed detective agency boyfriend" (jun) oiuygtftgyuiouyg

here's a lil snippet:

“Anyways, next on the pyramid is Chuuya-san beca—”

“What?” Chuuya roared, glaring at Tachihara with enough venom to maybe kill Dazai. “Why? What did I do?”

“Man, you need to chill and let me finish talking,” Tachihara laughed. “Have some of the punch and cookies by the door. Also you complain about Dazai-san like, all the time. Every other word out of your mouth is his name!”

“As it should be,” Akutagawa cut in, nodding seriously. Gin elbowed him, shaking their head.

“Also… you do realize that not everything is a challenge, right? Like if we tell you not to eat an entire onion because we don’t think you’d like it, that isn’t us saying you can’t do it. You don’t need to, like, prove us wrong?”

To be honest, Tachihara didn’t think Chuuya understood that. In fact, they’d probably take the statement as a challenge. It was just an unending cycle of Chuuya screaming.

the guild pyramid fic

ada pyramid fic

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

ur housewife kenny thing omg . imagine you come home and see a nice home cooked meal on the table and then see kenny smiling at you but you start feeling a little anxious bc there’s a 50% chance there’s rat poison in it or smthing and when you ask them they’re just like “i don’t know, why don’t you try it and see?”

thankfully when you bite into it you indeed do NOT die! and it isn’t rat poison so you get to live another day! they also made cookies.. but it’s up to you whether or not you want to try your luck with that. i personally have an addiction to sweets so i might be a goner. lamb to the slaughter as they say -🐑

YOU GET MEEEEE LAMBNON!!!!!!!! ”why don’t you try it and see?”….. ohhhh they’re so . sultry. 😔 your sweet housewife who may or may not be playing with your life but who are you to complain when they make you delicious meals every day? it wouldn’t hurt to indulge in their whims every now and then :3c…

personally i will be eating those cookies as well </3 we’re going down together lambnon ….. hand in hand……. even if we die it’ll be worth it to see their sneaky smile <33 they’re insane but we love them

[greg-montgomery]

I have a Greg thought for you. I always thought he was the kind of guy who tries to get in the shower with you 👀 and he does it even when it's not for sexy time. And you know that he loves it, so you leave the door unlocked so he can join you whenever he hears the spray. He's always careful not to scare you when he comes in but he wants to hold on to your wet self 🥴 and he loooooves putting his arms around you and just hold you tight. And he's all happy and giggly when you make him kneel to wash his hair because it's an unspoken agreement that if he enters the shower, you get to wash his hair 🤤 Of course, once you're done washing his hair, it's better to make the most of it since he's already kneeling... 😮‍💨🤭

you are SO CORRECT!!! i have thought about this too bc they mention shower sex on the show in like every other episode 😭 so you know he’s really into it 😏

i think that greg’s love language is definitely physical touch, so taking a shower with you is one of his favorite things 🥺 in a sexual way but also in an intimate way 🥺

holding you close to his body when you’re both naked 🥹 whispering sweet things as he strokes your back…kissing your shoulders…

and you looove washing his hair!! he loves getting that little head massage too but it usually doesn’t last that long bc as he’s kneeling he’s at eye level with something he really wants to eat 🤭🤭

[hergrandplan]

hiiii!

7, 13, 20 for the writing asks <3

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! I hope you're well, thank you for sending these <3

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you've ever written and why you're proud of it.

"He wants to stretch this moment into eternity, to will the sun to not come up and the birds to not sing and the earth to stop spinning on its axis. He wants to freeze time.

But time heeds no one. And certainly not a lovesick teenage boy."

A very tiny (cowardly) snippet but this sentence came to me while I was getting groceries (most of this fic came to me while I was getting groceries that day actually) and it hasn't left my mind since. There's just something about its cadence that I really like (I'm not good at cadence so if it happens I'm extra proud of it), and the imagery as well. The desperation of Wille knowing this is their final night together, there's not going to be anymore chances so he delays the inevitable as much as possible, begging the universe to give him one more hour, one more minute even. Truly one of my favorite sentences I've ever written.

13. What's the best writing advice you've ever come across?

Idk if it's necessarily the best, but I tend to be very wordy with my writing, I want to explain everything because I like giving the full picture, and I am very aware of the fact that sometimes it's too much and I lose power. So one thing I try to keep in mind (when editing) at least is that a) less is more, but b) you also have to have faith in the reader that they can fill in the gaps sometimes, especially when simply Describing Actions. (idk this feels like really basic advice but I try to keep it in mind when I have another endless sentence happening, or when a scene falls flat, it's usually because I'm using too many words)

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions

No tumblr (too much distraction), a clean room (which it never is), rain ticking against my window (so I have a good excuse to not go outside) and a cup of steaming hot tea next to me (that I hope I don't accidentally knock over, spilling tea all over my keyboard). And also, idk, some kind of body doubling actually is my main method in being productive. So ideally, on voice call with someone lol

Send me writing asks!

[theladygazingatemptiness]

idk what white fandom person needs to hear this but you do not have a "racism kink" you're literally just racist

[angeart]

10. Cltr+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

hi link <3 ooh this is a fun one, let's see!

to start us off, here's hmtb (it's forever a wip isn't it?) - the very first blinks in the story overall is in chapter 1:

“You didn’t come back.” “Oh.” Scar blinks and reboots to quickly compose himself into a smile. “I was just about to.”

bUT, let's also take a look at the current wip part of hmtb instead of the fic as a whole, which is the chapter i'm working on rn (50-something-ish). here's that fun blink :3

Mumbo blinks, sheepishness returning to his expression. He pulls slightly away as it all falls apart around him: this is more than just a breadcrumb to follow. This is Grian trying to vanish from his reach, and once again, Mumbo feels like all he does is misstep.

(dw as per usual everything's perfectly fine with those guys)

but because i love games like these, i'm going to dig into other unfinished fics. so! here's Elegy! the very first blinks overall is, once again, in the first chapter:

He blinks, makes another furtive attempt at breathing, turns back to Pearl. “So, whatchu got?”

and, funnily enough, if we take just the wip chapter (chapter 4/4), we're... again with mumbo? huh.

Mumbo blinks, trying to refocus on what Scar is saying, hoping it will be something that could twist this nightmare into something less horrifying.

and i'll self indulgently add two other projects.

here's an unfinished pirate thingie.

Grian blinks. The waves crash into the hull and even if the sounds around him are muffled and askew, it sounds like that’s far deeper below him. Not up here. Not— The liquid that pools around his fingers is warm, sticky.

and one from the silly vampire scar au.

Grian blinks, his throat dry with the abruptness of his panic reaction. With the preposterousness of this situation.

--- >> question from this ask game

[pretentiouswreckingball]

hi loops how's it going <3 watched any good movies lately? read any good books? what's ur fave song atm?

rae <3 hi <3

Movies not so much but series! Last night I finished Heartstopper and it was oh so lovely<3 and well, there's of course Good Omens that have been consuming my every thought since July 28th.... have you watched it? I think you have, if not i highly recommend it, u might like it<3 also I've been meaning to watch Yellowjackets and Nimona but haven't found the time yet! Maybe soon.

Books,,,, Oh! I'm currently reading "El Huésped Y Otros Relatos Siniestros" by Amparo Dávila, personally, I don't read terror but this author is really good and the copy I have is illustrated so!!

I'm also reading fanfiction hehehehe and i need to give this fic a shoutout because I'm enjoying it a lot so far, it's called all the western stars by oflights in which Draco is a Seer and has been, like, cursed by having visions of the deaths of everyone around him triggered by touch... Everyone except Harry, who happens to have a ~furry condition of his own ~ as the author put it. They are isolated in an Unplottable location, so they are forced to interact and well, one thing led to another.....

And songs, yes, rn I'm obsessed with Roma Fade by Andrew Bird, the rhythm and the lyrics and everything are just soooo good!!! I'm in love with that song, BUT to be fair, I've been listening to so many good songs that I'm considering making an August playlist and sharing it here but we'll see, in the meantime, here are some recs I think u might like!!

Wildflower by Octave Lissner

Open by Rhye

I Don't Wanna Be Funny Anymore by Lucy Dacus

[lunaetis]

@maquiscursed asked :

Adepti needn't sleep - it is only on Lumine's insistence that the Vigilant Yaksha deigns to close his eyes for a semblance of rest. Adepti needn't sleep; but perhaps he has overestimated his ability to resist it, when no danger lurks, and the Traveller's luminous aura shines gently near him. As they sit and contemplate the views of Dihua Marsh, Xiao unwittingly drifts to sleep; his head tilting to the side, just barely resting upon her shoulder, teal-coloured hair a stark contrast against the white of her dress. Adepti needn't sleep, but in her company, it is a luxury too enticing to resist its comfortable call. (I saw you wanted soft so I send you a little soft)

unprompted. || always accepting

─「荧」─  it wasn't the first time he told her adepti don't need sleep. the OUTLANDER had heard it not only from him, but from other adepti themselves how they do not require sleep the same way humans do. the traveler was far from human, even so, she did feel the need to rest her mind in slumber from time to time. perhaps, that was also why she insisted for the guardian yaksha to take a small rest with her. there weren't any need for them to be on alert. the air was peaceful, with the wind caressing each their skin and she sat there, offering him a starlit smile he had known her for while patting the empty area next to her.

                she could see a hint of hesitation upon his expression, but her smile remained. and eventually, he relented. the celestial traveler wondered if he spotted the way her smile became just a little wider when he seated himself next to her and closed his eyes. maybe he did, but he humored her anyway.

                gaze of GOLD took in the sight before her, the view that reminded them how precious this world is and how it was the land they swore to protect. him by the oath he had given, and her because this was his home.

                what about her home ?

                the thought crossed her mind momentarily, just before she could feel the small weight of the vigilant yaksha leaning towards her own. it was a peculiar sight, to see him allowing his guard to drop in such a way and while lumine wanted nothing more than to record this moment into picture, that temptation was swept aside in replacement of absorbing the moment in and out of itself. she could hear the faint sound of his breath, and catching a GLIMPSE of his sleeping expression from the side. the ANGLE itself didn't allow her to see proper without moving, and she certainly didn't want to wake him.

                one wouldn't believe that he who had deliberately pulled himself away from others would allow his presence to be so close with someone.

                quietly, the CELESTIAL reached her hand out, partially gloved digits finding his own before filling the gaps between their digits with each their own. the way her fingers fit so perfectly within his own caused amber hues to mellow incredibly. it felt WARM, his fingers, his hand, his palm. it felt right.

                finally, the TRAVELER allowed her head to tilt slightly, barely making a sound as her head rested over his own, being careful not to wake him up in the process. how the contrast of her golden locks seemed to cut through the dark emerald strands of his. some mixed together in a twirling sea of colors, before long lashes draped over her gaze, and her own breathing evened out.

                their hearts SYNCHED, unconsciously so. the rhythm of two hearts fell into one, accompanied by a faint glow of gold that seemed to trace their backs. a translucent outline barely visible to the naked eye. an invisible bond known only to them, tied with a sort of red golden string at the end of their fingers. fated. bound.

                what about her home ?

                the inquiry popped into her half-conscious mind, slowly slipping into deeper slumber, and lumine ying unconsciously curled her fingers upon their connected hands a little tighter as her mind slowly drifted to sleep.

                her home is right here.

                after all, it's a person, not a place.