#but like............ I'm both not looking forward to and very much looking forward to doing it

[calcitron]

I did the math (TM), and the two bakeries both have different strong points and weak points that just cater better to different preferences. If you grew up on just one of the bakeries, or one that doesn't bake for Girl Scouts anymore (there have been a lot of bakers!) , the others aren't going to meet your expectations because they're just different enough to create friction.

I find it interesting that the 2022 comparison above only compares four of the oldest flavors, conveniently and area where LBB does perform very well. I tested all the flavors.

This is from March 2025's cookie sale. I live in an ABC region and I got these because 1) I wanted to know what I was missing since everyone is always hyping LBB and 2) I was tired of people shitting on ABC.

My assessment in the flavor order shown above:

Adventurefuls: I had a hard time choosing. ABC actually has a caramel flavor so my children both preferred it. LBB didn't have any notable caramel taste but did have more brownie taste and a prettier cookie. A draw.

Lemon: Lemonades from ABC are a clear winner here, which is why we've had them for over ten years. Good lemon flavor and a lemony shortbread. Lemon ups look really good but they taste of froot (I'm using this in the technical way, a la Fruit Loops flavor) not lemon. If they were making a cereal cookie this would be spot on but they aren't. The texture is also rather mealy after the first crunch. Very weird. ABC wins easily.

Trefoils: ABC has a paler, straight sugar cookie flavor. LBB has a lot more browning and a strong buttery flavor that nearly compares to a proper shortbread like Walker's. I have noticed on further eval that ABC's version performs better with a drink- when I have it with tea the flour taste disappears and leaves a more buttery flavor behind (a similar effect isn't observed with LBB). But cookie to cookie LBB is the clear winner here.

Thin Mints: The money maker. ABC has a much mintier, crunchier cookie, just as described above. LBB has a very fine textured, more chocolate forward cookie that, imo, barely has a mint taste. Everyone who participated in the comparison preferred ABC... But we all grew up with ABC and we love mint chocolate. My mom makes these chocolate mint brownies that my husband says taste like toothpaste. That being said my husband also HATED the LBB version on texture alone. LBB would presumably be better for those who don't like mint chocolate as much as my family...but if so why are you buying thin mints? ABC win.

Tagalongs/PBPs: This was a divisive one in our house because I have two big peanut butter fans and they were firmly in camp Peanut Butter Pattie. Why? PB preference. The peanut butter in the Tagalong is much sweeter--more in line with a Reece's--whereas the PBP tastes like peanut butter straight from a jar of JIF. Personally, I like candy peanut butter better and the cookie in the Tagalong was also crispier (probably more browned too, not that i could see it). But if I had the PBP first I had zero complaints, both are excellent cookies. I've also heard a lot about how the "chocolate is thicker" and there's "more peanut butter" - no. There's the same amount. It's distributed differently: the PBP is a bit thicker and smaller around while the Tagalong is wider and thinner, without peanut butter all the way to the end. Ultimately, a draw.

Samoa/Caramel deLite: This one I thought i was gonna like the Samoa better because it has dark chocolate instead of milk. However, turns out, I think milk chocolate pairs better with caramel in this context. Weird, I know. The Samoa also has more toasted coconut and possibly a tad more caramel--on paper, again, I thought I would like this better but I just didn't. No one else who tried them had a strong reaction to the Samoa over the CD. Also of note, this was the only cookie where LBB was uglier. Are we just used to the CD? Idk. CD wins in our house, but no one really likes them much anyway so LBB can have this one.

Do-si-do/PB Sandwich: You can pry the PB Sandwich out of my husband's cold dead hands. He hated the Do-si-do and let me finish them off because I liked them a lot better (again, candy PB vs. regular PB). The Do-si-dos also have much better browning and a crunchier cookie. I'm not sure anyone else agreed with my husband so, LBB wins.

(not pictured) Toast Yays: There's no comparable offering at LBB to this ABC exclusive. It's a cinnamon sugar cookie with a thin vanilla frosting on the bottom with some hints of maple. A great cookie, but retiring this year likely due to pretty weak sales. Very similar to the Lemonades or Thanks-a-lot (also retired) in construction.

(not pictured) S'mores: ABC used to have a version of this cookie that retired a few years ago. I never had one but I understand it was popular. The LBB version is not similar to the ABC version, but it is similar to the Smoreo that is out right now, but better (suck it, Nabisco). A graham cookie sandwich with chocolate and marshmallow cream. A+ and the entire reason I put in an order to LBB in the first place. Really sad this one retired this year.

(not pictured) Toffeetastic: A gluten free cookie from LBB. Hot garbage. Do not buy. It tastes good for about one second and then actively tastes like cardboard. I don't eat gluten free cookies often but I really hope they aren't all this bad. F-.

(not pictured or tasted by me) Caramel Chocolate Chip: ABC's gluten free cookie. My neighbors bought them last year and still talk to me, so I think they probably aren't as bad as the Toffee ones. Grade - shrug emoji.

(bonus not pictured) Raspberry Rallies: The cookie no one got to taste so they sold for hundreds on eBay. I tried one from each bakery the year they attempted to launch these and this was an ABC win for me. LBB was a pretty bright Barbie pink inside and the raspberry flavor they used was very candy-like. Attractive, but not the kind of raspberry I want in a cookie. ABC used a raspberry flavor that was closer to an actual fruit and more appropriate for use in baking imo. The color was also darker and the cookie wasn't smoothly uniform. I suspect they weren't able to get these to work because they couldn't justify taking production away from Thin Mints to make these--they clearly used the same equipment.

Ultimately, I came away from the test feeling a lot less jilted by having always lived in an ABC Bakery area. They make solid cookies that are of equivalent quality to Little Brownie Bakers, it's just that they aren't *the same exact cookie* and that is ultimately the driver of most complaints about one bakery versus the other. If we moved to an LBB area, I'd be just as happy there, but the cookies I buy would change. Lemonades are my favorite and I'd be sad to give them up but it's not a big deal, and I'd probably start buying a lot more Do-si-dos instead.

They're shelf stable cookies, after all. None of them are even half as good as the ones I bake at home. I'm buying them so my girls can go to camp and get an Axolotl plushie...and also cuz when my house is full to the brim of them they start consuming my every waking moment and I should at least get to put some in my mouth too, not just into other people's cars.

starting girl scout cookie discourse. if you’ve had girl scout cookies from both bakeries, do you prefer little brownie bakers (tagalongs, samoas) or abc bakers (peanut butter patties, caramel delites). also is your preference the same as the girl scout cookie you grew up with?

[enwoso]

that feeling again | alessia russo x child!reader

-> based on this request🍼

grumpy masterlist

you'd dressed yourself for the occasion which was obvious to anyone who saw you.

you'd picked a denim shorts with had patchwork on them as the design, a purple hoodie with sparkly stars, and your no so white crocs which had little football gibbets on which you had said made you look 'super cool'

in your hand was esme, your beloved stuffed elephant, who'd been through enough adventures to look legally classified as 'distressed.'

"mummy, do i have to share esme with baby rosa?" you asked as they pulled into the driveway of alessia's brother, luca and his wife lauren's house.

"no, lovie," alessia said patiently as she placed the car into park. "but rosa's just a baby. she won't want esme. she just wants milk and cuddles.

you looked unconvinced from your car seat. "she better not chew on him."

alessia stifled a laugh. "she won't, lovie. but you've got to remember, rosa's only a couple weeks old. you've got to be very gentle, yeah?"

you nodded gravely waiting patiently for your mummy to come and unbuckle your seat belt. "like when i pat the neighbour's dog and it smells like socks."

"sure.. exactly like that."

inside, the house was already alive with soft voices and the sound of your grandparents chatting in the kitchen. alessia's mum and dad had arriving just before you, arms full of home cooked food and gifts wrapped in pink tissue paper. the smell of tomato sauce and freshly brewed tea drifted warmly through the air.

your uncle luca met the two of you at the door, beaming. "there's the squad."

you wrinkled your nose. "i'm not touching your baby if she has wee on her."

"she's clean! i promise," luca laughed, ushering the two of you inside.

on the couch, lauren sat with rosa bundled in her arms. her hair was tied up messily, and she looked both glowing and sleep deprived in that way only new mums did. alessia remembered the feeling fondly as if it were only yesterday.

beside lauren sat alessia's mum, carol, looking fondly at the newborn in her arms as you tiptoed closer, eyes wide and filled with curiosity.

"woah, she's smaller than my football," you whispered to your mummy as you tugged on the bottom of her sweater slightly.

"she is," lauren said gently as she looked at you with a warm smile. "but just as much trouble."

rosa stirred then, stretching one arm dramatically like she was waking from a century-long nap. you gasped. "she's doing yoga!"

there was a laugh from the whole room, and you stepped forward protectively, eyes narrowing when your uncle giorgio swooped in dramatically with a camera and an obnoxiously shiny baby bib.

"shush she's sleepin'," you snapped, positioning yourself in front of rosa like a tiny security guard. "don't stress her out."

carol smiled from her place on the couch. "protective already. she's a proper big cousin."

"oh lovie is taking it very seriously," alessia said, watching as you leaned down and whispered instructions into rosa's tiny ear—probably something about biscuits or cartoon rankings.

carol looked over at alessia, a soft knowingness in her eyes. the look all mums had. "watching her like that doesnt give you a little bit of the baby fever?"

alessia blinked, startled by the suddenness of the question. "me? no. god, mum, i've only just figured out how to handle one."

carol smiled, amused but unconvinced. "you're doing a better job than you think, less."

alessia let out a small laugh, shaking her head. "no, seriously. lovie still eats toothpaste if i'm not watching. and she thinks hot dogs count as vegetables."

"that's the typical five year old," carol said simply, still looking at alessia as if looking for something that could say alessia was feeling that way. "and you're raising a good, kind and caring little girl."

that should've been the end of it. but as alessia looked over and saw you gently rocking rosa in your lap with the help and support from lauren but it was still her wild child sitting still for once, completely entranced by your baby cousin—something unfamiliar tugged deep inside alessia's chest.

it wasn't longing, not exactly. not the way alessia felt when she first found out she was pregnant with you. that had been panic wrapped in uncertainty, followed by love and instinct and the steepest learning curve of her life.

this was quieter. softer. more like... curiosity. the question of what if?

but no. alessia couldn't. not now. not with her career still demanding so much from her. not with the way each day moved so fast. not with the way her relationship was with leah and the way it was blossoming so well.

not with you still needing so much of her. alessia wasn't ready to start from scratch again. she was just getting the hang of bedtime without tears…well, some nights.

and yet—

"less," carol said gently, watching her daughter's expression shift even as alessia tried to hide it but a mother always knew. "i wasn't trying to get in your head. just... you've always had that heart. the one that holds more room than it realises."

alessia smiled thinly, forcing a shrug. "one at a time, mum. that was my rule."

but even as alessia spoke, rosa gave the tiniest squeak in your arms, and you looked up—eyes wide, proud, and completely in love.

"mummy?" you asked suddenly. "yeah, lovie?"

"can i have a baby too?"

alessia blinked. "you mean like a toy?"

"no. like a real baby. a sister. or a brother, but i'd rather a sister. then i could teach her everything, like how to play football and where we hide the chocolate biscuits."

the room went quiet for a beat too long.

alessia opened her mouth, closed it again, then laughed nervously. "lovie, baby that's not really how it works."

you shrugged, completely unbothered, to innocent to really understand why. "well, it should be. you just get one when you're ready, like a puppy."

"i'm not ready," alessia said quickly. "no way. not even close."

you turned back to rosa, undeterred. "okay. i'll wait."

and just like that, you went back to gently patting rosa's blanket with a seriousness that made you look far older than five.

alessia looked at her mum, whose smug little smile was already in place. "don't say it," alessia warned under her breath.

carol just sipped her tea, shaking her head slightly. "hey.. i didn't have to."

[whomstress]

Something I wanna say that no one seems to be mentioning is we saw trauma response from loss from BOTH Jax and Ragatha.

We obviously saw it with the past friend Ribbit of Jax but we also saw on what Ragatha said about letting yourself fall into despair can do to a person in the circus i.e. abstract.

Ragatha definitely more postive due to her mom being constantly critical and trying to be the opposite of her, but I also think it's her way of trying to keep her friends alive. Like at the bar she says she doesn't even think her mom misses her which much hurt very deeply. And like Kinger said not making someone feel like they belong is the worst thing that can happen. I'm sure Ragatha has been there the second longest next to Kinger knows this too.

I truely don't think Ragatha was trying to bring up Ribbit when saying "not anymore" to Jax. I think she was talking about herself and how, through his hurt, he pushed everyone else away with cruelty.

For me, it seems obvious because of how regretful she is after, and she still apologizes later even after she just yelled at him. He pushed her all day, openly antagonizing everyone and especially her, LITERALLY taunting her as she walked away, and she still felt it important enough that she needed to apologize to him properly. I think that's honestly why that moment seemed to move him.

She may not like Jax but he's still stuck in there like everyone else and she's lost countless of people too that she now has to hold their death on her shoulders. I REALLY doubt she'd mock a loss of a fellow human in a casual retort. Especially how much she cried at Kafmos funeral. And not to mention it seems in the circus there's like a kind silent agrerment of lettting people grieve how they want kinda thing with no one ever saying anything bad about Jax when he didn't attend Kafmo's funeral.

I think that's her overcompensating for positivity comes it. People keep saying it's "toxic," but I wouldn't say that as it's more annoying, and it's not actually hurting anyone. Ragatha is terrified that she will lose her friends if she doesn't constantly put on a happy face or try to cheer them up. She's not a child she's been in there longer than most of them. She knows they're stuck. She knows it's hell. In fact, the line "we can't die here. That's the whole thing. " Really rings to me she or someone else mightve experiment to "get out" of the circus by trying to die.

But she also knows very intensely what happens when no one can see the bright side of things anymore. They give up on hope and trying. Jax, as cruel and negative as he is, has his own toxic positivity in the way he tries his best to laugh and have the most fun, even at the expenseof others, with every adventure. He may not have hope of leaving, but he does still have a positive look forward, mostly just to torture people. Along with the delusions that people, like Gangle, actually like being made cry and bullied. But, I really doubt that works for the majority of the people there.

So even if it is Ragatha own delusions thinking if she can make people a little happier they may able to stay longer. She means it from a geniune place.

One more theory is that Ragatha wasn't always so guarded with her relationships. Im sure she had some very close friends early on. But after loss after loss could you really blame her for just trying to keep them just alive rather than close? Kinger's head is in the clouds he forgets almost everything instantly, even the person he loved his wife. But Ragatha has to remember and keep moving forward.

I think its simliar how Jax doesn't mind not having friends for the most part and pushes people away by being mean and putting himseld first, he's obviously lonely but rather be that than hurt so deeply again. Ragatha's pushes away the opposite, instead of thinking of herself first like Jax, she's so worried about others she is also okay if she's alone because to her there's something more important than her loneliness.

I see this especially when Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble congratulate her. They obviously like her and appreciate her and she looks genuinely shocked because she does nice things all the time and doesn't expect anything back from it by now.

[bcksbarnes]

time's never been on our side - chapter five

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

summary: you and bucky happen to meet by chance one night, and it feels like there is a spark between the two of you - but he has to leave. was this destiny? or cruel fate?

word count: 3K

read the: previous chapter

How do you miss someone you've barely spent any time with? Someone that up until a few days ago was basically a total stranger.

It was wrong. Forbidden, even.

You didn't think it'd hurt so much when Bucky left, you tried your best to mentally prepare yourself for the fact that it had to end. He had made it very obvious — this was short term.

Although neither of you were prepared for how abrupt the end would be.

When the door closed behind him on the way out of your apartment, all you could do was stare at the white paint in a state of disbelief. You missed him already, and that was truly unfair.

Instead of trying to distract yourself, or even talk yourself out of these feelings, you opt to lay on your bed and nuzzle your face into your pillow, mustering all your strength to not scream, or cry, or both. Your mind is plaguing you with thoughts about how cruel and unusual it was to be ripped apart so soon. It didn't make it hurt less, but a good spiral was what you really needed.

He texted you as soon as he was on the plane:

This is bullshit.

All you could manage to respond with was:

:(

And it's not like Bucky was handling it much better either. He ignored both Steve and Sam's attempts to speak with him when he boarded, opting to read the briefing sheet rather than listen in on Steve's mission overview. Though it didn't help much because he kept reading the words over and over again — they wouldn't stick in his brain, all he could think about was you and what he was leaving behind.

Bucky loved what he did and more importantly he loved the people he did it with. Being able to save the world, to feel like he's accomplished something other than mass destruction was a win in his eyes, but he kept having this recurring feeling that maybe his time in this field had run its course.

He had spent all of his life fighting, running, hiding. The world always needed to be saved, maybe he didn't have to be the one saving it anymore. You reminded him that life didn't need to be loading guns and counting dead bodies, it could be more. 

So much more.

"Steve's about to pop a vein," Sam says, snapping Bucky out of his thoughts as he takes a seat across from him, his elbows resting on his knees as he settles in. "You two need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Bucky mutters.

"I said this weeks ago when we were in Budapest. You can't continue being miserable because Steve wants to keep going."

"I don't want to talk about it, Sam."

There's a tiredness in his voice that lets the other man know he's serious, that right now he truly doesn't want to be bothered. He wants to stare out of the window of the plane, look at the clouds below him, and be angry at the world.

Was that too much to ask for?

"I know you don't, but you know I'm right," Sam says, receiving a look from Bucky that was less than kind. "Listen, maybe you don't want to talk about it now, and maybe Steve is refusing to come to terms with the fact that you're ready to start a new life, but just know that if you don’t talk — it won't end well. For either of you. You need to ask yourself if whoever you just left behind tonight is your path forward."

Bucky keeps his gaze towards the window, his jaw set as he could feel his pulse quicken, his metal hand curling into a fist as it rests on his knee. He watches in his peripheral vision as his friend stands and walks to the other side of the jet, leaving Bucky alone with his dark, depressing thoughts.

When the jet had finally lands in Lagos it was go-time. Bucky put on a brave face, as he normally did, and found Sam and Steve – ready to jump into action.

The mission was not as easy as everyone hoped it would be. It was a repetitive mess that led the team down too many twists and turns, and each day they inched further and further away from when it would end.

Three weeks turned into six, which was now looking more like eight.

What a fucking nightmare.

The only thing keeping either of you sane was the nights when Bucky finally got back to his hotel room, closing and locking the door for his privacy, and took his phone out to dial your number.

Tonight was especially hard on Bucky, they had somehow missed the signs of an ambush. Everyone on the team was badly hurt, he even took a few extra blows than what he was used to.

Not their greatest moment.

"Hello?" you rasp into the phone, immediately pulling Bucky out of his thoughts. He's startled by how tired you sound, and when he checks the time he understands why.

"Shit, sorry. I didn't realize it was so late."

"It's fine. Did you just get back?" you ask, a yawn leaving your lips slightly muffling your words.

"Yeah, it was a long day."

Bucky didn’t even bother to turn on the lights as he made his way towards his bed, his back hitting the mattress with a thud as he stared up at the ceiling. He tries to clear his mind of the sounds of gunshots and screams. As he’s grown older and further away from his days as the Winter Soldier it was easier to compartmentalize, but that didn't mean it didn't haunt him. So, he closes his eyes as he tries to picture your face instead, maybe then the bad thoughts will go away.

"You should go back to sleep," he insists, although deep down he doesn't mean it. Selfishly he wants you all to himself, despite how late it was. His stomach sinks at even the idea of hanging up.

"I'm fine," you reiterate, trying to hold back another yawn as you rub your eye with the palm of your hand. "I've been waiting all day to talk to you, what's missing a few hours of sleep anyway?"

"You're so stubborn."

"Oh, I can hang up if you really want me to."

"No," he responds, maybe a little too quickly. His hand moves under his shirt as he scratches his stomach gently. "Not yet."

Truthfully he wants to tell you he misses you, but the word is so profound and he's not even sure he's ever said it before. That scares him. What Bucky is unaware of is how the word is also on the tip of your tongue, just threatening to roll off at any moment.

An ocean apart, only connected by this nightly phone call, and neither of you could really say what you truly wanted.

"That's what I thought, Barnes."

You smile to yourself as you flip over onto your side, bringing your blanket up to your chin as you get cozy in the bed. Maybe one day Bucky could join you. 

Maybe.

"What did you do today?" he asks. It's sincere in the way that he truly wants to know what you did, but part of him wants his mind to stop, your voice seems to be the only thing to bring him back down to Earth.

"I brought Alpine to the vet, then did some grocery shopping. Nothing really too exciting."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, routine check up. She hates when they do the exam so most of the time I was trying to wrangle her while she hissed at all the nurses."

Bucky lets out a scoff at the thought, his eyes finally opening once more. The once dark room was starting to let light in, the sun starting to peek through the horizon of the early mornings.

"She's feisty. I wonder where she learned that from."

"I'm not sure what you're implying," you say, innocently.

"Mm, I'm sure you don't."

"Watch it, Buck."

"There it is," he teases, switching his phone to press against his other ear. "I knew I wasn't making it up."

"Shut up." You bite down on your bottom lip, your heart beating rapidly in your chest at his teasing. You feel like you were a teenager with a stupid crush that wouldn't go away.

A long silence passes between the two of you, and your eyelids grow a bit heavy from the darkness of the night — you knew sleep would be in your future soon, but you weren’t ready to let this moment go just yet.

Bucky definitely wasn't.

"I wish you were here," he whispers into the phone, clutching on it so hard that he's sure it might break. "Or that I was there, either way."

"Me too," you nod, even if he can't see it. "When you get back we should go back to that restaurant we liked."

"Which one?"

"You know with that spaghetti dish we liked? The one you spilled your drink on yourself?"

Bucky chuckles at the memory. He remembers missing his mouth when he went to take a sip because he was mesmerized by the way you looked. There wasn't even a way for him to recover from it, he mumbled some curse words under his breath as he tried to clean up the giant stain that was on his shirt and not focus on your hands reaching over to help him.

"Yeah, that place," he responds. "Sounds good to me."

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure."

"Soon?"

"Soon," he promises.

Your heart leaps even as the exhaustion overcomes you, clutching your phone a bit tighter — unaware that Bucky had done the same on his end. Some more soft whispers are exchanged between the two of you before you end up falling asleep on the line. Bucky hears the sound of your soft, even breathing through the speaker and it fills him with warmth. He hesitates and wages an internal war before he finally ends the call and readies himself for bed, despite the sun rising in the distance.

The next morning, well afternoon, is rough for Bucky who is now lacking sleep and is desperately itching to get back home. He checks his phone immediately, a bad habit he's now picked up, and instead of finding a text from you sees a few missed calls from Steve.

Will be there in 20, just getting up.

He texts his friend before rolling out of bed to start another (he’s assuming) long day.

One shower, one disgustingly bitter cup of coffee and twenty minutes later Bucky finds Steve in a hotel room now make-shift control room a few floors above his own.

"Hey," Steve nods his chin in Bucky’s direction. He was the only person in the room, sitting down on a desk chair that seemed way too small for a man so large, it was jarring.

"Hey," Bucky nods back, closing the door to the room behind him. "What's up?"

"We'll be here for another two weeks," Steve responds without any hesitation, straightening up his back as he sits in the chair. "Sam got a lead on another base about 50 miles outside the city. The teams working on a way to get in, apparently our system hasn't been picking it up since they're using some advanced technology to try and hide it in plain sight."

Bucky stands a few feet in front of Steve, his arms crossed over his chest, his brows furrowing.

"Two more weeks? We've been here for a while, Steve, there's no way this should be taking this long."

"Unless you want a lot of innocent people to get hurt, Buck, we're not rushing this. Red Wing did a diagnostic scan of the facility and there's a lot of hostages, just like the one a few days ago. It's a pattern."

There's no response from Bucky as he averts his gaze for a moment, feeling the irritation rise in his chest. He knows this is the moment that Sam wanted for the two of them; Bucky to finally admit his feelings and tell Steve that he's at the end of his days. 

All he can think of is the people inside the facility who are waiting for someone to save them — he could save them.

All he knows is guilt.

"Will that be a problem?" Steve challenges, standing up so the two are eye level. Tension filling the air that took Bucky by surprise, straightening his own posture.

"Listen, Steve…"

"What, Buck? You want to quit?"

"What? I didn't say that," he defends himself. "Can you let me speak?"

"Go ahead."

"Thanks," he eyes Steve before taking a step back to create some distance between each other. There's so much going through Bucky's head at the moment he doesn't even know where to begin. "This has been a lot lately. We've been non-stop and it's been tiring. Taking some time off has made me … realize that maybe I'm not looking to do this forever."

Steve watches carefully, his jaw tightening as he listens, Bucky speaks again.

"I want a normal life."

"A normal life?" Steve scoffs in response. "Don't you think we all want that? We gave that up a long time ago, buddy."

"I know," Bucky snaps back through gritted teeth. "I'm fully aware of that."

"So you do want to quit, like I said."

"You make it sound like I have a choice."

"You do have a choice," Steve takes a step forward and minimizes the space that Bucky created. "You're either in, or you're out, Buck. There's no in between, there's no happy endings."

"What if I don't want to be ‘in’ anymore? I'm not quitting, I've done my time. I've done time that I should never even been sentenced to, a life that I didn't get to pick."

"Not all of us have a choice."

"You did," Bucky snaps back. "You wanted this. You knew when you took that serum it meant you were going from a scrawny kid from Brooklyn to a hero. I wanted to punch a few Nazi's and come home. Start a family. Meet someone. I didn't get to pick my life, someone else did for me."

"And what? You've found someone and suddenly you want to pick up the only life you know and throw it away? People are counting on you, they're counting on us."

"Don't pull that shit with me, Steve," Bucky raises his voice.

"Pull what? Your head out of your ass? Do you think I don't know that something's going on?" Steve raises his own back. "Who is it?"

Bucky feels like he should come clean, but a voice in the back of his mind is telling him that it'd be a bad idea. What were you and Bucky besides two friends who have only really spent a few weeks together? Would it even be worth mentioning to Steve? What if this blew up in his face? He couldn't tie this need to move on in his life back to you.

Not now, anyway.

"No one," Bucky says, keeping his expression neutral. "There's no one. I'm just tired."

"We're all tired, we all want to be done, but there's always something else. Something we can't run away from." Steve lifts his hand to clap Bucky's shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze and shaking the man slightly. "We can't stop even if we want to."

And just like that it all came tumbling down.

Bucky would never be free from this life.

"I can give you some more time off after this mission, but we need you back here. I need you back here." Steve gives his shoulder another reassuring squeeze, though it does nothing to calm the unease in his stomach.

Bucky averts his gaze, trying his best to not let his emotions settle to the surface. 

Not here, not now. 

He gives Steve some vague mumbled response that he doesn't remember and the two pretend like the conversation never happened. Even if there's a giant knot in his stomach and his brain is a little hazed as Steve jumps right back into the tactical part of the mission, it never happened.

Sam and the rest of the crew join them a few minutes later, and before he knows it they are off on another night of looking for hostages and fights he didn’t want to be in. If his heart wasn't in it before, it definitely wasn't in it now. Two more weeks and he had a break again, that's what Steve had told him — he hoped he’d follow through on his promise.

"He means well," Sam says hours later as the two of them enter the elevator of the hotel. Sam takes the liberty of pressing the buttons of both of their floors. They are covered in blood — Bucky had failed to stop a grenade that had been fired at too close of a range, they were both lucky they were still alive. His mind was elsewhere tonight.

Bucky gulps and keeps his eyes averted, biting down on his tongue as he holds back what little dignity he has in that moment. He was only a few feet away from his room, and, more importantly, only a few seconds from calling you.

The elevator chimed and Bucky stepped out, tossing his head over his shoulder as he gave Sam one final look.

"He doesn't," he says, watching as the elevator doors shut, leaving him alone once again.

Bucky's feet carry him to his room, and soon he flops down on his bed as a part of his nightly routine, but this time when he reaches for his phone in his pocket his hands shake. He had never felt so vulnerable in his life.

It rings only once before you pick up.

"Hey," you say, it’s late but with the time difference and how long Bucky’s days were, it always was when he called.

"Hey," he whispers back, his head turning to the side as he stares at the wall, studying the patterns on the wallpaper.

"What's wrong?"

Bucky bites down on his bottom lip, holding back emotions he tried never to reckon with: sadness, loneliness, wanting.

"I just needed to hear your voice."

[morgana-larkin]

And here's the next chapter of Mine! I'm almost done the next one shot that I will post on my patreon for paid and free members only. I won't tell you much but it falls under the topic of secret admirer. Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30

Mine - Part 31

Summary: It's Halloween and Amelia gets frustrated at school the next day.

Warnings: Smut

Words: 5.3K

“Alright, this shouldn’t take long to fix.” Melissa says to Amelia in the break room. It’s Halloween and Amelia decided to go as the wicked witch of the west and some of the makeup came off before lunch and Melissa offered to fix it. Melissa has Amelia sitting on the couch while you warm up both you and Melissa’s lunch. 

“Mamma?” Amelia asks as Melissa starts doing the touch ups with the green face paint.

“Ya, Tesoro?”

“You and Mommy aren’t going to get a divorce right?” Amelia asks and Melissa furrows her eyebrows and you look over.

“No, mommy and I are happily in love.” 

“Ok good.” Amelia says.

“What makes you think that mommy and I are getting a divorce?” Melissa asks her.

“Well last night I heard these noises.” Amelia starts and everyone looks over. “And then I heard mommy screaming and you swore.” Amelia explains and Melissa’s face goes red as everyone tries not to laugh. You then put your head in your hands and groan and Ava starts laughing.

“Melissa and Y/n, I think you need to have a talk with your kid.” Ava says. “Although it’s so funny that your kid is unknowingly spilling some tea.” Ava adds.

“Sweetheart.” You say as you get up and go over to Amelia and Melissa. “So typically the noises you hear, followed by one of us screaming or swearing or both, it does not mean we’re getting a divorce. It just means that we’re playing a very adult game in our room.” You explain to her.

“What game?” Amelia asks.

“One that you don't need to know about yet.” You quickly say.

“Was it a fun game?” Amelia then asks.

“Oh, extremely.” Melissa says with a smirk and you flick her head. “What was that for?” She asks you and you raise your eyebrows. “I was just answering her question.” She tells you and she finishes fixing Amelia’s makeup. “And there we go, all good.”

“Thanks Mamma.” Amelia tells her.

“Not a problem, Tesoro. Come on, I’ll take you to the cafeteria.” Melissa offers and she gives you the makeup before Amelia takes her hand and she brings her to the caf. As soon as Melissa and Amelia leave, everyone bursts out laughing.

“Your kid spilled so hard.” Janine says.

“Alright. It’s not like me and Melissa having sex is new as we have 5 kids.” You tell them.

“Didn’t know you were so loud though.” Ava tells you. “Loud enough for your kids to hear.” She adds and you flip her off. Melissa comes back a few minutes later and everyone looks at her and she sighs.

“Alright, everyone go back to doing whatever you were doing.” She says.

“Or what?” Ava asks. “We already know you got lucky last night, which explains your extra good mood today.” She adds and you hand her your coffee mug.

“Here, you might need it.”

“To throw at Ava or to drink?” She asks you.

“Either one.” You tell her and Ava runs out. You then lean forward, closer to Melissa. “I told you we were too loud last night.” You whisper and she shrugs.

“Maybe, but it was really good.” She tells you with a smirk and you roll your eyes.

At the end of the day you were talking with Melissa and you see Amelia coming with Barb and she has a small bag of candy and a smile on her face. Melissa turns around and sees Amelia and she smiles and bends down.

“Hey Tesoro.” Melissa says and Amelia runs to her and hugs her. “Did you get some candy?” Melissa asks and Amelia nods as she shows her what she got.

“Aunt Barb allowed us to have a chocolate bar at the end of class.” Amelia adds and you both look at Barb.

“You let her have chocolate before you send her home with us?” You ask her and Barb nods.

“Yep.” Barb says with a smile before she walks away. “Good luck.” She adds and Melissa looks at you.

On the ride to the daycare, you both notice that Amelia is more restless than usual and you can tell the chocolate is taking effect. You see her bouncing her leg, tapping her leg with her hands and humming when she doesn’t know what to say.

“Are Nico and Cat going to go trick or treating this year?” Amelia asks.

“Yep, they are.” You say as you scroll on your phone. You all go into the daycare and pick up both sets of twins there and you and Melissa strap them into their car seats. 

“Are you ready to go trick or treating, my Ometto?” Melissa asks Nico and he smiles. 

“Ya, am I going to get to eat lots of chocolate, Mamma?” He asks and Melissa smiles and ruffles his hair.

“You’ll get a lot of chocolate and I’ll allow you to eat a couple pieces.” Melissa tells him and then she closes the door and gets in the driver’s seat. “How were your students today?” She asks you and you hum.

“They were distracted and just wanted the day to end, like every Halloween.” You tell her as you relax in your seat. “Were yours the same?” You ask her and she nods.

“Yep.” Melissa says as she stops at a red light and looks at all 5 of her kids in the mirror and she smiles.

You guys all get home and Melissa makes dinner for everyone as soon as you get back as the kids want to go out as soon as possible. After everyone finishes eating then you make sure everyone has a jacket and they’re candy bags ready, as well as a few garbage bags to fill all the candy with that you put in the stroller. You put Bella and Mia in the double stroller and Melissa is pulling the little wagon for when Nico, Caty or Amelia get tired, as well as have a place to put all the candy. 

Amelia wanted to do a costume theme with you and Melissa to the wizard of Oz. So Amelia chose to be the wicked witch of the west, Melissa is Glinda and you’re Dorothy. Then you have Caty dressed up as little red riding hood and Nico as the wolf. A couple weeks ago Melissa saw 2 adorable green fairy costumes that would fit the girls so she got them for Bella and Mia.

“This dress is so fluffy and hard to walk in.” Melissa says as you all walk towards the 4th house. 

“I told you to get your guy to get you a less poofy version of the dress.” You tell her.

“But this one is as poofy as the original.” She tells you.

“But the original Glinda didn’t have to walk to about 100 houses.” You say and Melissa crosses her arms. “Alright, how about you push the stroller and I’ll walk up to the houses with the kids?” You suggest and she smiles. 

“Thank you.” She tells you. 

An hour later Amelia empties her bag of candy into the garbage bag for the second time and then she runs up to the house with you and the twins. 

“Trick or treat!” All 3 of them exclaim and the woman puts a chocolate bar in all of their bags.

“Mommy I got more chocolate!” Nico tells you.

“I see that, what do you all say?” You ask.

“Thank you.” They all tell the woman and then they run to the next house. 

An hour later Caty is walking with Melissa, holding Teddy as she had enough socialising with strangers. While you, Amelia and Nico walk up to the next house, Caty spins in her dress and shows Melissa how it twirls. Caty ends up getting dizzy and Melissa catches her and picks her up. 

“You alright Dolcezza?” Melissa asks her and Caty nods.

“World was spinny.” Caty says and Melissa smiles. 

You get back with the kids and Nico empties the candy in the garbage bag. You see as Caty lays her head on Melissa’s chest with a smile and Melissa places a kiss on her head. You go to the next house and then Melissa hears one of the twins call out for her. Melissa walks in front of the stroller and sees Mia is falling asleep and Bella is looking at her. 

“Mamma.” Bella says. 

“What’s the matter my little one? Are you hungry?” Melissa asks her and Bella nods. Melissa goes into the carry on bag and pulls out a container of goldfish cookies and gives it to Bella. Bella then holds the container in her lap and eats the goldfish. Melissa then goes back to the carry on bag, and with one hand, as she’s still holding Caty, takes out a blanket and carefully puts it on Mia who fell asleep. “You really do love to sleep and sleep whenever, even when the household is noisy.” Melissa says to herself.

Another hour later Nico and Caty are both sitting in the wagon and you can tell Amelia is slowing down. Amelia comes from the house that she was just at and goes up to Melissa and hugs her leg.

“You done, Tesoro?” Melissa asks her softly and Amelia nods with a yawn. “Alright, let’s head back home.” Melissa says and you nod before you both turn around and start walking back home. About 10 minutes later and you both notice Amelia stops walking and just sits down on the sidewalk. 

“You alright sweetheart?” You ask her.

“Legs hurt.” She tells you and wipes her eyes tiredly. Melissa then goes up to her and picks her up.

“I’ll push the wagon, you push the stroller.” Melissa says and you nod. 

You both get home 15 minutes later and Amelia is falling asleep on Melissa, both the girls are asleep in the stroller, Caty is wide awake and holding Teddy while Nico is falling asleep in the wagon. You end up having to wake all your kids up and then get them all into their pjs. You put both sets of twins to bed as Melissa helps Amelia take all the green face paint off in the bath.

“Alright, and all the green is off.” Melissa says with a smile and puts the soap and cloth down. Melissa pulls the plug to drain the tub and Amelia tiredly stands up. Melissa gently wraps Amelia’s animal towel around her and picks her up. “Ready for bed my little Tesoro?” Melissa asks and Amelia nods as she lays her head on Melissa’s shoulder. 

Amelia falls asleep as soon as her pjs are on and Melissa tucks her in and kisses her cheek. She then turns the nightlight on, turns off the LED lights and then closes the door. Melissa quickly checks on all her other 4 kids and sees all of them are sleeping in their beds and cribs before she goes to the bedroom.

“How did it feel to take the dress off?” You ask her as she took it off before giving Amelia a bath. 

“So freeing. I don’t understand how women were able to move in dresses like that.” She tells you and you smile. 

“Were you able to get all the green off her?” You then ask and she nods as she walks up to you in the bathroom. You take a makeup wipe out and start taking off her Glinda makeup. “You make a beautiful Glinda.” You say and she smiles. 

“More beautiful than the original?” She asks and you nod.

“You’ll always be more beautiful than anyone.” You say as you wipe the blush off her cheeks to reveal her natural blush. You then wipe the eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara off her eyes. You cup her cheek and she wraps her arms around your waist. 

“You make a cute Dorothy, with the plaid dress and ponytails.” She tells you and you kiss her. 

You pull away to throw out the makeup wipe and then you kiss her again. She pins you against the bathroom counter and then she picks you up and you wrap your legs around her waist. She brings you over to the bed and lays you down gently.

“We have to be quiet this time.” You tell her as she kisses down your neck. She lifts your pj shirt up and wraps her mouth around a nipple and you moan out. Melissa takes your top off and puts it in your mouth to silence you and you look at her.

“Like you said, we have to be quiet. Don’t want to give Amelia anything else to say about our sex life.” She says and then goes to your other nipple and both of you let out a muffled moan. 

Melissa then trails up and starts kissing and sucking your neck while she moves her hips against yours. She then goes in between your legs, goes on her stomach, takes your pants off and then grabs your thighs. She then dives in and swirls her tongue around your entrance and you buck your hips. Melissa pins you down and then brings her tongue to your clit and you let out a muffled gasp. You put your hands in her hair and you see her burying her face in between your legs and making sure that you’re enjoying what she’s doing. She already knows what you enjoy though, as you’ve been together for 12 years, but she does enjoy your reactions. 

She then pulls away and replaces her tongue with her middle finger on her left hand and sits up. She then removes the top from your mouth and gets you to suck on two of her fingers on her right hand. You swirl your tongue around, making sure they’re all wet and you see Melissa looking at you with dark eyes, your juices on her chin and her mouth is slightly open from enjoying your tongue on her fingers. 

“My god, your tongue makes me want to pound into you with the strap but I can’t as you’re ovulating.” She says quietly and you notice her breathing is heavier and quicker. She then goes back in between your legs and runs her two fingers down your folds and pulls her finger away from your clit. “Remember before the kids when I used to spend about an hour between your legs, just eating you out, making you have multiple orgasms?” She asks and you nod.

“You're so damn good with your tongue.” 

“What did you used to say?” She asks as she sticks two fingers in your entrance and you gasp. “Didn’t you used to say that I would eat you right into heaven?” She asks you and you nod, unable to talk as she’s pumping two fingers inside of you, slowly but still feels good. “You’re always so tight for me, even though I fingered you yesterday.” She says as she’s almost knuckle deep in you. 

“Oh god.” You say a little too loud and Melissa takes her shorts off and puts them in your mouth.

“You’re the one who said we have to be quiet and yet you can’t be quiet.” She tells you as she goes harder and you buck your hips and grab the sheets. 

You try to close your legs when she starts rubbing your clit with her other hand but you can’t with her in between you. She then straddles one of your thighs and starts moving her hips, getting your thigh to rub her clit. You say an “oh god” around her shorts but Melissa is able to understand, used to having to put clothes in your mouth to silence you. Melissa can tell your orgasm is close so she curls her fingers inside of you and speeds up on your clit. You arch your back and shut your eyes as your orgasm comes rushing through you. Melissa pulls her fingers out of you as she’s still riding your thigh, trying to get her orgasm. She then leans forward enough to put her fingers back in your mouth, getting you to clean up your juices. She lets out a quiet moan as she closes her eyes and just feels your tongue moving all over her fingers.

“My god baby, your tongue feels so good.” She says breathlessly. 

She starts moving her hips faster, getting more turned on with her fingers in your mouth. You grab her left hand as it’s not in your mouth and lace your fingers with hers. She leans forward more to get more stimulation on her clit as she’s close and pins your hand to the bed with hers. You tense your thigh muscles and she lets out a squeaky gasp as she comes. She takes a few breaths as she lets her brain come back to her body before she gets off and lays beside you. 

She gets the cloth that it’s in the nightstand, as you two always keep one in there for moments like this, and she cleans both of you up. You take her shorts out of your mouth and put them beside you and see she’s still wearing her shirt. You look at the baby monitors and see that all your kids are asleep so you pull at the hem of her shirt. Melissa gets the hint and helps you take her pj shirt off. You throw it on the ground somewhere and then rest your head on her chest and wrap your arm around her waist.

“I should know better than to keep clothes on around you in bed.” She says and you smile.

“I like snuggling more when you aren’t wearing anything.” You tell her and she places a kiss on the top of your head.

“So do I. I just hope none of our kids get a nightmare so they don’t come here just to see both of us naked.”

“It’s not like it’s anything new, I’ve breastfed before with them in the room.” You say and she hums. “And you’ve bathed them while being topless many times.”

“That’s because they like to splash and I don’t want my pjs to be wet.” She tells you and you wrap a leg around hers. 

You then fall asleep in her arms right after that and she just feels you in her arms for a few moments before she closes her eyes. Before she falls asleep, she hears crying from one of the baby monitors and sees it’s one of the twin girls. She sees you start to stir as you hear the crying so she carefully gets you off of her, grabs the baby monitor and mutes it so you don’t wake up. She then grabs her robe, puts it on and goes to the nursery. She sees it’s Mia whose crying which is unusual as she usually sleeps through the night. 

“Hey my little Mia, what’s up?” She asks her as she picks Mia up. Mia then bites down on the tip of her sleeve and Melissa grabs a teething ring and hands it to her. Mia takes it and puts it near the end, getting some of her bigger teeth. “Got more teeth coming in?” Melissa asks as Mia lays her head on her chest as she chews on the teething ring.

Melissa tries comforting her as best as she can but Mia keeps crying when she’s put back in the crib. Melissa then sits in the rocking chair, trying to rock her back to sleep but it doesn’t work. So she quietly goes into the bedroom, hoping Mia doesn’t start crying, she grabs her phone and then goes back to the nursery. Melissa sits back in the chair and looks up ways to soothe teething pain. She then puts her phone down, grabs the teething ring from Mia and then massages the gum where the new tooth is coming in. Within a few minutes, Mia is fast asleep on Melissa’s chest and Melissa waits a few minutes before she gets up and gently puts her in her crib. She then grabs her phone and goes back into the bedroom, takes her robe off, unmutes the baby monitor and then crawls back into bed and cuddles you.

The next day right after lunch, Melissa is trying to teach a lesson but all the kids are restless and won’t sit still or pay attention. Melissa can probably guess that they had Halloween chocolate at lunch that the parents packed for them. 

“Alright class, let’s go outside and get that energy out.” Melissa says and all the kids put their shoes and sweaters on before she leads them outside to the playground. When she gets there she sees you and Barb are already there with your classes and the both of you are talking on a bench while watching your classes. Melissa’s students start running around and you look behind you and see Melissa there with her students. 

“Your class had a lot of chocolate at lunch too?” You ask her and she nods.

“Oh my god, they couldn’t pay attention for 30 seconds.” She tells you and you move over to let her sit next to you on the bench. 

“My kindergarteners wouldn’t fall asleep for nap time.” Barb says and you both look to see Amelia running around with a couple of her classmates. 

“Nice to know she’s making friends with her classmates.” You say as Melissa places an arm around your shoulders.

“Oh she’s a social butterfly. Talkative and social.” Barb tells you both. Amelia then notices Melissa is there as well and she runs up to you both with another girl. 

“Mommy, Mamma, this is Annie.” Amelia introduces her new friend to you both.

“Well hello Annie.” Melissa says. 

“The two Schemmenti’s are your mommies?” Annie asks Amelia and Amelia nods. “My sister is in the third grade, her name is Robin and she’s mentioned the two Schemmenti’s.” Annie says.

“Your sister is in my class.” You tell her.

“Do you have any sisters?” Annie asks Amelia.

“Ya, I have 3 sisters and a brother.” Amelia tells her and Annie widens her eyes. 

“You have a lot of kids.” Annie tells you both before they run off to the playground. 

“Wow, a 5 year old just said we have a lot of kids.” You say and Melissa chuckles. 

“Well I guess technically we do as most households have 2 kids, not 5.” Melissa says and you hum. “But I couldn’t imagine not having any of them.” She adds and you look at her with a smile.

“Well I hope so as it was a lot of work being pregnant with them.” You tell her and she smiles. 

“And I appreciate you going through it 3 times.” She says and then gives you a kiss on the cheek.

After half an hour, the sugar crash comes and you all bring your classes back inside. You’re all able to teach again without them getting distracted and the kindergarteners immediately fall asleep. 

You say goodbye to your last student at the end of the day and you look to see Melissa is helping with the shoelaces of her last student and you don’t see Barb and Amelia coming like they usually are. You furrow your eyebrows and you grab your things and lock your door and see they’re still nowhere in sight. You then look and see Melissa is making her way over to you with her purse and see she already locked up.

“We should probably go see what’s holding them up.” Melissa tells you and you nod before you go make your way to Barb’s classroom. You walk in and you see Barb sitting next to Amelia and Amelia is sitting at her desk, getting frustrated by something.

“Hey sweetheart.” You say and Amelia looks up before she looks back down. Amelia tries moving the pencil and then slaps it down on the desk with a frustrated sigh.

“Why can’t I do it?” She asks and Melissa walks up to her.

“What are you trying to do, Tesoro?” Melissa asks her.

“Trying to write the letter A.” She explains and Melissa moves the paper and looks at her attempts.

“These are pretty good, you’re almost there.” Melissa tells her.

“Most of the class was able to do it.” She says before she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms.

“You’ll get it eventually, Tesoro, in your own time.” Melissa tells her softly. 

“She didn’t want to move from here until she got it. Saying she wanted to make you both proud.” Barb explains and you go over and bend down in front of her desk.

“Sweetheart, you make us proud everyday.” You tell her and you see her eyes get watery. 

“But I can’t write an A fully.” She says softly and Melissa holds her hand. 

“And that’s ok, a lot of kids aren’t able to do things at the same time as others, but they always catch up. Also, schoolwork isn’t everything, and you’re so smart in other ways.” Melissa tells her and Amelia looks at her.

“In what ways?” Amelia asks Melissa.

“Well you're an amazing great sister, you figured out quickly what to do if one of your siblings needs us if we’re in another room. You learned how to help me cook and bake very fast, which not even your mommy knows how to do.” Melissa explains and you look at her.

“What a way to throw me under the bus.” You mutter and Melissa hits your leg with her free hand. “Ow.” You complain with a pout and Amelia looks at you.

“Why can’t you cook?” Amelia asks you.

“Just not gifted in that area.” You simply tell her. “But you are.” You add and she looks down. 

“You’re also so smart socially, you always make friends wherever you go. Not a lot of people can do that.” Melissa adds.

“So even though I’m behind in something, you’re still proud of me?” Amelia asks Melissa and Melissa smiles and nods.

“We’re extremely proud of you, Tesoro.” Melissa says and tucks some strands of hair behind Amelia’s ear. Amelia pulls her hand away from Melissa’s and then launches herself at Melissa. “Oh.” Melissa says in surprise but catches her daughter and hugs her. Melissa stands up with Amelia in her arms and you stand up as well and Barb gets out of the chair.

“I do have to lock up so I can go home.” Barb tells you all and Melissa looks at her daughter.

“Ready to get your siblings and go home?” Melissa asks her and Amelia nods. 

At home you see Amelia is practicing the letters again and Melissa goes up to her with a blank piece of paper. 

“Instead of trying to draw on the lines, how about you try it without any lines?” Melissa suggests as you’re holding Mia and she has a teething ring in her mouth as Melissa told you about last night. 

You then watch as Amelia looks at the lines for the letters and then tries to write it on the blank paper. She tries it a few times before she’s able to get it and she gasps. Amelia jumps up and down and then looks at Melissa.

“Mamma, I did it!” She exclaims and Melissa smiles at her. 

“Ya, you did.” Melissa tells her and rubs Amelia’s back. 

At night you get into bed next to Melissa and you sigh. Melissa looks up from her phone at you and quirks an eyebrow.

“Something on your mind, Amore?” She asks you and you nod.

“Amelia learned some things really fast, like talking and reading.” You start and Melissa puts her phone down. “What if she learns other things quickly and the others feel like they’re not smart like how Amelia felt today?” You ask her and she thinks about it. “Or what if Amelia feels that way again because she thinks she has to get everything right away?” You add and Melissa grabs your closest hand.

“If that happens then we’ll fix it just like we did today.” She tells you and you look at her. 

“If it happens again with something you’re not good at then maybe I’ll throw you under the bus.” You say and she quirks her eyebrows at you.

“And what am I not good at?” She asks and you think about it and come up blank.

“That’s actually a good question.” You say and cross your arms. “Oh actually, you sometimes have trouble controlling your emotions.” You tell her and she laughs.

“That’s the best you can think of?” 

“It’s the only thing that came to mind actually.” You say and she smiles.

“How about the fact that I have trust issues?” She tells you and you furrow your eyebrows.

“Ok first of all, most people do, and second, are you helping me figure out a flaw for you?” You ask her.

“Ya. I mean I did point out one of yours to our 5 year old so why not?” She tells you. “What about that I’m not as physical as I used to be?” She tells you.

“I don’t know, you were pretty physical last night and the night before that.” You say and she laughs. “But see, you’re perfect. Both of us can’t find a flaw about you.”

“I’m not perfect Amore, I’m just perfect for you.” She tells you. “Just like you're perfect for me. I mean I think it’s great that you can’t cook which means I get to feed you and my entire family the most amazing meals. And I get to pass it on to my kids.” She says. “As well as you’re just as crazy about me as I am about you, and I find that perfect.”

“You know what I just thought that’s not really a flaw but can be used against you?” You ask her and she quirks an eyebrow at you. “You hate the show that Caty and Nico are obsessed with.” You tell her.

“You tell them that and I will divorce you.” She threatens.

“You’ve gotten so bad at threats since being with me.” You tell her and she rolls her eyes. 

“I say you’re perfect and you’re threatening to tell my kids that I hate their show?” She asks and you nod. 

“It can be used against you whenever I like.” You say with a smile.

“I’ve been such a bad influence on you.” 

“I think the skills I’ve learned from you are very useful. Where to swing a bat at an intruder, swearing in Italian at someone who pisses me off and they won’t understand a word I say, how to threaten people. And because I married you, I have connections all over the city.” You tell her and she hums. 

“I regret telling you about a few connections.” She says and you kiss her. 

“Let’s go to bed.” You tell her and then you both get comfortable. “Did you put a cloth in the fridge in case Mia gets teething pains again?” You ask her.

“Yep, there’s one in there. Top shelf next to the lunches.” She says before she puts an arm around you and pulls you up against her body.

“I hope you know that I’m not mad at you for pointing out I can’t cook, and that I love your flaws.” You tell her and you feel her hold you tighter.

“I know.” She says. “You weren’t serious when you said you’d use that I hate the kids show against me, right?” 

“Oh I was definitely serious about that.” 

“I hate you.”

“I love you too.” You tell her before you both fall asleep.

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Let me know if you want to be added!

[athena-the-undestructible]

Time to finally explain my new OCs

Well to start, I have a duo of characters

The first is a sniper who acts stoic at a distance, doesn't interact much with others and barely thinks about the fact that she's killing other people, it's just a job to her and she will rarely question what she is doing.

Up close she gets really nervous since she's not got any people skills and doesn't want to give the wrong information to the wrong person, plus her fighting style isn't very good up close so she prefers to stay away.

The second is a Knife Wielder with both stabbing and throwing skills. She's got great people skills and can manipulate them slightly and she greatly enjoys the act of killing others.

However she's very oblivious to anything that isn't immediately around her and in general is unable to grasp the bigger picture and of course her knifes are allergic to anything long range.

These two are supposed to be foils to each other although I still gotta develop them a bit like giving them names and more reason to dislike each other.

There is also a story I'm trying to construct around these characters although that's very work in progress and I haven't even got a proper idea of what the latter half or end looks like.

The basic premise is that these two kill each other at the beginning of the story, however both of them wake up the next day as if they'd only suffered a slight injury and a job listing they've both taken without remembering.

So they'll have to work together and it's not going to make them reconcile in any way, these two will still hate each others but in some different angles maybe.

They will also work with two others during these jobs.

The first I'll mention is a woman who wields a revolver and dressed like an MiB agent. She's been doing these mysterious job listings for longer and believes in some overall grand scheme that connects all of these.

She's initially supposed to give off mysterious vibes like maybe she did used to be an agent and she knows more than she lets on although this is supposed to be torn away as the plot moves forwards.

She doesn't have any more information than the other two but unlike them who don't think much further than what's happening to them, she's trying to piece together the grand scheme that she believes she's part of .

Her intense desire to be part of something important and her idealism is also why she has the secret agent theme despite never being part of any secret services.

And then we have the other one, the transgender robot I mentioned in a previous post.

So her cover "story" is being an assassin so dedicated to her career that she invested in cybernetics to improve her skill and become more efficient.

This is a total lie and quite the opposite, she's really a combat android who's been using her earnings to gain the appearance of humanity (hense the whole transgender part since she definitely wasn't a girl before).

She's also the total opposite of agent in that she has zero stakes in these missions and her enthusiasm goes as far as her payment.

This includes her inability to die like humans do which will be relevant and means she can just fuck off at any time.

Anyway that's all of them, I still haven't come up with their names (Once I can't make puns, I start to struggle) so maybe people could suggest them but I hope you enjoy these character concepts and would like to see me develop them.

My brain is also currently falling apart so I may have got something wrong, anyway that's all for now.

[javaelemental]

Re: Murderbot

A couple of days ago I picked up the first Murderbot book (All Systems Red), largely because the TV trailer for the show had looked good and my tumblr dashboard was jam-packed full of people professing their love for the books.

Later, as the show started airing, my tumblr dashboard filled up with people loving the show.

Finally, I hit a night where watching shitty TV didn't sound like much fun, so I snagged the book and chewed through it in a few hours. (It's a short novella and I'm a fast reader.)

The book was delightful. I'm definitely going to read the rest of them so no spoilers, plz.

Today, since I had a day off, I watched the show, and it is also delightful.

They changed a lot of things from the book as far as plot goes. I mean, the basic plot seems to be the same, but there's been a lot added and a lot skipped over. I expect that's due to the extremely internal nature of the novella. A lot of what goes on in the book is basically Murderbot's internal narration, just it telling you what's going on. Not a lot of detail on, for example, action scenes. Also not a lot about what the human crew is actually up to, since Murderbot kind of ignores them as much as it can and also finds the majority of their activity boring and/or useless.

A few thoughts:

They made Murderbot's crew seem extremely hippy-ish in all the worst, most stereotypical ways. On one hand, I don't love that. They didn't seem this useless in the book. On the other hand, having lived in Oregon for fifteen years, I've met each and every one of these characters personally and in real life and they all act exactly like that. It was both annoying and hilarious.

Particularly so when Labeebee or whatever her name was showed up. Like, absolutely everyone should have seen how that was going to go, and yet not one single crew member did and for as much time as I spent muttering at the TV screen "She's a bad guy how can you not TELL that," those folks I know from Oregon would also have been this irritatingly naive and oblivious.

I like the expanded look into corporate life. You didn't see much of that in the first book. (I assume it starts getting mentioned in later books.)

They cut back more than a bit on mentioning how crappy all of the corporation's products are, which I kind of didn't like. A big reason why Murderbot manages as much as he does and why so much of the obvious fuckery gets missed until later is because the corporation's products are such hot garbage. Like, they do mention it, but it the books it's a fairly big plot device.

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to the rest of the books, and the rest of the show. If you've been hearing a lot about it and haven't checked it out yet, do so. It's a lot of fun.

[alexanderlightweight]

Hi! I'm a huge fan of your writing(you're low-key why I downloaded Tumblr so I could read more)! If you were up for it I'd love to read more from your to be or knot to be universe, or literally any of your freak4freak stuff! Thank you so much for writing, and I hope you're having a good day<3

hi! that is very sweet and i hope you're enjoying it! and i'm still just very happy and a little surprised how much people enjoy my malec verses (it's not a self-confidence problem i promise! i'm just still surprised ppl like the same stuff as me)!

i also hope you are having a good day too!!

here is some more of to be or knot to be last part here'

i hope you enjoy it and i am having a delightful time because i have a puppy who keeps pretending to get scared by something out the window so he has a reason to come climb in my lap (he doesn't need a reason? but like he's very particular about how things are done and he especially likes it when i comfort him if i think he's been scared?) but it did take me about 6 different instances to realize he was laying down sleeping, would wake up and feel lonely, boof at nothing and then look to see if i was watching him and then run to me 'so terrified!'

now that he's laying next to me, i'll sometimes kind of watch him and he'll wake up, look to see if i'm paying attention and most of the time he can't tell i can see him? so then he'll boof first and then jump up like he had a nightmare.

it's really ridiculous. i love nightshade so much tho

<3 lumine

Magnus pulls Alexander to him, enjoying the hitched groan as metal tightens and Alexander’s forced to come closer. Nephilim blood is a potent ingredient and yet instead of collecting it for use, Magnus licks it away.

Alexander’s fingers are covered in blood and under that are small, tiny little cuts. Magnus sucks each digit into his mouth to carefully clean away the blood and viscera, letting magic heal the wounds.

“You took too long.”

Alexander’s laugh at his reprimand is breathless, the look in his eyes wild and his boy swallows heavily against the martingale chain. The hunger in Alexander’s eyes only grows as the metal around his neck bites further into his skin and Magnus is tempted, so very tempted.

Yet warlocks have certain traditions that Magnus wants to follow.  Not only to give Alexander every legitimacy and protection as his mate, but also to ensure the Clave has as little authority or ways to meddle as possible.

Magnus has no interest in shadowhunter politics, except in the ways it will help his own people.  The kind of influence and access to information he’ll have thanks to a shadowhunter mate isn’t something to be taken lightly.  Alexander is a threat for the Clave and they’ll know it immediately.  Even if Alexander never expressly commits treason, just going against them as publicly as he’s doing makes Alexander dangerous.

If his mate gets to keep the Institute, then Magnus will do everything in his power to support his boy. Including join Alexander not perhaps in an official position, but even just as his mate,  supporting him and being seen around the Institute.

Alexander has certain privileges as a shadowhunter Commander that won’t disappear simply because the Clave hates his mate. Magnus has seen some of the papers and strategies that Alexander has gone over and they’re good.

Good enough that Magnus can boldly state that it’s better not to have his mate for an enemy, simply by the measure of Alexander’s own merits. The Clave probably know that, which is yet another reason they’ll be both  furious on wary.

“How long is your leave?” Magnus asks and his voice is hoarse with want but he holds himself back, managing not to twist the loop of Alexander’s collar and instead just leaning forward.

Alexander meets him, their foreheads pressing together as they both sigh in the relief of being close enough to share breath again.

“A minimum of three weeks. I wasn’t sure how long warlock mating instincts require so I set the maximum at five.  If you need longer then I’ll take sick leave or resign if they refuse.”

The steadfast way Alexander makes it clear that Magnus is his priority has Magnus sighing with delight and nuzzling Alexander as he pulls him closer.  The blood grows tacky between them and the thrill of Alexander being covered in it turns into disgust that his boy is still covered in such unworthy filth.

A snap of his fingers and Magnus cleans and strips them both, it probably isn’t needed and he could have simply cleaned their clothing — as evidenced by the fact that Alexander’s collar remains and is now pristine — however he wants to.

Alexander grins, something delighted and awed in his expression as he brings one of Magnus’ hand up to nuzzle and then kiss his palm.

“There are a few rituals we need to do, before we share a rut.” Magnus rubs his other hand down the curve of Alexander’s arm and then tangles their fingers together. “So while I will share a bath with you, I’m afraid as tempting as you are, I cannot fuck you just yet.”  Magnus can’t help the chuckle he lets out at Alexander’s bewildered and crestfallen expression.

“Don’t worry kitten, we can start the rituals tomorrow. It won’t be long Alexander, I promise.”

AN:

alec: ... i should have left the institute even quicker. this is terrible. my self-control is going to be both better and worse being around magnus

magnus: oh he's so cute when he's flustered. this is going to be delightful.

magnus is 100% treating this like foreplay and alec is too caught up in the shock/whiplash to realize he's getting played (in a good way and magnus isn't lying about the rituals he's just also enjoying himself) and alec's still getting used to Magnus and Magnus' scent and him and his magic and he's catching up but it'll take him a little bit. like he'll definitely figure out how to tease magnus but he's still learning how to breathe around magnus atm so... he needs a bit.

alec is going to be suffering... but like, not in a bad way

alec wants magnus there, as his mate, as his alpha, respected and capable of ordering (and being obeyed) by alec's institute because it's another way for alec to show that he belongs to magnus. so completely that what is his to rule also belongs to magnus to a certain degree. like obviously magnus can't tell them orders contradictory to the claves or alec's, but yeah. alec basically has a set of standards and if clave cant meet them, he wont stay. magnus is more important to him than that. and so are his own persona priorities and instincts

[thatoneloudintrovert]

Summary of my session:

While I am doing my chores around base at the start of session Ginger comes and looks around. She seemed friendly enough so I let her do her thing, the mushrooms needed more attention anyway.

Astoria, as they told us they would do, went to the nether and came back with a wither skull. This is starting to feel a bit familiar... Teammate/person I depend on... Wither skulls... (Oh Bee, I'm so sorry-)

Not long after Astoria got the advancement for the wither skull a much worse message came in the form of Elephant dying from a mob. I worry for those two. They're my first team from the start, I don't want to see them go, I don't want to mess this up like-

I should calm down.

After a rushed conversation making sure Elephant is okay over messages I find Jade and decide I need a distraction. My hand is itching, the mushrooms are telling me- but I can't, not yet. I decide on a harmless prank. I play some mob sound to freak her out a bit. It works well and my mind is at more ease going forward.

Elephant tells us in messages that he tried to sell some dark oak, but failed as Bendy did not want any.

While I'm out I find a creeper spawner. This will be useful in the future, I'm sure of it.

Elephant offers a diamond chestplate and a pair of enchanted iron boots to Bee (oh Bee I-) for an hour of their time. Bee accepts and gives the hour to Astoria. Such a good friend, thinking of others before himself.

While the server is so peaceful I indulge in some fun. After I run into Hayunjin we compete in a boat race on ice. We had so much fun we forgot it was a competition.

Suddenly a message pops up on everyone's devices. We all got an hour of time! That much more time I get to spend with my friends. I'm so happy!

Astoria put some berry bushes around me while I took a nap against a tree. It was a very rude awakening, but I'm sure in no time I will be able to look back on this and laugh, she is my friend after all!

Elephant finds a wandering trader, trades for green dye and then kills it for the leads. That will probably be useful. Such a good friend, thinking of stuff that is useful.

Am I a bad friend again? Not doing so much useful stuff? I hope they can forgive me...

As I get back to the base at the end of session I see a bunch of signs saying they're from the watcher. They're very ominous, so I know they're fake. Astoria is favoured by them, they don't care much for Elephant and they never talk to me, they must hear my prayers as some are answered, but they never respond.

The mushrooms do though. For now, I will pray to both.

Surprisingly peaceful session, not that I'm complaining.

All hail the watcher wheel and obey the mushroom.

Fated Life session 2

Bluishspace aka me (He/Him) - 20:30

@a-sociopath-do-your-research aka Oli (Xe/Void/It) - 20:30

@bendy8me aka Bendy (She/Her) - 21:30

@juno0n aka Juno (She/Her) - 21:30

@raeistrying aka Rae (She/Her) - 21:30

@silverorchideon aka Orchid (He/They) - 21:30

@communistcatboi aka Catboi (He/They) - 21:30

@theblackglitch aka Glitch (She/Her) - 21:30

@kazanfamily aka Kazan (He/They) - 22:30

@twisttea aka Twisttea (She/Her) - 21:30

@cowgirlginger aka Ginger (She/Her) - 20:30

@thatlonelygirl07 aka Manu (She/Her) - 21:30

@lizzlylou aka Liz (They/Them) - 21:30

@thatoneloudintrovert aka Floracica (She/Her) - 21:30

@not-ready-for-gaster aka Bee (She/They) - 21:30

@whats-she-gonna-post-next aka Starfall (She/They) - 21:30

@frostywisp aka Fros (They/Them) - 21:30

@the-local-pineapple aka Tessa (She/Her) - 21:30

@spectresharmony aka Ari (She/Her) - 22:30

@astoriagalaxy aka Astoria (All) - 18:30

@3-pots-of-soup aka Soup (Any) - 19:30

@hayunjin aka Hayunjin (She/Her) -21:30

@craftingelephant aka Elephant (He/Him) - 21:30

@thejade-empress aka Jade (She/Her) - 20:30

@rachiecrown aka Rachie (She/Her/Any) - 22:30

Let's get this session started! For a wheel I'll still use wheel from last session as everyone is still a green life.

Tessa pranks Jade by filling her base with water.

Orchid travels trough the mines finding an amethyst geode and claiming for their team.

Oli and Hayunjin encounter eachother in the snowy wastes, they are friendly with eachother while at the same trying to trick eachother.

Ginger stumbles into Floracica while wandering, she looks around the base before leaving.

Juno travels to the village to capture and hide a villager.

Catboi travels to the nether finding to gather resources.

Blue travels to the village to capture and hide a villager too.

Glitch and Ari stumble onto Rachie in the forest.

Bendy attempts to steal from Starfall but is caught.

Kazan ventures into the mines where they find a massive caves.

Bee kills a skeleton and uses It's bones to find and tame a wolf.

Liz jump on Rae's crops for fun, Rae chases after them with a sword.

Fros falls off a cliff and dies. -1h for Fros.

Manu manages to steal dark oak from the walled forest.

Astoria, Soup, Twisstea and Elephant hang out while waiting for the boogeyman to be announced.

The boogeyman has been chosen, it's ???.

Manu goes to the village where she encounters Blue and Juno as they are searching for villagers.

Starfall joins Kazan in the mines after chasing Bendy away.

Catboi attempts to consolidate a sand monopoly...yeah, not happening.

Twisttea encounters Oli and Hayunjin, she question Oli about xeyr allegiances.

Ginger meets up the Glitch-Ari-Rachie group, they offer a secret alliance should something happen to their teams. Glitch and Rachie refuse. Ari agrees.

Orchid fills Fros' chests with light gray glass planes.

Fros meanwhile accidentally kills a pillager and gets the bad omen effect.

Liz fills Astoria's base with ominous and cryptic messages signed the watchers. The watchers do not appreciate impersonation

Astoria meanwhile goes to the Nether...they get a wither skull. Of course.

Elephant is cornered by mob and is killed. -1h to Elephant.

Rae and Bendy fight over an horse, Rae is victorious but Bendy shoots the horse. It doesn't die tho.

Soup finds and captures a zombie villager.

Tessa attempts to gain a sugarcane monopoly, would have been more successful had she tried last session.

Floracica pranks Jade with hilariously timed sound effects.

Bee finds an horse and brings it to the Northlanders base. (Bee, we already have so many wolves and farm animals do we need to become Ranchers 2.0??)

Juno encounters Rae and the horse while going back to base, she lets the whole villager thing slip.

Glitch finds a dog and tames it.

Fros attempts a sugarcane monopoly... We aren't doing this again are we?

Oli begins traveling around the server to find every base.

Ginger catches Soup moving the zombie villager, they keep it secret in exchange of a piece of diamond armor and access to it in the future.

Hayunjin falls onto dripstone. -1h to Hayunjin.

Liz finds a cat wandering the snow plains and tames it.

Jade sets the trees around the Northlanders base on fire.

Elephant attempts to sell dark oak to Bendy. Bendy doesn't care for it.

Tessa and Manu meet up at the Northlanders base to discuss future plans.

Catboi and Ari meetup, Ari does NOT tell him about Ginger's offer.

Bee and Blue (B&B duo!) travel to the nether and gather enough blaze rods to make a brewing stand.

Starfall finds a sheep in her base and hides it in the ground.

Floracica finds a creeper spawner.

Rachie pranks Kazan by convincing them she is the boogeyman.

Astoria finds a white fox and traps it in a boat.

And that's the first half of session two!

Let's just record the life changes thus far so It's easier to keep track:

Hayunjin, Elephant and Fros have all lost an hour each.

Back to the game:

Jade, Rae and Ari trade lives Southlanders style. (You stole our bit of stealing the Southlanders bit!) Nobody cheats and every one ends with the same time as when they started.

Elephant offers Bee a diamond chestplate and a pair of enchanted iron boots in exchange of Bee gifting an hour to Astoria. Bee agrees. -1h to Bee. +1h to Astoria.

Glitch, Liz and Orchid share rumors with eachother. Some are true, some are false, some are completely made up to trick the others.

Floracica encounters Hayunjin and the two compete in a boat on ice race.

Oli attempts and fails to set the village on fire, only burning one villager house before a snowstorm starts.

Starfall becomes stuck swimming under a layer of ice and cannot escape as it is night and she cannot see the way out. She drowns. -1h to Starfall.

Manu finds a naturally spawned pink sheep and leads it to the base. (At first I said the Northlanders are creating a ranch as a joke...but now I don't think It's a joke anymore.)

Tessa pushes Juno off a cliff as a prank, nobody dies as it is a small cliff but Juno wasn't paying attention and almost gets an heart attack.

Twisttea trows lava at Bendy revealing herself to be the boogeyman. -2h to Bendy. +1h to Twisttea.

Blue finds and befriends an horse. (The Northlanders had a farm eieio)

Kazan and Catboi work together to raid a bastion but end up being stucked together in an hole in a small 4 walls makeshict barrier surrounded by piglins on all sides.

Soup, Fros and Ginger encounter eachother and discuss the season thus far.

Rachie hides in the trees and listens in on the previously mentioned discussion.

ALL PLAYERS GAIN 1H. (Almost erasing the natural time loss of this session)

Oli, Kazan and Starfall go on a mission to get the materials to craft an enchanting table.

Tessa finds out Blue prefers cats over dogs and fills his house with dogs. As I am Blue I'm going to say he doesn't mind. (technically it would be base but like, same base and the base has separate houses so house)

Catboi...attempts a sand monopoly??? Again??? He got stuck in a bastion a bit and now suddenly back to sand monopoly??? One track mind one track heart fr.

Astoria covers the space around Floracica's place with berry bushes, Floracica does not enjoy the surprise.

Jade finds a geode not knowing It's the same Orchid already found.

Rae and Ginger fish together.

Manu attempts a sand monopoly and I can only hope this won't turn into a trend for a second season.

Rachie dies to a creeper/baby zombie team attack. (She runs into a creeper while running from the baby zombie and gets exploded) -1h to Rachie.

Liz and Glitch sneak into the dark forest and discover what hides inside the wall.

Bee goes around the map kidnapping chickens in an attempt to get a chicken monopoly... I'm kinda imagining a pied piper type situation but with chickens. (I've given up trying to understand why we need so many animals.)

Elephant finds a wandering trader and kills it to get It's llamas and leads.

Ari accidentally pushes Juno into a ravine to her death. To make up for it they donate an hour back to them. Juno lost an hour and gained an hour so no change. Meanwhile It's -1h to Ari.

Bendy and Soup discuss a possible alliance should something happen to Soup's team.

Twisttea gives Orchid a tour of the Northlanders base as they discuss trading food (from the way too many animals) in exchange of materials (Probably minerals).

Fros creates a fake base under Hayunjin for no reason other then to create paranoia.

And that was session 2. It was strangely peaceful???

[zylphiacrowley]

Surely no one can tell I've been putting off doing the Living Memory part of the story....

[iustitians]

ooc; headcanons - on Neuvillette's abilities, power, combat ability and fighting style

Ah yes, hello, it’s me again. The person who can’t shut up about an old man with a jabot who's also a dragon.

So I’ve wanted to talk about Neuvillette’s combat ability and style as well as his power for a while now, both to chat about some of my headcanons and theories for some of them, and to just kind of sort them out for myself. This is going to be a whole lot of rambling (by which I mean 8 Google Doc pages), so proceed at your own risk. Fontaine and Natlan Archon Quest spoilers below.

Combat prowess

So here’s a fun thing for me to start with: I don’t think Neuvillette is that great in a fight. Which I feel like many don’t think about at first, but actually makes sense when you consider his life, or what we know of it at least. Dude’s essentially a divine judge. Mostly dwelling in the seas without a purpose for who knows how long, and then running human trials and doing paperwork for 500 years. Where would this guy have gained any substantial battle experience?

Throughout the Fontaine AQ, we see him in combat situations three times. The first time is at the end of Act II, where Childe is about to go bonkers in the Opera, only for Neuvillette to jump in and oneshot him. Which looked impressive and all – except we shouldn’t forget that Neuvillette caught Childe off-guard from above and behind while he was mid-transformation, and broke through his defenses with sheer power, not necessarily skill. I highly doubt it would have gone like this had Childe had a chance to prepare. Neuvillette didn’t walk out of that one unscathed either, receiving a scratch from Childe during the very brief struggle they had. And as an extra note, I can’t help but look back at the moment in the cutscene where he looked at his own blood with what looked like both anger and surprise - it very much gave off the vibe of someone who isn’t used to being hurt.

The second combat situation was his first encounter with the Narwhal, which… when you think back to it, he essentially lost that one, didn’t he? It shrugged off his attack, shattered his protective barrier like glass, and would have devoured the people he attempted to protect had it not been for Childe’s intervention. Neuvillette was only able to deliver a decisive hit after Childe attacked and distracted it, causing it to turn its back to him and allowing him to unleash a powerful blow when he was prepared, undisturbed, and at a safe distance. It wasn’t exactly his best showing.

And it really was the only time we’ve actually seen him straight up actively participating in combat, because the third time to mention is the Fontaine AQ’s final battle against the Narwhal. Except the thing is… Neuvillette doesn’t really fight in that battle. We do. He supports us from the sidelines, separating the Primordial Sea’s power from the whale and sharing his power with us.

So really, he’s been in an on-screen combat situation once and, arguably, lost. Great.

… Of course, I’m not saying he’s weak. The first two situations I mentioned were with his Authority shattered, and nowadays may have been a different story. And even before he was restored, his power was very formidable. It’s just that power doesn’t have to equal combat ability – and the latter I do believe he lacks.

In fact, we can even extend this logic to him as a playable unit. He’s a very powerful DPS, which is great and all, but when you look at it more closely, you realize that he really doesn’t do much. I’ll discuss his fighting style a bit later, but he has exactly one trick up his sleeve: the Hydro Pump. When people criticize Neuvillette as a unit, the main point brought up is that he is boring – and honestly, however much I love him, I can see some players feeling that way, because… yeah, that’s all he does. He floats in the air and waterboards his enemies from a distance, overwhelming them with sheer power, while requiring little skill to use. He is incapable of anything more fancy than that. He’s a gorgeous, majestic and powerful one-trick pony.

And again, it all makes sense when you consider who he is and what kind of life he has led. He’s not a warrior, he’s an official – whether a Fontaine one, or a divine draconic one – who only displays his power as a last resort, in a way meant to end whatever strife is threatening peace and stability once and for all. He is not meant to engage in long combat, he’s probably just about never done it, and in that sense it’s normal that he actually doesn’t really know how.

Power level

… But as I said, combat prowess and power level are two different things, which can make answering the question of how strong someone like Neuvillette complicated. Because on the other hand, for his lack of combat experience and skill, his sheer power level is through the damn roof. Which of course makes sense. This is a Dragon Sovereign, now with his full power reforged, that we’re talking about here. Possibly the most powerful being we’ve met in Teyvat so far, and for sure at least one of them. 

For those who are caught up with Natlan’s Archon Quest, you know how Mavuika destroyed the wacky Abyssal thing and also punched a hole in the sky in the process? Well, she said later that the power with which she did it came from the Divine Throne. And an Archon’s Divine Throne is where the stolen Dragon Sovereign Authority is held. So in other words, Mavuika did what she did using a fragment of the power Neuvillette now holds in its entirety. So yes, I do in fact believe he can also punch a hole in the sky. I don't think he can completely destroy it, because it seems to restore itself, but also I think he wouldn't want to even if he could, since he has grown to care about and appreciate humanity, and he knows that the firmament protects it. 

But in addition to that, let's not forget that this guy:

Turned an entire nation of unfinished Oceanid people into fully fledged humans with a single Super Duper Charged Attack – doing in the process what Egeria was literally incapable of – and wasn’t even slightly tired afterwards

Hands out Visions because he decided he wants to, and unlike the Archons, has full control over the process

Has full control over Pneumousia, which is essentially a latent type of life force. Not only is he using it to singlehandedly battery all of Fontaine now, but also I mean. Combining them can lead to an annihilation reaction, so… idk I guess he can also make an atomic bomb if he wants??

Doesn’t even need a constellation because he exists outside of the fate system but then decided “ah whatever why not” and got one, then proceeded to?? reshape it I think?? so his daughters can have fun with it?? Peak dad behavior right there but also what the fu

Of course, there’s the whole part about how the Hydro Sovereign has full control over the Primordial Sea, which makes him essentially Teyvat’s original “God of Life”. I attribute his ability to turn Oceanids into true humans to that connection, as well as his control over Pneumousia, as, again, from what we know of it so far (which is not much but that’s a rant for later) it seems to be a sort of latent type of life energy. Of course, I can only imagine that he could do a LOT more with it than what we’ve seen. And on the topic of Oceanids, I’ve also noticed that he seems to hold authority over them as well, considering how easily he made them back down during Navia’s “trial”.

Basically what I’m trying to say here is that he’s freakin’ powerful and writing him in a way that avoids turning him into an ultra strong Gary Stu sort of guy can be a hell of a challenge sometimes lmao. I try to get around it with the idea that he has to load up Fontaine on a sufficient amount of power before he leaves and surely that has to weaken him at least a bit.

Fighting style, symbolism and other funky tidbits

As I mentioned earlier, Neuvillette doesn’t fight much, and when he does, he doesn’t really do much either. In fact, he actually literally barely moves. This includes his Normal Attack chain – not only is it among the shortest in the game with only three strikes (in comparison to characters well-versed in combat such as Wriothesley and Zhongli, whose chains consist of 5 and 6 strikes respectively), but also he practically doesn’t move from the spot he was standing on while performing it. Many characters will charge forwards or move backwards while attacking; Neuvillette takes about half a step. That’s it.

Other than that, there are four main characteristic to him in combat:

Cane

Glowing and expanding his… let’s call it fins

Floating

Triquetra

Neuvillette’s cane is the most interesting element of those to me, because it seems to be his actual catalyst. It’s interesting when you notice that he only summons his in-game weapon for his Normal Attack chain – which is, by a long shot, the most worthless part of his kit. For all his other, much more useful moves, he does not manifest it at all. He does, however, use or at least hold his cane for all of them, and the gem and blue ornaments on it glow as he does.

This applies to cutscenes, as well. When using a Charged Attack during a cutscene, he also holds his cane, summoning it specifically for that moment. It’s especially interesting in the cutscene where he and Childe fight the Narwhal, and the exact frame where he uses Equitable Judgment is the only moment in that entire cutscene where he holds his cane. He doesn’t have it immediately before or immediately after, and yet he went out of his way to summon it specifically for that attack – which leads me to believe that this cane is his real catalyst.

At the moment my idea for it is that in his human form, the Hydro Dragon is something of a staff user, and this cane is how he adapted its appearance to fit into Fontaine’s setting, much as he did with his own.

Glowing is another commonly seen aspect for Neuvillette in combat. When he uses his power, he glows. As a playable unit, he lights up when using his Burst and Equitable Judgment, as well as when his passive ability is fully charged up (so basically when he’s at max power). Notably, and I actually only recently noticed it, not only do the light blue elements on his outfit glow, but so do his eyes.

And again, the glowing is something the animators went out of their way to include in the cutscenes. When he takes down Childe in Fontaine AQ Act II, he lights up before leaping from his seat. In the All-Devouring Narwhal cutscene he also glows and surrounds himself with blue aura while attacking, and in addition, if we look closely, we can see his eyes glowing as he charges for his first strike. It’s an interesting small detail that’s very easy to miss – I only saw it properly while watching that cutscene in slow motion. In general, all of his attacks have a natural glow to them as well. Overall it gives him a sort of divine feel, which I consider to be the point.

For certain attacks, in particular Charged Attack: Equitable Judgment and his Burst, Neuvillette also expands his horns (at least that’s what I call them because I hate that we are never given a word for the thingies on his head) and his… I guess tail?? Whatever the case may be, he displays them when unleashing his power and promptly hides them immediately afterwards, as a bit of a reminder that his true form remains hidden to our eyes.

Then there’s the floating. I kind of don’t have much to say about this one, the ability to levitate seems to be a common one among Teyvat’s deities and other powerful entities. Local man is too cool to walk like a normal person. My only observation to it is that floating seems to come very naturally to him, as during all his attacks (minus the Normal Attack chain which as I said no one cares about) his feet very quickly and easily separate from the ground, as opposed to some other characters who we know can float but who still remain firmly grounded in combat. Again, it ties back to how he is not at all expressive or aggressive in his movements during battle, but rather intends to simply overwhelm his enemies with his sheer power and authority.

And finally we have the triquetra, aka the emblem he commonly uses. It’s the mark he summons for Equitable Judgment, as well as during cutscenes. Its meaning is largely symbolic.

This one is both extremely interesting and very funny to me because, well… IRL, triquetra has major religious significance in multiple cultures. It can mean many things and is used in various belief systems, including christianity, where it symbolizes none other than the Holy Trinity. Which is actually pretty accurate for Neuvillette considering his role in the story – the original creator and guardian of life, and the judge of all who condemns or pardons everyone’s sins.

The triquetra also flashes above his head when you switch to him in your party, and the intensity of the flash as well as the sound effect it makes when appearing become more intense with each stack of his passive. The more stacks he has, the more the sound resembles a church bell – also heard during his Elemental Burst, as well as the music for his trailer video, which overall sounds almost like a religious hymn (well. once you take out the dubstep moments lmao), complete with the organs, bells and a choir singing in Latin. It all plays into his symbolism of a divine judge, and in a way, it also shows that he very much implements trials into combat. He fights for justice, by bringing justice.

… But it’s also kind of hilarious considering Neuvillette also references the biblical Leviathan of all things, with his constellation named after it and his character introduction (he who looks down on all that are haughty) literally quoting the Bible. And the symbolism of him looking down on sinners is also very much visible in his media, with how often he is seen literally glaring down on people – between his art, his Elemental Burst, his and Clorinde’s teasers and many moments in the game’s story, he is very often shown deliberately from an angle that has him looking at others and judging them from above. He himself also comments on that, saying that this is part of what keeps him separated from those around him and unable to bond with and understand them.

How tf they put Jesus and the Leviathan into the same person and made it work is beyond me but it’s kind of amazing and honestly I love it.

List of currently known abilities

This is page 6 of this damn Google Doc so I’m gonna try to be brief here, but I wanted to also compile for myself the things we’ve seen Neuvillette do.

Full control over Hydro

Well, duh. In short, now that his power is fully restored, Neuvillette has full and complete control over the Hydro element. In lore, anyway, as this is where we have to implement separation between lore and gameplay (such as his ability to drown outside of Fontaine or inability to casually OHKO enemies by stopping their blood from flowing, just to name a few). In lore, his control over both regular water would be near absolute. Under this power is also where he categorizes his ability to turn Oceanids into true humans by granting them proper “blood”, so this is also where we put his potential power to create life, as his power over water includes the Primordial Sea – his connection to which he is now fully aware of now that his Authority is back. (This may be demonstrated by how the pattern inside Sourcewater Droplets kind of resembles DNA strands, symbolism also used by the boss enemy inside the body of Apep, another Dragon Sovereign.) Of course it also means that he is a fantastic swimmer, and can breathe underwater, both in and outside of Fontaine in lore.

Hydro resonance

Neuvillette is known to have extreme sensitivity to the Hydro element and the movements of water. Sigewinne states that he knew of the crisis in the Fortress before we ever told him due to sensing the waves when the water level rose, and during “The Wild Fairy of Erinnyes” we also learn that he was able to sense trouble at Loch Urania by resonating with water there (yes, Neuvillette is the “visitor” Pahsiv speaks of). He appears to be able to read the memories and information contained within water at will, even from a distance, allowing him to learn about trouble within his territory in an instant. This is also where we’d categorize his ability to taste emotions and impurities in water, distinguishing the history of what it had gone through by coming in contact with or drinking it.

Emotional resonance

One of Fontaine’s plot points is that water carries emotions, especially particularly strong ones, and by resonating with water, Neuvillette can read them and search for extra information that way. This one gives him trouble, however, as between literally sensing the emotions of all of Fontaine at once, and his own limited understanding of emotions, it’s very overwhelming for him to do, leaving him rather shaken afterwards. For that reason he doesn’t do it more than necessary and deliberately suppresses it on a daily basis. He can also sense the emotions of others just in general, as mentioned in both his and Arlecchino’s character stories, but with emotions being fickle things that he doesn’t really understand, it’s more than possible to mislead him, as both Vautrin and Arlecchino successfully hide the truth of their emotional state from him.

Causing rain

Not gonna yap about this here because I already have.

Control over Pneumousia

This one makes me rage because of how woefully underdeveloped it is and the way it’s literally mentioned in one sentence just to go “oh yeah Fontaine’s energy crisis is solved now” and never brought up again, but. Yeah. I’ve mentioned it earlier already, but Neuvillette has control over Pneumousia now that his Authority is fully restored, allowing him to serve as Fontaine’s current power source. Again, lore and gameplay separation, because it should probably also technically mean that he could avoid fighting rogue Gardemeks by just turning them off, but it is what it is.

Distribution of Hydro Visions

I know some people (including characters in the game) have wondered whether Visions are distributed by the governor of a nation or of an element. With Neuvillette now granting Visions, I consider the latter to be officially the case, because I don’t see how he would hand out Visions other than Hydro. In any case, yeah. He is now the one giving out Hydro Visions, having chosen to do so out of respect for humans, with the first Vision we’ve seen him grant going to Furina – characterized by allowing her to control both Pneuma and Ousia, and by the little claws seen on it, proving that it was given by a dragon. I consider his criteria for granting someone a Vision to be fairly similar to the Archons, where someone’s wish or ambition has to reach his Throne in a way that inspires him to respond, with the main difference being that he is aware and in control of the process. I like that his character story compares this to a dragon’s treasure hoard, except you don’t need to steal anything from him – you receive a reward just for reaching him.

Creating seals and barriers

We’ve seen him do it twice, because in my personal headcanon, the seal he created at the bottom of the Fortress and the shield he attempted to use against the Narwhal are more or less the same type of power, and the ease with which the whale shattered his barrier is something of a display of just how powerful that thing had become by absorbing the power of the Primordial Sea. But yeah, not much more to say here, he knows Protect.

Teleportation

… And he also apparently knows Teleport. We’ve only seen him do it once, in the Narwhal cutscene, where really he could have just jumped off, but he warped to I guess look cool. We know nothing more about this ability of his, in my personal headcanon I imagine he only warps across short distances when necessary and on a daily basis prefers to swim or walk.

The part where he did Something to his own constellation

idk what to put here lmao. Look. He is a god who exists outside of the Heavenly Principles’ rules and basically does as he pleases because Screw Those Guys. He doesn’t even need a constellation, due to being free of Celestia’s system of fate, which the fake sky’s stars are being used to control. But since he found his calling, “the skies had left a special, ennobled place for him”, with his constellation actually being a reflection of his own image, the same as the Traveler and the Archons. And then the guy went and either reshaped it or made himself a fake one?? Because a constellation reflecting its owner’s visage can’t be used to read their fortune in astrological charts (something we know from Mona) and some Melusines are into that. Again, as I said earlier, peak dad behavior but also What.

—

I think – and sincerely hope – that I talked about everything I wanted to and didn’t forget anything. Surely 8 Google Doc pages are enough yapping.

If you made it to the end, congrats and I’m sorry (but also not really) for being insane.

[smallblueandloud]

the craziest part of the 2006 broadway revival of company is that the cast is SWITCHING INSTRUMENTS. not only are they singing AND moving to choreography AND playing instruments, they are doing this for multiple instruments. the amy actress alone has to be able to play a french horn AND a trumpet (she's the soloist in "side by side") AND act AND sing "not getting married". what the fuck!!!

[sysig]

Requestober 2024 Sketches

The playlist is...well, it will be posting very soon! Keep an eye out for your req(s) every Wednesday and/or Friday after the 6th (I think?), pretty sure I got ‘em all >:3c

Doing the full season this time around! The entire mixed bag o’ candy haha

Day 1 had my beautiful boys!! ♥ I’m so happy that Yanderapy took the lead this year ah! It’s too bad I’m so out of practice with them haha, unconfident lines, but the idea was solidly in place from the word go - this was really the only image that came to mind for them, their weird dynamic hehe <3 Made for each other! I am glad their expressions came together so well in the final version, though I didn’t get to show Micchan kneeling! That’s alright tho ♪ Cute enough here hehe

Day 2 got a lot of notes! Kabu’s clothing design is So complex lol, just toss him behind Larry who’s like second nature to draw, suits are so so simple in comparison haha ♪ Still only ended up hiding bits of him! He did end up with his shoe on the outside of Larry’s, boxing him in that little bit <3 And look! His smirk!! As well as the “hiragana” on his sleeves while I was still under the impression that it was text and not Flame Texture lol

And yes, as you can see, I ended up going with the alt doodle, they got more! I was quite tempted by Larry holding Kabu since he’s so tiny lol, but that would’ve required drawing his details! No! Hide him!! The pose is fun and silly and cute tho haha, very plush-coded ♪ And then also a little smech for funsies <3 Just to follow up their staring-at-each-other-in-a-gay-way they ended up with ♥ Rather a fan of Kabu’s hands pulling Larry in :)

Day 3′s was such a pose change!!! Mostly for Edgar, though he’s still kneeling here, inexplicably haha - the angle changed for the final version, and both of their head angles and just, ah, nothing more than a general outline of what I was going for. I’m pleased with both tho! I think the final is much more clear and readable, but there’s always a bit of fun with Edgar looking down/Scriabin looking up haha. I suppose it’s more appropriate than an angel would be looking down on a devil, isn’t it? Haha

Day 4 was another easy one at least, the pose immediately came to mind to show off Nny’s clothes on an even ganglier, thinner frame haha. Like I said, I really tried for more fullbodies this year, so I had to give the tiny version a proper swing on-page! Ran out of room for the larger one, but I really wanted to draw him holding his shoe with his hand haha. You can see the goopmonster on his shirt here too! :D I think his annoyed face is quite cute hehe <3

Day 5 was practically a freebie, and I took absolute full advantage hehehe ♪ If I get the prompt of “soft” of course I’m going to opt for plushies! I’m back in my Webkinz era, and Tala is big big big on Webkinz as well :) And her being a plushie has something of an impact there too lol, but it was really fun to look over all my little guys! I ended up having an extra handful of thoughts about all of them so they’ll be getting their own post(s) :D Good too, since I didn’t talk much about Embroidery’s closet cosplay haha

Day 6 was actually a bit of a question mark for me at first! :0 Not as though I don’t love when Edgar has to clean up Scriabin’s self-inflicted problems haha, I just wasn’t sure what it should be! Making it seasonal helped a bit there - lots of sticker burrs around here when we go walking haha. The bonus ended up being a digital-only, but it was a good motivator to finish these, and then the full poses came to mind - I’m not sure why I was more excited to work on full body poses, but I really was! Maybe the success of meeting my self-imposed challenge haha

I ended up scrapping the alt since it reminded me a little too much of one of the ‘22 reqs - trying to keep things fairly fresh! It was also a little too cartoony haha, where would Edgar suddenly pull such strength from! This doesn’t look like a dream! At least it wouldn’t have been a nightmare of Scriabin being hurt :’) Rescue!

Day 7 was another insta-idea! Really going back and forth on those lol, it sprouted into my head fully formed! This was actually one of a couple I wrote down as I was away from my notebook while brainstorming, so it came back as a mini script; one of more dialogue-heavy ones! Chicken or egg, I wonder, hmm. I always draw Smoker with her sleeves up even though she usually wears them down haha, I dunno. Had a heck of a time with Angie’s hair! I tend to make hair super super fluffy but hers is long and straight and presumably weighs itself down! Doesn’t floof! You’d think having heavy hair myself would incline me towards knowing anything about it but nope lol

Little bouncy concepts haha, and poor Mousey so jealous in the middle, surrounded with them having the most fun!

Day 8 was fairly simple with such a focused ask of them eating Specific Food - can do! Chibis just felt right for such a cute food haha. Would Edgar have a crepe pan, I wonder... I suppose a lot of it comes down to the batter, I haven’t made crepes in such a long time so I wouldn’t know anymore haha

Day 9 featured the slouchy throne! You can see I like the little leggies haha, I did make it a touch more proportional in the final version but who can resist the sillies! Had to draw it and Mettaton separately so I could easily see their silhouettes, I think it all came together in the end fairly well :) Had one heck of a time getting the bottom of his shoes to play nice, but I’m proud of how it turned out!!

Day 10′s, who can resist skelehugs ♥ No I! Not me!! The original had them a lot more upright, I’m glad I went with my note of leaning them back a bit more. Also had Papyrus’ legs on either side of Sans, protective <3 I do like both, but I think they look a bit more reasonably comfortable in the final version, figuring out contact points with one of Papyrus’ legs all the way to one side was too much haha. No boots on the couch! I think they look a bit younger in the final version too, maybe from their eyebrow expressions? Interesting how such small changes can make a big difference ♪

Day 11 was originally going to feature a bunch more Pokemon!! Several of my pink-and-purple faves all gathered around MewTwo <3 Flaafy and Musharna and Sableye my beloved 💜 And of course Whismur!! Can’t but Whismur all the time haha, but in the end I opted to go for the simpler(?) option of just the two ‘mons interacting

Whismur is so spooked by you, even lying down!! Even tho I drew it so I can see it right in front of me, I just can’t imagine MewTwo lying down to investigate haha. More posing changes! Lot of ‘em this year. Pls to quiet, cats have very sensitive hearing, you don’t need to shout

Day 12 started off with probably the Correct Amount of confusion lol, considering even @cutiebetutie​ didn’t expect this to be the matchup lolol, still deeply hilarious to me. But hey, what was I going to do, question a crackship?? Do I look like the kind of person who would say no to exploring some possibilities? Of course I had to give them a scope lol

Haha, “Alt” in quotes as I knew this would actually be the full version, the handholding is cute but where’s the dynamic! There is something there after all! I think so anyway, some tiny tiny sliver that they could start from, and what more foot in the door do you really need? If Nny’s on his charm that drew Devi in, I don’t see why someone a little more airheaded like Jake couldn’t be beguiled haha, if he lasts long enough for that ♪ It’s very tense! I wish him well, I wonder if he could protect himself... Just cut and run, Jake!! Makes for an interesting suspense, that’s for sure haha

Day 13‘s kigurumis!!! Yay!!!! Smol and I successfully wore ours for Halloween this year, we’re them fr fr haha, definitely one of my favourites from this season <3 <3 They’re so cute! Biggest change from here to there is probably where the legs start/end haha, kigurumi have funny little legs hehe. And also Papyrus’ gloves! Sans ended up without any, I can’t resist a hand plate here or there ♪ Also him closing his one good eye to pun about was an accident until it wasn’t haha, just another excuse to do a touch of rereading :3

Day 14‘s turned out so good for how cramped the sketch was!!! Gaster’s hardly there at all! Which is appropriate in its own way haha, filling in the rest of his details was pretty fun tho :) Papyrus looks a lot more desperate in this version which I do like, but him openly enjoying himself is very sweet, who could deny him that <3 Quite pleased with how his arm and hand posing came together in the end as well, fairly minor changes but I think it all flows together much nicer :D

Day 15′s word bubbles turned out way cleaner in the sketch than the final version?? Calls for more practice I suppose; it is asymmetrical, but it does look nice! Maybe needed more colour swatches haha, more and more rows! Edgar’s unimpressed look in the final version is quite good I think but there’s almost a kind of urgency with no eyes behind blank glasses hmm, they both have their merits! I applaud everyone who caught Scriabin holding the bi flag as his swatches! :D Good eye!

Day 16 began The Sleepies lol, I was a bit tired while doodling the first go and it uhm. Well. I mean. You can see lol. S’a bit goofy haha

The alt was much much better! I did end up leaving out the grass which I’m a Little disappointed about - feels too manicured, too sterile in the final version! But I really couldn’t figure a way of adding a bit of visual noise that wouldn’t look flat as well! Minecraft, eh, lol. I am quite pleased with how round Moomin turned out tho :D He looks like a marshmallow in the final version! Yay!

I actually doodled Day 17′s concept before 16 since it came to me so strongly - I do kind of like how much more upright Mob is here, him being as hunched over as he is in the final version adds to the moodiness of the piece I feel. He really is such a good boy! I don’t wish him dark and upsettings!

Day 18‘s didn’t get a paper sketch as I was verrryyyyy tired and had no energy to scan, so skipped the step that would make scanning necessary haha. For all that, I do rather like the digital sketch tho! I think Snufkin’s left leg is a bit better proportioned, and his expression is maybe a bit cheekier? Moomin’s perfect, no notes haha. I also ended up really liking their tail expressions, how Snuf’s is kind of straight and flat while Moomin’s is very roundy hehe <3

I know I said Day 20 doesn’t count but I mean, it’s on the same page! It got the “Day 20″ label! Sketch can go here why not haha. Happy belated Ace Week! I thought it was fun to put a bunch of pink lovehearts around the big central ace heart for me specifically hehe 💜💗

I mentioned in the tags that Day 26‘s original concept was too big to try to do all at once and ahhhh I wish I’d been able to swing it!! I wish I’d been able to do the whole thing!!!! I love scenes like this the most!! Little isometric rooms with little isometric characters all chatting and interacting and being cute and silly and tiny!! I love that! Alas, it had to stay a sketch, but here it is!! Can you recognize everyone here? The main three got the center, but who could the rest be :3c And what of their costumes! Hehe ♪

Still fighting back the sleepies for what ended up being the final version so the dialogue was left much more vague than the caption haha, the aliens don’t even have feet here! I suppose they are meant to be in fish costumes lol, it tracks that only the fully-human Captain’s legs would end there, but definitely not intentionally done so lol. I like ZEX’s expression here so muuuuch ahh I wish I’d been able to capture it a bit better in the digital version! Always something for next time haha

I actually ended up drawing Day 30′s sketch very very last, so this was the last doodle of the season! Me, projecting my tiredness onto the Vargases? Nooo <3 Another one that ended up very very different from the final version, I just needed Something down to paper and out of my head to work with really - I knew even while drawing this that I was going to end up with something very different haha. Sometimes hand just does whatever it wants pft. The dialogue was the star of the show here! And you can see what Scriabin was up to, obscured by the couch haha

Day 31, penultimate sketches for the final day! I really do love Scriabin hiding behind Edgar - wants to be included but not That close, very much with Edgar in the way of anything bad happening to him haha. More pose changes! I like both versions, Todd holding Shmee for comfort or him spilling out of his lap as he focuses all his attention on Joel <3 Both cute in different ways!

Cats are still not one of my strong-suits, but I have been drawing them a bit more recently! Admittedly of the cartoon variety, but even that has had some effect I think! Like their little triangle noses, and the way their ears scoop inwards, and whiskers - little things! I like it! I had fun with these little concept poses, Joel kind of curiously huddling on Edgar’s chest, looking at the world from a safe vantage spot haha. Hold him gently! He deserves it!

All the sketches from this year! I ended up having a lot of fun this season even if it was a little lighter than previous years haha, thank you again to everyone who joined!! ♥

[werewolfdog]

I'm able to get to make Vietnamese fried springrolls over the weekend / next week to get to give M some for him to have as part of his lunch and I'm soooo excited!!! :3

[plantenjoyer]

I SWEAR I KEEP TRYING TO DO ART BUT THEN SOMETHING GETS IN THE WAY AND THEN I PROCRASTINATE AND THEN SIX MONTHS PASS

[freakalot]

"did you just spank me?" ☆

choso has wide eyes in the mirror's reflection as they meet yours. glossy and blown out with lust, but wide—nervous, like a deer stuck in headlights. you're bent over, back arched down as your boyfriends hands rest gently on your hips. there's a sting that lingers over your ass, and choso is holding his hand out like he's committed a crime with it.

it's not like he's vanilla—you're being fucked ass-up in front of a mirror so that you can watch him take what's his—but he's frozen still like he's appalled at his own actions.

"oh," he's flushing a gentle pink. "i'm sorry, i don't know why i did that. it was just so much and you were so—i mean... i wasn't thinking and—"

"do it again."

he's still balls deep inside of you—hips pressed tight against the flesh of your ass: his cock pulses inside of you, each veiny ridge filling you out like you're made for him. "why would i do that?"

“because it feels good,” you shrug, pushing back onto his cock a little. "cho, baby, i'm asking you to spank me, not commit a war crime."

"might as well be," he mumbles under his breath, looking down at the curve of your ass at his face scrunches up into an expression you've never seen on him before. is that... restraint?

your poor choso has never been all that good at controlling his wants and whims. he's a man whose body often betrays him: he couldn't hold an orgasm back to save his life, nor can he ever stifle those pretty moans of his. much like how he couldn't stop his hand from smacking against the flesh of your ass.

so, of course, you goad him on. clenching tight around his achy cock as you meet his gaze in the mirror. "i want you to spank me again, choso. be mean. make it hurt when i sit down tomorrow."

"i don't want to hurt you."

"don't you? you spanked me first, cho. i think you want it even more than i do."

his eyebrows furrow. its devastatingly cute for a man balls-deep inside of you. "shut up," he says with no real bite. "i didn't mean to."

"your hand just slipped and landed on my ass?"

"...yes."

you roll your eyes, and offer choso a smile in the mirrors reflection. “you look all embarrassed. just like that time you came just from kissing m—fuck!”

a sharp sting radiates over your ass cheek, and once you blink the shock out of your eyes, you’re met with a very sudden snapping of chosos hips into yours. he somehow manages to fuck you even deeper than before. with every thrust he sends you forward on the bed, until you’re no longer holding yourself up with your arms and your face is pressed right into the mattress.

“you always-” smack! “-make me feel-” smack! “-so nervous around you.”

your face screws up. “what?”

he stills, leans forward to take the sheet away from your face so you can look back at him properly. “i’m punishing you.”

“for what, giving you butterflies?”

“yes.” the sweetest of smiles pulls at his lips—you’d think it endearing if not for the way his hand slaps down onto your ass again, and he resumes his mean pace.

live and let cum, you suppose. choso drills into you in such a way that you’re cumming both quicker and harder than you ever have with him. your orgasm, the sweet way your pussy grips him in pleasured need, sends choso over the edge right after you. “mmm iloveyouiloveyouimsorryforspankingyouiloveyou”

of course with another mean spank to your ass, choso pulls out and exhales the prettiest moan you’ve heard from him as he releases all over your tender ass. you’re spent, and fucked so dumb you don’t chide him for then using his fingers to rub his cum around in soothing circles over your ass. you won’t admit it, but it feels kinda nice.

“sorry,” choso whispers as he reaches for something to wash you down with. “you should slap me as payback.”

“you’d probably like it.”

“…yeah.”