#even if we had the right size box that would not be free either. I do not control our product line. I am but a humble underpaid part-timer.

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

Peppermint Bark | Tim Drake

✦ pairing — Tim Drake x female!Plus Size Reader

✦ word count — 800-ish

✦ request — Hi honey! For the Christmas fics, can I request something with Tim Drake? He has a crush on Y/N but is too shy to confess. Y/N’s at her aunts house and Tim goes to wish her a Happy Holydays and they end up under the mistletoe

✦ warnings — mentions of food (candies, mostly), kissing, fluff.

════════════════════════

You made your way to the front door with more annoyance than you should have been feeling while making holiday candy.

Making candies and baking cookies with your aunt was the highlight of the holiday season for you. She liked giving goodies away to neighbors and friends.

She miscalculated this year, though, and had to make a quick run to the grocery store which left you watching a cake in the oven —for cake pops— and having to clean up all the mess.

You even started with the first batch of peppermint bark!

So you opened the door mildly annoyed but immediately forgot about it when Tim Drake smiled at you.

“Tim!” You had expected a bothersome salesman or a package for your aunt. It wouldn't have been the first one of the latter that day.

Boy-ish as ever, he scratched the back of his head. “Almost thought no one was home.”

“Sorry, I— You wanna come in?”

He nodded. Before crossing the doorway, he handed you a box of chocolates wrapped in a floppy bow as though he had tied the bow himself. “You always liked these… Right?”

“Yes, I’ve always liked these,” you assured him.

Tim let out a relieved sigh, head lightly thrown back and shoulders dropping. Immediately, he perked up. Still, he didn’t come in. His eyes were fixed on the upper part of the door.

Worried a dangerous animal was creeping around your aunt’s garland, you looked up too. There was mistletoe on the doorframe. You didn’t know your aunt had bought mistletoe, much less knew she had hung it on the front door — was she trying to finally make a move on her new pretty neighbor?

You tried to say something, make this less awkward. The two of you must have looked like idiots blocking the entrance to your aunt’s house, looking up at the —now obvious to your nose— fresh mistletoe. Words abandoned you this time, and words rarely came out of Tim first so it was either you or the wind that would come up with anything.

The wind was slow this time. You wished it hadn’t. The only thing you could say was, “Oh, mistletoe.”

As if he hadn’t seen it first.

Making matters worse, Tim stammered, “We, we don’t have to…”

You panicked. You really wanted to. Honestly, you had been waiting months for him to make the first move and it was painfully clear he wouldn’t if you didn’t give him a nudge. So you forced words to come out, “It's tradition, isn't it?”

His gaze fell on you. His cheeks turned pink as he processed your words, but seemingly in the same state of mind as you, he nodded. “Yeah. Some traditions need to be kept, of course.”

You giddily smiled before you could stop yourself from looking too eager. It was all the encouragement he needed.

Tim cupped your cheeks in both hands, cradling your face as he brushed his lips against yours. Something stirred within you, and although conscious that it was supposed to be a small peck, you once again took the role of the bold one and pressed your lips more firmly against his. He welcomed them.

You rested your free hand on his arm, holding the chocolates in the other one, and felt his nose nudge yours in an attempt to kiss you better. Leave it to him to know how you liked to be kissed after a few seconds of contact.

Before any of your aunt’s neighbors saw, or complained about the two idiots kissing on a doorway in the middle of the afternoon, you parted. “Uhm, I need to check the cake,” you blurted, just now remembering the oven was on.

“You’re baking?”

“We’re making candy and all that stuff. Come, I’ll give you some peppermint bark and truffles.”

Tim followed you inside, taking in all the decorations your aunt put up. The tree was huge, with ornaments of different sizes in red, green, and gold — small teddy bears in flannels covered the spaces between spheres and handmade ornaments with the names of family members and friends. He smiled upon seeing the Christmas village on the coffee table and quickly reached the kitchen where you were already taking the cake pans out.

“Just in time?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’m getting the hang of this, I think.”

Tim watched your hands, almost entranced, as you prepared a box of candies for him. First, you laid the paper, then carefully placed the candy in stacks. You added a couple of the test cookies you had made just for good measure.

You tied a bow on the closed box and handed it to him. “Here. I hope you like them.”

“I…” He laughed. “Would you like to get coffee sometime? One day you’re not making candy, I guess…”

“I thought you would never ask.”

He finally took the box in his hands. His eyes twinkled as he asked, “Is that a yes?”

“Yes, Tim. I would love to.”

[fyodoro]

Congrats on 800 followers!!

So may I ask for chigiri with no.14 from your event? Tq! Have a nice day/night!

Combining these requests… just to make things a tad bit easier for myself

Prompt 14 | "You're so lucky you're cute."

No cw's, pure fluff! wc - 726

800 follower event!

"So you're just gonna lay there?" Chigiri's question remained in the air, your slumped figure on the bed stayed still despite the redhead's hand shaking you.

Yours and Chigiri's friends had all planned to hang out today. It wasn't going to be anything fancy, just a small get together with friends. Although much to your disappointment, they planned to meet up rather early in your eyes.

"It's sooo early Hyoma, can't we go later?" You drew out your words, not only emphasizing your sleepy state, but also the dramatic tone in your voice. "Your friends can wait, can't they? At one in the afternoon... I doubt anyone is fully awake."

"(Name), at one in the afternoon, most people have been awake for hours." He deadpanned, earning an exaggerated sigh from your lips.

"Do we have to show up on time?"

"You sound just like Nagi.."

"I bet he's not even up right now..."

Chigiri knew this wasn't going anywhere and he was only wasting his breath. Once you were set on something, you wouldn't budge. And right now, you were set on sleeping in with him (even if he wasn't sleepy in the slightest).

He rolled his eyes playfully, opening his phone to snap a quick photo of your curled up frame.

Princess 'me and (name) are gonna be late' *one attachment* 'this one wanted to sleep in till noon and won't budge"

"Hyoma... can you lay back down? It's getting cold." You murmured, voice muffled by the pillow you were snuggled up to. Chigiri let out a chuckle at the sight, finding you both incredibly oblivious and adorable at the same time.

"I swear, you're so lucky you're cute."

He finally caved, pulling the pillow your arms were wrapped around away and replacing it with himself. After all, your friends could wait a little bit longer.

At this point in the day, Rin only wanted to go home and lay with you in the comfort of your shared bed. But alas, that didn't seem to be happening anytime soon.

"It'll only take a couple seconds! Please Rin?" Your hand was interlocked with his, while your free hand was pointing toward an arcade across the street. Tons of cute, colorful plushies were displayed through the window, easily attracting the attention of anyone passing by.

Unfortunately for Rin, you weren't exempt from those people.

"And who's to say you'll be able to win one? Seconds turn into hours fast in those places you know."

You didn't hide your pouting face. In fact, you were hoping Rin would notice it, feel bad, and give into your idea. But this is Rin Itoshi, of course he wouldn't...

...for anyone else

He sighed, "fine, but you're lucky your cute. If you weren't, I wouldn't be doing this." You squealed in excitement, repeating 'thank you's over and over.

Stepping foot into the arcade, you spotted the plushie you've been eyeing since you saw it. It was a decently sized fluffy black cat with green dots for eyes, "doesn't it look like you, Rinnie?"

In your eyes, the plush cat resembled him greatly. From the color scheme to it's blank expression. Of course, Rin refused to admit seeing any similarities in a plushie. He stayed silent, inserting coins into the claw machine (that was most likely rigged) without a second thought.

"Hey, I can win it on my own? You really don't have to-"

"Shut it, I'm gonna win this and you're gonna watch," he said with a determined look on his face. You merely rolled your eyes at his attitude, muttering a small "whatever."

Claw machines are almost always rigged. It's either the claw is too small, too big, or has little to no grip. Truthfully, you were planning to win with pure luck rather than skill. So it's no wonder your eyes widened as the claw opened, dropping the stuffed animal into the winner's box.

"You actually got it..." you breathed, kneeling down to take the rin-like black cat out of the machine. "Were you doubting me?" he asked, one eye twitching in slight annoyance at the thought.

"Maybe a little."

It was safe to say Rin only got half his wish when you arrived home. While he got to cuddle with you, he also had to put up with the plushie you snuggled into at the same time.

© enassbraid 2023. i do not permit plagiarism, translations, or reposts of my work on any platform

[ofduskanddreams]

How I download fics and give them covers before sending them to my Kindle.

Hi all, I've been considering making a post about this for a while and now seems as good a time as any. I'm not an expert, and there is more than one way you can do this; I'm just going to show you my process using "Call It What You Want To" by @separatist-apologist as an example. [This will only work on computers FYI.]

Part One — Getting Started

Download Calibre (it's free.) Calibre for PC. Calibre for Mac. They also have it for Linux but idk if that's still relevant.

Follow the program's setup instructions, and then those for wirelessly connecting Calibre with your Kindle account. Alternatively, you can connect your Kindle/e-reader to your computer with a cable and transfer files manually or download the file to your hard drive and share it another way. I highly recommend taking a few extra minutes to set up the wireless sharing as I think it's far more convenient.

Create a folder in which to store fanfiction downloads so that you can be an organized human.

Part Two — The Fanfiction

Find the fic you want to download on ao3 and click it so that you're on the fic's first page.

Above the box of metadata (ratings, warning, tags, etc.) on the far right click the "download" option. When prompted to select a file type, choose "MOBI."

Note: Though ao3 has an "EPUB" option I've noticed a bug that removes the chapter navigation from the fic when downloading the EPUB directly from ao3. If you enjoy the "x minutes left in this chapter/book" feature on your e-reader, you will want to download "MOBI" and we will be converting it later in Calibre.

Save the file to the folder you created.

Launch Calibre if it isn't already running.

In Calibre, click "add books" on the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Navigate to the folder you saved the fic in, select the fic, then click "open." Calibre will import the MOBI file to your library.

Now as you can see, "Call It What You Want To" already has a cover when we imported it to the library. That is because the cover image is embedded in the fic on the archive. Some fics will already have covers embedded such as this one.

Calibre is not a genius. If there are multiple images in the fic it will usually take the first one and default it to the cover. In the next section, I will go over how to add/change the cover of a fic in Calibre and how I like to create them.

Note: Even if the fic doesn't have embedded images, covers may have been made by readers and linked to the fic either in the notes or related works sections so it's worth checking if a cover already exists. If a fic is popular enough, a Google search of the fic's title + "cover" or "cover art" will show you if there have been covers already created for it.

Part Three — Making The Cover (I use Canva)

On the Canva homepage click "create a design" then select the "custom size" option. Canva does have a book cover template but I've found that it's awkwardly tall compared to the default size for Kindle books so I make my own.

I set the dimensions of the design to be 1024 pixels wide, and 1600 pixels tall, then click "create new design."

This is where you can get creative, make whatever you want. These basic steps are shown in a gif at the bottom of the section:

One: Choose a background image (you'll want to make sure it's a high enough quality that it won't be pixelated.) I used an image I had already uploaded into Canva, but you can use whatever you would like.

Two: On the sidebar, select "elements" and then "rectangle."

Three: Make sure the rectangle covers the whole design, then change the color. I like using the colors from the photo that Canva suggests and then making them a darker shade. Once you have the color that you want, reduce the transparency of the rectangle to anywhere between 40-50%. (This step ensures that the text we put on top of the image is easily legible, play around with it a bit.)

Four: On the sidebar, select "text" and then "add a text box." Then type in the author's username and change the font, the color, and the size until you like it. Repeat the same steps for the fic's title. I like to center the title on the page and put the author toward the bottom but that's just my preference.

Once your cover looks the way you want it to, click "share" at the top right and follow the steps to download the file as a PNG. I usually just save the image to my desktop so I can grab it easily once I'm in Calibre.

Part Four — Adding the Cover in Calibre

In your Calibre library, hover over the fic and right-click. Then hover over "edit metadata" and click "edit metadata individually."

On the "edit metadata" screen, find the section that says "change cover" and click "browse."

When the file upload dialog box appears, navigate to the PNG you just saved from Canva, select it, and click "open." This will add your cover to the fic. You can use these same steps to add any cover image that you've saved to your computer.

Make sure to click "ok" at the bottom of the screen to save your new cover and navigate back to the library page.

Part Five — Converting to EPUB

In your Calibre library, select the fic and then click "convert books" on the toolbar. At the top right of the converting screen, set the "output format" to "EPUB."

Now, the following steps are unnecessary little things I do to make my reading experience more seamless.

Click "Look & Feel" on the left sidebar. Under the "fonts" tab, I embed the "Georgia" font family. I do this because I prefer reading in Georgia which is not a default option on my PaperWhite*. I have my Calibre conversion settings in place to do this automatically. You can embed any font that you have on your computer.

*It might just be me, but when opening a downloaded fic (following the methods in this post) for the first time on my Kindle the font is always weird. The trick to fix it is to go and change the font from whatever is selected (Baskerville in my case) to "publisher's font" and then I've found that switching it back to "Baskerville" on the font selection screen activates the embedded Georgia... even though it will say that it's Baskerville? Idk why this is, I just wanted to let you know how I fix it.

Calibre defaults to a justified text alignment unless you change the default settings. This appears as "original" in the alignment options. The random too-large spaces between words of a justified alignment give me the ick so to make everything left aligned, I stay on the "look & feel" page but move to the "text" tab where I can change the alignment.

Staying on "look & feel," move to the "layout" tab. To ensure even paragraph spacing regardless of how it appeared on the archive, I select both the "remove spaces between paragraphs" and "insert blank line between paragraphs" options.

On this page, you can also change the indent size of the first line of every paragraph (highlighted pink,) and the size of the blank lines Calibre will insert between paragraphs upon conversion (highlighted green.) I set the indent to 0.0 and leave the line size 0.5 which is the default.

The last thing I do is go to "EPUB output" on the left sidebar and check the box labeled "insert inline table of contents." This just means that Calibre will add a table of contents to the beginning of the EPUB. (By default it puts the TOC at the end which I don't like.)

When everything is set as you'd like it, click "ok" on the bottom right and Calibre will convert the MOBI file you downloaded from ao3 to an EPUB containing the settings we just changed. Both file types will appear in your library when you click on the fic and scroll within the right-side window. I usually delete the MOBI format after I have the EPUB because I don't need it any longer.

And you've done it! Now all you have to do is either right-click and share it to your Kindle, or you can "save to disk" and download the EPUB file to transfer to your e-reader by a method of your choosing.

I hope someone finds this marginally helpful. In truth, I was just bored so I made this post but in light of the recent DDoS attacks against ao3, I think everyone should look into downloading their favorites so that you're never left out in the cold again.

Happy fanfic downloading <3

[glitched-username]

Biblically Accurate Turtles (1/?)

Basically their heights match the relative sizes of their respective turtles

1-2 years before the events of the show start up.

Donnie finds something rare: a completely intact still functional phone! Being too small to get it on his own, he employs Raph (and the 2 other turtle Tagalongs who invited themselves) to help retrieve it. The phone isn't the only thing they run into in the sewers, and Raph is ready to protect his family from it.

AKA: April O'Neil's terrible awful no good very bad day

CW: blood, violence and generally everyone freaking out

4000+ words

Also color coded height references (green is April for comparison)

“Speed it up Raph! I don't want it to get any sort of water damage!” A tiny blur of purple zoomed through the sewers in excitement, followed by a larger snapping turtle. Despite being nearly three times the size of the softshell, Raph struggled to keep up. The extra weight on his back and head certainly didn't help

“Psh yeah Raph, keep up!” Leo playfully mocked while still getting a free ride. Raph responded by purposely jostling the foot tall slider in mock annoyance and tilting his head back.

“You're one to talk! Want Raph to just drop you here and see if you can keep up?!” Leo just gave a dramatic huff and got comfortable again.

Atop Raph’s head, the snapper felt the feather light touch of his tiniest brother moving a bit, still gripping onto his mask tightly. “Why’d you even want to come, Leo? No offense but… uhh… I don't think you're strong enough to carry something bigger than me all the way back to the lair.” The box turtle nervously laughed.

“Well, I know that I've carried you around plenty and if I can drag around someone half my size then I can EASILY bring home something a tiny bit bigger! I just don't want to!” Leo closed his eyes and smirked, “I'm just here cause I wanna see what's got the nerd so spazzed out!” Leo shouted that last part pointedly at said nerd.

“Yeah yeah! I get it! My excitement is such a momentous occasion!” Donnie shouted back in a tone no one knew if it was sarcastic or not. “Now can we PLEASE speed things up?! We’re almost there! Right up ahead!” With that the softshell sped off again, purple light fading in the distance.

Raph just rolled his eyes and kept his pace steady. As much as he was annoyed by the shinanigens of the two hitching a ride, Raph didn't wanna jostle them too hard or have either fall off by speeding up.

After a minute or two of running, the tiny purple light returned and Raph barely had a second to register as he heard Donnie uncharacteristically shouting expletives. He all but slammed into Raph, who caught the panicked scientist into a hug with a slight ‘oof’ and saw Donnie holding his prize: a completely intact smartphone with cat ears.

Donnie was panting from the overexertion, barely able to speak from being so out of breath, even his jetpack was burnt out. Mikey and Leo stopped messing around and looked concerned.

“Donnie? What's-”

The softshell pointed in the direction he came and saw a larger white light shining their way. Raph was confused until he saw a shadow from behind the light.

It was massive. Almost three times Raph’s height. He knew from when Donnie talked about their heights and stuff that while Raph easily towered over his dad and brothers, he was still dwarfed by humans. But to actually see one in person?

It terrified him. Raph only had one thought come to mind: protect his family. She would NOT hurt them. Slowly, Raph crouched down to let his brothers off and silently told them ‘Get home IMMEDIATELY’. The brothers obliged. Mikey grappled onto Leo with an iron grip. And Leo picked up the phone best he could scrambling away with Donnie who tried his best to help Leo.

The sight comforted Raph as he prepared for what was going to be a difficult fight. He hunched over and was ready to do whatever it takes to stop the human from daring to threaten his brothers. His long tail swishing in anticipation.

She looked around in confused panic. “Agh! Where did that stupid phone go?! The tracker said it was right here--” their eyes met and it made a shiver ride up Raph’s shell.

She dropped the source of light, and Raph took that as his moment to pounce.

Faster than either could really process, he grappled the human’s leg, claws baring into her skin. She shrieked, flailed and tried to kick him off but it just made Raph bite down. Hard.

He didn't even notice her yelp from pain, falling to the ground or the taste of blood in his mouth. Raph did notice when he felt hands pushing at his face and trying to pry his mouth open. Eyes white and feral, Raph let go of the human’s leg and bit down on her arm, using his hands to claw at anything in front of him. He pushed and pryed the arms away to reveal a neck to bite into, and was about to when he finally got a look at the human’s face in the dimmed light.

Eyes were wide and had a constant flow of tears streaming down her face. And despite the size she looked young, around Raph’s age.

And… she was scared.

Terrified.

Her body was completely frozen as if her body was preparing itself for the fatal blow. The image made Raph think back. He attacked first, he drew blood and nearly cleaved her limbs off, the human was just reacting defensively, she didn't even leave him with a scratch.

The thought that he almost killed someone who didn't understand what was happening, someone so close to his age, someone who was defenseless and scared… it made him sick. The taste of blood from the arm still in his mouth made him sick.

He quickly let go and pushed himself back a few feet. Both to make the human feel safe, and so he doesn't get kicked in any defensive crossfire. He tried to spit out any blood left in his mouth but it just caused the deep crimson to smear on his face, scales and shell.

Now that he was a good distance away, Raph was able to get a better look at the damage he caused. Scratches littered the poor girl’s arms and legs with two very distinct and very bloody bite wounds. Nothing was ripped out but it would still require a lot of stitches and time to heal.

It ripped out his heart. Raph didn't know what he would've done if any of his brothers came home looking like that. Actually, that was a lie. He does know because he almost did it to the human.

Raph didn't know where to go from here so he just sat down, hugged his knees and tail to his chest and began to mutter apologies as tears silently fell.

----

April was having a bad day that only got worse. First she missed her bus so she had to walk to school. Then she trips and loses her phone down into the sewer. And THEN when she finally finds it, some random purple… something runs off with it.

And now she's being attacked by a freaky sewer monster.

It doesn't even reach her waist in height but that doesn't stop the turtle-monster-thing from easily attacking and biting down hard on her leg.

The pain was blinding. It felt like her leg was being ripped off at the joint.

April fell to the ground, bringing the creature down with her as it clawed at her legs. Her mind slipped into instinctual self preservation as she tried to pry open the monster’s mouth. She realized the mistake a moment too late and its attention was flipped to her hands and arm and bit down even harder on them.

It was agony, her lungs seized, she couldn't breathe, but the monster and it's cold white eyes were hell bent on ripping her to shreds.

April tried so hard to protect her face, but either was in too much pain or the monster was so strong it was able to shove her arm away. It was staring at her, at her neck- oh god she was going to die!

…

…

The pain eased from her arm and the weight on her chest quickly disappeared. April should've felt relieved but was left gasping for air and began to full on sob.

Everything hurt, she was bleeding bad, didn't know if she could walk, had no way to call for help and was left at the mercy of a blood thirsty, fucked up monster---

“...m’srry…”

April barely registered the tiny, muffled sounds. Trying to ignore the sound of her heart beating out of her chest, she heard what almost sounded like… an apology?

That got her attention. Who was apologizing? And for what? Pushing through the pain, April used her good arm to push herself up enough to get a look at whoever was remorseful and was surprised to find out that it was the creature. It was hunched over and curled in on itself.

April would've called it cute if she didn't know that thing could've easily killed her…

… but it didn't…

Why?

------

Raph was too scared to move. He didn't want to hurt anyone like that and was worried he'd scare the human or hurt her again by accident.

It was always his biggest fear. Raph was so much bigger than everyone he knew that he had to be extra careful. He thought he knew his own strength, how much of his weight was safe to throw around.

He thought that a human would be far more durable, so much tougher. I mean, every Lou Jitsu film he's watched told him that humans are powerful and unstoppable. But it turns out humans are just as fragile as his dear brothers. No shell, no carapace and no tough scales. It was like he was shredding through paper.

Raph heard shuffling and the sobs and whimpering cease but didn't stop his rambling apologies. What else was there to do. He'd never live with himself if he killed her, but if he ran then more humans could appear and deem his family as a threat to kill. On top of that, he was genuinely remorseful and wished more than anything he just waited to see what the human's first move would've been. But it's too late now.

…

…..

“You… you can talk?!” That snapped Raph out of his spiral and he looked up at the human, meeting her eyes. Tears littered both of their faces and the two froze and stared at each other. She didn't look angry or upset, but just confused and scared. That made Raph feel even worse as he broke the stalemate and began crying and apologizing again, this time much louder.

“M’SORRY! Raph didn't MEAN to--I didn't know what-- we’ve never seen a human before and I freaked out! M’SO SORRY!”

April honestly didn't know what to think at this point. One second she was being ripped to shreds by a crazy sewer monster, and the next she felt the need to comfort what she could now see as a turtle. A weird one that can talk, but a turtle nonetheless.

Maybe it was because she could tell he felt genuinely remorseful. Maybe it was because he mentioned having a father and little brothers he was trying to protect during his ramblings. Or maybe it's because he seemed as scared of her than she was of him. Something about the attack seemed desperate and feral, like he wasn't fighting just to pick a fight, but more fighting to protect his life and the lives of those he mentioned.

She felt the terror begin to seep out of her body, but the confusion and bloodied pain remained.

Though it hurt to keep the position, a nasty bruise on her abdomen going to for sure appear in a few hours, April forced herself to keep upright enough to look at the sobbing heap nearby.

“Okokok, I think we both need to cool our jets a bit,” she winced and shifted to lean on a nearby wall. “I… this is--man, this hurts!” She saw Raph take a shaky step forward, like he wanted to help but was worried about further injuring the human by getting any closer. Any terror she felt over the turtle melted away at the sight.

“I'm not gonna die… but… but I need help. I know it's awkward and freaky for both of us but, please? We can worry about apologizing and questions later.”

The question left Raph dumbstruck. He knew she didn't immediately trust him, but he was the only chance she had at getting her any aid so tried his best to switch into “protective bigger brother mode”.

“Y-yeah! Of course! Anything! What do you need? My brother is a lot better at medical stuff than me, he can probably fix you up!” Raph took a step forward and fidgeted with his hands, ready to do whatever he could to fix this mistake.

April avoided the mention of a brother. “No, but I need my phone to call for help.” Raph’s eyes widened at the realization. “The phone that was taken by something that led me your way. I'd go get it but...” She gave her legs a test wiggle and winced. “Yeah…”

Raph grimaced but now understood the reason why the two ran into each other. She wasn't there by chance or to hunt anyone down, the human was just looking for something… that her brother now had and would probably strip for parts as soon as he gets home!

“Yeah! Don't worry! I can get it! Just… stay here? You probably can't go anywhere--but yeah--I'll get it!” Stammering a bit, Raph took his objective and began to sprint back home (keeping an eye on the ground just in case his brothers aren't back home).

He didn't spot them as he approached the entrance to the lair: a curtain covering a sewer grate large enough for him to squeeze easily through but not for any humans without them forcefully sawing off the grate (thanks Donnie for soldering the metal together).

Upon entering, Raph was greeted by 3 small and very exhausted turtles circling around the phone. Mikey was flipped over on Leo’s shell, the slider in question seemed barely conscious (he must've had to do most of the heavy lifting). Donnie was the most awake and tried to drag the winnings back to his lab. No one seemed to notice Raph entering.

Seeing the softshell start to drag the phone off, Raph sprung into action. “Wait! Donnie stop, I need that phone!” He got a few paces closer, finally getting the scientist’s attention. Donnie’s eyes were tired with a hint of annoyance but widened in terror when they locked onto Raph.

“Raph? Is that… blood?!” Donnie took a step back, not knowing what else to say.

That snapped the other two brothers out of their exhaustion and Leo bounded towards the largest.

“Shit! Raph, sit down! Let me look at you! Are you okay?! Did you hit your head?! Sit down!” The panicked slider grabbed Raph’s massive hand with two of his own and tried to guide him closer to the ground for inspection. Mikey was freaking out, terrified that leaving the oldest brother to face the human resulted in him getting horribly injured.

Raph was suddenly made aware of the red soaking his face, hands and plastron. For a brief second he believed his brothers panic and thought that this was his blood, only for reality to crash down that this was all the girl’s. He shook away the guilt, he could save it for later, he had to help her.

“No! That's not- I'm not-it's not my blood!” The three immediately stopped mid freak out and stared, almost trying to catch Raph in a lie, expecting to find any hidden gashes or cuts but found none.

“Then…”

“Is that the human's blood?!” Leo finished Mikey’s sentence. Raph silently nodded.

“Didn't mean to… Raph thought… she was trying to hurt Donnie… didn't know that I’d hurt her that bad…” Tears started to well up in his eyes again and Donnie looked slightly embarrassed.

“Ah… that's… not good. She didn't hurt me, or was even aggressive. I ran back because I wanted you to just scare the human away. I probably should've communicated that in a way that didn't imply that violence was needed.” Raph hugged himself and sat down, curled up the same as before.

Mikey jumped on his knee, kneeled down and tried to comfort Raph, giving gentle rubs to his head and tried to ignore any blood he got in contact with. “It's going to be okay, Raph, we'll figure this out. Is the human still alright? Is there anything we can do?”

Raph suddenly remembered the task he was given and his head shot up. “The phone!” Mikey fell back in surprise but caught himself on Leo who didn't even flinch at being used as a jungle gym.

“Oookayy, but what's the phone gonna do? You think that hunk of metal can patch up wounds better than any of us?” Leo looked at his other brothers, “Well, better than me?”

“No! I need it so she can call for help! Raph hurt her legs really bad so she can't walk and we can't get her help because of our not human-y-ness and the phone is the best thing to get her help so I'm bringing it to her now!” Raph didn't want to go over anymore questions and just laid it all out. Deciding to just snag it without another word and book it.

He barely noticed a smaller form latch onto his shell.

As he drew closer, Raph swore he could smell the blood and, thankfully, still saw the girl in the same spot. After a second, she heard his footsteps and turned towards him, flinching the tiniest bit but that didn't stop her from giving a kind smile.

Raph grew nervous as he stopped and slowly and carefully shuffled toward the human, holding the phone out to her with both hands, too nervous to make eye contact. “Here’s the phone! It still works! Just when you leave, please don't tell anyone about us! ‘M so sorry I hurt you but if anyone knows about us, or what did that to you--they’d--we’d be--”

“Hey, don't worry, I'm not gonna say anything.” She gingerly took the phone from Raph’s hands. It still terrified Raph seeing hands so much larger than his draw closer, but took pride in swallowing down his panic. “I've honestly dealt with feral street cats who roughed me up just as bad, and they didn't even have the courtesy to apologize, much less get me help.”

“But--but I should've known better! Raph was taught to be careful about how strong he is, and the one time I’m not I--”

“Apologies, but I think that's more my fault than anything.” Raph was suddenly aware of the weight on his shell, reached back and gently pried a very nervous Donnie off, holding him in both hands.

“Donnie? What are you--”

“Apupup! I'm talking to the human, miss uhhh…”

“...oh! Uh, April? April O'Neil.” The human, April, seemed shocked at the sudden visitor, either if it was by the additional person or by how much tinier this one was compared to the 2’6” ft one in front of her. Was this his brother? No wonder he was so protective. The thought was enough to get her to forget her pain for a minute.

Donnie nodded “Donatello,” he continued despite Raph holding him like a teddy bear, speaking quickly and robotically. “Now, as I was saying, I'd like to apologize. I was the one who took your phone and in my haste to keep such an invaluable piece of technology… I may have caused some confusion over the overall situation. What I thought was conveyed was for Raphael to simply scare you off so we can make a clean escape. However, when I got to him, I was out of breath and couldn't verbalize the plan so he must've confused my exhaustion for panic and fear and thus interpreted you as a threat. Apologies.”

April took a moment to process the apology before, “Wait--that was you who took my phone?!” Raph flinched slightly at the sudden shouting, hugging Donnie closer to his chest. The softshell was mostly unphased, more grossed out by being pressed up against (now dry) blood more than anything.

“...yeess? And I still would've loved to keep it but, seeing as you need it in this situation, I'll concede and wait for the next one to fall through a sewer grate…” April just snorted at the casual tone, letting Raph relax his bear hug on the smaller brother. The three fell into a mostly comfortable silence before the human winced at the flare of pain, breaking them out of the calm.

“Eugh-boy, probably should get that help then?” Raph grimaced, silently nodding. April noticed and leaned forward a bit to gently pat Raph on the head with her uninjured hand.

“Hey, don't worry big guy, this was a really awful first impression but I'm not gonna be mad at you for it.” Raph gave a soft smile, leaning slightly into the touch. Satisfied, April looked down at Donnie, “I am a bit ticked at you for taking my phone” the softshell nervously laughed, tucking himself slightly into Raph’s hold, “buut I'm willing to overlook it if we can meet up again? Preferably with less violence and more getting to know you guys?”

Donnie and Raph perked up immediately. The younger squirming out of Raph’s grip and moved to the back of his neck, pushing down on his head to get a better look at April. “GASP! Of course! You're the closest I've ever been to a human, I'd figuratively kill to trade notes and questions!”

Raph snorted a bit and grabbed his excitable brother again, holding him loosely in one arm. April huffed at the sight and drew up a lopsided smile. “Yeah! Honestly I've got like a million questions anyway that I'm going to write down cause I will forget!” With that, she turned her phone on and after a few moments of scrolling for the phone app, Raph got the tiniest bit anxious again.

“You, promise you won't tell anyone ‘bout us?” April paused but held the soft, reassuring smile.

“I promise. I even have like five different cover up stories about what got to me and none of them involve any small turtle people!”

“Disbelieving laugh! That's the first time anyone's referred to Raph as small!” Donnie laughed a bit and Raph rolled his eyes and playfully bonked Donnie’s head with his chin.

“Okay. Okay. Yeah! I'd love to see you around, and I promise that I won't go crazy on you again!”

April nodded and looked at her phone again. “...sooo I guess you guys should head out before I call someone?”

“--Oh! Right! Okay, Donnie let's head out!” Raph said, mood completely lifted and happy that this didn't turn into as big a disaster as it could've been.

“You say that like I have a choice…” Donnie was squeezed a bit into Raph’s plastron.

“That's right! You don't!” He said in the same sing-song-esc tone and walked back home, looking back and giving April a small wave. When she waved back, his tail wagged a bit in excitement.

After a couple minutes of walking, and when he knew the two were out of earshot, Raph stopped and flicked Donnie in the forehead.

“Ow! What was--”

“You have 30 seconds to tell me why you seem so casual around humans.” Raph spoke with a sternness saved for when he's trying to get a confession from his brothers.

“Ah. Well. I kinda… go to the surface,” Raph raised his eyebrow, “...a lot. And I don't talk to any humans? But I do get close enough to snag any useful technology. And I do have enough pattern recognition to tell what is a dangerous human and what is a skittish human.” Raph stared, “And I would never willingly talk to a human either way outside of this extreme circumstance and I should've let you know I was joining you when I was hitching a ride with you.” Donnie nervously smiled. “Is… is that good?”

After a moment Raph sighed. “Fine, I'm not gonna stop you from getting what you need, just… tell me next time? Okay? I know you guys can take care of yourself, but it just worries Raph that if something happens I won't know what happened to you…”

Donnie untensed and relaxed into his brother's hold. “I'll be sure to keep reminders up so I don't forget.” He felt Raph huff a bit, “Setting up reminders to remind you to remind me?”

“Exactly. Glad you understand! Not to mention if something does happen (even though that's very unlikely) then we seem to have acquired a human ally who might be willing to assist!”

Raph froze and thought about their interaction before he left, and then… he continued walking, tail wagging again.

“Yeah, guess we did…”

[novankenn]

Perfection - A Homecoming (Ch4)

Pyrrha could without a doubt say she had never had a ride like the one she was currently experiencing. She had been limos, armored cars, private bullheads, luxury airships... but never EVER a repurposed armored troop carrier. It was cramped, stuffy, and bumpy.

More than once she was forced to latch her hand onto the grab strap hanging just above and in front of her face to keep from being shaken or bounced from her seat. Across from her Joan grinning, obviously enjoying either the ride of Pyrrha's situation.

Joan: Never had a ride like this have you Ms Celebrity, eh?

Pyrrha: It is interesting... but how? Jaune didn't even...

Joan: Our older sister, Saphron... she sent us some "souvenirs" from her first trip to Argus... they arrived right after Jaune left... recognized you from the bobble-head.

Pyrrha: I hate those.

Joan: I can understand why... not a good likeness.

Pyrrha: How much longer?

Joan: We're about halfway I would guess... Jaune's really pushing her... should be hitting the creek any minute...

The "truck" suddenly dipped forward, making Pyrrha scramble to grab the loop hanging from the roof. For a few seconds everything slowed leveled out and slowed to a crawl, before suddenly pitching backwards as if climbing a steep incline.

Joan: That's the creek.

Pyrrha: No way that was a creek!

Joan: We call it the creek, but its actually a small river... five feet deep and about... I say 20 feet wide. Gets much deeper and wider during the spring because of melt water.

Pyrrha shook her head as Joan grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at her. Pyrrha gave Joan a bit of a questioning look as Jaune's twin picked up a headset and put it on.

Joan: Jaune you copy? ... We need to stop at the Kill-Box... mom wanted me to check the 571 placements.

Pyrrha: Kill-Box?

Joan: A special defensive line we put on the trail... just in case.

Pyrrha: In case of what?

Joan: We'll explain all that when we get to the compound. Feel free to stretch you legs when we stop... just DON'T wander out sprinting distance to the "truck"

Pyrrha: Why?

Joan: What did I tell you before we started?

Pyrrha: Not to question, just do.

Joan: SO just do what I told you. Everything will be explained when we get to the compound... I promise.

A few minutes later the "truck" stopped, with a forward lurch. Joan hit the hatch release and climbed out, followed by Pyrrha, who found that Jaune was already outside... via a roof hatch. It did surprise her that Jaune was holding some type of rifle.

Jaune: You should have checked these before picking us up.

Joan: You know the procedure... not alone.

Joan then reached into a bag hanging near the rear hatch, and tossed Pyrrha a disposable lighter sized object. She caught it easily, and sent Joan a questioning look as she tossed one to Jaune and then attached one to herself by looping the lanyard about her wrist.

Joan: It's an FFI... without it you'd end up hamburger.

Pyrrha looked at Joan wide-eyed, not even noticing that Jaune was making his way into a what looked like a shallow valley, with his rifle up and ready.

(==[Table of Contents]==)

[degenrcy]

only i can hurt you (chapter 2)

same warnings as last one but with more highlight on the ed part of the relationship! 

you two were out grocery shopping for the league with a whopping budget of barely 120 dollars. it was getting hot out, summer not just rolling but suddenly jumping you from around the corner with multiple day long heat waves predicted for the next 2 weeks. this meant no one wants to smoke drugs in a non-air-conditioned in an already heated car. this meant dabi and shigaraki weren't making much on their deals. this meant 120 dollars for groceries. for a house full of adults.

minus you two of course. "it's perfect tomu, we don't have enough for all of us so me and you can just... not eat for a little. nothing we can't handle, right tomu?" you clung to his skeletal form, instinctually running your hands up and down the length and wrapping your fingers around different parts of his arm. it was self-soothing yet a burdening reminder you two were only centimeters apart when it came to gaps and circumfrences of limbs and calories and weight and food and disgust and fat and-

"don't call me that in public. good idea i guess," he sighed, then motioned to the shelves of the current aisle you were in. "but look. we buy two packs for 12 dollars and we can get another THREE for free. i can be set for like, 2 weeks more if we invest in this."

you scowled, tugging him away into a different aisle. shigaraki was addicted to every diet soda out there, making it his mission to try every flavor before he dies as if he has 3 months left to live. full sugar soda was his vice when you two first met, cliche mountain dew drinking gamer with fast food bags inside more fast food bags inside grocery store plastic bags- he was disgusting. his teeth were nothing short of rotting and yellowed. but he was skinny. unintentionally omad-ing a burger and fries with a bunch of soda to wash it down after going days with either snacks and energy drinks or nothing at all when he was grinding out gameplays. you had grown up trying every sort of diet and eating all types of food but god has cursed women for eternity and blessed shigaraki tomura and every other male you've known with statistic-breaking metabolisms and simple cravings.

the only thing that ever worked for you was him. someone else's force. him forcing you to not eat by keeping you in his room for days. forcing you to purge those fries you got because can you imagine how much fat is actually in there? they don't weigh your food out, and look, all the fries are different sizes. the calories aren't gonna be accurate, you know that. it was fun to eat, but now all that salt is gonna make you look fat. actually, be fat. you're fat. go to the fucking bathroom and get that disgusting shit out of your stomach before you get fatter. by making you feel so horrible about yourself, you couldn't even stomach the thought of eating anything with sustenance.

you tossed a couple boxes of gauze and this really good disinfectant cream you two use, a lot, in the cart. sometimes he cuts you- one for every extra piece of food over your limit, every pound gained or not lost within acceptance, for even suggesting eating. how else would you have learned without him? without shigaraki's love and dedication to you, you'd be lost. and fat.

you tossed in some of toga's requested items- this new organic ramen cup rip off that was 2 dollars more expensive than being normal. a new pack of razors- but in an artistic way. toga likes to make art pieces with razors. and blood. who's blood? no one asked. everyone knew. some fruit went in the cart that everyone could enjoy. a lot of sale-priced store brand microwavable foods followed. cucumbers and pickles were the only vegetables you and shigaraki could handle. salad was to expensive. the biggest budget-denter was all of jin's mass amounts of protein. chicken, turkey, protein bars, protein powder, protein drinks, shit you guys didn't have money for anyways. you could only buy a nice pack of chicken for him. some tofu for dinner and broth.

"he can buy the rest with his gym-guy money. we don't owe him." you tugged on shigaraki's hoodie again, and he jerked his shoulder away from you. you gripped his forearm, and he frowned. haha, shigaraki, you can't hurt women in public.

by the time you guys got home, everyone was there.

"when the fuck did we all get days off, huh?" shigaraki yelled as he entered the house with two packs of strawberry flavored diet coke. he won that argument, judging by the three shakily stacked up in your arms. dabi got up from his permanent spot on the couch and the smoke around him twisted and curled until it reached the open door. they dapped eachother up, as boys do, dabi handing off the blunt without missing a beat to your boyfriend and showing him something on that god-forsaken beat up iphone 7. you couldn't really tell what was going on, didn't care much, just focused on bringing in the last few bags. you heard some expressions of disbelief, some anger, some laughing.

"i gotta kill her." dabi was saying as you put the final bag down, taking a few moments to catch your breath. you felt like you were gonna pass out.

"shit, i'd kill mine too if she did that." they were both leaning against the wall now, you could tell they were trying to inconspicuously get to the couch to knock out.

"shiiiiit," dabi ashed the blunt on the floor, then pointed to shigaraki with it. "you'd kill yours for breathing too fat."

there was an awkward moment of silence for you, followed by the two guys laughing their asses off and shigaraki not disagreeing.

"hey," you panted. "can you help clean out the cabinents?"

they looked at your hunched over form, hands on your knees, panting like a dog. and laughed at you. dabi slapping his thighs while he died of laughter and shigaraki stomping his boots against the floor, also laughing, also driving the ash further into the grains of the wood.

"gotta kill you now, y/n. out of breath over one set of stairs." he shook his head, giving one last hit to the blunt before letting dabi finish it. "fat bitch. clean this place up yourself." he spat, pulling off his hoodie after carefully peeling it away from his arms. your eyes started to well with tears, stinging. you pulled off your own hoodie, setting it on the couch and getting to work. you had thirty minutes left till your fast was over, it was enough time to clean out the old food from the kitchen and organize all the new stuff. enough time to get some wet paper and clean the floors. (what's a swiffer?) enough time to think about how hungry you were while staring in the fridge absentmindedly. fat bitch. enough time to chug a glass of tap water and physically shake your head free of food thoughts. dog.

you held the warm mug of soup in your hands, always cold and shaking. now recently added, veins sticking out more. it made you want to slice up your hands and fingers. you sighed, swirling the soup around with your spoon. you wish you could put bread in the soup, or maybe have a bowls worth and not just a cup. it wasn't on the plan shig had you on though, and it probably would never be. you gave up bread months ago, along with things like cereal and any soda at all. however sugar was always the hardest part, going strong for a month or two then ultimately binging on a whole candy bar one of the roommates gave you.

shigaraki comforted you that day, holding you in his arms. "i know it sucks you ate all that candy. you've been doing good so far, and i'm disappointed, but it could be worse. just make sure you're back on track tomorrow like you have been." he kissed the top of your head. "they never offer me candy or their food, you know."

"...what?" you lifted your head to look at him, clutching onto him tighter.

"yeah," he nodded. you felt like a little kid listening to his story. "i think it's because you're almost bmi 19, finally, but don't look any different from when you first were starting to lose weight. i mean, look at me babe. would you ever offer someone like me something so depraving as chocolate?"

your lip trembled.

"they know what i am. they can already tell i don't need it, that i won't take it from them. you know why?"

"cuz' your so skinny." you sniffled, trying to hide in his sleeve. he nodded again.

"and they all know you're the fat girl that they can buy a hershey bar for. that they can share their food with and you'll finish it for them. is that what you want?"

"...nooo!" you cried out, tears dripping down your cheeks. he kissed them, pink and hot from the shame of being his fat girlfriend.

"good... fix it then."

you were now barely bmi 17, and your boyfriend was nearing 15. you cried every time you thought about it, which was everyday. every gash on your arm for all the binges and regret and disgust and hatred and anger and all those gross feelings you got about being alive were imprinted on you forever now. you wanted thin forever, you wanted to be beautiful for your boyfriend forever, even if it wasn't gonna be shigaraki. you saw how amazing jin treats his women before his next episode, toga's insanely strong adoration for the same person she's been on about for years- yet her ability to do it for her current partner anyways. how dabi sleazes up girls at parties to be his customers and in his bed by the morning. even some of shigaraki's cut-off family seems nicer than what he's ever told you. they speak fancy and dress nice, they're rich. they pay the rent here for shigaraki and his 'friends', he was a rich boy living the poor life.

"you have money shigaraki, we could buy a new car or fix the fucking washer if you just called your stupid fucking uncle!" you were arguing again, not really remembering what really started it. the missed car payment might've been it, but no one really cared about paying off a car you guys bought for like 5k- oh, then wanting a new one, you were caught up now. "we could maybe have a kitchen, with, you know, real food!"

he scoffed.

"what?!"

"always thinking about food," he rolled his eyes. "even if i did get more money from them, i'm sure you'd waste all my gas money on driving to food spots. spend all the water in the washer washing away the grease and food stains from your clothes. your clothes, which go up in size," he got closer to you, back against the wall. "if i called my stupid-" his fist collided with the wall, actually breaking through it. it crumbled and fell in small pieces on your shoulder and to the floor, you flinched but didn't dare to scream. "-fucking uncle. for more money. you'd just spend it on filling up the kitchen, with real food. is that what you're telling me?"

he was in your face, seething. eyebrows pinched tightly, looking into your sunken eyes. you shrugged. he smacked you.

"you don't eat shit unless i tell you to." he grabbed your jaw, forcing you straight, then smacked you again. with similar force that he gave the wall apparently, knocking you to his feet and oh shit you were actually seeing stars. his boot pressed between your shoulders, holding you on the floor. "lay here while i make jin his retarded fucking pre-workout. if you get up, i'll kill you."

you sobbed as quietly as you could into your arms, phone buzzing in your pocket. the fast was over. you had 2 hours to eat. start with something light, maybe a cup of soup. some fruit for fiber, or something. uh, maybe tomu will make you some of his good tofu... takes too long though, it'll be 7 by then, and you don't eat past 7. you lay there. even after tomu walked by you, even after he came back to tell you to get up, even when he kicked you.

you felt small as he picked you up, grumbling and cursing, setting you down into his bed. he rubbed your head, down your spine, over your hip bones. he pushed you flat on the bed, running his fingers up over your flattened stomach and feeling up your ribs. he kissed your collarbones, each side, then your forehead. "just a few more." he whispered to you as you whined. few more pounds, okay. few more hours, okay. whatever tomura wanted, you would gladly do. you love hurting yourself, but he does all the work for you. you loved losing the weight, loved the perfect scars, loved the feelings that weren't complete distain so it surely meant they were good-feelings.

you loved tomura.

[fiction-box]

I just realized the rules say we can ask for up to two at a time. 🥲

…would you mind writing for a cursed female reader and Ashe? Except maybe she’s in a bit more danger and there’s a high risk/stress level?

Thanks so much 💛

No problem at all! My rules say you can have up to 2 characters, but that's more of a limit than a requirement. Thank you for reading them!

But yes, I did attempt to raise the stakes in this one. There is more visible tension, and I have written my interpretation of some behavioral changes that might occur when significant stressors such as this are introduced.

Here is my take!

Requests are open. The story will be continued under the cut.

The light of the sun streaming in through the windows brought the pleasant warmth that came with the changing of spring to summer. You were walking down the hall, looking out at the blue sky through the glass when someone bumped into you.

“Oof-” you didn’t fall to the ground, but the box that the other person must have been holding fell next to you.

Kneeling down, you picked up the box, “Excuse me, but you dropped…this…?”

Only, when you looked around, you couldn’t tell who it was that had run into you in the first place. There wasn’t even a trace of a clue, and so you were left to stand in the hall holding a box that didn’t belong to you.

“Woah, hey! A-are you alright?”

You turned from your spot on the ground to see Ashe jogging up to you.

“Did you happen to see someone running by you?” you asked.

His eyes went wide, “Wait, did someone push you down?” his brows lowered, “Just tell me what they looked like. I’ll catch up to them.”

“No, no, that’s not it!” you defused, “It’s just…there was a woman, I think, from the bit of the robe that I saw. She bumped into me and dropped this box, but when I looked up to hand it to her, she was gone.”

“Hmm,” Ashe looked down the hall, as though he might see someone matching your limited description. Suddenly, he seemed to realize you had been knocked to the floor. “Oh! Sorry, here, let me help you up.”

He took the box from you in one hand, then outstretched his other one. You accepted the help, allowing him to lift you off the ground. As he handed the box back to you, you accidentally got your first real look at what was inside. There was no lid, but a thin sheet of material covered whatever was inside.

“What is it?” Ashe wondered aloud, peering into the container.

You were curious, too. Gently, you allowed your fingers to ease the material off the object. A mirror, laid to rest at the bottom, was the only thing underneath it.

It was more ornate than you expected for something the size of a book. There were golden swirls around its edges and a ruby-red frame.

Finding yourself entranced by the pattern, you reached in with your free hand, curling your fingers around its frame.

You retracted them quicker than you had curled them.

“Agh!” you breathed, a sharp pain spreading across your hand.

Ashe retrieved the box from you, watching your hand intently, “You’re bleeding…come on, let’s get you to Professor Manuela.”

The trip didn’t take long; she bandaged your hand and let you go with a warning to be more careful.

“Maybe you should take this to your room. The person who bumped into you would probably recognize you, and you could get it for her if you ever meet again.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Ashe.”

So it was that you parted ways with you making a one-way trip to your room. Originally, you had been prepared to set the box away somewhere under your bed before heading down to the dining hall, but…

…one more look wouldn’t hurt, right?

You woke up the next morning in front of the mirror, though you didn’t remember ever taking it out of the box and setting it on the small coffee table at the center of your room. In truth, you didn’t actually remember falling asleep last night, either.

Legs sore, you rose from your “seat” on the floor before the table. You were unsteady for a moment, stumbling into your bed on shaky legs. After a good stretch though, it was time for you to make your way to the dining hall for breakfast.

Navigating there and getting a meal wasn’t so difficult, but it was when you ran into Felix and Ingrid on your way to the training grounds that something seemed off.

“Hey,” Ingrid greeted, uncharacteristically hesitant.

“Um, hi…Is there any particular reason you two are looking at me funny?” you checked yourself over once, “There’s nothing on my clothes, is there?”

“Well…you did something different with your hair, is all.”

My hair?

You grabbed a bit of it, pulling it forward so you could see.

“No, I don’t think so. Why?”

“You dyed it,” Felix raised a brow, clearly impatient, “There are streaks of white that weren’t there, before.”

“Ha-ha,” you quipped, “Come on, you know my hair has always been like this.”

Your classmates looked at each other, then back to you, “No, that definitely wasn’t there yesterday.”

“Or any other day,” Felix added.

“Not falling for it,” you called, walking past them into the training grounds.

They didn’t come after you. It was nice that they had stopped acting strangely, but you found it weird that they never quit their joke or apologized. Weirder still was how Felix was in on it, too.

You shut your mind off, moving to start your training for the late morning. To warm up, you would fire off a few spells at the training dummies. Then you could find a partner and really get down to business.

~~~~

Nothing went right.

The training dummies were barely scathed, and when you worked with a partner after lunch, you performed worse than ever. Now, dinner had passed. You had ended late with some private training, but you just felt confused, weak, and desperate.

Heading out for the last time that day, you came across Ashe again. He had wanted to know if you were able to return the mirror, but you let him know you hadn’t found any luck in that regard. After wishing him good night, you finally got back to your quarters.

Only, you didn’t go to bed again. You woke up in front of that mirror. And it happened night after night for the next two days.

~~~~

“...good morning,” Professor Byleth strained, concerned.

You were the last to enter the classroom, but you certainly made the most notable entrance.

Sylvain’s eyes widened, Ashe’s jaw hung open slightly, and Mercedes gave a small gasp.

“Your hair! It’s all white- why would you-?” Annette cried.

“That’s not the only change,” Felix scoffed. “She’s absolutely useless in the training grounds. Couldn’t even use her magic, and she was pale as a ghost the whole time.”

“She’s pale as a ghost right now…” Ingrid worried.

You sighed, “Why has everyone been giving me such a difficult time? I don’t understand what’s so hard about this; my hair has always been white, I’ve never been able to use magic,” and with a pointed glare toward Felix you finished, “and we’re from Faerghus; we don’t tan easily.”

Dimitri frowned, “Does anyone have any sort of portrait or letter that can contradict her hair color?”

“No, because it has always been this way.”

“Then why do you keep so many tomes in your room?” Ingrid contested.

“Maybe because the professor buys them and gives them to me? At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s just using my bookshelf as a storehouse, but I don’t mind.”

“That is enough, everyone. Ashe, please see me after class.”

“W-What?” Ashe whipped his head to face forward.

“He didn’t even say anything,” Ingrid rose out of her seat, “You can’t punish him while I’ve been-”

“I said enough, Ingrid. Ashe will be seeing me after class, and class will be starting right now. That is final.”

The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Throwing a pitiful look Ashe’s way, Ingrid sunk back into her chair.

“Sylvain, perhaps you’d like to start us off with your report on the Sreng region so far this month…”

~~~

“...you asked to see me?”

Professor Byleth sighed, “I’m sorry I had to call on you in front of everyone. I promise, I’m just as worried about your classmate as everyone else.”

“You’re not in trouble,” she added upon noticing Ashe still looked like he might protest to something.

“Maybe I’m not, but she is! She’s been acting so strangely these past few days, and that’s not even considering her change in hair color.”

“I’m well aware. The hair was intriguing enough, but her strength has been greatly depleted ever since I trained with her a few days ago.”

And after their training session early this morning, she wasn’t sure what else there was to take than the strength that kept her standing and breathing.

“This isn’t the joke she’s making it out to be. Your classmate is in danger, but fortunately, I think I have a lead. These past few nights, I’ve noticed her turning in early and locking her door. She won’t respond when I knock or call her name, though.”

“That’s strange. If anything, she looks like she’s been getting less sleep than usual,” Ashe pondered.

“My thoughts exactly. We don’t have much time until tonight, but I want you to be watching her. As soon as you see her go into her room, grab the nearest classmate and pick the lock.”

“P-Pick the lock? But-”

“This is for her own good. There’s something I need to pick up, and then I promise I’ll be right behind you.”

The archer still looked confused despite his nod as he turned to go.

“Oh, and Ashe?”

He turned until they were making eye contact.

“Don’t let anyone catch onto what you’re doing.”

~~~~~

So, he waited, watching silently throughout the day as you went through your tasks. You really did do quite a lot for the Blue Lions, but…something was off.

Your steps and actions were clumsy and inexperienced despite it being the umpteenth time you tended to the stable mares. If anyone would know, it would be Ashe; the one who would spend all evening on the task so long as you were with him.

A change. Your steps sure and balanced for once as you put away your supplies and headed off to bed.

The commoner boy followed you to ensure you really did make it to your room. The sun hadn’t even fully set yet, but there was no doubt you’d find a way to wake up tired the next day, regardless.

Well, not this tim-

“Wow. Never took you for the kind to stalk a girl, Ashe. Guess you-”

“Shh!”

Perfect. Naturally, Sylvain had caught him in the hallway following you to your room just as you had shut your door. Just great.

“Woah, now you’re shushing me? I mean, of course you’d want-”

The archer deftly pulled the sword from the scabbard at the Gautier noble’s side, maneuvering to hold it at Sylvain’s throat.

“Sylvain, this is serious,” Ashe shouted in a whisper, “So help me, if you make any more noise…I may be shorter than you, but we both know I’m faster.”

Shocked, Sylvain didn’t have a reaction other than widening his eyes.

“Take it easy, Ashe,” he muttered. “Besides, you don’t even know how to us- gh-!”

The former thief pressed the blade forward, “I know enough to know that if I apply enough pressure right here with the blade, you’ll never make another noise. You will not speak. Do I make myself clear?”

After a moment of staring each other down in the hall outside her dorm room, Ashe sighed and turned toward the door. A few more moments and the sun would fully set.

Kneeling at the handle, the archer pulled the sharp metal of a lockpick out of his pocket.

Suddenly, he was yanked backward by his hood and into the wall. On instinct, Ashe jumped to his feet, but not before Sylvain had retrieved his sword from the floor and pointed it at Ashe.

“Sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Some lines you just don’t cross.”

“Sylvain, what in Fodlan are you talking ab-”

The soft click of the Professor’s heeled boots rushed down the hall toward the Lions, her own voice coming out in a whisper-shout.

“What are you two doing? Enough messing around; Sylvain, let Ashe pick the lock already.”

“What? Professor-”

“Shh!”

Instantly, Ashe was back at the handle, Less than a few seconds later, the lock was rendered obsolete.

“All you, Professor,” he nodded.

Nodding in turn, Professor Byleth pulled the bow she had obtained from off her shoulder, nocking an arrow in place and crouching low.

“How did you-? What is actually going on here?” Sylvain panicked.

“Sylvain. I don’t have time to explain much more, but we’re going to need your help fighting if push comes to shove. Your classmate’s life hangs in the balance.”

“And that’s why you-?”

“That is why the Church agreed to let me use this bow. Parthia will strike true, even if we cannot identify the enemy, ourselves.”

“Right. Okay, I’m with you.”

“Ashe, open the door.”

Noiselessly, the commoner flung the door open only to find his classmate kneeling on the floor at a small table.

Still primed to shoot, Byleth shuffled about the room until the small mirror propped in front of her pupil came into view.

Their friend was transfixed by the object, a thin, steady stream of white light connecting her eyes to the mirror.

The moment the Ashen Demon came into its view, the white tendril snapped. It lashed out, now more physical than intangible.

There wasn’t enough time to react to what was happening. The magic of the mirror was too quick. With a single, deceptively heavy swipe, it collided with Byleth’s head. She was knocked aside, Parthia left to fall where she once stood as her form went limp against the wall.

“What th-!”

“Professor!”

Sylvain rushed across the room, adapting quickly to slide under the tendril’s attack. Upon reaching Byleth, he swung back against the magic.

Each swipe simply cleaved the tendril, stalling it for a moment before it reconnected with its base and came in for another attack.

Taking advantage of the distraction his classmate provided, Ashe crawled toward where Parthia lied.

All it took was a glance around to know the only arrow Ashe had was the one his Professor had dropped.

He dared not whisper a word as he nocked the bow from his place on the ground. With only a rough estimation of the mirror’s position due to his limited view, it really would be up to Parthia.

Ashe rose to his knees and yelled only one word to Sylvain in the split second he had to aim.

“Duck!”

The projectile flew to the center of the room, slightly adjusting its trajectory to hit its wielder’s mark. Sylvain dropped to the floor just in time, doing his best to shield Professor Byleth’s body as Parthia’s arrow struck true.

The mirror shattered, a burst of light energy knocking all of the present company to the walls of the room.

And when the light vanished, no one in the room was left awake to get back up again.

~~~

In the days that followed, the infirmary stayed busy. Manuela tended to Sylvain and Ashe in the infirmary as Rhea chose to care for you and the professor on her own terms. An abundance of clerics that were at the Church’s disposal lent their talents for the occasion as classmates came and went with gifts, well-wishes, and plenty of questions.

Professor Byleth was the first to return to her class, recovering from her head trauma abnormally unaffected. Sylvain’s recovery took place shortly after, as he had been protected mostly by his position low on the ground.

More days passed, the infirmary closed itself off to visitors, and the room in which the incident occurred was tidied up. The Blue Lions remained with only seven students in attendance for another week.

The day Ashe returned to the class, he was almost overwhelmed at the amount of gifts sitting at his table. Books from Ingrid, sweets from Mercedes, flowers from Dedue, and a multitude of letters from people around the monastery.

And when the Blue Lions returned from their monthly mission to find you had been returned to the classroom, your hair returned to its natural shade?

Well, the only person that needed to be pulled into the hug was Felix.

[linnorabeifong]

"I'll Be Waiting"

Summary: “Her eyes are a soft color. A delicate green like the expensive jade bracelets all the heiresses of the Earth Kingdom wear. He loved the sound those bracelets made as they rattled against each other and jingled softly. He decided then that he liked her too.”

Notes: What do y'all think ? I kind of wanted to write some cute teenage LinZolt and write about dancing because of my own background. Also how would you feel, about smutty chapters later ? What direction should I take this happy ending or sad ending ? Also I want to flesh out Ember Island, and establish it as having it's own unique culture and dialect. How do we feel about some French-speaking LinZolt ? (translations will be provided of course).

Critiques: Do y'all have constructive criticism ? I'm still developing my sense of style and I have no writing experience and have never taken a creative writing course in my life so I need all the help I can get.

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51405040

Chapter 1:

Kenzo or as his friends liked to call him “Zolt '' was new to Little Caldera. Frankly, he never imagined himself living in such a nice area. Solidly middle class, with the best schools and entertainment to be found in Republic City. Unlike the other boroughs every shop, residence and school there had electricity. Located just on the cusp of old cranefish town, and just outside of downtown, it was a short walk from Yue Bay. The harbor brought in all sorts of business. Little Caldera had a special character to it, its own unique appeal. Spotless and crime free but with great nightlife. High end restaurants and cheap seafood were both in abundance. Contradictory. Perfect. Well, nearly perfect but Caldera’s flaws didn’t touch the likes of Zolt.

Through some stroke of luck his mother managed to find a job as a dance instructor. The position came with lodging right above the studio. It was a small space but more luxurious than either of them had known previously. Two closet-sized bedrooms, a kitchen that was more of a hallway and an entry way that just barely managed to fit a genkan, coat closet and an armchair. 

The apartment while small was by no stretch of the imagination shabby. It was well maintained despite its age. The walls were freshly painted and papered. The entryway in a rich cream, the kitchen was a sunny yellow, the bedrooms sported white and crimson wallpaper with a sun motif. They had real hardwood floors. The kitchen appliances were brand new, and for the first time in his life Zolt experienced the pleasure and convenience of an ice box. 

They even had their own private bathroom, which was surprisingly large compared to the other rooms. The toilet portion was walled off from the bathing area and the sink stood in between the two. The bath was wonderfully deep, made to be soaked in. To his surprise, the first night he spent in the apartment and drew himself a bath the water heater actually worked. He had discovered this when he reflexively heated up the water with his bending and nearly boiled himself like a dumpling.  At his previous home the promise to repair the heater was never actually met. Over the years he had taught himself to warm the water, a skill he no longer needed here.

Every day he discovered a new luxury. The apartment even had underfloor heating, his need for slippers was gone. Despite the lessons going on at all hours of the day and night below them and their close proximity to their neighbors it was surprisingly quiet. The thick walls muffled the sound.

The views were perfect. The windows were large and spilled in bright wonderful light, only obstructed by the glorious shade of the Sakura trees planted all over his neighborhood. From the kitchen he could take in the view of the perfectly manicured street in front of the studio. His bedroom had an especially nice view. Behind the studio there was the nicest apartment building he had ever seen. It was built in a u-shape around a huge courtyard, complete with a fountain, pool, turtleduck pond, rose garden and a playground. It stood five stories tall and was built in a traditional style. The countless balconies were all decorated with paper lanterns and fire lilies. The fire escapes would actually be handy in case of emergency, unlike the rusted ones he knew. He had never seen the Imperial Palace of the fire lord, but he imagined it to look just like this, elegant and overflowing with flowers. It was his newfound vision of paradise.

The end of summer was fast approaching, but he still needed something to fill the last of the golden weeks with. He ends up brushing up on his dancing skills, not that he needed to, he was a natural. His mother had made sure of that. Before he could walk, he could dance. Since toddlerhood he had studied every type there was, from the Fire Nation to the Water Tribes. He was well versed in traditional and contemporary forms. His technique was precise, he was fluid, a master of the countless skills each genre demanded. The head of the studio quickly figures this out and offers him a deal. He signs on as a student teacher, requiring him to be at the studio at least twice a week. In exchange he receives free lessons, and they’ll cover his private school tuition. His mother is overjoyed at the thought of sending him to “Avatar Roku High School” -the best in the city. She squeals in delight when he takes the offer. His summer was very quickly filled with rehearsals, costume fittings, lessons and performances.

He’d taught groups before but this is his first time teaching a private lesson. For the life of him he couldn’t remember her name. What did Asuka say it was ? It had an “r” in it somewhere. The girl is staring at her form in the mirror, warming up. He assesses her. She is a sleek little thing, like a cat strutting through an alleyway at night. Her skirt is red and has a slit making it easier to see her motion. Her tiny top matches it and reveals her abdomen. Judging by her curvy build and outfit she must be from Ember Island like him.  She’s practicing her fa’arapu. Tui and La, she has the speed down. She’s nearly perfect. He can easily fix this. 

He approaches her and introduces himself, he encourages her to continue warming up. After a while he comes up behind her. She stops, he places one hand on her stomach and the other on one of  her delicate shoulders. “You’ve got the motion, muscle control and the flexibility. You're just stiff and your posture is bad. You're tucking in your spine like this” he says demonstrating. “ and you’re hunching your shoulders, like you’re trying to make yourself smaller” he explains as he gently adjusts her position. There, now she’s perfect.  “Don’t do that, you’re a pretty girl. Have some confidence” he continued. He didn’t mean to say that last part out loud.  

He looks up into the mirror, taking in her face for the first time. She really is a pretty girl. Her cheeks are flushed pink, she is biting her lip. It is a cute nervous habit, it makes her lips even redder. 

He catches her gaze in the mirror.  Her eyes are a soft color. A delicate green like the expensive jade bracelets all the heiresses of the Earth Kingdom wear.  He loved the sound those bracelets made as they rattled against each other and jingled softly. He decided then that he liked her too.

[nyotasaimiri]

Arc Two (redux) 77

Arjun kept watch while Nyota reported back to the others; she and Lumen had already discussed regular check-ins before she left, so he was ready for her call. Safer to keep them informed.

“Those wispers sure are a nuisance,” Lumen agreed as Nyota finished filling him in. “We used to get them around the saloon on Mars from time to time. Sometimes they’re jus’ playful, though, so ya prob’ly did right in lettin’ them go.”

Nyota nodded. Movement caught her eye and made her stiffen, but it was just a small cloud of snow falling off a higher ledge. “Thank you, Lumen. I hope so.”

He hummed, just shy of a chuckle, as if he could see her being twitchy. “Now don’t let me keep ya. Got a whole big place to explore, right?”

She almost sighed. She wasn’t sure if it was a weary sigh, or a relieved one. “That we do. Have you managed to get anything close to a read of its size?”

“Not yet,” Lumen replied, “but we’re tryin’. Good luck out there, ma’am.”

“Thank you. I hope we do not need it.” The earpiece clicked as Lumen ended the call. Nyota looked up, and frowned slightly. “What’s wrong, Arjun? You look thoughtful.”

If someone could ever radiate gruff, Arjun certainly did. “Something have to be wrong for me to be thoughtful, ma’am?”

“Don’t start that.” Nyota knocked a little more snow off her spear and boots. “You sound like Hadley on her moody days.”

That got a ghost of a smile. “Right, fair.” He shrugged, scratched the back of his neck, searched for the words. “You mentioned your father there before we got to fighting. Just never heard you talk about your family before, ma’am.”

Nyota smiled, but gently. “I haven’t heard you talk about yours either.”

Arjun tilted his hat down. “Fair enough.”

Nyota studied the room for a bit, then finished knocking the ice off her spear. “So, would you be willing to tell me about them?”

“Eh?” Arjun looked up, offering a rare glimpse through his reflective visor and into surprised, for-once-unsuspicious eyes.

Nyota shrugged. “I like to learn about others. I was good at it once. I would not mind the practice if you are willing to share.” Her smile found a faint mirror at the corner of his mouth. “The way seems clear for now, and it is not often that we get the chance to talk, just the two of us. You tell me something, and I will do the same. Is that fair?”

He looked on the verge of refusing for a moment, but then he tugged his visor back into place properly, that smile fully formed and for once free of cynicism or doubt. “Why not, then. But save your breath a bit. We have a climb ahead.”

Nyota looked out ahead of them, but beyond the gentle rise of snow turning to frosted alpine rock and grass, she couldn’t see what he was talking about. “Were you able to scan this place earlier?”

“Not so much.” Arjun waved a hand at the passage ahead. “It’s the air here. It’s too still everywhere else.”

“So that is why it felt wrong,” Nyota murmured, mostly to herself.

Arjun nodded. “Right. So you noticed too. Stand here. You can feel a current. So there is something even colder up there pushing the air around.” He rubbed at the scruff poking out from under his hat. “Something you get used to, working in caves. Spent most of my life in one mine or another. Or smelting the results of mines.”

“Ah. You mentioned.” Nyota focused on the far end of the room and tried to feel the current. She was not sure if she was imagining the faint tickle in the fur covering the backs of her hands. “I spent too much time in artificial structures,” she admitted. “Or under the open sky. I tend toward claustrophobic.”

Arjun shot an incredulous look at her wry smile. “Not exactly a standard issue apex thing, is that? With the rebels in their little underground boxes. Where did that come from?”

“My claustrophobia? It might be genetic.” Nyota thought back, further than she liked. “Or it comes from reconditioning. It… isn’t rare among Miniknog soldiers.”

“Huh. Wasn’t what I meant, but alright.” Arjun started picking his way through the rocks again.

Nyota followed him. The room felt calmer now, and she knew that nothing else was going to bother them, at least not yet. Strange, but she was starting to simply accept it. “The information, then?” A thin pane of ice cracked under her weight; she used her spear like a walking stick to steady herself. “I did offer a trade. You shared something of yours.”

Arjun considered her, then nodded slowly. “Alright. We can play it that way. You start next.”  

[leopoldainter]

Let me ask you some thing man, where's the anger coming from

So then

It hit me

Them wooden balls are diey, for the Whistle. It's *itsorage*

Yeah so much clearer. I should not use tbe randomized play option unless I have some kind of chloroform available just out of reac hey!

It wasn't "the iron giant" that you've heard of

How loud.

Hey? Which one moistens style.

Actually, all mine were moistened by hand. Who aren't I?

Cheese bowl

Actually I had this shipped in from, you know what I think we can give this to the microwave. Hand me a fork

That's not how it works

I think it's insurance that works. An adjuster.

What the hell!

I thought I'd try spider solitaire

On the microwave?

Something tells me he is tinier this time. Or grouped with some type of... why not I'd love to drink on your commercial.

Apparently, as some may have intended to surprise me, walking and commercials are not the same.

Hi Moira rose and if your looking for reliable american automobile you might want to try the television set.

Wow, these are all on DVD

No. That's not how it works. Let me remember.

*backhand swing* here's where is Greg.

That's all we have?

Someone posted live footage of what we thought was an airplane and it was an airplane, since they we haven't been able to make choices.

Which airplane, is the one from scary mother fucker or ami I going to have go fuck some kids mom for my kid to get the part I don't think that's the point. No, what's house of cards? On line,try by line.

Traffic?

-d.Cheadle

No one ever does.

Check this license

...

..

I have an apple

I have a nugget

Who ha ha who ha.

I have pilates instructor certification

I have pictures

. Youtube style Traffic stop

Call 4 Man;ba ba bak 70s

.

..

.... . .... ....you Have Questions. I'm with alot of ans.

I feel like I'm at a Carnival 'What's out here* fire? What the hell,Zellers?

Please can you either use the door way or step across?

Wat who said that?moonWalkinmoreMoonwalkin wasn't you

Welcome to McDonalds. Before I say anything else do have some money.

I have cup

I have empty cup

Who said that again.

It's Styrofoam

It's always Styrofoam if its 6? You called the WHIMSpolice NO! I WILLNOT BE PHOTOGRPAHED IN THIS ISLE!

Where is there any other store

There's the kmart

Where?

What who said that.EvenStevensthenThesisterstevens

I tried it all ready they only take lonestar gift cards omg

Oh shit

I'm sorry Joyland rolling

It's from her accent that only she remembers where she picked it

Up to apoint I think Roland is not so lucky

Ronnie?

Stop calling me that!

Whose got cuffs

When I was a youngboy

Then what

Take a ride on the passenger side

I saw something like this in buffy

No, that's... hey do you k ow the number to my hotel room i have to call so many places I just have the...

You still remember phone numbers

Jaundis it's not everyday that you get a free cab ride .

Actually, this is just the loose car.

So Roland really works in government

That's what he tells everyone.

Hmmm telling

What?

I'm seeing a card game in a version I know the rules to...

Ha...let me know if you want learn how to draw on glass like this

Enough jostlin I'm working

Evening sir.

...

Ha

*swifferWindex*

Evening

Good evening

Sir

G

Ha

Do you think they have cuffs in my size oh what am I saying how would I know which sizes there are.

No,he's I think. Your just chokinghim

Please, hemustbe canadian or that's neck

What do you want to be called then Ronnie.

No one's asked!

Hmmm. There's a good chance that my phones still not on me.

Jostlin! I'm working right. Sorry, she's .

I know whose who in these vehicles.

Did you know the way to kmart?

Before they tore it down or before they gravelled in route 3

You drive

I miss pedestrians let's leave it at that and maybe you'll get a vest

Hop in takes around

Jostlin! I'm working

It was Originally my cab, but I'm an entrepreneur and diverted resources to a new drive through operation

I have a good feeling about this.

So, hand me some of those bats

Ronnie! There's too many mail box's

Upastrophy

She's, technically running for government

We could do that

No,moira nit team

Fuck no ofcourse competitivly

Do you know whose bikes got mangled a while back

We can't be bothered by that we're working

Ha(^-^)

hA🤫

That's.

Eyes are up here Ronnie

When's the next exit

Good day officer,

She knows that?

She is driving.

That's true

What time is it right now.

Well that's the one intersection with lights where next

The ...

Careful the next set of lights is in one of the territories

Where I'm from we don't have that problem.

Woa

Well, she didn't unlock my door before she got out.

No way these lock?

Well ... now what

Switch seats

No

Hmm

Hmmmm

Ha

hA

i

WOAH

Just ignore her it's roxanne

It's a monster

She was in a movie I thought you'd have more in common.

Ha

Ha

It's so focused

Ha

..yes the production values add to the totality of the tape deck, but from where I'm standing. Mr.Valient let's just say hi grounded individual.

Tight

-Kate, from oitnb, gettin her neVery Hearin to being story of my lot. Mullet, GRU.but tagged on for another reason entirely

For your own satisfaction here is an example of a blond in blue

-Itsap PrincessSwan.

To Dear Keira Knightly,

Thank yourself for me believing that you were Natalie Portman when I showed everyone your name on the credits for STARWARSthe phantom is an opera there was a news flash maybe it's an octaSquid. Check for windows ten available for download through the start menu. Stay tuned in to danger.

Obviously someone wanted amidala to be kimberlyPinkstuff realrealrealbæd

It also doesn't hurt that she was better looking than moat of the British females I've met. Probably why she's got all the best precipice shots.

I was in domino, decals I thought were for sports cars. Thanks but we all deserve a bravo the whole cast

- people in the way

See what she uses her cast for

-t8HundredgoTatenntionmuch

I ha sun glasses

I ha grocery list

Who ha

Someone's got the floor order

You want obama

-t800vhesTunit2

A barbarian is a hairlength... where did you read that... what's the desert then ...? And what kind of haircut did cyprus get? Then whose globe was it? Why don't Pilots use globes ...power rangers? That can't be true.

Who do they know? Do we know someone who likes like that? Why do I ask the wrong person? Dial Tone!

-parts performed by Dan Castellenata. His vocals were sampled on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond as a Coach as a Coach.

Those doesn't seem any more reassuring.

I'm sure she knows how not to upset Roxanne look how close she's getting

How balsy. Bruvah!doe!!

巳オ 観Aboutmei.

Those Christmases where your grandma shows up with both your grandpa and the reindeer. Where's my distractor, uh uh uh, decision father:human Christmas. Nevermind.

Do we really need another tiny country with a capital named after a pasta sauce or Men In Black pet, or whatever. What do you think Riga is?

[taybatwo2]

Monster High IDW Comics Review: Part 3 of ?: Monster High Pride 2024 Issue (“Summer Fangout”)

We are almost halfway through the first comic in this issue.

Let’s hop back in under the cut to page 10. I’ll be going page by page, but whiting out the speech bubbles due to copy right reasons. It will contain spoilers and my own opinions:

page 10:

Toralei and Clawdeen are at the “Howlware” (I fully approve of this fun pun) Store and disagreeing/lost in what they need to get for their Fangout (which I didn’t think was the issue from page 9, THEY NEED more tools because all of their’s have disappeared). (I also feel like their speech bubbles should have been switched so Clawdeen is wanting to know how many cable ties, while Toralei is even wondering if they need those and THEN running off to get a net for Firemanders before they can work together to see how many of the cable ties they might need - and the correct answer is: SEVERAL BAGS!! they come in handy). The two ghouls meet two new characters a really cute Jack-a-lope (Jackie Lope) and her bridge troll ghoulfriend (Bridgett Rolle) and ask them for help.

The two new ghouls are a fun addition. The design for Jackie’s outfit seems to have gotten the most attention, but Bridgett’s wardrobe leaves a little to be desired. Yes, I would pay money to have dolls of both.

Pros: Besides the two new ghouls, Clawdeen is once again drawn really well, her concerned expression in the first panel and uncertain expression in the fifth panel are standouts and Toralei looks great in the second, fourth (her disappointment!!), and the sixth panel. Her bottle-brush tail is cute in the fifth panel, but I feel like it doesn’t really fit? Why is she suddenly angry? Or shy?? Maybe in the third panel when she was defensive about needing help she could have had her hackles raised….?

The puns on the boxes are fun. “Gremlin Repellent.” Foreshadowing…. “Genuine Manticore-Hair” wonder what that would be used for… “Re-Animation Nuts and Bolts” the Steins must get the Costco sized pack of these. “Vampire Safe Stakes 100%-Wood-Free” ha!

Nitpicks:

The first panel: the words on the second shelf are not in the right perspective and Clawdeen’s left arm is not differentiated enough from Toralei’s shoulder (maybe a thicker outline around her shoulder would have helped separate the two) and I repeatedly mistook it for being Toralei’s left arm.

Second panel: Toralei’s right studs are missing.

The third panel: Clawdeen and Toralei both have grey coloring on the back part of their mouths. And Bridgett’s arms look a bit broken. Toralei’s jacket studs are missing. Fifth panel: Toralei’s jacket statues are missing.

The seventh panel: Jackie’s sleeve ruffles were made into gloves in this panel only, the bottom of her right ear was colored the same color as her antler (making it look like it’s webbed) and she has suddenly jumped ahead of everyone and is either talking to no one is behind her shoulder. But she looks very cute. I love her little stubby bunny nose. And again, I just feel like the comic is confused on what it wants to do. They already seemed to know what they needed when they were first setting up their Fangout, why are they suddenly so unsure?

What if: The stopped by a camping/outdoor supply store FIRST to get lights/“parasouls”/camping stuff and Clawdeen is still struggling with Toralei not focusing on one thing at a time and Toralei feels like Clawdeen is spinning her wheels trying to decide on exactly what kind of string lights and if they match the chairs (Clawdeen randomly mentioned aesthetics meaning a lot to her earlier) while she just wants to get the cheapest/quickest thing so she can enjoy the fangout spot quicker. THEN they went to the camp spot/fangout spot and their frustrations grow when their tools start disappearing. If they still wanted to insert new characters (I mean, at the beginning they both didn’t want ANY OTHER MONSTERS besides their friends at the fangout, that was the inciting issue!!) maybe they are nearby campers that help them workout how each ghoul processes tasks differently and even help them track down the local Gremlin wildlife to get their stuff back. Then they can be cute ghoulfriend around the fireplace. Tada…..

page 11:

Jackie and Bridgett agree to help the ghouls and introduce themselves more. They both go to Monster High and meet each other in “Deadwoodshop Class” (hmmm, not feeling that pun), after they showed their class projects (Jackie whittled a little jackalope and Bridgett carved a chest -she claims it was the most bootiful chest anyone in that class had ever seen…so I wish the picture would have had a more ornately carved chest).

They’re so cute. They do keep forgetting to draw Jackie’s nose (in panel three and six).

page 12:

They all come to the clearing and see gremlins have taken over the clearing and their stuff. Clawdeen really wants Clawd’s casketball back. Jackie says that Bridgett can speak Gremlish because she has some gremlin neighbors (and they MUST be related to these…?). Bridgett tells them that they didn’t mean any harm and it’s in their nature to borrow stuff. She says she’ll stay around for a little bit and Jackie says to not worry about if she needs to bounce early (she also calls Bridgett “Creepheart” and I love that).

Bridgett and Jackie (actually all the ghouls) look REALLY great in the third panel (all of their personalities are well exhibited through their poses).

The Gremlins’ designs…are fine. :/ They’re giving me the little Znap creatures from G2’s Electrified movie. Or little demons instead of gremlins.

I do love this little guy.

A few nitpicks:

Bridgett’s neck and head look too far forward here compared to where her torso is. Clawdeen in the background is hilarious.

Clawdeen’s face here…sweetie, are you alright?? You’ve seen a casketball before. Hahaha.

The dialogue still feels lightly clunkie; I feel like if Jackie would excited hop in: “Are these friends of yours?”

Toralei: *getting hissy that ALL of their work has been undone* “merowww! No!!”

Clawdeen: *noticing Clawd’s casketball* (for some reason the speech bubble first aimed at Bridgett on the first panel) “Hey, that’s my brother’s! Give that back you little gremlins!”

Bridgett breaks her silence: “Wait! I know these kids!! They can’t understand you.” *She still gets down to their level and talks to the gremlins.*

Jackie can still be Bridgett’s hype woman and say that they must be related to the gremlin family that lives near Bridgett and she may not talk much, but her ghoul is a whiz at languages, even Gremlish.

Bridgett still tells them they didn’t mean any harm, it’s in gremlin’s nature to borrow stuff, especially if they’re bored (Clawdeen and Toralei can realize they’re not the only monsters who get bored on long Summer days) and encourages them to include the little -demons- gremlins in helping to set up. 

A gremlin sheepishly hands Clawd’s ball back. 

Bridgett: “there were more monsters here than I was expecting…I’ll stay for a little while, but will have to head out sooner than I thought.”

Jackie still calls Bridgett “creepheart” (I love it) and still tells her if she needs a break/to take off that’s a-okay and thanks her for sharing how she’s feeling.

It’s not a huge difference in what happens, but I feel like it helps enforce the idea of talking things through with others (including your partners), understanding each other’s limits and I guess rolling with the punches when things don’t go your way (there are a lot of ideas floating around in this comic).

page 13:

The ghouls and gremlins have a montage of putting up lights and camping stuff. Instead of Jackie getting angry at the gremlins, I feel like that panel should have Bridgett talking to these gremlins with a sight gag of Toralei tangled in the spiderweb hammocks and Jackie/Clawdeen helping her.

Like it looks like Clawdeen was supposed to be caught in the net or something…but now she looks like half her body is levitating in the spider-hammock. Toralei looks cute here though. I feel a few more panels of Clawdeen and Toralei noticing how Jackie/Bridgett communicate and show their love for one another despite having different personalities would have been good (instead of focusing on the joke character gremlins). Nitpick: Jackie’s nose is missing in the fourth panel.

AND CLAWDEEN AND TORALEI SHOULD HAVE KISSED IN THAT LAST PANEL. Instead we get a really well drawn Toralei making a “umm” face as Clawdeen just kinda leans in. …or at least let them hold hands or have a peck on the cheek…

page 14:

Bridgett tells Jackie that she needs to head out, Toralei and Clawdeen are wondering why she just up and left when they still need her (height/translator abilities) and if they offended her. Jackie tells the ghouls that Bridgett is more than what she can provide and she needs a break from other monsters. Clawdeen suddenly says that she thought couples were supposed to do EVERYTHING together. And I’m just going to write out Jackie’s answer to this random question (Clawdeen this wasn’t the issue YOU GUYS were working on fixing the whole comic, it was communication and trying to get AWAY from other monsters so you can all gang out with just your friends) because I’m just trying to wonder where this all came from. Jackie says she “used to get insecure about stuff like that…but then I started asking myself where those expectations came from and thinking about what’s really important to me. You see, Bridge and I do love being together! But we also trust each other to ask for what we need. Like for example, when I want to go to a loud concert, or show off videos of my new favorite band, Bridgett supports me……and when Bridgett wants to work on solo projects or spend the day under her bridge, I understand that, too.”

Again, thats good advice that gets back around to kinda touching on the communication issue Toralei and Clawdeen were having, but not really. I feel like the previous montage should have shown Bridgett not only reaching some things (that Toralei seems to have no issue getting), but talking to the gremlins. This shows why Bridgett is getting a bit overwhelmed/emotionally drained and needs to leave (VERY relatable behavior). She could KISS Jackie (at least on the cheek) “bye”(where are my lesbian kisses in this?!?) and head off without saying bye to Clawdeen and Toralei.

Clawdeen still could wonder if they did anything to spook her and Toralei could add something a bit more snarky, like “Hey! Where’s our translator stomping off to??” 

Jackie can still explain that Bridgett can get over stimulated easy and might be back later. 

Clawdeen asks how Jackie deals with their differing personalities, since she seems so much more outgoing (this makes more sense than bringing up couples spending every time with one another as that wasn’t previously brought up in the comic and Clawdeen is reflecting on the differences in her and Toralei’s personalities). 

Jackie can say that it took a lot of work (and boy howdy does it). She used to feel insecure about telling Bridgett what she needed and checking in with what Bridgett needed and not just KNOWING/it coming natural (then she could mention she thought that they were automatically supposed to be spending all their time together, liking everything the other liked), but she has learned that these expectations are not realistic. They do love being together, AND they have learned to trust each other to ask for what they need (because communication is a major theme of this comic…or at least that’s kinda where it was aiming at the beginning).

Jackie likes loud concerts, so Bridgett shows her support by watching videos of Jackie’s favorite bands and favorite concerts, but will NOT go to the overly loud and crowded concerts (for some reason in the comic Jackie says that Bridgett does attend…which doesn’t seem to fit with what we’ve been given so far). Jackie goes with her other friends instead, and that’s okay.

Jackie also understands that Bridgett needs time alone and by herself, but she likes to share what she’s made with Jackie after she is done (and maybe even be asked about her special interests in crafting).

Nitpick: Jackie’s bunny nose is missing in all the panels except the first one.

page 15:

This is followed by another montage where Jackie (I think…? Because she was just talking about how her relationship is not seen as the stereotypical love) is narrating about how every relationship is different and has nothing to prove (which is a great message, but I don’t know how that necessarily fits with the issues Clawdeen and Toralei were having - I figure it’s trying to say that being a lesbian is OKAY! And yeah. I know. I picked up this comic to read about how these two lesbians(?) Bi-sexuals(?) Fell in love with one another -and how the pathetic -lovingly- fake southern Vampire managed to snag Spelldon :D ). BUT! The first text box says “We might defy what other monster think a ‘purrfect couple’ lurks like, but we don’t have anything to prove.”

Which kinda sounds like Toralei or Clawdeen are speaking? …and I mean, I think you guys DO have a little bit to prove because G1 Clawdeen and Toralei didn’t ever have anything going on between the two of them (and I LOVE some enemies to lovers shit and I DID NOT pick up on any of it in ANY G1 media. Now Nefera/Toralei or Cleo/Toralei has more juicy tidbits/ideas and interactions than Clawdeen/Toralei which just kinda has the cute dog/cat motif -AND REALLY works in G3). BUT THEN THE SECOND TEXT BOX SAYS: “We’ve learned what works for us, and we’re really good at communicating and trusting each other.” SINCE WHEN?!? I want to see that growth in you ghouls and I haven’t seen shit. I know more about how Jackie and Bridgett got together (and they seem to be great at communicating and trusting each other) and their relationship dynamics than the two of you. How did you guys start listening to one another and dealing with detail oriented Clawdeen vs Toralei who wants projects done as fast as possible/gets distracted easily?? How did you start trusting the Toralei who was a menace to you and your friends in every tv special and many of the webisodes?!?!?

At least Clawdeen and Toralei hugged in the last panel.

And I like this drawing of Toralei and how her head peaks out of the panel.

Nitpick: Jackie’s bunny nose disappeared in the third panel and Toarlei’s jacket studs disappeared in the first panel. Why is Clawdeen painting the coffin lights bright pink, and then they’re not shown to be bright pink in the next panel…?

What is with Toralei’s and Clawdeen’s pose here? They look like the cover to a YA novel where they fight normies. Also, the firemanders live in rivers??? Maybe that’s how they keep from catching fire…?

page 16:

It’s now twilight and Bridgett comes back with snacks and Jackie’s “bone-jo” (ha) (but they don’t show any snacks on this page) and a little seat she carved for the gremlins (I think that bringing them their own games or miniature carved casket balls would have been a better way to keep these kids occupied but that is just me). Jackie says that she’s ready for a party.

Finally a peck on the cheek!! She also says that Bridgett is “die-rling,” but I feel: “die-ling” might have worked better. Nitpick: once again, no bunny nose for Jackie in any of these panels.

page 17:

In the forgotten Ghoulia’s sub plot: Ghoulia goes over to Cleo’s and bemoans how her favorite character is being roasted by Kjersti and the fandom(…I guess….??). Cleo is a bit dramatic about helping her beastie, but says that she’ll help market her favorite character, but stops when she sees Ghoulia’s fic has a ton of new readers. Kjersti (psychically) calls at this exact time (on Cleo’s or Ghoulia’s second iCoffin- Cleo is shown with two and Ghoulia had a red one she left at home?) and says she’s happy that Ghoulia is doing so well.

Nitpick: Why does Cleo not have any ears??? Those earrings are going straight into her head in most of these panels (they are all two high to have be stuck into ear lobes). Haha. Also in the fourth panel, Cleo’s bandages take a page out of her G2 and G3 doll release and make them partially skin colored.

I appreciate Cleo jumping up and telling Kjerti that Ghoulia is doing numbers, but I want CLEO to full on stick up for her beastie and confront Kjersti (where is my dramatic queen Cleo?).

page 18:

Kjersti apologizes and says that her own fic was actually being swarmed by Nika fans wanting Nika fics, so she sent them to Ghoulia’s (I think that any actual fan of Nika would have found those…but that’s beside the point). She tells Ghoulia she got wrapped up in the competition for highest numbers and it’s okay love different things in the fandom/there’s enough room for everyone. She says that maybe she could see herself being a Nika fan someday. Then Cleo reminds the audience that these two stories are supposed to be interlinked and that Clawdeen has a big surprise for them.

I loved seeing Kjersti work off of my beast ghoul Ghoulia, but I think she could have apologized a tad bit more for the crap she gave Ghoulia. And this whole side story could have been cut.

Again….following my rewrite about Kjersti writing a smear fic about Nika…what if her comments were filled with people saying they actually liked the character, but they were being bullied by fans of Barb in her comment section. Seeing that her “trolling” might have went too far/seeing the sudden surge in love for the the character, she starts educating herself on Nika and then recognizes Ghoulia’s handle as the writer for many of the Nika fics available on Rotpad. She reads some of them and begins to like how Ghoulia writes Nika (darn relatable, I don’t like a character and wham, someone makes incredible fanart or fanfic for them and I’m hooked). Then maybe Kjersti takes down her smear fic/rewrites it as an apology, and maybe says she is still not the biggest Nika lover, but bullying people over fictional characters is bad and THEN directs her Barb fans to Ghoulia’s fics, saying that they are really good and changed her mind on the character (THAT’S why Ghoulia got a HUGE influx of readers and newly turned Nika fans).  Also, Kjersti looks really cute in the first and fifth panel and Ghoulia looks super cute in the second (those starry eyes), fourth (love that fist pump), and sixth panel with Cleo.

page 19:

Clawdeen and Toralei lead Abbey, Lagoona, Cleo, and Ghoulia to their new Fangout. And introducing Jackie and Bridgett to the ghouls. The ghouls mention that Draculaura would have loved this but didn’t pick up her phone (check in on her ghouls!!!).

Nitpick: in the first panel, Clawdeen’s ears are placed awkwardly on her head and Toralei is missing her right jacket studs. Also, Lagoona is drawn with out her hand fins.

page 20:

The final page!!! Bridgett serves gingerbread cookies (whhhhy it’s summer) and mummy worms, while Abbey listens to Jackie play her bone-jo. And it ends with someone saying it’s going to the “beast summer ever!” I….guess! :/

The firemanders look really cute in the first panel (but I think they should have been fed some charcoal by one of the ghouls or something-that would have been a fun interaction), Ghoulia looks good in the third panel, and I loved the ghoulfriends snuggling up to one another in the last panel.

What if Bridgett was not only good with Gremlish, but could also talk yetish to Abbey instead of serving food to everyone? That would have been another fun interaction. Maybe have her interacting with the gremlins and giving them some treats too?

Nitpicks: Lagoona still doesn’t have her hand webbing and her feet look so off in that panel. Haha.

Well, anyways, a solid 6/10 for me. Taking into consideration I am out of its age range and not the biggest G1 Clawdeen/Toralei shipper (which, again, I am totally open to being, but this comic issue didn’t feel like it actually delve into the two as a couple/the issues they were facing/how they met/super cute ghoulfriend moments. Show me me more of their back and forth with one another, their kisses and cuddles, the good shit). The plot/story (as I’ve pointed out many times by now) was a bit all over the place in what it wanted to convey.

I liked seeing Kjersti again (yay, she’s not forgotten) and I can never get enough of Ghoulia, but I think their mini-story could have been cut to add more to Clawdeen’s/Toralei’s relationship or giving Spelldon/Valentine’s story some more breathing room (because it didn’t really add anything to the main story and I didn’t feel like it was entertaining enough/explored new parts of Ghoulia. If you want to give me a full comic of Ghoulia writing out fics in a rivalry with Kjersti, give it to me).

I also liked the new characters, however, they kind of looked more college age instead of Monster High school students (I think having a bit of an older couple roll model might have been fun to see) and I think they could have been used to better effect/their personalities could have been pushed a bit more (but I have already wrote about that previously in this post).

The artwork, while not necessarily bad just seemed rushed/a bit rough (which is strange because the artists have some amazing work on their own webpages…maybe it was a rushed deadline for these comics??? Or the person that did the line work or coloring was rushed? I have no idea, but there were many coloring mistakes, odd drawings/facial expressions, misc. art mistakes, and those hands…ooff!). It looks like what I think of when I think western comic art (just kinda meh and not living up to the hype on the cover).

But what were your guys’ thoughts? Did you like it more than me? Less?? Did I misinterpret the messages and the relationships?? Am I wrong about the artwork and pacing?? Do you agree? Let me know your thoughts. :) I want to talk to someone about these comics!!!

[eazy-group]

BomiBox K-Beauty Review: “Radiance” June 2023

New Post has been published on https://eazybeauty.net/bomibox-k-beauty-review-radiance-june-2023/

BomiBox K-Beauty Review: “Radiance” June 2023

BomiBox

6 Ratings | 7 Reviews

BomiBox is a monthly Korean beauty subscription box. Each month you get eight full-size and deluxe sample-size Korean skincare, makeup, beauty, and body products.

This is a review of BomiBox Luxe, which is $44.99 per month.

This box was sent to us at no cost to review. (Check out our editorial guidelines to learn more about how we review boxes.)

First Impressions

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  This box doesn’t come with an info sheet, but it does have a card with a QR code you can scan. The contents of the box are snuggly packaged. And it’s always nice to see full-size products inside.

Sometimes we receive bonus samples, like this Isntree sun cream and Mary & May foil sample set.

Like last month, we also received the Heimish matcha toner. I really like this; it’s perfect for traveling.

BomiBox “Radiance” Box Review

Frudia Ultra UV Shielf Sun Essence, 50 g – Retail Value $10.80

This sunscreen has a really lovely formula and is quite pleasant to use- nothing heavy or greasy over here!  When a sunscreen is labeled as an essence, I’m expecting something lightweight, thin, and easy to apply, and all of those things were true for this sun cream by Frudia. It was really hydrating to my skin and left no white cast.

Be The Skin BHA + Pore Zero Toner, 150 mL – Retail Value $17.20

I’ve received a few products from this BHA+ Pore Zero line by Be The Skin, and I like that it’s made with willow bark extract and is fragrance-free. This is designed to target excess oil production which isn’t something I particularly struggle with, but this didn’t feel irritating or stripping on my skin which I definitely appreciate.

Skinfood Egg White Pore Mask, 125 g – Retail Value $11

I like this brand, and they’re a bit more mainstream than other K-Beauty brands (you can find Skinfood at Ulta!). I don’t reach for pore masks often because of my skin type, but sometimes I just crave a clay mask. Along with egg whites, this has kaolin and bentonite clay. I was happy that this didn’t fully harden the way some other clay masks do, and it didn’t leave my skin feeling like I had just stripped it of its moisture, either.

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun: Rice + Probiotics, 10 mL – Estimated Value $4.80 (buy the 50 mL version for $24)

This is a very trendy skincare product right now, so I am stoked that it was included in the subscription box. While I am technically allergic to chemical sunscreen filters, I have found that I don’t experience reactions when I use sunscreens with Korean filters compared to the standard Western filters. After carefully giving this a try for the first time, I can see why this is such a loved product! It absorbs in easily without any effort needed to rub it in, and the rice extract and probiotics made this super nourishing to my skin and even imparted a very soft and natural-looking glow. I’ll enjoy using this sample up!

Laneige Cream Skin Refiner, 50 mL – Estimated Value $12.94 (buy the 170 mL version for $44)

For a while about a year or so ago this was one of the most hyped-up products on Instagram, but I still never have actually tried this before now. I can see why many people enjoy it- especially in the mist format! This is a very watery toner that has ceramides, peptides, glycerin, mushroom, and hyaluronic acid in the formula. My skin absolutely soaks it up and finds it to be deliciously hydrating, and I can tell this is a product my skin would like if it was dealing with a lot of inflammation and irritation (which, thankfully, I currently am not).

Editor’s Note: The Laneige Cream Skin Refiner appears to be rebranded and/or reformulated to the Laneige Cream Skin Toner & Moisturizer. 

Jumiso Waterfall Hyaluronic Acid Sunscreen, 5 mL – Retail Value $4.60

This box is really just all about the sunscreen, and I fully support it. This is another hydrating sunscreen (to be fair, I don’t really think K-beauty sunscreens are known for being mattifying) formulated with three different weights of hyaluronic acid. It doesn’t leave a white cast or a greasy finish on my dry skin, and it didn’t burn my eyes- the only con is this small size will be empty in another use or two.

Nature Republic Real Nature Tea Tree Sheet Mask and Nature Republic Real Nature Shea Butter Sheet Mask – Retail Value $1.90 each

I’ve used quite a few of these Nature Republic masks over the years. They’re not super remarkable, but they get the job done. The tea tree mask is infused with a clear serum essence while the shea butter mask has a slightly thicker milky emulsion that has been infused with shea butter and flower extracts. If I had to pick a favorite between the two I would pick the shea butter because my skin liked the thicker essence, but both were nice.

Value – Was This Box Worth It?

The Cost: $44.99

Value Breakdown:

Frudia: $10.80

Be The Skin: $17.20

Skinfood: $11

Beauty of Joseon: $4.80

Laneige: $12.94

Jumiso: $4.60

Nature Republic masks: $1.90 each

Everything in the box adds up to $65.14!

Key Takeaways

I thought this month’s BomiBox subscription was another winner. I really enjoyed the focus on sunscreen (it’s the skincare product I go through the quickest), and I liked that two of the products featured have been very viral items. All of the brands were ones I had name recognition with which always adds a little extra personal value to the box for me, and I thought the monetary value of the box was fair too. While you may not think the value looks super high compared to the cost of the box, keep in mind that the values need to be taken with a grain of salt because I have to get the values from websites that ship directly from Korea and they can vary wildly (and then you have to wait for international shipping). I’ve been reviewing BomiBox for years, and I definitely recommend this subscription if you’re a fan of Korean skincare. If you’re looking for a monthly beauty box comprised exclusively of K-Beauty products, BomiBox is one of the best out there.

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

Other Things You Should Know

Can you get this box if you sign up today? No, order today to receive the July box!

What do you think of this month’s BomiBox? Do you enjoy discovering K-Beauty products?

[thinking-about-sw33ts]

Valentines Special: Demonus

Contents: You decided to spend Valentines with the Avatar of Pride, Lucifer

Themes: Smut, Valentines Special.

“Ugh today is valentine's day and I still don’t know what to get Lucifer!” I whined, shoving my face into my comfortable soft pillows. “I don’t even know if he could be free on that day considering the huge pile of paperwork on his desk. Probably a bunch of complaints about his brothers causing ruckus again.” I immediately thought of what to get Lucifer. I can’t get him any clothes because I sure as hell don’t know his size, and it could either be too big or too small. So that’s out of the list. Watches or matching jewellery might be good, but I don’t have enough money for that! Even if I wanted to get him expensive stuff, I would have to take more shifts at Madam Screams.

I pouted to myself, not getting any good idea on what to get him. Stumped at myself for not getting far, I quickly get out of my bed, grabbing my computer, hurrying back to my warm comfy fortress. I scoffed, soon after rolling my eyes at what I had typed at the search bar, the exact words being cliche. I slowly scrolled through the mass answers I had received, finally settling on one site for ideas. Skimming through the results, my eyes had landed on a particular word, “Sexual and Intimate Activities''

I rubbed my thighs, realising that we haven’t done “it” in quite some time due to his cockblocking brothers, growing paperwork, and busy schedule, as well as much more. “That would be a good idea~” I whimpered, continuing to rub my thighs with each other, beginning to get antsy. Which will probably soon make me rub myself through my shorts. Well here goes nothing. I scamper out for bed, looking through my closet for the lingerie he had always adored. Once I had spotted and put them on, I hurriedly walked to his office.

Once I had reached his office, I heard a sweet calming melody coming through closed doors. He was probably listening to his cursed records. I take a deep breath, the arousal between my thighs growing by the second. Though, I was taking my absolute time with working up my previous courage. Soon enough, I open the large door leading to the man that will devour me for the night. Said doors making a creaking noise.

Opening his doors, I see bags and boxes of delicately wrapped presents by the front of his desk, surprising me.“How sweet for you to come, I had thought you had forgotten about today. But…

Judging by your outfit you have an amazing surprise for me, don’t you?”

Hearing his deep voice, his lusting red eyes eyeing my body as if he was about to pounce on me the second the step through his door. Analysing him once more, I had seen him swishing a glass of what I assumed to be demonus. I quickly close the doors, maintaining eye contact with him from our distance before he mentions me over to him with his gloved hand. I gulp, coming closer to the prideful demon. As I reach his side, he turns to me. Lucifer raises a hand, placing it on my cheek, automatically nuzzling into it. He moves the hand down my body, resting it on my hip, right before giving my ass a firm squeeze.

The demon leans into my ear, whispering. “You are going to sit on my lap while you open these presents in front of me, okay love?”

I nod, softly whimpering, noticing how he had lightly squeezed my hip. Immediately remembered why I had comed in here! I wiggle myself out of his grasp, sitting on his lap, placing my hands on his shoulders to balance myself, giving it a few squeezes. He raises an eyebrow at my actions, intrigue. “Lucifer! You’ve been busy, I want to give you a rest for the night. So please let me suck you first, mkay?” I whispered into his ear, licking the shell. Which he seemed to shiver at. Though, he nods at the idea, giving confirmation.

I slide myself in front of his seat, which he moves back so that I would not hit my head on his desk, as well as to give me some space. Comfortably sitting on my knees, I undo his tie, unbuttoning his collared shirt. Placing a few kisses on his neck and pecks on his lips, which he gladly returns. Moving on to his pants I pull down the zipper, eyes meeting his semi-hard cock, leaking precum. I quickly licked the salty, sweet, liquid, smiling at Lucifer while I pumped his cock. Occasionally licking the leaky mushroom tip. He groans at my actions, throwing his head back, but still maintaining eye contact with me. Once he composes himself he takes back the glass of demonus he had placed on the desk, back to his hand, taking various sips from it.

Slowly I licked down to the base of his dick, licking the little vein that had popped up on the bottom of his delicious cock. I softly sucked at the said little vein, earning a groan from the demon. I quickly moved down to give his balls some attention, sucking at one of his sacks. Though, the rest of his dick had covered my eye, ruining some of my vision of him. Lucifer takes a sip once again from the glass, swishing around the liquid in its confinements. After getting enough of one of his balls I switched to the other, fondling the one I had released. He soon placed a hand behind my head, urging me to stop teasing him and to actually do my job.

I chuckle softly, finally taking him into my mouth, which he abruptly thrusts and pushes my head down to the base. The action automatically makes me choke as he hits the back of my throat. My eyes quickly tear up, running down my cheeks. As well as a bit of drool leaking from my mouth. I hollow my cheeks trying to suck him off, stabilising myself by placing my hands on his thighs. “U-ugh, that’s it darling, take all of it. Suck me off like the little slut you are` HaAh!-” Lucifer moans and grunts, gripping my head, fucking my face roughly as if it was his personal fleshlight. Though, it seems like he still has a bit of composure due to him continuing to take sips of the demonus.

Soon enough, he pushes my head one last time before he comes down my throat. I choke at the sudden liquid gushing inside my mouth but still try to take as much as I can. Lucifer slowly pulls out of my mouth, grunting, splashing his juices all over my face, rubbing his dick to release more. I swallow the cum inside my mouth, before taking some of the cum off my face with my fingers, licking them clean. Lucifer hums at the sight, satisfied with my behaviour, petting my head.

“Look at that, I still have some more demonus left over, do you want some, Y/N?” I nod, while he squeezes my cheeks with his hand, opening my mouth. He takes a sip, spitting the fluid into my mouth, making me swallow. I open back my mouth, showing him that I had swallowed everything. Lucifer showers me with praise before reminding me that the night is still early. “I finally have you to myself. I am not wasting this night. Prepare yourself love, because I am surely not holding back~"

[caught-in-the-filter]

.

[witchthewriter]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

a/n: How are we feeling about this moodboard? Merlin BBC doesn’t have a lot of edits/icons/gifs so I’m trying to be creative ... please give your honest thought✌🏼

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ      

SFW🌿

𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑨𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒖𝒓

⭑ Gifts, gifts, and more gifts. 

⭑ He loves giving you jewelry; and he doesn’t need a reason. He is the King, so he can do whatever he pleases. So, you have jewelry boxes full of jewels, silver, gold, etc. 

⭑ He wants to impress you; for you to think that he’s an important man who has no limits. 

⭑ He gets Merlin to do the heavy work though

    “Merlin! Merlin where are you? I need you to shine this-”

“I’ve spent hours shining that damn necklace!” 

      “It’s not glittering right. Why isn’t it glittering right?!” 

⭑ He loves horseback riding. Arthur LOVES showing off, and looking like he knows exactly what he’s doing. 

⭑ All his efforts of looking suave fail. So much so that you can’t stop laughing. So, laughter is a big part of your courtship. Arthur loves your laugh, your smile. The way your eyes light up. 

𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏

⭑ He’s very thoughtful and likes to woo you with things that are meaningful. 

⭑ Merlin will find out your favourite things and surprise you with them. 

⭑ He asked you on a date one afternoon after he had been pumped up by Gwaine. 

  “You can do this Merlin,” Gwaine said while grabbing the sorcerer’s shoulders. 

“Yeah, yeah of course I can ... I can do this! No, wait, Gwaine. I can’t-” 

⭑ He did though, only because you had overheard the conversation and couldn’t wait for him. So, you walked up behind him, tapped his shoulder, and said ‘‘yes, where are going to go?”

⭑ Merlin will use magic, he definitely will. Making the fireflies glow brighter, the fire burn warmer. 

⭑ He loves resting his forehead against yours. Being still with one another, noses touching, hands holding the others’. 

𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑮𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆

⭑ He would flirt with you without shame. Trying to charm you with his best efforts. You would flirt back, not taking anything from it - it was harmless. It didn’t mean anything. 

⭑ Until Gwaine couldn’t get you out of his head. And you lived there absolutely rent-free. 

⭑ He yearns to be around you. The way your mind works ... he doesn’t know many people like that. 

⭑ Gwaine would spend a lot of time with you. Wanting to get to know everything about you. He’d ask questions, probe, poke, wanting to see every side of you. 

⭑ He’s very excitable and likes to thrill seek with you. 

⭑ Gwaine loves to play fight with you, but also train you to be able to defend yourself. He’s fun-loving and always makes sure you’re having a good time. 

𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒕

⭑ He courts you with grace and the utmost respect. He always makes sure you’re comfortable and well. 

⭑ Very protective but in a subtle way - he doesn’t arc up when another guy is looking at you, but is able to diffuse any situation. 

⭑ Lots and lots and lots of flowers. New ones everyday. And they aren’t even bouquets; they could be from a garden or in the forest. At one point you felt bad that he was picking them from nature, so he bought seeds and asked for a place to plant them. He then tended to the seeds for weeks, and eventually they started to grow. 

⭑ He said “now you can have flowers everyday, for as long as they grow, I will be here.”

⭑ Light touches; moving the hair from your face and gently removing an eyelash from your face. 

⭑ He often leaves you needy and wanting more; but he isn’t meaning to tease you. He’s just that soft. 

𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏

⭑ He courts you through food and good conversation. Either making the food himself, taking you to the markets, or asking the royal cooks to make something special for you. 

⭑ Leon loves making you feel content - 

 “Are you warm enough, my love?” 

 “Do you want another slice?”

 “How are you feeling?”

⭑ He may not seek out exciting adventures, but that’s what you like about Leon. He’s grounding and that’s how he caught your heart. You need someone secure, someone safe.

⭑ The first few months into your courtship, he never let the two of you be alone together. He wanted to be traditional. But that didn’t really work because he was so in love with you. Therefore, he would take the food to your door so he could focus on eating, rather than ... you

⭑ He loves being in your company - and courts you by spending quality time with you. Where Gwaine asks questions and listens with focus, your time with Leon would be just ... existing in each other’s presence. Not pushing anything; just letting whatever comes up - comes up. 

𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍

⭑ His intent in courting you is to make you feel wanted. He knows what it’s like to be left out, so Percival makes sure you’re included and desired. 

⭑ When he first saw you in the tavern, he didn’t think much of you - it wasn’t until you cut a man off and had to practically throw him out that he was enamored with you. 

⭑ Percival loves PDA, he doesn’t have a problem with it at all. He wants to hold your hand, kiss your neck, and have you in his lap. 

⭑ He’s actually a good singer and will hum things when you’re together without knowing it. 

⭑ Likes to dance with you - whether that’s inside, around people, or outside, underneath the moon

⭑ He isn’t overly romantic, because he’s somewhat clueless in these matters. But he does his best to show his feelings through action. 

𝑺𝒊𝒓 𝑬𝒍𝒚𝒂𝒏

⭑ He likes making you feel safe. Throughout your courtship, he always went the extra mile. Walking you to your front door (literally, he’ll wait until you’ve gone in. But he never goes inside until you invite him.)

⭑ Elyan wants to show you new things; share new experiences with you. Going on adventures and creating memories. 

⭑ He’ll call in after his watch and make sure you’re okay. 

⭑ If you need any errands done but don’t want to do them - he’s your man 

⭑ Wants you to know that if you have any problems, he’ll fix them. No matter what they are. There’s a leak? He’ll patch it up, you’re fighting with your sister? He’ll sit and let you vent. 

⭑ Elyan would make you feel less alone in this huge world. He knows how it feel to be alone, and never wants that for you. 

[theramseyloft]

Beginner’s housing for a pet pigeon

We can go into the complexities involved in housing multiple pigeons at a later time.

Right now, we’re going to focus primarily on setting up for a single bird who is intended to be a companion animal.

The biggest problem you are going to run into is that the housing commercially available for birds is designed either to display a finch or a parrot.

Finch cages make excellent hospital cages for pigeons, but that is their only useful application.

A Hospital cage needs to be small to discourage the bird from moving around too much and doing anything other than eating and drinking, so that their recovery, be that from disease or injury, can progress with as few delays as possible.

A healthy bird cannot tolerate this degree of confinement for long.

Parrot cages are huge and expensive, but too narrow for a pigeon to be physically able to use.

The bare minimum requirements for any cage a pigeon will be housed in for more than an hour a day is that it be two inches wider than the full wingspan of the bird at the narrowest point, to allow their wings at least an inch of clearance on either side.

They are cliff nesters that don’t roost on branches. Round perches hurt their feet, so they need either flat platforms or square perches.

Pigeons cannot climb the way parrots can. They can only walk or fly, and they cannot comfortably fly if their wings will clip into things like hanging toys or ramps.

So they tend to prefer their enclosure be as uncluttered as possible.

Socialization is best done outside the enclosure, so that’s where most of the toys should be.

Dog kennels set up like this one above are kinder to both the pigeons and the wallets of their care taker than pretty much any indoor bird cage available.

A Labrador sized (usually marketed as a “Large”) kennel will fit bird about homer sized and smaller.

Larger breeds or breeds with longer flight and tail feathers will need a larger size as a base line.

These are very simple to modify.

The nest box is a bunny/ferret corner litter box, about $8-10 at most pet shops. Easy to clean and comfortable.

The perch is a garden stake cut to length, about $5 from the garden center at Walmart or a hardware store like Lowes or home Depot.

Honestly, if I had this to do over, the birds would get a wider, shallower food dish.

Pigeons are ground foragers. It’s easier for them to eat comfortably from a shallow dish than a deep one.

The water dish can be as deep as the pigeon can reach the bottom of.

This is the upper level of a ferret nation Double modified for my first breeding pair of Lucerne waaaay back before my loft was built, when I had a grand total of four breeding pair of pigeons and 16 pairs of Ringneck doves.

This one also has a garden steak cut to fit as a perch.

Their nest box is a large dog bowl full of timothy hay.

Notice that this enclosure has a single hanging bell toy exactly at standing head height for the birds, well out of the way of their wings.

This probably looks unbearably spartan, especially if you come form a parrot back ground.

Remember that pigeons cannot climb and will not fly in a space where their wings may bump into clutter.

The cage for an indoor pet pigeon should serve the same function as the kennel does for an indoor dog:

That is NOT where the dog lives!

At most, it’s where they sleep at night, and where a puppy stays when they can’t be supervised until they’ve learned the house rules.

Pigeons are absolutely smart enough to learn house rules just like a dog or cat.

And pet pigeons are happiest when they have the freedom of motion to exercise, play, and interact with their human flock mates at will.

While they can free fly an entire house, a single bedroom is enough space for most breeds to move around happily.

Pigeon proofing is pretty simple.

They aren’t capable of chewing like parrots, so no need to worry about your electrical chords being damaged and your bird giving them self a nasty shock.

They can’t damage wood or drywall or fabric by chewing.

Pigeons don’t eat plants, but do like the feel of ripping them and will use strips of leaves as nest bedding, so house plants may need to be protected by glass covers.

Things displayed on shelves in the room or rooms the pigeon will have access to need to be heavy enough or well enough wedged in that the bird can’t pull them down if they land awkwardly on them or push them off if they bump into or try to squeeze past them.

Papers need to be stored where they won’t be scattered by the wind that their powerful wings kick up in flight.

Any crevices too high or awkward for you to easily clean need to be blocked some how.

Poop is simple.

The poop of a well fed, healthy pigeon with a good diet should be round and solid enough that it can be easily picked up with a square of toilet paper or a tissue when wet or vacuumed up when dry.

Once you know your bird’s favorite perches, you can make clean up even easier on yourself by laying down puppy pads under them that you can just change out as often as needed.

Once a pigeon has mastered the house rules, you can do away with the cage entirely.

This is the feeding station we set up for Ankhou and Bird-bird.

On the little feed tray for cats were the feeder and waterer with oystershell offered free choice from a dish between them.

Pigeons are one of the very few animals that recognize their reflection in the mirror as a a reflected view of themselves, instead of another bird.

Most like to practice dancing, strutting, their sweeping charge, and bow-cooing in front of mirrors, so those are excellent enrichment for them.

Being cliff nesters, bricks are simply the most comfortable thing for a pigeon to stand on.

Strutting back and forth on the rough surface in front of a mirror will help them keep their claws blunted.

The bricks are holding down a crinkle sack for cats, laid out flat. 

Pigeons love noise stims. Particularly crinkly, jingly, or chiming.

The noise it made made dancing in front of the mirror extra fun on the crinkle mat.

The dead keyboard serves a similar function.

This beans box from Walmart full of straw served as Bird-Bird’s nest box.

She laid eggs fairly regularly, and slept in there most of the time.

Ankhou was a man of simple tastes. 

This baby doll blanket on the nightstand at my bedside was where he slept at night.

Social bird was social and wanted to be as close as possible to us at all times and involved somehow in everything we did.

Pigeons like to take baths, and our free flying pet liked to be offered the opportunity to take one when we showered, but did not like to actually be in the shower with us.

So we got him a little pyrex casserole dish about as long as he was that stayed on the side of the bathtub and made a habit of filling it for him before we got into the shower.

Anhkou didn’t care much for forage pans or puzzle toys, but many pigeons do and they are very simple to make.

A pan or tray with a few fists full of straw, paper strips, sand, or a mix of all three with a high value treat like Safflower seeds sprinkled in to find mimics the way rock doves would forage for seed in the wild.

Puzzle feeders for pigeons are as simple to make as crumpling a sheet of paper with a few high value seeds inside.

Pigeons love crinkly sounds and tugging on the crumpled paper or blowing it around by flapping at it will reward them with a few spilled seeds and a fun noise.

The little wicker balls for kitties with a jingle bell inside complete the holy trinity of stick-texture, shiny, and jingly, and many pigeons love to kick, peck, and toss them.

They like to pick up and shake and toss bread ties with a small jingle bell fastened to the end.

Bird-Bird’s favorite toy was the bell intended to go on a kittens collar. 

She liked to strut around with it holding it by the loop by which it was supposed to fasten and very softly jingling it.

Q-tips with the cotton tips removed and toothpicks with blunted or clipped ends are basically pigeon Legos.

Miniature wind chimes like this little angel and her harp are fun auditory stims too.

If you can swing it (ha!), pigeons enjoy swings, as long as the perch is flat.

Experiment with your birds and see what kind of enrichment they enjoy. ^v^