#firefly rambles about art

[drfirefly08]

oomf (hi @dangantism) and i cooked up this theory where damon dies at around chapter 4/5 and kai takes up his role of protag..

spoilers for chapter 1 and yapfest below the cut about this theory/au if it doesnt become true

i also happen to really like the idea that kai wears damon's jacket for safekeeping/memory to keep damon close to him.. and the small sprout things on his head.. one of them is gonna be the ahoge.. it also kinda parallels diana and wolfgang with how diana decided to take up wg's mantle..

my personal (albeit insane) prediction is that eloise would kill damon for being the reason desmond got executed the previous chapter.. desmond killed someone to protect eloise and eloise helped cover it up.. but since damon found out, plus being an absolute asshole to eloise sometimes (her ftes for example), eloise hit her breaking point and killed damon. it also would be very interesting to see a partially hidden sequence of events of how damon dies.. like the viewer watches as damon slowly dies from an unknown culprit, as in the cg shows the grey man, theres no voicelines from the culprit, no sprite, nothing to indicate whodunnit until damon decides to bolt it out of the room and goes to kai, where we could have a cg of damon slowly dying and kai unable to help, with damon unable to give out clues since he's delirious from like blood loss or smth, then it would be a bda and then a smooth transition to kai's perspective and new role as the protag..

and my personal hc is that kai, before the trial, would wear one of damon's blazer as a memory so he could still keep damon close.. its also really interesting since kai doesnt seem to have many friends outside of his online persona, and the one from highschool he spoke about seems to be no longer in his life (either dead or cut him off we arent sure) since he acted melancholic about her, so i think this would give kai the determination to avenge damon since he was kai's closest friend ever since he became an influencer (if thing keep going positive between the two, which i think so since i believe kai's gonna be the next support after the red herring that is eva)

sure kai is gonna be absolutely heart-broken and distraught over damon's death but i believe that kai would recognise the gravity of the situation and focus on investigating for damon's sake even when he doesnt want to (as shown in ch0+1 he doesnt like investigating) because he understands the dangers of the killing game (as shown in his cautious nature, like for ex: the drugs in the pharmacy) so he would stomach it and do his best to find damon's killer

ok ok i realise how much of a yapfest this is.. yikes im obsessed LOLL.. THATS ALL

[firefly-factory]

A few WIPS <3

Been playing around with style and technique, which is how you get these two WILDLY different WIPs going simultaneously. Love both these guys though so ye <3

Also got a number of ideas marinating in the background, but although (I think) they're within my skill range I don't have the patience for them right now. Working with new software is super time intensive T-T

But yeah I just wanted to share these guys bc even though I'm a little frustrated with art stuff right now, I do like how they look and figure it's good to focus on that <3

[heartofbalemoon]

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!! 🎄🎊🎉

may you and your f/os celebrate and be silly and jolly together c:

ALSO SHOUTOUT TO THOSE WHO LEFT A MESSAGE ON MY TREE,,, IM GONNA CRY- 😭😭💞💕❤️💗 thank u all so much for being with me this year, supporting me and my oc/canon selfships,,, no words can properly describe how happy i am to be interacting with you all and gushing about my cute handsome sillies :'3 🫶✨️

[serenadeofastros]

Remus plans to take Regulus to a botanical garden for their date; filled with trees and blooming flowers and between all of them Remus can hold Regulus’ hand, and maybe kiss him once or twice. That is the plan until he learns that the art museum will hold an exhibition of Regulus’ favorite artist and of course he has to take him! So Remus re plans the whole date so they’ll have time to walk around both the museum and the botanical garden. He dresses in the finest pair of jeans he owns and decides on a soft yellow sweater his mom always said compliments his eyes perfectly.

They decide to take the train to the city; they listen to music, talk quietly and lock their pinky fingers together. Regulus looks beautiful in a black sweater and matching black jeans, curls falling across his forehead and Remus’ heart skips a beat every time he looks at him. They make it to the garden and walk inside, Remus grabs a brochure that shows the different paths, and they decide on one. They take in the sights and constantly stop to take pictures of flowers or trees they liked. Remus sneakily takes pictures of Regulus, too: he looks so pretty under the sun. They come across an archway of willow trees, leaves rustling lazily in the wind, Regulus grabs his hand and they run underneath the trees, laughing all the way. When they make it to the end they’re still holding hands, and Regulus tugs him down to steal a kiss. And Remus’ heart beats faster than ever.

They’re both still smiling widely when they make it to the museum, Remus shows their entrance reservation and after the mandatory rules explanation they are allowed inside. They walk around looking at the exhibits and talk about them, until they finally reach Regulus’ favorite artist’s exhibition. Regulus draws in a breath and he looks around as if this is a dream, he then turns to look at Remus and the boy nods, and Regulus’ face breaks into the biggest smile.

They stay at each painting for about 5 minutes, and Regulus rambles on about techniques and thoughts and feelings, and Remus doesn’t understand half the words Regulus is saying, but he’s so happy looking at his boy being happy that he does his best to understand and nod along. His gaze so focused and fond, looking at Regulus’ bright eyes. When they finally reach the end of the exhibition there’s an interactive art display; a huge square piece resembling a house, with a marquee sign calling it “the home of the fireflies” and inside the dark room millions of tiny lights hang from the ceiling and the walls, giving the impression of being surrounded by fireflies.

Remus is looking around mesmerized when he feels Regulus holding his hand, in the dark room Remus can barely make out Regulus’ features but his eyes, impossibly grey, are shining like two stars. Thanks for an incredible day, Regulus whispers and Remus knows he can’t properly see him, but he can’t help the soft smile taking over his face as he brings Regulus closer, thanks for making it even more incredible, Remus whispers back. And there, surrounded by millions of twinkling lights with the boy he never wants to let go of in his arms, Remus Lupin kisses Regulus Black, over and over again

(@butterli5 i promised museum date, right?)

[liobi]

Finish the Job, a Mafia AU bad end

okay so for context, I was working on some lotus eater machine stellaron stuff for @thedeerus's Time Is Running Out au which involved Stelle having a dream where there were no super powers and she and Caelus were in college and everything was fine, and Haris jumped off that with an idea that Nanook and Akivili ran a crime syndicate and the stellaron hunters were there to probe some rich kids who probably didn't know what their parents got up to for information to make that organization collapse.

That led to "well, rich kids and arranged fiances, right?" So Dan Heng and Sparkle got in the mix, (then the bullet points for this ending made us so sad that we legitimately started shipping Stelle and Sparkle so there's also a happily after ending titled (Don't) Finish The Job where Sparkle and Stelle do something about their growing feelings for each other and Stelle acknowledges she has two hands and both Kafka and Sparkle are happy to share her)(Dan Heng and Firefly uhhhh sure do. get along extremely well with Caelus in the biblical sense.... absolute bunny shit). I'll probably put all this stuff on AO3 eventually once i clean it up/make it less like the fanfic equivalent of a sketch by my standards, same with Time is Running Out. So yeah Mafia au is an AU of the Time is Running Out au and I hope you enjoy the bad end, without further ado..... Title; Path of Destruction

The socially mandated date nights between the heirs to Nanook’s “art dealing business” and their arranged fiancees were generally uneventful. Dinners at nice restaurants, box seats at sports games or theatrical productions, maybe a red carpet or two, the usual things that rich brats with nothing better to do did with their arranged future marriage partners. These dates were public affairs so business was kept firmly separate unless absolutely necessary. But this time business was intruding on Stelle’s date whether she liked it or not.

One too many phones pointed in their direction, a car that had circled the block twice, rain had begun to fall hard enough that her range of vision had shortened, and most crucially her parentally mandated tail had vanished. 

“What's wrong, grey hair?” Her fiancee looked at her quizzically when she slowed on their run for cover, not having noticed yet. Sparkle was better than Stelle at navigating people, but Stelle was better than Sparkle at navigating situations and this one reeked. So Stelle made a beeline for the nearby alleyway, holding tight to Sparkle’s arm despite her protests, to where a beat up pewter goblet had been placed to collect coins from sympathetic passersby.

“Are you troupe?” Stelle stood over a rambling homeless woman holding a wet cardboard sign that said “repent” as a futile shield against the rain. The woman didn't stop her ramblings but she gave the slightest incline of her head, and that was good enough for Stelle. “We might be fucked, get her out of here.” 

The speed in which the woman showed her goblet, stood, and readied at least six different weapons under her clothes impressed and frightened Stelle. Sparkle was affronted by Stelle’s disregard. “Grey hair if you don't tell me what's going on-”

“Just some stuff me and my guys have to take care of. I'll be back soon.” Stelle interrupted her, turning over Sparkle's arm to the incognito Mourning Actor. Sparkle started to say something else but the sentence was silenced by a kiss that was rough, joyless, exhausted, and tasted like deceit.

It was not the usual kiss of obligation, not the occasional kiss between politically arranged spouses that belied the unspoken seeds of affection between them in their private moments, this was the kiss of farewells. “See you later, Hanabi.”

Without a moment to spare the troupe member hustled Sparkle down the alleyway despite her protests. “Asshole! Grey hair! Stelle!!” 

And then she was out of sight and Stelle walked deliberately step by step into the road in front of the oncoming car before it could circle the block again. She sent a text to her brother as the car slowed to a stop.

I’m probably fucked.

Woof, me too.

That wasn't exactly comforting but at least she knew she had company in her misery. Occasionally Stelle and Caelus would have double dates and she was kicking herself that tonight wasn't one of those nights. As long as they were together they were basically invincible. As it was now, she only had her knife for company.

But then she got a text in the family group chat. It was from Nanook, and it was only one word.

Run.

They were turbo fucked.

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“Did you text the kids?” A voice from upstairs called over the loud sloshing noises. Nanook snapped their old flip phone shut and climbed the villa stairs to see Akivili splashing kerosene onto every potentially flammable surface. “I already got the East and West wings, and I sent the staff through the escape tunnels. I think I’ll be done in abouuuuut ten minutes if I’m being careful, and three minutes if you decide fuck it we ball.”

Nanook took in the house. The family portrait of the two of them and their children, the halls full of so many memories, the life that they and Akivili had managed to build for themselves despite being orphans that came from nothing. Granted, what they built when they came to this country was a criminal empire, but every family had its own quirks.

“Whoever is attacking us is using a PMC, and they turned some of our guys.” Nanook sighed. The gunfire was steadily getting closer, the intruders had made it past the security gate because someone from the inside had opened it. “I guess I wasn't thorough enough with our housecleaning.”

Akivili stepped closer and laid their head against Nanook’s chest. Nanook rested their chin on the crown of Akivili’s head. The two of them basked in the relative silence and kerosene fumes as the distant gunfire drew closer. Akivili broke the silence. “We had a good run, didn't we Nano?”

“Do you have to call me that right now?”

“Awww, are you pouting? I remember when you were sooooo much smaller than me, just a little kid taking care of some rich asshole’s horses to make barely enough to buy some bread scraps.”  Akivili leaned back to meet Nanook's gaze with a tired, defeated smile.

“And I still remember the teenager who had more in common with a raccoon than a person, who hid in a haystack while they were running away from the local thugs they'd pissed off.” the corners of Nanook’s mouth turned upwards despite themself. “As long as the kids get to your Nameless network they should be safe.” 

“And as long as they're with their betrothed, they won't risk a fight. So they'll be fine.”

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“I don't think it's a good idea for us to get separated. I think it's an even worse idea for you to get out of the car.” Dan Heng said as Caelus directed the driver to pull into an upcoming gas station and immediately leave as soon as he left the car. “We can lose whoever is following us, Qingni is one of the best drivers the Loufu jituan has.”

“The car up front is some sort of custom model, heavily armored, and I can already tell has more power than we do.” Caelus was mentally kicking himself. They'd gone to the opera so he'd left his knives and gun at home like an idiot instead of leaving them in the car like a reasonable mafioso. As it stood, all he had was his phone, his credit card, and a lighter. “Their plan is probably to wait until we’re in a less populated area and run us off the road with that monster.”

Dan Heng refused to break eye contact. “I’d rather we risk that over you facing whoever is pursuing us alone and unprotected.”

He was so sweet. That was why Caelus had no choice but to ignore his wishes. Dan Heng was the child of a clan steeped in politics and business, not crime. The last thing he needed was to be wrapped up in the legitimately dangerous bits of Caelus’s life. Caelus shot a look to Qingni in the mirror and she nodded.

Caelus was already opening the door when the car rolled to a stop. Dan Heng tried to protest, but Caelus swallowed it all with a kiss. 

“Don't worry, I'll be fine.” He said, pulling out his phone. He pulled up a photo from a day prior, a pregnancy test with two pink lines on the indicator, and showed it to his half panicking fiance. Caelus grinned at the understanding dawning in Dan Heng's eyes. “I’m extremely invested in staying safe after all.”

“Is… it mine?”

“Wow, way to trust your fiance.” Caelus laughed at the blush spreading across Dan Heng's face all the way to his ears. “To be honest I have no clue, the only time I haven't used protection was when it was both you and Firefly at once.”

“Ah, well, that was-”

“We were all drunk, it's fine.” Dan Heng was looking away sheepishly and Caelus took the opportunity to slip out of the car. He shut the door and knocked on the roof and it drove off before Dan Heng could offer any more protests. 

Caelus made the insane preparations that he could in the time he had, but not thirty seconds later, eight cars pulled into the gas station and surrounded him, the nightmare car leading the charge. All Caelus had managed to cobble together was an idea with a lighter and the gas station itself but he wasn't sure exactly how useful it would be against that mobile tank.

From seven of the cars, a swarm of people in nondescript black suits emerged, their firearms poorly concealed in their jackets. From the driver's seat of the custom car a woman wearing a helmet climbed out before coming around to open the rear door for the vehicle’s single passenger and offered a hand.

A woman with long purple hair, dressed in designer fashion and finery, stepped from the vehicle ever so lightly taking the hand of the woman in the helmet. Caelus recognized her, she was in interviews and magazine covers often enough. Jade, the CIO of the International Peace Corporation, a conglomerate big enough to rival the combined might of the Xianzhou jituans. A man in shades with a sword emerged from the crowd of goons and stood next to her, and the woman in the helmet visibly relaxed at his presence.

“Come here often, miss?” Caelus was grinning but his mind was racing. If they were here to just kill him then he was out of luck, but if there was a different angle he was sure he could play his cards right to get out of the situation. “I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting an IPC executive before.”

Jade brought her hand to her mouth, giving a polite laugh. “Before we get into any more of this lovely banter, let me just make it clear. We have no intention of harming you, we just need you to come with us for a while.”

Ah, a kidnapping. Caelus was relieved he'd sent Dan Heng away after all.

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Kafka watched Stelle’s eyes dawn in realization when she stepped out of the car with Topaz. Six other cars had partially surrounded her in a loose semicircle, and Topaz’s goons were already out with their hands on their concealed weapons. Kafka’s own guns were in plain sight in her shoulder holsters.

“Ah man.” Stelle said with a great heaving sigh looking at Kafka’s guns. “I thought I was good at spotting incognito IPC folks. You're on a whole ‘nother level Miss Kafka.”

She was surprised that Stelle addressing her formally stung as much as it did. Until this moment, she had gotten close enough that Stelle just called her Kafka even at school. “I'm not IPC, but semantics don't really matter all that much in this situation, do they Stelle?”

Stelle's eyes were full of something between exasperation, anger, and grief as Kafka could see her sizing up the gathered forces. She was probably figuring the odds of if she could either fight her way out or flee in a way that got her clear of the whole affair. Kafka wanted to say something, anything to dull the tired malice in Stelle’s gaze, but before she could Topaz cleared her throat.

“You must be Stelle. I’m Topaz, a strategic acquisitions project manager for the IPC.”  Topaz’s red umbrella was like a warning light against the black cars and black suits of the IPC goons. “I’ve heard a lot about you and I would love to hear more from you directly. Would you be so kind as to come with us?”

“So this is a kidnapping, not an assassination.” 

Topaz paused, then began to laugh. “Why on earth would we kill the daughter of an art dealer?” With a slight twitch of her finger, her team began inching closer and closer towards Stelle. “We would just like to discuss a brand deal for our fashion sector, your engagement photos made quite the splash online after all.” 

Kafka remembered the photos. Stelle and her brother wearing collars and muzzles standing next to their seated fiancees who had them on leashes. They had sparked things in Kafka. Igniting her libido for her target was one of them, but they'd also caused a pang in her chest she didn't quite understand. 

Stelle was a target for her job, not someone she was interested in. Her job just happened to be aided by hooking up the cute university student she was probing for info.

“We all know you aren't here to offer a brand deal, just like I know my brother is probably surrounded just like this.” Stelle finally said, still sizing up the approaching goons closing in on her. “My brother and I are mafia princes of the Caos family, we should all just be honest.”

“So you do know. When Kafka said it was only a possibility you might know the truth, we had to build some contingencies into our plan.”  Topaz took out her phone and typed something that Kafka couldn't see. “The brand deal is real, for the record. Who knows? After everything is finished you and your brother might just take us up on it.”

Stelle sighed, turning her weary eyes to Kafka. “So if you aren't IPC, what are you?”

“My group specializes in small-scale espionage and destabilization.” Kafka’s heart was pounding as Stelle’s eyes pierced her soul. Her adrenaline was spiking but she didn't know why. “We’ve taken similar jobs for other groups, this was just another one.”

She took a step towards Stelle, and then another. Kafka could see every single muscle of hers ready to bolt or fight, the younger woman just hadn't decided yet. “Come with us Stelle, come with me. I won't let anything happen to you.”

Stelle looked at the goons. She looked at Topaz. She looked into Kafka's eyes. She let out all the air in her lungs almost as if she was deflating. Stelle looked up at Kafka with a defeated smirk. “Can I at least get one last kiss? You're supposed to give those to people you betray.”

Kafka took the last step and then she was next to Stelle. She cupped the younger woman’s face as Stelle leaned into it, looking at her with her big golden eyes. She really was cute.

Their lips met, their breath mingled. Stelle's breathing hitched as Kafka's tongue pressed against her lips, her teeth, and at last her tongue. When Kafka came away they were both breathless and wearing Kafka’s pink lipstick.

And then Stelle pounced. Before Kafka or any IPC personnel could react, Stelle grabbed Kafka and spun her around. One of her arms wrapped around Kafka pinning her arms to her side, preventing her from pulling her own weapons out, while her other hand pulled a knife from god knows where. The sharp edge of the blade was cool against Kafka's neck. Stelle raised her voice. “Let me go, or else your very talented espionage specialist is going to bleed out in the gutter.”

The IPC goons froze, Topaz didn't. She pulled out her own gun and immediately shot Stelle in the shoulder. Kafka felt the impact. Blood splashed onto her face, hot against the cold rain. Stelle stumbled backwards and Kafka got clear.

Topaz stepped forward and fired again, this time hitting Stelle in the chest. Stelle fell to her knees and Topaz took one final step, leveling her gun at the Mafia daughter's heart. “Sorry things turned out like this, kid.”

And then Topaz shot Stelle one last time and walked back to her car. Kafka watched the younger woman fall back, dark red blood mixing with the flowing water on the street. Stelle’s eyes were half closed when they met hers, their usual vibrant golden hue now a dark yellow as the light was leaving them. “Why do you… look so… sc…”

Stelle’s final words were cut short as her body went limp and all life left her.

“Are you coming?” Topaz called from the car. When Kafka didn't respond, Topaz sighed dramatically enough to be heard over the rain at a distance. “I'll send a car when you call for one.”

Following their project manager, all the other goons got into their cars and drove off into the rainy night.

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Sparkle heard the gunshots before she made it to the mouth of the alleyway. Her arms and knees burned and bled from the falls she had taken running away from her guard, but she kept running until she burst out into the open. Kafka was standing there, and Stelle was lying in the street with her blood washing away down the gutter. Sparkle dove for Stelle, scraping her knees all over again on the wet asphalt as Kafka stared dumbly. 

“Hey, grey hair! Get up, we have to go!” Holding Stelle, she felt how warm she still was. There was a hole in her shoulder and two in her chest and yet she was still so warm that Sparkle could have lied to herself that Stelle was faking, that they were about to go home, maybe climb into a bath because they were so wet and cold. Then they would curl up together in warm pajamas and blankets to watch one of Stelle’s old movies, because Sparkle chose the restaurant, which wouldn’t have subtitles and Stelle would translate every line of dialogue with an exaggerated Italian accent, and would probably throw some fakes in there to fuck with her.

That’s what was going to happen. That was the plan for the night. “Anata… Stelle… please…”

Kafka just stood there in the rain, silent but for the sound of her breathing. Stelle’s lips were stained pink with the remnants of Kafka’s lipstick. Sparkle brought her forehead to Stelle’s, and when she came away she too had the same pink-stained lips. Kafka cleared her throat, and Sparkle saw it then. The traces of emotions not known to Kafka but written on every inch of her face.

“What are you scared of, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Scared?” The “spider woman” as Sparkle had called her what felt like ages ago now had a dawning light in her eyes. “Oh. That’s what this feeling is.”

It started as a chuckle, then a bark. Then Sparkle laughed despite herself. She laughed and she laughed and she laughed and laughed until her voice was hoarse and the tears were streaming down her face. She held Stelle’s cooling body close. 

“I was ready to give her to you. Wasn’t that enough? Her love, her adoration, all of that was yours to have freely. So why did you have to take her life? The one thing she had to give me, the one thing that was mine and mine alone.”

When Kafka didn’t speak, Sparkle couldn’t help but fall into another grief-stricken laughing fit. “I’m sorry.” Kafka finally said.

Through her laughter, Sparkle managed to get her handbag open and find what she was looking for. She pulled out her snub-nosed revolver, and Kafka quickly pulled her own guns on Sparkle. She laughed again. “Relax, this isn’t for you.”

Sparkle loaded a singular bullet into the cylinder. “I told her I’d follow her anywhere she went no matter what. As a mob wife it’s only right, after all.” And with that simple proclamation, before Kafka could do anything, Sparkle put the gun under her jaw. “I’ll tell her you said hello when I get to hell.”

She squeezed the trigger.

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And Kafka was left alone with two dead bodies in the rain.

She stayed like that for god knows how long, watching as the blood from the dead women mixed with the rainwater, separate blood trails joining as one as they meandered their way into the gutter and towards the storm drains. Maybe that’s all hell was, the storm drains where your blood finally mingled with those you couldn’t have.

Maybe that was the thought that finally broke her. Kafka pulled out her phone, dialing Silver Wolf’s newest phone number without having much conscious thought at all.

“You’re going to catch a cold if you don’t find an umbrella or something.” a sardonic voice said without preamble. 

Of course Silver Wolf was watching somehow. She had once bragged to Kafka how even though she rarely stepped outside for anything other than moving safe houses, she’d been to more places in the world than Kafka, Blade, and Firefly combined. “Do you want me to tip someone off to come get their bodies?”

“Are you done making the exit plan file?”

“You mean the one that’s a threat that guarantees us our safety from the IPC after this job so they don’t treat us like loose ends to clean up? Yes I’m done making it, I was done making it like a week after we took this job. If anything, I’ve just been tweaking it as I find more and more dirt on them. At this point it’s more of a hydrogen bomb than it is an exit plan.” Silver Wolf’s dry, sarcastic tone faded as warriness crept in and took its place. “Why?”

“I just…” Kafka didn’t know why she was about to do this, but somehow it was the only path she could see out. She felt sick to her stomach, she was hyperventilating, and in all likelihood this new emotion of hers was sending her into shock. “Give it to her brother, tell him I'm sorry. She wasn't supposed to die, none of them were. They're all more useful to the IPC alive than they are dead, and yet…”

The pause on the other end of the line seemed to last forever, until finally, “Are you really sure you want to do this? It might fuck us all.”

When Kafka didn’t respond, Silver Wolf sighed.

“I’ll send it. Depending on what happens I might not talk to everyone for a while, I'll contact you when it's safe again.” The line went dead, and Kafka knew that whatever she had done couldn’t be walked back any longer.

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The first thing Caelus had done when they pulled up was to swipe his credit card at the gas pump, the second was to pull the nozzle from its nest, and the third was to grab his lighter. Firefly appreciated that her childhood friend turned situationship’s first instinct was to improvise a flame thrower when out of better options. 

She hadn’t removed her helmet yet, as she didn’t want to make things any more awkward or uncomfortable than they were already going to be. Once they took Caelus in she’d ask for some private time with him, explain that, while yes she was in fact part of a group that came to covertly extract information from them, she hadn’t realized that he or Stelle had known what it was their parents did for a living. 

Regardless, the original plan was that she and her friends were going to ensure that nothing bad happened to either of them while they were in IPC custody. They’d be taken to safe houses far, far away from here once the whole destabilizing a crime empire business was finished.

If she played her cards right, she might even come out of this whole situation with her childhood friends having a positive opinion of her. As long as neither of them were harmed in the whole affair, she was reasonably sure she stood a chance.

“Why don't you put the gas hose back where it belongs, and I'll promise neither you nor your sister will be hurt.” Jade said after a moment.

“Ah man, you guys are after her too? What guarantees do I have that you'll keep your word?” Caelus was clearly eyeing all the IPC mooks and probably doing his own risk assessment. 

“I never break my word.” Jade looked at Firefly and smiled. “But if it makes you feel any better, I can have my team draft up a contract and my driver here will bring it over to you.”

Firefly silently nodded. Caelus looked back and forth between the two. He finally sighed, resignation clear in his voice. “Alright, send them over.”

It only took Jade a couple minutes to prepare everything on a tablet before she sent Firefly over with it. Firefly handed it to Caelus who quickly read through it. When he was done he handed it back to Firefly.

“I still have some concerns, such as what will be our accommodations, a guarantee for the safety of our parents…” he clearly thought about something and laughed. “And a nearby toilet for me, morning sickness is a bitch.”

“What??” The word slipped before Firefly could stop it, and Caelus's head whipped towards her.

“No fucking way.” His gaze pierced her helmet, made her feel naked, exposed, and unbelievably guilty. “Please tell me that's not you, Firefly.” 

Firefly stayed frozen as his fingers gently slipped under her helmet and pulled it from her head. Her hair cascaded down around her face in a way that would have been attractive if not for the fact that Caelus wore a look of betrayal as intense as her own look of guilt. She could barely get out her choked response “Sorry.”

“Don't be too hard on her.” Jade’s voice seeped in like a sweet poison in the rain. “The IPC owns her artificial heart, and we’re the only ones who can maintain it. No other company or back alley doctor, no matter how skilled, could manage it. That's how we designed it after all.”

Before Caelus could do or say anything else, his phone chimed. He looked at Jade. “Surely you won't have me shot for checking my texts, right?”

“By all means, feel free.”

Caelus pulled it out, eyes scanning the screen. He paused, as if he was unsure what he was looking at. Then Firefly watched the light in his golden eyes go dark, any tension or defiance in his body deflated. 

In one second he went from being ready to take on the entire world to looking dead inside. He typed something on his phone before he dropped it onto the wet concrete, and with barely a pause he stomped on it again and again and again. 

Firefly, the IPC goons, and even Jade were taken aback by the ferocity Caelus used to destroy the phone. Light had returned to his eyes, but it wasn't anything resembling life. It was just white hot fury and hatred. He was panting by the time he was finished and his voice came out a snarl. “My sister, my other half, the best parts of me, is fucking dead.”

Firefly's heart dropped into her stomach. No, it wasn't supposed to be like this. The two of them were supposed to be safe. They weren't supposed to get hurt. If anything happened to either of them, her world may as well end. She couldn't bring herself to say anything, she could only stare at Caelus's face, once identical to Stelle's, twisted by rage to the point where he was almost unrecognizable.

“That… wasn't supposed to happen.”  Jade finally said.

That withering gaze slowly turned towards Firefly. She had to say something, anything. “I just wanted to protect both of you.” She managed to choke out.

“You sure did a great fucking job.” Caelus had a humorless bark of laughter. “Honestly if I knew this was going to be the end result, I wouldn't have asked Nanook to pay for your treatment when we were kids.”

She looked into his eyes, and there was no love, no tenderness for Firefly in Caelus's gaze. Only all consuming hatred. “I wish you had fucking died in that hospital.”

One of the IPC goons’ phones dinged, then another, and another after that. Then Jade’s rang and it was a never ending torrent of notifications. Some of the goons looked and their faces suddenly filled with shock and horror. Jade looked at her own notifications and her face crystalized cold anger. “Should I assume you're responsible for this?”

“Is it about a streamer leaking all the IPC’s dirty secrets? I'm glad Guinaifen already put it to good use.” Caelus now wore a grin with zero mirth.

“She's associated with the jituans if memory serves.” Jade’s own gentle, calculating smile was gone. “Firefly, come here.”

“Enjoy your board meeting tomorrow.” Caelus taunted.

Not even bothering to respond, Jade turned towards the car as soon as Firefly was by her side. “Shoot him.” 

Firefly whipped around but the IPC forces had already opened fire. The bullets rocked Caelus, riddling his body full of holes, but as he fell he looked almost at peace. He was joining his other half.

“Firefly, please return me to Pier Point. I'll have to make preparations to speak to the board.” Firefly was numb. Everything was too much, and all she could do through shock was to open the car’s door for Jade. “If that pregnancy was due to your own involvement with him, I do sincerely apologize.”

Later, Firefly would realize she couldn't recall ever driving Jade back to Pier Point. She couldn't recall much of the following days either.

.

.

.

.

When Aventurine and his team finally managed to breach the grounds of Nanook and Akivili's mansion, they had already donned full gas masks due to the “metric fuck ton,” as he would put it, of tear gas deployed against them. Due to that, none of the team noticed the fact that the manor absolute reeked of kerosene fumes.

There was a loud clack of a flip phone being shut violently from what Aventurine surmised was a sitting room when he turned towards it to see Akivili and Nanook sitting in high backed chairs on either end of an unlit fireplace staring directly at him. “Just the two I was hoping to speak to.”

“If you're here, should we assume that the rest of our people are dead?” Nanook asked.

“You Annihilation Gang folks can sure put up a hell of a fight, especially that Celenova.” It was true, Aventurine had lost about seventy percent of his forces just getting to the mansion. “Those we could take alive we did, but that wasn't many of them.”

“That's a shame, I really admired her.” Akivili sighed, slouching over in their chair as they pulled out an old lighter to fiddle with.  

Nanook looked at them with a raised eyebrow. “You hated the way she did things.”

“That doesn't mean I didn't admire her determination.” Akivili responded simply. 

“Regardless of the tragic circumstances of our meeting, all I was hoping for was to talk to you about a real estate proposal.” Aventurine held up his hand, leaving his forces in the foyer as he entered the sitting room alone. “I do deeply regret it took all this to get to this point.”

Akivili looked at him incredulously. “You did all this… to build a mall on our turf?”

“Not a mall per se, but we do have quite a vested interest in the area.” Aventurine smiled, now standing before the two of them. “Assuming we can come to an agreement, all of this unsavory business can come to an end this instant.”

Akivili and Nanook looked at each other and sighed. Nanook turned their gaze to Aventurine, staring into his soul. “Tell me boy, do you have any children of your own?”

“Can't say that's my thing, no.”

“It was difficult for us to bring them into this world to begin with, and even then the pregnancy was riddled with complications.” Akivili looked like they would have put a hand on their spouse’s shoulder while Nanook told the story if they could reach them. “Near the end, the three of us barely held on.”

“I admire your perseverance.” Aventurine said honestly.

“Those two are our everything, our twin stars for whom we have built this entire empire to eventually gift to them.” Akivili said, turning their dull gaze to Aventurine as well.

Nanook took a deep breath in and out as if they were about to reveal the secrets of the world. “And now those stars have been extinguished at the hands of your corporation.”

Oh. Well fuck, that wasn't the plan at all. Aventurine wanted to say something to try and get the odds of the situation even slightly in his favor but Akivili spoke before he could.

“Now that our little stars have gone out, we might as well let this entire empire burn and hope the ashes choke everyone responsible to death.”

The two crime lords clasped hands across the fireplace. Akivili struck the flint wheel of the lighter and dropped it, the flame igniting the very air around it as it fell. It struck the ground, the fire spreading so fast Aventurine didn't even have time to process what was happening. When the flames found the collections of explosives Nanook had set around the house, the concussive force ripped through every last IPC member until no one was left to witness the mansion becoming a fireball climbing towards the heavens, a funeral pyre memorializing the twin stars Nanook and Akivili would have given everything for.

At last, the awful night came to an end.

.

.

.

.

The following weeks were consequences and fallout on all sides of the conflict. Thanks to Caelus’s choice to send all the dirt Silver Wolf had given him to a streamer affiliated with one of the Xianzhou jituans, the story had been spun that their family had been embroiled in a real estate scheme managed by an IPC affiliated company. 

Many people correctly inferred it was a shell corporation and that there was more involved than that, but the majority of people only knew the narrative the Xianzhou was selling. A couple of art dealers who had come from nothing and were heavily involved in philanthropy and giving back to their communities had died in a house fire and their children had been shot all on the same night, all because the IPC wanted the real estate of the community they supported. 

They had died as heroes and shining examples of how good people could be, not as the horrifying crime lords they actually were.

Silver Wolf paid the price for supplying that dirt, though. Despite being at one of her many safehouses, they lost contact within a few days and she was found having apparently committed suicide. 

The Loufu group, despite only being involved in the political and financial worlds, had their own ways of dealing with things. They had apparently lost patience with their former member Blade the night that the fiance of one of the young scions of the clan died. So Blade vanished, and Kafka couldn’t find any trace. 

IPC stock had fallen significantly, sinking 35% in a single week. Several subsidiary companies went out of business all at once, including some supermarkets that had pushed all local competition out of the space. Their shareholders tried to replace Diamond as CEO, but for whatever reason the push for that ended the next day. 

Due to Kafka and Firefly’s potential involvement with the whole situation, Kafka had expected them to need to go underground. Much to her surprise though, whether out of recognition for their contributions or in an effort to keep them on a leash, the two of them had been offered jobs with the company. 

Firefly was offered the position of being the Board of Directors’ personal driver, a job she was guaranteed to excel in. After a long deliberation, she agreed to the position when lifetime maintenance and support for her artificial heart was included in the benefits package. 

As for Kafka, after a long and grueling session of questioning as to why immediately prior to Silver Wolf giving Caelus a nuclear warhead of scandal material she had called the woman, she was offered the chance to be a head of one of their new departments focused on “market research”. It was really just more corporate espionage and Kafka knew it. 

She rejected the offer and went into hiding, not wanting to be included in any last minute loose end trimming that the IPC may have felt it needed to perform so they could focus on stock recovery. 

Kafka would eventually go on to write a tell-all autobiography about her experiences with the espionage, the charming mafia princess, and the personal tragedies of the characters in the halcyon days before the IPC had completely consumed the city. She lived in a little cottage in the forest where no one could ever bother her unless she wanted them to, and that’s where she spent the rest of her days. She knew fear, she had known and lost love, and now she was learning to make peace with her soul.

And that was really all she could do after everything. 

They had finished the job.

[ellethespaceunicorn]

Sometimes The Silence Guides A Mind

Title: Sometimes The Silence Guides A Mind

Rating: Explicit, 18+, Minors - DNI

Pairing: Sherlock Holmes x Reader

Fandom: Enola Holmes series

Word Count: 1.7K

Summary: As you were getting close to Sherlock, he stops visiting. You pop over to Baker Street and share an eye-opening moment.

Warnings: age gap(reader is about 20 in this, Sherlock is mid-30s), slight voyeurism, masturbation (male), handjob, unprotected p-in-v sex (wrap it up y’all), creampie

A/N: I’ve been throwing around this idea about Sherlock for quite some time. I hope you enjoy it. Unbeta’d, we die like people who tried their best.

Dividers by: @firefly-graphics

Support/Reblog banner by me

Cover Art by me

My Masterlist 

You’ve been friends with Enola for a short time, only since the beginning of the year. She’s led you on a few fun adventures, but more often than not, she’s led you on wild goose chases. She has helped you come out of your shell and you are grateful for that. On days that you weren’t exploring the countryside or causing a ruckus in the city, you would lounge around her large house. 

Spending time with her in her large house had its benefits. One of which was 6’1 with a head of unruly curls. The famous Sherlock Holmes was your best friend’s big brother. He lived in the city but came to visit Enola every week. 

You always made sure to be available on those days. If only for the chance to say hello to Sherlock. You wanted more but, truth be told, he made you a bit nervous.

You tried your best to keep calm when he would arrive, but Enola noticed your demeanor change every time. She teased you endlessly about your little crush and you would always bring up Tewkesbury. That would usually shut her up.

In truth, she did not care that you liked her brother, she just didn’t want you to waste your time. The man was not exactly sociable unless he found value in the opinions of others. One opinion he respected was that of his sister. You could sit and watch them talk for hours. She would get him to laugh with her jokes, and he would bring her to annoyance with his riddles.

You would interject a thought here and there and when Sherlock would give his attention to you, you froze. Something about the look in his eyes, it was more than attention. It was intense as if the two of you were the only ones in the world let alone the room.

More than once, Enola had cleared her throat loudly to get you and Sherlock’s attention back on her. But sometimes, she would just listen to you ramble on while Sherlock seemed enthralled in your thoughts. You mused about music and how interesting you thought his cases were. The more you spoke with him, the more comfortable you felt around him. 

Sherlock would show up now and then with little trinkets from his cases. At first, it was just things for Enola, but soon he would start bringing you little gifts as well. He started small with a single flower or a tasty treat from his favorite bakery. But soon, his gifts grew oddly specific. He bought you a brooch you had mentioned seeing at a store in the city. He would learn pieces of music from a composer you talked about and play it for you, much to the chagrin of Enola who wasn’t a fan of the violin.

It was when he didn’t visit for two weeks that you started to realize you were developing feelings for the older detective. You’d come to enjoy his presence and not because of his gifts. You just enjoyed seeing his face light up when he saw you. You relished the power you felt when the normally unflappable and distant man would sit enthralled when you gave voice to your thoughts. 

So, why did it stop so suddenly? Had you done something to offend him? 

You wracked your brain and Enola’s brain for that matter. She gave you his address so you could go and talk to him and she could finally be free of your fretting. 

You arrive at 221 Baker Street, your hands trembling as you knock on the main door. A sweet woman opens the door and introduces herself as Ms. Hudson. When you ask to speak to Sherlock, she sends you up the steps to 221B.

As you’re about to knock, a man opens the door and almost collides with you.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. May I help you, Miss?” 

“Ehm, I’m here to see Mr. Holmes…but I can come back if that’s–” You are cut off when he speaks again.

“You wouldn’t happen to be friends with Enola, would you?” You nod, giving your name, “Of course, Sherlock mentioned you. I’m Dr. John Watson, and I have to be going but you are more than welcome to come in. Sherlock is just in his room down the hall.” He points around the corner from the door and walks past you before waving goodbye.

So, that’s how you end up in Sherlock’s apartment. It is eerily quiet and you think he might be asleep. That is until you hear soft moans coming from down the hall. Your first thought is it must have been the floorboards creaking under your feet.

What you hear next is the unmistakable sound of your name followed by a whimper. It sounded like Sherlock was calling to you, but how would he know you were here already? You walk down the hallway quietly and see that his bedroom door is slightly ajar.

Peeking in, you are blessed with a sight! Sherlock is laid out on his bed with his shirt and waistcoat open, his hairy chest on full display as it rises and falls quickly. His beautiful face constricted in pain one second, solemn and peaceful in the next. His curls are a sweaty mess on his forehead. One hand is fisting the sheets at his side and the other hand is wrapped around his thick veiny dick. You’re mesmerized watching him stroke himself until you hear him moan your name again.

In a moment of bravery, you step into the room. Your bosom heaves in your bodice as you breathe shallowly, adrenaline coursing through your veins. 

His hand stops its ministrations and he looks to you as you walk towards him. He’s frozen on the spot and can only watch you as you climb atop the bed and lay next to him. You replace his hand with yours and continue to pump his dick. Your hand barely fits around him and you enjoy the feel of his soft uncut length in your hand.

His hands come up to caress your face and pull you down for a kiss. When his tongue begs for entry, you allow it in. Heatedly, you mold your mouth to his, letting your moans and whimpers be consumed by him. Breaking the kiss, he looks into your eyes and you can tell he is close.

You remove your hand from him and stand up from the bed. It is only when you remove your undergarments does Sherlock understand why you stopped. Climbing back on the bed, you settle yourself with your cunt dripping onto him.

“I want you to be certain that you–” You cut him off as you slink down, his velvety smoothness sliding inside your wet heat. You take a moment to get used to the sheer size of him. He stretches you almost painfully. Leaning down, you whisper into his ear.

“Do I seem certain, Mr. Holmes?”

Instead of an answer, Sherlock groans and twitches inside you. His hands travel under your skirt and rest on your hips. You take that as a sign and sit up. With your hands on his chest, you begin to ride him slowly, agonizingly to the point where his hands start to guide you to a quicker pace. 

Using you like a ragdoll, he flips you so he is atop you while you are on your back. He slams into you repeatedly and you are no longer in control. He savors the sounds coming from you as he fucks into you. He urges you on as he kisses and licks and nips at your neck, careful not to leave any marks.

Pulling out, he moves you to your hands and knees before inserting himself again. The angle allows him to go deeper and you thank the Gods for it. As he holds onto you, he hammers into you. The filthy utterances that come from his mouth only serve to solidify the notion that he missed you too.

“I knew you would feel like Heaven, my sweet angel…”

“This pretty pussy belongs to me now…”

“You would look so perfect with my cum dripping out of you…”

“I could fuck you all day and night and still never get enough of you…”

“Be my good angel and come all over my cock,” He reaches down and rubs your clit between two fingers as he plows into you. You never stood a chance, your walls quivering around him within moments, “That’s my good girl. So good…for me. Fuck, so close!”

“Sherlock, please! Need you to fill me with all you have to give!” You surprise yourself and your lover with those words. 

Sherlock’s answering grunts as he makes mincemeat of your pussy are music to your ears. His punishing thrusts falter and he pulls you flush to him. He’s deep enough to kiss your cervix with the tip of his dick. You feel him swell inside you and it’s enough to make you climax again, milking him through his release. 

And the noises he makes when he comes are more intricate than the 24 Caprices. You’re sure that Sherlock would disagree but you don’t even care. You revel in the melody of his moans and surrender to its hold on you.

Sherlock’s hands roam over your back, your hips, your ass, and your thighs. As if he can’t get enough of you. He doesn’t pull out until you wiggle your hips, a sign that your legs are tired. Extricating himself from your sensitive folds allows his spend to escape. He catches what slips free and pushes it all back in before helping you lay down on your front.

He lays down next to you, pulling you close to him with one arm while the other rests behind his head. He looks so peaceful as he closes his eyes and hums. The feminine urge for pillow talk is high, but so is the need to just bask in this moment.

You’re in the arms of the man you care for, who also adores you. You rest your cheek on his shoulder and tangle your fingers in his chest hair. You breathe in his smell, his pheromones are surely on high alert from your activity. When he rests his head against yours, you feel at peace.

You do plan on talking to Sherlock later about everything. But, for now, you can take pleasure in the simplicity of the harmonization of your heartbeats.

A/N: The title of this fic is taken from The Neighborhood’s Sweater Weather. There is an amazing violin version of this song by Joel Sunny. And anything violin makes me think of Sherlock.

A/N: Also, I know Ms. Hudson wasn't featured in Enola Holmes, but I love her as a character and I wanted to use her.

**Tag List**

@brattymum96 @ambinxe @avengersfan25 @kebabgirl67

@astheskycries @enchantedbytomandhenry @rebelangel1102

Let me know if you wanna be added (or removed) 😁

[u3pxx]

omg i have to emerge from screaming in your tags (my sideblog is suckishima) to tell you directly how much i absolutely adore your art and art style!! i just can't get over how well you capture each and every character, they feel so canon and authentic and your art itself is soo aaah I wish I had a better vocabulary to describe, but it's so, shaped?? and the colors and shading and ooo the line work waah, it's so distinct and fits everyone so well. i still find myself thinking about the piece you did with tsukki and yamaguchi with like the fireflies SO pretty. and then your chibi stickers sheet???? immaculate. anyway i love you art tysm for sharing it

ahhh goodness, thank you so much for the very kind words!! 🥺🥺🥺💖💖💖💖 i always adore when ppl ramble in the tags on the stuff i draw and it's always been such a treat reading yours <3 i haven't been having the best art days recently so this was such a boost LOL <33

[biblicallyinaccuratespoons]

everyone say hi to Beans!

This is my Twili son , and i love him so much

(Traditional art of him below my ramblings)

Frulle of @linked-maze has wonderfully answered all my dumb questions, and thanks to them, my twili's name is Beans!!

also i'm sorry about the firefly, i just think it's neat and that he would like it! also the markings are strange but i love them

He's a farmer, and he mainly grows twili-wheat and takes care of "Vesper" the twili-cows!! he does grow other things, but that is what he mainly does.

he originally was quite thin from when he was first getting his farm up and running. he was quite poor and only had two Vesper and a couple wild wheat seeds to his name, and not much to eat. he foraged for a while until his Vesper started producing milk and he could make cheese and had good harvests and could make bread, he started getting tubby. he's pretty proud of how he looks, since it shows other twilis that the food he grows is good! he's made enough money to buy a small house instead of the little hut he started off with!!

i may give him a partner later on (but i feel like my gf will laugh too hard at the red haired love interest for him) (long story, inside joke, only mentioned for if they see this)

apologies for the weird blobs covering my fingers lmao

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH YOUR HONOUR

[kpopcafeeee]

📷✧ 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙻𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝙲𝚊𝚗’𝚝 𝙲𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 ✧📸

✦ 𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝙽𝚊 𝙹𝚊𝚎𝚖𝚒𝚗 × 𝙵𝚎𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚎 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

✦ 𝚂𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚢: 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝𝚜, 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜, 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚞𝚜𝚎, 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚊, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚟𝚊𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚝.

✦ 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: 𝙰𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝, 𝙵𝚕𝚞𝚏𝚏, 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠-𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗, 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎

✦ 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜: 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚜, 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚟𝚞𝚕𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘�� 𝚐𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝/𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝, 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐

✦ 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚜: 𝙾𝚗𝚎-𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚝

📸 — ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔! *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ — 📸 — ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 *:✧ — 📸

after you left, Jaemin’s photos stopped looking like real life. He tried. He photographed strangers. Models. Faces that looked almost like yours in the cheekbones, in the eyes, in the way they smiled without meaning it. But they never looked like you.

Before the silence. You and Jaemin met when you were seven. Both scraped your knees falling off the same tire swing, and you yelled at him for crying “like a baby.” He followed you around the playground after that. You let him. Eventually. He was the quiet kid who took pictures of clouds and ants with a beat up point and shoot camera. You were the loud one with chalk stained fingers and wild paint ideas. You called yourself “an artistic visionary” in the fifth grade. He called you “delusional.” You stayed inseparable.

Middle school blurred into high school, and by then, people already thought you were dating. You weren’t. But he drove you home. You doodled on his arms. He took your photos without asking always at the right time: when you weren’t posing. When you were laughing with your head tilted back or wiping paint off your nose with the back of your hand. He never said it aloud, but you were his muse before you were anything else.

In high school, you crushed on people Hard. Especially the boy from art club with the tattoos and sleepy eyes named yuta nakamoto. The one who complimented your color theory and offered you gum every Thursday. You talked about him too much eyes dreamy, lips smiling. Jaemin hated him on sight. He never told you. But the more you rambled about other boys, the more silent he grew. The more he picked at his thumbnails. The more photos he didn’t show you. He swore he wasn’t the jealous type. Until he realized he wasn’t just your best friend anymore. He wanted to be the one you painted for. It happened the summer you were sixteen. After a neighborhood cookout, you and Jaemin wandered back to your house, stomachs full, shoes in your hands. “I’m gonna wash up,” you said, stretching with a yawn. “I’ll walk you around the side.”

The sky was still fading. The fireflies blinked lazily as you rounded the garage, barefoot in the grass, laughter trailing between you. Then you stopped behind the building the one spot the motion light never reached. You turned toward him, smile soft. “Hey,” you asked out of nowhere, “have you ever kissed anyone?” He blinked “No.” Jaemin said. “Me neither.” You say. The silence turned dense, warm. You stepped in a little closer. “Wanna try?” He hesitated for half a second. Then nodded.

You both leaned in slow, unsure lips brushing for the first time like it was something fragile. It wasn’t perfect. Your noses bumped. His fingers twitched. But it was soft, Real. When you pulled back, you were smiling, breathless. “That was… not bad.” He didn’t smile. Instead, he said, “You should stop talking about that guy from art club.” Your eyebrows lifted. “Why?” “Because he’s not the one who kissed you behind a garage.” He answers. You grinned, heart thumping. “Fair point.” You didn’t talk about it again. But that kiss? Neither of you forgot it.

The gallery was loud with chatter Bright lights, Jazz. But Jaemin stopped walking the second he saw you. You were standing with Jeno Laughing. And you were in front of that photo the one Jaemin had taken of the empty chair outside his room. The chair you used to sit in when you painted with your legs tucked under you, rambling about color tones and dreams and things you were scared to say out loud. You didn’t know it, but that photo was you. Jaemin walked over without thinking. You turned and your breath caught. “Wait,” Jeno said, blinking between you two, “you guys know each other?” Jaemin didn’t look away from you. “We used to.” Jeno froze. Then nodded slowly. “I’ll, uh… go look around.”

Once he was gone, you said it soft and guilty. “I didn’t think you’d ever want to see me again.” “I didn’t think you’d give me the chance,” Jaemin replied. “You’re mad.” You say “I was more than mad. I waited. I called. I thought you’d say goodbye.” He says You look down. “I couldn’t. If I talked to you, I wouldn’t have gone.” “So disappearing was easier?” He says clearly hurt

“No. It just… felt like the only way.” You said with guilt in your voice Jaemin stared at you. “You were my best friend. My first kiss. My everything.”Your voice cracked. “I know. And I hated myself for leaving like that. I still do.” A pause. He swallowed hard. “You and Jeno?” He asked You shook your head fast. “No. Just a friend. He doesn’t know anything about us.”Jaemin nodded slowly. “I still have your photo. The one from the fountain. The last time you smiled like you loved me.” Jaemin said

Later that night Jeno waited for Jaemin outside the gallery. “You good?” he asked carefully. “No,” Jaemin answered honestly. “But I think I will be.” “I didn’t know it was her.” Jeno said “I know.” Jaemin answered “She talked about someone, though. Said there was a boy she left behind who ruined dating for her.” Jaemin looked at him. “I figured it was a metaphor,” Jeno said. “Didn’t know it was you.” A pause. “I’m not mad,” Jeno added. “But… if you still want her, you should go get her.”

The Café

You were early. Of course. Jaemin slid into the seat across from you, quiet for a few seconds. Then he pulled something from his backpack. An old SD card. You tilted your head. “What’s that?” He pushed it toward you. “The last photo I took of you.” You popped it into your laptop. It was you, at sixteen, sunlight in your hair, paint-stained shirt, sitting on the edge of the fountain in your backyard. A daisy tucked behind your ear. You stared at it. “I remember that day,” you said quietly. “You were talking about dreams. And I thought mine looked like you.”

You reached into your bag, pulled out a small canvas, and handed it to him. It was a painting of Jaemin, asleep on your couch, camera clutched in his hand You smiled. “I painted that when I missed you too much to sleep.” He stared at it Then at you “Do you still love me?” he asked softly. “I never stopped.” Jaemin exhaled. Reaching across the table. Taking your hand “Let’s start over.”

And later still… He took new photos, In his apartment. With you in his hoodie, coffee in your hand, your smile a little older but no less bright. This time, when he clicked the shutter, you didn’t disappear. You stayed. You stayed.

And finally He captured something real again.

💖📸 — 𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚔! 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍 💫 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 — 📸💖

𝙼𝙰𝙳𝙴 𝙱𝚈 ©𝙺𝙿𝙾𝙿𝙲𝙰𝙵𝙴𝙴𝙴

𝙿𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙴 𝙳𝙾 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝙲𝙾𝙿𝚈𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃, 𝙾𝚁 𝙿𝙻𝙰𝙶𝙸𝙰𝚁𝙸𝚂𝙴!

[drfirefly08]

one day i'll actually post about my yumeship on this site. today is not that day i have other things to do

[firefly-factory]

Astorvember Day 8: MALICE

Y'all this piece was a STRUGGLE to get done (mainly because I kept getting distracted by my own headcanons but also because the drawing program froze when I was doing the final panel T-T)

Anyways, Astor's a little older here than when we last saw him and he's . . . doing great??

Spent a long time on the panels where it's him and Herod looking at each other because I really wanted to highlight their physical similarities (because even though he never acted like it, Herod is Astor's father).

Also, whoever cropped Herod's ears did a terrible job lmao.

And I decided that since we're still a ways away from Ganon's active influence in this timeline I wanted to use the more dictionary definition of "malice." Which lead to this interesting interaction <3

[thg-rcg-simps]

HSR 2nd Anniversary Animatic; Character Masterpost (Part 2)

A breakdown which characters are seen where and when in the new animatic, soley based on characters, not story, song, lyrics, etc... Also this post is basically just Jing Yuan/High Cloud Quintet simping with their Rockstar AU hehe

Original animatic

(The whole thing is rather long so if you're intressted I'm suggesting checking out the entire list haha)

Previous part, Next part

You can skip over my rambles and only watch out for the Pictures/Time/Character stamps if you prefer that, also characters are always listed from left to right ^^

(Art on any picture seen is not mine and might be of bad quality due to it being screenshots)

14. Caelus has very pretty eyelashes and a very goofy smile, a trilogy

Time: 1:00-1:03 Character: Caelus (Trailblaizer)

15. Stelle on the other hand is just pretty and enjoying the astral view

Time: 1:05 Characters: Stelle (Trailblaizer)

16. Stelle's girlfriend looks absolutley stunning in this Celebrity AU (๑✪ᆺ✪๑)

Time: 1:09-1:10 Character: Firefly

16.1 Her shoes are very on point as well (hehe)

Time: 1:07 Character: Firefly

17. To the absolute delight this scene is!!! (I'll warn that this segment has by far the most photos and perhaps you can tell why, nontheless I have selected only the best haha) This rock star AU fits sooooo well!!

Time: 1:13 Character: Jing Yuan, Jingliu, Yingxing, Dan Feng

17.1 A little more of Jing Yuan's face because we sadly don't see a whole lot of it but, the emotions, the boy is feeling it!

Time: 1:13 Character: Jing Yuan, Jingliu, Yingxing, Dan Feng

18. Look at them, I know it's not a full shot of our husbando but like, it looks so cool! Not only him, look at Dan Feng in the backround, and Jingliu rocking on stage!

Time: 1:14 Character: Jingliu, Jing Yuan, Dan Feng

18.1 This point is kinda just to simp about Jing Yuan (and his hands) while he is holding a legendary guitair and looking amazing as ever <3

Time: 1:11-1:13 Character: Jing Yuan (hands)

18.2 More of Jingliu rocking the stage (and Dan Feng looking like he isn't but that's just his default setting, I'm promising he's having fun, probably) ^^

Time: 1:14 Character: Jingliu, Dan Feng

18.3 I love them so so much, but why can't we have at least one shot where all 5 are actually on it, happy and alive? T-T Whoever desinged their outfits did amzing tho, it really feels like them!

Time: 1:14 Character: Yingxing, Baiheng, Dan Feng, Jingliu

19. Obviously Baiheng gets her own point because, look at the happy girly! Her jacket looks absolutley stunning too, and she's just such a happy bean <3

Time: 1:15-1:16 Character: Baiheng

20. You know what is best than the High Cloud Quintet giving a rock concert? My precious children attending it and be all on one place and being happy!! <3

Time: 1:16 Characters: Silver Wolf, Bailu, Huohuo, Guinaifen, Clara, Pela, Lynx, Tribbie (+Trinnon, Trianne), Sushang, Little Herta

19.1 And because one picture is never enough to express how happy this scene makes me, have more of them <3 (Also, this is your reminder to be cringe cause cringe is just having fun and fun is always more important then haters ^^)

Time: 1:16 Character: Silver Wolf, Bailu, Huohuo, Guinaifen, Clara, Pela, Lynx, Tribbie (+Trinnon, Trianne), Sushang, Little Herta

21. What's more funny than Caelus? Of course Caelus in an insanly fast moving animation! XD

Time: 1:17 Character: Caelus (Trailbleizer)

21. Guess who is back in Belabog with our most favourite Robo Dad? Was throwing his only piece of clothing of of himself, necessary? Maybe not, but he's having fun, and that's the only thing that counts ^^

Time: 1:18 Character: Svarog

22. Remember our lesbians? Here they go! Is one of them supposed to be dead and not able to be here in the normal canon? No, but I headcanon that she's a better mother now that she knows her daugher comes after her and won't use her Soulgems (or talk to the cute white kitty thing)

Time: 1:19 Characters: Asta, Bronya, Seele, Jade/Himeko, Svarog, Cocolia, Sushang

22.1 Also, the big picture itself is confusing enough and I wouldn't normally dwelve on it but Cynthia!!! (It's probably just Jade/Himeko, but Cynthia is that you??)

Time: 1:19 Character: Cynthia!!

23. Not a character shot, but pretty fireworks in Belabog ^^

Time: 1:20

(Thats it for this part, here to the next part!)

Thank you for reading, here a cookie🍪^^

-TakumiHairGuy & RikkaCatGirl

[aixeko]

/// TD;LR Erise hating on Trailblazer x Kafka [ Includes both genders, idgaf I HATE THEM ALL ] and the random slander against Childe, Aventurine and Ayato

I hate Trailblazer x Kafka with my ENTIRE SOUL. I thought I would hate Kafka and blade more considering he's heavily implied to be gay but nope.

LIKE LOOK AT THEM THEY'RE HER KIDS THEY'RE OUR KIDS. SHE BIRTHED THOSE RACCOONS. Fun fact: I had a raccoon obsession since 2022 and have been referred and symbolised as a raccoon by my friends plus my LOVE for classic music Like they're literally my children and wife 😕😕

"But Kafka called them her destiny" SHUT UP. LOOK CLOSELY. REALLY CLOSELY.

THE GAME SUPPORTS HER BEING A MOTHER FIGURE COUNTLESS TIMES. (It's the middle of the night if I must, I would continue rambling when I'm awake)

I hate the amount of art I see of them and cry inside a little when it's genuinely good art too. Like Himeko is RIGHT THERE. Leave Caelus and Stelle to firefly and march (Dan Heng too ig) omg 😭 call me possessive idc, Kafka deserves better... Himeko the only one and best choice for Kafka right now. This is coming from someone who was loud and proud about being a kafhime hater btw, I'm a changed person now. They're my darlings, I love them both to death. Literally, ahem hime ahem.

I can tolerate it enough but don't ever shove any piece of media regarding Trailblazer x Kafka into my face else I will go on a lost ass essay about the many reasons why they're so... DISTASTEFUL. They even beat my hatred for Childe, Aventurine, and Ayato (Don't come at me, it's just projection, except Ayato.) which is a great feat considering the absolute disgust I feel towards them. <- has toned down lately because of kafblaze, whatever the ship name is

[kip-kap]

Jing Yuan + Ekko Mini Comparison Yap

As I have recently watched the new season of Arcane and have slowly been getting back into HSR, I couldn't help but pick out traits/similarities between Jing Yuan and Ekko (besides their white hair lol).

Crazy Ex-friends

Obviously, for Ekko, there's Jinx. As for Jing Yuan, I think it can really switch between Jing Liu and Yingxing. Both have friend(s) who they used to be close with only to drift apart and develop different morals and groups.

Leadership

What more is there to say? Ekko is the leader of the fireflies (been a while, think that's what the group is called?) and managed to build a strong community. Jing Yuan is a general of Xianzhou and has fought many battles to protect his home planet

Doomed Family/Found Family

Doomed family - This could be grouped with the [crazy ex-friends] but I think this is a broader version? Ekko had a whole group he considered family, Benzo, Jinx, Vi, Vander, etc, only for them to be split/killed. Jing Yuan had the same thing with Bai Heng being their sunshine of their group yet is the only one to never had survived out of the five who drifted apart.

BONUS: The downfall of the groups could ironically be from a joint effort from people within their family/group itself [e.g Jinx's bomb which causes the deaths of her friends, Vi's anger with Jinx for said incident -> Dan Feng and Yingxing's attempt to revive Bai Heng which leads to Jing Liu becoming mara-struck due to her having to kill Bai Heng again...]

Found family - Despite this, Ekko and Jing Yuan still have new companions and friends. Ekko, who has a nice mentor like Heimerdinger [who refers to Ekko as "my boy"] and a clear father and son bond between Yanqing and Jing Yuan.

Nostalgia

Ekko and Jing Yuan experience nostalgia. Ekko, who looks at Jinx and thinks of Powder, or when he reunites with Vi and quickly starts bringing stuff from the past like, "I wonder where I learned that from."

Another example could be where Ekko goes to an alternate universe and meets an entire better off universe while still remembering his. He thinks back to Benzo, Jinx, Vander, Milo, etc..

DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE MEMORIALS/ART ON THE TREE..

Jing Yuan... Do I even need to talk about Jing Yuan feeling all old and nostalgic...?

Lonely

I'm gonna start rushing because I think this is becoming too long. But, the more I think about it, the more it starts to become clear to me how these two were left alone at dark times. Ekko, who knew Jinx was being guided by Silco, Vi got fricking arrested, Benzo is dead, Vander is dead, friends are dead. From that point, he's a young boy figuring shtick out for himself.

Dude, it is so clear that Jing Yuan is left behind and lives in the past. He thinks back to the days of the High Cloud Quintent. Despite everyone moving on, Dan Heng has the Express, Jing Liu doing her own adventures, and Blade with the Stellaron Hunters... Jing Yuan is still stuck at the Luofo, where it all began. And no one but the four he spent those times with will understand what they had with each other the most.

Sacrificial

To my final comparison, and my favorite, Ekko and Jing Yuan are (imo) sacrificial.

Ekko, who had the choice to stay in a happier universe, goes back to save his original one, which he didn't have to do, but did it anyway.

Jing Yuan, who dreamed of becoming a galaxy ranger, gave up on his dream to continue protecting his home planet, therefore becoming a general.

Even though these two had opportunities that would've made them happier, they chose to give it up in exchange for the safety of their homes.

[Cue 'It's On Again" - Alicia Keys ft. Kendrick Lamar]

HEADCANON: Both of them have survivors guilt

Okay, that's my ramble! Thank you for listening!

- OOMF KIT-KNOY

[fryingthepanwithapplesauce]

@dolly-is-cool you are my favorite person

and you know what, abigail on tibil cover too because that started this while thing

BOOK REDRAWS!!!! UNDER CUT!!!! BC ANDREW JOSEPH WHITE IS AN AMAZING AUTHOR!!! also rambling about my art and my bestie and their correlation!!!

original (though low quality images of) book covers

oh oh also dollys reference images!!! oh nevermind I don't have them all downloaded and hit the image limit, dolly feel free to rb with your references and any yapping about symbolism if ya want!!

this took so freaking long man

like, this is what ibis marked as the final time for all four book covers

so basically my spring break during drives was great!!! dolly and her characters were amazing drawing inspo. most of these I started without a clue what to do and changed things halfway through. like hfwy I started drawing Virtue (Abigail) and decided oh what if I made the chains necklace captain like with her cross? fits her religious trauma very. also had to go back later and update her once dolly made her reference image

also with Eli!! (the distortion) I went crazy with the background. went oh spiral oh these these. shot heart and general emotional struggles? heart and nerves!! also for the drawing of him? the below drawing was what I had to work with, had to go back and change a lot of colors and lines once his ref was done. had general color scheme though!!! plus I know his lore so that helps

and Eleanor/Firefly! starring in tibil, her reference was done when I started and didn't have to change things! once she was done I copied the abigail version's background and started cleaning it up and changing a few things while picking a color scheme. finally I did the finishing gold!

and then dolly!! she doesn't really look exactly like herself but no good portrait is gonna mirror its subject so. also I was not aiming for perfection!! I jus wanted to draw her :> be a use she deserves to be drawn and is awesome!!!! dolly, you are awesome!!!!! my very favorite person and best friend who I am so happy I know :∆ I am no good at words but I can yap with art!! so I hope you like your gifts and love you!!! (/p)

-Moth <3

[stelladess]

I feel a bit annoyed by people saying Firefly is the star rail version of Kallen. As a fan of both characters I feel they got next to nothing in common whatsoever. They dont look similar, they arnt similar people, they dont have similar backgrounds or motives... there is just nothing really. It feels like reducing them to Stelle/Caelus girlfriend (this one is supported by the story but I feel like much of what makes Firefly and this ship interesting gets overlooked, admittedly some of it assumes the theory about Firefly being SAM is true and some lore knowledge about SAM but even without taking that into account Firefly is a great character in her own right) and Otto´s girlfriend (which, as a huge Otto fan, I will say, of course has its own issues and I do not like the romantic interpretation with them, the previous era versions of them are different people and dont count for this imo and there is no evidence at all Kallen of the current era was into Otto and also Kolosten heavily suggests it wasnt even a romance thing for Otto either) I highly recommend people read the prequel comic focused on Kallen, its when Kallen is younger then when we see her in flashbacks, set before meeting Sakura (i highly recommend also checking out that whole story at some point even if it can be a bit awkwardly time gated in game and slightly confusing) in HI3 so her personality/demeanor is a bit different from how she was by then (she is a lot more naive for one) but I think its still a good introduction to see why Kallen is a good character and a good showcase of how she isnt like Firefly at all and doesnt require sitting trough all of Kolosten and several side stuff in game to get to, so its a convenient starting place to see if you want to see more about Kallen. Which I hope anyone reading this ends up wanting to but even if not thats fine and is why I recommend starting here since its an easy read with very nice art and a fairly self contained story. Also if you dont play HI3 and am just curious on Kallen because of what other people are saying. Elan Palatinus: https://manga.honkaiimpact3.com/book/ Some spoilers for Penacony mentioned below here....

Firefly I dont wanna go too deep into character analysis here cause some of it relies heavily on an unproven theory, ill probably write about her more later though. But either way I feel like she is a very well written character, her desire to indulge in some escapism to get a break from her harsh reality with her terminal illness, her determination to find the watchmaker´s legacy despite the risk, her clearly having gotten a lot of experience dealing with dangerous situations despite seemingly wanting to just live a normal happy life, she hasnt been in the game very long (yet, the boss that "killed" her whole gimmick is that you can free the souls it claims so im not so sure she is actually gone, also you can see a Firefly leave her body before she dissolves shortly before Sam shows up...) but she is already very strongly characterized even with her limited screentime. If the theory that she is Sam is also true then it would add an extra layer to her closeness with Stelle in that some lore about Sam suggests Sam was artifically created for the purpose of fighting against the swarm, so she likely would relate to Stelle on account of the whole... being made to fullfill a purpose thing. As a stellaron hunter in this case she would also know about that quite likely so I like the theory. Idunno I just feel frustrated how characters often feel like they get boiled down to just their archetype or role (and sometimes not even any of those but just completely unrecognizable) when they are actually very interesting and well written characters. I want people to appreciate the writing that went into these amazing characters, not just these two but also many other examples but I wont ramble on here. So I strongly recommend people read more about them if at all curious, altough be careful since there are tons of leaks and spoilers in general going around regarding anything Penacony related, so with Firefly it might be best to wait a bit if spoilers are a concern.