#for a one year old sketch like this bangs though

[mawguai]

Once upon a time...

[onmyyan]

Save a horse, ride a cowboy.

A/N: here comes the boy NOT EDITED

TW'S: FEM READER, YANDERE, STALKING, MANIPULATION, MURDER, MENTION OF PIGS EATING CORPSES NOT GRAPHIC 👁️👄👁️, READER GETS CALLED PRETTY GIRL

Ashley Hunt HC's

The idealized western cowboy in a modern man's body.

6'6 and wide as a barn, Ashley is an old-fashioned type of beautiful, looks like someone straight out of an Old Western.

His sandy hair has a habit of falling in his eyes when he's working so he often wears a brown leather hat he'd gotten from his Father to prevent this.

He has this habit when he's thinking where he plays with his lips, it's very distracting.

Smells and looks like he's just come running from somewhere- never unpleasant though, it's a mix of sweat and the country air.

Always has that saccharine smile on his handsome face.

Has a loud, goofy laugh, his eyes light up when he does it and his nose scrunches in the cutest way.

He's polite to everyone he meets but he is far from a pushover.

Hates bullies of any kind. Takes on the hero role whenever he's confronted with injustice.

If he sees something wrong he can't just sit by and not do something.

Which isn't hard considering this big mf hauls farm equipment around for a living, he's had to wrestle rowdy bulls into their pens before, he can take another person down easily.

Holds the door open for you every time. Don't even think about touching that handle.

His go-to look is a pair of denim Levi jeans (man's got serious cake when he's working all the strong muscles in his thighs bulge), a white tank that sits on his flesh like a second skin, if it isn't too hot he'll throw on a flannel.

Got a BAMF belt buckle as a gag gift one year but he unironically loves it.

Does this thing where he stands at his full height, stares down at you, his hat casting a dark shadow over his heated stare, both of his big, strong hands rested comfortably on the buckle, it made your knees weak every time.

Knows you have a thing for his voice so he likes to come up from behind and gently kiss just below your ear,

"Hey there Sugar Bear."

All his clothes look well-loved and worn, he don't care much for how he looks, which is ironic since the whole town calls him a pretty boy.

Looks like someone pulled him straight out of one of those sexy country man calendars.

He's a pretty confident guy, except when it comes to you, of course, then he turns into a bumbling teenager trying to talk to his crush without fumbling over his words.

Gets all red and blushy when you call him pretty. Literally has to fan himself with his hat.

You like to randomly shower him with compliments and he gets so flustered he has to stop what he's doing to kiss you.

"Good lord woman yer gonna' put me in an early grave."

For a while, you had to avoid the friendly farmer because the mere sight of him hauling hundred-pound stacks of hay like they weighed nothing had you feeling some not-so-platonic things.

Has you sweating like a sinner in church just from one well-timed boyish smile.

His wavy locks are a few different shades of dirty blonde, he's almost always wearing his hat in an effort to keep his bangs outta his eyes,

The times he took the damn thing off were your favorite cuz the way his hair fell around his face, framing it beautifully, you could really see all of his marble-carved features.

Takes his hat off inside, of course, his mama raised him right.

Works on his family's farm, he grew up working the fields with his Pa so hard work is in his blood.

When he starts something he finishes it. No matter what.

That includes pursuing you as his one and only.

Sun-kissed skin from being outside all day.

He can play the acoustic guitar and loves to sing to himself during his free time.

Voice is deep and warm.

Really good at puzzles.

Loves the idea of a big family but at the same time is so possessive of you and your attention that he battles with the idea.

Likes to draw for fun, mostly sketches and stuff is really good at it.

He likes to sketch you most of all.

Has dozens upon dozens of journals filled with your visage, he doesn't think he can ever truly capture your beauty.

Really self-sufficient if something breaks down in your house and you don't wanna spend a fortune calling some company, you called Ashley Hunt, and he never asked for anything in return either.

Whenever he goes to town people always stop him for something, be it for his help or to give him some goods as thanks, he never leaves empty-handed.

The whole town just adores him, so much so that if you ever tried to run from him, try to use the townsfolk to hide, they'd lure you into a false sense of security, convincing you they'd drive you outta town, only to hand deliver you back to Ash.

He's a protective/possessive/worshiper kinda Yandere.

The first time you meet you're just moving into your Gran's old farmhouse, he knows your Grandma well as she's the closest neighbor to his Farm, he'd been regularly helping her out with household chores or busy work whenever she asked.

The day he sees you hop out of her pick-up, he swore his heart skipped seven different beats.

Your delicious-looking form was clad in these little shorts, no doubt trying to combat that county heat. The black t-shirt you had on was rolled up at the sleeves showing off your arms, he watched them flex as you hauled a box over your shoulder like it was nothing.

His throat goes dry, sweat begins beading at his temple, and it's not the 90-degree weather, you helped your grandmother out of the car with a graceful smile and a certain kind of sweetness, the sight had a swarm of butterflies going wild in his belly.

He saw the remaining boxes stacked in the back of the truck and knew he'd found his ticket in.

You'd come back outside to the towering man at the edge of the yard, hat in hand, he'd shoot you that star-studded smile, voice sounding like melted butter.

"Hello there Miss, my name's Ashley Hunt, I'm your next-door neighbor, I just came on by to check if y'all needed a hand." He gestured towards the truck with his hat.

Then you had the nerve to shoot him that damned smile, so bright and full of life it nearly knocked him out of his socks.

He spends the rest of the day helping you move in, the conversation flowing so easily by the time you two stopped talking it was well past midnight.

He learned so much about you, just from this one convo he knows everything he needs to about you.

And you're perfect.

"I sure am sorry for keeping you up so late sweetheart." Running his hands through his hair he couldn't keep his eyes off you.

He watched you visibly light up at the pet name and couldn't fight the smirk pulling at his lips.

"Don't worry about it! I was having so much fun- again thank you so much for all your help today." You looked so sweet standing there next to him, he was a good head or so taller than you, you looked up at him with those beautiful (e/c) eyes and he had to fight the strong urge to hold you against his chest.

Knows from that night alone you're his Darling.

It's inevitable you spend time with him, as he was your closest neighbor.

He finds any and all excuses to come over in the beginning.

"This floorboard feels a little loose, I'll come by later n' fix her up."

"That window feels a bit drafty hun, why don't I get a handle on that."

Eventually, he runs out of stuff to repair and builds the courage to just ask you out for a romantic dinner at his place. He doesn't cook anything fancy, but it does taste good a real homemade meal.

He thinks long and hard about how to show you he's the one and comes up with a teeth-rottingly cute idea.

Leads you by a gentle hand out to his field where he'd prepared a soft blanket and several throw pillows, fairy lights were strung up on the fence nearest, casting a warm glow on the scene.

After you spend hours talking and giggling, you lay back against the soft blanket and stare up at the clear sky.

Well, you were busy with the stars, he was busy staring at you.

"Ain't you a pretty picture."

That night after he walks you home, just before you turn to say goodnight, cups your face in one hand, "Can I kiss you pretty girl?" And when you breathlessly nod yes, he brings his other hand to the back of your neck and softly pulls you the rest of the way in.

He kisses you the same way soldiers kiss their wives before war, takes the breath outta you both.

Loves when you do anything domestic if you cook at his place or oh my god for him? He's whipping out the ring before the plates are clear.

Or when you stay the night for the first time, he's immediately addicted to the way you feel in his arms, and literally cannot sleep without you by his side look what you've done.

His morning voice is to die for.

"G'mornin' pumpkin." He has the biggest grin on his face when he wakes up, likes to trace his fingers on your bare skin.

You put his hat on once as a goof but he freezes in place, his face is beet red and his breath gets all heavy.

"Don't move a muscle Darlin'- lemme get a good look at ya'."

"Mm mm mm- now that's a sight a man could get used to."

Sleeps naked, if you're uncomfortable with it he'd throw on some boxers but that's it.

Runs too hot for much else.

Sleeps on his stomach and likes to stare at you when he does it.

Hold his hand and he will giggle like a little kid.

He's a lot smarter than he looks so his Yandere tendencies are easy to hide.

"C'mere sweetheart, don't think we're leaving the bed yet."

He's slowly getting you used to the idea of being his housewife, just wants to take care of you.

Like I said before he's beloved by the entire town so if anyone ever tried something with you he didn't approve of (smile at you a little too hard, make you laugh, get too close for his liking) all he's gotta do is give em' that look and if they're smart enough they back right on off.

However if their self-preservation doesn't kick in at that murderous glare, he gives em' one and only one warning to stay away from what was his. It's only polite.

If they did, Ashley would be all smiles and buddy-buddy. You'd never even know something was wrong.

If they don't back down though, well that's what he keeps pigs for.

Did you know pigs can eat a whole body in like three hours? Cuz Ashley knows.

[novantinuum]

Which one is knowing, loving, being? Is that one about the blorbo Steven?

Yessss ahahah, this is the one with the Gem Steven design I won't shut up about on discord XD

(thank you for taking my bait and asking me about this fiUSHKFNSUGJH my evil plan worked)

E eeeeee *cracks knuckles* time to RAMBLE! I am so excited about this one, lmaooo. If you're wondering where all my "Crack the Paragon update progress" energy went these past few months, I am so sorry besties- but it got funneled to this project instead. I need to finish this goddamn fic by the end of the year like I need air.

The tl;dr of it all is that this story is my adult human!Steven/gem!Steven/Connie propaganda piece, and also a place to explore my personal take on how Steven works like,,, biologically,,, as a bizarre hybrid of two beings who are fused but also Not Really. Certainly not in the way fusion works for OTHER people.

Mind you, this fic is very NSFW, as will be the snippit I share- so the rest of my rambles will go under a cut. You have been warned.

Okay, so the broad strokes. This one's gonna be 4 chapters-

Chapter one will focus on a recently married 23 yr old Steven heading out to Rose's Room so he can work through some mental bullshit regarding the split he experienced as a kid. That trauma still lingers all these years later, and there's still so much he doesn't fully understand about... about what happened. About being outright cleaved in two. He ends up having the Room conjure a cloud version of his Gem half- the most unfamiliar and alien one of the two, to him- so he can try and talk out his confusions.

Chapter two features Steven nosediving into an obsession over an impulsive kiss he shared with that friggin' cloud version of his Gem half, and one thing kinda just leads to another, and well- said obsession ends with his component halves briefly split apart so they can fuckin' bang to work through whatever crunchy ass emotions they've got all stewed up in there. Progress wise, I am at this part of the fic right now, and I am having a lot of fun making this segment as "emotions and stimuli all mixed together" and intentionally confusing as I can. I am taking the depiction of "split POV" we had in Change Your Mind VERY seriously and literally, because I haven't seen too many writers dare to try.

Chapter three is mostly like, an interlude chapter- it's the aftermath of chapter two, where a confused and sheepish Steven opens up to his wife Connie about what he just experienced. In my head, my version of Steven is VERY demisexual, so he's like... just as "huh" as anyone else about what just took place. He and Connie talk shit out, and then Connie is basically like "baby. sweetheart. love of my life. why the HELL would you rip out your own gem like that, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, why would you ever do that when i'm not here to help you if things went wrong??" By the end of the convo though, Steven extends an open invitation for Connie to join in at some point and enjoy some intimacy as the three of them, both of his component halves and her.

Chapter four is entirely about that precise encounter, both the planning and the actual sex. The broad purpose I have in mind here is to showcase how such an encounter is something that's innately healing for them as a couple, in the way they get to re-contextualize this scenario in tones of love and trust and willful choice... as opposed to the horrid experience of being ripped apart by another's hand. I also just want them to get WEIRD about it, because like. Come on. Steven's half-alien. He (and the organic and Gem who combine to MAKE him) deserves to be weird about himself and the way he interacts with his own sexuality. And you just KNOW Connie would be into that. There is a lot of genital shapeshifting here, and they have a fucking great time.

I have overtly had the extremely general sketch of this idea floating around in my head since 2019, but never had the guts to actually tackle it until now. Now, though... I've actually gotten some practice with writing smut and feel confident in my ability to swing these scenes in the way I envision them, AND I finally have a circle of people who are down to talk about Steven being really goddamn weird about himself lmafo. Like, it's 2024, I'm allowed to ship selfcest if I want, fuck you.

But yes, chapter 1 is already done at 5.3K words, and I've got a solid 7.4K on chapter 2 (and rising.) For my actual WIP share, here is a snippit I recently wrote for chapter 4, working ahead a bit-

“So this is your idea of a big finale, huh?” he says with an impish smirk as he reads the last item on the list, a healthy dose of humor lightening his words. “Both of them fucking like rabid animals in heat as you merely lounge on the bed and watch?” “Oh, shut up,” she bites back, unable to even look her dear husband in the eye as she clunks her head down on the kitchen table, her cheeks burning like she’s destined to crumble to cinders amidst her own personal inferno of runaway lust. But Steven, damn that ridiculous man, won’t let her live this down. Ugh. Of course he wouldn’t. “Now, tell me… how long have you been secretly dreaming of this scenario?” She groans, mumbling her shameful little response straight into the table mat. “Only like… every other night since I saw you fall apart…” His rumbly chuckle— brimming with unquestioned warmth and just a tinge of bashfulness at the sheer risqué inanity of this never-before-spoken revelation— rings loud and clear, coating the whole room in its dense, chocolatey tenor. “What?” Connie whines as she snaps upright, her hands fidgeting on the table in the throes of such excruciating embarrassment. “What exactly’s so funny about that? I’m being very brave and vulnerable about this, you know!” He raises a placating hand, pushing himself through the final notes of his laughter before moving to respond. “Sorry, sorry, I promise I’m not making fun, it’s just— I guess you never really struck me as the, uh… the voyeuristic type?” “Does that… bother you?” she frowns, tilting her head a little. “The idea of me just… watching? I— it’s only a suggestion, we can always take it off, if you—” “No, I’m okay with it. Depending on how we set things up, I think it could be pretty hot. In fact…” Steven grabs for a pencil, and— waggling his eyebrows at her— begins to write one last line on their collective beat sheet. “I actually have a little idea of my own that I think would be fun to try out during this…”

[myreitha]

Costume time!

Okay, you know what, I want to share this process and I've chosen y'all to suffer with me.

SO! A friend of mine doesn't have a spooky show to produce this year, and so is putting all his energy into a cool-ass halloween event (Fancy paper invites, puzzles to solve, challenges, games, seances, etc). The whole thing is themed around this fake secret society that we're all now part of, and the dress cose and we're being encouraged to come up with cool fancy clothes/outfits to match the theme to come in. Best description I can come up with for this theme is "Fancy witchy-vampire" (Like, think VtM, but witchier). THAT SAID. I'm still out of a job, so, I've got to be strategic. AND I've got the itch to make things. Even better. (More past the cut!)

I don't have photos for a lot of these earlier decisions and stages, sorry. BUT I go through my closet and costume tubs (the for-fun-or-cosplay costumes as well as the circus/performing ones) and have a nice closet-runway to figure out what I'm starting with and settle on this one burgundy satin wrap top with big-ass sleeves that I love. . .that unfortunately doesn't go with much that I have in my wardrobe that vibes with the theme. (There's like. . .one or two things it works with, but I want to be FANCIER). So I sketch around and come up with an idea based around this shirt (and a statement necklace collar I have that was some of the best $5 I've ever spent)

I have this old dress I'd bought at a flea market years ago and had altered to be an overskirt for a hoop skirt, and then it's been worn as a bustle with the bodice tucked away more times than it's felt hoops. It's a similar color as the top, so I figured I'd finally take the bodice off it, pull it in to be something I could walk in that wouldn't trail on teh ground, and I could set it under a corset in the center. Bing-bang-boom! Genius!

No. The skirt and the shirt were similar-but-different enough colors and textures that they clashed. Damnit. Well, I can ditch the skirt and figure out the rest! Some skinny moto pants. A decorative corset - I could embroider a corset (Myr no), or, ooh, use gold appliques (Okay, more realistic, proceed).

Next step was to mock things up as I'm trying to find what I want without purchasing a bunch of shit, which got me to this:

Okay okay okay. Cool, I've got a direction (that's not the shirt, but it's the closest I coudl find online to use, so I used it). Now for the endless internet and thrift store (No fingers, not thirst store, dear god) and internet thrift store searching to find me some cool-ass pants and a corset and some shoes that'll work with this. You'll notice, though that my statement necklace has been swapped out for cool-strappy-thing. Because statement necklace-collar is geometric and GOOD LUCK finding geometric applique. Harder than I expected. Took me a couple months to find things that weren't lots of money that I could afford. BUT I EVENTUALLY DID IT. This included buying multiple corsets with the intention of returning things. Benefits of modern shopping. The happy "lets try everything on" day was this weekend!

SO FAR SO GOOD. Took a poll from friends and the short corset is the winner. It's definitely the best constructed of the three, though the pants aren't QUITE high enough waist to be able to wear under it without some adjustments. But it'll do. The shoes turned out to be dark brown instead of black, so I need to see about making them black (and fixing them so the tongue doesn't decide to go deep diving towards my toes.) Other things to do: bring in the wrists of those sleeves some, they're a bit too big (Here they're clipped with bobby pins), decorate the corset, maybe add some gold detailing onto the pants? They've got that gold ridging along the thighs that you find on moto-pants, but that's absolutely invisible most of the time, so I think if I just brush some gold paint along the tops of those ridges, it'll make them pop in a good way. You'll note that none of these photos have the strappy-thingy, and instead we're back to the statement necklace-collar. Turns out the differece between the image I found on the internet and teh shirt I own is enough that you BARELY SEE the strappy. Also, I decided that instead of using applique, I'd buy some gold paint, make a design that'd work, and paint it on the corset. Only time will reveal whether this was a good or a bad idea.

Other thing this showed me is that this doesn't feel FANCY enough. So I'm coming back to that half-skirt idea. This time, though I'm thinking about something sheer - either a burgundy to match the top, or a black with gold accents (OR A FULL DESIGN?!?!?!).

Last night I got flat photos of the corset for figuring out the design, since the shape I was working with in my sketches doesn't match the chosen corset shape. Pls to enjoy some of the designs I was playing with:

Proooooobably going to see about adjusting the eye design. I think it fits the theme best.

Last night I started on the alternations by taking in the waist of the pants. Please have this photo that happened 30 seconds before my thread was attacked.

[vivalgi]

August Choices Insiders arrived especially late this time. I was already long asleep, dreaming of encountering the big tiddy scorpion lady in Blades 3 😛. That's even way past the working hours in California, which makes me wonder if people at PB are forced to work overtime.

Plus One - I'm gonna ignore those cover sketches because they do nothing to convince me that the final cover wasn't made with the help of AI. What I'm really surprised about though is that this seemingly silly rom-com/chick flick has a GOC MC. If anything, I would have expected the dark and supernatural sounding Bitten to have male MC option instead. Oh well, I guess I won't completely ignore PO then. The ex marrying your best friend plot sounds a lot like some soap opera but we'll see. I hope it's more like a light-hearted comedy and worth spending my time to fix the ugly MC and LI sprites. And we better get the chance to be the one to propose if there's such a scene at the end of the book. Also, fingers crossed the LI isn't another cocky narcissist or in other ways a controversial armada of red flags. For once I want a sweet and fluffy romance without any stupid drama between the main duo.

Oh look at that , I actually asked something similar! Unfortunately the response is so vague it doesn't really answer anything 😬

Trying to revive older stories without original teams is a slippery slope. I'd rather they be left alone. There's also a pretty good fan made version of It Lives threequel that anyone interested in the series should try out, which reminds me I also should pick it up again. My save files got lost when my old phone bricked.

Looks like VIPs will get Blades 3 already in September. I'm slightly worried about the story because so many people who used to work on the series have left the company and the third book is finished in just a year. The 2nd book was still in pre-production less than a year before its release and the writing felt rushed at times. I just hope we get more meaningful interactions with our LIs this time other than asking for a kiss after every side quest and banging a couple of times.

[wolfofartblock]

I didn't mean to draw this today >.< I only wanted to sketch out a new pose and/or outfit for her and then leave it alone for some months, but once I started I couldn't put down the pen ToT

When I first made all my zodiac characters, the only thing I had in mind was they were all supposed to be evil looking XD but while none of them are evil story-wise nowadays, I still like the idea of them looking unnerving to others who might come across them for one reason or another. Probably failed that in the redesign, but all of these characters become undead at some point within the story anyways, so it makse up for it just a smidge

This is a redesign of Libra :D Old art of her under the cut + thoughts

Original design vs new

Stitches: Even though I love morbid designs, like sewn eyes, I scrapped the stitches bc they don't really work with her story anymore. However! Since she is libra, I had the perfect excuse to finally make a blindfolded character

Hair: I've grown to hate her bangs over the years, so they've become something a little nicer looking. The braid gets to stay bc it's the first thing I imagine when I think of this character. The color of it tho is something I know some people don't like (the dark-skinned blonde trope), but truthfully I've always loved making poc characters, and I apparently love making characters with white hair specifically, so there's been a lot of overlap of that over the years ;^^

Outfit: Hate it. Years later, there's no aspect of it that I like, so the whole thing had to go. Especially those shoes bc Imagine walking around in metal shoes

Lipstick: Poorly executed, so it looks caricature-ish and makes me sweat when I see it, so that's definitely changed. Plus I like dark makeup on characters anyways

[dont-hug-me-its-yuri]

Im running into the stage banging the floor demanding to know about the band au as you speak /hj

reveal yourself band au anon, I wish to know who you are cause you’ve allowed me to ramble

I haven’t figure it all out so this is kinda just spitballing ideas lol

Warning long ass post holy moly

So the band au is kinda written like Clone high, I treat it like one of those really serious romance dramas, except the band au is more just relationship focused instead of strictly romance, also there’s a lot of drama

I’ve come up with four main bands at the moment :3

The Grim Reapers - an underground goth band with Coffin as the bassist and Tissue box as the (main) vocalist, they’re most well known for their songs being about pretty grim subject matter, though they’re probably the least popular out the four main bands

Electric Current - A pop-punk family band with Electracey on the electric guitar, Elevator Speaker on the Bass guitar, Laptop on Drums, and Colin on vocals, they have a very futuristic theme and are by far the most popular band out of the four

Malcolm’s Angels - a band started by Shrignold the head of a love “organization” to help spread the gospel of Malcolm, their music is mostly folk type music, with Unicorn on the harp, Frog boy on the flute, Rabbit boy on the mandolin, and Shrignold on guitar and vocals, the other members of the “organization” are also there, to they just aren’t part of the band, but some of them are on the marketing team

Fly To The Stars - i also refer to them as “the rejects”, an obviously space themed rock band, with Gilbert on guitar, Solar system on the keyboard, Magnet on bass guitar, and Lamp as the lead guitarist

there’s also other characters that aren’t in bands but are still pretty important to the main story like

sketchbook - A young college student, currently studying art, she’s a big fan of Electric Current with her favorite member being Electracey, she’s also roomies with Tony

Tony “Anthony” Clock - An older college student studying history, roomies with Sketch and also a small solo music artist in his spare time (hehe)

saxophone - A music artists who’s songs are usually canoe related, has gained a small cult following due to this

Warren W. Eagle - Local homeless person, usually spotted around dumpsters, can play a pretty mean keyboard solo though

there’s more important characters but I these are the ones I’ve currently planned out (Saxophone isn’t really important though, I just found the concept I had for him funny)

and finally, some miscellaneous facts that I can’t fit anywhere else in this incoherent ramble

The two main locations are Clayhill and Mullhoven, though Mullhoven in this au has become a bigger city, well Clayhill has kept its gated community status

The main three do have a minor role in this au, with them being know as the “weird” residents in town, some situation always seems to be happening to them wether that be their house burning down or finding their pillowcases full of ham

Electracey and Sketchbook are both college age with them both being 17

Laptop on the other hand is a highschooler, being 15 years old

All the characters are humanoids, they basically have human proportion’s but still have some of their weird puppet feaures

Lesley is Electric Current’s manager, though it’s not her only job according to her, she won’t tell much about herself, she likes the game of mystery

Electracey’s name in this au is just Tracey, Laptop’s is Lapis, and Elevator Speakers is Alexa

Colin, Laptop, and Electracey are all siblings, Colin being oldest, Tracey being middle, and Laptop being youngest, well Elevator Speaker is their cousin

Tissue box is fine with her and Coffins band being pretty unknown, but Coffin wish’s they could be as popular as some of the others, and he will do anything to make that happen

Laptop is a big fan of Hatsune Miku and and makes references to her in some of Electric Currents songs when it’s her turn to write one

uh that’s it for now :3 *disappears in a cloud of misty smoke*

[nonclassyparty]

Starring Role - ACT X [TEASER]

act ix / masterlist / act x  

Life worked in weird ways.

Since you were a child, you already had everything planned out in front of you. Back then when you were in high school with your father prepping you for business school, your future seemed bright and set in stone to everyone around you, to you it seemed bleak but you figured you would have to settle with the way things were.

And then everything just happened.

One wrong turn after the other, one curveball and then the next, so many wrong turns and rarely any right ones and somehow you ended up somewhere you never expected to. Many would say you messed up your life, your parents being the first ones.

Chose to study art no matter what your parents thought, getting kicked out of your house and disowned, living off of your best friend because you barely had a dollar to your name after spending your entire life with a silver spoon in your mouth and last but not least, packing up the remaining clothes you had and moving to a different continent on nothing but a promise that it will work out.

But even if you did mess up, you were kind of satisfied with the way things turned out.

You observe the people walking around the spacious hall, walls neatly decorated by sketches and paintings you put all your blood, sweat and tears into. Mechanic smiles, weeping stars, fuchsia waves and dancing skeletons. Your work that has been hidden behind the thick covers of an old notebook were now out and about, for everyone to look at. To judge.

It was terrifying.

Wooyoung reassured you time after time again that if they didn't want to see your work they wouldn't have bought a ticket to see the exhibit but it still does nothing to stop you from nervously wringing your hands every once in awhile as you watch strangers walk around and discuss your work.

Your reflection in the glass windows dulls the nerves though, makes you pause and you take a second to stare because it seems like no matter what you go through - you will always be slightly in love with yourself.

And, damn, you look good.

Wooyoung helped picking the dress. It's a black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with a deep green silky trim and long semi-sheer sleeves with flared cuffs. It fit your figure perfectly, stopping mid thigh.

Your hair was now a warm brown, layered and trimmed to just below your shoulders with see-through bangs brushing along your forehead. Long gone were the glittery eye shadows and pink blushes, now it was all bronze tones and fox eyes. Maybe a bit boring in comparison to before but different. Pretty. Mature.

"All this great art in the room and you're still staring at yourself. Unbelievable." A deep voice interrupts your staring contest with the reflection in the glass window and your eyes fleet over to the figure standing just two quick steps behind you.

Your jaw slightly drops once your eyes meet his in the reflection.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me." You mutter, glare immediately forming as you turn around and come face to face with none other than Kang Yeosang.

The two years you haven't seen him did him good. Dressed in a suit that seemed tailored just for him and hair a bit longer than what you remember. He was always good looking but it seems like he only got better with age. How infuriating.

"It's been awhile, Y/N." Yeosang muses out with a faint smirk, something almost aching to a smile but so out of the ordinary to be directed at you from him that it makes the hairs on your neck stand. "Saw promotion for the exhibit online and had to buy a ticket."

When your glare only deepens, he nods once. "I like your work."

You scoff at your own misfortune. Barely a week back and you're already running into your arch nemesis on a night that was supposed to be special to you, no less.

"What do you want?" You ignore the compliment and immediately take up a hostile approach.

"Can I not show support to an old friend without wanting anything?"

"Old friend?" You scoff, rolling your eyes and already starting to search for Wooyoung in the crowd of the hall. "Fuck off, Yeosang."

"Okay, no need for hostility." Yeosang sighs, holding his hands to his chest, "I come in peace."

"You never come in peace."

"I did this time." He insists and is awarded by another eye roll. "I'm serious. You're a big shot now, wanted to see what all the fuss is about."

The response is laced with the typical Kang Yeosang-esque sarcasm that makes your eye twitch.

"Well, enjoy the fucking show then. I'm leaving now." Is your curt response and you move to push past him.

His response makes you pause. "Grow up, Y/N."

"Excuse me?"

"I said, grow up." Yeosang repeats before taking a sip out of the flute of champagne in his hand. "I'm not here to pick a fight. Some might say I'm even offering to bury the hatchet."

"Burying the hatchet?" You repeat with a humorless chuckle, hands curling into fists as you try to keep your composure. "Just like that? Just because you want to be civil now, after everything, I should come running to be in your good graces?"

You let out another laugh, careful of the surrounding guests before muttering lowly. "Fuck you, Yeosang."

"Now, I never said anything about running to be in my good graces although I do appreciate you thinking so highly of me." He says relaxedly with a small smirk and your glare hardens, at that he sighs. "I'm just saying it's been two years, we're somewhat adults now, aren't we? Surely we won't hold onto a beef from college. Over some guy, none the less."

Your glare falters at that and you find yourself whispering; "So, he's just some guy now, huh?"

"Just some guy." Yeosang shrugs and you think the smile he gives you is bittersweet.

You let out a sigh, rolling your eyes once more. You can't even be mean to him anymore when he's not being mean back. Yeosang is actually looking like the bigger person here and it irks you to no end.

You might've done a lot of growing and accepting over the past two years but one thing that will never change about you is that you hold grudges like no other.

"Yeosang, what do you want?" You repeat again, dropping the glare and being overly done with the entire conversation. You hope nobody will notice you sulking in the corner of your own exhibit with a pretty boy like him.

"You are so dramatic." He snorts and you shoot him another glare. "Look, if you're expecting an apology or something, you won't get one from me."

Your jaw drops at that.

"Did I say some shitty things to you in the past? Yes. Did you get your lick back by humiliating me and making me cry in my own kitchen that fine evening? Also yes." He nods his head and crosses his arms, "I'd say we're even now and while I'm trying this whole thing of burying the hatchet, it's time to move on with this conversation, it's getting boring."

You open your mouth to argue but he beats you to it.

"I'm holding a small get-together at my place on Friday and I'm inviting you." Yeosang casually says, handing you a napkin with his number scribbled on it. "You can bring your friend as well."

"Why the fuck would I want to come to your get-together?" You ask, making sure to put quotation marks on the "get-together" just to be more annoying.

"Because," Yeosang smirks, unfazed. "If the rumors of your family disowning you and your little shitty elite circle ostracizing you afterwards are true, then I'd assume you might want to meet some new people now that you're back and I am nice enough to give you an opportunity."

Grinding your teeth, you stare at him wondering how he manages to be so fucking infuriating while doing seemingly nothing.

"I don't need to meet new people. I know just enough of them, thanks."

That was...partly true. You knew Wooyoung and Professor Ahn and...Wooyoung? Well, your circle was definitely smaller than it was the last time you were in Seoul. Can two people even make a circle?

Your new co-workers didn't exactly count just yet and truth be told, you didn't want to be that person who only ever hangs out with people from work.

"Whatever you say." He shrugs with his annoying smile. Annoying. Annoying. Annoying. "I host some pretty good parties though, you might dare I say, have fun."

"Tempting." You bite back sarcastically.

"There's going to be some people from college." Yeosang adds and you shiver at just the thought. "Yunho, for one. You just love him, don't you? He is very single, by the way."

"Not interested." You mutter, looking around the room.

That part was definitely true. You've been basically bound to celibacy for the past two years, not by choice of course.

The coursework was hard, the language was very fucking hard and you were just tired but also...not ready to jump into anything with anyone. Even though, there were opportunities that slipped past your fingers.

So, maybe you were celibate slightly by choice.

Wooyoung, on the other hand, made sure to spend most of the weekends over the past two years sleeping in other people's beds rather than his own.

"Eh, I think he's over you as well. No offense."

"Yeosang, don't be silly." You chuckle, flipping your hair over your shoulder. "I'm too hot for anyone to get over me that easily."

He blinks.

"Jesus," He mutters with a shake of his head, "I almost thought your ego couldn't possibly become bigger but nope, two years later and you're even worse."

Your smile drops at that as you almost raise your hand to smack him on the shoulder but quickly retreat your hand because in your book, that is an act of affectionate bullying. And you don't do that with Kang Yeosang.

You just bully him. And he bullies you back. That's it.

Biting your lower lip, you hesitate on asking the question that's been swirling around your mind ever since he mentioned people from college and singled out Yunho but the curiosity is bigger than anything else and you have to know.

"Is San-"

"No." Is Yeosang's sharp reply.

No sarcasm. No snark. No smartass smile.

Just a firm 'no'.

You want to ask. You're nosy and you want to know what happened. They were inseparable no matter how shitty San was.

But it's not your place and despite the plain curiosity, you can't find it in yourself to care all that much either.

So you just nod with pursued lips.

"I'll come only if you have a mean buffet prepared. Mozzarella sticks and all."

"What do you think I'm running, Park? A restaurant?" Yeosang cocks an eyebrow at you, "You'll eat what I give you. You should be thankful I'm not telling you to bring your own drinks."

And there it is...

"Asshole." You mutter, pushing past him with a wave over your head as you walk away.

[angelbymadonna]

THE APPLE SISTERS!!

I actually drew the paper sketch AND the digital version of AJ before starting the other two, which is why she doesn't have shoulders because I only added shoulder to accommodate the neck adornments on the other two. Maybe I'll give her a bandana and some shoulders then post that, who knows.

Every one of these drawings was finished in one layer. at any given time during the process I had maybe two or three layers going, trying to make it blendy and cute. it was super fun trying to figure out the best strategy for adding a particular thing into the drawing, working on a later on top of the drawing, under the drawing, or on the same layer.

Apple Bloom's design is probably the one with the most thought into it. In the show, she wears a cute bow even though her siblings each opt to either block the sun or haul equipment, they're both very practical. I tried to lean into this and design her to look really fem and accessorized. She has her hair bow, but you'll notice it ties her mane into a practical ponytail. I think AJ would teach her to be smart, or maybe Granny or Rarity told her that long hair gets dirty if it touches her sweaty back all day. the shawl has a ribbon closure in order to match the bow, each item uses three shades of pink and some blending in order to achieve the look I want. I swapped out some of that loud pink for a pastel because this are very popular at the moment, I think she wants to look "coquette", because she's a middle schooler so that word means something to her. I also changed her yellow to have a more red tone, because the yellow coat on the show is obnoxiously green. She doesn't have the same facial markings as her sisters, but her profile makes her look like young Granny Smith from the show, what with her eye and muzzle shape.

For AJ, I love the shapes used in her hair in the show, so I kept the same shapes but I sealed out the cut for a nice short one because I thought it would look cute with the face I gave her. I think she'd cut it once a year so it's short in summer and long in winter. I added some lines into her hair as well, indicating a curly texture similar to Buttercup's in the show. Obviously this is not reflected in the shape of her hair, she has a mixture of curly and wavy hair. I changed her eyes after designing Apple Bloom because I wanted them to match the style, and they're prettier this way anyways.

Big Mac has curly orange hair in this drawing that's pretty much exactly like Buttercup, except cut short, so she probably got her hair cut on the same day as AJ. Granny used to do the haircuts until she lost too much of her sight and AJ started doing them until Bloom was old enough to take interest. The first haircut that Apple Bloom made was also the first one that Big Mac got as a girl. Apple Bloom also made a tiny bow for her harness/collar thing because I just wanted to draw one lol. I also gave Big Mac some emo bangs that kinda hide her eyes (and also I thought it was cute when @/camo-thy did it), which hints at her shy personality. I also think that she might get sensory issues from light, so the bangs help. Personally I'm the same way when I have bangs, and the hairs only trigger sensory issues if the ends are in certain spots.

[intrepid-creations]

Is it cool if I can be a tad dramatic for a sec?

Aight, you want some goddamn inspiration? After a very long day in airport purgatory I'm finally back home and realized I had access to my old art.

Here's my OC from high school back in 2012 when I was really into the DC superheroes and Young Justice:

Her name was Andrea Reyes, she was basically Batman on a college student's budget. She looked like shit but damn did I draw her a bunch and almost almost made a webcomic before I realized how absolutely painful that was to do.

This was a sketch I did of Yosemite - dunno when this was done. Probably around the same time tho.

12 goddamn years I've been drawing, not 12 years straight - I had a long lull in there when I just had trouble functioning at all and didn't do any art as a consequence.

I started back up in earnest in 2020. This was one of my first drawings. Was based on a Mount and Blade character someone on YouTube made.

I can think of about 50 ways to improve that but that's not what we're doing rn.

4 years later, after struggling and I mean STRUGGLING with my mental health, how I view myself as an artist, whether to call myself an artist ... Whether to keep creating. I almost stopped many many many times.

So I'm on my laptop rn so a lot of these are gonna be screenshots of WIPs because that's what OneDrive pulled over so:

Those are all from 2023.

So ... like ... don't quit. Okay?

Don't quit.

Yes you're going to feel shitty about your art. It's okay to feel that way (when it evolves into self hatred though, that's when you need to take a step back and also maybe get some professional help for your mental health). Legit, dissatisfaction with your work is a thing most creatives are going to experience because we have that drive, that determination, that knowledge that "yeah I'm good but I can be better". You'll plateau, you'll feel like everything that's coming out is complete garbage ... but you'll keep going because not creating hurts worse than creating stuff you think is absolute shit.

And one fine day, you're going to experiment with something, and it's going to click with you. Suddenly, you're going to start improving. Then yeah, you might plateau again until you find something else to try and incorporate into your piece.

Art isn't about banging out masterpiece after masterpiece. It's not constant perfection.

It's about growth. It's about progress.

That's what makes it so infuriating yet satisfying to me. It's knowing I can do better and practicing and practicing and practicing ... then one day something clicks. One day I realize how I can make it better and then I do that.

Don't quit.💪

[becauseplot]

I don't know if you remember her backstory I typed up a while back, but yeah... Tallulah has never in her life been safe or happy, and Chayanne has only just discovered these things, and he wants to give her the universe. That's his brain-friend and little sister! She's been hunted most of her life and he'll stab you if you hurt her! But also he's sharing his dads because sometimes the monsters are too tall. Best Big Brother.

And yeah! Egg classes! They do also have stuff like reading, writing, and maths, but their education is extremely casual and all over. Especially as it doubles up as daycare. Main eggs range from about 11 (Chayanne) to 2 (Trump) in terms of development, and then there's A1/Allie who is in her late teens to look at but only about 3 months old, and because of speed growth both mental and physical development are a mess. So, education is very, very all over. Just whatever the adults fancy teaching. It's the likes of Pac and Mike and Cellbit who insist someone has to teach them maths and reading and writing hardest (AKA the ones who didn't get education themselves...), though everyone shares the burden of unfun subjects.

And writing this I realise this Cellbit probably had an extremely bad reading ability most of his life. He remembers a bit of the skill from before the amnesia, like he does many skills (unlike say Quackity's amnesia where he lost reading and maths and stuff too), but... He still had to piece it all back together. And even then his skill was only that of a 10 year old. It's good now! And he teaches the kids to read and does silly voices when he does storytime for them (Pac e Mike do maths, but also baking powder volcano type science). But... it's a skill he had to fight for. Mostly alone. The prison did force him into some education programs, but it was mostly just them ticking legal requirement boxes not actually helping him with it. Felps almost certainly also helped, but yeeeeeah. I bet for his birthday Pac and Mike are trying to find and steal him a set of literary classics and the sort of stuff you study at school as he never had the chance to do any of those. Those two at least remember the schooling they did, and made it to 13/15 which is more than Cellbit's 10, even if not enough!!!

Sorry got distracted by thoughts of like... the blorbos.

Loving the thoughts about the blorbos!! Give me all of the distracted thoughts about the blorbos!!!!!

First of all yes bestest big brother Chayanne! Beloveds <3

The classes thing is so fucking cute holy shit. And makes sense who's advocating for the Essentials the most, given their circumstances (everyone just wants better for the kids than they got themselves I'm ;-;). The ideas about Cellbit, Pac, and Mike's educations pre-everything is just so goddamned *bangs fist on table /pos* (Rrrrr that's what I love about your worldbuilding and character-crafting so much it's those little details!! They mean so much. Love love love this series so much you've no idea.)

I imagine those classes with the kids are also a nice kind of break from the craziness of ykno: alien invasions, dangerous missions, constant threat of death or annihilation or Worse hanging over their heads. Stressed out of your mind about your impending doom? Go wrangle the kids into a lesson about photosynthesis. Do finger painting with them with whatever paints you've got. Demonstrate how to use a socket wrench. Help them bake something nice to eat. Show them how to write their names. Read a book with them and help them sound out the big words. Teach them phrases in your mother tongue, and then teach them about the country you came from, and then teach them about the continents, and then teach them about the planet. Sketch the solar system with a sharpie on the back of an old mission report and draw a little arrow to the circle labeled "Earth" and tell them we are here and this is our home. Answer their million-billion questions and remember what exactly it is you're fighting for.

[darkspine10]

GF Fanfic - Fallout

Dipper and Mabel Vs. The Past (42,392 words) by darkspine10

Chapters: 9/9

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Rating: Teen and Up

“Now… pull.”

Bang!

The crackers burst open all around the dinner table as the Pines family pulled them apart in unison. At the head of the table, Dipper cheered. “Wahey! Nice one, Merrise.”

She was clutching the larger half of the paper cracker, eagerly pulling out the gift inside. She found a green paper crown and put it on. It fit snugly on her bald head. She continued rummaging around. “Ooh, there’s a little spinning top.” She flicked her wrist, sending the wooden toy careening past her plate of turkey slices. Dipper grabbed it as it fell off the edge of the table.

“It’s a dreidel actually, but close enough.” He sent it going again so it spun in place between himself and Merrise. Wendy, sitting in her high-chair beside her sister, was transfixed by the spinning motion.

Dipper’s own dinner plate was loaded down with dumplings and a noodle dish, the same as his sister’s. Pacifica and Merrise’s grandparents had the same as her, turkey alongside mashed potatoes and cooked vegetables, while Zera was sustained on a plate that consisted entirely of sushi. When asked by Mrs Pines if that was akin to cannibalism, Zera had simply flashed her pearly whites and bitten down on a shrimp puff.

Zera was now holding the floppy remains of the cracker she’d pulled with Mabel, looking at it like something was missing. She’d got the short end. “What are these things anyway?”

“It’s a human seasonal tradition, in some parts of the planet at least,” Pacifica explained. She was sitting opposite, wearing a contented tipsy grin. The Christmas sherry she’d partaken in was already having an effect. “Forget about it. You’ll learn the ropes soon enough. I mean, I needed Mason to explain what taxes were when I was 17 for crying out loud, there’s always something new to discover.”

“It’s not a human tradition. It’s an old family tradition!” Mr Pines thumped his chest, and Mrs Pines and the twins gave a chorus of ‘Pines!’. “Some of Mary’s older generations lived in London before emigrating and they brought it over with them.”

“Humans are weird,” Merrise giggled, drawing a smile from her aunt Zera and lighthearted complaints from everyone else sitting around the table.

Dipper hushed them all by clinking a fork against his glass. “Quiet down everyone. If I could have a moment of your time-”

“Boo, no speech!” Mabel jeered. “We did that last time we met up. No talk, only eat!”

“I won’t be long Mabes, jeez.” She pouted, but quieted down nonetheless. “Thank you. On this day two years ago, Mabel, Pacifica, and myself were in India. We’d meet Zera for the first time only a few days later, and hadn’t even begun our journey into the multiverse where we met Merrise.” His thumb played with the neck of his glass. “Now to have you all here, with no disguises, fully revealed at my parents’ table, it’s… like a dream come true. Cheers!” He downed his sherry. Everyone raised their glasses in toast, though Merrise only had fruit juice to toast with. “So Merry Christmas to all of you goobers! Happy Hanukkah! Xochtil Assura Tengosa Mulakht to my daughter! Am I saying all that right, Sixer?”

“Eh, close enough, Dad,” she replied, already back to wolfing down her food. It wasn’t often she ate so readily, still coming to terms with the lingering effects of having had to scrounge for scraps and make her food last. Today must be a happy day for her indeed.

Down the table, Mr Pines had Journal 9 open and was reading snippets between each bite. Dipper had penned a new entry after they’d all got back from the power plant safely. The page was dominated by a detailed sketch of Errata “So,” he said, swallowing, “run it past me again, son. Where exactly did this fella disappear to anyway?”

Mabel flashed an annoyed look. “Dad, we agreed, no journal biz at the table until dessert.”

“Heck, I’m a curious man, pumpkin. All these stories in here are exciting. I want to soak it all up as quickly as possible.”

“There’ll be plenty of time for late-night reading later,” Mrs Pines said, as she furtively glanced at Journal 3 open on the table next to her. Mr Pines chuckled, but threw a questioning look at Dipper.

“Honestly Dad, it’s one of those things even I don’t know.”

“A vanishingly small pool, I’m sure you’d say.” Pacifica rested her chin on her steepled fingers, smugly satisfied with herself.

“I guess we were lucky,” Mabel said, spinning a pair of chopsticks around a particularly slippery noodle. “It all got wrapped up pretty nicely. Errata was made out of all of Dipper’s paranoia and conspiracy junk written in the journals, so all he had to do was get over his hang-ups and embrace a little loss of control. Errata’s chaos was the problem and the solution.”

“You could write an undergrad psychology paper about it,” Pacifica teased.

Mrs Pines gripped Dipper’s hand across the table. “I know it’s taboo to be talking about New Year’s when Christmas isn’t even halfway over, but I was wondering what your plans were? Jetting off back home?”

Zera answered first. “May and I were thinking of taking advantage of the winter weather, going on a ski trip somewhere.”

“Aunt Mabel, skiing? With her hand-eye coordination?” Merrise sniggered. “I would pay money to watch that.”

“You scamp,” Mabel said fondly. “What about you, Dip, Paz?”

“I think a few quiet days at home before the holidays end would be very pleasant,” Dipper said. “Besides, I know our job prospects are a tad fluid at the moment but Merrise has school starting up again in a few weeks. We’ve got some extracurricular homeschool lessons planned to help her catch up.”

“I have to do math, at home!” Merrise visibly slumped in her seat. “Can you believe it? I wish I could stay here in Piedmont longer.”

“And we’d love to have you,” Mrs Pines said warmly.

“Whatever happens,” Dipper said, “my new year’s resolution is to meet up with Mom and Dad way more often. Either we drive down to Piedmont or you travel up north, both work. I’ve missed having you two in my life.”

“It would be nice. Maybe you could show us some of those magical creatures you write so eloquently about in these journals.”

“Well, we’ll… take it slow.” Dipper grimaced. Telling his parents the truth seemed like an appealing idea on paper; introducing them directly was another kettle of fish. Though if his father could nonchalantly accept a Cycloptopus and his mother could be intrigued to encounter the denizens of Gravity Falls then maybe he was worried over nothing.

Mr Pines sat back in his chair. “I’d certainly love to see what I missed, catch up with all the sights from the last time I was there. Reading all about your experiences reminds me why I sent you twins there in the first place. Even back then I always felt there was something special about Gravity Falls.”

“It certainly is a special place,” Dipper said, smiling over the memories.

“Though don’t think we aren’t a little aggrieved that you didn’t come up with the idea of talking to us sooner,” Mrs Pines said, slightly harshly. “We’ve missed you the same way you’ve missed us.”

“You shouldn’t blame him too much,” Pacifica said, surprising both Mabel and Dipper with her earnestness. “He was an opinionated teenager who thought he knew best, but his heart was in the right place.”

Mrs Pines nodded. “And anyway,” she flashed a wicked grin, “I want to try out some of these magic spells Mabel keeps telling us about. They sound like a lot of fun.”

After they’d all finished eating, full of food and good spirits, the Pines retired to the living room to hand out presents. Undisturbed in the corner, Waddles and Apep wore new matching green sweaters knitted specially by Mabel for the season. They started by lavishing their attention on Merrise, since it was her first proper Christmas celebration. Her grandparents hadn’t known her interests beforehand, but she appreciated the glitter paint kit and light-up planetarium globe (with the Pines having hedged their bets and got what Dipper or Mabel probably would have enjoyed as kids, since they had nothing better to go on). Merrise had her toy T-Rex as a more personal gift in any case.

For Wendy, too young to appreciate gifts for herself, Mr and Mrs Pines supplied old baby clothes from the twins’ youth. Pacifica didn’t want to seem rude, so accepted the gifts despite her smile hiding her pain at the fact another of her kids would be doomed to poor fashion choices.

As an olive branch for the decade-long deceptions, Mabel had put together a thick scrapbook for her parents, her own equivalent to the journals. The photos within didn’t cover any of the supernatural incidents they’d encountered, but rather focused on personal moments of the last few years, giving Mr and Mrs Pines a window into the casual normality of their lives alongside magic and aliens.

With the presents all handed out, the family spent an hour regaling each other with some of their favourite dramatic events or strange creatures written in the journals, with Mabel in particular doing a complex recreation of Weirdmageddon where she provided the voices of every single person involved. Her Bill Cipher was scarily accurate to Dipper and Pacifica’s ears. Mr and Mrs Pines listened, at times enraptured and incredulous depending on the events being described. It would take them both a long time to fully process quite how weird their children’s lives had been.

As the light outside fell, Mabel had wanted to revive an old tradition of watching classic Christmas cartoon specials, but was disappointed to find that no channel was showing any she remembered. Both she and Zera ended up chilling with her dad, watching the train videos he liked to zone out too. Mabel’s eyelids closed as a steam train chugged along somewhere in snow-blanketed Europe.

Dipper kept Merrise entertained and awake by trying to explain that the seasons were reversed in the southern hemisphere, a fact that she couldn’t get her head around at first. Dipper had to resort to shining a flashlight on one of the baubles hanging from the Christmas tree to properly get the point across. By the end of the night she drifted to sleep curled up on the couch, clutching both her llama and T-rex toys tightly.

Well into the night Mabel and Zera dazzled Mr and Mrs Pines with displays of minor magic. Making small light orbs or other non-taxing spells. Dipper even added a few of his own, though his skills weren’t nearly as honed as the others. Pacifica, pleasantly hypnotised into sleep by the colourful magical lights, drifted off into a sherry coma. Zera volunteered to put Wendy to bed upstairs, herself ready to sleep after all showing off her magic all evening.

In the end the twins were left awake with their parents. For the first time in ages they were together as they’d been all those years ago. Dipper kept himself from falling asleep by sketching the scene in the living room, capturing the Christmas tree, his sleeping wife and daughter, Mabel crouching on the floor, and his parents sitting side-by-side. He knew this moment wouldn’t last forever. But tonight was long enough to appreciate it.

Dipper Pines had no more problems

Dipper Pines had told the truth.

[amysnotdeadyet]

2023 in review

Just the fannish creations, thanks. I don't want to think too hard about how fucking weird and stressful the year was outside of that. XD

I found some old 00Q art hiding on my hard drive and posted it in Feb.

I wrote a short Inception ficlet for @ladyprydian in April to try to jumpstart my muses. It didn't work.

I binge-wrote a whole-ass Sandman fic with (gasp!) fade-to-black porn in it in May.

July brought the Stony games! I was much less prolific than last year, but I managed a few things, starting with 3 little drabbles about perception.

I did a giftfic for the games! It starts in media res and I, being a troll, titled it In Pornia Res because yeah, this one's just pure porn against a background of worldbuilding.

I posted a longstanding WIP that was 100% self-indulgent trash, with Tony and Steve getting Bucky as their new sugar baby and treating him them right. Absolutely just the fluffiest of trash, but 66K of it!

I posted another longstanding WIP that's really pre-slash (I KNOW so weird) but involves catboy Tony, catboy Bucky, and a puppy Steve who's gonna get both (after the fic anyway).

My last little Stony Games fill was 8-bit pixel porn, because of course it was.

Later in August I did the "write what you want to see" thing and banged out (heh) a very kinky Stranger Things fic with Steve/Eddie and a leather bar. Somehow, it's still extremely fluffy.

I drew! Fanart! With pens and shit! Also Steve/Eddie.

And then I made pixel art of them, because why not.

Another Steddie fic, this time a modern AU with 'lost touch' feelings and also banging the rockstar in his hotel room.

And finally, my MTH2021 fic is posting a year late, and will continue on into the new year. It's all done and edited, I just like the daily posting method for getting drip-fed dopamine and also sitting there posting 29 chapters at once is no bueno.

You can find all of this stuff here, so I'm not link-stuffing the post: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swtalmnd/works

What's Coming in 2024 (besides my blorbos)

I have a few more Stuckony WIPs waiting in the wings, including my MTH 2022 fic, which I hope to finish in time to actually participate in 2024.

I have at least 1 novel coming out and maybe 2? I didn't publish ANY original fiction last year (gah), but I finished 1 draft (the sequel to Hive) and am plodding along on 2 more (Julian 4 and something new). I am so slow these days, tho, gah. I have no idea how some people put out multiple books a year, year after year.

I've got a few more Eeveeon arts to share, which I always forget to do on Tumbls.

I might actually open commissions next year (for art, I don't enjoy fic commissions).

I'm gonna a Stuckony Valentine thing, so you'll get at least one short fic from me in Feb.

I'm hoping something new will sweep me into its fandomy arms, because while I do love my current blorbos (MCU & Stranger Things), neither one is really doing the full fixation dance in my brain and that's sad. OTOH I'd like to finish my MCU WIPs before that spark fully dies ahahaha haha ha.

As far as art goes, I'm keeping up my Patreon sketch cards and not a ton else, but my new-new meds are helping me Get Shit Done, so I'm really hoping that I can get back into larger-than-a-playing-card artwork, both fannish and non.

I'm still gonna do more of my 8-bit bullshit, though.

[ephemerastardust]

[Pinefest2023] Art for My Body is a Cage

Link to fic | Author's AO3 Here are my art pieces for my author Eli’s fic 💕

Fic Summary:

Since he was twelve years old, Castiel has been cursed: he drains and eventually kills any living thing he touches. To keep the outside world safe, he’s voluntarily isolated himself in the relative safety of northern Minnesota. But even if he wants to avoid the world, the rest of the world doesn’t want to avoid him. After a kidnapping attempt by the King of Hell is thwarted by the Winchester brothers, Cas must work diligently to keep his secret safe, lest he be slaughtered like all the other monsters the brothers hunt for a living.

i.e. Cas has powers like X-Men’s Rogue, and it breeds all sorts of trouble.

Here are my art pieces for my author Eli’s fic 💕

- Stay with Me -

I so rarely draw any angst (..?) and am in general bad at conveying any strong emotions... But when choosing scenes from the fic to do art it came the first to my mind (actually second, because I wanted the next piece for sure haha) and although I worried if I could depict the climax moment (did I spoil 🙊) I just could not let it go. Luckily my author also chose this one among the sketches so here it is :D

The dark environment and blue light were also beyond my skill set but I tried my best 😭 my author is so very supportive 🥰

- Morning Rain -

Some domestic bliss again!! I love drawing their peaceful happy life so much 😭

Usually in bangs I give my authors a list of scenes to choose from but when I first read the draft I pled my author to let me have this scene hahah Not only because the pose the vibe the scene even the kitty so magically matched a sketch I had in my draft folder (intended for DCRB back then, though I planned for a totally different setting and environment) but also because the part of the story containing this scene has my whole heart I love it so so much 😭💕 I am not going to spoil but I feel like it has already spoiled very much by itself 🤣 But I have no regrets 😇 I love it so much.

- Banner -

I like my idea of the banner but I could not get it right with my poor design and coloring skills 🤣 Please go read the fic and I hope it can make sense then!!

- To my author, fellow artists, and mods -

I want to say thank you to Eli. He has always been very supportive and encouraged me through every piece of art. The fic is warm and sweet with just the right amount of tension and angst, and definitely happy ending guaranteed 💙💚 Please go read it!

Also, thank you to all my amazing fellow artists! I received so much help and encouragement from the bang channel - I struggled with the meow meow so much and seek for help in the artist channel, and I got so much helpful tips about cat movement and anatomy and also very helpful red lines! And encouragement 🥰 thank you!

And to all mods, you are amazing! I couldn’t believe my eyes when the promo materials were released - each fic had header pics handpicked regarding the fic theme and content, and even two versions for Tumblr and Twitter! Thank you for being super friendly, responsive, and helpful, and thank you for all the time and effort you put into this lovely event!

(I have already said this in my other post but again :D)

[winxngasks]

Finally have the next redesigns/reworks for the Main Universe kiddos! These are Flora and Helia's children, and they took a while to both sketch and write the descriptions for just because they are the largest group of siblings. Also, similar to Lincoln from Stella and Brandon's kids, I decided to age Jaylin up by a few years, to give him more story opportunity than he would have before.

But yeah, I hope you enjoy! Here are more notes for all of them!

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- Terra: 17 years old, daughter and second oldest child of Flora and Helia. Citizen of Linphea, and Fairy of Flowers. Average height, thick and curvy build that is more on the chubby side, wavy and chin-length hair dyed a rose gold color, jade green eyes, light brown skin, ears pierced. Growing up, she was always regarded as a "mini Flora" by adults, as she appears so similar to her mama in both looks and personality. Is a calm and dreamy kind of girl, rarely getting upset as she often goes with the flow of what is happening around her. As she moves with such a peaceful grace many assume her to be a bit ditzy or inattentive, which is true sometimes when she gets into too much of a dreamy state and forgets her surroundings, she is actually a very intuitive person with a lot of out-of-the-box thinking and who likes to take a lot of silent observations about the things and people around her. A kind soul who cares deeply for others like her mama, but she is not shy like she was at her age. Her hobbies are a mixture of both her parents, as she likes to draw flowers and landscapes like her papa, and garden with her mama, even having her own small section containing her favorite flowers.

- Forrest: 19 years old, son and oldest child of Flora and Helia. Citizen of Linphea, and a specialist at Red Fountain. Tall height, toned and slightly muscular build, long and wavy dark brown hair often in half-up bun styles, jade green eyes, tan skin, rectangle-shaped glasses. As the eldest brother to a bunch of energetic siblings, he is often left stressed and exhausted with their antics, but he has learned how to handle the various issues they may have when their parents are not around. As he often gets anxious when things are not in order, he is a very serious and no-nonsense lad, being a stickler for following rules and making sure everything goes as it should, even if this makes him come across as an uptight, stick-in-the-mud type. Diagnosed with Obsessive-compulsive disorder in his early teenage years, it made him feel much more at-ease having an explanation for why he feels the way he does, and through his medication and therapy he has learned to not let his anxieties bother him as much as they had before. He still rarely relaxes though, since as he is a specialist he often spends his free-time practicing instead of taking time off. A childhood friend to Crowned Princess Violet of Linphea, she is one person who never stressed him out growing up as she helped him deal with his emotions, but lately he has been feeling more tense around her as he has started to develop feelings for her.

- Gaia: 14 years old, daughter and third oldest child of Flora and Helia. Citizen of Linphea, and Fairy of Colors. Slightly short height, slim and pear-shape build, shoulder-length and wavy light brown hair that has a dirty blonde tuft in her bangs, hazel eyes, fair skin, oval-shaped glasses. She is the child that seemingly takes the most after her parents more quiet and demure natures, as she is very timid herself but with a sweet and selfless nature that wants to make sure everyone feels heard and included. She is also the most artsy out of her siblings, as she likes learning various different art and craft mediums, with a focus on vivid and bold colors and designs. Out of her friends Cassie and Lara, she is the one who has discovered her magic core first and has been hard at work training to attend Alfea in the next couple of years, but she is just as excited for her friends to be able to attend school in Magix, too.

- Hazel: 10 years old, daughter and third youngest child of Flora and Helia, older fraternal twin to Basil. Citizen of Linphea, with no signs of possible magic at the moment. Short height, average build with some baby fat, long and straight light honey brown hair, blue-green eyes, tan skin. Her and Basil are the ones that are the total opposites of their parents, as they are the rambunctious troublemakers of the family. They are the ones that cause the most stress to them and especially their older brother Forrest, but they do try to tone down the antics when they are at home. The older twin, Hazel is the more hot-headed one who is quick to assume things and act without thinking, but her heart is always in the right place.

- Basil: 10 years old, son and second youngest child of Flora and Helia, younger fraternal twin to Hazel. Citizen of Linphea, with no signs of possible magic at the moment. Short height, skinny build but with some baby fat like his twin, short and straight dirty blonde hair, blue-green eyes, tan skin. Just as energetic and adventurous as Hazel, but unlike his twin he is the more serious one that tries to stop or slow things down before they can get too far. Regardless of these differences when it comes to their plans, he is very close with his twin sister, as they are each other's biggest support system.

- Jaylin "Jay": 5 years old, son and youngest child of Flora and Helia. Citizen of Linphea, with no signs of possible magic at the moment. Short height, skinny build, straight navy bluish-black hair that is a little past the ears, dark blue eyes, pale skin. The one who takes the most after Helia in terms of looks, but he takes after both parents in-terms of personality. A very emotional, sensitive, and shy young boy, as he is easily spooked by things in life and his older siblings often have to make sure he feels safe and comfortable. Being the baby of the family he cannot go out or get up to as much activity as his older siblings, but he is much more content staying indoors and playing with his stuffed animals, often liking to act out some of his favorite stories with them.

[ur-boyfiend]

Bang The Doldrums

based on this board by @snug-gyu

-> writing stuff with happy / positive (or at least , not depressing) endings but also based on this song feels so weird lol ,,, didn't read the pete wentz livejournals for nothin. maybe i'll write some proper angst for it soon ,,, summer of like kinda content <3

also it's like 01:30 here and i'm tired but like what else is new lol. gonna see if i can write a bit more before i actually head to sleep

blue skies, forget-me-nots, winding country roads. a summer so much like the last summer you spent together, you have to force yourself not to think about it.

singing along to a playlist you made at 3am when you were lonely and in love, you continue your drive to the campsite. there was no real reason to go, he had been the one to like camping after all, but you need the catharsis more than ever.

you see the familiar gated dirt road and smile sadly, used to the feeling of missing people, but no better at dealing with it than before.

you pay the fee at the small office that sits just in front of the gates, waiting for a moment afterwards as the old metal creaks open. you thank the person working the booth and continue towards the lake near the middle of the park.

people usually gravitate towards the open area surrounding the lake and the noise filling the air is just as loud as ever, you're not planning on setting up on the lakeshore but you like the water anyway.

parking in the gravel lot you turn off your car's engine and grab the messenger bag sitting on the passenger seat next to you. you double, then triple-check that your car is locked before walking down to the lake's edge and sitting on the grass.

the messenger bag previously slung over your shoulder is now slumped on the ground next to you, and you grab the worn notebook and overfilled pencil case from the main pocket, flipping to a half-finished sketch you'd started the day before.

you're quickly lost in your work, focusing on the scratching sound of your pencil on the paper and the hushing of the water in front of you. when you turn to grab a different color pencil from your bag you're surprised to see someone sitting next to you, then even more surprised when you see who it is.

you don't say anything for a moment, not entirely sure that he's real. it wouldn't be the first time you saw him when he wasn't there.

but then he smiles at you, and you think you might start crying right then and there.

"chan...?" you curse yourself for how your voice wavers, though ultimately you're a bit surprised that you can speak at all.

his smile grows a bit wider, his dimples showing through even more, "hi."

you're not sure how to respond, but before you can make up your mind he reaches up, gently brushing his hand across your cheek, "you're crying."

you hadn't noticed, reaching up to touch your face you realize he's right. you wipe at your cheeks, trying to stop the tears still slipping from your eyes.

"sorry, sorry," you can barely hear yourself speak, your voice muffled by the way you've curled in on yourself.

but apparently chan can still hear you, because he wraps his arms around you and pulls you into his side.

"it's alright, you're alright. you don't need to apologize to me, remember?"

you're frozen for a moment, not expecting him to reference the promise you'd made years ago, that neither of you would apologize to each other for their emotions.

"'course, that was the first time someone told me that i could have negative emotions without having to feel bad about it." you don't mention that you thought he might've forgotten, not sure if the promise held the same importance to him as it did to you.

you feel chan go completely still for a moment, and realize belatedly that you'd never told him that before. you don't have time to regret your choice because he pulls you even closer, resting his chin on top of your head.

you relax into his touch without even thinking about it, still used to the feeling even after all the time that's passed. you push the heels of your palms into your eyes, feeling the tears drying on your face and caught in your eyelashes.

after a couple minutes of comfortable silence, you pull yourself together enough to speak again.

"i missed you."

he weaves his fingers through your hair, and you hum at the action, leaning into his hand.

"i missed you too."

there's a tinge of bitterness in the back of your throat, and you swallow hard, words briefly sticking in your throat, unwilling to taint the sweetness of the moment.

it seems like chan can tell something's changed, because his hand stills to rest on your head, and he presses a soft kiss to your scalp, mumbling an "i'm sorry" into your hair.

you shake your head slightly, refusing to let him shoulder all the blame.

"no, no i'm sorry. it was my fault too."

"i was the one who left."

"and i was the one who let you."

"still-"

you move slightly, kissing his cheek in an attempt to make him stop talking. it works, and before he can say anything else, you shake your head more firmly.

"you're not allowed to blame yourself completely, that's not fair to you. please."

he looks like he wants to say something else but after a moment he closes his mouth again and shakes his head.

"alright, alright. if you insist."

you laugh quietly, "i do."

after a brief pause he asks, "wanna set up at the same campsite?"

"yeah, yeah that'd be lovely."

chan stands up, offering you a hand. you take it and feel yourself being pulled to your feet, neither of you letting go even after you're both standing.

going back in the direction of your car, the comfortable chatter you'd missed so dearly wraps around you again, and it's like there was never any disconnect, never any time away from one another.

you'd had a last summer together, but maybe now you could have another first.