#i drew a couple other things in between panels

[frozenhi-chews]

Passes out despite the fact I just woke up

"I care about you, brother."

Hhhhhiii guys! Back with another comic from @twinanimatronics fic! Is anyone surprised? Yeah. The day I stop drawing for this fic is the day people can assume me dead. Anyways.

oUCH??? EXCUSE ME??? I had just finished my first Undertale playthru. I had done Pacifist. I was still mentally recovering from the events that had happened from pre-Omega Flowey fight to the ending of the game. And THERE JUST H A D TO BE A FLOWEY REFERENCE that already pounded my pulverized heart into the pavement. Well done Ceph! (Being genuine about that one.) I'm not kidding when I say I legit cried making this!!

Hope y'all enjoy

(Click for better quality)

[possamble]

What are your headcanons about Marcille's mom if you have any? It's interesting that what drew Donato to her was cause she lived the history he studied, or that was said somewhere at least. She must've had an interesting life.

so this was going to be just a normal answer but then I realized I have a Lot of Things To Say. so here goes, a compilation of what we know for a fact from the canon, what I've extrapolated from the visual cues and details, and my theories based on all of that.

Things we know for a fact about Marcille's mother because they were explicitly stated in the manga and supplemental materials:

She was a court mage for a Tall-man kingdom at the southern part of the Northern Continent

Donato, a court historian, fell in love with her because she had lived through the history he was studying, and he courted her for 17 years (age 15 to 32) before getting married

She was a cheerful person who rarely showed extreme emotion and took things as they came

She always cooked a huge meal for Marcille on her birthdays

She remarried a gnome after Donato's death and a short distance away from Marcille's childhood home

Pipi, Marcille's pet bird, was actually older than Marcille and originally belonged to her mother (bird died at 62)

She was extremely heartbroken when Donato died and ultimately ended up instilling a deep fear of mortality in Marcille with her words

the only time she showed extreme emotion in front of her family was when Donato could no longer eat his favourite dish near the end of his life.

She scolded Marcille for being cruel to ants (implying she can have a stern side when needed)

Things that are explicitly shown but mostly through visual cues

She has a very distinctive style of dress always involving a ribbon choker (mirroring Marcille's habit of always wearing a matching choker with any of her outfits that don't cover her neck)

She was almost stereotypically good at housekeeping and traditionally "wifely" things (very frequently depicted wearing an apron or doing some domestic chore when not at work, seems to have been an avid cook).

She knits? (also, note the affectionate smile as she's looking at Donato and Marcille reading a book together in the full panel)

She was as excited for Marcille's milestones as Donato was.

She didn't tell Marcille much about elven food

(there are a couple things that this panel in particular implies:

She lived a good deal of her life (if not being born and raised) in a mainly elven country in the West, implied by her knowing enough of an elven region's cuisine to prefer Tall-man food over it

seems to have a pretty carefree and casual demeanour overall, if this is how she replied to Marcille asking her about it (sounds like she never gave her culinary preferences that much thought to begin with)

slightly related to number 2, it seems like she and Marcille had a fairly casual parent-child dynamic (especially in comparison to the Toudens' memory of their father)

(local elf tastes Italian food once and never goes back))

However, she seems a lot more... serious in most of the other times we see her? Almost like the very stereotypical archetype of a graceful elf.

Subsequent conclusions about her personality:

Usually pretty carefree and cheerful at home, has been a loving and attentive parent throughout Marcille's childhood (while not being so doting that she didn't discipline Marcille).

Slightly more conjectural theories on her personality:

Had a much more graceful and professional personality at work, which would explain the more serious portraits we see of her.

Given that both she and Donato had positions at the royal court, it seems a little odd that she'd go out of her way to do all the housework herself, so maybe she just enjoyed doing it?

Now taping all the evidence together and toeing the line between analysis and fanfiction:

It's clear that she loved Donato very much and was utterly devastated by losing him. But there's one thing that really stuck out to me in what little we see of her:

Doesn't she seem... angry? The way she's gritting her teeth, clutching the tablecloth, and how this is the first and only time we see her eyes opened that wide. In the following panel, you see her being quiet and dejected after her initial outburst. She's still crying very intensely, but her brows are furrowed, and she's not really responding to Donato's affection in her body language.

We're not told the details of how she felt about losing Donato other than that it upset her. But this, to me, implies that she was angry and resented that he was aging, that the end of his life was approaching. An "it's not fair" type of preemptive grief. And if this was the first and last time she cried like this in front of her family, she was either very good at coping in private... or very bad at letting herself feel unpleasant emotions until they become unavoidable and end up overwhelming her.

It's not too remarkable a detail on the surface. It's even reminiscent of what the audience has seen of Marcille. But... when it comes to the big picture, you'd think an elf who voluntarily chose to marry a tall-man and have a half-elf child would have been better prepared for this.

It kind of recontextualizes her cheerfulness to me.

"I'm sure everything's gonna be okay!" (or some variation thereof, depending on what translation you have).

And this is stated to contrast her extreme grief when finally confronting Donato's failing body and eventual death. But I'm wondering if... maybe this optimism was why she was so upset. What if she went into all of it thinking "everything's gonna be okay"? What if she was a little young by elven standards, and just followed her heart thinking that her own resilience would get her through anything?

Of course, only to get completely overwhelmed when she actually loses Donato. She turns into a completely different person. And that's heartbreaking on its own-- but what the audience sees is the effect it had on Marcille. Can you imagine being her, watching your invincible and upbeat mother suddenly lose all the light in her eyes in one go?

I've already made a huge post about how I think Marcille models her "work persona" off her mother, but another thing that stuck with me as I was looking for more details in the manga was this:

copy pasting from the other post i made about it lmao it's like... the second she resigns herself to lifelong pain and terror, there's another portrait of her mother facing her like this. with their heads bowed, in mirrored body language of resignation and despair and sorrow. Except it's posed like Marcille is still looking at her mother but her mother is looking away.

It took me a second to realize, but I think that it's a visual metaphor for the fact that Marcille's mother was the only long-lived role model she had-- and she failed to model healthy grief for her daughter. I don't say this as an accusation or to disparage her as a character, but just as a matter of fact. In her, Marcille was seeing herself older and losing a short-lived spouse or loved one of her own, and all she saw was hopelessness.

But her mother didn't mean to instill hopelessness and terror in her. She wasn't really thinking of how it would truly affect Marcille at all (at least, that's how I'm interpreting her looking down and away from Marcille in the metaphor), she was just sad. And she, in her own way, was trying to protect her daughter and help her prepare for future losses.

What she meant was "loss is inevitable, and you have to learn how to be in pain but live on anyway." What Marcille heard was "loss is inevitable, and you will be scared and hurt for the rest of your life."

Again. Marcille's mother doesn't feature explicitly in the story the way her father does -- but in so many ways, her shadow, her silhouette, her reflection is always hanging over Marcille.

All that to say... headcanon-wise (everything from here on is 100% without evidence lmao), I'd like to think that she matured and realized that she failed Marcille. I imagine her being regretful about it, wanting a chance to fix it but never finding a way to insert herself back into Marcille's life when Marcille is so so so busy becoming the most accomplished mage possible. I imagine her being herself again, now, so many years after her loss and after remarrying -- but with her cheerfulness tempered with a lot more wisdom and the pain of having gone through loss like that. I think the second Marcille actually tells her what happened in the dungeon, she'd want to go running to her daughter again -- if Marcille tells her the full truth instead of just being embarrassed she let things get that far. (oh, the tragedy of her wanting to be more like her mother and an accomplished adult who doesn't need to be babied... being embarrassed to actually tell her mother how much she fucked up...)

There's also the tension of her having remarried -- I know that there's at least a little bit of resentment that Marcille harbours about that, because she's childish like that at heart even if she makes an effort not to externalize it. I think that her mother would be aware of that, potentially adding to her sense of guilt and apprehension at trying to reappear/intrude on Marcille's life. I honestly don't think Marcille has met her stepfather -- or even considers him a stepfather rather than "mama's new husband" and kind of a total stranger. I think she and her mother actively don't talk about it in their correspondence, like an elephant in the room.

but, ultimately, I think her mother is on her side no matter what. Ancient magic? Dark necromancy? Sure, she'll feel guilty and like she was partially responsible for setting Marcille down such a painful path, but she wouldn't care. that's her daughter!! she would've moved back west and been petitioning for her at the court, buying a house right next to the Canaries barracks and visiting her every day that she wasn't on a mission. And if her husband had opinions on Marcille becoming a "dark arts user," he either gets over it or it's divorce with him. Yes, she might have had her optimism completely humbled by losing Donato like that -- but she's still headstrong and self-assured and she doesn't care what people think of her. It's her way or the highway and she's always going to be in Marcille's corner.

(She also needs a name lol. I went with Juno, just to be cute about "Marcille"s closest real life equivalent being Marcella, which is the female version of Marcellus, which in turn is a diminutive of Marcus, which was derived from Mars. Absolutely in love with Marcille potentially being named after Ares/Mars the fucking god of war btw)

[luffyvace]

Hi I just wanted to say I love ur sm and I'm so glad to have found ur blog <333

It so hard to find a someone to write form tdlosk<3 (the author reader)

I had a cute though if it the came in my mind when reading the P2(?) Of it, Reader friend to show his approval of reader and saiki when he released his newest chapter in some of panel in the background there is this couple who is closely looks like reader and saiki or if there scene where there is desserts the most will stand out is a coffee jelly w Reader fav dessert and along with words of "coffee jelly and f/d are the finest together" (f/d = favorite dessert)

Sorry if I talked ur ear off I just wanted to rent this thought of mine ^^

Have a good day!

AWW YOUR SO SWEEEEEET!! TYSM DARLING <33 I agree I don’t see very many!!

AHHH THATS SUCH A GOOD IDEA!! That’s absolutely adorable I starting smiling so hard while typing this‼️💖

…………………..♡♡♡……………….

When you were reading your friend’s latest chapter you saw he drew a couple in that background resembled your appearance and had two thingys sticking out a guy’s head and glasses

you instantly knew it was you two!! (Especially with saiki’s limiters LOL)

freaking out, you and immediately ran to Saiki to show him 😭💓💓

he probably already noticed if he read the book before you

”KUSUO LOOK!! Looklooklook!- my author friend put us in the latest chapter!!!”

”yeah, I know I saw, he put us in the manga :)”

”that’s so ADORABLE 💞💞”

”I’m so happy! I’ve gotta thank him!”

you called your friend and barely gave him a chance to speak as you bursted with appreciation over the phone

he tells you he thought you and Saiki were a cute couple from when you introduced them to each other

so he got the spontaneous idea to put you two in his book!!

he explained that although it looked like you were just standing there with hearts over your heads (<3) you two were coming back from a dessert date!!

In a flash there was a smile on your face as you ran over to Kusuo once again to relay the message

he was rather fond of it considering that means he was eating coffee jelly 😎

”dang now he wants some..”

there was another scene where the main character passed a bakery and the items on sale in the window were coffee jelly and f/d!!!

the poster even read “coffee jelly and f/d are the finest together!~”

AWWWW SO CUTE!!

your shaking Kusuo and jumping up and down as you tell him about it!

he just sits there and lest it all happen with a faint smile 💖

he’s happy too of course

but your (literally) jumping with joy

often times after your friend finishes a chapter

you know how authors do that thing where they would put little doodles or facts at the end?

yeah he puts little chibi sketches of you and Kusuo doing cute couple stuff

one chapter will be chibi’s of you two holding hands

The next is you two on a date eating coffee jelly and f/d

it absolutely warms your heart 😭💝💝

you rant to Kusuo, your friends, your family, your author friend- EVERYBODY each time he does it

its so sweet of him!!

one time you put a detailed sketch of your author friend at the end of your chapter and he appreciated it so much!!

now it’s sorta just a back and forth thing between you two :3

This was such an adorable concept 😊💖

°

🏌️‍♀️

:3 (LOL)

[genericpuff]

Wait wait when and where did RS say Hermes and Persephone used to make out behind Demeter's back??

I believe it was her Patreon specifically. She has a very bad habit of dropping "canon" information on social media/other platforms/anything that isn't the actual webcomic. It's also how she "retconned" Minthe's BPD, through a mod post on Discord; and she had first revealed Hestia and Athena as a couple through shipping art on Patreon.

Unfortunately a LOT of this kind of information has been lost because her Patreon no longer exists, and because all that information was kept behind a tier subscription (which users can no longer access) all we have left are screenshots of old Patreon drawings that got backed up and statements from people who were there to witness it themselves as Patreon backers. It's honestly pretty smart, if you're looking to cover your tracks and retcon your own canon information you gave out, but that's of course dependent on backers not saving screenshots or image files which they always do (and did because you can find lost Patreon content out there all the time). I doubt that was Rachel's intention either, to try and "cover it up" that way, it was just something that sorta worked in her favor due to the nature of Patreon. She already retcons things plenty as it is without needing to "bury" what she originally said so I doubt she would care about using Patreon in that way LMAO

That said, the fact that she dumps this information outside of the comic does mean she can easily go back on it at any time. So... that's definitely a thing that I feel like she does on purpose to some degree, even if it's just so she doesn't have to 'commit' to any one solid idea. Again, she doesn't have to be doing that intentionally, but people do end up doing these sorts of things subconsciously all the time. Considering how flip-floppy LO's decisions and plotlines are, I wouldn't be surprised if RS just had commitment issues with her own ideas. But I don't know, this is getting into more speculation that I can't back up with actual fact, just my own experiences reading her work. So take it with grains of salt.

Another fun fact from her sharing things on social media outside of the comic: that panel of Hades working tirelessly on his computer isn't his arms moving really fast, apparently he actually can grow multiple arms.

Only shown once (and it was assumed to just be comic book motion) and confirmed as canon by RS outside of the comic. It's actually insane the amount of weird or otherwise random shit RS has tried to depict in the comic without explanation or context with just the assumption that people would "get" whatever was going on in her head when she drew it. There's definitely a weird disconnect between RS' own internal ideas/how she views her writing vs. how it actually comes out on paper. Comics are both narrative and visual communication, there are loads of "rules" you can follow to help achieve that communication in the clearest and most appealing way possible - what she's basically doing is the writing equivalent of jaywalking.

[twstedpometea]

Tracing, Copying and Referencing: Ugigiugi and Artist Transparency.

As I've said in my previous posts I was going to go over the differences between tracing, copying, and referencing and explain what is wrong with Ugigiugi's artwork. This is going to be a long post so if you have the time and hit the "Keep Reading" button..

To start, I'm going to provide an visual explanation of this subject to clarify what counts as tracing, what counts as copying, and what counts as referencing. I will post both the original Instagram link and repost the the examples. Thanks to Chihiro Howe for putting this visual aid together: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZP2McJU4M/ by Chihiro Howe

With this in mind, let's go over the issue with Ugigiugi. I'll be providing further examples of the sourced/traced art we have here on Tumblr. Mahoukarp’s animals Vs. Ugigiugi Twst-Character animals.

Here is an overlay of Mahoukarp's croc VS the one Ugigiugi drew:

As you can see this is tracing with the only minor changes being the addition of a white outline, adding Sebek's bangs, and changing the eye color. Even with these tweaks, the majority of the artwork is still the same in both pose and style. This is still tracing. Let’s move onto the next sample. 村上 comic panels Vs. Ugigiugi’s comic panels.

This is one I originally sourced when this situation began to unfold: This is actually a mix of both tracing and copying. Certain sections of the comic are traced and altered in certain areas so they are not 1 to 1 (e.g the lose of details on Azul's bowtie and the fingers, the "shading" and the Altering of some expressions). Let’s look at one more sample. メディ image Vs. Ugigiugi’s Image

Again, despite the fact that some details have been altered, replaced Yuu with her self-insert, altered the scaling, and shrunk down Crowley, it's still more tracing. Now comes the issue at hand...

As I stated in my previous post, a number of Japanese fan artists Ugigiugi traces from have strict rules of no reproduction/tracing.

No matter what type of artist you are, it is important to respect each other and the boundaries people set on their art. Some of us create resources to help others. Some of us create for fun. Some of us create to make a living off our skills.

That is not the case here. These artists Ugigiugi takes from all have rules regarding their artwork that she continuously steamrolls over for the sake of her own selfishness. It is not only the mark of a poor artist. It is the mark of a dishonest person.

I've spent the last couple of days mulling over this whole situation, researching and checking messages, mentions, and general inquires related to her most recent update post where she states that she is "stepping away" from social media and issuing two apologies (one on Tumblr and one on Deviant Art).

 Uggiugii’s Tumblr apology   Ugigiugi’s Deviantart Apology. I've read both and I have a response to these apologies. I do not believe Ugigiugi is being sincere. At all. She mentions numerous things in the apologies but my main focus is on the initial sentences and the lack of admission of wrongdoing. 

1) Even if English isn't her first language we have to talk about the fact that she continually refers to her actions as "mistakes". I'll be very blunt here. You can't mistakenly see another person's artwork, copy it to your heard drive, then trace over it and publish it. These aren't mistakes. These are the deliberate decisions and actions of someone with zero accountability and with clear intentions to take something that does not belong to them and repost it for attention and validation. You can be misinformed. You can misunderstand. But that doesn't absolve you of personal responsibility when you are called out, even if you're unaware of the harm you're causing. Intentional or not, Ugigiugi has violated the rules and boundaries set by other artists. Repeatedly. 2) Not once in either of these apologies has she ever acknowledged that she has traced artwork. Not once has she linked an original source she copied. She keeps it vague and undefined as a "mistake" without ever stating directly what it is she is apologizing for. Given this, I can only conclude that she still does not see what she did was wrong or is avoiding the addressing the issue entirely because if she admits guilt, that will call everything she's ever posted into question. When it comes to apologies you need to demonstrate both honesty and transparency for your actions and the steps you will take to make amends. For reference, this is how an apology should work: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-art-of-a-heartfelt-apology-2021041322366 Ugigiugi's apologies do none of that. There is nothing but excuses and accusations and deflections everywhere. There's no acknowledgement of the core issue and nothing but griping for sympathy. And it rings entirely hollow in my ears. When it comes to art, there is no shame in starting at the bottom and working your way up the ladder. You can use online resources, credit other creators if you use things like bases, open resource tools, and tutorials, and you can even ask for feedback to improve. But one thing you need to understand is that every artist has their boundaries. Respecting rules they set is important, especially when they explicitly state "no copying/tracing". You can't build your own skills if you're constantly stealing from others. It weakens you as an artist and it doesn't make you look good to others. As fans of this game, we should be creating for the right reasons, not blatantly taking what doesn't belong to us. The Twisted Wonderland community has already lost a number of fan artists who have closed/deleted their profiles and accounts due to people like Ugigiugi. It is very sad to see talented fans give up and quit because of this reckless selfishness. In the end, I can't tell any of you what to do and if you choose to continue to support her, that is your prerogative but moving forward, I and many others will be blocking her to protect ourselves. That is the price to be paid when you are caught tracing artwork. At the very least I hope this post has given anyone still on the fence something to think about. To make one final thing very clear: While this post is critical of Ugigiugi, it is NOT an endorsement to dox or harass her or any of her followers. I hate that I have to repeat this but I have seen some things in the tags and I can't abide by it. In conclusion, I do hope that the TWST community does take this as a lesson and comes away with a better understanding of what tracing/copying/referencing are and of how to be respectful of artists and fandom spaces. -TwstedPomeTea

[stories-and-chaos]

Tarnished pt 16

[Helluva Boss AU where Blitzø’s childhood theft from Stolas’ palace is discovered and major consequences ensue for everyone involved.]

[Part 16/?? Word count: 3503 Cw: mentions of drug abuse, noncon, prostitution, language]

—————

Inside the limo, Loona had been waiting anxiously for them. Everyone felt it was best for her to be nearby since she was the only person Dina knew. While Blitzø kept Slicker at bay, Loona pulled her sister into the rear cabin and placed herself between Dina and the door. The smaller Hound clung to one of the seats.

“This isn’t over, impy.” She shuddered at the tone in Slicker’s voice. That particular edge had always been followed by some sort of violence. Everyone working for the aspiring Overlord knew that and they did what they could to keep him happy. If not happy, then at least calm. It wasn’t terribly effective since he could switch into fury with little provocation, but it was better than doing nothing.

The male imp didn’t seem to care about the threat in Slicker’s voice. He just quipped about the gathering crowd of angry hellborn and slammed the door closed. That was their driver’s cue to speed away.

The sudden acceleration made Loona slip on the car floor while knocking the other three into the seats. “Hey! Take it easy!” she yelled at the driver through the open panel.

“Sorry, Loona!” The driver, a Hellhound a bit older than the girls, yelled back. “Prince Stolas’ orders; get out of this section of the Pentagram asap.”

She grumbled but climbed into the seat with Dina. “Are you okay? You didn’t get hurt did you?”

Dina looked blankly at her sister. The realization that. Slicker and everything associated with him was rapidly disappearing from her world made something in her crumble. Her face scrunched up as tears filled her eyes.

“Looooooonaaaaa! I thought I’d never see you aga-a-a-a-aiiiin!” she wailed, collapsing into her sister’s arms. The bigger Hound cradled her sibling as best she could in the moving vehicle. She stroked Dina’s hair, claws running through locks much shorter than she recalled.

As she made soothing noises, Blitzø and Stolas pointed looked away, giving the girls a bit of privacy. I am not going to get jealous over my daughters’ reunion. Nope, not gonna. Technically speaking, Loona was his kid and he’d just met Dina. But that wasn’t far from how things were when he adopted Loona.

Blitzø felt himself falling in love again. Now that the immediate crisis was lulling, he was feeling that same doting affection for Dina as he did with Loona and Octavia. Fuck it, if she wants me as a dad, then I’m her dad.

“Sooooo, Blitzø,” Stolas drew his attention, “where did you meet, how did you phrase it? ‘Hentai-for-hands?’’”

“The fuck?!” Loona and the driver yelled. Dina, having calmed down some, spluttered a laugh. “Oh hellfire, that’s perfect! Slicker, his hands are all…” she wiggled her fingers, “tentacley.” Loona made a disgusted face. “Yeah, it’s so gross.”

“And he’s got way more than there should be, for fingers.” Blitzø added. “Must’ve been, Christ, almost two decades ago? Before you married the feather duster. It was when I was going out after all those ‘dates’ you were trying; he and a couple others were trying to prove they were big tough demons. Little ol’ me,” he posed, fluttering his lashes with a hand dramatically on his chest, “proved them wrong.”

Dina rubbed her eyes as she recalled the Sinner’s many rants. “Hold up, are you the ‘bitchy imp twink’ that knocked out half his teeth?”

“Is that what he’s calling me? I shoulda punched them all out. But yuuuueeeep that’s me!” Blitzø grinned in satisfaction and leaned onto Stolas. “Unless that wannabe makes a habit of picking fights with imps.”

Dina blew out a deep breath. “He does, but most don’t fight back. You’re almost legendary with my imp coworkers.”

“Really? Interesting.” That might work in his favor with building his legion. Something to think about later.

For now, making sure Dina was safe was their priority. They had all discussed options for where she’d stay for the time being. As secure as the safe room Stolas had prepared for Blitzø was, it was still a windowless single room. The only exit led to the personal chambers of a member of demonic royalty. It was hard for Loona to stay there overnight and she knew Stolas and Via. Who knew how Dina would handle it.

On the other hand, the apartment in Imp City was already cramped and didn’t have any of the protection the palace had. The relative freedom was offset by a lack of security.

Stolas had started preparing a similar warded room near Octavia’s suite. Killing two bats with one stone, he was instructing his daughter in creating it. Whether the Hound girls decided to use it would be up to them. But with the dangers and animosity Blitzø and Stolas seemed to attract, the prince felt it was prudent to ensure Via could create a safe haven. Just in case.

But the wards weren’t ready yet. Via was working hard but it had taken Stolas months to come up with the protections. He hadn’t needed to cast them again in years. So it was something of a joint effort.

Once they were out of Pentagram City, their driver called back, “Where to sir?” Stolas then realized there was one person they hadn’t discussed things with: Dina. “To the estate for now, we may be changing our minds however.”

He focused on the young women. “Dina.” Her head snapped up and he could see the anxiety she was trying to suppress. “We haven’t actually been introduced yet. I am Stolas, Prince of Ars Goetia. Scarlet and Vex are two of my household staff. Your sister is my pupil and her adoptive father Blitzø is my partner.” They could get into details later. “We have some options for where you’ll be staying in the immediate future and I believe your input is very important on that subject. Loona, would you care to explain?”

He doubted Dina had much choice in anything that had happened in her life. Not unlike an imp he was fond of. If they wanted to help her, some structure and a voice in her future was important.

None of them were surprised that she looked terrified at the thought of Blitzø’s safe room. She wavered between the city apartment and an unsecure suite in the palace. The apartment, with its distance from unknown royalty and relative privacy won out. “Can…can I stay at the apartment? With Loona?”

“You got it.” Blitzø called to the driver, “Change of plans, we’re going to Imp City! You know my address?”

“Sorry man, I’ve never been to Imp City before. Directions?” The imp wasn’t great at giving driving directions, but Loona could get them there.

It was mid afternoon by the time they arrived. Stolas elected to return to the palace. “Keep me updated darling. Via and I will get that suite secure in the next few days. We may not need it, but better to be prepared.”

The sigil at Blitzø’s throat gleamed; he just sighed in annoyance and agreed to make sure Stolas was informed. He shepherded the girls into the apartment as the limo drove off.

He let Loona lead the way once they were inside. It wasn’t much different from when she first arrived. There was slightly less horse decor as Loona had added her own goth aesthetic to the place. Photos of everyone currently in their lives were hung in the entryway.

Dina sat on the run down couch in a daze. Her life had gone topsy turvy in less than 24 hours. Yesterday, she’d woken up about this time, fully expecting to be used by at least half a dozen demons before the sun was up.

She’d still been on edge from seeing Loona the week prior. Dina had been doing her best to just forget about everything, to act like nothing was different. The Hellhound had confided to a couple of her friends at the brothel; she’d been so jumpy the day she first saw her sister at the end of the street. One of the guys gave her access to his drug stash.

Dina hadn’t used much at all in the time she’d been under Slicker’s tentacles. Drugs were expensive and it was hard enough to pay off her existing debts. There were some days she just needed to not be though. To forget about it all and let the chemical high carry her to the morning.

She’d taken the hits her friends offered every night since Loona spotted her. She’d been ready to take another that night when the exhibitionist imps strolled in. They asked for her. To be their ‘audience.’ The female even insisted on her joining them in the lounge for food before going to one of the bedrooms. The imp who’d been in their room the first night encouraged her to go along with them.

“Easiest night I’ve had in ages and they’re super chill. Kinda chatty when they’re not fucking but nice about it. And the bonus they gave me, damn I almost came from that stack of bills.” When Dina asked why he wasn’t trying to get their attention he nudged her towards the pair. “You need an easy night. Things have been way too hard for you lately. So enjoy your paid time off.”

So she sat next to the two imps as they bantered and flirted. When they had their fill of sub par entertainment and drinks, she took them to one of the rooms. After their first visit, they knew to request jugs of water and a comfortable chair for her.

Neither imp really seemed to notice her once the door closed. Scarlet, the female, pounced on her partner and the pair tumbled on the bed. Dina watched, weirdly curious, as they stripped off bits of clothes and covered newly exposed skin in lips and tongues.

After about twenty minutes, the male, Vex, pulled back enough to ask, “Think it’s been long enough?”

Scarlet pulled his head back to hers, panting. “Five more minutes.” He chuckled and they continued. It ended up being closer to ten when they broke apart. “That should be enough time,” she said, trying to slow her breathing down. A tremor of fear ran down the Hounds spine as the imps looked at her. They seemed way too calm, considering how entwined they had been a moment ago.

“Dina.” Scarlet’s voice was soft and sad. “We’re not going to do anything to you, I swear. But we’re not here to have someone watch us.”

“We’re friends with Loona,” Vex dropped the bombshell of information. “We’re here to help you both.”

One fear was replaced by another, along with a deep feeling of shame. “Sh-she can’t come h-here! She’ll g-get hurt and if he finds out I’ve got f-family out there, he’ll-“ she started hyperventilating. The memory of the last time Slicker was mad at her started to replay in her head. Dina shook her head violently; she had more important things to think about. She needed these two to understand.

“Please, p-please, don’t let her come here. I’ll do whatever you want b-but k-keep my sister away,” she said desperately. She gripped her chair, gouging holes into the wood.

The imps exchanged a glance before pulling shirts back on. Scarlet went to sit in front of the door as Vex fastened a couple buttons. “We’re all making sure she doesn’t break in here. Easier said than done,” he said dryly, “but we’re managing.” Both of them were pointedly giving her space. Neither made a move to touch her.

“You talking to her might be the best bet. Not in person,” Vex clarified, “but a phone call?” He pulled out his smartphone. “We could even do a video call if yo-“

“No video! But…” talking to Loona, she could get her to stay away. Growing up, her littermate had always been the tough one, protecting Dina. But this place, Slicker, was more than one (or two) Hellhound could handle. “I want to talk to her.”

Vex placed the call, putting it on speaker. It barely started ringing when an unfamiliar voice picked up. “Vex? Lety? I’ve got you on speaker.”

“Blitzø, man, it’s good we got here early. Dina here has way too many thirsty fuckers coming round here.” The girl snorted; if only they knew. “Good thing we tipped so good last time, we got first pick.”

“The fact he basically got a paid night off helped too,” Scarlet added from her self-appointed station in front of the door. Dina had to admit the imps were right. No one had questioned their request for her, and her coworkers even encouraged her to go along with it.

A scrambled noise came over the phone speaker, before, “Dina’s there? She’s with you now?!” Last time she’d heard Loona, she’d been screeching for Slicker’s hired hellborn goons to let her sister go. Dina sobbed at the shaky hope in her sister’s voice.

Scarlet came next to her chair, still not touching the girl. “It’s going to be okay. You can do this.” Her voice was quiet but there was no denying the confidence in it. Confidence in…Dina? The imp woman had no reason to have that feeling for Dina from the Hound’s view. But it was there and it was encouraging.

Vex handed the phone to her and she managed “L-Loona?” He sister started to apologize and promise to rescue her, but that just made the panic rise in Dina again. “No! You can’t come here Loona. Slicker…you don’t know what he’s capable of!” She started to hyperventilate again.

Vex took the phone back for a moment as both imps helped her calm down. He brought her water as Scarlet talked to her soothingly. When she could continue, she took a deep breath and took the phone back. “I don’t want you to get hurt by him. I signed a deal when I got here. Once I pay off my debt I’ll be done with this place.” There was also the years of minimum employment she had to fulfill, but she’d managed it the past two. Hopefully, she sounded forceful enough that Loona and her friends would leave her be.

Dina had a glimmer of an idea to ask the imps to return every now and then. They’d been decent so far and if they were willing to give her tips like the one they’d left her friend, it would go a long way towards paying off her debts. But that shattered like a hurled wineglass when Loona started asking questions about her contract.

Dina still didn’t understand what all the fuss was. Contracts and deals were all the same right? Even if they started with superficial differences, it didn’t matter if the result was the same.

But the sighs of relief from everyone else seemed to imply differently. “We can work with a paper contract. I can’t say too much over the phone. I’ll…work something out. I won’t go on my own!” Dina tried to tell her no again when Loona pleaded, “Please? Let me try?”

She was so tired. Tired enough that she was sure ‘exhausted’ was a personality trait at this point. She didn’t want to fight with her sister if she could help it; she didn’t have the energy for it. Dina found herself agree, without any sense that whatever they tried would succeed. Maybe if they couldn’t rescue her right away, Loona and her friends would give up. And at least her sister would be safe.

Dina started to cry. “Okay. Just… please please please be careful. I love you Loona.”

Loona was crying too. “I love you too Dina. We can talk more later.” Vex took back his phone as Dina curled up in a ball on her chair. Maybe she should have taken that hit tonight. As it was the dam on her emotions fell away and she couldn’t stop herself from crying.

The pair of imps let her. Once she cried herself out, Scarlet was there with tissues and more water. No hint of judgment from either of them. Cleaned up a little, Vex insisted that she take a nap in the meantime. He’d call that Blitzø guy a few hours after midnight but there was plenty of time before then.

Dina slept until about two in the morning. At some point while she slept, one of the imps had gotten snacks. Dina recognized the food as appetizers from the lounge. She nibbled on fried mozzarella sticks as Vex offered to explain some of Loona’s current situation.

So when they placed another call, she at least knew the names of the others involved. There was also the implication that Scarlet and Vex’s employer was much stronger than Slicker. And that if they couldn’t get her out legally, they’d go the more forceful route.

Dina’s part was simple. Act as if everything was normal. If anyone asked about her crying, she’d say the conversation between the imp’s bouts of sex got heavy and they had paid for all her food that night in apology. She needed to be awake and ready to go in the afternoon.

She’d naturally been skeptical about everything. But it wouldn’t hurt to go along. So she was genuinely surprised when there was a knock on the door and the voice from the phone called her name. She flung the door open to see an unknown imp and…was that a Goetia?!

“I’m Blitzø, the ‘o’ is silent. Let’s get you to your sister.” Same voice as she’d heard last night. The imp moved fast and talked faster. Before she knew it the Goetia had his arm around her protectively and they were moving toward the door.

She could hear Slicker yelling and slamming things in his office. With a wicked grin, Blitzø hopped up onto the tiny lounge stage and announced that at least half of the contracts with Slicker were invalid because…of a technicality?! Anyone that had been a minor when they signed was free to go, including Dina.

In a blur, she was herded into the fanciest car she’d ever seen. Loona was inside and she immediately put herself between Dina and potential danger, just like she’d done all their lives.

Slicker’s threats, Blitzø’s nonchalance, the car racing away, and more crying on Dina’s part passed so quickly she wasn’t sure if she’d ever remember it all clearly. Now she was in an apartment, surrounded by so much horse decor. Was the imp making all this? How could anyone possibly find so much horse kitsch? As she was wondering that, her awareness faded and she flopped onto the couch, head hitting a horseshoe patterned pillow.

The sun was down by the time she woke up again. The unfamiliar surroundings made her yelp in panic, but Loona’s scent everywhere helped her calm down quickly. And Loona was there, coming around the couch.

“Hey. Blitzø is grabbing food for us. How are you feeling?”

Dina paused. How was she feeling? Lost, yes. Bewildered, definitely. Hurt, thankfully not. “I…I’m not sure? Everything happened so fast.”

Loona nodded and held out her hand. Dina gripped it. “Take all the time you need. I’m here for you.” Dina gave her a shaky smile. There was a hint of relief that she had her sister back in her life, if nothing else.

The apartment pushed open. “Dad’s back girls! With pizza! And cheesecake! Cheese, as a cake!” Blitzø sauntered in with a stack of pizza boxes. “We got extra cheese, pepper and sausage, and pepperoni.”

“Why is it always pizza with you Blitzø?” Loona asked, in a playfully grumpy tone. She squeezed Dina’s hand and pulled her over to the table.

“Pizza is fuckin’ amazing Loonie that’s why. And the general consensus is I’m a shitty cook.” He pulled out plates and cups. “Dina, what kind do you want?”

“One of each?” Everyone kept giving her choices now, it was mind boggling. She had to admit, Blitzø was right that the food was ‘fuckin’ amazing.’ She tried some of each kind, with the extra cheese being her favorite, though the combination of peppers and sausage was fun.

Before she could get up from the table, Blitzø placed a white cardboard cube in front of her. Dina didn’t know why but it meant something to Loona. “Dad…” she said quietly. Confused, Dina opened the box.

There was a cupcake inside. A fantastical confection, pink cake topped with a swirl of striped purple frosting, pastel and amethyst. Jewel shaped sprinkles and a decorative skewer displaying a princess cut diamond topped it off. “I got Loona one on her adoption day.” Dina’s eyes flicked between her sister and Blitzø. “I hope strawberry is okay. Anyway. Welcome to the family, if you want to be Dina.”

She nodded. “I love strawberries.” Loona gave her a hug as she sniffled. Dina felt like she didn’t have any more tears available right now, but maybe that was for the best. “Thanks Dad.”

—————

A/N: I suppose it’s fitting that Dina took over this section, considering how everyone is trying to get her agency back.

<<First <Prev Next>

[keepsmagnetoaway]

X-Men 66 (March 1970)

Roy Thomas/Sal Buscema

Well, this is it: the end of the original X-Men run. After this, the title kept publishing, but it was just reprints of already existing issues for almost five years, until it was revived. See the end of this post for my general reflections on this series and for details on what I'll be reading next, but in the meantime let's see how this all ends up.

Is it with a heartfelt farewell to the team, tying it all up nicely? It absolutely is not. The writers clearly had not learned that the book was about to be cancelled, so in this issue they attempt to wake the revived Professor X from the latest of his many comas, and also incidentaly fight the Hulk, in Vegas.

Hulk is great, we love Hulk, and also he talks properly - that is, not properly - in this issue.

I also really like the art in this issue. It's Sal Buscema, in the only X-Men issue he ever drew, because, again, this title was in chaos and on the verge of cancellation, but it has a nice pop art feel to it, combining some of the wilder effects of Adams with a brighter, cleaner feel which I quite enjoy.

But obviously with hindsight it's a bit hard to care about all this. Here we go, this is the very last panel: my guess is they learned, last minute, about the cancellation, which is why there's a sort of "that's al folks" rather than a tease for the next issue, but clearly the issue as whole was plotted and drawn without this knowledge. What would it have been like to read this in 1970, assuming cheerfully that they'd all be back next month? It's kind of impossible to say.

So...there we go. The standard opinion on the original run of X-Men is that it was very much a B-tier product of Marvel's great 60s golden age: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were throwing off ideas and characters left and right, X-Men included, but they never gave the mutants the same attention and love that went into, say, Spiderman or the Fantastic Four, and they were also never quite fully integrated into the wider Marvel universe the way the Avengers were.

As a result of this, the title very clearly drifted, changing personnel frequently and seldom managing to launch long-term storylines or to shake things up: efforts to do that tended to fizzle out. Sometimes, of course, the constant chopping and changing led to brief golden moments like Jim Steranko or Neal Adams being assigned to the art, but more often it was a problem for the title.

I think that's prevailing view is basically accurate, although it's remarkable just how much the style and feel of the book changes in this run alone: by the end, even without people like Adams, we're a long, long way from the clunky early 60s stuff.

What struck me more, though, when reading these was how little they seem to be about the X-Men: both in that the villains, or single-issue side characters, often end up driving the plot and having the more interesting personalities, and in that the whole "hated and feared mutants" thing crops up only very seldom, and never consistently. The idea of X-Men as a character- and team-driven story about outcasts from society really isn't here: that comes out of the team's 70s reinvention, which I look forward to getting to.

But not yet! Because once again my trusty reading guide is instructing me to pause in the strictly chronological-publishing order to instead read a number of later stories that have been set in the period between the end of the original team's run and the 70s revival. These look like a really interesting mix: there's some more First Class (sigh) and another First Class-esque series going back to fill in the gaps, but alongside them there's a smattering of early 70s comics from other series in which the X-Men popped up as guest stars to remind everyone that they weren't dead yet, and then there's some prequel series that lay the (retroactive) groundwork for some of the major 70s characters like Wolverine and Emma Frost. All told these should keep me busy for a couple of months, and then it'll be into the classic 70s run. See you next time...

[pussymagnetmadara]

Sasuke + Sakura, please no.

Honestly, we are in 2022, Naruto the manga is not from yesterday, you clearly have time to read it again and again, how can people still tell me that SS makes sense in the entire work? Even though very often we recognize you pro SS, basically you accept this ship because your princess Sakura deserves Sasuke for everything she was forced to go through because of him... don't you realize that even that is incredibly toxic? So if you make someone "suffer" who has never asked for your opinion or involvement in their stories, and you suffer indirectly, then they owe you an eternal gratitude? No, I'm sorry, but no. Sasuke never owed Sakura anything from the beginning. Sakura's so-called feelings of love for Sasuke do not justify her involvement in Sasuke's life and ending up married to her and fathering her child. If we got this in final canon it's because of your incessant complaining to Kishimoto who never did your OTP justice. This ship is lame and flat as ever. Free to you to still send it but think before you insult other ships on Naruto as delusional people, because it is you that we should laugh at the most. You guys don't appreciate the background of the story, you just came for the so called love story that Sasuke owed to Sakura, for you nothing else matters, don't forget that Naruto is not a shōjo.

I've heard so much about it and to see you trying to defend your ship is so laughable because the manga serves you only one panel in the whole work and still... yes I'm talking about this particular scene.. 

and still nothing is provable in there. I remind you that Naruto and Sasuke had many visual exchanges much more intense than this one and the pro SNS hardly talk about it and I'm not a pro SNS at all for several reasons. Last time someone came to me claiming that he had written a story that traced and explained the love story of SasuSaku, but seriously, do you really believe that this is fan fiction, that you are writing in self-insert mode that does justice to your ship and that we will all wake up and finally believe it? No one else is doing this kind of thing but you. The canon material is so flat on your side that you have to insist on telling us about Sasuke Restuden, which I repeat here, is not canon. It's a fanfiction written by Jun Esaka, who said it herself on her twitter that Kishimoto remains the only official author of Naruto, he just drew the cover of your pro SS bible. This great joke cost me a choke with my morning coffee. Stop coming to us to harass and insult us because we don't understand your famous OTP which in your eyes makes sense because in the reality of the rest of the world, it doesn't.

But in the category that makes me most hysterical is the pro SS/SNS/Sakura who come to Sasuke to tear him down to make a fool of him, but why do you do that? If you don't like Sasuke, fine, free to you, but don't send your favorite character with another one you hate, it becomes ridiculous.

Here is a small list of canon elements that would have made more sense than SasuSaku:

SNS: I don’t like them as an OTP but they could have make sense.

Sasuke and Naruto call each other "the only one" friend or significant other?  as you wish, Kishimoto remains vague about this.

Karin Uzumaki: I do like them but I’m proud Karin has matured enough to move on.

Sasuke referred to her as the most powerful kunoichi he knew.

He developed a new sharingan power to save her from the immortal black flames of Amaterasu.

My own mother gave me a revelation that immediately reminded me of a scene from SS. The famous scene where Sasuke justifies his so-called relationship with Sakura. Indeed, the only link between Sasuke and Sakura today remains their daughter Sarada.

I explain myself here, my own parents, having never been a really harmonious couple, far from there and since their divorce proceedings, my mother said to me and I quote "For me, he remains only the father of my children, and that's all, it's the only thing that links us".

Exactly what Sasuke said about Sakura to Sarada because yes indeed, nothing binds them, nothing makes sense in their story except their daughter. Sasuke could have delivered more information, or could have told something else about their story and told Sarada that he married Sakura because he loves her and she is the fruit of their love but no, he remained very concise because there is nothing to say about them.

[tokky231]

Has anyone thought about this?

How this is very similar to this?

Aren’t these two really similar? The second main character sacrifices themselves to safe the main protagonist from dying without knowing why and just because their bodies moved on his own.

We know that Hori said in one of his interviews that he is a fan of Kishimoto and that he is taking a lot of inspiration from Naruto and other mangas. I have seen a lot of references from other animes in BNHA. But this is heavily similar to the way Sasuke saved Naruto from dying in the hands of Haru, a tactic that he planned to drive Sasuke into his trap and get him. This is almos the same as what happened to Bakugo, even tho Shigaraki didn’t do this as bait, the stabbing and Deku asking him why he did it, it’s just as how happened with Naruto and Sasuke.

I am a big fan of Naruto, I am a SasuNaru shipper and I dread how their relationship was drawn at the end of the manga. Everyone saw chemistry and potential for those two to be a couple, but the majority of people were against them and decided for them to go with the other way. Kirishima wanted Naruto to end up with Sasuke that he even blew up his arms because the company didn’t want him to draw them holding hands. The relationship between Naruto and Sasuke is very similar to Bakudeku, even tho Sasuke never bullied Naruto like Bakugo did to Deku, they thought of each other as rivals and wanted to surpass each other at any cost. Plus Naruto has a strong will and an explosive personality, specially when it comes to Sasuke. They grew up together, but they didn’t become friends, something that both of them regret in the future.

Bakudeku were childhood friends that out of nowhere their relationship fell apart. Midoriya doesn’t even know why Bakugo changed and started bullying him. Maybe, it really came to be because he was quirkless and in the eyes of society heroes and normal people don’t mix.

There are a lot of similarities to each panel, Bakugo’s only thoughts were of Deku and himself while he was moving, just like Sasuke but instead of Sasuke being in the move, he was standing in front of Naruto. All his memories were of Naruto and himself, while they were fighting or bickering, to the accidental kiss they had in chapter 3. Funny thing is that Sasuke never knew it was an accident, he always though that Naruto kissed him out of his own will, but why did he think about the kiss in the brik of his death? For someone who was always talking about hating his brother and getting revenge by killing him, all thoughts were on Naruto and Naruto alone. There were no memories of family or his sensei or even Sakura, very odd. It’s the same as Bakugo, he didn’t think of anyone else but Deku. Specially, the time when he was wrapped in the sludge villain, a moment in his life that he hated so much because everyone will only remember him for that but it was also when Deku decided to charged forward to attack the villain to safe Bakugo. Sadly, we still don’t have a kiss scene like SasuNaru, yet.

And this is were we see how these two unleashed their hidden power, for Naruto the demon he had since he was born and for Midoriya,another quirk was triggered. This is where Shigaraki draws his conclusion that Bakugo is very closed to Deku and someone very important to him because of the way Deku only responded to Bakugo being injured. Haru drew his conclusion that both of them have a much more intimate relationship and even linked it with his relationship with Sabusa.

When I read this chapter, my only thoughts where on sasunar when Bakugo delivered those words, even tho they weren’t say out loud, Midoriya still got mad and went berserk, this has not been the only time Midoriya has gone mad when he was seen or think Bakugo is in danger or injured.

I like where the story of bakudeku is going, just like sasunaru, this is why sometimes it makes me hopeless that they will end up together at the end. It might not be because of hori, like what happened to Kishimoto, it might be because of fans’ actions and higher ups but I hope this doesn’t happen with these two. But that’s if Hori wants it to happen. I can’t wait to see how Deku reacts when he gets to know Bakugo is dead T.T

[capricorndevil15]

Ask meme: 8, 11, 20, 30

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in?

When I was 13 I tried to make so many webcomics on smackjeeves, and most of them did not last more than a couple pages. But ONE of them lasted for slightly longer than that. It was a Tokyo Mew Mew fancomic based on a long-running text-based roleplay between my friends and I. Here are some pages so you can see what it looked like:

(Sidenote: The main character is a girl infused with Thylacine DNA, which I still think is really cool.)

There were several problems in the development of this webcomic, but I also gotta cut past-Me some slack because this was my first attempt at a long-form comic, and there wasn't anyone around to tell me how to do it. I'm proud of past-me for trying, genuinely. And I drew 54 pages before I stopped. Nice! But anyway, the funniest mistake I made was this:

Rather than thumbnailing or even sketching the pages, I would draw the panels first and then try to draw something that would fit inside each panel. I don't know why I did it like this. Lol.

Although I lost interest in this project a long time ago, the main character was a moody goth girl with no friends who's most prominent desire in life is for other people to like her. And this character type is prevalent in many of my other works. It's kind of like every time I make art, I am trying to say something to do with this concept. And each time I try, get closer to saying what I truly want.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what?

I usually listen to music while I draw. Big fan of those aesthetic/POV playlists that are popular right now on youtube. Some people get really creative and specific with it. Also I like hearing songs I haven't heard before, or sometimes hearing old songs that I'm in the mood for again.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy?

Gosh, I dunno. I don't feel like there's one thing that everyone else finds hard to draw? I like drawing shoes, but there are plenty of other artists who like that too. Backgrounds, maybe?

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

I don't think about this very much at all. It's subjective.

But (lmao), a piece of art I'd tell more people to watch if I got the chance is my senior thesis, Cambrian Explosion, which me and a bunch of other artists worked on for about a year, and it's epic and awesome.

Thanks for the asks! :>

[ifievertoldyou]

i literally only got tumblr so i could post my tHAW fanart on here. a valid reason, if you ask me.

cw for mild self injuries in the first panel of “Bad Night?”. it's not graphic at all; there's not even any blood, but if you struggle with seeing scratch marks, i'd suggest skipping to the other drawings. stay safe! 💙

—

"Bad Night?"

[1/2]

He wasn’t expecting to find Quackity in the kitchen part of the open space, elbows resting on the table, face hidden in his palms.

And Q hadn’t ever seen the other quite as disheveled as he was now, hair not brushed neat, shirt all rumpled and he wasn’t wearing his usual two toned waistcoat nor his bowtie, if anything right now he seemed closer to how people usually drew him in the world Q was from than the ordered and composed man he usually was.

[2/2]

The moment he stepped in the room, Quackity’s head shot up, and Q noticed the shine of drying tear tracks under his right eye.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked, trying to sound as unbothered as he always was, but… right now Q could see right through that, so he just looked away...

~Chapter 34 of The House Always Wins by @alexanderwesker

-

mediums: crayola colored pencils (100 pack), #2 pencil, sheet of standard 8.5x11 printer paper

mini-analysis time because this is just who i am as a person, you can skip if you don't wanna read all of this 😭

this scene is one of the few moments that q sees the entirety of quackity shine through all the smoke and mirrors that he hides behind. q has seen quackity's soft side before, however q has almost never seen this broken side of him. he's seen glimpses, but quackity has always masked those glimpses with other emotions, most notably anger, to make his pain seem less apparent. but here, quackity is too tired to do that; he doesn't have any anger left, and q can tell clear as day how sad and scared quackity truly is, even if just for a couple minutes.

(also, you can see quackity's sadness more prominently on his left side than his right, since he doesn't have as much control over that side of his face anymore. and if you look at the character study i did for him below, you can really see the contrast between how he usually looks and how he looks in this.)

tHAW!Quackity Character Study

ignore the awkward angle, it was surprisingly hard to get a picture of this one without my shadow blocking stuff

here's a list of what's on my study sheet and why (left to right)

tHAW!quackity with an annoyed expression. i did this one to help me practice drawing his expressions with the scar, and also drawing him at a different angle.

tHAW!quackity doing his half smile thing. i also tried to draw his hair the way i imagined him styling it to distract from his scar when he goes out. i like to think that that long bit of hair goes behind his ear when he's in private, or just not distracting from his scar.

his teeth. this part helped me figure out where he did and didn't have gold teeth. on another note, i used like 14 different colored pencils for just this mouth. and 50% of those were just different shades of pink for the gums 😭😭😭 but i think it turned out pretty good in the end so ^^

a study on his scar and blind eye. this one helped me figure out how to make the eye look all cloudy and also how to make the scar look more consistent. i'm probably the proudest of this one. ^D^

now have a couple of closeups

ok bonus content time!!

“Bad Night?” wips

uncolored version

also fun fact on the tear stain: i tried to make it look kinda reminiscent to his scar, not only because they'd both sorta follow the shape of his face, but because one side of his face shows his physical scar and the other side shows his emotional scars.

only the physical scar can be seen at all times, and even then, he often styles his hair to distract from it, much like how he distracts from his emotional hurt by making himself appear disinterested. but in this scene he isn't doing either, which is why it's one of my favorites to read. it's so interesting to see this side of quackity, especially from an outside perspective.

ok anyways rambling over, time for some more wips

^thought i'd include the caption that i sent my friend as well ;P

i decided like 20 minutes before posting this that his hair wasn't messy enough so that's why the wips are a lil different from the finished product

^this one isn't exactly a wip, but i always think it's cool to see how many colored pencils i've used after finishing, so i decided to include it ^^

ok that's all. thank you sm for making it all the way to the end of this extremely long post that was basically just an excuse for me to infodump 😭.

while you're here, consider liking and/or reblogging, as any interactions on my art are deeply appreciated, and i'm especially proud of this one ^^

[joesanimationblog]

Forefront Post 3

10KTF: Rise of Wagmi

This film was released by The Line Animation on September 23rd, 2022 and was directed by Sam Taylor.

The aesthetics of this film and the comic-book inspired camera moves drew me into this film when I first saw it on The Line's Instagram page.

Originally I graduated as an illustrator and I am now specializing and moving towards animation and so my early experiences animating were animating transitions between illustrative work, I have since moved towards character animation as my focus.

 This film uses such interesting transitions which feel clean and controlled and don't disorientate the viewer despite being quite intense at times. There is a clear inspiration here that helps to establish visual communication clarity and that is comic books. I can imagine the storyboard for this film feeling a lot like a comic book as the camera seems to pan directionally around the page from panel to panel, there is a lot of really fascinating parallax/ layered movement which makes the effect feel more subtle and smooth. I have spoken in the past on my blog about how comic books influenced me a lot in my visual storytelling as an illustrator and how that has gone on to influence my work as an animation director for my films, but the film we are looking at here takes this inspiration a lot more directly and adapts it to fit the animated film better than I do for a couple of reasons

Colour change to emphasize shot mood/ signal a new shot

Constant movement or frame shimmering or background smoke or clouds make static shots or comic panels feel more dynamic

The camera moves which tracks objects in the frame to move between scenes or objects which block vision through movement to counteract the rapid movement of the camera moves. 

Another thing which I gleaned from this film is that the background art, lighting, and colouring are really on point. There is great consistency in the lighting and the way colours bounce off each other because lighting makes the setting feel believable and distinct. While the colours are not accurate to life they do establish a mood in the shots. 

To help myself research this further I bought the book "The Colour of Pixar" where hundreds of frames from Pixar films with strong colour palettes are shown in a spectrum of colour. I found it interesting to look at a scene and think about the purpose of the scene in the movie, and then to look at the colour and lighting choices and to think about how these choices give the scene clarity and set the mood. 

Image Screenshotted from book (referenced below)

I have been working on colouring my film for the animated project and this film has got me thinking about the composition of my shots, how colour and composition work together to communicate, and how lighting can change the way colour sits in the frame. Light bouncing off objects creates highlights and the colour of these highlights is determined by what the light bounced off, this can make a shot feel a lot less flat and is something I've been experimenting with. 

References

(2022) 10KTF: Rise of Wagmi. The Line. Available at: https://vimeo.com/752997460?embedded=true&source=vimeo_logo&owner=3572388 (Accessed: May 1, 2023).

Kratter, T.W. (2017) The Color of Pixar. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=LBQtDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false (Accessed: May 1, 2023).

[iliveiloveiwrite]

make me be true, make me be blue // Anthony Bridgerton

A/N: As much as I love Benedict, I also love Anthony. The last part of this is extremely inspired by a scene from The Crown - let’s see if you can guess which one! Title: Harry Connick jr - It Had To Be You

Pairing: Anthony Bridgerton x Fem!Reader

Warnings: arguing, an argument, lots of love and fluff, caring, established relationship, married couple, suggestiveness, female pronouns, use of word ‘wife’. 

Word count: 2.8k

As the season in London drew to a close, it could be seen on every face that they were tired of the dancing and the music and the lukewarm lemonade. It was never a comment on the talent of the musicians unless, perhaps, it was a Smythe-Smith musical. Their seasonal musical was never welcomed with much excitement, but very few could say no to the quartet of young women.

Nevertheless, whomever the artist may be, many were glad for the season to draw to a close. Sighing tiredly, you bid your goodbyes to the latest lady to draw you into conversation. Your lavender skirts swish gently under foot as you wander around the lavishly decorated ballroom, in search for your dear husband.

You spy his hair first; the dark brown hair standing a head taller than the rest of the men he currently spoke with. Repressing another tired sigh, you note that the elderly white-haired men Anthony was standing with were of large importance in society.

“The Revolution was over two decades ago, and it seems France traded in one monarch for another,” is what you hear as you sidle up to Anthony. He smiles down at you, hooking his arm through yours, before turning his attention back to the conversation.

Anthony nods along; his interest piqued but not to the point where he would happily contribute to the debate. Instead, he simply offers, “True, a king for an emperor.”

“Surely Napoleon is still in exile,” You comment lightly, eyebrows furrowing at the topic of conversation between the men. They would never see a day of war between them; having enough money between them meaning they would not have dress in a uniform. As such, there was no need for the conversation.

“Dear girl, Napoleon left Elba and landed back in Paris last week. Do you read the papers?” Lord Hugo states, a dismissive look on his face as if questioning your very presence in the conversation. He frowns at your comfortable stance next to your husband, wondering why you aren’t socialising with the other wives.

A flush heats your body; rising anger. Turning to Anthony, you squeeze the hand that rests on his forearm, a silent plea for help but your husband remains silent.

Ducking your head, you state through clenched teeth, “Pardon me, Lord Hugo. I must be making a round of the room; I wouldn’t want anyone to think I was neglecting my womanly duties.”

“As you should,” The Lord replies as you turn your back to him. You bristle from the comment, back straightening despite the corset designed to do such an action. It wouldn’t be long now until Anthony wrapped up the conversation; seeking you out through the crowd. For you however, the ball was over – nothing left to be said.

------------

Stalking through the large house, you ignore the increasing calls of your husband. Having left the carriage in a hurry of skirts, silks and ribbons, Anthony had begun immediately calling your name – wanting you to stop and wait, to stop and listen.

Even the Butler remains silent as he catches a glimpse of your face and the thunderous expression it currently holds. Silently, the Butler offers a prayer for the wellbeing of Viscount Anthony Bridgerton.

“You’re really going to remain silent?” Anthony calls from the bottom of the staircase, one foot poised on the bottom step, ready to launch himself upstairs at a moment’s call.

Pausing in your retreat, you throw a glare at your husband. A look that definitely shows you were not up for talking on the stairs.

Anthony nods, seemingly understanding this. “So it’s the silent treatment until we’re in our room,” He pauses, beginning the ascent to the bedroom he has shared with you since the first night of your marriage, “Understandable.”

You roll your eyes, walking away from the man that had managed to vex you so thoroughly.

Shoving open the door to your shared bedroom does little to siphon off some of the anger you feel. In fact, it only increases when you try to work the laces of your dress free by yourself, frustrated tears brewing in the corner of your eyes as you manoeuvre yourself into every position possible to try and free yourself.

Slumping at your dressing table, you come to realise that it was more humiliation that you felt.

Your husband was a marvellous man; intelligent, funny, respectful and incredibly handsome. Yet, he had moments where he could so fantastically obtuse.

The moment played in your mind on a constant loop; the words of disdain from the Lord, Anthony’s silence. A constant loop in your mind; it would be a while before your mind rested enough to let you have some peace.

Brushing your hands through your hair, you loosen the pins that keep in place, beginning the painstaking process of removing them. All the while thinking that if the night had gone better, Anthony would be the one removing them, offering you a kiss for each pin removed.

--------

Anthony had taken his time walking to the bedroom, running through the events of the evening, thinking where he might have gone wrong – said the wrong thing, done the wrong thing. He found the moment; realised what he had said or rather, what he hadn’t said, and how it had come across. Lord Hugo was an incredibly influential man, and whilst Anthony outranked him in his peerage, his youth made him all but an inexperienced whelp in Hugo’s eyes.

Hindsight was truly an excellent gift to possess. He should have said something; Hugo’s influence be damned. He should have spoken up; should have defended you.

Gently, he rests his forehead against the closed door of the bedroom. He takes a deep breath and places a hand on the wooden panel; desperate to reach through to you, but he knows that there is far more on your mind than comfort at this point.

Anthony enters the bedroom slowly, closing the door softly behind him. “Are you ready to talk me now, darling?” Anthony asks, voice soft but tone wary as he takes in your defeated state.

“You humiliated me in front of that odious man by staying silent.”

His eyes widen; truly unaware of such a misdeed taking place. “I didn’t know, truly.”

“That’s what hurts most, Anthony. This is not a marriage of equals, darling. I know you love me as much as I love you, but I have brought nothing to this marriage. I did not get the pleasure to go to university despite doing so well in my studies. I cannot travel freely, and I cannot speak my mind whenever I damn well please. There are going to be some topics that I am not going to be an expert on, but you can try your best not to defend me when I get things wrong.”

“Darling, I didn’t mean any harm.”

You sniffle, wiping away the few tears that have dared to fall. “I know you didn’t, yet it still happened.”

Anthony opens and closes his mouth, searching for something – anything – to say that could make this better, but nothing comes to mind, so nothing leaves his mouth.

A pained noise leaves your lips as you turn away from your husband, reaching for your face cream, your hairbrush – anything to keep your hands busy and the tears at bay.

Finally, a sigh is all you hear, and you figure that the conversation is done for the evening. A lingering kiss is placed to the top of your head before Anthony leaves the bedroom, presumably retiring to his study.

Once free of the confines your dress, you dress for bed, crawling under the covers. Running a hand down your face, you couldn’t help but hope Anthony would join you soon. Despite the anger you felt at the man, you couldn’t fall asleep without him next to you.

---------

You wake alone. Anthony’s side of the bed is ruffled; he had joined you an hour after you had slide under the covers. He hadn’t said anything; he had simply gathered you in his arms, holding you tightly, pressing apologetic kiss after apologetic kiss to whatever piece of bare skin he could reach.

Stretching a hand to his side of the bed, the sheets are cold. Reaching for his pillow, you hold it to your face, inhaling the spiciness of whatever cologne he used last night. Keeping the pillow close, you turn onto your back, thinking over the events of last night.

You had every right to be annoyed; you had every right to feel the way you did. If this was a different society, you would not rely on Anthony to defend you – you would have spoken your mind to Lord Hugo. But this was not a different society, and its trappings were stifling. For the hope of future generations, you couldn’t help but pray things would soon change.

------------

The day moves slowly. Tea with Anthony’s mother and sisters followed by a visit to the modiste. No sign of Anthony with every visit home and your mood drops with every shake of the Butler’s head.

Eventually, you find refuge in the library, searching through the books and the papers there. It had been so long since you had read something that was not a romance. Pride and Prejudice had been published just two years ago and you had read it countless times; enjoying the author’s way with words and her creation of Mr. Darcy. However, instead of picking up the latest romance, you chose to return to the books you had so adored in your education – historical accounts of past monarchs and their reigns, accounts of wars.

It was not for the sake of Lord Hugo who sneered at you with such derision; it was for your benefit. Knowledge was free and you owned the library through marriage, why shouldn’t you take a look?

-----------

The Butler clearing his throat is what brings your attention back to the present. Having lost yourself so freely in an account of the witch hunts that had plagued the north of England; the book had caught your eye, tucked away and gathering dust. The subject had immediately caught your interest, and you soon found yourself searching for all the books you could on the subject.

Smiling sheepishly at the Butler, you ask, “Have some guests arrived? I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

He shakes his head, smiling fondly at you, “I thought you would like to know that the Viscount has returned home. He is currently in his study.”

Standing from your chair, you deposit your book on a table before thanking the Butler and rushing up the stairs to Anthony’s study. You pause just outside the door, gathering yourself, tidying your appearance and slowing your breathing to an acceptable rate.

Knocking on the door, your heart begins to pound in your chest as you hear his warm voice giving you permission to enter.

Anthony freezes in his chair when he sees you enter his study. Your eyes are bright and there’s a faint flush to your skin that has Anthony’s eyes raking over your body, curious to know what’s caused such a reaction in you.

“Darling,” He greets, voice kind and warm.

“Darling,” You reply, watching the smile grow across his face when he hears the fondness in your voice.

“How has your day been?” Anthony asks, drawing out the inevitable conversation.

You smile widely, “I spent most of it in the library, reading.”

“A new romance novel?”

You shake your head, smoothing down the skirts of your sage green dress, “The trials of the Berwick and Pendle witches.”

Anthony’s eyes widen almost comically. “I didn’t even know we had books on the topic.”

“Neither did I, but I’ve been reading through the accounts all day. It truly is fascinating. Did you know History was my strongest subject when I was in education?”

Again, Anthony shakes his head. He didn’t know; he hadn’t asked. You shrug, “Arithmetic, Geography, Latin… They never grasped me as much as History did. I would read for hours about whatever I could find: the Tudors, the Saxons, military strategy…” At the further widening of Anthony’s eyes, you continue, “I suppose as I grew older and I was then out as a debutante, I lost the habit.”

“Perhaps,” Anthony murmurs before saying, “You can always find the habit again.”

You smile widely; the grin brightening your face as it stretches to your eyes. “I was hoping you’d say that darling,” You begin, “I want to be more involved, Anthony. I don’t want to be a silent partner; I want to be there; I want to comment. I want to know what is happening with foreign affairs whether it is Napoleon or the price of tea. I want to know because I want to be on a more equal footing with you. I refuse to be humiliated that way again; it was awful, to be dismissed in that manner by that loathsome man.”

You stand before your husband, chest heaving in your restrictive dress. The words lay loud in the room; your plea for Anthony to speak up for you, your demand for further equality in your marriage.

“I called on Lord Hugo this afternoon,” Anthony states rather plainly after you fall silent, as if the meeting had been in his date book for months.

“You did?” You frown at him; wondering whether he had heard a single word that you had flung into the great expanse.

He nods. “He was rather surprised to see me. I’ll admit I didn’t plan on calling on him, but I kept thinking of last night and how destroyed you looked. I don’t ever want to see that look on your face again for as long as I shall live. So,” He shrugs, “I paid the Lord a visit.”

“How did it go?”

Anthony holds his right up and it is then that you see the dark purple now beginning to bruise his knuckles. “I may have lost my temper when I remembered how he spoke to you and how you felt afterwards,” Anthony pauses and then laughs loudly, “And I may have punched him in the face.”

“Anthony!” You berate, repressing the urge to roll your eyes at your ever vexing husband. “Is anything broken?”

He shakes his head, smiling widely, “Only Hugo’s nose.”

“My hero,” You drawl, heart racing as you take in the man that you married. The smart, brilliant and hot-headed man that you promised your forever to who had defended your honour against the man who had rudely spoken to you last night. He grins cheekily at your words, wiggling his fingers to show you that there was nothing broken – he was fine.

“You can read whatever you’d like,” He states firmly, “You can study whatever you like. Humiliate the man if there’s a next time.”

“Thank you,” You reply, holding your head high as you smile gratefully at the love of your life.

Anthony stands from his chair, having now recovered from the shock of your speech and the ease of which he can accept your demands. He had never been the easiest man to get along with; stubborn and set in his ways long before he ought to have been, but you had taken him in your stride, loving him just as fiercely as he loved you.

He rounds the desk. All the while his gaze does not leave yours. A sensual smile spreads across his face as he watches you wring your hands together – a nervous tic if there ever was any.

Leaning against the desk, Anthony crosses his ankles, resting hands upon the lip of his desk. He remains happy in the knowledge that even after the honeymoon period of your marriage was over, you would still track his every move. Your eyes dancing over his figure as he rests his weight upon the desk.

“There’s something different about you,” He finally says, breaking the silence of the room.

“Oh?” You whisper, your shoulders rolling back as you try to think about what could have changed – a new dress? A new attitude?

“You’re surer of yourself. It makes you look taller.”

“I don’t particularly think I’ve gained any height.”

“Perhaps not,” Anthony allows; a seductive smile on his face as he tilts his head to one side, regarding you. “But it presents me with two options.”

“And they are?”

“Well,” He begins, running a hand through his thick hair, “I could go and find a ladder to reach the new height of my tall wife or…”

Anthony trails off, leaving you in suspense as you find yourself taking those first few steps closer to him. Desperate to be in his arms, to be touched by the man you love - body and soul.

“Or…” You breathe; voice raspy with growing need.

“Or” Anthony beams, “She can get on her knees.”

***********

Bridgerton taglist: @heloisedaphnebrightmore @dreaming-about-fanfictions @now-its-time-for-a-breakdown @janelongxox​ @aspiringsloth20​ @wallwriterstuff​

[thebadbatch]

A/N: This one was requested by my best friend!  I hope it's okay, you deserve the best Hunter content! Mesh'la in Mando'a means beautiful - you may like that!!

Hunter x Gn!Reader

Plot: You're having trouble sleeping, but it's nothing Hunter can't help you with.

Warnings: Struggle to sleep but nothing bad. A lot of fluff to comfort you!

---------------

Sleep Cycle.

Nights upon the attack shuttle were always calming, especially whilst travelling through hyperspace. You were currently sitting in the pilot's chair, gazing upon the blurred stars that painted the window before you deep within thought. It was your turn to be on watch whilst the others had their much needed sleep. Sighing lightly, you pulled your knees up to your chest and continued watching the blurred stars go by only occasionally gazing down at the control panel to ensure everything was running smoothly. Sleep seemed to be difficult lately, it seemed nearly impossible to allow your mind to shut out any racing thoughts. In all honesty you'd rather gaze upon the space before you then battle with your own mind on the thought of sleep. Approaching footsteps snapped you out of your thoughts causing you to turn in the chair and smile at a sleepy looking Hunter coming to take over the watch. 

"Y/n, you can head back to bed - i'll take the watch now!" His fingers ran through his longer hair before he placed his signature bandanna across his head. You shook your head softly with a smile still against your face. 

"Nah it's alright, i'll take your watch!" He took a seat beside you, leaning back as you turned to watch the galaxy speed by you both. "I'm honestly not tired." Chuckling lightly, he let out a gown after checking over the control panels.

"Tech would go on such a big rant if he heard you say that, you know how caught up he is in keeping a strict sleep cycle." Humming in agreement you stood and stretched, allowing the free time to actually move. You had no idea how long you had sat at the pilots seat for, already sending Crosshair and Wrecker away as you didnt feel that tired all of those hours ago. Both of them just nodded, Wrecker being very grateful whilst Crosshair was practically asleep on his feet giving you a nod before going back to his bunk. "You not feeling well?" He asked, moving over to place a hand against your forehead. "If you want me to go get Tech for the med scanner I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Sighing lightly, you moved his hand away.

"I promise you I'm not unwell." You took in a light breath, noting that it was time to exit hyperspace. "I'm just finding it a little hard to sleep is all." Pressing a few controls, you drew the ship out of hyperspace and activated the autopilot allowing it to float freely past bursts of stars.

"This happened before?" Hunter asked as he continued to lean forward looking at you with hints of worry across his face. 

"Rarely!" You smiled gently at him before addressing his clear concern,  "Don't worry, I'll be fine - why don't you go back to bed?" He nodded gently, standing and ruffling your hair as he wandered back to his bunk, only to return a few moments later with his blanket. "What are you doing?" Hunter just grinned, wrapping the blanket around you and allowing you to lean against him after adjusting the chairs to be closer. 

"Helping you sleep, my brothers used to struggle as cadets and this helped them." Nodding gently, you allowed the soft blanket to keep you warm against the chill of the Havoc Marauder. "Is this not helping?" You couldn't help but let out a light laugh, coddling into the blanket.

"No it's helping, thank you - this is really lovely." His hands laid against your back as he wracked through his thoughts presumably about the mission that was waiting for you. None of you were exactly pleased about doing yet another supply run for Cid but that's just how things had to be if you all wanted the credits.

"The mission tomorrow, Echo's wary about the planet itself and he says there may be some unexpected enemies lurking about." You quickly made a mental note about the possibility of another not so easy mission lurking ahead.

"How many credits for this one?" He chuckled lightly, knowing that you were the only one to really keep everything organised.

"A couple hundred, enough for our own supplies, food and fuel." He let out a gentle breath, "Try get some sleep, Mesh'la." You just turned on your back to face him, the other chair supporting your legs whilst he let you use him as a pillow. 

"But I'm not tired." Hunter chuckled as your hands reached up to mess lightly with his hair, the hum of the attack shuttle being the only sound between words.

"Then just lay with me, we'll figure something out with Tech to help you sleep easier." Nodding at his words,you tucked your arms back beneath the light blanket, feeling its warmth cover you and pull You towards sleep. Hunters rambling helped, the constant sound of his voice certainly was soothing as his fingertips threaded through your hair whilst your eyes were glued upon the stars before you. Life had always been so busy lately, the constant shouting upon the battlefield and blaster shots had taken its toll on you for sure. Luckily the batch knew how hard you worked, you were always a vital part to their team and they wouldn't have it any other way. Your eyes fell closed with your breaths evening out, the swirling stars returning in your mind as things began to feel peaceful. Everything was alright, tomorrow may be complete chaos, but right now everything was exactly what you needed. The comforting feeling of Hunter didn't come to a stop as you slept, only his rambling did as his eyes met your finally sleeping form.

"Goodnight, Mesh'la." 

Once many hours had passed, Echo had entered the cockpit to take over the watch much to a very dissapointed Hunter who didn't want to move you. Instead, Echo sat on one of the seats behind you both as tHunter fell back to sleep against the chair.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tech mumbled, walking in and staring at the now five members of the Bad Batch Sprawled across the cockpit with Hunter's adamant orders not to wake you. " Do I really have to organise a new sleep cycle for you all?"

[ladyeliot]

Show me your phone

Request: Anonymous: Hiii I adore your writing!!! I was wondering if you could write cevansxfemale reader (famous or not) where he’s on jimmy fallon playing show me you phone and your relationship is revealed? ❤️

Pairing: Chris Evans x Famous!Female Reader

Warnings: No one/Fluff

Word count: 1536

A/N: Sorry for my spelling and grammatical mistakes, English is not my native language, I am learning.

The two of you had met by chance one autumn night ten months ago. Quite unexpected, unusual and with tremendous prejudices towards each other, because of the image the media projected of you.

It was obvious that you weren’t born for each other, or at least that’s what you thought the first time you went on your first date. But then one thing led to another, and your sporadic encounters in the most unusual places made you realise that maybe it would be better to give each other a chance to erase those prejudices you had in your minds. And so it was that as the days, weeks and months went by, you began to be in a relationship without being aware of the fact. You understood each other very well, you both worked in the same sector and that allowed you to understand and accept each other in many aspects.

For the time being you kept your relationship a secret, you were afraid of breaking the magic, of the media destroying what you had created. So your life as a couple was reduced to intimacy, living together and escapes to places far from the hand of God. However, you knew that sooner or later it would be discovered, it didn’t worry you too much, but you wanted to strengthen your relationship as much as possible until that moment arrived.

That night, Chris was going to be interviewed on Jimmy Fallon’s late night show because of the recent release of the movie Avengers: Endgame. It was common on nights when Chris was on one of the late night shows for you to stay at home, cook your favourite meal and wait on the couch with Dodger to watch him on TV. Before he came on, you used to send him a text message encouraging him and a picture of you and Dodger on your couch. It was like a ritual for both of you.

In a millisecond that message reached the other side of town, where Chris was staring at the image with a slightly scandalous laugh. He was in his dressing room, minutes away from going on air, and could barely reply with “I love you both”. 

The interview was great, Chris talked about the day the cast said their goodbyes and how Antony Mackie found out that Captain America was going to give Falcon his shield. All the anecdotes that any Marvel fan would love to hear. Yet, as is well known, Jimmy Fallon’s shows bring with them a number of embarrassing moments for the interviewee, as well as the interviewer. 

That night both Chris and Jimmy were going to play ‘Show me your phone’, a game where they had to show whatever material was hidden on their mobile phones. The moment they got up from their respective seats, Chris realised that he hadn’t deleted any of your conversations, you were present in his whatsapp, his picture gallery, his social media messages, emails… in other words, his whole phone was a personal diary of your relationship.

His nervousness was present as he took a seat opposite Jimmy at the circular table. In front of them there was a red button, in the centre a mobile phone holder and next to it was an electronic panel showing all the possibilities that could come up, as if it were a wheel of fortune. There was the icon for Whatsapp, Safari, the photo gallery, Instagram, email, last calls, notes…

“Okay, do you know how this works?” asked Jimmy putting on his jacket. “Well, for those of you who don’t know, here’s how this works. Chris and I will take turns pressing the red button we have here, which will randomly select one of these icons we have on the board.” Chris began to laugh somewhat nervously. “Each icon will reveal something we need to share on our phone…”

The audience began to laugh too at the worried gestures they were both making.

“Just so you know, neither of us know what’s behind each icon.” Jimmy looks at Chris who was still laughing. “Are you ready?”

“I’m not too sure about this,” Chris shared scratching his beard. “I forgot to clean some stuff off my phone.”

“That makes two of us,” Jimmy said laughing along with him. “Alright, here we go. Since you’re the guest you press first.”

“What an honour,” Chris said wryly, which drew laughter from the audience. “Here we go!”

Chris pressed the red button and quickly the icons on the panel began to light up, and you stood expectantly contemplating the moment. On the one hand the situation was amusing, but on the other hand you were completely scared and wished that what he had said about cleaning his phone wasn’t true.

The light stopped specifically on the Safari browser icon, so that a text was displayed that said 'Show us your last Google search’. Chris frowned and looked thoughtful.

“Safari, show us your last Google search,” Jimmy repeated.

“Okay!” exclaimed Chris grabbing his phone and heading to the app. “If I’m being honest I have no idea what my last search was… Oh!" 

Chris started laughing without showing his phone, which caused everyone around him to laugh hilariously.

"Okay, okay,” Chris set the mobile down on the small platform. “I thought it was a funny idea.”

The camera pointed straight at him, checking that his last search had been 'Halloween costume ideas for your dog’. The set erupted in laughter, Jimmy clasped his hands to his chest, laughing his head off.

“This- This is so funny,” he said between guffaws. “Did you find anything interesting?”

“I did!” began Chris. “I found a really funny Mario and Luigi one, but it wasn’t too scary, you know. I’ve got to keep looking.”

“Yeah, not too much,” concluded Jimmy. “Come on! Here we go. My turn.”

The panel came back on, the light moving between icons until it stopped on the 'YouTube’ app. Jimmy frowned, and the panel informed him that it should show the history of videos watched.

“Come on, show us those videos!” exclaimed Chris encouragingly.

“I’m extremely scared,” said Jimmy with a serious and comical look on his face, reaching for his mobile phone. “I have no idea… Oh!” he began to laugh. “Okay, okay. This… I’m not good at cooking, don’t judge me.”

'How to cook oatmeal’, 'Easy oatmeal recipe’, 'Oatmeal ideas you need to try’. The audience started laughing.

“All right, all right,” Jimmy held up his hands. “I can explain. The other day was Mother’s Day, and my kids and I wanted to make my wife a special breakfast, so we had to help ourselves to YouTube.”

“That’s pretty cool man!” exclaimed Chris.

“Yes, my wife ate her breakfast,” he laughed and picked up his mobile phone. “And she’s still alive for now, so it was a triumph.”

On the other side of New York City, you were watching the show with amusement, curled up next to Dodger on the couch. You were so engrossed that you barely noticed Chris’s Whatsapp icon pop up.

“Show us the last message you sent on Whatsapp” Jimmy read out eliciting cheers from the audience. “Come on!”

Chris reddened and ran his hand over his face.

“Alright, alright,” he began to laugh nervously. “It says there the last message I sent, the person too?”

“Well, you have to put the mobile phone down,” Jimmy laughed.

“Okay,” Chris started to look up. “Last text message…” he took a breath and looked at Jimmy hesitantly.“Oh man…”

Your last conversation appeared before everyone’s eyes, showing only the last photograph you had sent him with Dodger and Chris’s reply 'I love you both’. Chris’s countenance showed an inner nervousness, hidden in a nervous laugh and flushed cheeks.

“Wait, wait,” Jimmy said looking at him and frowning “She’s Y/N Y/L/N with your dog? With Dodger?”

The audience exclaimed a sweet 'aw’ when they got a glimpse of the photograph, but Chris was scratching his beard nervously.

“This is really sweet!” said Jimmy looking at Chris, “This is really cute.” “I know, I know,” Chris commented, nodding slowly.

“Are you two-?” asked Jimmy hesitantly, to which Chris took another breath, somewhat embarrassed by the situation.

“I think so,” Chris laughed nervously. “I mean, I don’t know what’s going to happen after this.”

Jimmy laughed, accompanied by the audience.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry,” Jimmy handed the mobile phone back to Chris. “We’ll invite Y/N over next week and let her have her revenge on you.”

Both the audience and you from your living room started to burst out laughing. Contrary to what you might have thought right now, Steve wasn’t angry at all, not even annoyed, you were even a little relieved. Your relationship had been made known to the world naturally, as if you were just another couple texting each other and telling each other how much you love each other. Now you just had to face a new day-to-day life.

Taglist Open (DM)

MAIN MASTERLIST

[brandyllyn]

Flexibility (noun)

Poe Dameron / f!reader [no use of y/n]

Summary: Making Poe’s dreams of sex in an X-Wing come true. Alternatively: The things we do for those we love. Even if it means pulling a muscle.

Part of the "Goofballs in Love" Series of One-Shots: The Scoundrel’s Reward, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Flexibility (noun), Give me my sin again, Writing on the Wall

My Masterlist

Words: 3k (Read it on AO3.) [complete] Rated: Explicit Warnings: language. PiV sex. fingering. bruises.

"This is the worst idea you have ever had."

The metal of the X-Wing was cold against your back, Poe’s body in front of you warm against the cool night air. He had one hand on your hip, the other playing with the edge of the skirt you had put on for the occasion. His face nuzzled into your neck and you felt more than heard him laugh.

"Well that’s not even close to true."

You snorted, wrapping your fingers in his curls and pulling his mouth back to yours. "Ok then Flyboy, let’s get this going before I change my mind."

The grin he gave you was boyish and wide, grabbing your hand and pulling you over to the ladder. He took the steps quickly, glancing back at you a couple of times before he lifted the edge of the transparisteel and slid into the cockpit in one smooth movement. You paused, staring at him and then at the cockpit controls.

"Are you sure that it won’t…?"

Poe nodded, holding his hand out. "Half the engine is scattered across the hangar. Even if it was powered up it’s not going anywhere."

You took his hand and let him draw you towards him, saw him press his lips to your knuckles. You eyeballed the cockpit dubiously. "Poe, there is no way-"

"Yes there is," he cut you off, flattening himself against the nearly vertical seat. He gestured between his thighs, "Right here."

It was maybe eighteen inches of space between his chest and the flight controls. Maybe. But that wasn’t even the first problem. You leaned in, searching the cockpit for somewhere to put your feet. His hands were instantly around you, pulling you down before you had a chance to get any leverage and you tumbled face first into him, one of your knees landing on his thigh, the other leg still hanging out the side of the X-Wing.

"Oof, Poe!"

He groaned, trying to shift your weight and you felt a muscle in your leg pull in a way that muscle was never intended to.

"Poe stop, Maker I-"

"If you don’t move we won’t be having any fun for at least a week," he grunted and you suddenly realized that maybe your knee had landed higher than you thought. You braced your arms on the side panels, lifting and twisting your body until you were sitting in his lap rather than kneeling in it. It wasn’t comfortable. At all. One of your legs was bent between the two of you, sideways against his chest with your knee under his chin. The other leg stretched over his shoulder, ankle high in the air behind his headrest. The flight controls were digging into your back and you clutched at his shirt to relieve some of the pressure.

"This is-" you started but he cut you off.

"Sexy as hell."

Your eyes flew to his but he wasn’t looking at your face. He was looking at where your skirt had fallen back and he could see that you’d taken his advice and gone without underwear. You squirmed, trying to get comfortable and Poe helped. Well, "helped." He pulled at the leg pressed to his chest and maneuvered you until both your legs were over his shoulders.

"Oh yeah," he moaned, still looking down at you and you arched your back away from the control stick digging into your spine. He made a soft mmph noise, one of his hands sliding around to tuck between you and the offending object.

You huffed, letting your head and body fall back, forcing him to catch your weight with both arms. You could hear him laugh but you were staring up at the hangar ceiling. "Well? What now Flyboy?"

He pressed a kiss to the inside of your knee, his breath warm and tickling. "This is not exactly how I imagined it."

You either. Bent into a 'v'-shape in the cockpit of the X-Wing, your feet poking up into the air behind his head. "Really?" you asked, still limp across his arms, staring upwards. "This isn’t the sexy good time you were dreaming of?"

"Come on," he patted your ass, "let’s get your legs under you."

You grimaced, lifting your head finally to glare at him. "Close your eyes."

His brows drew together, "Why?"

"Because this is not going to be attractive and I don’t want you watching me while I do it."

"Honey I-"

"Close. Your. Eyes," you said it more forcefully this time, biting off every word and glaring at him. He dutifully closed them, the corners of his lips tilting upwards and if you could reach his face you’d kiss it off of him.

Groaning you gripped the edge of the cockpit, pulling yourself forward. You didn’t quite have the strength to lift yourself but Poe was there, hands cupping under you and pushing you upwards until you could get the leverage you needed to hold yourself up by your arms. One of your feet pressed to his shoulder and you heard him grunt but ignored it. This was his fantasy, he could deal with the mechanics of making it happen.

Glancing around, you propped your foot on what you hoped wasn’t an important control panel by his left elbow. Finally having some stability, you pulled your other leg towards you, but there was no comparable panel on his right, just smooth steel.

"Dammit," you mumbled, crouched and barely holding yourself up on your hands.

"Just put your knees by my hips," he offered and you glared at him. He couldn’t see it of course, he was being good and had his eyes closed.

"There’s nowhere to put my knees, your hips take up all the space."

He frowned, "Don’t make fun of my hips, you know I’m sensitive about that."

Rolling your eyes you managed to wedge one knee between him and the side of the X-Wing, hearing him grunt at the sharp pressure. "I’m not making fun of them. I’m stating a fact."

You took a deep breath and sent a prayer up before you made your next move. Lunging forward you managed to wrap your hands around the headrest, pulling your chest close to his. You still had one knee up by your ear, your foot propped on the panel. His eyes opened when he felt the seat jerk, his arms wrapping tight behind your back.

"Better?" You asked, one eyebrow raised.

He looked down at the awkward crouch of your body and you saw his lips twist into a smile. Then his face scrunched up and he started laughing even as he drew you close for a kiss. He tasted like joy and Poe and you loved it.

"Okay," he finally said after a minute, leaning his forehead against yours. "Maybe I didn’t think this through."

"No no," you corrected, shifting your weight slightly, "this definitely works, I think I just need to…" you lifted your right foot off the panel and quickly shoved your right arm under it and grabbed his bicep. It was even more uncomfortable but the bark of laughter the new position brought from Poe was worth it. "See?"

"Stop," he nuzzled his nose against yours, "you’re going to hurt yourself."

"Oh that ship has long since sailed," you muttered, wrenching your arm back out and trying to find a contortion that wouldn’t send you to the MedBay.

"Maybe if you face the other way?" He asked hopefully and you gave him an incredulous look. "What? I’m just saying that it might work better."

"You are lucky I love you," you grumble. "Okay, hold me up while I let go of the headrest. Otherwise I’m going to impale myself on the flight controls and good luck explaining that."

He laughed, arms tightening around you and you let go of your death grip on the seat and placed your hands on the sides of the cockpit again. Using your grip and his steadying hold you managed to lift yourself and lean forward.

"Oh this is nice," his muffled voice came from between your breasts.

"For you," you mumbled under your breath, pushing off with your foot and twisting so you were sitting on the edge of the cockpit, feet propped up across from you. Your knee caught the side of his head as you settled and he made a harrumph noise.

"Remind me to wear my helmet next time," he griped.

"Do not even start with me Poe Dameron," you cautioned, stopping for a minute to catch your breath, fingers rubbing at the bruise you knew you were going to have on your thigh.

His hand came up immediately to the same spot, soothing his fingers over it. "Honey, we don’t have to-"

"No," you cut him off. "I said I’d try and by the Maker I will. We will try every way your little heart can think of and when none of them work you never ask me again."

You could tell he was trying to hide his smile this time and you took a steadying breath before you twisted again, sliding down his chest and settling into his lap, your back to him and your feet propped up on the control panels. Your knees were bent awkwardly in the air but at least it was a normal amount of awkward.

"See?" he murmured into your hair. "This isn’t so bad."

It wasn’t actually, not that you were going to admit it. But you could already see the logistical problems in your future. "Yeah, this isn’t going to work either."

You could feel him pout, his hands cupping your breasts under your shirt. "Why not?"

"Because nothing is lined up."

"Just put your-"

"Poe I swear if you use the word 'just' with me one more time…"

He was quiet for a moment. Then he coughed, "I was going to say if you leaned forward a little?"

I love him, I love him, I love him. You repeated the mantra over and over as you searched for a way to wedge your feet around his legs, finally managing to gain some purchase. The flight controls dug into your stomach when you leaned forward and rested your forearms against the control panel. It wasn’t comfortable, not even a little - but you tilted your hips, arching your lower back, and suddenly everything did line up. You could feel it.

His hands tugged at your skirt and you felt the cloth sliding across your skin before it came loose and you were bare against him.

"Oh yeah," you heard him groan. His fingers wedged between you, trying to unfasten his pants. "Can you move forward-"

"No," came your short reply. "There is literally nowhere for me to go. I mean that."

"Not even-?"

"If I move any further forward I’m going to be riding the flight controls not you."

A beat of silence.

"That would-"

"No," you cut him off, glancing over your shoulder with a glare.

He looked utterly unrepentant. "It was just a thought."

"What did I say about that word?"

He was thankfully silent, his hands on your hips. You tried to ignore the sharp jutting presence of the flight controls in your stomach, the toggles and switches that were going to leave marks on your forearms from having your weight rest on them. You heard him heave a sad sigh.

"Should have taken my pants off before you sat down."

"Oh now you’re thinking about the mechanics of this."

He pinched your hip and you squirmed. Then, in the saddest voice you’d ever heard from him, "I guess this isn’t going to work."

You hung your head for a moment, the controls shifting slightly to jab into your abdomen. Then you huffed a breath of air.

"You’re going to have about six seconds to get your pants open. Can you do that?" You barely waited for his reply before you lunged forward, fingers scrambling across the control panel for purchase, lifting yourself just a few inches off of him. The flight controls were hard against your pubic bone, and it probably wasn’t even six seconds before your fingertips gave out and you fell back into his lap with an oof.

One of his hands was still there but he managed to wriggle it around a bit. You could feel his nose nuzzle your spine through your shirt. "One more time for me?"

"I hate you," you mumbled, trying something different this time. Finding something you could press down on and lift yourself up rather than forward.

"You love me," he corrected, hand stroking along your backside and helping you lower yourself more slowly, taking his cock one inch at a time. "You fucking love me and I am eternally grateful for it."

It still wasn’t comfortable. But you were used to discomfort. That was part of being at war. Hells you’d even been shot. You could take some annoyances and discomfort for the man who was making the most amazing little noises behind you. Grinding his hips up into yours. One of his hands groped your breast under your shirt, the other trying to guide you against him. But all he succeeded in doing was rubbing the edge of the flight controls into you.

"Poe, this isn’t-" you started and he froze, his cock twitching inside you.

"What is it?"

You pulled his hand forward, turning it so he was covering the edges of the controls with his palm. That was better. Still like being slowly punched in the gut when you rocked back on him a little but at least it didn’t hurt. And you could tell he appreciated it too, his fingers pinching your nipple and his forehead falling to your back.

"Are you going to be able to-?"

"Not on your life." A huff of laughter and then a groan when you tightened your muscles around him. "But that’s fine by me. This is all for you."

"You’re so mmph good to me."

"Just remember this the next time I want you to wear something special for me."

"I’ll, fuck, I’ll wear anything you want," he promised. His breaths were coming faster, small grunts escaping him while he made what little movements he could in the cramped space. A sudden thought occurred to you and you arched your back a little more, letting him sink deeper.

"Black Leader…" you drew the words out on a breathy sigh.

He froze, his hand on your breast gripping almost painfully. Then his hips rocked up hard and you felt the breath get knocked out of you. "Fuck say that again."

"Fuck me Black Leader." You moaned it this time. Every part of your body might be aching and sore, but between your legs his cock was magic.

"Never gonna be able to fly again," he mumbled into your shirt. "Crash every time I think about this." You bit your lip and squeezed down, flexing every muscle you had on him. His answering groan filled the cockpit. His body was hunched over yours, "This is amazing. Fuck, you’re amazing."

"Black Leader you feel so good inside me." You cooed the words at him, purposefully making your voice low, breathless.

"Fuck I’m going to come." His breath fanned across your spine, hot and harsh even through the material of your shirt.

"Come for me Black Leader," you groaned and he did, hips pushing into yours, forcing you into the cockpit controls. You were going to have bruises for days and every one was worth it for the way this man held you and came inside you. Shuddering his pleasure into your body.

You both felt and heard his body fall back into the seat, leaving your back cold. Carefully, you shifted your position, pushing off the control panel and moving back. You felt him slip out of you then slide wetly along your ass when you leaned back and settled your head on his shoulder.

"If only this seat reclined," you sighed and felt him laugh when he wrapped his arms around you.

"If we’re going to make wishes, I wish this damn flight control was removable."

You glared down at the offending object, sticking up obscenely from between your spread thighs. A bubble of laughter spilled from your lips and you felt him doing the same, reaching up and turning your head to kiss you. You darted your tongue out to his lick his lip and then jerked in his arms when his hand lifted your skirt again.

"Poe…"

"What?" he asked, all innocence, his fingers unerringly finding your most sensitive places.

"Nothing," you sighed. "Don’t stop."

"I wouldn’t dream of it," he whispered into your ear. "You’re so good to me, you know that?"

You smile, raising your arms and settling them on the headrest behind him. "I think I might have heard something like that before."

He chuckled as he lifted your shirt, cupping your breast even as his fingers continued to tease between your legs. "Hmm? And have I told you today that I love you?"

"You know," you shifted slightly and gasped, "I don’t think you have."

He kissed your neck, fingers stroking with sure rhythm between your thighs. "I love you."

"I love you t-" your voice broke when you came. You heard his satisfied groan behind you, felt him press his face into your neck while you rode his hand through your pleasure.

You didn’t move when you came down, just lay against him and enjoyed the soft brush of his fingers on your breast, your stomach, your thighs. He stroked you lightly, occasionally stopping to run his fingers over the marks and developing bruises from where you had been pressed to the controls. He murmured apologies into your ear, so low the words rumbled through you and you sank back into his embrace further - convinced you could fall asleep like this.

His voice broke into your gentle reverie. "Now how do we get out of here?"

Giggling, you didn’t bother to move. You figured out how to get in. He could figure out how to get out.