#i post as often as one sees a cryptid

[yourlocalcryptidbee]

⭐SFW Alphabet with Lucifer Morningstar (finally)

The SFW Alphabet I was meant to do awhile ago. At any rate, grab some snacks and a beverage, get comfy and enjoy <3

Template can be found here

~ 2.2 k words GN! Reader mostly, F! Reader at times Want the NSFW one? Find it here! NOT PROOFREAD

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

This man is so affectionate, he cares so deeply about you, Charlie, Vaggie even. The only problem is well. . . it can be hard to see how much he cares sometimes. One of the ways Lucifer shows his affection is by being somebody to lean on or someone you can trust to take care of things. It may not be in your face obvious but trust that he’ll always be there when you need him.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

A friendship with Lucifer would be hard because he’s either wary of your motives or deeply in love with you. No inbetween. It would be a few lifetimes before Lucifer could consider you to be his BEST friend. At any rate, know that it’d be one of the most fulfilling friendships you’ve ever had, filled with laughter and good times. We’ve all got to be honest with ourselves, friendship between you and the devil would have had to start either working for him or naturally through Charlie. He does not get out much, not that you complain, just means more Lucifer for you ;)

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

A real cuddle bug this one here. He is just wrapped around you, he loves being able to curl up into someone after years of not getting to. Surprisingly though, he likes to hold you more than he likes to be held. It makes him feel better when he gets to protect you from the cold, makes him feel useful, wanted even. 

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

He was ready to settle down the moment he saw you. In terms of cooking, Lucifer is an amazing chef. You can best believe that you’ve tested his cooking, thoroughly. Whatever you want he can make for you, all you’ve got to do is ask suagr. Cleaning on the other hand. . . well he knows how to clean. . .yeahhhh, he’s pretty messy but he knows where everything is! At least he thinks he knows where everything is. 

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He’d be incredibly calm. If he’s breaking up with you then ya’lls spark has long since been dead. Lucifer would never do something like break up with you, spur of the moment so understand that he’s thought it over plenty and it’s better if you two split. Even though he’s no longer in love with you, he still respects you, so the breakup would be done gently and he’d do his best to leave with no bad blood between you. 

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quickly would they want to get married?)

After Lilith, Lucifer isn’t the most eager to go and get married again. Don’t get him wrong he wants to get married to you eventually but give him some time, will you? He’s been through a lot. The day he realized he was ready was the time where Lucifer called you Charlie’s mom to Charlie. “Charlie, can you ask your mom when that art gala is?” “. . . . .my-my mom?” “DID I SAY MOM? WHA-HAHA! AHEM, I MEANT MY WIFE-SHIT GIRLFRIEND! FuCk mE”

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He is a very, very, VERY thin piece of glass-he’s surprisingly durable, but still is glass. Lucifer hasn’t really been able to catch a break, between being thrown out of his home, being villainized by the creatures he helped give free will to, the natural stressors of being king of a realm, his wife of like forever abandoning him and finally being thrust into a long depressive episode, yeah gentle is an understatement. Lucifer would trade his Angelic strength for a little stability any day. 

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

A good marker of how much Lucifer loves you is how tightly he hugs you. Are your airways closed? Then Lucifer is absolutely enamoured with you. Can barely feel his touch? You're dangerously close to being in Alastor levels of hated. He always has to touch you, your hand tucked snuggly in the crook of his elbow, his hand around your waist, his tails rubbing slow circles on the back of your calves, the list goes on and on. Holding onto your waist with his head on your shoulder while you two sway to some music is his favourite way to hug you. 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

It took him a while before he said it to you. He tried so many times but he chickened out last second every time he tried. The first time he said ‘I love you’ was adorable. Lucifer started out loud, suave and confident and then it was time to say the word and all that confidence fell faster than he fell out of Heaven. He barely whispered the word, his face getting redder and redder and- you get the picture. Your stupid little smirk did not help his situation! He blames your gorgeous face for all his struggles. 

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

You may as well call this man Nick Jonas because He. Is. So. Jealous. Fair enough though, have you seen yourself? Lucifer wants to keep you all to himself, baby. I’m sure you don’t mind. He channels this jealousy in a very. . .long way. If you want to see what Lucifer does when he’s jealous then let me direct you here <3 

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Lucifer will always kiss you on your hand, right above your ring, once a day, every single day. Best believe he kisses you feverishly, passionately. Why breathe when he can keep kissing you? Lucifer’s kisses will range between slow and sensual to boyish pecks all across your face and arms. Although he will always love it when you kiss him on the lips, there’s something in the way you’ll kiss his horns or tail when they’re out. Helps make the pain of what he went through hurt a little less and he loves you for it.   

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

1000/10. Kids love him and part of him misses the days of toys scattered across the house, the pitter-patter of tiny feet and how Charlie used to fit so perfectly in his lap. He’s not getting emotional, you are! He’d take the sleepless nights if he got to have those kinds of memories again. And hey, getting to see you pregnant is a welcomed bonus.  

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

With his job, the two of you don’t get to spend too many mornings together. His side of the bed is often cold by the time you wake up. There are those special days though, where Lucifer doesn’t have to get up at the ass crack of dawn and he cherises those mornings the most. The mornings where he gets to wake up with you in his arms and he gets to lie there and reflect on all the reasons he loves you until you wake up. He can wrap his wings around you both until well into the afternoon.  

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

Your nights have a specific routine. The two of you will sneak out of your room and down to the kitchen, the staff long since gone home. You’ll make some tea while Lucifer will scavenge for something sweet to snack on. You’ll sit on the ground and catch up on all that happened that day, some days you’ll sit in silence, others you're trying to muffle your laughs to not wake the whole damn manor. At some point, Lucifer will portal you back to your room and you’ll curl up in his arms and fall asleep.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

You will be learning things about this man for the rest of eternity. Some scars were made from pain others were made when he went to Georgia. He’s slow to open up but that’s because he’s been hurt so many times, give him time.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He’s got the patience of a saint until you threaten his family. All of a sudden he’s got to go the patience store because he just ran out! 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Lucifer has a really good memory! His Achilles heel are names but hey he’s never messed up Charlie’s name! That’s because he named her He remembers all the important things like he knows Maggie's birthday! He knows when she fell from Heaven, etc. Lucifer should know those things though, Angie is Charlie’s girlfriend after all. 

R = Remember (What is their favourite moment in your relationship?)

Lucifer’s favourite moment in your guy’s relationship was when you were teaching Charlie something and you looked every part her mother. He knew at that moment everything was going to be okay, his girls got along and he finally had a full family again.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Lucifer is incredibly protective. He is the big boss of Hell, he’s got his ways to protect you. Nothing is too much for his girls. Lucifer is a fallen angel, nothing in Hell can hurt him. He doesn’t need you to protect him, like he does for you. He needs you to protect his heart though, it’s bruised and could use your loving, so be kind. 

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

If it’s for you then there is no amount of effort that is enough in his mind. Lucifer believes there is nothing that he can do to show how much he loves you, he tries to though. Every date, gift, and anniversaryhe plans is done so meticulously.  

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

He loses track of time very easily. It’s so bad that he didn’t realize just how long it had been since he last saw Charile. And the last time Lucifer saw Charlie was when she still lived in the manor, aka its been a long time. The only thing he could remember was how long Lilith had been gone for, which. . . didn’t help his depression. He’s getting better now, especially with you by his side! Instead of knowing how long Lilith had been gone down to the hour, it down to the month. . .progress! amiright?

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

Sin. of. Pride. He knows damn well what he looks like. Korean skincare ain’t got nothing on his routines.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Lucifer will feel weird if he hasen’t seen you in the last few HOURS. This man would crumble without you. If your not there what’s the point? Truly? 

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

Lucifer could recite the Bible word for word if he wanted to. He found one eons ago when a distraught sinner came into his home complaining about being in hell, waving the book around like it meant anything. He read it. Every last word. The book has some. . . interesting opinions about him. So what if he still has it? So what if he’ll read it to feel like he is still divine and he hasn’t been completely corrupted by sinners. And so what if every story including him has been ripped out, never to be seen again. So what if he is homesick? So what if that stupid book is tattered with pages falling out? It’s his only piece of home that wasn’t marred by the blasphomous place he rules over. 

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He doesn’t like when people blindly follow him. Why do sinners do this? Lucifer didn’t chose to be king. This is his eternal punishment. Why would he do anything that would benefit the thousands of thorns in his side? This proves just how idioctic sinners are.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)He’d never admit it but. . . he has a dad snore. It is the LOUDEST thing as well. Especially when he’s in a deep sleep. Lord help you and your neighbours. Baby boy is loud. Lucifer also falls asleep soooo quickly, he’ll lie down and is immediately out and to make it better, when he’s out, he’s out. There is no waking him up.

[bats-and-the-birds]

I made a post involving young/feral/perceived cryptid Dick Grayson and someone tagged something about Barry Allen losing his mind when this terrifying child befriends his nephew and I have NOT stopped thinking about this since.

Because like, imagine you're Barry Allen. You've been doing this hero thing for a while, and you've seen a lot of things, but now your nephew has gotten himself wrapped up in this too, and goddamnit, you're worried because you know this life isn't easy.

Then he makes a friend - Ollie's boy, Roy Harper - and you breathe a little bit easier, because you know that however rough this life is, it's worse without friends. Besides, it's sweet. They're young boys, and they roughhouse, and tell stupid jokes, and play video games together sometimes. It's nice to see Wally just be a kid with someone that he doesn't have to hide from. And, yeah, sure, they get into trouble sometimes, pull pranks that go too far, get themselves in danger because they think they can take on something they can't, but it's still a net positive, because you need friends in this line of work, and that's exactly what they've found.

And you think about Robin. Not often, but you do think about him. Because you know nothing about him, and you don't want to, but he still has the face of a boy that's younger than your nephew. You wonder if he has friends.

But really, you don't think about him that much. You don't want to. He's freaky, and generally, thinking too hard about anything to do with the Bat is inadvisable.

Then there's a fight. A big one. You don't even really know who's fighting on your side until everything has cleared. It was basically the entire Justice League, no one dead, but a few injuried. And your nephew's there too. And Roy. And Robin.

No one really goes near Robin, ever. It was an unspoken rule, of sorts, and you're pretty sure it's just because everyone's scared of messing with Batman's little bird, though whether that was due to fear of Batman or the bird himself, you're not sure.

But Wally doesn't seem to know this. Wally doesn't seem to care. He runs up to Robin with a big grin on his face and grabs his hand, trying to tug him over to where Roy was patching up some injuries.

You notice that Robin doesn't go with him immediately. In fact, he looks confused. But if you know anything about your nephew, he's persistent, and eventually Robin lets himself be dragged over. Roy seems unconcerned, but you can tell that the other adults in the vicinity shift uncomfortably, unsure of what they should do, or if they should do anything at all.

It doesn't last long anyway. Batman calls for Robin and he bounds off, but you notice he stops and hesitantly waves a gloved hand at your nephew before he leaves. Wally waves back.

You don't think much of it.

Then, the next time you and Ollie catch Wally and Roy fighting something they shouldn't be, Robin's right there with them. It's the first time you've seen Robin without Batman in close proximity, and you think he looks just a little bit more human. He smiles sheepishly with the other boys when they're chastised for fighting things that they shouldn't, and you watch Roy ruffle his hair like there's nothing to be worried about. You're still worried.

You still don't think much of it though. Even when Robin's there with the two of them the next time, and the time after that.

But then, oh dear god, he's in your house. You don't actually notice him at first, for two whole hours, because it's normal to see Wally and Roy sitting on the couch and playing video games. You just don't realize that there's a third head in between them until you sit down in an adjacent armchair to see what they're playing, because Robin is just short enough that his head doesn't peak over the back of the couch.

You have to blink a few times to make sure what you're seeing is real, because nestled in between the two slightly older heroes in their civilian attire is Robin, sans his gloves, cape, and boots, but otherwise still in full uniform with his mask still firmly in place, holding a video game controller and laughing while Wally elbows his side to try to make him lose.

And you just sit back in your chair and stare, because what the hell are you even supposed to do in this situation? Your nephew has decided to make friends with Batman's goddamn son - the boy that you've seen sneak up on League members with super hearing, break a grown man's femur, and somehow fade into shadows in a bright yellow cape - and it worked. And now he's playing video games on your couch. And you don't know what to do about that.

[doomedmoth]

Three’s a crowd

Pairing : Poly and bisexual fem!reader | reader x alexandra saint mleux x charles lerclerc

Warnings : use of y/n, polyamory, fluff, very light angst, request, not much more tbh

Synopsis : Request : Could you write a poly fic about Charles, Alexandra and Y/N ? Everyone is celebrating Charles’ brand LEC but since Charles and Alex are the public couple (for Ferrari PR etc), Y/N can’t do anything. She’s starting to feel left out because of it since they’re going out and celebrating without her, they keep leaving her out and forgetting important dates (her birthday or smthg). Happy ending please !

Moth’s prophecy💡: Thank you to the anonymous cryptid for the request, I tweaked it a bit but still kept the main plot, and I hope you and the other poly enjoyers will like it ! Thanks again for the support and great ideas !

“Okay one… two… three… and posted !” You threw yourself in Charles’ arms as he clicked on the button and threw his phone away immediately, catching both you and Alex in a cuddle.

“You did it !” Alexandra pinched at his cheeks and you ruffled his hair, hands trembling with excitement.

Finally his ice-cream brand, Lec, was out, the main announcement posted on Instagram. The end of countless sleepless nights and never ending zoom calls, meetings at the worst time possible, and secrets to keep. Of course, now the promotion would be another handful, but at least the three of you would deal with it together. And you had always been pretty good at supporting your lovers.

You got into a more comfortable position on Charles’ lap, head resting against his, as Alexandra had gotten up and started her, as she called it, “happy dance”, which consisted mostly in jumping in circles screaming until she got dizzy. As you snorted, Alexandra very clearly loosing balance, Charles took your hand in his, softly rubbing it with his fingers.

“Thank you… I know it hasn’t been easy to deal with this on top of the races and everything… You’ve been amazing. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.” You could not help a smirk from coming up your lips, and thought this was the time to charge again.

“I know how you can repay me…” You straddled him, and as he did his best to appear confident and in charge, his blush betrayed his shyness. Alex had stopped spinning, seemingly much more interested in what was taking place on the couch. “Maybe you could…” You got closer to him, and peppered his neck with kisses until you got to his ear, in which you whispered as seductively as you could. “Maybe you could get me a dog ?”

He immediately rolled his eyes and playfully pushed you away as you laughed at his bright red cheeks. You had dreamt of having your own dog for so long, specifically a longhaired dachshund, and both Alex and Charles had said no multiple times. Charles’ arguments were mainly that he was away too often to properly care for it, and your girlfriend, who called the breed “hairy sausages”, argued she would have to deal with all the responsibilities of it because both yours and Charles’ works took a lot of time. And though she actually found dogs very cute, she did not have an interest big enough for them to manage her schedule around one.

You had pleaded to Lewis to use Roscoe to convince them, managed to go partly remote with your job, and flooded their messages with videos of dogs almost daily. At this point, you were seriously considering getting one in secret just to see how long it would take for them to realize, and then argue it is too late to give it back.

“Sure.” What ? You sat straight up on Charles as he pushed a strand of hair behind your ear. You couldn’t have heard well. You turned to Alex, who shrugged.

“I can’t deal with seeing you cry over reels anymore, and Mimi’s pretty cute.” She gave you a warm smile. Mimi was your friend’s dog, the one who got you into dachshund in the first place.

“You’re not serious, are you ? You’re just in a good mood. You’re joking.” Charles actually laughed, and you thought your heart wouldn’t be able to handle a prank.

“Promis juré ma princesse. Why not, you want one, you can take care of it, who am I to deny you ? Let’s get you a dog.”

No matter how well isolated was your apartment, you thought you would be lucky if no neighbors came to complain tomorrow. There was a lot to celebrate for one night.

“I’m sorry Y/N, I really need you to give Leo back, we’re going to take pictures…” Searching desperately for support in Alex’s eyes, you felt sick when you saw her staring at the ground. You were so shaken you let the event coordinator take the puppy from your arms and give him to Alexandra, who sheepishly turned her back to you and walked towards the press wall.

Charles himself was nowhere and everywhere at once, it was no use trying to get him to advocate for you. Too stressed by the beginning of the racing season combined with the launching events for Lec, he had mindlessly agreed to most of his agent’s suggestions, including playing what the Ferrari PR team had called “happy family”. Following the announcement of Carlos’ replacement, they needed good news to balance, and thought emphasizing Charles’ couple and furry kid would pull at a few heartstrings. But in their good Italian traditional beliefs, there was no place for a third, and since you had always been more busy, and therefore more discreet, than Alexandra, the cut had been made. They were to be the hit couple for a while, in a vain but admittedly successful attempt at calming the fans.

You had had little to no say, Charles having always been your voice in those kinds of businesses, and Alexandra being media trained to perfection. You thought back on your promises, on your dedication to be supportive of them, and decided the best thing to do would be to go get some air. It wasn’t as if you would be missed anyway.

As you stepped on one of the secluded balconies, the cold breeze of the night came to slap your face, and without anyone’s arms or jacket to comfort you, you suddenly felt very lonely. The evening had dragged on enough, you just wanted to go home. Debating between taking a cab or waiting for your lovers, you took out your phone, only to be flooded by notifications from your socials. You barely used them, so had no idea why they would be so active all of a sudden.

Both Instagram and Twitter greeted you with the same pictures taken either by fans or paparazzis. You shopping with Carlos’s girlfriend, Leo trotting happily by your side, as well as another few at a restaurant with friends, where Leo was sleeping on your lap while Charles and Alex were somewhere in the background, probably discussing going dancing after. The usual. But this time, all the comments seemed to agree on one thing. The dog wasn’t yours.

“Did they lend her the dog for the day ?”. “Leo’s godmother.” “Is she gonna be the babysitter while they’re gone ?” “Me when my friends get a baby”.

You three had always been private, but not secret. People made their own opinions anyway, and you did not care much about polishing a public persona. You did not use socials, Alex had private accounts, and Charles’ were managed by his PR team. In the end, even though you had dated Alexandra since high school, and Charles for a bit more than a year, the lack of official pictures or announcement, coupled with Ferrari’s new strategy, only served as validation to those who affirmed the real couple were Alexandra and Charles.

You felt sick, cold, and particularly lonely. Cab it would be.

“Babe what are you doing outside like that, you’ll get a cold !” You felt his jacket fall on your shoulders before you even heard him walk up to you. Ears buzzing, eyes watering, you weren’t sure you were able to face him.

“I’m gonna go home. I’ll leave you with your girlfriend and your dog if you don’t mind.” When you turned to him, you saw right behind one of the girls in charge of the party holding Leo, and your blood started boiling again. Charles was looking at you all confused, and you felt an itch to slap him.

“What ? What are you on about ? How ‘bout you come back inside, I think Leo misses you.” He chuckled, and you thought a full punch would probably be better than a slap.

“I don’t think your dog misses me.” The words felt like poison in your mouth, but you wanted him to get it. To understand how ridiculous this situation was getting. And why wouldn’t the girl put him down, he was clearly uncomfortable in her arms ? Why was no one taking it seriously ?

“Leo’s your dog, Y/N, I don’t get it…”

“Then give him back to me !” You screamed and the puppy yapped back, before jumping from the assistant’s arms, who shrieked and struggled to get him back. Too late, he had found your arms before she managed to pull the leash. “You should probably talk with your team, Charles.” He frowned at the use of his name, which almost always meant you were pissed. “Goodnight.”

As they finished filling their suitcases, you thought back on this evening, and that you probably should have shut your mouth. Following Lec’s launching party, what you hoped would be a wake up call for your lovers turned into something even worse. Charles was indeed called in for a talk with the PR team. And then Alex too. Your turn never came, and the more the days passed, the more it appeared your relationship was being taken over by management and marketing teams.

The following weeks had been a blur of unspoken tensions and meaningless routines. Breakfast alone, walking Leo only in the areas pre-approved to avoid pictures, going to work without him and coming home to new communication materials published with his face on it, work calls for your boyfriend stretching into the night, and your girlfriend going out so often it seemed her side of the bed was getting colder with each passing day. They both seemed to have undergone a sad transformation, their fiery and protective spirits dampened by forced compromises. Something told you they had been pushed to agree to the new directive, and yet you couldn’t help but stay mad at them. You understood Charles. The pressure he was under, the expectations of the whole team, the weight of his responsibilities. But Alexandra, you had known for too long. She had never been one to bow down and blindly agree to unfair decisions. She had loved you, through good and bad. She had promised you, together forever. And now she kept her hands by her side on the street and you wondered when her clothes had stopped smelling like you.

They kissed you goodbye, promised you mountains of gifts and a magnificent restaurant when they returned, but the door had not even closed when you fell crying to your knees. You had moved to the couch and slept there, your puppy watching over you, when your mother knocked on the door the following morning.

“Happy birthday darling !” She opened her arms and you ran in them, grabbing at your siblings behind her to get them in the hug too.

You had hoped to be out of tears by now, having spent the night reading articles speculating on why you were living with Formula 1 hottest couple -were you a distant relative ? A friend of Alex in need of a place to crash ?-, but the warm embrace of family members you hadn’t seen for months was enough to bring you back to the edge.

“Where are my favorite in-laws ?” She was beaming as she settled her belongings on the kitchen counter. “Oh that’s my baby grandson, come here baby !” She took Leo in her arms and you thought you had more time to breathe, but your younger brother tugged at your sleeve.

“Can Charlie take me on the boat ? I learned how to do a backflip at school and he can film me do it from the boat and then the others are gonna be so jealous and” You put your hand on his head and ruffled his hair softly.

“I’m sorry… Charles isn’t there. Alex too.” Your mother furrowed her brows and gave you a puzzled look. “Race weekend, and they were expected at an event they couldn’t cancel.” Your voice, barely above a whisper, was already shaking. You felt your tears ready to spill over, and gritted your teeth. “Last minute decision.”

Your brother only groaned and ran to the balcony to look at the port, already over it, but your mother came to hold your hand, and you exchanged a look of “we’ll talk about it later”.

Unfortunately, by the time you all came back from your evening out, and the kids were in bed, your mother was faced with the situation without leaving you any time to explain.

“Y/N, dear, come here please…” You sat next to her with two glasses of wine, and looked over her shoulder to her phone, where she had some celebrities gossip website open. “Is that the event they couldn’t cancel for your birthday ?” Her tone was cold, and you took at better look at the pictures.

A sunset movie-worthy, one of those that always brought tears to your eyes. A small table with candles and flowers on the beach, cocktails so colorful you could almost taste them from afar. Holding hands, looking at each other like the world had stopped, your lovers were apparently having the time of their life in a romantic restaurant, on your birthday evening. You took out your own phone. No messages.

The panic attack struck you without warning. Your heart had clenched all at once, and despite your mother’s attempt at laying you on your back, your muscles kept you rolled in a ball. You felt as if every breath was tearing apart your lungs, and could feel your heartbeat from your ears to the tip of your fingers. You could vaguely hear her talking to you, but it was as if a wall was standing between you, yet her touch felt very close, too close, as if her usually soft fingers were now burning your arms. Was it the end ? Was it how your great love story ended, alone on a Saturday night, crying so much you were drooling on the couch ? Your body was aching like never before, were you about to pass out ? To simply die ?

In the end you only managed to fall asleep after your mom calmed you down. You thought before closing your eyes that even your pain was disappointing.

You were helping your siblings pack up their bags when they came home, arms filled with packages. The little ones jumped to them, glad to have at least been able to say hello before leaving, but your mother stayed by your side, not even greeting them. She thanked them coldly for the gifts, and pushing the children towards the door, gave you a sympathetic look. She said she would always be there for you. She said you could come home if needed. But when Leo jumped on the couch and laid next to you, you knew no matter how painful it was, your home was here and there. You just needed time. You would figure it out, together. But not tonight. Tonight you just wanted out.

“Happy belated birthday, princesse.” Charles said tentatively, his voice tinged with uncertainty as he gestured to the mountain of gifts piled on the table. Alex sat by your side, but you got up before she could hold your hand.

“I don’t want your gifts. I want an apology. Think well about what you’ve done.” You kissed your puppy’s head and left the apartment immediately.

Almost running in the hallways and stairs, you got to his door panting. You knew he was back, they always made the journey together. So when he opened the door, clearly exhausted and surprised to see you, you broke down once again.

“I’m sorry Max… can I come in ?” He immediately closed the door behind you and called for his girlfriend, while his step daughter Penelope came to hug your legs. You collapsed on their sofa, shoulders shaking with silent sobs, unable to find the words to explain the depth of your pain. Kelly and Penelope tried to soothe you with soft voices and hugs, but Max only managed to pace the room, his jaw clenched in anger.

“What the hell happened ?” He had always been so sweet to you, so welcoming in this unfamiliar world. You felt bad for seeking comfort in his home after he had just came back. But the gates were opened, and while you cried, you still managed to make out a few words, enough for the couple to piece out the situation.

Penelope stayed close to you, hugging you with all the warmth a child could muster, while Kelly had been forced to stand in front of the door to prevent your friend from committing murder. They were now arguing silently, and you felt your eyes get heavier by the minute, strangely lulled to sleep by their hushed whispers. You had finally put words on what was happening, and the little girl’s cuddles had managed to calm you down to the point of dozing off.

“I think you should take her home.” Kelly murmured, still worried.

Max nodded in agreement, and he carefully scooped you in his arms, cradling you against his chest as he carried you back to your apartment. Charles was standing in the doorway, Alex pacing behind him, and both let him pass, faces etched with concern.

“You two stay right there.” Max’s voice was sharp, commanding not to argue. He laid you down in your bed, tucking the covers around you and stroking your hair until sleep finally claimed you. When he tried to leave the apartment, your two lovers were still standing by the door, begging to be heard.

“Max, please, what’s going on…” Alexandra tried to get close but he immediately took a step back, and pointed his finger at her.

“You had your chance to make things right by staying this weekend. You blew it up. Take your responsibilities.” He then turned to Charles, and almost spat to his face. “And you… I thought family was supposed to always come first. Maybe I was wrong.” His face was distorted with anger, and his knuckles white on the door handle. “You two have to man up for once in your fucking life. Either you tell Ferrari, and everyone who’s putting their noise in your business, to fuck off, or you loose her.”

With that, he slammed the door, leaving Charles and Alexandra with the consequences of their actions. They knew they had been fooled. Manipulated. Two nights ago, when the pictures of them had been taken, they were having one of the worst conversation possible. One they wanted to share with you as soon as possible, and in person, and not on your birthday. They were now wondering how they could do so without sounding like liars.

Would you trust them ? Believe Charles, when he would tell you the PR team had said you weren’t cut for fame, that the spotlights were obviously making you stressed, that you would be happier away from it all ? Believe Alex, when she would admit that they had threatened her with your boyfriend’s career, as well as your own, reminding her that she had never needed to work, and that if she loved the both of you, she should let professionals handle the situation ? Believe them, when they would say that’s what they talked about at the restaurant, and that their look of love was captured when they thought of you home, and wished you were with them ?

They weren’t sure. The thought that you could decide to end it all, and you would be smart to do so, frightened them. When they finally went to bed, hands shaking and eyes wet, each one cuddling by your side, hoping this night would not be the last, you did not even wake up.

“Still not forgiven ?” Max pushed Charles’ shoulder softly, half teasing him, half genuinely concerned for his friend, even though he hated to admit it. He had moved away from the group of men having a drink in the shared garden of their building, and had been staring at the moon for too long for someone in a good mood.

“I don’t know… She keeps saying everything is fine, but it’s clearly not. Even when we told her of our meetings, she was like… she agreed with them ?” Charles turned to his friend, disbelief written all over his face. “Said they knew what they were talking about, that it was for the best. Keeps walking behind us in the street, encourages us to go out just us two, even refuses to hold Leo when there are fans ! Her own dog, Max !” Charles felt the arm of the taller man lay on his shoulder, and he rested his head in the embrace, sighing.

As he was about to turn for a full hug, he heard Carlos whistle from the table, and Daniel signed at them to get back and away from the hedges.

“Paps.” The Aussie simply said when they got back, pointing a finger at the light of a camera through the bushes. “What a waste of money living here if they still manage to get in.” Max groaned and started to pick up the bottles, inciting everyone to go back inside.

“What a pain those fuckers…” He grumbled, clearly annoyed to not be able to enjoy his evening out with friends without the sound of camera shutters ruining everything. “What fucking interest is there to our lives, go get one of your own or something for god’s sake…” Everyone agreed but still followed him to one of the shared inside spaces, frustration hanging heavy in the air.

As they settled around the pool table, anecdotes about obsessive fans and annoying paparazzis were shared, but Charles’ mind was drifting elsewhere. An idea had begun to take root, a small glimmer of hope for his relationship, to maybe get back his girlfriend, before sadness had taken over most of her. He chugged down the rest of his drink, and called for the attention of his friends.

“What if… what if we used the paps ? What if I said fuck you to Ferrari without dealing with the legal issues ?” A spark appeared in their eyes, and in their last sober decision, they called Alexandra to come down, all agreeing she would be their voice of reason.

Oblivious to it all, you were reading in bed when the gathering happened, and would never know of it.

Only a few days later was the plan put into action. Charles’ idea of using actual paparazzis was turned down by Alex, who reminded the boys of the consequences on their careers if anyone found out who made the call. Despite his drunken arguments of being ready to fuck it all for his girls, soundly supported by his friends, she had found a much safer solution.

When you stepped on the huge balcony, you felt tears come to your eyes, happy ones, for the first time in weeks. Your lovers had crafted a perfect romantic dinner for you, straight out of a movie. The table was laid out for three, candles lit up and rose petals everywhere on the ground. A bottle of expensive champagne was chilling in a bucket of ice, waiting to be popped podium-style, and Leo was waiting by the door with a little bow tie on his collar. You had missed being just the three of you, no waitress, no management, no friends, just a homemade dinner and loving looks.

So when they took you in their arms, wrapping you in love and affection, peppering your skin with kisses and sweet compliments, you simply gave in without a care for anything else. You hugged and kissed until you had no breath left, and let them treat you, for you had deserved it.

Yet the whole time, unbeknownst to you, Daniel and Max had been stationed right under your balcony, hidden from view as they snapped pictures of the intimate scene unfolding. They did their best to capture every shared glance and affectionate touch, every kiss and hug that would make it impossible to deny the love shared between you. They had all warned paparazzis were roaming in the area the night before, which would make the whole thing even more believable for the PR teams. The secret mission was going to perfection, and when you retreated indoors with a seductive wink to your partners, Charles and Alexandra gave a subtle thumbs up to the boys to signal the end of the work for tonight.

As you awoke to the gentle rays of sunlight through the curtains you had not closed well last night, a sense of peace came over you for the first time in a while. Yesterday’s romantic dinner, and night, was still fresh in your mind and body, and you smiled when greeted with your lovers’ sleeping faces when you turned in the bed. Reaching as quietly as possible for your phone, your soft morning suddenly turned to hell as you saw hundreds of notifications and missed calls appear on the lock screen.

Your heart pounded in your chest as you scrolled them all. Missed calls from Ferrari. Messages from long lost friends. And obviously, dozens and dozens of pictures plastered across every gossip account related to Formula 1. It seemed an anonymous account had taken and posted pictures of your very private dinner during the night, and then disappeared, right after the pictures had been reposted everywhere.

With trembling hands, you turned to look at Charles and Alexandra, still sleeping peacefully by your side. Instead of finding solace in their presence, a wave of dread washed over you, the fear of losing everything you held dear threatening to consume you whole. Would this be the breaking point for them ? Would Ferrari ask you to move out ? Would they all lie, deny completely your existence ?

The sound of Leo’s plaintive cries echoed through the room, snapping your partners from their slumber. They came even closer to you, filled with concern as your breathing got more and more erratic, tears streaming down your face. They took turns kissing away your tears and whispering words of comfort until you managed to give them your phone, as well as theirs. You tried regulating your breathing as they scrolled, and sat down, expecting a tough conversation straight after.

Alex simply threw her phone away after not even two minutes of screen time, coming back to lay her head on your chest and faking purring. Charles sighed, and opened the camera of his phone. Had they asked him to make an apology video ? He turned the camera to Leo, and added his hand to where Alex’s fingers were already intertwined with yours. Snapping a pic of the small dog with your three hands next to him, he immediately posted it on his story on Instagram, which he had apparently gotten back the login details for, with the caption “Family 4️⃣❤️”.

“About time it was out officially, right love ?” Charles stroked your cheek lovingly while your girlfriend hummed in agreement, nuzzling closer to you. “I was thinking your red dress for the event next week, and we could get me a new suit but” He kept rambling on, his phone buzzing non stop on his side table, head in the crook of your neck. Too stunned to speak, you simply laid back in the bed and let him talk your ear off. It wasn’t over then ?

By the time of the next Lec event, you were sure it was far from over. Alex was holding your hand, and you had gotten matching nails the day before. Charles had insisted you were the only one to wear red tonight, and he kept you as close as physically possible, one hand always on your waist. The little pup struggled to find his place in all this affection, but you made sure to keep him in your arms whenever he needed comfort, and otherwise refused to give the leash to anyone else. When Charles’ agent came to warn you there would be trouble, Alex stepped in front of you with the look of defiance you had always loved, and simply told him “With all due respect, fuck off.” Charles shrugged, saying this wasn’t a Ferrari event anyway, and smiled as he took you two away.

You finally stood tall and proud, at peace and at home. The party was quite private, you were mostly surrounded by friends and well-wishers, and one in particular came to greet you with the biggest smile on his face.

“As pretty as ever querida !” Carlos took you in his arms, and gave a small pet to Leo’s head. He congratulated you, and gesturing to the PR team seemingly having a breakdown in the corner of a room, he chuckled. “The only thing I won’t miss at Ferrari is their shitty strategy.” He winked at you before going back to the buffet, not without a last word “It’s clear the only happy family they should advertise is you three, with how they’re looking at you.”

You turned back to meet their eyes. Charles raised his glass to you, and Alex’s smile was brighter than the neon lights. You felt filled with pride, love, a sense of validation like no other. You thought of your mother, of her warm embrace and comforting words. You hoped she would see the pictures of tonight. You hoped she knew you had a home away from home in them. And so you ran to them, and laughed until your cheeks hurt, and danced until the lights went out, and promised to love until the very last star in the sky burnt out.

[r1z3n]

I just think they are neat:

As a whole Batfamily are odd, strangle, and like often questioned if they are cryptids.

But, I think the first 3 Robins are the worst.

Like don't get me wrong they are all bad for it. Gothamnite being Gothamnites.

But Dick Grayson, Jason Todd and Tim Drake are Often the first reason people quote for wondering if Batfam is human.

Like everyone else including Cassandra Cain have this level of 'you are just missing the entire context', like you met them and yeah you have questions and you wonder but it is like seeing Olympic athletics or experts in their field do something, you feel like you can just barely see the years of training it took.

However Dick, Jason and Tim? they just have this hair raising of 'no context could explain you'. Like Dick Grayson has been an professional athletic his Entire Life, being a Vigilante for at least 75% of it, and pretty sure is a genius. He wouldn't know how to be average if it bit him. Again for a previous post, he probably has to think about moving 'normally' and within the 'average human' range. Which is something he probably Had To Learn to do. So everyone that knew him pre-that probably remembers even subconsciously.

Jason goddamn Died, and came back for one. Then like from what I can tell took less time training to become on-par with Batman. Probably moves a little bit like Nightwing, because foundationally that is who he modelled himself after during his Robin era. Soul Swords my dudes. He probably freaks Constantine out so hard.

Tim Drake, well do you want to start with how often he has existed outside of time and the way that probably altered some stuff? or do we want to talk about the way he probably has the same issue as Dick, in his probably has to think about moving because Dick Grayson was his Hero. Like there is so much more that could be played with, because yeah those three probably just flip the uncanny valley switch of 'dangerous and you can't ever comprehend why'. It is probably actually worse for the actually aliens/non-humans you know, like the other humans meta or not are probably a little more used to dismissing that feeling.

Also I think those three are completely Unaware how unsettling they are, even to the other bats. Like they know, but they think it is completely on the Bat level

Like Damian or Duke will likely join them eventually in being as unsettling. Damian because he is young and his Batman was Dick Grayson, and Duke because his normal vigilante baseline is Batfam and he seems the type to think 'I have to match them' then does. I think Stephine purposefully choose not follow the steps because that is not who she wants to be. Cass has moments but Cass is too body aware for it not be on purpose and that intentional action feel different.

[pomefioredove]

please, PLEASE write a rollo x reader fic where rollo wakes up from a nightmare about his brother and where there to comfort him PLEASE 🙏🙏🙏🙏

let it be known that the only reason I started playing this game was because they added frollo. rollo is like a cryptid in the HoND fandom

summary: nightmares and comfort type of post: fic characters: rollo additional info: romantic, established relationship?, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu, not proofread, rollo vaguely implied to have ptsd because I do and am a scholar in trauma nightmares ^-^

There's a certain point at which bad dreams and reality melt together.

Where the line blurs, and you can't be sure where the nightmare ends and you begin. They so often feel one in the same.

Rollo is familiar with bad dreams.

At one point, he thought there would be a solution. Something to hold them back, to release him from their sticky grasp. He journaled, for a while, but all that brought him was grief.

It happens like clockwork.

Four or five nightmares in one rest, for one to two weeks, at the same time every year. He keeps track of them. How could he not?

They culminate on a certain day, one he dreads in and of itself, and then slowly, painfully die off, leaving him wounded and alone.

It's dreadful.

And it's worse that he knows exactly why they happen.

You had once asked him what keeps him up at night, as a sort of conversation starter when you were first getting to know each other. What a strange question to ask someone, and in such a light-hearted tone.

He told you he sees no use for excess sleep when he can be diligent, instead.

Sloth is a vice, he said. Detestable.

You seemed to accept that as an answer, much to his relief. The truth was far too ugly for someone as pure as you to shoulder. He was only protecting your feelings, after all. And perhaps his.

Rollo hoped, for your sake, that you wouldn't notice. He was still getting used to the idea of sleeping beside another person, and the very last thing he wanted was to burden you with all of what he is.

To put it plainly, he didn't want to scare you off.

The first few nights were easy enough. Nasty imagery wrapped up in otherwise normal dreams, those of which could hardly be considered nightmares.

He'd wake up in a cold sweat, and toss and turn until he could manage to fall back asleep, never stirring you.

This time is different.

He wakes, not quite jolting, but certainly thrashing himself back into the present moment like an animal caught in a trap.

His eyes snap open, and there's nothing but darkness, his breathing, and the uneasy feeling of his stomach. It takes a moment for him to adjust to his surroundings.

You're still asleep. Thankfully.

He liked to keep some distance between the two of you, anyway. Rollo had to ease himself into the idea of being physically close with someone without being utterly repulsed.

The only reason he'd entertained the idea in the first place was because it's you, you, pure and good, who would never do anything to discomfort him, you, who even now, sleeps like an angel in his bed.

There's something unclean about that thought, although it's not your doing.

Rollo gets up, careful not to disturb you, and paces around the room while he tries to get ahold of reality. He reminds himself of the date, the time, his full name, anything that will shake the lingering terror coursing through is body.

He does not cry. He hasn't since...

Well. Never mind, that.

Now is not the time to make a fuss. He's not a child, he's not fragile, he can handle his own nightmares without needing someone to tuck him back in.

The dream was so terrifyingly, disgustingly real, though.

The nightmares which aren't nightmares are the worst sorts of dreams, because he instantly feels silly for scaring himself over something so mundane, even if that looming sense of dread and fear still makes him feel ill.

This one was but a normal conversation, with...

...He didn't want to remember it.

The point was more so that it felt so utterly real that waking up like this, having it fall apart around him like the rotting pages of an old book, was like having his head dunked in freezing cold water repeatedly.

Not a pleasant feeling.

He paces, back and forth, in front of the now-dead fireplace, trying to regain his bearings.

He's quiet; he so often is; and yet, still, roused either by the sound of his footsteps or the heavy, uncomfortable feeling in the air, you wake.

The sound of your voice nearly scares him.

Rollo turns to you, eyes wide as you sit up, drawing your knees to your chest. "What?"

"I asked if you're okay," you repeat, turning to the space beside you to check the time. "It's two in the morning."

His answer is immediate, as calm as he can muster, although there's a faint crack in his voice on the last word. "I'm well. I was just thinking,"

"Thinking? Now?"

He nods, and turns back to the mantle. His arms are crossed over his chest, acting as a sort of armor, protecting him.

You tilt your head to the side. "Did you have a bad dream?"

He hates how perceptive you can be, sometimes. It takes him a moment to think of a suitable answer- is it worth telling you the truth?

"I have bad dreams all the time," you say. "Like... all the time. Weird ones, too. It's nothing to be embarrassed a-"

"I am not embarrassed," he snaps, whirling around on his heels to face you. His tone softens when he sees the perplexed expression on your face. "I was just trying to tire myself before returning to bed. I didn't want to disturb you."

You shake your head. "I wouldn't have minded if you did. I understand... do you want to talk about it?"

He's silent, looking away again, which is enough of an answer to you.

"Then will you at least come back to bed?"

Rollo supposes he should. He doesn't want to risk worrying you any further. That would only stir up more questions.

He settles himself in bed, lying flat on his back with his arms crossed over his chest, more cadaver than human. You always found that position so amusing, for whatever reason, and even now you can't contain a laugh.

"Are you cold? You're shaking,"

Damn it. He is. He hadn't even noticed... and though his tremors aren't from the temperature, he agrees with you anyway.

"Yes. It's rather cold tonight,"

You hum a small note of contemplation and inch closer to him. "May I?"

Rollo's face immediately turns red, although he can't help but indulge himself... just this once. For your sake, anyway.

He nods.

You come closer, resting your head on his shoulder and putting an arm around his waist in the most comfortable position you can manage while he's lying like this.

Your body is warm, soft, comforting... all things that would normally repulse him, but it's you...

He pats the back of your hand with one of his in a reassuring, though awkward gesture. As much as he expected to feel his heart pounding even harder at your closeness, there's something quite... safe about the embrace. He can't deny it.

"Good night," you murmur, already half-asleep.

He closes his eyes, allowing his body to relax... just the tiniest bit.

"Good night,"

[faeriekit]

Health and Hybrids (XVIII)👽👻💚

[I can't remember the original prompt posters  for the life of me but here's a mashup between a cryptid!Danny, presumed-alien!Danny, dp x dc, and the prompt made the one body horror meat grinder fic.]

PART ONE is here PART TWOis here PART THREE is here PART FOUR is here and PART FIVE is here PART SIX is here and PART SEVEN is here PART EIGHT is here PART NINE is here PART TEN is here PART ELEVEN is here PART TWELVE is here PART THIRTEEN is here PART FOURTEEN is here PART FIFTEEN is here PART SIXTEEN is here PART SEVENTEEN is here..welcome to eighteen..

💚 Ao3 Is here for all parts (now featuring mediocre mouseover translations, only available on a computer)

Where we last left off... Uh... *checks notes* UH... *flips frantically*...listen my laptop exploded and I lost the original version of this chapter gimme a break. I think it was the oatmeal ch. last off.

Trigger warnings for this story:  body horror | gore | post-dissection fic | dehumanization (probably) |  my nonexistent attempts at following DC canon. On with the show.

💚👻👽👻💚

So. Danny is halfway through his squeeze this, please exercises where he has a grippy thing the doctors give him where he tries to squeeze this until they make calm noises again when something bursts through the door.

He’s so distracted that he drops his squeezing machine. 

Everyone immediately gets terse and guarded— the lady who looks out for him the most actually pulls up in front of him? Like, protecting him? With her body?? It’s so far out of left field Danny has to wonder if they’re, like, keeping him for something important down the line instead of just treating him. 

The doctors take shelter behind medical equipment where they can, but whatever the assailant is, it’s too fast for them to put up their defenses. For a second, Danny is instinctually scared— the doctor in the periwinkle scrubs sees him almost every day, changing out his bag and fussing with his lower half under his blankets. The doctor in green makes him do the hand stretches he doesn’t want to do and sit up so that he can do it more often again. 

He’s used to them. He doesn't want that to change, or— Or for them to get hurt. 

The blur darts through the doors and past the doctors and is definitely aimed at Danny, so when the lady catches it (with one hand??) and hauls it up out of reach of Danny’s cot, Danny’s relieved wheeze is genuine and emphatic. Ohgodthatwasscary. 

On the other end of her arm is a teenager. A teenager in a…red…outfit, probably, unless he really likes gray and Danny’s eyes are actually working normally for once. Gray hair. Some kind of face, presumably. 

The teen’s legs keep spinning until he realizes how caught he is. Then he goes completely limp in defeat. 

“Cild Lihting se þridda,” the lady scolds, not unlike how Danny’s heard Vlad scold his cat for throwing paperwork off his desk. “Hwæt eart eow dydest?”

“...Naþing ,” the teenager lies, badly, and it sounds so much like Nothing, mom, wasn’t me, that Danny can’t help but choke out a laugh. 

It makes his chest muscles spasm and his throat sore, sure, but that’s not the point. The lady keeps scolding the teen she’s holding up midair, but the teen lights up at Danny’s choked out wheeze like the sun. Almost literally, actually— the green starts accumulating in Danny’s field of view as his body tries to compensate for whatever’s going on in the atmosphere around him. 

The doctors slowly let down their improvised shields, fetching Danny’s lost grippy tool (ugh) and putting it back in his hand (UGH). Danny gives one, pathetic squeeze of the tool, and then decides to visibly languish, because this sucks, obviously. The fact that no one can sympathize with his struggle isn’t new. Just watch him go limp about it. 

The next time the lady and the teen stop making scolding and scolded noises, Danny looks over; the teenager has been, apparently, wrangled into a hair net and face mask. Okay. So it’s not that Danny is off limits then— or maybe he is, but either way, it’s more about getting people into the right gear than about keeping them away from him. Once the teen’s been sprayed down with something that smells absolutely gross, forcibly gloved, and dropped unceremoniously onto the ground, the teen is back on his feet and hollering as he leaves the lady behind. “Þancie eow!!” 

“Slaw, lytel Lihting!” 

Slow, Danny understands, parsing out the weird words as they reach him. Lytel might as well mean little. This sucks. He can never tell if he’s right when he guesses, and he just gets lucky when people understand him back, or whether people are pretending to understand him more than they actually do. Lighting is a weird nickname for a kid though. 

—And then the teen is a foot away from his face and babbling at top speed, entirely at ease with their proximity and hands moving a mile a minute, and Danny has not been losing enough time for that to be anything other than either magic or a superpower. 

Oh, his brain corrects. The word clicks into place. Lightning. 

It’s probably some kind of magic, Danny’s guessing, because as he’s absolutely flabbergasted that someone is leaning into his face and trying to engage him that talk that isn’t happening, his ghost sense flares with a backwash of OMGHIHELLO!!MIS/SEDYOUMISSED//YOUPLAYING?? that. Uh. Is very…a lot? Very intense??

Very…welcoming?

The lady who minds him but isn’t a doctor sighs, picks the teenager up by the waist (??) and sets him a whole foot back. The teen doesn’t even stop chattering, his aura flaring alongside a story Danny is definitely missing, but not unappreciative of. 

He throws something onto Danny’s bed. Danny drops the grippy tool in order to grab it, to the doctor’s verbal dismay. 

But. 

Like Danny’s model shuttle, which never leaves his side, the thing on his bed is Danny’s. This is Danny’s weird, flimsy, squishy toy.

The teen practically vibrates with pride.

…Okay, then. He’s kind of confused, but like. You know. He’s not against this.

Danny picks the squishy, blue thing in his trembling fingers and shakes it around without any sense of fine motor control, and the thing leaps out of his fingers and lands on the floor pretty much instantaneously.

It makes a weird suction noise. Danny peeks over the bed to find it sitting upright, stuck to the floor.

The teen responds by throwing even more colorful, oddly-shaped toys on the bed.

Danny knows enough about doctors to know that there were probably structured plans on how Danny was supposed to spend his time on specific exercises to target specific muscles and stretch specific parts of his hands, but the teen sits at his bedside and plays with toys Danny doesn’t remember with him, and no one stops them at all.

It’s nice.

For about an hour, until Danny truly tires, it's almost…normal.

[duckprintspress]

Fandom 101: The Origin of the Citrus Scale

A guest post by Aeryn Jemariel Knox. (@jemariel)

Ah, the citrus scale. It’s like a cryptid roaming the edges of modern fandom communities. Long-tenured veterans speak of it with affectionate mockery while newcomers google curiously. A relic from a bygone fandom era, the citrus scale saw a brief resurgence in 2018 during the Tumblr porn ban, suggested as a way to avoid the new bot censors trawling for posts with the NSFW tag—though never, I think, in seriousness. 

That may have been jocular and short-lived, but it does point to the reasons why the citrus scale was created in the first place. Certain fandom activities have always had to fly under the radar to one degree or another. Whether you’re trying to evade legal action or simply avoid deletion based on explicit content, a certain level of obfuscation is sometimes worthwhile.

It’s not hard to find the generally agreed-upon definitions of the citrus scale’s levels. According to Fanlore, KnowYourMeme, and others, this is more or less the “official” citrus scale:

Orange: Light stuff, kissing, nothing below the waist or under the clothes. 

Lime: Groping, implied sex without details, fade-to-black, no intercourse or intimate contact.

Lemon: Sex, in full detailed glory. Woo-hoo! Regardless of the actual acts performed, if you can tell who had an orgasm (or, perhaps, had an orgasm denied), how, and where, it’s a lemon.

Grapefruit: We’ll get into this later.

But these tidy categories are clear thanks to the benefit of hindsight. In the Wild West of the early internet, it was not so easy to pin down exactly what you might be getting into based on which term was used.

At its origin, the citrus scale wasn’t a scale at all. It has its roots in hentai (and was always more popular in anime fandoms), stemming from a specific early hentai film by the title of Cream Lemon (1984). Hentai being what it is, this led to certain subculture communities referring to any story with explicit sexual content as a “Lemon.” And for a while, that was the extent of it. Then came fanfiction.net purging explicit content (2002), Livejournal suffering Strikethru (2007), and other events that pushed burgeoning fandom communities out of their growing hubs and back into smaller, isolated communities centered on a single fandom or pairing. In the relatively sparse early ’00’s internet, anybody could spin up an Angelfire website, pass the link around to their friends, and get a reasonable amount of traffic.  Websites devoted to the works of a single author or small group were common.

I mention this to describe the landscape in which fandom lexicons grew and evolved in the early-mid 2000s. Each pocket community had its own rules, lingo, and expectations; venturing outside of your home pocket could lead to some pretty major miscommunications. 

“Lemon” was established early and its definition has hardly shifted. It means that the labeled content (art, fic, mood board, etc.) includes sex. Intercourse, bumping uglies, etc. However, some yaoi fandom niches used it specifically to mean gay sex of the male variety. In some communities, “lime” developed as a corresponding term for feminine gay sex, while other communities brought it up with the usage that eventually “stuck,” “not quite a lemon.” Given that lemon and lime often go hand in hand when discussing actual flavors, the fact that we had some divergent term evolution is not surprising. But coming in from a different pocket of fandom and seeing “lime,” thinking you’ll be reading semi-softcore sexual tension and instead being confronted with graphic sapphic antics? Bit of a shock, I’m sure.

A more dramatic example is the rating level of “Grapefruit,” which occupies two completely different ends of the scale. In some circles, grapefruit was defined as “less intense than lime,” G or PG-rated stories that were more soft or cute than sexy. In other circles, it was used to mean the exact opposite. Kinkier than kink, smuttier than smut, grapefruit art and fic was where you went to have your eyebrows singed off. Some communities were even more specific, using grapefruit for stories featuring non-consensual sex. This was where darkfic lived – in modern day parlance, your “Dead Dove, Do Not Eat” works. To say that this usage difference caused some disagreements would be putting it mildly.

Nobody really worried about orange. Orange just existed, not bothering anybody.

When these terms were coined, the internet was not an assumed aspect of everybody’s daily life the way it is today. There was no Tumblr, no Facebook, no social media to speak of. There were no large repositories of internet lore and knowledge such as Urban Dictionary or KnowYourMeme. It was a playground. And what do you do on a playground? You make friends! The citrus scale, like so many fandom tropes and concepts, was defined by groups of friends that created them ad hoc to meet their own needs at the time. No one could have predicted that it would become so much a fandom history that it’d be enshrined, nor that I would be writing a blog post about it two decades later. From the common source of lemon, people extrapolated what the rest of the scale might look like, and there was no authority to tell them they were wrong. (Except other fans. That hasn’t changed.)

In conclusion, it’s best not to take the citrus scale too seriously. At best, it’s a cheeky way to avoid censors who try to bar a community from engaging with explicit works, but it’s also varied to a fault and open to interpretation. If you and your community have come up with a use for it that suits your needs, then congratulations: you’re part of a fandom tradition stretching back to the roots of the internet. Just don’t try and tell anybody else that they’re wrong. You might start a flame war.

References:

Prokopetz: Orange and Grapefruit

She’s Got Plans: What is the Citrus Scale in Fanfiction?

Unwinnable: Lemon and Lime

Past Fandom 101 Posts:

Everything About A/B/O Dynamics You Wanted to Know (but were Afraid to Ask)

How to Diversify Your To-Be-Read Pile

Recognizing AI Generated Images, Danmei Edition

[cecilscribbles]

From Now, Until the End of Time: An Essay and Character Analysis Disguised as Ship Propaganda

So. You guys really liked that post, huh.

This essay has been a long time coming. I've spent hours awake at night thinking about these two characters, drawn heaps of fanart, I've made Spotify playlists and Pinterest boards, all in an attempt to drown out the urge to eat fiberglass insulation. I love these two, so, so much, and I hope this analysis does them justice.

It’s just under here. vvv

The Past

Starting off with the obvious: these two have history. Bill came into Ford's life at the absolute perfect time. He'd been seemingly betrayed by Stanley, the one person he thought he could count on, he'd been working himself half to death trying to wrangle some decent qualifications out of Backupsmore, and was attempting to make a name for himself in Gravity Falls. Things weren't looking too good. He'd hit a roadblock in his studies, and he felt like he still stuck out, even in a town full of cryptids and outcasts alike. He was getting desperate. He was vulnerable.

Ford often says he wants to become a pioneer, a founding father of science; which isn't necessarily wrong, he isn't lying when he says so, but this ambition really stems from wanting to be accepted and understood. Ford is cripplingly lonely, and you can see how this profound isolation reflects in every aspect of his life and his relationships with others.

So when Bill comes along, it's everything Ford could ask for: validation, understanding, mutual trust, and someone who helps him follow his dream.

They hit it off immediately. “You can call me anything except late for dinner!” “You catch on quick! I think I'm starting to like you, Sixer!” “Perfectly legitimate use of an Oxford comma!” “Jinx! WOW! Get out of my head!” “You first.” This is the first time Ford (and Bill) has clicked with someone in years.

Ford wasn't the only one in need of a relationship like this. Bill, struggling with the guilt of destroying Euclydia, wanted something - or someone - under his control. He wanted to be revered, to be seen as something other than the bad guy. Who better to come across than a lost soul, desperate to feel chosen, to feel special, with a passion for the supernatural?

Even if it wasn’t for long, they worked. They enjoyed each other’s company. And while Bill was using Ford for his own gain, and what they had wasn’t exactly healthy, there were real feelings on both sides.

There still are.

Which is a perfect segue into the next section.

The Present

You wouldn't want to be in a room with these two, would you? They have an absolutely explosive dynamic, an unbelievable amount of tension and chemistry. I think this is because they want to believe they hate each other, but whether they like it or not, they satisfy each other’s cravings and desires. They get the itches the other just can’t scratch. This was especially prominent during the early days of their relationship, but it doesn’t end there.

When Ford needed validation, Bill flattered him endlessly. When he was in shambles after falling through the portal, hunting down Bill gave him a mission to follow. When Bill wanted control, Ford was easily manipulated. When he was bored, he was there for him to play with as much as he so desired.

All of this, and yet: they can’t help but destroy each other.

Ford spiraled into paranoia because of Bill. He constructed the portal he fell into because of Bill. He got captured and tortured because of Bill.

Bill drove himself half insane trying to get Ford to listen to him. He had a drunken meltdown because of Ford. Weirdmaggedon ultimately failed because of Ford!

These two know each other to an uncomfortable degree. They have both been at their most vulnerable with the other person. They know each other’s bodies better than their own (not trying to imply anything here other than possession, but… take it as you will). They know each other's minds better than their own. What they have is messy and toxic and strangely intimate. The bizarre mix of emotions that they feel for each other makes them so interesting to watch.

The Future

The jewel in the crown of an already delectable dynamic; the amount of potential they have.

They’re often toeing some razor-thin line; between platonic and romantic, romantic and sexual, life and death, something and nothing. There are so many ways their relationship can go, so many realities, yet they’re together in every single one.

If one thing went a little different, they could still be together. If Bill had been honest in the beginning, or changed his tactics during Weirdmaggedon, he could have won Ford over. With so much time, so much knowledge of the other person, so much… whatever their twisted version of love is, the possibilities are endless. And I think this is a pretty good place to sign off.

The past, present and future, love and hatred, pain and ecstacy, this dynamic has it all. And the recent release of The Book of Bill only adds fuel to the fire. It's so refreshing to see so many new faces in the community, as well as old ones finally proven right. I didn’t doubt you for a second.

If you’ve made it to the end, thanks! I hope it was worth your time. Stay weird.

- Cecil

[ofmdrecaps]

08/28-29/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; David Jenkins; Rhys Darby; Ruibo Qian; Vico Ortiz; Ruibo Qian; Nat Torres; Eliza Cossio; Madeleine Sami; Damien Gerard; Cortney Andersen; Call To Action: Yahoo Survey; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Today's Taika;

== Recap Status ==

Hey friends, my dad finally had surgery and he's alive but there are complications. I've compiled what I can for these two days, idk how useful it is. I'll try to get more done tonight since so much happened today but I'm not sure how far I'll get. Sending hugs and good vibes <3 Thank you for all the kind words and folks checking on me, sorry I'm slow to respond, been a lot the last few days. Pardon me for any mistakes, please feel free to let me know if there are.

== David Jenkins ==

David's mom Mary was just named US Open Employee of the Month! Congrats Mrs. Jenkins!

David retweeted this old post by Liam Gallagher <3

David Jenkins twitter

== Rhys Darby ==

= Cryptid Factor: Live in Edinburgh =

Rhys and the boys have posted a a partial video of the first night of The Cryptid Factor Live <3 Check it out on their patreon.

Source: The Cryptid Factor Patreon

The episode of Expedition X with Rhys is out on Discovery!

Source: Phil Torres Instagram

Rhys is being the best band manager Murray and promoting his son Finn's band! You can follow them on Youtube!

Source: Rhys Darby's Twitter

Yes, Rhys Darby has worn a kilt, take that information and do with it what you will <3

Source: @wastingyourgum's Twitter

== Ruibo Qian ==

The Pirate Queen is playing around with filters and having a good time <3

Source: Ruibo's Instagram Stories

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico made a shoutout to our beloved Samson <3

Source: Vico Ortiz Instagram

== Minnie Driver ==

New hair cut for our Anne Bonny!

Source: Minnie Driver's Instagram

== Madeleine Sami ==

More Double Parked BTS/promos from Mads and Crew!

Source: Madeleine Sami's Instagram

== Nat Torres ==

I forgot about the other dogs that the cast posted for International Dog Day back on the 26th! Here's one of our awesome writers, Nat Torres' beautiful pup <3

Source: Nat Torres Instagram Stories

== Eliza Cossio ==

Another one of our writers we don't see out and about too often has made an appearance! We miss you Eliza! So good to see you having fun!

Source: Elisa Cossio's Instagram

== Courtney Andersen ==

Happy International Dog day from Courtney, The Revenge's rope maker and his pup! (David popped in to wish the Prince well too!)

Source: Courtney Andersens Instagram

== Damien Gerard ==

Happy Acting Anniversary to our dear Father Teach! <3

Source: Damien Gerard's Twitter

== Call to Action: Yahoo Feedback ==

Thank you to our friend Lucy over on twitter for bringing this to everyone's attention!

Source: Lucy on Twitter

== Love Notes ==

Sorry I don't have a lot in me right now to get the fan spotlight section together lovelies. I hope you're doing so well and staying healthy. I think about you all all the time. I found a few things that made me smile/had some good vibes, sending them along to you. Take care lovelies <3

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A post shared by Studio After Cigs (@st.aftercigs)

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Smiles and chats for our guys tonight. Gifs courtesy of the so very talented @eddie-redcliffe and @celluloidbroomcloset

[lunarmoves]

Hello its me again and once more I hope you're having a wonderful day/night!

I was wondering if you could give us some DCA fanfic recommendations! I'm very new to ao3 so finding good ones are hard for me :(

- (^⁠_⁠^) anon

nonnie i would LOVE to!! /cracks knuckles/ i have a hoard of them bookmarked in ao3 and im always sniffing for more! since you're new to ao3, ill tell you that when i go hunting for a fic, i usually type something like "dca/reader" in the little search bar and then click the "Daycare Attendant (FNAF)/Reader" tag on the first fic i see. then i go to filters and change the "date updated" to "word count" to sort it. i prefer long fics above all else haha

ANYWAYS. fic rec list under the cut! (all of these are dca/reader btw)

any of bamsara's DCA fics, including Celestial Omens (that really like Fishsticks) (mer au), Solar Lunacy and its affiliated one shots. probably The DCA Fic of All Time for me. it was my introduction to the fandom and i have not been the same since, esp with all the author's art!!

An Eye for an Eye by icedmetaltea. probably discontinued but i saw amazing art for this fic and consumed all 20k of it! definitely worth the read (aquarium/mer eclipse au btw!) also Occupational Hazards is an scp one shot that was v v good and I Watched You Become a Stranger (another mer one shot)

Coiled Around the Fine Line Between Love and Fear by crazedauthor. naga sun and moon! very very very good fic, probably my fav naga au on ao3! it begins on such a good hook and keeps you enthralled!

anything by muzzlemouths! i particularly loveee dreameater moon (we dance in synchronous rotation). all their one shots are SOOO goood and fluffy (mostly. im still hurt by a few of them </3)

Pisces Caelestis by S_V. SUCH a good mer au!! juicy cultural miscommunications and i just lovee moon in this LMAOO. sun is also a ball of sunshine!

Fish Out of Water by imagine_darksiders. a leviathan au that changed everything for me, i think. it was the first fic i read that had masssiveee mer sunmoon and i ate it up!

also literally anything by naffeclipse LMFAOO like, she has 42 fics on ao3, trust me when i say they are all bangers. the first fic i read was In Deep Dreams Between the Waves (leviathan eclipse) and i remember losing it over a certain scene at 4am shdkfsdf. Cryptid Sightings is also an absolute fav. id link more fics but it would be all 42 lmao

copper cogs rusted through by borashore. a post-fire au that i consumed in one sitting a long time ago. i dont remember much, but i know moon made me want to throttle him then hug him LMAO

Dealer's Choice by certified_handler. a club au fic that hooked me in from the START!! i love sun in this, he is written sooooo well and there's a lot of murdery business goin on >:) iirc the sequel is out and posting but im not caught up yet LOL

Weal and Woe by pure_plum. a fantasy/dnd kind of au with amazing descriptions!!! such a gorgeously written fic and sun/moon/eclipse are all sooooo touch starved <3 i need to know what eclipse's deal is!!

Celestial Sundown by pillowspace. THE god au of all time oh my god i cant express how obsessed i am with this fic!! and the art from the author?? phewww i think about sun so often, the designs are lush

The Hermit's Guide to Merfolk by esuerc. another mer fic, ofc, that i dont remember much of bc it's been a minute, but i remember one scene with eclipse that was so vividly described that it took my breath away!! also Supernova which i also dont remember much of, but i know sun was very unhinged in it!

My Baby by xmimi89er. an alien au where sun and moon are literally sooo adorable and angsty and they make u want to wrap them in bubble wrap and protect them forever. good fic for when you want to be the one protecting them. also the author's art is SOOO pretty

Ghost in the Machine by qwille. a multiverse type of fic with numerous versions of the dca! so very well written with good plot, lore, and characters. i'm sure you've probably seen character art drifting around on tumblr, either by the author or from fans. very very good designs, im partial to sol myself

(love is) a seed that grows by starboundpix, a farmer help au that's sooo cute!! very stardew vibes!! i always think about the descriptor that sun and moon have little flower/vine designs on their arms!! it's not too long, but def worth the read!

(In Their) Astral Orbit by rinzydings. my god this is SUCHHHH a good fic like!! it definitely deserves way more kudos than it currently has!! i could gush on and on about this fic, sun and moon are characterized so well and it's literally everything i have wanted in a dca fic

There Are Many Benefits (To Rethinking This Career Path) by moonliched (mer au). the worldbuilding in this is so good and the plot is LUSH!! love the dynamics between sun moon and reader!! constantly thinking about this fic ngl

Star-Crossed by cytokiine. a fae au that honestly had me hooked right from the start! there are a couple of plot twists in here that i truly did not expect. truly i hated moon at first, then i grew to love him within like, one chapter lmao

He's a Little Confused but he's got the Spirit by midnight_mourning. my god i think this fic actually gave me a conniption /pos. sun is written soooo well he is such a conniving little shit!! obsessed with him and it's really interesting seeing engineering details in the fic!

Love, Death and Rollerskates by spadillelicious, an 80s roller rink au with a sun and moon who are so very unhinged!! the interactions with them and reader are very very good. lots of tense moments, sun is definitely scary as hell sometimes LMFAO. lots of fanart floating around for it + drawings from the author, the designs are top tier!

Pluck my Heartstrings by pluck-heartstrings. a medieval times au post pizzaplex that honestly has a dynamic im so obsessed with?? there is so much miscommunication and sun is definitely a teeny tiny bit insane, i love him and moon <3 lots of art from the author!

As long as we are loved by shiracheshire. a living doll au that i just recently caught up on and it is sooo beautifully written! very heartbreaking at times, but i loved reading the progression of sun and moon's relationship with reader!

and that's all i've got so far lmao. i'll probably come back and update this as i read more fic, but!! hopefully this is a good start!

[copperbadge]

Sam, you have a custom-made cat tree, right? my cat is very elderly and can no longer handle the cat tree she uses as a ladder to join us in our lofted bed; it's very difficult finding one that's even tall enough, let alone gentle to navigate. would you recommend the one you bought yours from? I seem to recall your experience was positive and I hope it's held up for your girls!

In full disclosure, I didn't pay for mine -- I was helping @figtreeandvine do a test of concept so I got it for free. (Etsy here, the custom tree option is down at the bottom.)

That said I love it and so do the cryptids, and Polk often sleeps in the top hammock, about seven feet off the ground. It was easy to assemble and it's very sturdy and smells amazing, and it's a fantastic conversation piece.

For an older cat with limited mobility I wouldn't recommend mine in specific, only because it's designed for fairly limber cats and has multiple levels but they require climbing and jumping to get to. Now that said, the tree was custom made and to my home measurements, so I would be willing to bet you could get one that's more a series of ramps for your older lady.

There's a post here about the process of building it and displaying the finished product; as you can see some bits are adjustable and some I've added padding. Overall it's been fantastic.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/04/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast&Crew;WJW; Con O'Neill; David Jenkins; Bumbles; Rhys Darby; A LeagueOfTheirOwn Watch Party; Wrecked WP Continues; NewarkNewark WP tomorrow; Fundraiser Statuses; SchadenFreude; Fan Spotlight; Podcasts; LoveNotes; DailyDarby/Tonight's Taika

== Cast & Crew Sightings ==

== Wee John Wonday ==

Today's Wee John Wonday featured our Pirate Queen Ruibo Qian! Please check the video out on Kristian's Instagram! Don't have time to watch? There are some highlights below the pic!

Some Highlights:

Anapela couldn't make it tonight sorry!

Ruibo is really into perfume like Kristian

Ruibo and Anapela really clicked on set!

Ruibo still has hope regarding s3!

“DO I wanna smell like a haystack with a cow dung hidden inside of it?” - Ruibo

Ruibo would be interested in polycule, Zheng may not be

Kristian has an announcement coming out tomorrow - 📚

Apparently the last episode, when they were all walking out in the colonial outfits, it was SUPER LONG and a lot of it was cut.

Qian means money = so Ruibo is literally the Money Bitch

== Con O'Neil ==

One of our wonderful crew-mates was out and about and ran into none other than THE Con O'Neill! Thank you so much for sharing this meet up with us @queerjolras!

Con also posted a picture of himself and his pup Cooper on IG today!

== David Jenkins ==

Our friend @cosmosart-s posted a lovely picture of David for the 2 year anniversary OFMD anniversary and David ran it on his IG Story! One thing I've noticed a few people mentioning was the "3" hearts. Not to clown/honk too hard, but just something to think about <3

== Rare Bumbles Sighting ==

Many of you know of Rhys and Rosie's cat Bumbles, but we don't get to see Bumbles too often! Rosie uploaded an adorable photo of one of the Darby Feline-Fam.

== Rhys Darby ==

Are you in Aotearoa? Stop in to seen see Rhys on Wed 3 Apr 2024, 8:00pm–10:00pm at the Wild Estate in Auckland!

New Cryptid Factor Episode!

89: #089 The 2nd First Issue!

Spotify / Podfriend / Apple Podcasts

== New Watch Parties ==

= Mar 3 - Mar 7 A League Of Their Own =

Join us this week starting Monday, March 4th for a multi-fandom watch party! Each day will have different games and polls! (Sorry this is a bit late, I didn't get it until today!)

Where: Amazon Prime

Time: Every day 1 PM EST / 10AM PT! 

Day One, March 4th: Pilot episodes for both series with tweeting predictions for the rest of the seasons. 

Day Two, March 5th: Bingos! Live tweet your reaction and share your filled out bingo cards! 

Day Three, March 6th: Polls! Live tweet your reactions and share your thoughts on the shows so far! 

Day Four, March 7th: Caption the screencaps from the shows: Wrong answers only! 

Day Five, March 8th: Finale time! Share your predictions for the next seasons with the hashtags. 

Watch Party Hashtags:

OurFlagMeansBaseball, 

SaveOFMD 

SaveALOTO to join the event! 

== Watch Party Reminders! ==

Mar 4 - Mar 8: Wrecked Season 1

Wrecked is no longer on any streaming platform, and it is not available digitally on US sites. (Apparently, it is available on German Amazon?) There are sources being passed around. If access is an issue, DM @iamadequate1 on Twitter or Tumblr

Season 1 watch from March 4th to March 8th. 

Season 2 watch from March 11th to March 15th. 

Season 3 watch from March 18th to March 22nd. 

Times will be 10pm GMT / 5pm EST / 4pm CST / 2pm PST. Watch two episodes per day. Episodes are 21-22 minutes each. Use the following Saturday for the tags/watch if interested but not able to make this time.

Hashtags: 

#WreckedPirates

#SaveOFMD

#RhysDarbyFaction

= Mar 5: NewarkNewark with @adoptourcrew =

Please join @adoptourcrew for a @NewarkNewark watch party on March 5th at 10 pm GMT/ 2pm PS / 5pm EST!

== Fundraiser Statuses ==

= Underground Ads =

The Final Stage of the Save OFMD Crew fundraisor for the underground ads is still going! If you're so inclined, feel free to donate or share around! Ko-Fi Link

= In Soup Now =

Wow! Only 24 hours open, and already at 10%! Great job all!

== Schaden Freude ==

Thanks @iamadequate1 for catching the very sad times WBD Inc is experiencing on the NASDAQ

== How to Help ==

Another Ranker Poll! Feel free to hop in and bump OFMD up. You can rank shows up AND down so make sure to rank other shows as well. Ranker Link

== Fan Spotlight ==

Our lovely crew-mate @melvisik is back again, this time with our favorite Captain Rhys Darby as part of the Crew Cards <3

== Podcasts ==

@fandomthingpod on Twitter did an episode on the OFMD Renewal campaign and interviewed our esteemed crew-mate @lcwebsxoxo! They gave lots of kudos to the @saveofmdcrewmates and @adoptourcrew and the recaps got a shout out too! (Ty for the mention LC!) The Campaign To Save OurFlagMeansDeath

== Love Notes ==

Hello lovelies :) It was an action packed day for sure (as Mondays usually are). That being said I took some time to do some stuff today I've been meaning to, so I apologize for not taking more time on love notes!

Please know me and your crew-mates are thinking of you and hoping for all the best things for you in the upcoming days.

I know it's short but here are some reminders / love notes in other people's words for today/tomorrow. <3

Stay Strong Lovelies! Whatever you're up to, you're gonna make it through, I believe in you!

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

Yeahhhhh no gifs tonight luvs, I am running late and I can't stop looking at these still pictures anyway, so here you are <3

Taika Src / Rhys courtesy of Prim on Discord!

[ruh--roh-raggy]

*heavy breathing* pr-professor Afton au? (Would you like to share any headcanons about the au that might not get mentioned in the fic?)

Hello hello, lovely Anon! Thank you for the ask! I've been doing nothing but act strange and be insane about this man over the weekend, so I have a lot of headcanons to share about our dear Professor Afton. All SFW, if you'd like a NSFW version please let me know! Some might be included in the fic, they might not, we'll see. If you would like to be tagged in posts like this don't hesitate to reach out, thank you so much for reading!

Professor Afton is treated like an elusive cryptid around the University campus.

There's always a different rumor going around about him every semester. From him sleeping in the closet in his office because he's a homeless vampire to him stealing the dining hall's entire supply of eggs, he's heard it all.

He has a secondary Master's Degree in English with a concentration in Folklore.

He'll only tell you if he really, really likes you but he even has a favorite mythological creature, a Scottish/English fairy known as a Brownie.

If you're lucky enough to learn about the Brownie's from him he'll often crack jokes about his "close encounters" with them in his workshop.

"They get upset when things are in disarray, and I don't think you can get much messier than my tool bench."

He only drinks his coffee black.

He occasionally has tea, but it's very rare, he always sneaks a bit of honey in without anyone knowing.

He is left handed

He still actively wears the tongue piercing he got in college.

He's very good at hiding it.

You're one of the few people that have ever caught sight of it.

He asked you to keep it in between the two of you. (And how could you possibly have said no when he gave you such a sweet smile along with the wink he shot you)

He has an enormous bag of caramel hard candies in his desk at all times.

Now onto a couple cuter things...

It is absolutely no secret to anyone besides you that you are Professor Afton's favorite.

That being said, it gives you some pretty nice scary dog privileges.

Caught working after hours in the work shop? "Oh, Professor Afton gave me his keys."

Need a particularly hard to get a hold of resource? Well, if it's for Professor Afton's class they'll make sure he has it.

He keeps an extra mug in his office specifically for when you come by his office for help.

He always pours you a cup of his favorite hand blended tea without asking, the mug always a nice comforting warmth in your hands as you chatted with him.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I definitely have a lot more HC's for all of my variants of Will and the DCA's, but this is all I put for now. It's my first time making a list like this so maybe I completely missed the mark, who knows, I hope you find this fun anyways lol. If you would like to see more posts like this or would like to be tagged in my posts, please let me know!!

[tallymonster]

Memories of Us

Chapter 1 (you are here!) || Masterlist

So, I like many others had seen this gorgeous fan art by @cheesy-cryptid and I was utterly hypnotized by it. I couldn't stop thinking about it and from that constant thought growing came my silly fic.

This has been a labor of love for the last month. I'm still working on it and so far I have about 10 parts 🙃 depending on the feedback is how quickly I'm going to be posting since it's still a work in progress. I want to thank my best friend and my main support for this @micropoe10 ❤️ without her I wouldn't have pushed myself to even post this, so thanks boo 😘

This is also my first long fic, so please be gentle 🥺

Summary: Octavia is a new assistant at the Baldur's Gate Museum of History, her new boss is elusive and mysterious. Good thing his right hand man, Gale, is there to help her out for the first few weeks.

Tags: Nothing too bad for the first few parts, fluff, establishing storyline mostly, generational lineage mentioned.

Chapter 1

Never Caught My Breath

The day Octavia was incredibly nervous about had arrived. After her graduation (which seemed like a lifetime ago), endless stack of paperwork and at least 3 different interviews; Octavia made it to the Baldur's Gate Museum of History, the end of her long and difficult studies.

Here, she would start as the new assistant curator. What's strange though, is that after the last interview she thought she'd get to meet her boss, but it was his main assistant, Gale.

"I must apologize", he begins, "but our lead is currently out of the office for another week, maybe two, so I must conduct the final round, I hope you understand."

Strange, but not unheard of. The majority of the work would be with Gale directly, but it was at the least, the most basic courtesy for her boss to introduce himself by this point.

As she walks into the museum, relics from the past line the cabinets; old armor and gloves from heroes of legends from long ago, tons of jewelry and books, rare spell scrolls, and most prized of all, paintings recovered from the fall of the Szarr Manor prominently hung on the walls. Their subjects long gone, they now serve to be viewed by those who would be their victims under different circumstances.

Octavia stops at one of the many paintings of a pale elf, his silver hair in perfect tendrils, piercing red eyes glare back at her and she feels a slight shudder run down her spine, it was probably just a little bit of nerves. Still, she couldn't help but notice that same subject surrounding her in other works. If not as the main feature, but in the background of at least a dozen. Who was this person? She drifts off in thought.

"Miss Octavia? Hello? Can you hear me?" Snapping back from the daydream, she sees Gale standing beside her. His positive attitude ever present, notebook in hand he greets her with a small wave. "Lots to do this morning! We got a delivery of religious artifacts from a Sharran temple in the Underdark that was previously thought to be lost." His eyes glimmer with excitement.

"We're looking at at least a day to see what was delivered, another to catalog it all, and then, my favorite part, writing the plaques for all of it." He chuckles "Altogether at least a month of work, maybe two if there's a particular item that's more mysterious than the others." He finishes his explanation with a tilt of his head.

Octavia nods, her mind still on the portrait, "Quick question, Gale? Do you know who that subject is? They're featured in a lot of the paintings, but there's no information about them?" He glances up, "Well, we've done some research into the subjects of all the paintings, luckily we've put some names to faces..." He trails off, brows furrowing slightly at the face staring at them both "that particular subject, though, unfortunately not."

He turns wearing a wistful smile "I do wish to put a name to that face, and I intend to, but our wonderful curator often reminds me that not every mystery has to be solved." He scoffs with a grin and shrugs "Of course he would, he loves to give me a hard time about my dedication to the museum, you'd think he would appreciate the tireless research but to each their own."

Octavia relaxes a bit and ask "Have you known each other long? I mean, since he's been gone this whole time I haven't gotten to meet him yet. Is he....nice?" She says the last word quietly, almost a whisper.

Gale picks up on the anxious question and lowers his notebook, his eyes softened as he leans in, "There's nothing to be nervous about with him, he's much more bark than bite, as they say. He's really wonderful once you get to know him. Just a little rough around the edges...you know these eccentrics..they're all so guarded but deep down, they're just like us regular boring people."

He grins in assurance and goes back to his notebook, "Before I forget, said eccentric has reached back out to me and he'll be returning tomorrow evening! He'd like to make your acquaintance as soon as possible and apologize for his absence." Oh, shit. "Wonderful!" She does an okay job at hiding the crack in her voice, she clears throat, grimaces a bit and adjusts the badge clipped to her smock. "When and where?"

[captain-mj]

Pray tell us those streamer au thoughts?

I realized in retrospect that the word I was looking for was youtuber, not necessarily streamer... oops? I hope this is still fine! I explained what I think they'd cover and how they meet

Ghost: He's a cryptid/urban legend youtuber. He often goes to these places and take the most ominous videos known to man. Often includes him perching in places he shouldn't be while in full tac gear. He openly talks about being in the military but is super cagey about further details. Plays some horror games and he starts talking to Soap and Roach through Dead By Daylight

Soap: A gaming youtuber. Actually does stream. Mostly does super long games in one go because he knows if he sets it down he'll never pick it back up. Plays a ton of multiplayer with friends which is how he started talking to Ghost. Openly thirsts after him but in a fun way for the audience. Ghost can't tell if it's real or not.

Roach: Silent youtuber. Mostly posts his own bugs and stays in his lane. Speed runs Terraria whenever his views drop. Has a running bit about having an onlyfans.

Price: Teaches basic self defense. Is the chilliest of all of them. Since he's canonically a stoner now, he's stoned in half of them. Will occasionally join Ghost on his adventures cause they knew each other in the military. Is Simply Built Better.

Gaz: A commentary youtuber, but the kind that is mostly just explaining what's going on, not the kind to fill it with his own opinions. Occasionally features Alex for the ones over the CIA.

Graves: Is a commentary youtuber that does fill it with his own opinions. Has pulled a gun out on screen before Moist Critical style.

Alex: Critics and debunks conspiracy theories. Especially one's connected with certain pipelines. Ghost and him have worked together multiple times and there is ship content of both of them.

Laswell: Doesn't have a youtube channel.

Alejandro: Plays horror games and dating sims. Has a super long series over boyfriend dungeon. Openly talks about his husband constantly.

Rodolfo: Cozy video games. Is stupidly organized about everything. Will not mention he's married.

Valeria: True Crime. She talks about certain female criminals with a little too much love.

Núñez: Valeria's Ryan.

Farah: The obvious answer is over her cause but I never want to go with the obvious answer. She's a ghost hunter. Get fucked.

Oz: Posts coding videos and is very funny. Lowkey like code bullet (god I hope he never sees this)

Velikan: Long think pieces that leave viewers and fundamentally changed.

Mila: Parkour and sight seeing. Breaks into abandoned places. No one knows her, Graves and Oz are friends until they found out they're platonically all living together.

Reyes: Work out youtuber. Shamelessly posts thirst traps.

Chuy: Another cryptid/urban legend youtuber. He focuses more on Mexican culture than Ghost. Refuses to play video games on stream.

[ladye-zelda]

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

Tis the season. I want to thank everyone for this wonderful year, even if I only joined in May XD

Thank you people who have been following me; I know I haven’t been posted anything of what you wanted in a long while and I sincerely apologize; I hope to change that around in the new year

And to all my mutuals, you guys are so amazing! I almost feel not worthy to be your guys’s friend since you guys are all incredible people and it almost feels unreal that we are friends

(This is gonna be a bit long so it’s all under the cut XD)

@cal-the-duende I am so sorry we haven’t been talking a lot recently, but thank you thank you thank you so much for being one of my bestest friends during my time on Tumblr. You are the bestest cal I have ever met, and I hope you can still be your cal self for the new year!

@uniquevoidflowers akfjskjfkajfmskjfskjfa you are so so amazing!!!! I can’t believe we are even friends because you have an amazing talent and I hope everyone will be able to see it!

@strawberry-catcake-deactivated2 I know you have deactivated (so if anyone can contact her you can send this message to her) but I am so grateful to be your friend! You are so talented and I know you may not see it but everyone else knows it and you are also an amazing individual. Honestly, I am a little jealous of your talent and I hope I can be good enough in digital art to be able to get to your level of talent

@unexpectedstormy you are so kind and amazing; thank you so much for being my friend! You’re talented and funny; I am so grateful that we are friends! May the koroks give you lots of gifts and good tidings this holiday season!

@webhead3345 you are a very talented individual! I hope we get to talk more in the future; you are very kind as well!!

@adrift-in-thyme ahhhhh you’re so very talented and I have always been a fan of your writing (Time meeting the blood moon has given me the feels) and I am so happy we are friends!!

@smilesrobotlover AAASKFJKSJFKAJFHGS I always love when we talk about the craziest things; you’re so nice and respectful and you’re also someone who I aspire to be!

@silvercaptain24 there are really not a lot of words I can say to express how happy you make me. You are so amazing and I hope we can remain vods!!!

@endlessartpumpkin aakshfkajfkakfksjkfjakfjkajfksjfa you are SO TALENTED and I DONT KNOW HOW WE ARE EVEN FRIENDS and AAKSGKSJDKSJFDKFJDJJFKSJFEA /pos; it makes me happy when you’re on my dash and I am very grateful we’re friends!

@geminiskulleta you are also SO TALENTED and a GENIUS when it comes to all things loz; I hope we can talk more in the future because I wanna join all those conversations with you and Isa (just haven’t because social anxiety and often don’t know what to say lol; plus I didn’t want to disrupt y’all’s genius conversations)

@gemglyph I know we’ve only barely interacted, but I am happy when we did! I still use that version of Sky that you came up with and he is so adorable! Thank you so much for everything!

@hotcheetohatredwastaken I know we have also barely interacted, but it makes me happy when you appear on my dash!

@here4dragons dragon!!!! It makes me happy whenever we speak. I know it’s been a while, but I still consider you an amazing friend!

@isasan347 IIIIISSSSAAAAAAAA! Talking to you about Zelink (and ALTTP especially) always makes my day; so very happy that we are friends!!!

@karmaisdue I know we may not talk directly, but you’re probably the fastest mutual I have made solely on the fact that we once shared the same pfp 🤣

@kiwi-der-vogel AAAAAAA I love your art style!!! It is so unique and makes me happy and you’re an amazing person and AAAAAAAA

@kate-m-art Your art is so soft and cozy and you are also an amazing person and so kind! I hope to learn more about the legacy au and the cryptid au and all of your other aus because all of them are so amazing!!!

@link-or-sherlock I know we haven’t spoken in a long while but you are an amazing person who is also a really good friend of mine. I hope we get to talk more soon, because I miss when we get to infodump on each other or joked around like we did; but even if we don’t, you are still my friend

@mothielad Hi!! It’s been a while, I know, but I am happy to have known you!

@nancyheart11 Nancy!! You’re so kind and amazing; I am glad to be your friend!!! You’re also very talented in art, embroidery, and writing!!

@nocturnalfandomartist Hi! You’re so awesome and amazing and talented in art and writing I am still in awe on how we are friends. I will definitely try to be more active in trying to interact with you, because you definitely deserve everything because of the things you create!

@pallweople to all of the pall weople; thank you so much for letting me be a part of this!! You are all so fun and I hope I get to be a part of it more in the future!

@phoenix-arts7 Hi! Your art is amazing and I definitely cannot wait to see what’s in store for your au. I wish you many happy things in the future and may you be able to pet all the kitties you can!

@prince-of-red-lions I know we haven’t spoken in a long while but I am happy that we are friends! Thank you so much for being very kind and amazing!

@randomburstsofcreativity random!!!! You definitely helped me through a rough time, and I will always appreciate it. You are a nice, amazing person and I am happy we are friends!

@srah-the-violist I know we’ve barely interacted, but I consider you a friend! It makes me happy whenever you’re in my dash, and you are amazing!!!

@taruuu Taru!!! Thank you for helping me in Genshin; you are very amazing and I wish you many, many great things!!!

@uncleskyrule I remember reading your In Sickness and In Health story and I adore your writing style! You are very talented and I’m happy we are friends!

@whyoneartheven Evie!!! You are amazing!!! Thank you for being a good friend to me; you are so kind and i am happy we’re friends!

@wolfstorm888 Wolf!!! I’m sorry it has been a long time since we’ve spoken; thank you for joining me and Peggy in Triforce heroes and you are very amazing! You are very nice and I am happy we are friends!

@telemna-hyelle It is mindbloggling to me how we are friends. You were kind of the first tumblr user I have been following (before I got a tumblr account) and to be your friend has been such a high honor. Thank you so much!!

@skyward-floored It has been such an honor that I have been your friend. You are such a talented, amazing writer and I am so happy to be your friend! I wish I can say more, but I honestly don’t know the words I can say to express my gratitude on how much you’re an amazing person

@skyloftian-nutcase Thank you so much for helping me during a few hard times I went through. You are such a kind and selfless person and I hope to follow in your footsteps to become such an amazing person

@margindoodles2407 Margin!!! You are so amazing and talented and AJFSJFJSKGJKSFJKDGJKDHFJSHSWA we gotta talk more about stuff because AAAAAAAAAAAAA YOU’RE COOL

@theabyssfairy You’re so talented I have no words. Your art style is aesthetic and I always love the crossover ships you make and it always makes me happy XD

@anadorablekiwi Kiwi!!! You are amazing and wonderful and I have so many words to express my gratitude for you but I don’t know if they’re good enough to really say. Thank you for helping me during my rough times and you are so kind and amazing and I hope you can see how wonderful you are!

@silvrash-797 It has been such a pleasure to speak with you as well!!! You’re such a talented writer and are so kind and sweet!!!

@thepinklink I know we haven’t spoken a lot but I love your art and I think you’re amazing!!

I don’t know if I have missed anyone, but if I did I apologize. Thank you guys so much for the year, and have an amazing holiday and new year!!!!