#i tried a little texture to make it look a bit more like the grainy effect in the anime

[tekkenenjoyerblue]

Nothing crazy dynamic with this one, hopefully that’s not too much of a disappointment

[dilutedconfusion]

A Moth to a Flame

Eustass x F!Reader (Part 1)

Summary: Y/N is living on a small island in the New World. This takes place during the 2 year time skip, only a week after Kid has lost his arm to Benn Beckman. In need of supplies the Kid Pirates make their way towards Y/N’s island.

Warnings: Mentions of blood

Word Count: 2.8K

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Something strange was happening.

Or moreover you could tell something strange was going to happen.

The island you lived on was simple. People came, people left, and very few stayed. A pit-stop for the adventurers. A home for the sullen and normal.

You lived with your parents still. Tucked away in a relatively normal house in the more rural area. You could move out but money wasn’t something that flowed freely into your hands. You worked a decent job, had small little hobbies, and tried your best to fill your days with something that didn’t feel forced.

Forced.

That word pressed against your skin and into your ribcage. A strangulation of necessity, expectations, and lack of will. Even the things you loved to do were hard to do. Your brain is a whirlwind of outcomes desperately clawing at you to mean something. Like a single dandelion seed floating over the ocean. Looking for some place to land, hoping the wind will carry it long to find ground. But you supposed that the wind was starting to die.

Even still you reminded yourself of something deeper. The way the wind would trace lines through your hands and hair. Clothes flush with your skin as you stare out onto the ocean. Heels and rear digging into the sand as you watched the blue and green hues of the ocean churn.

Everything felt right. Everything felt like there was something more. Some kind of escape just out of your line of sight, far off into the horizon.

You sifted around in your bag lined neatly at your side. Unlatching the small buckle before flipping it open. Pulling out a bright green apple for a simple little snack. Your canines snapping through its smooth skin before sinking into the soft grainy texture. Sour juice spilling on your tongue and even dribbling a bit out of the corners of your lips. You wiped off your chin with your sleeve. Tucking your torso into your bent legs as you take a moment to just relax.

Something is calling me out there. You thought to yourself. Feeling that all too familiar sense of longing in your core. I just wonder what it is.

__________

It started off as a deep chill up your spine. Goosebumps spread greedily across your skin. Making your hand pause, clenching around the pencil a bit tighter. You shot your head up from your sketchbook. A maze of doodles and scratched out drawings not good enough for your taste. The sun was still relatively high in the sky. Blue tugging at the corners of your vision as you looked up at the fluffy clouds. They were floating so idly but right now you wanted to be anything but idle.

You shoved your sketchbook and pencil into your bag in a sudden rush. Slinging the satchel over your shoulder before haphazardly standing up off the shore. With your legs feeling rather numb and the sand not helping much you stumbled along. Trying to close the gap between you and the little town you lived in.

There was a trail through a less dense patch of forest. Despite this, the trail was covered in ferns and even some logs laying on their side. You made quick work of walking through the trial. Keeping your gaze downwards as you let out a little annoyed huff. The tree roots seemingly trying their best to trip you.

“What am I even doing?” You muttered to yourself. The forest of course was not responding so you continued on. “What the fuck do I think I have? Some sort of sixth sense?” You rubbed your face in annoyance. Brushing your hair back you let out an annoyed groan. Knowing that this tendency you had to let even the smallest intuitive feelings lead you was a way to spice up your life. To find danger or something new. It had led you to trinkets stuck in the earth, caves, and a hidden oasis. But you’ve scoured this island hundreds of times. Nothing was new anymore so why was your intuition freaking out?

Another deep crawling sensation prickled at the back of your neck. Your body trembling as you slowly made your way closer to the edge of the forest. The dark shadow of leaves and branches spread across your face before your skin touched the sun once more. Heels clicking against the makeshift cobblestone trail you made your way towards the first signs of town. Grain fields on either side of you crawling with loud crickets and cicadas. A bright red farm house and a big rickety looking windmill turning at a decent pace.

You lived in the New World but from the looks of it most would’ve thought it was some unnamed island in one of the many blues. It had a noble city, up on the north end near the island's cliff edges. But you resided in the south, though unlike other low income areas across the sea yours was managing its own. Even if parts of it were…less than safe.

Bounding down the trail you kept your senses on high alert. Almost expecting some sort of uproar in the village or a huge explosion to send the ground trembling. That sense of danger and adrenaline sliding down your throat as you swallowed hard. A bit disappointed to find nothing.

People were walking through the relatively clean streets. Children running in groups and bumping into passersby’s. Stalls with shopkeepers smoking underneath their canopies. The rough scent of smoke was only a trace in the air as the hot grills cooked up an assortment of dishes. Each leaving a puff of steam huffing out and into the endless sky. Savory and spicy scents lapping at your nose as you briskly walked through the street.

You managed to weave through the crowd, watching peoples faces and almost hoping for them to be filled with some sort of surprise. Shock? Maybe even fear? Just something to indicate that this feeling, that was telling you something big was coming, wasn’t wrong. Grabbing onto the strap of your satchel slung around your shoulder a bit tighter.

Well…if it's not here yet. Then it must be coming soon. You thought trying to convince yourself this wasn't a waste of your day off. Just another measly attempt to make this life of yours interesting. You made quick work and slid into an alleyway. Taking the quick route towards the docks. By the first signs of seagulls flying high in the air you knew you were getting closer. Their annoying squawks followed by the sounds of thumping hammers from the shipyard.

You made your way down one of the few docks. They were old, green and rather damp at the bottom. Having been built before you were born so they’ve collected quite a lot of kelp and green slime. The top rows of wood creaked loudly as you walked across them but held strong regardless. Your eyes set on the ocean ahead before a voice stopped you.

“You come down ‘er to watch the sea again?” An old man, one you knew pretty well, popped his head out of his small fishing boat. Walking along its deck with a hammer in hand and looking down at you on the dock.

You halted and looked up at him, a distant but pleasant smile on your face. “I suppose. Got a feeling.” You mumbled to him, eyes drifting back to stare at the ocean. The sun was a lot lower than when you had last paid attention to it.

“Another one of those aye?” He said, almost with a bit of judgment but his tone immediately brightened up. “Well hopefully you’ll find what yer lookin for. Can’t have a young lass like you just sitting at the docks her whole life can I? Gonna get ya hypothermia doing that.”

You rolled your eyes a bit at that but he gave you a big smile. Though you could tell behind those fluffy eyebrows and small shadow of his hat he was worried about you. “I’ll be fine. I won’t get hypothermia or scurvy just sitting by the dock will I?” You said, cocking your head a bit and giving a little smile.

The old man gave a sweet little chuckle, his chest rumbling as he laughed. “Sure hope not.” He replied, wiping the tiny line of sweat across his brow.

You gripped your satchel strap a little tighter taking tiny steps forward. “Well I have a jacket and plenty of vitamin c so I’ll be off. Don’t go staring at me as I work. I don’t sketch well under pressure.”

The old man gave a fake little pout at that. “Not even a little peek? Ya know I love em. What you make.” You gave him a warm smile and waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Maybe when I’m done. But not now. Plus by the looks of it you have something to work on anyways. Keep slacking and I’m going to tell your boss.” You said with a bit of sass before briskly walking down the long dock and away from the small man's boat.

“Whaddya mean?! I am my own boss!” He yelled back at you giving yet another hearty laugh. That warm chuckle ringing in your ears but eventually faded off. Leaving you with nothing but the smooth rhythmic sounds of waves and the rather annoying seagulls.

This was something you did often so getting into the perfect position was almost as easy as breathing. The wood nearly carved into the shape of your rear right where you sat on the edge of the dock. You took your shoes off. Tucking the socks delicately inside each shoe so as to not lose them. Before letting your feet hang and sink into the deep and brimy water below. Cold spikes slamming up your legs from the sudden change in temperature. You’d hiss just a tiny bit to force your feet and calves to deal with it. Succumbing to the cold until finally it became more manageable.

Grabbing out the same sketchbook and pencil form before you propped it up on your lap. Taking one foot out of the water and placing it on the dock as you bend your knee. Making the perfect easel in your case.

As you chewed your lip you thought about what to sketch. You didn’t feel like continuing what you had already drawn. A new page for a new feeling felt better. So you just glanced down at the off-white page. Hoping and willing something would just pop out at you.

Eyes rolling up to land on the sea ahead you felt another breeze whip at your hair. Sure you spent almost every waking moment of your free time staring out at the sea. You had just come from another spot on the more secluded shoreline. But it seemed to you that you could never stop staring.

Drawn out whispers talking of a wide eyed girl staring longingly at the sea. Rumors that you had a lost love who floated away. Others thought you were yearning for a life out at sea. Or even just calling you airhead so lazy you’d rather just waste your time than use it. But none of that was true.

Because it wasn’t a lover you were waiting for. You never knew love. Or at least never dabbled in it despite your past yearnings. So being alone wasn’t a problem. It was all you knew. But at the same time a life at sea, though something you fantasized about, was not your reason for spending hours at shorelines.

You knew you would most likely get sick in a bad storm. Even the thought of trying to succumb to sleep whilst the ship thrashed was nauseating. You would probably get homesick or at least crave solid land. And…you were well…weak. Stronger naturally due to your more chubby and sturdy body. Taller than short women but shorter than very tall women. Yet nothing about you screamed prepared to put your life at stake. Which was exactly what the sea promised. It's a stakes game out there. You knew that.

And to be honest you enjoyed the simplicity of your life at times. The fact that you were safe, well fed, and had a roof over your head was a blessing. It’s much more than others who were from more impoverished islands could expect. You had the time to let your mind wander. The time to sit idly or explore. The quiet life filled with mostly solitude was a comfortable blanket you had sunk into a few years ago.

So people would whisper. Frankly, you didn’t give a shit. Let them believe you were sick for a lover that you’ve never had. Or that you were a lazy woman bound to live in her head rather than in her life.

You knew what you wanted.

Or at least you knew you wanted to want something and whatever that something is was out there.

An image randomly popped in your head. Making you tilt down to stare at your paper distantly as almost if you were drawn in by a trance.

A tulip. You thought, hand tightening around your pencil. I’ll draw a tulip.

__________

“What’s this island's name again?” Heat asked, hand absentmindedly tracing the scars running across his cheek.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” Kid grumbled in response, his single flesh hand clenching the banister as he stood underneath Victoria's jaw. The helm clasped in Heats hand as he stared at the Captains back in front of him. That distinct red coat billowing in the breeze. The waves splashed up periodically giving the two of them a nice balmy spray.

Kid’s sharp eyes narrowed on the blurry and slightly indistinct line of the horizon. Knowing full well a small patch of an island would soon spring forth. A port for his men to take rest and restock the boat. A chance to breathe.

It had been only a week since Kid lost his arm. Ever since that day things were tense beyond belief. The crew was struck with perpetual fear and even anger. Kid was so reserved and distant he chose not to speak the moment he woke up on the medical table after it happened. Ever since then each response was short and harsh. As if he was forcing himself to talk.

Forced.

Kid thought. He wasn’t forced. By no means did he regret what he had done. He didn’t think he would lose. He was aware of the risk he was taking the moment he laid eyes on Ben Beckman. Willing to give an arm and leg just to take his dream by the balls.

And give a limb he did.

But it wasn’t exactly the phantom pain or the lack of a limb making everyday a harrowing experience. It wasn’t relearning how to do things on his own or feeling nearly hopeless holding his beloved tools now that his limb was gone. That he scolded himself for needing help. That the pain each day was something he’d grunt and deal with. What made everyday so perfectly harrowing was the way the crew viewed him.

Forced pity.

Was a better way to put it in Kid’s mind. Sure they cared. Sure they wanted Kid to feel better and get back up from this. But he was already up. In fact the second he woke up without a limb in his ship's medbay was the minute he got up. No qualms. No quarries. Just up and at ‘em. Another day to make his dream come true and nothing was stopping him.

Even if he suddenly didn’t have an arm.

But the pity felt grotesque. His swollen and bandaged stump was rugged with scars. Just a bleeding reminder of his own failure. He had spent every waking moment slaving away at a prosthetic arm. It was nearly done despite the many chairs and walls Kid had kicked in during the process. A permanent sheen of sweat lining his forward since the moment it happened.

His mind? Blanking it out. His body? Barely able to wake up in the morning.

This island would be the first island they docked on after the incident. Their ship in desperate need of supplies and more medical equipment. After reapplying countless bandages, gauze, and ointment for a week straight it seemed none was left for the other crew members.

So they needed this. Scratch that. KID needed this. To get away from his crew for a little while. To feel some solid ground underneath his feet.

Finally a small speck of something broke free from the horizon. Kid having stood there staring out onto the sea for a concerning amount of time. Almost lost in a trance that Heat was too afraid to break.

Kids' eyes narrowed once more. Taking in the small island from a distance and the smallest hint of relief washing over him.

He didn’t know exactly what would help to get over this but he knew whatever it was, was on that island.

A/N: I realize the reader character is a bit…wallflower like I suppose? Sorry if that’s not your cup of tea but I promise there’s more to her then meets the eye later on. The exposition of this story was really there to just let you understand her longing. Hope it worked and thank you for reading <3

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

[NSFW AU] Forest god Shuichi, bounty hunter Kokichi

Bunny: i didn't think Too deeply on it but basically. roaming bounty hunter kokichi + monster shuuichi kokichi gets in over his head :)c probably vine tentacles involved, because i like those [a little bit later] forest cryptid shuuichi…mmm good stuff the people who hired kokichi to kill him are maybe Not Great they kept fucking with his home it's not his fault he had to dissolve them like a pitcher plant can i add seed ovi

Me: Yes Do it

Bunny: they think kokichi's dead bc he doesn't come out of the woods SNDKHBJJFG

Me: He lives there now Becomes a planter, the way he's full of seedlings

Bunny: he does leave sometimes to take care of business but mostly. happy vine time his feet rarely touch the ground anymore. shuuichi spoils him

Me: Oh? Carries him around or keeps him in bed?

Bunny: i think mostly literally holds him up in his vines shuuichi is the forest, to some extent …does he have a bed, actually?? MAYBE THAT'S WHY KOKICHI HAS TO LEAVE SNDBJFJG u get kidnapped by a hot cryptid and he doesn't even have a house smh

Me: Mossy nest

Bunny: mossy nest could also work!!! comfy little cave

Hina: Is Shuichi a plant?

Bunny: shuuichi is a cryptid/monster that's like. the avatar of a forest? its spirit, but also its guardian

Hina: So do plants grow in him?

Me: I think in this case the seeds have to go Become airborne as seeds do Find some soil to settle into

Bunny: also, airborne??? what do you mean by that bc i can not be seeing the same image you are

Me: I don't have access to translator now but I mean like When the stuff from trees just fly off and people have allergies to that

Bunny: okay yeah i did understand we were having different ideas of the size of these seeds i'm pretty sure

Me: I assumed that they're tiny and in a huge quantity Seeds just suggest that idea

Bunny: they do!! however i usually go for Very Large bc it's fun to me

Me: Like. I thought of tiny orchidea seeds, bc orchideas are cursed with those so I was made to read about that once See, that was fitting in the mer au, but if Shuichi IS the forest then it makes sense he'd have A Lot

Bunny: ooohh that's true but how would that Feel

Me: Grainy cum Not dry tho Just textured Like chia seeds in a drink But more density [everyone disliked that, idk why]

Beez: in my head shuichi just looks like millennial tree

Me: In my he has like a gown with moss covered vines and flowers holding it together Flowers in his hair too, maybe elfish ears, probably lil antlers

Apollo: Okay but if Shuichi is the forest, does he have eyes everywhere? Like he sees everyone coming to destroy his home/him then sees a cute hunter and goes You. You're gonna be mine now.

Bunny: yes, yes he does :) kokichi never stood a chance :) i can't believe this was started over me liking swordkichi a little Too much [design from the official anthology]

Apollo: Imagine just walking into the forest to get rid of a creature but the whole ass FOREST decides you're its pet/partner or whatever now

Bunny: he was gonna melt him into bone soup but he sensed a pure heart and pretty face ok

Apollo: No need to live pay check to pay check when the forest is constantly fucking and breeding you

Dra: Damn does he do that [melt someone] to anyone else when Kokichi can see

Bunny: not when he can see he's very big, he can take care of forest-killers and his favorite pet simultaneously

Me: Feeding his favorite human handpicked berries and honey

Apollo: He's made him a little flower crown that won't die and is making sure he only eats the best things possible

Me: Tries to feed him bugs too, to get him some protein, never again, lesson learned

Apollo: LOOK HE'S USED TO KILLING HUMANS NOT TAKING CARE OF THEM. THERE'S BOUND TO BE A LEARNING CURVE

Bunny: kokichi is half-awake and being lazily fucked so he only realizes when he feels a leg wiggle against his lips IF ONLY THERE WAS BOOKS ON HUMAN CARE he's Struggling i jusg think. kokichi being suspended above the forest floor, strange smooth vines stuffed in every hole large enough, dizzily wondering what theyre pumping into him he's having a very blissed out time kokichi accidentally cuts his hand after gripping onto shuuichi's antlers and shuuichi is HORRIFIED he's pretty sure kokichi is Actually Dying

Apollo: He's never seen blood and Kokichi is currently too blissed out to notice that he's bleeding

Bunny: IN HIS EXPERIENCE HUMANS ARE FUCKEASY TO KILL OK HE JUST DROPS THE GROUND OUT FROM UNDER EM A LITTLE AND THEY EXPLODE he should probably have a much more intimate knowledge of death than this being a forest god but. it's funny

Apollo: Okay but Kokichi accidentally gags when his mouth is being fucked and Shuichi freaks out at that because does that mean he did something bad???? Kokichi seemed to like it though??? He's hopeless at caring for his little human but he's trying his best

Bunny: im imagining their first meeting,, maybe shuuichi's forest is extremely sheltered and humans have only recently started trying to "develop" it.. kokichi shrieking and swinging his sword around while vines hoist him higher and higher they start stripping him and he thinks he's about to die but they just end up poking around curiously wherever they can reach, trying to figure him out

Apollo: Shuichi that's not how you properly get a boyfriend smh

Bunny: he doesn;t know that!! he IS the forest there's nothing for him outside of it

Apollo: Shuichi appears but is absolutely zero help because he also starts poking Kokichi in curiosity

Bunny: he thinks shuuichi is there to help but no, he just wanted to feel kokichi's interesting textures more clearly the human makes cute noises when he pokes him there :D

Beez: would that mean cutting it down hurts him. .. . .

Bunny: yes sometimes death is a natural part of the forest lifecycle but you can't cut him all the way down and expect him to live

Beez: yeah i imagined if it happened naturally he would be fine but if there was smth interfering he would Feel it

Apollo: Kokichi tries to kick him and Shu just pouts because he doesn't know how to respond. He's just interested in this cutie

Bunny: kokichi tries to bite him and gets a vine stuffed in his mouth

Me: This is where verbal communication ought to step in

Bunny: when does verbal communication ever work when kokichi's involved /j

Apollo: This isn't how Kokichi wanted to be seen in front of a hot forest spirit damn it. He couldn't even flirt before getting naked /j

Kai: Human try developing Shuichi's forest and Kokichi is just "AW HELL NAH THAT GUY FUCKED ME TOO GOOD FOR YOU TO UP AND KILL HIM!"

Apollo: "We hired you to kill that guy!" "HE GAVE ME THE BEST FUCKING NIGHT OF MY LIFE! HOW AM I MEANT TO KILL HIM AFTER THAT????"

Bunny: maybe the fantasy seeds he has kokichi incubate are replacements for the killed trees OOO

Dra: I'm sorry but my mind just went to that fucking bird (there is a type of tree that doesn't grow unless the bird eats the seeds first)

Me: Yeah, the forest grown since Kokichi came around

Me: I was thinking something a lil more lovey dovey when you said he stayes in the forest

Bunny: it's lovey-dovey once they get past the Poking phase. shuuichi is very curious and has literally no idea what boundaries are maybe kokichi offers him a deal,,,like 'u can keep touching me wherever as long as you promise to stop eating people'. he does not have his sword and has literally no way to enforce this and is also currently wiggling toward shuuichi's hand but it's fine he's a very serious business man shuuichi is very diligent about aftercare even though he has no idea what that is and tries to feed him a bug he goes "well some of the animals like this" and pulls kokichi into his lap to start petting him humans need protein he's pretty sure he's doing his best

Apollo: Throws touch starved Kokichi into this /j

Bunny: funny you say that :)c the implications of kokichi being a wandering bounty hunter are that he has nowhere to go Home to, yeah? would also explain why he stays in the forest,,,

Apollo: Kokichi really went from being alone and living paycheck to paycheck to being taken care of by the forest itself

Kai: "I got no home but the willow maid fucked me good and hard so i think i like it here"

Bunny: kokichi is like 'stop it i'm not a pet >:(' and shuuichi is like b̶̀̌ȗ̶̏t̷̅̈ ̷̏̚ḯ̷̋ ̵͒̀c̵̃an ̵̓̏s̵͐͠m̷̃͑e̷̎͝l̸̂͗l̸̀ that ̚i̸͗t mak̷̃̎e̶s you ̷̅̚h̵͑̒ä̸͠p̵̎̂p̴̢̆y̵?

Kai: does Kokichi ever repay ;) him

Bunny: yes frequently

Kai: can a forest get off?

Bunny: nnnnot…really? at least in my interpretation he enjoys seeing kokichi happy maybe he finally decides to manifest himself some genitals to see what all this fuss is about NSDJBHSHDGJ

Kai: does he at least smooch Shuichi?

Bunny: YES shuuichi tells him that he is not a baby bird and does not need to be fed. then he tells him to do it again because it felt nice

Apollo: I'm crying because imagine if he made his dick real big because he's not sure what a good size is meant to be

Bunny: kokichi is munching grapes and watching him like no…a little bigger…little smaller…move that a little bit to the left…

Kai: peppers his face in kisses and Shuichi has no clue what he's doing but makes the correct assumption that it's a human sign of affection sorta like wolf licks and accepts it

Bunny: he does it back very clumsily it's too hard and knocks kokichi over (shuuichi vc) ẁ̷͑h̶̎͑a̵͂́ṫ̸͘ ̷̟̈i̶͌͆s̷̉ th̆e̷̽̕ ̵̑̾p̵͑̏o̶͒̕ǐ̷͠nt of t̶͋̚h̸is? ̛i̴̛ have ̓̔ă̵͝l̴̈́̿ṙ̵̐e̸̚̚ạ̸̈dy reprodụ̸͛c̶̛̃ȅ̶̈́d̸̆̕ ̸͐throug̃͠h̸̖̏ ̴you,̿ i do n̸͝͝ò̶̓t̵̂̽ ̴̒́n̴͛̈́e̵͌͊e̴d mammalī̴͘a̴͂̀n̷̾̈́ ̶̔͘feature̷͘͠ṡ̷̆-̴͑

Apollo: Okay but how long would it take for Kokichi to be able to understand him or can he understand him off the bat?

Bunny: he can understand him, he just rarely speaks and his voice is unnerving and layered like all the trees are speaking at once :D and the trees are DOWN TO FUCK- im gonna say there's no elk in his forest. just so kokichi doesn't have to hear his partner make the elk honk

Kai: he's better at birdcalls anyways why can i see him taking Kokichi's clothes off when they meet cause he doesn't understand clothes and thinks the human just got caught in something weird what buisness does a forest spirit have wearing clothes anyways

Apollo: Kokichi trying to explain that he sorta needs clothes and Shuichi does that little head tilt that dogs do because he just doesn't understand

Bunny: i think part of the reason he keeps kokichi is because of how INTERESTING he is. he's making offended noises about shuuichi taking him out of his strange false-skin one second and the next he smells like pleasure because shuuichi touched his chest NOT THE HEAD TILT…. with those antlers bro'd probably knock something over

Apollo: Shu can use magic right? Can he make it that Kokichi is no longer human (at least fully) cause humans don't last forever you know?

Kai: connect him to the forest become one with the moss

Bunny: yes, but it takes kokichi several decades to realize time is Weird okay. he was too busy getting fucked all the time to realize he wasn't aging- he could've ASKED about the mysterious green goo shuuichi was pumping into him it's his own fault really now there's TWO scary forest spirits, good job morons

Kai: what made Kokichi finally realize?

Bunny: would be funny if some humans came through and he realized his clothes were WILDLY out of fashion now bc remember this all started from an outfit

Bunny: hey do you think shuuichi has to be taught what holes are okay like does he go ok mouth makes him happy. ass makes him happy. time to try the urethra- IT WAS AN APPROPRIATELY-SIZED VINE HE DOESN'T KNOW WHY KOKICHI IS SCREAMING!!!!!!

Beez: are u saying he tried to stick it in his ears or smth a NOOOOOO

Bunny: he tries this too but kokichi thinks he's being silly and laughs it off mistake

Kai: god help him

Bunny: god just tried to stick a vine in his dick

Kai: Shuichi finds out it doesn't feel good going in the dick, but the dick going into something sure does

Apollo: Does Shuichi switch between parts or does he just have both at the same time?

Bunny: shuuichi is smooth like a barbie doll

Kai: both is more badass he either has both or none, there is no inbetween

Bunny: he grows whatever kokichi is interested in that day, if they're having face-to-face sex actually both might add to the 'divine' feeling like. he Is life to some extent.. maybe shuuichi eventually lets some people move in,,, just be respectful to the earth and leave offerings of human food with neat textures on the shrine and you'll be alright he's grown strangely fond of humans lately! imagine that

Apollo: Everyone remembers the stories of the forest killing people but nope. Forest dude is calm as long as you're respectful and leave little snacks

Bunny: just…don't seek an audience with him. he'll probably grant you whatever you ask, but is it really worth him having a squirming man in his lap the whole time…?? shuuichi doesn't see the problem

Apollo: Does Kokichi still look 100% human or does he have more fae like features now? (I dunno how to explain it lmao)

Bunny: i think he slowly gains them over the years never as much as shuuichi. but enough to be a little unnerving,, he wanders the villages vaguely unnerving everyone around

Apollo: He would though. He just walks away and everyone rushes into their houses because that's the forest's like boyfriend? Husband? Queen? Theyr'e not sure but they know not to mess with him

Bunny: he brings back lost children

Apollo: He has enough common sense to put on at least a skirt when he leaves the house only Shu gets to see him 100% naked

Bunny: he's wearing the same fucking clothes from several hundred years ago they don't age either, don't question it

Apollo: That would sorta suit the forest spirit vibe though

Bunny: it really does! he's killing it by shoving the offerings into his mouth like a goblin though

Kai: dude dressed in ancient samuri clothes who's rumored to be the spouce of the foreset spirit walks into town-

Apollo: He brings his sword around as well despite not needing it. It's badass okay? It's just annoying trying to return these lost kids to their parents while they're trying to mess with the sword He's sorta missed human food okay

Bunny: they ask him to teach them

Beez: what if he gets a new sword that sorta wraps around his wrist n whenever he wants to bring it out it uncurls

Apollo: He saves the kid of like a rich family and finds a shiny new magic sword among the offerings He sends a bird with a thank you note to their house and the village realizes that they don't just have to offer food. Kokichi also likes shiny stuff People start to think Kokichi is like a crow so whenever he comes to the village, he's wearing new shiny stuff they left for him

Bunny: that cave is about to get So Crowded that's why he walks so weird…he's got bird feets….. definitely……..

Apollo: Kokichi plays along with it and Shu says fuck it and like magics some wings for him because he finds it cute that everyone is calling him a crow

Bunny: (chanting) wing sex, wing sex, wing sex-

[minhosblr]

hello! i hope ur day is going well! im not really sure how to word this but ur one of my favorite gifmakers on this site!! and i was wondering if u have any tutorial or would be willing to tell how!! do u make ur gifs so sharp! along w being so smooth and gorgeous im foremost always just stumped at how beautifully sharp ur gifs r!! not to mention the coloring!! regardless of if u get to answer any part of ur process or not, i just wanted to tell you ur gifs r very very beautiful. im always so awed and admiring wnv i see them! so warm and prettily colored yet so sharp!! apologies for gushing here, pls have a good day!!!

AHHH THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY, ANON! It always makes me so happy, when I get any kind of compliments on my gifs, so this really really really warms my heart!! ♥

I did a gif tutorial like 1,5 years ago which you can find here! My sharpening has changed slightly from back then, so I'll just tell you what I do now.

Much more detail under the cut (this got way longer and detailed than I had expected)!

This is a walk through of my sharpening/effect process, so if you want any tricks about colouring or anything let me know!

The first important step to sharp gifs is the video quality! The higher the video quality is, the prettier and sharper your gifs will be. TS files are the highest quality (most of the time, sometimes they kind of scam you ngl) files you can get. Else 4k videos are great too! For me I usually don't go under 1080p (with few 720p exceptions). Sometimes I don't really like TS files, because they're a bit too sharp for me. This is mostly if it's a variety show. Concerts tend to be not as sharp in my experience.

I use vapoursynth to resize my gifs before putting them in photoshop. I usually don't do any sharpening or denoise in vapoursynth. This site has everything you need for vapoursynth!

For sharpening and stuff in photoshop, I usually do camera raw + topaz denoise + sharpening + 1% blur at 30% oppacity.

A bonus tip is, if you've done everything and tried soooo hard to make it non-grainy, but you just can't get it to do whatever you want it to... embrace the grain and add a noise layer! I do this with big gifs (540x540) usually.

To go more in depth, my settings for those are as following...

Camera raw

Texture (tekstur) I usually go between 20 and 30, depending on the thing I'm giffing. For Clarity (klarhed) I do the same number as texture, but minus 10. Idk why, it's just how I usually roll!

For Topaz denoise I usually only use a little bit. Like 0.04-0.06 overall strength. I don't really have any "this is what I always do" settings, but usually my shadow is at 0.90 and my highlight is 0.48 (because I liked it one time and then just kept it). You can also use the denoise option in vapoursynth, I just prefer photoshop, because it feels like I have more control over it. I know a lot of people don't use denoise at all, but I usually do with files less than 4k quality!

OBS! Using topaz denoise on smart objects in photoshop is a bit tricky, but I made a video about it once, so here you go! (the video is kind of outdated for me, so ignore the sharpening part and focus on the "how to do after you've put denoise on your gif" part. Also ignore my voice, thank you).

Sharpening:

These are my settings for sharpening. If I think the gif is a bit too sharp after I've added a blur filter, I change the amount (mængde, sorry my ps is in Danish) to 80% and that usually does the trick!

If you use all of these, this is how the smart object will look, before you convert it into frames

Let me know if you have any other questions or anything at all!! ♥

[mercuryferns]

Not to “vent” on main, but i want to speak about pride and autism for a bit

I’m currently in a weird place in my life where im trying to accept many aspects of my identity that i considered ugly for a long long time. one of those being my autism, which i was diagnosed with a little earlier on this year. having that diagnosis fundamentally changed how i viewed myself in ways i struggle to describe to you. i had a brief phase where in desperation to dissociate myself from the stigmatized perception of autistic people that had unconsciously polluted my brain, i swore to use terms like “aspie” and “high functioning” “level one” as if allistic society seeing me as not human but in a slightly more appealing way (that being that instead of being seen as a four year old incapable of original thought i would be a weird carbon copy of albert einstein destined to cure cancer) would somehow make my life easier.

it doesnt, all it does is reinforce the same pseudo scientific eugenic hierarchy of what a clever worthy person is and what a broken unintelligible undeserving one is. realizing that was tough, because i grew up coping with my autistic traits by being whatever people wanted. i was like cheap air dried clay where the more i tried to mould myself into something i wasnt the more i started to crack, smooth over it meticulously with spit and desperation. im still in this spot of fragmented identity, in a liminal space between what i always wished i could be and the disappointing reality of what i actually am.

is it disappointing? is it only disappointing because i’m who i was taught was wrong?

i got what is known as an “unofficial” diagnosis. in other words, we went to a psychiatrist, did an evaluation, and was told hey yeah you’re right. this was because my mother wanted me to be diagnosed with asbergers, which is no longer recognized. i know she meant well. she didnt want me to feel like i was carrying a label too heavy for me. but theres a major part of me - especially after finding out exactly why the label “asbergers” exists - which is in violent opposition to it.

and. upon finding validation in the online autistic community i discovered just how unfounded my shame is. Being autistic is beautiful in so many ways. it makes me so sad that i would ever dismiss it as a part of me. I dont know how i managed to evade diagnosis for so long.

(when i look back on my childhood, i find it riddled with memories of rooms with yoga balls and swings; middle aged ladies with pixie cuts and the same lipstick spending hours trying to teach me how to write the letter C; pulled out of class “where am i going?“ “i think you need to calm down” “i am calm”; my father eyeing my ankles and calling “flat feet” as a reminder to let my heels touch the cold grainy tiles of our stoep, drawing faces on my erasers and sobbing for days when a girl threw penelope in the bin of the afrikaans class; reciting “just think about something else just think about something else just think about something else just-“ while attempting to get myself to eat egg and toast that was too toasted and anything with more than two identifiable textures; seeing someone in my spot in my spot in my spot in my spot in my spot thats my spot thats my spot thats my spot feeling something boil in my stomach; what are you doing i dont like it i dont understand are friends supposed to do this to me?)

Yeah. I have to study for my history exam now. But the point is that im autistic. And thats not only okay thats fucking awesome. Its a huge part of my life and if your idea of normal is what has caused me so much pain and dissociation throughout the years then deal with it when i actually embrace my own brain.

allistics who are cool, this is not intended to shit on you. just some thoughts ive had lately.

[everglowz]

Hiii I just saw your recent gifset and I was wondering if you could share some colouring/quality tips for gifs?? I've been having some issues lately and I'm trying to collect knowledge from people with great skills, thanks in advance!

hiii!! <3 first of all, thanks omg :(( i feel absolutely underqualified to be giving advice but i'll try to tell u some stuff that i think makes gifs look nicer (i'll do it after a read more so that i don't clog up the dash)

idk how much experience you have in making gifs so i'm gonna be all over the place probably lmao sorry!!

first all, in connection to quality, using anything other than photoshop to gif (like websites or stuff like that) is gonna make your gifs look much less hq no matter how nice the actual footage is. sadly no website can beat ps :( also, using 4k/1080p clips is going to make your job much easier. I use 4kdownloader to get videos from youtube and it works great most of the times.

in terms of processing, once i get my video i use vapoursynth but i don't sharpen/denoise there. i think the vs sharpening is a bit too harsh sometimes and the denoising can be too extreme. (i know ppl get great results w sharpening/denoising there tho!! i've never got it to work like that lol) after the clip is opened in ps, i sharpen there. my settings are very basic (amount 500% and radius 0.4px and then i do that again but with amount 10% and radius 10px) if the original clip is too lq and i'm not satisfied with how the gif looks i might use topaz clean / denoise a little bit. but i try to keep that light. in my personal opinion, i think gifs that are too smooth (so much so that their hair gets blurry and stuff) just don't look as nice. i'd rather have a slightly grainy gif over a very very smooth gif where ppl don't look like ppl.

a lil trick i do when i'm not as pleased with the quality and the gifs are from mvs is to add a little bit of grain using the smart filter. so then the grain looks like it's there on purpose and not bc the og clip is bad (other times i just add noise for aesthetics like with my keppie gifset)

another tool some ccs use is high pass. i feel like high pass needs to be used lightly because sometimes it just makes people look like dolls :(( it's like it takes away all texture and it just looks... slightly odd? i tried to use it a few times but in the end i went back to my own sharpening. i just think it's a tool that needs to be used v carefully.

ok, coloring time!! coloring can literally fix a gif sometimes hahah. like a gif that looks kinda grainy suddenly u color it and it becomes ten times better. when i color, i start by messing with the curves and i tend to do this (this pic is just me messing with a random gif hahah)

i obviously play around with that but i love doing this because it makes my blacks darker. i also play around with exposure and i tend to bring the exposure up a little, bring the offset down a little and the gamma correction up (again, me messing around randomly just so u can see how my settings might end up looking visually. the numbers change all the time because it's not that i do it exactly like this all the time)

i've been told (and i can attest to it myself) that having gifs with a lot of contrast is good for quality so i feel like doing these prev things (and also messing with the blacks in selective color) allows me to bring out that contrast and also make gifs that i enjoy (i'm a high contrast gif lover) but you also have to be mindful not to make your subjects too white by upping the exposure or messing with curves too much. whitewashing is a no no, even if whitewashed gifs always end up looking less grainy >:( for skintone i play around with color balance and selective color mostly. if the whitewashing in the original video is too much, i might go to color lookup, use the preset 3strip, set the layer as 'darken' and mess with the opacity and then if it ends up looking too red i might do the same with a 'fall color' layer and lower the opacity even more for that one (or else the gifs looks too yellow). i also play around with the reds and the yellows in hue/saturation

finally, when i export the gifs, i make sure that i pick the saving mode (i'm sure this is not the proper way to call this but anyways sdfasd) that makes the gif looks better. like sometimes i find that with green gifs some settings make the gif look atrocious so i have to use adaptable for those but anyways i usually mess around w that hahah

idk if this was useful in any sort of way??? if u have a question about something that i mentioned here or i want to ask me more u can totally dm me or come back and ask me 'hey girl wtf?' because i'm so so bad at explaining things by text!! also i wrote this under the idea that u are sort of knowledgable on how to gif but idk !!

[happi-meals]

Pancake Breakfast! 🥞

Pancakes are part of a traditional southern breakfast and I was craving them today.

Theyre sweet and nostalgic, reminding me of grandma's house the most and some breakfasts spent at Cracker Barrel with her when I was little.

One part of learning to cook is the magic that is finding out how my favorite foods dont take magic to make! As in, most of what pertains a meal or even an entré is so simple its suprising to me.

Pancakes, to be a bit reductive here, are just fried batter patties! The most simple consisting of what I made this morning (or rather afternoon lol): flour, oil, water, sugar, and leavening agents.

Here I experimented with my own batter making skills with a vegan twist:

all purpose wheat flour

water

olive oil

salt

brown sugar

honey.

I dont have baking powder but since I understand its purpose in a recipe as a leavening agent, I tried to substitute it with baking soda and apple cider vinegar, which kindaaaa worked? Lol I was gonna use lemon for the acid part, but I didnt want a bright citrus taste for these pancakes. Too experimental and not familiar lol.

With a little reassurance from a skim of internet recipies, what I made turned out not bad! And I was soooo excited when I saw the batter frying and then flipped the cake. Looked just like the Real Thing mama's make!

I wanted to get a lil experimental and add some trail mix inside. I added them a lil too late for my first pancake (sprinkled some ontop of the raw side of the cake i had frying in the pan yikes), so the texture was a bit grainy. Plus the nuts and fruit burned and the cake on that side didnt look as appetizing lol. But since that was my experimental cake, and was also my first try, I gave myself some grace and focused on the overall experience of eating the entire pancake. And all my efforts proved worth it! It wasnt half bad. :-)

I just cant imagine eating pancakes without having two, and I also had wayyy too much leftover batter for just one anyway, so I made another and added the trail mix into the batter bowl before pouring it all in, which proved to be a better choice lol. Since I didnt want to waste all the batter I made, and only intended to make one more pancake, i added it all to the pan for a huge one lol.

It turned out very good, though I do admit I might have to actually buy baking powder for more fluffiness (though the baking soda and acid/cider trick kinda worked! i'll just have to get my proportions down). Also I always over estimate how much oil i need in any given recipie! So it was a bit dense and greasy. But as with all learning experiences, mistakes are inevitable yet valuable!

The rest of my breakfast consisted of a fried egg, baby carrots, a banana, and steamed spinach. Brwakfast wouldnt have sufficed without vegetable elements for me, so I was literally craving vegetable sides rather than just a breakfast of wheat and animal products.

The carrots had a great texture and sweetness, and althought I definitely could have salted the spinachand a egg wayyyy less, the flavors together were supurb. One day I'll have to experiment with making omlets with spinach and vegan cheez bc the flavors are so compatible! 😋

LeEgg frying in LePan. I broke it up a little oops lol.

I found this recipe online of how to improve my vegan pancake making skills for another hearty breakfast. This one also calls for baking powder but i think my baking soda and acid workaround could still work.

I'll def update this post when I try this particular recipe!

[greenygreenland]

Riptide: Cole x Reader

-HAPPY 10th ANNIVERSARY NINJAGO!! -I write for females (just as a side note) because I’m a girl and it’s easy for me soooo yeah :/ -i know jay and cole are besties, but for this, let’s just say jay still likes to tease cole (friends do that anyway tho??)

Summary: Cole finds you at the beach trying to drown yourself. When he rips you out of the ocean, he realises you look familiar.

WARNINGS: Near-death (drowning)

The waves quietly lapped against the edge of the sand, tickling Cole’s toes as he made his way across the wet grains. The moon stood high in the sky, shining brightly overhead like a lighthouse. Cole promised to catch up with the others, but he couldn’t rip himself away from the calm of the waves. 

His heart stilled with the quiet waves, sinking into the wet sand like his feet. A cool breeze passed over his face and it brushed through his windswept hair. If only Ninjago could stay this calm. If only he could be like the ocean, free, never ending. 

Cole found himself walking deeper into the ocean and away from the banks. The waves slowly met his ankles, then his knees. It soaked into his rolled up trousers, travelling up until he was waist deep. He didn’t worry about being so far out since it was low-tide. And even if he did find himself getting swept out to sea, he still had his powers. 

Something softly splashed over to his left. He whipped around, immediately taking a defensive stance. As ineffective as it was, he’d rather be safe than sorry. 

Cole eyed the smooth waters. He wondered if it was a shark, or worse, a mystical beast he never heard about. For a few moments, it was quiet, save for the waves, the calm breezes, and Cole’s steady breath. “Maybe it was a fish.” he whispered to himself with a chuckle. Something brushed his leg and he reared back with a squeal. 

“Not a fish not a f--First Spinjitzu Master!” 

The first thing Cole saw was a shirt, then a bundle of floating hair and a face hidden among it. He wanted to freak out, but a girl was laying in the sand underwater. Underwater. He plunged under the cool waves, wrapping his arms around the girl’s torso and hauling her up. “First Spinjitzu Master... First Spinjitzu Master...” Cole placed a hand on his earpiece.

“Guys! I found a girl in the ocean. She’s unconscious and...I don’t think she’s breathing. Come quick!” 

“We’re on our way.” said Zane. The nindroid’s voice was a relief to hear. “We will arrive in five minutes, and as an extra precaution, I have phoned nine-one-one.” 

“Okay, great, great.” As Cole laid the limp girl on the grainy sand, he frantically looked her up and down. Even through the curtain of hair plastered over her forehead, he could tell her face was unnaturally pale. So much, that it could have been a mirror of the bright moon.

It suddenly occurred to Cole that he had to do something. The girl wasn’t breathing and she’d die if he didn’t do something. “Gyah! I’m not the smart one!” He ran a hand over his face. There was one thing Zane did bother to teach everyone in the group, whether it be for civilian use or themselves. Cole pictured Zane standing by his side.

Place the heel of your palms on the centre of the chest.

Cole placed his hands on the centre of the girl’s chest. 

Interlock your fingers. Remember to press two inches down.

Cole interlocked his fingers. 

I have read somewhere that pressing down to the beat of Stayin’ Alive is said to ‘do the trick’ and make it easier. 

And so Cole did just that. “Ha... Ha... Ha... Ha... Stayin’ alive... Stayin’ alive...” He wasn’t sure if it was working, or even if he was doing it right to begin with. How would pressing two inches down on someone’s chest do good? How would this save her from being killed?

Suddenly, she jolted upward, coughing and sputtering out a load of water right into Cole’s face. He didn’t care though. That meant the water had come out of her lungs, right? The danger had been avoided, at least for now. 

“COLE!” 

He whipped around, letting out a loud sigh of relief. Zane and Pixal took Cole’s place, reviewing her vitals and diagnosing her with whatever. He wasn’t sure what they were doing, so he stood off to the side as Jay babbled away. “What happened? Are you okay? How did you find the girl? You didn’t have to swim out there did you?” 

Kai looked at Jay weirdly. “Do you think Cole would swim out that far to begin with? He probably found her washed ashore.” Cole wanted to say something, but he was in a daze. The more he thought about the girl, the more he wondered where he saw her from. It was like a smell you know you’ve smelled before but can’t put a name or memory to. 

He ignored the background chatter and zeroed his gaze on her limp body as Zane carried her to the ambulance. When Zane turned around and motioned for him to come over, Cole finally came back to his senses. He could think about the girl later, right now, he had to answer some questions. 

Three weeks later

“Urgh,” said Cole. “Why do I have to go with Jay?” Sensei Wu raised a brow at him as if to say, ‘really?’. “What is wrong with Jay?” he inquired. “He is a brother, and brothers should be respected.” Off to the side, Jay loudly applauded. “Period. Brothers should be respected, Cole.” He rolled his eyes with a sigh. 

“Now,” Wu interjected. “I want you both to visit Jamanakai Village. You will find Mystake’s tea shop. Get these and only these.” He handed Cole an old drawstring bag. It had a label on the string, but the handwriting was so wonky that Cole couldn’t read it. “If she tries to kick you out, tell her I sent you. That is all, I expect you both back by Thursday.”

Jay let out a long groan. “Why can’t Kai do it? Or Zane? Or Lloyd?” He smugly glanced at Cole. “Or even my wonderful girlfriend Nya? I thought they were the responsible ones.” Wu raised a brow and Cole snickered. “You will both go to Jamanakai Village. That is final. While you are out, do not forget to eat and whatever you do, no Elemental Dragons and no vehicles. You will walk the entire way to the village, am I clear?”

“Yes, Sensei.” 

To say the walk was gruelling was a nice way to put it. There were tens of thousands of other words Cole could have said to describe the terrible pain of having Jay around. Of course, he didn’t actually mean that, but hypothetically, the walk was terrible. 

“You know,” said Jay, “these birds are said to have been exported from the Dark Island.” He pointed to a nearby tree, where three or four birds sat. Their oily wings were like liquid obsidian. Funnily enough, the colour matched both Cole’s gi and hair. He watched as one of them flew away, fluttering straight over his head and into the sky above. 

Cole wondered if it would be nice to live life as a bird, but then he realised he wouldn’t have a bed or cake or chocolate and candy. 

“I’m guessing they were exported before the Dark Island became...you know.” added Jay. “I mean, how could these cute little guys be from there?” He reached out to pet one of the birds. It squawked and bit his finger. “OW!” Jay rounded on the tiny bird, who actually appeared to be laughing. “Bad bird! That’s a no-no! You don’t bite people like that.” 

Jay ripped off his glove and sucked on his poor finger. Cole stared at him as he whimpered. “Is it bleeding?” 

“Gwee, I fondt knowh.” 

Cole dug a hand in his pouch. He felt around and pulled out a band-aid along with a small alcohol wipe. “Here.” Jay took the band-aid and wipe, gingerly dabbing it on his wound and wrapping the band-aid around his finger. “Thanks.” 

“Yeah.” 

They continued on in a comfortable silence, caring only to watch the leaves sway in the wind. When they arrived in Jamanakai village, their feet were sore, and they were tired. Jay’s stomach grumbled, and so did Cole’s. 

“I knew we should have eaten before we left.” Cole muttered. Jay let out a long yawn. “Sensei Wu said we were supposed to be back by Thursday. That’s three days away without video games. Do you think I can survive like this? Do you Cole?” 

He wasn’t listening. A heavenly smell reeled him in like a fishing line. It was sweet, yet it smelled like green tea. Maybe it was cake; Cole hoped it was cake. “Do you smell that?” he seriously inquired. Jay knitted his brows together. “The bakery? Oh, it’s right there.” He pointed to a small shop to their left, where a girl stocked freshly baked cakes and buns. 

Cole could already imagine how pillowy and soft the buns would be. They would have sweet fillings that melted in his mouth, and the cake would be the perfect texture with the right amount of cream. He made his way to the bakery, keeping a keen eye on the fresh chocolate cake. 

“Cole, we’re not here to buy cake.” said Jay. “If we’re gonna eat, we might as well eat a real meal.” Cole rolled his eyes and pointed to a slice of chocolate cake. “I’ll take one of that, please.” 

The cashier took out a pair of sparkling tongs. “Will that be all?” she inquired with a smile. “My grandma just finished steaming the buns, they’re fresh.” Cole whipped towards the cashier. For some reason, her voice sounded so familiar. It was again, like a smell that reminded him of something he couldn’t quite place. Sweet, nostalgic, kind.

That’s right, he thought. This was the girl he saved on the beach. But before then, he knew her as the studious (Y/n) (L/n) from the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts. When Cole had no one to talk to in class, she was there. When he forgot his lunch, she shared it with him. When he decided to run away, she promised not to forget him. 

(Y/n) walked out from behind the counter. She handed Cole a bag of two containers. “It was you, wasn’t it?” Her voice was rather soft, like she were embarrassed anyone else would hear. “You saved me, on the beach.”

“Y-yeah, I did.” Was it just Cole or was it getting hot out here?  He didn’t need anyone to tell him his face had gone beet red. “Thank you Cole. I might have snuck ‘a few’ more cakes in the bag. That guy’s your friend, right? There are some buns in there for him too.” 

Cole met (Y/n)’s bright eyes. They weren’t as lively as he remembered, but they still held that warm glow that always made him feel safe. “I--uh--(Y/n)...” 

“Yeah?”

“Uh...do you still go to the Marty Oppenheimer School?” Do you want to hang out sometime? “I mean...uh...” How have you been? “T-thank you for the food.” He let out a nervous laugh and (Y/n) chuckled a little. “If you’re wondering, I graduated last year.” she said. Cole’s eyes widened. Had that much time already passed? 

“I live in Ninjago City now.” she added. “I didn’t think I would make it this far, but I did. I’m here in Jamanakai for the next three months before I go back to the city. I heard you’ve been up to things too--ninja stuff. Saving lives.” She smiled at Cole, as if the two shared an inside joke. 

“(Y/n)! Help me carry this, it’s too heavy for me!”

(Y/n) glanced over her shoulder. “One second, grandma!” She turned back to Cole and wrapped him in a tight hug. It was brief, it was sweet, and it made Cole remember just how close they used to be. “I have to get back to work. See you soon Cole?”

“Yeah.” he awkwardly replied. “See you soon.” He watched as she disappeared out back. When did he finally become taller than her? When had she actually spoken so nonchalantly? Last time he saw her, they were still kids. They were young, and even with responsibilities, they were still free. 

“Sooooo, you’ve got yourself a girl?” inquired Jay. He took the bag from Cole and made his way over to the fountain. The two sat on the ledge as Jay sifted through the food. There were buns filled with red bean paste, lotus paste, and even barbeque pork. Under that were five different desserts. Two velvety chocolate cakes, one egg tart, and three pieces of perfectly wrapped mochi. 

Jay took one of the meat buns. “Wow, this is really good. Tell your girlfriend to teach you how to cook.” Cole let out a short sigh. “She’s not my girlfriend, Jay. I haven’t even seen her in years.” 

“What? Why?”

Cole closed one of the boxes. He dug around the bag for a fork, but he grasped a small slip of paper instead. Jay peered over Cole’s shoulder with wide eyes. “Ooooo she gave you her phone number? See! Dating. Case closed. I’m gonna tell everyone when we get back.” 

“No you aren’t.” Cole retorted. “Like I said, I haven’t seen her in years. She probably only wanted to get back in touch.” Jay raised his brows and Cole elbowed him in the stomach. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” He pulled out one of the buns and took a big bite out of it. “We went to the same school together as kids. We became friends there, but when I ran away from home, we lost contact.” 

“So go talk to her!” exclaimed Jay. “Before we go, I’m setting you both up on a date, or at least a night out together. We’re not going home on Thursday, got it? We’re staying ‘til Saturday and that’s final.” Cole raised a brow in amusement. “I thought you said you wanted to play video games.”

“If your girlfriend has a phone, then she has video games.” said Jay smartly. Cole let out a bright laugh. All he really knew now was that he’d have to come to Jamanakai Village more often. 

NOTE: I will make a part two soon, so stay tuned! Tip jar

[th3-z0diac]

How I Make Aesthetics.

Long post ahead, sorry :(

In the past, I've been asked multiple times how I create my aesthetics and where do I get the best pictures for them, so I figured I'd make this master post of what exactly I do. Btw this is coming from a person who has studied graphic design for 4 years and had about 4 years of experience in making zodiac collages here on tumblr. Do what you want with that information.

A few disclaimers

There are different types of aesthetics and in this post, I'm going to be specifically talking about a certain type that I like to make. Here, examples:

My most used format is 6 pictures in 3 rows, but I've also tried 4 pictures, like here for example:

There are other types such as minimalistic photos, dark academia, grunge, and SO many more. Please keep in mind that I'm not hating on these types and when I mention a rule such as don't use photos that are too minimalistic, I am not saying that minimalistic aesthetics are wrong or ugly or anything of that sort!

Just because I don't choose a certain photo doesn't mean I don't like it, it just means that the photo is not exactly what I'm looking for. By me showing you the examples below, I'm just trying to paint a picture. No hate here, okay?

I don't own any of the pictures I use (I've only used like one or two of my own photos in the past) but then again this is just for entertainment, I don't make money doing this or anything. If I ever get a message from an owner of any of these photos and they want me to delete it, I will delete it.

Where to get the photos

Pinterest! Period. AHAHAHA

No but seriously, pinterest and tumblr are my two favorite sources and you will find pretty much exactly what you need there. pinterest specifically.

On tumblr, I usually search for hipster, grunge, indie, and nature, but it also helps to just find specific blogs that focus on photography, follow them and then just download anything from your dashboard that you fancy.

I'll share what I search for on pinterest below👇. My secret tip would be to not always go for the first photo you find but rather to open a picture that sorta has what you like in it and then scroll down, because pinterest is going to recommend you similar, sometimes better fitting photos. On tumblr, I sometimes go to the blog of the person whose one photo I like, and there I tend to find many more of the same kind (since these bloggers usually post a specific kind of aesthetic).

How to choose photos

My number one tip would be to seek texture. Avoid photos that have little going on in them and anything too empty or minimalistic (unless that's what you're aiming for, obviously). Also, don't choose pictures that are very light or very dark, as they tend to stand out in aesthetics and that's not really what you want. At least in the type of aesthetics that I make, I want the final product to be almost a new picture in itself if that makes sense. To show you an example, look at this photo of two sleeping cats:

This photo seems like a good fit; it is well balanced in colours (there are shades of white, beige/ginger as well as some greens) and c'mon, it's two cats, what more do you need!!! However, let's look at it in a complete aesthetic:

While this aesthetic has a nice color scheme to it (well, it doesn't, I threw it together super quickly, but you get the gist), the photo of the two cats just stands out because the khaki background creates this kind of block of color that your eye will automatically go to and it sort of breaks the collage apart. So, by texture, I mean that a picture is filled, for example with trees, flowers, architecture, little people in the background, etc., etc. Furthermore, I prefer when there are more things photographed (for instance, look at the first picture of the aesthetic above; it has a mirror (and a tiny person in it), architecture and leaves all in one picture)

Next, personality. Go to Google Images and search 'Nature Photography' or 'Sunset Photos'. You might get something like this:

Or this:

Look at this absolute angel of a boy💚💚💚💚💚💚Isn't he the cutest freaking thing you've ever seen?????? I just want to give him all the treats and all the pets and — ...ehm, sorry, that's not why we're here.

So I don't quite know how to explain this point, but I guess usually professional photos like this are just so well done that they work perfectly well on their own and you usually don't put them in a set (only with other photos from the same photoshoot maybe). They're obviously well-balanced color-wise and high in quality, but they're just very individual and don't really need any addition in the form of other photos. This point also applies to the previous one (textures, in case you forgot); for example, a bunch of blueberries creates a nice texture, however it might be difficult to pair them with other photos. They have enough personality on their own (and this is not meant in a bad way to the photos I do use).

Related to this, you're looking for a story. Usually, if a photo gives off a certain vibe, tells a story, or just leaves any kind of strong impression, it might be a good indication that this is a good photo to use (given all the other rules as well, of course).

The main themes I search for are:

cities, villages, or abandoned places

related to that — architecture or only parts (details) of it

nature, specifically forests with either road or a body of water nearby, beaches, deserts and so on. plus points for tiny people in the distance

animals, usually with the addition of maybe the texture of a sweater sleeve or some blankets, something of that sort

people, my favorite kind is people turned away from the camera with an interesting background, because by them not having a face, they become a bit more relatable in a sense?

people in a river or some kind of water

museums, sculptures

etc.

Usually, I tend to avoid:

photos with text in it (though as an exception I would mention neon signs or letters/words that are for example above shops, on books, etc.)

heavily filtered pictures

photos with very specific (often bold) colors in them, unless you find multiple photos with that same shade. this again distracts the eye too much

GIFs, animated pictures, illustrations/drawings. also, don't use collages (cause you are creating a collage, duh)

black & white pictures

blurred pictures (or those that are purposely grainy — that goes back to the filters above)

anything obviously photoshopped

When trying to figure out where to put each photo

Squint your eyes. The photos should create a nice harmony, there shouldn't be a corner where it gets too light or dark or where some textures blend together, for example, if using multiple flower patterns, try to place them in different corners.

When to know your aesthetic is done

Actually even before you start, you should be in the mood. I have to admit, there have been times where I've felt pressured into making aesthetics, and now, looking back at them, I'm really ashamed of them. That is why I don't always post aesthetics as soon as I get them requested because I genuinely want them to look good.

Sometimes, it helps to not post the aesthetic straight away but to come back to it later with a fresh look. I'd say go with your gut. You should have a good, satisfying feeling about the aesthetic.

Last note

Rules are meant to be broken. Look at the aesthetic below. I used a minimalistic illustration (two birds with one stone I guess) (and admittedly, that one picture does stand out) and yet the aesthetic still came out pretty nice. So, just play around with your ideas and see what you like the most! I'm just a random person on the internet, you literally don't have to listen to any of the tips I gave you here today.

I know this might seem like a lot (honestly, if you've read this entire thing, you're crazy), but it gets easier and easier with practice, soon you won't even think about it.

Hopefully these tips will help you and please let me know if you decide to make any aesthetics. I would love to see them!! <3

[pleaseshutupaboutsatou]

your art is sooo incredibly inspiring i absolutely love your lineart, composition, coloring, etc. you are so amazingly good at what you do!!! i only watched ajin s1 but your work motivates me to read the whole series. if i may ask, would you ever share insight on your artistic process? like how you prepare your idea for an illustration or comic and see it through to the end? anyway im convinced you deserve so much more attention, your art is so lovely to look at! thank you for sharing it.

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words. I highly recommend reading the manga if you've seen the anime. They both sort of start on the same footing but over time the manga goes in this totally different direction that's very rich and colors the characters more deeply. It's been a while since I've seen the anime but I want to say it's defined more by events while the manga is more character-centric and really dives into the motivations and feelings of the characters.

On my main art blog (@cloverdraws), which you might not be aware, I have provided some insight into my comics process here ☺: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/cloverdraws/684198040768217088?source=share

I post my non-Ajin stuff there and also reblog my Ajin stuff over there after some time has passed and I remember to.

However, I wouldn't breaking down how I tried to come up with stuff for Ajin week since it's a little more different and simpler:

So I start off by having this document with a bunch of panels I made to plan and feel around for ideas.

I have different panels like this with different dimensions. Usually the piece will fit. It's a pretty big document but not so big that my tablet or computer can handle it okay. These are the dimensions of the document I use atm.

Anyway, I sketch out ideas. For Day 5 I had blue, social media and ajin in diff countries. I decided to draw a blue Izumi drawing or a group pic of the Maryland Ajin.

As I draw, my sketch begins to loosen up and more ideas come

In the end, I decide to go with the top center because I like the attitude of it. Usually if I'm really going to make a nice illustration, I would blow up the thumbnail and then sketch but I was pressed for time so I decided to work at the same dimensions as my thumb which is pretty decent size anyway.

I do line art. For this one I chose 'The Robin Sketcher' a nice grainy pencil-like brush I got via Clip Studio Assets. Lately I've gotten pretty comfortable with it.

It's really fun to add pools of black with this brush so that's what I do.

I block in colors that seem to fit with each other. The blue bg is added later and is a bit bright but it's because I like the contrast and I plan to darken it with a gradient and some texture. Also, this picture is me toggling the visibility of layers so you don't see the whole process, but here I also added a little color to the face, knees and other places. You don't see it well but her hair behind the lines in her hair is kind of green, working with the black imho.

I add more details like some darkness behind the crates, some shapes to the poster and the texture/gradient for the bg I was mentioning. I also added her name tag because she had that in canon and I thought it would be a fun detail to add her surname at the time, 'Tanaika'

Finally I do some pretty simple shading with a round brush and later soften it in strategic places but also try to keep the harder edges too. It's your standard 50% multiply layer.

The color feels a little flat, so I find adding a gradient adds some dimension. I also made this gradient normal at ~50% starting from the bottom to homogenize the bottom with some blue and draw our eyes to her face

Then I play around with layers and filters to strengthen the blue and the feeling I want to convey with this picture

I don't like to go crazy with the filters but this is what I used:

I then Save As a copy and make this drawing it's own file so I don't overload my thumbnail file. In the end this drawing came out to a decent-size dimension and I really loved how it turned out.

[desolateice]

Food of “Root Beer Floats and Green Tea” Part 4 (chapters 59-77)

Root Beer Floats (again) from Laura. 

Welcome home dinner: steak

Daniel’s dream wedding cake:  A light caramel cake with a bit of coconut in the in-between layers mixed in with the icing

Breakfast made by Dutch: Eggs and bacon and toast.

Abuela’s restaurant: horchata,  Pork carnitas, tacos de Suadero, tacos al Pastor, sour cream, rice, guacamole, beans, and nopales salad,  Polvorones and take home  tamales Abuela’s breakfast for Johnny when he was little:  molletes Fish for dinner with Mr. Miyagi Court house coffee breaks with cupcakes and cookies from Bobby

Laura’s news at the docks ice cream on the beach:  Mint chocolate chip for her, rocky road for Johnny. Johnny’s childhood meals of toast and ketchup and fried baloney.  Mr. Miyagi’s lunch boxes for Laura and co at the court house.

Daniel’s homemade pick me up manicotti with spinach filling for the guys after the divorce proceedings: Recipe for Homemade Manicotti Recipe for the spinach filling of the Manicotti

Daniels chocolate chip pancakes at the mansion

Laura’s champagne 

Iced tea with Laura (Johnny’s first dinner at her house was take out)

Mr. Miyagi’s forgotten fish (when he went to see Mr. Miyagi’s Little Trees) soup and rice that Johnny reheats and tea

Johnny’s sandwich and coffee with Jessica Andrews

After break in tea for Daniel

Drive-in popcorn and soda Mrs Douglas’ snacks for unchaperoned karate championship kids: frozen grapes

Lunch with Dutch: Bibimbap Kimchi fried rice recipe Side dish Recipes: Tofu aka Dubu Buchim Little fish aka Myulchi Bokkeum tiny eggs aka Jangjorim fish cake this recipe offers either spicy or non spicy spinach aka sigumchi namul Potatoes aka Gamja bokkeum

Johnny’s birthday: Inca Kola Tostados, picadillo, mole, some stuffed bell peppers, salad, bionicos, and tacos bombe Alaska: Chocolate orange cake with vanilla ice cream and meringue that he'd (Bobby) doused in rum and lit on fire. (combo of these two recipes for the cake: baked/bombe alaska and Chocolate orange cake )

Saltwater taffy from Nonnio

blueberry pie filling and peach cobbler filling in jars New Jersey style Pinata candies:  Pulparindo,  Peanut mazapan, Paleta Payaso, mango with chilli pepper (Not sure how to share this without linking to a shop to buy it since taste atlas failed me, so uh just a whole bunch of candy) Laura having margaritas with Abuela Daniel’s fruit season in Jersey. Missed how they'd all visit his aunt as a kid and pick fruit to make compotes, ice cream, sweets, and all sorts of things to eat.

Daniel’s first chocolate chip and banana pancakes: Bananarama (video)

Yukie’s recipe for a sweetened iced matcha drink for Johnny for his birthday. I tried to look for a recipe for this one that I liked and I didn’t like any, so here’s the steps from a lesson I took:

You need a bamboo whisk, a spoon or scoop, a tea cloth,  70°F hot water, and 2-3 scoops of matcha. First you need to rinse your bowl with the warm water and let the bamboo whisk soak in the warm water for a couple of minutes until it softens a bit. Then dump out the water and run a tea cloth over the bowl to make sure it’s clean and dry.  Then using the small spoon scoop in two or three spoonfuls of matcha into the bowl. If you like a stronger matcha taste go for three, if you don’t like the bitter taste, go for two. (Johnny would go for 2, Daniel would go for 3) Then add the hot water. More water will make it weaker, less water will give it a stronger matcha taste.

You do not want to scrape the bottom of the bowl when mixing. That’s a good way to break a bristle and you don’t want to drink broken bits of bamboo. Most of the movement is a rapid wrist movement back and forth to create bubbles or foam.

Matcha on its own is somewhat bitter. But the best way to tell the difference from good quality matcha from bad quality is the texture. If it has a grainy mouth feel then it’s lower quality matcha. It shouldn’t be grainy.

Now if you want to make your own iced Matcha latte you fill a glass with ice, pour in some milk (or an alternative) about half way, some agave (or your choice of sweetener), and mix with a spoon.

Gifts from Kumiko: the stars are Konpeitō , the flowers are wasanbon and cheesecake. Mr. Miyagi’s ramen for after fights and bonsai rescues Jessica’s mac and cheese Part 1  | Part 2 | Part 3 | you’re here | Part 5 |

[tuliharja]

2014 VS. 2022

I had already decided to redraw this Mito drawing back in 2014 when I had originally made it. Why? Because the moment I started to color it back then, I knew it would be bad. I can't remember why I went through with that all, since I knew it wouldn't turn out well.

I remember I struggled to decide what to color Mito's eyes as in manga her eyes are more and less pitch-black and let's be honest: making eyes that don't have light dots or if you can't place them just the right way when making fully black eyes will look...well, not so good. I could have ignored the manga's coloring and gone with the green one (like in that anime opening), but for some reason I had that 'brilliant' idea to go with black eyes...it then spiraled to that I tried to play with the light and decided to put a shadow on that side of her face where the light should have been, making the whole lightning on her just look awkward. Not to mention the colors are very off in that original work and the scanner ate most of those, making the picture very grainy... But I just wanted to get over with the picture, but the moment it was finished and I had posted it in my DA I knew I would redo it at some point. (No questions asked.)

So, here it's! My redo version of the old traditional one. I used the base of the traditional one when creating this new, digital one. When I started to draw the new version, I also wanted to test a different style from my usual one starting from lineart. The lineart is done with several different digital ink brushes and with coloring I used digital watercolor brushes. (While the aftermath doesn't exactly look like watercolor's, it still resembles it somewhat.) All in all, it was very fun to experiment with different brushes that I wouldn't normally use or just an only a little bit. (I had to hold myself back when I wanted to 'correct' the aftermath of some brushes...)

With the redo version, I fixed the lightning/shadow problems, decided to stick with green colored eyes with Mito (that look very good on her!), and tried to bring more texture to her.

I'm sure there are still parts that I could have done 'better' or differently, but I think the redo version looks much better than the old one. Or, at least I hope it does. What do you think?

Artwork: @tuliharja

Note: I’m fine with reblogging, but ask me first for my permission, if you want to repost my artwork.

Songs that I listened to while drawing the redo version:

A Million Miles Away by Belle

Gales of Song by Belle

Lend Me Your Voice by Belle

Not Easy to Disturb by 阿萨AzA

The Divine Damsel of Devastation by Yang Yang

The Family Madrigal by Stephanie Beatriz, Olga Merediz & cast of Encanto

U by millennium parade & Belle

We Don't Talk About Bruno by Adassa, Beatriz, Mauro Castillo, Rhenzy Feliz, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero & cast of Encanto

What Else I Can Do? by Beatriz & Guerrero

[slasherfilth]

You Are What You Eat – Chapter Three (Thomas Hewitt x Reader)

Luda Mae was a simple woman. She wanted simple things. Food on her table. A nice cup of tea with (y/n) every now and again. And for her baby boy to be happy. And she had quickly come to the desertion that two of those simple needs were far more entwined than she had first anticipated.  The day she had sent Thomas to the bakery had been a blessing in ways she hadn't fathomed before. Tommy had come home with the basket of goodies and a difference in his demeanour. He was never an angry man, but he did have an air of annoyance around him every time he was sent out to the shops. She didn't blame him of course and made sure to only send him when she had no other choice. She knew how people treated her boy. She would get weird looks, but with her own quick wit, people were quick to shut their mouths around her, she made sure of it. But Thomas was different. Thomas genuinely didn't want to hurt people physically, it would only cause more issues. And the second issue is that he couldn't verbally do it, like Luda Mae. So, he had to deal with very verbal threats and ridicule against himself. Despite being a very large man, people had learnt that he wouldn't retaliate and their awful behaviours grew bolder and bolder.

That being said, whenever he did return from town, he would generally be in quite a foul mood. One he would rid himself of in the basement alone, working. Because Holt never did appreciate a moody Thomas. However, today was different. She had been expecting him to be short, give her the basket with a huff and make a beeline for his work. But he didn't. Instead, he walked into the house at a leisurely pace. Holding a cookie in his hand while he gazed ahead, lost in his own thoughts. It wasn't an odd thing for Thomas to do, with nothing to say one would imagine you would spend quite some time in your own head. But Luda couldn't fathom what had brought on such a difference to his usual arrive-from-town demeanour. Maybe someone had said something that really affected him? But he wasn't angry or even frustrated. He was his usual calm self, perhaps even gentler than usual as he rested the basket on the counter, nodding in her direction absentmindedly.

"Thank you Darlin', did you meet (y/n)? Lovely girl, ain't she?" Luda watched on curiously as Thomas nodded, more enthusiastic than she was anticipating. Usually, she would receive a shrug as he never really cared too much for other people outside the family, they would usually make a comment about him or something, and Thomas had just learnt to ignore everyone. So this was more than a little surprising, but she couldn't help the grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Yeah, she's a real sweet thing, that one. No family left though; the poor girl is probably lonely over in that big house by herself." Luda's keen eyes taking in every furrow and huff that Thomas made, his interest clearly displayed as he stayed and listened to her, his head tilting at her words. She felt like dancing inside.

"Maybe you could go over and keep her company. She keeps saying that big house feels lonely all the time. She also mentioned needing a few things fixed around the place. I'll tell her you can help." Luda shooed him away with her hands, appearing lost in thought as she began to unpack the basket. Thomas left immediately, but she could see he was still partly in a daze. Oh, her little boy was growing up! She hadn't seen Thomas react to anyone in a blatantly positive way since he was a child. Oh, how she would milk this. Maybe she would finally be able to cross off another dying wish of hers. Grandchildren!

-X-X-

You had been so busy with the bakery lately you barely felt like you had time for yourself or your thoughts. But ever time you did seem to get lost in your own mind, it would always travel back to Luda's son. God, you had been stupid to think that he was a teenager or something. You tried to convince yourself it was because you were unprepared for the very masculine man that walked into your shop. That was the reason you couldn't get him out of your head. Yes. You were just shocked. Sighing, you continued to make the new pie recipe with chicken meat. All the alternative meats you tried were okay, but they just weren't exactly what you were hoping for.

You just wanted a well-cut, well-fed red piece of meat for your pies. You didn't need very much with all the extra gravies and sauces, but it annoyed you that you couldn't find any, anywhere in town. The only place that stocked some red meat was the little store at the end of the road, and it was ridiculously overpriced for the pathetic amount you received, and it was god awful. Full of fat and grainy in texture. You wondered where he even managed to get something so terrible. You sighed and wondered if it would be worth perusing Luda Mae. Thomas was a butcher, wasn't he? Indeed, he would be working with red meat? And as if hearing her name filter through your head, you listened to a jingle of the shop bells. You looked up to see one of your favourite visitors standing in the doorway with a fresh basket of goodies.

"Darling! It's been far too long. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come out sooner, busy with the farm and all. Charlie can be a real slave driver when he's not busy boozing." You giggled as the lady rolled her eyes and took a seat in her usual spot. You absentmindedly began making her regular order and grabbing today's cake special.

"That’s okay! I understand I’ve been quite busy myself. I’ve been trying to find a nice meat pie with alternative meats, but it just isn’t what I want it to be sadly. A bakery without meat pies. I’m a fraud.” You sighed dramatically as you began to walk towards Luda with your drinks and plates. Setting them down, you took a seat with her, admiring her new basket. Oddly enough, you noticed a few drops of blood on the handtowel that covered the ingredients. You shrugged it off. It happens sometimes. Especially on farms, you would know.

“Ah, don’t beat yourself up. Everyone has the same issue here. I’m sure you will find something. Besides, you have a wonderful collection of desserts the town dies for. I’ve seen all those empty cabinets when I walk in.” Luda winked at you, and you flush mumbling to yourself.

“I’m just glad people like them at all.” You laugh half joking and half serious as you move for the food in front of you. Luda stops sipping her drink for a moment and nods, pushing the gift towards you more.

“Oh, yes, yes. Go ahead, dear. It’s not much, but I made a few things I knew you would like and also left a few recipes in the bottom for you.” You smiled wide; you really did love her recipes. They were so homely it reminded you of your mother on rougher nights when everything felt too much and too big for you. It was comforting. Although you assumed everything about Luda was motherly and comforting. Grabbing the basket, you pulled up the towel and smiled as you first saw the bouquet of flowers, you quickly grabbed them and got up to put them in a vase, to place front and centre in your bakery.

“I assume the gardening had been going well then, Luda? These are beautiful! And smell absolutely lovely. I don’t know how you do it in this heat. All mine would wither up and die.” You finished arranging the flowers to your liking as you heard the older woman chuckled.

Time and patients, my dear. And lots of water. Thomas goes and fetches me water form the lake almost every mornin’ for my flowers.” You flushed as you were once again reminded about the man that barely left your mind lately. And oh god, you had forgotten about all the little deeds he did for his mothers to make her happy. You were doomed. However, you kept walking back to your seat, unaware if Luda had noticed your sudden silence.

“That reminds me, Thomas came back in a mighty fine mood yesterday, which is different than he usually does when returning from town. Given his looks and all. Would you happen to know anything?” You froze for a moment, thinking back to yesterday—your surprise and anger at how people treated him and his mother so openly. God, you were still confused. Thomas looked like he could break your neck with one hand and yet people were so casually rude to him. You would be terrified to do that to someone so intimidating.

“A-Ah, yes. He -um- had a bit of a run-in with the locals…” You looked down, saddened that you were unaware of what would happen when he arrived. You wish you had stepped in sooner. “Some people in the bakery were saying some mighty rude things to him, but I shut them up with a warning. Ain’t no one gonna be rude to you guys in here, or they can find their asses on the curb.” You frowned and narrowed your eyes slightly.

“If anyone ever tries to tell me you aren’t a little angel, I’ll slap them upside the head, I tell ya.” You looked back to Luda, who was wearing her own little smile. You were confused. Wasn’t it wrong that people said things to Thomas? Luda laughed at your confusion.

“Thomas is quite used to the comments, but he’s not a violent man. He’ll just let it slide and come back in a huff of annoyance. But he was in a good mood yesterday. Not many people stand up for him. In fact, Charlie and I are probably the only ones who do. So, thank you (y/n). You’ve been nothing but an angel to our little family since you arrived.” You once again blushed a bright red. You began to wonder if you had any blood anywhere else in your body by this time. You mumbled out a thank you and continued to look through the basket. Not used to praise and certainly not accustomed to responding to it. Your finger grazed against something cold. Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you wrapped your fingers around cold plastic. Usually, Luda would make you dry things so they wouldn’t go out of date quickly.

Looking down as you pulled out the packet, your eyebrows sudden disappeared into your hairline as you looked at the slightly bloody package of red meat. The packet was only so big, but it was more than enough meat to make at least a dozen small meat pies. You looked up at Luda questioningly. Wondering if maybe she had accidentally placed it in the wrong basket at home.

“Oh. Would you look at that? Thomas must have had some leftovers.” The way she said it was almost nonchalant, but you could see the surprise in her eyes too before it dissolved into happiness with a bright smile to match.

“Maybe, it’s a small thank you as well.” You hummed and turned back to the meat, deciding you would make a small batch of meat pies and give the Hewitts some to try as a thank you as well.

“Thank you so much, Ma’am. And be sure to tell Thomas thank you as well. Oh, you have no idea how happy this makes me. I’ll give you some pies to take home next time you come around! I’d love for you to try them and tell me what you think!” You excitedly stood up and made your way to the back, placing the meat straight into the cooler so it wouldn’t spoil. You moved back to Luda and gave her a big hug from behind, muttering your thanks a few more times.

“Oh, it’s nothing, dear. Like I said, you’ve been nothing but an angel to us. You deserve it. That being said, I did mention for Thomas to go visit your house at some point, you mentioned you wanted some help fixing the furniture and pipes, well Thomas is a bit of a handyman as well. And he seemed happy to come to help ya out.” You bit your lip and flushed a bright red before nodding. Oh god. Would you be able to handle the sight of him fixing things in your house? Using your tools? Maybe even shirtless since that’s how most men seem to fix things when it was this hot out. You tried to stop your cheeks for burning too brightly at the thoughts before shaking your head. No, bad (y/n). You only just met him, behave.

“T-That would be fantastic. He’s more than welcome to come at any time passed six.” Your breath out, hoping you don’t sound as stiff as you felt. You watched as Luda stood up and nodded.

“Alright, then I’ll send him over at six sharp tomorrow.” You could have sworn you seen a mischievous smirk curl on the older ladies’ lips. But you shook your head and gave her a hug before she left. Surely you just imagined it. She was just trying to be helpful is all. Yes. Helpful.

-X-X-

Hello! Sorry, this has taken a bit longer to be published. This chapter is a bit shorter as the next will be a bit more on the longer side and lots of you and Thomas getting close and friendly. And I can’t wait!

[fandom-necromancer]

A little distraction Part 3

This was prompted by @rufina72 as well as two anons and at least one AO3 user. I have to admit I lost track on AO3 because apparently people really enjoy this story line XD Hope you do to!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900, Hannor/Hancon Part 1 link not available   [Part2]   [Part4]   [Part5]   [Read complete on AO3]

‘S-s-so Connor is your brooother?’ They were driving through Detroit’s streets covered by snow slush and salt. It would be a pain to get the hardened dirt from the road off his car later, Richard thought as quiet Christmas music accompanied their drive. ‘Yes. Older by roughly five years’, he answered. ‘We’re very close.’ ‘And he w-w-will be the only one there?’ Again, Richard nodded. ‘Yeah, him and his boyfriend. Guess I have to update that to husband soon, they plan to marry as soon as legislation has caught up with recognising androids as persons in every aspect.’ ‘No other f-f-family?’ Richard frowned, face falling instinctively, before he forced himself to cheer up.

‘Nah. Our father died in a car accident. I was three years old; I don’t remember much of him but photos. Connor knew him more and always said he was a nice guy. Our mother was always at work, too absorbed in her studies. It changed a bit when father died, but still she wasn’t home much. Connor basically was the one raising me, and he blames mom for not being there for me.’ ‘And y-y-you?’ ‘Nah’, he laughed. ‘It was normal for me; I didn’t know anything else. But we both agree that me and him, we are family and she doesn’t belong in that definition. And that we’ll do it better should we ever get kids.’ Gavin nodded slowly. ‘How’s he?’ ‘Caring?’, Richard began, having to think of the right words to express what he felt when thinking of his brother. ‘Overly protective. Overly friendly. It can be annoying at times. But he is honest too and understands boundaries. He never said anything when I had my silent phases, just came to my room and did whatever he did close to me keeping me company. He seems to always know what you need right now and I think that’s his most treasurable attribute.’ ‘Hooope he knows that with meee too, not just you. Wh-wh-what I told you, I won’t tell anyooone else.’

Nines risked a look to the side to Gavin, who had ducked his head in between his shoulders and fidgeted with a button on his shirt. ‘Hey.’ He stopped at a red light and was about to touch the android comfortingly, refraining from it last second as he remembered his reaction to that. ‘Hey, if it gets too much at any point, tell me. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.’ Gavin quickly looked out of the window and nodded, obviously embarrassed.

-

They arrived at a small house draped in tasteful Christmas decoration. Not too much and in exactly the right colours to make it feel cosy, warm and welcoming. Gavin stepped out of the car watching the lights and trying not to think of how he had lifted up the kids so they could help putting them up in their old home. They were fond memories made all the more sour by his loss. He knew his LED was likely red again, alerting the strange human that had picked him up of his  composure slipping, but if Richard noticed, he didn’t say anything, just walking ahead and smiling back at him as an invitation to follow him. Gavin swallowed and hastily walked through the snow to the freed path leading to the door. Nines was already standing there, hand hovering over the doorbell.

‘Richard!’ The door was almost ripped open by someone who looked exactly like the other human, maybe an inch smaller and a lot more expressive. ‘You came!’ ‘I promised, didn’t I?’ Connor hugged the other human and grinned from one ear to the other. ‘Yes of course, but still!’ Only then did he turn to Gavin, who was awkwardly standing half behind Richard and watched them. It was hard to blink away the warning popping up over and over again. Connor moving towards Richard. Threat. Warning. Richard returning his hug, the arm passing through Gavin’s personal space at that. Warning. Threat. Connor turning around. Threat. Run. Gavin didn’t know since when he was stuck in this analysis mode, but he was sick of flinching and glitching at any movement. ‘This must be your plus one?’, he asked Richard with a wink and held out a hand towards Gavin. ‘Hello, I’m Connor.’ Gavin couldn’t suppress taking a step back. ‘I-I-I’m Gaaavin’, he said, cursing his voice box for glitching now out of all times. Connor let his hand fall, but smiled at him, completely ignoring his stutter and hangers. ‘Hello Gavin, nice to meet you! Merry Christmas! Come in, you two! Hank’s getting out the food already!’

They followed Connor in and got rid of their shoes, before entering the living room. Connor instructed them to sit down and hurried into the kitchen to help Hank. When the larger android came to greet them, Gavin dared to relax a bit. He was deviant too, sending a friendly greeting ping to him. He looked gentle, trusting and didn’t have any marks on him. Hank put down plates for Connor and Richard, while Connor came back with two mugs of warmed Thirium for the androids as well as blue tinged cookies. ‘Can you eat?’, Hank asked him then. ‘You are an older model, right?’ Gavin nodded. ‘I am. B-b-but I caaan eat. I g-g-got the upgrade when Kathy- I got the upgrade.’ Hank lifted a brow at the errors and swallowed sentence, but otherwise didn’t mention it. ‘Then I hope they taste, Connor made them. He has no talent.’ ‘Excuse me?’, the human answered, elbowing Hank. Gavin expected damage, but it was a friendly gesture. ‘I can cook great.’ ‘Yeah’, Hank countered. ‘If you count heating up frozen pizza.’ ‘Hey, that’s all I can do, too, so I’ll side with Connor here’, Richard laughed. ‘What’s your verdict, Gavin?’

He looked into the other’s faces, still overwhelmed by it all. Instead of answering, he took one of the cookies and nibbled on the edge. He hadn’t really eaten much since he had gotten the upgrade and his tank didn’t allow for more than one meal anyways. It tasted… sweet. The texture was interestingly grainy and gave in to force easily. Not able to stand being stared at any longer, he just shrugged and said: ‘It tastes good?’ ‘See!’, Connor grinned. ‘Gavin likes it. I can’t be that bad then!’ ‘Or your recipe was good.’ ‘Or he did something wrong and accidentally saved otherwise horrible cookies.’ Connor crossed his arms. ‘Oh, shut up, Nines, try baking something you can’t even try because it’s literal poison for you!’ Richard laughed, and it eased the mood into simpler waters.

They continued talking for a while exchanging about what they had been up to lately. Gavin listened, but was content not to be involved at all, eating the cookies Connor had prepared. He actually liked them a lot and it was quite relaxing to just munch away on them. ‘And? How did you two get to know each other?’ He froze, sharing a look with Richard. ‘Errr…’ ‘Do you know that red light at the corner of that mattress store?’ Connor frowned, then nodded. ‘Yeah, you have to wait ages until you can drive on.’ ‘Somehow timing was perfect, and we saw each other every day when my shift ended.’ He looked over to Gavin and he nodded, thanking him inwardly to not tell them his whole life story. ‘Today I decided to talk to him.’ Connor looked over to Gavin disbelievingly. ‘My brother spoke to you first?’ Gavin huffed. ‘Y-Yes, he did. I-I-I lost my family because of the revolution. Had nowhere to go. He invited me to come with him.’ ‘So you really aren’t more than strangers’, Hank asked. ‘Kind of?’, Gavin shrugged. ‘But Richard seeeems like a nice g-g-guy and I don’t have m-m-much to lose.’ Connor swallowed. ‘I’m sorry to hear that’, he said. ‘You are welcome here any day if you need a place to stay.’ The android ducked his head, blushing. ‘Richard offered that already and I agreed to try it out.’ That shifted their attention towards the man completely.

‘Nines, are you ill? Initiating conversation, bringing someone for dinner and inviting them into your home?’ ‘Fuck off, Connor, seriously. Call it a Christmas miracle.’ Connor shook his head. ‘Would be one hell of one.’ Richard threw him a look and laughed. ‘Connor, just because it’s rare it doesn’t mean it never happens.’ ‘It was awkwaaard as hell too’, Gavin added carefully. ‘Have to admit I thought he was some sort of weirdo first.’ Connor smiled as Nines rested his hand on his arm. ‘Okay, that sounds more like my brother.’

‘Really? A weirdo?’, Richard asked Gavin. ‘I thought aaaaafter our last talk you appreciated h-h-honesty.’ ‘Yeah, okay, but you don’t just tell someone they are a weirdo.’ ‘It’s the truth.’ Richard sighed. ‘I don’t think you are oooone now th-th-th-though’, he added. ‘Thanks, at least there’s that then…’ Richard looked up at Connor. ‘What?’

The other human was grinning at them both and tried to hide it badly. ‘I’m happy, Nines. Really. I’m glad you both are here today. Come on, let’s watch a movie and then presents!’

-

The longer they spent at Connor’s house, the more at ease Gavin felt. No one asked him about his past or why he was malfunctioning all over. It surely was a question that burned in their minds, he could feel it, but they consciously didn’t question him. He was just being accepted as a part of their Christmas celebration as if he hadn’t just been picked up from some scrapyard and put into nice clothing. It felt like he… Like he had been here last year and the year before. Almost like… like he belonged. Like a family. He just had to reach out a hand and take the chance Richard had offered him and all of this would turn from pretend to reality. It was weird thinking about it, especially when every connection to the word family brought up memories of loss and grief about old happiness.

But was it wrong to want this again? To wish for another chance at building new memories? He looked at Richard from the corner of his eyes. The man was completely fixed on the TV in front of them, body relaxed and close to him but far away enough not to impose or cause stress. Gavin swallowed and looked over to Connor and Hank on the other couch under a blanket lying close, Hank holding the human and caressing his hair. He could have this again. This casual comfort, these caring touches, this feeling of safety and belonging. The home he had lost and tried to build for himself in that scrapyard could be his again, if he just allowed to let it happen.

He swallowed and pressed his eyes close to block out the warnings of threat, warning, run, danger. Then he scooted over slowly until he hit Richards warm ribcage. He felt the other shift around his frozen body, then an arm was draped around his shoulders carefully. ‘This too much?’, Nines whispered near inaudibly over the movie running and Gavin shook his head. No, he wanted this, he just had to get over his own barriers. A few minutes later, he tried opening his eyes again and was surprised his systems weren’t bombarding him with errors. Instead, his status box read safe and Richard’s body was marked as friend/ally. Gavin sighed deeply, dropping into the carefree touch completely.

When Richard dared to look down the next time, the android in his arm was smiling just the slightest and his LED was circling somewhere between blue and yellow – the calmest he had seen Gavin so far. By the end of the movie, Gavin wasn’t moving anymore, the LED pulsing slowly. Nines looked over at Hank questioningly and the android nodded. ‘He’s in stasis now.’ ‘Wow’ Richard said with raised brows, looking down on the sleeping android. Connor sat up and threw them their blanket. ‘You can stay the night if you want. Guess I have to call you Tens now’, he joked. Nines huffed and answered deadpan: ‘Do that and I’ll stop talking to you to go back to Nines.’

[>next part]

[sh1tbird-shantytown]

i’ve started writing something and i’ll post it here just for spontaneity. (i’m not done with this so i’ll be adding more later on. i’ll make a tag for it if you want to follow the rest)

TW for torture (it’s not gory) and implied death

He had never planned to see the Russians-of-the-Upside-Down again. Never mind being tied to a chair and being tortured by them again. Oh, and no, he never thought he’d be revisiting the experience with Jim Hopper either. But there he was. Wrists bound behind some sharp edged, metal chair with Hopper to his back. He could only feel relieved that none of the kids or Robin were with him. They were his unofficial responsibility. At least they were away from this. The helplessness and unrelenting ache. He wasn’t even sure how Hopper looked nonetheless how he himself did. All he knew was that this was getting to be a lot worse then beneath the mall. He was almost certain that they were targeting him more. More punches the face and more kicks to his stomach. They’d even taken out a cattle prodder at one point.

It made sense. Hopper wouldn’t have much information, he had been escaping them, not breaking in like Steve had. Plus, the doctor and Ozerov both knew who he was. They didn’t like him much at all. They all shared a past or some shit.

“Steve?” Hopper’s raspy and exhausted voice carried around their confinement room. “You alright there, kid?” Steve just barely managed to pick his head up before burning struck his neck. He grunted as he let his chin lean back into his chest.

“Uh,” he coughed up a metallic taste, “Well, I’m doin’ just peachy.” He tried to shift in his chair to relieve a cramp working its way up his calf. He earned the relief but got the rope digging into his ribs in return.

He heard Hopper’s feet scuff a little behind him, ��Yeah, well, at least you can still use your ears. Maybe less of the mouth, you left a trail of blood when they brought you in here.” Steve coughed again when he tried to laugh, unsurprised.

“I didn’t even get to say anything.”

The scuffing again, “Really? Then why’d they go at you so much?”

“Well,” Steve tilted his head to the side, “I guess they didn’t like how last time went.” He stared at a spider crawling around in the floor. It was kinda big. Maybe a little too big. But he couldn’t bring himself to care. Their captors had beef with him and Steve didn’t have much to help him go on at this point. The spider crawled forward. It’s black, delicate legs and yellow spotted, bulbous abdomen didn’t quite get through to Steve head. He laughed weakly as a thought passed through. “What if they kill me?”

Hopper scoffed but he didn’t sound as doubtful as he tried to put on, “They’re not going to kill you. Calm down, kid. Keep your head straight.”

Steve nodded silently as he and the spider stayed stagnant, “Can I tell you something, Hop? Something I’ve never told anybody. Never got the chance.”

Hopper sighed in what Steve deciphered as frustration, but he agreed anyway, “Yeah, go ahead, Harrington.”

“I think I like guys,” he whispered. The spider was impossibly still for something living.

Hopper shifted again in his seat, “Oh. Uhm. That’s cool, I guess. Good for you, son. Hope you find a nice..lad some day.”

Steve nodded, “Yeah.” One of the spider’s legs moved. “Maybe.” Another shifted forward. “But I don’t think—“ The spider moved faster than Steve could have processed even in a better state. At one moment Hopper made a rumble of questioning and the next Steve was screaming as the spider bit into his neck. It’s little pinchers pierced the soft skin of his jugular. It was the size of his hand and made no noise or give as he shook his torso as much as he could. The spider unhooked itself and he felt the little legs move all around his shoulder.

“Harrington?” Hopper yelled, “Ste—“ Steve heard the man yell in shock and pain just the same. And then the door opened. Steve’s vision was getting blurry but he heard a familiar pattern of thumps stop just in front of him.

“Howdy, Ozerov,” he managed to speak with some diligence through the waves of electricity riving his veins.

“Is that your native speak?” the man asked uninterestedly. There was the squeak of wheels rolling across the floor and the clattering of the tools Steve could remember a little too clearly.

“I guess,” he shrugged limply, “No one really uses it that much. Maybe Hop does, ask him.”

“Don’t talk to him, kid,” Hopper muttered, “Lemme talk to him.” More struggling.

Now, Steve wasn’t the smartest. He’d never claim to be. But he knew that wasn’t going to cut it. His head felt too full and too empty at the same time. He tried to grip onto reality and not the black and white dots that covered his vision. “What did you inject us with now?”

“I’m not sure which one you were given,” he could hear Ozerov’s snarky grin. “The spider bit at random. One of you got a simple hallucinate and the other got,” there was a pause and then Steve could just barely make out two blue dots amongst the neutral, “Poison.”

“Fuck,” he heard Hopper curse loudly.

Steve clenched his teeth through a rather unbearable muscle spasm, “There by chance,” he breathed heavily through the surge of pain, “A way to tell which is which.”

“Well,” Ozerov tutted in mock sympathy, “Our friend over there seems to be handling his better than you so...” there was a rank puff of air that flitted across Steve’s face at the next words, “Take a guess.”

Steve felt tears gather, “Shit. Of course,” he kicked a leg out but didn’t hit anything. He struggled against the bonds again and ignored the pain of the rope burns already there.

Ozerov chuckled menacingly, “Of course yes. But we have an elixir. Do not worry. It just comes for a price.”

“What do you want from me?” he yelled.

“Where is the girl?” he felt something grip his numb shoulders, “The one that helped the infected boy? Last time. Where is Eleven?”

Steve couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, “You think I would give her up like that?” There was a beat of a pregnant pause and the the clang of metal on metal.

“No! Hey! Put that down. Don’t touch him!” he heard Hopper struggle tremendously, rattling both of their chairs even though they were bolted to the ground. “I swear to God. Do not touch him I said! Put it down! No!” The man sounded terrified and Steve felt petrified with not being able to see clearly enough to understand why. There was suddenly a icy burn on the side of his cheek.

And then another voice, “Don’t worry, the poison has already made his nerves numb. He won’t be feeling much.” His other cheek went cold and he felt them both begin to leak blood. He felt pinprickingly freezing.

“Not going to be so pretty anymore,” Ozerov chuckled beside him, “You’ll be having a closed casket.”

“You son of a bit—“ Hopper was cut off by a harsh slapping sound.

Steve felt a tug on his scalp and then...it went black with the sound of pitchy screaming.

===

He didn’t know when it was that he woke up. He opened his eyes to clear blue and the relaxing feeling of humid wind. He sat up and felt the texture of the sand he was sitting in. Grainy and loose. He cupped some in his hand and watched it sprinkle away back into the ground. There was a loud rush of water as he looked up, greeted by the ocean. Sparkling and textured in the most breathtaking way. He didn’t think he was breathing. Didn’t find himself out of breath at all like he had been before.

He was on a coast. There wasn’t a sun anywhere he could see. But it was still incredibly bright.

He stood up in a wobbly manner and turned around. It was sand for as far as the eye could see in any direction besides the vast ocean. Split in two different worlds.

He had a guess where he was and a sudden pit formed in his heart.

He gasped when he heard it; the voice.

“What’re you doing here, Pretty Boy?”

[the-northkingdoms]

Chapter 1

Ganlin Hardell had traveled across the desert of Ank’har, and he could feel the air become colder as a breeze blew across him from the North. The journey North had taken him close to a month, but sure enough, the soft sands had given way to hard rock, which gave way to dirt and grass, and Ganlin was close to being in what he thought counted as the territory of Sitar, one of the fourteen North-Kingdoms. It was a hard journey across the deserts of his homeland, but Ganlin was sure that the trek would be worth it. His homeland was growing weak, but he would travel through Sitar and the other thirteen North-Kingdoms, which were all known for their great warriors, and he would learn from them and become strong, and make his country strong again in turn. Ank’har was growing weak, with enemies on all sides, and Ganlin felt he would be able to save them. He would become strong enough to challenge the First Protector, and he could teach the warriors of his people how to be strong, and the deserts would be safe from any would-be invaders.

A smile came to Ganlin’s face as he thought about it. Ever since his childhood he had dreamt of being a hero, his head filled with tales told to him in his youth. Stories like Avilar of the Seventh Dune, who single handedly had fought off the invaders from the Savannas. Or of Taradan Flamehand, who used the power he had over fire itself to create Annikiladar the Glass City. The heroes of legend were Ganlin’s inspiration; he would become powerful like them, and he would help Ank’har to become strong as he defended it against any enemies that may come.

These were the thoughts that filled the mind of Ganlin Hardell as he walked farther North with the sun slowly heading down towards the horizon. The grass getting longer, and the land becoming greener before Ganlin’s eyes. There were strange blades of grass that stood on their own and opened up at the end of them with pieces that were soft to the touch.

Eventually, Ganlin saw buildings in the distance. They were squat and wide, built into the ground like most of the houses in Ank’har. They had a different colour to them, however; where the buildings of Ganlin’s homeland were made of light stone, these houses were crafted out of some dark material. Ganlin thought maybe it was the dirt itself, cleared of grass and stacked on itself. Curious, and eager to find a place to rest, Ganlin approached the village.

By the time Ganlin reached the village, a small crowd had gathered, staring at him. Ganlin tried to not feel put off by the attention, and walked with his back straight and his head held high.

They’re staring because you’re different, embrace it. Nobody here recognizes you. He thought to himself as he strode towards the group. Ganlin consciously tried to keep his hand away from the spirxe attached to his belt. He didn’t want them to think he was looking for violence, after all.

Ganlin stopped at the edge of town, a short distance away from the villagers. One of them, tall with dark, cropped hair and a short beard, walked up to him and stared him in the eye, only a little bit shorter than Ganlin.

“Hello Ank’haran,” they said, with a strange lilt to their voice, however slight. “What brings you to Cardeim?”

“Nothing but the need for a good place to rest my head, Nildari.” Using an Ank’hari term for farmers. “Would any of you be capable of lending me a place to rest? I already have my own food; you would need to give me none.”

The Northerner looked back to the group behind them, seeming to have a silent conversation with the other people, then looked back to Ganlin and gestured to the largest building.

“You can rest in the mainhouse tonight, Ank’haran. You can have your pick of the empty cots. And we’ve been having a bad harvest, so you better have your own food, for your own sake. I suggest you be on your way soon as you can tomorrow as well, this town has had its fill of strangers.” The villager walked back to the group behind them and spoke to them in a low voice. Ganlin took the dismissal for what it was and walked towards the large building near the middle of the village. The building was made out of overlapping plates of a strange material that was dark and grainy with a rough, bumpy texture. It was almost like hardened sand, but it somehow rougher to the touch. Running his hand up the material, Ganlin felt a sharp pain and pulled back, hissing through his teeth. Looking at his hand he saw there was a piece of the building sticking into his hand, stuck under his skin. Who made a building where it would hurt you when you touched it? Was this some sort of defense tactic used by the Northerners? Fortify their villages and cities by using a material that would actively harm any who touched it?

“Give yourself a splinter, eh?” Said a soft voice from behind.

Ganlin turned around to see one of the villagers, around his age, staring at him. Their hair was a few shades lighter than black, a brown that matched the colour of the sand dunes of Ank’har at night.

“A splinter?” He asked.

“A splinter, in your hand. From the wood?” The villager walked up to him and reached for his hand. Ganlin hesitated, but gave it to them; the splinter was in his left hand, it wouldn’t impede his ability to use his weapon if the need presented itself.

“Is that what this is called? ‘Wood’?” He asked as the villager took his hand.

“Wood, form the trees? Do you not have any trees in Ank’har? Oh, where are my manners? My name is Madelna, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Madelna, not too far from the traditional female Ank’haran name Madelina. Madelna looked up at Ganlin as she said that, and he noticed her eyes were the colour of the sky, a colour he’d never seen in anyone’s eyes before.

“A tree?” Ganlin asked. “I’ve never heard such a thing, although the word does sound familiar.” He searched his mind, thinking about the stories the ancestors told to try and come up with a mental image for a tree. “It is like tall grass, yes?”

Madelna laughed. “That’s one way to describe it, I guess. I’d say it’s much more like a tall bush. Do you have bushes in the deserts?”

“Yes, we do. They do not give us ‘splinters’ though, they are harmless, unless the leaves are poisoned, of course.”

“Ah, our bushes here are also mostly harmless.” She stopped looking at his hand, letting go of it. “Don’t worry about the splinter, it should come out in a few days. Why do you have such a strange axe with you, if you don’t mind me asking? Are you a warrior? Can you fight with it?”

“An axe?” Ganlin followed her gaze to the spirxe at his belt. “Is that what you call it? I am a warrior, yes, and I can kill with it, if I need to.”

Madelna looked to him, hope brimming in her eyes as he lowered her voice to a whisper and led him inside the village’s mainhouse.

“Do you think you could help us, Ganlin? Our Clenfather, Noldar, who you spoke with, is too proud to admit it, but we need help, desperately so. Our skla has been harassed by bandits for almost a full mooncycle now, and we are growing weak. We no longer have crops to feed ourselves, as they all go to them. Any messenger we’ve tried to send to another Skla has been intercepted. We are powerless, stranger, and we need your help.”

Ganlin stood in the doorway of the mainhouse, looking at the woman in front of him.

“Do you know how many of them there are?”

Madelna stood silent for a moment, then answered. “I’m not entirely sure, the largest group of them that’s come into town was six, but there may be a few more. No more than ten though, I think.”

Ganlin’s gut twisted. Ten men? Northmen, no less. The warriors of the North-Kingdoms were known for their terrible ferocity in battle. It was said that when enraged, they could easily kill twenty men, and this woman was asking him to fight ten of them? It sounded like suicide. Even though it pained him, he wouldn’t be able to help this village, or skla, as they called it. If he tried, it would almost certainly be the end of him, and then he would be unable to help his country.

“Maiden Madelna, I must-”

“Please. On my honour and on my blood,” She cut him off, a slight tremble to her lip. “Help us.”

Ganlin’s next words died in his throat as she said those words. His spine tingled as oaths stirred in his mind. He reached for his spirxe.

“I do not think you know what you have enacted, maiden, but still, I must follow the codes of my people. As a warrior of Ank’hara, I cannot deny a formal plea, such as the one you just made.” Ganlin unhooked his spirxe, then held out the handle towards Madelna, his left hand gripping the blade.

“If you are serious about wanting my help, then grab it, or you dishonour us both.”

As Madelna grabbed the haft with a shaking hand, Ganlin pulled his hand across the blade, cutting it open. Madelna’s eyes widened in shock. Before she could drop the spirxe, Ganlin took it from her hand, then pressed the flat of the blade first against his chest over his heart, then over his forehead as he spoke the oath etched into his mind since he first began training as a warrior.

“By the Ancient Codes of Ank’har, I am forbidden from denying the plea of one who has never taken up a weapon.” He looked at Madelna for confirmation, and she nodded her head. He continued. “One such person, someone who has never known the taste of battle, asks for my help now, and by the Codes, I must help them. By the honor in my blood, and the blood of my fathers, I will fulfill this oath: I will drive off the bandits accosting this Skal. Usad mor honis.” He wiped the blood off his spirxe with a cloth and reattached it to his belt.

“Usad mor honis? What do those words mean?” Madelna asked.

“They are words from the ancient language of my forefather’s forefather’s. It means ‘until honor dies’. I have sworn to help you, maiden, and I will, but first I must rest. Which of these bunks may I use?”

“Right, yes. Thank you. Follow me.” Madelna led him to close to the back, where there was a collection of strange blankets on the floor. “You can sleep on this one, it’s been free for a while now.”

“Thank you. I shall rest now then, and early in the morning I will set out. You have my word.” Ganlin laid down his pack beside the blankets and began undressing for bed.

“I thank you, kind stranger, for agreeing to help us. I wish you the best of luck.” said Madelna, turning around and leaving through the door.

Ganlin finished undressing to his smallclothes and got under the blankets, which seemed to be made of some sort of strange animal skin that was incredibly soft to the touch. He laid back his head and let himself relax, falling into a comfortable sleep.

Ganlin woke up to silence. Opening his eyes, he could see it was completely dark in the mainhouse, all the torches having gone out in the night. Pulling back his blankets, he felt coldness descend upon his skin. He had only just made it into the border of the North-Kingdoms, and already things were beginning to feel colder than he’d ever felt in Ank’har. He stood up and began getting dressed into his clothes and armor. He slipped his galtor-scale armor over his shirt and tightened it at the waist. Then simple iron greaves and bracers to go over his legs and arms respectively. A simple, open-faced iron helm and finally a small shield over his left arm. Tying his spirxe to his belt, he stepped outside into the cool predawn air. He felt chilled, but as he began making his way farther North the physical activity warmed him up. The dark sky started to slowly lighten as he walked. The sky turned from an inky black to a dark shade of violet.

After about thirty minutes of walking through the plains he approached a line of strange plants that he could only assume were the trees that he had heard of from Madelna. They were tall things, entirely made of the same material that the buildings were constructed out of. Bark, was that what she called it? Growing out from the bark, like a bush, were other pieces of wood that stuck out at a downward angle from the tree, and from each of those sprouted strange green leaves that were very thin and -he discovered as he touched one- sharp. Moving quietly through the trees, which was an odd experience, as his peripheral vision was severely hampered, he heard a snapping noise, not too far off in the distance. Crouching and sneaking his way forward, Ganlin spotted the source of the sound.

There was a tall man who sat on a tree that lay flat across the ground and stared out towards the tree line. The man had a tiny piece of wood in his hands that he was snapping over and over again as he kept watch. He was tall and broad shouldered, with bright hair that went far past his shoulders. The Northman wore pieces of armor that went over his shoulders, forearms, and knees. His iron cap had a piece of metal that went down the middle, Ganlin could see behind him were the sleeping forms of other people. Ganlin counted twelve men. How was he supposed to kill twelve men? Perhaps he could kill one of them and use that to drive the others off. Would the man who was awake accept the offer of a duel? Would any of the others?

“I can tell from the way you dress that you are not from here, foreigner.” The man spoke, freezing Ganlin’s thoughts. “You realize that the armor you wear sticks out like a sore thumb with all that garish colour, it doesn’t match the landscape at all.”

Ganlin looked down at his scale shirt, realizing his folly as he noticed that indeed the bright blues and reds of the Galtor scales stood out bright and noticeable from the dark green hues of the trees and grass. Seeing he was caught, Ganlin stood up and stepped forward into the clearing.

“I am Ganlin Hardell. I must ask that you leave this place. I have sworn upon my honor that I will stop you from bothering the people of the Skal that lies just south of here. I do not know how you people of the North handle such matters, but I’m willing to duel you with the simple terms that if I win, you leave.”

The Northman cocked his head to the side, analyzing Ganlin. Then he let out a laugh. A low, gurgling sound, like he was choking on food.

“HA! You swore upon the strength of your honor, did you boy? Then let us see just how strong your honor is. Tilmar, get up and wake the others, an outlander is here running his mouth about honor.”

The man stood up to his full height, which was a full head above Ganlin, and kicked at a man sleeping on the ground behind him. Tilmar, presumably. Tilmar shot awake and looked around, and then got to waking up the others at the camp. The tall man spoke again.

“I am Ragnov Klasmer. Tell me your name, I would like to know it, if we are to fight.”

Ganlin cleared his throat, and tried to clear away any fear within him with it. It had been a long time since he had fought another warrior. “I am Ganlin Hardell. I come from Ank’har.”

Ganlin could see Ragnov’s eyebrow raise.

“You are from the West, eh? I suppose that makes sense. These two are Yulnag and Ugfin. You shall be fighting all three of us.”

Behind Ragnov two men stood up and began snapping pieces of armor into place, both were almost as tall as Ragnov himself. One had leathery skin and no helmet with black hair done up in a knot above his head. The other had no hair upon his head at all, and was almost twice as wide as either of the other two Northmen. All three men had wicked grins on their faces. Ganlin felt cold in his body that went beyond the chill in the air, but tried to keep his nerves calm as he grabbed his spirxe.

“Very well, if I must fight a tourney, then a tourney I shall fight.”

Ragnov let out a low chuckle.

“A tourney? No, Westerner. All three of us at once.”

All the warriors laughed raucously as Ganlin almost dropped his weapon in shock of that prospect.

“What? All three at once? Where is the honor in that?”

“The honor is in your strength, warrior. You swore upon your honor, your very strength itself, and so, if you show us that you are strong, and filled with honor. Then perhaps we will leave.”

Ganlin tried to stand tall.

“Very well. Are we fighting until submission then, or to the death?”

“We do not have to kill each other, Westman. Until one side is too weak to continue fighting. If that means death, then that means death. But we shall see.”

Ganlin tried to steady his breath as he realized that his body was shaking, the scales of his armor making soft tinkling noises.

“Alright. When shall we begin?”

Ragnov reached to the tree he was sitting on and grabbed a sheath. From it he drew his weapon; a long blade that was almost as long as Ganlin was tall.

“We begin now. Let us see how strong your honor is.”

Ragnov charged forward.

-End of Chapter 1-

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