#it's a bit sketchy sometimes so I can't always tell what's going on

[drlamp-and-other-polyships]

Another animatic I really like!

I tried finding the artist on tumblr but I couldn't. If someone knows if they are here, I'll gladly tag them!

EDIT : They reblogged! ^^ This belongs to @thecrowslullaby so make sure to go check them out!

[tomssexdoll]

I HAVE A REQUEST its a 2010 tom/bill smut but its from his point of view.. so like his thoughts and how horny he is and how hot y/n is etc it can be all rough bc hes jealous or smth idk and in the end its all sweet and hes just so in love with her and stuff :) LOVE UR WRITING BTW

SUREEE!!! TY FOR THE SUPPORT LOVELY MWAH

PAIRINGS: Bill 2010 x Female reader CONTENT: A LIL BIT OF ANGST + SMUT + FLUFF SYPNOSIS: Bill is getting a little bit jealous of the amount of time you're spending with a certain friend, he thinks they are tearing apart your relationship and confronts you when you get home from a night out with them, but you solve things and y/n reminds Bill that he's the only one that she wants, easing his mind. A/N: SORRY IF THIS ISN'T HOW U IMAGINED IT IT'S JUST HOW I DID WARNINGS: dom!bill, reader!sub, jerking off, kissing

I waited for Y/N to come home, she was out with one of her new friends and they were spending a lot of time together, I've always had this weird feeling about them, they are just so sketchy and kinda flirty with y/n and it makes me so mad.

I do admit I have jealously issues and sometimes it can interfere with her friendships but I can't help it, she's so perfect, who wouldn't want to be with her?

I tried to tell myself I was overthinking but I just couldn't brush the thought that they were doing something to her, loving her better then I do, kissing her better, fucking her better.

Then suddenly I heard the door open, I didn't notice y/n had arrived home because I was so buried in my thoughts. I got up and kissed her head softly, pondering about whether I should confront her. I took a deep breath in and turned her around "y/n..I don't like the friend you just hung out with.." I mumbled, her face dropped and she rolled her eyes "yeah you never like any of my friends, it's always i'm spending too much time with them or i'm standing too close to them" she pushed me off and sighed, walking off.

I groaned "well maybe I wouldn't think that if you weren't so touchy with them!" she scoffed "touchy? what you mean hugging them? Bill am I not allowed to hug them now?"

"I..no.." I hesitated but she interrupted me "no! I'm sick of you letting your jealously issues get to you! it's not fair for me" she choked out a sob and stormed off, slamming the bedroom door.

I angrily sighed, all my emotions hitting me like a truck, going towards the bedroom and knocking softly "baby..please" she yelled back "no!" "fine if you want to be stubborn then be stubborn but I'm not putting up with it" I barged in, seeing her sitting on the edge of the bed, arms crossed and eyes narrowing at me.

"You're so possessive Bill, it's too much for me" she sneered, "well I wouldn't have to be if your friends weren't so touchy and weird with you!" I said, my voice slightly raising, she rubbed her temples in frustration "i'm sick of having this conversation over and over again, sit down, now" she ordered, my eyes widened a little bit at her dominance and I obliged, sitting down next to her.

She got up and sat on my lap, caressing my cheek "why are you always so worried Bill, have I ever done anything to betray your trust?" I shook my head "no..I guess not, it's just..you know how i get baby" I sighed and looked deeply into her eyes. She leaned in and kissed me softly "exactly so you have nothing to worry about, i've told you countless of times that I don't want anyone else but you Bill and it's true, it hasn't changed from the last 10 times i've told you" she sighed and buried her face into my neck, kissing it gently.

She was slightly grinding on me, I could tell she was trying to tease me and a smirk tugged at my lips, "I'll prove it to you..i'll make you feel good.." she whispered sensually in my ear and tugged at my jeans, trying to get them off.

I helped her and slid them off, along with my boxers too.

I moaned softly as she gripped my cock, slowly pumping it with her beautiful hands, "you're the only one I want Bill" she whispered in my ear as she picked up the pace, jerking my cock faster.

"Mmh.." I groaned as she rubbed her thumb over my sensitive tip, grabbing onto her hips tightly, "keep going..fuck.." I whispered, closing my eyes and letting out a loud moan. Enjoying the feeling of her small hands on my cock.

She started to pump harder, kissing my neck as she did and softly sucking the skin, leaving little love bites everywhere. "I love you so much Bill..i'm not gonna leave you so easily" she whispered softly, easing my nerves. I nodded and kept my eyes shut, biting my lip roughly as she rubbed her thumb over my sensitive tip again.

"Shit..love you so much baby" I mumbled, my grip on her hips tightening, digging my nails and leaving marks on the skin. She groaned softly at the pain, smashing her lips into mine and pumping faster "cum for me.." she mumbled against my lips, I felt tension building up in my stomach, signalling my soon to be climax.

Her pace was rough and fast, it hurt a little but it felt so good at the same time, the way her hands fit just perfectly around my cock, it was like they were made for me. Like we were meant to be together.

She was such a beautiful girl, so kind and loving, I hated that my issues got to me most of the time but that reassurance she'd gladly give me was the best part of her, the fact that she'd never give up on me so easily.

"G'nna cum baby..fuck.." I groaned, bucking my hips into her hands, she smirked and I came, shooting my cum onto her hands and arm. She went to the bathroom and washed her hands, coming back and sitting on my lap again, "see, I told you I love you and only YOU" she frowned slightly "I don't know why you never believe me", I winced slightly at her pain "baby..I don't know either..but i'm sorry i'm trying my best to be better" pushing a strand of hair away from her face.

I held the back of her head with one hand and leaned in, kissing her sweetly, our lips moving together perfectly. "I'll always love you, always be there for you" she smiled, I looked into her eyes, searching for any signs of deceit but all that was there was sincerity and pure love for me, I sighed in relief and kissed her again.

"I'm so in love with you y/n, you're perfect" I pulled away, tracing her curves softly, she giggled, that giggle that I love, the one that could make anyone who was upset, smile. She was all I needed.

[bravetimetravellingaussie]

And it feels like home

Chapter 4

Summary: Wade and Peter have a chat

Warnings: not even any bad language in this one, possible spoilers for no way home though

By the time they reached the roof, Peter's chest was heaving. It felt like he was trying to catch his breath while a waterfall was plummeting down on him.

Deadpool was saying something. Everything was drowned out by the thundering noise inside Peter's head.

"Petey!" Deadpool held Peter by the shoulders and shook him slightly.

Peter looked up at him and saw concern in the creases of his face.

"Petey, you need to try breathe, okay? It's safe to take your mask off up here if you want."

Peter walked over to the edge of the roof and stood there. His breathing calmed a little. Everything was a mess, but if there's one thing that remained, it's that Peter was good at his job.

Deadpool barely had a chance to react before he was dangling off the edge of the roof by a thread.

"I. Want. Answers." Peter let the thread drop a little and deadpool let out a small scream.

"Petey, you've got this all wrong kid, I'm on your side! Well, okay, maybe you wouldn't really agree with my methods, what with me being an r-rated hero slash antihero, but I'm one of the good guys! I'm not planning on telling anyone who you are. I mean the whole, me knowing who you are thing, I see now that that's a bit of an invasion of your privacy, although no invasion of privacy was needed for me to know, you know I just know things sometimes that others don't. You know in the comics we're a lot alike, you also speak to the guys on the other side of the screen, but the MCU decided to make you a bit less comic-booky, I don't know why really, but hey if you want I can tell you who I am, I'll answer any questions you have you don't need to dangle me off a building. I will say if you drop me you should probably get out of here though, my boyfriend wouldn't hurt a kid but he gets scary when he's angry. I'm Wade Winston Wilson by the way, quick story of my life: I was military, then mercenary, then very sketchy science experiment, and now I'm trying my best to be a hero."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

Wade hesitated. Even as he dangled so many stories above the ground, somehow he still looked more concerned for Peter than he did for himself.

"The answer is you can't trust me. You can't trust anyone right now. But everyone needs people. Door's always open."

Peter felt that awful tearing inside, the need to keep everyone at arms length battling it out with the desire to let someone, anyone, get close.

Peter sighed and started pulling Wade up onto the roof.

"You won't regret this, Petey."

"No, I won't." Peter shot webs at Wade till he was certain he wouldn't be able to get away.

"The offer still stands! Indefinitely!"

Jumping from one roof to the next, Peter slowly made his way to his old high school. He could manage without his webs but it was slow going. Everything was buzzing before but now he couldn't find the energy within to care. There was a rather dark and morbid part of Peter that wondered whether he was glad or not that the man couldn't be killed. Glad. He was glad. Peter focused on that thought.

As the world darkened for him, he found his thoughts sometimes darkened too. But maybe that was a part of growing up. Maybe it was a part of what it meant to be a hero, to keep going and keep helping and keep trying even when everything around you and inside you was dark.

Lost in thought, Peter managed to find his way without even noticing he had reached his destination.

Every time he came here was the same, pain and joy and sorrow and wonder all mushed together in a messy package. Part of him wanted to close this door forever. But another part relished these moments. Memories are fallible, and especially hard to trust when there is no one alive to share them with. Coming back here made him feel a little more sane. It was comforting, to know without a doubt that it was all here, that it was all real, just as it had been. The place he lived now was a hollow box, but this was home. Eerily empty but warmed by the phantoms of memory.

Peter made his way to the science lab and got to work.

[lemongogo]

what's your process for coloring like? the look of that elendira is so textured and interesting, i can't figure out how you do it

AA THANK YOUU ^__^ !! textures & brushwork are my favorite things abt my art, so im happy you find it interesting hehe . its SOO cool to look at & so much fun to draw imo

i prefer to color by building in layers , if that makes sense 🤔!! hundreds of them !! such that i'm always drawing on Top of previous layers, working from big & messy blocks of color to, eventually, small and refined blocks of color until it feels processed enough. as a result, i rarely ever erase (!!) and i rarely ever draw lineart aside from the initial sketch

a rough, patchy textured brush is key here, as it'll give you dimension and variability w/ your colors. i recommend "Brush and various sets of fountain pen style (万年筆風ブラシと色々セット)" on Clip Studio (ID: 1679706) !! :3

im terrible with explanations though, so i'm going to show a step by step of that elendira drawing if you dont mind :3

sketch layer !! because i mostly render through color alone, i try to make this as close to the finished thing as possible . ^__^ i hateee drawing the same thing over and over and like the expressivity and movement of my sketches anyways , so the more i can preserve at this step, the better. if u were to look at a side by side of my sketches and finished pieces, youd notice a lot of those og lines are present in the final drawing :3

2. flats !! pretty self explanatory, but the solid background gives me an idea of where the figure begins & ends while the colors themselves help distinguish whats what . i stick to ambient lighting @ this point because im usually not sure what i want to do with the overall palette or lighting yet . having two tones (ex, dark and light in her hair or dark and light on her skin) can also help in identifying key features early on that u wanna preserve. as you build layer by layer, sometimes these areas will remain untouched and i think it makes for a rly lovely feel at the end

3. start blocking !!! to be totally honest with you, i dont really know what i do here HAHAHA. like i just scribble the shit out of it, usually focusing on what i might want to do with lighting (ex: grey areas to accentuate folds in her costume). i think i like to start "erasing" the sketch where possible by coloring on top of it .. like if you look at her hat or her arm , you can tell i'm starting to get a sense of the shapes i like vs the ones i dont. it's at this point that the final image starts to emerge in my mind , like im gradually pulling her from a tarpit of scribbles until shes recognizable lol. chipping away at the marble until i can free her. tbh.

4. keep blockingg...when u think u are done , block some more . as you can probably see, the brushwork becomes more intentional as i add more shape, with specific focus on line weight. this is also where the patchiness of that textured brush comes in - notice how none of the colors seem totally uniform (ex: the red cross or the original sketchlines for her waist). you can see bits and pieces of the layers underneath pushing through and i really like that !! ^__^ its very fun and sketchy to me, so i try to keep them around. those areas are also great to colorpick from, because it'll give you "new" colors to work w/ that are already part of your palette.

5. GRADIENTS & GRADIENT MAPS !! TONE CURVE !! COLOR PICKER !! this is the best stage tbh. flatten your image so its all on one layer and just go crazy with all the color settings in ur program. add gradient layers and set them to darken, or overlay, or subtract, orrr. lighten or dodge glow or divide or soft/hard light.! OR!! edit the hue, saturation, luminosity and contrast.and then color pick from these edits, block even more on top of ur image, flatten, color edit again, etc. etc. until u feel satisfied.

ANYWAYSS . i hope that makes sense @__@ sry i wrote this out and deleted it like 23 times trying to make it make More sense but thats what ive got HAHA i hope its useful though :3 !

[kowaindar0u]

Hi... It's me again.

At least... I think it is.

I feel... different.

That's an understatement.

Something is wrong... but I don't know what. I feel exhausted and sick. Like deathly sick, like I may actually, seriously die. My whole body hurts, like... like every bone feels sore somehow.

I woke up, or came to, or... I don't know. I woke up walking down the street, I guess on my way home, just an hour ago. I don't know what happened, where I was the last several days.

Several days. Fuck. I've already missed four days of work-- I mean. I assume... For all I know, I went and just don't remember.

Either way, I can't work like this. I feel like I should be getting nice and cozy inside a grave instead.

But worse than that... I'm scared. Like I should be constantly checking over my shoulder, or that something real bad is going to happen real soon...

And... I feel... hungry. But the thought of actually eating anything makes me feel sicker than I already do.

I'm here, in my closet. I don't know why. It just feels like the most comfortable, safe place I can be. I don't want to leave.

I should probably go to a doctor with how utterly sick I feel but... I'm scared to do that, too. Maybe I'll just... rest...

I just woke up. Slept for like two hours. I had a nightmare, but I can't remember anything about it. Just...it was dark, and I feel sicker, and hungrier, and... now the side of my neck kind of burns.

Maybe... Maybe I'm having some kind of allergic reaction or something...

We both know I'm just trying to come up with possible excuses to try and keep from freaking myself out too much. I have no fucking idea what's wrong with me.

[a few days later]

I'm not dead yet. I feel like I should be.

But... I think I know why I'm not.

Saseki came over.

He said he hadn't heard from me in over a week and he was worried.

I... I told him I had just been sleeping too much again. It wouldn't have been the first time I just... Slept constantly because I couldn't handle being awake. The depression sleeps, you might say. And then I said I thought I might be coming down with something.

It feels awful to lie to him. But I didn't know what was wrong. What could I tell him? I don't want him to worry. Besides, he's supposed to be moving in in a couple of weeks.

I hope by then I can figure out how to be around him.

The whole time he was here, I kept getting distracted. I could hear his heart beating. I don't think he was nervous, you know?

Then he nicked his finger using a knife to cut a cake he brought, and... I could smell the blood. From across the room. And I wanted to taste it. Desperately.

I don't even want to write this. It sounds fucking ridiculous.

But I think I'm a vampire.

I finally got it up to check that spot in my neck that hurts sometimes-- not as much anymore-- and... It checks out. Two little scars.

It doesn't really explain what happened though. Why there are four days I just have... completely blacked out.

Why I'm still constantly afraid-- more than I was before.

I don't know what to do.

[about a week later]

I feel... better.

at least physically. a little.

I had always heard about this particular nightclub being a bit sketchy, and the alley behind it even more so.

The inside is loud and full of people. The alley is (supposedly) full of shady criminals with knives and guns.

I think I prefer the alley.

There had always been rumors of so-called black market dealings going on there. Turns out...some of them are true. Sort of.

I felt so out of place there. But one man seemed to clock me immediately. He seemed to be a vampire too, but I'm sure my tremors were giving me away, if nothing else. He sold me ten packs of blood at a discount because I was a first-time buyer.

I came home and drank one, and... and another one. And another one. I stopped myself-- even with the discount, they weren't cheap. But three of them seemed to kind of be... Enough.

I feel... okay. Still kind of sick. Still kind of hungry.

But okay.

I think I can deal with 'okay.'

[starlightshadowsworld]

This might be a bit long since I have a lot of questions-

1. Does behind the hockey mask Casey ever struggled to get his family by? Like I'm going to assume he pays the apartment bills, does he ever struggle with to pay?

2. What was April's reaction when she first meet Casey in your Raph adopts feral cat Casey au? I mean he's a 14 year old that acts like a cat and is kinda quiet.

3. Do you remember that one episode were the 7 are fighting Super Shredder and he trys to throws Raph off a building. The only reason why Raph didn't fly off the building was because Casey skated in between Raph and the ledge. Well Casey ends up flying off the building and almost falls to his death, but he managed the grappled hooked himself to a balcony barely though. What if he's grapple hook failed? (I like angst)

There was another question but I can't remember it...oh well :)

Thanks for these!!!

1. Yup yes he does.

I mean Casey basically lost both his parents and had to raise Angel when he was 12.

So you can imagine it was hard for him to get money.

Not many people wanted to hire a 12 year old. And he had to figure out how to pay said bills.

It took a while before he could get to where he is now, and he got fired multiple times from jobs.

For being unable to show up to his shifts, either he was bad injured, passed out, his dad having the mother of all hangovers and needed looking after or just being unable to get Angel a babysitter.

And it's gotten, somewhat easier with Angel being older but she's still a kid.

But Casey worries about money a lot, he works in sketchy areas and odd hours, some treat him like a nuisance, others pretend he's invisible.

Few actually see a scared kid, like Mr Murakami and allow him to bring Angel with him and slip him tips at the end of the night with leftovers.

And that's without mentioning that Arnold has stole Casey's money for rent and food at times to go hit the bar.

So Casey has to hide it too.

.

.

2. Hehe their meeting was actually a reunion.

See April knew Casey, sorta.

They went to the same school as kids, they didn't know each other but they were aware of who the other was.

Like not friends but in the same class sorta thing.

And at times saw him wandering about and just... Befriended him by sharing her snacks with him.

Because that's what she did with stray cats so... Why not a person?

Food = love

And just yeah got him to see she wasn't a threat and she would talk about who knows what.

Sometimes asking him questions but he never answered so she stopped.

Casey never really responded, just nomming on the snack. But he always met her in the same spot.

She was very worried when he went poof.

When they met the turtles were trying to give her a talk like what to expect and hey our friend is a lil different but he's very sweet you just gotta be patient.

... Only for Casey to light up, wander over and nuzzle her cheek.

Which made her giggle and hug him like Casey!

.

.

3. That scene is like, embedded in my brain.

I like to think he'd make it, but be horribly injured fighting through on pure adrenaline because of the rush of the fight.

Uses last of his strength to close the rubbish disposal crusher... Thingy on Shredder after Splinters passing.

Everyone is so busy looking at mourning Splinter they don't notice.

Or the blood that quickly spilling from Casey's trembling body.

Raphs the first.

Running to him and steading him as Casey sways and falls into his arms.

"Can't hurt... You now..."

He wheezes.

That's when they all see Shredders corpse.

"Case..."

"Raph.."

"I'm here, Casey I'm here."

Casey blinks and pokes his cheek with a giggle but Raph is pained.

"Tell.. Angel... Love her"

"Tell her yourself, asshole." He says but the bite is gone.

"Raph"

"I'm here, still here Jones."

"H-hur..." Casey coughs up blood onto his hand.

Raph feels his own run cold.

Begging Casey to stay with them as they begin to get him and Leo to safety.

Casey ends up blacking out, barely able to make a weak peace sign before his arm drops still.

And you could have it he dies from his injuries in Raphs arms.

Or

And what I prefer 😅

Casey falls into his own coma. Donnie works so hard to stabilise him, but much like Leo no one knows if its enough.

Leo everyone knows hell wake up, it's just the wait that's killing them.

Casey tho... Casey's lucky to be alive.

Casey's body is covered with injuries.

It hits them how lucky he is to have survived this long.

How much he's done for them.

Unlike Leo, Casey wakes up at times, barely aware and not even knowing where he is.

Sometimes he's begging for his dad to stop.

Sometimes he's comforting Angel.

And other times staring blankly.

He's never awake for long.

He wakes up properly after Leo does.

I like to think he pulls an Oracle from Batman, unable to fight so much anymore he works on his tech know how and is the guy in the chair.

Tho it takes him a long while to get to being okay with that.

Casey Jones has always been a fighter.

When he thought he was done for he protected his people, his family, avenged Leo and Splinter.

Just him being the one to be helped now, and just having long term issues and disabilities such as having frequent migraines, losing his hearing and having chronic pain because he can't boubce back from it all like nothing anymore.

Raph having to deal with that guilt and doing his darndest to help him thro it.

Casey having to accept help, feeling powerless, grieving himself and learning to accept help and that he's not okay.

And he and Leo supporting each other because they both find understanding in the other.

The protector being the protected.

(Casey still drives speed Demon tho, he'd do anything for the others. I'd say Donnie was the OG driver but after he got possessed Casey took the wheel.

He luckily didn't get hurt any worse.)

Sorry that was hella long I hoped I answered them well 😅😊

[fairyhaos]

yena !! i hope u still remember me ʕ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴥ⁠ꈍ⁠ʔ it's the wind chime anon !! 🎐

how have u been omg (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) i had my exams last month n i have da notifs on for way too many blogs on here so i just uninstalled tumblr instead,,, but im back now (i was about to send this ask sooner (2 days ago ?) but i was a bit scared lmao,,, but i just saw ur post about shua so i had to come and say hi >:3) but wahh congrats on all ur milestones ! before i left i think u were about to start ur 500 followers event ! ! n i think u crossed 1234 already !! and probably even more ! that's supa cool n 'm so so proud of you ☆૮꒰ˊᗜˋ* ꒱ა also i love love love ur new theme *ଘ(੭*ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩

ooo n about finding jeonghan's colour,,, u looked at his pictures to figure out what colour he is ?? that's super intriguing actually. bcs the thing is idk if i have this type of synesthesia,,, im afraid what im doing is just strongly associating colours with people ? like the aspects of their personality play a major role in determining their colour but similar to the process of getting to know someone, it's v hard for me to decide on their colour. for example, jihoon. it's like, , the more i see him the more i feel like i don't even know him yk? for hansol, even tho i don't know what his colour is, i can at least tell that his colour would most prolly be a cooler shade. but for jihoon n sometimes even mingyu i can't rly figure them out? it's like i have options but i don't know for sure. n i don't rly know if this is synesthesia ?? lmdoajdjska i think i should just take the test by synesthesia battery but im just scared lmao </3

anygays i read the rest of your synesthesia posts and wahh, , yena ur just so talented. ur so cool ! ! i rly don't know what else to say. you have a way w words and it's as if i can feel the colors permeating through the descriptions. honestly it's such a gift to be able to share your vivid perception with others and i just wanna thank u for that (⁠✿⁠^⁠‿⁠^⁠) i have sm to say about each member's colour and esp shua's but this got rly long so i'll do that in another ask ?? heh >:3

-🎐

WIND CHIME ANON OMGGGG YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I MISSED YOU :<

i hope you've been doing okay!! how did your exams go????? literally i'd be sitting here and just thinking :(( i hope wind chime anon is doing okay in this world :(( haha ive missed you sm

it's okayy there's no need to be scared im super nice!! (i think?) thank u sm for loving my new theme too haha i love it a lot as well

and abt jeonghan: yeah! honestly synaesthesia is a really really different experience for anyone so i like to think of it as one of those sexuality labels. if you feel like it fits, then you're allowed to use it! those tests online are sketchy af anyways unless you wanna pay for a Real and Scientific Test

i think assigning colours to vibes and personalities is very interesting though!! i don't think i could do that haha, personalities have always just been so complex and different for me that a colour just doesn't come to mind at all (i don't think my synaesthesia works in that way lmao) so that's really really fascinating! honestly tho,,, im also struggling w jihoon too and maybe that's bc i haven't spent several minutes just Staring at his face yet but i just have a gut feeling that he's gonna be one tough cookie

aww thank u so much please that's so lovely to hear ^^ that really makes me the happiest oml, being told that people are able to feel my writing and my descriptions <3

aww yess please do lmk what you think of the others !! it's so nice to see you in my inbox again 💗

[ceresprime]

Hello there!

I’m in the UK and apart of my county’s only regiment. Historically speaking. It’s rather funny but regardless - I was talking with the sergeant about joining up myself (having a ton of experience with Napoleonic drills and weaponry+combat, etc) and he said that sure, of course. There’s only one woman (she uses horse hair mutton chops and glues em, very cool imo) as one of the men and the sergeant mentioned that a lot of other HRA groups are very strict about having women join as enlisted soldiers. As I mentioned, we’re quite tiny and the only regiment in the county. Seems you do a lot more high scale type stuff, very well known wars and battles. Does that same rule apply over there? I’d imagine it to be quite strict, but I was just curious. Cheers!

Women in Reenacting

The rules here are sometimes just as strict--historical reenacting is a white male dominated hobby. Some organizations that coordinate separate groups still don't allow women to join the ranks as male soldiers (on paper at least). It really depends on the individual group and is often safest\* to join one with other women.

I find that if you do the work with the right people and do your homework (i.e. research the history of the people you portray, what they did and how they looked), you'll be just fine.

I'm glad you found a group that you can join, have fun!!

Appearance

Like you mentioned, you have to make sure you're portraying a man properly. I'm lucky to not have to worry about facial hair since generally men were cleanshaven in the American War of Independence, so I wish you luck with the mutton chops! Do your best to look more manly, even something as silly as tucking in your shirt more to the front of your pants, or manspreading rather than crossing your legs when you sit. I style my hair the same way as the men who wear wigs, in a late 18th century club. (I've been wanting to chop all of my hair off, but I'm refraining until after the 250th anniversary events to be most accurate.)

On the aspect of uniform, since you're portraying the Napoleonic Wars, you'll have a bit less gear but still quite a lot. (This might be TMI, bear with me.) I highly suggest planning bathroom breaks between formations/battles/etc so you can go without crossbelts, cap, or coat. As someone who's dunked their bayonet scabbard in the toilet, trust me, you'd rather have less gear to deal with.

I also tend to try lowering my voice when yelling "huzzay" during bayonet charges and the like. From a distance during a battle, the public generally can't tell male from female since you're all wearing the same uniform.

Social Things

When interacting with the public, be prepared for lots of condescending "well there weren't actually women soldiers, were there?" but also be prepared for the cute little girls who run up to you in a parking lot asking "is it okay that you're a girl? can I do that too?". I like to answer these questions the same way: play along with the scenario. I always react with surprise as if no one else can see that I'm a woman and tell them not to tell my officers. I like to pretend that I play the role of Hannah Snell or Deborah Sampson or (fictional) Louisa Baker, and use this as an opportunity to tell their stories. But don't forget to add something about women who portray women, i.e., camp followers being sutlers and soldiers' wives. (I can elaborate on this topic in another post.)

There's a great interview from a woman in my RA unit here if you'd like to hear another perspective.

I appreciate this ask, although I've attempted to make my online presence as boyish as possible so I guess I've failed in that lol. I'd really prefer if I personally could be seen as a "none of the above" gender, but no matter how I dress I will inevitably be seen as female which brings its own problems.

\*These problems being safety. As a young person who looks clearly female, it's simply more likely for sketchy people (reenactors or the public) to pick me out. I'd like to think everyone is good, but it's simply not the case. This is why women tend to join units with other women, especially at overnight events where alcohol is involved. I do not want to scare you. I am telling you to 1. find a good group who will look out for you and 2. be aware of your surroundings (if a guy gives you bad vibes, leave and find your people).

TL;DR Try to appear like a man but be aware that you are a woman: use this to educate the public but also be safe!

[daisychainsandbowties]

I am sorry if this is getting annoying, but honestly I can't let this AU go and I have more questions.

So, about Bea's dragon's name:

Would the name she gives her be "Jeanne d'arc"? Or did you mean it's just "Darc"? Because I'm having this funny image of Bea's dragon--like this all regal-looking Celestial--having not just 2 names, but also different nickname variations. Like she might be called Jeanne, and some people call her Darc, and then some Chinese OCS crew comes to visit and calls her by her royal Chinese name.

So later, Avernus (who at this point is still kind of like at odds with Bea's dragon because they're still both jealous of each other), asks, "wtf is your name!?" in a very annoyed tone.

She would be so haughty about her royal Chinese name to Avernus.

And what does she look like? Would she look like Tem? Like shiny black and blue? (Because that would be funny next to Avernus' white and gold because of that dress. Well, funny to me, not in-world because they haven't invented the internet yet.)

goodness no this is certainly not annoying!

oh, I do think that Beatrice would go for broke with her dragon’s name. & yes, it would be the full Jeanne d’arc, but using the earlier formulation of that surname as a nickname (because it is Beatrice) dropping the apostrophe so that, instead, you have Darc; and pronouncing it in her own accent to sound more like the English ‘dark’.

I think, considering this is Tem’s child, she would have the usual Celestial colouring, with very deep black scales, but because I think it’d be cool I’m also going to draw some sketchy biological relations between dragon wings and butterfly wings and say that Darc has patches of iridescence in her wings, where the light scatters it into these reflective patches of turquoise and green and red and blue, though indoors it simply appears to be greenish-blue, and the patterning is in sort of a spattering of patches at the very end of her wings (like Tem). they catch the light very prettily, but mostly she is dark, like her namesake, with face tendrils that also tend a bit more upwards in wavelength towards green from blue, and also iridescent.

and yes, the european ocs treat her like any other dragon - which is to say with friendly and casual love - wheras the Chinese members of the ocs remain quite formal and respectful with her, which frankly she enjoys, and she likes to be called by her Lung-Tien name sometimes. she is, indeed, haughty about it, and prone to becoming a little big-headed, which Beatrice finds amusing and Ava thinks is utterly adorable, but Avernus call them both ‘rotten fools’ for indulging her, when he is, after all, the most important dragon. 

and yes, Avernus who has 1 (one) name though of course it is the BEST name because it is his name, thinks this is absurd, and pretends to forget what to call Darc half the time, especially when she is annoying him and telling him how to hold himself on parade blah blah. 

Darc especially becomes insufferable when they are forced to land and camp in aerial corps holdings. she wants to impress upon everyone that female handlers are superior and that the ocs is an extremely prestigious organisation (though the corps aren’t really apprised of what the ocs do, much, at least not to common knowledge). 

omg yes they are The Dress dragons. but also they do look extremely striking together, which they almost always are. Darc is again quite smug about her comparative stealthiness at night, and Avernus insists they ought to go somewhere very cold and see how she blends in with the snow, thank you very much, and anyway he is not meant to go sneaking about because he is, again, the Most Important dragon. 

[draconicfool]

🕯️ [[ u know the drill, add in luka for funsies if u want ;) ]]

Sampo: @koskiisms

Other people think he's annoying and sketchy, but that's the man that I love. Even if sometimes he can be a bit of a pain. There's nobody that I adore more than him in this world. If the day came- I'd like to settle down with him, here in Belobog. If Fools were allowed things like a happy marriage and a family. I'd want one with him on this frozen planet that we call a home. I'd want to stay with him forever. So long as the Laughter allows us. So long as the love that we share is enough-. That's more than enough for me.

Boothill: @booty-hill

Rude Ranger! Always making me worry about him when he goes away! Doesn't he know I just want to hold him tight and keep him there so he doesn't disappear or die on me? What's so hard about being in love that he can't just stay a little longer?! But- it is cute when he plays with the rats. And when he holds me when he does finally come home...I feel safe. As if the world could stand still while I'm in his arms and everything would be alright. I want that feeling forever, though...and I'm always so- sad when our time has to come to an end. Even if I know it's coming.

Svarog: @svarxg

Some people might say having two metal husbands is a bad idea. But let me tell you something! I really enjoy getting to ride around on his shoulders when he lets him. Or when I get to fall asleep all curled up in his jacket while we wait for a certain Ranger to get home. And when I get to lay all squished up between them I feel like I'm at home. Wrapped up in their arms for as long as we can be. Svarog at least is around always, so when I feel lonely I can just go bother him at the robot settlement. And I can sit in his lap or we can watch the boys play on the little obstacle courses he makes for them. If a robot can't feel love, then I don't think he's actually a robot. Because he shows me through his actions just how much he cherishes me. And that's what matters.

Jing Yuan:

Sometimes he asks me how many times I'm going to get in trouble before I learn my lesson. I always tell him just one more. Love is a game of chase, almost. Especially with a General who enjoys putting me right into my place when I'm pushing buttons. But- even despite that, when he's gentle, he can treat me like a treasure. Curl up around me as if he were a kitten and hold me so tight. I almost don't want to leave that embrace. Even if I know that I'm the one who needs to return home at some point. For awhile...I can pretend that the Xianzhou is still my home. So long as he's there, loving and holding me so tightly when I need it.

Luka:

Here I thought I was the only one allowed to get away with teasing. There's something about the way he looks at me before his fights. Even during, sometimes. When he notices that I'm watching him with baited breath. As if he's putting on a show for me and only me, even if I know it's for Boulder Town. That look drives me crazy, really. And every time he wins I can't help but be in his arms. Like I'm his arm candy while he talks on and on about the fight and how he can't wait for the next one. I'm like something precious in those moments. Awash in the glow of his excitement and my own never-ending adoration. My Luka...I don't want him to let me go. If he knew that I wasn't human...would he still stay by my side?

inner thoughts || accepting

[wondernus]

- ̗̀ 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 ˎˊ-

✏︎ pairing: teacher!vernon x teacher!yn (gn)

✏︎ synopsis: falling for the young and flirty high school history teacher is inevitable especially when he pays for your groceries and calls himself your work husband

✏︎ genre: fluff, romance, comedy

✏︎ warnings: food/drinks, innuendos, insecurities, language, mutual pining (you know that feeling you get when you really like somebody but you can't bring yourself to tell them so all you can do is enjoy the moment that you're spending with them? it's that), skinship, spirit week/rallies should be a warning itself imo, everything that happens in the last chapter

✏︎ wc: 8.8k

✏︎ a/n: the full vernon work husband fic is finally here ahh!! this one is dedicated to those with secret crushes and those who are too shy to confess. I hope this au can give you a bit of comfort, joy, and happiness. please let me know if I missed any warnings! + comments and reviews are always appreciated. I finished editing this A LOT faster than I imagined so pls enjoy my bbs &lt;3

“I need you to go on a double date with me.”

Your friend’s question appears out of nowhere and catches you off-guard. Some of the latte you drink dribbles out of your mouth, runs down your chin, and splatters on your slacks. Your friend quickly leans over the table and takes your cup out of your hand, handing you some napkins. You wipe your chin and dab away at your slacks, groaning at the thought of returning to class and standing in front of your science class with prominently stained pants – cinnamon oat milk flavored if it honestly matters.

“Absolutely not,” you put the soaked napkins on the table and grab a wet wipe from Jeonghan’s stretched hand. He learned to always be prepared when it comes to you – it’s not very often he doesn’t see you with some weird stain on your clothes; after all, you are an Environmental Science teacher. 

“Come on, Yn,” he whines while you rub furiously at the stain with the wipe. “I didn’t even tell you when or where the date is going to take place. How could you reject me so quickly?”

“Jeonghan, I really don’t have time right now,” you sigh and drop the wipe next to the wet napkins. He stares at you with pleading eyes, his hands in prayer. “You know how busy I get whenever Spring Break is almost here. We have midterms this week, there’s the spirit rally, and not to mention my errands…” you trail.

“But what if the person I’m meeting is sketchy?” he sulks.

“Then they should be the one afraid because you’re the sketchiest person I know,” you exclaim. “Where did you even meet them in the first place?”

“Tinder,” he takes a sip of his Iced Americano and places the glass cup back down on the beige café table.

“You know what…” you let the thought marinate in your head for a brief moment. “You’re right. They actually might be sketchier than you are.”

He quickly nods his head in agreement. To him, this is a more than good enough reason for you to go on the double date with him.

“But I’m not going on a double date with you. People already get the wrong idea about us.”

.

In the middle of the same café, Seungkwan thanks the barista at the cash register and walks over to the side of the counter to wait for his coffee. While stuffing his wallet into his back pocket, Seungkwan’s eyes gloss over the several artisanal coffee bean bags and teas on display along the white café walls before his eyes wander to the several people sitting in the café. His head gently bops to the music playing in the background while he people watches. There are a few college students hunched over their laptops and a couple of people near the windows having lunch. Sitting in the corner of the room is a familiar face he’s seen on social media and sometimes in passing when he drops by Vernon’s classroom for lunch.

You seem to be bantering with the guy sitting across from you, but Seungkwan can’t hear anything from where he’s standing. From the looks of it, his friend’s earlier apprehensions about your lunch plans seem to be confirmed. His cellphone vibrates in his hand, and he flips it open to look at the text from the same friend who stayed up worrying last night:

[text from: nonie]

nonie: wyd? i'm bored rn bc yn isn't here

kwan: apparently looking at yn on a date

nonie: should I be concerned?

kwan: yeah you should be bc he's pretty handsome

kwan: should be you tho

nonie: see? I told you it was a date bc they styled their hair differently

kwan: but don’t people normally dress differently for dates?

nonie: but yn always dresses nicely bc they spend too much time deciding what they're going to wear for the day. like they even take into consideration the weather changes throughout the day.

nonie: so nice hair = extra effort

kwan: I’m begging you to go get a life

nonie: bro call me

kwan: i'm picking up my coffee now. byeee

.

“You see my wallet?” Jeonghan opens his black wallet in front of him like a picture book for you to see. He tips it forward and opens it slightly so you can see the bills stacked neatly against each other. “I will literally pay you to go on this double date with me. If anything, maybe the friend will be hot and Vernon will get jealous and actually ask you out.”

You roll your eyes at him and motion for him to put his wallet away. You can’t believe he came prepared with his monetary bribe. “But Vernon doesn’t seem like the type to get jealous.”

Your phone pings and three consecutive messages wake your screen:

[text from: work husband]

work husband: I miss you. my lunch sucks today :P

work husband: I’m eating in my classroom today bc I’m avoiding Carl

work husband: fucking Carl

Jeonghan’s eyebrow arches while you try your best to avoid replying to Vernon. Not the type to get jealous my ass, Jeonghan thinks while reluctantly putting his wallet away. Telling you to do your hair differently was his idea. So, if his plan worked, Vernon probably sent you messages because he thinks you’re on a date with somebody. 

“How about you ask out Vernon yourself?” Jeonghan takes his provided fork to prod at his forgotten slice of cake in the middle of the table. He knocks off the strawberry at the top of the cake and plunges his metal fork into the tip of the cake. The fluffy spongey matcha cake that sandwiches diced strawberries and fresh crème fraiche? A perfect mouthful. 

His question doesn't mean anything in particular. Jeonghan usually asks you whatever he thinks, but you’re glad you aren't drinking anything this time. If you did, your latte was absolutely going to end up anywhere but in your mouth. So while Jeonghan enjoys his dessert, you’re faced with another problem:

“How? I don’t even know if he flirts with me because it’s a part of his work husband act or if it’s because he actually likes me.”

“You bring him lunches every day and he pays for your groceries. I’ve tasted your cooking before,” he says in between bites. “There’s no way that man isn’t in love with you.” He places his fork down and reaches over, taking a sip of his Iced Americano to cancel a bit of the cake’s sweetness. He nods in delight. Going to this café for afternoon tea was honestly such a good idea. 

“You know I only bring lunches for him because I always end up cooking extra,” you grumble while thinking about whether or not you should answer his texts.

Your phone pings again. Jeonghan props his elbow on the table and lazily rests his cheek against his knuckle. He notices you itching to pick up your phone and sighs to himself. He’s now halfway through his cake while your apple pie sits in front of you, idle and long forgotten. He thinks that maybe if he feeds you some of his cake you would forgive him for eating your slice.

“I’m literally your best friend. Shouldn’t I be the one you’re cooking for?” he huffs.

Your phone is in your hand. You’ve managed to go a few minutes without replying back to Vernon. Jeonghan is secretly proud of you.

He waves his fork in front of your lip to offer you a bite of the cake. When you notice, you open your mouth to accept his offer.

Fuck yes, he thinks after he sees you close your mouth and chew. He immediately reaches over to swap his half-eaten plate for yours.

[text from: work husband]

work husband: oh I signed us up for crowd control for this Friday’s spirit rally because I know you don’t want to participate in the spirit rally games.

work bb: oh thank god. I completely forgot signups were today.

work bb: if I knew I was going to have to attend spirit rallies again I would’ve never become a high school teacher

work husband: but you wouldn’t have met me :c

Jeonghan leaves his seat to walk to your side while you quickly reply back to Vernon. He tries to look over your shoulder while you shrug him off, turning your body toward the window. Jeonghan is positive that there is no way Vernon isn’t in love with you.

“Anyway,” Jeonghan gives up and returns back to his seat. “I already told my date you agreed to the double date. See you this Saturday.”

“What?” you look up at your best friend and he shrugs while picking up the half-eaten slices of cake and pie.

“Our lunch break is almost over. I’m going to go get these wrapped so you can take them with you to work. Can you throw away our trash? I’ll come back for the drinks.”

[text from: work husband]

work husband: I think some students are filming tiktoks outside my room. I’m going to go scare them.

You tell Jeonghan to order you another cake while he’s getting yours boxed at the counter.

chapter two: gymnasium; spirit rally

It honestly did not make sense at all that Friday’s Spirit Week theme would be called “Tie-Dye Friday,” when Tuesday or Thursday are arguably days that better suit the theme. Nevertheless, you’re standing with Vernon at the side of the school gymnasium wearing the sweatshirt he lent you during the few minutes before your second period class started. Your little interaction certainly caught the attention of some students, and it has been the subject of a majority of their conversations. Because when you have two young and hot teachers at your school who seem to be really close friends, word spreads, and ships sail.

The two of you were hired at the same time two years ago, both fresh out of college with a teaching certificate in hand. It is a pretty distinguished school district, a district that receives awards every year for its rigorous pedagogy. In all honesty, you and Vernon landed your jobs by an extreme stroke of luck. This school district? Hiring not one but two new teachers with little to no teaching experience? There were a few positions open because some teachers were retiring. The teacher who was hired before you had to leave the job for personal reasons, and the teacher hired after that one never showed up for training. It kept going on. You were their last option. Putting pride aside, you were just happy someone decided to hire you. But maybe it was the same stroke of luck that brought the two of you together.

You met Vernon during the summer orientation and quickly became friends, realizing that the two of you had to stick together to try to make it through your first year of teaching. Your classrooms are close together, and he would stop by for a quick chat during breaks, coming over to tease you or disrupt your class. You don’t know what he is doing half the time, but he’s a good teacher. His class is relatively easy as long as you do the studying, and the tests are hard enough that you can’t bullshit your way through and expect an A – they’re in essay question formats after all. Despite his easygoing personality and calm demeanor, rumor says that he’s the strictest person when it comes to testing season. (Mafia boss the students call it.) 

But here you are, standing next to your crush wearing one of his most cherished sweatshirts while a bunch of high schoolers sit on the bleachers and on the wooden floors. A student walks up to the two of you and asks if they could use the restroom. Vernon nods, and the student leaves. Vernon tells you that when a student directly asks you if they could leave the assembly, he would answer for you. He knows you’re the shyer one between the two of you.   

When you have a crush, a big and stinky larger than the sunflowers growing in the garden in front of your classroom type of crush, you cherish any moment spent with them because you never know when the next moment will come. 

“Don’t you have to go get your driver’s license changed?” Jeonghan asked you one night while the two of you were eating dinner at your apartment.

You scrunched your eyebrows together deep in thought, “I don’t think it’s expiring soon.”

“Your address doesn’t match the one on your license though,” Jeonghan pointed at your wallet on counter above the sink.

You got up from the couch and walked over to grab your wallet. You were pretty sure you had at least two years until your license expired, but it didn’t hurt to check. You opened your wallet and looked through the transparent slot in which you put your wallet.

“But my address is correct,” you walked back to the living room and pulled out your license for your best friend to see.

The crowd cheers as students are called from each year to participate in the next activity. It’s cacophonous, but you don’t mind. You join their rambunctiousness – laughing and cheering with those around you.

Vernon leans in and gently nudges your left arm, “You look nice.” He compliments loudly enough so only you can hear.

You grin and raise your left arm in front of you to admire the mix of blue, white, and grey. The fabric smells fresh and feels soft against your skin. It was probably treated with the fabric softener he bought the last time the two of you ran errands together. “I’ll return this to you after I wash it,” you promise him.

“Keep it,” his hands automatically reach to adjust the hood on your sweater so it lays nice and even against your back. “It looks good on you,” he murmurs when he stands in front of you while adjusting and pulling the strings in front of your neck so they’re even.

More cheers erupt from the crowd in front of you, but you are too busy trying to keep yourself from blushing to even care about what is happening in front of you. A few students could’ve exited the building without asking, and you still wouldn’t care.

“No, it’s definitely wrong,” he took the license from your hand and tapped his finger on the printed country.

You leaned in to look at the error on your card.

“It should say Simp Nation right here,” he snickers.

You snatched your license from his hand, “I’m kicking you out of my apartment.”

Over the course of the next few minutes, they make the teachers participate in an obstacle course, show a video about Spring Break safety, and have the school band perform. Vernon somehow procured two seats so the two of you could sit instead of stand the whole time. In the middle of talking to your co-worker about grading midterms, you hear the entire student body shouting for the both of you.

You look up to see some participants making their way to the center of the gymnasium for some game they were nominated to participate in. The two of you shake your heads and politely deny their request. They groan in response, but it can’t be helped. Everybody knew that the two of you rarely participated in assemblies, especially when it came to doing anything remotely physical. Although the two of you are the high school’s youngest staff members, the two of you are also some of the most unmotivated and uncompetitive people to ever exist. Everybody already knew that the two of you were going to reject their request, but it never hurt to try. The most the two of you have done during a spirit rally was walk across the gymnasium while holding a banner the students made. There was also that other time the two of you volunteered to participate in the spicy noodle challenge because the two of you were starving, but that was honestly about it.

When the assembly ends the two of you direct the students out of the gymnasium and stay behind to pick up forgotten belongings to bring to the lost and found.

“Let me take those for you,” he takes the sweaters out of your arms for you. “Do you have any lunch plans today?”

“Yeah I do,” you reply. You look at his face to see if he is at all disappointed. His expression remains blank and he purses his lips.

“It’s your loss,” he makes his way to the gym doors while you walk over to stack the chairs the two of you sat in. “My Rubiks Cube club is having a crazy pizza party,” he calls on his way out.

.

If you count a bunch of students lounging around a history classroom with a bunch of Star Wars and other pop culture memorabilia trying to solve their different types of collectible cubes a party, then this one is a banger. A rager even.

Mr. Chwe sits at his desk, right leg anxiously bouncing up and down while he holds his second slice of pizza in his hand. He thought that he managed to play it cool when you told him you had plans, but in reality, the thought of you having lunch plans for the second time this week is making him mentally scream on top of his imaginary mountain into the empty abyss below.

In the background, Dokyeom screams when he solves another side of his Megaminx and proudly holds it up for his club members to see.

[text from: nonie]

nonie: seungkwannn

nonie: help me

kwan: see, you wouldn’t be freaking out if you just asked yn on a date

kwan: you’re constantly flirting with them. I don’t see how you never accidentally asked them out

nonie: I have a bunch of times but they never take me seriously

nonie: yn told me they have plans for lunch

nonie: do you think they’re on a date again?

kwan: oh speaking of dates I have a double date this Saturday

nonie: wait keep talking about that so I stop thinking about yn

kwan: when do you not think about yn?

nonie: never

nonie: they’re actually wearing my sweatshirt today. can you believe it?

kwan: my best friend is a SIMP!

kwan: a shy one who won’t properly confess his feelings! but still!! a simp!!!

kwan: one of my friends from work needed someone to tag along because they’re meeting someone they met on Tinder. I only agreed because they said they would cover one of my overtime shifts for me

nonie: oh that’s scary. the tinder part. not the overtime part.

kwan: right?

nonie: but the idea of yn going on a date that’s not with me is scarier.  

kwan: no wonder you’re a history teacher

nonie: because the humanities is for hot people?

kwan: because you’re a loser

kwan: like I bet you’re actually enjoying the pizza party with your lame rubiks club rn

nonie: oh my god I’m a loser

kwan: a hot one tho!

kwan: wait yn’s classroom is literally under yours. can’t you just go downstairs and check if they’re there?

kwan: did you not do that before you started overthinking?

kwan: Vernon?

.

You adjust your sunhat to shield your face from the brazen afternoon sun. You’re in your gardening overalls, Vernon’s sweatshirt folded neatly and tucked away in your classroom for the time being. It’s finally Spring and you’re tending to the nursery pots in the small garden located outside of your classroom. Around you, your agriculture club works and chats amongst themselves.

Intrusive thoughts are distracting you from what would usually be a lovely day in your garden. Maybe you should’ve told Vernon that you were going to be in the garden with your club today. Vernon probably isn’t overthinking it like how you are, right? But still, was saying you had plans a little too much? Does it sound like you had something important to tend to?

You sigh and stand to stretch your knees. Behind you, your little garden is beautiful, lush, and thriving. The flowers are in bloom and provide shade for the vegetables in the dirt. Everything seems to be thriving and buzzing with life. It makes you happy to see how far the little seedlings have grown.

A student arrives with refreshments that they picked up for everybody. You tell your club to take a break under the shade. It would be a shame if one of them has heatstroke. You take off your gloves and shove them in your side pockets. Your phone pings in the front pocket of your overalls while you make your way into your cool classroom.

[text from: work husband]

work husband: hi love. you took the bus to work today, right?

work husband: let’s pick up some groceries after work and I’ll drop you off at your place

work bb: even when I smell like dirt?

work husband: you’re an envisci teacher. I’d be concerned if you didn’t smell like dirt

work bb: you don’t have anything to do tonight right?

work husband: did you just assume I have no plans on a Friday night

work bb: omg sorry it’s because we always hang after work on Fridays

work husband: no you’re actually right. I have no plans.

work bb: then I’ll cook dinner for us

work husband: I know I’m already work-married to you, but I’m going to marry you one day

work husband: lol

work bb: haha silly

“Teacher Yn,” a couple students approach you while you set your phone face down on your desk.

“Hmm?” you up at them while taking off your sunhat.

“Can we send you a list of ideas we came up for our club education trip? We know we have to fulfill the requirement before the end of the semester, but we wanted to get it out of the way.”

You nod at them, “Sounds fine by me.” You pull up a website on your desktop and show it to your students, “Did you guys include the city garden? It’s pretty close by and it’s pretty this time of year.”

“Did you choose that place so Mr. Chwe can tag along? I heard he likes running there.”

You look at your students in disbelief. How did they even find out things like that?

Just then, someone knocks loudly on your open door. All eyes turn to see Vernon standing at the opening with his gaggle of students behind him, Rubiks Cubes, pizza boxes, and packs of sodas in their hands.

“I brought nerds and pizza.”

One of your students leans in and whispers to you, “Looks like your boyfriend is here.”

You don’t know if you should be happy or if you should consider this to be one of the most horribly timed entrances of all time. You decide you’re going to be happy – it’s Vernon after all.

chapter three: grocery store; dinner

People are definitely staring at the two of you while you grocery shop together. It’s not because the two of you are wearing your tie-dye outfits from earlier today, but because of the fact that Vernon is handsome. At least that’s what you believe. It’s enough to make the other shoppers stare for at least a brief second before they return to their usual routes.

You think your shoes covered in dirt are a direct juxtaposition to his pristine white sneakers. There’s a part of you that will always be insecure whenever you’re in public with your crush, but your hand in his reassures you otherwise.

“Do you think people don’t approach you at grocery stores because I’m next to you?” you ask him while the two of you are hunched over the leafy green section. A handwritten sign states the organic kale is finally on sale.

“Why would you think that?” Vernon curiously asks you. His tone is a bit upset, but he still peruses through a few bundles of kale before choosing the one he like most. He drops it in the plastic bag you opened for him.

“I don’t know,” you shrug while placing the bagged kale into the shopping cart. “You’re handsome and people stare, but nobody is making a move.”

“I don’t care about other people,” he muses. He reaches for the baby carrots on the top shelf and passes the bag to you. “You know I only have eyes for you.”

You push the shopping cart to the fruit section and he follows closely behind you, happy his comment made your ears turn red. He knows you’re embarrassed and is purposely moving onto the fruit section when the two of you still have a few more greens to buy.

But it’s true, he only has eyes on you. Only you don’t seem to realize that he does. He constantly tells you his feelings, but you never seem to take him seriously. He clings onto you and holds your hand in public because he also sees people looking at you. Was it wrong of him to be jealous? Was it wrong to want to hold your hand at all times? Maybe it’s his fault you never do, yet he can only wish for you to take him seriously.

“Hey babe,” Vernon calls to you from the mountain of potatoes in front of him. He sees your figure shoot up like a meerkat standing among pyramids of fruit, looking side-to-side to try to locate the familiar voice. “Right here,” he calls to you again, this time holding a bag of potatoes above his head. He laughs when he sees you cover your face in mortification while you cart your way over to him. You’re cute, he thinks. His little meerkat.

.

The two of you pose while he takes a picture of the two of you in the black and white monitoring screen above the self-checkout machine. He scans his loyalty card and begins to scan the items in the cart.

“Hey Vern,” you pass him a box of pasta for him to scan.

“Yes, baby?” he winks while taking the box from you.

“Why do you call yourself my work husband even when we’re off work?” you ask him while passing him a bag of bagels.

“You’re right. If we’re off work then that just means I’m your husband,” he takes the bag from your hand and scans it. “Because the adjective describes the fact that we’re at work, but we’re not at work. So just call me husband.”

“Smartass,” you grumble to yourself. He’s constantly embarrassing you, but you somehow like it.

“What is that?” he pokes at the touchscreen. He clearly heard you grumble to yourself.

Checkout. Beep. No Bags. Beep. Credit/Debit. Beep.

“Are you filing for a divorce just because we’re not at work?” he purposely makes his voice louder than usual and brings his phone to the screen to pay for the groceries. “Do I mean nothing to you?” his tone clearly implies he’s poking fun at you, but it’s enough to let the workers around you two eavesdrop.

“Vernon, oh my god,” you quickly shuffle to his left to put the items in the reusable tote bags in the cart behind the two of you. “People are staring.” You pull your hood over your head and he gently pulls it back down, quickly running his fingers through your hair to minimize the mess.

The workers point and giggle at you two before going back to work, telling those in line to move to an open self-checkout machine.

“Just like how I stare at you at work?” he takes the receipt and consecutive coupons from the mouth of the machine and folds it before putting it in his back pocket. He moves the shopping cart behind the two of you and separates the cold items from the fresh and boxed items.

“Babe, I’m going to file for divorce,” you grab the bag of baby carrots and wave it in front of his face. “And I’m taking the children with me.”

“Aww you called me babe.”

.

You wish you could be as open as Vernon when it comes to flirting, but at the same time, the jokes and the act that the two of you put on around each other often times sound and feel a little too real. Your feelings for him are real, but you struggle to understand whether or not he’s joking with you. You know you could just ask him, but there’s a ninety percent chance he would joke with you and a ten percent chance he would tell you the truth. However, because of how the two of you normalized flirting with each other, you know you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between his truth and his jokes. You’re afraid of telling him the truth, but you’re also afraid of letting go of this false reality the two of you created.

Where is the thin line between flirting romantically and flirting jokingly? How do you find it? How do you cross to the romantic side?

The two of you are currently in you apartment. His shoes are placed in the usually open spot next to yours on the shoe rack, and his car keys are in the ceramic tray next to yours. You are prepping the ingredients for dinner while he sorts the groceries he bought into their rightful places in your tiny kitchen.

“You know my student, Chan, right? The one who I swear is out to get me?” your co-worker asks you nonchalantly while reaching above your head to open your white kitchen cabinet. “Right when I was about to play a video for the class, Chan raises his hand and has the audacity to ask me if I’m ever going to teach them.”

“How did you respond?” you lean over the kitchen counter to shut the microwave door and start the timer. You’re used to his daily post-class lunchtime rants, but he somehow forgot to tell you until he saw the picture of the two at orientation stuck on your refrigerator with a magnetic turtle.

Vernon sighs while looking through the cabinet contents, “I called him lame and told him to watch the damn Crash Course video.”

He gently places his palm on top of your head to shield your head from getting hit when he swings the cabinet door close, a colander in his other hand. He places the colander in the sink behind the two of you and turns back to you. He is interested in what is in the microwave and mimics your position, bending over to stare through the translucent screen. It’s hard to make out what is spinning slowly through the glass so he leans in, accidentally brushing his shoulder against yours for a brief moment. It is brief, but it is enough to make you question what you have done in your past life to deserve this moment.

“Wait,” you turn your head to look at your co-worker beside you, curiously asking, “students actually get annoyed when we show videos in class?”

“I don’t know,” he stands upright and scratches his head, his expression clearly showing that he was dumbfounded that a student would be against watching videos. He leans against the back counter and crosses his arms. He frowns. “I mean, am I ever going to tell them that watching videos stimulates different modes of cognitive learning? Of course not,” he answers his own question. “I’m the cool teacher.”

Spoken like a mantra.

“I’m just defrosting the garlic bread so I can pop it into the oven so you can snack while I cook.” You notice he is looking around your kitchen. You think it’s because he doesn’t have space to exit with the tote bags on the floor and the lack of mobile space in your kitchen. “Did you want to exit? Let me move out of the way so you can go chill or grade in the living room.”

It’s exactly the opposite of what you think.

Vernon loves your place despite how much you hate its small size. To him, your tiny apartment feels like home. You’ve told him several times how much you want to move out. You hate how you don’t have a desk to do your work on. You hate how your bed is literally pushed in the corner of your bedroom against the wall and window. You even hate how there’s no closet in your bedroom so you have to use the hallway closet as your closet.

He wishes you know just how much he loves it when he can hear the soft hum of the in-unit washer and dryer in the background while he lounges on your plush sofa. Because of the size of your apartment, the smell of your baking sometimes lingers for hours. Because of the lack of space, you’re forced to display many of your things for your guests to see instead of tucking them away in some storage bin or cabinet. There are postcards your friends sent from around the world, pictures on the fridge, awards hung on walls, and small trinkets placed all around your apartment. The sticky notes the two of you exchanged during orientation are pinned to your corkboard. Not to mention, the sectional sofa with the chaise you bought with your first paycheck proudly lines your living room. It’s one of the most comfortable things he’s fallen asleep on. Although the apartment may seem suffocating at times, this apartment is you personified.

Of course, it wasn’t like he never offered you to move into his place multiple times in the past. You slapped his arm in response every time he suggested.

.

Earlier, the two of you decided to power through grading midterm papers for your respective classes so the two of you could freely enjoy Spring Break without any worries. It is now nearing midnight when you blindly reach into the popcorn bowl on the side table beside you only to feel nothing. You are out of movie snacks. Your legs are stretched out on your chaise and Vernon’s head is still in your lap, pointed toward the second movie the two of you are watching that night. You decide to not get up to make more popcorn just in case he is sleeping.

Next to the empty popcorn bowl, your cellphone pings and Vernon stirs.

Damn you, cellphone.

There is another notification sound, and Vernon pushes himself off your lap to sit up. You look over at your phone. It’s fucking Yoon Jeonghan.

[text from: devil’s incarnate]

devil’s incarnate: don’t fowget about ouw double date t-tomowwow (//▽//)

devil’s incarnate: the reservation is at noon at the bistro opposite of the café we went for lunch

headache personified: WHY MUST YOU RUIN EVERYTHING FOR ME

Vernon somehow manages to quietly squeeze himself behind you while you lift yourself to text  Jeonghan. When you put your phone down he tugs your body closer to his, his legs stretched out and sandwiching yours. He points to the blanket at the foot of the chaise and he lets go of his arms around you so you can lean forward to grab the blanket.

You open the blanket so it covers both of you and his arms sneak around your stomach, pulling you into his chest. He puts his chin on your shoulder to see the screen in front of you. He emanates warmth like a human-sized hand warmer, like the warm summer sun on your skin the first day you met him.

About halfway into the movie your body naturally turned to lay against his. You’re not watching the movie anymore because he knows you’re tired. It’s not the first time the two of you have cuddled this closely before, but he only hopes you mistake his uncontrollable fast heartbeat as his reaction to the movie.

You’re fiddling with the strings on his clean hoodie and he takes your hand in his and puts it on his chest.

“The plot is really good,” he hopes you can feel his chest vibrate.

You do. You’re on cloud nine.

“You can stay over if you’re not comfortable driving back at this hour,” you suggest to him. Your hand goes back to playing with the aglet on his hoodie string.

“Mmm,” the thought of leaving makes him groan. “I’ll stay until the movie ends.”

In the closet toward the entrance, your dryer hums. The air smells like rose petals and warm vanilla. In his heart he knows the two of you are way past the simple “work spouse” phase. He hugs you tighter and wishes the movie never ends.

[text from: devil’s incarnate]

devil’s incarnate: btw I’m picking you up so you have no way of escaping (o¬‿¬o )

devil’s incarnate: see you soon baby <33 -xoxo

chapter four: bistro; double date

The loud knocking on your front door causes you to jolt awake and fling the blanket covering you onto the living room floor. You can recognize that impatient knock anywhere. However, what you’re afraid of is not the knocking sound, but the person currently knocking.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit,” you repeat while you sit up and look around the living room. You realize it’s Saturday morning. The television is turned off, and you can still see the stacked pile of midterms pushed to the side of your coffee table. Is Vernon still in your apartment?

Your phone is ringing on the side table next to you. You look over your pillow from your bedroom. I don’t remember bringing one from my bedroom. You see the Caller ID. It’s Jeonghan trying to reach you from outside your door.

Then you see it, a light blue sticky note stuck in the empty popcorn bowl next to your phone. It’s his handwriting, tiny and scrawled. He says he took your laundry out of the dryer and took out the trash on his way out. He’s sorry he couldn’t lock the door. There’s a tiny heart next to his initials. He doesn’t tell you when he left.

The note is in your hand when Jeonghan barges into your apartment and shuts the door behind him. He stands in the doorway and stares at you, his hands on his waist. He’s annoyed.

Your apartment is silent. Even leaky faucet decides to rest for a while. You swear you can hear your best friend’s heavy breathing.

“I’m sorry,” you squeak while you stand up to face him, hiding the note behind your back.

“I. Sent. You. So. Many. Texts,” he roughly kicks off his shoes and storms into your living room.

You scream when you realize he is making his way over to you. When he reaches your sofa, the two of you circle around your coffee table.

“I’ve been outside your door knocking like a man trying to win back his ex. Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?” He wants to strangle you at this point, but he can’t because he needs you to go on the double date with him. “And I couldn’t even park in your second parking spot because guess who I saw get into his car in your second parking spot in the morning?”

Does that mean Vernon slept over last night? And Jeonghan now knows about it?

He lunges. You scream again.

.

Seungkwan sits on Vernon’s barstool and faces the door, ready to read his friend to filth the moment he walks into the door. His legs are crossed and he’s counting the number of cardboard boxes stacked near Vernon’s front door. It’s Saturday morning and Vernon isn’t in his own apartment. He’s a loser who can’t even properly confess his feelings to his crush – where the hell was he last night?

Seungkwan has a double-date to attend in about an hour. For him, lecturing Vernon would take at least 15 minutes and asking for opinions for his outfits would take around 5 minutes. Driving would take at least 10 minutes if it was all green lights. However, if there is a stop light or two-

Vernon calmly unlocks his door and opens the door to see his friend sitting at his counter. It’s totally normal to have Seungkwan invite himself into his apartment – he gave him a spare key for a reason. However, when Vernon is halfway through the doorframe, he realizes he’s wearing his extra set of clothes he sometimes leaves at your place. He is also holding his work bag from yesterday. Seungkwan seems to have already noticed as his legs uncross and his eyes widen at the sight of his friend. Vernon slowly backs out and closes his front door ready to leave and never come back. Start a new life maybe.

“Get your ass back here,” he hears Seungkwan’s menacingly sweet voice from the other side of the door.

He audibly sighs. He has no choice but to open the door.

.

You’re folding your laundry in the backseat of Jeonghan’s car while he drives the two of you to the double date. You can tell he’s still angry – his sleeves are rolled up. He already undid his collar to let off some steam and pent up anger when you told him you didn’t want to go on the date. You can see the gorilla grip he has on his steering wheel. His arm veins protrude prominently, and you swear you can see them throb. Jeonghan glares at you through his rearview mirror every chance he can get, so you sulk in his backseat and quietly fold your clothes. You probably also lost your aux privileges. For the next week or month maybe.

He purposely makes a hard break at a stop sign when nobody is around, and some of your folded clothes launch themselves to his car floor. You look at your t-shirt crumple to the floor and bite your lower lip. You nod to yourself. You deserve this. You were on a winning streak last night so karma (Jeonghan) has to show up to make sure everything is set at equilibrium. There must be balance to this world.

“Did you shower last night?” Jeonghan softly asks you when he notices you’re a lot quieter than usual. He turns on his right blinker, ready to make a right.

“Of course I did,” you pouted when you realized your favorite pair of socks rolled under the front seat. “I smelled like dirt.”

“So you showered while a man was over?” he snickers. There’s a glimmer in his eye. “Naughty.”

“He was grading in my living room,” you protest while looking out the window. Your clothes are folded and placed back in the laundry basket.

You can tell Jeonghan’s anger is subsiding. He rolls his shoulder backwards and stretches his neck left and right. The gorilla grip is gone. You know he cares for you. That you are certain of.

The two of you are still relatively early when Jeonghan parks. He rolls down his windows and turns of the engine and then his car. He drops his car keys in his cupholder and turns back to look at you. He smiles.

“Spill.”

.

Seungkwan is holding onto the car handle above his seat for dear life.

“So I woke up with Yn in my arms, but their phone was going off like crazy because someone was spam texting them. I reach over to switch their phone to silent because I’m a good husband who cares about Yn getting a good sleep, but I see the same person texting them and calling them. Bro this person was using all the pet names that I use. So, already, in my mind I was like ‘oh my god am I a home wrecker?’ And then I looked at their phone again even though I shouldn’t have been looking through their notifications, but it was just right there and I saw that he said he was going to come over soon because they have a date. So I tidied up a bit and packed my bags and zoomed out of there. Because what if they’re really dating? What if he’s the same guy you saw at the café? Dude my mind was racing so much. But Yn looked so peaceful and serene. I was going to melt then and there and then reality hit me: I may have just been a homewrecker. But it all doesn’t make sense because their lock screen photo is the photo I took of us at the grocery story yesterday. Wouldn’t it make more sense if your lock screen photo was your boyfriend instead? So I was freaking out and I’m still freaking out. My non-existent love life is in shambles bro.”

“Is this car ride over?” Seungkwan’s eyes are closed and his knuckles are turning white. “Am I alive? Is the car in one piece?”

Vernon unbuckles his seatbelt and then Seungkwan’s, “Yeah dude. I parked a few minutes ago. Were you listening to me rant at all?”

“I’m going to step out and take a breather,” Seungkwan nods to himself. It was his fault for making Vernon drive. He knows how fast Vernon can drive, but he didn’t take into consideration that he would be sitting in the passenger seat. Was it worth it in the end to arrive early to a date he wasn’t even going to enjoy?

He opens the car door and stretches his legs. “Do you see that café across the street?” he points at the café he visited earlier this week. “Please stay in there and clear your head. Drink some tea. Coffee will make you even more jittery.”

Seungkwan exits the car and shuts the door. Before he starts walking towards the front entrance, he turns around and points at Vernon who looks like he is on the brink of a mental breakdown, “But stay in there in case I need an escape plan.”

.

Vernon recognizes this café as the same café printed on the tiny cake roll box you left on his desk earlier this week. The sticky note you attached to the underside of the box is tucked away in his wallet as are some of the other ones you wrote for him in the past. He keeps them all and occasionally switches them depending on his mood.  

Did you miss me? the note reads. I’m sorry you had to eat lunch alone. This roll reminded me of you because it’s round like your hair when it’s flat. HA! Did you think I was going to write “sweet?” -yn ;-)

He’s been staring at the chalkboard menu for the past few minutes, his eyes squinted and his head deep in thought. The baristas think he’s having a hard time looking at the menu up above and offer him a physical menu in larger print. It takes a few tries to get his attention, but he bashfully takes the menu from them and moves to the side so the incoming customers can order their drinks and other menu items.

He regrets not asking you out sooner. He’s sulking and mentally beating himself up in a café in which his crush had a date a few days ago. How lame is that? While you’re out enjoying your date and probably having the time of your life, he’s regretting all of the chances he didn’t take in the past. But the angel on his shoulder reassures him – he was still by your side despite not taking the chances in the past. It comforts him a bit. Maybe is all just a big misunderstanding. Maybe you don’t have a boyfriend. Vernon promises himself while walking up to the counter to order his drink: if the universe sends him a sign anytime soon, he is going to take it. No questions asked.

[text from: kwan]

kwan: sos

nonie: do you think I should go for a fruit tea today?

kwan: I s2g if you don’t get your ass over here

nonie: how bad can your date be?

nonie: did the food come out already?

kwan: my coworker is meeting yn’s bf

kwan: MY COWORKER IS MEETING YN’S BF FOR OUR DOUBLE DATE

kwan: YN’S BOYFRIEND IS A CHEATER

nonie: YOU FR?

nonie: WHO TF WOULD HAVE THE AUDACITY TO DO THAT TO YN?

kwan: YOU’RE A TEACHER. COME TEACH HIM A LESSON.  

nonie: I’M COMING

kwan: not the face tho. it’s a money maker

nonie: WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?

Vernon practically sprints out of the café. Thank you universe!

.

[text from: devil’s incarnate]

devil’s incarnate: did u grab my wallet?

devil’s incarnate: save me. my date came and I was totally catfished (╬`益´)

devil’s incarnate: and your date is sending me death glares for some reason O.o

headache personified: when we go home we’re signing you up for bumble

headache personified: I’m almost at the front entrance. you want me to act like you’re my bf?

devil’s incarnate: oh we haven’t used that tactic in a long time

headache personified: wait is that you three under the umbrella at the porch?

headache personified: is my date vernon’s seungkwan?  

devil’s incarnate: bro how should I know how vernon’s seungkwan looks like

devil’s incarnate: ahh fuck it I’ll just be mean and call my date out for catfishing me.

devil’s incarnate: can you record for me <3 -xoxo

You’re already outside the front entrance when you think about ways to try to avoid Seungkwan while you're inside the bistro. You think if you walk along the bistro’s perimeter instead of heading inside the bistro, you can get a better video angle of Jeonghan without having to show your face to Seungkwan. However, someone gently grabs onto your arm and tugs on it.

You turn around and you're surprised to see Vernon looking back at you. He looks frazzled and out of breath. You wonder if he really goes jogging in the city garden like what your students said.

“Hear me out. I have to tell you something,” he pleads.

Your heart is screaming Omg it’s Vernon! Vernon! but you’re worried Jeonghan might get mad at you if you don’t record him while he’s lecturing the catfish. You can probably email the bistro for a video recording tomorrow. If Jeonghan draws enough attention, you can probably have one of the bistro patrons text you a recording of the interaction.

“I had so many chances to tell you how I really feel, but I keep beating myself up for not telling you my feelings. I really like you. I really do,” he takes both of your hands in his hand. “And I don’t want you to go in and end up with someone who is on a date with another person.”

Fuck Jeonghan’s video. Vernon is actually confessing to you. Yet at the same time, something about his confession doesn’t really make sense. How did he find out about your double date?

“What do you mean you catfished me because you thought I was a catfish? Have you seen me?” you can hear Jeonghan’s shrill voice screeching from where you’re standing. You imagine he’s standing up and gesturing at his own face. “Why would I need to catfish as someone else?” You swear you can also hear Seungkwan laughing.

Vernon also seems to recognize Seungkwan’s laughter. His mouth hangs slightly agape and he looks at you and back at the patio in horror.

In that moment, everything made sense. Seungkwan probably texted Vernon that Jeonghan showed up to the date while believing you were dating Jeonghan. It’s honestly not the first time the confusion happened. You smile and pull him in a hug.

“The person I like thinks my best friend is cheating on me when in reality I was forced to go on a double date. So if anything, you just stopped me from going on a date with Seungkwan before I even went on a date with you,” you laugh into his chest. “Did you really run to try stop me from seeing my best friend cheat on me?”

He hugs you back and you can hear his heart beat slow down. He’s relieved.

“Baby,” he hums into your hair.

“Hmm?” you look up at him.

“Do you still want to call me your work husband at work even if I become your boyfriend?”

You groan in embarrassment while he laughs at you. He separates from you and starts walking backwards with his hand stretched out.

“Let’s go on a date. I heard the café across the street has really good cake rolls.”

He’s waiting for you to come hold his hand.  

You can still hear Jeonghan yelling in the background. You think Seungkwan is also yelling with him. Considering the fact that they haven’t been kicked out already, the two of you know they’ll be fine without the two of you.

“The ones that look like your hair when it’s flat?” you catch up to him and interlock your hand with his.

“Exactly.”

taglist: @jiminismybabymochi, @anissanightyoung, @bat-shark-repellant, @woozarts, @jaycheoluwu, @deadlyarepa, @hoothootreiber, @sleeplessdawn, @ryujined, @staysstrays, @carat-cakes, @whyisquill, @kitacore, @grannysdirtbag, @heeseung-lover686

Copyright © 2022 Wondernus. All rights reserved.

[artistsoftheapocalypse]

Hey there, Sketchy fans! It's a new week here on AoTA, and that means its time for...

SKETCHY SATURDAY :: Lyrically Inclined

[ FAQ :: Sketchy Record ]

:: Lead Artist ::

Loor :: They / Them :: @solesurvivorpaigeargot :: Ko-Fi

:: Supporting Artists ::

Bex :: They / Them :: @bexatomarama :: Ko-Fi Blitz :: They / Them :: @kaybrandchaos :: Ko-Fi

:: Mods ::

Noct :: She / Her :: @hope-of-the-wasteland

Hey there, fellow wanderers and wastelanders! LOOR IS BACK!! And with it being my first week back, I decided to mix up one of my favorite types of prompt, the Quote Prompt, with the Musical prompt Blitz gave us last week: Song lyrics will be lines to choose from!

Curious? Then follow us below the read-more cut, to check out the Guidelines for sending a request this week :D

To send a VALID Sketchy Saturday Request, please send the following information as an ASK to our ASKBOX [ @artistsoftheapocalypse ]

The CHARACTER you'd like sketched up ---- All Fallout characters welcome ---- Ghoul? Cool! ---- Super Mutant? Super neat! ---- Sentient Deathclaw? Boss!! ---- Failed Enclave FEV Arachnid experiment left forgotten for a century? FUCK YEAH. ---- YES THAT MEANS OCS SHOW THEM TO US

A LYRIC from the list BELOW ---- Spoiled for choice? You may list up to 3, in order of preference. ---- Still not sure? Send in 'Dealer's Choice!' and the artist will pick!

IF YOU SEND IN AN OC!!! ---- Send in your request ask FIRST ---- THEN send your character's reference information to @solesurvivorpaigeargot. We'll get it added to the group dropbox so everyone can see it!

With those ground rules laid down... THE LYRICS!

"All the while it seems, I'm living in my dreams."

"Gotta roll those dice."

"Feel like dancing, dance with me."

"You gotta live a little before you're happy."

"That man plays me like a game."

"Never alone when I hit the sack."

"It's not what it was, before."

"Sent me on a bender, with nothin' left to lose."

"I guess that I was pretty late to shake it off."

"Give it time and these imaginary lines will fade away."

"And that's good, isn't it?"

"It's not an act, it's just a fact, I've always been this way."

"I just can't apologize for what I did to myself."

"They said 'freak' when you're singled out."

"I'm the type that's gotta lose to find out how it's made."

"There's one waiting, waiting on one look."

"No, I'm not in the know."

"I'm a sucker for a song."

"My only sin is I can't win."

"If you take a lot, you'll be left with none."

"Let's go to hell in a fast car and keep it HOT!"

"I've made it through this far in an unforgiving place."

"Have you ever dreamed a night like this?"

"I'll play along, pretend it's all for you."

"... or maybe not."

"Sometimes life can taste so sweet, when you slow it down."

"One second I'm thinking I must be lost, and he keeps on finding me."

"What is love?"

"That woman was a devil, that devil stole my heart."

"Have to learn a bit, live a bit, let it all sink in a bit."

"The battle goes around, till we find some common ground."

"Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!"

"Your head has no right to say no."

"If drugs can't help, why would words bring him luck?"

"I'll do it in my own time."

"Have a plan, keep to it."

"The stakes are gettin' higher, you can feel it in your heart."

"I know I did it to myself, but man-oh-man it hurts."

"What's the hurry?"

"Tonight, it's ready, set, go."

"Powerless to make it stop."

"I don't care, I'm half-way there."

"Head down, quick, take cover."

"Baton courtesy; service with a smile~"

"You never know if winning this could really be enough."

"We can always say we tried."

"Seems complicated, cause it's really so simple."

"You were not there, living in fear."

"I'd give half my happiness, just for one look."

"Tell me what you saw."

"On a road that lead me straight to... who knows where?"

"You better work, bitch."

"Don't even try on that frown."

"I got a mind full of aggravation, I can take if I just relax."

"First dance is always free."

"Passers-by were looking at me, as if they could erase it."

"I think I know what I want, but I don't know where to go."

"I'm not the man I thought I was, so try to sympathize."

"Have you got it in you?"

"Keep me solid so I stay on track."

"Can you tell me, what's the point in building empty empires now?"

"It takes a lot, to be always on-form."

"Click my fingers, ladies swoon."

"I"m just soakin' up the magic in the air."

"Against all the odds, it's getting worse."

"I'm sick of all the same withdrawals."

"Something's gotta work."

"There are times, I will admit, my heart saw better days.

That's it! As always, please be kind and respectful with asks sent to the blog, as they will be seen by our entire team. Remember to say please and thank you to our volunteer artists and mods, reblog the finished works, and leave a few kind words on them if you have any to share

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[eternallymalec]

hi :))

this is completely friendly, i was merely wondering what your reasoning behind shipping malec is? i'm curious to know why its an engaging ship, and i wonder if perhaps i got something wrong

(i'm only asking because i do not ship it, nor any cassandra clare ship, as theyre all vaguely toxic and this one is pedophilic in my opinion)

Hey, so first of all: I'm so sorry that it took me way longer than intended to answer your ask but beyond University being very stressful, my mental health kicked me a bit in the teeth and I simply didn't have the energy.

Now, before I answer your question I wanna preface it by saying: 1. Thank you for asking politely and thank you for asking off anon, because questions like that tend to have a certain air of bad faith when asked on anon, I'm sure you understand 😅

Now, to your question: Honestly, I tend to differ between book!malec, and show! malec.

When we're talking book!malec, I'm actually with you on a lot of the criticism. The age gap is sketchy (with Alec being barely off age) and both of them were quite toxic on various occasions (and most of the issues were because they were written by a straight person lbr, like Magnus being mad about Alec not coming out to his homophobic family).

Also, you can barely see any of their relationship develop in the OG books, which makes it so much harder to understand certain things or why they're happening in the first place.

Now, Show!Malec on the other hand? Those two own my entire heart. They're both adults, they treat each other with respect and act as equals and you can just tell how much they love each other.

They cut out a lot of the toxic/sketchy parts of book!malec. Like they made a point, that Alec loves Magnus with and without his powers, he even sacrificed his own happiness to ensure Magnus' by getting him his powers back, they completely axed Alec's over-the-top jealousy. And Magnus didn't make Alec coming out about himself or his own Ego but instead reassured him and helped him be more confident within himself. They actually communicate about their issues, they listen to each other and they plan their lives together, with respect for each other and they have so much trust in each other and they always offer emotional support when needed. They center each other, even when they're not at the same place. They never put their own ego before the other and apologize like adults and talk about issues. They always make sure to let the other know, that they're appreciated and how much they're loved. They also helped each other grow so much, from Magnus asking Dot "Are you really going to risk your life for a Shadowhunter?" in clear disdain and Alec "Emotions are nothing but a distraction" to both of them becoming their very best selves because of their relationship with each other. And ultimately, no matter what the world throws at them, they always find their way back to each other, even if they have to literally go through hell for each other. They always make a point that they are each other's top priority and that they wouldn't cope well with losing each other, which also makes them fight like hell to keep the other in their lives.

Long story short, they're a much healthier relationship than book!malec (and also, I'm always a slut for forbidden love/lovers from different sides of a conflict like them ngl. Like... both of them have learned, one way or the other, that the other is the enemy and can't be trusted. And yet, despite all of that, they still fell in love and both of them became better men and better leaders to their people for it. That's peak romance 🥰😁)

But ultimately, shipping is always a personal perference and there is no way to "get something wrong" if you don't ship something popular, for example c/lace was never my coup of tea, sometimes that's just how it is, don't worry about it :)

I hope this answers your question :)

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

ANNOUNCEMENT! I WILL BE LIVE STREAMING KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE THROUGH GOOGLE MEET, TWO MONTHS FROM NOW Okay so I'm a lonely girl whose friends all went to college while I'm at home watching kids movies, and I recently had a death in my family (she was all I had) so now I'm even more of a loner. I don't have Twitch, so I will make a google meet. I know that sounds sketchy, but I don't show my face or usually talk. If I have a microphone, I will talk. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SHOW YOUR FACE! In fact, if there's more than 3 people joining, I'll make a no-camera rule! I hope at least 5-10 people can join me. My friends will hopefully be there, but it's okay for strangers to come too. My google meets are open to the public. Movies I will be showing; We'll start with Coco in the morning, then later we will watch Kiki's Delivery Service. After that, it's Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Were Rabbit and then followed by Spookley the Square Pumpkin. You really don't have to stay for those last two, if you don't want to LOL but I have friends who like that kind of stuff, but if you only wanted to watch Kiki's delivery service or Coco, that's fine. If you have little kids or family over, that would be a nice time you guys could set up the laptop and watch the movies, but there will be a chat bar on the side. RULES AND WARNINGS: Warning- If you join I'll try to keep my class but my friends and I like to make jokes in the chat bar, and sometimes we use fowl language. If you're a young person like me with no kids, I still think the movies are fun and entertaining enough to watch. Just keep in mind if you have a kid watching it with you, that my friends and I like to mess around in the chat bar LOL but let me know ahead of time if you have a kid with you, so I know not to swear. Warning- If you have a certain... issue (like my friend) and there's something from one of the movies that may upset you, let me know! I will skip the part! I tried to pick the sweetest, most non-controversial, cutest "Halloween" themed movies I could find. They are all family friendly, I watched them myself. I myself am a really sensitive person, who can NOT watch anything Tim burton, horror, or a little creepy. I once had a mental breakdown in school because my teacher played Nightmare before Christmas, and it upset me. I AM NOT playing that awful movie. I chose all the good ones. Warning- I can't decide whether I want to watch Howl's Moving Castle or not, but if I can get at least 10 people to join and they all tell me to watch it, I might give it a try. If ONE PERSON says it's not for me, than I'm not going to watch it. We will have a vote in the chat whether I should watch it or not. Unless everybody says yes, I won't watch it. LET ME KNOW WHAT SCARES YOU and I won't watch it. ALWAYS tell me if there's a scary part. RULE NUMBER 1- NO CAMERAS! Turn your camera off on Google meet, you're not the star of the show! I want everybody to focus on the movie. Due to that, I will not have my camera on (plus i don't have a camera) RULE NUMBER 2- Everyone is allowed to speak in the chat bar, you know, joke around, make clever commentary. However, if someone tells me they have a kid with them that can read, I will tell people to tone down the fowl language a bit. I hope though that we can be free tho, because I honestly sometimes make some commentary that isn't always as family friendly as the movie LOL ;p RULE NUMBER 3- Let me know if you're joining me ahead of time, yo have almost 3 months to think about it. I will be watching the movies on Halloween... and I forget when the exact day it. I will pick times based on the amount of people who say they have to join at a certain time. I live in Pennsylvania (the U.S) so my time zone is obviously different to someone who lives in Australia. I'm gonna be up all night anyway, I'll try to get a lot of sleep before, don't worry about me. My only waking hours will be me watching those 4-5 movies in a row

AND REMEBER TO FOCUS ON THE MOVIES AND HAVE FUN!

[kingofstarlightandcomets]

I like talking with you (and I like you)// Nagito Komaeda X Reader

Synopsis: The reader brings Nagito breakfast while he is tied up at the old building and they both spend time together

Tags: fluff, gender neutral reader, reader is an ultimate, set during chapter 2 of goodbye despair

Warnings: Nagito is a bit depressing sometimes

The dining hall door was pushed open with a loud noise that alerted it's occupant of someone entering the room. Lifting up his head Nagito saw his beautiful and hopeful classmate with a tray in hands, completely concentrated on closing the door with their hip.

"Hey, breakfast time." They smiled softly and Nagito couldn't help but smile back. The thought that someone had bothered to come to that despairing building just to bring him food filled him with hope. His classmate helped him sit up next to a wall and eyed him carefully.

"You're not hurt are you? Nekomaru is not exactly the gentlest guy I know." 

"No no I'm okay, no need to worry about me." Nagito shook his head frantically. He didn't want to bother an ultimate more than he was probably already bothering.

"Okay, I'm glad." They picked up the tray and put it next to Nagito, sitting down in front of him "Let's see, I got you grape juice, it has a straw so you can drink it just fine. Here's some cereal, I got this one that has the colorful pieces and marshmallows. There's also toast, I didn't know if you liked the crust so I cut it. I also brought these cookies, there's chocolate chips and m&ms. I also have coffee, but I wasn't sure if you preferred it with sugar so I brought some sugar packets."  

' did I overdo it?' they wondered looking at Nagito who had an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes seemed to shine brightly and his cheeks seemed to have some newfound color.

"Thank you very much Y/N, I don't even know what to say, I can't possibly thank you enough." Y/N proceeded to free the boy's wrists, rubbing the reddened skin in an attempt to soothe it. Nagito looked to be in deep thought.

"Is everything okay?"

" You're very kind...but there's no way I can eat all this myself. Say...would you like to join me?"

There was no way they could say no. Y/N had eaten breakfast already but it's not like they were going to pass the opportunity of spending more time with Nagito. He was a bit confusing sometimes but casting him as a dangerous freak of nature wasn't going to solve anything. They needed to decrease tension around the island, not increase it. That was the only way to fight against the despair inducing atmosphere that monokuma was trying to create.

'He's not a criminal... he's done some fucked up shit but everyone is capable of doing messy stuff. He's not the only one who could've done that. At some point desperation will consume us and more sketchy stuff is bound to happen. And if we keep treating him like a zoo animal I wouldn't blame him for snapping.'

The two classmates sat down in front of each other in the old building and ate while exchanging some small talk. They didn't know much about each other, Y/N preferring to hang out with Sonia or Togami. Nagito wondered if they weren't mad at him for killing their friend, but they didn't seem to blame him for the death of the affluent prodigy. 

"Would you mind if I asked you something?" The white haired boy inquired. His classmate looked at him curiously gesturing at him to keep speaking. "Why are you hanging out with me? Don't get me wrong, the others simply leave my food here and don't say much, but you... you're talking to me. You don't resent me. You're being nice to me. Why are you so nice to me? I don't understand." After his words left his mouth Nagito instantly regretted it. Y/N looked ready to start crying. Perhaps he was too harsh.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No no, it's not your fault, I'm a bit emotional." The ultimate dried their eyes with a napkin before talking again. "To be honest with you, I don't think you deserve to be treated badly. You're not a bad person. And honestly I just want to get along with you and possibly be your friend."

Y/N wondered why it was so hard for him to believe that someone would want to be on his company. ' Nagito komaeda what the hell happened to you?' they wondered while looking at the tall boy who looked a bit stunned. Now Y/N was sure, that boy needed a friend. Badly. And they were going to try their hardest. ' I'm going to befriend this guy so hard he's going to forget what it's like to be alone.' 

"You are definitely way too kind, to want to be friends with someone so lowly like me...I don't even know what to say."

"Don't say such bad stuff about yourself for starters...and let me be your friend."

The boy shook his head smiling softly like he couldn't believe what was unfolding in front of him. That was the brightest hope he had ever seen. 

Both of the students sat in silence. Their plates were emptied. Nagito gazed at Y/N who was looking at their hands pensively.

"You look deep in thought...may I ask what's in your mind?" He questioned his newfound friend.

"It's nothing. Just wondering if you liked your breakfast."

"It was very good, thank you."

"I can bring you lunch too. And I got some books from the library, we could read together. I have the catcher in the rye and watership down but I can get others if you already read those."

"You really want to spend the whole day with me? Don't you want to hang out  with the others?"

"I like spending time with you. You're surprisingly calm compared to the others. Mikan is still too scared of me. Gundham makes everything he can to be as distant as possible from anyone. Everytime I try to talk to Fuyuhiko he tells me to fuck off. Kazuichi is too busy chasing Sonia, and while that is very amusing to watch, it gets tiring easily, and mahiru is always with Hiyoko and I kinda prefer to be away from her. That little twerp is very good at making me feel bad about myself." They rolled their eyes proceeding to tell Nagito about what the other ultimates have been up to while he was absent. They both laughed at Kazuichi's dumb antics to get Sonia's attention, Hiyoko's new inuslts to fire at all the other people in the island and how Mahiru tried to get her to be a bit nicer and Y/N even made a perfect Gundham impression that made Nagito snort with how accurate it was.

Nagito smiled softly and decided that it was best to leave his insecurities about how good of a friend he could be aside for now. He was not about to ruin something that made him feel so good about himself. He sure hoped that him and Y/N could get along for a long time. 

[reveltica]

Gone Blind

part iii

a/n: hello! you can now read this in ao3. The title is "Her Faith: Chapter I (Mondstadt)". I'll be constantly posting the rest of the story there instead but you could always come back here to see artwork of some scenes from my story.

i hope you find this story fun~

trigger warning: Cursing and blood

'...miracle that she's alive..'

'...blind?'

The voices fade in and out of her mind. What happened? Where was she? The last thing she remembered was that she was supposed to go to work this afternoon.

Ah, that must've been a dream. Surely, there's no way she was in Teyvat. There's no way she was chased down by Hilichurls. And there is no way in hell she would make a deal with the Devil!

She internally sighed in relief. Sometimes, her dreams could feel so real. But her relief was short-lived when she felt pain all over her body, mostly on the front of her head.

She groaned, alerting the people in the room with her. A girl rushed to her side, hushing her with a soft voice and telling her to take it easy. Iris tried prying her eyes open, but she couldn't, sensing something wrapped around her head.

'Easy there Iris, your eyes are still healing.' A familiar deep voice rang through her ears. She flinched and grunted in recognition and realization.

Ugh, so it wasn't a dream. I'm really here.

'Dantalion' she started, letting herself be assisted to sit up by the girl. She gave a quiet thank you and she made herself comfortable. 'Don't move too much, you're still healing.' Dantalion stated.

Iris scoffed and her mind reeled back to the events earlier. She couldn't believe it, she was in Teyvat. Made a deal with the Devil and possibly had lost her vision!

And what did she tell him? She doesn't mind being stuck there for a bit? She mentally kicked herself for telling him that. Of course she minds! She obviously doesn't belong there, she had a life.

And look at where that had gotten her. Blind. Blind for an escape.

But "seeing" that the damage had been done, she might as well roll with it. 'Miss Barbara, thank you for your service, but can we have a little moment to ourselves?'

Did he say Barbara?

'Why of course. Please, if you need anything please don't hesitate to call upon me or the other sisters. And may the Anemo Archon protect you.' Barbara replied before closing the door.

Iris immediately chucked a pillow to where she thought Dantalion was. 'I can't fucking believe that you're a demon! Ugh!' she groaned in annoyance. Dantalion just looked at her amusingly, trying to muffle his laughter through his fingers. Because Iris just threw the pillow through the air, nowhere near him.

'Alright, calm down tiger−'

'Calm down?! Are you fucking kidding me right now? Not only have I possibly sold my soul to the Devil, I am also blind!' She retorted. She was frustrated from all the hasty decisions and words she said.

'You'll continue to be blind if you keep on thrashing. Now hold still, I have something to do.' Dantalion said. Iris huffed and felt his presence near her. She heard him chant something unfamiliar. She felt the air around flowed and breezed around her head. Tingling sensation erupted in her eyes. The sensation slowly turned to a stinging pain that lasted for a few seconds.

She felt so much better, on the front of her head at least. Dantalion then helped her remove the bloody bandage around her eyes. She slowly opened them and she felt her heart leap from her ribcage.

She could see again! She was ecstatic, she was happy, she was overjoyed that she immediately cried for the first time in that world. After calming down, she turned towards Dantalion who was now wearing a cheeky grin.

She frowned, turned her head away and grumbled a small thank you. 'Huh? What was that? I couldn't quite hear you my dear.' He teased, cupping his hand over his ear to mock her.

'I said thank you...' much more quiet this time.

'What? Could please repeat that−'

'Ugh, I'm not repeating myself! I know you heard that in the first time!' Dantalion just laughed heartily while she was disgruntled. A second later she asked 'Why'd you helped me?'

Dantalion looked at her incredulously, arching an eyebrow. 'If I didn't give you your vision back, then how could you draw for me?' he said a-matter-of-factly. 'Oh right, yeah sorry'

'So, we really are in Genshin, huh?'

'Yup, we are.'

'Would we affect the original storyline of the game back in my world?' finally, the real question.

'Hmm, not really. This universe is already fixed*. The Teyvat we are in is a separate universe from the game itself since that one is still updating. Therefore, we wouldn't be affecting anything on your world's version of Genshin.' He explained, making Iris curious on how much he knows. 'And where did you get this, from a book from your library?'

She felt the bed dipped a bit since Dantalion sat down in front of her. Iris scooted away from him a bit, knowing full well that he is, in fact, a Great Duke of Hell. She was wary of course. Dantalion took note of this and chuckled.

'Yes, I am a demon−as you have already figured out−but not the kind your beliefs tell you I am.' He reassured her. 'Well, no. See, I am demon who could travel to any world I wish and record them for a book in my library. This is a new physical world for me to record but I could tell that this is a separate physical universe form the game back in your world.'

Iris nodded a bit, she stopped and saw her reflection on a mirror on the other side of the room. Instead of hazel brown, she saw different colors. She was confused and intrigued at the same time. Dantalion turned to where Iris was looking.

'Why−'

'Oh that? It's fine I just gave you the gift of Omniscience.' He clarified. Iris turned her head swiftly and her face scrunched up. 'Omni-what? And can I have my brown eyes back?'

'It's Omniscience, slowpoke.' Dantalion groaned, flicking Iris' forehead. 'You can activate and deactivate it whenever you wish. I gave you that gift so that whenever we encountered a new character, you would see who they are from the past. What their intentions are and if they are worthy to trust. I can't have my master be involved with sketchy people.' He huffed and crossed his arms.

Sketchy people? Like yourself? she thought and mocked him by arching an eyebrow and crossing her arms as well. Dantalion took the hint and was flustered. 'B-but, I'm already exempted aren't I?! I already pledged my loyalty to you by giving you my sigil!'

Sigil. Iris looked down at her hand. The pact mark etched on her skin, glowing in angry red. 'That reminds me, is that why you got your powers back?'

'Not all of it, just a quarter. enough to shapeshift and give you that gift.' He uttered with a hum at the end. 'That's why I need you to fill that book. Journal every magical property and then I could get my magic back.'

Iris sighed and nodded. She was now determined to accept this demon as her companion and do everything in her power to get his magic and get her back home. It all works out in both of their favors.

'Just don't do any funny business and break my trust alright?' she threatened.

Dantalion chortled and shook his head. 'Of course not! My honor as a Great Duke, I wouldn't even dream about it. But when push comes to shove, you can always break off the contract. Just slash the pact mark and it'll become null and void.' He said confidently. She just looked at him seriously, noises from outside their room could be heard.

The singing of the choir, chatters of people praying for guidance and the gentle breeze of the night passed by these fateful two. 'Alright I'll take you on your word.' She agreed and smiled.

'Of course! I am a demon of my word. You can trust me.' He encouraged, before falling down on the soft bed. Iris snorted and fixed her sitting position, to let him get comfortable.

'Really? It's still hard to hear the word "trust" coming form a demon himself.' She mused. Dantalion just groaned, lifting his hand and lazily waved her statement off.

'Oh just give it some time. You won't regret it.' He grumbled with a smile on his face. For now, she will trust him since he is the only one she could rely on going back home.

Besides, he couldn't do anything to harm her. She's practically his master.

Right?

Just then, she heard and felt her purse vibrate. She was surprised! Her phone was working? She scrambled to get her phone from her purse on the bedside table. She looked at it and saw that her notifications from her socials were still updating. The only thing that occupied her mind for the time being was:

'This is ridiculous.'

this universe is already fixed*

- meaning that the other nations are already established and because they really are not in the game itself. if they were, they would be swimming in code for months waiting for the next update. but the plot would still follow the original story of Genshin. i just wanted to clear that out, ehe.

rest of the story is here~

you might not find it in search but just type in 'reveltica' and you'll find it!