#it's a5... something something not square

[kawoid]

[tempo-takoyaki]

Hey! I'll be at Y/Con this week-end for my very first convention as a booth artist! For the occasion I'll have a limited amount of merch, including prints, stickers and the awaited physical copy of "Almost TGCF" also known as "I haven't read TGCF"! Not only that but I'll also be part of a Danmei Rally with @rakiah @gunpys @alyna-cherry @pillow-boi and @/auroramaeno.auma (on instagram)! Don't hesitate to pass by! (^^)/

Here are some additional infos about my time at the con, but if you have more questions, don't hesitate to directly go to my askbox: it's always open!

About the merch:

A5 prints will be 7 euros, square prints will be 5 euros. Stickers are 3 euros.

Due to personal circumstances I can't give an actual price to the fanzine yet (know that it should at least be between 12 and 15 euros).

All fanzines as explained will come with two free prints and a free sticker. You can also ask me to sign it with the character of your choice in the style of "Almost TGCF" (can be from another mxtx book!).

I won't be handing out the prizes of the rally. Please go to the designated spot to receive your prize if you've completed the stamp rally!

No, I won't do discounts.

If you're an artist and want to exchange merch with me, please do so before the actual con starts. I won't accept exchanges during the duration of the con.

I'll have a card reader but please bring some cash too just in case.

About my availability:

I'm sharing the booth with Pazemma. And a friend of us will also be here for when one of us two has to leave. I'll share a photo of myself insta stories before the con starts so you can recognize me.

I'll share on insta when I'll be leaving the booth and when I'll be back. Again, if you want something specific from me like talking or have your fanzine signed, don't hesitate to come back to my booth later on during the day!

I'm okay with small talk as long as the booth isn't busy! If there's 3 or more people lining up already I'll have to cut the conversation short. Thank you for your understanding!

About the merch for after the con:

I'll try to open an online shop around the beginning of 2025, and hopefully make it so I can ship the merch wordwide.

Pre-order worldwide for the fanzine after Y/Con should starts in January. Know that it'll be a one time thing, and after that, I won't produce any more physical copies of this fanzine.

[hotricebowlsoup]

it's you and me, that's my whole world

(evamon, 6.3k, non-despair college au where damon and eva fight over the same study seat. read sequel here)

i.

There’s a quiet corner in the Grand Library of Eden’s Garden Academy that Damon really likes. It’s a wooden table next to a stained window, almost hidden by a large Greek pillar diagonally to it. Adorned with plastic ivy leaves and vintage warm lamps, the cozy corner has served as his study paradise ever since he discovered this secret place a month ago.

The Corner (with a capital ‘C’, mind you! (dubbed by him and his genius linguistics)) was incredibly peaceful and worked wonders on Damon’s productivity. So, it’s kind of a surprise that no one else knows about this place. Or, at least, no one else is in the Corner whenever he wants to study there. It’s his unlabelled territory, his secret sanctuary.

Then one day, after a philosophy lecture, he goes to the library as usual and finds a girl in his Corner.

To be fair, Damon supposes it’s about time another person finds out about this hidden spot. The library is nearly packed everyday with studious students, scrambling to find a comfortable spot to study in during the shared break hours. If anything, having another person intrude was long overdue.

But what pisses Damon off is that the girl is sitting in his seat. His table, his chair. Being in the Corner is totally fine. Sitting at the same table, opposite or beside him is alright. There are 3 other chairs to be used, so, whatever. He can tolerate that— but get the fuck out of my seat, ma’am!

He’s clearly been standing rigidly, facing his Corner with a glare, for far too long that the girl looks up at him.

She looks back down after 2 seconds, completely unbothered.

Damon’s head is going to burst.

“Excuse me,” he marches up to the girl, unpolitely speaking, “That’s my seat.”

“It doesn’t have your name on it.”

What kind of highschool ass remark— Damon feels a vein pop. What the hell, sure.

“I’ve been sitting in this seat,” he crosses his arms, “Everyday. For the past month. And I’ve never seen you in this Corner before.”

The girl, completely absorbed in her revision materials, doesn’t bother looking up at him at all.

“I just thought you should know,” he harrumphs. “Yeah. That’s my seat. Go find another.”

“Interesting.”

Damon feels his patience slithering away very quickly, even if he didn’t have much to begin with. “What is?”

“You say you’ve been sitting in this exact spot every day, for the past month,” the girl speaks, soft and low, her pen never faltering in its rapid scribbling. “So have I.”

“That’s… not possible.”

She finally puts her pen down and looks up at him, square in the eye. Her eyes are a steel grey behind her spectacles. “I’ve been here everyday for the past two months, in fact. By your logic, you’re the one intruding.”

Damon blinks, and blinks again, and lets out an intelligent “huh?” from his lips.

The girl sighs, and reaches in her bag to pull something out. She hands him an A5 sized paper, with a schedule printed on it.

He whips his phone out, pulling out his own timetable. His eyes dart back and forth between the two, and realises…

“Your breaks are totally different from mine,” he murmurs, “We don’t share any free periods at all.”

“Then that’s why we’ve never run into each other.”

He tilts his head back up, “I study here in the late afternoons and evenings, too. Do you not?”

“I do it in my dormitory room,” she stretches a hand out, gesturing for him to return her printed schedule. “away from nuisances like you.”

????????????

Damon’s eye twitches, but he’s far too prideful to take the L and leave. So like the perfectly composed, dignified, and accomplished Politics major that he is, he sits. Slams his ass down. At the same table, right in front of the girl. The thief. Who stole his seat, of course.

“You’re lucky I’m not bothered enough to kick you out,” he grumbles.

“How very benevolent of you.”

Ignoring her reply, he just takes out his study materials, trying to immediately immerse himself in them. Although, five minutes later, and he admits he’s not as focused as he should be.

Probably, he thinks, eyes flickering up to peek at the girl opposite him, because of the unwanted company. It’s not even that the girl is distracting, or unnecessarily noisy. But the soft scribble of her pen, the rustling of paper against paper, and the low breathing of another human being near you becomes deafening in the silence.

It does get uncomfortable to work in the presence of another, after doing things alone for so very long. 

Damon isn’t used to it. He hopes the girl goes away soon.

Roughly an hour passes, less productive than Damon would’ve liked. Leaning back, he roughly rubs his palms over his eyelids, letting the little stars take over his vision. His revision is getting nowhere.

“You’re far too distracting,” the girl across him mumbles, “Maybe this is why you’ve had this corner to yourself; nobody likes studying with you around.”

“I don’t usually act this discomposed,” he retaliates, “Not with unwanted company around.”

“But I was here first, was I not?”

Damon clamps down on his tongue, refusing to release a colourful string of words in this sacred sanctuary.

“You’re lucky,” the girl smirks, small and dastardly, “I’m not bothered enough to kick you out.”

He slams his hands down on his notebook, slightly wrinkling the paper. “You—!”

“Quiet,” she says, almost teasingly, “You’re still in the library.”

Damon fully crumples the page of his notebook.

The damned thief lets out a small snort from across him, but stays nonchalantly buried in her work. Damon only bridles further.

Okay, thief, he seethes, IT IS SO ON.

ii.

To his utter dismay, when Damon arrives at the library panting and sweating, his favourite Corner is occupied yet again. By the same nuisance, in the form of a walking and talking human girl.

This time, she even dares cross her right leg over her left, dainty and elegant. As if she hadn’t committed an extremely demeaning and outrageously monstrous crime against humanity.

Defeated once again, Damon plops down in the seat in front of her. 

The only acknowledgement she gives of his (loud) entrance is a small hum, unsatisfying to Damon’s ears.

He feels like a child, purposely making unnecessary noise when he takes out his study materials. And yet, unperturbed, the audacious Miss Thief stays collected and focused in her studying.

Damon is by no means an athletic person, but he kinda wants to smash this table in half, even if at the cost of a broken arm.

Fine. Whatever. She can keep the nonchalant pretense all she wants; he’ll break her eventually, like he does with all his academic rivals.

“Something’s been on my mind since the last time you took my spot,” he begins as yet another attempt to be a distraction. To break the high-and-mightiness that Miss Thief magically possesses. “If we don’t have any shared breaks, how did we even meet?”

“My spot,” she corrects him in a huff. “To answer your question, my class was cancelled that day.”

“Ah. And I don’t suppose it got cancelled today, again?”

Miss Thief lets her pen hover above her paper, and ultimately clicks it shut. “It got delayed.”

“How convenient,” Damon says dryly. “Surely you’re not making excuses and skipping lectures to prove a point to me.”

“No one has hobbies nearly as boring as you do.” She quips back.

Either this girl is really really good at getting under people’s skin, or Damon is just really really easy to get riled up. And God knows when it will be that he admits the latter.

He takes off his gauntlet.

Leaning forward, he hisses as lowly as possible, “You wish you had my hobbies. You wish you were the best speaker of Eden’s Garden’s Debate Team, accomplished and irreplaceable. You wish you could speak eloquently and argue about topics like science, ethics and so much more. You wish you were top of the class in the Arts. You wish you were me.”

The gauntlet is thrown.

Miss Thief is anything but blown away from his outburst. But shockingly, she puts her pen down, and gives Damon proper attention for the first time since they met. Her eyes bore into his, steel grey intense and sharp. And she leans closer, even closer, that their faces are a hair’s strand away.

The gauntlet is picked.

Without missing a beat, she replies in the same tone, “And you’ll never be me. You’ll never be someone who’s actually relevant in today’s society. You’ll never be guaranteed a high paying, stable job in the future that shapes society greatly. You’ll never be the only person that the Mathematics Faculty in this school trusts to go for competitions, nationally and internationally. You wish you could be a fraction of who I am.”

The gauntlet is worn, and used in the first punch. It resounds.

Then, the arena goes dead silent, save for the deep breathing from both competitors, still a hair’s strand away from each other.

Miss Thief, unexpectedly, is the one to break the limbo. “...And you think debating’s a hobby ?”

“Yes,” Damon replies, too genuinely to be offended. “If we go by the dictionary definition of ‘hobby’ then yes, I do derive pleasure from researching humanitarian topics and presenting them in arguments that my opponents cannot refute.”

“That’s… not fun in the slightest.”

“You’re one to talk!” he rapid-fires. “Math? That’s your hobby? You like those stupid triangles and alphabets?”

“It’s not my hobby!” Miss Thief flushes hotly, the first time she’s lost composure in front of him.

“Debate competitions are extremely normal, but math competitions… what are you, a freaking mathlete?”

When she shuts her mouth, blushing an even darker colour, he finds he’s hit jackpot. “You’re kidding.”

“Don’t,” she hisses, “Even.”

The smirk on his face widens. Miss Thief’s face comically changes from red to pale, devastation settling in.

As if the roles were reversed, she slams her hands down on her notebook. It’s even louder than the sound he made last time. “If you tell anyone, anyone at all, I’ll kill you—”

“Quiet,” Damon whispers, the satisfied smile on his face stretching from ear to ear. Oh, he’s been waiting to say this. “You’re still in the library.”

Miss Mathlete lets out a very, very high pitched wince, and buries her face in her hands. He can almost see the smoke coming from her ears.

And when she peers at him through the cracks between her fingers, he meets and challenges her killing glare, elated that the loathing is mutual.

iii.

Miss Mathlete doesn’t show up for quite a many days, fortunately. Damon gets his beloved seat, and his beloved silence, and his beloved composure returned to him.

But on the one day he needs his favourite seat the most, the Devil pulls it from under him and hands it to his pupil, Miss Mathlete.

Today is not a good day for Damon at all, and he seriously means it. In this week alone, he’s required to submit three essays and two group presentations. And none of his teammates, those bastards, are pulling their fucking part. The least he could get, he thinks, is his comfort seat, the one with vintage warm lights and plastic ivy leaves.

So he believes he’s not overreacting when he sees her in his seat and feels the need to jump off the seventh floor.

The bane of his existence jumps out of her skin when he unceremoniously slams his books on the table. Sliding into the seat across hers once again, he doesn’t hold back the audible grumble as he flips through his notes and yanks his laptop open.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” the worst person on Earth ever mutters.

“It’s Submission Week,” he grits out, being as nice and quiet as he possibly can, “so don’t even start.”

Miss Mathlete is a lot of things, but never an unreasonable toddler. She is a fellow student and victim to the Submission Week at the end of every academic wave, hence the empathy. Yet he finds it pleasantly surprising that she quietly complies and continues her own business.

The comforting silence becomes unhelpful very quickly, unfortunately. Because the glaring light from the stained windows is hitting in all the wrong places, and the AC is too biting on his skin, and his handwriting’s all wrong, and so is everything. And Damon is so, so tired, and he wants nothing but to sink in the ocean and let it swallow him whole.

A stray thought crosses his mind. This wouldn’t have happened if he was in his rightful seat.

He looks up, disgruntled, at the person he was thinking of. The mathlete loser scrolls at something on her tablet, completely absorbed in whatever the hell she’s looking at.

In fact, she’s so focused on it, he kind of feels guilty for wanting to ask her to get out of that seat so he can have it instead.

Never in the past two weeks would Damon have calmed down at the thought of letting the damned girl have the damn seat.

It is, he breathes in and out slowly, feeling his brows unfurrowing, just a seat. It’s literally just a seat we’re fighting over. How silly of him!

For the first time in three days, he returns to his work, relaxed and determined.

And then, he hears it.

Coming from Miss Mathlete’s tablet is a small sound, a gunshot. Not a real one, of course— a high pitched, childish “pew!” distinctive to literally everyone not living under a rock. A sound you’d recognise if you were cultured enough. A sound you’d recognise if you spent way too much time with Cassidy Amber.

A sound you’d recognise if you were playing Galactic Shooter: The Rise of Martians.

Damon snaps his head up so fast that his head spins. Etched on his face is the most betrayed expression anyone has seen on him, and he shows it to the person he’s only known twice.

You’re playing a game.

A brainless, online shooting game.

In the seat I work best in. While I’m opposite you, struggling with five assignments at once.

And while Miss Mathlete doesn’t look the part of an empath, even she knows when there’s a silently fuming teen in front of her, practically trembling with rage and dismay, and when there isn’t. She raises her head slowly, eyes wide, suddenly fearful of the boy in front of her.

Said boy who doesn’t know how to express all the emotions hitting him at once, his mouth opening and closing over and over again like a goldfish. Said boy whose only words in that moment are “You…!” and “Game!!!”.

Said boy who appears to have just given up and slammed his head, face down, onto the very hard wooden table with a very painful ‘bang’.

The Devil’s pupil winces. She’s finally figured out her partial fault.

As for the boy, the pain of his (probably) broken nose is nothing compared to the utter despair he feels.

Clenching a fist beneath his seat, he swears he’ll show no mercy to bespectacled girls with steel grey eyes ever again.

iv.

Eva misses the chaos.

Another week or two goes by, without any cancelled classes and hence no more run-ins with the weird guy who’s apparently a Politics major. The blond haired, green eyed Draco Malfoy lookalike, the haughty prince with an audacity bigger than his brain.

Like a lone crow, Eva is used to the silence, incredibly so. She’s gone her whole life doing practically everything by herself, which she’s more than capable of.

Peace is returned to her, a blessing she took for granted once. There will be no more distractions, no more bantering. No more unnecessarily loud rustling of paper and clacking of laptop keys. There will not be another warmth opposite of her, whose breathing is too loud to stay focused and eyes too bright to look away. Eva has been missing these things since he sat with her, and she should really appreciate the rare instance she has now.

But throughout the past week, she knows she cannot lie about the number of times she looks up from her work, hoping to see a familiar sneer walk in.

They’ve met for three days. Three, and Eva misses him for more.

An hour goes by in complete silence. She goes back to her work grudgingly, having lost hope that he will burst into the Corner once again. Coincidences never happen more than three times, after all.

Then a small thud is heard. She almost misses it. Another small thud. A soft pitter-patter becomes more audible. It’s getting louder. It’s getting closer.

Eva looks up. She doesn’t know what face she’s making. She doesn’t know her hands are shaking. She cranes her neck, trying to look beyond the large Greek pillar. She can’t see anything, and she should get out of her seat if she wants to look closer, but she cannot will her legs to move.

Because what if it’s not the nuisance who’s brought more movement in her life in three days than the entirety of her highschool life? What if it’s not the damned blond hair and green eyes that she’s grown to recognise, hate, and miss? What if it’s not the person she should hope to never see again, but desperately craves today?

The pitter-patter is loud enough. So is the uneven panting she definitely recognises.

When the Audacious Prince’s head finally emerges from behind the pillar, Eva hates the way her heart slams against the wall of her chest.

Trying her hardest to feign nonchalance, she slowly sets her pen down. It shakes in her loose grip. “You lost to me again.”

And then, damn it all, he actually smiles, tired and amused, at her provocation.

Today, the Audacious Prince doesn’t slide into the seat across hers, dislike evident on his face. Instead, he takes the seat on her right, and Eva just only remembers that this table is a four-seater.

He hunches over the table, burying his head in his crossed arms. Even with his lithe figure, even with the ample amount of space provided by the table, his shoulder manages to brush against her arm.

“What the hell are you doing?” she whispers, almost a laugh.

“Hiding.” he answers, muffled by his sleeve. He stays like that for a few beats, while she watches in astonishment, before jerking his head up again. Then, ignoring any of Eva’s protests, he snatches the jacket hung over her seat, and puts it over his head. He takes a few of her books, too, checking that they have ‘Mathematics’ on the cover before propping them up. When he’s done, he goes back into hiding, behind the books.

Another set of pitter-patter arrives. It’s even louder than the Audacious Prince’s, if even possible. A lively, red haired girl emerges from behind the pillar, looking around frantically.

Okay. Eva gets it now.

When she approaches, Eva clears her throat and puts on her coldest face.

“Heyaaa, hope I’m not interrupting!” Lively Girl begins, bright and spunky. “You haven’t seen a Damon Maitsu around here, have you? He’s about this tall, clearly bi, but we haven’t had the Talk—”

“You are interrupting.” Eva snaps, conscious of the shoulders shaking next to her. The Prince is incredibly terrible at holding his laughter in.

Lively Girl’s face falls into a pout. “Oh, okay. Sorry ‘bout that, guess that's a ‘no’.”

She runs away with the same vigour she entered the Corner with. When the pitter-patter subdues, the boy Eva now knows as Damon Maitsu raises his head cautiously.

“Thanks for that,” he sighs, ruffling his hair, “She's, uh, quite the handful, don’t you think?”

“Sure is,” she answers, peeking at him in her peripheral vision. “So are you, though.”

Another sigh. “No, I’m definitely the more normal one between the both of us.”

“Then you must be thinking wrong.”

A snicker from him, and then silence. It’s comfortable, Eva finds, but it makes her all too conscious of the fact that he’s still sitting right next to her, that their knees are almost touching, that their shoulders are almost brushing.

“She’s not a bad person, though. She’s… my friend, even if she tried to force me into her organised-on-a-whim schoolwide gaming tournament.”

Eva feels a twinge in her heart. “You have good friends.”

“You’re frowning.”

She falters, bringing her hand up to touch her lips. Was she?

Damon stares at her, unjudging. “Do you not have any…?”

The silence is no longer comfortable. The presence on her right, while warm, becomes a blur. And Eva feels like the skin on her is wrong, and the workings on her notebook are wrong, and the air is feeling wrong, and—

She slams her notebook shut, unable to stay. And she packs up her belongings, frantic and desperate.

Damon only looks up at her, confused and worried. “W-wait, where are you going?”

“You can have the seat.” It doesn’t matter anymore. I need to leave. Go. Go. Go. Run. Run. Run. “You win, Damon.”

The last of Eva’s belongings is thrown into her bag, messily arranged because of her hastiness. She takes off right away, never looking back, never saying another word.

All that resounds in their Corner is the quick pitter-patter of her footsteps that get softer, softer, softer… and then, no matter how much he cranks his ears, Damon hears them no more.

v.

Miss Mathlete never shows up again.

“Stop being dramatic, stupid,” Kai Monteago groans extremely loudly, ruining Damon’s depressing narration. “It’s only been a day, Damon, goddammit. A. Day.”

One (1) day since his study buddy ran out the library, and one day since Damon went home almost brokenhearted, recounting the entire Corner saga to his influencer roommate.

“Ugh,” Kai plops down unceremoniously, in the seat Damon likes the most. “Give it some time, okay? You said you only meet when your schedules get wonky, so it's totally normal if she doesn’t show up today.”

All Damon does is stare forlornly at the seat Kai is on, and thinks of steel grey eyes. Kai recognises the look in his eyes, and groans again, louder than before. “Dude, you’re fucking kidding. You miss a girl this much?!”

“I don’t miss her,” Damon mumbles, and Kai can almost see the mushrooms sprouting on his head. “She’s super noisy. I’m glad she’s gone.”

“Yeah, right! And I’m Donald fucking Trump!”

“You’re not, though?”

“Did you not get the joke??!!!”

Kai sighs. Damon has always been kind of a loser, even with his academic achievements and many friends (who forcefully adopted him, by the way, because he insists that they’re weirder than him even though everyone knows he’s the most pathetic among them). But really, to see him sulking over the absence of some math girl he shared a table with four freaking times is a whole new low.

His roommate is totally fucked. Kai thinks Damon would look much less pathetic if he were run over by a truck.

So he leans forward, concocting a plan to wipe that frown on his friend’s face, because he’s such a kind person. “Okay, stop moping. I’ll help you get her back, even if the chances of you doing that after accidentally insulting her lack of friends is like, zero point zero zero zero zero one.”

“You just pulled that number out your ass.”

“I’m not Miss Math Girl, damn it!”

Wrong word choice, apparently, because Damon groans at the mention of her and throws his arm over his eyes.

“Why’d you even bring me here, anyway?” Kai crosses his arms. “Did you miss having someone to study with you that much? Like, what if your girl walks in and sees me with you, and decides to leave forever ‘cause she thinks you don’t need her anymore?”

Damon leaps forward, eyes wide. He’s totally considering that scenario. This fucking idiot.

Kai slams his fist on top of Damon’s head, hoping to knock out whatever demon might’ve possessed his roommate.

As the latter rubs his head in pain, the pink haired boy ignores the “what was that for??” coming from his roommate, and thinks. Thinks deeply. Damon is so not himself right now. And no matter how funny, or how irritating it might be for poor old Kai Monteago, it’s actually very very worrying to see the one person you know with infallible purpose and drive suddenly… wither.

And Kai is no idiot. Damon may return to their shared dorm room every night, and kick up a big fuss about the girl he simply hated. The girl he met four times and kept in his head for longer. Damon may do all these, complain even louder, tug his hair harsher…

…but he will never get rid of the soft, endearing look he doesn’t know he has when he talks about steel grey eyes.

Kai isn’t stupid. He’s seen those eyes before, many many times. He’s seen it in his own reflection, when he stares at a text so long the screen blacks out, so he knows.

Kai Monteago is a lot of things, but he is not stupid and he does not leave his friends alone in their perils.

“What did you even talk about? Like, before the part where you found out she had no friends?” he leans back, eyes trained on Damon’s blond mop.

Damon looks up, surprised at Kai’s patient tone. “...uh, Cass? I think?”

“Cass? Math girl knows her?”

“No, but I ran away from Cass yesterday. ‘Cause she was trying to force me into her gaming tournament, remember?”

“Ohh, yeah. You ran off immediately, and she screamed like a chicken and chased after. It was so funny.” Kai twiddles with a strand of his perfectly conditioned hair. “But what’s that gotta do with Math Girl?”

“I hid with her.”

Kai sits upright, listening very intently. “You what?”

“Hid,” Damon swallows, almost ashamed, “next to her. In this table?”

“Damon, what the fuck.”

“Hey, don’t— wait, I went off track. I told her about Cass’s game tournament, and then she said I had good friends—”

“Aw, she’s so right.”

“Shut up, Kai. And then I asked her if she had any, then—”

“YOU ASKED HER IF SHE HAD FRIENDS???” Kai full-on yells, still in the library. “ARE YOU A FREAKING IDIOT?????”

“NO! I mean, that’s not what I said, but—” Damon ruffles his hair roughly, like a dog. Kai watches, gaping in a way that can only be described as disappointed, as he pulls on the strands of his blond hair. “Ugh, forget it. I should’ve just stopped talking at the game tournament thing.”

And then Damon buries his head in his arms, not hearing when Kai scoffs “yeah, you totally should’ve”. And he turns his head to the side, then to the other side, before going back to the first position. And his restlessness is still not going away.

And then he remembers.

“Game tournament… game?” he mumbles, brows furrowed.

You’re playing a game.

A brainless, online shooting game.

A sound you’d recognise if you were playing Galactic Shooter: The Rise of Martians.

Damon snaps his head up so fast his head spins, again.

If Miss Mathlete plays games… and he wants to find her… and his friend so happens to be hosting a schoolwide game tournament…

…

He couldn’t… could he…?

He slams his palms on the table, jumping to his feet. Kai repeats the action subconsciously, having been scared by his sudden outburst. “Kai, I’m a fucking genius.”

“Uh, congrats?”

Damon doesn’t stay long enough to hear it.

Kai watches as he scurries away, a hopeful shine in his eyes. He thinks it’s the happiest Damon has looked in the past 24 hours. When the blond haired boy’s footsteps fade to nothing, Kai slumps in his seat, covering his eyes with his palms. He doesn’t move for an excruciatingly long time. Then he exhales, deep and shaky.

He’s a good roommate, and friend. He really is.

He tells himself that even though his heart’s been pounding for a green eyed boy ever since they shared a room many, many months ago.

+ i.

The Audacious Prince never shows up again.

For the past hour, Eva’s been blankly staring at her notes, the Greek letters and numbers swimming into an unreadable blur. It’s not that she doesn’t understand them (the great Eva Tsunaka, not understanding? Who do you think you’re talking about?), but she finds that even the simplest of equations on her working papers take her longer than a two-mile run.

Because every time she looks down to her notebook to meet white paper, the only thing that forms on it is sharp green eyes.

Eva groans deeply, and slumps onto the table, mushing her cheek against the paper. She fiddles with the hem of her skirt, just sitting in silence in her little Corner. The only sound she can hear is the ticking of the clock; not even the very muffled murmuring from outside the Corner, where there usually were other people doing their own studying. Although, she supposes, there’s a lot less people today now that Submission Week has ended for many students.

A tick passes by. It’s so quiet, so dreadfully quiet.

The lone crow looks around, trying to hear very carefully for sounds of life around her. But the sky is grey and cloudy, and the roads are lonely, and the crow can only sit on the branch, waiting and waiting. For someone who was alone much longer than she was accompanied, she really, really misses the warmth of another.

After all, when a traveller drinks from an oasis for the first time, would he not desire to do so again?

Eva sighs, and sits up. Reluctance slugs her body. If she was going to be alone here, she might as well return to her dormitory.

As she packs her belongings, she drops a pencil to the floor. She bends down to pick it up, and before she rises, she sees it.

There’s a small piece of paper taped to the underside of the wooden table. It’s actually kind of big, but you wouldn’t see it if you weren’t bending down like Eva was now. This wasn’t here before.

Eva prods the paper a few times, then gingerly peels it off the table underside.

When she brings it up under the light, she sees writing on it. Dark blue ink, large and curvy. The author has an endearing habit of connecting the letters in his words.

It reads, To Miss Mathlete.

Eva lets out a gasp, her fingers trembling. She needs to read this. She knows— hopes it’s from the only person she can think of.

To Miss Mathlete.

Before writing this letter, I got called an idiot amongst many other things by my roommate, and for once, I can’t disagree with him.

I sincerely apologise for the remark I made the other day. It was insensitive of me, and I’ll admit I regret saying that a lot.

(I’ll also admit that I am biting back A LOT of my pride to write this letter, so I ask that you’ll have the benevolence to not insult me immediately after reading.)

I’m not good at being company, much less socialising to begin with. On the fateful day I walked into my (mind you, MY) favourite study Corner and saw you there, I knew I wouldn’t forget you ever.

In a bad way, of course. At that time, I wanted nothing but for you to leave. Then, somewhere along the line, within the three more times we met and bantered… I felt like it was a blessing in disguise.

Because in those four days we sat together, bantering and studying, I have grown to like your company. Truly. And when you are not across from me, bantering and studying, I wish I were doing those things. 

So go ahead, call me a fool. That’s what I feel like now, missing someone I don’t even know the name of. But I will have you know I want to change that, as well as apologise in person for my rudeness.

If you want to (or don’t, whatever), come with me to my friend’s schoolwide tournament. The one I told you about. It’s on the 18th, after five. You like playing games, don’t you?

I hope to see you there. I really do.

Yours, Damon Maitsu

-

Miss Mathlete doesn’t show up.

The gaming party is lively and impressively well set-up, for a team that consists of one energetic girl and one equally energetic dirt racer. (“Damie, you have too little faith in us!” “Yeah! Tell him off, Broskii!” “No thanks...”)

And the students lounge, booked specially for this occasion, is booming. Tons of people everywhere. Mark Berskii’s music is blasting at full volume, and both participants and spectators alike appear to be having the time of their life in the student-initiated tournament. 

Deep down inside, Damon is proud of his friends for actually pulling it off, he really is. But the only person he wants to see is not here.

His heart pounds in his chest, and he can’t feel his fingers. Did she… maybe not find the letter I left?

Damon looks at his watch for the twentieth time that evening. It reads, 6.08 PM.

He stares, and stares, and stares, until he sighs, long and quiet. And stands in his spot for a moment, looking down to the floor. After a few beats, he runs a hand through his hair, then rubs his drooping eyelids and cold cheeks.

He’s not even a gamer himself.

Damon goes outside the lounge, the booming music and excited yells becoming muted. Pressing his back to the wall, he tilts his head back and closes his eyes, sliding down until he sits.

For a short while, the sound of crickets and the rough feel of the cement floor soothe him. Then, coming from the corner, is a soft pitter-patter.

This time, it doesn’t get softer. This time, it gets louder, approaching him, and eventually stopping somewhat near him. Damon doesn’t know where. Damon doesn’t dare see where. Or who.

Clothing rustles, and the mysterious person kneels beside him. There is a delicate breath on his left ear. Soft curls tickle his neck.

“You’re in my seat,” Damon hears, and his lips twitch up. And then he smiles, bigger, brighter, so very elated.

Before he can stop himself, he throws his arm over his closed eyes and straight up laughs , deep from the bottom of his lungs, body shaking.

Turning to the left, he finally opens his eyes. Miss Mathlete kneels, a small smile gracing her features. They both stay there, rosy cheeked and still smiling, a hair’s strand away from each other.

Damon’s heartbeat drowns out the muffled booming of Mark’s music.

“Why,” Miss Mathlete starts, almost a chuckle, “did you tape your letter to the underside of the table?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t want anyone else to see it?”

“No one else uses our corner,” she deadpans, and chuckles again, “Damon.”

She says his given name, for the first time, with such tenderness that he chokes up.

“It should,” he swallows, “stay that way.”

“You must really dislike having competition. Your opponents must find you insufferable.”

“You know it's not that,” he mutters, still looking into steel grey, “And do I have to ask you for your name, or will you tell me yourself?”

“Didn’t you promise something else in that letter?” she teases. Damon groans.

“Ugh, right, I did. Okay.” he takes a short breath, in and out. “Once again, I am really sorry for insinuating that you don’t have friends.”

“You’re not actually wrong, though.” Miss Mathlete twirls her side bangs. “I don’t really have any.”

“Whuh—” he splutters, “You’re making me apologise for being right?!”

“But it is a fact. Ever since I was a gifted child, ever since I was high school valedictorian…” She tilts downwards to hide her face, almost bumping her head on Damon’s cheek. “Even till now, I don’t have someone I can truly call my friend.”

He looks at her, eyes half-lidded, gentle and aching. Miss Mathlete rocks back and forth on her toes, not quite ready to meet his gaze again. Damon takes a deep breath, and steadies himself.

“Eva,” he tests, as softly as he can.

She whips her head up swiftly, eyes wide. “You… you knew all along?”

“My roommate’s friends with your roommate, apparently.”

“Then…” she trails off, not understanding. “Why did you still ask to know my name?”

“I wanted to hear it from you .”

Eva Tsunaka stares at him in the eyes, steel grey searching green. Then, a few seconds later, she looks back down and resumes rocking back and forth. Damon can see the tips of her ears turn slightly redder, though. His own cheeks are feeling rather warm, too. This is way too embarrassing.

Desperate to break the silence, Damon offers, “I’ll introduce you to my friends. They play games, too.”

“…Like Galactic Shooter?”

“Yes, that darned game, whatever.” He rolls his eyes. “You’ll get along swimmingly, I can tell. And then I’ll be tortured on a larger scale, sandwiched between multiple idiots, forced to listen to an extended 120 minutes of dumb game mechanics.”

“Good.” The smile returns in Eva’s voice. Damon, very subtly, brightens. “You’ll keep being humbled, one way or another.” 

Damon doesn’t protest at the shade thrown his way. He never feels the need to.

As the warmth of another’s finger brushes against his own, he finds that he really likes looking at steel grey.

[late-to-the-party-81]

The Search

AN: A further drabble, one of two today, mostly composed in a field at a festival. Have a snippet of our boys just being themselves with each other - i.e. being little shits.

Once more, unbeta’d

If you would like to be added to my tag list, click here.

Moodboard by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Likes are loved, Reblogs are golden

Master List | SRB Master List | Stucky Geek Bingo Master list

Challenges and Bingos:

SGR Bingo Square A5  - Treasure Hunter

Stucky Geek Bingo Square O2 - Fighting over the remote

Summary: Steve’s on the hunt… within his own apartment. Will he find the object that Bucky has hidden from him?

Relationship: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes

WC: 650

CW: Domestic Fluff, is domestic crack a tag? it is now, Steve and Bucky being shits to each other, it’s their love language, boys kissing

Steve crept forward with all the stealth he could muster, which was quite a lot compared to most people, but much less than Bucky. The fact that he had to do this in the first place was a sign he shouldn’t be doing it, but he’d been an affectionate thorn in Bucky’s side since 1925 and just because it was almost 100 years later didn’t mean he had any intention of stopping soon.

He’d checked all of the obvious places first - Bucky was the master of the double and triple bluff after all - but no joy, so now Steve was having to think like Bucky. As he’d been in the living room anyway, he’d started there, checking the bookshelves, including the books themselves in case one was a fake book with a hiding place inside. 

It was never going to be that easy.

The prize he was searching for wasn’t in the kitchen, or the bathroom. It wasn’t in either of their studies or the bedroom. Heck, he’d even checked the linen closet in the hallway, between the stacks of Egyptian cotton sheets. Where could it be? He was driven by his stubbornness now, so determined to find the treasure that he’d almost lost interest in the reason he’d been looking for it in the first place.

A few frustrating hours later found Steve on his hands and knees, checking the floorboards, their apartment in disarray.. He knew Bucky had hidden things under loose boards in the past. Maybe it was a habit he still kept up? He was so focused on achieving his goal he didn’t hear the footsteps coming up behind him. 

”Whatcha’ doin’?”

Steve leapt into the air with a shout, whirling around to face… a grinning Bucky. A Bucky who had his hands in his pockets and was rocking back and forth on his heels with a shit-eating grin plastered to his face.

”Jeez, Buck. You scared me.”

Bucky removed his hands from his pockets and stalked forward, his gaze suddenly heavy and Steve gulped. He stopped scant inches from Steve’s body and looked him in the eye.

”Aren’t you supposed to be the world’s greatest tactician, Steve,” he drawled. “How didn’t you notice I was here? I wasn’t even trying to be quiet. Could it be that you were too distracted looking for something you shouldn’t have been, to be paying attention?”

The condescending tone made Steve feel two things at once. Firstly, it made him feel like he was still ninety-eight pounds and five foot six inches. The pout that appeared on his face was effectively an automatic reflex. Secondly, it made him feel desire. There had always been something in the way that Bucky spoke to him that made his body come alight. However, in this moment, the pout won out.

”I wasn’t gonna use it, Buck. Jus’ wanted to know where it was. For later. Unless you forgot where you put it.”

”Uh-huh?” Bucky took a step forward and Steve stepped back instinctually. His back hit the wall and his brain started to flash ‘Danger’ signs at him. His cock started to rejoice. “Are you telling the truth, Stevie? ‘Cause you know you’re not supposed to watch the next episode without me.”

Bucky was so close now, his breath hot on Steve’s cheek, his bulky body crowding Steve against the wall. Steve’s eyes fluttered shut as Bucky’s crotch brushed against his and…

His eyes shot open in realisation that all of his efforts had been in vain. He’d never have been able to find it, no matter how long he’d searched. He cocked an eyebrow and gave Bucky a withering look. “Is that a TV remote in your pocket, Buck? Or are you just pleased to see me?” he deadpanned.

The shit-eating grin was back. “Both,” said Bucky. “Both is good.” Then Bucky leaned in for a kiss and Steve forgot what he was mad about or the fact that he been going to sneak in the next episode of Bake Off on his own…

Tag list: @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796

@christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @galactusdevourerofworlds,

@crayongirl-linz, @mightstill, @nicoline1998enilocin, @starrkermarvel,

@king814318, @scram1326

[starkparade]

Tony Stark Bingo Round 8 Masterlist by starkparade

Saying goodbye to my @tonystarkbingo Round 8 card! I really enjoyed finding ways to incorporate these prompts in my fics, even if some of them just as smaller mentions. I am me, so all my fills were stevetony fics. The one fill I'm the most proud of in this batch was for the adoptable prompt "Anger Issues" which I used to replace the "Building Your Friends" square and get a bingo!

Below are the 8 MCU and 3 comics (616 and Avengers Twilight) stevetony fics that filled my squares!

S1 - "Please Let Me In"

Making the Right Call (MCU, T, 6.1k)

Civil War Fix-It, Getting Back Together Tony and Steve have not spoken to each other since that fateful day in Siberia. However, when Steve gets gravely injured in a fight and thinks he is going to die, he goes to find Tony in his workshop so he can see him one last time.

T4 - Go Away

Go Away (Please Stay) (MCU, M, 4.6k)

Divorced Tony, Getting Back Together Steve and Tony were together for four years before breaking up due to the events of Civil War. Since then, Tony got back together with and divorced from Pepper. When seven years after their breakup Steve seeks Tony out in his lakehouse, Tony has to decide if he has it in him to give their relationship another chance.

A3 - FREE SPACE

My Home in Your Time (616, E, 15k)

Falling in Love, Sexual Dysfunction Before Tony knows it, he's head over heels in love with Steve. Which isn't surprising, it's just a lot more complicated to want to be in a relationship with someone now. Even if he could tell Steve that he is Iron Man, there's still the stupid chestplate. Steve seems to be keeping him at arm's length anyway, and Tony can't figure out why. Steve wakes up in the 21st century, and all he wants is to go home to his time. That's until he falls in love with Tony Stark. Unfortunately, he can't tell him how he feels. Tony deserves someone who can give him everything he wants. And that someone can't be Steve, considering he lost all erectile function as a side effect of the serum.

A4 - Flutter

The Fun Way (MCU, E, 1.7k)

Blow Job, Resolved Sexual Tension Tony is convinced Steve keeps harping on about him putting himself in danger on missions because he is frustrated about something else entirely. He has an idea how to relieve that frustration.

A5 - Cuddling

Morning Light (MCU, E, 1.8k)

Morning Sex, Mild Somnophilia Tony can’t sleep in complete darkness, and Steve can’t stay asleep once the sun comes up. Most mornings, Steve just gets out of bed quietly so he wouldn't disturb Tony's sleep, but this time he can't bring himself to.

R1 - Reincarnation

Who Wants to Live Forever (MCU, T, 2.8k)

Major Character Death, Immortality It turns out that not being able to get drunk is far from being the worst and only unfortunate side effect of the serum. As the years go by, Steve notices he has not been aging. Everyone else, including Tony, has been.

R3 - Christine Everhart

Close It (MCU, T, 3k)

Major Character Death, Soulmates AU Steve had to make the hard call to prevent the nuclear blast going off inside the wormhole from reaching the island of Manhattan. As a result, Tony Stark never made it back. Steve did what he had to, and yet his guilt is eating him alive and he can't figure out just why he is so affected.

R4 - picture prompt (Iron Man armor)

with you (in never-ending twilight) (Avengers Twilight, E, 5.1k)

Body Dysmorphia, Intimacy Issues In the dystopian future of Avengers: Twilight, Steve found out that Tony had survived the devastating H-Day that had claimed the lives of many heroes and led to the rise of a totalitarian government twenty years ago. After Steve rescues Tony from captivity, they must face their feelings for each other. The problem is, Tony's body is now reduced to his disembodied head. How could he ever be good enough for Steve like this?

R5 - Abandonment Issues

love (if it means you) (MCU, E, 10k)

Demisexual Steve, Virgin Steve Steve isn't a puritan prude, thank you very much. He may not have had partnered sex, but it's not because of some moral conviction or a conscious choice of abstinence. He simply never felt like he needed a partner. Even with his serum-enhanced libido, the idea of sex never meant much to him before he's fallen in love. With Tony, however, it does. Even if Tony doesn't think he's the right partner for Steve.

K1 - Missing Scene

Romcom Fantasies (MCU, T, 4.8k)

Too Many Beds, Misunderstandings Tony runs into Steve at the airport, and when the hotel Tony booked in Washington DC abruptly cancels his reservation, Steve offers him to stay the night at his place. It sounds like something straight out of Tony's romcom fantasies starring Steve, except Tony is convinced that Steve is in love with someone else.

Adoptable - Anger Issues

The Price (616, M, 2.1k)

Major Character Death, Guilt Steve never meant for this to happen. He agreed to meet Tony at the Mansion, hoping the fact that Tony asked him to meet meant he reflected on his mistakes and was willing to see Steve's side. But he wasn't. He kept insisting, and kept telling Steve that he needed to stand down. And Steve— Steve saw red.

[a13xandri4]

SBG Fanfic Request Bingo Board!!

For those who'd like to put in a request, but are unsure of what to ask for, you can use this!! The only one I am not going to do is D3, aka the "Punishment" square. Please avoid asking for that one! If you're also unsure how to word the request you can phrase it like, "Hi! I'd like to make a request for Ashlyn x Reader for square A3!" or something like that. I write for the Main six in the Webtoon School Bus Graveyard by Red! So feel free to ask for any of the main six with any of the squares! I'll try to update this daily to let readers know what squares have been used and for which characters, (Example: E2 = Aiden Clark, Logan Fields, Taylor Hernandez) As well as links attached to each writing, and if the Main six is requested for a square, I will mark it down and have a link attached!

This is what is currently available/taken!

A1 =

A2 =

A3 =

A4 =

A5 =

B2 =

B3 =

B4 = Tyler Hernandez (WIP rn),

B5 =

C1 =

C2 = Ashlyn Banner,

C3 =

C4 =

C5 =

D1 =

D2 = Tyler Hernandez,

D4 =

D5 =

E1 =

E2 =

E3 = Aiden Clark (WIP rn),

E4 =

E5 =

[scottxlogan]

Tony Stark Bingo Master List (Round 8)

Recently I participated in the @tonystarkbingo (Round 8) and below is my master list post of all the fills I made on my bingo card :) It was a fun time and I encourage anyone who likes Tony/Iron Man to check out the bingo as it's a great time! My list of art and story fills is under the cut :)

Title of Fill: Working Our Way Back to Love Chapter 1 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57907378/chapters/147403006Square Filled: S1: Last Times/Farewell Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Emma Frost Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Angst with a Happy Ending, Romance, Sexual Content, Reunions, Adult Content, Romantic Gestures, Marriage Proposal, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: Miserable without Emma in his life, Tony makes the decision to head out to Chicago to make an appeal to return to the romance that was lost between them. Word Count: 6731

Title of Fill: Working Our Way Back to Love Chapter 2 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57907378/chapters/147533866 Square Filled: T4: Rare Pair Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Emma Frost Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Angst with a Happy Ending, Romance, Sexual Content, Reunions, Adult Content, Romantic Gestures, Marriage Proposal, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary: After spending a day helping out at the school Tony and Emma finally come face to face with one another. Word Count: 5455

Title of Fill: I’ve Got You Under My Skin Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/57979015 Square Filled: A5: Stains Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship Tension, Sexual Content, Swearing, Adult Content, Canon-typical violence Summary: After dealing with backlash about their new marriage, Bucky and Tony make their way out to Malibu hoping to get peace and quiet with one another, but Bucky finds he's overwhelmed by the surprising outcry of disapproval he's facing simply for loving Tony. Together they know they make sense, but everyone else has an opinion on what's right for them causing Bucky to question their future until Tony's romantic gesture reminds Bucky how good they are together. Word Count: 9025

Title of Fill: Sleepovers and Other Things Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58216792 Square Filled: A1: Canon Divergent: Nobody Dies Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Teen and Up Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Domestic Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Fluff, Family Fluff, Team as Family, Family Feels, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Flirting, Avengers Movie Night, Implied/Referenced Sex, Team Bonding, Minor Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Minor Bruce Banner/Pepper Potts, Minor Loki/Steve Rogers, Minor Happy Hogan/Aunt May Parker, Innuendo, Tony Stark Lives, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies Summary: After surviving the war against Thanos, Tony reflects on how the last year of his life has given him a new beginning and hope for something wonderful with his family and the team on a night away from the missions and the chaos. Movie night always brings so many possibilities of togetherness especially with Bucky at Tony's side. Word Count: 5157

Title of Fill: To Bring You Into My Arms Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58469407 Square Filled: T2: Prison Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Established Relationship, Misunderstandings, Kidnapping, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Reunions, Idiots in Love, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Blood and Injury, Implied/Referenced Torture, Aftermath of Torture, Prison Summary: After a miscommunication Tony is on a mission to bring Bucky back home again after the bad guys took him away. On the mission Tony's determined to rescue the one man he can't live without as the two find a way to clear the air between them along the way. Word Count: 9633

Title of Fill: Full Circle Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/149614444 Square Filled: K2: AU: Teachers Ship/Main Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: In the aftermath of his breakup with Steve, Tony convinces Bruce to accompany him to an island beach party weekend that Tony is convinced is exactly what he needs to forget about the man that he still can't find it in himself to get over. Struggling with the idea of letting go of what he and Steve had together, Tony tries to pretend he's doing great, wanting to return to his hedonistic former self and find a hookup to make him forget everything he'd left behind. However, Tony's night doesn't go exactly as planned when memories and the mood leads him to longing for what he wants but cannot have until he runs into a sexy stranger on the beach that turns Tony's world around in ways he's entirely unprepared for. Word Count: 11049

Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 2) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/149735767 Square Filled: S4 Kink: Armor Kink Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: Tony's chance encounter leads to a passionate night with a sexy stranger who changes everything for him moving forward. Word Count: 7566

Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 3) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/149880877 Square Filled: K1: In the quiet aftermath of a wild night, Tony's time on the island leads him to learn more about James and his history in a calm before the storm in Tony's life. Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: Tony's chance encounter leads to a passionate night with a sexy stranger who changes everything for him moving forward. Word Count: 7858

Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 4) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/150277063 Square Filled: T4: Defiance Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: Tony's wild weekend with James comes to an end and after he's returned to the real world he reflects on that time out on the island before an explosive reunion with Steve changes everything moving forward! Word Count: 13252

Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 5) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/150957634 Square Filled: A3: Free Square Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: Steve and Tony get a little too close for comfort as Tony struggles to figure out what it is that he wants. Later a surprise visit from James proves to be exactly what Tony needs to clear his head. Word Count: 12183

Title of Fill: Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 7) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/151365070 Square Filled: K3: Rescue Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes, Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/MSummary: Things get increasingly more complicated as Tony soon discovers that despite his earlier beliefs three's a crowd in Tony's shower. It doesn't take long for things to get heated, but what happens next is the last thing Tony anticipates after Steve's explosive arrival. Word Count: 8056

Title of Fill: Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 8) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/151602886 Square Filled: S2: Journey: Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: After hitting the road, the guys find themselves in a safehouse where Tony starts learning the truth about the two men he's invited into his world. Word Count: 17837

Title of Fill: Full Circle (Chapter 9) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58713529/chapters/151762918 Square Filled: S3: Stuckony Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers Rating: Explicit Warnings/Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Explicit Sexual Content, Armor Kink, Minor Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Alternate Universe - Professors, Alcohol, Swearing, Misunderstandings, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Science Bros | Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Canon-Typical Violence, Tony Stark-centric, Flirting, Threesome - M/M/M Summary: Tony and Steve discuss what it is they need to make things work moving forward together acknowledging what they've been missing without Bucky in their lives. Later that night Tony reaches out to Bucky ready to turn a new page on a passionate beginning for all three of them. Word Count: 18857

Title of Fill: Iron Man Reflections Link: https://www.tumblr.com/scottxlogan/765049787236171776/this-was-an-homage-to-comic-cover-art-that-i-did?source=share Square Filled: A4: Metallurgy Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark & Doctor Doom Rating: Gen Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: N/A Summary: A comic book fan art vector illustration of Tony and Doctor Doom Word Count: N/A

Title of Fill: The Secret Santa Connection (Chapter 6) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60503917/chapters/155076133 Square Filled: T4: Road Trip Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Secret Santa, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, holiday romance, Swearing, Gift Giving, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Sexual Content, Reunions, holiday party, Gift Exchange, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Christmas Romance, Light Angst, Happy Ending, Feelings Realization, 5+1 Things, 5 Times Summary: Bucky's family reunion brings more than he anticipated when Bucky and his family find a way to reconnect with one another after all the time lost between them. When Tony's surprise opens Bucky's heart up to something he'd been missing for so very long, Bucky realizes that having Tony in his life is something he doesn't want to be without when the two cozy up together for a night of romance. Word Count: 10520

Title of Fill: Little Black Book (Chapter 1) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61374790/chapters/156877777 Square Filled: R5: Anonymous Confessions Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Night Stands, TVA | Time Variance Authority (Marvel), Strangers to Lovers, Sexual Content, Post-Endgame, Pre-Canon, Pre-Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013), Holidays, Post-Canon Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Reunions, Innuendo, Multiverse, Flirting, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Forgiveness, Redemption, Tony Stark-centric Summary: It all began on Christmas Eve in 1999 where Tony Stark finds himself facing the prospect of a holiday alone after cutting out on the seasonal party. However, once a sexy stranger finds his way into Tony's life it appears that fate has bigger plans for him along the way. Will one passionate holiday night lead to a lifetime of joy and happiness with the possibility of redemption around the corner after a little black book finds its way into Tony's life offering up mysterious secrets along the way? Word Count: 6872

Title of Fill: Little Black Book (Chapter 2) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61374790/chapters/157230496#workskin Square Filled: R3: Afterlife/Ascension Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Night Stands, TVA | Time Variance Authority (Marvel), Strangers to Lovers, Sexual Content, Post-Endgame, Pre-Canon, Pre-Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013), Holidays, Post-Canon Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Reunions, Innuendo, Multiverse, Flirting, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Forgiveness, Redemption, Tony Stark-centric Summary: Saving the world didn't land Tony Stark anywhere near where he wanted to be. After Endgame Tony winds up in a new place with new adventures that are bound to lead him down the path towards an assignment that he's determined isn't for him, but will Tony's history with Bucky prompt him to have a change of heart? Word Count: 6850

Title of Fill: The Holiday Date Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61602079 Square Filled: R2: Kink: Phone Sex Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Explicit Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Sexual Content, Phone Sex, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Fake/Pretend Relationship, holiday au, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Canon Fix-It, Single Parent Tony Stark, Flirting Summary: After Endgame Bucky finds that life is much better living at the Avengers Compound with the team. As luck would have it, Bucky and Tony have gotten closer through the years, finding friendship along the way. However, when Tony asks Bucky for help in leading the world to believe that he's gotten over his past relationship with Pepper by having them pretend to be in a relationship with each other, Bucky finds himself in a situation where his feelings for Tony could prove to be the demise of their plan entirely should he allow himself to let go and share what's in his heart where the former playboy is concerned. Word Count: 17883

Title of Fill: Little Black Book (Chapter 3) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61374790/chapters/157884076 Square Filled: A2: Infinity Gems Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Night Stands, TVA | Time Variance Authority (Marvel), Strangers to Lovers, Sexual Content, Post-Endgame, Pre-Canon, Pre-Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013), Holidays, Post-Canon Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Reunions, Innuendo, Multiverse, Flirting, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Forgiveness, Redemption, Tony Stark-centric Summary: Tony seeks guidance from a new friend to help him sort out his feelings about the mission at hand. When an old friend arrives and offers up clarity to Tony's dilemma, Tony makes a decision about what he's going to do moving forward where Bucky is concerned. Word Count: 11772

Title of Fill: Little Black Book (Chapter 4) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61374790/chapters/158261743 Square Filled: R1: Bullies Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Night Stands, TVA | Time Variance Authority (Marvel), Strangers to Lovers, Sexual Content, Post-Endgame, Pre-Canon, Pre-Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013), Holidays, Post-Canon Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Reunions, Innuendo, Multiverse, Flirting, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Forgiveness, Redemption, Tony Stark-centric Summary: Tony, Steve and Natasha set out to begin their mission to save Bucky, but soon found things hit a snag as someone finds out what they are intending to do. Can they smooth the waters over long enough to find their way to where Bucky needs them or will fate have other plans moving forward? Word Count: 9551

Title of Fill: Little Black Book (Chapter 6) Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/61374790/chapters/159027889#main Square Filled: K4: Showoff Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, One Night Stands, TVA | Time Variance Authority (Marvel), Strangers to Lovers, Sexual Content, Post-Endgame, Pre-Canon, Pre-Movie: Iron Man 3 (2013), Holidays, Post-Canon Fix-It, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Reunions, Innuendo, Multiverse, Flirting, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Angst, Forgiveness, Redemption, Tony Stark-centric Summary: After learning the latest set of secrets in his little black book, Tony is determined to find his way out of the past with Steve and Natasha only to be roped back into a holiday party where his flirtation with Bucky serves as a painful reminder of just what it is that Tony is missing out on in his life. Word Count: 14785

Title of Fill: Cupid's Naughty Gift Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63050767 Square Filled: T4: Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: Mature Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Misunderstandings, Misunderstood Tony StarkImplied Sexual ContentAdult Content, drinking, Sex Toys, Kinks, Swearing, Awkward Conversations, Embarrassment, Valentine's Day, Kissing, Flirting, Embarrassed Tony Stark Summary: After a hot and heavy make out session with Bucky leaves Tony questioning the direction of their flirtation, Tony makes a drunken impulse purchase gift for Bucky on Valentine's Day that winds up on the wrong doorstep bringing with it the fear that perhaps Tony made the wrong decision in sending the naughty gift to begin with. Will it prove to spell disaster for Tony's blossoming flirtation as far as Bucky is concerned Word Count: 7291

Title of Fill: Marvel Fashion Series: Tony Stark Link: https://www.tumblr.com/scottxlogan/775878560502169600/marvel-heroes-fashion-series-tony-stark-iron?source=share Square Filled: S5: AU: Gothic Ship/Main Pairing: N/A Rating: G Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: N/A Summary: Vector art of Tony Stark in a gothic inspired corset fashion. Word Count: 0 (Fanart)

Title of Fill: Comfort: Tony Stark and Loki Laufeyson Link: https://www.tumblr.com/scottxlogan/776138550584410112/comfort-tony-stark-and-loki-laufeyson-my-latest?source=share Square Filled: T3: FrostIron Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Loki Laufeyson Rating: G Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: comfort, embrace, kiss on the cheek Summary: For the prompt I decided to give some art a try and do an art where Tony is comforting Loki as they take a few minutes along with one another :) Word Count: N/A

Title of Fill: Third Date Rule Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63605563 Square Filled: Adoptable: Third Date (to replace T1) Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bucky Barnes Rating: T Major Tags/Warnings/Triggers: Idiots in Love, Misunderstandings, Flirting, Date Night, Friends to Lovers, Swearing, Innuendo, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Single Parent Tony Stark, Sexual Tension, Canon-Typical Violence, Team Bonding Summary: After Tony tries to convince the team that he is a dating master by proclaiming he can make anyone fall in love with him after three dates, the team calls Tony out on his oh-so-obvious feelings for Bucky. The morning then takes a new twist when Bucky overhears part of the conversation and makes a request for Tony to help him find 'the one' but Tony soon decides that proves to be problematic as Tony decides that he's 'the one' meant to be with Bucky. Can Tony keep his promise to help Bucky find love or will Tony find a way to convince Bucky that he's the guy Bucky's meant to be with? Word Count: 9481

[scathstudios]

秘密 | Procreate | A5

A5 version of 秘密 a little experimental series I did on Procreate trying to make something out of random splotches of colours. Turned out rather alright in the end. Mades a few changes here and there so the square prints aren't completely the same.

[nekoannie-chan]

History Homework

Title: History Homework.

Fandom: Marvel, Captain America.

Ship: Steve Rogers & OFC (Lily Hazel Rumlow-Rogers).

Word count: 192 words.

Square: A5 “Howling Commandos”.

Rating: Teen.

Summary: Steve's daughter asked him about the Howling Commandos.

Major Tags: None.

Additional tags: My entry for @steverogersbingo Steve Rogers Bingo Round 4 (Card SB4004).

Links: Wattpad, Ao3, Spanish version.

@saiyanprincessswanie

My native language is Spanish, so I wanna improve my writing skills in English. Please let me know if you notice any mistakes, and I will correct them.

I don’t grant permission for my fics to be posted on other platforms or in other languages (I translate my work) or for the use of my graphics (my dividers are included in this). I created them exclusively for my fics; please respect my work and refrain from stealing it. Some people here make dividers that anyone can use; mine is not this type, so please look for the other people's dividers. The only exceptions are those I gifted 'cuz now belong to someone else. Please let me know if you find any of my works on a different platform and are not one of my accounts. Reblogs and comments are always welcome.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Marvel's characters (unfortunately), except for the original characters and the story.

Add yourself to my taglist here.

My other media where I publish:  Ao3, Wattpad, ffnet, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter. 

If you like it, please vote, comment, and give me feedback to improve my skills and reblog.

Tags: @sinceimetyou @unnuevosoltransformalarealidad @navybrat817 @real-fbi @caplanbuckybarnes @hallecarey1 @nana1000night @talia-rumlow @alexxavicry @azulatodoryuga @endlesstwanted @@patzammit @kmc1989

It was a quiet afternoon at the Rumlow-Rogers' house. Lily looked up from her toys and looked at her dad.

“Dad..." she called to him.

Steve looked up and saw Lily, lowered the report, and smiled to himself.

“What's the matter, little girl?“ Steve asked, putting aside his papers.

Lily walked over to him, walking in her bare feet, and sat down next to him on the couch.

“It's just that at school, the teacher left us an assignment," said Lily, holding her notebook in front of Steve. “She asked us to do some research on the Howling Commandos, but I don't understand what they are. Can you explain it to me?

Steve was silent for a moment, surprised at the memory.

“Sure, Lily," he said, taking his time to find the right words. “They were a very special team of soldiers during World War II. I was their leader, and they helped me accomplish many very important missions.

Lily frowned, trying to understand.

“A team of soldiers? Like the ones in the movies, Dad?”

Steve smiled. “Yeah, something like that.”

“And you guys’ howl like a wolf?” Steve laughed. “Not exactly.”

[scottappreciation]

Scott Appreciation presents Scottuary3!

➤ WHAT IS IT?

Scottuary is a Scott appreciation event running from Feb 1-Feb 29, 2024. The goal is to get as many Scott-centric, Scott-positive fics posted throughout the month of February to boost the tag & show our appreciation. Cards for Readers’ Bingo will be added midway through the month!

➤ HOW DO I PLAY?

To submit a work, simply write for one of the prompts and post your work to the Ao3 collection—you may write as many fics in advance as you’d like, but please reserve posting for February! Once you’ve posted it, share it with us using the #scottuary2024 tag, or mention us at @scottappreciation​.

All fics must be Scott-centric and Scott-positive. Scott does not need to be the POV character, but the primary focus of the fic should be Scott’s emotions/interests/needs/etc.

No character bashing, or hate of any kind, is accepted for this event. NSFW materials are fine as long as they are tagged appropriately and the author is 18+, but please no depictions of noncon at this time. No non-canonical MCD (Main Character Death).

➤ RULES

Download the bingo card before/during February 2024.

Write a fic using one of the prompts, to be posted only once February starts.

Fics must be at least 500 words.

Bingos are achieved by publishing five fics (one prompt per fic), going horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or all four corners + the free square.

You are allowed to combine spaces for Full Board Bingo, but no more than three tiles/fic.

Please post each prompt fill as a different work, rather than chapters—for related prompts, we encourage publishing them as a series. You can submit them on Ao3 to our Scottuary collection!

The free square still needs a story paired with it to make bingo, but can be for whatever concept you’d like!

When you post a fic, share a link to it + your bingo card with that tile marked off so we can reblog it!

You do not have to complete a full five story bingo to participate! We welcome as few or as many stories as you would like to contribute.

You are more than welcome to combine fills with other February events such as @febuwhump, etc., as long as Scott is the primary focus!

We’re so excited to read all your fics!!

For easier access for translating to another language or visual impairment, the prompts for Scottuary are written out below the cut!

Filling out all five items in a column will give you horizontal bingo, filling out the same number for each row (eg, all the 2s) will give you vertical bingo, and to make a diagonal bingo, use prompts A1-B2-C3-D4-E5 or A5-B4-C3-D2-E1.

A Row:

Maybe I Should Be No One

Scott + STEM

Shadow Wolf (Darkness around the Heart)

Threefold Death

I'm an Alpha Now

B Row:

Werewolf Reveal

Somatoformic

The Bit

Mercy

Beacon Hills' (Disaster) Clubs

C Row:

Berserker Remnants

Peter Trauma

FREE SPACE

Scott + Monroe

The Preserve

D Row:

Outsider POV

Hunted

UC Davis

Wolfsbane

Scott + Fear

E Row:

I Just Need Something Permanent

Episode Tag

Scott + Clothes

Asthma

I Do Things That Should Be Impossible

[merinsedai]

for the @dreamlingbingo

Square/Prompt: A5: Stargate (replacing Truth Serum)

Title: Dreamling Abbey (epilogue)

Rating: G (Dreamling Abbey itself is M)

Ship(s): Dream of the Endless/Hob Gadling

Warnings: n/a

Additional Tags: Downton Abbey au, omegaverse, omega Dream, alpha hob

This is a third short addendum to my CHBB fic, Dreamling Abbey, which you can read on ao3 (mind tags), because Stargate SG-1 was one of my favourite shows back in the day. This is based on the opening scene of the 1994 movie though, and since I already had my Dream and Hob in Egypt in the 1920s, how could I resist?

The shouting and general excitement are what draws Dream down from their encampment to the excavation site proper. Balancing Aggie on one hip, he deftly navigates between the canvass covered stalls and the rickety wooden planks that criss-cross the pits and trenches on the ground to find his way to Hob. His husband is in the centre of the commotion, of course, broad brimmed hat pulled down low against the unforgiving glare of the Egyptian sun, and trusty notebook already in hand. 

Dream smiles to himself as he weaves through the growing crowd- his Hob, always where the action is! Dream spies Robyn and Orpheus as he walks and his smile grows more contented. Ever inseparable- and ever intrepid, even at just four and six- they are currently clambering amongst the detritus of the excavations, with a series of watchful eyes upon them. Aggie fidgets a bit in Dream’s arms, wanting to join her brothers’ fun, but she is too young yet to be let loose so Dream does his best to soothe her with his humming and jiggling until he reaches Hob. He immediately does his husbandly duty and relieves Dream of their daughter, who is thankfully distracted enough by tugging on her father’s beard to be  momentarily placated.

“What is going on?” Dream asks, shading his eyes with his hand and eying the commotion in the pit. 

“They’ve found something, love,” Hob answers “And it’s a bit… strange, by the looks of it.”

They watch on with interest as the workers scurry around, efficiently uncovering a large, circular object. Dream tilts his head as he watches the men lift away heavy hieroglyph-covered coverstones to reveal a hollow ring of grey…. Stone? He is not sure, it looks too smooth to be stone, but what metal could have lain buried for thousands of years? Surely these ancient people did not use or work with metal like this? The ring is divided into segments, and each segment contains a symbol.

“Those are not hieroglyphs?” he questions and out of the corner of his eye he sees Hob shake his head. He is writing furiously in his notebook- Pitman Shorthand that he and Dream had learned together- having been quickly relieved of Aggie by a helpful local, and looks excited.

“Definitely not,” he says. “Not sure what they are though. I’ve never seen anything like them. I wonder what they mean?” he looks up at Dream, eyes gleaming. “Nothing like a good mystery, is there, darling?”

***

Later, when the strange object has been fully uncovered and cleaned off, it is hauled into a standing position to be more closely examined. Dream, drawn by a feeling he can’t shake, returns with Hob to look at it again. They are allowed close, so well known by the team working here as to be practically family, and Dream reaches out to touch it curiously. He frowns. No, definitely not stone. A kind of metal, but not one he recognises. Certainly not iron or copper and steel would be absurd anyway.

“How curious this is,” he murmurs to Hob as his husband puts his arm around his waist. “It feels… very strange. I cannot put my finger on it, but it draws me in and repels me all at once.”

“Gives me the heebie jeebies a bit,” admits Hob, staring up at the ring. “This thing holds so many mysteries. I wonder what it was? And what happened here? It was clearly deliberately buried and  covered- no doubt the translators will be working feverishly on what the coverstones say- but it was so deep down, imagine the effort it must’ve taken those people… why’d they do it?”

“I want to know what these symbols mean,” Dream says, tracing one of them with his finger. It looked  like an unfinished triangle with a circle perched above its top point. “They fascinate me.”

“Well, could be a new project for you love. You and your ready mind. Not that Aggie will give you much time to concentrate, not now she’s getting her legs under her.”

Dream hums in agreement. “I should like that. I should like anyone to succeed. I feel like this thing has many secrets to reveal.”

“Well, with any luck we’ll live to see them.”

“Perhaps,” Dream touches the object again, traces light fingers over the patterns he can reach. “I feel like if a key could be found then this could unlock a great many adventures.”

[rufferto9]

Not An Average Librarian

Bingo: Steve Rogers Bingo Round 3, Square filled A5, prompt: High School/College card number: SB3017 Pairing: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes Title : Not An Average Librarian Warnings: High School Shenanigans Rating: Teen Tags: Steve Rogers, High School Librarian, Library, Teacher Steve, Principal Bucky, Summary: Bucky Barnes, the school principal was on a leave of absence when they hired a new Libarian. When he got back to work after being fitted and working on physical therapy for a new prosthesis he was generally irritable and in pain a lot. He kept running into a particularly frustratingly handsome new student aid who seemed intent on confronting every bully in the school. Steve Rogers was on his last nerve and he thought he'd have some peace in the library when he saw the boy there when he should be in class. "You're not supposed to be here!" Bucky scowled. "Why are you everywhere I look?!" "Where else is The Librarian supposed to be?" Steve snapped right back. "Who are you anyway?" "Your Boss." "Oh so you're the Principal who's been a dick to everyone lately?" "You always insult your superiors with that mouth?" "Pal, no one's my superior." "How can you be a librarian, you're just a kid." In Bucky's defense, Steve did not dress like an adult. "I'm twenty-six, asshole." "No one usually talks to me that way!" Bucky was a little bewildered at the attitude. "Just because you lost an arm doesn't give you the right to bully others." Steve told him. "It's terrible but it could have been a lot worse. You've got stark tech now, it'll get better. Not so sure about your face." "What's wrong with my face?" "It's distractingly hot." "I'm your boss you're not supposed to flirt with me." "I'll take my chances, we're consenting adults." One thing led to another and Bucky finally forgot about the pain in his arm. Something to do with a hot pair of lips that he could find in the library whenever he needed to be reminded that he was still human.

[4threset]

Hi! I've been kind of lurking for a while, your art is gorgeous and your comics with Telios are what made me realize just how incredible and emotional a few comic panels can be. It's kind of inspired me to try to make my own, but the one problem I run into to even start is size. How do you decide what size to make your artboards? Is it by pixels or by cm...? Every program seems to be different, and just looking up advice on the internet is giving me mixed signals... T_T

Hello! Thank you so much!!

And honestly, this is a general question with many answers depending on what you want to do in the long term. There's really no right or wrong way (or size) to start your comics!

I'm assuming when you say 'artboards' you mean the finished page? So I'll be answering to the best of my abilities with that in mind.

If you're just starting out, there's nothing wrong with just drawing in small squares to explore the genre. My favourite artist : insertdisc5 does some incredible work with just drawing squares and dialogues. These are great if you have a quick idea and just want to communicate short stories. (But honestly, if you want to do long form stories, these are also great to start out with and just get a feel of the medium)

If you mean page by page, I actually draw everything on B5 size or A5 size, so if I need something to be bigger or smaller, I'll just scale up or scale down.

There's also webtoon style comics that area veeeeery long vertically. For those I used to work in 2100px width and however long I needed them to be (They would go up to 50k px per episode) But again I'd have to scale them down to 900px wide to adhere to posting limits.

I think ultimately, there is really truly no real or proper size or way to start. It depends on how comfortable you are with big or small canvasses since you can always scale to fit your needs. I personally prefer to work on 1200 - 2000px wide canvasses, bc anything beyond that makes it difficult for my textures to show and I have to draw a lot more details. I have no idea if I managed to hit any points you were hoping to have answered, but feel free to pop another ask if you'd like :)

[garuda4321]

A very overdue Luminous post

Hey hey! We’re back with Luminous content! Not a lot, but I did snag some pictures! Ok… a lot of pictures but I’ll space them out so this post isn’t cluttered. First off, location location, location! Where was I for (most) of these photos?

Quick note, those red circles indicate the next batch needed for a UML (9 total).

Now, as you can see, we have three shipwrecks (I8-J9, G7-H8, and A5-B4), two kelp forest spots (E6-F9), a rocky coral area (I5-J6), and an abyssal crevice (F2-G5). Sadly there were SEVERAL squares full of the following.

This particular square (among several others) is devoid of rocks, life, AND salvage. Not the best square in the map. BUT I did find neat stuff elsewhere! Such as this beauty!

Oh boy, a watering can! Just what I needed in an ocean! Something to carry all my water for my garden! I did find better stuff, don’t worry. I also found these beauties.

Amber, plausible find in a treasure box if you ask me! People find it pretty, someone probably shoved it in a box at one point. I know I would, though that’s because I’m a disorganized mess.

Now, the idea of a “Fairy Bow” had me wondering PRETTY hard about what the origin of it is. Fortunately, there’s a salvage log for that! Also, for people that played Blue World, I found an Okeanos Oannes tablet!

Sadly… the salvage log ain’t much help here. I can’t read the tablet and the fairy bow is essentially Excalibur except you don’t get to rule England. Worth lots of points but I’m a little disappointed with the lack of depth these have.

Also, I discovered a very cute looking Commerson Dolphin!

Isn’t he just the best little sleek one out there? I could just hug him and-

Never mind I take that back. It looks like it wants to devour my soul as an appetizer… UML in reblog with a funny clipping moment from a different dive site because mobile app only lets me do 10 images at a time.

[dailyrandomwriter]

Day 577

I was once asked how I came up with the themes for my journal. In which, I had to explain that my theming choice is primarily around what stickers and image tape I have on hand, or decide to buy for that matter.

More often the latter than the former, which is an issue because storage space is at a premium at the moment. However, once I decide I want a theme, I will very much stick with it, even if it means changing other plans to fit that theme (so it seems).

The month of April will be the last month I will be working in the celestial journal, simply because I have run out of room. As my everyday journal, I use it to keep track of my habits, wellness, to-do lists and memory keeping, this results in a very full journal, very quickly.

Since May is my birthday month, I decided that all the themes for that journal would be of things I really like. Such as princess themed things, hydrangea flowers, strawberries, cats and sweet things. I had also planned, because I’ve been experimenting, to move into a B5 journal. A B5 journal is much bigger than the celestial journal I’ve been working out of, but I wanted to see if that was something I would like because I have image tapes that are pretty big.

However, one of the tapes I wanted to use for July, called Strawberry Sweets, turns out to be smaller than I expected. It is a very pretty tape, but it would leave too much negative space in a B5 journal, and even an Archer and Olive square journal might be too much. In fact, it’s a tape that is best suited for an A5 journal.

Here is the thing, it is much easier (relatively) for me to change the layout or cut down an image to fit a A5 journal, than it is for me to fill up space to make a smaller image work for a B5. So, instead of using the B5 that I had ordered for May, I am going to go back and use an A5 that I already have on the shelf.

It’s silly, but having the themes I want for the next four months makes me very happy.

[ronmanmob]

ღ {a towered prince}

First Kisses Meme

A small piece of paper, maybe A5 sized and carefully folded, was pressed into Miss Beth's palm as she bid Ron goodbye for the evening and made her way back to climes much more safe than those she shared with him on her give or take daily visits. He'd worked on what that paper contained for a week and some now, throwing all the brain power he had into crafting something of a gift for her given the round again festive season. In years gone by he'd had no reason to celebrate - indeed no real knowledge that the year was changing beyond the scantest of decorations and how the programs on the dayroom telly gained a yuletide edge. This year though, was different. His mind slowly unfogging, he found himself wanting to mark the occasion all he could with his darling little pal -- though...

That descriptor was getting to be unfitting now.

He needed to be very careful, else the quacks would have 'im.

Irrespective, his gift wasn't anything overtly...overture-making. It was festive, a craftwork he'd mustered up for her in the same flavour as those treats she so often bought him -- a crossword puzzle that he'd drawn and made up clues for himself. Usually drunk-spider writing was tamed now his hands didn't shake; sharp lines made with ruler and pencil; black squares carefully coloured so the white ones, where the answers went, were clear and neat and tidy for her. And amongst all this, all the squares and clues and careful penmanship, was a message. A final clue went un-numbered and read:

Hardly a gift, but there's one waiting for you when it's safe. Find it at: 8, 5, 14, 19.

She'd need to complete the puzzle to find his meaning, but he knew she would. Clever beyond clever was his lady from across the ocean. It'd take her nothing of effort to clock that it was the letter that fell in the numbered square he wanted her to pay attention to. And what those were?

Krampus PacifIc Static RoSes