#like some really cool reform-dress

[biolumien]

palette

hajime umemiya x graffiti artist!reader only a little snippet, but it might become bigger later, word count: 899

you were at home right here with the collection of paint markers and aerosol cans at your feet. your free hand adjusted the filtration mask on your face as you sprayed a nonsensical pattern onto the wall using a fluorescent green so bright it almost hurt your eyes. as you began to draw on the concrete wall using a black paint marker, you felt the sneaking suspicion that eyes were on you. 

that was odd. 

you did most—hell, all your graffiti work in the dark of night, hidden from sight. you’d been chased off by a few townsfolk when you were tagging signs or walls in broad daylight, which you supposed was fair. you were technically doing something utterly illegal, after all. but you kept at it at night, painting flowers and animals, or just random letters onto whatever surface you could. 

bofurin boys often covered it up—as was their right, too, you supposed, but it always irritated you when you’d come back around and find work you’d slaved on all night be covered up with a fresh layer of white paint. 

but back to the feeling that you were being watched. 

“who’s there?” you call out, pulling off your filtration mask slightly. 

“so you’re the one doin’ all those green tags!” a boisterous voice said, and you felt a sudden presence right behind you. you whirled around, dropping your black paint marker across the floor, wincing as it skittered across the alleyway. “did you know that this taiyaki place has called us every day for a week about the graffiti?” 

fuck. you did know that voice. hajime-fuckin’-umemiya, leader of the bofurin, who had essentially annexed and reformed furin high school by force. not only were they vigilante heroes of justice—they also practically were civil servants that served the community—and now their fucking leader was staring at you with a strange, open look in his eye. 

he wasn’t even dressed in his furin uniform—you think you’ve seen it a few times, the whistling long coat that he wore out on patrols with some of the other furin boys. despite it all, he somehow had that sort of aura of warm authority about him—paired with a brilliant and curious smile on his face.

“so what?” you ask defensively. 

“you do know the graffiti’s illegal, right?” umemiya questioned, raising an eyebrow as he walked over to where your marker had skittered across the floor, picking it up. “you could be put in jail for up to five years, you know!” he flipped the marker around, holding it out to you. 

“like i need someone from furin lecturing me about that,” you say, taking the marker back from him. umemiya seemed to deflate a little, almost like a sad puppy, upon your very subtle furin insult, so you hastily add a, “no offense.” 

“mm. i get it, i get it! i do. all the work i did to rehabilitate bofurin’s image doesn’t mean much when people remember how dangerous it was before,” umemiya says sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck. “but! i figured i’d come around the taiyaki shop at night, see if there was some repeat offender doing the graffiti, and here you are!” 

umemiya spreads his hands magnanimously, and you can see how worn and callused his hands are from years spent brawling against other students. there was no way he was going to start fighting you, right—?

“i just wanted to ask you to stop,” umemiya says. “i mean, i respect your artistic visions! i always thought it was a waste to paint over your works—i remember one time you did this bright yellow rabbit on a blue moon, very cool, by the way—and—“

huh?

“i really like your art! i was wondering, if maybe…”

you held your paint marker, watching umemiya seemingly steeling his nerves for a moment–

“do you want to come to furin and paint? there’s a lot of graffiti already, and most of the time when we patrol we never use the classrooms anyway, so if it was anonymity you were worried about, that’s covered—and plus, at night, you’d still get a lot of time to do whatever you want—”

“… you’re offering me a place at your school to just—paint?” you ask confusedly, raising an eyebrow. 

“well, yeah!” umemiya says. “i mean, it’s a waste to paint over your hard work, right? it’s different than the other tags.”

“... is it?” you ask, staring at your half-finished graffiti, joining other fresh tags on the wall. 

“well, i’m not really sure if i fully believe in the idea that art carries intention–but i’d like to think yours does! and it’s kind. and i think there’s people at furin who might appreciate it.” 

“well…”

you sigh, running a hand through your hair.

“well, okay,” you say. “but if anyone tries to start something–”

“please,” umemiya says. “we’re not animals. it’ll be great to have you.” and then he holds out his hand to shake, and you stare down at it.

are you really doing this?

umemiya’s expression is bright, warm. 

you shake his hand. 

his grip is firm, his thumb squeezing the space between your index and thumb–and you laugh with a hint of exasperation in your voice. here you were, pulled right into umemiya’s thrall–lured in by him like a sweet siren song.

“fine. see you tomorrow, then,” you mutter, your cheeks heating up.

[marzipanandminutiae]

Friend Marzi, why do we have an inclination to believe that all historical clothing was very heavy? Fabrics varied in lightness and for the very heat of summer for example an all-silk or all-muslin ensemble could be made very light and breathable if necessary, even foregoing implements like boning, etc. Like, there are ways to not be dragging your skirts around.

Working people and people with active hobbies were already wearing fewer layers anyway, so we shouldn't expect them to be encumbered. Why do we anyway?

Friend Tumblr User Chasingtheskyline! Hello!

(This answer will focus primarily on conventionally feminine clothing, since that's my area of expertise. Just to disclaim.)

I think it's because of the layering, really. And the idea that, as you touched on, Only Rich People Wore All That (not so much- the basic makeup of chemise/combinations, maybe drawers post-1820s, corset/stays, at least one petticoat, skirt, bodice for women was pretty consistent across most of the social ladder during the 18th and 19th centuries at least) so of COURSE it's heavy and impractical. And as we all know, rich people didn't have lives or do things! They just lounged around being rich and not moving! </s>

We're used to one layer of our mostly-polyester clothing being extremely warming in summer because. It's polyester. Breathability is not something people think about much nowadays, since we're so used to just exposing as much skin as possible to cool down. Ergo, the idea that it's layers of lightweight fabric doesn't really occur to people, I think.

Another element, I think, may be that some of these people have carried reproduction historical garments but never worn them. Or weighed them in a heap on a scale- yes, really -and never taken into account the weight distribution when they're on a body. I've owned garments that were a bear to carry, but perfectly comfortable to wear.

Also, you know. We've long had a vested interest in making our own garments seem like The Best Most Advanced Garments. You can find articles from as early as the 1920s decrying Victorian "trailing skirts and trailing hair" as unhygienic and uncomfortable Never mind that the ADULTS saying this would have known full well that shorter skirts were commonplace for situations where Excessive Dirt would be present and grown women wore their hair up. (Also, you know. Unless you're licking your hem, your skirts cannot get you sick.)

Either you're getting only the experiences of women who hated what they wore before- which would somehow be the same fashion writers who once declared that the gowns of 1915 were the best, or 1910, or 1905 -or they had a vested interest in selling something to the public: in this case, the hottest, newest clothes (and hairstyles that required more regular trips to the hairdresser than long hair pinned up). Of course you get those writers calling earlier clothing heavy- they're trying to get people to buy rayon flapper dresses!

Now, does that mean that nobody in history found their clothing heavy? Of course not. One of Amelia Bloomer's key complaints about the fashions of the 1840s and early 50s was the many layers of petticoats women often wore to create the fashionable skirt shape- and while I'm often loath to take dress reformers as sole arbiters of women's opinion, the invention of the cage crinoline/hoop skirt was widely hailed as a marvel for enabling big skirts with much less weight.

But you're so right that this perception is extremely exaggerated nowadays. I do my best to fight it- had this conversation with a colleague today, as I was wearing a long-sleeved blouse of cotton voile and a long cotton skirt to work in 80-degree (F) weather -but. Well. It DOES get frustrating at times.

[gabessquishytum]

i keep typing out asks to send you but stop working part way through 😔 so instead of letting them sit in my google docs, i'm just gonna send what i've written and just summarize what i wanted the rest to be 🙃

so. here's one of them lmao

---------

loosely inspired by Abigail (2024)

---

Hob is a reformed criminal, ok; he got out of that life when he met Eleanor and created a new life for himself when they married, identity and all. He didn't want any children they had to have to deal with any of that. He was even going to school to become a teacher.

And then Eleanor died and Robyn was taken and now Hob is being forced back into that life to get him back.

It's a kidnapping job, some rich fuck, with a large payout and Hob doesn't fucking care, he just wants his son back.

When he sees it's a 12 year old boy who's scared out of his mind, though, that's when he snaps.

He can't do anything, not yet, not when they- whoever they are, he still isn't sure- still have Robyn. All he can do right now is wait and protect the boy.

--

so it eventually gets revealed that the kids name is Orpheus, that his father is Dream (who's known to be incredibly dangerous, there are stories about him, most of which Hob doesn't believe because hello, vampires aren't real!!!)

except Hob gets proven wrong when Orpheus gets scared (and hungry) enough (he's just a baby!!!) and starts killing off his abductors. he only leaves Hob alone because he was nice to him and confided in Orpheus about his son.

Dream finally shows up at the end of the bloodbath (he was out of the country or something, idk lmao) with Robyn, who had been taken by Burgess (he wanted to force Dream into turning him and that's where Dream thought Orpheus was at first) and is all "you protected my son in the end and ur hot, i'm gonna turn you and make you my bride :)"

and Hob is like "!!! I don't want to get murdered if I say no so I guess I don't have a choice!!!"

and so Hob gets turned, he and Dream are now vampire married and fuck often, and Robyn and Orpheus bond over having weird dads (and when he's old enough, Robyn chooses to be turned as well; no way was Hob gonna make him go through puberty AND deal with being a vampire) (really Hob just didn't want to deal with the angst that came from it all, it's like the normal teenage angst bullshit got doubled and he was NOT doing it, thank you very much) (Orpheus was bad enough, and he was a born vampire; he definitely got the dramatics from his father)

Awww so cute! I remember the trailers for Abigail and thinking that the young lil vampire killing people was a cool concept.

I think the vampire family with Dream and Orpheus and Hob and Robyn would be so cute 🥺 like they live in a big spooky chateau with lots of vampire servants (who are also their friends tbh. Cori is their terrible terrible butler and Matthew is meant to be a valet but hes honestly just Dream’s weird friend at this point) and they go on hunts to kill bad people and eat them, and sometimes they go into town and do normal human things (Dream is really not very good at pretending to be human, but it makes Hob and the kids laugh a lot to see him try). Of course Dream hosts fancy vampire balls sometimes, and persuades Hob to get all dressed up in flowing red ballgowns because they're vampire married and Dream wants to show off his bride to everyone!!!

Orpheus and Robyn have to get Matthew to help them in solidly soundproofing their bedrooms because their dads are having NASTY sex every night. Orpheus has it worse because he has super vampire hearing - he did NOT want to know about his dad and step-dad's kinky strapped to an altar drinking each other's blood sex. But he gets his revenge eventually with a fellow vampire called Eurydice when they fuck on Dream’s favourite red velvet couch. DEFINITELY dramatic just like his father, honestly.

But next time someone tries to kidnap literally anyone in the Endless-Gadling family, they're in for a big surprise. Dream and Hob are protective of their baby boys, and Orpheus and Robyn are soon fully grown vampires ready to protect their dads. They really are the cutest family! As long as you're not squeamish!

[taybatwo2]

Vampire Heart Draculaura Review Part 4 of 4

In this final part of my review, I’ll be comparing her a bit more to some other Monster High vampires.

Including my G1 Elissabat (who really needs her hair de-glued) and I’ve had her hair “restyled” like that ever since I got her just because I liked how she wore it up in the flashbacks in “Frights, Camera, Action.” The picture above has mini-dress Draculaura with Elissabat, the true Vampire Queen. Luckily she’s pretty cool with this Draculaura playing dress up, as long as she gets to try on her outfit too.

Also, I had never undressed my Eissabat before and didn’t know these were two separate pieces!

And here is she is!!! I kept her puff purple sleeves to make it fit more with her color scheme. It’s not a bad look at all and I would have loved to have seen a true Vampire Queen Eissabat Collector doll.

Something like this, but even more dramatic. Give her some large vampire wings, layers of bows and bats and deep purples, a better looking tiara to house the vampire’s heart than what she wore in the movie, the works!

I think her boots look better under the dress than Draculaura’s though.

Her purples and large bell skirt gown are also kinda reminding me of this collector Barbie:

The true Vampire Queen….

….and now

Jump scare!

I wanted to compare G2’s hair play Draculaura (my favorite of my G2 Draculaura) due to the light pink steaks in her hair (as I thought it was the same light pink Saran) and her “darker face-up.” Turns out, it is actually a shade darker than Vampire Heart Draculaura’s and her makeup is not as dark as I remembered.

The difference in these dolls are night day, so onto something a bit closer.

Draculaura’s 50 dollar Amazon Exclusive collector doll vs Amazon’s Exclusive Collector 90/100 dollar doll.

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually way prefer the new doll over the old one in every way except for the lack of diary in the current release.

I was actually never a huge fan of the Collector Draculaura’s eyes (they look better far away and look like they were designed by Tim Burton) or her extra long body (I did like the chest articulation though, but thought an ever TALLER Draculaura looked odd), and prefer the new face up and eyelashes on the newer doll.

It does look like they have that same really light pink Saran.

They both have crumby stands that don’t hold the doll very well (at least Collector Draculaura’s is beautifully detailed).

And surprisingly non of these lace/lattice patterns were present on Vampire Heart’s Draculaura’s skirt. The embroidery on Collector Draculaura is still unmatched though, and she’s still an extremely lovely doll.

Buuuuut, she surprisingly has more in common with Haunte Couture Draculaura than Vampire Heart’s and visa versa.

She’s like the in between of Vampire Heart’s and Haunte Couture (similar colors to Vampire Heart’s, buuuut the same layered skirt with bat wing edges, heel/sole to her shoes, and a cape that attaches to her wrists…and I guess hats and rooted eyelashes that Haunt Couture has).

Well, Draculaura likes to reuse and update pieces of her wardrobe from her long life.

“Come play with us Vampire Heart Draculaura.” For fun, I compared OG Draculaura (whose hair has been degreased with LA’s Totally Awesome, but she just needs to be retro-brighted and I haven’t had time to do that).

She has the much skinner eyes of the OG Draculaura than the more “show accurate” Creeproduction Draculaura, but has the darker pink skin tone of the Creeproduction.

Well, I think that’s everyone, let’s get you to the Vampire Heart ball, or whatever ball your vampires are celebrating this week.

Huh. Looks like Valentine has offered to dance with you Draculaura. I wonder if he’s reformed in this timeline too….

Wait, now the famous movie star -and nothing else- Elissabat wants to dance with you instead. I’m sure Lord Stoker will be glad at all the attention you’re receiving….such a graceful model Vampi-

Tripped over Fangelica….it looks like she’s in this timeline too…

Anyways, all bow down to the Vampire Queen, the most beautiful of Monster High’s Skullector’s dolls (to date and my opinion).

….seriously I really want a diary to go with her…stop leaving those out Mattel!!

[fictionalcharactergraveyard]

The gang + Shepards x traditional goth reader whom everyone thinks is a witch, and there are rumors about her

Ponyboy 

low-key thinks about you a lot

at first it’s pure curiosity 

then it turns into daydreaming 

and when he hears you’re a witch 

he’s like “…that’s hot.”

“what?”

“NOTHING.” 

ofc you 2 get paired up for a project 

You guys like some of the same books 

And stargazing 

And Pepsi 

After Darry and Sodapop find out about his crush they tease him and low key set you two up for a date 

it’s so fun 

You guys see a horror movie 

And when you get jumpy you cling to him 

And he does the same to you

And then you two share kisses 

All is fine until he gets home and finds out he has black lipstick marks all over his face

And gets “use protection” talk from Sodapop while Darry tries not to laugh (Soda doesn’t wanna become an uncle yet guys)

Johnny 

he’s in the lot and sees you walking 

He low key panic until you say hi

And he’s obsessed with your voice

You 2 end up talking a bit and you joke about how people think you’re a witch 

He says “I believe it.” 

“Yeah?” 

“I mean, how else can someone be so beautiful?” 

You fs paint his nails 

And play with his hair 

You each end up scaring each others bullies off 

You love kissing his scars

Dally 

Hits on you 

And when you get mad he just laughs 

“Whatcha gonna do? Curse me?”

“I might.” 

Then you walk away

He plays it cool

But he’s low-key like

“Wtf did they do-“

You two run into each other again at a party 

Buck threw and and your friends with his cousin 

He sees you and starts to flirt 

You flirt back bc why not

“Damn Dally, you going for the wicked witch now huh?” One of the guys there says 

Man almost got punched 

You found it hot 

Darry 

You found him very hot 

Daddy issues/j

Yet you didn’t want to flirt 

He fs has a partner 

Or so you thought

Man is STARING 

Loves how you look 

You catch him staring and he tries to recover 

Tries 

You “accidentally” bump into him 

And nearly fall in the process 

He grabs your waist and holds you

Omg he’s stronggg

You act start stammer and are like: “jfc he thinks I’m so stupid-“

And then he just asks you out 

Right then and there 

And you say yes 

🤭

Sodapop 

You go to the DX

And get some snacks 

Sodapop is like “huh, there’s that witch chick” 

And then when you check out and smile

It’s over 

He needs you NOW 

He needed you yesterday 

He gives you free things 

“I can pay-“

“No need. I don’t need to be jinxed now, do I?” 

You giggle 

Man has a goofy smile 

Yaps abt you sm oml 

Y’all are cute FR 

Two-Bit 

Says sm jokes 

Like omg

“Hey! Heading back to the cemetery?” 

“You got any voodoo dolls on ya?” 

“Did you drug me with a love potion, or am I just falling too fast?” 

You try not the laugh but you do

When you 2 kiss man is COVERED in black kiss marks

And doesn’t wash it 

“TwoBit clean it -“ 

“But how am I supposed to show Im under your spell?” 

You make a joke or two and he DIES 

Y’all are so sweet oml 

Steve 

You 2 meet in October 

“Ain’t it a little early for Halloween costumes?”

“Ain’t it a little early to wear Frankenstein masks?”

After a brief starting contest you 2 laugh and you get your slushie in peace

You go to a Halloween party and see him 

He’s not really dressed up

Youre a sexy vampire COUGH

You decide to join in ‘spin the bottle” 

And you land on Steve 

You guys kiss

And again 

And again 

Then you decide “fuck it” and head to his car to make out 

Tim

Man’s cat calling 

It’s an art to him at this point (thanks to dally)

You tell him to shove it

And he starts walking beside you 

“Ain’t your eyes supposed to glow when you’re mad?”

You just stare at him

Then you kick him in the nuts and run 

He gets mad respect for you after that 

Turns out you guys like the same songs 

You guys do (very bad) karaoke 

It’s fun 

Curly 

Met in detention 

You punched a chick 

He jumped a soc 

You guys started talking

And got on like a house on FIRE

It’s scary oml 

You two make out a lot

Pony wants to die 

Y’all PDA 

When he’s in reform you visit and send letters 

He tries to write letters back 

And make them as nice as yours 

He can’t tho 

Angela 

puppy crush FR 

She thinks your so cool

And pretty 

And when you ask her out she’s like

“I’m in heaven” 

After a threatening “conversation “ with Curly and Tim they’re fine with you hanging out 

You 2 do each others make up 

And go shopping together 

And scream to music 

<3 

[lovelyladylavie]

ROTTMNT Pretear AU

When April activates an antique turtle compact, or Turtapact, she unleashes four elementals she can fuse with to gain their powers and help save the world from the Princess of Disasters, Cassandra!

But she soon falls in love with one of them, and loving an elemental is strictly forbidden, as it leads to its own disaster!

Will April and the water elemental, Donnie, find true love, or are they doomed like the Pretear before her?!

----

Have some random blarghhh thoughts about this:

Okay, so this scene specifically is the boys coming out after being trapped in the Turtapact, so they energy-based and temporarily look like genies, i guess? The plan is that they do get legs once they reform properly.

On the romance, Donnie is standoffish bc he knows the risks of falling in love, so he's very on-again/off-again with his affections. April feels like she's being jerked around, and he's hiding his thoughts from her when they fuse, and she finally confronts him. And thats when all heck breaks loose and while feelings are running high, Cassandra is forced by Shredder into her final form to destroy the world.

April has to fuse with all four of them together to defeat her. But it's not force that defeats her. April has to convince Donnie to tell the world he loves her, and only with all of them aligned, hearts as one, do they give April the power to ascend to her final form and she can cure Cass.

Also, one of the cool things about the Pretear show that would really work for April and the turtles is that whomever she'd fuse with to use their powers, acts as a Mind-Raph backseat driver/ghost over her shoulder, so you could imagine the dynamic between Donnie and April. Him trying to guide her moves, whisper in her ear, critiquing her technique, and saying stuff like "thats not how you use that power!!" And her trying to get him to shut up bc she's trying to concentrate on fighting.

Raph is the one who falls in love with the Princess of Disasters, who's Cassandra taking the role of Mawata. The spirit of the Shredder is poisoning her mind to become evil and ehhh its a bit like Rue from Princess Tutu and she transforms into a dark magical girl to fight April. Raph is trying to convince her to be good, but she's being gaslit into thinking no one cares about her.

Also this is April's 'blank' outfit, which morphs when she fuses with one of the boys to look more like them/their style in order to use their powers.

Anyway, I might make full models of the different variant dresses, the turtles' full outfits, and what Cass looks like. So stay tuned.

[stephofromcabin12]

What are your thoughts on a Dionysus kid who’s opposite or slightly opposite of a stereotypical Dionysus kid? Don’t get me wrong, they’re cool, and I like it, but imagine the dynamic it would be.

One who hates alcohol, parties, and loud noises who prefers literature, plays, and being alone.

My OC… wouldn’t hate alcohol(except she’s underage anyway) and parties, but definitely loves literature and plays and likes to be alone sometimes. But when she gets excited over something, she’s all in. All energy, and it’s hard to keep up with her. But she also has a temper, which usually includes shouting and pure rage that scares the crap out of people. She’ll act calm for a second, then go off.

But I do like the opposite traits thing, but I’m not sure how to put more of that into my character. Ideas? Please? if you don’t want to it’s okay:D

I have a whole thing with demigods who don’t fit their cabin’s stereotypes, bc statistically it’s bound to happen that a cabin 7 camper rocks up and is completely tone deaf, or a great musician but has zero aim (literally someone make a blind apollo kid who’s like freaking Beethoven but for obvious reasons cant be an archer)

Similarly we have (and I promise I’ll get to cabin 12)

- Hades kid who’s terrified of death. Absolutely horrified of the idea of skeletons and dark spaces and hates coldness. Best of luck with the existential crisis. Also just Hades kids who don’t dress in black, don’t avoid the sun and generally don’t subscribe to the whole “child of death” thing — cause they’re not dead. Heck. Their dad isn’t dead— he’s like the ceo of death. It would be like if their dad ran nasa and they walked around in merch 24/7.

- Ares kid with zero strength. Also refuses to gain strength, absolutely not. Coaches don’t play. Except they dont even want to coach, they just wanna do other stuff. Also Ares kid who used to have anger issues but got therapy and now don’t really respond to the adrenaline rush of it all. Even better; somehow was raised in a pacifist household and finds their brawling, jock siblings repulsive and barbaric.

- Demeter kid who loves meat and processed snacks and doesn’t like vegetables. It’s bound to happen. Also can’t keep a houseplant alive if they were paid a million drachmas. Pollen allergies.

- Aphrodite kid who wears the same clothes constantly. Allergic to make-up/has sensory issues around it. Same with perfume (since the cabin canonically smells perfumed which is my personal nightmare but nevermind that). Also aro/ace cabin 10 kids. Cabin 10 kids that take after the spartan Aphrodite Areia, who everyone assumed were Ares kids until they were claimed.

- Hephaestus kid that’s clumsy and has hand tremors. Hephaestus kid that cannot sit still long enough to make stuff. Hephaestus kid with the inability to imagine things, which makes ideating difficult.

- Hermes kids who are lawful goods. Hermes kids who are homebodies. Hermes kids who are also clumsy and can’t be stealthy. Hermes kids who only use their sleight of hand to do magic tricks. No not the cool kind. They can do the quarter thing and some card tricks. That’s it.

And finally:

- Dionysus kids who are teetotalers. No, they didn’t “overdo it” and reform. They just never liked alcohol. Dionysus kids who can’t tolerate alcohol even if they wanted to. Dionysus kids who are not social, and shy. Dionysus kids who don’t like to eat. Worst nightmares include social gatherings and festive get-togethers. The words “mixed seating arrangements” gives them cold shivers. Dionysus kids who are dog people. Dionysus kids who don’t like grape flavored stuff. Health nuts. Hates movies and doesn’t really watch tv. They’ve never set foot in a theatre. Couldn’t name a play if someone held a gun to their head. “Who’s Josh Groban?”

The rest of cabin 12 and a few cabin 7 kids, in unison: “‘Who’s Josh Groban?’ Kill yourself!”

(That’s from glee, clarifying bc glee is now an old show and I’m not sure how many younger people have seen it/remember it)

I think it’s a good idea! I think there’s a million ways a person could turn out in each cabin, and Dionysus’ cabin is no exception. Sky’s the limit when you’re writing, esp with fanfic; do whatever you feel is cool!

[robo-milky]

Wait, if Epel still thinks Cloche is a boy, that means he’s gay?

YESN’T

Personal Headcanon Territory:

As a personal thing, I tend to set my characters’ sexualities/romantic attraction or HC other characters as Bi by default UNLESS stated otherwise

Quick general ramble about sexuality/gender norms in TWST:

So we know in TWST, the romance culture often seems heteronormative— like in Ghost Marriage, Grim’s remark about wanting to take out Epel (before finding out Epel was a boy), many parents have been in a straight relationship— but I don’t think that’s all.

Since it’s Disney that made this game, I’m assuming many of the established or mentioned relationships are straight because they want to appeal to a wider audience but if I were to separate that, I’d like to believe there’s more diversity within the universe.

We know TWST is almost parallel to Earth but with fantasy elements like magic, but who’s to say sexuality, gender identity/presentation, and attraction has to adhere to that? Boys wearing make up normalized, and when some of the boys Overblot— they’d wear an extravagant dress.

BUT we do see that in Harveston, and from Epel— his views of gender is very conservative. Since it’s only in Harveston, we can’t say those heteronormative values apply to everywhere else in Twisted Wonderland.

Epel’s Dynamic with Cloche:

If we assume Epel happens to be more hetero on the spectrum, I suppose he’d have… “gay panic”?

(Though it’s a harmless phrase we often meme with, it’s a phrase that can be a little uncomfy DEPENDING on the context used in. If used right, it makes for a great reform in irony! If not? Uhhh… there is a possible homophobic undertone if used wrong.)

Either way, whether if Epel has a preference for the same-sex/gender, opposite sex/gender, or those non-conforming, the ClochEpel dynamic stays the same. They’re supposed to be so close to each other, that they blur the lines of platonic and romantic attraction. If Epel finds out that Cloche is a girl, he would still be salty and feel a little betray that Cloche “doesn’t-actually-get-his-struggle”.

The reason Epel got so close to Cloche in the first place, was because he thought Cloche was another boy mistaken to be a girl, like him—. A camaraderie came first.

When Epel is in denial of attraction towards Cloche, I don’t see it as gay panic, but more so of a “I can’t fall for my best friend! That’s weird!” (They do intermix— but they’re not the same). Plus— it’d be kinda wack if Epel had gay panic and then was relieved finding out Cloche is a girl cause uhhhhh *homophobic undertone and implication???*

Cloche’ Gender:

Cloche is indeed a cis girl pretending to be a boy, and she is more feminine presenting— but I imagine that’d be thrown out of the window the moment you step into NRC.

With students like Epel, Vil, Lilia, etc, I don’t think anyone would think twice or bat an eyelash at Cloche— they’d assume “he’s like everyone else”. However, Epel is singled out for being the only one “mistaken as a girl”, while Lilia is cute and Riddle is short. I imagine this gag only applies to Epel, and everyone else is an exception (since from a writing standpoint, his whole schtick is that he’s really a country boy despite looking so pretty).

Conclusion: ????

I honestly didn’t think I’d write this much but… I feel like it deserves a deep explanation? It’s a complex subject where many factors and bases should be covered ;

I’m cool with any and all Epel headcanons tho!! I happen to prefer him being bi <3

If you read up until this point— then wow— you are the true MVP.

[expatesque]

Oooo if you’re open to helping us shop please help me find my wedding dress (big ask)? I feel like I’ve tried on every dress in London and am about to give up! I’m not tied to it being white (blue? metallic?) I just want it to feel special enough that I don’t look like my own guest, but not a full meringue moment because there’s only going to be 15 people total. Vibe is casual Saturday afternoon picnic in the park and drinks at our local afterwards, my budget is £2k!

Sorry I should have added that I’m super short so midis tend to fit better, maxi not really my vibe and I’m worried it might feel too formal for the picnic!

Oh my god this is my dream task. First off - congratulations! Sounds like it's going to be a beautiful wedding. Okay so I've got a few thoughts first before we dive in: (1) You can get anything shortened - I'm also relatively short (well, actually I have long torso and short legs, but works out the same) so 90% of my bottoms are tailored. And what better time to invest in some good tailoring than your wedding! Assuming the dress isn't beaded / heavy on appliques, it's usually<£30 to have something shortened, and it's the same price to have something taken up half an inch vs taken up a foot, to make a maxi tea length. So I'm going to recommend a few things that are longer but know that I always mean you should have them shortened if you want. (2) Have you thought about a veil? I just think it's the easiest, most obvious way to say 'Wedding!' but still keep things cool. Personally I love a birdcage moment but I'm also partial to a short veil, particularly if you get something meaningful embroidered on it (this one is fully customizable and I love the look of the phrase running down the side).

Okay now that we've done that, some thoughts: Rixo makes cute, special but low key dresses. For a city wedding feel, I love the shorter ones (60s vibes! This CAPE) but there's loads of cute options (remember, you can have the longer ones taken up!). They're also v affordable which is always nice.

On the less classically bridal end of the spectrum, we have La Double J who go big on color and pattern. Again, I'd consider adding a veil (maybe in a fun color?!) to feel more bridal. I'm not sure your body shape but this top and skirt combo! With a pale blue veil?! Come on. They also do have more classic bridal pieces as well. There's also Zimmerman - flirty and flouncy, their dresses have pure romantic vibes. Something like this could definitely read bridal (+ a birdcage viel and a little shrug maybe?). If you're not put off by black (again, veil and accessories can help) then this is to die for and super re-wearable. Or embrace the chill vibes and go yellow! They have loads of great options.

I'm sure you already know this but just in case: Reformation does bridal. Like their normal dresses, the options skew towards people with model proportions but they've got some gorgeous ones - love this minimal take. I'd also recommend Wolf & Badger again. Do you want to be a hot and cool minimalist? A sea foam mermaid? (I'd personally have the slits closed a bit and the whole thing taken up but that's me). A ball of spring flowers? The Badge has you covered.

And then of course, a net a porter troll. Are you a disco queen? The most elegant woman alive? (Prob not best for the park, but def could work for a pub). A garden fairy? A jumpsuit (!) babe? A queen of less is more? (maybe with tulle gloves!) A column queen? (I'd style with blue shoes that match, I have this pair from Ferragamo that I love).

Again for lots of these I think accessories are key. You add a veil, a glove (consider short too!), a white shoe and all the sudden, bang it's clearly bridal. I hope some of that is helpful, and good luck!

(okay also you did not ask about this but just a thought: you can get really beautiful, affordable, old embroidered white table clothes fairly easily online and at antique shops. How gorgeous would your wedding picnic be on all white 'blankets'? Maybe with something waterproof underneath because, London).

[schtrawberry]

dressing based on my zodiac signs: cancer ascendant, aries venus, aquarius lilith

[!] i am not the biggest fashion person out there. these are all mostly based on my personal style with a hint of whatever ~vibe~ each of my signs gave me.

brief description. cancer is the nostalgic presence of the zodiac that floats between the past and the present. as a rising sign, she is soft, compassionate, and gentle yet able to stun with their elegance and ability to run with the currents of life.

really leaning into the fact that cancer is probably the most earthy water sign; hence the heavy amount of pale greens and yellows as my inspiration.

a lot of house of sunny bc i feel like they capture that casual comfy yet feminine vibe that i think cancer embodies really well. knits, pastels, the occasional 70's funk-inspired patterns and styles— the nostalgia!

another brand that comes to mind is réalisation par for a more soft look. the brand features lots of flowing fabrics, sustainably-sourced cotton, mini dresses, pretty floral prints, and more subdued colors.

pale pinks and yellows partnered with all different shades of blue and green!

chunky knits, light cardigans, and flowery or retro-ish patterns.

in terms of jewelry: a single mini freshwater pearl necklace paired with a gold figaro chain choker would be nice. copious amounts of minimalistic rings bc as i've said before, cancer is still a material girl! perhaps more on the minimalistic side for all her jewelry in general with just a few simple, high quality pieces that only enhance her elegant and feminine side.

brands that come to mind: LoQ the brand, ciao lucia!, faithfull the brand, posse, realisation par, reformation, house of sunny, rachel antonoff.

brief description. the first sign of the zodiac, aries channels youth and the start of new things! in venus, she is in touch with her childlike nature whether it be in the bright colors she chooses, the eye-catching prints that make her heart go 'thump-thump!', or her unconscious pull towards red.

one particular piece that i feel captures the playful fieriness and undeniable sexiness of the aries venus is the luz dress in havana by réalisation par! google it and you'll see why.

aries is the child of the zodiac. i see them channeling boldness and vibrance in their clothes; whether it be through the colors, cut, or patterns— hence the neon colors to cut through the pinks and reds.

the feminine influence of venus brings with it bright shades of pink and yellow to complement the fieriness of aries.

gimaguas x lea colombo collection comes very much to mind as well. i used a lot a lot of the photos used for this collection's lookbook in my lil moodboard because i think the play between the vibrant shades of pink, red, and yellow and boldly body-loving nature of the sleeveless bodycon dress really fit the vision that i had for aries venus— lively, forever in motion whether it be in love or otherwise, and completely in tune with the boldness of mars. [i recommend checking the artworld post by sarah bassett for this collection; i found it to be rlly cool :)]

in terms of jewelry: i only see chunky rings for this sign! i would hate to overstimulate the senses with too many different things going on in one look so i think chunky rings and the right amount of light jewelry will be more than enough.

brands that come to mind: tach clothing, tyler mcgillivary, gimaguas, rua carlota [bc aries is environmentally-friendly like that!], mirror palais, some of the looks by réalisation par.

brief description. aquarius is the visionary of the zodiac. in lilith, she is attracted to all that is unordinary and liberating; every outfit, hairstyle, accessory, is a new experience. her promiscuity and independence shines through in her style— she screams "i don't dress to please any man!"

for aquarius: just... whatever paloma wool has got going on.

lots of paloma wool pieces come to mind. the mix of color and irregular shapes that are distinctive of that brand just fit the archetype of the spunky and colorful aquarius.

special mention: the nika milano x paloma wool collection reminds me so much of the naturally electric eccentricity that comes with the planet uranus. the heavy use of strong-colored gradients and form-fitting fabrics only add to the boldness associated with uranus. in lilith, she is perhaps even less afraid to let loose and show that.

i see dark, shimmery material like rayon or viscose for this sign; cloths that can carry a lot of color and funky prints. this can then be partnered with more solid fabrics like structured cotton or leather!

pieces by ed curtis and his art [find him on ig @ed_curtis_] also inspired the vision i had for this sign. there's just something about his use of bright swirls and roughly stitched fabric that feels reminiscent of the aquarius 'idgaf' nature.

in terms of jewelry: something with opal on it— whether it be a necklace pendant, an earring charm, or an adorned piece of body jewelry. the shade will have to depend on the distinct aura of the wearer; as no two aquarius natives are alike and it's influence can present itself in different ways, depending on an individuals other signs and personality. perhaps a mood ring as well, i don't know, i like to think that an aquarius lilith would bravely wear their heart on their sleeve like that.

brands that come to mind: other than paloma wool, akyn, distal phalanx, jungles jungles, suicoke, laagam [esp their neptune dress!].

so that was it for my zodiac! i recommend that everyone do this w their own signs bc lawd, i enjoyed making this.

[theorangerangers]

Karone for the Treat trick or treat Ranger writing? So I'm not alone in putting out new Karone stuff? *eyes fic I haven't updated in weeks that I will DEFINITELY get to, once I've actually stopped and discussed some things with my therapist*

Look I got a little carried away but this also isn’t proof read and was also written while I was watched Scooby-Doo with my roommates so it might be a bit weird at certain parts

“Yes, well everyone can dress up but just kids go trick or treating which is the candy collecting part. And it’s not really extortion; most families do something to make it clear whether or not they want kids to come and knock on their door, and kids for the most part respect it” Cassie explained.

“And those who don’t tend to throw eggs at the houses that don’t give candy,” Ashley said.

Karone cocked an eyebrow not quite sure how collecting candy under threat of vandalism was much better.

“So we can’t get candy?” Zhane pouted.

“Well we can probably get some at the party since most people have bowls just out during most of the Halloween parties I’ve been to if no one’s planning to be trick or treating,” Ashley said.

“Sweet,” Zhane joked.

Karone put on the jacket looking at the odd outfit Cassie had assembled for her. “And what monster exactly am I supposed to be?”

“Oh you’re not a monster, you, me, TJ, and Justin technically have matching costumes we’re superheroes from that show Justin likes we’re going to take some pictures with Justin and then you and me are going to the party and TJ is taking Justin trick or treating, until 10 and then drop him off at home and meet up with us for the after party”

“This outfit doesn’t seem practical for fighting crime,” Karone said, eyeing her heels and fishnets.

“Trust me, there’s a lot worse outfits and Black canary’s a pretty cool hero,” Ashley said, adjusting her petticoat before letting the rest of the layers for her bell dress fall into place.

“And why aren’t you in this outfit instead? You’re the one who actually was on a team with Justin?” Karone asked checking herself out in the outfit.

“I’m not blonde and black canary’s blonde,” Ashley explained.

“Zhane’s blonde,” Karone pointed out.

“Yeah but we’re matching as Bell and Adam from the beauty and the beast,” Ashley said, sticking another patch of fake fur to Zhane’s face. Ashley hesitated for a moment, “Besides we’re trying to get him to warm up to you since he didn’t see you a lot outside of the whole Princess Astronema thing,” not mentioning the moment Justin found out he called Tommy and Kat about 20 times each as the best judges he could come up with for actually being reformed and evil doer faking it.

“I scare him don’t I?” Karone asked.

“No…” Cassie said, looking at Ashley for backup.

“It does make him kind of nervous to have a former enemy living under the same roof as us. But he was a ranger. He's as brave as any of us, probably braver considering how young he was at the time.” Ashley continued.

“It’s a show of good faith, you’re willing to look a bit silly and have some pictures taken with him dressed as a member of the Arrow Fam without overstepping anything like having you go with him trick or treating,” Cassie said.

“Does he know I’m only going to be taking pictures or does he think I’m coming with him and TJ?” Karone asked.

“I think so, why?” Ashley asked.

“He seemed oddly excited this morning just to be taking some pictures together,”

“Well Halloween only comes once a year,” Cassie says.

“Hm…” Karone hummed.

Cassie pulled on her mask to see her Thea Queen costume had come together quite well. “Come on the sooner we take the pictures the sooner we can head out,”

—

A green blur slammed into Cassie, Karone was prepared to draw a weapon before she realized it was Justin who was hugging Cassie.

“Hey Justin, long time no see,” Cassie said, hugging him back. She noted he was dressed head to toe in green with a fake bow on his back.

“Yeah! Are you and karone excited to come to Trick or treating me and TJ? We’re going to visit every single house in town!” Justin was practically shaking from excitement.

Cassie hesitated looking uncomfortably at Karone, not sure how to break the news “oh Justin…”

“I would be honored to help you in your goal, but I think Cassie had other plans after we took the photos,” karone said.

“Oh, alright,” Justin said, trying to hide his disappointment. “I thought that, never mind…”

TJ cut in “if you want to go with Cassie—“

“I’m going to stay with Justin, if you want to go with Justin I don’t mind,” Karone told TJ firmly.

“I did say I was going to take him,” everyone could hear the hesitation in his voice.

“TJ, if you don’t want to take me, it’s fine.” Justin said now looking at his feet. “All of you can go now if you want, I’m fine really, I’m old enough to trick or treat by myself,”

“Justin…” TJ started not sure how to defuse the situation. If he was totally honest he would have preferred to go to the party.

“You can go TJ!” Justin said, walking away from the table in the juice bar. He walked out the door and sat on a bench outside.

Justin felt a hand on his shoulder. “TJ of you don’t want to take me—“

“I’m not TJ,” Karone cut him off.

“Oh, sorry about that, you didn’t agree to come yourself Cassie just said she was bringing you with her and I thought that she was coming with me,” Justin half heartedly explained.

“No, but I do want to come, if you’ll have me,” she hesitates before sitting down next to him trying not to do anything that could be taken as a threat.

“I’m not scared of you by the way,” Justin says.

“Yeah seeing you in person I can see that,” Karone said, trying to hide her own relief at this.

“I heard you didn’t get to be a kid much while you were busy being evil or whatever they did to you while you were working for the dark specter, I thought you might like, this, Halloween, hanging out, dressing up kinda silly like comic book characters,” the boy shrugged.

Karone had a lot of practice not crying while in pain but almost none at holding in tears in the face of whatever emotion she couldn’t name bubbling up inside right now. She quickly blinked her eyes, doing her best to prevent any moisture in her eyes from making itself known. “That’s very sweet Justin. But what about yourself?”

“What about me?”

“What did you want?” Karone asked.

“I guess I just wanted to be with my teammates again, I don’t really fit in with kids my age or kids in general. They all seem so happy and carefree and then after everything I saw as a ranger, I guess, I’m just not…,”

“Not what?”

“I don’t really feel like I’m a kid anymore, I know physically I still am but it doesn’t feel like it,”

“I know that feeling,” Karone said, nodding. “I know what it feels like when one moment you were a kid and the next you’re not a kid anymore but you’re not really an adult or anything else anymore either,”

“I wanted you and me to have a happy Halloween Karone,” Justin said. “I’m really sorry for bringing the mood down like this,”

Karone wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into a side hug. “I don’t mind, besides I thought you wanted to see every house in town?”

“You don’t have to come come if you don’t want to,”

“Justin, you don’t deserve your teammates and other fellow rangers leaving you behind like this,”

“I know, but it’s happening anyway. You didn’t deserve the stuff they did to make you evil either,”

“I know but it happened anyway, so let’s go trick or treating, and take some pictures in our costumes, eat some candy, and have a happy Halloween?”

Justin returns her side hug. “Yeah let’s have a happy Halloween,”

[forabeatofadrum]

WIP ASK ME GAME

Thanks @bitbybitwrites for the tag. Like many, I am always down to clown about my WIPs.

I just have so many of them, so I am only going to talk about the ones I am focusing on. RIP to the many others who are in the far away ward in my WIP Hospital.

Under the cut because I ramble:

Partially published WIPs:

February Friday Event 2024 - Radio Silence (Alice Oseman)

Only one chapter is up. This is just a collection of 4 short fics that are set in post-canon of Radio Silence. They're based on the prompts from the February Friday Event. 2 of the 3 remaining chapters are partially written, but not finished. One will be about Carys and her thoughts on Universe City. The other is about friendship, but Carys and Aled are once again reminded by how badly their childhood was for them.

Ljubili se - Glee

MY BABY. This is the sequel to Ljubim te, the fic where Kurt and Blaine meet in Ljubljana. Now they're back in America and long-distance, with Blaine being in LA and Kurt in NY. My main reason for being stuck is admittedly that it's getting too ambitious and I need to figure out how to tell a coherent sequel. It's quite difficult, because Ljubim te was written without a sequel in mind and without much space to do more, but I love this world I made so here I am anyway.

Dancin' on that bamboo ceiling - Glee

A series of standalone fic that explore Asian identity and casual racism in glee. I've been working on and off on it for years and I have published some. But I really want to finish more. Right now I have a story about traditional dress and feeling removed from your heritage in my mind.

The Sarah Jane Adventures Extended Universe (SJAEU) - The Sarah Jane Adventures

Yes, my SJAEU is back on my mind. It's a spin-off of the Sarah Jane Adventures (which is in itself a Doccy Whomst spin-off) and it focuses on Luke after he left Bannerman Road and well, my unofficial title is Luke's Big Gay Oxford Adventures. The thing I posted is an overview of the AU, but I have been cooking up actual fics that are set in this AU since 2017 and they're simmering again.

Not published WIPs:

Just Some Guy - Carry On

Also known as MCD! It's the seven years of Simon and Baz's rivalry (and eventual romance) from the perspective of an outsider who has absolutely nothing to do with it. After all, it must be fucking wild for Watford students to see this wacky enemy to lovers. Matty Chris D. is the blandest person you'll ever meet, which is also why I am stuck. Go Matt, give us nothing.

Untitled TOTK-inspired Snowbaz fic - Carry On

This was marinating in my brain recently. Not sure I will get back to it soon, but hey, it's on my mind! As the "title" suggests, it's a Tears of the Kingdom inspired Snowbaz fic, which takes place after Wayward Son. The gang is back from America to find floating islands in the sky of the World of Mages. 7 years after their return, and 7 years after Simon went missing, Baz decides to find a way to the sky islands in order to find Simon. I don't wanna brag, but this idea slaps and I should get back to it.

Glee x Sense8 crossover idea - Glee and Sense8

I came up with a Glee x Sense8 crossover years ago and this is also back again on my mind. Just like the SJAEU, it's more of a concept with some overall thoughts than an actual coherent fic. It's back in my 2024 vision because, hey, I posted the SJAEU, I could possible post my Glee x Sense8 AU on AO3, because I think it's pretty cool. And yes, it's a crossover, not an inspired by thing. The Glee part is entirely an AU, but the Sense8 part is post-canon where the BPO has reformed, so that the sensates can figure out their shit in peace. And also, Puck from Sense8 will show up at one point. Two Pucks in one fic (because Puck from Glee is one of the sensates).

Anyway I have many more WIPs, like the Zimbits time travel one, or the Glee x Carry On crossover (begone Klaine and Snowbaz, Blaz OTP!) and UGH so many WIPs. If you wanna send me an ask about any of these WIPs, feel free.

Also, I think @bitbybitwrites already spread this in the Glee world, so let me spread it to the Carry On world by tagging @cutestkilla @artsyunderstudy @wellbelesbian @martsonmars @larkral @nightimedreamersworld @blackberrysummerblog @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart

[doevademe]

I propose the follwing prompt: Emmy and Ash already know their papa is super strong and scary but never got to see their dad's angry powerful side until he saves them one day from an attack (god/monster your choice really) without breaking so much as a sweat. At the end, Percy unable to look his children in the eyes fearing to see the dread from that side of him on their faces gets surprised as his kids are starstruck and just in awe of him 🤩 (just like a certain young child of Hades years ago hehe). Bonus points if it s from Percy's pov.

Also bonus points if happens on Halloween since we re at it 🎃

Percy felt his blood pumping as he ran towards the alleyway.

He had been against Emilia and Asher going Trick or Treating alone. Emmy was just 12, and they lived in Manhattan, but Nico had insisted that they would be fine.

Once they were out of earshot, his husband had told Percy to tail them to make sure they would be all right.

"I knew it!" Percy said triumphantly. "You're scared too!"

Nico had rolled his eyes and given him a kiss to shut him up.

"I trust Emilia to take care of herself and her brother... in normal mortal situations," Nico had said seriously. "But they are not mortals, and Halloween is teeming with monsters ready to gobble up any unsuspecting demigod or legacy."

"Emmy will have her sword and Ash his lance," Percy had pointed out. They had already agreed on Wonder Woman and some anime character Percy was not familiar with to make the weapons more inconspicuous. "But mortals... you can't trust them."

"Tell you what," Nico had said. "Keep an eye on them. We hope nothing happens, and Emmy's happy we are giving them more responsibility, deal?"

Percy had smiled.

"Everybody wins."

"Except the guy stuck giving out candy," Nico had said as he pointed at himself.

But Nico had been wrong.

His children had been dragged away on their trip before he could notice, and he was not as good a tracker as his husband.

"Excuse me, did you see a snake woman and a cyclops dragging Wonder Woman and a boy with blue hair?" He asked a group of kids.

Gods, he loved that this type of question wasn't seen as demented on this holiday.

A boy dressed as Flash pointed at arusty door down the pier.

"Thanks!" He said quickly.

Before he took off, he heard one of the kids shout, "Cool Roman armor!"

"Actually, it's Greek!" He shouted back, grinning.

He rushed through the opened door, and the first thing he saw was three monsters sorrounding his kids. Emilia had her sword raised as she covered Asher with her body, the boy holding his lance horizontally and covering his sister's back.

"Why bring us here and not just eat us in the open?" Emilia said. Percy smiled. Good, she was making time, just like he taught her.

"Becausse you are the bait!" The dracaena hissed. "Lure for our prey!"

"And like, you can also be the starter once the main course gets here!" The third figure drawled, and Percy's blood ran cold. "I want to see him screaming in despair!"

Kelli.

"'s good marinade," the cyclops grunted, but Percy ignored his words, stuck on the Empousa.

They had cornered, kidnapped, and threatening his children to get to him.

Percy saw red.

He jumped, using Riptide to stab the cyclops in the heart and immediately after cut off the dracaena's head. Both turned into dust before Kelli turned, eyes wide.

Percy didn't stop, he slashed low, cutting off her bronze leg and making her stumble, and then willed all the moisture around the empousa to condense around her head, making a water bubble.

Kelli screamed, but only bubbles came out of her.

"Get close to my family again, and I'll make sure you don't reform," Percy said in a cold voice. "I'll take almost all the fluids from your body, leaving you with just enough to keep you alive, eternally living as a desecated hag."

Kelli shook her head, eyes wide with terror. Percy stabbed again, this time on her chest, turning the monstrous cheerleader into dust like her lackeys.

He turned to look at his kids, who were staring at him, wide-eyed.

Percy cursed. This couldn't be happening.

"Hey, Emmy, Ash," he said, too afraid to step towards them. "Are you okay?"

Asher nodded slightly. He tried moving towards him, but Emilia held him back.

Crap.

"Look, about what you saw, it was—"

"Oh no!" Emilia stomped her foot, angry. Percy blinked. "You were following us, mister! You don't trust us!"

Percy felt his brain stop working. What?

"Uh..."

"And don't think that I'll forget it just because you did the coolest thing ever!" She continued, crossing her arms.

"You... you thought it was cool?" He asked, confused. Emilia huffed.

"So cool, dad!" Asher said, eyes bright. "Can I do that? Ooh, can Emmy do that?"

"Ash, we're angry with him!" his sister whispered, but it was loud enough that Percy heard. "But... I'd like to know too..."

Percy sighed in relief and smiled apologetically.

"Maybe when you're older," he said. Emilia nodded, satisfied. "I'm sorry, I just can't help but worry about you."

"It's not even the first time we've been attacked by monsters who want to get you or papa," Emilia said. Percy's eyes widened.

"Yeah, they're small fry compared to uncle Crusty!" Asher added.

"He doesn't deserve to be called uncle," Emilia chastised her brother, who just pouted.

"But he sends me toys every year for my birthday," he protested. "He's just mean in person."

"Those are torture devices," Emilia said, exasperated. "He's threatening you!"

"It's not... the first time?" Was all Percy managed to say. Emilia rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"We're your children, dad," she said like that explained everything. "We know how to handle ourselves."

And Percy smiled and hugged them.

"I know that now," he said. "But I think that's enough for the night. How about we go home and watch a movie with papa. I'm sure he missed us."

Emilia looked at her candy bag, probably pondering how full it was, before nodding.

"Only if you teach me that water trick."

"We'll see next weekend," he promised.

As they walked home, Percy made a mental note to go "visit" Procrustes with Nico soon.

[ask-marios-apprentice]

Birthday

I'm feeling a bit better after yesterday. With this party now. Today's about me.

We're holding the party in the castle garden, and it couldn't be better.

We're having a barbecue with my dad Manning in the grill and arguing with Bowser. Mom is making potato salad. I have one of Princess Peach's cakes as my birthday cake.

I'm going to be honest it's mostly adults here. The only two people who are my age are Junior and Meggy. And one's here because they live here and the other one is here because of a diplomatic meeting that happened in the morning. Something about tax reform, exports, and imports.

But they're still my best friends.

Some of my family's here as well. My Mom and Dad are here, I finally got to see my Grandma, Tia, Theo, Welita, and Welito. Not to mention my little cousin who was born while I was gone.

I mean there's also my older and younger cousins since it's mostly my family.

But there are other people here like Mario and his family, Egadd, Bowser and his son. But it's mostly just my fam.

If you're wondering why my grandfather isn't here... well.

My Grandmother was showing Mario my 6th birthday. It was a picture of Grandpa dressed as Mario. I still can't believe that Grandpa did that. He was a great man. Rest in peace Grandpa. You were, and still are amazing. I'm sure you're watching us from the Overthere.

...

I was catching up with my family when we were called over that the food was finished.

Unfortunately Bowser insisted that he should try and cook the chicken fajitas with his fire breath...

You can imagine that didn't go well.

They couldn't have been more undercooked.

The sausage and beef fajitas however were good

After we ate. It was time for presents.

Some notable presents included.

The cake itself.

A drawing that will be featured in a bit by @shootysturs / @poyo-shooty-art

An exclusive meal ticket for a truffle stuffed mushroom courtesy of Grimm Brothers.

500$ dollars in Eshop Gift Cards from Shigeru Miyamoto

A signed arcade style Controller from the Mushroom Kingdom Esports league.

A personally engraved Polarsqauch Metal Cup.

A strikers Ball

A new set of paints

And a few more

But the big present that I got was pretty freaking cool...

The Prototype!!!

It's an ATV that's literally meant for all terrains.

It's so cool that it hasn't even properly reached the markets.

It's a gift from Egadd. He told me some of his features include things like tapping into my shoes existing Gravity, its ability to withstand more than just regular terrains, so it could handle stuff like lava or rocks.

It's so cool that I unfortunately can't show it.

However here is a picture of me drawn by @shootysturs / @poyo-shooty-art reacting.

It was pretty freaking cool.

Afterwards, we headed down to a race track for a few races.

I only really got first place once, and I'm going to be honest. I think they only let me win because it was my birthday

But I still have lots of fun.

I'm going to go back to the party. We're going to eat the cake now.

Garth signing off.

[evilasiangenius]

Time passed meaningless in the perpetual twilight within the tall jar, and it seemed like Crawly slipped in and out of a pleasant sleepy unconsciousness, occasionally waking for a moment when a human came into this room though they did not linger.

Sometimes footsteps could be heard. Even more rarely, someone’s voice. Strange, how few people came in here, and the snake wondered; what kind of personal room was this? How did the queen use this room? Crawly tried to remember the layout but it wasn’t an easy prospect, not when the snake had only caught a bare glimpse of hangings and furniture before being set down into a jar. One thing that Crawly was certain of however was that it was not a bedchamber or a sitting room, and given the warmth, Crawley wondered if it was some sort of special store room for snakes.

A snake store room, just as they had store rooms for books.

A snake library.

Crawly hissed in amusement, laughing silently as snakes do, before curling up once more, the tip of a long tail covering a cool nose before drowsing off again.

The rasping sound of the lid being moved as well as a cool draft that trickled down the tall sides of the jar stirred Crawly into waking. A light, nothing more than a little oil lamp whose brightness could not really chase away the shadows was set down on a nearby table, and Crawly tasted the faint scent of molecules of burning olive oil with a flickering tongue.

The demon looked up, yawning, wondering what time it was and if there was a drink of wine to be had and where in Hell Asmodeus was, if he had left the demon to sleep on the warm floor but then Crawly remembered being a snake in a jar.

Despite the darkness, Crawly could see clearly the figure of Olympias as she sat down, dragging the tall ceramic container close and the snake felt the hollow rasp of the bottom of the jar scraping along the floor, rattling through every rib and vertebrae.

And then, nothing.

Crawly looked up, curious, but there was nothing to see from here. The snake tried to crawl up the side of the jar, but it was too slick and so the snake yawned, settling back down in the warm darkness, wondering what to do. Couldn’t change shape, not while in the jar, would either get stuck or break something, and possibly not the jar. Maybe become a bit bigger to become long enough to slither out? Later, when there were no humans about. Probably should return soon to report in...

And while Crawly thought those demon thoughts, the queen sat for a long time quiet, her arm slung around the jar.

Finally, after about an hour by Crawly’s estimation, she sat up.

“Do you know what’s tedious, little snake?” Olympias leaned over the vessel, peering down at Crawly who gazed up at her with unblinking golden eyes.

Unable to shrug, Crawly did the second best thing, which was flick a long forked tongue and wiggle the tip of a thin tail.

“Everything. Every single day. If I didn’t have to do this, I wouldn’t. Fighting and scheming and strategizing… I’d rather read books and see plays and play games of strategy. Spend time only with my friends but know who I could really be friends with, and not suspect everyone who wants to get close. Be comfortable and not think constantly about dressing up and cosmetics and what to eat or what not to eat and how I look, and if I’m still desirable…and do you think I’m still beautiful, snake? Oh, what does it matter, why is it so important, that I’m even asking you? I hate that I have to think like this. It feels so shallow and insipid.

“If the world was different, I’d want to travel and see new places, meet new people all over the world, hear new ideas. And when I came back from all this traveling, I’d run the government better. Improve the economy. Build new cities. I have lots of ideas, but you don’t want to hear about my ideas for land reform or taxation or military budgets; no man does. Though are you male or female, snake? I never looked, but I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Olympias sighed deeply.

“If...there’s something you ought to know, snake. It’s…” And the queen fell silent for a long time, and then she whispered her words into the jar, as if afraid of being heard. “It’s hard enough some days just sleeping and eating and drinking. Sometimes I think, wouldn’t it be easier to just pick someone like you up in my arms? And just...let you have a little bite. Just a nibble, right here, right along the neck. Enough so I don’t have to worry about sleeping and eating and drinking anymore.”

Crawly winced, but an impassive snake’s face gave nothing away, and so the snake moved about along the smooth bottom of the jar, unsettled.

“Don’t worry, I would never do it. I’m not so tired of life, just this life. Besides, I can’t let him win. After all, what would happen to my son if I wasn’t here to protect him? Tossed away, lost amidst his father’s growing army of children and bastards. No, I have a reason to live, even if I don’t feel like it all the time.”

Olympias hugged the jar, resting her chin against the lip.

“Somehow I doubt you’re magic. But then again, maybe you are. Would it matter? Even a magic snake is just a little snake at the end of the day. You can’t get rid of the dreams. I can’t get rid of the dreams. I can’t get rid of the past. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t go back to who I was. Do you feel like this sometimes too, snake?”

Crawly wiggled that tail a bit more, hoping that maybe she would understand what that meant, even though Crawly wasn’t even sure if it meant anything.

“Maybe you don’t. But at least you also know what it’s like to be named and unnamed all at once. If you wanted to ask me what that means, I...I would tell you the truth.” But Olympias said nothing.

The snake could feel the soft vibration of her breathing, of her heartbeat resonating through the walls of the jar.

Finally she sighed. “All right, and perhaps this is foolish to tell you. After all, if you’re a magical snake, sacred to the Egyptians, you probably already know this. But just in case. This...this isn’t my name. Not my real name. I’m not actually Olympias. I mean, I am. That’s what everyone calls me now. These days, no one is allowed to call me by the name that I chose for myself, Myrtale.”

Crawly stiffened, thinking about the name that had been attached to this form since those terrible times after the Fall, the one that had never really suited the demon well, and the new name that had been chosen that sufficed, lacking a better option.

“My initiate name. The name that was more me than the name that my father gave me.”

And Crawly wondered; was Crowley more of a name than the name that the Creator had bestowed? The one lost in the Fall, broken and shattered, never to be recovered. The snake wished that this physiology would allow for sighing; that was a question that could also never be answered.

“Now you know the secret, little snake. And that’s why I won’t name you, even if that astrologer tells me I should. Because you should have your own name, little snake. One that you choose for yourself. Not just one that someone changes on a whim or because he could or because he won a horse race, even if it was at Olympia.”

Crawly nodded emphatically, or as best as a snake could.

“You’re a very good listener. I would hold you if I dared, but I do not. After all, a tame viper is still a viper and I have too much work of my own to do without testing how strong your venom is. They say you can strengthen yourself against the poison with a little snake, but I don’t need any more poison in my life. Besides, all my snakes are not dangerous. Except for you.”

Crawly hissed in agreement.

“It’s too bad we can’t have a conversation properly. I wish I could know what you would have to say. Oh, but you are my guest here, where are my manners? All this time we’ve been conversing and I haven’t offered you any refreshments. Would you like some milk? A little mouse? Or a lizard? Or perhaps an offering of wine; the Dionysia is coming soon and along with it all the tragedies. You’ll come with me, won’t you? We’ll celebrate together, and then afterwards...well, we’ll see when the time comes what to do with you afterwards…”

x

[bjornolf-bjarki]

Hello! I am the anon who asked who your fav hellsing ocs are. Who of these ocs do you think Sigrud would likely interact with or not? Which one of them would he see as friend/colleuge/enemy?

BEING EDITED AS THINGS CHANGE Thank you anon! I wish I knew who you were to say sorry for taking so long but I have most of the people I mentioned in your last post. I've talked to most of the people I mentioned in my post and have been talking to most of the others and getting their opinions on the matter. Some of them have not told me much yet or are even planning to RP with my oc! Which is pretty cool. I'll start with @hellogreyeyedathena:

Judith: The way Sigurd interacts with Judith is like a mischievous colleague would treat a new hire. Lots of pranks, hijinks, and all that crazy jazz. Over time she might come to respect him a lot more and come up with really clever pranks. At one point she'd probably trick him into thinking his tattoos are moving on their own while he's showering with her psychic powers and changing his perception of reality. She'd also find out that if she causes him to go off into a flight kind of mode, he'll probably leave a trail of destruction after he runs through the shower doors and streaks through a forest trying to run. Judith would take note to make sure he's not gonna break anything when she does it again. Also, he has to clean up after he's done being pranked. At first, she treats him like he's a bit of a joy to toy with since he's a bit of a himbo and even slides in cheeky under-the-radar flirty insults at him. Also, he's got a special relationship with Walter once we meshed both our AUs and speculated on how he'd react to Sigurd giving a reformed dark Walter blood freely and kinda teasing him. At some point, he rough-houses with Walter and gets hung upside down by his ankles. Walter then basically takes up his offer on blood and gets a few tastes in and is definitely "playing with his food". Their relationship from there on gets intimate in a way (I think?), which kinda surprises Judith but nonetheless is amused Sigurd doesn't mind though, if anything, Sigurd likes playing with fire>:3! Judith would tell Walter not to play with his food, though to be fair she probably found it more titillating than anything. One time Sigurd had probably annoyed her and that one example is when she sends him to the clown dimension for calling her "Judy" by accident. Don't worry he doesn't get hurt and it's not anything evil. (she really hates that one and Sigurd really hates clowns. Don't worry tho he brings his sword or knife with him next time if he gets sent there again). Apparently, Judith doesn't mind that he rubbernecks every now (his libido and hormones are out of whack because of his condition), and then since she likes to poke and prod at people bc of her flirty and trollish nature. Honestly, Sigurd likes to dress provocatively sometimes so he returns the favor.

Aside from that they basically become friends and whatnot. Though Hans is a bit protective of Judith but eventually trusts Sigurd to be around her. Walter would totally be the same way. Would this relationship ever get romantic? Judith is in a closed relationship with Hans and Walter so it is not very likely.

Overall though it's mainly a fun, friendly, yet mischievous relationship from what I can tell.

_______________________________________

Now it's time for @neet0 and her OCS!

Mika: This dude is a himbo too so they'll get along. But at first, Mika is distrustful and intimidated by him. Not because of his strength, but rather the fact that he's with Seras and they seem pretty close, in neet0's words he'd be thinking, "What's he got that I don't got?" it's not jealousy but it's a sense of something like a tug of war, a game, sport. Mika's never been able to have a serious relationship and still approaches it like a fling whereas he'd view it like a hunt. It would basically turn into a competitive relationship with him to try and see if one can win over Seras. Mika trying to win Seras' love and overcome Sigurd's place fair and square. In a twist, Sigurd just asks if he wants to join in on the relationship with him, Pip, and Seras because Seras told Sigurd she wanted to take on another lover if he was ok with it.

Thankfully, Sigurd is and knows that Mika wanted to give that love to her as well. Mika accepts and basically bearhugs him on the spot. They keep having these competitive bouts to outdo each other but it's all fun and games. They up the stakes too, whenever Sigurd loses, he willingly shares blood with Mika, forming a bond between the two and bringing them very close. If you watched Mika drink his blood you'd see that he'd grunt and blush, since he was willingly and lovingly giving blood Seras and Pip start noticing and is happy to see them coming closer together... though she's also curious. She could sense the bond between them and found that it was a lot like her romantic bond with Sigurd. She starts hatching a plan to get them even closer together... and she's sure the results will be very titillating. At this time Mika starts opening up about how his master, Ales was dying and that he feels so afraid of being alone or listless after one of the days Sigurd is training Mika to be a warrior like him. Sigurd comforts him and opens up about when his oldest brother died in his arms and tells him that he'll never be alone again since he's got the girl of his dreams and him as a friend (spoiler alert they aren't just bros) and then feeds him a larger amount of blood, nearly passing out until Mika pulls himself away, looking into his eyes, their psychic bond growing deeper and deeper. Sigurd had to admit to himself that he was quite charming, for a friend of course. Oh also Pip catches them and laughs (He knows how this ends up ;) ).

They have a pretty good bromance and things are alright, till one day Mika and Sigurd do a race down a hill when they finally have another "Hold my beer" moment when Seras wonders aloud which one of them would win a race (she totally eggs them on btw, she sees the chemistry like the mad chemist/therapist she is) like they always do and both of them fall down the hill on the last stretch and end up in a tangled mess, stumbling to their finish line, till suddenly, Mika playfully tackles him and they end up looking into each other's eyes. A blood-red pair of eyes meeting fiery hazel eyes. It was all that competition play leading up to this sweet citrusy explosion. They didn't just reach the finish line, they went FAR beyond it.

Pip was probably being a good "chemist assistant" with Seras as they watched it go down.

They'd be making out on the grass, Sigurd rolling Mika over, hands on his chest, the whole fruity buffet, and more was happening on that field. Sigurd even bites his lip and gives him a french kiss with his blood, like how vampire bats do that when they bond together and help each other survive (bc vampires and vampire bats have similar instincts to an extent IMO). Then they'd both look up to see Seras blushing and just enjoying the sight of her two favorite himbos making out, "just doing bro stuff" and then probably joins in on the fun to seal the deal. The four of them probably end up on a bed together, happy at how all this transpired. Mika wasn't going to be alone after Ales died, Sigurd and Seras made sure of it.

(I went really long for this because Sigurd and Mika had serious and insane amounts of chemistry)

Ales: Sigurd finds him shady at first and disagrees with his methods rather than his compassionate intent. Sigurd would come to understand his motives for being a bit sneaky but finds him to be spineless in some of his actions. He thinks he should've been more honest and forthcoming to his daughter, Lily, and Alucard but eventually, he somewhat understands this too. He hears about how he's dying too. Sigurd finally breaks down and opens up to him and how his brother died and in many cases, his older brother helped raise Sigurd. Ales also help comfort his past trauma and gives him closure with his special abilities. Even if Sigurd was largely disgusted by the shady tactics, he still saw the kind and caring vampire behind them. Ales is happy that Sigurd and Seras are acting as Mika's anchors in this whole debacle of him coming to terms with the fact that his death is coming soon. Sigurd would miss him for sure. He kinda reminded him of his father in a way.

Lily: She's good friends with him overall. At first, it was a bit complicated because she was distrustful bc of his past and how she thinks he might treat her friend Seras. So she's shy and standoffish a bit when she finally interrogates him when they meet for the first time. And yes he's tied up when it happens, at least until Seras finds out and lets her know that he's her boyfriend and is a good dude that treats her like an independent woman and respects their relationship's boundaries (personally that's from me bc I think it'd be funny). Lily then profusely apologizes, though he says it's ok and that he understands why (Sigurd is chill af at this point). Lily becomes pretty good friends with him as well and starts asking some questions about his condition/curse where a Varcolac bit him and infected him, Sigurd explains the details of his curse to her since he knows she won't tell anyone else. Varcolacs as a monster species is even a mystery to vampires in a way.

Sophie: They're basically casual buddies. She'd find Sigurd's relationship with Mika, Pip, and Seras VERY titillating. Probably has popcorn and watches it unfold.

Overall the characters have positive experiences and are really interesting to navigate through as my oc. I was most pleasantly surprised by Mika because it seems they had spontaneous chemistry and were very loving and just had that nice spice. The best kind.

And now for @rotten-hearts-sharp-teeth oc's Barret: They're pack mates for sure. Total bromance and all that. Like they'll be roughhousing like brothers at random. Not too complicated as a relationship and it's fun. Sabine: She's just like his mom to him. A bit flirty but nothing insane and she's just like that one friend's mom you know that you really appreciate and love because they give good snacks and are just sweet all around. Even if she pinches Sigurd's cheek harder because he's strong and wants to let him know she can handle herself and is pushing him harder. Overall she's the pack mother and Sigurd respects her for it. Maybe she'll accept Seras and Pip into the pack too if he can bridge the divide between the werewolves and vampires here.

None are romantic but still very enjoyable nonetheless.

Here's what I learned about @ofwraithsandwords' oc!

Djamilah (aka DJ)/Ibrahima: It's... complicated? In the beginning, they definitely don't take Sigurd seriously, at all. Then DJ probably gets to know him more and finds out that he was once a slave then DJ would probably have empathy, though is very aloof about it. Like imagine your dog that's trying to get you to take it outside and is growling, only to not want to go outside once you open the glass door (I have this happen with my dog all the time lol) but you know they still love you... you guess. Not necessarily in a romantic way but more platonically and in a friendly way. BUT if it did get romantic/spicy, he'd not be on top... at all. @ofwraithsandwords and I did delve into it and I said that she'd definitely have him in a dog collar after basically talking about how she'd brush his hair and scratch behind his ears if they felt like messing with him/doing that out of whimsy (take that as you will). DJ is very impulsive and dangerous but I and @ofwraithsandwords believe they'd at least be friendly to a comfortable extent. Though Sigurd would be intimidated by her power. Sigurd would have to get used to them and DJ would probably teach him about how her powers work and all that. (the oc goes by any pronouns bc gender is not important to them, author's words not mine) I love this dynamic a lot because it's unpredictable, much like DJ is in the story that @ofwraithsandwords wrote, which is fitting since they're a larger-than-life character and fit so well into the chaotic setting of the au and Hellsing itself. As for the others I mentioned I'll edit the post when we're done discussing about it or rp'ing.