#never actually thought grey would be such a hard color to work with

[koushuwu]

Ryuguji Ken AKA Draken - Season 1 EP13

“If I could actually relive my life, there’s one thing I would do differently. I would kill Kisaki.”

[inkskinned]

nobody ever gets the mugshot of gluttony right. these days you think it has nothing to do with bodyweight. what a good trick: that gluttony could take a shape. no, there was never any fault in finishing a meal or in taking second helpings. it was always in taking from others that there was an issue - the oil baron's fingers steepled over dead bodies and stolen lands. gluttony - twin of greed, although most think greed and envy are the siblings - gluttony is pleased with the experience of gaining, is thrilled just-by-having. greed is the one that stays hungry, that has to move forever like a shark. gluttony likes it - "a glutton for punishment" is one who is seeking the harm, who loves the rush.

gluttony is a mother using her daughter's body for a diet testing ground, sharpening the bone angles. gluttony is saying why, well not! to the seventh and eighth mansion or yacht. it is not just wanting the six white horses, it is making sure that the horses came from your stables. it is not just bathing in milk - it is bathing in milk while others are starving.

oh, it's true that some sins still blaze in their bright floral prints. wrath in a white woman yelling at a person of color for even daring to be in her neighborhood. the red, incipient rage of a neck tightened at even the thought we would take the guns away. wrath has laurels, and she is good at her job, and works hard.

but sloth wasn't ever the sleepy morning of depression, the hours spent begging a clouded body to please move goddamn it; the protestant work ethic claiming even rest is somehow demonic. it was never chronic fatigue. sloth was subtle, a grey mist. she is watching you get bullied and she is deciding it is none of her business. she crosses the picket line because - what! it's just chicken, isn't it? she is closing her eyes and turning her head when the next anti-gay legislation passes. someone else will handle it. not the tense freeze of anxiety or a lack of preparation - she knows you're hurting and would rather you stay quiet about it. she tells other people i just don't see what the big deal is.

sloth is a father that doesn't do the dishes. sloth is your boyfriend's innocent shrug you're just better at household shit. sloth isn't the missed opportunity - it is the purposeful desire to just get-someone-else-to-do-it.

greed and envy are doing body shots in the back of a private jet. they are the way they always have been, but are lovers in the age of the internet. greed just finished union busting, is rolling a bitcoin over his knuckles, is about to start another MLM. envy is in a broadbrimmed hat, showing off her instagram life, grinning about how if you want it, work for it.

okay, it's true. you have a soft spot for lust, gathering dust in a corner. so tame in comparison to the others. but how funny lust is always painted as being a woman in tight clothes. you've met actually lustful women - the ones that purposefully climb into your partner's lap, the ones that say lesbians are gross but ask bisexual women into bed with their husbands. a lustful woman is not donned in lace and garters and red: that's how men think lust looks, painting their own sins into frame. this way, the sin displaces as fog and hovers above her: a woman in a dress is lust; what the man experiences is just the natural consequence.

here is the thing: lust is doing just fine, save your pity. lust is running more circles than any of them. lust is shutting down safe sexwork sites while also making teenagers in knee-high socks sex sensations. lust is CEO of an advertising network where women never pass 25 years old. all the bras lust makes are pretty to look at but, when worn, legitimately hurt. lust has a podcast, his fur coat looped around his shoulders, sells the idea that only certain people have value, that sex raises some and destroys others. lust is tilting his head and asking what did you expect when you dress like that? lust shuns you, sneers that everything you want is disgusting and taboo - right until he can figure out how to capitalize off of it. lust has the midas ability: everything he touches becomes an object.

people usually say wrath is the scary one. you agree with FMA here, though: the real dangerous one is pride, and the shit-eating grin. the white cloaks and the nationalism and the inability to apologize. it is every partner who threw a book at your head because you don't respect him. it is every mother who said my son doesn't deserve to have his life ruined over allegations. it is the teacher that fails you because you talked back.

you worry you have this one. you feel guilty when you need help but don't ask for it. prideful. ashamed when you complete something and feel good about it. too proud for your own good. but pride is not the reward of hard work or accomplishment: pride is a twitter feed. it is the thing that has to mask i didn't do anything with look at me.

pride is your father's raised hand, his raised voice. how he was never there when you needed him, but he is still "head of house." he ruins dinner and blames it on you: you're an embarrassment to this family. this is the glass you walk around, the cuts in your feet. how he says this isn't how i raised you and you have to bite back the retort: that's because you didn't actually fucking raise me.

[dcxdpdabbles]

DCxDP Fic Idea: The Contact, the Butler and the Sly Time Lord

Martha accidentally engaged Bruce to a higher being when he was two.

It sounds terrible, but she hadn't thought that the man wearing the Time ghost costume at her husband's Halloween Gala wasn't wearing a costume and was actually the physical embodiment of Time.

She just thought he took Halloween very seriously.

Mr. Clockwork was charming and didn't care that she had married from the lower level of first class. Her parents were rich, of course, but they weren't old money, and they certainly didn't have a lot of power to speak of.

Because of that, the elites of Gotham thought she wasn't good enough to be in a family such as the Waynes. It was so lovely not to be dragged into conversations that were thinly concealed insults.

Everyone else at the Gala thought Martha had no right to be there with them. Why was she just a few zeros off from being middle class, and wasn't it just so sad that Thomas would stain his family with her?

Secertly, Martha prayed Bruce would do something wild, like marry a girl from Crime Alley or even adopt kids in lower classes to make them all choke on their pearls.

Her son would be one of the most powerful men in a few years, and she couldn't wait to see what kind of hell he would unleash upon them. She would never push, of course, but it would be a nice fantasy to have every time she had to face passive-aggressive comments from ladies told by their fathers they would be a far better Mrs. Wyane.

" Why, hello there. Aren't you the cutest little thing?" Mr. Clockwork coos, smiling down at Bruce. He clung to his mother's skirt, his matching cowboy costume a miniature version of what she was wearing.

The boy had wandered over in the middle of their conversation once he was bored of coloring at his table. Martha couldn't blame her poor baby. There really wasn't much to do for those his age here.

Thomas had stated that children were usually not brought along due to being loud and distracting.

Martha wouldn't hear any of it, insisting her son would be going with them at the party or there would be no party. The majority of the elites believed children should be seen, not heard, and that boiled her blood something fierce.

Thomas had thankfully known when to pick his battles, so he allowed his wife to drag him to a costume store for a family costume to wear. He currently chatting with a group of investors in all his cowboy glory somewhere on the other side of the gala.

"Say thank you, Bruce," She tells her boy, but he only hides his face more, causing the two adults to chuckle. "Do you have kids, Mr.Clockwork?"

"Yes. Two daughters and a son" The man chuckles "All three are a handleful but I love them dearly."

"Oh, how wonderful. Bruce is my only son, but I want to give him siblings," she tells him warmly. She can picture Bruce chasing after his younger siblings dressed up as the Grey Ghost he loves.

She knows Thomas was worried about their chances of having a second child. He was informed not too long ago that he may suffer from secondary infertility. She didn't mind. If they couldn't have a child of their own by blood they could easily adopt.

Martha worked long and hard to provide good orphanages to the city. Maybe one day, a child from there could be her own. She'll have to speak to her orphanage managers- those in charge of the kids- to see if they could help her find one.

They have successfully been getting kids into good homes (At least she thought the number of children constantly changed, and the kids were never seen again, meaning the families that adopted them loved them enough to never return!)

Mr. Clockwork hums "how about giving him a spouse instead? My girls or boy could be a good partner"

Laughing, she assumes he meant her work on bettering the lives of the gay community- in honor of her brother who passed during the AIDs epidemic. "I'm sure Bruce would be happy to hear Mommy found him a husband."

"Is that a yes?" Clockwork eyes' flashed with an emotion that was gone too quick for her to identify.

"Yes, of course. If that is what they both want, I wouldn't mind their marriage at all."

Mr. Clockworks red eyes - contacts? A medical condition?- gleam, and his voice takes on a strange rhythm. "Then so shall it be, my son Danny Fenton shall be married to Bruce Wayne per their Blood Mother and Core Father deal."

Huh. Maybe Mr. Clockwork is a nutcase. Suddenly, she thinks back to her father, who would often tell her that she lived in a delusion because he did not want her to see the horror that Gotham truly is.

Even when you think you're doing good, Gotham has a way of making your work into nightmares.

Was Mr. Clockwork one of those people he warned her about?

Thankfully, he leaves not long after that. He claims he must return to work before his co-workers notice him gone. She doesn't see him for the rest of the night and half wonders if she had been speaking to one of the wait staff they hired as extra help.

Not that she minded, but it made her think his name might not even be Clockwork.

She tells Thomas the story hours after Bruce is put to bed with a candy bucket and the last guests have all slipped home. Thomas is exhausted, having been playing host longer than her because Martha had left around eight to take Bruce trick and treating. Then she got home and put him down for his bedtime.

She got back to the party around eleven but it was a much-needed break from all the hostility that Thomas had been forced to face alone.

"WHAT!?" Thomas booms when she finishes the story. They had just crawled into bed, and Thomas had been rolling to his side for sleep before her words flung him back. "Clockwork!? You're sure you spoke to Clockwork!?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"What did he look like?"

"Um well he was in costume, but red eyes, blue skin, and he was wearing purple robes." She watches as the blood drains from her husband's face. "What is it darling? Who was he?"

"Oh, this isn't good....Alfred! Alfred!" Thomas frantically calls as if the devil had appeared in their bedroom.

Their servant and sometimes lover comes racing into the room, carrying a loaded shotgun. Ever since Thomas had met him overseas when he hired the British man as a personal bodyguard, he fell hard and fast for Alfred but he still deeply loved Martha.

He had sent Martha a letter detailing his feelings for his guard, and only after she had given him permission did he pursue the butler. Alfred had insisted on meeting Thomas' wife to prove that she was okay with him having a lover, so he had followed Wayne back home.

Then he simply never left.

Maybe because he was the best butler Wayne ever had, with his regal training and service in her royal highness' army, but she thinks that her own developed feelings for Alfred convince him to remain.

Alfred insisted that he was only a servant and thus could not be added to their marriage besides a bed partner occasionally. Still, Martha hoped one day they could convince him otherwise.

Bruce already saw him as a second father.

He looks at the pair, dressed in their nightwear in a rather enticing position (Thomas had grabbed Martha by her shoulder, to look into her eyes but that left them rather entangled on the bed) with no visible threat, and raises one brow.

Before he can say anything Thomas is all but rolling out of bed in a frantic leap. He tangles up in the blankets, falling gracelessly over the edge in failing limbs "Martha made a deal with Clockwork!"

At once, Alfred's handsome face drains of blood. "Oh dear, Martha darling, you made a grave mistake."

She can only blink at the men in confusion. "Who is Clockwork?"

"He has many names, but I knew him as Merlin," Alfred informed her evenly. He took her hand in his, the tremble in his fingers revealing his unease. " He had shown interest in Master Thomas before and was the one I protected him from. I barely fought him off and only due to outsmarting him. I would not be able to do it again a second time."

What?

"He is also known as a Fae or incubus in some circles. The kind that steals you away for fun." Thomas babbled from where he was pacing next to the bed, eyes franticly glancing about as if the bogggie man was about to leap out at him from the shadows.

For a moment, Martha wondered why her husband, a man of science and medicine who had never been superstitious, believed this Clockwork was some...some creature of myths.

"Martha, love, what did he ask of you?" Alfred questioned, bringing her hand to his lips as though kissing them would confirm she was safe before him.

"He asked for Bruce to marry his son."

"Oh, gods!" Thomas fretted, speeding up, his long strides becoming far more frantic. "Please say you didn't say yes."

"I-thought it was a joke, I didn't see anything wrong with it, I- said yes."

Alfred closed his eyes, looking like a man who had just been informed his death sentence had been signed by the Queen. "Then all we can do now is pray."

Years later, as Alfred is dusting the portrait of his deceased loves. He allowed his hand to trace the cover of Martha's painted smile and Thomas' strong jaw, mind filled with stolen kisses and sweet nothings that were ripped away that fateful night.

He is still struck by their loss. Every now and then, the knowledge of their death creeps in during his most mundane activities. It's like a kick to the chest every time.

Oh, how he misses them.

Ding Dong

The front doorbell jolts him out of his memories so violently it takes the aged Butler a moment or two to get a hold of his senses. He puts down the duster, climbs down the latter, and quickly makes his way to the door.

Stopping to fix his suit coat, he throws it open with a prepared smile. He expects extra help from the catering company Master Bruce hired for Wayne's annual Halloween Gala.

He was not expecting the two men, one looking nervous around Master Bruce's age and the other sly. His age is hard to gauge, but it may be due to time not affecting him as it did mortals.

Alfred's blood freezes at the sight of those cunning red eyes and smirk. "Merlin."

"Alfred Pennyworth." The demon chuckles. "I prefer Clockwork, as you know, but it's good to see you remember me. Most humans are prone to forgetting in their limited age."

"What are you doing here?"

"Why I came to fulfill the deal between Martha Wayne nee Kane and I"

"Martha is dead. Your contact is void."

Clockwork chuckles again, the sound as deadly as poison. "The contact lives as long as all those involved in it live. You know this."

Alfred presses the panic button on his wristwatch, knowing it sends a message to everyone in the manor to evacuate immediately. He will not live through this battle, but hopefully, it will give Master Bruce time to escape. "You will not lay a hand on Master Bruce."

"Come now, Alfred. We are to be in-laws. Our sons are joining in holy matrimony. Why the hostility-"

"Excuse me what?" The other man-demon? Ghost? Higher-being? cuts in, looking at Clockwork with brows knitted into a frown. "What did you mean holy matrimony?"

"Danny, you're getting married," Clockwork says with a cheerful wave.

"The hell I am!" The man barks, flushing red with anger. Alfred can hardly believe he just yelled at the monster. "I am not marrying some random guy!"

"It is the way things must go for the good of mankind-"

"Oh, go suck on a lemon! We both know that whole "this is fate" is bull!"

"You are embarrassing me in front of our new in-laws, younn man" Clockwork actually waves a finger at the fully grown human. "This is my one chance to marry you off to a good man. We both know that you can't attract a mate on your own."

"What!? Yes, I can! I've had girlfriends and boyfriends before!"

"And yet, no spouse! No wedding! Not even a ring!"

"Moby Dick, I knew this bonding fishing trip was a lie! You can't make me get married because of some contact you made when I was three!"

"It's not permanent! Martha Wayne said If that is what they both want, I wouldn't mind their marriage at all. This means you both must want to be together after one year of marriage. See if you like it, and if you don't, I can always find you a new husband."

"This isn't returning a jacket to a store! I can't just see if I like being married Clockwork!" The man hissed running a hand through his hair. "We're going home. I'm so sorry for bothering you today Mr. Alfred."

Alfred blinks at the young man's sheepish smile, wondering if ti's a trick. "No bother at all."

"Danny, if you leave without marriage, Bruce Wayne will die in an hour due to breaking our contract," Clockwork says, crossing his arms. "Honestly, your sisters were far more mature regarding their marriages."

Danny punches him in the face with a glowing hand. The higher being falls like a sack of bricks.

"Right, I'm going to drop this one off at a nursing home, and then I'll return to marry Bruce. Only so the contact doesn't kill him, and I swear I'll only visit every once in a while until our year is up." Throwing- Merlin, holy shit- over his shoulder as if though he weighed nothing, Danny waves at Alfred and scurries away, vanishing into a green portal.

Alfred is left standing at the doorway, utterly flabbergasted. Distantly, he wonders if the hollowing wind is actually Martha laughing herself silly in the afterlife.

Carefully, he reaches up for his com, switching it on to the sound of his family's frantic bickering. They were all worried about him since he sent the alarm and were fighting about following policy or saving him.

"Master Bruce," He says faintly silencing the coms "Please come to have your suit fitted as soon as you can."

"What for?" His son asks, likely looking for a coded message, but Alfred doesn't have the mental capacity to make one.

"Your wedding, sir. It's tonight, courtesy of your mother."

The coms explode into chaos.

[zg0nuwa]

colors ; lin kuei trio

you guys are not going to like me after this one

cw ; angst, hurt&no comfort, character death, unrequited love, this is a song fic (personally i’m not the biggest fan but damn does this work so well with these three), might be a little ooc, i would like to sincerely apologize to tomas enjoyers, NOT PROOFREAD!!!

bi han

“ You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece ”

you knew him from the start, you were there when his father presented him the title of the future grandmaster as he was the firstborn of the family, you were there when he screamed and yelled how it’s not fair that his brothers don’t have to endure the same training as him.

you were there when his mother, the only figure in his life he could consider a parental one, died and you were there when he finally got granted the title of the grandmaster of lin kuei.

you were always there, no matter his failures, small mistakes and fits of rage as something didn’t go the way he wanted. no matter how ragged he seemed to be you saw the same little boy that strived to make everyone proud, strived for perfection.

“ And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink ”

who would’ve thought that the same boy you so admired for his commitment, for his determination would be the cause of your downfall. of course you loved him, how could you not? he tore through your thoughts like spilled ink through paper.

day and night, dawn and noon, sunrise and sunset it was about showing your worth to him. and of course it didn’t matter. he was so oblivious, so engrossed in his goals and ideas that he didn’t even consider spending his time on foolish matters like love.

he believed a person in love is a fool, an idiot, a naive moron that believed anything the loved one said. and he was right.

“ Everything is blue; his pills, his hands, his jeans ”

after the betrayal you tried so hard to rid yourself of the color of his vest. the blueness spilling everywhere from your walls, your clothes, the sky outside your window during exhausting days and sleepless nights. it was like a ghost was following you, eyes playing tricks and your brain showing the so dreaded color in the corner of your eye.

so when he actually arrived at the doors of shirai ryu you didn’t believe it. it was like a fever dream, they way his eyes gazed at you with pure hatred and resentment. you stared hoping to see something deep in there, like a confession, that he wished he didn’t have to do it, that he did it because he cared about you, that he loved you.

but there was nothing there, just the endless pit of rage.

“ And now I'm covered in the colors, pulled apart at the seams ”

you knew you wouldn’t stand a chance, not because you were not a warrior, you were, a great one even but even Achilles had a weak spot right? the only difference was that while Achilles had his heel you were standing face to face with your weakness. and he knew how to use this advantage.

“ you were supposed to be on my side. what a disappointment you are. ”

the hunting blue about to drown you, his clothes, the dark sky, the ice forming around his forearms, the color that now represents the clan which brought so much destruction to your home, the same color you once could even said you loved to death, just because it belonged to him.

“ And it's blue… ”

he stood above you with the bloody ice spear in his hands, directed perfectly at your beating heart. the heart that beat of him, at the pace he played. and of course he struck right where he wanted. he just couldn’t be more perfect, right?

tomas

he thought he lost everything he could, two families torn apart and he couldn’t comprehend what sins he must’ve committed to deserve such thing. but even with that he never lost hope, he didn’t care how childish it sounded. he still had kuai liang, he still had you.

“ Everything is grey “

you know what they say right? how everything has its end? good or bad, things will always end one way or another. and tomas knew, but oh how he wished things never ended. not now that you finally setteled in together at the shirai ryu he thought things will finally go the right way for him.

not everything was picture perfect, he still felt the immense guilt for “separating” the brothers and dragging you just by affiliation into this mess. sleepless nights spent with silent tears while you slept peacefully. harsh trainings and to top it off clumsiness from lack of sleep.

bruises and cuts becoming a normalcy for him. and so did become this far away, clouded look on his face.

“ His hair, his smoke, his dreams ”

you tried everything to get him out of that state, but if there’s one thing he shares with both bi han and kuai liang it’s the god damn stubbornness. you loved each other dearly, theres no denying that but the wall he created between you was becoming too much. for both sides.

the last time you confronted him about all the nights you spent alone or the times he ignored you during the day it ended in a screaming match. even if for him it was like a nightmare come true he couldn’t help but think he deserved you walking out on him with a loud and heart-wrenching scream.

“ i’m tired tomas, i cannot take this anymore! ”

oh how he wished it had never come to this.

“ And now he's so devoid of color ”

and now as he holds your body close to his chest, both your faces covered in blood, he understood that if there was someone to be deserving or undeserving of something, it’s you. you deserved better than him, better than what he had put you through, and you certainly didn’t deserve for your life to end this way.

“ i’m sorry, i’m so so sorry, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. ”

he didn’t know what hurt more. the sight of your face slowly losing color, eyes slowly losing life, and the hold on his cheek becoming less and less firm or the fact that after all this, you still forgave him. it felt like someone had just shot him in the face, right between his eyes…

…and the scar stayed, for a long time. just like the shades of gray in his eyes and heart after losing the only source of color in his life.

“ He don't know what it means ”

the hope was all lost now.

kuai liang

“ You were red and you liked me 'cause I was blue ”

‘childhood sweethearts’ was what a lot of people described you two as. friends from day one, that’s what comes with being a child of the grandmasters closest friend. you did everything together, all of your firsts were with the other one present.

“ But you touched me and suddenly I was a lilac sky ”

a sweet reality, truly. your best friend being your actually first ever friend, being your first handhold, your first kiss, even your first time. but isn’t it somewhat normal? teenagers exploring their possibilities, their sexuality, their bodies. it all seems harmless until feelings come in the way. they started after the kiss and only got worse.

it would be normal to consider that he liked you too, right? so when he asked you to meet up in your secret spot because he had something important to tell you? oh boy you were losing your absolute mind.

choosing your best clothes, doing your hair, you obviously wanted to be your best in that moment. waiting in the spot was becoming an agonizing activity, you came over half an hour earlier then you were supposed to because of excitement.

“ And you decided purple just wasn't for you ”

it was supposed to be the best day ever for you until you saw him leading a girl you recognized. harumi, of course you knew who she was. you were always jealous of her, her stupid perfect face, her stupidly beautiful hair, her stupid smile. and yet here she was, standing in a place you wanted so badly to occupy.

and kuai liang stood proudly in front of you, a smile on his face, his chin held high in pride. he looked happy, maybe even happier then he ever been. happier than he has ever been when with you.

“ i wanted you to be the first one to know, harumi is my girlfriend ”

because best friends since childhood always share their firsts. and it’s so sweet.

feeling a bit silly tbh :3

[jedifarmerr]

Chapter 6

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!Reader/OFC (no y/n or physical descriptions)

Rating: E (18+ blog)

Word Count: over 4k

Chapter Warnings: language, smut, very very light dom/sub undertones, pregnancy, anxiety, nightmares, discussions of parent death. (let me know if I missed anything)

Series Masterlist

Javier watched her eyes light up as she walked into the nursery. Her hand slid across the smooth white wood, clearly surprised to come home to this. She had only been gone a couple hours. Prenatal yoga, dinner afterwards with some ladies in the same class. 

All the while, Javier’s Saturday night was spent hunched over vague directions. His knees ached. He’d squinted so much that it made his crow’s feet hurt. Clearly, the print was made with someone a decade younger than him in mind. 

Instead of a regular standard crib, she had wanted something different – complicated. Circular cribs. He’d gotten tangled up in a flowy dual of sheer canopies. She’d thought they would be whimsical, fitting the theme: sweet dreams. 

“Javi. I told you I would help.” 

Javier rolled his eyes at her. Even if both his arms were broken, he would never let that happen.

At seven months pregnant, she was already uncomfortable enough without sitting on the hard ground for hours.

“I wanted to do it,” he assured her. Javier was never someone that liked to be bone-idle. For him, he needed to feel like he was actually doing something. This felt like the only way he could contribute. 

They had moved in a month ago, and really this was the only room left to finish. So, he’d personally taken it on as his own project. 

Last weekend, he painted over the custard yellow. A sage-y color; Granite Grey according to Benjamin Moore. Joe and him had lugged the changing table and dresser up the stairs. Luckily, those came practically assembled. Now, it was down to the little details. 

Coming up behind her, Javier grasped her by the arc of her hips and pulled her flat against his chest. It was the only position that allowed him to get this close to her anymore. 

He sighed as he nuzzled his nose into her neck, and inhaled. “Smell good,” he groaned. 

“There’s no way. I’m all sweaty,” she protested, but that didn’t matter when he liked all her smells. 

“So? I am too.” He kissed the nape of her neck then licked his lips. Salty. God – something was wrong with him. 

His hands roamed across her belly as he perched his chin on her shoulder. Her belly button poked out from her shirt. Her beach-ball stomach was firm and swollen. He was weirdly obsessed with it. Slightly possessive about it. 

His. His. His. Swirling around his mind.

“How’re they doing today?” 

The babies responded to him with little kicks against his palm. Javier wouldn’t pretend to know the logistics of what was going on in there, but he liked to think somehow, someway they could recognize him. They always reacted to his voice. That couldn’t be purely coincidental. 

Soon, the tiny kicks became a strong double wriggle. She winced at a particularly forceful one. Despite his primal instinct to hold on, he gave her space and let her go.

Still, his gaze stayed latched onto her. It seemed to be her shoulders, down to her lower back that was bothering her. 

“Anything I can do?” He asked, wiggling his fingers into a loose fist at his side. 

“Become a seahorse.” Her voice sounded like it came out of a clogged up pipe. She shut her eyes and paced around the room, working herself through the discomfort. Her yoga class had taught her helpful breathing techniques, calming exercises for times like this. 

The tension drained from Javier’s shoulder when it finally seemed to pass. 

“They’ve been really active today,” she explained, and Javier didn’t argue with her. If it was anything serious, he hoped she would tell him. She waddled to the door. “Have you eaten?” 

He shrugged noncommittally. “I had a little something.”

Somehow she seemed to know that was code for a handful of chips around 6. She clicked her tongue at him. “Well, it’s a good thing I brought you back something then.” 

A traitorous growl tore through his stomach. Theresa’s was some of the best Mexican food in Austin. It reminded him of his favorite spot in central Laredo. A hole-in-the-wall with top-tier mole. 

“You’re too good to me,” he cooed at her, and she scoffed. 

“You’re one to talk.” She swirled her finger around the room. “Now, go eat. I’ll be down after I shower.” 

Javier did as he was told. Inside the styrofoam box was his order exactly how he liked it. She’d even remembered an extra thing of sauce on the side. 

After scarfing down his food, they curled up on the couch and watched reruns of America’s Funniest Home Videos for the rest of night. 

Showering before bed, Javier scrubbed a towel through his damp hair. “What’re you reading there?” He asked. 

She showed off a bubblegum pink cover. The Ultimate Baby Name Book. Surprise, surprise. That seemed to be all she read nowadays. 

Javier threw his towel in the hamper, turned on his bedside lamp, then joined her on top of the covers. 

She tapped on the page. “What do you think of Eva?” 

Eva Peña. He shrugged. Not too bad. 

“Yeah. If you like it.” 

That must have been the wrong answer since she clasped the book shut, her hands stacked over the cover. “Your opinion matters just as much as mine,” she reminded him. 

“Does it?” He asked, but she didn’t laugh. Her expression cinched, and he supposed it was best to agree with her. “Alright. Eva’s fine, but let’s hear another.” 

She licked her thumb and flipped through the book. Each page was marked up. Names he must’ve blown off were crossed out, very few were highlighted, even less of them starred. 

“Okay. Gabriela?” 

“No.” Fuck no. 

“Good. Definitive. I like that. What about….Mia?” 

Javier hesitated, and made a low, drawn out thinking noise. “I knew a lot of Mia’s growing up.” 

“I get that,” she said, and her face suddenly contorted into a tight grimace.

Every muscle in his body went rigid, until he realized it was her shoulders – again. He'd caught her messing with them all night. He wouldn’t let her suffer any longer. 

He didn’t give her a choice, and plucked the book from her, throwing it on the nightstand. Once the pillows were adjusted, his legs spread out, he patted the space between his thighs. 

“Come here.” 

She usually would put up a tiny fight – assure him she was fine. But not tonight. She simply crawled over without a word. 

His hands scooped underneath the flimsy straps of her nightgown, and immediately set to work. Slow and steady. With the flat of his palm, he started chiseling away at the tension in her shoulders. She let out a low sound of relief, her head drooped forward like an over-loved stuffed animal. 

“Oh, right there,” she moaned when he hit a particularly sensitive spot between her shoulder blades. 

Laser-focused, his thumbs kneaded at the tight band of muscle, drawing little noises and sweet little whimpers. Each one burned hotter in the pit of his belly. 

“Let me get your lower back. Lean forward a little for me, baby.” 

He didn’t expect his cock to twitch when she let him guide her into position. His hand on the center of her back ran along the curve of her spine, admiring the shiny satin that stuck to her skin like spilled sangria. Pliant. So soft. If he wasn’t careful it could easily go to his head – both heads. 

Her lower back was especially aggravated. A web of knots had spun themselves around her tailbone that even the tiniest bit of pressure made her pretty lips part, panting.

Her breath hitched, tensed as he began to uncoil one embedded deep underneath the surface.  

“Relax. Let me take care of you.” His voice was low and tainted by his swelling arousal. Luckily, she seemed too lost in his dutiful hands to notice. 

“Oh, Javi,” she choked out, digging her nails into his thighs. His quads flexed under her palms. 

Desire was now swirling in his gut, and when he glanced down, his cock was tenting the baby blue cotton. But he kept ignoring it, and continued his ministrations until not an inch of her back went untouched. 

“What hurts the most?” His breath fanned over her ear, and goosebumps erupted across her skin. 

He wondered if she was as affected by this as he was. He was starting to think he would find her soaked underneath the hem of her sinfully teeny nightgown with how long it took for her to respond:

“Shoulders.” 

He discreetly tucked his cock into his waistband before urging her to lay back. She sank into his body instantly. Her head lulled around the shadow of his collarbone. When his gaze dipped to her chest, he licked his lips as her swollen breasts strained the fabric with each heavy breath.

As he kneaded the tops of her shoulders, her legs unconsciously inched apart until her feet tangled up with his. 

“Feel good?” He skimmed his lips over the sensitive spot, just behind her ear.

That seemed to make her brain fizzle out. She went to speak, but unable to form a coherent word, she simply whimpered. It stroked something primal deep inside him to have her like this.

Daring himself to go further, he snuck one hand around her and rested it on her thigh. Just below the hem, her hips automatically bucked. 

Her skin burned against his palm, but he didn’t move his hand, only his thumb in slow, maddening circles. He intended to take his time, to draw this out. He wanted to make her so desperate, so needy that she begged for it. 

He brushed his fingertips across her shoulder. Like a feather, sliding along the column of her neck. “Javi,” she said – breathless. Whiny. God – she was so sensitive. So responsive to him. It was driving him insane.

“What is it, baby?” Her neck bent to his whim as his fingers danced along her jaw. “Tell me.” He thumbed the hem of her dress.

She didn’t answer, only squirmed around. Her ass was mere inches from his cock when he tsked his tongue, gripped her thigh. 

Even though she stopped, it didn’t come without a whine. “Javiiiii.” 

Her lips formed a pout, which he traced with his thumb. She opened up like a flower, let him feed one finger, then two into her eager mouth. 

Fuck – she was a vision. 

He applied pressure to the flat of her tongue, slowly dragging his fingers up and down the length.

“Suck,” he ordered, and her lips instantly formed a tight seal around his knuckles. Her cheeks hollowed out, and the throaty, wet moan she gave hummed through his veins. She looked absolutely depraved. “Fuck - look at you. So greedy. You like this, don’t you?” 

Hooded eyes – long, fluttery lashes. She nodded, pushing his fingers deeper into her warm wet mouth. She used to get so embarrassed when she would get like this. She would try and hide from him, but not anymore. He’d snuffed out the voices, until it was only his own.

Javier made a strangled, growling noise when she nearly choked on his fingers, taking him up into the point that she was drooling. A trail of spit dripping onto the tops of her breasts.

“Your damn mouth is fucking heaven.” She mewled at his praise. Grinding her hips into the thin air, the mattress squeaked under her hips. Vaguely, he wondered if he could make her come just like this. If he weren’t so aroused, he probably would have waited to see.

His hand roamed further up her thigh, and “Fuck,” he hissed, finding her thighs sticky and wet. He gathered what he could on his fingertips. “I haven’t even touched your pussy and look at that.” 

Her slick glistened in the low lamp light. Gorgeous. 

“I bet your panties are ruined, aren’t they?” He taunted her, and his fingers left her swollen lips with a pop. He smeared the excess spit all across her lips. “Should we see?” 

She dumbly nodded, and angled her gaze to watch him slowly reveal herself to him. The dark spot on her cotton-candy pink panties made his cock throb painfully, his pants felt like a cage.

“Holy shit. You’re soaked.” He clasped her tighter to him, burrowed his face into her neck as he teased the lacey elastic band. 

Her chest expanded with a cry of his name. It echoed in the safe-keeping of their bedroom. He had to keep one hand on her hip to keep her still when his fingers formed into a V and rasped across the cotton. The dips between his fingers just barely missed her clit with each stroke. Every time her body would tense, then shudder in disappointment – desperation. 

The tip of his nose nuzzled into her plush cheek. “Want me to touch you?” 

She swallowed, insistently nodding. He swore he heard her croak - yes. 

“Then beg,” he forced the word through gritted teeth. “Beg and I’ll give it to you.” 

“Oh fuck. Javi.” She cried out. “Please baby. God. I need it - I need you. Oh, please! Please.” 

She kept babbling until he hooked his thumbs into her waistband, and she helped shimmy them off.“Hold your dress and spread your legs. Let me see you.” 

There was no hesitation. She displayed herself for him, then peered up with a glazed, glossy look in her eyes. “Please,” she whimpered, and that was it.

He sealed his lips against her temple and started to gently circle her puffy clit. Her whole body convulsed, twitched. Even with a gossamer touch, she still moaned.

Months ago, he would have kept her like this for hours. Bring her to the edge over and over until she withered into sheets and prayed for release. One time, she swore she blacked out from her orgasm. It was one of his proudest accomplishments.

“Do you want more?” He asked, continuing to tease her clit, softly swirling the swollen bud.

She opened her mouth, but all that came out was nonsense. So, instead she bobbed her head.

“You want my fingers?” She nodded even faster. “Can you be good and keep still? Let me do the work - let me take care of you?” 

She must have known he would want a verbal response because she swallowed. “I - I’ll try.” 

“That’s all I ask,” he hummed, then without any resistance, slid a single finger inside her. Her walls clamped around him, and he growled, wanting to feel her wrapped around his cock.

Soon.

After only a few moments, she was already begging for more. “I can take it. Please, Javi. I need it.”

“Yeah?” His deep chuckle rumbled around his chest. He didn’t wait for a response, and sunk two fingers into her, curling until he hit that sweet, spongy spot.

Her legs twitched, fighting to keep still as he sped up. The wet squelch was nearly enough to send him over the edge, and when he stretched her out with a third, he was about to burst. He could feel his cock leaking with each thrust, smearing around his skin and shorts as she trembled for more.

“Fuck, you’re so good. So good, baby.” He slowed down, but kept a steady pace. “You gonna let me use your pretty pussy? Wanna cum around my cock?” 

“Oh shit - Javi. Please. Please. God - I wanna cum. Wanna - fuck.” 

“Hands and knees or on top?” 

She didn’t answer verbally, but crawled to the middle of the bed instead. She yanked off her dress before presenting herself. Ass up. 

“Goddamn,” he grumbled under his breath, ripping off his shorts. He glanced down and he was way too fucking hard. His cock bobbed heavily against his stomach. The tip swollen and red as jasper. 

He squeezed the base of his cock. His fingers biting into her ass as he spread her apart. Everything was wet and swollen and all his.

“Fucking beautiful.” 

He teased his cock along her slippery slit. The fat head bumped against her clit, and she scrambled to fist the sheets. His jaw went slack, watching her cunt drip and clench around nothing.

“Shit - Javi.” She rocked back to try and catch even just the tip of him inside her. He snatched her by the hips, and held her in place. 

“Tell me what you want.” 

“Your cock,” she whined. “God, I want you to fuck me. Pleaseeee Javi!”

He praised her while lining himself up, then slowly buried himself inside her. He stared down as his cock completely disappeared. She was completely at his mercy. The thought made his cock twitch, and her pussy spasmed around him. 

Throwing his head back, he squeezed his eyes shut until his own release receded. He withdrew, taking a second to admire the ring of slick around his dick before thrusting back in.

“Holy shit. So fuck - fucking good.” She purposely clenched and it was way too tight; his stomach swooped. “Oh shit. Baby, don’t do that.” 

She gave a girlish little giggle. What a fucking menace. 

“That funny to you?” He asked, snagging the blunt head of his cock against her g-spot. Her only reply came in moan muffled by the sheets. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

With a firm grasp on her hips, he fucked her with long, deep strokes that always hit the spot. Her walls spasmed with every rock of his hips. She sobbed from being right on the edge.

He knew exactly what she needed, but couldn’t give it to her. At least, not at this angle.

“Come here, baby.” He helped haul her upwards. Her tacky skin sealed against his chest. His fingers skated across her breasts, circled her neglected nipples. He wished he could play with them, bite them, suck them, tease them, but most of the time they were too sensitive for anything but a feathery touch. The line between pain and pleasure was razor-thin and too blurry. 

Even now, the tiniest brush made her breath catch in her throat. 

Finally, Javier started to toy with her clit. With his cock grinding up into her warm, wet pussy and his lips frantically mouthing at the column of her throat, the first touch made her nearly buckle. Her walls squeezed him even tighter, and he swore this was heaven.

Javier wet his lips. “Kiss me, come on. I need it, baby.” He didn’t care how desperate he sounded. He didn’t care about the awkward angle or how messy it was when her tongue lapped against his. She tangled her fingers into his hair and gave a sharp tug. Every nerve and cell in his body fired at the same time, and he knew this wasn’t gonna last much longer.

He drove his cock as deep as it could go. Their skin slapped together and she was leaking everywhere, down his thighs, dripping onto the sheets.

“Perfect pussy,” he growled, and pinched her clit, rolling it between his fingers. “Fuck. I can feel it. So tight. Oh, come on. Fuck.” 

“Shit - Javi!” Her walls fluttered around him, and he clasped her against him right before her legs gave out.

She pulled away from his mouth, just enough to look into his eyes as he continued to split her open. The hand in his hair came to rest on his jaw; her thumb caressed over his cheek and it hooked on something deep in his chest.

He suddenly felt exposed. Vulnerable. Her eyes bore into his and he swore she could see inside him. She could see every crack and broken piece of him, and despite it - she still looked at him like that. 

She still loved him. 

There was a split-second where he felt like he couldn’t breathe. All of it became too much. All too much. His release licked across his skin, and swelled up inside him.

He made a low, punched out sound and buried his face into her neck. Lavender soap and soft skin. His own release took hold of him. 

“That’s it baby,” her voice seeped in through the dull ringing in his ears. “Fill me up, Javi.” His hips stuttered, and he didn’t recognize the noises that came out of him. Grunts. A near sob without any tears.

He swore he’d never cum so hard in his life.

Finally, his lips started to move across her throat, along the nape of her neck. Soft, sleepy kisses like the ones she would give his fingertips before bed. 

There was a strange part of him that felt like he should apologize, but he didn’t know for what exactly. 

“Was that okay?” He asked before the guilt could fester and turn into an ugly, black mold inside him. His voice sounded weak – meager. Maybe it could pass as breathless.

“Javi.” He still didn’t look at her, didn’t even move. His cock was still inside her, softening. “Javier.” 

That got his attention, and he drew back to find her eyes searching his. She seemed worried. “If it wasn’t okay, I would let you know. Alright?” She petted his cheek, “You always make me feel so good.”

“Now, you’re exaggerating.” 

His cum spilled down her legs once he pulled out of her. He groaned as he plopped onto his back, palming the space between his brows. 

She curled up beside him. “I’m serious, Javi. I liked it - a lot in fact.” 

“Okay.”

She scooped up the strands of hair stuck to his forehead. “Did you like it?” 

He hooked his arm around her, and kissed her on the nose. “Of course.” 

They laid like that for a minute, her body enfolded on him. Even with her clasped against him, he couldn’t shake himself out of this. It only seemed to make the uncomfortable feeling settle deeper into his chest.

Terminal. A sense of finality. 

He tugged her even closer, and tried to lose himself in the scent of her shampoo.

He told himself he was just tired. That was all this was.

---

Javier didn’t know what time it was, but it had to be well past midnight as the city was completely still, quiet aside from the recently awakened bugs. 

There was a storm rolling in. Flashes of white lit up the dark sky as he inhaled another drag of his cigarette. Smoke smoldered in his throat, burning his lungs like a cheap glass of whiskey.

This was exactly what he needed. Fresh air. The sweet shallowness of a nicotine buzz.

For the most part he stuck to nicorette gum, but sometimes that shit didn’t cut it. He kept a carton of Marlboros stashed in his glove boxes for moments such as this.

The nightmares didn’t happen nearly as often as they once did. He supposed, in a way, he’d grown used to the torrent memories. The flashbacks. Colombia. 

But tonight, it hadn’t been the sound of machine guns or war-torn streets that woke him up in a cold sweat. 

It was her. All his dreams lately had been about her. 

He was about half-way through his second cigarette when the sliding door opened. She was standing underneath the porch light, her satin robe shimmering. There was something so ethereal about her. 

“Thought I might find you out here,” she said. 

He gave a light chuckle; a trail of smoke wisped from the sides of his mouth, and he squished out the orange bulb. She knew about his smoking. She also knew what it meant when he did. 

She insisted on joining him on the porch step. Even though it took her a minute to get down. The silence settled comfortably around them. She seemed content to just sit there until he was ready. 

“It was just a bad dream,” he said, after a long moment. 

“Was it about me?” 

He didn’t answer, and instead stared out at the freshly-cut lawn. He’d assumed she had figured it out by now. There was no hiding anything from her. She could read him as easily as her go-to comfort book. The pages tabbed and torn, all marked up, but she cherished it nonetheless. 

He couldn’t lose her.

Each doctor’s appointment set him on edge. Complications. High-risk. It reminded him of his mom and the bullshit medical jargon they used. They gave her two years and it took her in eight months. 

Javier didn’t know how his dad did it. How he just continued to go on. How he lived in their house. If something happened to her, Javier couldn’t come back here. He didn’t even know how to live with an empty side of the bed anymore. 

“Javi.” Her soft voice beckoned him back to her. Her eyes bore into him. The warmth of her body pressed against him. “I won’t promise anything I can’t keep. But, Javi I promise, I feel fine. I feel good. And if I ever think something is wrong, I’ll tell you. Okay?” 

Javier cradled her face in his hands, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone. “Promise?” 

“I swear. I swear, I will.” 

Abruptly, he crushed his lips against her forehead, then slotted her right beside him. With his fingers rooted on her hip, she stayed curled up against him. 

The air had turned sticky and the sky had begun to rumble by the time Javier looked her in the eyes. “What if we name one after my mom?” Caught off guard, her jaw went slack, and he knew it was because he rarely brought his mom up. 

He supposed he was scared too. He’d always neatly boxed away his grief. Every loss in his life was stuffed in the same tiny closet. Now, if he opened it up something else was bound to topple out, and whatever it was – it was going to hurt. 

He wished he could talk about her more. It felt like his wife barely knew anything about her. His mom deserved better than to be a silent memory. She deserved recognition. 

“Are you thinking María or Dolores?” She asked.

Javier snorted. “Neither.” 

His mom didn’t really like her name. María Dolores. She always said it made her sound too old. No one that really knew her ever called her by either. 

“I’m thinking Lola. Pops called her Dolly, but to everyone else - she was Lola.” 

“Lola,” she repeated, and rubbed her belly. “I like that. Lola Peña. Now, we just need to figure out the second.”

She squeezed his hand, and then; it started to rain.

[zoobus]

@dtwoh2

This ended up being super long so I decided not to harass OP's replies

(this is about my opinion that Elliot the billionaire from Breaking Bad S1E5 "Grey Matter" was not a generous, kindly rich friend offering Walt a way out with no strings attached)

First, let me say this: I know most people don't notice or care about fashion but BrBa actually did put notable effort in their costume design and it's because characters like Skyler are consistently well-dressed that made this point so glaring

When she's hosting, when she goes to the office, hell even her house robes are sophisticated, put together fits - I'm not sure how she affords those sumptuous silk kimonos she's always wearing but it hammers home Skye as an appearance-minded person, a woman who knows how to dress. Even with the shit camera quality, you can tell her hot pink baby shower dress was made for her.

And yet.

Walt and Skye go to that party in complementing loud, harsh, ugly blues for what they learn is a beige party - the literal exact opposite of blue.

Now, it'd be one thing if they'd known and worn beige outfits that were shabby in comparison and Walt got in his feelings about it. Or if they'd truly "missed the memo" as Walt snarks and come in normal-wear that was out of dress code - yep could see Walt assuming it was intentional and throwing a fit.

But this poor couple attending a billionaire's party for some reason thought they should wear gaudy blue, with Skye's dress in particular highlighting exactly how cheap it is. It's almost as if they were under the impression they had to wear a color a domesticated adult would be unlikely to already own and rarely looks good on a budget, doubly so if you're 8 months pregnant. Skye would NEVER wear that shiny ass prom dress with the ruched center seam, scratchy 100% polyester raschel lace shawl, and sequined evening bag in public unless she thought it was her only choice. She never wears anything like this again, not even in the same season. The only rational explanation is someone lied to them. The more I explain this, the more I realize why most people missed it.

Now for the less special interest type reasons:

Walt asks (then later confirms) the invite said "no gifts." You might say oh, maybe Elliot was trying to spare Walt's pride but if so, why make a point of sharing it like he did? Why even invite your broke prideful friend to this kind of party, like you can't think of any other way to meet, chat, and ask if he'll work for you?

Additionally, how odd that Walt's was the only invite that didn't say this was a beige party.

Really can't downplay how hard it is to swallow they forgot to tell the Whites not to show up in clown uniforms.

Elliot's loudly showing off his gifts, with the last being an autographed Eric Clapton Stratocaster® which on the low end today is a $2000 electric guitar, but can go to the tens of thousands. Then he spots his friend's meager, teensy little thing, smaller than his hand and LITERALLY POINTS WALT OUT so everyone knows for damn sure who did this. Elliot unwraps it and does this full body sigh. Hands dropped. Your dad getting another tie for father's day type reaction. Young Good Ramen. No this is great man. You can get 10 for 1.99.

Sorry, no it WAS malicious. Listen to his voice. Feel how long he held that unpleasant silence before forcing a chuckle. Holding eye contact throughout while the crowd darts their eyes and smirks. This isn't Harry Potter - you can't emphasize how shitty something is then magically negate it like "and that's why I love it hahaha!" Elliot made it clear where he thinks Walt stands. Beneath him.

The whole party is like this, a humiliating horror show of socializing out of your social sphere. We don't even know what their relationship was like before. The implication is that Walt separated from this guy before for a reason and the reason was probably in line with what we saw today.

Elliot isn't stupid. He knows Walt. He knows Walt's character. He knows their financial disparities. He knows Walt is sick. Presumably he's well aware of Walt's pride. An intelligent and well-meaning friend doesn't accidentally combo-hit the exact weak points that caused you to drift apart in less than an hour before asking hey how would you like to literally owe me your life? How would you like the kind of debt that can't be repaid? :) You're a smart man.

If Elliot really cared about saving Walt, he wouldn't have gone about it the way he did. If, however, he wanted to antagonize and flex on Walt, make him as uncomfortable as possible, keep in his wife's good graces by offering him a job, and end the night with two possible outcomes - either he accepts and gets richer or he rejects and elliot can say "Welp honey, your former lover and ex-fiance Walter White said no for some weird reason. oh well, I tried! :)"

Idk, I guess it could be a projection but the way Elliot talked to Walt reminded me of old friends whom, in retrospect, didn't even try to hide their disdain for me. Like wow how did I miss that.

I think Gretchen had honest intentions. Her husband didn't. I don't know what his deal was exactly but I'd exhaust all other resources before accepting this dude who publicly embarrassed me as my savior, livelihood, and future employer.

[simplepotatofarmer]

the real pig hunt

another mini fic for my 'hey loyal write this' challenge, this time based on this post by @curosart! an alternate take on 'hog hunt' and the butcher army execution.

“What if it doesn’t, uh, work?” Ranboo swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump in their throat and then swallowed again. “Like, what if it goes wrong or something?”

“It’s going to work, Ranboo,” said Quackity in a tone that made it clear there would be no further debate past this point. “Besides, if it goes wrong, that’s just less work for us, yeah?”

Tubbo nodded.

“Exactly, exactly.”

“But it’s going to work.” Quackity grinned. “And Techno is going to learn a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Techno should have known this would happen. Part of him had been waiting for it, ready, and there was no surprise when he received Phil’s message, just a pit in his stomach that the peace he had wanted to build here was about to be shattered.

And now there was blood on the snow (and he had tried, he had begged, but it was no use) and Quackity had an axe to his horse’s throat.

“Get away from them, Techno, or I’ll kill your horse right now.”

Techno stopped, holding his hands up.

“Quackity, you leave that horse alone…”

“Cooperate or I’ll kill Carl,” said Quackity. “Do you understand? I’ll slay this horse. Now drop everything.”

With a deep sigh, Techno’s shoulders sagged. He knew this would happen, he knew it, and began dropping his items on the ground.

“Okay, okay…”

“Your armor too.”

A moment of doubt made Techno hesitate. If he was going to get out of this, he would need his armor. Sunlight glinted off of Quackity’s axe.

“Do it or I’ll kill the horse right fucking now.”

Techno pulled the netherite gauntlets off and dropped them into the snow. The helmet was next and then the chest plate and he was about to ask what they were planning to do when he heard the unmistakable sound of a potion bottle breaking and the feeling of something wet hitting him.

“What the heck—”

And then the world around him was getting much bigger and Techno hit the ground.

_________________________________________________________

“Is this a fucking joke?” asked Punz.

Dream shrugged helplessly, not knowing how to answer the question. He needed it to be a joke, it had to be a joke, and yet—

“What do we do now? I mean, this really messes with the whole rescue plan, right?”

It did and if it was anyone other than Technoblade, Dream might have cut his losses right then and there. He groaned, rocking back on his heels.

“Okay, new plan.”

A beat.

Punz looked at him.

“Which is…?”

“Well, same plan for you, I guess,” Dream said. “You get up there and distract them. I’ll get Techno out.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“Do you have an extra invis potion?”

Raising an eyebrow, Punz dug through their inventory and pulled out a glass bottle, the liquid inside an almost matte grey in color. They handed it to Dream.

“Good luck, buddy.”

Dream nodded; he was going to need it.

_________________________________________________________

Techno had a brief flash of optimism when they tossed him into the small cage that maybe, just maybe, he could squeeze through the iron bars. That maybe whatever Quackity and his goons had done to him could work in his favor. But the bars were too close for him to fit through and his ear caught on the metal, making him let out a squeal.

This was embarrassing.

He got the point – turn the pigman into an actual pig, haha, very funny – but it was really cramping his style. How was he going to get out of this? How was he going to make sure Phil was alright? Techno could barely turn and he didn’t have hands to hold a weapon or that totem Dream had so kindly pointed him to.

There was a flash of white and then shouting and an explosion. Beneath him, something thumped against the wood plank he was standing on, hard. He didn’t have time to think about that. Tubbo’s voice cut across the commotion.

“Pull the lever, Big Q!”

Bruh, Techno thought, not like this. 

The wooden plank beneath his hooves – all four of them – broke and he fell. He expected to hit the ground and then for the anvil to hit him but someone grabbed him awkwardly, hands almost slipping on his haunches as they yanked him back. The anvil slammed into the ground with a rush of air, barely an inch away from Techno’s snout.

__________________________________________________________

If there wasn’t a saying about how hard it was to catch a pig already, Dream thought there should be.

With one hand still on his axe, he scrambled to grab Techno as he pulled him back and out of the way of the anvil at the same time. It had come too close for comfort and Techno was practically upside down. He adjusted his grip but Techno seemed to be panicking.

“Techno—Techno, stop, it’s me.”  There was an indignant sounding squeal and Dream groaned. He was invisible; even if Techno was in a position to look at him, he would’ve seen nothing but a floating axe. “It’s Dream.”

The squealing turned into a series of oinks that could only be described as laughter.

“Yeah, whatever, laugh all you want,” said Dream.

He tucked Techno under his arm. Above the commotion still raged and it was surprisingly easy for Dream to slip away. That ease made paranoia stick in Dream’s chest and it took all his self-control not to look over his shoulder every few seconds and instead made his way to where Quackity and the others had left Carl.

Grabbing the lead, he pulled the horse towards the tunnel, the sound of shouting and explosions fading into the background.

__________________________________________________________

Techno had thought being turned into an actual pig was about as low as he could get and then he had realized they hadn’t even planned on giving him a clean death. There was no honor in being crushed while trapped in a cage and Techno knew that was the whole point.

And now Dream was manhandling him as if he had never once held an animal before and also was afraid Techno would bite him. Techno had certainly considered it, especially when he had mounted Carl and turned the horse away from his home in the arctic.

He had considered wiggling out of Dream’s grip and taking his chances but he knew Dream wanted him alive, even if he didn’t know why. That was enough for him.

“Whoa.”

Carl took a moment to listen to Dream and Techno snorted in amusement.

The invisibility potion had worn off and Dream tilted his head down slightly to look at him. When he spoke, Techno could hear the frown in his voice.

“Your horse sucks, Techno,” he said as he pulled out his communicator with one hand.

And I’m gonna feed him so many golden carrots, thought Techno, oinking.

“Shut up.”

As Dream typed, resting the communicator on his thigh, Techno tried to peer at the screen, see what it was he was saying, who he was talking to you.

Techno oinked, rising in intonation.

“I’m trying to figure out where’s safe,” said Dream in reply.

Flicking his ear, Techno thought, I take back fifty percent of the times I’ve called you stupid, alright, Dream?

“Damn it.”

That didn’t sound good. Squealing, Techno nudged Dream’s arm, dignity forgotten. Dream tightened his grip on him as Carl side-stepped with a whiny. 

“It’s fine,” he muttered and then cleared his throat. “It’s fine—We just need to find somewhere to lay low for a bit.”

We also need to figure out a way to turn me back into a dang person, thought Techno. If something went south, he’d be useless. A pig couldn’t hold a sword and Dream was good but not that good. He oinked.

“What? I don’t speak pig.”

Techno oinked again.

C’mon, Dream, that’s whole problem, man.

He couldn’t see the expression on Dream’s face but the way he looked down at him and then leaned back slightly spoke of a sudden realization.

“Okay, but I don’t know what to do about that so,” Dream said and then nudged Carl lightly with his heels. “We’ll figure it out.”

We better, thought Techno with a soft huff.

_______________________________________________________

Things had spiraled out of control. It was supposed to be a simple rescue mission, just make sure that Techno got out of there alive with his stupid horse, and now Dream’s mind was racing as he tried to plan where to go, what to do next.

How the fuck was he going to turn Techno back to normal?

“Fuck! Milk!” 

In his lap, Techno squealed and the horse shied and Dream had to work to keep him under control without dropping Techno. He pulled the horse to a stop.

“Can pigs drink milk?” he asked, looking down at Techno.

The noise Techno made was somewhere between an oink and a snort and very clearly held the tone of someone who thought they had just been asked a very stupid question. Dream felt his cheeks go hot and he was glad he was wearing the mask.

“Well—Well, to be fair, I don’t know pig biology or whatever.”

Techno snorted again. Dream rolled his eyes.

“Look, we’ll just—We’ll find a cow and fix this.”

__________________________________________________________

It was a good idea.

Techno was actually a little bit disappointed that he hadn’t thought of it himself but it wasn’t as if he could have told Dream anything. Their means of communication was pretty limited though he had to admit that Dream was quick to figure out what he was trying to say.

So when he felt that odd tingle, starting at the tip of his tail, he had a good idea of what was about to happen. He tried to wriggle out of Dream’s grasp, giving a squeal, but Dream held on.

“Techno! What the hell?”

Oh, this is gonna be awkward, thought Techno.

There was a stretching sensation in all his limbs and then a pop, like a bubble bursting, and he was falling and taking Dream with him. Techno landed on top of him, knocking the wind out of them both. Startled, Carl whinnied and danced away before stopping to munch on some grass just a few feet away.

Techno looked down at Dream.

“Hey, good news, Dream, I don’t think we’re gonna need to find that cow,” he said.

Dream lifted his head and then gave up almost immediately with a deep sigh.

“—we’re never fucking talking about this again.”

With a laugh, Techno got to his feet – the two of them, not four – and reached down to offer Dream a hand. He hesitated for just a moment before taking it and letting Techno pull him up.

“Oh yeah, this is stayin’ between us,” he said and then, “For now, I mean, it is kinda funny…”

“Techno!”

[elliethejellie]

The Lovebug Virus - Chapter 2: Sun

Yandere! Sun and Moon x Reader

Masterlist || Chapter 1 || Chapter 3

*****

"And down that way past the daycare is Monty Golf," Max says. You try your best to remember everything he's telling you, but you're having a hard time now that you're close enough to the daycare to hear the children screaming and playing down below.

It's been about a week since the disaster at the party and Kat telling you she would call her older brother. Turns out, he's actually the head engineer here at the Pizzaplex, which you hadn't known. That's why Kat worked at the plex, because she wanted to make her way up the engineering ladder like her brother Max had done once he had finished with his degree. She only works as a night guard because it was what was open at the time. Kind of like what you were doing now. Except you hadn't gotten as lucky with the job opening you had to take.

"Well, guess that leaves the most important part now, doesn't it?" Max says, clapping his hands together in front of him. He was older than Kat, that much was evident. But he still looked young. You guess he can't be much older than 30, given the lack of worry lines or grey hairs. His face is clean shaven, but he rubs his chin constantly as if stroking a beard. If there is one thing you've been able to take from your interactions with him so far, it's that you definitely know where Kat gets most of her personality from.

"Yeah, I guess. Lead the way," you say, allowing him to guide you towards the employee entrance of the daycare.

Everything is so bright and colorful, and there's a rather silly song that never seems to end playing from somewhere overhead. Not that the kids could hear it over there incessant screams of joy. Max leads you over to a desk with several computers at it and a large screen behind it advertising the Sunnydrop energizing candies. Do they really give those to kids? You doubt they need anything energizing considering the pure molten energy they seem to have flowing through them right now. 

Max types a password into the computer and fiddles with something in the system while you take in the sights around you more. Some of the children seem to be playing a rather intense game of tag, while others are sitting around a small table coloring. You smile. Even though you are nervous about being around so many little kids, you find some level of comfort in the thought. It can't be that hard, right? Especially if you're going to be working with... other people...

You look around the large daycare with more detail. There doesn't seem to be a single other daycare attendant in sight! Who is watching these kids? Were you expected to work alone? 

You're going to mess this up. You always screw up, especially when it's something new.

"Okay, you're officially in the system, and you are authorized to handle drop offs, pickups, medicine inputs, and incident reports," Max says, pulling you from your thoughts. 

"Uh, okay. A-Are you going to be working with me?" you stutter, the uneasiness you feel seeping into your voice. Max lets out a hearty laugh, as if it was the funniest thing he's heard all day.

"Hell no, I don't like being around the younger ones."

"Mr. Diaz, language!" you hear a robotic, high pitched voice say from behind one of the play structures. Your confusion must be pretty evident, because Max only laughs harder.

"Well, now you get to meet them," he says, winking at you once he calms down. "Sun! Remember when I told you that you'd be getting some help around the daycare?" 

"Ohmygosh yes! Are they here now?" the same voice from before asks. Your eyes widen as a tall, yellow animatronic appears from behind the play structure holding one of the children in his arms. Several kids appear with him, all holding different stuffed Fazbear-themed plushies. He bends over and places the kid down before saying something to the rest of them and heading towards the security desk.

You take a hesitant step backwards. "I-I'm going to be working with an animatronic?" you ask quietly. This is insane. Neither Kat nor Max told you that there was going to be one of them working with you in the daycare. And it wasn't anywhere in the job description! The animatronic leans forward on the desk, his sunrays spinning slowly around his faceplate. 

"Hello new friend!" he greets you. "I'm Sundrop! But you can call me whatever you'd like! Everyone has so many different names for me. But the most popular are Mr. Sun, Sunny, or just plain ol' Sun!" 

Max types something into the computer again before smiling up at Sun. "She's going to be working with you as the human daycare attendant to get some of the work off of your back. Don't go chasing her away like the other one, though." Sun's rays stop spinning and shrink back slightly. It's almost as if he's... embarrassed?

"I-I'm Y/N," you say, sticking your hand out. Sun's face lights up and he reaches out to shake your hand from across the desk. 

"That's such a lovely name, Sunbite! Oh, do you mind if I call you Sunbite? I give everyone nicknames," he says, speaking rather quickly. It makes you smile. He sounds just as nervous as you. The AI in him must be super advanced. You'd love to be able to read the coding that goes into his software, but you know you won't even get the chance to do anything like it until you're actually an engineer here, and not some measly little daycare attendant.

"I don't mind," you say. Of course you don't. You don't want to upset him already. He somehow seems to smile even brighter.

"Lovely!" he exclaims. Max's Fazwatch beeps and he curses under his breath. But before Sun can scold him again, he pulls his staff hat from his belt loop and puts it on. 

"I am so sorry about this," he says to you. "But I have to go. Something just came up. But I'm sure Sun can show you the ropes of running the daycare for today, especially since naptime has already passed?" he pleads, turning to the animatronic. Sun nods eagerly.

"Of course I can, Mr. Diaz! Don't you worry, our new little friend will know all the ins and outs of the daycare before the end of today!" Sun says, waving as Max leaves. You, on the other hand, don't feel as confident. Still, you turn to the animatronic and smile nervously.

"So, where do we begin?"

You spend the last hours of the daycare day mainly learning about the routine and where everything is. Being distracted seems to have busied your mind enough that you don't really have time to have any negative thoughts. Especially because the kids seem to find an extra burst of energy with you being new, surrounding you and asking you question after question. After the first hour, you grew used to it though, answering them patiently. This had caused Sun to tell you that you were beginning to be a perfect fit for the daycare already, which had made your cheeks flush.

But now you're waving the last two kids out the front door from behind the security desk. The door closes and you sigh, flopping back into the office chair. Sun bounces in front of you on the opposite side of the desk. "You did absolutely wonderful, Sunbite!" he says rather loudly. It will certainly take a lot to get used to his base volume being noisier than you're used to. But still, you flash a grin at him.

"You really think so?" you ask as warmth tickles the back of your neck. "I-I don't really feel like I did much." Sun's rays begin to spin around his head again. 

"You absolutely helped out. Normally the kids are bored by the end of the day and begin terrorizing each other because of it. But they really liked you." He turns and gestures wide with his arms. "Now for my favorite part of the day. Cleaning time!"

You find yourself chuckling softly to yourself. You don't mind cleaning - it was actually the part of this job that you were looking forward to the most. Making things nice and shiny was one of your favorite activities. It calmed you down and allowed you to think. Your anxiety would cool off and your negative self talk would quiet. So you head out from behind the desk and follow Sun around as he runs you through the cleaning routine. He continues to remind you how grateful he is for your help, repeating that the cleaning routine will go by so much faster now. Sometimes it feels like he's reminding himself in a way? If you weren't so enthralled by the amount of cleaning there was, you might have even wondered if he was talking to someone else...

After an hour and a half of scrubbing, wiping, sweeping, and vacuuming, you finally finish sanitizing the daycare with Sun. He thanks you repeatedly, and tells you that he can't wait to see you again the next day.

"Can I give you a goodbye hug, Sunbite?" he asks, holding his arms out. You smile sheepishly. You've only spent a few hours with the animatronic, but you find yourself enjoying his company and unable to deny his request. How could you deny that cute smile?

So you hug him. Much to your surprise, you don't come into contact with cold metal, and instead he is warm. It kinda throws you for a loop for a moment, as your brain tries to process the fact that you're not hugging another human, but you shove your thoughts aside and decide to just enjoy it. He also smells faintly of citrus, which only makes you smile and giggle a bit to yourself. When you pull from the hug, Sun turns his head to the side and his rays shrink down slightly.

"D-Did I say something funny?" he asks, and you immediately shake your head, still smiling.

"No, no, not at all, Sunny," you say. "I'm just finding this whole thing a bit bizarre is all."

"Oh, how so?"

You hesitate. "Well, where I'm from, there was an old Fazbear Pizzeria, but it was closed down when I was a teen. Still, there wasn't any kind of advanced AI in those animatronics. They were just machines inside of a cheap fuzzy suit." You shrug and walk back over to the security desk with Sun in tow.

"What was it like there?" he asks. You weren't expecting that. He's so curious, almost in a childlike manor. You wonder how often people actually answer his questions. But you smile nonetheless and answer him.

"Freddy, Chica, and Bonnie were on the mainstage," you say, and continue to describe the layout, pointing out that the daycare alone is bigger than the entirety of that small little pizzeria you used to spend all your summers at. You clock out of the system as you do so, and then place your hands on your hip. "It was my favorite place to go to growing up. Especially because.. Well, it doesn't matter," you say suddenly, cutting yourself off as bitter memories begin to cloud your nostalgia. Sun's shoulders sink at your unexpected shutdown.

"Hey, meatball!" a familiar voice says from behind you. You turn and smile at Kat walking through the door to the daycare. 

"Hey, Catnip!" you greet. Sun also smiles and bounds over to Kat excitedly. 

"Miss Diaz! What a pleasant surprise! You already know our Sunbite?" he asks. Your steps slow slightly as you approach. Wait, did he just say "our" when referring to you? Well, he probably means the daycare as a whole. Either way, you hug Kat once you reach her.

"Of course I know her," she says, ruffling your hair and flashing you a toothy grin. "We're roommates." 

You place your hand to your chest in mock heartbreak. "Just roommates?! Kitkat, you wound me," you joke. She laughs and shoves your arm.

"My bad, we're best friends," she corrects herself. Sun's rays begin spinning around his head again.

"Oh! So this is the one you said worked at the uh... adult bar before!" he says, and your mouth falls open.

"You told him that?" you round on your friend. She holds her hands up in surrender.

"How was I supposed to know that you would end up working with him?" she asks, chuckling through her words. "Besides, it's not like he knows exactly what goes on in places like that," she says in a hushed voice. "But anyways, I came by to make sure you survived your first day, and it looks like you have, so I'm going to get ready for my shift!"

"Which parking lot did you leave the car in?" you ask, and she smiles deviously at you. "Figure it out," she says before turning back and walking back through the entrance. "See you later tonight, boys!" she calls over her shoulder.

"Bye Miss Diaz!" Sun says from your side, waving wildly. Before you can even begin to wonder why on earth she referred to Sun as "boys," he turns back to you. "So, the next day you work is this Saturday, correct?"

You give a puzzled look to the yellow animatronic. "H-How did you-"

"Oh! We're connected to the entire system!" he says, tapping his index finger to his head. "So we can see the schedules, place incident reports, and contact emergency services or head personnel if needed." 

"Ah, well that makes sense." You walk over to the door of the employee entrance and Sun follows at your heel once again. You seriously feel like this poor animatronic doesn't get a lot of interactions from anyone besides the children. Once you reach the door, you stop and turn back to him. "Do you ever leave the daycare, Sunny?" you ask.

He clasps his hands in front of him, wringing his fingers together. "Well, uh, I don't," he says. You can't help but think that he looks adorable when he's nervous like this. 

"Why not?" 

"It's just not really required, I guess? Honestly, I'm not so sure." His rays shrink back once again, and you smile. 

"Well, either way, I guess I'll see you Saturday!" 

"Saturday it is!" he perks back up.

"Buh-bye Sunny," you say, and slip out of the door to grab your belongings from the employee locker room and head back home.

*****

A/N: AHHHHHH we finally met Sunny!! Does he meet your expectations? Does he?? God he's such a soft nervous boi, just needs some attention and love *cries*

Anyways, stay tuned because in the next chapter you get to meet Moon!! And then the real story can begin muahhahahah

Stay sweet, my lovelies~

[sailtomarina]

Yes or no

They’d been dancing around one another for weeks.

The tension that had built up and nearly combusted in Potions working together as partners continued to bubble beneath the surface, threatening to spill over in their study sessions. Hermione supposed she had Madam Pince’s ever-watchful eye to thank—never in her wildest dreams would she ever risk her library privileges to distractions like Draco Malfoy.

Admittedly, he made for a lovely distraction.

She asked herself for the millionth time what had possessed her to invite him to study with her. Hermione could barely think every time he leaned over her shoulder to peer at her notes. She thought he’d be cold, what with his general paleness and the haughty manner in which he’d always carried himself. Instead, close proximity proved him warm in a way that made her want to lean in and soak him up skin to skin.

Would his hands be silky soft, or calloused from years gripping a broomstick? Would his hold on her be firm, or gentle?

He kept sitting next to her so he could shuffle his chair close as they shared texts and checked each other’s work. In the instance that she arrived after he had already settled in and she tried to sit across from him, there was always some excuse preventing her from taking a far seat. Either he’d have his legs kicked up, or his bags would be strewn across the chairs, or he’d get up to search for another text, only to return and settle in right next to her. Once in place, Hermione couldn’t find the willpower to put distance between them.

Before she knew it, being close to Draco was as natural as reaching for pumpkin juice at breakfast. They shared a natural harmony in and out of class that already rivaled the pace she’d taken to get to that point with anyone else.

Maybe if they’d lived in another reality without all the prejudice they could have become friends much sooner. Who knows how close they’d be by this point if that were the case?

The tip of her quill snapped after a particularly hard jab at her parchment, prompting her to curse loud enough to draw Pince’s glare.

“Sorry, sorry,” she muttered, nodding apologetically. With an annoyed sigh, she cast a reparo at her battered instrument.

“How many times have you repaired that by now?” Draco mused. He eyed the battered end in a way that had Hermione flushing in embarrassment. 

“Does it matter? I’ll fix it as many times as necessary.”

“Yours looks like it’s on its last legs.”

She paused to inspect the quill more closely, taking in the slightly crooked nib, the chewed up feather tip, and the worn-away color from where she gripped it.

“I suppose I should have a backup in case the spell finally gives up.”

“You could—” Draco paused to clear his throat before continuing, “I mean, I would be happy to accompany you to Hogsmeade this weekend.”

She must have stared at him in shock for just a beat too long, because pink bloomed in his cheeks as he squirmed in his chair in a distinctly un-Malfoy-like way.

“I just thought you’d like a replacement and I’ve been wanting to go for a while now and—”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” Hermione blurted out.

“I…I suppose that’s what some people might call it? It’s not like you have any obligation to indulge me, and actually there isn’t any rush, you absolutely don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I promise I won’t be offended if—” he continued to babble on, now Howler red.

“Draco.” 

His mouth clicked shut, wide grey eyes fixed on hers.

“Are you asking me out on a date—yes, or no?”

She watched him struggle to speak, mouth opening, then closing, throat bobbing as he swallowed and shut his eyes before opening them up again, determination setting in.

“Yes.”

One word never sounded so sweet, and Hermione wanted nothing more than to jump and squeal in all the ways she would have rolled her eyes at in the past.

Another tiny part of her, the one with a mean streak a mile wide, wanted to make him repeat himself.

“Then ask me officially.”

Their homework forgotten, the presence of all others in the library fading away to nothing, Hermione and Draco stared at one another in their own bubble, every breath heavy with intent.

“Hermione, would you go on a date with me to Hogsmeade this weekend?” he said slowly, enunciating each word carefully.

For the first time since they’d started working together in class and studying together in their free time, Hermione turned directly into his space. Both legs pivoted around to slot between his own as she held him steady in her warm gaze.

“I would love to.”

Watching his face transform was a memory Hermione never wanted to forget. What started as a somber plea flitted to hope as she faced him, almost immediately tilting up into unabashed joy that lit up his entire countenance.

The weekend couldn’t come fast enough.

WC 852

Cross-posted on Tumblr and AO3

Twitter prompt “yes or no” from DramionePrompts

This short is a bit of a successor from another Twitter prompt of mine, “Don’t tell me it’s over.”

[hotgirlgraps]

I know you got a million prompts, but here's another one:

AEW is coming to Y/N's city and she's excited because HOOK is on the card. However, she gets called in at the hospital where she works. She's heartbroken... until later that night when a young man is admitted with a possible concussion and potentially cracked ribs. Y/N doesn't need to look at his chart because she recognizes him. It's HOOK, who hit a table wrong in his match and has been sent for x-rays.

The way I rannnnn to write this because I love this request and concept that much! Thank you for sending it in I hope you love it!

(The gif might be cheesy for this but, it works, right? 🤣)

You really did try to hide the devastation you felt, but walking through the hospital doors when you’d planned for months to be walking through the venue doors at the arena just reminded you how absolutely gutted you were that you couldn’t make it to AEW.

You scanned your badge right at seven-thirty, and that was another cruel reminder for you, since that’s when the doors would be opening for you at the arena, not the damn hospital. However, you knew that sometimes this is how things go with being a nurse and it’s not the first time you’ve had to cancel plans, most likely won’t be the last.

You offered a forced smile to everyone who passed by but your heart physically ached in your chest. Yes, you absolutely adore your job but you’d rather not be in that hospital tonight. You’ve never gotten the chance to go to AEW and the one time you did, your boss called you last minute and practically pleaded for you to come in. Despite knowing the plans you had and the tickets sitting in your purse, you couldn’t leave your team hanging so, here you are, dragging your heavy legs down the hallway.

“Hey Y/N” one of the other nurses greets you. You smiled but didn’t say anything back as you rounded the nurse station to get to the computers. “Wait, I thought you had the night off?” She asks. “Yeah, thought I did too.” You mumbled under your breath. You logged into your portal to review your awaiting patients and tasks, and then you plastered on a false smile, once again, and headed to the first room.

You knew you had to work hard to hide the way you were genuinely feeling inside so before stepping through the door, you had to count a few deep breaths. Then you walked in and found a young woman sitting on the edge of her bed, hand over her chest as she tries and fails to take deep breaths.

You glanced down at her chart where it was documented that she came in complaining of stomach pain, so you asked, “Is your chest bothering you? What are you feeling right now?” And in those kinds of moments it’s always so easy to forget anything you might have going on because the empathy you feel for your patients becomes your first priority, so for the first time since your boss called you to come in tonight, the show wasn’t on your mind.

“I have anxiety, I always do this, i just get so anxious in hospitals, I mean, the walls are basically grey, it just feels like I’m here to die.” The young woman rambled, her cheeks flushing the more she spoke. You nodded gently and placed your clipboard down on the side counter before leaning down to get eye level with her.

“It’s okay, I understand. Believe it or not, I hate hospitals too.” You chuckled lightly, earning a weak laugh from the young woman. You placed one hand on her shoulder, “do me a favor and try to take in a deep breath, slow deep breath, and hold it for a few seconds, and breathe it back out. Can you do that?”

You watched as she nodded and inhaled shakily, but exhaled much smoother. “Again.” You coaxed her, rubbing her shoulder. You could see her starting to calm down, her hands no longer trembling and cheeks returning color. She looked into your eyes, “wow, that actually helped a lot.”

“I have to do it all the time, I get it.” You smile before you stand up and grab the clipboard off the counter. “So it says here you’ve been having stomach pains? Can you elaborate on that a little bit?”

She nods and points to her lower right abdomen, “For a couple of days I’ve had this nagging, sharp pain here. It’s not debilitating but it’s constantly there and sometimes it’s worse than other’s. I was ignoring it until I was at getting ready to go out tonight and I felt like I’d literally been stabbed.”

You nodded as you listened. The first thing you thought was appendicitis, so you jotted that down to bring to the doctor, whenever he comes in to check her. “Do you have any nausea or vomiting?” And she shook her head no.

You grabbed the digital thermometer from out of your pocket and brought it up to hover over her forehead. Her temp read 99.9, which could be normal for her typical body temperature or could indicate a low-grade fever. “Okay” you said as you jotted it down, im going to tell the doctor and he’ll be in here in just a few minutes. If you get anxious or anything and the breathing techniques don’t help, you can push the button on the side of your bed and ask for y/n. I’m right down the hall.”

“Thank you.” She whispered before you nodded back and headed out the door. You were heading back to the nurse station when another nurse you didn’t know all that well stopped you in the middle of the hallway.

“Hey, y/n?” She read over your badge to ensure she got your name right. “Listen, I really need to leave. My daughter is sick as a dog and she needs me. I’m so sorry to have to do this. I know we’re already short staffed but is there anyway you can take over my last patient? I haven’t checked him in or anything yet, i really need to go home.”

You felt your shoulders slack but agreed anyway. She smiled and thanked you before she started fast tracking to the nurse station, with you following behind. That’s when you caught eye of the doctor heading towards the last room on the wing, the one you’d just walked out of, and you handed him the clipboard in hand as he approached you.

“Anxiety?” He quirked a brow. “That’s not a medical reason to be taking up space in our ER.” He was a bit of a dick, on most days. He was stern and cold and usually wasn’t the most caring doctor in the world with his patients unless they had something seriously wrong.

“Read underneath it.” You wanted to roll your eyes but remained respectful.

“Ah, possible appendicitis. That’s more my speed.” He shot a weird grin before he headed down the hall. You then turned to the nurse you’d be taking the place of and were presented with her chart for her last patient of the day. You envied her on the inside but you bit that back.

“Thank you so much. I owe you.” She said in a rush before she grabbed her things and scurried down the hallway. At least she only had under and hour left before her shift would’ve been over so, it’s not like you were doubling up all night.

You started walking down the hall when you read the room number but stopped dead in your tracks when Tyler Senerchia was written out underneath. You stared at that bold print for about five seconds longer before you clutched the clipboard and made yourself start walking again.

In your mind there was no way this was the Tyler Senerchia, as in Hook, as in the main wrestler you were going to AEW tonight for in the first place. You shook your head in pure denial until you opened the door and caught brown eyes when he raised his head off of the pillow.

“Oh wow” you gasped, but you meant to keep that in your head. You couldn’t help it, you were just starstruck for the first time in your life. It’s not everyday an AEW wrestler shows up, or anyone like them for that matter.

His brows furrowed out of clear confusion before that emotion morphed into pain, and he dropped his head back down and screwed his eyes shut. He clutched his side and the back of his neck, and that’s when you glanced down at his chart.

He arrived via ambulance at 8:31 and showed signs of fractured ribs and a possible concussion. You didn’t understand why they stuck him in a room to wait but that’s the fun of working in an understaffed hospital, you supposed.

You attempted to collect yourself and snap back into nurse mode. It wasn’t easy but you had to remind yourself that you were dealing with an injured patient right now, not your favorite AEW wrestler only.

You cleared your throat and stepped over to the side of his bed. His eyes peered open when he heard your footsteps draw near, some blood trickled down from his temple that you saw when he turned his head to face you.

“Can you tell me what happened?” You asked after your typical formal introduction. He tried to sit up but was immediately stopped by the pain. He groaned out, clutching his side and that’s when you laid the clipboard down by his feet and gently grabbed his shoulders, easing him back down.

“You don’t have to sit up, just relax.” You tell him as you position his pillow better to make him a little more comfortable. He inhaled a breath but it wasn’t as deep as he wanted thanks to the sharp pains shooting all through his ribs. You noted immediately that he had some swelling and quick discoloration and grabbed the clipboard, jotting that down.

“I was wrestling this guy, im a professional wrestler for AEW, if you know what that is?” He asked, pausing as he tried to figure out your answer. You nodded simply, and he continued. “Well we had a table involved in our match and he threw me into it, but I landed like, sideways so when the table broke in half, it basically speared me, except without all the blood, you know, cause I’m not bleeding.”

You couldn’t help but let a faint smile linger to your lips but had to quickly wipe it away. You glanced down at his hand still clutching his side and tucked the clipboard underneath your arm. “I’m gonna feel around a little bit. If anything hurts too much, let me know, okay?”

He nodded as he slowly slid the hand up to rest over his chest. You carefully placed your finger all around the swollen, bruising area and felt him stiffen. “Too much?” You eyed him, but he adverted his pained stare to the ceiling and shook his head. You then gently poked the center of the swelling and, as expected, he let out a low grunt of pain and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Okay, im done.” You tell him as you take s step back. “What about your head?” You asked when you read off the possibility of a concussion. “Did you hit it on the table too?”

“Floor, actually. It was all fucked up.” He rubs over his forehead before he glanced back at you. “Shit im sorry, I didn’t mean to cuss.”

You chuckled at that and shook your head. “It’s okay, don’t worry. You wouldn’t believe all the stuff I hear around here.”

You then lean over and hold up one finger. “I need you to follow it.” You tell him as you slowly move it from left to right above him. His eyes followed it easily but you still wanted to have all the possibilities taken care of so you didn’t X out the possibility of a concussion, just in case.

Your eyes scanned his body in search of any other noticeable injury from what you could see. “You must’ve came here immediately. You’re still wearing your ring gear.”

That’s when a bit of a surprised look appeared on his face and he lolled his head to the side, looking at you. “You watch wrestling?” He asked. You nodded, feeling your lips pull into another effortless smile. “Actually, I was gonna be there tonight, but I got called in last minute.” You tell him, watching a slight smile slip on his lips.

“Damn, I hate that.” He tells you, attempting to adjust himself but again, that pain stopped him from being able to do hardly anything. You snapped back into nurse mode and carefully leaned him up so you could adjust his pillow, before easing him back down again.

“This is so embarrassing.” He chuckles, exposing a set of bright white teeth.

“What is?” You asked, returning the same smile.

“My nurse is gorgeous and im basically crippled.” He muttered, rubbing his hand through his hair.

“You’re not crippled.” You chuckle back before the realization hits you. It went right over your head that he called you gorgeous, and suddenly you felt your cheeks intensely burning. “Oh-“ you didn’t mean to say that. You had a tendency to say things that were meant to be kept locked away in your brain.

“Sorry, that’s probably really inappropriate.” He brings his hands to his face and covers it before sliding them down his cheeks.

“No, it’s okay.” Your voice was suddenly ten times softer. “And thank you. I’m actually a real big fan, believe it or not. I was crushed when my boss called me in tonight. The whole reason I was even gonna go was basically for you.” You started rambling, especially when his eyes caught yours and a soft smirk appeared, exposing a dimple that could’ve weakened your knees. Actually, did weaken your knees.

“Yeah?” He asked, wishing more than anything that he didn’t have to be talking to such a beautiful girl in the state he’s in but at that moment he wasn’t thinking about that or the pain, and that was thanks to your smile. It was contagious, just made him wanna smile right back despite the way his head was pounding and his ribs were probably cracked.

“I hate that you didn’t get to go, but maybe we can change that.” He grins. He didn’t know if it was the hit to the head or what but he was feeling pretty bold. You on the other hand just fell silent, rather speechless as you hugged the clipboard to your chest.

“You know we’re here for two nights. Anyway you can take off work tomorrow? I don’t mean to brag but, I kind of have this really cool way of getting seats right behind the barricade.” He chuckles. Your cheeks were turning bright red and when he saw it, he knew the kind of affect he was having on you.

“You really don’t have to do that.” You tell him, but he gives you a certain look.

“I want to. Think of it as my way of thanking you for fluffing my pillows and not telling anybody you had to do that because I couldn’t even sit up on my own.” He chuckles and you were really loving the sound of that laugh.

Rendered speechless once more, you dropped your eyes to the floor and smiled like an idiot.

“So is that a yes, nurse y/n?”

Butterflies erupted in your stomach and you had to do your best to fight it.

“I mean obviously im in no condition to fight right now, so since you said you wanted to go just for me, maybe I can just bring you backstage and we can watch the whole show from back there. I might need my pillows fluffed again.” He smirks, and you really couldn’t believe what he was even saying.

“That’s if you can leave tomorrow.” You remind him with a pointed look. “We have to see how bad your injuries are first.”

He held that smirk on his face as he nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “Alright, I guess that’s fair. I mean, as long as you’re my nurse tonight, nobody else.” His dimple deepens.

You nodded back, unable to keep that smile from breaking out. “I’ll be with you all night. I don’t get off til seven in the morning. If you’re not out of here by then-“

“But if I am?” He quirks one brow under the sweaty locks of hair. “Would you let me do that for you?”

You dropped your head and smiled like an idiot once again. “You’re pretty persistent.” You tell him. “You do realize you are in pain right now, right?” You teased.

“Haven’t noticed since you smiled at me.” He shrugged coolly and held those dark, captivating eyes on you.

Rendered speechless once more, you glanced down at your clipboard and noted that you’d been in that room with him for way too long.

“I need to get the doctor.” You couldn’t let that smile falter with the way he was looking at you. “So we can see what we’re really dealing with. If you’re able to go home tonight or tomorrow, then I don’t see why not.”

You watched his smile widen as he nodded. “I’m gonna go order your X-rays and the doctor will be in shortly.” You tell him as you headed out the door. You were still smiling to the point your cheeks started to hurt but quickly realized it was probably not changing anytime soon when your phone buzzed in your pocket once you got to the nurse station.

You didn’t recognize the number so you knew exactly who it was. And the second you read it, you dropped your head and let that smile completely take over.

“if anyone gets hurt at the show tomorrow, you’re my nurse, im not sharing”

[hobiebrownismygod]

hELLO, maybe you would like to write an analysis about the color palettes that appear on Hobi throughout the film and his emotions? we would be interested to hear someone else's point of view on this topic👀 /g, srs

Hey, I already wrote an analysis on Hobie turning pink around Miles and Maydays, which you can access here, but the rest of the colors are pretty hard to explain. He only switches between about 5 or 6 different color palettes throughout the movie, but the idea that they could be symbolic of something is very interesting. Below are some of my personal opinions on what the meaning behind a few of these different palettes could be.

Black and White - SERIOUS:

I think that Hobie turns to a monochrome color palette in serious situations or when he is serious. The two main times we see him turning black and white are right before being blown up in Mumbattan and right before they enter the portal to headquarters.

Right before the collider blows up, we see Hobie turn black and white for a second, which I believe symbolizes his sudden switch in personality from the quippy, in action spiderman, to a more serious side. It could even be his spider-sense working, signifying his body's reaction to knowing that it was going to blow up if that makes sense.

Hobie turns black and white again to symbolize the fact that he knows whats going to happen in headquarters and whats going to happen to Miles' dad. You can also see how his demeanor changes slightly when his eyes widen right before Miles leaves his grasp. He grabs his face in annoyance because he knows that Miles doesn't know what the Spider Society is actually about.

He was also black and grey in this scene, which was a pretty intense and serious scene, so I thought I might add that in

Dark Blue and Spider-man colors - Fight Scenes

From what I've seen, in 90% of the saving Mumbattan scene, Hobie was a dark blue color.

He also turns into the original Spider-man colors

These are the main color schemes I recognized when I watched the movie, and I think they're also the ones that have real symbolic meaning behind them, but I'm sure there's even more. The animators put so much time and effort into his design and I could watch his scenes thousands of times and never get bored!

Now its important to recognize that he's not black and white in every serious scene and he's not dark blue in every fight scene, but the fact that he's mainly these color schemes in specific moments has to have some kind of hidden meaning.

There's more scenes that I didn't include, so next time you watch the movie, keep an eye out for his color scheme cuz you'll probably be able to recognize it!

I might add onto this list as time goes on, but for now these are the only two I could find enough scenes to analyze <3

[peachymilkandcream]

hello, Have you ever done anything involving fairies? In this case Evelyn is the fairy and Levi the hunter?

👾

Never Stop Hunting You| Levi x Evelyn AU

(A/N: Hi! I haven't actually, not on purpose but I've just never thought of it. Thank you for the suggestion and request, hope you enjoy!)

WARNINGS: big age difference, kidnapping, slavery, violence, power imbalance, mind breaking, yandere behaviour, yandere themes, blackmail, etc.

================================================

Levi had been hunting these little creatures for a life time. Once he had an interest in mermaids, but the sea didn't call him as aggressively as this mission had. He couldn't help it, he strived to find the unexplained, to be the one to find something different in this world. He would be the one. Levi had been working on his craft for years, and each time he had caught glimpses that vanished before he could get a second look.

Now he was seasoned in how fairies acted and worked. He knew how to sneak up on them and make himself unseen so they didn't get frightened away.

Under a hide of leaves and twigs covering his leather tunic and pants he waited. No matter how hard you tried sneaking up on them was futile, any twig or leaf stepped on led them to vanish. Too many times had he gotten so close but made a fatal error that set him back weeks of preparation.

No mistakes this time. All of his friends had abandoned him, thinking he was a lunatic and they had wasted enough time on this futile expedition. He would show them, he'd show everyone that he wasn't bluffing about all of this.

Steele grey eyes stare out at the dark forest, waiting with eyes focused for any sign of movement. Any hint of life that would clue him in to how much longer his wait would be.

This would be it.

================================================

Levi had been drifting to sleep waiting this whole time. As much as he tried the endless wait for anything that would tip him off that they were close tired him out.

When he did wake it was just in time for him to see little lights gathering in the trees. His attention was instantly taken with what he saw.

The lights came closer, gathering as fluttering wings came out of the trees. Levi's breath caught in his throat at the beautiful sight. Everywhere little figures moved, their wings fluttering and catching on the moonlight to give a silvery shine to them.

The fairies themselves were beautiful with silky hair and short dresses that were a rainbow of colors and resembling flower petals. Both male and female had a radiant shine to them, Levi knew that they had been around for centuries but even the oldest looking ones still had more youth in their faces than he did.

One in particular caught his eye. The brown and curled hair a stark contrast to this fairy's blue eyes. Her beauty made the world stop. She was lively and a little foolish compared to the others, coming closer and closer to the edge of the fairy circle where Levi lay in wait. This was perfect. He thought he'd have to do something risky and drastic to capture one, but here was one coming right to him.

"Little minx." Was what he thought as she came closer and closer.

Just a little bit longer, that's it. She flew all the way to where he was, taking notice in the bright and fragrant flowers grew in front of his hiding spot. Levi specifically chose this, knowing the fairies were ones for bright colors and sweet smells.

Right in front of him she landed. And he could see her beauty up close. She was much more radiant this close to him. All of her face in immense detail, the contours of her tiny body even more distinct. This is what he'd been working for all this time. This is what he'd spent his life working towards.

Slowly, and with the utmost silence both his hands came up. One holding a glass bottle and the other prepared to push her in.

Sweat poured down his face at the nervousness coursing through him. Would he be able to get her in time, or would she fly away before he could react?

The seconds ticked on before he decided to go for it. Rushing and pushing her into the glass bottle and sealing the top with his hand. The sound made the other's scatter but he didn't care, looking into the glass he had what he wanted. A terrified fairy looking at him with those wide blue eyes.

"Hello my dear. No need to be afraid. You're going to enjoy belonging to me."

[merakiui]

we made it through another week mera!!! I hope you enjoy the weekend :3 drumroll for today's silly question of the day, badumdumdumdum........

worst v best hair in twst (and maybe hsr if u want!!!)

Thank you for all the posts and sharing ur brilliant ideas with us 💗

-🐔

Another week, done and dusted!!!!! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و please also enjoy your week, my lovely 🐔 anon!!!!!! (Also, I must thank you for always sending fun questions. I enjoy answering them!! >v<)

As for worst and best hair in twst, I will write my thoughts below. I’ll go by dorm, so there is no particular order or ranking. Truthfully, I just wrote my thoughts and simped a lot. ^^;;;

Riddle - I love his hair!!! It’s very cute and red!!! <3 the little heart-shaped ahoge........ he’s the perfect man. The only man to ever exist. orz

Ace - a very fun hairstyle!!! It just looks so,,,, poofy???? Like if I pat his head, his hair will spring right back up because it’s so fluffy??? >_< it’s difficult to describe, but I like his hair a lot. The style suits Mr. Ace wonderfully!!!

Deuce - the color is so pretty!!! Deep navy blue... aaaa so beautiful!!! I don’t have many thoughts regarding his hairstyle, but I do think it fits a lot! It’s a clean, simple style that reflects how Deuce is trying so hard to keep a clean record and become a respectable honors student!! :D

Trey - he’s lucky he’s so good-looking and husband material and that I’m down astronomically bad for him, otherwise I would not be so prone to hyping up his hairstyle. It feels so plain, but then that’s the image Trey has at first glance and I think that's so perfect because you’ll never suspect he is actually quite mischievous!

Cater - I LOVE HIM AND HIS HAIRSTYLE OOOOOOO OTL it’s so fun!!!! The color is also very vibrant!!! But also I like picturing his hair down! All of the artwork I have seen of it... omg he looks so pretty aaaaaa!!! T_T

Leona - HE HAS THE MOST GORGEOUS HAIR AAAAAAAA there’s something about it that’s just,,,,, omg!!!!! Breathtaking. He’s beautiful. So stunning and show-stopping... orz I want to frame him in a picture and always admire him like the artwork he is.

Jack - at first I wasn’t very partial to his hairstyle, but it’s actually very pretty and pleasant!! I like the color (I am not immune to anime men with white/grey hair hehe) and I also like how nicely his ears are situated within his hair. :D it just works so well!!!

Ruggie - rugs..... aaaa he has a cute, messy hairstyle. <3 the sandy blond and the brown is too pretty!!! I could look at him forever hehe. Also his ears!!!! They’re just so adorable. I want to pat him on the head and give him a scratch behind the ears, but I think he would definitely bite me or swat my hands away. ;;;

Azul - ew. terrible tako. worst hair. lame. boo. tomato tomato. >:( (I need him. His hair is so pretty and fluffy and soft and angelic and he is a masterpiece and he has the best hair to run your fingers through while you're making out and the shaved undercut is really cool and I need him and he is so pretty and wow omg he is magnificent and beautiful and best hair.)

Jade & Floyd - I think they might break my ribs if I told them that in the beginning not only did I think they were horrendously unattractive, boring, and unflattering to look at, but I also didn’t like their hairstyle. LOL and now look at where I am.... ^^;;; I have since corrected my ways and now I find their hairstyles very appealing, especially the single dyed strand. It ended up growing on me. I like how even their hairstyles differentiate them and Jade’s explanation of how his hair strand forms a J so it’s easier to tell him and Floyd apart if you look closely at that detail… it’s actually quite cute. :D

Kalim - YES YES YES I LIKE HIS HAIR A LOT!!!!! Another man with white/grey hair who I adore. Every turban-like headband he wears for each of his outfits goes very well with his hairstyle. I just really enjoy it!!! It’s another one that’s hard to describe, but his hairstyle looks so nice and cute. <3

Jamil - his hair…. Where do I even begin? Omg it’s so so sosososososo pretty!!!! OTL the length and braids throughout and even the little metal hair ties(?)/accessories he wears in his hair!!!!! He is stunning. He is the moment. He is everything you could ever want. I’ve always loved Jamil’s hair, especially how long and pretty it looks!!! The color itself is very flattering as well.

Vil - of course I also love Vil’s hairstyle, but this is to be expected considering Vil serves in every outfit and style that ever graces his form!!! He’s so pretty. I understand why Rook hypes him up so much. The soft lavender dye goes so well with the blond!! He is indeed the fairest of them all in my eyes. He’s just so stunning… orz Vil, I am your number one fan and supporter.

Rook - no comment.

Epel - aaaa eppy!!!! For a long while I had his exact hairstyle (and didn’t realize it until I was looking at card art for Epel and was left wondering why his hair looks so familiar), so naturally I love the style!!! His hair looks so soft and pretty, and the purple color is so nice to look at!!!

Idia - OMG HIS HAIR IS SO COOL (or maybe a better word is hot because it's fire)!!!!!!! It's an immaculate hair design... something about fire hair is so amazing, and it's blue and very long!!!! Seeing his hair in a braid in his applepom card continues to feed me. He's so cute. <3

Ortho - like Idia, Ortho's hair is also very cool because it's also fire!!! I find Ortho's entire design really interesting as well. Naturally, there's an explanation for why he is a robot (which is heartbreaking), but I still think it's a very neat character design. And his hair is so fun and bright!!! :D

Malleus - elegant... ethereal... he is beautiful... orz stunning. I bow before you and your beautiful hair, Mr. Horns.

Lilia - I have to appreciate Lilia and his beautiful hairstyle (even if the cut is,,,, certainly something). As someone who also loves to dye their hair neon pink, I must recognize his excellent hair. I also love the little hair strands that curl up to look like horns hehe!!

Silver - I am not immune to anime men with white/grey hair. Silver's hair looks so soft and gentle just like him. He's just so handsome and sweet. T_T like Kalim, Silver could do no wrong. The two of them are the biggest sweethearts in NRC.

Sebek - I genuinely do not know how to feel about his hair, but I think it's styled so cool. >:) he looks sharp. That's the only way I can describe my feelings. I feel as if I will touch his hair and it might cut me. >_< or Sebek himself will cut me before I dare lay a hand upon his head...

Che'nya - AAAA HIS HAIR!!!! Very cool!!!! He looks so scrunkly. No thoughts in his head except mischief. He is so :3c omg <3

Neige - the hairstyle makes him look so kind and gentle!!! I like the color as well. He could do no wrong. orz

Rollo - Rollo, I love you and I could defend you, but not when you're going out in public with that atrocious choir boy cut. But because his hair is white, he becomes even more appealing to me. Thus, I may be inclined to accept his hair. My friends may clown on me for liking him when he has that hairstyle, but he's cute to me. >:( he's lovely to me. He's boyfriend to me. >:(

Crowley - I will not lie....... the crow..... the annoying, cheap, oh-so-kind crow...... he's,,,,,,,,, kind of,,,,,, nice to look at........ although his hairstyle reminds me of seaweed and I don't know why. ^^;;;;

Crewel - WOOOOOOOOOOO forever barking for him. OTL the half white, half black hair... omg he's so cool. I need to be under him.

Trein - genuinely no thoughts on his hair, but he deserves only good things. :D

Vargas - also no thoughts on his hair, but there are thoughts of him and I will not pen them because I am kicking those thoughts away with all of my might.ヾ(｡ꏿ﹏ꏿ)ﾉﾞ

Sam - HIS LOCS!!!! OOOOHHH I ADORE IT!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 all of my love goes to Sam. He has such a lovely hairstyle. The purple as well!!!! <3 he's so wonderful and I need to write for him!!!!!

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

art by em year in review 2023!

for the fourth time, i present to you a selection of the art i did this year! this definitely was the Year of Understanding Procreate, and i think it paid off. as usual, reflections under the cut.

january: i saw @malcolm-f-tucker tag a picture of abigail thaw with a comment about a theresa faceclaim and it left no survivors, i.e. i decided that theresa should have greying hair and did not look back. this was from when i was still trying to figure out what brush to use for lineart in procreate. luckily i had learned my lesson from the sketchbook learning curve and realized that what i liked for lineart would most likely be in the pencil section. however i wasn’t a huge fan of the brush i used in this one, so i didn’t use it again. instead, for later pieces, i decided to customize the 6b pencil brush to my liking, and…

february: …this came out of it! this is still one of my favorite things i have ever drawn, and it’s my favorite thing i’ve drawn yet for herc and linda. this piece really convinced me to use overlay layers more in my art, and the amount of detail i managed to capture in this one still amazes me now. and before anyone asks, yes, they are doing specific things in the startup procedure for an airbus a320-family aircraft, except linda is doing things off the CM1 checklist and herc is doing something off the CM2 checklist, which i learned later is not really something that is done. let’s just say herc is not the tightest stickler to convention.

march: one half of an intended two pieces centered around the f1 au (which, regrettably, i have yet to continue… i just reread what little of the second part is on ao3 and god, it slaps actually, i really need to continue it so bad) depicting a pivotal scene from around the outside, where theresa and linda decide to put aside a childhood feud at the top of the banked curve at monza. at sunset. on theresa’s birthday. i know, very meaningful, incredibly homoerotic. read the fic to see how well that turns out!

april: i always knew i wanted to redraw the first filipino!hercolyn thing i did back in 2020, the one that completely solidified in my mind the notion that These Characters Are Filipino, Actually, and when i got comfortable in procreate i quickly jumped on that. (if you notice, a lot of the stuff i did this year were redraws of old pieces i really liked but wasn’t fully satisfied with.) of course i wanted to draw them in the traditional clothes in my parents’ and grandparents’ wedding pictures. the implication of this being, of course, that this is the soft shoe shuffle wedding. i have a fic planned centered around that, from douglas’ perspective. now that grad school apps are basically done, if my honors thesis doesn’t kick me too hard, i’d love to get on that as soon as i can.

may: YOU JUST GOT COLINED! SEND THIS TO A FRIEND TO TOTALLY COLIN THEM! ah, colin fairbairn: the figure whose presence haunts all of newcastle but is never actually. named. (much to the chagrin of a lot of people who genuinely thought linda’s dad was named colin bc i Wouldn’t Shut Up About It) i just love him so much and i love this piece, i wanted to depict the wistfulness of an older colin whose airline is on the verge of collapse, who has been secure in his job as chief pilot of air cal, who looks out over glasgow airport (that’s glasgow’s runway in the background) and wonders if it’s time to put himself out to pasture. wondering what he could have done differently. it’s okay bby. there’s no way that you could have prevented this. but he’d never believe it. he’s too duty bound. he lives in my head rent free.

june: another redraw, this time of a piece from 2021. i was so happy with this one, and i am very happy with it still! everything about the older piece i loved was improved massively by this redraw: the poses, the proportions, the line work, the coloring. honestly, just thinking about the two of them just existing in the airport, overlooked by bustling passengers, just part of the landscape, but having such a rich history and relationship between them… it’s something i think about a lot and i love it.

july: this comprises the third part of an unofficial trilogy of drawings i did centered around douglas/martin/theresa. in each one, i centered a different member of the ot3: i did one centering martin last year, one centering douglas in the spring, and this one centers theresa between douglas and martin. i really enjoy how i did the expressions in this one: martin, looking out toward the planes; theresa, following his gaze, eager to share in the passion they both have; and douglas, looking down at both of them (yeah i think they’re both shorter than him. i think it’s cute). i feel like when i draw these three, where they look and how they look is very important to me.

august: can you believe before this point i had never drawn herc and douglas together? yeah, me too. anyway, them 🤍 i’ve literally only ever drawn them as older men so trying to draw them younger was. lowkey kind of hard. i’m hoping to revisit air england herc and douglas in the future, especially since i didn’t intend for this to be anything more than a quick bit due to those bisexual divorcee brackets (which i don’t know what became of them in the end except that douglas got through and herc didn’t, lmao)

september: unposted self-portrait done as a part of my aerospace fellowship application i wound up getting rejected from because they required me to do a creative component. not much to say here. anyways.

october: yet another redraw, this time of a portrait of herc, carolyn, linda, and arthur i did a year prior, in october of 2022. i like to think that lfeu!herc carries pictures of linda, arthur, and carolyn in his wallet: he had never wanted to be the family man for most of his life, but in his new life, this new form, he can play it well. something about the coloring seems a little off to me: i think i may have to go in and adjust arthur’s skin tone because i think it doesn’t look 100% right. but i love this one too. i hemmed and hawed for ages over what they should be wearing but in the end i put them in what they’d wear for work bc i couldn’t think anymore. but it turned out super cute and i think it emphasizes what brought the four of them together in the first place: aviation.

november: a cute little doodle of young!colin with baby linda, from a bigger piece. something i generally feel like i’ve gotten stronger with this year has been drawing a larger variety of poses. i discovered that procreate allows you to import reference images in a smaller window that can be very easily dragged around and resized, which was a massive improvement over my previous strategy with sketchbook, which had been to import reference images as their own layers. often, moving it around or resizing reference images resulted in some loss of quality. anyways there’s something just so tender about colin and linda and i love to revisit them.

december: last but not least, we finish off the way we started, with theresa (and an added douglas lol). and boy, how different does december look from january? granted, it’s a different angle, but i personally think there is so much more dimension at the end of the year compared to the beginning. i was less afraid of using overlays to enhance the coloring. and the brush i wound up settling on for lineart really ended up serving me well this whole year, culminating in this piece. not much to say on this one, i like it a lot :)

overall thoughts: i didn’t think i drew as much as i wanted to this year, but looking back i still think i made really good progress and improved a lot from last year, so i’m still happy. definitely want to draw more next year, explore new subjects, and maybe work on redrawing more pieces from previous years because those projects have been very fun to undertake.

once again i want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s ever shared or commented or left a like on anything i’ve drawn: it will have been 10 years next year since the end of the show i primarily create fanwork for, and to still have people out there who like what i do is such a gift. yes i create for myself, but i do also like receiving feedback from others and sharing it with others, so thank you thank you thank you. and happiest of new years to all :)

[raplinesmoon]

let’s talk about it: bts’ closets

It’s late lol and I was inspired by Sunny @minisugakoobies latest poll about borrowing BTS’s clothes, but it got me thinking hard about their actual style and how great it is!! I feel like they all have such distinct personalities that come through in the way they dress, and if I had all the money (and style sense) in the world, here are the outfits from each member I would want to steal:

BTW, I would love everyone else’s input on the outfits they would steal!! (drop me an ask)

Namjoon

Can we just talk about the yellow daisy shirt? Because it’s literally fucking perfect. I think I love it almost as much as I love Namjoon, and I love that man. It’s the perfect piece that adds some interest without making too much of a statement, and it’d look so cute styled with so many other things. i love that he matched the shoes to it too. If I saw anyone wearing this, I would offer to wife myself immediately. The second outfit? I would steal it bc I literally have it. I have it and I wore this same combo - sneakers, plain shirt, grey long coat, and jeans to the art museum. So Namjoon is basically my boyfriend already you see.

Seokjin

Lowkey, I feel like we don’t give Seokjin enough credit for his sweatshirt collection. He has one of the best sweatshirt collections among the members.  think it’s his staple piece, and it totally fits the cosy boyfriend vibe he exudes. Like what other man looks as equally adorable and hot wearing a fluffy bear on their shirt? Let me know. I like how he pairs them with both trousers and jeans depending on the mood of the outfit, esp as someone that loves sweatshirts too. Every once in a while though, he busts out a piece like the jacket in the second pic and I have to pick my jaw up off the floor bc I NEED IT.

Yoongi

If there’s one word I’d use to describe Yoongi wearing anything, it’s effortless. He could be wearing a paper bag and look like he walked off a runway. I like how his casual sense of style really showcases how beautiful he actually is. Like the outfit in the first pic is so simple, but he’s literally glowing in it?! Proof that self-confidence goes a long way. Also we just need to talk about the LV sweatshirt bc he pulls it off even though it’s not his typical style, and I love the pop of color in an otherwise plain outfit (would I wear it on the first day of class if I was still in college? yes)

Hoseok

No bc let’s actually talk about it: Hoseok is a fashion god. I’ve never come across anyone with a better eye for style than him. He’s bold, expressive, and not afraid to take risks and I love that. He can take the most cacophonous pieces and somehow make them work. Like if you step back and look at the first outfit - none of those pieces should work together. At all. But they do bc he knows how to blend patterns and colors. Also making a bold claim that this man knows his way around some denim bc it looks so good on him - the way he pairs navy on navy in the second fit without it looking like a Canadian tuxedo is beyond me (I NEED THOSE PANTS!).

Jimin

We can’t even talk about Jimin without talking about his iconic Chelsea boots and leather jackets. We love a man who knows the value and importance of styling outfits with statement pieces in mind. Also proof of how a well-made good quality garment can stretch a long way when it comes to style. But also?? Can we talk about his accessories?? Bc they’re wonderful. From the hat to the cute bag in the first fit - he really puts thought into the details and those little things are what pulls his outfit together.

Taehyung

I know I said I’d steal Namjoon’s clothes, but these pics of Tae have me rethinking my vote entirely. Tae’s style is driven by such a strong creative vision - he knows the look he wants to execute and he delivers on theme every single time, despite how different the two outfits are. I’m in love with the patterned shirt from the first outfit that breaks up the blocks of color (thought out like a true artist Mr. Vantae). And then the paint splotches on the second outfit? Amazing. Also big ups to Tae bc he supports sweater vests and I am the number one sweater vest enthusiast (they make everybody look cute and cosy).

Jungkook

As someone who wears scrubs most of the day, I really support Jungkook’s mission to be as comfortable as possible at all times. Who said looking good has to be uncomfortable? I’ve been freaking out over the jeans in the first pic ever since I found out Jeon Jungkook existed - they elevate the outfit while still keeping the look very boyfriend bc of the stripes on the side (as the proud owner of some two-toned denim myself). And then the hanbok!! Jungkook predicted how matching sets would be all the rage a few years before it happened! A lowkey trendsetter >>>

[dasher85]

vanilla

featuring our Inexpressible duo

Kamisato Ayato x reader | y/n | you

A  short story 1.6K

Inspired by Vanilla Twilight - Owl City

[ Everyone thought he was trying to solve a difficult issue when he’s actually was just thinking about you ]

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[ First week ]

The night sky was decorated with shining stars. Soft night breeze quietly blew past the curtains as it reached the person who sat opposite the opened window.

The person has been staring out towards the northern sky ever since his work has long been done for today. As tired as he was, he was feeling sleepless.

One particular bright star has caught his attention away from the letter that he wasn't able to finish since yesterday. He wondered if it was necessary to send the letter knowing that it hasn't even been a week.

'I wish you were here' and yet he couldn't help but write those words.

[ Second week ]

He purposefully opened the window while he did his reports just to see the colors change. The sun slowly sets until the skies become a hue of blue before completely becoming dark. By that time only then he managed to compile all the reports into an envelope. He finally could clear his table and kept the books in a neat stack.

"I'll visit her-" His joyful voice quiets down when he remembers that he wasn't able to even if he wanted to do so. Ayato unconsciously glanced at his own hands and felt even more gloomier.

[ Third week ]

Ayato has just returned to the estate after two days worth of hard work and sleepless nights. Instead of having a proper rest, he quietly sat by the front porch all alone. He poured a cup of warm green tea but didn't actually feel any better even though he finally could take a break from his endless schedule. 

Only when his thoughts were thinking about you, a small smile slowly appeared on his lips. Perhaps even the thought of you was enough to take him away from all the stressful days.

[ Fourth week ]

The Commissioner wasn't necessarily needed to be at Ritou with his retainers when it comes to just decorating the streets for the upcoming events but he would be casually checking in their work progress almost everyday. It was rather unusual even for them but nothing could be said when it's literally the Commissioner. Who could complain against him? 

Needless to say, he would be seated at one of the benches as he wrote down quick drafts for his reports.

"Good day, Ayato. I'll head home…"

His violet eyes lit up even before he looked away from the papers. Feeling a little surprised but slowly his gaze softens.

"...now. Remember to get proper rest later when you're off work."

He stood up, took hold of the bag you were holding before intertwining his hand with yours. The arc on his lips stays permanent as an immense feeling of joy erupted inside his heart. As if the grey clouds that endlessly rains on him have now vanished becoming rainbows and sunshine. 

"I was just waiting for your return Y/n." 

His voice was soft like the morning breeze as he called your name. His loving gaze conveying all of his emotions, effortlessly reaching your unprepared heart. 

"... this is so embarrassing"

Ayato let out a chuckle, secretly loving your every little reaction. He wasn't trying to tease you in any way nor does he plan to put you under emotional pressure, however it does bring him the pleasure to see how these little gestures affected your ever so calm emotions. 

"On the contrary, I feel so at ease"

His violet eyes search yours as he brings his face closer. It was as if he hadn't met you in a long while. Listening to your little sigh as you try to escape away from him actually entertains his heart so much that he couldn't help but want you even more.

"Oh please… are you not letting me head home now?"

He never told you how much he admired the way you always understood his busy schedule, you never complained and always accepted the nature of it all. However there are times when he's not busy and yet you still expect him to be on schedule. At times you prefer to spend your time all by yourself even after he explained that he finally has the time to spend with you.

"Would you mind accepting a guest?"

But it's too late now, he couldn't possibly dislike you for just being yourself because he knew you'd still welcome him all the same.

"... you better be glad for being the Commissioner otherwise I'll lock the doors"

Of course talking with a noble lady has its ups and downs for sure and yet he couldn't complain about either. He wondered sometimes how you can be exceptionally polite to everyone but especially harsh with him?

"I couldn't feel any better to be the Commissioner. I might as well request for a piece of cookie"

After the both of you arrived at your residence, without actually asking he was given a bowl of warm meal. That's just another reason why he's smitten all over you. The way he could feel the warmth and efforts granted by you was nothing but loveable.

He knew you were tired after returning from the long journey from another nation and yet he's here seemingly troubling you with such trivial matters. Ayato does feel bad whenever this happens, although he appreciates your every effort he still didn't want to trouble you.

"Y/n… go get some rest. I'll take care of cleaning the dishes"

"I'll handle it"

"Please let me…"

"Fine, alright"

Only if he insisted will you finally let him. Nonetheless he finds it adorable that you'd be unwilling to trouble him with anything either.

After clearing the kitchen spotless, he finally made his way towards your bedroom. He didn't forget to give three light knocks and only slide the door open after hearing your voice.

"You're not going back to the estate yet?" 

"I'll wait until you're fully rest"

"Can't I return to the estate tomorrow?"

"I don't want to be alone sleeping at the main room"

Yes, he didn't complain much and gave you much freedom but when it comes to this matter Ayato still wants to remind you that he needs you to accompany him and be there at the estate.

"...but you're usually busy. It's always me who ends up sleeping in the main room alone. I'd rather sleep in this room because it's cosy" 

He worriedly frowns, only to acknowledge your real thoughts behind it all. This was the first time he ever listened to you mentioning how his busy schedule affects you in such a way.

"You never told me about that"

He gloomily spoke as he approached your side.

"Well, it's not like it's a big issue. I've got my own work to do and I'm busy too sometimes. Perhaps I'm still not used to main room either so I don't-"

"I'm sorry…"

He knew you were always considerate to the point of letting little hurtful things slide off so easily. The way he expects you to accompany him when he himself couldn't properly be there was just asking too much.

"It's alright. I'm not upset at all."

Seeing the genuine smile formed on your lips only made him disappointed in himself even more. He should've made you feel more at home when you're at the estate. 

"Besides, I don't really like to be reminded in my mind that there are a lot of people at one place. You know… the servants, the workers, and everyone. I need a place where it's just me alone. But just like right now, having only you to accompany me feels quite comfortable"

He helplessly sighed with a smile. It seems he shouldn't be worried about anything after all. He should've known… his lover isn't someone whom he ever expected to be.

"I'll make sure to return home as well."

He whispered before lying next to you. He truly misses this feeling whenever he gets to stay close with you, seeing your face up close and capturing your ethereal beauty within his view.  Ayato gently took hold of your hand before placing your palm on one side of his cheeks.

He loves it whenever you quietly let him inched ever so closer towards you. As if the distance between him and you weren't already close enough.

"How am I supposed to rest if you're this close?"

There. Right about now, he knew you couldn't handle the level of intimacy anymore. But if he were to add just a little bit more… just with the right amount, he's sure he won't be in trouble.

Not too much though otherwise he'll get the silent treatment for a whole week. Not that he ever crossed the boundary but he can pretty much guess such outcome. 

"Should I give you a kiss or a quick kiss?" 

He's the current head of Yashiro commission after all… how else could he be in that position if not for his overly shrewd self. Ayato would occasionally do just the same even towards you just so he could get these types of requests.

"There's no option in that."

He let out a chuckle secretly already predicting your next move. If he guessed it right, he'll get exactly what he wants but if not well… all he can do is pester you all day.

"We can demonstrate the difference-"

The words haven't been fully said by him and he has already made you abruptly cling to his body. Now he can't even see your face but both of your hands were wrapped securely around him.

A joyous smile spreads across his face. This was exactly what he wanted. He could've just asked for a hug instead but he knew you wouldn't do it just the same. After all, he only needed all the warmth from you.

He's sure someday you'll eventually actually accept these requests he asks for but admittingly he still feels very much loved.

"My lovely wife, I missed you so dearly"

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A/N: I was listening to the song and couldn’t help but think about them. 

Shader: MMDGenshin Shader