#put that beast away (the pointing emojie)

[izhyperfixates]

kuniganmee 🫵 /passes out/

so true namoda thank you

ship me w a bllk character?

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls Chapter 12 part 1/2

Masterpost

Call me when you’re free!!!!!!

“Geeze,” Danny muttered. “Calm down, Jazz.” Still, he did what she said. He hefted up his backpack, waved goodbye to his shift relief, and dialed her up as he jogged down the library stairs.

“I’ve found two solutions!”

Danny winced at how cheerful his sister’s voice was. “Great!” He tried to match her enthusiasm, despite feeling like something that had been peeled off the sidewalk. He’d ended up working the morning shift on Saturday anyways. “Should I come over?”

“No.” Jazz sounded a little shifty. “I think it’s best if you don’t come over right now.”

“I’m not nuts!” her roommate was faintly audible, as was some kind of repetitive thwap. “We are getting this place fumigated and cleansed and exorcised-

Jazz must have power walked away from poor Tiffany. Her voice faded out. “Ahem.”

Danny pressed his lips together tightly and tried not to laugh. There was a brief space in the conversation where he probably should have said ‘I’m sorry that I made her think your place was haunted.’ But honestly? In a very literal sense, it had been haunted?

“Danny,” Jazz said, in her quiet scary voice, “shut up.”

He shut up even harder than he’d been shutting up before.

She continued in one of her determined tones that meant there was no point in arguing unless it was a hill he was willing to die on. “I am not going to stay in your place because it’s small and scary.”

‘You’re scarier,’ Danny thought mutinously. ‘You’re scarier than anything in my apartment.’

Aloud, he said something else. “Then where?” He did his best to communicate, dummy, via his tone. “I don’t think this is a coffee shop conversation.”

More importantly, he didn’t really have much coffee shop budget. Jazz didn’t have that much either. They were both on scholarships and part time jobs.

“Of course not,” Jazz said practically. “The main Gotham public library is a mid-point and you can rent out a room there for hour blocks. I’ll reserve it online on the way there. I’m halfway to the train station now. What’s your ETA- you just left campus, right?”

Danny looked down at his foot incredulously as he stepped off the final cement stair onto the sidewalk. How did she know that? He looked around dumbly for a know-it-all sister spy plane or something.

“I’ll get a media room from 3-4 pm, that gives you time to stop and get us drinks and snacks. I’ll pay you back, budget of 10 dollars. That sound okay?”

“Fine.” Danny sighed heavily. “Yeah, I can get to that area pretty fast.” He hung up and resigned himself to pushing through foot traffic. He was a lot closer than Jazz was at the moment. He put his head down and ignored the masses of humanity for a little more than 20 minutes of walking. The high lifted roof of the city's main library came into view over the surrounding buildings.

There was a grocery store pretty close by. Danny detoured there and got wrapped sandwiches, chips, and coffees. He hid them all in his backpack just in case the library had a no-food policy.

Then he checked his phone. Jazz had sent him a text telling him the floor and room number in the library. He also had seven missed calls from his parents. That initially freaked him out until he noticed that Dad had sent him a link to an update on the family blog with a string of ghost and wink emojis.

Yeah ok. It wasn't going to be important in the slightest. He ignored his parents.

He jogged the rest of the way to the library and then up the ramp. Danny slipped in the doors and enjoyed the rush of air conditioning. He nodded to the librarian visible from the door and then took the main stairs at an easy pace up to the fourth floor. The rented media room was a straight shot to the back. His sister was waiting to pounce when he opened the door.

“Get back, beast,” Danny said, alarmed. He held his backpack out like it would ward her away.

“Open it!” Jazz demanded.

Holy cow. Uh. He scrambled to unzip it and hold out the plastic shopping bag in offering.

“Gimme gimme, thank you,” Jazz sang and she snatched the snacks from his hands. Danny blew on his fingers pointedly as if her speed burnt his fingertips. She ignored him and unwrapped the ham and cheese at lightning speed.

Oof. Danny kept his fingers a little closer so they didn't get bitten off and side-eyed his big sister as she all but inhaled the sandwich. He popped open the chips bag and ate a couple, feeling a bit freaked out by how ravenous she was. He opened his mouth to comment and then thought better of it.

“Are those for both of us?” Jazz swallowed her sandwich and pointed at the chip bag.

Danny held his hands up and let her take it away. “Geeze,” he said, quietly. He took his own sandwich out from the bag that Jazz had abandoned and ate it at a more normal speed. By the time he'd finished Jazz was content with the chips. He cautiously reached out and fished the bag back towards him. A glance inside showed that she'd left about half.

“So!” Jazz clapped her hands like she had pretensions of being a preschool teacher.

“That body language making you friends at Arkham?” Danny jabbed. He popped a chip in his mouth and crunched down.

Jass casually flipped him off. “Yes, actually,” she said primly. “Dr. Quinn was very complimentary-”

“Before she broke out?” Danny said dryly around a mouthful of chips.

“-and I have formed meaningful clinical bonds with many other patients. But I digress.” She gave him a version of her smug face. She, as always, looked like that meme of the knife cat. “I have two solutions for you.”

[xxspringmelodyxx]

Cats out of the Bag~

Gojo Satoru turned into a what now??

Warnings: none…at least I don’t think??

I drove as fast as I could towards Shoko’s place, fear building up inside of me with every second that passed.

I was peacefully lying down on my bed, scrolling through my phone mindlessly. That was until I got a text message from the group chat, specifically Shoko telling me to come to her place, and quickly. She said something happened to Toru. The instant I got that message, I didn’t even question her. I got out of my bed, quickly put on a sweatshirt and leggings, and ran out to my car.

I was definitely speeding, passing through all the other cars that were in my way. Usually I would never drive this recklessly, but due to the fact that something has happened to Toru, it was different.

I tried to keep myself calm as I drove, trying not to let my mind wander to the worse case scenarios. Spoiler, I couldn’t do it.

Lately, Toru has been going out on more missions, and dangerous ones at that. He always assures you that he will be fine, but there was always a bit of doubt in your mind. After all, no matter what he thought, he was still human. A powerful one at that, but still a human who could still die.

What if this was it? What if he faced a curse that was too much for him? What if the curse got to him and killed him? What if it took him over and took control of his body? What if…what if…what if!

All these thoughts kept running through your mind as you got closer and closer to Shoko’s home.

Tears started to collect in your eyes. You tried to fight them back to clear your vision, but instead, more water began to well up in your eyes. It got to the point where the accumulation of tears started to fall down your face. Silent sobs began to escape your mouth as your fears of losing your Toru kept replaying in your head.

—

You finally arrived at Shoko’s and ran out of your car, opening her door.

”What happened? Where is he? Is he okay?” You asked with desperation, tears still falling down your face.

Shoko and Suguru both looked towards you and became concerned. Shoko ran up to you and placed her hands on your face, rubbing your tears away.

”Why are you crying? What happened?” She asked

”You said something happened to Toru and I took that as a sign that he…that…” You spoke softly, getting lost in your mind once again. Suguru looked down at his phone in the group chat, reading Shoko’s message.

Suguru sighed, placing a hand on his face with disbelief.

”Shoko, why would you say it like that.” He said with disappointment.

”I sent a laughing emoji afterwards!” She said, grabbing her phone out to prove it. However, her scrunched face dropped after she saw a “Message not delivered” show up on her phone. She looked up at both you and Suguru with a sheepish face.

”So uh…funny story…sorry…”

Suguru groaned, rolling his eyes at her. He came up to you and looked down at you, placing his hands on your arms.

”What is going on, Suguru? Where is Toru? Is he okay?” You asked, your chest tightening.

”Yes, he is fine.” He responded with a soft chuckle.

”Well…for the most part.” Shoko said.

”What do you mean? I’m getting so many mixed signals right now, and I don’t like it!” You said with frustration. All you cared about was if Toru is well and alive.

“Y/n…Satoru and I went out on a mission. We were supposed to stop a curse that was causing…interesting things to happen to people. We did stop the beast…but not before it got to Satoru.” He said

”And before you see him, Y/n, please know that this side effect only lasts for 24 hours max. That’s what our reports have shown based off of the others who have been impacted from it.” Shoko interjected

“Just show me to him, please.” You said, desperate to see your love.

The two looked at each other and nodded. Shoko took your hand and walked you to the backyard, bringing you to…a white cat?

”I'm confused. Where is Toru?” You asked, seeing the cat's ears perk up at the sound of your voice. The cat turned around towards you, showing bright blue eyes similar to…

”Toru??” You asked, wide eyed as you looked at the small figure on the ground.

The cat ran up to you, wrapping its tail around your leg and snuggling up to you.

”This is what I was talking to you about. That cursed being was able to turn people into other animals. When Satoru and I were fighting it, he went up and finished it off, but not before the creature got a final blow in. Just as the creature was killed, it sent off one last blast of cursed energy and hit Satoru…and well, you know the rest.” Suguru said, his hand touching the top of your shoulder.

Toru hissed at Suguru touching you, about to run up and attack him. However, before he could, you knelt down and grabbed him with both of your hands, holding him up in front of you.

You gave the small cat a good look, seeing obvious signs now.

A small smile made its way towards your face before a small giggle escaped your mouth.

Soon, that simple giggle turned out into an all out laughing session as you realized your boyfriend had been turned into a cat…a cat out of all things!

You held him close to you, feeling the soft fur against your arms.

”Well you certainly seem happier now than before.” Shoko said, smiling down at you hugging Toru.

”Of course I am. I would much prefer this than…you know…” You said, drifting off. You felt Toru wiggle in your arms, climbing up your chest and licking your cheeks after realizing your tearstained face.

”He is concerned as to why you were crying.” Suguru said, finding it somewhat adorable.

I smiled down at him, rubbing his fur, making him purr.

”Don’t worry, Toru. It was Shoko’s fault.” You said, smirking at Shoko.

”I said I’m sorry! What more do you want?!” She whined.

Toru hissed once more, trying to run after her, but you stopped him by holding him close to you. You chuckled as you kissed his head, rubbing his fur.

”It’s okay, Toru. She just did her usual sending one text at a time rather than putting it all in one, which ultimately ended up with me crying. But all is well now.” You said, smiling up at Shoko. She stuck her tongue out at you playfully, ignoring the death stare Toru was giving her.

You then sat up, Toru still in your arms.

”Well, I suppose I just have to wait until he turns back to normal then?” You asked, seeing Shoko nod.

”Yep. Most people usually end up turning back within 12-24 hours. It just depends on the person. So far…its been only 6 hours for him, so you’ve got a bit of time left.” She said.

”Well, I don’t really have anything planned today…so I guess Ill just stay and watch him until he turns back.” You said, turning on your heels.

Toru cuddled up to your neck, purring louder and louder as he felt your heartbeat. It soothed him to the point where he fully relaxed in your arms, closing his eyes.

You couldn’t help but squeal at how adorable he looked.

”I suppose I should take him back to our place. Thank you for letting me know what happened to him…even if it came out wrong at first.” You said, teasing Shoko once more.

”yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go take care of your man…well cat in this case.” She teased back.

—-

You said your goodbyes to Shoko and Suguru, taking Toru back to your guys’ place. You figured it would be a nice and relaxing time with Toru since he would just relax around the house…oh how wrong you were.

”Toru, stop being stubborn and get down from there!” You yelled as you tried to reach him. He was currently on the ceiling of you guys’ house, sitting on the fan.

He just meowed at you, almost as if he was teasing you.

”Damn it, you're even worse as a cat! Come on Toru!” You begged, trying to persuade him to come down.”

He turned around, facing the string hanging from the fan,trying to play with it.

”Toru, please. You’re going to get hurt!” You said, watching him get closer and closer to the edge of the fan.

Suddenly, an idea sparked in your mind. You remember a few days ago, there was a sale on mochi and you bought all kinds of flavors for both you and Toru to try. You quickly went to the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab his favorite kind. Then, you walked back to the living room and looked up at the cat on the ceiling fan. You crinkled the bag of mochi and watched as Toru slowly turned around towards you, eyeing the bag in your hand.

” If you be a good boy and come back down here, I’ll let you have some of your favorite mochi. But only if you get off the ceiling fan.”

Within seconds, the cat quickly ran down towards you, sitting right in front of you.

You smiled down at him and knelt down to him, picking him up.

”You’re such a good boy, yes you are! Yes you are!” You spoke in a higher pitched voice, holding him up in the air. You placed your nose on his nose, crinkling yours at his cuteness.

Suddenly, the clock in your kitchen began to chime, signaling that another hour had passed.

Within a second, the cat that was in your hands turned into a tall man. That man, of course, being none other than your boyfriend, Toru.

His face was between your hands and both of your noses were touching. Your eyes widened at the closeness, heat rising to your face as you saw the beautiful face you’ve been longing to see for almost a week now.

”I’m your good boy, huh?’ He asked in a hushed tone, watching your body tense up from the closeness.

His hands moved towards your arms, pulling you closer to him to make sure you didn't leave.

”I missed you, you know that?” He spoke, slowly walking you over to the nearest wall.

”D-Did you?” You asked, feeling your heart race from the sudden change in the atmosphere

“Mhmm. I missed you so much~” He said, pulling you into him so that he could hug you. He inhaled your scent, holding you close.

“I’m sorry I worried you.” He said apologetically. If he was being honest, he was full of guilt. Ever since he first saw your tear stained cheeks earlier today, he knew it was because you thought something bad had happened to him. He knew you loved him with all your heart and more, and that was why you were bawling your eyes out when you thought he was seriously injured. The fact that you cared for him so much alone made him love you even more…if that was even possible.

You smiled as you wrapped your arms around his neck, smiling up at him.

”It’s okay. I’m just glad you are still healthy and alive.” You said, kissing his cheek softly.

”It’s not. I know I’ve been going out on missions too much lately, and it's no secret that they have been becoming increasingly dangerous. And I know its taking a toll on you.” He said looking down at you. His hand caressed your cheek, pulling you in close to his face.

”But I promise to you, my sweet love, that I will be more cautious for you. The last thing I’d want to do is to leave you alone by yourself. The last thing I’d want to do is to be the reason for your sadness and anxiousness. I want you to only be happy and calm whenever you think of me. Let me make it up to you, hmm?” He asked, inches away from your lips.

You smiled up at him, nodding, wanting him to continue.

He gently placed his lips on yours, humming at the long awaited kiss. He missed you just as much as you missed him. He lifted your body up with ease, carrying you to the couch, and throwing you on it. He smiled down at you, crawling on top of you.

He placed soft kisses all over your face, wrapping his arms around you and carefully pressing all of his body weight on you.

You smiled up at him and pulled him into you, both of you getting comfortable in each others arms. You two cuddled on the couch together, Toru’s head lying on your chest, listening to your heart beat. You played with his hair, feeling his fingers run up and down your sides.

”I love you, Y/n~”

”And I love you, my sweet Toru~” You responded, kissing the top of his head.

For the rest of the day, you two spent it cuddling, kissing, and trying out the mochi you bought. It was a very uneventful way to spend the rest of your day, but a very meaningful one to both of you.

___________________________

[concord-and-cliches]

put a comical novelty shirt on that beast [x]

[id in alt text and under the cut--sketches also under the cut!]

[image ID: Two drawings of Harry Du Bois from Disco Elysium, wearing two different shirts. The first shirt he's wearing is a white one that features a picture of a green fish with a wide-open mouth, alongside text in a goofy font that reads, in all caps: "Of course I cum fast / I got fish to catch!" Harry is looking down at the shirt with a curious expression. Next to this drawing is text that reads, in all caps: "Fishing Enthusiast Shirt". Underneath that, there is additional text that reads: "+1 Electrochemistry: Thinking about it / -1 Electrochemistry: But not for long". The second shirt he's wearing is a dark grey one with a red arrow pointing up towards his face and text that reads, in all caps: "Is this guy bothering you?" Harry is holding his ledger with one hand, and he is smiling. Next to this drawing is text that reads, in all caps: "Considerate T-Shirt". Underneath that, there is additional text that reads: "+1 Empathy: You are kind of a weirdo / +1 Half Light: Ready to fight even yourself / -1 Suggestion: Aren't you, though?"

Two drawings featuring Harry Du Bois and Kim Kitsuragi from Disco Elysium. The first drawing shows Harry wearing Kim's glasses. Behind him, Kim, sans glasses and in a white shirt, looks from over his shoulder at Harry with an annoyed expression. Text next to this drawing reads, in all caps: "The Lieutenant's Glasses". Underneath that, there is additional text that reads: "+2 Empathy towards Kim Kitsuragi: Through his eyes / +1 Authority: Borrowing some of Kim's / -1 Physical Instrument: Bino attire / -2 Perception: Holy shit, dude". The second drawing shows Kim looking down at his shirt, which is black and features an image of a skeleton lighting a weight. Text on the shirt reads, in a goofy font and all caps: "My body is a machine that turns cigarettes into smoked cigarettes". Kim has a slight smile on his face and he is holding a cigarette of his own. The smoke curls around his head like a halo. Text next to this drawing reads, in all caps: "'Cool' Skeleton T-Shirt". Underneath that, there is additional text that reads: "+1 Camaraderie: Gift from the 41st / +1 Joie De Vivre: Gift from Harry / -1 Kinetic Dressage: Could be cooler". Kim also has a small thought bubble that features an extremely-simplified drawing of Harry holding up a peace sign and winking alongside the words: "he even got the right size…"

A Disco Elysium fancomic featuring Harry Du Bois and Kim Kitsuragi. Panel One: A close-up of Harry's shoes, which are all-yellow and have the crying laughing emoji face adorned on them. Panel Two: A close-up of Harry's shirt, which features the crying laughing emoji. Panel Three: A close-up of Harry's face, which is making the crying laughing face. Additionally, he is wearing a hat which is similarly adorned with the crying laughing emoji. Panel Four: Kim, looking somewhat amused at Harry, says: "What, no matching pants?" Harry, looking alert, says: "Ah! You're right, Kim!" Panel Five: Kim, looking away and still smiling lightly, says: "Yes, without all the proper accoutrements, you might want to consider a less… eccentric outfit." From off-panel, Harry says: "This is more of a pussy-out kinda look!" Kim says: "a what". Panel Six: Kim, with a frantic expression, rushes over to stop Harry from taking off his pants. Harry looks confused and has one leg nearly out of his pants. There is a small speech bubble with a question mark coming from him. Additionally, in the sketch version of the full outfit, each individual clothing article is labelled as an "Amused" version of said article, and each has a stat buff of "+1 Pain Threshold: Laughing through the pain." /end ID]

[wildflowerteas]

hella got through chapter 6 everyone cheer!

i don't know how to respond to this coherently so i'm just going to scroll down and let the word vomit happen:

the choice of emoji reacts to some of these . . . i'm surprised hella hasn't killed you guys. keeping gin away from this mess is the last thing on my mind, unfortunately *stares at the BEAST tag*

ARRGHHHFGHHH IM SO GLAD YOU GUYS LIKE SSKK. they're such a breath of fresh air, and writing them comes so easily to me. while i like writing skk ( fucked up as they are--even at this point in the story ) and the fast-paced nature of their relationship, this is romance writing work coming from the guy whose only other fic had a first kiss at uhhh...160k words.

yesenina did serve too hard. i imagine her as similair to the others, but with a Rita Hayworth-like air of ambition about her, and that's a serve. and it's what gets her killed.

Chuuya Yuan history coming in SOON. actually. Next chapter. seeing hella lose it over Chuuya's internal monologue here has been absolutely hilarious and kind of rewarding. I Knew All That because I'm the author ( duh ) so i never really grasped how strange the shift to Chuuya's thoughts about the relationship would be. I mean there's snippets of it, like the diner scene, but you're right, it's fanfic and so that is a lot easier to sweep under the rug.

ACAB. I considered putting a line from Doc Riedenschneider in The Asphalt Jungle ( 1950 ) "Experience has taught me to never trust a policeman. Just when you think one's alright, he turns legit." in a divider chapter between part I and part II, but I thought was too on the nose following 7 ( and a bit pretentious considering this is just ao3 fanfic and not a published work or anything ) so i grabbed myself by the metaphorical monkey backpack and didn't. Mafia Nepo Baby 😭 I love Hella HUGE WIN FOR ME. I was so nervous because i needed to balance Chuuya being observant but also quite literally *out of the loop.* He's not from the same world as Dazai--he's not involved with the murders or the politics or the mess going on yet. He comes across as oblivious at times because Dazai's POV is purposefully designed to make you see him that way. Dazai's so sure he's in control of what Chuuya knows that he doesn't realize he might have met his match.

ZSKK are uhm. yeah. all im gonna say there.

the "PARDON." IM CACKLING

argh. the switch up with this chapter...why the hell am i getting nostalgic for something i wrote less than two months ago ( ican't believe i've been grinding through this fic so fast jesus ).

i love unhealthy dynamics, truly. this fic was really a test to see if i could write soukoku making each other worse. which is a pretty stark contrast to my other stuff.

HELLA. OH MY GOD. that bit about their careers . . . i can't believe she noticed that. Chuuya started the fic genuinely ambitious, wanting the spotlight, wanting to defy expectations set upon him by his looks, his race, and his past. Dazai's a cop, sworn to uphold the law, but he doesn't feel like a good person. He can't ( interlude chapter . . . stares out the window ), but he can use everything about who he is to give Chuuya the life he wants. like a guardian ange--*gets taken out by a sniper chapter 8 style* Their original goals aren't gone, per se, they've simply been reoriented.

can't wait for chapter 7

i know it'll make Hella want to hunt me down for sport, so i'll sleep with both eyes open for the forseeable future.

[devotedtosadpoetry]

Geez I think might be my first ask, not gonna become an anon cause I want you to know who asked this question, and also theory cause yis also just so you know how messed up or calculating my head is.

Okay, question first littered with a few tiny questions: Did we know how exactly Bishop knew about the turtles/ Leo? Like the invasion or something like that cause im not entirely sure if we know it (or we do and I'm just stupid and I wasted your time) like Also how did you come up with this idea (im pretty sure you answered this, again im sorry, bad memory) also im so happy your in the comp! I wish you luck, and I hope you win!

Now onto the theory I guess, so I think I know what's going to happen in the following days, like leo is gonna die in like 4-5 days if he don't get that drug, also it would be foolish of bishop to not put a tracker on Leo, so I assume he has a tracker, any even if he doesn't or donnie deactivates it, leo is a feral beast at this point (poor child) with some things being permanent (probably his eyes and his DAMN POOR SPINE) so I think what's going to happen is one of two things, one: leo is gonna freak out (already happening) and trying to run back to his "mother" (I hate saying that) or two: bishop is gonna make a deal, cause the turtles don't know that they have been feeding leo DAMN DEATH DRUG! Like I said before, it's only a matter of time before leo dies, which is HOLY MOLY BAD! I also wonder if one of the other turtles is gonna get captured, you said in another ask that's its gonna be comfort, THEN DEAR GOD THE ANGST, then back to some comfort, in e9rried about the chapters that follow now.

TL;DR leo is gonna try and escape, or bishop is gonna make a deal, or the other turtles are gonna get captured by damn bishop.

Sorry for the long ask, have a cat for powering through it!

hi leon!! thank you for le ask don’t feel bad that’s it’s long, long asks or long comments always make me v happy so thank you for the serotonin and the cat <3

How Bishop met the turtles is a VERY GOOD QUESTION to ask, one you definitely should be asking, especially because it hasn’t been revealed. your answer shall come soon enough.

i came up with the idea one day when i was doing a one week job that required me to be away from home, so it almost felt like a writing get away. i was in a really sadistic mood and couldn’t write any of my current works so i just decided to let it all out, and since i didn’t want to torture any of my characters i picked on leo. the surgery scenes came first, and then suddenly i got ideas for what is happening with the brothers and then it expanded into the big drama we have going on now.

i’m happy i’m in the comp as well. i do not expect to win lol but my goal is to at least make it past the prelims and i’ll be satisfied 👍 and if that doesn’t happen i’ll put all my rage back onto leo again

your theories are valid, they certainly make sense, and as for my response, you get this emoji: 🤐

thanks for the ask leon 😚

[lilac-melody]

Fantasia LOVE&KISS Novel Prologue

We’re back with translating hell! As usual, I am not a professional translator, so take my tls with a grain of salt! Also, if you’ve read my previous tls, you’ll know that the “time skips” are usually in the form of emojis (as they are in the novel). I skimmed through it and I’ll be doing the same thing, and doing what the novel does. So for a little guide for everyone: 

🎤 = The idols, real time

⚔️🏹 = The LOVE&KISS universe

💮 = Timeskip

Without further ado, here we go!

Masterlist here

In a Northern country that is surrounded by steep mountains, there is a jewel that is guarded by many dragons. It is said to grant any wish, no matter what it is.

But there is no one to tell the tale.

It is a forgotten story from a long time ago. Far, far away, in a faraway land. Kneel before the beautiful maiden who welcomes you, and kiss her with a vow.

Let me place fortune and blessing in your hands. This is a story that leads to the world of hope.

⚔️🏹

The wind blew gently, and it swayed the flames of some candles that rested on a round table. Several customers lounged about in the little shop, talking quietly amongst each other with their cups in their hands. In any other city, in such a bar, it was common for drunk customers to be having fun, but in this bar, there was a terrible atmosphere, and not a single person smiled.

All they could do was direct wary gazes to a traveler who sat at the counter.

Ever since his first visit in this town, he had sensed that there was something off about the place, and the feeling was only growing stronger. It would have been different in a closed country town rarely visited by travelers, but this was the royal capital of a small country.

Beyond the city gate, he saw a castle with a spire. He had heard that many travelers and merchants visit this city, but most of the stores along the main street were closed.

Tilting his cup back, he decided to talk to the owner. The man, who was pouring sake from the barrel, gave him a suspicious look, before he shook his head.

“Demons have appeared. The roads have become practically impassable. Thanks to them, it’s like this.”

(Demons, huh...)

Such stories were not uncommon. In fact, one may encounter demons on one's journey. However, wild beasts encountered in the mountains and bandits who attack travelers and try to rob them of their money and goods were much more common than demons.

In any case, self-defense weapons were essential for traveling. If you step outside the gates of a castle, you immediately put yourself in a danger zone and can be attacked at any time.

"It was fine when the previous king was king, but since the princess took over the throne..." The shopkeeper's expression suddenly twisted into something complicated, and he stopped talking. “...Well, you should leave this town as soon as possible.” He finally said, turning away to avoid answering anymore questions.

Seeing as there was no longer a point to questioning him, the traveler decided to leave a silver coin on the counter. Leaving the half-empty cup of watery wine behind, he took the bundle that was propped up on the chair next to him. It was a long bow wrapped in a cloth. Slipping it over his shoulder, he spoke once more.

"Thanks for the drink.”

The customers went silent, waiting for him to leave. When he stepped out and shut the door behind him, a cool breeze blew in. It was dark out, and there was no one around.

“That wasn’t a good story to hear...”

After putting on his wide-brimmed hat, he started to walk along the cobblestone streets, which were beginning to get wet from the rain. He talked to several people who had come to this town, but they were all tight-lipped and reluctant to say too much. Now the only thing for him to do is to stay here for a few days and patiently gather more information.

(It can't be helped...but still, there's not a soul in sight.)

He looked around at the quiet, dark streets, but not even the lights of the houses were on. It was uncanny, as if it were an abandoned town. The sun had just set, but it was still too early to go to sleep.

He turned around, and then noticed the sound of a door opening and saw a small child peeking out. As soon as their eyes met, the child quickly withdrew into the house. Behind the briskly closing door, a mother's voice scolded him, “I told you not to go outside!”

(Not that there’s any people around...)

He thought dubiously, but walked away anyway. Some of the seemingly murky clouds in the sky seemed to be dyed red thanks to the moon hiding behind them. Though, it could also be because he was in the middle of the city.

As he crossed the stone bridge over the waterway, he noticed a figure stretching out behind him. After glancing at the surface of the river, he deliberately slowed his pace. Even after walking down a narrow street, the presence of a figure following him did not go away.

An old man, who seemed heavily drunk, was lying against the wall, holding a bottle of sake. Yujiro turned down the street, looked back, and began to run.

The sound of the other man's footsteps behind him also quickened, as if he were in a hurry. Before he knew it, the rain had intensified, and his cape and hat were completely soaked. The end of the path was a dead end.

Yujiro turned around and pulled out the dagger he had hidden at his waist. The tip of the dagger sliced through the sky. He was so close to reaching the throat of his opponent, who was closing in behind him.

But his opponent was even quicker and dodged, reflexively ducking down.

Seeing his opponent wobble for a moment, Yujiro kicked him on the ground and tried to kick him again.

“Wait, wait!” His opponent shouted in a panic and raised his hands as if he had no intention of attacking. He was not much older than Yujiro was, judging from his height and facial features. He, too, was obviously a traveler, wearing a hat and a cape. His shoulders were broad, and his arms and legs were muscular.

He probably trained here. His hair was tied back with an ivory ribbon. Rain was dripping from the tip of his deep hat.

“Don't attack me out of the blue,” he said.

“I don’t have to be polite to a rogue who sneaks after people," he said with a dark laugh, still holding the dagger in his hand.

“I'm not a rogue. You can tell by the way I look!”

“You look like a lowlife to me.”

“Huh? What?”

“Your face, your atmosphere. I mean, if you're not a rogue, what are you? A bandit? An assasin? A thief?”

“That’s all basically the same thing!” He groaned and sighed, as if he was getting tired. Yujiro almost laughed at the way his expression changed so quickly, and returned the dagger to its sheath at his waist.

He was sure that he wasn’t lying about not being a rogue. But now, he was even more curious as to why he was following him.

(I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what he has to say...)

“So...what is it that you want?” Yujiro asked.

The guy looked at him with a serious expression. “I heard that there was another guy in this town who, like me, is looking for the one and only jewel in the world that can make his wish come true.” He spoke quietly, his voice was almost overlapped by the sound of the rain pounding in the alley.

The two of them silently stared at each other.

Yujiro lowered the brim of his hat, with only one small phrase quietly escaping his lips. “I see...”

(This guy is the same as me...)

[fuddieduddies-art]

HILDEGAAARD 💍 🖊️ 🎻 💯 🐷 🐉 ❤️ 🤍 💔 💚 💜 🍝 🍰 🍦 🤔 😓 😞

adam these are so many emojis. good god. i'm putting this under a read more got damn.

💍 RING — does your oc have any piercings? do they want any (more) piercings?

their ears are pierced :)

🖊️ BALLPOINT PEN — does your oc have any tattoos? do they want any more

i'm deciding right now at this moment that they do have a tattoo yes. i will decide where/what it is at a later date <3.

🎻 VIOLIN — does your oc play any instruments? what is their skill level (beginner/intermediate/advanced/virtuoso/etc)?

oh he can tear it up on the accordion.

💯 HUNDRED POINTS SYMBOL — share three random facts about your oc that others may not know.

was abandoned by their parents as a baby and left at the circus </3. will lie about this and say they ran away instead. at the circus, they performed magic tricks, along with reading fortunes and holding seances. their true passion is being a little amateur zoologist for various Creatures and Strange Beasts, and they've been keeping several journals with detailed accounts of whatever they've encounter.

🐷 PIG FACE — what is your oc's favorite animal?

BUG ENJOYER!!!!

🐉 DRAGON — what is your oc's favorite mythical creature?

literally everything under the god damn sun, especially if it's weird and dangerous <3

❤️ RED HEART — what are three of your oc's positive traits?

she's very intelligent, very creative, and pretty outgoing :)

🤍 WHITE HEART — what are three of your oc's neutral/questionable traits?

obsessive, very blunt, certifiably strange and off-putting. #autism.

💔 BROKEN HEART — what are three of your oc's negative traits?

definitely lets his curiosity get the better of him, has a bit of an ego. and they're a rude ass occasionally.

💚 GREEN HEART — does your oc prefer being inside or outside?

outside! she's lived most of her life on the road and in various tents and pop up structures w/ the circus so it's just what she's used to.

💜 PURPLE HEART — what is your oc's ancestry/genetic background?

they're a half-elf! alas that's like all they know. they probably come from some spell-casters or something considering the whole sorcerer thang.

🍝 SPAGHETTI — what is/are your oc's favorite food(s)?

probably a lil stew and/or sheperd's pie action. why do i speak like this

🍰 SHORTCAKE — what is/are your oc's favorite sweet(s)/dessert(s)?

i think she'd like little hand-pies or some of the like. dense pastry w/ some sort of sweet filling :]

🍦 SOFT ICE CREAM — what is/are your oc's favorite ice cream flavor(s)?

like. cherry or something.

🤔 THINKING FACE — what are some of your oc's quirks/mannerisms?

she tends to bite her lips and a lot, and since they wear a lot of loosing fitting clothing, they mess with their sleeves and collar and whatnot.

😓 DOWNCAST FACE WITH SWEAT — is your oc open-minded or stubborn? are they inquisitive or do they prefer to keep to their bubble of knowledge?

he's very curious!! some would say perhaps too curious, or curious about the wrong things but Thog Don't Care.

😞 DISAPPOINTED FACE — does your oc attract others, or do they tend to be left alone?

alas they are so god damn weird and have occasionally destructive and scary magical outbursts, so she ends up on her own more often than not. his ass is romanticizing his melancholic solitude!!

[loveoaths]

*pen emoji bc im on desktop* TELL ME ABOUT UR OCS

meet ADAMAN and RAN from SEVEN OF SWORDS:

"Your apathy won't change my mind. I believe the Divine Beasts wish to aid us to the best of their abilities." Ran paused, shifting in their seat to get a better look at him. "It's not naïve to have faith, Adaman."

Laughing was cruel, but cruelty had long since become Adaman's second nature. The Sixth Divine Beast sleeps in his belly, after all; cruelty came to him as natural as breathing and fucking other men's wives and husbands.

Adaman wet his mouth with another swig. "It is when it makes you blind, when..." The words caught in his throat: When you fall in love with the light and turn doubt and darkness into something to be feared. When faith cannot coexist with doubt, it is not faith at all — it’s fear. When fear is denied, it turns into ignorance.

And Adaman couldn't stand ignorance. Not anymore.

But he couldn't stand repeating himself more. Every word he had to say on the matter was said years ago, or strung heavy in the gaps between breaths. At this point Ran either gets it or was arguing just to argue, and seeing how Adaman's seven drinks past sober and barely clinging to his will to live tonight, he could be forgiven for not feeling chatty.

“Faith. Never had it,” Adaman sighed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, licking the liquor from his lips, rolling his jaw in its socket and ruefully brushing fingertips over the giant bruise mottling his skin like fruit rot. He really was falling apart. It didn't matter, and maybe it should, but it doesn’t, because Adaman was tired. The scraps of his soul are stretched thin and fraying, and this hangover just might kill him.

Closing his eyes against an abrupt wave of nausea, Adaman carefully pressed his face to the dirty bar countertop, golden eyes groggily fluttering open to watch Ran's earnest expression through a misty glass of half-drank beer. The young monk looked unearthly: blue hair and sand-white teeth, wide eyed with a face like he was waiting for something Adaman could no longer remember. He looked like Gura used to when they were kids, when Adaman would touch his shoulder, or — or when Adaman would hide away in a dark place for days and refuse to speak or come out, and Gura would spend hours talking him out of some dark decision until Adaman would slowly and sullenly dissolve the acid barrier and return to the light. What was the name for that look again?

A drunken giggle bubbled past Adaman's chapped lips. Hopeful. Ran looked hopeful. Sea and sand, he’d forgotten what hope looked like.

He really was a miserable piece of shit, wasn't he. He’d be better off dead. 

Don’t say that, the Sixth Beast immediately pipes up in his head. “Shut up. Don't tell me what to do you fucking... snail,” Adaman muttered under his liquor-soaked breath, muting the strait between him and his Beast. Ran narrowed their eyes, but said nothing.

“I don’t hate you, Ran.” Adaman turned abruptly to Ran, grabbing clumsy for their knee. “I mean I do, but not how you think,” He tried to sit up. The world spun. He gagged, squeezed his eyes shut, and laid his head back down. Okay, maybe the bartender will let him sleep here tonight. He'd certainly spent enough on booze to pay for a room. “It's that — you’re alive. I hate that. I can, fuck, feel you thinking. I feel everything and I hate it. I am 'touched by God' and I would lay down in the road and let a cart wheel smash my skull in on a dare. You want a better world that can’t happen, because people like us,” His father, his mother, his extended family, him. He presses his face into his palm, the other blindly signaling the bartender for another bottle. “We won’t let you. You holy men, too; you're all pawns for us to play at power. We put gods in skin for paper. Are you hearing me? We commodified heaven. That's evil, Ran. This," he demonstrated with his hands, "Is the pinnacle of human wickedness, and my father and me and everybody like me drove humanity's donkey cart off the fucking cliff and told everybody to keep their arms and legs inside the cart like it'll make a difference. I'm sorry, Ran, but what is there to pray for?"

"The same thing we have always prayed for," Ran said, their stony brown eyes unreadable behind the shield of their tea cup. "Each other."

oh boy, this whole story is a fuckmess, but uh:

in a world where parasitic/symbiotic gods known as the divine beasts select human hosts as avatars of power, adaman is the host of the sea beast, a nudibranch-like creature:

adaman is a frighteningly brilliant, but a massive coward. he seeks pleasure to avoid his problems and deals with a lot of untreated addictions. he hates himself for being a coward and for not being morally strong enough to stand up to his family, who he fears above all else, despite being the one with a literal god inside him. he's maudlin, self-destructive, poetic, lazy, cynical as fuck, but can be so quiet and tender when he loves you. he's the dramatic one in the group.

adaman is also the disgraced prince and heir to a small but aggressive nation that used him as a human nuclear warhead for most of his life. after being forced to betray and kill his friend to prove his loyalty, he flees his despotic family and hides, avoiding the world and drinking his mind away, until our protag (the avatar of a new eighth divine beast, not featured here) seeks him out for guidance. his abilities aren't the best in battle, but he can use neurotoxins secreted from his skin to make people hallucinate illusions. if he has direct contact with you long enough he can connect to your neural system and skim memories and emotions, link your consciousness to other peoples' using himself as a mental bridge, as well as produce an amphetamine-like effect: his touch is addicting over long periods of time and can induce like a meth power surge, but prolonged contact will erode your memories and turn your brain into swiss cheese. so he's very lonely. i love him very much your honor.

ran is a traveling monk. they're a newer character, and not familiar with adaman's whole deal, but vibe-wise kim kitsuragi is a good comp.

[noriakihunny]

some random ass (+ modern day) aot boy headcanons

including: zeke, erwin, levi, eren & armin

trigger warnings: some NSFW+ elements

zeke

is tiktok famous solely for being hot

specifically known on tiktok as the "hot guy who can cook but cooks sexually" i.e. he's the kind to grope a steak or stick his finger in a cantaloupe that's cut open in half like a pus-

verified on tinder

pulls matches by having his dog with him as his main profile photo

has airplane emojis in his bio which shows how much he travels

"hey i'm only here for a few days, wanna meet up?"

is the kind who always dresses like a car salesman no matter what the occasion

the kind to document his meal prep for the week on IG like ok we get it zeke you have no issue eating chicken and broccoli for 7 days straight

he incorporates protein powder into literally everything

he got BANNED from planet fitness since he triggered the lunk alarm WAY TOO MANY TIMES

he smells clean, like soapy. dude is always working out so he's always taking showers

hate to admit it but he is naturally a hot person - ie. he has slept for 10 hours - literally has woken up from hibernation and still manages to look hot

one of those hot middle aged bearded guys who practically lives at disneyland - like "i have a fastpass" lookin ass "i make sure to go at least twice a year"

90% of his instagram feed are gym selfies #progress #grind

but he makes a sweet husband. will serve you breakfast in bed with a "kiss the cook" apron (he is also completely butt ass naked under said apron)

has a thigh tattoo. of what? idk - he just has one. probably a dagger or a snake

he drives a goddamn tesla

but drives way too damn fast. he has like 6 speeding tickets

he wears crocs and wears them well

the charms on his crocs? two dogs, the eggplant emoji, the letter "z" and a pizza

he is WAYYYYY too into christmas

like zeke it's almost february please take down the tree

lowkey loves rupaul's drag race

oh god you know what - he is an influencer

use my code "BEAST" at checkout for 10% off your order with HelloFresh

erwin

the kid who had a massive glow up like he was bullied in middle school and grew up to be super hot, still with them big ass brows

he shops at express. even worked there at some point because he shops there so much he just wanted the discount

also dresses like a car salesman

also also also dresses like your typical dad with a golf shirt, khakis and boat shoes

loves starbucks

black coffee like straight up BLACK COFFEE no sugar no cream or anything

he is also the hot guy at starbucks who is on their mac laptop. he will literally stay there for like 6 hours to finish his work

the "posting a photo of me wearing a rolex holding my $9 cup of coffee in front of my bmw steering wheel" kind of flex

is only on facebook

he has an instagram account where he follows 0 people but has 26 followers. he created the account but never used it

he smells really good, like always

erwin's hand on your thigh when driving.

christian grey 2.0 like my boy is a FREAK he will tie you up and dick you up and down diva

he's the popular guy in the neighborhood and constantly hosts barbecues and parties

big sports guy - LOVES FOOTBALL

hot dad energy. his son/daughter posts tiktoks of them together and majority of the comments are like "you need a step mom?"

also a soft dad. the kind of dad you can talk to about anything

bringing home your girlfriend/boyfriend to meet your parents for the first time? erwin will literally run a background check and interrogate your significant other to make sure they are good enough for you

if you show him something on your phone, he will put on his glasses, squint and hold the phone like a foot away from his face

"what is a .. meme?"

was given the highest credit limit ever at home depot

he really loves building shit

he drives two cars: his dilf-y BMW sportscar and the honda odyssey family minivan

you will occasionally find him arguing with the Alexa in the living room

enjoys adam sandler movies

DAD JOKES FOR FUCKING DAYS MY GOD

he invests in crypto and that nft bullshit

levi

he was a theater kid in high school

also played baseball

yea he got that dump truck, kim k could never

the super chill, yet quiet hot guy that everyone knew. he wasn't popular but he was friends with everyone

levi will be attending the when we were young festival

his photos have been used several times within the emo/scene community on myspace

goes to the mall to shop at only h&m and hot topic. he also loves vans

dresses REALLY hot; he has an all black wardrobe

he also wears a lot of rings jalkdfjalkfdjakl

even though he may look small he can deadlift around 330 lbs

and yes zeke is S H A K I N G because as fit as he may be, he could NEVER

only wears Tom Ford perfume

forever young. middle aged and he still gets carded at 7-eleven when buying beer

drives a motorcycle

he has an iphone 8

also loves coffee

his order: grande iced latte with a splash of cream and sugar free vanilla

but still prefers tea above the rest. they know him at the teavana store

he doesn't understand the concept of almond milk or oat milk

he still hasn't downloaded tiktok

he doesn't even have facebook actually

he's only on IG

soft skin.

yes he has a skin routine; lives by his moisturizer

the only place he shops for food is at trader joes

he loves those soup dumplings

he does radiate minimal karen energy jfc i can see him calling for the manager but, for the greater good!!11!11 ie. the employees were being dicks/not doing their job

he is a plant guy. his one bed studio apartment is just decorated with plants

horror movie buff

he's actually a hopeless romantic

lowkey watches lifetime movies

is a big fan of robert pattinson batman

i can see him being a big nicki minaj fan like-

addison rae follows him on IG

eren

oh god he's a modern day fuckboi

the complete opposite of his brother, zeke

he lives by gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss like he just radiates that energy

is also on tinder

again, opposite of his brother - he loves cats

and yes his profile pic on tinder is of him with his cat

the only thing in his bio is his height and the fact that he loves cats

he loves space song by beach house especially the (slowed + reverb) version on youtube

always smells like he put on too much axe body spray

he has an android phone - actually he is VERY anti-apple

posts very controversial tweets that garner a lot of attention + traffic to his page (but, the good kind of controversial. his tweets get reposted on those shitty fake Drake accounts)

his side hustle is being an uber driver (yes, a 5 star driver)

he drives a corolla but it's one of those really cool tricked out ones

JDM lifestyle

yes he goes to car meets

"can i have a hug" type guy

he has a photo album on his phone specifically for memes and reaction pics for twitter

but DAMN he is HOT HOT HOT. man bun, a sleeve of tattoos and skinny jeans that show off his humongous gingerbread man

he possess such a hot, punky, cyberpunk aesthetic that majority of his "OOTD" posts get reposted by those fashion accounts on IG

doja cat follows him on IG

more active on 4chan than any other social network

shrek is love, shrek is life

boba tea and korean bbq = favs

has seen spiderman no way home about 12 times since its release

this is breaking the fourth wall but yes eren loves anime

........ and yes that includes hentai - he has an ahegao sticker on his corolla for god's sake

will also be attending the we were young festival with levi

if he sees you with a rolling stones t-shirt he will approach you with "name 5 of their songs"

everytime he sings the rock part of happier than ever by billie eilish, he sings it with so much passion you start to worry like damn u ok?

armin

he was very involved in high school clubs; you name it, band, theater, sports - he was even the senior class president

just like erwin, he was someone who also had a tremendous and miraculous glow up

and yes when you are having dinner with armin and your parents, if you ask "will you please pass the salt, daddy?" both your dad and armin will turn around

although, he doesn't believe in tinder. he wants to find love "the old fashioned way"

he smells like fresh laundry and lavender

exclusively shops at h&m and forever 21 like yes a soft white sweater and some joggers fuck me up armih

he's a freak

no, really !!!! he's actually a freak ok like he may seem so innocent on the outside but man he will choke you out in the bedroom

the "i'm only on facebook cause of family" kind of guy; barely posts anything but when he does it's wholesome shit like a video of a dog riding a bicycle

but he is very active on his newsfeed - he will comment and like your posts

a big advocate for gay rights like you will see this man with his shirt off at pride

this man loves k-pop

"i can't stop me" by twice. enough said

his house smells like vanilla

ooh, he's also a minimalist when it comes to home decor

but he has a wall full of vinyls

shops for candles at bath & body

he's a big gamer!!!! 150k subs on twitch. live streams. plays OW and Destiny

jesus christ, he built his own gaming rig

he drives a prius lol

he practically lives at barnes & noble

jim carrey fanatic

*shares a song with you from spotify* "this song made me think of you"

gives the best and warmest hugs

lowkey is a one direction stan

they got your order wrong at starbucks? you asked for 2% milk and they gave you whole milk? no worries, armin will be the one to go up to the barista and POLITELY demand they remake it

[hookingminor]

4 times his friends posted you on their instagram + 1 time he did - mat barzal

a/n: I wrote this literally back in july so lets just ignore how idealistic this is regarding quarantine but im a slut for some barzy this is all fluff

word count: 4,733

summary: like the title says, some friends (with benefits?) to lovers + a tyson cameo, fluffy summer quarantine fic

tagging @davidpastrsnack​ so kate can get on the barzy train

-

1.

To say the whole quarantine thing was an inconvenience was an understatement. School had ended online, your summer internship was cancelled, and it seemed like your summer would turn into an uneventful couple of months stuck in your apartment in, probably, the worst place to be stuck in during a pandemic: New York City.

Or so you thought.

You’d planned on having the most boring summer ever until your friend, Mat, had invited you to hole up away with him and a few friends in a lake house back in Vancouver. Well, friend was a loose term. The two of you were friends… just ones that kissed occasionally… and sometimes more than kissed. You’d met him about a year ago at a bar while he was out with his teammates after a game. A cliche meeting, but you hit it off instantly. Instead of ending up in his bed at the end of the night (which you would eventually end up at after a couple months), it turned into an exchange of numbers and an invitation to hang out later in the week.

You hadn’t thought anything of it at first, just thinking he was being friendly and wanting to end the conversation, so you were surprised to get a text the next day from an unknown number asking if you’d wanted to go on a bike ride.

Flashforward a year later and the two of you still went on bike rides together. At least, up until the pandemic started.

When the text came telling you to pack your bags for a month or so, you thought he was joking. Surely he couldn’t have meant you to join him in Vancouver over the summer? You were proven wrong when he showed up at your apartment the next day, two coffees in his hand.

“Uh, hi, Mathew,” you said hesitantly, opening your door to reveal your disheveled state, having just woken up.

“Why are you dressed like that? We have a plane to catch in four hours,” he said, pushing himself through your door, uninvited, to set the coffees on the counter.

“What are you doing here? What plane? You’re not supposed to be going out,” you reprimanded him for showing up unannounced and in the middle of quarantine.

“I told you we’re going to Vancouver, I know you read my text. Now let’s hurry up and pack, we gotta get going,” Mat rushed, already on the way to your bedroom.

You followed him after a brief moment once you’d processed what was going on. Mat had already pulled out your suitcase and set it on top of your bed by the time you entered the door. He was in the middle of rifling through your drawers and grabbing random garments to throw into the suitcase when you’d spoken again.

“You’re actually serious about this?”

“Of course I am. What better things do you have to do in a city on lockdown for an entire summer? Honestly, I’m doing you a favor,” he explained easily, turning back to grab more items.

“Oh, you’re doing me a favor? Thank you, Mat, for saving me from a summer of suffering. It’s not like I had other plans to find different internships or focus on my summer classes,” you replied sarcastically.

Mat rolled his eyes. “I am doing you a favor, and you’re doing me a favor by going. I need a hot piece of ass to get me through this, or I will lose my mind.” You slugged him on the shoulder in offense, but all he did was chuckle.

“And anyways, you can still do your classes in Vancouver. Instead of doing them locked in this apartment, you can do them lounged out under the Canadian sun. Preferably in a bikini,” he finished. You slugged his arm again, harder this time.

“In fact, you should take the red bikini, it makes your tits look amazing,” he said, noticing you shuffling through your swimsuits. You rolled your eyes at him but grabbed the red one anyway along with a couple others.

With both of you folding and packing, your bags were ready to go in record time.

“Alright, baby, let’s go.” And so you were off.

A week had gone by in total bliss. As much as you hated to admit it, Mat was right. Vacationing in Vancouver in a secluded lake house was a lot better than being alone in your apartment, even if you did still have classes to do. Mat teased you about it, but he always left you alone for a few hours in the day for you to focus on your work. Unless he really wanted something… like right now.

Mat had joined you laying on the couch while you were in the middle of annotating a book for class. He wiggled his way between your arms, causing you to break your hold on your book. He rested his head on your chest, arms wrapped around your middle, and nuzzled his face into your neck. Joining your hands back to your book and bringing your highlighter to the page, you continued to underline phrases you’d come back to later. A couple minutes passed in silence before Mat started sighing. And then he sighed again.

“What do you want?” you huffed out, closing your book with the pen marking your page.

“Let’s go swimming,” he said, pushing up to his elbows to look at your face.

“I have to finish, like, three more chapters today,” you explained.

“You can do that later. I want to go swimming now,” Mat whined.

“You know you sound like a petulant child right now, right?” you asked, moving a hand to his head, pushing his hair back as he pouted.

“Stop using big words on me. Let’s swim,” he said, rolling his eyes.

You paused to think about it for a moment, “Hmm… okay, I guess,” you said with a smile. Mat returned your smile with one of his own before hopping up to drag you to your room to change. It didn’t take much to convince you to swim. It was a really nice day out, and you didn’t really care to finish reading about 17th century philosophy.

You changed into your red bikini, Mat swapped his shorts for a pair of swim trunks, and threw on a backwards baseball cap. You went out back to join the rest of his friend group, who were in the process of loading up the boat with supplies and equipment.

“Oh, look, if it isn’t Brainiac and the Beast. Are you two finally going to go boating with us?” Tyson shouted from the dock. You rolled your eyes at his nickname they created for you and Mat. It had only been a week in Vancouver, but the chirps about you and school were tired by now.

“Princess here wants to swim in the pool, maybe next time!” you shouted back, pointing to Mat.

They laughed at your response, turning their attention back to the boat and running supplies to and from the house. You turned your attention back to Mat, who was taking off his hat and was about two seconds away from jumping in the pool.

“Mathew, stop!” you yelled out, “Get your ass over here!”

“What is it?” he asked, stopping just short of the deep end. He grumbled before marching over to you.

“You need to put sunscreen on first, dumbass,” you reprimanded. As you turned your back to grab the bottle of sunscreen, he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Mat,” you said sharply, turning back to face him with a raised eyebrow.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.”

You ignored him, opening the cap and squeezing lotion onto your hands. You gestured him to turn around, and you spread the lotion over it, making sure to rub it into his shoulders.

“I don’t see why I have to put sunscreen on. It’s not even that hot outside,” he muttered.

“First of all, you’re a dumbass. Second of all, heat doesn’t automatically mean the UV rays aren’t strong. And lastly, you’re white, baby, you’ll burn like a sun-dried tomato and being in water only increases the amount of sun you’re exposed to,” you explained, reaching up to rub some on his face.

“Sorry, Miss Meteorologist,” he grumbled, clearly not happy he’d lost this argument.

“One of us has to have brains. We can’t all get by on our good looks and skating ability,” you replied, slapping his cheeks when you were done for good measure.

“Okay, well, if you’re finally done,” you nodded in confirmation, “Let’s go.” He picked you up from under your thighs and ran at full speed towards the pool before you could even process what was happening. You screamed his name in protest begging him to put you down, claiming you hadn’t had time to put on sunscreen yet. He ignored you as he jumped into the deep end, dragging you with him.

You emerged from the water clinging to Mat’s wet body, your hair sopping and hanging over your face like you had come straight out of the movie The Grudge. Mat was laughing at your chaotic look, knowing you were well pissed at him. You jumped higher in the water on top of him to dunk his head under and tried your best to drown him.

It wasn’t until you were relaxing on the couch later that night doing your routinely social media scroll that you saw one of the guys recorded your sunscreen interaction by the pool, you calling Mat a dumbass, and him throwing you in the pool onto their instagram story with a caption “all these two do is fight” with some laughing crying emojis added for effect.

2.

After a long day or hiking, you’d immediately crashed on the couch once you’d gotten back to the house, not bothering to walk all the way to your room. It was only early in the afternoon but you’d been out since sunrise, and dealing with people for hours on end had drained you. The group laughed at you as you plopped your body down onto the couch, curling your head under your arm instead of grabbing the pillow two feet away from you. The rest of them gathered in the kitchen, refueling their bodies with assorted snacks as they started popping open bottles of beer, ready to start the night. It seemed that even an entire day on their feet had not emptied them of their, seemingly endless, energy.

“Jesus Christ, we hiked for, like, six hours and you’re all still bouncing off the walls,” you sighed deeply.

“We’re about to go hit the boat and go water skiing, too. I’m assuming you’re too tired to join us?” Tyson teased.

“I will not be joining you because unlike some people, I need a nap. Now get out of here, you’re all giving me a headache,” you said, pinching your fingers on the bridge of your nose to emphasize your point.

They all snickered but kept quiet as they shuffled around, packing up more food to take outside. You heard the sliding door shut and close a few times as they ran in and out before it was finally silent. You let out a sigh of relief as you took solace in the calm quiet.

That was until you felt a pair of arms shifting you closer to the edge of the couch. You peeked one eye open to see Mat rolling your body over to give him some space as he climbed over your body to nestle himself between you and the back cushions.

“Not going out on the boat?” You asked as he tucked a pillow under the both of your heads and pulled a blanket over your bodies.

“No. They’re exhausting. I need some time for myself,” Mat replied, wrapping his arm around your middle to pull you into his chest.

“No offense, but if you’re with me, you’re not by yourself,” you explained, closing your eyes again as you settled into a comfortable position.

“Yeah, but you’re you. You don’t exhaust me,” he said quietly. You didn’t know what to say to that, so you didn’t answer. Within a few seconds you heard Mat’s breathing even out, and you followed quickly behind him into a deep sleep.

-

A couple hours passed in a dreamless sleep when you heard the sliding of doors and laughter travel through the house. It stirred you from your sleep and you both shifted around, letting out displeased groans.

“Are they both still asleep?” You heard one of them ask from the kitchen. Neither of you wanted to answer in hopes they would leave you two to continue sleeping.

You were sadly mistaken.

“Hey! Sleeping beauties! Time to get up!” Tyson shouted from somewhere above you.

You both groaned out a “Fuck off, Tyson,” without opening your eyes, both of you giving him the middle finger. Tyson laughed to himself and you expected him to keep bothering you, but you heard his footsteps lead away from the couch. You turned over on your other side, tucking your face into Mat’s neck before falling back asleep.

-

When you woke up later that evening, you checked instagram again to see Tyson posted a new story. It was the video of him bothering you two and flipping him off with a caption that said “I get no respect around here :(“

3.

It had been raining all day. Which meant everyone was stuck inside watching movies and eating pizza. It didn’t take long for you to get bored of lounging on the couch, especially when all they wanted to do was watch Fast and Furious movies. You sat on the loveseat you were sharing with Mat, and you distracted yourself from the boring movie by tangling your hands in your hair, French braiding the strands into pigtails mindlessly. You unbraided and rebraided your hair into a fishtail after the pigtails, and then into a regular braided ponytail after that. You let yourself get caught up in daydreams as you stared blankly at the TV when Mat started tugging on your leg. Dropping your braid, you finished tying it off with a hair tie and turned to look at him.

“Let me practice on you,” Mat said quietly.

“Practice what?” You asked.

“Braiding,” he said, shuffling to sit upright. He tried to gently push you off the couch until you got the hint and moved to sit between his legs on the floor.

“You think you can do it?” You asked, ready to offer him a demonstration.

“I’ve been watching you for the past half hour, I got this,” he replied, pulling out your hair tie. You rolled your eyes at his confidence, but let him continue unraveling the strands.

Every few minutes Mat would sigh exasperatedly before pulling out the twists he’d made to start over. Eventually, he’d almost gotten all the way to the end of your hair before he sighed again, clearly fed up by how long this was taking him. You didn’t say anything as he restarted for a third time, going for a straight back braid instead of a French braid.

After another ten minutes, Mat had finally completed his simple braid, tying your hair off with the tie. He tapped your shoulder to indicate he was done, and you pulled the long tail over your shoulder to look at it.

It was a braid.

An extremely loose one where he mixed up the strand order in a couple places, but a braid nonetheless. You turned around to get back up on the couch, and you were met with his triumphant smile.

“Good job, bud,” you complimented, leaving the braid in as you resumed your previous position on the couch.

-

You checked your phone to find a notification of a new story tag. You opened the app to see a picture of you on the floor, staring at the TV while Mat had his hands twisted in your hair and a confused look on his face and tongue poking out of his mouth. Next to your instagram tag was “he’s been knotting her hair on purpose for 20 minutes now”

4.

Your final exams for the summer classes you were taking were in a week. Finals stressed you out more than anything else in the world, and when you were stressed, you did a lot of baking. A lot of baking. After finishing your finals study schedule and nearly breaking down almost twice because of the amount you had to get done, you decided to start baking instead of going to sleep. So, at 3 in the morning when everyone was asleep, you’d  turned on the oven and brought out the bowls.

It began with a few dozen cookies. You figured everyone could at least enjoy the cookies. Who didn’t like cookies?

Cookies turned into muffins, muffins into cupcakes, and then cupcakes into pies. By the time everyone was waking up, it was nearly eleven in the morning. You’d gone to the store twice and had taken a few twenty minute naps while you waited for your desserts baked in the oven. And right now, you were in the middle of finishing off some cinnamon rolls for breakfast

“Oh my god, what the hell happened here?” Mat had asked with a scared expression, taking note of the disastrous kitchen. You didn’t answer him as you were topping off the rolls with some icing.

A few more bodies had gathered in the kitchen and began to fill the seats at the countertop while they watched you with worried eyes.

“What?” You asked innocently, placing the plates of cinnamon rolls in front of all of them. Their eyes followed you carefully as you pulled more goods out of the oven where you were keeping them warm. Plate after plate you set on the counter, all the cookies and muffins and cakes.

“How long have you been up?” Tyson asked cautiously. You swear you’ve never heard him use a softer voice than right now.

“I’m not sure. I never went to sleep, I guess? What time is it now?” You asked, pulling out glasses for orange juice.

“Nearly noon. You seriously didn’t sleep?” Tyson asked. The others had delved into the confections, eyes bouncing between the two of you as they stuffed their faces.

“She’s stress baking,” Mat replied quietly, helping himself to a cinnamon roll.

“What the hell is tress baking?” One of the other guys asked.

“Yeah she does this when she’s stressed. Usually when finals are coming up,” Mat said, directing it more towards you than his friend. You gave him a sheepish look, deciding not to comment since he already answered for you.

Mat was used to your stress baking as it resulted in you showing up at his place in the middle of the night with bags full of pastries in the late hours of the evening. It was always against his diet and he frequently gave most of your desserts to his neighbor, but he could never tell you no when you arrived with gifts.

“Well, I’m all out of flour, so, I’m going to run to the store again to get some more supplies so I can make a chocolate cake later,” you said hurriedly.

You did a quick double check of the kitchen, flashing all the guys a bright smile before heading out the door with your purse in hand, all of them staring until the front door shut behind you.

-

When you came back, you found Mat in the kitchen doing the dishes and nearly all the sweets you’d baked earlier were eaten or wrapped and put away. Maybe there was a plus side to being in a home with five other people.

“Mat, you don’t have to do that,” you said, setting your groceries down and hip checking him away from the sink.

“You’re already stressed, I figured doing the dishes would take away some of that,” he said with a shrug. He continued rinsing out some bowls as you gave him a small smile.

The two of you continued to wash the dishes in silence, moving to clean the countertops when you were done. After half an hour, the mess you’d made was gone and any signs of a baking breakdown had been erased.

It was a shame you were about to tear up the kitchen all over again.

“How about this,” Mat said, noticing the frown on your face at the thought of making another mess, “Let’s have a competition.”

You quirked your eyebrow, “I’m listening.”

“You said you were making a chocolate cake, right? How about we see who can make the better cake,” Mat propositioned.

You raised both your eyebrows this time. You both knew you were the better baker by a long shot. You did have this same breakdown at least twice a year. You weren’t even sure Mat knew how to make anything that didn’t come with box instructions or included possible salmonella-inducing ingredients.

You knew what he was really trying to do. He was trying to distract you from all the stress, and he knew you couldn’t turn down a competition. You were just as bad as him when it came to winning. Thankfully, this was something you knew you’d win.

“Fine, but I hope you’re prepared to lose,” you agreed with a smile.

“I don’t know, I have been practicing my cooking skills lately,” he said, grabbing the bowls he’d just dried off.

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it,” you replied with an eye roll and heavy sarcasm.

You joined him in gathering all the ingredients and materials on the counter, setting up your respective stations. Mat divided the workspace in half, drawing a line in flour which made you laugh. You split the bowls between the sides and set up the ingredients on the second counter just like an actual cooking show.

“Okay, ground rules first. Half an hour to make the cakes, we bake them at the same time, and then another half hour for decorating at the end,” you explained, tying your hair back in a ponytail. Mat nodded at your statement and set a timer on his phone for 30 minutes.

“Ready.”

“Set.”

“Go!”

-

After about two hours, your creations were done. Well, they were supposed to be. Mat’s cake looked more or less like a brown lump coated in frosting and stripes. You’d tried your best to decorate yours with small chocolate roses, but you could’ve turned out a plain cake and probably would have done better.

“I think I won,” you stated confidently.

“You’re not allowed to decide, you’re biased! I’ll make a poll on my story,” Mat said, going to grab his phone.

“You can’t do that, your followers are going to pick yours.”

“Fine, we’ll get someone else to do it— Josty! Come here,” Mat called to his friend passing through the kitchen. He hesitantly walked over to where you were, not wanting to come in the middle of whatever you two were shouting about.

“We need you to make an instagram poll to see who’s cake looks better. Oh, and you’re going to taste test them,” you said, picking up your cake to pose for a picture as Mat did the same. Tyson sighed before realizing you two were serious and he opened his app to take a picture.

He added the photo to his story with a poll asking “Which one is better?” With two options, Y/N’s or Mat’s.

After you set the cakes back down, Tyson picked up a fork before stabbing them to pick out a chunk from each. He ate yours first, nearly moaning at the taste.

“Holy shit, this is, like, the best cake I’ve ever eaten,” Tyson said, shoveling down another forkful. You gave Mat a shit-eating grin.

“Okay, okay, try mine now,” Mat said, displeased. Tyson rolled his eyes before forking out some of his.

“Uh,” he coughed, “it’s a little,” cough, “dry.”

“What? No, it’s not! Let me try,” Mat shouted, outraged, and grabbed Tyson’s fork to try for himself.

It took him two seconds before he was spitting the cake into a napkin.

“Fine. You win,” Mat conceded, throwing a dish towel against the counter in mock fury.

You gloated for another 5 minutes, pointing out Mat’s terrible baking skills as Tyson continued to eat your cake and laugh at Mat.

You won the instagram poll too.

+ 1

It was the last week before you and Mat were flying back to New York. The past month had passed quickly, and Mat needed to get back for the start of training camps. As the summer began to end, the whole crew thought they’d spend one last day on the boat before everyone started parting ways.

It’s not like you were opposed to being on boats, but when all the guys did was water sports and no one wanted to slow down to teach you, it wasn’t as fun.

Today, however, had been quite calm as you sat against the front of the boat, a seltzer in hand as you watched Tyson wakeboarding in the back. Mat was curled up behind you as you leaned back against his chest, tanned skin shining in the summer sun. You reached back to grab the baseball cap off his head, placing it on yours to shield your eyes from the sun. You’d forgotten to bring sunglasses, and you figured Mat could part with his hat since he had a pair.

The day passed peacefully as all the guys took turns until it was sunset. Mat had joined you back on the seat, skin wet from just getting out of the water. He wrapped you in his arms before pulling you onto his lap, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek.

“Hey, Tys, take a picture of us real quick,” Mat said, shoving his phone into Tyson’s chest.

You thought nothing of it, you and Mat had taken many pictures together, and this was no different. Mat rested his chin on your shoulder, his arms wrapped around your stomach as you both gave your cheesiest smiles to the camera. A quick shutter indicated the picture was taken and Tyson gave Mat his phone back.

-

Mat called your name from your bed as you stood in the adjoined bathroom, finishing your nightly routine.

“Hey, do you mind if I post that picture of us on my instagram?” Mat called out.

“The one from the boat? Why?” You asked, drying off your face with a towel.

“It’s a cute picture,” he shrugged when you reentered the room.

“People are going to start talking if you do,” you warned with a cautious tone.

He paused for a second.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Mat asked quietly, looking up to meet your eyes.

You stayed silent as you climbed in under the covers.

“What are you trying to say, Mat?”

He took a deep breath, “I think you’re amazing, you know that. And we’ve been friends for so long, it kind of feels natural, doesn’t it?” His fingers began tapping against the sheets anxiously as he held his breath and waited for your response.

You gave him a small smile, moving your body around to fully face him.

“It does,” you agreed, “But if you want us to be something more, you’re going to have to ask me on a date first.”

“A date? After I’ve already gotten you into bed? What’s the point?” You knew he meant it as a joke since he could barely finish the sentence without laughing, but you gently slapped his head as he began to apologize.

“I’m kidding!” He said between chuckles, “Will you go on a date with me once we get back to New York and it’s safe to go out again?”

“I’d love to, Mat,” you replied, leaning in to give him a sweet kiss.

“I’m still going to post that photo tomorrow, though,” he said after a short pause, smiling against your lips.

-

The next day when Mat had gone on a fishing trip with the guys, you saw a notification pop up on your phone.

“@barzal97 tagged you in a photo”

You unlocked your phone.

“Isolation isn’t so bad when you have this girl to spend it with”

[littlefreya]

The Kitten & the Bear - Part 1

Intro: This story is a collab and was written by both @wolvesandhoundshowltogether​ and I. It was born out of a fun role play we have going on. We ended up having so much a fun with this particular idea that we thought we should post it as a 3 part story and share it with the rest!

| Read Part 2  | Read Part 3 |

Summary: After a night of drinking in town get Walter’s bratty wife ends up with pure chaos and the overprotective grumpy husband is having none of her shenanigans. 

Pairing: Detective Walter Marshall x OFC (first person pov) 

Word count: 3k

Warnings: Bratty behaviour, vandalism, dominant overprotectiveness, BDE, husband stalking his wife, sexual innuendo, dirty inappropriate talks, mentions of sex and oral, weed and alcohol usage. Sex in the next parts :D Walter is a Boomer. 

A/N: We didn’t beta it and did transform it from 2nd to 1st person POV, really hoping you guys will enjoy it as we did. Feel free to share your thoughts. 

Title: The Kitten & the Bear

Nothing chilled my heart more than waking up in an empty bed. Walter was already gone, leaving his side of the mattress cold and abandoned. A heavy sigh broke from my lips, I stroked the ghost of the kiss that still tingled on my cheek, knowing he planted it there before heading to work. 

Sadness seeped into my heart as I realised I won't see him today. Our work scheduled conflicted and I have scheduled a "date night" with my girls in the evening. Picking up my phone, I texted him a pouty emoji and then headed to get my day started.

Walter left me on read, which just fuelled the brat in me. When he called during his lunch break, he was taciturn as usual, and most of the call was about his disapproval of us girls going out without at least one male friend or a boyfriend to chaperone.

"Oh my god, Walter, this is not the 50s! Women can leave their house without a husband tagging along!" I grunted and berated him, "stop acting like someone is going to kidnap me!!! I'm an adult woman!" I snapped at him while sitting at the cafe. People sitting around stared quietly as I hung up the phone, and stormed out.

~~~

Walter looked at his mobile phone, shocked. He couldn't even remember the last time someone hung up on him, let along his wife.

"Fucking brat," he muttered as he pocketed it. 

After lunch, he went into the precinct. Since it was flu season and they were having a shortage of uniformed officers, he volunteered to patrol tonight. Assuming he might even be able to check up on me wherever I get to town. Just to keep me safe. That's right. Not from jealousy. Not because I'll be all dolled up and tipsy and every man in the vicinity will ogle me.

~~~

As the evening loomed, I was in dire need of letting loose. Walter had left me incredibly frustrated, acting like a police officer from hell rather than my husband. Going through my closet, I stumbled upon the most outrageous piece of wardrobe: a black strappy thing with corset details at the front. The same one I've worn for our first date which of course ended up with Walter and I dry humping like two horny teenagers at the back of his truck and him eating me out until I came all over his beard 4 times. 

I slapped a dark red lipstick and put on a pair of red "fuck me" pumps before leaving to meet the gals in a new night club that had just opened. I might or might not have a rolled-up joint in my purse.

~~~

Walter was sitting in a patrol vehicle on the opposite side of the street from the new fancy club with translucent walls. We were all sitting beside the window at a small table full of cocktail glasses, but the girls were gesturing toward the dance floor. Walter chose a dark spot on the street to park the car and was wearing a beanie. 

But he didn't need it. He knew I was oblivious to him and also to the men staring at me from 3 different tables. He ground his teeth frustrated when he first noticed that I was wearing that dress. His blood boiled as I was slowly sipping a cocktail with a sexy little pout around the long straw.

"Let's dance!!! I wanna dance!!!" I whined at my friend Keylah, grabbing her wrist and dragging her with me. My posture was slightly unstable after two cocktails and probably not enough food to pad my belly. She followed me to the dance floor while Stephanie remained in her seat, talking to some guy just for the sake of trolling. He'd been hitting on each one of us unsuccessfully. 

After an hour of dancing with Keylah, swaying my ass in ways that didn't leave any imagination to the men lurking, I remembered the little treat I had in my purse and decided we should take a small break to breathe some fresh air. 

I grabbed the girls, and we walked outside.

"Okay, don't you dare mention this to Walter," I warned them as I took the joint out from my purse.

"Daddy Magnum gonna punish you?" Steph teased while I lit the weed. 

"Oh, you have no idea, he gave me shit about seeing you tonight without a male chaperone, like this is Mad Man or something." 

"Woah! Walter is a boomer!!!" Keylah teased, and we all laughed hysterically. 

~~~

Unbeknownst to me, Walter was watching us dance from his patrol car, getting more and more frustrated by the hour. He observed as I gathered both girls and came out on the street, walking a couple of meters away from the entrance. A frown fell on his face as he saw me taking a lighter out from my purse.

"She doesn't even smoke, what the hell?" he fumed. 

His eyes widened when he saw the telltale shape of a joint between my fingers. His mouth was agape as I lit it up and started smoking and passing it around. "What the fuck? Where did she get that?" he muttered incredulously.

'It's fucking illegal in Minnesota, what the fuck? A cop's wife at that!' He thought, rage simmering in his gut.  

The police radio suddenly began buzzing, the sergeant calling on the line. 

"Hey Marshall, Toby came in for the night shift after all. Do you want him to keep you company?" 

'And see Walter's wife going to town on a spliff? No fucking way.' 

"No, Sarge, thanks. It's uh... calm tonight." He frowned from afar. "Nothing but law-abiding citizens," he replied, hoping his sarcasm didn't go through while he was watching the wife of a respected detective drunk and smoking weed in the great outdoors.

"All right" the sarge concluded and cut the line, and Walter put back the radio.

‘Un-fucking-believable.'

~~~

The girls and I fell into a fit of wild giggles, thoroughly buzzed and high at the same time. My skirt rode up my thighs, and I didn't even bother fixing it as the combination of drugs and alcohol made me frivolous and careless. 

"Is Walter such a nerd in bed too? Is he one of those guys who won't even make a sound because they are ashamed of it?" Stephanie asked to which I immediately snorted.

"Walter fucks like a beast from hell," I answered and put off the remains of the joint against the heel of my shoe. 

"I had to go to the gyno at least four times in the past because he was too violent, and trust me, the noise he makes, luckily no one called the police yet…" 

"Jennifer, your husband is the police!" Keylah answered, and we burst into another fit of giggles which then gradually died down. 

The same man who bugged us from before followed us outside, giving us some stares and making a suckling voice with his lips. I snorted at him and told him to fuck off before putting my arms around my girls. 

"This place sucks, let's go grab something to eat from the store, if Walter sees me like this I will NEVER hear the end of it".

~~~

Walter was watching us walk away, still furious about my illicit behaviour. He promised himself that he'd have a serious conversation with me about this tomorrow. He gave us two blocks of a head start and then ignited the engine of the car and made a U-turn, slowly he rolled towards the store and saw us enter. He made another U-turn in front of the store to park across the street. He just hoped that we'll buy some nachos and a coke and then call it a night, and call a cab to go home.

~~~

It was close to 1am. We barged into the store, marching through as if we owned the place. Keylah stopped by the condoms section and threw a bottle of lube in my direction. "Here you go, Jennifer, you gonna need it".

I laughed and threw it back at her, grabbing a bag of chips and a bottle of water. 

"Better fuck his brains before he starts asking where you've been tonight," Stephanie added. 

"Can you girls please behave?" The clerk-lady requested politely, giving us a prudent look. I rolled my eyes at her and then stopped short as I saw a large stuffed grizzly bear that reminded me of Walter. I grabbed it and hugged it tightly just as I got the sudden urge to misbehave.

"Girls…" I whispered, making them come closer, "bet you a 20 I can sneak this out without paying!"

~~~

Walter's shoulders slumped, and he let out an irritated groan when he saw one of the girls throwing things inside the store. Though, he sighed in relief when I paused this stupid game, and a small smile tugged the edge of his mouth when I hugged a huge stuffed bear that reached down to my thighs and was high above the top of my head as I squeezed it to my torso. 

The way I looked at the bear reminded him of the loving looks I always gave him. But a sense of foreboding assaulted him as we started whispering and pointed at the door.

~~~

"Okay, okay… shush!" I whispered way too obvious and held the stuffed animal behind my back.

"Hey Keylah, can you pay for my chips?" I asked and backed away toward the door, nearly stumbling on my heels and holding the laughter in my gut. 

Noticing my attempt, the old woman cleared her throat, giving me a glare, "You are going to have to pay for that or I will call the police…"

"Her husb…"

"Shut up, Stephanie!" Keylah shouted and threw a bottle of lube in her direction, accidently hitting my shoulder, which made me drop the bear on the floor. 

"Key, you fucking bitch!!!" I answered and picked up the bottle, throwing it back at her. 

"Hey stop that!!!!" The clerk demanded and walked back behind the counter, picking up her phone. 

We ignored her, laughing like schoolgirls and throwing the bottle back and forth between us. Boxes of tampons and condoms fell to the floor as we moved through the hygiene section shouting playfully. 

As Keylah threw the bottle at me for the 12th time, I lifted it and threw it so hard it hit the window and broke it, causing the store's alarm to go off immediately.

"Oh… fu……..ck" I uttered.

~~~

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no," Walter panicked as he saw us vandalising the store. He was immediately ready to jump out of the car, but then it would be obvious he'd been keeping an eye on me. He had to wait for the call. 

He wasn't even hoping that the clerk would not involve the police in the matter. She has to. ‘Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck.’ 

When he saw the lady picking up the phone, he buried his face in his palms and rubbed it tiredly.

"Stupid, fucking bitches" he sighed, not believing his wife being so reckless. 

He picked up the buzzing radio and said, "Marshall. I'm here. On it." 

Without delay, he took the beanie off and got out of the car with his badge and gun ready.

~~~

Fingers dug into my hair, I stared wide-eyed at the broken window, immediately regretting all my decisions in the last couple of hours. 

'Walter was going to fucking kill me'. 

"I am soooooooo……." I began to say, turning to the clerk slowly while Keylah and Steph held their hands over their mouths. "So sorry." I stretched out while the alarm continued ringing in my ears. 

Then just like out of a nightmare, stepping through shards of broken glass with his big black boots, I saw Walter walking in, his brows knit together, his badge and his gun held out but kept low. He was enormous and menacing, yet the sight of him comforted me.

"Oh thank god, it's you!" I call out relieved.

~~~

The glass cracked beneath his steps as he walked in. He looked around and checked the store for cameras. 'Fuck, there were CCTVs'. 

He hoped to snatch me away and take care of the situation without involving... well himself but now that there was evidence it wasn't possible anymore. I was looking at him like a frightened little girl, but he couldn't help me, and frankly, he didn't feel like it either.

He looked at the clerk, showed her his badge and said in a neutral tone "MPD. What seems to be the problem?" 

~~~

My breath hitched at his "cop voice" and the way he asked the clerk. 

Stepping back and standing in the middle of the group, the three of us gaped at him with utter dumbfoundedness. Both my heart and gut dropped to the messy floor out of fear, and the way he carried himself, looking so menacing and authoritative made my panties drenched with arousal. 

"Officer, thank god you arrived! These three tried to steal a stuffed animal and started wreaking havoc in the store, throwing stuff around like children and speaking offensively!" The old woman explained and stood in the middle of the mess, looking helpless. 

My eyes rounded with false innocence, and I nibbled my bottom lip, giving Walter a vulnerable look. 

Walter was patiently listening to the clerk. Not a muscle flinched on his face as if he'd known everything. He took his notebook and a report form out and took care of the paperwork. 

The old lady eyed the three of us nervously while Walter was scribbling, and she hesitantly asked, "I'm sorry, Officer, but shouldn't you handcuff them? They might run."

Walter's curly head lifted, and he flashed the lady a small smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Don't worry, ma'am. They won't run."

"Is he serious?" Steph whispered, and I elbowed her, giving Walter a rather pissed off smile as he pretended not to know us at all and treated me like any other criminal.

Was it that just for show? Probably. We were going to have a serious talk about boundaries once we'd get home.

Walter finished writing his report and made the lady sign it before turning to look at the three of us, clenching his jaw. 

After a long, stern silence, I finally spoke, "Can I still get the teddy bear?"

Walter's nostrils flared as he dug into his pocket, pulled out a 20-dollar bill, slammed it on the counter and said to the clerk "For the bear."

At first, the lady was dumbfounded, then she blurted out outraged "Why are you buying a gift for a criminal?"

Walter didn't even spare her a look. He picked up the bear and looked at me with unflinching, stern eyes that made all three of us take a step backwards.

"Because she's my fucking wife."

The tone of his voice made the three of us startle, and I released a small gasp, seeing the look on his face. Walter made a gesture with his hand singling us to walk out of the store in order, and we did as he commanded. At the same time, my eyes gave him a mischievous smirk, mistaking this behaviour for a show.

Walter left the store last and immediately commanded, "To the car".

When we got there on the opposite side of the street, he opened the car and shoved the teddy bear on the passenger seat, then turned back, crossed his hands on his chest, and looked at all three of us. 

"Here's how it's gonna happen. We go in the precinct, fill out the forms, you stay the night, and most likely will be charged with a misdemeanour. Although the weed might be more problematic." He glared at me pointedly. 

The girls and I collectively gasped. 

"Now get in the back seat, all of you."

With shuddering legs, Keylah and Steph obediently entered the patrol car. I stared at Walter as he stood there towering over me, his massive arms crossed around his broad chest.

Still intoxicated, I looked at him with disbelief, realising two things: he arrived at the scene in less than two minutes after the lady called the police, which is impossible. And two, he couldn't possibly know I had weed on me unless… 

"Were you stalking me?!" I called out, ignoring the police officer and speaking to my husband. My hands went to my hips, my face sulking. 

"Oh my god, Walter! You were! Weren't you?" I frowned and shook my head, grunting with disgust.

"You are in no position to reproach me for anything right now", Walter said, seemingly calm. "But if you wanna know, I was patrolling in the neighbourhood and decided to check up on you. I saw the way you were shaking your ass for strangers" he spat, but he let his eyes roam the tight dress, and the way he subtly licked his lips made me sure he remembered exactly which dress it was.

"Do as you're fucking told and get in the car or you're gonna find yourself in even bigger trouble." 

"Oh my god, Walter!!! Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled at him and stepped back, throwing my hands in the air furiously.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!!! MY OWN HUSBAND STALKING ME?! What's next Walter? You gonna put an ankle bracelet thingy on me, so I don't get to leave the house without your fucking permission?!"

I got so angry, my hands pushed at his chest, to which he didn't even budge, and only his jaw tightened.

"I am NOT getting into that car, and you are going to let Keylah and Steph go before you are going to be in trouble!"

Keylah and Steph were both watching with utter fascination as they saw the growing tension in Walter's posture.

Once Keylah and Steph were inside the car, they felt like the immediate danger was over. Their drunkenness and high made them reckless again and they started cheering me in the verbal fight with my husband.

Walter was on the verge of bursting, it was evident from his face. He took a menacing step towards me and despite my anger, a pang of arousal shot in my core.

"Get. in the. fucking. car" he growled in a barely audible voice. He gave me one last chance to voluntarily obey him.

I moved closer toward him, my head tilting up to meet his menacing gaze, my breasts ghostly brushing against his hard torso.

"I am not going anywhere with you," I answered unflinchingly. "Keep this attitude up, and the whole town will get to enjoy me swaying this ass long before you do." I teasingly slapped my own ass and then smirked arrogantly as I heard the girls cheering at the backseat

"That's it."

Quick as lightning, Walter's hands uncrossed and shot out. He grabbed my arms, turned me around with dizzying speed and slammed my torso down on the hood of the police car.

"Jennifer Marshall, you are under arrest for destruction of property, public intoxication and obstruction of a law enforcement officer."

I gasped incredulously as I felt the metal handcuffs closing on my wrists while Walter was performing his duty automatically and methodically. I'd never seen him make an arrest, let alone manhandle me like this.

With my cheek pressed against the cold metal, I could see both Keylah and Steph gape at us, eyes and mouth wide with daze. 

Still intoxicated, I hissed as a shiver of fear and sexual arousal shot through my spine, creeping all the way down to my throbbing core. 

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I cried out in protest. "I am your wife!"

My attempt to stand up brought my ass to collide with his crotch, where I felt the unmistakable throb of his blood circulating down to his groin. 

"Are you also getting the feeling that they're gonna fuck?" Steph whispered to Keylah, loud enough for us to hear.

"Shush!" she answered and stared, licking her lips. 

"Let me go, you fucking pig!" I screamed and squirmed on the hood helplessly. 

"Anything you say will be held against you in the court of law" Walter continued in his deep cop voice as if I hadn't even spoken.

"Say his dick, girl!" Keylah shouted, and Steph wooed, but they quickly shut up and resorted to concealed giggling as Walter shot angry eyes at them. He stepped closer to secure his hold on the handcuffs, and I felt the warm coarse material of his jeans at the back of my thighs.

"If you don't want to add resisting arrest and possession of narcotics to your offences, shut the fuck up and stop squirming."

"Fuck” I hissed, which didn't go unnoticed by Walter. My ass naturally shifted against his hardening bulge, and I moaned gently, not loud enough for the girls to hear but definitely heard by Walter, who had his hand around my cuffed wrists.

"You're enjoying this, big guy?" I spit out sardonically, "controlling your wife like you always want to, hmm?"

With the alcohol flushing through my veins, mingled with the sheer exhilaration of anger, I became more daring than ever.

"I think you are just scared because we both know you are never going to tame me."

[bleachanimefan1]

The Song of the Titan

Chapter Nine!,

In a secret room of the castle, Belos stood in front of the repaired door of the human realm, that he had managed to salvage and recover. He ordered an abomaton to turn on a switch and it did as it was told. Glowing green goo flowed down from the pipes of the machine and headed towards the door, powering it up. Belos took out a handmade key and stuck it into the keyhole.

It disintegrated almost immediately as soon as he turned it. Hidden in a corner, behind the emperor, Hunter quietly watched, curious about the portal. Lil rascal had managed to sneak into the room as well and landed on Hunter's shoulder and let out a small chirp.

"Shoo!" Hunter brushed his hand to get the cardinal to leave.

"Would you like to see how this works, Hunter?" Belos called out. Hunter gasped and went tense. He had heard him. The cardinal went ridged and turned to wood and Hunter quickly put the bid inside his cloak, hiding it. Hesitantly, Hunter stepped out approaching Belos.

"I didn't mean to hide, Emperor Belos," He murmured.

"We found every piece of the door, but without the power of the real key, it refuses to open," He told him.

"Is true that rain doesn't boil in the human realm?" Hunter asked. Belos turned to Hunter with a surprised look.

"It is. But, how did you know that?" He asked, smiling.

"I ran into the other human the other day. She told me," Hunter told him. He saw his uncle's smile immediately drop. Hunter immediately shifted his gaze away from Belo's cold and dark eyes as they stared intensely down at him. Hunter nearly jumped as he felt his uncle's fingers tuck under his chin, tilting his head up, making Hunter look at him.

"Hunter, I need you to promise me that you won't see that human girl again." Hunter's eyes widen a little as he stared up at Belos confused.

"What? Why?" he asked.

"She is a bad influence, especially since she's hanging around with the owl lady, learning about wild magic," His uncle told him. "She's dangerous, so promise me that you will stay from her."

"I-...I promise, Emperor Belos," Hunter said, his eyes dropping a little as he looked down.

"Don't make that face, you know how I feel about that, Hunter."

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Hunter replied.

"You know I've been there before, the human realm, did I ever tell you that?" Below asked, immediately changing the subject. Hunter looked back at him, and shook head. Belos had a soft smile on his face.

"The trees they're green, nights are quiet," He told Hunter. "I look forward to seeing it again." Then he turned Hunter as he walked down the stairs with him. "Were you spying on me just to hear these boring stories?"

"The operation at the knee, why did you switch me out with Kikimora?" Hunter questioned. Belos smiled.

"Everyone has a use, Hunter. Kikimora has her intricate little plans, the scouts carry out orders, and you, well..." He wrapped his arm around Hunter, placing his hand on Hunter's shoulder as they continued walking down the stairs. "The Titan has BIG plans for you and it would be such a hassle to try and find an replacement." Hunter's eyes widened. He was going to be replaced? No! He worked so hard to get where he was! If he was replaced then what use would he be? He wouldn't be able to help his Uncle.

"So right now you can be useful by staying "safe" here in the castle," Belos told him as he led Hunter out.

"If this is punishment for failing my last mission, I swear that I can do better!" Hunter insisted.

"Good night, Hunter," Belos smiled, closing the door.

Hunter stood in front of the door for a minute, before making his decision. He was going to help his uncle, no matter what happens. He had to prove that he wasn't a failure...not again.

Hunter turned around and ran, heading straight to his room and dropped off Lil' rascal. The little bird made a confused chirp as it looked at Hunter.

"I'll be back," Hunter told the cardinal palisman. "Just STAY here and don't be seen. I have to do this on my own."

As he turned around to leave, Hunter heard the small red bird began chirping frantically before he saw Lil' rascal beginning to fly straight towards him. Quickly, Hunter shut the door, before Lil' rascal could get out. It nearly broke his heart hearing the frantic and coming from the small bird as it heard it pecking and clawing the door.

Hunter shook his head, making up his mind and quickly grabbed a coven's scouts uniform as a disguise. So no one would recognize him, since his own had been eaten and was getting the uniform and mask fixed and replaced. He put the scout's clothes and cloak on and left the castle, heading to the Knee.

Back at the owl, Amity was prepping and fortifying the security of the house. She walked past the window, seeing Hooty outside.

"Hooty, what's your status?" Amity asked.

"The perimeter is secure nothing's getting past me!" The owl beast told her as he broke the window, coming in.

"Good! Clean up that mess," Amity smiled.

"Ma'am!" Booty saluted. He sweeped the broken glass aside, using his neck. Amity walked into the living room to see Willow coming in and placed some groceries on the table.

"Willow have you gathered the supplies?" Amity asked.

"Yes! We're ready to attack this at all fronts!" Willow told her.

"Excellent!" Amity smiled. A small white car walked over to her. Amity bent down petting the cat. "Aw, Ghost, did you help, too? Who's a good palisman! Great, now all we is-"

"Rain? Beach wave?" Gus suggested as he and King walked up behind the two girls.

"Something called "Lo-fi beats to study and relax to." We've got it all!" King shouted.

"Eda was rummaging through her basement and gave us these soothing human noises!" Gus explain.

"That's, great," Amity replied. "Wait, Eda's still here? Eda you're supposed to be helping Hooty build up our defenses." Then she heard Eda scream.

Amity walked into a room to see, Eda screaming loudly at nothing, while Azara and John watched in amusement. "Whoo! Don't mind me, I'm just learning how to turn into Harpy Eda on demand. According to this human workout, you just got to scream a lot until you forced your inner beast out." Eda said.

"Eda, this is a cartoon," Azara told her. "Of course, it's not going to work."

"Gee, you just love to suck the fun out of everything, do ya kid?" Eda teased.

"This looks ancient," Amity replied picking up the tape.

"What? No! You're telling me-Thirty years old? I remember seeing this in theaters," Era frowned.

"Yes, you're old. Who cares? We have a crisis on our hands!" Amity exclaimed.

"Chill bossy boots. Everything's fine," Era reassured her. Amity gestured Eda to follow her, along with Azara and John as she walked them to Luz's room, opening the door.

"Does THIS seem fine to you?!" Amity asked gesturing over to Luz.

"It's like I have snake for arms!" Luz exclaimed, as she wildly waved her arms in the air at nothing. Luz's hair was a mess and she was inside of a sleeping bag. Her nose was red and her eyes looked blood shot and tired. She was sick.

"Please, she just has the common mold," Eda explained. "it's harmless."

"But, she's a human," Amity said, worried. "We have no idea how this will affect her!"

"If I eat the portal key, would I return to the human realm?" Luz questioned. Azara's eyes widen.

"Luz, no!" she tried to stop her. Luckily, Amity made a small abomaton and it quickly took the key from Luz, walking away, and gave it to Amity.

"I am not giving this back until you are better, okay?" Amity told her. Luz whined and took out a small device that looked like a tomagachi and started to type something on it. Amity had one as well as it pinged. She looked at it seeing the strange emojis, not understanding them.

U R PRETTY...

"Uh, you got it!" Amity smiled and winked at Luz. Luz stared at her confused and disappointed as she closed the door.

"I got to admit, Amity, seeing you around more often is different, " Willow told her as Gus, King and her approached the them.

"I know but I was taught to see every situation as an opportunity," Amity told them. "And today I am going to show Luz that I am an awesome girlfriend!"

"Feels like is it a few months ago you almost got her dissected by your crazy principal," King pointed out.

"She did what now?" Azara asked, interested. Amity blushed and looked away.

"That was a few months ago," Gus added. Suddenly, everyone jumped as they heard Luz scream.

"AAH!" They quickly opened the door to see Luz frantically grabbing a pen and paper. "Luz!"

"Mouse! Uh, Philip's dairy entry!" Luz exclaimed, frantically. They saw the echo mouse projecting something on the wall, in black and white, like an movie from an old film reel. Azara a strange man dressed in weird clothes that looked like from the 16th century. His hair was tied up in a pony tail and had two long strands of hair hanging from his face.

"After five years, I have finally found it. A power source so potent it can pierce through realms, Titan's blood. There are old tales of lakes reflecting green trees and blue skies. The Titan's veins run through the land and many believe that these wild portals are created when a little of It's blood leaks into the water. That is how I came here, so that is the first place I shall look. I will journey back to Eclipse Lake."

"I have to go to Eclipse Lake!" Luz shouted as she finished the drawing the location down and quickly got up, practically jumping out the door. Willow and Gus quickly caught her, dragging Luz back inside the room, putting her back into the sleeping bag.

"Luz, no! You are not well!" Willow told her.

"She is shockingly strong!" Gus added.

"Alright, Luz. Me and King will get your Titan blood," Eda told her. "if you just calm down."

"Yes! Perfect chance to take our new powers for a test drive!" King cheered.

"You guys are the best!" Luz smiled. She handed Eda the paper, however it looked like it had some snot on it as well. Eda cringed in disgust and took it, holding the map in front of her, walking away.

"You might want to get that disinfected," Azara chuckled.

"I volunteer as well, as Luz's girlfriend, I must -" Amity immediately volunteered, following after Eda.

"I get, Boots. Just grab a coat," Eda told her.

"I'm coming too!" Azara replied.

"Well, if you're coming, you're going to have to wear boots. Where we are going is cold and I can't afford to have another sick kid on my hands," Era told her.

"Fine," Azara pouted but agreed.

"I'm coming as well!" John shouted. Azara frowned and shook her head.

"No, you're not. You're staying here," she told him. John whined.

"You're not the boss of me!" he complained. Azara smirked.

"Actually I am, since mom's not here," she reminded him. "Therefore, I am in charge of you." She approached him and bent down to his level. "And if YOU get into trouble, "I" get into trouble, and WE don't want that, do we now?" John pouted, crossing his arms, before sticking out his lips.

"Fine," he replied.

"I need you help look after Luz, okay?" Azara smiled. John nodded his head, understanding.

"Willow, Goops, watch after Luz," Eda told the two. "She thinks she has snakes for arms." Willow and Gus looked back at Luz who had her arms in the air before she noticed them and hissed.

High above, on a snowy mountain, Kikimora and the coven scouts were digging around outside in the ruins of an abandoned mine.

"Dig faster, scouts!" Kikimora ordered.

"Kikimora, these tunnels are unstable, maybe we should slow down?" One of the scouts suggested.

"Not now, captain. This could be my last chance to show Belos what I can do! And I just know that brat golden guard will try to spoil it!" Kikimora said. "Hey Steve! Jump over that chasm before I throw you into it!"

"She's getting so paranoid," the captain shook her head.

Not too far off, from the scouts, Hunter was hiding behind a tree as he watched them. He leaned back against the tree and pulled back the hood his cloak, only to be startled as he saw the cardinal palisman right there next to him.

"Why do keep following me?!" Hunter hissed. "How did you even get out!?"

I'm.....h#r% to h#lp! Lil rascal chirped. Hunter frowned as he looked at the bird.

"I don't speak palisman," He replied then continued to explain his plan to the bird. Lil rascal was nodding his head the entire time, listening.

"Here's the plan, I slip in with this disguise, I find the Titan blood before Kiki, I give it to Belos. Boom! I'm useful again!" Hunter smiled. It suddenly dropped as Hunter heard one of the abomatons fired in his direction. He and Lil rascal quickly ducked and took cover as the blast exploded the tree that they were hiding behind. Hunter gulped nervously and quietly crawled way before the scouts noticed him. That blast almost blew his head off!

"Ma'am, is everything alright?!" The captain asked. Kikimora's eyes narrowed with a dark glare.

"I just thought I heard an annoying voice!" She hissed.

"Uh, another way in! We'll find another way in!" Hunter stammered, nervously. He ran got up and ran away while Lil rascal rode on top of his head. Lil rascal 's eyes widened as it sensed something nearby and happily chirped.

Hunt*& Th%$ #ay!

Hunter stopped and saw the cardinal land on a branch in a tree and walked over. His eyes widen in surprise to see Eda, King and Amity, approaching.

"The owl lady and her dog and is that the youngest Blight?" He questioned to himself. Then his eyes noticed a familiar pair of green eyes as he saw Azara walking with them as well. Hunter's eyes widen and he had almost fallen off from the steep slope, slipping on a small patch of ice, as soon as he saw her. He nearly lost his breath and felt his cheeks burn as he felt strange feeling in his chest. Hunter's heart began to beat faster, watching Azara as she and the others got closer. Her again!?

"This place is crawling with tools! What gives?!" King asked.

"Titan blood is the most powerful source of magic on the Isles. I'm not surprised Belos wants it too," Eda explained.

"Well, we can't afford to mess this up," Amity said. "Luz is counting on me! I mean, us!" She blushed.

"Well, as soon as we find this Titan's blood the sooner I can get out of these boots!" Azara complained. She was shaking her feet as she walked along side them. Eda and King laughed.

"She's like a small cat!" Eda chuckled. Azara frowned, as her cheeks turned red, embarrassed.

"I heard that!" she yelled out.

"Alright, new plan," Hunter smiled. "They can lead us to the Titan blood."

Lil rascal stared at Hunter for a minute before he lunged out and pulled on Hunter's strand of hair.

I'm doing Th&$ for you# #wn &ood!

"Hey! Hey! AH!" Hunter screamed and he lost his balance falling right in front of the group. He groaned as he sat up. That little sh-

"A coven scout!" Amity exclaimed. Hunter's eyes widen underneath the mask as he looked up at the group. Eda and Amity had their staffs ready and pointed at him.

"Uh, yes, I am but a humble scout and I surrender," Hunter surrendered holding his hands up. Azara's eyes widen, recognizing the voice.

"Heh, that was easy!" King smiled. Eda narrowed her eyes at the strange scout in front of them.

"Not so fast, King. Don't you recognize that annoying voice?" She asked.

"Why does everyone say that?" Hunter replied, sadly. He quickly took off, running away, trying to escape.

"Don't let him get away!" Eda shouted. Amity made some abomaton goo fly out of her flask with a wave of her finger. It shot out, wrapping around Hunter, knocking him off of his feet, and he flipped over, falling down to the ground. His mask had fallen off, as well, revealing his face. The group walked up, looking down at him.

"This is none other than-"

"Hello, Hunter!" Azara smirked.

"Wait, you know him?!" Eda asked, confused.

"Yeah, he's the guy I've been telling you guys about." Azara told them.

"Well, did you know that he's Belos right hand man?" Eda frowned. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!"

Azara smiled sheepishly, shrugging her hands.

"The golden guard!" Amity gasped. "He is a lot scrawnier than I've imagined." King laughed.

Hunter growled and glared up at them.

"Did I do it? Did I go into harpy mood?" Eda asked, excitedly, busting through a wall of ice.

"No, you just screamed "Hoot!" and ran head first into a wall of ice," King told her as he walked into the mines from the hole Era had made, along with Amity, Hunter and Azara, "It was pretty funny actually."

"You can put down your staff, I won't run," Hunter said.

"Too bad, because I don't trust you," Amity answered, still pointing her staff at him.

"Huh? This stuff is old," Eda commented the old abandoned mining equipment that was left behind, lying about near them.

"Ancient witches used to mine the veins for titan blood-" Hunter tried to explain.

"They're not listening," Azara told him.

"Go on, fire it! Maybe the adrenaline will kick in and bam! Harpy Eda!" Eda insisted. King jumped on top of the mine drill, getting ready to activate it.

"Sounds perfectly safe!"

"Wait! Don't!-" Hunter tried to warn them. But, King had already activated the drill and it unleashed a blast of magic. It barely missed Eda and started to ricochet off the walls bouncing around wildly like a ping pong ball!

"This isn't a normal cave! These walls are made from the veins of the Titan any magic that you shoot will bounce right back at you!" Hunter shouted.

"Oh, you must be fun at parties," Eda teased. She turned back to King. "Hey, King How about you use your new power to echo-locate the lake?"

"Okay!" He jumped off the drill running to the tunnel in front of them. King opened his mouth and let out a sonic blast. There was silence, then King turned around to them, shrugging his hands.

"Nothing," he replied.

"These two are definitely going to get us caught," Hunter frowned.

"Us?" There is no us! Now, keep walking," Amity said.

As they started to head deeper into the mines, walking further in, Azara stopped when she heard a voice whisper in her ear.

Azura...

Azara eyes widened and she wildly began looking around.

"Who said that?" She asked.

"Who said what?" Amity asked. The others stopped, as well seeing Azara looking around at nothing. They stared with confused looks on their faces.

"We didn't say anything, kid." Eda told her. She frowned seeing the uneasy look on Azara's face. "Is there something wrong?"

Azara shook her head. "It must have been my imagination. Let's just hurry."

"Oh hey, look! People died here." King added. Everyone gasped as they saw a couple of skeletons lying on the ground.

"Okay, this is getting too creepy. Let's just find that Titan blood and get out of here." Amity said.

"Maybe, it's the lost souls of the witches who died here in the mines?" Eda joked. "And now they're angry that their tomb is being disturbed!"

"Eda! You're not helping!" Azara shouted. "I know that I heard someone! They said Azura..."

"Azura? You mean, the the good witch Azura?" King asked and chuckled. "But, she is just some storybook fantasy. She's not real!"

"I know what I heard..." Azara replied.

"Maybe, you're crazy," Hunter sneered and commented. Azara frowned, looking at him.

"Alright, let's just keep going," Amity told them. "Hearing voices is never really a good sign. Let's just find that Titan's blood then get out."

"You know, Luz told me about her trip to Latissa, where she met someone very interesting," Eda explained as they walked further into the mines. "A beat-up blond with no magical powers. She called him and these are her words, "A bad but sad boy," She snorted as she finished and chuckled. Hunter cheeks and ears turned red, blushing, embarrassed.

"If I ever see that human again," He muttered.

"Hey, watch it!" Amity warned him as she narrow her eyes.

"At least I'm not delusional to think that I can turn into a harpy!" Hunter retorted. Eda turned around and hissed.

"Hey, come on, give it a rest, you two!" King said, although he looked amused at the fight between.

"Yeah, listen to your rat," Hunter replied.

"Whee!" King screeched angrily and jumped off of Eda, pulling on Hunter's hair.

Suddenly, Amity shushed them telling to be quiet. She motioned them to take cover and they did. Everyone saw Kikimora, along with two abomatons and two coven scouts had made their way into the mines, too.

"Why are we stopping?" Kikimora demanded. "Is it the golden guard?!"

"No, ma'am, this is a dangerous area," the captain told her. "We need to move carefully."

"Careful takes too long! My butt is on line!" Kikimora shouted. "And so help me Titan, if you ruin this, I will throw you off of the peak of the tallest knee with a smile!"

"She definitely has issues," Azara cringed.

"That poor girl is going through something," Eda commented.

"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake," Amity added and pointed ahead.

"We should create a distraction," Hunter replied.

"We should create a distraction!" Eda shouted. "You kids wait for my signal!" She and king jumped over the edge, getting into place to create a plan.

"Ha, that was easy! When they're caught, you two and I can take the Titan blood for ourselves," Hunter said as he leaned against an old mining machine.

"Stop talking like we're a team!" Amity shouted.

"Why not just quit the emperor's coven and come with us?" Azara asked. Hunter's and Amity's eyes widened in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" Amity asked in disbelief. Hunter chuckled and sneered.

"That's an attempting offer, but no thanks," he replied.

"Better than being miserable." Azara commented.

"I never said anything about being miserable," Hunter frowned, looking away from her.

"But you are, aren't you?" Azara asked. "Why can't you just admit that you need help?"

"I..Don't..Need..Help," Hunter replied, coldly, as he narrowed his eyes at Azara. She sighed.

"Everyone needs help every once in awhile," Azara told him. Amity stared at the two in silence with a disbelief look on her face.

"This is crazy," Amity said, shaking her head. "I am not working with the emperor's coven just because you two have a crush on each other."

"WE DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON EACH OTHER!" Hunter and Azara yelled at the same time. The two blinked and looked at each other.

"But we might as well work together," Hunter replied. "The owl lady and her pet have nothing at stake unlike us."

"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity's tomagatchi bleeped in her coat pocket, interrupting her. "I was going to say, you have no-" It bleeped again. Hunter and Azara stared at her, blinking and raised their eyes staring into the witch's pocket. Amity huffed and turned around, her back facing them, and pulled out the device. Azara walked closer peeking over Amity's shoulder. She saw strange emojis on the screen but couldn't understand them. She was never really any good with that kind of stuff, it was from confusing.

"Oof, that doesn't look good," Hunter replied reading over Amity's shoulder. Amity jumped as she saw Hunter and and Azara behind her. She glared at Hunter.

"Stay back!" She demanded. He stepped away as she wanted. Amity frowned, wondering what he had meant. "But, what doesn't look good?"

"Seems clear to me, come back with results or else....you can figure out the rest," he told her.

"That doesn't sound right," Azara replied. "That doesn't sound like something Luz would do."

"No, Luz wouldn't make that kind of threat." Amity agreed, shaking her head. "I'm an awesome girlfriend!"

"Has she told you that?" Hunter asked. "We have a lot in common, Blight. We both trying to show what we can bring to the table. And we can't fail cause there's nothing worse than disappointing someone who thinks you are special." he finished. Azara stared at him, silently.

Amity bit her lip and looked down, with an uncertain look on her face.

Suddenly, a blast of purple magic bounced near Kikimora and the scouts. The abomatons deployed a shield to protect them.

"Why didn't you wait for our signal?!" Eda called out as she and King, ran to catch up with Hunter, Amity and Azara, heading straight into the tunnel ahead of them to Eclipse Lake.

"We don't have time to play around! We are getting that titan blood!" Amity shouted.

As they ran, Amity's tomagachi had fallen out from her pocket and landed on the ground. Kikimora spotted it and picked it up, inspecting the device with a crazed look in her eyes.

AS the group walked down the tunnel, the cardinal palisman had been following them the entire time, unnoticed by them. Lil rascal landed on Hunter's shoulder and made a small chirp.

"Hey, find a different perch, bird," Hunter replied, shrugging his shoulder. Lil rascal flew off of him. At the end of the tunnel, everyone walked out to see some strange dried up crystallized dark blue liquid surrounding all over the room.

"Is this titan's blood?" Eda asked.

"But, Eclipse Lake is farther ahead," Amity said, confused, checking the map again.

"Who cares!? We did it!" King shouted. Eda and King began to approach it.

"STOP!" Hunter shouted. "That's fools blood. Don't touch it!"

"Oh, so you can keep it all for yourself?" Eda smirked. "Pfft! Hard pass!" She slammed the end of her staff into the crystal. It cracked and suddenly the ground began to shake beneath them, before ripping open giving away under their feet. Eda and King fell into the huge chasm below.

"No!" Amity and Azara cried out. Amity was about to hop onto her staff to go after them but Hunter stopped her.

"Wait! Take me with you!" he shouted.

"Yoo hoo! Golden guard!" The three heard Kikimora call out, getting closer to them.

"Can you at least untie me so I can escape?!" Hunter insisted. "Please, I don't want to be replaced."

"Fine!" Amity groaned. She waved her finger and released the goo from Hunter, freeing him. Hunter stretched his arm as she glanced behind her, seeing the shadows getting closer. "So, where will you go now?"

"Now..." Hunter sweeped his leg and knocked Amity and Azara off of their feet, knocking to the ground. He ran and hopped into a mine cart and wheeled off. "I get to Eclipse Lake before anyone! BYEEEE!"

"That little-!" Azara growled as she got up.

"That jerk!" Amity shouted, angry as well. Just as the two were about to get up, a spear pointed at their faces. The two girls froze as they saw Kikimora and the coven scouts in front of them.

"Would you look at this, captain?" Kikimora said "We find our little fire starter." Then she noticed Azara, and glared at her. "YOU! You will pay for blinding me!"

"Well, you shouldn't have walked so blindly to my trap," Azara scoffed. "Some coven scout leader you are."

"Silence!" Kikimora shrieked angrily. The abomatons aimed their cannons at Azara, ready to fire. Azara's widened and she gulped. She stared at the end of the cannon, glaring up at Kikimora. "But, after a deal with another little pest. Then I'll deal with YOU!" The abomatons lowered their arms. Azara felt a sudden relief rush over her as they did.

"So, the golden guard is also looking for titan's blood and he took off to Eclipse Lake," Kikimora said. "I knew it! That little snake is always making me look bad. Well, now I can get my revenge!"

"Ma'am, what about the Titan blood?" The captain asked.

"Oh, yes, I'll get that too," Kikimora replied. "This is going to be a good day!"

"What should we do with these two?" The captain asked.

"Oh, I don't care," Kikimora replied. The two abomatons transformed into carts and she rode in one, as well as the other scouts as they went after Hunter. The captain aimed her spear at Amity and Azara.

"So, did you come with anyone else or...Ugh! This is boring!" she picked up Amity and tossed her into the cavern.

"Amity!" Azara cried out. She felt the captain push her as well as she kicked Azara into the hole. Amity and Azara screamed as they fell down into the dark depths. Suddenly, several hands grabbed the two girls, catching them. Eda and King pulled them up as they hang on tightly onto Owlbert. Amity quickly grabbed onto the tomagachi, catching it, just before it fell as well.

"Guys, you're okay!" Amity said in relief.

"Just barely," Era told her. "Owlbert's knocked out so we can't fly."

"I'm just like throwing it out there, but, this would be a great time to bring out harpy Eda!" King said.

"I don't know how! I tried yelling at it, scaring it-" Everyone gasped as they saw Owlbert was starting to crack.

"Did you ever think about talking to it?" King asked.

"Ha! I-I guess I didn't, but it's a wild animal," Eda said unsure.

"You thought I was a wild animal, once," King commented.

"Okay, I'll try. Just give me a second," Eda agreed. "What?! You want to make a deal? I-I don't know if I can." Owl was beginning to crack more as a large crack appeared on it's head. "Okay, okay, I'll do it! Just change NOW!" Her eyes turned black and golden irises appeared.

"Haha! Yes!" Eda cheered as she flew out of the pit in her Harpy form, carrying Amity, King, and Azara.

"What did you promise to do?" Azara asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Eda told her.

"I can't wait to see a real life mine cart chase!" King exclaimed, excitedly.

As they reached the end of the mine tunnel, everyone had saw that Kikimora and the other scouts had gone off the rails and crashed.

"Ooh..." Everyone cringed.

"I guess mine cart chases are a lot more dangerous than videogames make them seem." King commented.

"There it is!" Amity pointed out.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Eda as she was caught by an abomaton. The captain of the coven scouts got up.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that blood belongs to Kikimora!" she yelled. The abomaton slammed Eda to the ground with the others.

"Get to the lake!" Eda shouted, telling them to go on. "I'll take care of-" The abomaton pulled Eda away from them and slammed her into the wall.

"Eda!" King cried out in worry. Azara grabbed him and ran after Amity. The captain of the scouts threw a spear at them but Eda caught it and snapped it with her hand, breaking it in half. She turned to the captain and smirked.

"Alright owl beast, let's see what we can do!" Eda flew up high into the air and began spinning around as she corkscrew straight towards the captain.

Azara caught up to Amity and looked ahead to see a large crater of what appeared to be a pool in front of her. However, it was dried up and there was no Titan's blood. The trees that surround the pit were dried up as well as roots extended all over the area. She froze as she saw Hunter, desperately digging in the dirt.

"Don't worry, I won't pick a fight," He told them. "There's no titan blood."

"Then why are you digging?" Amity asked. Azara eyes widened as she saw Hunter turned around. His eyes looked a little off and a little crazed. Great, she was dealing with a crazy person. This guy was literally digging his own grave.

"It's simple really. Belos needs Titan's blood, to make a new portal key. Can't get to the human realm without it," Hunter explained.

"There's blood in the key?" Amity questioned. Azara's eyes widened in surprise. This trip had been for nothing! The key had Titan's blood all along...and it was the one thing that Emperor Belos needed. It can't fall into his hands!

She frowned, staring at Hunter, concerned.

"Since, I failed my last mission, I thought "Hey! A chance to make up for it!" But, I can't go back empty handed!" Hunter let out a hysterical laugh. "Not again. Long story short, this is my grave! Do you want me to make you one, too?"

"This is really bumming me out," King replied.

"That's just life, rat. Everyone has a use and if you don't-Pfft! Bye-bye! Your friend gets it!" Hunter said.

"What's he talking about?" King asked confused.

"Luz has been sending me these strange human codes. I don't understand all of them, but this one seems pretty clear," Amity explained and showed King the emojis. "Come back with results or we're done." King frowned until he saw something strange about the emoji's. He turned the device sideways and the emojis appeared to spell out words. Amity's eyes widened surprise.

"U ARE RAD," She read. "FOOLS BLOOD BAD. U OKAY. COME HOME."

Amity laughed and smiled overjoyed and happy. "Of course! This is Luz we're talking about!"

Suddenly, the three heard frantic chirping and turned their heads back to see Lil rascal trying to pull Hunter out of the hole that he had dug. He swatted the bird away from him.

"Hey, go find a better witch to be with!" He groaned, falling back into the dirt face first and shoveled some more on top of his head.

"We need to help him," Azara told King and Amity. King frowned.

"I don't think that he's your type," he replied. Azara blushed a little.

"I don't care, we still got to try and help him," she insisted. "You told me how your parents treated you. You and him have the same experiences, maybe you can get through to him." Amity nodded, understanding. She knew how he felt. This was a chance to help him. Amity and Azara walked over as they approached Hunter. Amity bent down to Hunter and Lil Rascal landed on her shoulder.

"You know, you were right. We do have a lot in common. I grew up thinking that everything was an opportunity to justify existing. But, there are people out there who won't make you feel worthless. You just got to let yourself meet them." Amity smiled and held her hand out to him.

Hunter opened his eyes and looked up at her then turned his attention towards Azara. He saw that her eyes were pleading at him to take it.

"We want to help you Hunter," she told him softly. "Come with us."

Hunter's felt his chest began to grow warm as he heart began to beat faster at the sound of her voice. It relax him, made him feel safe. Just as Hunter was about to get up, something shined in Hunter's eyes. He gasped a little and his eyes widen as he slowly got up.

"What are you?" Amity questioned before glancing down to where Hunter was looking at. The key!

Hunter lunged at her, and Amity quickly rolled out of the way. He quickly turned back towards her, with a desperate look in his eyes.

"Oh, come on!" Amity complained. "Being nice usually works for Luz!"

"Hunter, please don't do this!" Azara cried out. But, Hunter ignored her and ran towards Amity. King quickly jumped in front of her.

"Weh!" King shouted unleashing a sonic wave.

Hunter's eyes widened as it came closer. Lil rascal quickly jumped in front of him, reflecting the blast. Hunter grabbed the staff but Amity shot out some abomination too at him, wrapping around Hunter's body. Hunter struggled to get it off when suddenly he teleported out of the binding then started to teleport uncontrollably a little unleashing a yellow burst of energy.

"The staffs are weird," Hunter frowned looking at the staff. Hunter teleported again as Amity shot an abomination goo at him again to catch him. Now high in the air, Hunter aimed the staff down at them and unleashed several burst of yellow magic, and it began to bounce wildly all over the room. Azara quickly made a ice pillar as she made a spell circle with her finger just before a ball of magic hit her.

Hunter teleported next to Amity and she tried to block his attacks as he teleported wildly around her, trying to break through her shield. As he stopped in front of her, King tried to jump at him and knocked Hunter to the ground. Amity created a giant bubble with the goo encasing Hunter inside of it. She quickly got on her staff and grabbed King, heading towards Azara.

"We are leaving!" she shouted, getting ready to grab her. Azara shook her head.

"Not without Hunter!" she shouted.

"We HAVE to go! NOW!" Amity urged her, grabbing her hand. "Forget him!"

"No!" Azara argued, pulling back. "I won't turn my back on people who need my help!" Amity's eyes widened in shock.

Suddenly, the abomination cage exploded and a giant hand made out of earth smacked right into Amity, knocking her off of her staff.

"Amity!" Azara cried out trying to reach her but Hunter sent another ball of magic at her, stopping Azara in her tracks. King had managed to land safely but his horns were embedded deep in some tree's roots. Amity used her goo to make a slide and slide down to the ground landing on her feet. Then Hunter quickly appeared beside her. Amity's eyes widened.

"You really want to help then gimme that key!" Hunter shouted. He used the staff to rip the necklace off of Amity's neck and Amity quickly caught it before he could get it. She quickly made a sharp weapon and aimed it directly under Hunter's neck as he pinned her hand with his staff, glaring up at him. Hunter panted completely tired and exhausted and sweat dropping from his face.

"Listen your strong and I'm tired. If this continues, you'll probably escape. But here's the thing: we know where to find you and your human." Amity gasped. "So just, hand over the key."

"Fine," Amity said. "Just stay away from Luz." She let go of the key and Hunter took it from her.

"I appreciate it," He told her. "I, uh, mean that, too." Just before he was about to take off with Lil rascal, Azara stopped him. She stepped in front of Amity, clasping her hands together.

"Hunter, wait. Just think for a a minute," She tried to reason with him. "You don't want to do this. You know that this is not right. I know that your not happy there. You know that your not happy there. So, come with us..."

Hunter turned and stared at her for a minute, silently.

"Can you really turn your back on your own family?" Hunter asked. Azara's eyes widened. Hunter took off flying away with Lil rascal.

"Hunter! Stop!" She cried out. But, he was already gone.

"HaHa! Yes! I heard fighting!" Eda smiled as she flew in. "I'm ready to go! Where's the nerd?" She stopped when she saw everyone.

"Weeh!" King whined as he tried to pull his horns out from the tree root that he was still stuck upside down on. Amity looked like she had made the worst decision in her life. Azara was still standing where she was, frozen. Tears were slowly beginning to fall from her eyes as they run down her cheeks.

"Oh, dang it." Eda sighed.

Back at the owl house, in Luz's room, Luz gasped and suddenly shot up with a surprised look on her face. "Huh?! I feel great!" Luz exclaimed before she realized that she had mushrooms growing on her head. "I wonder if this is permanent?"

"I got to find everyone!" She yelled. She quickly got up, the mushrooms fell off from her head as she did, and she quickly ran into the hall. Luz bumped into Willow who was carrying to bowl of soup, knocking it out of her hands, along with Gus. Hooty caught it with his head. "Have the others returned?"

"Ow, ow ,ow! Just get an elixir!" Luz gasped as she heard Eda shout and ran into the living room . She saw King and Azara trying to pull on her wing go get her inside, but she was stuck at the door. "I got into harpy mode and now I can't get out."

"She also ate like nine voles on the way home?" King added.

"Hey, I had to keep up my end of the bargain," Eda said.

"Amity!" Luz ran over to her, knocking her down, and hugged her tightly. She smiled. "I'm so glad my awesome girlfriend is okay!"

"Me, too!" Amity smiled back.

"No king hug? What is this?!" King complained. "You are a swindler and a thief!"

"Come here, buddy!" Luz rushed towards him and swooped King up in her arms hugging him.

"I regret this!" King shouted. Eda leaned in closer to Amity.

"You want to break the news or should I?" she asked.

"News?" Amity asked, confused.

"The empty lake, the golden guard, losing the portal key?" Eda told her. "Today was an disaster."

"Actually, we might be okay." Amity said, as she showed Eda the Titan's blood that was stained on her glove.

"How did you get the Titan's blood?" Azara asked, surprised.

"I broke the key." Amity told her.

Nighttime was beginning to fall, and stars were shining in the sky. Hunter stared at the key in his hand as he held it in front of him. He had an unsure and confused look on his face. He felt terrible and guilty about taking the key. Then Lil rascal landed on his hand and happily chirped at him.

"Oh, hey. You stuck with me the whole time, huh, bird?" Hunter asked. Lil rascal made another happy chirp.

Orion.

Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. He had understood what Lil rascal had said! He can understand him!

"I think I understood that!" He smiled. "Is that your name? Can you say it again?"

My name is Orion, Hunter.

"Weird." Hunter chuckled. He thought it was a funny name to name a bird after a star constellation. But, it did seem to suit him. Hunter's life had been brighter since the little bird came into his life, even leading him to Azara. Hunter's eyes widen as her name came into his mind.

It didn't matter. She must hate him now. He quickly shook it off and looked back at Lil rascal.

"Can you say other things?"

Hunter continued on ahead, heading to the castle, as Lil rascal continued to chirp talking to him.

[rnguyen-aet]

Shapes

Creatures in Monster Hunter World:

Monster Hunter World is an Action RPG where players embark on hunts to track down large, powerful beasts and fight them. Over the summer of 2019, my friends and I would spend whole days playing this game and showing off the gear that we were able to craft from the materials we got after hunts. After countless hours of playing Monster Hunter World, I've really come to appreciate the fluidity of the monster's design.

The first two images above are from the game's official artbook. They feature concept art and sketches of a monster called Tobi-Kadachi. Many of the game's monsters are distinctly biomorphic and made of curvilinear shapes. The focus on these two design features of the monsters create a very natural feel, allowing them to fit into their surroundings or habitats, while also allowing animators to create fluid animations in combat.

The third image features the monster named Odogaron. I hopped into the game to catch a picture of the beast using the in-game camera. From looking at the image, one can tell that the Odogaron is in an aggressive position and on the verge of pouncing. This is achieved through the use of a technique called squash and stretch. Almost all of the monsters in the game will have recognizable attacks that are fast but telegraphed, signaling to the players they must react quickly to dodge out of the way of an incoming attack.

Shape Glossary:

Shape is the external form or appearance characteristic of someone or something; the outline of an area or figure. As a verb, to shape is to give a particular form. As artists, we shape our characters outward appearance by using shapes.

Abstract Shapes and Abstraction (see Non-objective Shapes)

Abstract means no recognizable objects. Abstraction is a sliding scale from realism to completely non representational. Abstract shapes can be used in backgrounds and textures. The background pattern in this Minecraft image is abstract. The character is still recognizable as a human, but the doctor’s human form is abstracted in the game of Minecraft to conform to the blocks of the game world

Biomorphic

Biomorphic is a free-form pattern or design with a shape suggestive of a living organism, especially an amoeba or protozoan.

Curvilinear Shapes

Curvilinear shapes are s-curves. Curvilinear shapes inform Jessica Rabbit’s character design and can represent a winding river vanishing into the distance.

Distortion

Distortion is exaggeration, contortion, reform, slant, twist, or warp in ways that depart from reality. Look at the Minecraft Human body example. The figure of the Minecraft doctor is distorted by the shape of the blocks.

Idealism

Idealism asserts that the physical world is less important than the mind or the spirit which shapes and animates it. Idealists choose the soul, the mind, or the psyche over the body, the material, and the historical. When ideals (of appearance, or proportion for example) regulate the way an artist represents the world, her work can be described as Idealistic. The leading artists of the High Renaissance - Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo - are all associated with varying forms of Idealism, as were ancient Greek sculptors. How do you think idealism affects avatar customization?

Non-objective Shapes (see Abstract Shapes)

Non-objective shapes have no object as a reference and no recognizable subject matter. Non-objective shapes are often used to simplify design shapes. Geometric shapes such as a triangle, square, and circle are abstract until you put them together to represent a house or a smiley face. One Minecraft block, away from the game, is a non-objective shape. Inside the game that same block, depending on it’s color and texture could represent a part of a landscape, sheep, or sword. The block as part of a character or environment inside the game would no longer be abstract.

Positive and Negative Shapes

Positive space is the subject, focal point, or areas of high interest in any composition. Negative space is the area around the areas of interest. All compositions balance positive and negative space. Yes, stuff in the negative space can point to the focal point to make it most obvious. Positive and negative create a whole. Every composition is a combination of positive and negative space. Wield the positive and negative spaces with control and story-telling magic to become a design master.

Realism or Naturalism

Realism, or naturalism, attempts to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality or exotic or supernatural elements. In the visual arts, illusionistic realism strives for the accurate depiction of lifeforms, perspective, and the details of light and color.

Rectilinear Shapes

Rectilinear is a boxy shape made with straight lines. For example, the screen you are looking at is a rectilinear shape filled with little square pixels, and pixels are also rectilinear. A storyboard is a series of drawings in a linear set of rectilinear frames.

Representational

Representational means objects that players can name. The object represents something from the real world, or something that has the verisimilitude of realism. A cartoon bunny can represent a rabbit without being realistic. Representational is a sliding scale from realism to almost abstract. 2 dots and a curve can be arranged into an abstract pattern or they can be arranged into an emoji that represents a smiley face.

Silhouette

Silhouette is a profile or shape that is easy to identify. Squash and Stretch Squash and stretch are shapes profiles that emphasize motion. The stretched position shows the form in an extended condition. When you do a sit up your belly squashes and your back stretches.

[the-obiwan-for-me]

firstly, congrats on finishing She Said the Word!!! I've enjoyed it from start to finish and I've been reading it since almost the very beginning so it's been super fun to see it come to an end!!! Would you ever consider writing that "emotional" obi-wan and satine reunion after their respective stints in jail?? I can't find it at the moment but I feel like I remember you writing something about that??? :eyes emoji: anyway!! just thought I'd ask :)) hope you have a great day!!!

Thank you for this inspiration! And sorry it took a bit of time. I definitely had wanted to include this scene in the story itself, but sometimes you have to leave stuff out for the sake of pacing and mood. So, essentially, it’s a “deleted scene” (even if I wrote it after the fact).

If anyone else wants to offer up a prompt, either from this AU or one more aligning with canon, just send it my way! I will admit, I am not always fabulous with prompts, but if I think I can wrangle it, I will.

This contains spoilers up through chapter 65, Aftermath, of “She Said the Word,” so I will put the story below the break. Hope you enjoy!

Home

Any other time, it would seem like a fairly normal visit, Satine thought as she was bustled through the Senate building, surrounded by Coruscanti Guard. But this time the guards weren’t protecting her; they were guarding her, like some criminal mastermind or fearsome warlord.

In a strange way, Satine thought wryly to herself, she supposed she was some sort of warlord now.

 Beside Satine rushed her longtime aide, Kayla, who had finally bullied her way onto a transport from Mandalore, bringing with her endless apologies on Lily getting away from her, clothes appropriate for the family to wear in the Senate, and news from home, which she now hurriedly half whispered to Satine in an odd mix of Mando'a dialects in case of eavesdroppers. The petite woman had more than made up for Lily's escape, though Satine hardly blamed her for the girl's delinquency. Somehow, through sheer force of determination and grit, Kayla had kept the government from imploding or following its duchess and Mand'alor into a foolhardy rescue attempt. 

The troopers stopped at a door, and Satine had to reach out and grab Kayla's arm to keep her from running straight into the trooper, distracted as she was as she shared nearly two weeks' worth of news and relayed, from memory, messages from clan leaders and house heads. 

The door slid open, and troopers moved to allow Satine to pass. Kayla went to follow, but was stopped. "Prisoners only."

Kayla pushed against the soldier. "But I need to speak with the Duchess. I have more news to-" 

"Prisoners only," he said again, stepping more solidly in her path. She looked up at Satine, who had stopped beside her.

"Your grace…"

"It will be alright, Kayla. You have done good work thus far, and I have no doubt you will continue to do so." She squeezed the woman's hand when she saw her eyes well with tears. "K'oyacyi, my dear friend. Mandalore will persevere. We will persevere."

Kayla pressed her lips together, clearly willing herself from letting her tears fall. She squeezed Satine's hand then bowed her head. "Yes, your grace. Oya manda," she whispered, then stepped back, letting the party cross the threshold into the room beyond.

Satine crossed through the antechamber of the conference room turned holding cell and stopped short in the archway, relief sweeping over her at the sight in front of her. Korkie and Ahsoka sat in a corner, heads close together, speaking in hushed tones, while Anakin stood near the floor to ceiling window, speaking with Fenn Rau, Greer Eldar, and Ursa Wren. At the expansive table sat Obi-Wan, methodically fixing tea for he and Lily, who sat beside him, watching him work.

At some point in her relationship with Qui-Gon Jinn, probably on one of her many heartsick nights, her mind clouded and stormy with grief and uncertainty, he had set about making them all tea, in his quiet, methodical way. He offhandedly mentioned that making tea could almost be a form of meditation. She knew Obi-Wan often thought about that, as did she. She wondered, as their daughter watched him carefully, if he had told her the same thing, to ease her fragile heart and still her frantic mind.

Satine watched them all quietly for a long moment, everyone too caught up in their own worries to notice her. That was fine. She wanted to take them all in for a heartbeat; her beautiful, strong children and her kind, brave husband. She just needed that beat to drink them in before the world crashed back down around her and she had to remember they were criminals in the mind of the Republic.

The moment paused for her, just enough, and then ended when Obi-Wan happened to glance up and caught sight of her standing there. His face passed from quiet contemplation to delighted surprise to joyous relief, and he leapt from his seat, bounding across the distance between them, and swept her into his arms. For the first time in over ten days, Satine felt like she was home. Though they were hundreds of lightyears from their physical home, locked in a conference room, treated like war criminals and treacherous beasts, this man was the living embodiment of home.

“Stars, Satine,” he breathed into her hair, and she was caught by the silly thought that she was glad Kayla had been unable to fit her normal headdress within her tight packing guidelines. “Master Windu told me time and time again that you were alright, but I’m just so glad to see it for myself.”

His arms were warm and strong, and she wished for him never to let go. She buried her head into the crook of his neck more, breathing deep. His skin smelled of the same industrial soap she had used to shower in the detention center, but the tunic Kayla had seen to him getting still held traces of the subtle warm scent of his preferred cologne. He smelled like home. 

She tried to speak, but found that no words would come, only a quiet sob of relief and fear and uncertainty that she hadn’t known she had been holding for days. “You are alright, aren’t you?” he whispered into her ear when her body trembled against him with the silent sob.

She didn’t trust her voice, so she merely nodded against his shoulder. “Good,” he said again, tightening his hold on her, rocking her gently. In turn, she wrapped her arms about his neck, holding onto him as if he could float away at any moment. 

She wasn't sure how much time passed as they stood like that, gently swaying, but he stirred her back to the present when he finally spoke again. "Everything will work out, my love. Be brave. Yes?"

She nodded against him again. "Yes," she agreed, finally managing to find her voice. She allowed herself to pull loose of his embrace, and found Lily standing beside her. She pulled the girl into her arms, hugging her tight, kissing the top of her head. "Are you well, little warrior?" she asked. Lily nodded, sinking into Satine's embrace.

"I missed you," Lily said. 

"And I missed you. But now we're together again." 

"All of us."

Satine looked up to find the other three had come over. She opened her arms and they entered the circle of her arms, trapping Lily against her. She hugged them all as best she could, her little warrior, her kind little jetii girl, and her two big Mando'ade boys. It wasn't just Obi-Wan who was home. This was home. These children. Her husband. Their love. This was her safe harbor. Her rest. Her joy.

Obi-Wan approached, and she felt the soothing weight of his warm hand against her back. "We must all be brave, now," he said softly. "There will be those who will see us fall, but we must be strong against them. Trust in the Force, my darlings. We will see this through."

Someone cleared their throat behind them, and Satine reluctantly let her children go. She turned, hand reaching out for Obi-Wan's and finding it, to find Bail Organa waiting, Padme brushing past him to come to Anakin. 

"It is time, my friends," he said, his voice somber. 

"Thank you, Bail," Obi-Wan said, straightening his back, as if preparing for a battle. Satine supposed that this was just one more battle for them. He looped her hand in the crook of his elbow, and went to lead their family toward the door, when Lily stopped them. 

Reaching up, the girl pushed a loose pin back into Satine's hair, trapping a wayward curl back where it belonged. She smoothed her hand across Satine's hair.

"That's better. Now you're ready," Lily said quietly, smiling softly. Satine kissed the top of her girl's forehead, running her hand through her long hair, left loose and brushed smooth by Padme. 

"Thank you, verd'ika. Now I am ready for anything."

With that, she allowed Obi-Wan to lead her out, holding her head high, ready to fight for her home.

[henryspearl]

on top of the world (ao3 link)

It was alluring, the night sky. They did not quite realise how captivating it really was until they stood on the balcony, bright colours exploding and blending with dark navy blue and colliding with the stars that sparkled and shined. It was almost magical the way the many dazzling fireworks burst up into the sky matched how Ben and Callum were feeling and how both of their hearts were bursting with happiness and love, completely.  

Ben, already feeling it on many occasions since he met Callum, felt whole. He was no longer filled with the dreaded darkness that was always walking two seconds behind him, his stomach was not in thousands of knots from fear and dread. He was finally at peace. The darkness had walked away, disintegrating into ash, like the bright radiant sunshine that was Callum burned over the darkness and brought Ben with him into the light, where there were rainbows, and you could hear the birds singing. It was bliss. It felt freeing, like he had left that dark world behind.

Callum’s heat was radiating on Ben, like a warm blanket as he rested his head on his shoulder. He was happy. He looked up at the sky and sniffed, his eyes starting to glass over from the freezing cold as well as being full of emotion, full of love. He silently thanked the stars above for sending Callum to him, that their paths aligned. He never genuinely believed in soulmates, until Callum came into his life. He solely believed that Callum was his destiny, his soulmate.

“You okay?”

The soft gentle warm voice transmitted into Ben’s processor. The voice that sounds so familiar, the voice that he hears muffled under the bed covers late at night, the voice that always soothes him, the voice that reassures him that he is worth it.

Ben’s eyes divert upwards as he continues resting his hand on Callum’s shoulder, his hand feeling warm and cosy as it is tucked up against his. Callum is looking down at him, a smile that is full of love and dimples. His smile lit up Ben’s world. He moves his head from Callum’s shoulder and smiles softly, almost shyly.

“Never better,” Ben says, his smile moving brighter, brighter than the fireworks that continued to explode up into the night sky.

No one was looking up at them from down below anymore, all mesmerized by the fireworks. Ben untucked his hand from Callum’s and put his arm around his waist, pulling him closer. “C’mere,” he whispers amongst the stars.

He clasps his lips with Callum, pulling him into a more passionate kiss where their lips folded together. Ben suddenly felt the rose petals scratch his back lightly, a gentle tickle as Callum moved to wrap his arms around Ben’s back, pulling him closer. Their bodies were stuck together as they indulged in each other’s mouths, smiling against them, their tongues colliding as they battled for dominance, getting lost in their own heaven.

It was just them leaving the world to its own as they stood on the balcony, kissing repeatedly. It was the first proper kiss since they became fiancés. Since their family were too focused on the fireworks that were exploding above them, they decided to use the time to absorb the love and happiness that they felt of becoming engaged and getting married, of spending forever together.

“Oi lovebirds!”

The fireworks had fizzled out, the remnants of the fireworks bubbling against the stars that sounded the same as a fizzy drink bottle being opened for the first time. Ben and Callum moved their lips apart, a smack escaping their wet lips. They looked down to find Jay looking up, smiling mischievously up at them. Jay held his phone landscape in his hands and it was lowered down, like he had just snapped a photo. The perfect photo. Ben was going to have a word with him about getting that photo sent to him and ruin his ego by posting a publicly indecent photo on his social media accounts followed by the caption ‘we said yes’ with a love heart and maybe a ring and red rose emoji.

“Get down here, the champagne won’t drink itself,” Lexi ordered loudly, her little voice travelling up the balcony effortlessly. A chuckle ruptured in Ben and Callum’s chests, used to her ways a long time ago.

Downstairs, a glass of champagne was put in everyone’s hands apart from Lexi who had a glass of lemonade. They all toasted Ben and Callum, the happy power couple of Walford. Callum had his arm around Ben’s shoulders as he felt Ben’s arm across his waist. They were smiling so hard that it would probably start to physically ache soon, but they did not care. They were so happy and in love. While everyone had a sip of their champagne, Callum and Ben looked at each other and stole a quick kiss, yearning for more but knew that it was a promise for later, for when they could finally have each other to themselves.

Ben masked the disheartened feeling in his chest when Kathy showed up a couple of hours later, clearly stressed and her main priority being his waste of a space half-brother. She walked over to Ben, who was standing with Lola at the bar, with a furrowed brow as she took in her surroundings.

“What’s going on here?” She asks. “I got the text you sent me a couple of hours ago. I’ve barely looked at my phone today to be honest.”

With a disappointed smile in which Ben refused to let those feelings take over the true happiness that he felt, he told his mother the happy news, the first bit of good news since his implant worked. When Ben told her, Kathy’s eyes started to brim with wet tears, happy tears for the first time this week of the news that her youngest son was getting married, that he had a steady. She pulled Ben into a tight hug, gushing of how happy and proud she was of him, congratulating him.

Callum was alerted to Kathy’s presence when he was standing in the corner with Jay, Stuart, Rainie and Lexi.

“Where’s that future son in law of mine?” She called out. Callum turned round to find Kathy charging over to him, a wide radiant smile on her face. When she reached Callum, she pulled him into a tight hug, muttering words of congratulations and how happy she is for them both. Callum smiled kindly and looked over Kathy’s shoulder to find Ben slowly making his way over, an amused smirk dancing his lips in which Callum mirrored.

The evening ended on very little champagne, due to the amount that had been consumed by everyone throughout the evening. It all seemed to go by in a blur but to Callum, it was magical. It made his heart swell with happiness and he felt full of emotion on how this was all for him, he had to hold back the tears when Lexi presented her pink clipboard to him, her eyes lighting up in excitement when she showed him the schedule of the whole proposal.

He meant what he had said to Ben - when he’s with him, he feels like they can take on the world.

Ever since he’s been with Ben, he has felt truly loved and worth it, and was pretty much fine the way he was. He was fine as the smiley dopey self that he was born to be. He did not just have Ben, but he had a whole family who loved and cared about him. He felt so lucky of how he just slotted into their family, into their lives and into their hearts.

It made him feel on top of the world.

Towards the end of the evening, Callum was slightly tipsy because of the champagne as well as being slightly drunk on love, drunkenly in love with Ben.

“Have this darling, you’ll look like a proper princess now,” Callum crouched down to Lexi’s level, a red rose in his hand. “Thank you, our little proposal organiser!”

Lexi’s jaw dropped as a wide smile spread across her mouth, her eyes shining in delight as she took the red rose, her heart leaping at the thought of being a proper princess in her wide skirted bright pink puffy dress.

“Thanks Callum,” She exclaims in a thrill voice. “Can I organise your wedding as well?”

“No,” Ben says, almost instantly. “You’ll have us riding about in a horse and carriage if it was down to you.”

Lexi looked over to Ben, her lips pointing outwards into a frown, lines presenting itself under her eyes as she squinted, “It’d be the best wedding ever.” She insisted.

“The best wedding ever would be having you as our flower girl,” Callum tells her, flashing one of his wink-blinks in her direction, Ben completely trying to hide the fact how it just made his heart skip a beat. Lexi looks up at Callum, her face glowing with happiness as she beams up at him.

It made Ben’s heart swell up looking at the two of them together. Just like it did every time. Callum was amazing with her and Lexi adored him and always looked up to him like he hung the moon and the stars. He started to feel overcome with emotion as he reminisced of when Lexi told Callum how there is no one in the world that she would rather have as her other dad only a few hours earlier. And also how obvious it was that they were meant to be together.

Lexi was right. They were meant to be together. There was also no other man who he would want to be Lexi's other dad. Callum was meant to walk into his life and take all the darkness away and make him see the golden sun that illuminated over him and opened a doorway that was full of hope and possibilities. Taking that step through the door was the best decision that he ever made because he was finally truly happy and accepting of who he was.

Ben smiled softly, a muted chuckle rumbling in his chest as Lexi sniffed the rose dramatically, her eyes fluttering shut like she was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, the inspiration obviously coming from one of the princesses that she has made him watch a thousand times.

He briefly looked over at Callum, who was smiling down at Lexi while stealing a sip of champagne. His heart was roaring like a warm sizzling cosy fire. The two most important people in his universe and he could not quite believe that he was going to have them for the rest of his life. It was the best feeling that could make his heart almost explode out of his chest. He could not believe that he got so lucky in gaining the most kind-hearted person to ever exist.  

However, what he did not expect was by the very end of the evening for each single lady in the bar to be given a red rose. Ben stood at the bar shaking his head in disbelief, but he could not help that laugh that escaped and rattled through his body. “Do you realise how much those roses cost babe?” He called out to Callum, who was currently giving a rose to Honey.

He didn’t care though. There were thousands of roses there, but it wasn’t about that. Callum wouldn’t be Callum without being the generous person with his compassionate soul, always thinking of himself above anyone else.

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