#she actually looks so happy in this splash art

[rexonalapis]

she really said j'ai le pouvoir de Dieu et de l'anime de mon côté

[kozachenko]

[Click for better quality]

Ok yay I'm back from my vacation yipeeeeeee. I started this drawing of Keiki before I left and I was half considering just giving up on it.... until I did a short study of facial planes and then got motivated to work on this again! I'm glad I didn't give up on it though, as I'm actually really happy with this one!

Artist's Notes;

So as I mentioned in my last post about Touhou 17, I wanted to finish this by the game's five year anniversary but with how progress was going I didn't want to rush this so I decided to take a long break from it. Mainly because of the face. For a while now I was kind of feeling like I was stagnating with my drawings, not really in the clothing but in the bodies. There was something about the way I was rendering them that I just wasn't happy with, and after talking with someone else about this issue, I realized that the reason I felt this way was because the faces were too flat and didn't match the rest of the drawing and that I needed to find a way to make the rendering of the face feel consistent with everything else. So after doing a short study of the plains of the face (I used this 3D head model from art station as a reference for my short study, please go give this person some love as they are a lifesaver) I went back into this drawing and applied what I learned here. It was only after that that I finally became motivated to finish the piece, and while it started off as just a simple character sketch like Saki and Yachie's were, the moment I added in Keiki's little fire dragon I knew I had gotten in too deep and now here we are with a full on background. OK it's not super crazy or anything, but it gets the job done and it's better than there just being an empty void behind her. It's rare moments like this when I use brushes other than the Clip Studio Default Charcoal Brush and use the Clip Studio Default Paint Brushes as well (god bless the oil paint and dry gouache clip studio brushes, they were amazing). I don't know why but painting fire has always been really fun for me, there's something oddly satisfying about it y'know? I do think that another reason for this problem was because I was drawing faces like I would in my more sketchy style that didn't mesh well with my lineless style, so I'm glad I've started remedying that.

After adding in the fire dragon I had an idea to kinda make it feel like splash art in the way the composition works... probably because I have been playing Reverse 1999 again and it has taken over my brain. I do feel like Keiki's tools get a little lost in the composition, and I didn't fully render the metal parts of them mainly because I didn't feel like they needed it, but that's just something for me to improve on later down the line.

If you guys are wondering where I went for my vacation, I went to New York and got to go to the MET and the Museum of Natural History. In both places I found Kofun period stuff and I was so happy to see it you have no idea. I remember one of the Haniwa I saw had some neat face paint under the eyes that I tried to replicate with the makeup under Keiki's eyes in my drawing, though I think I'll gave to figure out how to draw makeup on characters because this reads more like blush to me than anything. While drawing this I also looked up some references of Kofun period jewelry and really liked the stuff I found, which also meant that now she has proper Kofun earrings instead of earrings shaped like Kofun tombs. I put some of the things I referenced with a closeup of Keiki's face as well down below. I made her outfit more reminiscent of the outfit I gave her at the beginning of the year with the buttons and all, though I do want to try and draw her in some more period accurate clothing like the Haniwa I took a picture of at the Museum of Natural History. I wish I could find a way to make her handercheif look better though as I wish I made it a little bit bigger, though I think I'm saying this because I've looked at this drawing for too long lmao. Once again something to work on for when I next draw her. Also want to get better at rendering hair, as some details (like the little strands in front of her ears) kinda got unreadable due to the similarities in colour lol.

Now you may have also noticed the little cracks I added onto Keiki's face, and that's because I have fallen in love with the idea of Keiki's body being made from ceramic and that she crafted her body herself. While they aren't very visible I also tried to add some doll joints to her body, which is an idea I played around with in the past but never went to far with. I also want to get better at rendering cracks in ceramic, porcelain, etc, as I'm not sure how those read in the drawing. I also have a headcanon where the cracks in Keiki's face show up because of heightened emotions, and while Keiki is aware of this and does her best to make sure her face doesn't break off.... she will still end up with at least a few cracks during any given day, and she can often forget to repair her own body quite frequently so Mayumi has to remind her quite a lot. Mayumi even taught herself some basic sculpting techniques to help repair parts of her body that are so badly damaged to the point where Keiki can't repair them herself, i.e. if both her arms broke off, Mayumi would put them back together for her so Keiki can at least have something to repair herself with rather than nothing. I also like to imagine that if Keiki created her own body, if you took a look at Keiki from the beginning of her life she would look completely different compared to now.

BTW If you guys are wondering what a very very angry Keiki looks like....ok in order for this to make sense have any of you read volume 11 of Land of The Lustrous? Am I bringing back some memories for those of you that have? Ok good, glad we all got that mental image brewing in our minds, I'll probably draw a version of Keiki that is somewhat inspired by that one day as it's an idea I've had for a little while now. And to those who haven't gotten to that volume yet and are confused.... don't worry about it, just keep reading :)

[tarjapearce]

Ahem-Anon reporting for duty 🫡

I have come with a mighty need. The need is called: dragon miguel and mermaid reader. I mean hmmmggh? So cute? he a firey dragon, she a pretty lil mermaid? He totes call her his sirenita. Total opposites and kinda a forbidden love? A romeo and juliet thing, minius the tragic death ending. And they always secretly meet in a cave (miguel build it so his sirenita can swim there) they decorated it together and it’s just the best of both, their own little world and happy place. And i can’t help but wonder how do they do the 👀👀👀👀 and omg what if he gets her pregnant and all? Like he was away for a few months to defend his territory and she surprises him with her baby bum and its all dragon nest building and him being protective as f. Also scared because damn? This is a first since the beginning of time. Baby Gabi would totes be the first waterdragon 😂

Can I have your imagination borrowed for a second? Please? HOLY fuck. When I read dragon Miguel only reminded me of that beautiful fan art of him as a dragon I saw on Pinterest ♥️♥️. A bit long if you squint.

Crimson. His hands were covered in little crimson stains that oozed from his side. He was... injured.

Impossible.

A dragon? Like him? The King of Dragons. Foolish. But as much as he wanted to shake the measly pain that pulsated every time he moved forward, to the rocky cannon on the forgotten beach, it remained there, etched and oozing.

The cannons were used as his lair, his home. He collapsed on what seemed to be his bed, a l shaped stone that was a few meters away from a small entrance from the sea. Like a secret entrance.

The splashing as he collapsed alarmed him, red eyes shone in anger as a low growl echoed through. And then, his eyes settled on you. Burning eyes softened in curiosity as he saw dainty fingers peeking behind a stone, your eyes settled on him, watching his every move.

Was he hallucinating? No.

He certainly wasn't because the creature stared at him, more specifically to his wound. You went back on the water, long fish-like tail, shining softly, like if the rainbows had decided to adhere in your scales.

A mermaid?

He believed them extinct. Humans had surely haunted everything they could lay their wretched hands on.

A few moments later, the splashing returned, this time you weren't hiding behind the rock. You were before him, naked torso, wet hair stuck on your back. Hands holding what it seemed to be a moss-like plant within a shell. You offered. He frowned.

Why would he trust her? for all he knew Mermaids were also wretched creatures that lured men to death. But your frown matched his, like you had you just read his thoughts.

"Your blood will only attract other creatures that won't be as kind as I am" You mumbled. His eyes widened slightly. Of course you could speak. His blood dripped on the water and you scrunched your nose, pushing the shell further near him.

"You're welcome" you giggled and went back from where you came.

--------

Ever since that encounter, Miguel would certainly find subtle ways to lure you back to him. He surely wasn't inmune to mermaid beauty, his trust issues however made always to look past your looks, he wanted to find out what your intentions were, why you were always willing to just stare at him, expecting to something to happen, why would you always come back.

"Im just curious as to why I have been forbidden to mingle with the creatures above. You aren't that bad."

You'd smile sweetly at him to look back at the water.

"I gotta go. Will I see you again?"

He'd just nod and you disappeared.

His injury had been long healed. A couple of hours after you had offered the moss actually.

--------

He'd see you again and again, almost every day, a weird sort of fear settled in his chest whenever you didn't show up for more than three days. You had created this sort of routine where you would just show up, staring at eachother until one of you, (you mostly of the time) asked for questions.

What was up there on land? Was there a lot of humans? Who was he? Why was he hiding? Patiently he'd explain through short answers just to see the glint in your eyes at every word that came from his mouth.

Three days had passed, no sign from you, until you'd appear again, cuts and wounds covering your body, sweet scented blood oozed from your cuts, too tired to remain conscious.

Humans. They had tried to hunt you.

He'd pick you up and put you to safety, your torso resting in the sand. A few droplets of his blood wetted your lips. You'd be fine when he'd return. He turned on his back, rage boiling as the beast within him roared to be set free. He flew away with a new target on sight. The docks.

----

You were his adoration. Despite the world trying to hurt you, you remained kind, ever sweet and curious. You were his Sirenita.

He'd burn entire ships for you. The world itself if you asked him nicely enough. Dragon's nature prevented him to share with others. Not that he wanted to share you with anyone else anyway. It was only you and him.

The first kiss held so much passion, sweetness and longing. You couldn't lay in his lap without feeling dizzy by the lack of water after a few minutes. A trouble that seemed a big impediment to completely have you for himself.

He disappeared with the promise of coming back.

Was he?

You didn't know but hope set in your heart. He had never broken a promise so far.

----

Upon his return he gave you a small potion jar, you drank it after he explained what would it do. Bit by bit fins and scales were shedded from you, melding into humanoid like features, only to finally reveal supple and unmarred human legs and feet.

You were now also part human. He kissed you, cradling your wobbly body on his strong arms.

----

You mated almost every night, the once hidden cannon on the beach, forgotten, as he had taken you to his real home. Hidden away in the mountains, but close enough to the sea to sate your need of swimming and dive. You could shape-shift at will. But preferred to be with him, nesting in his arms.

-----

You'd notice your belly expanding and getting rounder by each month. He had noticed too. The urge to devour and crush anyone who trespassed in his home had only turned stronger, making his dragon form to become more vicious to the outside, yet careful to not being discovered.

Miguel would feed you, take care of you until a baby was born. It was a girl.

He was The Dragon King. And now a father.

A clueless one if you might add.

He'd flinch when tiny baby arms would flail to take a hold of him. He'd growl whenever said baby wailed at night, interrupting his rough mating with you. Strangely enough, his daughter only quieted down when he held her or you nursed her.

----

He'd marvel with pride as his daughter swum through the waters, faster than a ship could ever do. But of course the three would remain hidden from the world. Away from prying and wretched hands that could hurt you.

You both were his treasure. The things he held dear the most.

[nortsauce]

I’m gonna ask a bunch of narumistu shippers this but how do you think Iris would react seeing that happen? Also how would your dream Narumitsu wedding play out, and would pearl be invited? I just have so many questions! I also love your art!❤️❤️❤️

HELLO!!! First of all THANK YOU FOR THE COMPLIMENT you make me blush 💝

Now onto the questions. Y’all know i love to talk and answer these types of questions.

1) Iris.

I love iris and I believe that she truly wants to see Phoenix happy, and Phoenix views her as someone important to his life.

Phoenix was willing to swallow glass for her (and dahlia) and it’s hard to find someone that devoted to you. But i think they both realized that their time has passed.

Iris still holds her late sister in high regards despite everything she’s done, and Phoenix has grown up since college and become a more honest person. They both know that it wouldn’t work. Their directions in life have changed and Iris needs to do whats good for her and take some time to heal, and Phoenix needs to do what’s best for him and distance himself from the necklace incident as much as possible. But you know that will be harder to do and they still visit eachother as friends. Perhaps locked in a “in another life, perhaps”

I think Iris would be happy for Phoenix, and possibly even find a friend in Miles considering they have similar feelings of guilt. Maybe they accidentally run into eachother at group therapy and share stories!!!

NOW. ONTO THE WEDDING.

I truly and deeply believe in my heart that their wedding goes TERRIBLY.

First off, the proposal happens and Phoenix wants to propose but he keeps losing the ring due to hijinx and murder. He fears that miles is gonna get to it first, or possibly not even want to marry in the first place, but what he DOESN’T KNOW is that Miles has been TRYING to propose for SO LONG but hijinx keep interrupting him and he loses his nerve.

When they finally propose, it goes as swimmingly as you expect. Literally. They propose at the same time just exasperatedly finally and they drop their rings into a lake, only for our national hero LARRY BUTZ to jump out of the bushes where he was filming and grab both of the rings in mid air as he falls into the lake splashing them all with water.

Onto the wedding. Maya, Pearls, Franziska and Trucy create the worst team of wedding planners known to man. They all have different things set in mind. Where Maya wants to wing it, Franziska plans to perfection. Where Trucy wants to put a gag, Pearl insists on pure romance. Things get heated and it falls apart when they all separate to plan different parts of the wedding and it looks AWFUL. It ends with the venue being set on fire. The dream team then panic and have a breakdown, only for them to say “We’ve been doing this wrong. What would they want?”

They set up a beautiful venue outside, big enough to fit all of their found family. Its either near the courthouse or the gate-water hotel something sentimental and it’s almost perfect 💝

Now the ceremony goes, oh you guessed it: TERRIBLY.

Miles has worked himself into a state of pure anxiety and Phoenix has disassociated. They both can’t believe that this is actually happening. Larry is Phoenix’s best man and Gumshoe is Miles’s.

oh yeah and Kay is was Mile’s bridesmaid and Maya was Phoenix’s because they had both a best man and a bridesmaid.

I’d imagine Larry and Gumshoe go through the same exact thing that Max and Pascal went through from that one Tangled short where Eugene and Rapunzel are getting married but i can’t describe that here without just explaining the whole short so just go watch it here and imagine Gumshoe and Larry.

Anyways, the reception goes on even after “the ring fiasco 2, electric boogaloo” and then the power goes out before the ceremony completes. Screams are heard and the lights come on, and the Vicar is lying dead on the ground.

IT’S TIME FOR AN INVESTIGATION where EVERYTHING GOES AWRY. But luckily they got the best Legal and Detective minds this side of Japanifornia! So Apollo Trucy and Athena immediately hop into action. Miles and Phoenix are discussing what they saw in handcuffs, Maya and Pearl are attempting to channel anyone they can but nothing is working(?) Franziska is attempting to keep everyone in order so she can investigate and question, Gumshoe has the police force looking into it, Klavier and Blackquill are taking statements in a church confessional, Ema is taking samples, and all around it is a DISASTER: BUT

They realize after this fact that they have NEVER solved a case this fast ever.

(Turns out the Vicar had mafia connections and ex members of the clergy were planning to turn the church into a gang front but the priest wouldn't let them but took them in as his children regardless and a rival gang was involved it was a whole thing thats a story for another ask though.)

Anyways the whole thing had them thinking about all working together more often than not, and not only was a marriage planned, but more unions were planned and they had gathered new recruits to help change the law system of their country.

and then Phoenix and Miles kissed and they lived happily ever after.

All in all a disaster but it wouldn’t have gone any other way (:

[causenessus]

new grounds

part 0.7. OFF TO WAR . . . 1.7.2024

PLAYING IN THE CAFE . . . how was your day? by mellow fellow & clairo

she slings off her bag, hanging it on a wall hook before she goes out to wash her hands. she’s tempted to splash her face with cold water too but then she’d just look like more of a mess. it was a struggle to even walk here, and it did nothing to wake her up.

she wishes she could be laying in her bed, or wrapped in a blanket on the couch next to keiji like they had originally planned for today, but this is for yachi, she reminds herself. at least one of them will be enjoying themselves today. 

kageyama arrived a little earlier than her and is currently taking an order from a customer. she overhears something about a matcha latte and starts on it ahead of time. a warm drink sounds nice right now, she’ll make one for herself afterwards.

once the customer is done paying, kageyama turns around and looks startled to see her already making the order, or perhaps it’s because she’s currently zoning out as she slowly whisks the powder.

he takes the milk she steamed in a pitcher out of the steam wand, mumbling a thank you as he works next to her.

that’s new. but she’s not complaining, it brings her back to reality and she hums in response, pouring the matcha into a mug he placed on the counter before he pours in the milk. he steps away to place the drink on the counter and call it out while she gets started on a chai for herself.

by the time he returns, she's standing with her back against the counter, sipping on her own drink and staring off again.

he stops, unsure what to do with himself. the place is almost empty, and there’s nothing for them to do. this is the time to talk to her, and he knows what his friends would say in this moment.

he opts for leaning against the counter like her, leaving space between them. “how come you picked up today? you sound like you’ve been absolutely exhausted lately,” he asks. he knows a little bit about why, but he wants to hear it from her.

she takes a moment to respond and he almost thinks she’s not going to. he can feel his neck start to warm as he waits patiently, “i am exhausted, god…and it’s not even over. i’m in the middle of rehearsals everyday monday through saturday, but yachi needed someone to cover her today so she could go to some art thing and i wanted her to go. she’s been wanting this forever.” she doesn't speak with the nicest tone, but it's the one her mind defaulted to, unsure if it should be on the defense or not.

he doesn't know what to say next. he didn't think that far. he was so focused on just starting to talk to her. he tries to let the words come naturally, “she should have just called off then. i could have handled today by myself.” it comes off a little bit more egoistic than he meant and he kicks himself. “just so that you could have taken off today, too.”

she blinks, looking a little surprised but a small smile makes it way onto her face, “that's sweet. i did actually think of doing that, you know, but i didn't want to leave you alone.”

he wants her to elaborate. it feels like there’s an underlying meaning to her words. but she says nothing else yet it still makes his face warm a little more. he's saved by the bell chime of the door and returns back to the register.

it's slow inside the cafe, but she spends her time wiping down counters and cleaning equipment and miraculously the night goes by quicker than she expected. it's time for them to close before she knows it, but she's more than happy to lock the door.

as she clocks out, kageyama comes out of the staff room with his bag. she makes a comment while he waits, “that night went by fast, didn't it?”

she sees his head slightly tilt out of the corner of her eye, “maybe for you, you fell asleep.”

her heart almost drops into her stomach and she turns towards him in shock, “what? when? did you wake me up?” her face is red in embarrassment.

“you went back to grab something from the back and i came back there and you had fallen asleep on the ladder,” he answers, as calm as ever.

she covers her face with both of her hands, “oh my god i don't even remember that at all.”

he smiles instinctually when she covers her face. maybe he's on the verge of laughing or maybe she looks cute. 

the thought reverberates through his head but he tries to brush off how shocked he is at himself, “it's fine. like i said, i can handle today. you're tired anyway.”

“i still can't help but feel bad, though,” she mumbles, turning back to the tablet she's at to finish clocking out.

“it's okay, will you get home alright though?” he asks, absent-mindedly watching the screen she's using.

she doesn't respond and he looks at her. her eyes are closed again before a second later they open and she rubs a hand across her face. she finishes clocking out before she looks at him and steps to the side, seeming to remember where she is.

“sorry, did you say something?” she responds and that settles it.

“i'm walking you home,” he says, using the screen to clock himself out. he has no idea where this confidence is coming from. on the inside he feels more nervous than he ever has before. his hands are shaking and he can feel his heart beating rapidly. it takes everything in him not to look at her for a reaction.

“what? you don't have to do that. i'm fine,” her gaze is locked on him, staring at the side of his face while he concentrates on what’s in front of him.

“you just fell asleep again,” he says, talking as if the matter has already been decided.

she feels so out of it, maybe it has been settled for her already and maybe that's best for her. “i…”

“i know you're capable of taking care of yourself but it's because you're so unaware of everything around you right now,” he turns off the tablet, walking towards her and stopping in front of her.

she looks up at him and her head is spinning. her legs feel like they want to give out and she has no idea what's overcome her, “okay.”

they leave in silence, making sure the door of the cafe is locked behind them, but it's better that way.

both of them are swimming in their thoughts, though it feels better being with each other. she's glad he's there because he's right, she doesn't even notice a person behind them trying to get by. he has to tug her in front of him so that they can pass by.

her dorm is a short distance away from the cafe and they reach it soon enough. he walks her inside, making sure she gets to her actual room before he stops.

“thank you for walking me back,” she mumbles, eyes averted towards the floor.

“yeah.” his hands are stuffed in his pocket and he's looking at the beige wall next to him. he's stiff, all of his confidence left behind on the walk here. 

then before he knows it her door is creaking open and she's waving at him before she closes the door.

he stays there for a second longer, the only sound being the faint buzzing from a fluorescent light above. he doesn't know why he's still standing here. did he expect anything else to happen?

prev. | m.list | next

extras <3

y/n also stayed on her side of the door, just standing there and thinking until hearing kageyama walk away shook her out of it

y/n and keiji's movie night got cancelled so instead bo and keiji had one

it was mainly a disney movie marathon and they didn't even finish coco. bo started crying like halfway through and it was already late by that time

tangled is their favorite movie

bo wanted to make an aesthetic tweet so they stole candles from yn and yachi's dorm and then he waited for the lantern scene to take a picture <3

y/n needed more napkins and almost fell asleep in the cooler too until she realized she was in the wrong place

kageyama wanted to wake her up but at the same time if she just fell asleep on a ladder he thought she must have been really tired

y/n started vague tweeting on her main because she needed to get her feelings out to more than three people and told herself "i'll just delete them in the morning" not thinking about what she was tweeting or who would really see it

kageyama did not even realize yachi passed him in the hallway

again, the freeloaders take their bets very seriously and hinata had so much hope in kageyama he also decided he was going to drop out of anatomy and phys. if things went well for kags

taglist: @ncitygreen @lvrlamp @cherrypieyourface @mimi3lover @lees-chaotic-brain @frootloopscos @0moonii @cr4yolaas @eggyrocks @pinkiscool @httpakkeiji @localgaytrainwreck @lunaviee @kitty-m30w @lixie-phoria @aliruuiz @tartfrappe @corvid007 @iluv-ace @yvjitadori @k8nicole @ryeyeyer (form to be added to taglist! <3)

[rainbow-pop-arts]

By Your Side

Kurapika x Little Sister! Reader

Summary: You've been in the woods for days after running away from your village that was attacked, but luckily, your big brother finally finds you!

A/n: Hiii, so I don't intend to be a writer here (I mainly post art), but this fic's just something I wanna try out! ( ˶ˆᗜˆ˵ )

It was getting dark again. She hasn’t eaten and drunk anything for days, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from where she was. What if they find her?

It was so sudden, a group of people arrived at the village and started attacking. The adults tried fighting back but……

Her parents told her to runaway as far as possible. She stood back up every time she tripped, not caring about the scrapes she got. She stopped at a secret spot where she would read books with her brother and their friend….Pairo.

She sat there, hugging the doll her father made, wearing the hat her mother knitted, and little scrapes covering her small limbs. 

She wished her brother was with her.

“Y/n!”

She looked up, it was her brother, Kurapika. He had a worried look on his eyes and was panting from running. She immediately got engulfed in his hug and he said how relieved he was to know that she was safe, away from the village’s tragedy.

~~~

“Y/n, we’re here.” 

On her brother’s back, she awoke to his gentle voice. Kurapika stood in front of a door to an inn that he said he was staying in temporarily. He carefully set her down to unlock the door. 

~~~

The girl sat in the warm water-filled bath tub with her knees held close to her chest. Her brother gently washed her hair, it reminded him of back then.

Whenever Y/n gets dirty after playing outside, sometimes he would help bathe her. They sung songs and splashed water at eachother. They sometimes would take baths together too. But those happy times were gone.

After she dried up and put on clothes, Kurapika made toasts with fried eggs on top and prepared cups of water. Y/n finally ate after days being in the forest. She devoured the bread quickly that her brother got worried.

“Hey, slow down! You’re gonna-”

Cough cough 

She choked on the food. Kurapika immediately went to her side to rub her back and giving her water.

“Y/n, don’t go eat food quickly like that…”

Her coughs died down.

“You haven’t eaten anything for days, have you?”

She nodded, shaking and whimpering.

“Hey, it’s alright. Just eat the food slowly, okay?”

~~~ 

The girl immediately fell asleep after finishing her meal. Her brother carried her to bed and tucked her in, he’s relieved to see his sister finally sleeping comfortably. How long has she stayed in the forest all alone? How long has she stayed awake to stay alert, to run away if the people who attacked the village finds her?

Kurapika went to grab the used tableware and looked at the items on the table that Y/n had with her when he found her. A doll made by their father and a hat knitted by their mother. They were both gifts for her 7th birthday. With both of them gone, those were the things that they had left of them.

~~~ 

After he did the dishes, Kurapika went to the bedroom but as soon as he stepped in, he heard soft sobs. Y/n was tossing and turning in her sleep. He realized she was a having a nightmare, so he went on the bed and held his sister close.

“Shh…shh…it’s okay, your big brother’s here.”

Her sobs slowly became quiet and soon stopped. She returned to sleep peacefully, this time clinging to Kurapika.

Being the only Kurtas left, Kurapika had to be the one to care for Y/n. He’d make sure she eats well, he’d make sure to teach her things, he’d make sure to protect her.

“Don’t worry, Y/n. I’ll be by your side.”

A/n: To be honest, this was actually a fic of my OC who's Kurapika's little sister (please check my art of her out ( •̀ ᎑ - )), but I edited it to be an x reader here.

[fadingdaggerr]

Hey can I request a melissa schemmenti x femreader based on season two episode 1.where maybe the reader is rlly stressed out and maybe she can’t park bc Ava is using her parking spot to celebrate the eagles game and maybe mr Johnson comes into to tell the reader her is getting toed away so her,Melissa and the other teachers run outside and maybe the reader is getting angry and shouting at the man,melissa is begging her to calm down.and then she does what Janine did in the actual episode and she gets in the car and try’s to drive off and everyone is telling her to stop and Melissa try’s to get her out the car and out of rage she kicks the car and hurts her foot and then maybe the reader storms back into the school and melissa goes to find her when the school day is over and the reader has a panic attack and Melissa comforts her. Tysm ❤️

delphinium blooms

pairing: melissa schemmenti x gn!reader

summary: request above! i made little changes, mostly just so i wasn’t just rewriting janine’s scene but with r and mel but i hope you still like it :)

warnings: hurt/comfort, r has a morning of unfortunate events, r is kinda mean (to a man so it’s fine), stress/anxiety crying

note: i rewrote so much of this because i kept thinking of things and creating nonsense lmao but i had a lot of fun writing

development week has always been the calm before the storm. you had everything planned already: each month’s separate decor to keep a lively room, the giant drawing paper for the wall so students could doodle during free time (and you could proudly display their art), and even the seating chart was done. everything was perfect and in order, everything just needed to be set up.

but sometimes the storm comes before the calm, or the calm packs its things and jumps out of the moving car.

the coffee maker in your apartment died on you, only about half a cup of watery coffee in the bottom of the pot. you didn’t have the money, nor the time, to stop that the cafe one block over. rent’s more important, we can get coffee at work, you tell yourself. you soon found that it was nearly unbearable to eat breakfast without your coffee and splash of oat milk creamer. coffee and maybe breakfast at work, i guess.

at nine in the morning, there is a full-on barbecue in the parking lot of abbott elementary. janine’s parking spot was a grill station. your spot, which was two down from janine’s, was currently being used as a blow-up pool splash zone. you roll down your window when you see ava close by.

“ava! what the hell is this?” you yelled out your window.

“it’s a development day party!” the principal responded with a big, happy grin.

you sighed, “your party’s in my parking spot.”

“pay valet or park somewhere else, i have a party to host,” she waves you off as she turns to talk to whoever approached her. after a, give-or-take, nine hundred point turn, you parked your car on the street. you prayed to the meter-maid goddesses that you’d have time to move it before someone came and ticketed you.

you pulled box after box out of the backseat, stacking them in your arms, creating the leaning tower of heavy-as-shit. as you slowly walk towards the fourth grade classrooms, you top few boxes get lifted away, easing the load significantly. you look to see who it was, expecting gregory, but instead you’re met with jade green eyes and fiery hair.

“trynna show off carrying all these?” she says with a laugh.

you laugh with her, “oh, of course. how else am i going to impress the ladies?” melissa snorts a laugh at this, opening the door to your classroom and letting you in ahead of her.

“and who are these ladies?” she jests.

you look at her, taking in the smirk on her face before answering, “we both know it’s just the one.”

she helps you spread out the boxes and get everything open before asking, “ready to head to the opening meeting?”

“you mean the ava show?”

she laughs, “yeah, come on.”

—

you half-listen to ava’s little speech and flirts to gregory, your eyes trained on melissa’s rings instead of ava’s vacation photos. you only perked your head up when janine mentioned donuts at her little mixer.

“and why would i wanna go to that?” melissa answered janine, barbara nodding in agreement beside her.

“you said donuts?” you ask janine, she nods eagerly, “then count me in teagues, but if there’s no strawberry frosted i’m leaving.”

there was no strawberry frosted. you dropped into a seat next to melissa, who was happily eating a chocolate frosted donut. she sees your pout and offers you a bite, which you accept with a smile. she wiped a blue sprinkle that managed to land on your cheek, the action is enough to make you smile a bit, warmth spreading through your cheeks.

just when you think the worst part of the morning is over, the tried and true mr. johnson walks into the library.

“anyone drive a beat up sedan?” all the hands in the room rise up. “who drives a silver one?” less hands, but still a good amount. “one with a sticker that says ‘if you see this, thank a teacher’ on the bumper?”

janine pipes up, “oh that’s mine!”

“you’re getting boot on your car, young lady,” he answers, and janine immediately is running out with jacob, gregory, and barbara behind her.

“oh and anyone got a green sedan? little cat bobble head on the dash?” mr. johnson speaks up.

melissa turns to look at you before you say, “don’t tell me it’s being booted.”

“course not,” you sigh in minor relief, “you’re about to get towed.”

you’re immediately running out to your car, melissa hot on your trail. you get outside to see a boot placed on janine’s car and the tow guy is rigging your car to the truck.

“aye, back off the car! what are you doing?” you yell, getting close to the tow operator, eric.

“no parking zone, can you read? it’s for the buses. we’re pulling ya,” he says as he continues his work. you groan in anger, walking closer to the car where he had already hooked it up.

“what fucking buses? school hasn’t started yet,” you counter.

“it’s still a bus zone, and you’re still getting towed,” eric says.

before you start throwing hands with the guy, melissa steps in, “how much to not tow the car?”

he laughs, “you can get it back at the lot, should be two hundred. might be three for wasting my time. you’re not getting it back now, it’s parked illegally.”

you see red when he mentions raising the cost, you couldn’t even afford the original one, “wasting your time? your time?! i’m supposed to be in that building making lesson plans for children who will be here next week, and i’m wasting your time?”

“yeah, you are. now move your ass or i’ll move you,” the man answers angrily.

you bravely taunt him, “try then.”

“sweetheart…” melissa tries to reach for your arm, but you step just out of reach.

barbara and gregory say your name at the same time, both of their tones advising caution. melissa is stuck between wanting to help and letting you just handle it. she wearily watches as you squat down and start undoing clasps and hooks, taking the chains off the car. you’re movements are fast, getting two wheels free from the rigs.

“hey! you can’t be touching that!” eric yells once he hears the disconnect. he stomps over to you and grabs your arm, harshly yanking you away from the car with a tight grip. “stupid little shit,” he mutters.

“touch me again and i’ll break your fingers,” you threaten, and by the look on your face, melissa knows you’re serious. now is when she has to step in, she knows that much.

“twenty bucks says our scrappy-doo over here wins!” ava yells over, holding her phone up, ready to record if you followed through.

“not helping ava!” barbara and melissa shout at the same time.

melissa moves to gently wrap her arms around you from behind, pulling you away from your car and away from the tow guy. when you try to pull away, she tightens her hold, muttering to you to calm down and slow your breathing. you’re irritated, and melissa can feel you shaking against her. she knows you’re using your anger to coverup how much you want to cry.

once the car is all set, the man speaks to melissa only, “here’s the address of where to pick it up. and thanks for keeping your dog,” he pointedly looks at you, “on its leash.”

once he drives off with your car, melissa releases you slowly. your chest rises and drops with every unsteady breath, and you groan loudly. immediately, and without much thought, you repeatedly kick the stone wall around the entrance, even when pain strikes after the first one.

“sweetheart. baby, stop…” melissa grabs you again, “you’re going to hurt yourself.” barbara ushers away everyone else, giving the the redhead space to calm you.

it took a few moments for your breathing to slow, but when it stuttered, melissa turned you in her arms and hugged you tightly. your face instinctively tucked itself away in the junction of her neck and shoulder, your arms firm around her waist. you could feel her arm around your shoulders, the other rubbing soothing circles on your back and she swayed from side to side, in hopes the motion would help you focus your breathing.

“baby?” melissa asks with a hushed tone.

you pull away from her to sniffle but tuck back into her skin before answering, “i can’t afford a cup of coffee. i can’t afford a new coffee maker. i haven’t eaten since we had dinner last night. and this half-wit just stole my car and put it up for ransom, because there was a pool in my parking spot.”

the accumulation of everything from today being said aloud made fresh tears fall from your eyes. melissa held you tighter, whispering soothing words to you even if they fell on deaf ears. after you’ve calmed down again, she coaxes you back so you can see your face. her hands hold your face delicately, thumbs stroking away left behind tears.

“i will hand deliver you coffee every morning until you find a new coffee maker,” she says making you huff through your nose, “and i’ll buy you lunch, maybe make you dinner too, if you want,” she sees you perk up at the offer, “and i’ll stab a hole in the pool.” you laugh for real this time, making melissa smile. these days, she found that making you laugh was her favorite thing to do.

“what abo-” you start, but melissa cuts you off.

“oh, you’re not paying a dime,” you go to tell her not to pay it, but she’s ahead of you. “and neither am i, trust me. i could pull a uncle carlo and get them to give me three hundred bucks, for my time.”

you shake your head, “you bringing the bat or just that cute face?”

melissa cheeks grew rosy at your words, “you were crying five minutes ago and now you’re flirting?” you nod, biting your lip, but still waiting for an answer. she gives in, “the bat will be stay in the car unless they really deserve it. scout’s honor.”

you laugh and press a kiss to her cheek, mumbling against her skin, “thank you.”

she turns her face, pressing her forehead against yours with her eyes closed. she leans in and presses a sound, loving kiss to your lips, then your cheek, then the other, a final one placed on your forehead. she holds your face once more, “you needed me, and i was there. you don’t have to thank me, i love you. it’s what i’m supposed to do.”

you kiss her again, very quickly, then say, “i love you, too.”

—

after she bought you lunch, she didn’t drive you straight back to abbott. no, melissa was parked in front of market street towing company. she wordlessly got out of the car, but motioned for you to stay when you went to undo your seatbelt. you just watched her walk away nervously until she disappeared inside.

two songs and one radio ad later, you see your car pulling out of the fenced lot, melissa behind the wheel. you jumped out of the car as she got out of yours, grabbing her tightly.

“oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you,” you say excitedly, only hearing her laugh a bit.

“no one was harmed, except maybe a couple egos,” she says before pulling back to drop your keys in your hands. “we still on for dinner?”

you grab her chin between your forefinger and thumb, bringing her lips to yours in a slow kiss. when you pull away, you revel in her stunned look, and it’s just too tempting to kiss her again, but she beats you to do. she breaks the kiss for air, and you speak quietly in the small space between you, “dessert, too.”

i hope u like this anon and i hope i did ur vision justice <3 feedback appreciated as always

[diaboliklove]

an appreciation for the kindest soul of the world,

　　 　　 　　 　komori yui

sweet smelling candles that linger on her soft fabrics she adorns her body with, old romance books battered by years of loving use, rosaries in her favorite colors, spending her saturday nights to clean and polish her nails in that pretty muted pink she loves, tying ribbons to her hair, wearing soft silks while lounging in her room, pretty accessories and books littered around her room, decorating her body in frilly girly clothes and even girlier jewelry, baking sweets at the break of dawn for others, long curled lashes that flutter as she speaks

DAILY LIFE · . 𓂃 ㅤ ୨୧ HEADCANONS

♡ིྀ wakes up the third earliest in the house

♡ིྀ needs to splash water in her face to fully wake up

♡ིྀ looks so cute all sleepy and eyes watery, part of the reason the boys always bother her right after waking up

♡ིྀ naturally blessed with clear skin

♡ིྀ only skincare she uses is a toner and moisturizer for the day

♡ིྀ hardly wears makeup

♡ིྀ has tried to wear a full face of makeup like the girls she sees at school, but thought she looked silly so she never does

♡ིྀ so, she just wears a bit of blush and a tinted lip balm

♡ིྀ doesn’t thinks she’s all that pretty, but she’s actually eye catching — the type of beauty that makes you take a double take and appreciate more and more overtime

♡ིྀ really proportionate body too, she’s thin but pear shaped with fat in just the right places

♡ིྀ the boys keep humbling her for what reason fr

♡ིྀ actually loves school and learning, really good at subjects like literature, home economics and arts

♡ིྀ would do better if like, idk she wasn’t bleeding out daily

♡ིྀ people do try to be friends with her, but yui thinks they’re just being kind and taking pity on her

♡ིྀ math and english are her downfall, she’s not bad but definitely needs to study

♡ིྀ still gets sleepy during school time, especially at 1AM, her circadian rhythm never really caught up

♡ིྀ actually makes her really happy so many of her classes are with ayato and kanato — makes her feel less lonely

♡ིྀ yui does want to join the afternoon cooking club at ryoutei, just too afraid to ask

♡ིྀ after school, she unwinds by walking in the garden or reading a book she found in the libraries inside their home

♡ིྀ can’t unwind for long since she’s bothered by one of the brothers 6/7 days of the week

♡ིྀ but actually enjoys all the time she spends with the boys when they’re not draining her dry

♡ིྀ a really active member in the sakamaki household. looks for shu for dinner and has conversations with her while walking to the dining room, helps reiji clean in his lab (she’s hoping she can graduate to washing dishes soon), hypes up ayato to finish his homework, keeps laito company in the game room, listens to kanato talk about the process of making dolls, walks silently with subaru in the garden at night

♡ིྀ it’s starting to scare some of the brothers how she’s becoming a daily part of their day now.

♡ིྀ really takes care of her body. washes daily, body scrubs and body butters almost nightly or when she has the energy

♡ིྀ boys really can’t get enough of that whiff of strawberries and vanilla thats rubbed into her skin

♡ིྀ and definitely can’t get enough of how soft her skin is, girl gets manhandled nightly

♡ིྀ since laito dropped the bomb of, “yeah your father sold you here lol” she’s stopped looking to deep into her father’s disappearance

♡ིྀ doesn’t stop her from wondering if one day, he’ll change his mind and come save her. sometimes thinks she sees him from the corner of her eye and will just whip her head around in hopes of seeing him

♡ིྀ her dreams consist of their reunion again. maybe its why its so hard for her to wake up some days. and maybe its why her eyes look especially watery in the morning.

[careydraws]

Here's a writeup about the process of making this 12x18" poster that's in the booksamillion special edition of TAZ: the Eleventh Hour GN! It looks like there are still some available for preorder!

Long post about how I got from the initial options I sent to my editor to the final below the cut (or unlocked on my patreon here).

We found out pretty late in the life cycle of making the actual book artwork that we were going to get to do a special edition that included a poster, which was nice because it meant I had a good sense of what cool moments in the book we might want to highlight... and what existing art I might be able to use as scaffolding, because these books are on extremely tight deadlines and there was not a separate timeline for painting a whole poster. So when we can avoid doing that, it saves me a lot of time and heart/wristache... but it's not always possible! spoilers: it was not possible this time around.

I started out by sending my editor two options for poster designs: one that would save some work by letting me reuse cover & interior elements that happened to be drawn at a large size, and one that was loosely based on a page with a fun splash panel, but would require total redraw and repaint. As I said in an email,

...Unfortunately, we both agreed that the one that was going to be more work (A) was the cooler choice & would make for a better poster. Also, by this point I was thinking about doing a version of the cover for a lenticular, and I didn't want to double-dip with fun promo materials. So it goes!

The composition was off, since this was based on a comics page with, y'know, dialog and other panels on it. We talked about whether adding some kind of a text treatment might help balance it out, but ultimately,

[narrator: she would later regret this.]

ANYWAY, once I was all-in, it was time to get goin! First, I made a small color thumbnail, then scaled it WAY up for print and took it back to pencils to space out the trio & give everyone a little more room.

Next I inked and flatted it! Flatting is the only time I can really zone out & watch something while I work, it was a nice break.

Then I blocked in big hue shifts for the ground and sky; painted big shadow shapes, and drew in the text; and finally added some details like bounce light and atmospheric perspective blue shifts.

One final touch-up pass with some additional cool tones-- If I were to do this again, I might tone it down a LITTLE bit on the reflections on Magnus's gear… but then again, it looks cool, so I might not.

And there it is! 

Next time I do this, I want to try to keep the initial color thumbnail much looser- I got frustrated at the rendering stage because I'd done most of the fun work of thinking about color already, and ended up feeling like I was treading the same ground twice. It's tough to find a balance between enough planning to be ready and not so much that I lose something in the work!

I'm always happy to get process questions over on patreon, it's fun to talk more about this sort of thing!

[the-phantom-author]

the twins in the pool!!!!!! they’re like sevenish months and really developing their personalities besides being the little blobs.

baby 1 absolutely hating and 2 LOVING it makes the most sense ever. the little guys can be so so similar but there is finally something that has set them apart from each other.

maybe you have baby 1 and hasan has baby 2, maybe just sitting on the steps and letting their little legs be in it

(side note the twins would be sunscreened up with their bucket hats on and their little swim diapers and swim suits🥺🥺)

baby 2 is flailing his arms making splashes and laughing which is making hasan laugh and he’s talking to him in that high pitched voice he does w kaya. you’ve never seen a bigger toothless smile than this little guy. baby 1 isn’t laughing AT ALLwhich is super unusual because usually when one starts laughing the other does too.

youre holding baby 1 up on your chest, not even your hip. he’s pulling his legs up, trying to scrunch himself up to avoid the water, he’s getting teary eyed and looking over at his baba, he’s whining. you think he just wants hasan so you guys switch babies (an art you all have perfected ✅✅) and you’re now trying to not be splashed by baby 2, while baby 1 is actually starting to cry and putting his face on hasans chest, he’s trying to take his hat off, he’s so over it.

you and hasan share a laugh, not because he’s upset but that they’re so different on this when usually they’re pretty similar besides their favorite blankies. you guys shrug and hasan gets out of the pool and dries him and baby off and sits under the sun while you let baby 2 splash around.

eventually you guys switch again, you getting out of the pool while still holding him upsets baby 2 because he wants to go back in the pool!!!!!! so when hasan takes him and gets with him he settles down again and is happy as a clam. you hold baby 1, maybe he just wants to be nursed and held, he just wants to be held by his mama or baba without the cold water and an annoying hat!!! he’s sleepy after eating and content to just lay on you and watch kaya, hasan and the baby, maybe play with your necklace and coo/“talk” to you.

baby 2 eventually tired himself out (aka hasan walking him around the pool and baby splashing and pulling hasans chest hair 💀🤣) so hasan gets out and y’all switch babies again so you can feed 2 while he cuddles 1 and then they can be put down for a nap, you two stay in your bathing suits and grill out while the babies sleep🥰

Yes! Like these little baby men are just starting to develop their personalities, and it's a bit funny for both you and Hasan to experience. Mostly because both of twins are really into the things, stuffed animals, blankets, baby food, ect. Except for the fact that they like things to have slight differences, colors and taste. So them having two totally different reactions to the pool is the most divided they have about about anything.

And yes they are dressed to the nines in their little swim wear. Baby 2 is having the time of his life, being in an around the pool. He loves everything about it, the little bucket hat, the attention that he's getting from you and Hasan, how close Kaya is y'all.

Baby 1 however is the exact opposite. From the moment that you put his bucket hat on him, he's not happy, he's not crying or anything, but he definitely is pouting. And by the time you get in the pool he's scrunching up, which is why you stay close to the stairs, while Hasan goes further into the pool with baby 2.

And it's also why baby 1 starts crying into her way he does when you hand him to Hasan, you're taking him further into the place he doesn't want to be.

Baby 2 and Hasan are having such a fun in the pool, even if it's mostly just the baby torturing Hasan.

Dilf!Hasan grilling, don't even let me think about that.

After the twins wake up, you and them play with Kaya as Hasan is finishing grilling. It's mostly just them "throwing" a ball for Kaya to fetch, even if she doesn't get it, they both find it really fun.

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word

Thanks @aziz-reads for the tag!

Rules: find the words given in your WIPs, then tag people with more words!

My words: frame, vain, stake, fix

Your words: refuse, beam, own, product

Softly tagging with no pressure @mk-writes-stuff @sleepywriter00 @nailamoonsi @somethingclevermahogony @eccaiia @bread-roses-and-chrome @gottestod-writes + anyone else

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

Keep reading for:

Rose's home life (CW: neglectful parent)

Akash is happy Gwen pissed Carmen off

Robbie and Lexi meet

Debate about screen brightness

Frame - The Secret Portal Part One (Rose POV)

I let out a high-pitched grunt of annoyance before stomping off to my room. A part of me knew she was right. I should’ve brought my keys as a backup plan. She wasn't reliable anyway. As I opened the door to my room, I glanced back at my mother as she sat back on the couch, watching the telenovela that was playing. I turned away, slamming the door to my room behind me, hoping my mother would tell me I wasn't allowed to do that. But there was no correction. I tossed my backpack to the side harshly. It slammed into the wall and knocked a picture frame down to the floor. I bent down and picked quickly hung it back up so I wouldn’t have to look at my three-month-old self in my mom’s smiling arms as my smiling dad had his arm wrapped around her. My room was the only splash of color in this house—the only part of my house that deserved to be called home. My art supplies got their own shelf and were organized the way I want. My projects I kept in my sketchbook, which I never showed my mom. She didn’t like the way I decorated my room or any of my designs. She loved to tell me I needed to apply myself to school as much as my art. But even if I did apply myself more in school, she wouldn’t notice. I collapsed onto my bed and screamed into the pillow, then lay there for a couple of minutes, taking in the scent.

Vain Cocky (closest synonym) - from The Secret Portal Part One (Gwen POV)

I’d overheard Dr. Moon say something about “powers,” so maybe that’s what he meant. It sounded strange, but Akash was floating. Dr. Moon said that I could be showing “several” abilities, so that was weird, too. Did I have a power? Context alone indicated that. They didn’t see me…. My mind spun, so I looked back at Akash as I followed him down the next hall. At first, I thought he was being cocky and showing off his strange, supernatural ability, but that demeanor seemed only a façade—nothing more. Maybe flying was simply that fun. Or maybe I was distracted because he was cute, but I didn’t think I was that shallow. “So, Gwen,” Akash said, turning around to fly backward. “Where’re you from?” “Clear Lake City,” I said. “Texas.” Akash smiled. “Southlake. Up near Dallas. How cool is it we’re both from Texas?” I stared at him. “You’re not from here?” I didn’t exactly know where here was, but all the same, I could figure I wasn’t in Texas anymore. Akash stopped mid-flight, causing me to abruptly halt. “No. Dr. Moon and Dr. Asghar only take Alii from our side. Ceteri. That’s what they call it.” He raised his eyebrow. “Didn’t they tell you?” “No. They kidnapped us and locked us in this purple-glowing-thing. The dampener? Is that what you said?” Akash nodded. “What did they do?” Akash rolled his eyes. “Yeah, that’s how they got me and my buddy, Robbie. They’re actually okay once you get to know them. Questionable methods, but their hearts, I know how it sounds, are in the right place. Hey, what powers do you have?” “Powers?” I repeated. My thought was right. “Yeah,” said Akash. “You’re Alii, aren’t you?” “I have no idea what you’re saying,” I admitted. “What does Alii mean? One of the doctors mentioned that. Is it Latin?” Akash scrunched his eyebrows. “You don’t know? Dr. Asghar never releases anyone unless they’ve been briefed.” “Oh, I, uh, sorta escaped,” I stuttered. Akash stared at me. “You got away from them?” I nodded, and to my surprise, Akash laughed, clapping his hands together. “I knew someone would do it one day! Dr. Asghar must be pissed!”

(Mi)Stake - from The Secret Portal Part One (Lexi POV)

I grunted as a sudden force ran into me, knocking me to the ground. I yelped and scrambled out from underneath the person and clambered to my feet, trembling from the unexpected touch. “Am I that repulsive to you?” a teasing voice said. I turned to look at the person who ran into me: a teenage boy a year or so older than me. It took me a second to collect myself. “No,” I said as he stood. “It just… freaked me out.” The boy was about average height for his age and had a slim, but fit, frame. He had thick dark hair framing his face and big, dark eyes framed by wire-thin glasses. His hair was cut relatively short, but his bangs were somewhat long—parted on the right. He laughed. “Freaked me out, too.” He crossed his arms. “So… are you one of Gwen’s friends?” “You know Gwen?” I asked, standing in surprise. “What is she doing here?” “Sorta, I met her an hour… and maybe a half ago, I dunno what time it is—-passed out due to,” he gestured to the charred walls, “the explosion.” “Wait, are you Robert Stafford?” “No, actually, I’m Stobert Rafford—common mistake.” I blinked. The boy kept eye contact with a straight face. His mouth twitched. The delay stopped as I cachinnated—that was a fun word. The boy joined in. “Sorry, that was stupid.” “No, no, it wasn't,” I said as I tried to compose myself. “Yeah, it was, I’m laughing at my own joke.” “Okay, fine, it was stupid, but that’s why it was funny.” He smiled, dark eyes shining. “Finally, someone gets it!”

Fix - from The Secret Portal Part One (Akash POV)

SORARA’s voice announced the Recruits entering the door, and I instinctively fixed my cap to make sure it was on correctly. “—way too bright,” Lexi was saying as she turned the corner into the living room. “You’ll melt your retinas.” “I need to be blinded by the screen,” Gwen was saying. “If I’m not, it’s too dark.” “I’m starting to see why you needed glasses.” Gwen laughed, and her eyes landed on mine, now slightly obscured by new rectangular black glasses. I instinctively raised my hand to rub it through my hair but it ended up hitting the hat instead, pushing it slightly back. I tried to fix it again. Of course, Gwen’s new fashion statement looks cute while I look like the biggest dork on the planet. She smiled at me. I raised my hand in greeting. “Robbie!” Lexi said, snapping me back. “Let me see your phone!” “Huh? Okay.” Robbie shifted to reach into his pocket to pull out his phone. He handed it to her but she shook her head. “Just turn it on and show me the screen.” Robbie did as told, causing Lexi to laugh triumphantly. “Ha! That’s not that bright, and he wears glasses.” Gwen shrugged.

[thewebcomicsreview]

https://pandorastale.com/

Okay, this one got submitted to me, so lets take a look.

Okay, first things first. This is a pretty solid first page. It immediately establishes our protagonist, an external conflict (”broken rules”) and an internal conflict (”What am I if I’m not obedient”) in three panels and fifteen words. This is a page that makes me want to read more. Good job!

This leads into a scene that we later realize is a few minutes ago, and I like that the first page was “smoky” like that, which made it feel more like an “intro page” than the actual page 1 of the story. If there had been a detailed background this transition would’ve been more jarring but as is it works.

Your getting a lot of mileage out of this art. I like that our unnamed trans catgirl is sitting with her legs crossed in a feminine way, and the way the director is covering the P in the sign in the background. HERE TO HELL!

Anyway, our catgirl escapes in a smokey pod while she has a think, letting us know we’ve “caught up” to the intro. Cool.

She’s found by a group of normal people who awkwardly explain to the black person that slavery is bad, which is an unfortunate blocking decision. Also, I feel like the preceding 16 pages did such a good job explaining the helpers that this exposition is redundant, and it makes Isabelle (who we soon learn is in “the resistance”) look a little dumb, like she joined an anti-slavery network but is only learning about slavery just now. This is kind of nitpicking, I know, but the comic’s been really smooth up until here and this has been the first speed bump I’ve noticed.

Okay, so, our protagonist is technomagically compelled to fall in love with Isabelle, who is also the most anti-slavery member of the group. There’s a lot to unpack there, and me saying that isn’t a criticism. 

Isabelle reveals this is a t4t romance and I’m not sure how I feel about the trans flag being in grayscale there. Like, the whole comic’s in greyscale, so it fits, but also the only way to tell it’s a trans flag is from context because otherwise it’s just kind of stripes.

On the other hand, even ignoring my shit ten-seconds-in-MS-Paint recoloring skillz, busting out the Sin City splash colors makes it really fourth wall breaking, but it’s literally a giant trans flag magically appearing so that ship’s sailed....but also if you ever want to print this book it’d be pain....but also also you could keep the spot colors in the book maybe....I dunno. I’m bouncing back and forth on it.

Anyway, Isabelle names her pet slave Pandora.They go to a doctor and are all “Can catgirls get HRT” and the Doctor’s all “Fuck if I know, let’s ball” and I’m not sure if that’s handwaving away a detail in the service of the main story or setting up Pandora having an allergic reaction that causes anime shenanigans to happen. Either/or in this comic

Pandora offers to be a sex slave and Isabella is like :| and they sleep next to each other in an awkward but happy embrace that feels like this comic could end there and be a complete short story, one that I’d say is pretty good.

There’s another six chapters, and I kind of skimmed them and I’m still a little iffy on the resistance side of the story, but at the least this is a pretty solid opening.

I got to admit, though,...I’m not super fond of the handling of the cops. Not that it’s Objectively Wrong, but I feel like they’re not quite bumbling enough to be comedy foils but they’re too bumbling to be dramatic threats so they’re just kind of there.

My subjective suggestion is think about making the cops even dumber. Having them come in guns ablazing as a serious threat like in the Matrix or whatever doesn’t seem like it’s the tone you’re going for, and you can always have the rich people have Elite Private Security if you need a scary competent villain later.

All-in-all, though, I think this is comic is well-done!

[courtney-deserved-better]

SOME THOUGHTS ON NEW TD CHARACTER DESIGNS

she has beads in her hair and they look fantastic. also she has brown eyes as does a fair chunk of the cast which is making me so happy because very few td characters have brown eyes :)

it took me a bit to realize but this guy actually has a longass ponytail 

i think this is a hockey shirt?

she has an eyebrow piercing in addition to ear piercings and i feel kinda cursed saying this but she looks like someone combined courtney and duncan with maybe a splash of brick. regardless she is my fav character in terms of looks so far (little confused about what is going on with her shirt(s?) though)

bleached blond hair and an undercut plus a purple shirt, what i’m gonna guess is a purple vest, and a cool necklace. loving the fashion sense. pretty sure ive seen one of my best friends in this exact outfir

it might be the quality of the image but she looks like her eyes could be purple? maybe just an odd shade of brown though

love the pleated skirt as opposed to those weird wrap things fresh used to do. glad we’ve moved on. the winged eyeliner!! also super cute sneakers which brings me to the observation that only one female character is visibly wearing heels which makes me SO happy. im so sick of girls on the show being designed with 3+ inch heels like how tf are they supposed to do challenges like that. but almost every female member of this cast is wearing sneakers and im so here for it

THE CURLY HAIR WE LOVE TO SEE IT!! actually this cast has a fair amount of curly/textured hair it’s making my curly self so happy

the first td character to wear high waisted jeans!! looks a little weird to me tbh but i get it considering how extreme the art style is when it comes to waists. anyways this character looks very sweet :)

bonus: my guess for the gay couple is these two bc they’re looking at each other like this from across the campfire

in conclusion, while the designs aren’t as colorful/intense as, say, the pahkitew or roti designs, i love how natural/realistic they look and am super happy fresh changed things that bothered me in the past (heels, lack of brown eyes + curly hair) very excited to learn more about these characters!

[zahri-melitor]

Newish Comics:

The Flash #7: The Linear Men? The Linear Men??? Si Spurrier, what is cooking in your brain and can you keep giving me a direct line to it? (I mean bringing the Linear Men in a series that also gave us Gold Beetle makes perfect sense because Rip would be so into her but wow. It looks like they've barely been used since Flashpoint too). Also it's fascinating watching the re-establishment of Max and Bart's relationship.

Barry seems to finally have risen out of his ennui a bit, only to notice Something Is Wrong With Linda and then immediately suspect (wrongly) it's Hartley. Still pretty sure Linda's main issue is PPD but it being imposed by an external source is certainly something.

Green Arrow #10: this is another issue that mostly exists for people to hug each other, while Williamson goes 'remember that these people had relationships?' Sean Izaakse's art is just so good in terms of drawing the memory backgrounds so well I can pick out the specific issues and storylines he used as references (Batman + Arsenal shoutout!)

Also, remember when Amanda Waller didn't put bombs in people's heads, she just very occasionally put explosive collars or wristbands on the most dangerous and/or irritating Suicide Squad members? (Like Captain Boomerang?) Because I do. I remember Suicide Squad 1987.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #11: part of this is me just being contrary, I know, but I am extremely not convinced we are going to see Maps as an active Robin in a main title, given Kerschl is a Gotham Academy creator anyway, and she's currently getting appearances as Meridian over in Birds of Prey. Gotham Academy continuity is only about 1/4 linked to main book continuity. (Someone is going to try and point out 'they appeared in Robin War' or something but it was an active and new title then, and honestly, nobody writing most Bat titles cares about them. It's its own sub universe. Also this story has Bruce dating Isla MacPherson, something I guarantee will not be followed up anywhere else)

Also imagine being called Karl Kerschl and coming to DC to write? How much time does this poor man spend saying "no, not Kesel".

The Artemis story remains amazing and I am fully supportive of it retconning whatever character crimes it is currently trying to excuse as weird.

Also how did we get so unlucky as to have both a Bat Lash AND a Sgt Rock story in this issue?

Amazons Attack #6: and this tied things off nicely! Honestly for an event that didn't need to happen, Josie Campbell did well with it, featured a whole host of Wonder Woman characters that Tom King's barely interacting with, and added to some relationships between characters that needed additional work.

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #5: I am sure this is a far more meaningful issue if you care deeply about Green Lantern lore. Also DELIGHTED that the JSA team up in this series actually happens on page rather than in the final splash like in Wesley Dodds: The Sandman. (Wesley Dodds is still the best of the three minis to me, but I'm happy here that we're going to get JSA backup).

The Warlord #45: Previously on Lost World of the Warlord (I said I would) Travis set out to find out what had happened to his daughter Jennifer. He goes back to the village of dwarfs and gets his old sword back (since he chucked Hellfire into a lake), and ends up fighting some Cyclops' that took several of the dwarves to eat. Tragically nothing particularly fun happens here (though a skeleton IS tied to a cross, the bondage isn't involving any characters I care about AND it's just a warning threat)

Also something weird went on with the lettering this issue where what I think were script directions ended up as text boxes for all the scene transitions. If it was a stylistic choice on Grell's part it's a particularly odd one.

[wd-ghosty]

Chapter 1 - Resurrection

Haiii! It's me again bringing you more fics, this is chapter 1 of Ophelia's backstory.

TW!!!- Mid writing

It’s 3:45 am, and I’m in a dark room illuminated by fluorescent light, from screens surrounding my bed. I linked up to all these tubes, I’m constantly getting shots, my mind has been infiltrated by that wretched beating sound coming from the heart monitor. I dont know how I got here, I remember being at the beach with my friends, we got on a boat with a bunch of guys we didn’t know, I think we got drunk. And after that, all I can remember is a splashing sound and I stopped breathing…

did I mention I can’t swim?

- - - - - - - - - - - -- -- --- ---- ----- -------- ----- ---- ------ ---- -----

I grew up with three older brothers they all had their own interests but one of them went through a ninja/samurai phase, and I watched all those shows with him, Ninjago, Randy Cunningham, and Power Rangers Samurai, but my favorite was the one about the turtles.

They had a very passionate fanbase one i was a part of, I made so much fan art, and OCs hell one of my OCs was an obvious self-insert. Well she didn’t really look like me, she was tall, thin, pretty, the most confident person you’d ever meet, she would always be that one person people would go to if they had a problem, she was adored by everyone and hated by those envious of her. Nothing like me at all, I dont stand out in a crowd, I try my best to blend into the background I want to be almost invisible. Hell, she basically is an OC because she’s not one bit like me, comparing the two of us is an insult to her perfect being.

I made her so I could draw fanart of her and Donnie. Stupid right? I would draw the two of them in situations I imagine the two of us in. We’d go shopping together, and I’d give him the montage he deserved in the clothes dont make the turtle, in rise. I’d always be by his side willingly, helping him with anything he needed, in 2012. In the bay-movies, I thought I'd be the owner of his favorite cafe, and I'd always stay in late to make him whatever pastry I thought he’d want that day, and a coffee. When I got the finished product I was so happy sure I couldn’t let anyone see it out of embarrassment, but I was so proud of them.

Hmm… the beating is starting to slow down, and I hear a bunch of people running into the room, I think I’m gonna die. This reminds me of a short comic I made, Ophelia was assassinated by whatever villain and Donnie completely lost it. I wonder if he’d lose it if he knew I was seconds away from dea- everyone stopped talking and an irritating ringing sound replaced the beating.

“Ladies and gentlemen we are now landing in Manhattan New York, please get your bags from the overhead compartments, collect all your things, and thank you for flying with us.”

I rub my eyes open and get up from my seat. “I just had the weirdest dream ever. I was some random girl and I drowned to death, I think?” I take the two suitcases from the overhead compartment, and hand Nasir his.

“You have dreams of drowning all the time, yet you still go to the beach and crash into waves ten thousand feet taller than you. At this point, you’re seeing the future.” Nasir is one of my best friends, and also one of the most useful people I know. If you have a problem with somebody, just tell him and he’ll dig up some shit that’ll ruin their life.

“Oh my god, are you saying I’m psychic!?”

“No I’m saying you’re stupid, Stop standing there and move so we can get off this plane.”

Scoff, “Whatever, I can tell the future.”

“Your delusions cloud the part of you that's actually worth having, common we have to go before the Uber leaves us.”

Oh, I don’t think I properly introduced myself. My name is Ophelia Mafuta Chenett, you might ask “Why did you tell us your full name?” and my answer to that is, that's what the villaness does in every manhwa when they introduce themselves so that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m a soon-to-be freshman at Manhattan Institution of the Arts, (It’s not a real school) After passing the entrance exam I moved across the country to pursue my passion of becoming a fashion designer. Sounds stupid right? Doesn’t it sound like I'm some quirky girl from a 2010’s show? Well, I’m kinda going for that, as the main character of this world I have to keep up my spirits and believe that I can do whatever I want and even live in one of the most expensive cities in this godforsaken country. Oh, I’m also 17 years old, and my birthday is coming up soon so I'm basically 18, other facts about me, I'm from southern California, I have three older siblings, I’m 5’9 but basically 6’2 when I put my shoes on, into alt fashion, and I’m really big on video games especially when they’re story driven. Well, I think that’s it, you guys can just follow along on my journey to become… well, ME, aka perfection. XOXO byyyy!

“Please dont tell me you’re talking to your fictional 1audience again.” Nas slumped into his seat side eyeing you.

“They’re very much real I’ll have you know” She rolls her eyes at him and puts on her headphones.

“Drug addicts are probably so jealous of you, you dont need pills to get high off your ass, you were just born like that. You’re most definitely a crack baby.”

The two of them expected to get to their destinations rather quickly but, the traffic was honestly something that crawled out of the ninth ring of hell. Nasir got accepted into Princeton so he was especially irritated by the traffic. And Ophie got to campus two hours late but still managed to register and get settled in her dorm.

“Well it’s nice to know that all my stuff got here without issue.” then her phone started ringing, she got off her bed to check who called and her heart dropped. “Telli! Please dont tell me you left early, I'll hate it if you left early!”

“Nice to talk to you too Ophe, and no. I’m still in the lair because your plan landed hours ago and you haven't texted called or posted about it, so I knew after you got M.I.A. you’d unpack, and then pass out. We’re meeting tomorrow,”

“Oh… well that's embarrassing. It’s nice to talk to you again Telli, I've been so busy lately I forgot when we spoke last.” She flops onto the bed and gets under her pillows.

“Yesterday, at 5:45 am before when you were getting ready for your flight at 10”

“I’ll have you know I'm African, we usually leave ten hours before a flight, my mom was rushing me out of the house. And I find it shocking someone who’s never left the CITY is talking shit about me.”

“I've been to Tahiti before, what other countries have you been to?” she can feel the sassiness of his bum-ass eyebrows through the screen.

“OH let me correct myself. I CAN’T believe that someone who has never been to an airport IN HIS LIFE is talking about me.” She can hear him laughing his ass off through the phone, “So I think I win”

“No, I’m letting you off the hook. See you tomorrow Ophe.”

“By Tell, kiss kiss.”

She hung up the phone and rolled on her back staring at the ceiling. “Hmm… I’m an adult now. No more mom, no more siblings, just me. AAAH!” She screamed in join and kicked her feet. She hopped off her bed and dug through her bag to find her laptop, camera, and ring light. After clicking record she gets in position. “Ehem. You hear that watchers I’m a grown-ass woman now! and you hoes better prepare for Escapism season 8, watch me as I live out my college dreams! This is gonna be amazing, you know looking past all the exams and homework. Yeah, I know now I’m not special, I'm surrounded by other talented people. But I’m the MC, I’m better than them by default, and I’m special in general, all those current fashion designers that slap a print of a t-shirt and call it a day won't survive here. I have to watch out for the people who actually make their garments, but being able to sew doesn’t mean they’re a good designer and I’m BOTH. Everyone else on my wave length will become an ally or an enemy, but I crush all those who oppose me under the heel of my platform red bottoms rest assured. Well, that’s all for now bitches, see ya!”

She turns off her camera and gets back on her feet, “Well, I guess I'm done for today. I have three more days before orientation, and I don’t have my roommate yet. So I guess I should decorate my half of the room.” she turns her head and sees all the boxes stacked on top of one another.

“Or I could take a bath. She grabs her towel and opens the bathroom door, so she can bathe in boiling hot water while listening to Nightcore on repeat.

After her bath, Ophelia lays in bed scrolling through Tumblr when she starts to think of that dream she had on the plane. “That girl. What was her name?” she thinks to herself. Ophei tries to recall all she can about her, “She was on the bigger side. Short hair. I only ever saw her in muddy browns and greens.” she eventually drifts off to sleep, just to wake up again.”

- - - - - - - - - - - -- -- --- ---- ----- -------- ----- ---- ------ ---- -----

“Sweetheart wake up.” She feels someone nudge her awake, “Hun you’ve been sleeping the whole class period.”

“Oh sorry Ms. Mayflower.” She scatters to put her stuff away and tries to leave the classroom before Ms. Mayflower stops her.

“Bear, sweetheart can we talk?” She pulls out the chair on the other side of her desk, and Bear sits down in it. “You’re failing this class, and I've talked to your other teachers and you’re not doing too well in their classes either. Is everything okay at home, did something happen with Mom and Dad?”

“NO. I um… I'm just not good at school, it’s just not for me.” Bear looks down at her lap fiddling with her fingers.

“Hun, you’re only passing art, but that’s an AP class we’ll have to pull you out if you keep this up.”

“But, math and science are hard. And I always try during PE I just never pass, and Mr. Brown SUCKS. A simile and a metaphor are basically the same thing, and nothing makes sense. And I like history but I never pass the test despite the fact I always get good scores on classwork.”

“Hun I’m sorry but me, including the rest of your teachers, have talked about it.” Tears start to swell up in Bear's eyes, as she stands up. “I’m sorry”

“It’s okay, you’re fine.” she leaves the room tears threatening to fall down her face, when she accidentally bumps into a small girl.

“What the hell is yours!- oh Beary, I haven't seen you all day. You look…cute.” she stares up and down Bear, and she decides to wear the sweet Lolita dress her dad got her today. She got self-conscious and covered it with a jacket but she left it in Ms. Mayflower's room.

“Oh thank you, my dad got it for my birthday.” she uses her arms to try and cover her body.

“Yeah, you look like a baby doll,” One of the other girls said. “You know the things babies throw up on?”

“Aww look at her skirt it has plushies on it. do you sleep with them?”

“No” she whispers

“What was that?”

“No, i dont sleep with them.” she raised her voice

“Oh, well I thought you still slept with plushies, considering no one’s ever sleeping with you.” the girls start laughing and bear laughs with them trying to play it off.

“What are you talking about she's sleeping with the bears on her skirt, dont diss her man!”

The girls continue to make jabs at her dress nitpicking every single part of it to oblivion

“Haha you’re so funny Bailey, but I need to go now.” She tries to leave before the girls see her crying, but she’s stopped.

“Noo, where are you going we’re having so much fun eat lunch with us.”

Isn’t it shocking how much girls preach about sisterhood yet be so cruel to their fellow “sisters”? They’re pestering her trying to get on her nerves, she just wants to leave and they won't let her. Tall and big vs short and thin if they were guys then this would be clear cut, but for women with’s a lot more complicated. One of the girls, the smallest one grabs her arm and tries pulling her.

“Common eat with us bear we know you can eat a lot. Oh! I didn’t mean it like that.” all the girls laugh with her, and Bear starts crying.

“Oh my god bear! Why are you crying?”

“If you keep wailing like that then someone’s gonna call Peta” at that moment she pushes one of the girls to the side but she falls on her ass and started crying. And at this moment the bell rings, and everyone flods into the hall they’re currently in.

“Oh my god! The bear threw Bailey!”

“She’s gone feral!” everyone started staring at her, and some people started recording. Then someone started barking at her, and a bunch of people joined in. so she just ran away. She hid in the girl's bathroom where she cried until the security guards forced her to go to class.

- - - - - - - - - - - -- -- --- ---- ----- -------- ----- ---- ------ ---- -----

Then Ophie woke up with someone patting her back and tears trickling off her face.

...

That's it. Hope you all liked chapter 1 XOXO luv ya<3

[hero-deserves-to-be-happy]

“But…but mostly I think it’s just that I wanted to be with Mari forever, and”—there was a hitch in his voice as tears began to pool in his eyes again—“even now, all these years later, I guess I…I just still don’t know what forever looks like without her.”

A tear finally struggled free from his eye and splashed down his cheek, followed by another, then another. Hero frantically swiped at them, but they wouldn’t stop. Zoey’s arms wrapped around his shoulders again, and she pulled him close.

He wasn’t sure how long she held him. How long he listened to the sound of her steady breathing, felt her hand gently tangling in the hair at the base of his neck. How long it was until she whispered, “I wish you had gotten your forever…”

Art of one of our favorite scenes in "Am I Ready For Love? Or Maybe Just a Best Friend" when Hero finally opens up to one of his college friends about Mari.

Bonus Hero Character Analysis (Warnings: OMORI spoilers. Grief/Mourning): It is very important to us that Hero eventually finds people who he actually feels he can open up to about these deep wounds and struggles in his life. He takes his role as the "big brother" in his childhood friend group so seriously that we think it's difficult for him to really talk to Kel, Aubrey, Sunny, and Basil about his own struggles especially related to his grief. He wants to protect them and pushes his own feelings aside to comfort them instead.

While Hero loves his brother and his childhood friends deeply, and they care for him in return, there is a concern that Hero, being the selfless giver that he is, will let his fears of burdening them and/or triggering their own grief prevent him from really opening up to them and that he will let his intense feelings of responsibility for them and wanting to protect them and be their "older brother" prevent him from showing them how much pain he is really in. One of our favorite scenes in the game is when Sunny finds Hero at Mari's piano and they share this sweet bonding moment where Hero comforts and supports Sunny, but when Sunny goes back into the room, he realizes that Hero is crying and was really just putting on a brave face and trying to be strong for him because that's what Hero does. He pushes his own feelings aside for others and takes care of people.

Our "When Sun Shines Again" series was inspired not only by wanting good things for Hero and for him to find healing and learn to be happy again but also by the fact that we really felt he needs some people in his life who aren't personally connected to Mari--people who he doesn't feel he has to protect and who he isn't too afraid of hurting to actually open up to about some of the things he could never really bring himself to talk about with his childhood friends. We wanted to give Hero a group of friends in college that he would (eventually) actually let support and take care of him, just like he supports and takes care of everyone else.