#still need more shelves but this is what I got rn

[pompompinkyy]

💗

[sunlightmurdock]

okay apocalypse dbf!jake will not let me go again so- I need the confession 🙏 I need the tear-stained first kiss after an attack, with too much adrenaline and too little care for the inappropriate age gap

EEK me either me either me either ! I’m so insane about him rn

And I feel like this particular attack would be a big one. Resources are running low and Jake won’t leave you up on that mountain by yourself, so he has no choice but to bring you with him. He has done what he can, preparing you for this.

It scares you, even when it’s just all pretend with him. He’s not as kind when he’s training you. Even as you’re crying and telling him to stop it, that you don’t want to, he’s yelling and insisting that you aim straight and breathe — that these things won’t stop no matter how much you cry, or scream, or beg.

He doesn’t mean to be cruel. It would be far more cruel to leave you unprepared, to let something happen to you.

This is a low stakes run, but you can feel that he’s unhappy having you here. It’s itching at you that maybe it’s because you couldn’t hit that target last time. He had tied a thick tree branch to a length of rope, pushed hard, and let it swing. Your first moving target. Not so much as a chip in the wood. You’ve got a pretty big knife, one that could tear muscle from bone— he won’t give you a gun.

You know he’s focused on protecting you, it’s an awful feeling to think that you may not be able to do the same for him, especially after all he has done for you so far.

It’s a gas station, back off of the road, early enough on that it hasn’t yet been completely raided. Heavy metal shutters cover the windows, but Jake makes quick work of the padlocks on the back door. The power has all gone out by now, it’s just the light from your flashlights to guide the way. Jake is two paces ahead, close enough to jump back and pull you behind him if he needs.

It’s eerily quiet. You’re stuck to him like a shadow as he surveys for danger, and ultimately decides that it’s okay.

Keep away from the doors and windows, stay where I can see you. Dejected and feeling more uselessly childish than you have in a long time, you sweep the shelves and take what you can while Jake does the same. Continually, he checks over top of the shelves to see if he can see the top of your head.

It’s going too well, it tricks you both into thinking that this is going to be easy. You’re focused, on your knees and rummaging through the medicines to take everything you could need. You don’t even notice the noise that you’re making. Jake doesn’t mind the rummaging sounds, it means he can hear where you are without needing to watch.

But then, so can the employee who took such care to fortify this place before he took swallowed back a cocktail and pills the second that he saw his home in flames and his undead mother staggering around on the news footage. He made himself comfortable before he passed. His shoes and his jacket are in the back room. His socks are almost silent against the linoleum as he staggers around the corner.

He’s tall, and skinny, and hadn’t hurt anyone in his entire life. But he’s close enough by the time you spot him that his height gives you no room to stand up. His eyes are wide and gorging, the sockets sullen and lifeless. You haven’t seen one of them so clean before, part of him still looks human. His lips are pulled back, animal, growling weakly as he reaches for you and tumbles forwards.

Jake hears the scream and he swears that he’s going to be too late. Even just across the floor of the gas station — it takes seconds for one of those things to get their jaws around you. He’s sick to his stomach, his gun pulled and the safety off, uncaring about if the sound draws attention for miles around.

He rounds the corner and spots the puddle of dark, thick blood first. His heart sinks to his stomach, until he realises that it isn’t yours. You push the corpse back, off of you. Your knife is plunged through the socket of its eye, it’s dead. You take one look at Jake, and crumble, tears pouring from your eyes as you stare at your blood soaked hands.

“Shh, I’m here. Shh, shh, shh. You’re okay,” Jake whispers, sinking to his knees and pulling you off of the floor, cradling you in his arms as he kisses the top of your head. “It’s alright, I’m right here. You’re safe, you’re okay.”

“I didn’t— I didn’t see it— it was —“

“I know, sweet girl,” Jake whispers, rubbing soothingly at your back. He presses his lips together and kisses softly at your temple. “You did so good. You did it. You’re alright now.”

Again, Jake kisses your temple softly, hugging you closer. His weight and his smell, his strong arms wrapped around you. All of it almost makes you forget where you are. Blinking back any more tears, you turn your head as he kisses at your temple again. This time, you’re looking at him as he pulls back.

Tears soaking your lashes and your cheeks, staring up at him. Jake’s throat feels thick, his mouth suddenly dry as your fingers press into his arms. You are okay, you did it. He’s here. You sit forwards first, and Jake’s met with the exact thing that he has been trying to stop himself from thinking about for these past few weeks. Your lips are just as soft as they look, and your hands pawing at his arms make him melt into you.

Before all of this, Jake tried so hard to fight it. You’re so much younger. Your father would have never approved. Now, he supposes — it doesn’t matter. What matters, is keeping you safe, and he’s so glad that you’re safe.

His hand grabs firmly at the nape of your neck as he presses closer, deepening his hold on you, kissing you firmly.

[sophrosynesworld]

Community Service (Pt 3)

This is sticky sweet fluff and I'm kicking my feet over it rn.

"Are you ready?" Bakugo grumbles as I approach the campus edge, his trademark scowl in place. Despite his rough demeanor, he's become slightly more approachable since we started this community service project together.

"Yeah," I reply, adjusting my bag and falling into step beside him. The morning sun filters through the trees, casting shifting shadows on the sidewalk as we head to the bus stop. Our destination today is a surprise for him: the local children's library.

We board the bus, and Bakugo sinks into his seat, arms crossed and gaze fixed out the window. I sit next to him, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness about our task today. The library project is much different then our previous weeks.

As we get off the bus and approach the library, Bakugo's brows knit together. "What are we doing here?" he asks, suspicion lacing his voice.

"You'll see," I say with a smile, pushing open the library door. The smell of books and the sound of children's laughter greet us. A librarian waves us over, and I can see Bakugo's confusion deepen.

"Good morning! Thank you for helping us today," the librarian greats us warmly. "Our afternoon reader had to unexpectedly cancel." Her eyes flicker between us before settling on Katsuki. "Would you be willing to read for them today?"

Bakugo's eyes widen slightly. "Read to the kids?" he echoes, looking at me as if I've just plotted his murder.

"Yes," I reply quickly, cutting him off. "He would love to do that."

We follow the librarian to a back room where boxes of new books await shelving. She shows us the proper categorization for each section and then leaves us alone with the mounds.

Bakugo grabs a box and starts sorting through it with a scowl. "Did you have that planned all along?"

I chuckle, picking up a stack of books. "Surprisingly, no. I just signed us up for book duty. Who knows, you might actually enjoy it."

"Yeah, right," he mutters, placing books on the shelves with more force than necessary. "I’m not exactly the storybook type."

"Maybe not, but the kids will love it," I praise him, trying to offer some encouragement. "You’ve got a way of commanding attention. " my arms move as I talk. "They’ll be hanging on your every word."

He snorts but hesitates, a look of uncertainty in his eyes. "You really think so?"

"I do," I answer truthfully. "You're something special, Katsuki."

We work in companionable silence for a few minutes, the sound of books sliding into place filling the room. I glance over at Bakugo, noticing the way he’s starting to relax.

"Hey, thanks for not bailing on this," I say, giving him a smile. "I know it’s not our usual thing."

He shrugs, not meeting my eyes. "Dog's don't need washed every week."

We finish sorting the books and make our way to the reading corner. The children are already gathered, their eyes wide with anticipation.

I lean against the back shelf of the library, watching Bakugo with a mix of curiosity and skepticism. He takes a deep breath, then sits down in the oversized reading chair, book in hand. His steely eyes scan the room, and he looks almost annoyed to be there.

"Alright, settle down," he barks, his rough voice causing a few kids to jump. "I'm only doing this once, so you better listen."

The kids exchange nervous glances but lean in closer, their wide eyes fixed on Bakugo. I can’t help but roll my eyes a bit, wondering how this is going to go.

"This story is about the greatest hero of all time, All Might," he begins, his tone still harsh. He flips through the book slowly, taking a moment to let the children see the pictures before turning to the next page.

As Bakugo reads, something surprising happens. His voice gradually softens, offering different voices for each character. With every page, he gains confidence, slowly becoming more engaging. The kids, who were initially tense, start to relax and become engrossed in the story.

A little girl with pigtails raises her hand shyly. "Mr. Bakugo, what did All Might do next?"

Bakugo's lips twitch into a smile. "With a single punch, All Might sent the villain crashing into the ground. 'You won't harm anyone today,'" Katsuki mimics All Might with a pretty spot-on impression.

Another boy chimes in, eyes wide with excitement. "Did he save everyone?"

Bakugo nods, his tone growing even softer. He's not looking at the book anymore. "Yeah, he did. All Might always put others first, no matter the cost."

Bakugo returns to the story, his voice more animated as he reads the final pages. The children's eyes are glued to him, hanging on his every word.

"And that's how All Might became the symbol of peace," Bakugo concludes with a dramatic finish, closing the book with a gentle thud. He pauses for a moment, looking at the eager faces before him.

"Being a hero isn't just about strength," he states. "It's about heart, courage, and the will to do what's right."

Katsuki's gaze wanders from the children to me. He looks at me for a moment, and I can’t help but smile, feeling a warmth spread through me at seeing this different side of him.

The room is silent for a heartbeat before the children erupt in applause, their faces lit up with admiration and excitement. Some of them are on their feet, clapping enthusiastically, while others cheer and shout praises.

Bakugo stands up, slightly uncomfortable under the attention, his usual scowl returning to a more neutral expression. However, I can see a faint hint of pride in his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitching upwards.

One little boy tugs at Bakugo's sleeve. "Dynamite, can you read us another story sometime?"

Bakugo looks taken aback for a moment, then glances at me. I give him an encouraging nod. "We'll see," he grumbles, ruffling the boy's hair in an uncharacteristically gentle gesture.

As the children disperse, returning to their play areas or parents, Bakugo and I start to gather our things. The librarian approaches, a broad smile on her face. "Thank you so much for helping out today. You were wonderful."

Bakugo shrugs, looking a bit embarrassed. "It was no big deal," he mutters, but I can tell he’s pleased by the praise.

As we leave the library, the morning sun has shifted, casting longer shadows on the sidewalk. We walk in silence for a while before I turn to him.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" I tease, nudging him lightly.

He snorts, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, yeah. Don't get used to it."

"The kids really liked you."

He glances at me, a small smile playing at the edges of his lips. "Maybe," he admits. "But can we do something else next week?"

I grin. "Sure. But you have to admit, you were pretty great in there."

Bakugo rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue, as we continue our walk back.

[catnippackets]

What exactly is SWAN? :0 Please infodump, I enjoy hearing about your work!

SWAN is a story that I first made up when I was 10, it was about a girl named Keira who finds out that she's a faerie (she had earth powers) and then she and her newfound faerie friends would go on adventures. I didn't know what to call it but I needed something to name the microsoft word document so I called it SWAN because it stood for "story without a name" and then I never thought of a better name for it lol

later on in life I revamped it and started developing it into a webcomic which I posted for a few years before realizing the plot was not good and stopping it forever. that was also around the same time I was developing The Backmaker so I had a different way better written project to devote my time to lol and SWAN got shelved

BUT it's always been very near and dear to my heart and I still really wanna do something with it some day bc I still love the characters and of course faeries are my special interest and SWAN has always been like a little tribute to my childhood self so I've just sort of been keeping it on the shelf til inspiration strikes and it actually did recently so now I have an idea of where I wanna take the story!! I'm not gonna do anything serious with it until TBM is done obvi cuz it's still in the very early development stages and I don't feel like devoting the majority of my time to it rn. but it's still very important to me so I might be posting more of it here and there

(you can find all the stuff I've posted for it in the past in the SWAN tag on my blog although it is all outdated now)

[rottenpumpkin13]

Tell us more about the day Sephiroth visits Banora! Needing some fluffy First trio feelings rn.

You got it anon <3

• It's the first holiday in the year after the war is over. The base is buzzing with excitable SOLDIERs either getting ready to go out or—if you were really lucky—visit home for the holidays.

• All 1st class SOLDIERS are granted this luxury. The newly-appointed Director Lazard even encourages it, pushing the overworked operatives to indulge in some normalcy for once.

• Sephiroth sits in a comfortable armchair in the SOLDIER lounge. He's watching Angeal and Genesis sprawled out on the ground. They're wrapping gifts for their families and Genesis is grumbling about how he hasn't finished packing yet.

• Sephiroth would have offered to help, but he's not apt at gift wrapping. Truth be told, he doesn't even know what holidays entail. All his life Christmases, new years and others had either been spent monotonously in the labs or out in the battlefield.

• "You could come, you know," Angeal tells him. "My mom would be overjoyed to have you back at home."

• "So would my parents!" Genesis adds. "They're dying to meet you, Seph, and my parents' house has plenty of room."

• Sephiroth isn't included to take them up on the offer. After all, he has no family of his own and he wouldn't want to bother his friends'

• But Minerva blessed him with two persistent country hicks who refuse to go down without a fight.

• Before Sephiroth is even aware of what's happening, Angeal and Genesis are in his apartment, throwing things into a suitcase and raving about Banora.

• Sephiroth had never before experienced the helpless anxiety that keeps swallowing him alive on the flight. He's mulling over childish thoughts, but they're valid to his inner vulnerable-self. What if Angeal's mother isn't welcoming? What if Genesis's parents are suffocating and unkind?

• All worries dissipate as soon as he steps foot in Gillian's home. She's naturally maternal, pulling him in for a hug and complimenting his hair.

• He follows Genesis's lead, who's already sitting at the table and reaching for the nearest slice of banora white apple pie.

• They make conversation and Gillian makes sure to feel Sephiroth feel included by asking him about his interests and dislikes. Sephiroth finds it odd. She never once asks him about the war nor about SOLDIER. It's as if she's talking to a young child. He's not used to this.

• Soon enough Genesis's PHS rings with a call from his parents and it's time to go. Sephiroth and Genesis bid the Hewley's goodbye and make for Genesis's childhood home.

• "Don't worry," Genesis tells him once they're finally out of the village, "They'll be coming around for dinner later and I intend on persuading Angeal to sleep over."

• Mr. and Mrs. Rhapsodos are....not what Sephiroth expected. At all. He quickly realized that whenever Genesis complained about his overbearing and vapid parents, it must've been a product of a rebellious teenage Genesis.

• Mr. Rhapsodos has a firm handshake and sharp eyes. But he's smiling and complimenting Sephiroth's awards and position in the war effort. Mrs. Rhapsodos is exactly fifteen seconds into fussing over "Genny's" unkempt haircut before she acknowledges Sephiroth. Sephiroth immediately likes her. She asks for permission to hug him and smells like apple and cinnamon.

• After being dragged into more conversation and finding that Genesis's parents are equally as gossipy, sarcastic and flashy as their son, Genesis grabs Sephiroth and leads him upstairs.

• With the excitement of a 10-year-old during a playdate, Genesis throws open the door and shows him his childhood bedroom.

• Sephiroth stumbles into what's clearly still a child's room. Despite the huge bed, the shelves are all neatly filled with books, toys and other childish knick-knacks.

• "Mom and dad refuse to redecorate it," Genesis says as he plucks a toy robot from the shelf, "they refuse to, quote, kill the little boy they raised."

• Sephiroth palms the patterned quilt on the bed and smiles. "Genny?"

• Genesis throws the toy robot at him but Sephiroth dodges, laughing.

• After Sephiroth gets settled in his room, Genesis's mother calls him down for dinner. Angeal and Gillian arrive, and Sephiroth notices how close the two families seem to be. Genesis's mother and Gillian immediately immerse themselves in conversation, and Genesis's father tell the two boys a story about the first time he picked up a sword.

• Sephiroth watches, feeling out of place. The dinner table is ornate and stacked with steaming dishes, tarts, cakes and fresh fruit. Gillian notices and quietly places her hand on top of his. It's a silent gesture. She doesn't say anything, but Sephiroth immediately understands her wordless concern through her soft smile.

• He tries his best to fill his plate with the food he does recognize, and the dinner topic falls on embarrassing stories from Genesis and Angeal's childhood.

• Soon enough Sephiroth is choking on Banora White cider and holding back his laughter. Genesis and Angeal are red in the face from embarrassment. Mrs. Rhapsodos made it a point to go grab a photo album to corroborate her story.

• Dinner ends and Angeal agrees to sleep over for the night. Genesis insists they have the "sleepover that Sephiroth missed out on" and all sleep in his room.

• This is how the night meets it's end for the boys. Genesis is braiding Sephiroth's hair while Angeal is looking for a very specific Sephiroth action figure he's sure Genesis hid.

• Genesis starts quoting LOVELESS as a distract, and Sephiroth flings a pillow at his face. This starts a pillow fight, of course.

• Soon Sephiroth is under the blankets in the middle of the bed. Angeal and Genesis are on either side of him, both boys are using Sephiroth as a pillow and are fast asleep.

• Sephiroth stays up a little while longer. Genesis and Angeal had fallen asleep talking about all of the things they were going to do tomorrow, and Sephiroth admits to himself that he's excited.

• Sephiroth finally shuts his eyes. He doubts he'll be able to get any sleep with Genesis and Angeal's joint snoring, but he's happy.

[gncrezan]

i'm obsessed with aki, like it's not even funny. I JUST NEED MORE OF HIM IN MY LIFE LAWD HAVE MERCY. would you happen to have a bit more information on the loml...? if not it's aight big love <33

YOU CAN ALWAYS ASK ME ABOUT HIM i'm so sorry it took so long to reply i have been so everywhere but i have been meaning to find like sketches and stuff i have around of him :)

collated a bunch of old sketches of his family!! aki was originally going to be a part of a big like. chinese-zodiac inspired thing and his family in particular were the snakes (he's got the character in his last name lol) and him and his siblings all got snake characteristics . there is however nothing new under the sun and even though i thought this was cool my friend was like "oh like fruits basket" and i shelved the idea LOL

in the end he just existed in a vaccum, i had nothing to do with him, before i dragged him out of there with the intention to drop him into a simpler slice-of-life story with a bunch of terrible postgrad students. that story mainly revolves around like.. biomed researchers basically?? aki would have been an ex-STEM student who dropped out because he didn't want to do medicine anymore, but kept in touch with his friends from the course (the other cast might eventually also be forced into IFs LOL)

more under the cut!

i eventually completely veered off the zodiac-course and kept his base design and turned those scales into tattoos! he's got more in infamous, but in this universe it's just those snakes winding around his arms!!!! infamous tattoos are kind of not set in stone cause i plan to add more (inspired by the bandmates) and the tattoos are supposed to be based off them!! there was no way he'd stop at just seven's initials, he has a little thing for all of them!!!! bc we're only really two chapters into infamous tho i just want more time to "know" the bandmates and then give more him more tats (i have been reading asks about them and trying to assign stuff LMFMFMFAOOO)

what he has and i consistently draw him w are seven's initials, the snakes (leftover design from the kind of concept he was based off of), lotuses/flowers (could change!! i'm thinking rn that he gets everyone's favorite flower/plant tattooed), wave designs (i'm praying someone's a water sign), and he's also got the opening notes of their first song that they played as a band :)

the original version of him is also based vaguely off a friend i made in uni who did hair/makeup and which i still think is so cool and gave him that !!!! more specifically he sort of dropped out of a good-asian-kid stem course to do this, which freaked his parents out when they realised he was just Leaving to go cut people's hair. aki's pretty great at it, and is lucky enough to work at a good stylist agency <3

kills it at karaoke with his friends in this universe too :) his genuine passion for working as a stylist and love for his job translates into music for infamous, which despite how "i'm-so-cool-and-chill-about-everything" he tries to seem, is his biggest worry. he really really wants to succeed and stick it to his parents, and can't imagine what else he'd ever do. music is all he has and really gets lost in songwriting/singing :)

his stage name akiya is also a reference to the word for abandoned/empty houses in rural areas in japan. they're cheap to buy, but cost a lot to repair and flip. this is a stealth dig at his parents lol but aki passes it off as a portmanteau of his first/last name: he is secretly emo like this </3

also their band name, snakebites, in general is like 1) "what's cool when we are 16 and making this band when we are in high school" and 2) the band's shared birth year being the year of the snake (2001/i'm projecting) (they're still like 25/26 which makes infamous oddly take place in the future for me, 2027ish???) and luckily i don't believe the year it takes place matters to anyone so i'm just going with it <3 don't think about it too hard this is deep lore that only makes sense to me

their fandom name also call themselves snakes, and they lean into this for their promo materials (each member gets a government assigned snake breed) LMFAO !! aki lightly thinks its cringe but it's not hurting anyone, so he just told maya that he thought the name was great LOLLLLL !!! they have a vaguely edgy image because of this (and because ya know. lots of drama surrounding seven leaving) even though they're much more an indie rock band (sounding more like hippo campus, yona yona weekenders, young the giant) with a reputation for being wholesome

there's also a fun game their fans like to play called "using aki's hair, what era of snakebites is this" LOL <3

i hope this was kind of understandable <3 thank you for letting me cry about my boy <3

[violetwitch12087]

Hi! I saw your requests are open - I've never done something like this before btw so sorry if it's too specific - so I was wondering If you could do the Evans (specifically Alex from adult world, Todd hayness and Peter maximoff) reacting to a non binary reader who is OBSESSED with monster high, and loves collecting the old gen 1 and new gen 3 dolls. Thank you so much if you do! Have a good day!!

YES OMG YES YES YES YES YES YES YES I LOVE THIS SM OMG THANK YOU FOR UR REQUEST (also sorry it took so long im going back into a depressive episode butttt i have some motivation rn)

The evans reactions to non binary reader being obsessed with monster high/collecting

Evan Peters

Would probably find it actually adorable

You guys would be walking in the store and you see a monster high doll u dont have and start squealing

He just smiles takes it out of your hand and puts it in the cart

For your birthday or something he would probably even get you dvds of the monster high movies so you can watch it whenever you want

Would help you build shelves in ur house to put all the dolls on to show them off

Kit walker (if they existed when he lived yk)

Would be so fucking confused

"baby why are you collecting dolls?"

Would be confused on why your collecting kid toys but whenever he sees one in the store he (bare with me theres phones ok) would send u a picture to ask if u have it

If you dont well now u do if you do then...congrats?

Okay he would be confused but would just fucking love seeing the way you smile when he gets u one

Kyle Spencer (pre death)

Would see your collection and his jaw would drop

"ive seen the show but never watched it, the characters are so cute omg"

"do you want any more? Cs i can save up and definitely get you some....or.. a lot."

Would honestly make it a mission to collect EVERY. SINGLE. DOLL

you guys would spend soooo much money together it would be actually kinda scary

Kyle would search online forever jst for one you mentioned u wanted that was a old one

Jimmy darlin (darling)

A lot like kit

So fucking confused

Didnt even know they existed tbh

"uh doll? Why do you have so many...dolls"

*you tell him what it is* "oh... Well are ya sure you need this many?" *You do a mean glare at him* "I- i mean its fine do whatever baby imma just uh" *runs away scared*

After a while gets used to it and finds them actually so cute and you jst straight up adorable

James Patrick March

A lot like jimmy

Actually more confused than jimmy

Obviously didnt know they existed

"darling, thats a lot of...dolls"

After he finds out you love them a secret room in the hotel is specifically all yours to store and organize your dolls

Has many many people find every monster high in california shipped to the hotel

Kai Anderson

He walked in on you looking at your dolls making sure they are still in good shape

He would literally snatch it and squeeze its head off (#toddlertantrum)

"HOW DARE YOU GET THESE STUPID FUCKING DOLLS? YOU DON'T NEED THEM YOU SHOULD BE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE CULT AND YOUR DIVINE RULER"

You would be slapped or beaten to death, or locked in the closet, or he would fuck you really hard (ew)

But on the other hand if you were pregnant with his 'messiah' (peep my other head cannon) he would honestly get a lot of people in the cult to look for all of them jst for you

Peter maximoff (imma jst say apocalypse age)

Would see them pick one up and love them

"oh whats that, awesome! These look so pretty"

Would steal them for you

Would make a designated place in his moms basement for all of them

Would understand and bring up how its like him and 'collecting' arcade machines

You guys honestly both kinda love them and even peters sister does

Todd Hayness

"what's that? Oh"

Thinks of it how he collects superhero and comic figures

Would probably go online and order you monster high stuff/ more dolls

Would honestly be okay with it

Would ask you if you got any more and ask all about them

Would just admire you while you talk about monster high until you snap him out

Alex (adult world)(he has my heart like sobbing)(if that makes sense)

Your friends are throwing a party at your house and alex is going and yall barley jst started dating and hes only been over for ur birthday and didnt see ur room

He would see them and just furrow his eyebrows at them for a second

"hey, those are pretty cool" he points at them

You would smile and then you guys would end up staying in your room for the rest of the night while he listens to you gush about monster high and you guys fall asleep cuddling

He wouldnt mind he would find it actually really cute

I hope you guys like this i literally like took such a long time im so sorry

[djarinova]

sweetest em !! i hope life and the world and everything in it has been treating u well tehe <33

i am appearing like a little stray cat at your doorstep to ask about a mr mandalorian... please tell the great story of how u and din met + any cute hcs u would like to share ⸜(｡ ˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ i wanna know more abt u guys !!

ahhh ada!!! 🫶 thank you much much for the well wishes tehehe i appreciate them very much <3 sending you hugs rn

i am petting your stray cat form and granting your wishes because i very much want to gushhhh about my most beloved husband<3 and i thank you for this opportunity (it's a long one folks so buckle up<3)

okay so, i was working in a small cantina on the outskirts of the town i lived in (i have no specific place names atm bec i have not delved that far into my specific lore yet tehe). it was not the roughest pub in the neighborhood but it was rough enough that when din came in looking to collect a bounty quite a few people looked uncomfortable (almost like they thought it couldve been a bounty for them). the guy din was looking for was sat right up at the counter closest to me and as soon as din got close and disclosed his business and said that he was going to bring the guy in I could tell there was going to be fight. somehow i end up twigging it exactly at the right time and i jumped down onto the floor just a blaster fired toward the shelves behind me. it was a rather intense 10 minutes and then suddenly the two men were gone. which i felt weirdly sad about for some reason... but before i could really figure out why i felt like that my boss was yelling at me to clean up the broken glass, as if it was my fault.... and i said to myself right then that there was just no way i could work there anymore. so i quit haha. and that was how we, well..maybe not "met" as we didnt really say a word to eachother but that was the first time we ever saw eachother.

our entire relationship is very very slow burn though. it was almost 8 weeks after the bar incident until i saw him again and then a further couple of months until we had a steady friendship and even at that point i still hadnt seen the razor crest, let alone live on it...

i can definitely give you some cute hcs tehehe, lets bullet point them real quick

1) he brings me something every single time he comes back from a bounty collection or a trip somewhere (gifts ranging from a rock he thought I'd like to a plant I'd been asking about to a bracelet or necklace to a bunch of flowers)

2) he was the one to confess to me first. I was always scared that I'd misread his feelings or that i was only seeing what i wanted to see, and it wouldve taken me a long long time to finally get the courage to tell him how i felt (although it still took a long long time because HE was also worried about misreading me and making me uncomfortable ahdjdkdk)

3) we sit together every morning that we're together and have breakfast (although breakfast is a bit generous as he usually doesn't eat and im much too tired for food so i just grab a hot drink and sit close to him)

4) we had a lot of very serious conversations fairly early on in our relationship (before he'd even fully taken his helmet off in front of me) because we both wanted to be as clear as we could with our intentions and avoid any miscommunications that might have lead to regret (i especially wanted to make sure he never felt any pressure from me in regards to seeing his face, i wanted him to know that i was happy to wait as long as i needed to)

5) his favourite petname for me (besides beloved of course) is moonlight 🥺 he called me his moonlight one evening when we were laying together and i swear i almost died! it was so cute:(

this was TOO fun 🥺 thank you for letting me talk about my wonderful husband <3

[swaglet]

How did you make friends?

I'm kinda weird like you and I have aspergers and it's so hard for me to make friends and maintain friendships

UNDER DA CUT BECAUSE I STARTED YAPPING. THIS SHIT IS LONG. BUT I GOT U NONNIE

honestly i'm 100% with u on the "maintaining friendships" struggle... i love my friends sm but maintaining our relationship like hanging out regularly and having average conversations (idek what that means) has never come naturally to me and people worry i don't like them or that i'm ignoring them so i have to let them know that i just go MIA a lot and my favorite thing to do to communicate with people i like is to tell them about my day and then show them things i think are funny that i have on my phone. i always get the "i miss you we need to hang out more :(" from everybody so this summer i've really been working hard on making plans (even if it's just driving down to a cafe or a public beach at a dam and hanging out going for a walk) with my friends every so often and following thru with those plans. ever since i was little i have ALWAYS always struggled sooo hard with the maintenance part i wish i had more advice but honestly the best way i've found to mitigate that is sending them memes and things that make you think of them, and then every so often being like "do you want to go do this thing we like to do when we're both free" and stick with it. it can be completely free like just go drive around and go to walmart and touch the stuff on the shelves and laugh. this is the hardest part for me. i lose so many friends to my lack of maintaining friendships and seeming like i'm completely disinterested when i 100% am not and don't know how to appropriately ask people to hang out or do friend things (like. how often is normal, what activities are normal for friends, etc. but i try not to worry about it and just be myself). if anyone has better advice about this than me feel free to add on

for me i don't struggle as much with making friends as i do with keeping them, i can't tell if it's either me just ending up not clicking with someone after i get to know them better and we don't fit well so i drift away and keep them at acquaintance level, or if i do actually like them and am just kind of inept at remembering how & when to plan hangouts and how & when to communicate with friends in the proper way, but it's probably a mix of both for sure. to make friends i just go about my daily life and do whatever i would normally do, like go to class (which involves a lot of entomology and ecology stuff), go to rehearsal for band and theater and choir, and other stuff that i am passionate about and interested in.

the "DO STUFF YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT AND INTERESTED IN" has been a very important part for me because by just being in a place doing something i'm interested in, there is a high chance that other people who share my interests will also be there. my bug classes are full of people who like to go outside and run around in the grass with bug nets and catch & identify bugs. i actually met one of my best friends rn through my intro entomology & plant systematics classes that i was taking sophomore year and we are still friends to this day and after we both graduate we will both be working on a local restoration project together, because back then we bonded over our passion for natural habitat restoration & educating the public and we figured why not work together on that. most of my other friends come from being in band and choir because we spend a lot of time together (at least 8 hours per week every single day) and when you're in a band with like 30 people you all eventually talk to each other, especially if you're really good at what u play and ppl come to u asking for advice.

idk if this is cringe or not but another thing i do is like, i put little trinkets of things i like onto my bags. just on my lanyard, i have a bunch of things: a drumstick keychain charm, a ferret decal keychain charm, a pikachu figurine keychain charm, another mallet charm specifically for the steel drums i play that my hs director made for all of us. i sometimes have a pokemon card in my phone case and i also have stickers from The Last Of Us inside my phone case as well. and i have a bunch of stickers on my laptop and my water bottle and a bunch of pins and keychains on my bookbag as well of stuff that i like. people will come up to me or be sitting near me and say "hey, i really like that thing too!" or "what is that thing (steel drum mallet) on your keys?" and then it opens an opportunity for a somewhat easy conversation. i do this to people all the time; "hey i saw your butterfly pin on your bag, i think it's really cute! where did you get it?" and sometimes they just aren't interested in talking and that's ok but sometimes other people ARE interested and then you guys talk. one of my current best friends is someone i met in band camp; he was wearing a The Last Of Us shirt, it was his very first week on campus as a new freshman at our meet and greet bonfire, and he unfortunately had his blood sugar drop super low and he got really sick and had to sit down, so i sat down with him and made sure he was ok, and i always carry apple juice in my car and snacks in my bag like peanut butter crackers and gummies and stuff like that so i gave him some and we hung out and talked about his shirt while he sat and waited till he felt better. he also wanted to take his shoes off because he was really hot but didn't want to be weird so i was like "do it bro make yourself comfortabe, i'll take my shoes off with you if it makes you feel better" so then we were just sitting in the grass with our dawgs out. Bonding experience. anyways moral of the story is have things that you're interested in and ppl might ask u about them. i also go up and ask ppl about stuff because i am way too brave. also if someone is drawing i will be like "hey not to bother you but i saw that you were drawing! mind if i sit next to you and draw too or could i see?" this one is harder to execute i will not lie but i like being around other artists

going to college and doing as many activities and joining as many clubs as you can is like a cheat code to make friends. i'm sure it's even easier if you live on campus but i commute so i'm not around people 24/7 like my friends were. i met my bf and all my close friends through band, choir, or theater and we all have just stuck. even if you don't go to college, try to join a local event like a town theater club if you're interested in that or a book club or go to like axe throwing classes or sum shit that interests you, anything you can find in town that meets regularly and is a public thing where anyone can come to and it's about shared interests. i have no idea how to be friends with people if i don't share interests with them so having that common ground to start with is like a necessary step for me Always

i like to go bird watching with my friends a lot or go bug catching with them and we bring some stuff like watermelon and sandwiches and fruit and veggies to have a little picnic while we do. just chill little hangouts like that

Umm i hope this helped. i have never been very shy not even as a kid i've always been really loud and kind of obnoxious and very interested in what other people are doing since i've been very little and i get really bored and weird when i'm alone so sometimes i just go out of my way to talk to random people and over the years i've learned how they'll respond if they don't want to speak to me so i can either keep speaking if they're fine or say bye and walk away if they aren't interested. i kind of just do my own thang and people are charmed by me so they come up to me most of the time. i love to yap so i'll yap to whoever wants to listen and then we become friends. one of the things i do to people who i've recently become friends with is send them silly pictures of birds and be like "look at this weird looking bird picture i found" and if they aren't bothered by that then we can be good friends

another thing is that like, once you make friends with one or two people they will mention you to THEIR friends who also probably like similar things and then you can express interest in meeting them as well and all hanging out together. and then it's like. Free friends!

[vacantgodling]

I have a burning question for you. One we all need answers to (only if you want to feel free to let this ask rot in your askbox for eternity you have my permission.)

is donut wip alive

KAT!!! i’m happy to see ya :’)

technically speaking donut wip & the entirety of the liminal space series as a whole are still alive! (i’m not a huge fan of killing off my wips i usually just shelve them indefinitely until i circle back to the idea) — couple of reasons it’s shelved rn tho

1. paramour brainrot >>>>>>>> like seriously this wip has made me insane idk what magical combination of tropes and ideas i managed to spark like 2 years ago but i have never been this abnormal about a wip ever i think lol. so a lot of my wips have been sidelined in favor of my Child.

2. i got Super Stuck. not just regular stuck where you get writers block for a bit then move on no, i mean Super Stuck as in i was stuck on donut wip chapter 15 i think for like a year and a half before i finally said “i cannot force myself to write more in this draft i have to take a break” so i stepped back from it and the series in general to figure out what was going on with me and my brain. and i think really what it came down to is at that time it wasn’t fun for me to write? it felt very much like a chore—despite all of its horror it seemed “safer” to write. it was the thing people were expecting out of me and i felt like i was writing more to fulfill expectations than to actually write this story because i enjoy it. AND I DO ENJOY IT!! that’s the crazy thing. i really like this story and the nuance i allowed to grow into it when it literally started as me being “fuck it write a horror novel just to finish something and don’t care about the characters” but i care about them so much now etc etc.

but because i don’t do well when i feel forced it just sucked the joy out of it for me. paramour in comparison, has never felt forced. it’s always exciting and stimulating to my brain because it is a wip that is so very Me all over it. and i wanted donut wip to have that same feel but i gotta give it more time. maybe i’ll try doing the outline to writing method that i’ve been doing and working for paramour so i can avoid getting stuck again.

however, i did actually rewrite donut wip’s chapter 1 proper back in may of this year—i wanted to see if i could come back to it and make myself write it Forreal and i could! i did! and i’m really happy with it! which is exciting! and as a treat you (and anyone else who reads this full nonsense ramble or remembers donut wip from eons ago) can read that revamped first chapter—first official piece of donut wip writing i’ve ever really posted. just cuz like tbh it means a lot to me that you care about that story weh ;3; and remember—

so without any more waffling: here is chapter one, uncensored from spoilers so u get drawn into the mystery 👀

Chapter One

I groaned when my guitar string snapped again for the third time today, the discordant twang echoing in my large dorm, up to the rafters. I heard Andres laugh from Tiffany’s bed.

“Oh yeah, making faces at it will help.”

“Fuck off.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Toss me…” I waggled my pointer finger towards a stack of boxes between Tiffany’s bed and my desk. Opened and dangerously leaning was a box of replacement guitar strings, near empty and I’d only bought them a few months ago. “… Those.” Andres didn’t move though. I groaned again.

“Andre!” I snapped my finger and my voice at him. “Strings!”

“I’m not a dog. Besides, you’ve been at this for three hours. When are you finally gonna give up for the day and spend some time with your bestie?” He put emphasis on the word, but the trill of his voice was playful. “Hmm. I have been buggin‘ on this part a bit.” I pretended to think, tapping my thumb against my cheek. He seemed hopeful. I caved and laughed aloud. “Later!” I giggled at his groan. “I wanna make sure this melody’s flowin’ right before I break. Then we can play Spyro or whatever else ya wanna do.” Seeing as he couldn’t be bothered to give me my strings, I got up myself and toed my way through the mess that was steadily building up on the floor between the beds. I snatched up the box before Andres could knock it over with his outstretched foot.

“Oh, you watch it mister.”

“Sooooory.” He dragged out, but his grin told me he wasn’t sorry. I flipped him off, then flopped back down on my bed, quickly setting to work on restringing. More of them had begun snapping lately as I composed, but I chalked it up to stress. Finals wore me down this semester, more than they had in our first year, but it was bittersweet that they were over now. This year went by so fast, it’s like I blinked and it was December again. Beside me on the bed my bright yellow phone buzzed.

“Who’s that?” Andres asked. I flipped it open to look at the message.

from: vivi

Are you sure you want to stay for winter break?

from: vivi

Dad wanted me to ask again.

I tossed my phone back on the bed.

“Just my sister!” I said cheerfully. “Doing dad’s errands again. I told him I didn’t want to deal with him and Miss Borsche.” I wrinkled my nose. “He’s been buggin’ her to get me to come with them since I told him no.”

“Come with them… where?”

“Oh usually dad goes on some sorta cruise or vacation for the holidays. But, he never invites Vi. So I never go.”

“Why doesn’t he invite her?” The question was posed nonchalantly, and I looked over at Andres, who was looking down at his smartphone.

I’d venture to say that we’d become near best friends now after the past year and a half of knowing each other, yet there was still a lot we didn’t know about each other. I knew he had siblings, but not their names, and he knew about Juvia, but not anything more than that. I knew his family wasn’t rich but they worked extra to push him through school. He knew that mine was, but I had loans out the ass. We played guessing games every now and again—to get to know each other. But whenever there was some real-life line we went to cross in our blossoming friendship, he was always open and I always hesitated. It’s just how it were.

“She…” I tilted my head back and forth a bit. “It’s a bit complicated, I reckon.”

“Then take your time telling me. I’m not rushing you.” Our eyes caught, and he gave me a tiny smile that I couldn’t not return back. But things fell quiet after that, and I turned back to my strings.

Winter break was here, and the freedom that came with it curled around our slowly emptying building like the fresh blanket of snow that dusted our sleepy little college town. On the telly earlier, there were talks about a blizzard rolling in sometime between today and tomorrow. The snow for now was peaceful, and inviting. It crowned even my windowsill when I woke up this morning, and even if I wasn’t with Juvia in person, the holiday buzz still felt strong in the air.

A rap on the door drew me out of my thoughts.

”It’s open!” I called. The handle clicked then pushed open a crack, just enough for someone to poke their head in.

“Kelley.” Andres acknowledged the second I breathed out “Joaquin!” Our R.A regarded us with a lazy smile, and my eyes traced the curve of his handsome mouth. A flush of heat shivered through my body, and I darted my eyes away when they met mine.

“How are you two holding up here? Your folks coming soon?”

“Negativo.” Andres leaned back on Tiffany’s pillow, stretching one leg out into the air. I heard something pop and I made a face. “They’re back home and I don’t have enough money for a plane ticket there. So I’m staying.” Joaquin nodded easily, then he turned to me again. “Julissa?”

“Just Juls is okay!” I said quickly. I coughed. “Um, no, I’m also staying. If that’s alright?”

“No rules against it.” Joaquin flashed me a smile. “I was checking to see who’s still going to be here so I can send a final count to the director.”

“Is it just gonna be us?” Andres asked.

“No, there’s,” Joaquin paused to pop open the door a little further, and leaned against the wall. He counted on his fingers. “The three of us. Then, Daisy Kennedy, on the third floor. René Edwards, down the hall and….” He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember. “Ah, Saul…Carson, I believe. Top floor.”

“Didn’t know you had someone named Saul on your floor.” I said, looking over to Andres. He snorted. “Me either. Aside from my roommates, I only really talk to you Juls.���

“You’re such a loner.” I teased, as though I was any better. Andres chucked Tiffany’s pillow at me.

“Hey!”

“Actually Kelley?” Andres started. I threw the pillow back and nailed him in the torso, making him choke on his next words. Joaquin’s quiet huff of a laugh distracted me for two seconds—enough for me to let my guard down. Andres jumped from Tiffany’s bed to mine and grabbed me in a headlock.

“Andre!” I shrieked, but he was merciless. His freehand dug into my side and began to tickle at my sides. It wasn’t long before I was howling with laughter, trying to desperately shove him off me. Amused, Joaquin waited patiently with his arms folded loosely over his chest.

Andres finally relented and let me go and I kicked his shin for good measure. “God, I can’t breathe.” I wheezed. Andres laughed jovially, then turned back to Joaquin. “I was going to ask if we had to stay in our dorms while we were here?”

“Well,” He looked between Andres and I, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think you need my permission, you’re both adults.” I felt heat swarm my dark cheeks and next to me Andres sputtered. “It’s nothing like that!” He snapped. “I just mean, I got a leak in my room and Juls offered to let me crash here. I just don’t know if the break protocol is different than during the school year.”

“A leak?” Joaquin frowned, reaching for his phone. It was similar to Andres’s, clear and sleek. He tapped a few buttons. “From the roof?”

“Yeah. I woke up this morning to snow dripping down my face.” Andres shrugged. “I don’t know how long the leak has been there, it’s been pretty dry this year. But I don’t want to deal with it, it’s literally right above my bed.”

“Like I said, you don’t really need my permission to stay wherever you’d like. But thanks for telling me, I just scheduled a maintenance request.” Joaquin tucked his phone back into his tight jeans. “Should be a few days but it should be fixed.”

“If it wasn’t snowing, I’d get up there and do it myself.” I hit Andres with my hand lightly. “That’s dangerous.”

“Wouldn’t want you falling off.” Joaquin hummed. “Now that I would be held responsible for.”

“Are you staying too, Joaquin?” I asked. Andres elbowed me. “He just said that. Earth to Juls, get your mind out of the gutter.”

“It wasn’t there in the— Oh, I hate you!” Andres and I began squabbling again and from the door Joaquin laughed. “I’ll leave you all to it!”

“Thanks for coming by!” I called after him as he moved from the doorway. Before I turned fully back to Andres, from the corner of my eye, I saw… something follow after Joaquin. I couldn’t get a good enough look at it, but what I did see looked like a cream colored tail.

[universal-kitty]

Hurm, hurm, blog thoughts... Probably gonna get a little personal, but I keep idly spinning my wheels on what I'm doing with this blog.

Like. There's the Tumblr Scare to consider. Still thinking I'll likely move my fics to Ao3, since I don't want to lose them, and I'd almost rather bet on their longevity compared to Tumblr's rn. (Especially under current ownership; maybe...just maybe....someone else should take the reign. I would love to believe staff is as kindly as ex-staff say they are, but everything abt what happened prior still keeps me nervous.)

But there's also IRL stuff going on in my personal life that's... Hmm.

As mentioned before, continuing to look into OSDD as a possible diagnosis for what I've been going through almost all of my life. I thought it was quite normal- based on where and how I entered Fandom- to have characters in your head that spoke to you. They lived your life with you, offering commentary, and etc. Funnily enough, it was only "studying" fickin that I realized there was something else going on there....and that also led to alterhumanity (and geez, did that explain twenty more things-) and THAT is what led to plurality.

...Which has also been a journey and a half, considering my therapist can only do so much. I did the MID, it's just talking about this through parts language and...basically awaiting an appointment- in some future time- to get answers. (I want them, but am unsure if I want an on-paper diagnosis... Suppose we'll see if it means the difference between obtaining specific therapy for this.)

And THAT'S only relevant cause some F/Os are also fictives. Or were F/Os that became introjects, due to the comfort they gave me. (I will not specify who, for personal reasons. If you're curious, I may be willing to entrust my system blog to those who inquire for it.)

OH, and I made it into an apartment!!! That's so incredibly new to me. Nice, but trying to catch this space up with what's needed is...tricky.

Boyf and I have a lot of stuff- put together- and so trying to mentally assemble where shelves will go to bring it all together... Y'know? (But I'm excited to put some lowkey shrines together for certain faves.)

...Other misc. stuff I can't remember now. Reworking my self-inserts on the [quiet] side. Uhhhh, vtubing ideas. More lore for said SIs and ships, and also messing around with certain ideas that could streamline some of my Thoughts?? (We'll see on this. I'm hemming and hawing over it, since idk if this is From Me or outside influences again... Yes, I'm being vague!! I'm allowed.)

Anyways, that's my little update!! I've got drabbles I can post again, at some point, but... Real goal is to eventually post stories again. Esp so I can streamline the commission process, going forward.

(...In the meantime, I am ages behind writing for my LoZ stuff-)

[eldritch-elrics]

11, 17, 23?

11. fandom you enjoyed writing for the most this year

definitely pikmin! i got way more writing out of that fandom than i ever expected to - it flowed really easily and i felt like i got a nice sense of the world and characters. plus, it's nice that the fandom is pretty active at the moment!

17. fics you’ll continue next year

kind of n/a? i don't have any wips rn, unless you maaaaybe count my pikmin series "protocol for nonstandard relations"

23. fics you wanted to write but didn’t

other than the handful of pikmin fics that i might still go and write...

i had to go back to my ideas list for this! there's one fic idea i had when i was just getting into pikmin which was basically "what if olimar and louie actually figured out how to unionize their company" - but i quickly shelved that because i felt like to do it justice i'd need to do way more research than i was probably up for. anyway, i'm not sad for the loss of that fic because i ended up incorporating most of my ideas about the pikmin series & labor into other fics!

i had vague ideas for a shadow of the colossus fic & an ultrakill fic but neither of them got beyond like 3 lines in my notes doc, so it's safe to say i wasn't super attached to either of them. but who knows, maybe i'll go back to them someday

[bluebudgie]

2, 8 & 18 for my most specialest little guy petthri, 1 & 14 for lahpp and 12 & 19 for bobbie <3

Thank you for the asks!! Let's go:

Petthri

2. Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind? 

Not at all! But as a little fun fact: I changed his haircolour (and haircut) twice the day I created him lol. (It was white at some point but ultimately that felt too close to what I already had on someone else so I changed it back to the original darker grey).

8. What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story? 

I think this image will do a better job explaining than any words could:

18. What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? 

I actually think the question you asked me about his saviour complex a while back and the explanation I tried to come up with is sort of the "biggest" recent development. There may have been smaller little tidbits but I can't think of any more recent ones rn >.<

Lahpp

1. What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)? 

His voice. Not to open the biggest can of worms I got available in the shelves again but I cannot stress enough that this man came into existence because of A Song. Or well, several songs from the same recording if you want to be pedantic. But there was definitely one main culprit.

If memory serves right my very first thought was "I need a guy with this voice who simps for Dunnh". A relatively large chunk of his current backstory actually followed pretty soon after. So uh. Yea. That makes him, alongside Luqqah, another of my rare "wasn't created because of a cool armour/weapon skin" characters.

14. If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be? 

This is sooo diffiult for him;; I always felt like I had a really clear vision of who he is and still had the hardest time really grasping his personality in a "tangible" manner for a long long while.

I'd guess one of the main principles would be "keep him the boring background corporate guy". The other one would be being mindful of the challenges his disabilities pose him? Trying to keep in mind how certain situations, interactions etc. would be impacted, obviously without reducing him to just that... aah I hope this makes sense;;

Iekko

12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)? 

I think he's actually one of my easier characters to draw! He's so expressionless too it makes it really easy to draw his face because he looks pretty much the same all the time haha.

That said, I don't think I could ever bring him to any sort of RP event or the like. I'm not a writer but I feel like writing about him would be very, very descriptive. Any first person dialogue would be hell because quite honestly, he just doesn't have much input on anything at all. Neither vocal nor in body language.

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

I keep nicknaming him the "walnut" which essentially just became a thing because... was it either his skin or hair/leaf colour in the character creator were called "walnut".

I later decided he's got these little heart-shaped openings on his cheeks between his leaves. Well guess what I found out: There's actually a japanese walnut tree that produces heart-shaped nuts. He doesn't grow any fruit himself but I think this is a kinda cute coincidence. And also makes for a funny cute-sy contrast to his very emotionless self.

[moongothic]

MCM Shelf Saga

Part 2 - Dealing with all the small bits

[Part 1]

Not gonna lie, I've procrastinated on this project a lot this whole summer. To be fair, sometimes it was for a good reason; I had yard work that needed to be done first, sometimes it was way too hot outside for me to work, and sometimes it was really rainy and cold. But also often I just did not feel like it.

I dunno, there were a lot of small bits to this project that needed to be dealt with and I guess it kept on like, mentally overwhealming and scaring me so much that I just kinda wanted to pretend the shelf wasn't even there. Even though it was totally haunting me at the back of my mind the whole time

But slowly and surely I have worked at this god forsaken project, so let's take a looksie at the progress and where we're at!

So after I finished the main unit it was time for all those small parts of the shelving unit to deal with

I decided to start with the drawers, slapping some of that nasty paint stripper on them and I got to stripping them

It was a bit difficult to do because you want to strip and sand with the grain of the wood, but when scraping you kinda wanna do big/long motions from one end of the drawer to the other. Like small movements on a tiny surface (where you need to be careful not to damage the edges) are much harder to do. So this was a bit frustrating to deal with

I do have to admit that I didn't take enough breaks while working on stripping these drawer fronts, I wanted to get them done as fast as I could so I ended up working too long. And when you work too long, you get sloppy, and by sloppy, I mean "I damaged the veneer kinda bad on the last drawer" (left side, you can kinda see it in the photo)

But it is what it is, mistakes were made

Once done scraping I spent some time sanding the drawer fronts down by hand and even brought out my sander to clean up the paint from the sides and the bottoms (since the paint had spread beyond the fronts but didn't come off with the stripper. The wood was raw on those sides so it's probably gotten absorbed wood. Couldn't get it all out but the sander helped for sure)

Not gonna lie I had completely forgotten to take a photo of the drawers immidiately after I finished working on them, once done I just put them back into the unit to get them out of the way while I'd work on other shit. And I'm working on other shit rn and I didn't want to take them out for this photo so there they are, reunited in the unit if only temporarily

Need a little bit more work done to get the handle grooves cleaned up nicely but aside from that they did clean up pretty nicely

After I finished working on the drawers, it was time to move on to the next part; the sliding door

Once again, globbed paint stripper on it, did two treatments since the primer was quite thick and I didn't even want to try to scrape it off without the stripper removing most of it first. First photo is the before of the first treatment, second photo isthe after, third photo is the before for the second treatment.

The stripper did help remove the paint, but the original finish was still on there and I did have to spend a lot of time scraping and sanding that off

After many hours of work what we finally got was

Pretty good actually

Like it actually cleaned up pretty neatly! Now I did try to get the handles cleaner than that but I just couldn't get them better than that for the life of me. I am planning on staining this whole thing black though, so I'm kind of hoping that whatever remains of that original black accent will just blend into the new finish (though I'll try to sand it down a little more later, again, when I go do the finishing touches and fine sanding)

(For the record I don't know which side is supposed to be up and which down on the door, like I'd assume the "arrow" pattern on the veneer maybe should point down but also on the drawer fronts the arrow points up soooo IDK)

With that done though, we got to the most frustrating part of the shelf

Ṱ̷͗H̶̺͘E̵̬̕ ̵̫̊ S̸̙̕H̵̓͜É̶̹L̵̻̆V̶̖͂Ẻ̵̟S̸̗͛

Like no, technically speaking stripping and cleaning up these boards wasn't that hard. It was in fact, same as always, yeet paint stripper on it with plastic wrap, leave it over night, remove the wrap and the flaking paint, repeat the treatment another time, this time put more effort into removing whatever remains of the paint after the second round of stripper

It's just that I had to do this six fucking times

Once for each side of the three boards

Like I can't put into words how like... daunting it felt. So frustrating because it felt like I'd never be done with it. And this is where my procrastination got worst without a doubt

After I was done just stripping the paint (I did run out of paint stripper so I only did one treatment on the second side for each board), I just figured

I wanted to make this a lil easier and faster

So I pulled out the orbital sander

And it worked pretty decent. I did still have to use my scraper here and there because the old finish was hanging on pretty securely and it was hard for my sander to eat through it, but with a little scraping and some sanding I did manage to get some shit done

But I must admit. I did eat through the thin ass veneer in a few spots. Quite small spots, but a few spots. I'm saying this because while I could've spent more time trying to get the wood to look more even in color, I did not want to risk damaging the veneer any more than I had already

So it looks a bit blotchy, yeah

But it's good enough (and a new finish will/might hide some of the blotchiness once I get to it)

That said, there was another frustration. There were places where the paint had seeped into the wood and slightly stained it, or it had gotten absorbed into the chipboard, or filled small cracks in the wood. So despite my best efforts, there are small bits of paint still visible in some places, places where I couldn't get it out

I do still have to do fine sanding on this whole thing, fill out veneer chips etc, so I'll come back to these small bits later

But that's like the whole moral of this post I guess. I got the hardest part for like all of these small pieces done, the stripping and scraping and rough sanding

Everything needs fine sanding. Some things need veneer repairs. But I can worry about that later, once I get there. And all of that will be a breeze compared to what I've done so far. It'll be fine. Progress is progress. Just need to keep the project moving.

And it is moving!

Currently working on the side pieces, here's a lil sneak peek for you!

But you'll have to come back and join me next time (don't forget to like and subscribe xoxo) when I've finished up these pieces and hopefully all those other finishing touches, so that hopefully the final, fourth part to this series will be like, the actual refinishing of this shelf

Lorde gibe me strenght to finish this soon 😩🙏

Part 1 / Part 3 / Part 4 (Finale)

[lifesver]

@fcused said: ❝ we’re gonna be brave, and we’re gonna get out of this. ❞ / actually we're both very hurt and bleeding out and probably gonna die rn but she is trying so hard to be calm :)

there's a leak somewhere above his head, he thinks, distantly. somewhere above his head, he liked to imagine that their friends had made it out the front door of this hell. he didn't have the heart to imagine the alternative.

❝ i-it's cold. ❞ his teeth chatter around the words, brittle. his eye — the one he can still open — flicks down to where connie was all but curled up against the wall. in the shadow of this red room, that seems to want to digest them — he can only tell that she's hurt, bad. and how close were they, to becoming another fixture in the rot, decay — the rusty bathtubs full of soupy, ambiguous entrails, and shelves lined in beige-brown bones? how stupid were they, for thinking they would find maria, that everything would be okay?

the meathook is sunk messy, curved through his back, and lodged up somewhere in muscle and broken ribs, his own weight an unbearable pressure. it got a little worse, with every stilted breath. hell, he'd made it worse, a couple times, trying to pull himself up using the ceiling beams, until exhaustion dropped him back down and stunned him anew. by now, the pain had subsided into some incoherent, pulsing amalgamation — he wouldn't even know where to start, if someone asked him where it hurt. just knew it was his own blood, that soaked the front of his shirt black, that peeled down his temple and into his vision. that he dragged it in, out, with every struggling breath through his crunched nose. how much had you cried, already? how much saltwater, dirt, blood had you swallowed trying to keep the sobs down?

❝ i-i don’t mean to let you down, connie, ❞ he says, softly, in a voice almost too ragged to make out, ❝ but i … i think i'm all messed up. ❞ blood keeps coming up his throat in dry sputters — he guessed that dust that woman had got him with must be burning up his insides something bad. maybe if he hadn't been so trusting. if he had been smarter, or maybe braver, maybe he could have gotten them out of here.

then, he can't breathe at all — it's the sound of a loud, metal door shaking on its hinges that makes him flinch. monstrous figure looms in the pale light of the stairwell, and maybe he and connie both try to pretend themselves into the shadows, into being still, lifeless furniture. but heavy, relentless steps trudge across the room, through puddles of viscera and filthy water, accompanied by the low rumble of a power tool. the shadow that falls over him eclipses even the cruel red light.

— and leland's breathing picks up again, like any other snared animal that knew the end was close. one rough hand grabs him by the jaw, turns him this way and that, inspecting nothing more than meat. staring back, shattered, into what he now understood to be eye holes, in the horrifying skin-mask — all he can think, is that he doesn't know that he's going to be able to die quietly. and that he can't bring himself to look at connie, although he wants so desperately to be brave for her. his voice shakes, betrays his cold realization, ❝... please, connie. you're not gonna wanna see it. ❞

— the saw growls to life, chain spinning closer, closer to his rapidly heaving chest. his gaze snaps sideways to meet connie's, finally, urgently, wide and frightened; ❝ i-it's alright. con, just close your eyes, alright? ❞ his eyes burn, he can't breathe — he can't breathe and he needs to tell her and he needs to look at her one more time — and the saw roars loud as his heartbeat in his ears; ❝ — just don't look. d-don't listen. i-it's gonna be okay. ❞ it’s gonna be over, soon. he repeats it, and repeats it, until he can’t, until it dissolves into gutteral, throat-scraping screams.

[borom1r]

for the character opinion bingo: maya, franziska, pearl, miles and/or phoenix, + klavier or perhaps apollo? :3c whichever of these sounds more fun!!

bestie ilyyyy i will always do all of the characters shfjjsjf i love Talking and Thinking Thoughts

anyways Maya!!

I DONT HAVE A TON OF THOUGHTS ABT HER BUT I ADORE HER I NEED HER TO BE OK!!!!!! I MISS HER SO MUCH IN THE GAMES!!!!!!

Franziska

I almost put “If anything happens to them I will cry” but lbr she’d be fine. I’m squeezing Miles and Phoenix like stress balls but Franziska and Maya are getting put on my shelves like 2 action figures I’m making kiss

Pearl!!

I ALSO NEED HER TO BE OK. PLEASE. PLEASE CAPCOM IM BEGGING WHAT ARE MAYA AND FRANZISKA AND PEARLY DOING RN!?!?

Miles

Somehow, He Did Not Get A Bingo. hes Everything 2 me. his stressed cat noises and stunted emotions have captivated me

Nick!!!

ALSO no bingo!!! tf!!! he’s so fucking scrunkly I’m obsessed w him. you know Miles’ Phoenix-related stress migraines are so ingrained that he’ll get hit with one out of the blue in Germany and call Phoenix to discover he’s like, gotten hit by ANOTHER car or targeted by the mob AGAIN or fallen out a window or down a manhole or been assaulted by a witness or SOMETHING. and Phoenix just laughs it off. me 🤝🏻 Miles + shaking Nick by the shoulders and shouting @ him that this is NOT NORMAL BEHAVIOR and PERHAPS HE SHOULD TAKE BETTER CARE OF HIMSELF and PEOPLE DO IN FACT CARE ABOUT HIM also MAYBE AVOID MEN WITH FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

Klavier time

HMMM I do not have a Lot of strong emotions abt Klavier but fwiw I genuinely like him!! I would just like to see more of him I think. He n Apollo had such a good dynamic and that all got pushed wayyyyyyy to the backburner w dual destinies. like I’m sorry this is the game series w such iconic lines as “b-bottom?” and “unnecessary feelings” and “maybe YOU should be stripped naked and run out for making a mockery of this court” and “you’re a work of art, Phoenix Wright” BUT AA4 WAS TOO MUCH?????? THATS WHAT MADE U TRY TO NO-HOMO THE LAWYERS????????????? ok. ok I guess. apparently “I’ve never felt like this with a man” was CROSSING A LINE

also I need Miles and Klavier content it’s a widespread joke abt Miles and Nick adopting So Many Children but hello??? hello???? manipulated for potentially their entire lives by someone they thought they could trust, someone in their immediate family, as part of some twisted vengeance plot???? you cannot look me in the eyes and tell me Miles wouldn’t immediately extend a “my office is always open, you’re not alone” to Klavier the SECOND he heard what the fuck had happened w/ Kristoph!!

last but certainly not least, Apollo!

same as what I said w Klavier pretty much. AA4 was going in very interesting directions particularly w it’s characters and then that all just screeched to a halt. NOTHING is addressed. and like it IS the silly lawyer game to an extent but also how much of AA1-3 is about oh idk, your mentor getting murdered or her sister getting kidnapped and/or framed for murder BY HER OWN AUNT or your rival coming to terms with and trying to move past his extremely traumatic past while discovering what it means to be a prosecutor

and like I get they can’t just RETREAD that w Apollo and Klavier so u kinda get a speed run in AA4 with Apollo/Klavier and Kristoph but like. Ok DD, Phoenix gets his badge back, great, what are the ramifications of that wrt Klavier? how is he coping w the fact his brother used him to get a man disbarred? how Does Apollo help him? bc Klavier does spend so much of AA4 helping Apollo in this roundabout, toying way but still steering him towards The Truth. what does it mean for them when it’s turned back around on Apollo and suddenly he IS in Phoenix’s shoes trying to support his rival who IS absolutely mired in emotions and trauma. bc it’s very easy to gloss over what happened with Daryan but like, that was a thing too???? and Klavier is almost assuredly worse abt hiding his emotions than Miles is (Phoenix can read Miles like a book from almost the beginning, while Klavier is a stage performer. he knows how to look effortlessly relaxed when he’s really stressing the fuck out. AND THATS SUCH AN INTERESTING DICHOTOMY WRT APOLLO AND HIS BRACELET ESP CONSIDERING THE WAYS IT DOES MIRROR LAMIROIR/THALASSA AND ZAK????? more “reserved” w/ tension-detecting bracelet(s) vs larger-than-life Performer tm LIKE????? argh.)

I also just want to see Apollo and Miles interact genuinely I think they would be a force to be reckoned with together. Phoenix even THINKS abt getting up to some bullshit and they both fix him with The Stare. Phoenix and Trucy unstoppable force vs Miles and Apollo immovable object (jk jk Trucy has them Both wrapped around her little finger but Miles could absolutely 100% clue Apollo in to Phoenix’s “I am pulling a ridiculous stunt” cues)

(Miles like “and here is how I get him to Stop whatever he is about to do” + Apollo just like “that’s gr8 while you were still in Germany I just started spraying him with a water bottle.” “…like a cat.” “I wasn’t going to get any work done otherwise.”)