#still working on my c!dream design

[roseywastaken]

c!dream ballpen sketch 💚

[thisonehere]

The webs we weave

You are the weaver, once a mere mortal(???) who centuries ago challenged Liu Kang to a weaving competition. The loser had to grant a request from the winner. Spoiler alert: you won. Your request: Immortality and eternal youth and beauty. The usual. Nowadays you are known across the realms for your work... among other things.

Shang Tsung, Kung Lao, Johnny Cage, Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, Kitana, Mileena, & Liu Kang

A/N: Serious intros mixed with flirting and just the right amount of almost-smut. Be sure to send any other ideas you might have.

Shang Tsung

Y/n: Does my skill flatter you, sorcerer?

Shang Tsung: It amuses, maybe I'll let you live after all.

Shang Tsung: I must say, now that I see your work in person. It's quite... mediocre.

Y/n: Mediocre? MEDIOCRE?

Shang Tsung: That Liu Kang lost to you speaks volumes.

Y/n: I can say the same about you losing to him.

Y/n: You're... you're very charming for a villain.

Shang Tsung: Do I make you weak in the knees, Y/n?

Shang Tsung: That silk coat you made me had acidic venom in the fibers!

Y/n: *grins* Oops.

Y/n: The silk sheets have been crafted as you requested.

Shang Tsung: Excellent, now I just need you on them to make it complete.

Kung Lao

Kung Lao: I need a new costume, something that matches my greatness.

Y/n: Of course, I think I have some leftover pieces of scrap from Raiden.

Kung Lao: You know what, I like you.

Y/n: *rolls eyes* Wow, thank you so much. Your validating me makes me feel so special.

Y/n: What would you like me to make you?

Kung Lao: A nice, big, soft cover. We'll need it for our honeymoon.

Kung Lao: Why do you have so many spiders?

Y/n: I like having company as I spin my threads.

Y/n: Keep you and your hat out of my workshop!

Kung Lao: Oh come on, all I did was accidentally cut some of the work that took you years to complete.

Kung Lao: You should come with me to Madam Bo's.

Y/n: NO. My tab with her is big enough.

Johnny Cage

Johnny: If I knew spiders could be so hot, I'd still smash them all day.

Y/n: I'll never forgive you for killing Gunter!

Johnny: I've got this sweet idea for a new look.

Y/n: Of course, but I'll need your measurements... I need you to get naked, Johnny.

Johnny: Just so you know, I'm cool with doing nudity.

Y/n: Johnny, I'm a weaver, not a sculptor.

Johnny: You got to become my costume designer, we'd kill it on the red carpet.

Y/n: That would be a dream, Johnny!

Johnny: Y/n..that's such a beautiful name. It almost makes me want to sing.

Y/n: Please don't, your musical flopped for a reason.

Johnny: I don't think Christina will ever come back.

Y/n: Remember Johnny, I'll be here for you...With open arms, open legs, and an open mouth.

Bi-Han

Y/n: I'll make nothing for you!

Bi-Han: Good, I want you, not your talents.

Bi-Han: You are living proof of Liu Kang's incompetence.

Y/n: Says the man who lost to two farmers.

Bi-Han: I was holding back against Raiden and Kung Lao.

Y/n: Oh, Bi-Han, you don't need to lie to impress me.

Bi-Han: I'll freeze your little insects and leave you defenseless.

Y/n: A. They're Arachnida, B. Pick up a book, and C. Some of us like the cold.

Y/n: Your bed must be so cold.

Bi-Han: Come lay in it with me and find out.

Bi-Han: Let me guess, you think your love can "fix me"?

Y/n: Who said I wanted to fix you?

Kuai Liang

Kuai Liang: Your growing relationship with Bi-Han is concerning.

Y/n: Oh Kuai, don't tell me you're getting jealous.

Y/n: Come to me, Scorpion. I burn for you.

Kuai Liang: You've been spending too much time with Johnny.

Y/n: Perhaps you and I coul-

Kuai Liang: I'm sorry, but I'm spoken for.

Kuai Liang: Harumi loved the tapestry.

Y/n: Only the best for her.

Y/n: Are sure?

Kuai Liang: The feeling I had for you are gone now.

Kuai Liang: What have you been planning?

Y/n: Just a little present for your wedding, specifically for the honeymoon.

Kitana

Kitana: Can I hope to have your loyalty in my ongoing battle with Shao?

Y/n: I guess we both shall see.

Kitana: You beat Lord Liu Kang!?

Y/n: Of course, when it comes to combat he is my superior, but no man can best me in my craft.

Kitana: I must say, the stories about you do not do your talents or your beauty justice.

Y/n: What exactly do those stories say?

Kitana: Have you ever considered silk worms rather than spiders?

Y/n: *blech* Never, they're gross, slow, and squishy, and worse, they're all gossips.

Y/n: I already have the train ready, just needs some more embroidery.

Titan Kitana: Train? Are you making me a wedding dress?

Y/n: You and Liu Kang are so cute together.

Titan Kitana: I thank you for being so approving, but our relationship is really none of your business.

Mileena

Y/n: Why do you stare, Empress?

Mileena: I don't know, something about all those bugs around you seems...familiar...

Mileena: Your ascension to the plain of the immortals is most admirable.

Y/n: Perhaps there are some things I may be able to teach you Empress.

Mileena: Are you making wedding attire for Titan Kitana and Lord Liu Kang?

Y/n: Of course, but don't be jealous, I already have something special for you and Tanya.

Mileena: Perhaps you may stay a bit longer, teach me some of your trade.

Y/n: Of course, Empress.

Mileena: *Bloodlusted* I will rip your tongue out from through your cheek!

Y/n: Ooohhhh, cheeky.

Mileena: When I am done with you I will burn all your work to ashes for what you did!

Y/n: No, please! Mercy, MERCY!!!

Liu Kang

Y/n: You knew I'd win?

Liu Kang: I can recognize talent when I see it.

Y/n: Why did you accept my challenge even though you knew you'd lose?

Liu Kang: I was hoping for a chance to be near you.

Y/n: Who is this D'vorrah? Geras said I reminded him of her.

Liu Kang: Nothing should concern you.

Liu Kang: Please, I ask you, keep your distance from raiden.

Y/n: Why? Worried that I'll tempt your little champion?

Liu Kang: You made me a wedding dress?

Y/n: Of course, I see you as much more of a dress-wearing type of man rather than a boring old tuxedo.

Liu Kang: Be careful, Y/n, your hubris can lead to your downfall.

Y/n: What is wrong with showing a little pride in my work?

[biteofcherry]

Hi! ALPHA STEVEEEEE oh my actual days. i have an unhealthy attachement to GoT. If his omega was feeling insecure how would he react? I feel like he would be completely flabbergasted and considering how she is very much independent she might not tell him at first. but if he found out...

A study

alpha!Steve Rogers x omega female reader

warnings: none; fluffy hurt/comfort; alpha has unique ways of improving your mood; but there's also understanding and communication; alpha Steve is a warning okay?

Grain of Truth Masterlist

Main Masterlist

"I guess this one could work," you shrugged, watching yourself in the mirror with growing resentment.

Your words reached Steve with quite a delay. He was staring at you, his mind occupied with images of ripping the fabric off of your body to get his hands on the magnificence of your curves and softness.

You looked absolutely fantastic in that dress - and it wasn't even some revealing, super sexy evening gown, but rather a chic, modest piece. Perfect for attending a conference.

And when you first saw that dress on the display as you passed the shop, you seemed to love it. How could it change so quickly?

Steve's gaze dragged up your body until he met your eyes in the mirror.

It was the very first time you showed annoyance with your looks, even if occasionally you fussed about not fitting into your favorite clothes right before the heat, because your body was accumulating fat to survive days of endless fucking.

"What is it?" Steve's brows furrowed as he took a step closer and you felt the warmth of his body at your back.

His hands slipped onto your hips and he rested his chin on top of your head as he held your gaze in the reflection.

"Nothing," you shrugged again, instinctively leaning into your alpha's embrace. "It's a good dress, but it doesn't really matter, right?"

Steve sensed that clearly it did matter, so he waited patiently for you to elaborate.

"I just have one meaningless presentation, nobody will pay attention to it beside just politely listening and clapping after I'm done." You tried to play it cool, like it didn't bother you that there was going to be a different star at the conference.

"Unlike Hope," you muttered, your tone more bitter than you wanted to let on.

Hope was- not exactly a friend, but not an enemy either.

You went to the same university, shared some mutual friends and occasionally worked on the same projects before graduation. Then you pursued your career goals while Hope went on to rock the world with everything that she had.

She was stunning, always had a line of men and women trailing behind her with dreams of spending time with her. She had a brilliant mind, too. Honestly, she had it all, in your opinion.

Including the freedom of not being driven by designation and hormones, since she was a beta.

As it turned out, Hope now had not one but three degrees and steered her career toward medical science for the military purposes. You were proud of how you were actually helping people day to day, running your small research, but it suddenly felt less significant compared to Hope's straight road to saving the world.

When you stumbled into her an hour ago, your brief, quite warm conversation revealed she was going to be the mysterious grand star at the conference you were also attending.

And she too was searching for an outfit. Judging by the label on the bag she was carrying, Hope was going to have something designer. Perhaps even custom fitted.

Then it turned out Steve was familiar with one of her projects; he saw it used in action when back in the military.

They switched feedback and information about Hope's upgrades so flawlessly and passionately, and you just stood there with a smile, nodding your head in pretend-interest.

Hope had it all. Still. Just like she had in uni.

Including attention of your mate.

You knew Steve loved you, you didn't fear him leaving you to chase anyone else. But love didn't mean he was impressed, or interested in your meager career.

The only profit you'd gain from presenting your study at the conference would be Maria's proud face as she added to your clinic's website information about running research acknowledged at international conferences.

"Hope?" One of Steve's eyebrows quirked up, confusion settling on his face. "That beta we ran into?"

"Yes, that beta whose great improvements to the battlefield medicine-" you mocked Steve's voice- "you were complimenting less than an hour ago," you glared at him, barely stopping yourself from stomping on his foot.

"Sweet brat," Steve's hands tightened their grip on your hips, an almost painful reminder to watch your tone.

"I was a Captain in the Army and sometimes on missions things got really bad. I simply appreciate that Hope's projects helped to save lives of some of my men."

"I know her work is important." You grit out, crossing your arms over your chest. "Which is why I know everyone will look forward to her presentation and discussion panel with her. So I don't need to bother stressing over my showing."

Steve recited the full title of your presentation and research, showing you he was always paying attention to what was important to you.

"Hope's work may be desired by the big, important institutions," he said, "but it's your research that has the potential of aiding people nationally, in their day to day struggles."

Your heart melted at the conviction in Steve's voice. Through the bond you sensed a steady rhythm and a flush of fiery pride that your alpha felt about your work.

"And you know what else?" Steve bent down a little, resting his chin in the crook of your neck, his lips brushing your cheek.

"Hope has nothing beyond her career. Beneath the smell of perfume, there's only the scent of the lab on her. No partner, neither long term nor a fuckbuddy. No remnants of anyone familiar, like a friend or a pet."

"Maybe she chose it that way," Steve mused, rubbing soothing circles on your hips with his thumbs, "or maybe she spends the rest of her day being as fussy as you, feeling bitter that she doesn't have a mate and love like you."

You sighed softly, uncrossing your arms. You rested your hands atop Steve's forearms, caressing his warm skin.

You tilted your head slightly as your placated insecurities slowly retreated, living room to the mentioned fussy streak. That still wasn't entirely gone, strumming inside you with a need to act out.

"So you were checking her scent?" It was a deliberate poke, delivered with a glare.

Steve huffed and closed his eyes for a second. Then he straightened and in one swift move twirled you around.

He pushed you back against the mirror, gripping the back of your neck with one of his large hands.

"If you're sporting for a spanking until you sob all your frustration and insecurities out, I will happily arrange it." His voice remained soft, but dropped to that low octave a breath away from a growl.

"Or maybe we can make you more excited on that stage?" You gulped nervously as Steve's eyes darkened.

His lips trailed along your jaw, teeth just barely grazing your skin.

"You'll be giving your lecture wearing nothing but that pretty dress, while I sit in the first row with your panties in my pocket. Knowing that as soon as you're done with your presentation, I'm going to be fucking you full of my cum..."

Steve nipped your chin in reprimand when your eyes closed, the sting making you open them instantly.

"So that when you do the rounds at the banquet later that beta you're jealous off knows that you've won something she'll never have. A true mate."

Your clamped your hands on Steve's shoulders, gripping the fabric of his too tight t-shirt.

"You can't solve everything with sex, you know," you said breathlessly, clenching your thighs as you felt Steve's free hand slide up the pencil skirt of the dress you were trying on.

"How about we conduct a longitudinal study on that?" Steve chuckled and slapped your thigh.

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

as much as i love buggy, i’m gonna request sanji for the fluffy alphabet!

let’s go foooor… C, D, N, U, and Y please! (my goldfish brain forgot if you said five at the most lol)

i love your work sm and i really wish you all the best!

Yay flirty chef!! Most of the requests for the Fluffabet have been Mihawk so far, which I am NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT I love him a very abnormal amount; but Sanji is just so precious and writing for him just

*melts into a silly giggling puddle*

Aaaaanyway. I very much want to thank you for requesting the letter U, I've kind of been looking forward to it, since it gives me creative freedom to brainstorm further and deeper into the characters and their quirks/psychologies, and I always love doing that.

Thank you for the request, and I hope you enjoy!!!

Also feel free to come back and make requests for Buggy, as I've gotten none for him yet at all. Sad clown noises.

Also also, since someone else asked, requests for the Fluffy Alphabet will remain open until all letters are claimed for all characters; and I'll still accept requests for other characters I haven't listed if I feel I can write them and do them justice, I just listed the ones I did because they're the ones I've written the most. Until I state on my Masterpost that requests are closed, they are very much open!!

C is for Courtship (How would they court you?)

“The heavens must be dull these days with their most beautiful goddess stuck down here.”

Firmly believes it was love at first sight, and Sanji is absolutely determined to win you over. As much as he wants to pull you in by your hands, wrap his arms around you, and tell you he’s loved you since the moment he first laid eyes on you; he also doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries and risk blowing his chances.

Flirty, flirty, flirty. He can’t help it, it's just what he does—but he’s respectful about it, dropping silly little lines designed to make you giggle, hopefully make you blush a little. Beyond that, though, he’s going to make every effort possible to legitimately get to know you; your likes and dislikes, your goals, your dreams, everything, wanting to ensure that you know he’s interested in you for more than just being a pretty face that happened to catch his eye.

If you flirt back, you’re never going to be able to get rid of him, he’s your responsibility now, basically a lost puppy that followed you home, end of story.

He’s bent on impressing you, so your first date he’s going to insist on cooking for you, just the two of you—meeting you with a bouquet of your favorite flowers (he made sure to ask in passing about your favorites at some point beforehand), with a light kiss on the cheek and a soft touch at your waist.

D is for Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning and other such household chores?)

“No, no, you sit down and relax, I can handle this, love. Really.”

Settling down with you would be a dream come true. He does have his dream of finding the All Blue, but if you’re willing to come with him on that adventure, then the journey there would be just as much of a dream to him as the destination itself.

It doesn’t take him very long at all to decide that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, and he’ll do anything to make that happen.

He’s quite cleanly and organized in general—having spent the better part of his formative years working in a professional kitchen, it’s become a force of habit. If something needs to be cleaned, to be tidied up or organized, he’s going to do so automatically, without even really thinking about it. He would much rather just see you relaxing, will probably protest a bit about you “doing too much” if you lift a finger to so much as sweep a floor.

You already know that cooking is handled. Cooking, kitchen maintenance in general. That goes without saying. Even if you enjoy cooking as well and you want to cook with him (absolute bonus, he loves cooking with you), he’s going to be right behind you wiping down the counters, washing and drying all the dishes as you go before you even have a chance to drop them in the sink.

N is for Needs (What do they need in a healthy relationship?)

“I don’t know how I ever survived without you in my life, sweetheart.”

Sanji can be a bit on the needy side. It isn’t that he lacks confidence, or that he absolutely requires constant reassurance—he just adores you, and wants to spend every minute possible with you, making sure that you know how precious you are to him.

If you’re near him, he needs to be touching you in some capacity. Whether it’s subtle, his hand resting at the small of your back while he stands next to you, or his arm curled around you and touching your waist; or if he’s pulling you back against him, arms around your waist or hands at your hips, resting his chin at your shoulder and pressing a kiss to your cheek, he always wants to be close to you.

Constantly telling you how much he loves you, showering you with praise for every little thing you do. If it gets to be too overwhelming he will back off—but you’re still going to catch him out of the corner of your vision with his own eyes glued to you, smiling and sighing as if you’re the single most incredible thing he’s ever laid eyes on.

That being said, if you argue about anything at all, he’ll be an absolute wreck, apologizing incessantly and begging your forgiveness; and he might need a fair amount of reassurance after the fact that you aren’t upset anymore. He can’t stomach the thought of upsetting you, because losing you would utterly devastate him.

U is for Unique (What’s something unique about them that no one knows but you?)

“It’s fine, just couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d get a head start on breakfast. You can go back to bed.”

Cooking is of course his passion—but it can, and sometimes does, double as a coping mechanism. He has a deeply troubled past, and every so often it might plague him in the form of nightmares.

In which case you’ll often  wake up to find his side of the bed empty; to find him in the kitchen in the wee hours of the night or morning, while everyone else is asleep, either prepping meals for the day or experimenting with new recipes to set his mind at ease.

He’s happy to accept if you offer to help, or if you just decide to sit up with him and offer your company. He’ll probably try to convince you to go back to bed, that there’s no need for you to lose sleep, but he’s not going to turn you down if you insist. It’s a gamble whether or not he’ll talk with you about what’s bothering him, or if he’ll keep a bit more quiet than usual while he immerses himself in his work. Either way, he appreciates your presence and your support more than you could ever know.

The menial, repetitive task of preparing ingredients in particular offers a pillar of stability and structure that helps him to breathe a little easier, to sort through that turmoil and make better sense of it; while the act of experimenting with something new helps steer his mind back to the present rather than dwelling on what woke him in the first place.

Y is for Yearning (What’s something that they yearn for when you’re separated?)

“Oh, no, love, I assure you, I definitely missed you more.”

It would be better to ask what he doesn’t yearn for. He simply can’t stand being apart from you, for any length of time. It isn’t that he doesn’t trust you, that doesn’t even cross his mind. He knows you’ll come back to him. He just can’t stand the length of time that you aren’t there.

Your touch, your scent, your face, your eyes, your body—your smile, your laugh, your voice, your embrace, your kisses—whether it’s minutes or hours or days that you happen to be apart, you’re the only thing that he can think about, having you back by his side, in his arms, safe and sound.

Life on the sea isn’t the safest, and he’s going to spend the entire time you're apart worried that something might happen to you. Even if you’re capable of handling yourself, he would feel much better being with you, knowing that he’s there to keep you safe.

And when you are together again, he makes it very clear just how much he missed you, all but literally gluing himself to your side, incessant in his insistence of how much he missed you, how he doesn’t ever want to spend that long apart again.

Even if it was only five minutes. Doesn’t matter, time is irrelevant, any amount of time away from you is far too long.

[desultory-novice]

Marionettes' Pavane Bonus Story

"Style Savvy" (3 Pages)

-

“MariPav” is a strangers to friends to ……… fan comic about Marx and Magolor’s meeting and their zany adventures in the days before Return to Dream Land. It was written before RtDL DX came out, so expect inconsistencies with current game lore!

[Previous]  [Main]

---

AN: It is finally upon us. The promised "costume change."

I debated with myself for a while about whether I even wanted to change their costumes, since these were based so heavily in their canon designs. If I changed them, would they still look like Marx and Magolor? (As much as they do now, at least.)

But I also designed these costumes back when I was ju~st starting out as an artist, and in many ways they're unrefined and clunky. And even though, or perhaps because, I'm better at drawing, I find the old costumes slow me down and trip me up in annoying ways.

Plus, I think MariPav!Magolor and MariPav!Marx have distinguished themselves enough in five chapters that they'll still be recognizable!

(And not only does this addition help narrow the gap between MariPav!Magolor and RtDL DX!Magolor, who is an obvious fiend for fashion with the number of different outfits he sports, it opens the door for further dramatically-timed costume changes! ^_-)

-

Speaking of changes, you might notice that everything looks approx 30% lighter than it did before. Been studying screen tone (even though I didn't use it here ^^; ) and this was a test on my part. Kind of hoping that this is a) makes the dialogue stand out a little more b) lets me fool around with more dramatic shading options and c) keeps the characters from blowing out the background elements due to contrast. Right now, it feels slightly easier on my eyes overall, but we'll see if I stick with it. (I do want to work more contrasty colors back into the comic once I know how to use them better. That's what happens when you dive in on a major project at the same time that you're trying to teach yourself everything about art from zero. ^^)

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With that done, it's onto Chapter 6!

[Previous] [Main] [Next - coming soon]

[christinesficrecs]

Hell beautiful person! I’m looking for Sterek Fics set in High School where Stiles and Derek are the same age! Always a happy sterek ending, all fluff, angst is okay to as long as they are together at the end. No cheating please! Thank you so much!

High School fics are so fun!! 😍

The Lawn Ranger by Snowjob | 47.8K | Mature

In which Derek is an adolescent werewolf with a penchant for chocolate bunnies, and instead of the dream summer of lazing around the house playing video games and nibbling on his hoarded supply of easter candy his mother makes him get a job.

In which Stiles is a showoff jock with a broken arm and an embarrassing crush who can no longer push the lawn mower around the yard.

When You’re Close I Feel the Sparks by  Leslie_Knope | 39.6K

The guy is hot as hell, sure—leather jacket and glasses, Jesus, be still Stiles’ poor, bisexual, beating heart—but more importantly, it must really suck being new on the first day of senior year.

“We’re adopting him,” he decides, tugging Scott and Kira by the elbow in that direction. “Let’s go.”

Strut on a Line, its Discord and Rhyme by xiaq | 61.8K

“Carry me,” Stiles says.

“No.”

“But I’m injured.”

“You have a rash,” Derek says. “On your arm. Your feet work just fine.”

“Please?”

“No. You weigh almost as much as I do. And you ate a pound of chicken at lunch.”

Kingdom By The Sea by kilaem | 4K

Lydia grabs his arm and pulls him down in the seat next to her. “When the hell did you find time to bag a guy like Hale?”

“We’re friends,” Stiles feels his face heat up, and then the team are running out and Derek sees him and smiles. His blush gets worse.

“Oh really?”

“Our moms were friends, okay? We’ve been in diapers together.”

“I thought you two hated each other.”

What Good Are Rules (If You Can’t Break Them) by wishingonalightningbolt | 9.5K | Explicit

In which Derek and Stiles engage in no-strings-attached sex. It works out about as well as you might imagine.

Option C) Some Bad Guys are Werewolves, but Not All Werewolves are Bad Guys by  calrissian18 | 9K

Derek Hale—the Incredible Meat that Thinks—needs a math tutor. Stiles Stilinski needs something that will look better on his college applications than ‘passable D&D Dungeon Master.’

It’s a match made in heaven. Er, right?

Let Me Be Yours by EvanesDust, isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 30.3K

What if Stiles did end up believing one day and he got a soulmark and it... wasn’t Derek’s? What if it was a completely different design? Derek would hate the other person on principle because they would’ve gotten what he wanted.

Hadn’t he earned Stiles? He’d been there for him for years, and they were both such good friends, and had stuck by one another regardless of their differences. He was sitting in a fucking movie theatre to watch a movie he wasn’t at all interested in instead of playing ultimate frisbee with Boyd and some other friends, for fuck’s sake. He loved ultimate frisbee! Much more than superhero movies!

But not more than Stiles.

He couldn’t possibly love anything more than Stiles.

i wanna dance with somebody (who loves me) by bleepobleep | 10.5K

Derek gets in an accident and loses a few years of his memory; suddenly everything is different— he’s not a freshman loser anymore, but a popular senior, captain of the basketball team, a shoo-in for prom king, too, and he should have everything he’s ever wanted— except he doesn’t seem to be friends with Stiles anymore.

John Hughes Did Not Direct My Life by nascentgalaxies | 48.6K | Explicit

Stiles and Derek are childhood friends who drifted apart. When Stiles joins the lacrosse team against his will, the universe (with a little help from Laura and Lydia) chooses to push them back together.

Chocolate & Pomegranates by Dexterous_Sinistrous | 9.6K

Derek has been an Omega for what feels like centuries. He is constantly hounded by Alphas and Betas who can't control their hormones. He's thankful for Laura defending his honor, but there is one person he's always dreamed of giving himself to.

Too bad Derek is certain Stiles doesn't know he exists.

It’s Always Been You, Dumbass by stilinskisparkles | 11K

“Alright, cool, we should go,” Stiles says breezily, dusting off his hands as he stands.

“We should?”

“Yeah!”

“But… Do you even care about photography?”

“Not as much as I should,” Stiles plants both his hands on the table, bracketing Derek in, “You’ll have to correct my miscreant ways.”

This Might Be Irony by thepsychicclam | 38.3K | Mature

Stiles and Derek have been close friends since the Hale siblings moved in next door after their parents’ death. But Derek’s in the popular group, he’s a star baseball player, and he dates popular Pep Squad captain Jennifer Blake. Stiles doesn’t have any of that, just his skateboard and a hopeless crush on Derek (oh yeah, and his Vote Lydia Martin Prom Queen button). As prom and the baseball state championship grow closer, Stiles and Derek start rekindling their friendship.

And it all begins with two white boards.

A Cunning Plan by yodasyoyo | 32.7K

Stiles has a plan to get Lydia Martin to notice him. Derek is not impressed.

But Then What… by Stoney | 24.3K | Explicit

Senior year is almost over, and all Stiles needs to do is keep his head down to survive. A teacher calls in a favor, leaving him stuck tutoring Derek Hale, one of the most popular jocks in school and a member of a group of douchecanoes who have bullied Stiles for years. He’s someone Stiles totally hates. Totally. Like, doesn’t like him even a little bit. DEFINITELY isn’t attracted to him.

Except that is a total lie. Fuck his life, seriously.

[bettyfrommars]

Somna

a Nightmare Factory blurb

nightmare!eddie & Somna

@somnambulic-thing asked if they could have a job at The Nightmare Factory, and I was happy to oblige. I love these random blurbs with behind-the-scenes Eddie, and I hope to do more. We will see Somna again, in and around the workplace. My blog is 18+ but there aren't any warnings for this. wc: 671

“These things do not happen in dreams, my dear,' he said, vanishing up to his neck. 'They happen only in nightmares.' His head spiraled and he was gone.” - Marissa Meyer, Heartless

A nightmare expert named Somna was recently promoted to supervise set and clothing design after several others were demoted, and for good reason.  The nightmares as of late were suffering from physically inaccurate descriptives of attire, for example: people in the late 1700’s did not wear acid wash denim, and zombies did not drive cars.  A big part of the problem was that nightmare workers were encouraged by the last person in charge of the Simulation Machine to “bring their own clothes and props” and “wear whatever they wanted'. 

An artist in their own right, Somna recoiled at the restrictive laws set in stone by the Nightmare Guild, and preferred to help the nightmares move intuitively, being open to the specific talent of the performer while setting the scene.

After almost a decade of employment, they’d been with that particular wing of the Factory for only a few days when Eddie showed up, knocking on the open door of the prop room to get their attention before disarming them with a sheepish grin and a wave.  

They looked up from a miniaturized model of a town, complete with trees and buildings and tiny people, set on a large table in the middle of the space.  They regarded him with curious eyes, fixing the nametag on the lanyard that hung around their neck.  “Can I help you?”

Eddie was out of his work clothes now, back in his ripped black jeans and battle vest, he moved forward with a lightness about him, lifting up on the balls of his feet when he finally asked the question.  “Somna, right?” He gave them a finger gun, and Somna mirrored it, not entirely sure why.

“That’s me,” Somna looked him up and down, unable to place him at first, but then, reality dawned.  “Wait, aren’t you the one who learned how to bypass nightmare protocol? Almost gave Kevin a stroke?”

Eddie worked his jaw, eyes darting around the room, not sure if he should answer that.

“Your secret is safe with me,” they promised with a palm up as if to swear.  “I’d just love to know how you did it.”

“I was just, determined, I guess,” he answered, raking a ringed hand through his hair, fluffing out his bangs. “I did a lot of research, cashed in on a lot of favors. Names Eddie, by the way.”

Somna waited for a beat, taking in his disheveled, endearing appearance.  “Whoever you are doing this for, they must be very special.”

Eddie licked his lower lip, making cautious eye contact.  “They mean everything to me.”

“Well,” the set designer exhaled, touched by his sincerity and determination.  “I assume you need something from me?”

Eddie hadn’t expected this conversation to be so direct; he’d been ready to beat around the bush for weeks like he had with every other one of the higher up officials.

“I must tell you,” Somna crossed their arms over their chest. “I’ve been where you are before. I started out doing field work, and I fell for a Dreamer once.”

“Oh?” Eddie’s eyebrows raised and his curiosity piqued.  He took a few steps forward, still separated by the realistic model of the Nightmare Town in between the two of them, and searched their eyes, anxiously.  “What happened?”

Somna tried to smile, but then it broke and became something else; a hard lip line swallowed by a clearing of their throat.  “I gave up, I guess.  I just didn’t think it was possible to turn it into anything…real.”

Eddie lowered his eyes, unwilling to accept that as a reality for himself.  

“But, I will help you, if I can,” Somna offered, waiting until he raised his chocolate eyes; they were shining hopeful from under full lashes. “I’ll help you make up for the time that I’ve lost with the one I should be with.”

There was a bittersweet moment there where the two became instantly connected in a friendship of shared longing and sorrow, and Eddie would henceforth have a valuable ally for the rest of his time employed as your lovesick ghoul at the Nightmare Factory.  

[wolflyndraws]

I actually adore how you draw C!Dream, specially when compared to how you draw Dream happy

C!Dream's trauma seems to stick to his sink like blood, like if you touched him your hand would be stained with lava and obsidian dust and blood and his desperate begging for help

Idk, I just love how you draw him!! How you draw in general really

(I obrigatorilly need to talk about how you draw mermaids. The rendering of the tails!!!!! It makes me giddy to see :D)

THANK YOU SM!! I’m happy you noticed my like REALLY DIFFERENT VIBES of the dreams FLAJFKSJ POS POS Also oh my god his desperate begging for help 😭😭😭😭😭

A few details I Iadd to accentuate c!dream’s… trauma is

- I try to give him no emotion at all most of the time and IF he does show any type of emotion (especially like current c!Dream not pre trauma dream) it’s usually because the emotion was so overwhelming that it cracked through his thick traumatized shell

if you see current c!dream in my art from now on with any different odd emotion like a smile or something happy just know that it might be a certain god playing tricks…

His emotionless-ness is almost like a mask itself, he doesn’t want anyone to know how he feels, feeling like they would use it against himself. If you tried hard enough you could see emotions change with a twitch of his iris

I’d like to think he forgot how to feel. He’s just tired. Tired of everything it’s been a while since he’s expressed anything positive and he doesn’t know how until he breaks in the end of the smp when everything rushes back into his senses cause he’s scared and it’s overwhelming… but that’s a story for another time

- another thing is his color palette when I color Dream I use a more purple non-human like skin tone which shows more prominently when he’s drawn with George who has a more orange / bright leaning skin color

If you look at my pre and post trauma dream drawings you can see literally life and color literally has been drained from him 💀💀

- last thing that comes to mind is his scars and bruises I specifically give him a bruised right eye but he doesn’t tend to it he doesn’t care if he can still see through it it’s good enough he can’t be distracted even with his own body anymore. Another is his crooked nose it’s crooked from breaking 😭 you can see the comparison from the pre post trauma drawing and a few more scars and boom traumatized man

I think my main goal was to just make him a sad wet abandoned dog and I think it kinda worked haha

The reason he’s human is cause of my dsmp hc (c!Tommy c!Dream and c!wilbur is the only humans) and even though holy fuck hybrid dream would be such a fun design (looks over at Faye’s c!dream) thought that it would be wayyy scarier or makes sense with the story I want to tell if he was a human and being the only true monster in a world full of monsters

And thank you!!! I loveeee mermaids you can tell by my art LMAOO

Anywaysss sorry for the long ass reply like nobody’s prolly interested /gonna read this GKAKJFA but it was fun to write it

Feel free to ask / talk to me more about my design choices! I love rambling about em

[roodles03]

Hunter's Room (Fan Design)

It is about time I finally did this, now I can make so many drawing ideas come true with a room for Hunter designed. Also, for those who read my "Timeskip Watching and Dreaming AU" series of fanfics on A03, this is what Hunter's room looks like. This room is a room in Darius' house, so yippie Dadrius.

Alright, I know the doors can be confusing to let me break this down.

The door on the south wall with the small cuckoo clock like doors is the door to exit the room. I put cuckoo doors on the door because it's for Waffles.

The door that's on the wall that's jetting out is the door to the walk-in closet

And the the door on the west wall is the door to Hunter's private bathroom.

I originally wanted to do the entire Deamonne household at once, but, no way that would take forever. Maybe I'll do parts of it in the future but for right now, NO. If I did, I'd probably do Darius' room next and the living room after that.

This took such a long time to design, and it was my first time ever designing a background completely on my own. I needed to take off the training wheels and design my own background for once, and for my first attempt, I think I did a decent job.

The only thing that I couldn't add is a ceiling fan, but that was only because of the angles I had. I'm sure I could've if I had a different angle. Im going to have to design that separately.

This took since October 20th to finish, I probably could've got it done faster, but uni kept me busy and such. Either way, now that I've finished this, I can't wait to make drawings with this room. Yay!

Alright so: Tumblr exclusive content from here on out since insta has a stupid character limit, and their cropping system sucks

I'm gonna go on an infodump to why I decided to put almost everything here in Hunter's room.

North Wall:

Bed: I decided to make the headboard and footboard a cherry colored wood because Hunter would definitely like cherry wood because it's reddish. Referencing Willow's headboard that has a flower, I changed that into a bird for Hunter. I gave him a blue blanket in reference to Waffles. I headcannon that Hunter LOVES plushies, so I gave him some plushies I'd think he'd like. He'd definitely like squishmallows, so I gave him a blue-jay, cardinal, and wolf squishmellow. I also gave him a small wolf plush, as well as a small parrot plush and a peacock plush. The Sprig plushie is special, as it's not the same one as he had in the castle. It's a life-sized one Willow won him at a carnvial. (Reference to one of my fics).

Nightable: Nothing much to say here outside of the fact that I felt like Hunter would need one. I gave him a crystal ball because I felt like he'd like one.

Desk: This is where Hunter does work, from designing clothes to sew to studying for school. He has a log of regluar wood to practice carving on. (This room is set when Hunter is still a kid early during the WAD timeskip) He also has a punch a pencils, a desk lamp, and some books on there.

Corkboard: Hunter keeps notes for his school studies, and personal projects here. Sometimes he doodles things and puts them up there, such as the wolf and birds doodles.

Wall: Hunter would 100% be that person to have a trillion posters. I gave him a Flyer Derby poster, and a hummingbird poster. The Ruler's Reach poster is actually signed by King himself. Here's also a wolf calender, since I'd figured he'd like that, and a cuckoo clock that I headcannon Hunter and Dell carved together.

Bookshelf: On the bottom shelf, Hunter keeps a bunch of random books he likes.

On the second shelf, he has a photo of Flapjack, textbooks for his abominations and potions classes, and a photo of Willow

On the third shelf, he has textbooks for his illusions, construction, wild magic, plants, beastkeeping, and runes classes.

On the forth shelf, he has a photo of Darius, textbooks for his bard, oracle, and healing classes, and a photo of Waffles.

On the top shelf, he has his two favorite books of all time, Cosmic Frontier and Ruler's Reach, specially displayed with them propped up.

Jesus, that was by far the longest description we'll have.

East Wall:

Window: Hunter has a basic window with blue curtains. I originally wanted to make the curtains space themed for Cosmic Frontier, but then realized that would be a pain to draw over and over again, so I kept it blue. Maybe I can make Hunter's shower curtain space themed instead.

Other then that, there is nothing new on this wall that I'd like to cover. (I'd rather cover things that appear on other walls in their sections)

South Wall:

Wall: Hunter has two more posters on this wall. A Cosmic Frontier Poster. This is a reference in itself, where in Star Trek, the equivalent of O'Bailey has an asian wife that is a Bontonist, and that is sorta a parrel to Huntlow. So I decided to make a headcannon design for both O'Bailey, and the Bontonist I decided to rename to Aiko. So boom. Huntlow reference. The other poster is simply a wolf poster.

Box: This is pretty self explanatory. Its a box with sewing supplies.

Mannequin: Since Hunter sews, I'd imagine he'd like to have a mannequin to help make the clothing design process easier.

Table: This is the same sewing Machine from Thanks to Them, as Camila gave it to Hunter as a gift.

West Wall:

Outside of the door of the bathroom, there is nothing new on the west wall that I haven't already covered.

Bonus:

Here is the original blueprint for the entire Deamonne household. I could go from here and design every last aspect of the house, but that would take ages. I'd definitely like to, but its just so much work. Like I said, the next two rooms I'd design are Darius' room and the living room. Plus, Hunter's room was by definition going to he the hardest, since he has the most stuff and therefore detail in his room.

For when I wanted to focus solely on Hunter's room, I referenced the upstairs blueprint snd made a more detailed blueprint just for his room. As you can see, A LOT ended up changing from this to the final version.

[sioster]

Wolf c!Wilbur and bunny c!Dream? :D

oh well uhm. Love taking more than a month vbfdhsxnj

I wanted to put more effort into this, since fanart of your wolf and bunny madduo was pretty much my first actual move to get into this community of ours. Also when i was still in the lineart stage i think, my brain started randomly playing the Ну, погоди! / Wilk i Zając intro song :skull:

I HOPE I GOT THE DESIGNS RIGHT BEFDSJK,,,,, i did add a wolf nose to bur tho- it just worked better in my style fedsghyh sorry

[bcacstuff]

This article from &C is translated from Dutch to English via Google translate (with a few improving edits by me)

Hollywood actress Lotte Verbeek attended star parties in LA, dined with Al Pacino, worked with Russell Crowe and lived under the Hollywood sign. She now lives in an apartment in the Jordaan with her two guinea pigs, and that wasn't easy: 'I'm not going to lie, I found the first year really tough. In the middle of corona time, the shock of cold and 'gosh, now I'm here again'."

In &C's latest issue 'Luxepoezen', Lotte tells Chantal how she grew up in Venlo, how she landed her first big roles, moved to LA and became a real movie star there. But dreams change, so does hers: 'I had an amazing life there, I've lived the dream. But when you are at a party for the umpteenth time, in a beautiful dress, with a glass of champagne, in the garden of a huge villa, looking out over all those Hollywood lights… then at some point you have seen it all. You get used to everything, including the vibrant life in LA.'

From Venlo to Hollywood Lotte was born in Venlo, and knew since she was eight that she wanted to become an actress. Her parents were her biggest supporters. 'When I was able to switch to drama school after my pre-university education and the dance academy, I was the one who had doubts: shouldn't I go for more certainty? My parents said: 'We have always thought you do this, just follow your heart.' I am eternally grateful to them for that support.' After drama school, she moved to Paris, where she was cast in the film Nothing Personal and the series The Borgias. She moved to LA, where she found herself in a beautiful but harsh world: 'In Hollywood you can be lucky or unlucky. It's fucking tough. No matter how hard you try, you are just as likely to be rejected because of things you cannot do anything about and over which you have no influence, such as how tall you are compared to your opponent, for example. Crazy, small details but – especially in America – crucial for big decisions.'

Big names Did Lotte live a real luxury live in LA? Of course. 'Especially because I am always incredibly well taken care of in Hollywood productions. Like now during the shooting of the film Nuremberg: after four hours of trying on costumes, the designer still shuts down everything full of enthusiasm to look for a better belt for a jacket.' Chantal was curious about what bizarre Hollywood situation she has ever ended up in. 'I once ended up at Al Pacino's private birthday dinner because my girlfriend was friends with his producer. When we entered the restaurant with him, all the guests tried to remain casual, but as soon as he walked past, everyone was frantically grabbing their phones.'

Back in the Netherlands Still, Lotte decided it was time to leave the glitz and glamor of Hollywood behind. The fact that everything in LA revolves around making a career became too much for her. 'I missed that life could also be about other things. Building a nice, good relationship, for example.' When an apartment in the Jordaan came her way, she left for the Netherlands. 'I still haven't been back, afraid I miss it too much. Still, I have now found my way, although that is largely due to my husband.' She met that dream man by chance during a night out. 'It was very strange, but the moment I got ready and put on my heels, I had a very clear image of a man with long, dark hair, in a long coat. A little later, on the terrace of Toscanini in the Jordaan, I saw that same man, in real life. It was like a movie.'

[lov3-marks]

Somnia SMP AU

So, this AU idea actually came from a conversation my wife and I had while I made a design for C!Dream.

! THIS AU IS STILL VERY MUCH A WIP !

This is Somnia.

Somnia is a C!Dream who, Somehow, accidently discovered a way to travel through the multiverse. While on this journey though, he witnessed countless horrific events all cause by the Dreams in those universes. When he saw everything, he was mortified, deciding he couldn't bear to carry the same name and identity that these "Monsters" did. That would be when he changed his name from Dream, to Somnia. In a fit of rage, however, he confronted one of the Dreams, Even going so far as to take one of his lives. After he finally returned home, Saw Tommy, and everyone else, He vowed to never allow his SMP to turn out the way he'd seen various others. He then made sure everyone knew his name was no longer Dream, And the Server's name was to be changed as well.

Extra Info:

-Because of the guilt that Somnia holds, He hosts Large serverwide festivals at the end of every month for each member to attend and enjoy.

-Once took Tommy's discs, but realized how much they meant to him and immediately returned them with cover of, "Oh, I lost those, Looks like Tommy found them anyways. Oh well."

-Actively works to prevent Several "Canon events" from happening.

-L'manberg was founded, But the revolution took place before Somnia's discovery of the multiverse.

-Prevented Schlatt from winning in the election, and Convinced Quackity to go along with Wilbur Instead.

--------

This is what I have so far, So stay tuned to see more of this AU, Including small Fanfics, Comics, doodles, and everyone else's character sheets + Designs. (Along with how their story has been altered by Somnia's experience with the Multiverse.)

-Thank you for Reading!

(ANY QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME! AS WELL AS ANY ART OF THE AU)

[stemms]

c!Tommy’s attitude towards c!Dream’s mask and face is really fascinating to me. He found it very uncomfortable and unsettling to look at, as despite its simplistic design, it created an uncanny valley effect. But also, considering it was the last thing c!Tommy saw before each of his deaths, he began to associate it with striking pain and death.

The thought of the inevitability of death and subsequent revival hit him after being revived for the first time in prison and hearing c!Dream's proclamation of willingness to become immortal together.

“Maybe I'll bring you back again- I wanna figure out how this works. I wanna know about death! You know, we could study it- we could study it together. We can become immortal together, by studying it!”

c!Tommy remembered how reluctant of letting him go c!Dream was in exile; he kept him from dying at the time, and now c!Tommy knew that he always will. After all, the teen belonged to him only, and c!Dream wasn’t the type to give away what was his.

“It’s not your time to die yet, Tommy.” “It’s never my time to die.”

The unforeseen shift in c!Tommy’s attitude towards c!Dream’s face is very remarkable as well. The Disc War Finale revealed c!Dream’s true face to the whole server, both metaphorically and literally, and considering c!Tommy chopped his mask, he couldn't hide his face in the prison arc any more. This brings us to the point where the teen was stuck in prison, and couldn't avoid discerning his abuser's face in all its vile inhumanity; he was able to see c!Dream's obsessed smile and mocking look, as well as every tiny shift in his expression, which utterly terrified him.

While being isolated from everyone and stuck with his abuser reminded him of exile, it wasn't exactly the same. In both instances, c!Tommy was able to see c!Dream's face, but his attitude toward it had reached a tipping point. The act of revealing his face to c!Tommy in exile, had a goal of acquiring his trust, and the boy truly appreciated it, as he was constantly looking for any sign of c!Dream's approval. He believed that seeing his friend's face was an honour and a reward, and deep down, he was terrified of facing the mask ever again because it would mean that c!Dream wasn't pleased with him any more, and it was some kind of indirect punishment. However, in the prison arc, c!Tommy would rather face that unsettling mask than the man's face because it revealed him as the monster he really was, and it appalled and repulsed him more than anything. Still, it wasn't c!Dream's cruel, enraged or mocking expression that terrified c!Tommy- he absolutely couldn't bear seeing the man smiling softly and looking genuinely worried about c!Tommy.

[six-costume-refs]

2023-25 West End Alt Costumes

Hey y'all! I've already talked about the new alt costumes a few times in different places, but felt like it would be easiest to make one big post about this. If you haven't already, I'd suggest reading this post from the day the cast was announced breaking down potential color assignments for each.

Color assignments

First off, a few costumes we can reasonably assume: - A silver swing costume has been in progress. This should be Meg Dixon-Brasil's. - Naomi Alade has glitter eyeshadows in green, red, and orange as well as her palettes in those shades, so we can assume she has orange. - We've also seen teal pants hanging up in the alts' dressing room. They seem to be the same design as Monique Ashe-Palmer and Ellie Jane Grant have. By elimination, these should be Gabriella Stylianou's; they're also up on the rack by her Aragon and Seymour costumes.

The two big questions (aka, what is going on with pink alt) - First of all, we saw the top for a pink alt hanging in the dressing room. This was similar to Natalie Pilkington's, but not identical. When seeing that @lightleckrereins and I initially determined it could be either an altered version of Natalie's, or a costume for for Hannah Lowther. That still seems to hold true. - Hannah Lowther also posted her makeup. It includes two pink glitters (a hot pink and light, everyone else has just gotten one for each so shouldn't be two Howard), two pink lipsticks, and two pink palettes. One of those lipsticks is the go-to assigned Howard lipstick while the other is their go-to assigned pink alt lipstick. One of the pink palettes lines up more with pink alt than Howard. She also didn't have any lipsticks that I'd expect for teal/black, or any nudes/silver makeup that would work for black; the Parr palette could possibly be used for teal but doesn't quite work and seems less likely. - Natalie....also seems to have pink alt?? She posted a photo of herself in what is definitely pink alt makeup from this week. It's definitely new/current; it shows her and Meg in their new dressing room.

I feel like it's likely that they're both in pink alt, but of course this is Six so we'll have to wait on promo photos to know for sure.

Changed or new variations I've also gotten some asks about the possibility of changed variations. We already know teal will have pants, so we can rule that out. It seems like Naomi will be wearing orange for A/S/H/P, which is roughly what it's been used for with pants, so it seems very unlikely to see anything there. Meg Dixon-Brasil should have the same silver alt as Shakira Simpson, with an open skirt, full Cleves, and Parr (I've talked about why I think Esme's Boleyn skirt was a one-off here). That brings us to, again, the pink alt question. Some Hannah Lowther seems to have pink alt, she'd be wearing it for A/B/S/C, which the open skirt isn't a perfect fit for but is still easier/more obvious than a new variation. As swing, Natalie Pilkington throws a little more into question if she is in fact in pink. However, she should still be able to wear her Seymour and Parr principal costumes, so I'd expect her to continue to wear those and then pink for A/B/C/H. That's exactly how pink alt has been used in the past, so I don't think it's likely that that would change or necessitate a new variation. My only question (again, assuming they're both pink alt) would be if Hannah or Natalie get a change purely so they're not in exact duplicates, just like Natalie got for her black alt during the 21-22 UK Tour when her and Cassy Lee had duplicates. However, the chances of the West End getting to a double pink alt show where they really can't move things around and have to send them both on in pink alt is a lot less likely, particularly considering that they (presumably) both have two principal costumes as well. So...still considering this highly unlikely (but hey a girl can dream)

Other questions/notes - What the hell is going on with potential double pink - Assuming double pink, is black alt is being phased out entirely. This could just be a scenario where it's more logistically convenient for Natalie to seemingly keep S/P/pink, but in another scenario maybe they'd have black alt again. Or it might just be being phased out entirely - it's more simple than most of the other designs and doesn't quite fit into the design continuum. I have no good answer for this, so we'll just have to see (although my black-alt-cosplaying self would love to see it return eventually) - If Natalie Pilkington will still wear her Seymour/Parr (with black or pink). I think this feels like an obvious yes, but we'll see. - I realize I didn't post the full makeup breakdown for all of them. I'll do that in the next few weeks.

——————————

paulaspinallcostumes; naomialade1; thaotheresenguyen

sixthemusical; hannahlowther; natpilk1

[maochira]

Working at Blue Lock/father figure!Ego introduction

Tags: gn!reader, overworker and overachiever!reader, reader is a graphic designer, artist and assistant at Blue Lock

A/N: I want to make this a series so feel free to request more for father figure!Ego!! A part two to this will come soon as well! Also, this originally goes for one of my Blue Lock OCs, but I want to write it as an x reader for you guys to enjoy and because I prefer writing reader inserts💟

Working at Blue Lock is your first job ever, so ever since the beginning you swore to yourself that you'll put all of your power and passion into this. Especially because of how passionate Ego is about Blue Lock, you want to do your best to help him

Ego tends to give you very tight deadlines almost all the time. It's to be expected that at least once a day he'll tell you something like "You need to do this until tomorrow", or "I have this speech planned later, you need to do this until then", but nothing about that ever bothered you. It's on the opposite side, you've always been happy about getting tasks from him and feel good about being helpful to the project.

Most of your work consists of designing and drawing player icons and all the graphics Ego shows on his screens during his speeches. Every time he holds his speeches, you're in the back of the room to watch. To you, it's like seeing your work come to life, and that's always been your dream.

Ego often criticizes your work when you show him your ideas or sketches. But that's part of working as a graphic designer and artist. Even though his criticism tends to come off as harsh and cold, you're always happy to follow his wishes. And hey, in the end, it's always worth it because you get at least a little bit of praise. It's never much, usually just a simple "Good work, (Y/N)-chan" but for you, it's enough.

But due to your hard work, you pull at least one all-nighter a week. You'd still be able to finish all your tasks on time even if you got a healthy amount of sleep, but you always get so lost in your work that it keeps you awake all night. A part of that is passion, but another part is your overworking nature.

You rarely tell Ego and Anri about your all-nighters, you either act as if you got up extra early or just briefly mention something like "I couldn't fall asleep" and laugh it off. Ego never showed any concern over it, but Anri certainly did.

And for the first months, sleep deprivation didn't have that many effects on you. Surprisingly. Your passion kept you going. Well, until you pulled an all-nighter after a night with only 3 hours of sleep. Even caffeine couldn't save you anymore. You really try to keep your eyes open, but they get so heavy that they just close on their own and you end up falling asleep at your desk.

In the meantime, Ego is rewatching recordings of Blue Lock matches, until he sees you asleep at your desk. His first instinct is to wake you up and yell at you to continue your work, but he's so hesitant about it, he changes his mind after second thought. He remembers how you've been working extra hard lately and knows your current task isn't that urgent, so he simply lets you sleep.

But when you wake up, a rush of panic runs through your body. You immediately look up at your computer which has gone into sleep mode by now. You turn around to see Ego, still sitting on his chair.

"You finally woke up, huh?" His voice doesn't give off any particular emotion, but you automatically think he's mad at you for falling asleep during your work hours.

You open your mouth to apologize, but your mind is still a bit fuzzy and not properly awake yet. Before any words actually get out, Ego continues: "It was about time you got some proper sleep."

"Sorry, I've been-"

"No need to apologize," Ego interrupts you, "Just don't let this happen again."

"I won't, I promise." You answer before turning your computer back on, ready to finish whatever you were working on before you fell asleep.

"You really need to take better care of yourself." Ego tells you in a stern voice. "Get more sleep and pay attention to your health. I don't want you to get sick."

"Oh?" You turn around to face his direction. What he said makes you laugh a little. "Aren't you the one with eyebags who only eats instant noodles?"

Ego is slightly taken aback by your response and for a moment he struggles to find an answer. "Are you talking back to me?" Is the only thing he manages to come up with.

"I wouldn't call it talking back," you answer as you turn your head back to your computer, "I'm just surprised why you'd care more about me than taking care of yourself."

And with this, you've got yourself your own personal Ego speech.

"Listen, (Y/N)-chan. I 'care' for you in a way an employer cares for one of his workers. Because that's what you and I are. I can't have you getting sick or breaking down because you exhaust yourself too much. That would mean I would have to look for a temporary replacement which would cost time and money. Plus, your work is great even under these conditions and I doubt I'd find anyone else who's as passionate about this as you are. But even with that, I don't want you to exhaust yourself this much again. It's true that I appreciate your hard work, but with your hard work comes the need of taking care of yourself. Understood?"

Halfway through his speech, you turned back to look at him again. His expression and tone are not much different from how he usually is, but what he says still surprises you in some way. You and Ego never had a deeper conversation on anything, but this is starting to pick up your curiosity, so you decide to continue.

"That still doesn't explain why you'd tell me to take better care of myself when you uhm, you know."

"Leading Blue Lock comes with its sacrifices." Ego responds, "If I'll lose sleep over it, I'm willing to sacrifice that. But I'm not willing to let you sacrifice your health."

"So you're worried about me?"

Ego lets out a short frustrated sigh. "As I already said, I care for you in a way an employer cares for their worker. You're not much more than a tool to help my dream come alive."

You only nod in response and return to your work. You want to continue this conversation, but Ego's frustrated sigh is a sign to stop.

Even though what Ego said could definitely hurt someone's feelings, especially because of his stern tone, just him mentioning he cares about you in some way makes you happy. Sure, to him you're not much more than a tool to achieve his dream, but that still means you have some sort of important role for him. Be it in an employer-worker way, you're just happy to be useful.

As you continue your given task, Ego finds himself unable to concentrate on his own work. He thinks of his own words he just said to you moments ago and they keep repeating in his head until he wonders if he even spoke the truth.

Sure, in theory, you're not much more than an employee to him. But something about seeing how you overworked yourself and even sacrificed a lot of sleep just for the tasks he's given you made him truly realize how hard you've been working ever since the beginning of Blue Lock. It awakened some sort of protectiveness over you inside of him.

And even when he's back to focusing on his work every now and then his gaze wanders over to you with slight concern. He can't help but ask himself: Is this the kind of protectiveness a father feels about their child?

[mourninglamby]

its actually cool to see people dissect minecraft roleplay like this, like to me yeah it was just a block game but the dark subjects matters just intertwined in a way that made it very... strange? i guess?

i feel like to really get it you have to have a certian amount of respect for the story and medium but also scorn of it, like i have sooo many problems with how things went in a million different ways, but i also think that when it worked it worked wonders. so its interesting to me for someone to dig deeper then the surface and really see it for what it was objectively

i hate that its attatched to the minecraft youtuber fandom in general because for the majority of time i was wathcing I was soley in it for a story, I dont think i even checked out a non story realated stream until like... june of that year

and i hate dream but like you said him being there and playing such a character just ads to the levels of weirdness and rawness

c!tommy got me through a dark dark time in my life, esp exile. I dealth with abuseful neglect and manipulation all my life, and i was in deep bouts of depression when those streams were coming out. but literally seeing a character portray such a raw and ugly realality of those things and yet still get back up again was comforting and cathartic

to me it was the colaboration between actor and audience that really made it unlike anything else, and also what really led to its destruction. but im glad it was there when i needed it

This is well said anon and I’m so sorry you went through something like that. Dsmp found me at a very terrifying time in my life in regards to trauma. I don’t want to get into it just as I’m sure you don’t either, but when youve been a victim of abuse, you gain a perspective that nobody else has. Your mind is permanently altered. We see things that might not be as easy to detect let alone digest for those who havent experienced that reality. or even people who are currently working through that trauma who don’t understand how to deal with it or approach it yet. And that’s not good nor bad. It just is.

I think it’s. Hard. It’s very hard to talk about. And it’s by design! I definitely agree some of the performances were amazing but with very little consideration for what to do next or how to conclude those arcs, things got messy quickly and I think they relied on their dogmatic rabid fans to deflect any serious criticism of that. And I expected them to! I expect people who tread dangerously to know what they’re doing, but they didn’t know what they were doing. That became clear to me very quickly.

And ya it is still very important to me as well… I have never seen myself in another victim in fiction quite as well as I have c!tommy. And I have found so many like minded people that I cherish and love so much. I just got back from hanging out with someone who I got close with online during dsmp! So as disgusting and scary as the community was, yes, I am also very glad it was here when I needed it. Because I needed it.

I hope we can all continue to heal from these experiences and move on to make/consume kinder art together 🌈💫💗

(Oh also I didnt/don’t(it’s complicated) care about the real people either. I actually was so detached I believed dsmp was all they did! It’s crazy how much of a second thought a lot of this was in hindsight. Which is both infuriating and worrying)